forum Runaway Groom // REBOOT // Open OxO

Started June 05, 2021 by @Ziggy-loves-Shiggy

tune

All of the nations of old have been forgotten, and the world is now largely ruled by monarchies. Sure, other forms of government are in place, and these monarchies vary greatly in how much power is given to the king or queen. Nonetheless, kingdoms are back, and more majestic than ever.

And then there are the arranged marriages. Awful things, aren't they? They always tell about how some unfortunate young princess is forced to marry some 30+ something year old snot of a "prince" who couldn't find himself a decent woman outside of an arranged contract agreement. They tell the stories where the princess finds a way out of the predicament, whether by fleeing or finding someone else to marry… or sometimes even by killing her husband-to-be.

But what about the princes? It isn't always all peaches and cream for them, either. They aren't always old and desperate creeps, beer-bellied jerks, or prideful little snots. Sometimes they're the unfortunate ones in this arrangement.

Like you. You're definitely the unfortunate one in this arrangement.

You are the only son of the Queen, and your mother is ill. You're in line to become the next king. Your mother is an excellent ruler and has led this kingdom for many years without fail since your father died many years ago, but now that her strength wavers, so does the entire kingdom. The people grow restless, and the economy is slowly falling now that the Queen cannot oversee all of the decisions, and the bumbling idiots beneath her are running this place into the ground. The stress on your mother is only quickening her death, as she frets for the future this kingdom she has sustained for so long— and for you, who will have to rule it when she's gone.

"I don't want to leave you to run a failing kingdom with no support, my love," your mother says to you one day as you're at her bedside. Though her face is creased with worry, you can still see the gentleness and strength in her dark eyes. She reaches for your hand, takes it carefully in her own. "I have made an arrangement with the neighboring kingdom— as they are much wealthier and larger than we are— for you to take their daughter, Princess Zara, to be your wife."

The news shocks you. You are known for being a rather… soft fellow. Quiet. Timid. Certainly not one who would be able to withstand a marriage against someone like Zara. She is only a couple years older than you at the best, but good grief— the woman is known for being a crazy person. Maybe not clinically insane, but mean and bossy and sadistic. You've seen her a few times at special events and balls. She always terrified you, and was always terribly insistent on talking to you. And now, you are going to have to marry her?

Yep. Your mother wearily informs you that there is no other option, and that the marriage is already arranged. Two weeks from now.

And you're not so sure you can go through with it.

Setting: A slightly futurized, mild-fantasy, dystopian setting with a lot of modern-day elements; it is highlighted by the fact that the current governments in place are mostly monarchies.
Rating: Probably safe for ages 13+, but I will put a 16+ warning on it just in case. I tend to expect myself to go darker than I actually do, but we shall see. If you want me to tone it down I definitely can and will.
May contain… Violence, blood, gore, references to mature themes, high-stake scenarios, torture, and negative references to mature, dark, questionable themes (though they will not be recurrent and will only be viewed in a negative light; please ask for clarification if you need to).
Will not contain… Scenes containing sex or rape, (though references to sex/rape and innuendos may be present; please specify if you would like to avoid these altogether), smut or vulgarity, demonic elements, ritualistic abuse, and etc.
Let me know of any triggers in advance, please. I can get quite dark and I do not want to hurt anybody, so please please tell me what bothers you.

Plot:

As you can gather from the blurb above, your character is a timid, quiet young man who is destined to take the throne when his mother dies… which is unfortunately close. In an attempt to save her failing kingdom (and you, from being killed if the kingdom does fall), she has arranged a marriage between you and the princess of a powerful neighboring kingdom. However, the princess is known for being almost nothing like you. She is intelligent (as you also are), but unlike you she is kind of terrifying; you're 99% sure she will destroy you just because she is borderline a psychopath. Not to mention, she's obsessed with you, even if you aren't aware of it yet. She's been hoping to have your hand in marriage since you were both much younger.

So you kind of have a crisis. You're about to be married to a crazy woman and become the king of a kingdom that seems more or less doomed. In a panic, you flee from your kingdom. Maybe you don't intend to come back at all, or maybe you're just looking for a moment to get away. Either way, you meet a stranger in the forest, a conspiracy theorist and rebel against the surrounding kingdoms, and what happens from there… well, it's up for us to find out I suppose.

It's kind of in the style of a "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure." It will be a romance, but who you want to try to have your character end up with will actually be up to you, because I will have a handful of characters to interact with him throughout it. I literally create characters out the wazoo, so look at this entire thing as an open-world, choose your own adventure type thing. Your character runs around and does whatever, meets whoever, and his actions effect every relationship he has as well as the course of the entire RP. He can befriend just about anyone or make enemies with just about anyone.

If anyone is interested in this, I would really love to do it. I've been craving something like this for days.

You're welcome to join. :)

Okay, neato, do you want a writing sample or anything from me?

Nope! It's not necessary unless you just want to. I'm confident that your writing will be good, though, so I'm not worried. Do you prefer to do templates or just jump right in? Due to the fact that I'm going to be using a handful of characters, I will likely not do sign-ups at all, but rather be very descriptive regarding their appearances/behaviors/etc as they appear in the roleplay. If you want to do that, too, that's cool with me, but if you want to use a template to help you for reference, I'm chill with that as well. :)

Okay! I'm willing to link other RPs if you want and I have a few things pre-written I can toss at you if you want for sure evidence that I'll be good for this RP (sorry usually in mine I require them so this is like a toss up akskskdk).
Also I prefer no template or super simple templates because I develop as I write. So it's good with me what you have planned!

Awesome! Yea, if you wanna link, go for it. :) I sometimes require writing samples too, but not always.

And sweet. If you have an idea or inspiration for a starter, you can go ahead whenever you like, or I can post a starter tomorrow. Do you want to start slightly before the prince runs away or when he runs away?

Okay! I'll throw you the pre written one cus it's easier to find https://www.notebook.ai/documents/128614

And I would rather you start just so I have an idea of the setting we're in and such, and probably set in foundation what's going on with his mom, and I can take it in stride tomorrow for sure. It doesn't have to be long, I'm just not so great at starting out RPs. thanks!

(It's sloppy but I was rushed so here it is to get us going ^-^)

The Queen was failing, and so was the entire kingdom.

"Your Majesty," the royal advisor said slowly, her tone tight with stress, "I'm not sure that your decision was… the best call."

Queen Arana rested her weight against the bannister as she looked out over her kingdom; she could hardly stand, even leaning like this. It was a miracle she had made it this long without having to ask one of her personal guards to help her. God, how weak she was. How much she had declined in such a short time.

She glanced at her advisor, offering the younger woman a weak smile. "I've always respected your honesty, Nali," she said slowly, trying to straighten herself. She nearly stumbled, and one of the guards dove to catch her. "But there's— no other choice."

"Maybe you ought to lie down," Nali suggested, her brows tightening with worry.

"Yes. I think you may be right." Queen Arana went limp as two of the guards practically carried her back into her room and placed her gently on the oversized bed. "Nali, I have no choice but to ask for Princess Zara of Kilthan's hand in marriage for my son. If I don't, the entire kingdom is doomed. He is doomed."

Nali shook her head. "But— Zara's reputation—"

"Kilthan is the wealthiest country in the East," the queen interrupted firmly. "The King has been requesting for a marriage between his daughter and the prince for some time now. He will definitely be overjoyed at my request. I know she has quite a reputation, but what are my other choices? If I don't, and I die, you know the riots will begin. The people will tear this kingdom apart, and they'll take my son down with it. You know how many kingdoms have collapsed and revolted in the past few years? How many young kings have been dragged into the street, beaten, and executed horrifically? Maybe you don't recall the King of Ollan, who was only a few years younger than my son. They blamed him for the demise of the kingdom and ripped him limb from limb— literally. I don't want that to happen to my boy. At least with Kilthan supporting him, he'll have a chance." She sighed, laying back against the pillow. Her entire body ached; she could hardly move. "I don't like it either, Nali, but if I have to choose between leaving my only child and this kingdom to burn or arranging a questionable marriage, I can't justify not going with the latter."

Nali's shoulders drooped. "I understand, Your Majesty."

"I'm going to die soon. I just want to know that he is safe, and that he can handle everything that will be left to him." The queen stared at the ceiling. "Please. Someone call him in. I need to speak to him, and tell him about what we've decided."

"Now?" Nali raised her brows.

"Yes, Nali. Now."

(It's perfect, no issue whatsoever!)

Stress. Nothing but stress plagued Egon Halistia's mind as he paced in the peace of his room. He had lived in this room his entire life, learning, watching, and staying silent through twenty-five meticulous years of being the only prince of his kingdom. Now the normal soft, comfortable vibes his dark blue dressed room, with its dark shutters drawn over the ovaline windows were disturbed by his pacing, nervous feet. His hot breath leaving his thin lips heated the room, and a couple drops of sweat moved down his slim nose and high cheekbones.
To anyone on the first look, Egon would have been perfect. His hair was curly and a slick black, with matching dark green eyes that matched his mother's. He had a tall stature with a slim weight to match, and due to him not doing much and not really eating much, he was quite the intelligent man with a soft tongue and wisdom to spare despite his age.
However, soft tongue and intelligence didn't match with what a king needed to be. Especially during a brewing war. Egon through his stress had learned the ins and outs, trying to wrap his head around it to possibly make himself feel better about directly dealing with it. A king needed to be daring, a symbol for his country, just like his mother even in her dying breaths. If he stepped in for her, the kingdom would fall, and Egon was sure of it. The way the people looked at him if he dared to step outside, the way his mother frowned in worry as her last breaths shook her diaphragm, threatening to collapse under her, and the way nobles sneered at him as they passed in the hallways. Surely many people would prefer to be in his situation right now (especially those pesky nobles), wishing for his mother's death, hoping for her to greet her deathbed faster…

But nothing was less attractive right now. Rumors from around town, from messengers, from his mother herself, said that he would be forced into a marriage with a woman who was hot-headed and confident with nothing to lose. She never bowed down from a fight, and she went in swinging with nothing but grit, determination, and nobility.
That's why Egon packed his bags. Before it could be conclusive that he was going to marry such a woman. A life like that would be stressful, make him go to bed with his teeth gritted tight and wake in the morning with his eyes flitting around the castle. He made a small duffle bag for himself, packed with normal t-shirts and jeans, that he planned on using to just sink in somewhere as he escaped for an easier life in the outskirts of the potentially warring countries. A comfortable respite in a cottage somewhere with some books, a couple animals, and ample opportunity to escape nobility and all of its stresses. Alone time, too. Not being pestered by suitors of all sorts, growling journalists, angry working-class citizens… That life sounded good, and he was planning on leaving very soon. His disappearance would be their problem, not his.

(I love Egon already.)

The following days would give Egon all the more reason to flee his kingdom.

The nobles and governments began to bicker amongst themselves as the Queen's strength waned. With her death virtually at the door, they felt that the Prince— as soft-spoken as he was— would be as putty in their hands. When Arana was gone, her bold spirit would die with her; the nobles could easily wrap the poor boy around their finger. Or at least, so they told themselves. They would change laws and regulations as they so pleased, manipulate the new King into giving more power to people in their positions, and essentially run the monarchy. It was brilliant. As long as Zara didn't get to him first, that was.

But they never factored in that Egon might actually leave the kingdom altogether. That would present a new problem entirely.

Meanwhile, the tension within the kingdom and between those surrounding only seemed to grow more intense with each passing moment. Fellow monarchs hated dealing with the aggravating nobles and representatives, the politicians. They preferred the Queen. But the Queen was too busy gasping for breath on her deathbed to speak with them concerning international affairs.

On top of that, it was rumored that Princess Zara was excited for the arrangement and would be travelling in by the end of the week to see Egon (and supposedly his mother, though all knew that she didn't care much for the dying queen) before the wedding.

Things were not looking well.

Each day brought one more foot out the door. That is, if Egon had more than two feet, but figuratively he was basically already out the door by the time he had decided enough was enough. Almost daily as he tried to visit his mother as she was gasping for her last tinges of life, nobles would corner him in the hallways, basically pushing him up against a wall of stress and what it meant to be king. They'd remind him of his responsibilities, almost in a pestering, teasing tone that made Egon feel as if he wasn't quite qualified for kingship.

Ah, and he knew that. The further rumors of just everything going on led to a Friday night escape near the end of the week that one might see on television. He ducked out towards the path of the garden, with his one bag and nothing more, sneaking his lanky form away from the back of the castle and up the path of the courtyard, following it forwards towards the large city. His city was quite dangerous at night, but after he had changed into more casual attire, it would be harder to be seen. He had on a lumpy hoodie with a pair of jeans and tie up shoes that he found in the lost and found of the kitchens. He gripped a small pocket knife he had in his jean pocket as he ran away from the kingdom, running for as long as he could, blind to the direction he was going. He'd stop somewhere he… knew was at least a little safe and call a ride. He had some money on him but not a lot. Just enough to get him out and away. That's all he needed, right?

(Oh! No you're good. ^-^ It was just like something I alluded to in the original prompt, a very rando idea amongst many, that maybe Egon would run into some little conspiracy/rebel guy while on the run, amongst others.)

(So you kind of have a crisis. You're about to be married to a crazy woman and become the king of a kingdom that seems more or less doomed. In a panic, you flee from your kingdom. Maybe you don't intend to come back at all, or maybe you're just looking for a moment to get away. Either way, you meet a stranger in the forest, a conspiracy theorist and rebel against the surrounding kingdoms, and what happens from there… well, it's up for us to find out I suppose.)

((^^ The only part that alludes to this character. They weren't an important part of the prompt, really, just a random idea I had about the way things may go once the prince fled the Kingdom. Of course, there are actually a crap ton of other routes we could go. Like it'd be kind of interesting if an enemy kingdom captured him and were going to try to use him as ransom, but then someone there [whether a guard or another royalty] pities him if he tells them he can't/doesn't want to go back, and then chaos ensues from there when the Queen dies and the kingdom your prince is from spazzes out like "yOu StOlE oUr KiNg," plus the crazy princess chic still wants her marriage, so more or less Prince boy accidentally inadvertantly starts some kind of war— That'd be an interesting route, too. But it can literally go any direction we want. The conspiracy theorist was just an eccentric character I had in mind he could meet at some point on his run, someone who hated the way kingdoms are set up and society in general.))

(Excellent. I'll do the Princess thingy then and you can still write more about Egon escaping the city, yea? Aight aight it's kind sloppy because I'm still tryna get a feel for Zara but she'll be more worked up abt it the longer he's gone)

"What do you mean he's missing?"

"Well— we— that is—" The messenger fumbled for the right words, weight shifting between his feet. Why did he have to be the one to deliver the news to Princess Zara just as she was entering the Kingdom? "I mean he's missing, Majesty." He cleared his throat. "We think he may have left the palace, but we haven't ruled out a kidnapping eith—"

"He left?" Zara's brow furrowed, her lips tugging into a slight frown. "But why? Find him! I need to talk to him."

"We don't know that he left," the messenger explained patiently. "We just can't find any sign of a break-in or struggle, and a few of his belongings are missing. Not many, but a few." Zara started to say something again, but the messenger quickly added, "We're looking, though. We've sent patrols all over the city, and we'll find him soon. Please— I'm sure the Queen would be more than happy for you to stay at the Palace until his return."

"We'd best find him soon; I don't want to delay the wedding any longer than necessary," Zara responded. "And I'm sure he doesn't, either. I don't understand why he'd leave now, of all times—"

"Perhaps the stress of his mother's illness is getting to him." The messenger's expression fell. "It's getting to all of us. Him most, I'm certain."

"Yes, well, we still have to find him. If something happens to his mother while he's away, this kingdom won't have a king or a queen." She paused. She was this close to marrying him; there was no way he was gonna slip away that easily. "Double— no, triple!— the efforts to find him; if there's no word soon, I'll go look for him myself. We can't risk anything happening to him."

(Great!)

Egon and his taxi driver drove in silence as Egon drew his hood and a slim piece of fabric over his mouth and nose for a makeshift mask to protect his identity. A positive of being such a quiet prince who didn't interact much with the townsfolk is the fact that he wouldn't be recognized very well without his "official" prince garb. He looked like a normal, skinny young man in his dark hoodie and pair of shorts with the sneakers he pulled out of his bag and tied on in the car. He tilted his head and watched the buildings run down into suburbs, with swaying comfortable trees that whispered to him past the slow movement of the car, waving to him by the mixed light of the streetlamps and the moon.
The quiet prince was really one for stargazing and astrology, in fact he followed it quite closely the best he could from the castle, which was in the heart of a bright, urbanized city. He pulled the window down the closer they got to the outskirts of the city, letting the fresh air breathe into his lungs and tug at his usually neat hair and the strings of his hoodie. His eyes closed to the fresh smells of urban life and the forest and he slipped away helplessly… until being gently prodded awake about an hour or so later.

"Sir, I brought you to where you wanted to go. There wasn't anyone at an outpost so I had to find another way around, but I hope you're paying me well." The taxi driver grimaced in exhaustion, but offered a smile as Egon stirred awake, rubbing his eyes from under the hood.
"Of course, give me a moment…" Egon finished the transaction with paying the price of the taxi as well as a hefty tip of the rest of the money he brought with him for this exact reason, stepping out of the car. He had been asked to be brought to a quiet, basically ghosttown of a city branching off of his home country, but slipping snug into some protected territories several kingdoms shared and usually fought for. Otherwise known as Egon's new home. He turned around and watched the taxi drive away with a low growl down the rocky path, giving a slight wave and turning to face the darkening trees smiling at him as their leaves glistened with full moon light.