RP MEME: MEDIEVAL TIMES

[cerebel]

Pick a scenario, post with your character and roll for the scene. Or just pick. That's cool too.

For the setting:

1) CASTLE. Throne rooms, private chambers, long hallways.
2) TAVERN. Rough-hewn tables, rough-hewn clientele.
3) DUNGEONS. Iron bars, rusty chains, and terrible food.
4) JOUST. The knights of the realm are battling.
5) FIELDS. It's a hard, long day working to grow food.
6) MARKET. There's a well, there are some craftsmen selling things. It's a medieval mall.

And once you've decided the setting, decide your role:

1) ROYALTY. You are a King, Queen, Prince, Princess or close relative.
2) KNIGHT. You are a warrior of the realm.
3) WITCH/WIZARD. Official court magician? Crazy old lady with a lot of herbs? You decide.
4) PEASANT. Yeah, your life sucks.
5) CRAFTSMAN. Blacksmith, woodworker. Apprentice or master is up to you.
6) SERVANT. Your life is utterly devoted to the one you serve.
BONUS: 7) TIME TRAVELER. ???

Comments

Some; 1,6

[i_id]

[It's common knowledge that the local King has a strange servant, a young man from the very far north, according to the locals. He's been here since he was a boy, some say, and only a few years, according to others. Found by fishermen, tangled in their nets says another rumor. There's some truth to that one, though it's mostly popular because of his sleek black hair and round, seal-like eyes. There's actually truth to all of them.

Some is very loyal to the King. And in return he has free reign of the castle, but he does wear a golden collar, and no one has ever seen him pass through the great gates that lead out into the city. But on dark, stormy days like today, he can be found on the battlements, face turned up to the rain like it is the first he has ever seen.]

I love the storms, don't you?

[original_fine]

[The Prince turns to glance at the small man standing near him. His eyes narrow at the familiar tone, but he must be honest. He has been traveling for some time, studying and sowing his wild oats and doing quite well at both activities. Perhaps the servant with the golden collar does not know him, though James has heard scattered stories about him.]

I do.

[Strange. No one else is about--no one else has been attracted by the call of the clouds and the thunder. They work, or huddle, either too busy or too afraid to care.]

They make me think something is happening somewhere.

[i_id]

[He shot him a grin that was all teeth, the rain plastering his black hair smooth to his head.]

The clouds look so much like the sea. I think there must be a shore somewhere, that leads to another world above them.

[original_fine]

[James looks at the man even more closely. The things he says... For one thing, hardly anyone in the castle would dare to just speak to him like this. Second, he didn't think anyone else had thoughts like that.]

Perhaps. I have often wondered what one would find, if one could ride to the very edge of the world.

[i_id]

[He snorted, covering his mouth with a hand, six fingers spread wide and not concealing his smile.]

Well, there is no going back, I can tell you so much.

[original_fine]

Back from...?

[James' eyebrows rise, and he looks at the little man, not sure if he's joking or not.]

Because you'd fall off, you mean.

[i_id]

No, because it's a whole other world, once you get up there. Up here. And you become a whole other person in it.

[original_fine]

[Now he's wondering if the man is mad, and whether he should edge away, lest it prove catching.]

You are... quite the jester. No wonder my father keeps you.

[i_id]

[His turn to raise his eyebrows, and he pushes his wet hair back from his face.]

... You are Prince James, then?

[original_fine]

[The prince's eyes narrow, as he watches the man.]

Of course I am. Who did you think?

[i_id]

All of you look alike to me. My honor to meet you, my lord.

[He bowed low, but once he'd straightened, his posture relaxed again immediately, casual under the still-pouring rain.]

[original_fine]

[The prince stands firm for the bow, still watching the man.]

And whence came you? Really.

[i_id]

Under the sea. In a little ship made of shark-skin and the ribs of drowned sailors, with a sail made of gull wings, on a night with no moon or stars.

[Another shameless grin. He was only repeating the rumors told by the more superstitious locals.]

[original_fine]

[James, however, has traveled. Not widely, but enough to need slightly more than that.]

You tell tales better suited for the fireside.

[i_id]

A fisherman found me, half-drowned on the beach as a child, out on those islands where the seals live.

[No foolishness this time, the straight truth.]

He brought me to his Majesty to ask what might be done.

[original_fine]

[This does engender his interest, and James turns to face him more fully, peering through the rain.]

And what was done?

[i_id]

He had me brought here. And treated. And here I am, three years later, alive and whole.

[He shook his head, as if shaking the bitterness out of that final word.]

A generous man, your father.

[original_fine]

Yes.

[James looks out over the rainswept landscape. His father is just a man, set in his ways, not as educated as his son now is.

He looks back at the collar encircling the man's throat.]

He does seem to favor you.

[i_id]

[He looked back at Jim, then smiled, and tugged the gold circle with a rueful look.]

Maybe if he favored me more, he would take this off.

[original_fine]

[His brow furrows. He is of two minds about this; that the man should be grateful at his good treatment, that not everyone can master his own destiny. But also that his father is a heavy-handed man, who takes his position beyond what it needs to be.]

You would go, then, without that mark of ownership? Attempt your own way in the world?

[i_id]

I might like the choice, I think.

[original_fine]

But you are alone. You have nothing to your name, and not even a name. What would you do?

[i_id]

Oh, starve on a beach somewhere, trying to get home.

[He hopped up onto the narrow wall around the parapet, almost leaning out over the edge to look down at the road far below, and the bluff beyond that crumbled away to the sea. His clothes were soaked through by now, clinging to the skinny frame.]

I did say you can't go back.

[original_fine]

[The man was mad, that much was plain. But James went along with it for now, entertained despite the cold rain.]

Then it seems your quest is pointless.

[i_id]

A quest? I don't know if I'd call it that.

[He spun to look back at James, and teetered on the very edge, arms outstretched to keep his balance.]