RE: Looking For a Clever Partner
Fandom super-craving!
The Hollows:
- She's a witch nurse without much training in magic. Sure, she can twist a spell or two, but being raised by a human step-father kind of stunted her training. She has stuck mostly to human medicine, but she can patch up a vampire if needed. Her maternal grandmother has just passed away, leaving her a nice house and large garden. She's moved across the country to settle the estate.
He's a pixy buck, young and just starting out. This old witch let him live in her garden and he's building a nice territory. Pretty soon it'll be ready to bring in a bride! The old lady has died though, leaving the property to her granddaughter.
The pair hit it off, She decides to live in the old house and is happy to have his help with the garden while she studies her heritage. The friendship blossoms into a deeper partnership and maybe even something more, but neither one will admit a romantic affection. After all, she's just a lunker and he's a tiny little pixy! Summer comes and he grows anxious to find a mate before autumn sets in. It's just that time of year. She would never think to stop him, but when courtship ends with his wings broken and him near death, she panics and summons the only demon she knows of for help. The demon, a conniving creature named Al, offers her a deal. He can help her twist a curse (he'll even deal with the Aura Smut!) to either make her small of the pixy big, in return for a mark.
The naive witch takes the deal, and forgets to negotiate at all. She only worries about saving the life of her friend, but what happens when their size difference is no longer an excuse, and it's still breeding season?
It's entirely up to us whether she shrinks down to pixy size without wings, or he grows. We could give him a human "make-over" like Jenks, or keep him just a big pixy. I'd like to keep our story separate from the actual series, aside from the overlap with Al. I figure that he somehow worked out the spells that allowed Jenks' time as a human, and just wanted to test the methods out on new people.
Original:
(Medieval/fantasy)
- They're just another raggedy bunch of wanna-be heroes, crossing the world in search of fame and glory. To get to the legendary crypt of great riches the group has to pass through the kingdom of elves. The dignified and solemn immortal realm isn't quite suited for the dusty travelers' coarse humor, but the quest benefits the world so the Elven King welcomes the party into his halls for a banquet. One of the adventurers is a human woman, rough around the edges and prone to starting (and losing) drunken brawls with the dwarves. One of the elven princes (or guardsmen, or nobles) becomes enraptured by her vivacity and the adventure she promises. He offers his services, though he is more skilled and more powerful than the group in every way. He consistently shows himself to be better, albeit softer, than the rest of the adventurers and the begin to regret his presence. Does the elf win the human's heart, or will she come to resent him like the rest of the party?
-A great and powerful king is taking over the land. He is ruthless in his methods, but effective, and it seems all but certain that he will soon rule the world. One of his generals commands a small group of exceedingly powerful knights. Brainwashed from childhood, they are perfectly loyal to the evil king. Or at least it seems that way until several of the most feared knights suddenly defect. Among the defectors is the general's closest friend and most trusted adviser. It's an enormous blow to the general's power base and he is forced to spend the next few years earning his way back into the king's favor.
Just as the general starts to regain some status, one of his underlings sends word of captives after a particularly bloody battle. The enemy soldiers had been led by one of his former knights and the traitor has been captured alive! He hurries to exact his revenge, but is stunned to see his former (and dearly missed) friend standing in the chains.
This one is loosely based on the Death Knight storyline from the Warcraft universe. I'm looking to keep the dark tone as well as the grim fatalism of the evil King's forces.
- The prince and his best friend decide to go out in disguise to see a traveling gypsy festival instead of attending a banquet in honor of the king's new wife. They have a great time, no one even comes close to recognizing them. Towards the end of the night, the prince visits the fortune teller for laughs. She's a pretty young thing, though probably a fraud using her looks to scam a few coins. The men are rich though, and it's all in good fun.
The sorceress reads their fortunes, but grows visibly uncomfortable as she places the cards. Finally, she gives the prince his reading: his father is about to be murdered. She says that the poison will come from his wine, and the prince's step-mother will be the murderer. The prince and his friend laugh the whole thing off as ridiculous and turn to leave. As they walk out of her tent, she stops them in their tracks with "The king is dead, Long live the king."
Now afraid of more people recognizing him, the prince hurries back home. Arriving at the palace, the guards inform him that there was a terrible massacre. Someone had slipped poison into the banquet wine and now most of the nobility is dead. Chilled by the thought that the fortune teller was right, the prince tries to send his friend to bring her back.
- There is a nation ruled entirely by women. Their men are, as a rule, castrated in their youth except the few deemed desirable for breeding purposes. The eunuchs are allowed some degree of independence, but they are second-class citizens at best. The breeding men are somewhere between 'appliance' and 'slave' in the social order.
The queen of this country has taken a foreign wife. The woman is from a more traditionally-structured kingdom and naturally has a difficult time adjusting. The queen decides that she likes her new wife's exotic dark hair and wants a daughter with similar colors. The queen sends out soldiers to find a male of good enough quality to sire a princess. They eventually cross over into a neighboring kingdom, kidnap a man who suits the queen's needs, and bring him back to produce the queen's heir.
This man rebels at first but when the warrior women beat him insensible, he decides to play along until the time is right for escape (he might even be a little intrigued by the task they set before him. What man would rather risk his life than sleep with royalty?). Imagine his surprise when he is presented to the queen's wife and she is just as desperate to escape as he is. The two of them must work together if they ever hope to escape the queen.
-The king of one nation has been conquered by another. He's sending ships laden with jewelry and gold as tribute, but the trip across the ocean is perilous. Pirates take several ships, killing the sailors or setting the ship on fire at sea. One ship is lucky enough to send out a dinghy as it sinks with several men and a small box of gems and beads. The men set off for a string of islands that they know other ships stop at for water. Recovering this treasure for their king will earn them at least a knighthood, so they're eager to get home as soon as possible. As the little lifeboat approaches the islands a storm stirs up the water. The boat is broken up on the rocks, the treasure is lost, and they wash up battered but alive.
After setting up camp, a war party of natives come to visit. They've traded with sailors before so one of the women is able to act as a translator. They tell the shipwrecked (and badly outnumbered and unarmed) men that they are not welcome, but since they've survived so much they won't be killed outright. The natives just won't help them. The translator girl seems unhappy about this, but she relays the information anyway. The next ship is due in five months; if they can survive that long alone, the gods want them to live. The girl gives them a sympathetic smile and says that she hopes the gods will favor them. She has some rather familiar ruby beads woven into her belt.
After the natives leave, the sailors sit and discuss the options. The natives have the treasure, certainly. Returning without the jewels would ruin their reputations as sailors and soldiers for the crown, but they're too outnumbered to take the treasure by force. Asking for it back seems pointless. The situation seems hopeless until one of the older men speaks up: "That pretty girl seemed to want to help. Maybe she can be talked into stealing the loot?". So it's decided that the handsomest sailor will try to seduce her. He has five months to win her over enough that she will rob her people for him, what happens when he starts caring for her instead?
- The King has two children, a son and a daughter both in their twenties, and one bastard daughter just a hair younger. A young lord has been promised to the princess, and he travels to the capitol to meet his bride-to-be and hopefully get in good with the Crown Prince. When he arrives he meets his future wife. She is lovely, but very cold to him. In fact, she seems to hate him. The woman shows herself to be particularly sadistic to her bastard half-sister, an unlanded countess who lives in the palace as a guest of her father. Though this visitor is less than thrilled about his betrothed, everything goes well enough for a while. The crown prince ignores him, for the most part, but the Countess is kind enough to him. She admits to enjoying befriending him, just to spite her sister.
Eventually, the Crown Prince is killed in an accident. The king's health is failing, and he doesn't trust his cruel daughter to rule. He insists on rushing the marriage, effectively naming the young lord his successor. The princess resents her husband even more now that she feels that he's stealing her throne. She refuses his bed outright and can't be coaxed into their joint rooms. Soon after the wedding, the bastard Countess appears in tears at the new prince's bedroom door late at night. Apparently, the king is dying and isn't expected to live through the winter. Once the king is dead, the countess is sure to be exiled or killed. To make matters worse, the princess is planning on killing her husband as soon as her father can no longer force her to marry. It becomes a matter of life and death for these two, and they need to act fast.
-Street urchins don't live long in the capitol, but you've managed to last. You're clever and quick and know just how to keep your head down to avoid trouble. Well, okay, most of the time. Today you weren't so lucky. Maybe you picked his pocket a little too roughly, or borrowed money without being able to pay it back, but this great hulking brute is determined to beat you to a pulp in a rancid, dead-end alley. No problem, you've been beat before and survived it just fine. But the blows keep coming and he's not stopping. Too late, you realize that there's no coming away from this one. You can't escape, and just as you start to black out you hear someone swearing at your attacker. You were so sure the alley was empty, but does it really matter? The beating has stopped! Three figures of varying heights and builds manage to intimidate the bully. The tallest man helps you up while the shortest figure (a young woman, apparently) starts examining the damage. The middle-sized one, wiry and androgynous with his smooth face and short wavy hair, appears to be the leader. he looks you over with a stern expression before nodding to the girl.
"Okay, what did you do?" They all wear fine dark clothes with belts holding various tools. You recognize a set of lockpicks, an expensive glass-cutter, and more than a few knives. These are thieves, and wealthy ones. If you could only get them to take you with them, maybe you could save yourself from a life (and likely death) on the streets.
-You are lucky enough to work as a stable boy at the duke's summer estate. You've lived there your whole life and when you were young you even played with the Duke's children. The older boy was a particular friend of yours, and he was often trailed by his sister. She was a tomboy, younger than you boys by two years and too small for most of your adventures. But she still tried. How many times were you scolded for bringing her back scraped and dusty? How many times did you try to leave her behind, only to see her running after you as she struggled to catch up?
Oh well, sweet summer memories have faded now. The duke hasn't been back to the estate in years and you're a grown man. Second in command of his Lordship's horses, too! Quite the honor! Last you had heard, the duke's son had entered the king's army and was making a grand name for himself. And the little tag-a-long girl? Well, she'd engaged to some rich lord. Poor fellow.
In fact, the little lady is bringing her betrothed to the summer estate soon. She wants to have the wedding here, and there will be months of preparation. What will happen when your annoying little tomboy waif appears as a beautiful woman?
-In a city similar to Paris in the 1750s, revolt is brewing. The common folk are starving in the streets or being used for bloody entertainment for the rich. One idealistic aristocrat has just come into his family's fortune and seeks to use his new power to better the world. His fellow members of the upper-class want nothing to do with it, of course, and undermine his good work by making his lands even more unbearable. They steal food, kidnap women and children, and beat his serfs in the streets while claiming to be sent by the young man himself. The people have finally had enough, and send some of their own into his house with intent to kill.
- Two knights go off to war and make names for themselves through great heroism. The men are closer than brothers, best friends and sword-mates sworn to help and protect each other. After the war is over, the king grants them both lands and titles. The first knight's land is small, but in a fertile valley. He grows rich, marries, and has three healthy sons before his wife passes suddenly. The second knight is given larger lands in the mountains far away in the west. He marries as well, but his lands aren't quite rich enough to supply his wife's expensive tastes. She gives him a daughter, the light of his life, but empties his coffers.
The knights haven't seen each other in twenty years now, but they remember their oaths. The second man is dying, and he knows that his lands will be seized by debt collectors once he's gone. His precious daughter has no dowry left now that her mother has spent it all. The knight writes to his friend and begs him to take the girl under his protection. The first knight agrees. He's always wanted a daughter himself, and the castle could do with a woman's touch. The knight and his sons prepare themselves for a delicate young lady, but when the girl arrives they're shocked. She's headstrong and wild, prone to wandering off into the woods for days at a time and coming back with whatever game she caught. The knight finds this just darling and loves the girl as if she were his own, but the sons are unhappy. How will they 'civilize' this wild woman?
-The son of a lower-class nobleman gets sold into slavery as a way of paying off his elder brother's gambling debt. It happens all the time in poorer families, but this young man is lucky. He's mistakenly listed as a woman, and the Emperor buys him to act as a companion for the eldest of the twin princesses. The new slave arrives without knowing of the mistake. Though less than pleased with the error, the princess agrees to keep him. She is lonely now that her sister has gone away and treats him as an equal. They eventually develop a friendship. The "slave" enjoys status higher than he ever knew at home.
Eventually the 'younger', more rebellious princess returns home from her diplomatic mission to the more hostile forests to the north. She reports of primitive tribes joining forces to make war on the Empire. Laughable, of course, that these tree-dwelling barbarians could think of laying siege to the great city or matching the might of the imperial army. Even with his own daughter warning of horrific magics and grave danger, the emperor laughs her out of his chambers. He is confident that this group of peasants poses no threat.
Fearing for her sister's life, the princess convinces the slave-companion to help her smuggle the Crown Princess away before the hostile horde comes too close.
Modern/fantasy:
- Ah, Halloween! Everyone is in costume and there's a party in every house. A newcomer to the city receives an invitation in the mail to a grand 'Monster Ball' in the old mansion on the hill. Since they have no other plans, they go and find something... Dangerous.
The role of the human could be played by either one of us and the monsters could be just about anything from vampires to crazy cultists.
-Lucky you! You just landed an amazing job scouting some rich bastard's new summer home! Your employer just bought some old castle on a remote island off the French coast and he's asked you to go live there and oversee the renovations. The whole island has maybe five hundred people on it, most of them fishermen or other eccentrics like your boss. The island was used as a plague colony in the past, and has a rather bloody history but that's not going to deter you from such a cushy job, right? Sure, the castle is supposedly haunted, but you've been there weeks now with nothing spookier than creaky floorboards. Well, at least until they tried to put in the garden path.
When the construction crew tries to clear a small hill to put in a fountain, they come upon a very ornate mausoleum sunken into the ground and buried under several feet of dirt. The stonework looks centuries old, so you notify your boss who asks for a full excavation. Ancient tombs, how exciting! The little island fills with strange academics all focused on the slow investigation into this grave. Disturbed by the digging and muttering something about 'restless dead', the native housekeeper leaves. You hire a pretty young girl with remarkably good English to help out, but she seems awfully familiar with the castle layout...
- There are rumors about an old cemetery on the edge of town. People say it's haunted, but the only real information you can get is that something bad is buried in the centuries-old crypt. Either out of curiosity or on a dare, you go to the cemetery at night and manage to break into the crypt. Once down there, you're shocked to see that the place is pretty clean. There isn't much dust, and... Hey, there's music down deeper! You follow the sounds of singing and eventually find a well lit room with bookshelves and a old four-poster bed. And a woman. She turns as you walk into the room and suddenly you understand. This creature isn't human, you're not even sure she's alive!
- Your father is the despotic ruler of a third-world nation that is constantly on the brink of civil rebellion. After sending you, his only son, away to the best schools the world has to offer, you are brought home to begin grooming to take the throne. Though devoted to your family and your father, you begin to suspect that he in, in fact, very insane. He hears a rumor that you are a virgin and, without consulting you at all, presents you with the most lovely woman your homeland can provide. Whether or not you are actually a virgin is immaterial, and you're not so inclined to sleep with this girl. You can't very well insult your father by refusing, so you simply agree to keep your concubine. She tells you of your father's growing madness, and eventually ushers you into the rebellion. There, you learn that she has been a planted assassin this whole time.
Fandoms:
Harry Potter- I have a few plots, and I'm happy to play a canon character or an OC for you. (ask me about my Post-apocalyptic plot! I'm really craving it!)
Avatar; The Last Airbender- I still haven't started Legend of Korra yet, so don't spoil it for me! But again, I'm happy to play OCs or canon characters.
Animorphs- Remember these books? I'd like to play it with the kids being college-age as opposed to high school. Or we could fill in the post-war years. Tobias is my favorite, though OCs are welcome.
Warcraft- Any plot along the storyline is fine, but I really love the Lich King story. Let me play my death knight to your holy-person and I'll be your friend forever!
Anything else:
ASK! Seriously, I'll consider anything you throw at me.
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