12-17-2011, 07:41 AM
USER: - Artsy
SEEKING? - I'm willing to be contacted. Not exactly sure if I want to jump into a roleplay yet, since I still feel a bit new.
OPEN TO CRITIQUE? - Yes. Definite yes.
PROMPT-CODE: Character prompt A, OC, Female
SAMPLE IS AS FOLLOWS:
You are the princess/prince of a small country. You deeply love your country and are willing to do very nearly anything for it - even at the expense of your own wishes and desires...
Quote:
Zhong-Guo is a strong country. You could fit more than three hundred Ilha Formosa's in it, and it still wouldn't be enough. However, Zhong-Guo's lands are mostly countrysides and deserts. Most of its economic and military might was located on the eastern side of the giant nation. Unluckily, Formosa is the closest Eastern neighbor to Zhong, and Zhong has turned it's greedy eyes to conquering it. This is also probably because Formosans speak the same languages as Zhong-Guo(as their ancestors had migrated over the strait long ago) and that they share the same ancestors. However, Formosa refused to give in. They were a proud people and didn't like the way the government of Zhong treated it's own subjects. If they let Zhong-Guo take over, it would mean an end to freedom and their happiness.
Luckily, the other nations, those that are not all too threatened by Zhong, threatened to come to Formosa's aid should Zhong attack her. That was a promise made by the great country Mae-Guo.
However, while Zhong-Guo cannot directly attack Ilha Formosa, it did everything in it power to isolate it, politically and economically. Ilha struck back by working it's hardest to make connections based on business, but it wasn't enough.
Mulan squinted her eyes as she pulled out a silk hankerchief. "Why do they have to bully us so?" she muttered angrily ",if the situation was reversed, you wouldn't see Formosa trying to hurt Zhong." She used the handkerchief to polish the sword that she had been hiding under her bed. The blade gleamed under her care. It had a jade dragon flying across the middle of the blade. A decoration for luck, but this sword was more than a decorative sword. It was forged for her dearly beloved uncle, the former King of Formosa, who died in the last conflict between the Formosa and Zhong-Guo. Her father, who was the second prince, did not take the responsibility of the throne well, as he never expected his stronger elder brother to die and leave the throne vacant. Her father was brought up to serve as a helper to his brother, his King, not to actually take the throne himself. His grief was felt throughout the country and it demoraled the people. Zhong-Guo was forging more political ties into Formosa. Worming into their weaknesses. Who knows how many spies were already in the palace?
Mulan finished polishing the sword, and took delicate care in tying the red tassel. Of course, the sword wasn't supposed to be with her. It was supposed to be with her younger brother, the crown prince, but she had managed to take it away from him easily. He was but a child, of only nine years. His interests laid in his studies, which was good, since he would need knowledge when he grows old enough for the throne. Mulan reminisced on how, when her brother was a smaller child and had time to play, he would come up with her and go 'hey, guess what? Guess what I learned today!" and then spout off a list of annoying facts about whatever he had been learning. Mulan used to hate it when he did that, but now she missed it. Her brother has grown more distant and so has her mother. Her mother dotes on her little brother, but she also loved Mulan. Just not with the same strength that her little brother is loved with.
Mulan is the eldest, the crown princesss. As a princess, she would normally be expected to marry the crown prince of another country. A marriage that would strengthen the diplomatic, military or economic ties with another nation. However, thanks to Formosa's political isolation, there is no country other than Zhong-Guo that is willing to open up to a marriage contract. When Mulan was a child, her father had opened up talks to marry her into Zhong-Guo's royal family, the Zhong.
However, they only agreed to let her marry the second prince. The second! It was a direct insult and her father closed negotiations. Now Mulan was just destined to remain single. She couldn't marry anyone of lower ranking, and there was no royals in the world that would take her. At least, none that were approved by her father's council. When she had been more rebellious, Mulan had asked her father to let her become the country's first Queen regent, but her father refused. The people would not like it and other countries would look down on this, he had said.
So Mulan mainly spent her time outside of the court. It was tiring and tortuous to remain there, in the ladies' circle. There, the only thing noble ladies really talked about were 'who's betrothed to whom, who was the hottest young noble, who was the richest available bacheler, who was wearing what, scandalous affairs, new clothes, what their fathers just did' and so on. Mulan used to be interested in them. Interested in fashion, in the young noblemen, and what was happening around the court. But then she fell in love.
A famous swordsman had traveled from Zhong-Guo to meet her father. During the meeting, as entertainment, the swordsman showed off a few sword dances. Mulan was present at the time was was entranced with it. She was angry, that Zhong-Guo has such a fine military and that they probably had thousands more swordsmen as good as this one. But she was also hyptnotized by the beauty of the blade, the deadliness of it, the strength and precision needed to weild it.
"I want to be able to do that" she had thought. So she acted on that whim. She went to her little brother, who had her uncle's sword. He lent it to her but warned her to take care of it. She wore her brother's combat clothes, which was dusty from not being used(ever) and at least five sizes too small. What was supposed to come at his ankle, only barely reached her mid-calf and what reached his wrists, only reached her elbow. Thankfully, Mulan was thin enough for the shirt to barely fit around her torso.
She took the sword and practiced swinging with it in her private garden. The sword went out of control with every swing. Her arms and upper body was pulled along whenever the sword lunged. But she was learning how to use it. Instinctively, she practiced her grip and while her swings were still wild, she was no longer pulled along with the sword. While Mulan had thought that she was doing fine, a nearby watcher had not. She heard laughter and turned around with the sword raised. "Who are you!" she demanded. A man in the outfit of a palace night-guard stepped up, his face slightly grinning. "Tong-Li, a night-guard, your majesty," he said, before bowing.
"..And what were you doing in my garden?" Mulan asked.
"I was patrolling, and I couldn't help but noticed your practice and decided to watch."
"You didn't make your presence known and I checked for the night patrol, you are a fake!" she charged at the man with her sword, intending to cut him down. Despite his kneeling postion, the man quickly brought out a sword to defend Mulan's strike. Mulan was stunned by his speed. Their swords met with a clang. The man slowly rose up until he was standing and looked down at Mulan with a gaze of a cat playing with a tiny mouse. He seemed to be completely at ease.
"..who are you really?"
"And if I choose to not answer?"
"Then I demand it with the authority that is rightly held by the Crown Princess. Now answer me, commoner!" Mulan spat angrily.
"Fine. I'm a thief. You see that jade orchid over there? Well, say good-bye to it, princess. This is the last time you're going to see it."
Mulan flushed. That orchid was a gift from the palace gardener! And it was a lovely addition to her garden too! She glared at the man, who stared back cooly.
"Why is a man of your skill...resorting to being a petty thief?" she asked.
"Well, that flower is almost one-of-a-kind. I'm actually here because I already have a buyer lined up for it." he said.
"So you rob for money?" she removed her sword from his and backed off two steps, but she still held the sword in his direction.
"Of course I rob for money. What else is worth it?" he laughed at her ", besides a pretty girl like you, of course. Maybe I'll steal you away too."
"You can try," she said, taking in her intruder ", but you will be cut."
"Ahaha...ok then," he sheathed his sword and turned away. "In that case, I'll just be grabbing this flower and be gone." Mulan couldn't help but notice that his sword was very high quality. Stolen, probably. But he was strong. He had to be cunning and quite too, to get this far into the palace. There were things to be learned from this man. The thief picked out the orchid.
"Wait!" Mulan said in a hushed but urgent tone.
"..what?" said the thief. He looked like he wanted to leave.
"I can pay you," she said.
"..what?! For your own flower?" he replied in an incredulous voice. Then his face appeared thoughtful. "Well, sure then, if your price is high enou--"
"No. I don't want the stupid flower, you can have it," Mulan interjected ",what I want is lessons. Sword lessons. And I can pay very well." Without waiting for his reply, she ran into her compartment, to her drawers, which had her jewelbox. She hastily grabbed a necklace in the dark and ran back out to her garden.
The thief was still there. She held out the necklace and he came closer to take it. In the moonlight, Mulan could now see that it was a turquoise and gold necklace. It would hurt to lose it, but she had plenty of other necklaces to use.
The stranger whistled quietly. "This is more costly than the flower," he said, more or less to himself. He turned to her while stuffing the necklace down his shirt. "I'll be accepting this. But only a bribe to come here again. To pay for my lessons," he said ",you'll have to give me ten necklaces."
While Mulan was a very sheltered princess, she knew what things were worth and when she was being taken advantaged of.
"No," she said ",this is payment for tomorrow's lesson. I will give you a piece of jewelry for every lesson. Good-bye now." Mulan left without looking for an answer from the man.
He will be here tonight, she thought, sitting on her private veranda, a thief hungers for money. He will be back for more wealth. She waited by the candlelight. The night patrol has already checked on her area and had left a while ago. She has already used up two candles while waiting, and this was her third one. A rustle of leaves came as someone arrived from her left side. Mulan smiled.
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This is just an entry to show how Mulan's private training began. I would have her later run away to join the army and then being sent to Zhong-Guo as a representative and on and on.
Edit: oh man, its been a while since I rp'd. The mulan story is based on the story concept that I thought up a while ago, but now its finally coming into fruition. Maybe I should start roleplaying again. To better my writing skills. Or to just unleash whatever imaginative juice I have. :DDD I'm sorta pleased with myself, for coming up with such a detailed entry. Never thought that I had it in me.
Last edited by Artsy; 12-17-2011 at 07:49 AM..
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