Fantasy Revenge of the Lioness info/characters/updates

[Julian Spooner]

Revenge of the Lioness
Tamora Pierce- Inspired Fantasy RP



Players: Julian, @sealdust    

World
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This world is loosely based on the world of Tamora Pierce’s novels (The Tamora Pierce wiki provides information on this world).The novels are a jumping-off point, so familiarity with the novels isn't necessary, but material from the novels is always welcome in building the world. 
 
This RP centres around the fantasy, medieval-style kingdom of Tortall. In this kingdom, there are multiple fiefdoms loyal to the King, each with their own colours, a coat of arms and a crest. Yet to be explored in the RP are the adjoining kingdoms, which the Tamora Pierce wiki could provide material for. 
 
Sons from these fiefdoms are sent to Corus, the capital, to train as Knights (though there is also the option of being sent to an academy to train as mages). At the age of 12 these boys are pages, living at the palace, learning combat and horsemanship among other things, and serving the royal court. If they pass their page training they become squires, continuing training while assigned to a Knight to serve him. This may involve seeing battle. The final step to become a knight involves a gruelling Ordeal that tests them physically and psychologically. 
 
Magic
Some people in this world possess an all-purpose magic called the Gift
Some possess a perception-based magic called the Sight (you can have both)
There are more rare forms of magic such as Wild Magic
Gods and Goddesses are real and sometimes intervene
Magic artefacts exist but are rare
Certain mythic creatures exist but are rare


Lore
 from the original series may be used and characters are occasionally referred to as distant historical figures. Central to our roleplay is the story of the Lioness, a lady Knight of long ago who won the right for women to take on knighthood.
 

Plot
 
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After many years and many wars, the landscape of our version or Tortall has changed. The Lionesses story is unknown by many, seen as a myth by some and actively suppressed by others. Tortall has become in some ways a harsher place, not only are lady knights unheard of, but women cannot inherit or succeed to titles. 


The king is heirless and succession is a mess. After a series of messy successions and short reigns, the future of the throne seems unclear. Tensions between rival claims on the throne are so high that the King seems reluctant to name a successor. Beyond the immediate claims for the throne, the court is rife with schemers and climbers, and there are even whispers of rival kingdoms interfering.


The story follows a group of pages on their journey to knighthood in the midst of this chaos, and also the Knights who mentor them. Unknown to all, one of these pages, Louis of Eldorne, is a girl in disguise. 

 

[Julian Spooner]

Characters
 
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Mine
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Daniel of Arleigh
A knight in training. Robust and cheerful, he befriends Louis.


Nathaniel of Elden
A knight in training. Anxious and prickly, he nevertheless warms to Louis and Daniel


Jacobin of Moreland 
A knight in training. Strange, unpredictable and disliked, Jacobin takes a sinister interest in Louis


Auden of Goldenlake
A young knight. Reserved and thoughtful, he helps train the pages. Louis eventually becomes his squire.


Elizabeth Radley
A palace Mage and relative of the King's. Eccentric and intimidating, she trains Louis in his Gift. 


Agnes Radley
Elizabeth's daughter, a young noblewoman and Mage. Intelligent and cool-headed, she takes a shine to Louis. 

Sealdust’s 
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Louis VI of Eldorne
A knight in training. Raised as a boy so that she can be her father's’ heir and protect her sisters from ruin. A fair, sprightly lad who uses confidence to hide her secret.
 
 Sir Jeremy the Marquesse of Naxen
An older knight, the pages’ training master. A notoriously hard task master, Daniel is now his squire.
 
Sir Douglas of Olau
A knight, secretly training to be Spymaster for the palace. Cool and Enigmatic, Douglas is now Nathaniel's knight master. 


Also: Sir Jeremy's twin brother, Louis’ many sisters.
 


A useful character sheet for this roleplay (for designing rather than introducing characters) might look like this:
 
Rank:
Name:
Gender:
Appearance:
Personality:
Personal History:
Magic: (Gift/Sight/Wild/None)
Nationality/Ancestry:
Fife/Crest: 
Horse(s): optional
Weapon(s): optional
Servant: optional
Pet(s): optional 

 

[Julian Spooner]

An old update:


This is an update on a long running series of RPs I'm currently running, loosely based on the world of the Lioness novels and shamelessly imitating the plot of those books. The main players so far remain myself and Sealdust. 
 
extract: 

Spoiler

The King began to address the Pages, noting his gratitude to the noble fathers of Tortall in continuing to send him their boys. "With any luck, in a few years, we will be able to return some of them Knights" the King said, and a chuckle rose from the hall. Nathaniel gave a barely perceptible shiver.

 Louis of Eldorne, raised a boy to protect her family's fortune, has taken the dangerous step of training as a Knight in the King's court. Women are barred from knighthood, and if Louis' secret were discovered the consequences would be dire. 
 
extract:
  

Spoiler

Louis cast glances at her father, Lord Tyrion III of Eldorne. He was the epitome of uneasy, and not for the first time, she recalled the heated arguments between her parents which had been the prelude to the conclusion that she had to go. Her father had stood firmly against it, until the same argument that had caused him to buckle years ago brought him back to his senses. What about the girls? If you refuse the king, what will happen to all of us? So, feeling only the tiniest bit justified in his second abandonment of her, because it was for her older sisters, Tyrin had begun the long trek to the palace. However, she was not blind to the regretful looks, or the quick determined stare towards the direction of Eldorne - as though he planned to turn around and give up on all of their current progress, king be damned. Louis didn't mean to be harsh, but sometimes it seemed that she had more nerve than her father. Perhaps it was because her father's lessons to be strong (or perhaps just stubborn) had impacted her more because of the necessity to hide who she was. Maybe it was because keeping secrets had strengthened her fortitude.

 Nonetheless, Louis- who covers her secret under a bold, scrappy persona- is already attracting attention, positive and negative, from other pages. She seems unafraid of antagonising bullies, and already has a couple of prospective friends in the confident, easygoing Daniel and his nervy, smart-aleck friend Nathaniel. 
 
extract:
  

Spoiler

He turned around at the sound of Louis’ voice. There was something rather eerie about his appearance in the moonlight. There was a certain resemblance to a cat- not just in his pale eyes, which seemed colourless in the grey light, but in his smooth, wide-spaced features. 
 
"Do I know you" he said blankly. It was unclear whether he was questioning Louis' sudden appearance or simply echoing him. He seemed to consider it for a moment, his hands still in his pockets. 
"Isn't it normal to be curious about new arrivals?"


Louis wasn't sure exactly what to say next, but he seemed to be evading her question entirely. "It's also normal to be curious when you catch someone staring at you," she echoed, using his own logic against him. "If we're going by normal, you were the only one that I hadn't spoken to before that I caught staring at me." 
 
The page tucked her hands into her own pockets, mirroring Moreland's stance, her pale glacier blue eyes trained on his movement since there was nothing else to observe. However, so far this conversation seemed friendly, compared to the darker note of violence that she half-thought she could be expecting from her new friends' speculation. "So are you still curious, or is that over now?" Louis inquired. 


Moreland looked at Louis for a moment. 
"What have the others been saying about me?"

 More unsettlingly, she has attracted intense and inexplicable scrutiny from the peculiar Jacobin of Moreland; a sinister page who seems determined to find out what she is hiding.
 
extract: 
  

Spoiler

 "You both look exhausted," Louis remarks. Then she pauses, "Were you waiting up for me?" Because she believes she already knows the answer to that question, she flops onto a gap on the couch. "You make good friends," she decides out loud.
 
"Excuse me?" Nathaniel raised an eyebrow "that's um, that's- what do you call it" he struggled to speak through a yawn "... Presumptuous."
Daniel merely grinned and shrugged, a shrug that was half-stretch. He looked pleased. 

 Meanwhile, a new set of young Knights struggle to find their footing among the intrigues of court. 
 
All characters belong long to their creators, message or follow me if you're interested in getting involved in this role play. 

 

[Julian Spooner]

Character Profile: Daniel


From an isolated, rural fife, Daniel isn't used to court life or "society", but he fits in well with his fellow pages. Little does he know the plucky, combative page he took a shine to is not quite what he seems. 
 
After several years of training together Daniel, the nervy Nathaniel and Louis (who is a girl in disguise) are close friends. Daniel suspects nothing of his friend's secret. No longer a page, Daniel has been assigned as the squire of Sir Jeremy, a notoriously harsh task-master who is set to test the limits of Daniel's ability and of his cheerful, easygoing nature.
 
Extract introducing Daniel 12-13: 
 
 

Spoiler

One of the boys on the windowsill had been among the earlier arrivals. He lounged against the window with a knee against his chest and the other leg dangling, exuding an air of easy confidence that suggested he was also among the boys who had found their feet quickly among the other pages- who perhaps already had several close friends. The boys skin was sun-tanned and freckled, his curls thick and brown. With his wiry limbs and protruding ears he gave a distinctly monkeyish impression. With his thick-lashed, hazel eyes and mischievous grin he was darling of every nurse, maid and relative who had tried in vain to curb him...

Extract introducing Daniel 15-16:
 

Spoiler

At around fifteen, most of the pages were showing the effects of their training, in their physique and carriage. Daniel, in particular, found himself growing strong and well-built, the kind of figure that mothers call “strapping” with a tear in their eye. With his thick dark curls and the same roguish, hazel eyes he had had as a boy, Daniel found himself- to his surprise and pleasure- drawing the occasional admiring glance from young court ladies. 

 Other info:
 

Spoiler

Age: currently 15-16Rank: SquireFife: Arleigh (not canon) Colours/Crest: Plum and gold Nationality/Ancestry: Tortallan Magic: NoneWeapons: Fennec, a sword inherited from his fatherHorse/Pets: None yetSquired to: Sir Jeremy 

Artists interpretation from user gingira 

 

[Julian Spooner]

Character profile: Nathaniel 


From an old, prestigious, fashionable but financially embarrassed family, Nathaniel has never seemed entirely comfortable with his new role as a knight-in-training. Though, perhaps Nathaniel just never seems comfortable; a somewhat anxious, often rather prickly smart-aleck, Nathaniel relied on his friendship with the confident and friendly Daniel to find a footing among the pages. 
 
Now a squire, Nathaniel seems to have evened out a little, and is close friends with Daniel and Louis (who he does not realise is a girl in disguise). His new knight master is the wry and enigmatic Sir Douglas of Olau.
 
Introduction of Nathaniel 12-13:
 
 

Spoiler

The second boy sat in the same attitude, mirroring him, but somehow did not give same the impression of ease and friendliness. He was a paler, more delicate child, with smooth sandy brown hair, a thin, pointed face and a small, slightly upturned nose. His ears stuck out even further than his companion’s. He glanced every now and then at his companion with large, anxious eyes. 

 
Introduction of Nate 15-16:
 

Spoiler

Nathaniel had grown tall, much taller than he could quite keep up with, and as such he gave the impression of a certain clumsiness. He was broad-shouldered, though, and stronger than his still-lean figure suggested- an excellent runner and rider. His angular features had evened out, though his ears still stuck out a little. There was something rather princely in his sharp cheekbones and smooth, light brown hair. He drew fewer glances from court ladies than Daniel, not that he seemed to mind. 

 (note how Nate is always described after, and in reference to, Daniel. Truly Nate is the real Second Sex) 
 
Other info:
 

Spoiler

Age: 15-16Rank: SquireFife: Elden (not cannon)Colours/Crest: UndecidedNationality/Ancestry: Tortallan Weapons: none yet to speak of, though he has a nice lutePets: a terrier puppy Magic: NoneSquired to: Sir Douglas of Olau