darkwolf687

When Royalty Collides ~Closed~

"Jones, you drive like you've been drinking. We don't want them to think we're a nation of drunks." Richard barked to the driver before glancing back to Edwin, who was staring out of the window. He wore the traditional dark green uniform of the Kings Lifeguards, though affixed to his right shoulder was a small shield, divided party per pale with blue and red. In the centre of this shield was a white Wyvern.

Any noble who served the military, when in ceremonial dress, had a patch of their families coat of arms stitched to their uniform. Richard's, for example, was a Wyvern on a yellow saltire. The two families, Drakewine and Ashleigh, were closely linked and shared a Wyvern for their heraldry. Indeed, it was only due to the Ashleigh family, the traditional dukes of Mercia, that the House of Drakewine even existed; They were raised to the nobility by the Duke of Mercia and eventually superseded them to become their overlords. The Ashleighs had profited greatly from this in the long run. They had been granted the title 'King of Wales' after the creation of the title by the emperor some 900 years ago. Although the land had passed out of the Empire, the family still held the title. They were given new lands to reimburse them, as many of the lords who had lost land when the British were pushed out received. This caused a lot of problems that are best left to the history books.

Whatever the case, this made Richard the King of Wales who had never once set foot on Welsh soil. He was not the only one. Of the some 50 kings under the Emperor of Britannia, at least 7 of them were the kings of lands outside of Britannia.

"Troubled?" Richard asked
"Somewhat." Edwin admitted as he shuffled slowly to turn to Richard, and the captains presence instantly made him straighten up as if at attention. "Wouldn't you be?"
"Yeah, I would." Richard paused for a moment and ran his hand over his blonde hair before continuing "You know I agree with you about this whole thing, but your father wants you to do this. You are a lieutenant in his household guard; It is your duty to obey."
"'Even to my dying breath.' I know." Edwin looked away again, glancing down to his belt and affixing his ceremonial sword to it, checking his 9mm didn't have a round in the chamber before placing it back into its holster. "Do I introduce myself as King of Anatolia or Prince of Britannia?" Edwin asked as the car pulled up outside the castle. Typically, the former was used in court and the latter was used abroad but this was no normal diplomatic visit...
"Try both." Richard grunted as he climbed out, holding the door open for Edwin, who thanked him as he disembarked. Two soldiers got out from the seats in front of them, flanking the pair and escorting them up to the other royals.

As they reached them Richard motioned for the soldiers to stop and drew back behind Edwin's right soldier. Edwin turned to the King first and gave a small bow "Your grace." before running his eyes quickly along the assembled individuals, recognising them all from images; As usual, Richard had made him learn absolutely everything he could about absolutely everyone who was expected to be present.

And his betrothed...

Well, it would be an interesting meeting to say the least. He had read about her and her condition and - What a merry pair of fools they would look together, him towering over her.

He waited for any other introductions and conversation to die down before stepping forwards and bowing deeply. "My gracious hosts; I am elated to make your acquaintance. I am Edwin, King of Anatolia and Heir to the Crown of Britannia. I come heralding gifts for our hosts for my father the Emperor sends an oil tanker filled with our product to reach you."

There were perks to owning one the majority of the worlds reserves of crude oil whether directly (Their Empire spanned the Arabian peninsula and most of the middle east) or indirectly (for example, the Kingdom of Arboles which spanned some of northern south America was quite firmly under Britannian influence ever since the South Atlantic Trade pact. It's oil was now extracted by the West Indian Trading company).  They lacked any political control of the North American supplies, a fact which weighed heavily on their decisions. Despite that, they had more than a little control over the supply of oil and as it was hard for a first world kingdom to run without oil Britannia had become absurdly rich and acquired a reputation for ruthless - And sometimes bloody- business. Indeed, he knew of more than a few plans...

Edwin rose slowly and then stepped to the right side and scanned the group as they spoke, remaining quiet and making mental notes about each other them as he continued to observe. He knew for a fact that Richard was doing the same. The coming days would be an excellent opportunity and his father would expect a lot for Edwin.

Speaking of his father, Edwin quietly thanked god that he had been delayed by several days; He could get this meeting out of the way without the looming figure of the emperor watching over his shoulder...

He turned and walked slowly, scanning the faces for his betrothed - He Cathy sight of her eventually and moved towards her. He bit his lip in nervousness and found himself having some trouble with fully comprehending his situation. She actually looked like a young child, how could he be expected to-

He out the thought out of his head as he reached her and gave a small bow and paused for a moment as if thinking before finally speaking "Ave Liviana. It's a pleasure to meet you at last, the light of lights smiles upon this hour of our meeting." He said as he rose back to his full height and looked her up and down - And realised the difference in height was indeed very pronounced

When Royalty Collides ~Closed~

I'm just going to say that we have a habit of writing out /all/ NPC dialogue and interactions if it has even a vague influence on our characters' actions and thought processes.

And the collab was like 67k. Sad thing is it only used one "player character" and the rest was dialogue/infodumping from NPCs.

@RomanAria

I would have been game to write more but I was worried we would get lynched if we made it any longer...

A Prized bride (The return)

Sorry guys, I got really, really sick. T.T

Am I still allowed back in?

@WeepingLiberty

Things are moving quite slowly anyway, don't worry about it :)

When Royalty Collides ~Closed~

@RomanAria Oh boy. That definitely means unless she is paired with an extremely peaceful Kingdom something bad may happen. Actually if it was Leon he would hide the fact from his father, but if his father ever found out the King would probably be very furious.

@alexfangtalon

Or they would annul the marriage/force a divorce. Or depending on how brutal the people she ended up married to are, have her killed in an accident and have the prince marry someone else. Or they would just fake it, that's a much more likely possibility too; how? Dunno, maybe find a girl who looks like the princess, have the prince get her pregnant, pretend the baby belongs to the prince and princess. Pay money silence people who know to be sure, who knows. Whatever the case, even if someone squealed they're more likely to be written off as a conspiracy theorist than taken serioisly and the government could just fake tests and stuff if it got too out of hand.

Or depending on what exactly it is that is making her infertile, there are ways around that too with the wonders of modern medicine. Not that this wouldn't be kept very hush hush all the same

When Royalty Collides ~Closed~

I also support this, @narcissisticpotato and @darkwolf687. You guys go kill each other. Except not really, because well. I'd be very sad if anyone took my Wolfie. *cling*

*Goes questing through sheets for other nations that could be at each other's throats*

Off the top of my head, it's rather possible that Britannia and Lusitania could go at each other a bit cause, let's be honest here, the Britannians are basically crusaders and Lusitanians are still hopelessly primitive people who do not accept christianity - or monotheism at all for that matter - in any form...

I'll continue poking through character sheets and coming up with potential conflicts...

@RomanAria

To be fair, the Britannian government and nation as a whole has moved more towards secularism and this is he reason for the Britannic union party being a thing.

That said, his Imperial majesty Harold may have become a little... odd after his wife's death

When Royalty Collides ~Closed~

@darkwolf687
Or another invasion of Russian! They usually go well!

@HaleyTheRandom
Why spin-off? ;-; If we take darkwolf and I, our nations could quite easily have a lot of friction due to clashing ideals of sovereignty and who owns what. These dilemmas would add a whole new dimension to the RP and instead of just awkward royal teenagers trying to get laid, it would be awkward royal teenagers trying to get laid while trying not to start a war! It would be great!

You guys have to remember that the 21st century has been mainly peaceful and that is primarily down to democracy. Going to war is awkward as fuck in a democracy and you need a good reason for it (ermagherd de wmds). That awkwardness doesn't stretch to monarchies.

Colonial ties and border disputes would be rampant, I imagine, so it's fairly likely that certain countries wouldn't get on great with other countries!

@Avanhelsing
Also what do you mean that is all? Did you not see all that sick loot Cali-g got? Like... All those sea shells he stole!

@NarcissisticPotato

I wouldn't really say it's been all that peaceful nor would I say that's mainly due to democracy. I would say it's more to do with the fact that it is no longer so easy to ignore the horrors of war and play up the glory because with modern technology everyone can see the terrible, terrible parts of the world and actively want to avoid them. If going to war in a democracy is awkward then America is the king of awkward; I honestly think it was just easier to convince people to go to war in the past because you could play up the glory of war while downplaying the horror. Now that horror and it's results can be broadcast directly into your living room and it's a lot harder to remain blissfully ignorant as a result. I would say that's why war is a lot more awkward now and not really democracy;

Monarchies aren't always absolute monarchies either, that's important to remember. And decolonisation may still have occurred; Britain's decolonisation was more spurred on by the fact that it's empire stopped turning a profit after the debts of the world wars, for example.

It's very difficult to say what the world would look like because so much has changed in this RPs setting

Border disputes? Definitely. Actually it's more likely to be claim disputes; You gave a good example with mine and your characters. My characters still title themselves as Kings of England, Wales, Scotland and Lord's of Ireland when in reality they haven't held it in centuries (This is actually fairly common for monarchs. The Queen still claims to be the Duke of Normandy even though the only parts of the duchy of Normandy she has are the channel islands...)

Remember how the English kings used to think about pressing their claim on France? I imagine Britannian kings have given thought to pressing their claim on the British Isles. Also due to all the royal marriages, in a globalised feudal world it's entirely possible for a King of New Zealand to end up with a claim on the Crown Dependency of California.. and want to claim it

Also relations would be highly dependant on what the rulers thought of each other. Spain and France might get along dandy under one ruler, but then when France pops his clogs and is replaced Spain decided his son who took over in an insufferable sod and joins the Germans to invade France instead.

When Royalty Collides ~Closed~

I have a list of fun lunatic rulers!

Charles VI of France thought his bones were made of glass.

Ferdinand I of Austria: Was the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The only issue was that he was so inbred he could not speak or do basic tasks. The only full sentence he ever said was “I am the Emperor, and I want dumplings.” Gotta love the Hapsburgs!

Caligula: Declared war on the sea. That is all.

Joanna, Queen of Castile AKA Joanna La Loca (the Mad): Lost her husband early in their marriage and then had a mental breakdown that was most likely schizophrenia. She kept opening her husband's crypt to see him and lay with him.

@Avanhelsing

Joanna... was that the one who also refused to let even the nuns near her husband's body?

There was another queen from the Iberian Peninsula who went mad and spent most of her time locked in her room screaming. I think she was Portuguese though I could have that wrong.

When Royalty Collides ~Closed~

@darkwolf687
We need more bonkers autocratic monarchs! ;-; Not enough wars!

@NarcissisticPotato

Hear hear! We need the good old days of rulers appointing them horses to office or believe they are made out of glass!

When Royalty Collides ~Closed~

Also whole Neno is on the subject of war, would these nations occasionally butt heads? If there hasn't been a major war where the power of nuclear weapons have been unleashed then I see no reason for a nation to specifically fear nuclear weapons and the reprisals of going against a country that possesses them?

@NarcissisticPotato

I find it very likely that with weapons so destructive, people wouldnt need it to be used in war to realise that going against a nation with that potential is a bad idea. Popular culture would probably have picked up on it a long time ago.
I mean, they could actually be more fearful and cautious given that they are mostly autocratic monarchies and if history has shown us anything, it's that a tonne of shit can hit the fan when said autocratic monarchs go bonkers.

When Royalty Collides ~Closed~

Edwin of Britannia

Prince Edwin of Britannia

_{"Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."Alfred Tennyson}

Edwin Harold Drakewine

Nickname: Ed

Birth date and age: 26 April (17)

Sexuality: Heterosexual

In Depth Appearance:
Edwin stands at a 6', slightly shorter than his 6'1 father; He is not exceptionally strong though he is physically fit, courtesy of his training with the household guard, as is tradition for the heir. He has inherited the typical brown hair and eyes of the Drakewine family. His hair refused to be made neat and by this point he has pretty much given up on ever taming it, much to his fathers chagrin. Outside of occasions, he typically dresses 'smart casual', never dressing too casually. On special occasions however, such as when away on important affairs, he wears full military dress as is customary for male members of royal family, who typically have positions within the military. The bright colours of his uniform stand in stark contrast to his usually dull clothing and he has a strong air of authority around him on these occasions.
He has a deep scar along the back of his right hand that was caused by an accident while learning to ride a bike as a child, and has a small scar along his right shoulder which was caused by a fencing accident.

Personality:

• Curious • Stubborn • Intellectual • Ambitious •

Edwin is a scholarly man, as is the tradition of the British Emperor. He frequently visits the Imperial Library which spans many texts, with thousands of gigabytes worth of electronic documents filed. He has spent excessive amounts of time in this place, enjoying books and reading more than most.
Edwin was raised as a "true emperor of Britain", taught not to give in to the demands of others. Edwin has taken this somewhat to heart; He typically stands his ground firmly in arguments and negotiations. He is willing to concede defeat should his point be proven wrong in debate and is willing to forge agreements if need be, but typically he doesn't budge.
He is motivated primarily by his desire to be a great leader; Britannia has a very impressive history with many stand out Emperors and Empresses... And like any great nation, it also has a lot of mostly forgotten rulers. Edwin would far prefer to be the former.
Beneath this apparent confidence however, lies a fearful teenager. He is almost self loathing, thinking of himself as being incompetent and weak. This doubt drives him to overcompensate at everything his does; nothing he does is ever good enough, it always fall short of what he was aiming for. Truth be told, even when he achieves a goal, he always finds something wrong with the way he did it.

Likes:

• Books
• Order
• History
• Drawing
• Outsmarting or impressing other people
• Puzzles
• Politics

Dislikes:

• Alcohol
• Priests
• Cowards
• The Britannic Union Party
• The Press
• Disorder

Fears:

• Being publically humiliated
• Death
• Heights
• Failing at his duty as the future emperor
• Being forgotten
• Causing the death of someone he cares about

Biography: Heir to the throne of Britannia, the 'Kingdom of Heaven', Edwin's training began practically from the day he was born. His childhood was dominated by his royal status; Order and structure were the name of the game, the schedule being very much the same for the majority of his childhood. What free time he did have was often spent with the same few people, palace life being what it was.
His father was kept away by the demands of running the monolithic empire its self and his mother had died giving birth to his sister when he was only 6. It was inevitable that the boy would find a parental figure in his tutors, namely one Richard Gibbs. Richard was the captain of His Majesty's Household Guard, but doubled as the boys tutor for politics. It was Richard who gave Edwin the confidence he lacked, who taught him how to hold his own in an argument, who actually taught him about the value of responsibility rather than simply commanding him to take it, and showed the world to him.
Shortly before his 16th Birthday, Edwin started a relationship with a middle class girl he had met while spending the night out in the city. Initially, Edwin and Sara's relationship was tolerated by the royal family; Edwin had several short relationship with noble girls by this point and his father assumed that his interest would quickly wane within a few months as was typical for his age. The relationship appeared to be far more stable than any of his previous ones, however, as he had matured quickly as he had approached his coming of age (Ironically due to King Harold's own command to Richard to teach the boy to be more responsible), and as Sara and Edwin's relationship became public knowledge, opinion began to turn on her, seeing her as a social climber due to her lack of noble lineage. Their relationship was quickly broken up by Edwin's father and the two were forbidden from meeting. Naturally, this did little but increase their desire to see each other and the two began to meet in secret, often just outside the castle grounds. Richard humoured Edwin for a while, figuring it best to let the relationship run its natural course and end.
After less than a month had passed, however, the press managed to pick up on the secret relationship and once again there was public outrage about the relationship with a commoner. Sara's family had already been significantly affected by the power of public opinion and on May 11th, Sara reluctantly ended the relationship for the final time. On May 14th, a pair of right wing extremists broke into the family house and killed the entire family; Both daughters, the son, the mother and the father.
Overnight, public opinion did a u-turn. The King declared a period of mourning and initiated a manhunt for the extremists responsible upon there arrest had them prosecuted swiftly. They were sentenced to life imprisonment and are currently held in an undisclosed location.
Edwin was guilt stricken and inconsolable, blaming himself for Sara's death. It was the first time the cold hard reality of having ones life be almost entirely public truly hit him; He had known it would cause problems to be sure, but he never knew that it could have such severe consequences. He locked himself in his room and remained in there for three days before Richard finally convinced him to come back out to attend the funeral. He became something of a recluse, fearful of forming connections with others in order to protect himself from losing people. To this day he blames himself for the deaths of the family and is excessively cautious with his movements, distrusting the press above all else. Less than a few months after this tragic event, Edwin's father began to search for a potential betrothal for his son, entering talks with several prominent families within and without the kingdom. Edwin was understandably furious and left the palace entirely for two weeks before his sister convinced him to return and speak to his father. After a long conversation, Edwin finally agreed to go through with the plan.

Theme Song:
Way to Fall - Starsailor
_{Son
You'd better take it all
They'll tell you what is yours
But they'll take mine}
Face claim: Lyndon Davies

_{"Do I feel good about this meeting? No, I don't. Its not just nerves either. Its very complicated; I half feel like I am doing something wrong, to be honest." Prince Edwin Drakewine}

Empire of Britannia

The Empire Of Britannia

_{"Deus Vult." National Motto}

Kingdom Colors: White and Red
King and Queen:
Emperor Harold

The Tomb of Empress Juliana
What the Kingdom is Known For: Riches and fortune, Centuries of bloody history, an extremely long lived royal family, 'The Kingdom of Heaven'
Kingdom History: The Empire of Britannia is a long standing empire that spans vast tracts of land. Theirs is a proud history, filled with military conquests and defences against the odds, littered with great heroes such as Ealdwulf the Hammer ("Protector of the Faith", the monarch responsible for many of the initial holy wars against the Caliphates in the middle east, Ealdwulf had a remarkable record considering the muslim rulers typically had more soldiers than he did.) Harold the Conqueror ("Lord of the Three Empires", the first British King to claim land in India. Despite the title, Harold did not really conquer much territory when compared to other kings) and Catheryn the Wise (The queen who outwitted the Byzantine Emperor and put the final nail in the coffin of the Byzantine Empire, managed to end the near constant stream of rebellions within Arabia. Despite this, she is probably best known for a folk story of her winning a theological argument with the Pope in order to secure her daughter a divorce from an abusive Polish duke, a story which became immortalised in British folktales.)

How the Drakewine family came to the throne involves a political alliance between two houses and a bloody struggle for the throne in the wake of the Norman's unsuccessful invasion in 1066. Suffice it to say that the Drakewine family was on the throne by 1072.

The Empire has its origins in the crusades of the late 1000's, when the English joined Pope Innocent VII crusade to reclaim Jerusalem. For their efforts in the crusades, the English monarchy was rewarded with the Crown of Jerusalem. The English, however, must have half wished they had never received it; Almost annually, the muslim caliphs called Jihads against the occupying English, forces vast amounts to be spent on maintenance of the holy land. The English may have been pushed out entirely were it not for a second crusade; The Seljuk had seized Anatolia from the Byzantines, and the Christian world was once again up in arms. Once more, the English were rewarded greatly for their efforts, earning the crown of Anatolia. With their powerbase in the east effectively doubled, the English began a series of holy wars against the Muslims. Over the course of 180 years, the Islamic nations would be slowly pushed out of the middle east as the English and later the British expanded their eastern holdings into a full fledged Empire.
The Empire of Britannia its self formed in the 1100's. The English had seized control of Scotland and Wales and officially formed the empire. With a few well placed bribes, the majority of the Irish lords swore allegiance. Only Connacht resisted all efforts. In 1103, it would be invaded and seized by the British; The count was deposed and the second son of a duke from England was installed in his place.
By 1250, the British controlled an immense volume of land; The Byzantines had slowly been whittled down by the British and their Croatian allies until the British had finally seized total control in 1213. The Islamic middle east was slowly but surely giving way to Catholicism. The Seljuk and Fatimid were all but destroyed following the final major holy wars in 1233 and 1239 respectively. In 1242, the college of cardinals was over half British, though by 1261 the British presence in the college of Cardinals had shrunk dramatically. The British crossed blades with almost every neighbouring nation at some point during this period.
The years 1267-1294 were very calm by comparison; The ruler, Ealdulf, was a far less ambitious man than his predecessors and was more than content with what he had. It was only once his grandson ascended to the throne in 1294 that British expansion was again a reality; It was in this period of time that the British began to acquire sections of India; Most of these were only held for a few years at a time, though Punjab was taken by British forces in 1301 and remains held to this very day.
From the years 1337-1363 the Empire entered a period of decline under Henry IV, a controversial monarch who was completely unsuited to the burdens of leadership. He rarely made public appearances and he was generally a weak willed man who was easily manipulated by the nobles on his court. Slowly but surely, the selfish machinations of the nobility eroded away the integrity of the empire, and by Henry's death it had fractured into many parts. The French and Iberian holdings began to break away and the Scandinavian holdings were assaulted by the Norge. Though the French lands were eventually brought back under control and Britannia retained control of some of northern Spain, it's Western European powerbase was greatly diminished.
Henry's son, Richard II, was likewise a poor ruler. The new king, however, caught pneumonia two years into his reign and died. Had Richard continued to rule, many believe the Empire would have declined further still. Whatever the case, fourteen year old queen Edith inherited a nightmarish scenario when she came to the throne. By the time of her death some five decades later, the Empire had been mostly reunited; The remaining two independent duchies would be absorbed back into the empire around the year 1426
The colonialism that arose after this time proved to be a relatively lucrative venture for the Empire; Britannia spread its flags across the indian ocean and established a vast colonial empire in Indonesia, Australia and later East Africa. Though any major territories in the Americas have long since vanished, with the only remnants of the colonialism being a handful of islands in the Bahamas, the expansion eastwards has been more permanent, with Britannia retaining control over Australia by proxy (It is technically its own independent Kingdom, but its monarchs are from a cadet branch of the Drakewine family and typically acquiesce to their demands) and from there exercising considerably influence over the surrounding islands. Their abandonment of their most unprofitable African colonies during the late 19th century inadvertently sparked a period of decolonisation as colonised peoples realised that they could force out their colonial overlords through passive resistance; Before long, the British terminated the last of their colonies in Africa and instead focussed on the prosperity of their territories further to the east.
In the modern day, the Empire is a titanic first world county; Its vast supplies of oil have made it immensely rich. The nation broken down into many different administrative districts along ancient county and ducal lines, in an attempt to manage its vast size and population. This was an ongoing process over many decades; Earlier attempts at breaking the empire down into more manageable chunks created several de jure independent kingdoms such as the Kingdom of Australia, for all intents and purposes puppets of the Crown. With the advent of the internet and near instant communication, the empire has become far more manageable and efficient, a far cry from its 19th century counter part which was characterised by common breakdowns of communication (A common joke claimed that entire countries were lost during filing); though said problem has been fixed, it nonetheless caused considerable damaged the prestige of the nation and even now its commonly brought up to disparage the British.
The nation in the modern day is an economic power house. Its politics are generally left wing, however there is a small but very vocal far right group known as the Britannic Union Party who have become increasingly prominent in recent years, particularly following the increasing secularisation of the British government and monarchy which many conservatives feel to be a shift away from the roots of "The Kingdom of Heaven".
The Current Monarch of the nation is His Imperial Majesty Harold IV of House Drakewine.

Notes: King Harold's picture is Ian McKellen in King Lear. The effigy is of Queen Berengaria