Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom of Gossamer a beautiful princess (is there another kind?) lived in a magnificent (what else?) castle with her Mother the Queen and her Father the King. Gossamer was a small but happy kingdom. Surrounded by mountains to the west and the ocean to the east, as well as being well and wisely ruled, Gossamer had enjoyed peace for many, many years.
The time came for the princess to be betrothed. No small matter, since Gossamer's continued peace and happiness depended on how well she would be ruled. Word was sent far and wide that there would be three traditional contests for the princess' hand: one of strength, one of wisdom and one of temperament. many princes, nobles and even commoners came to take the three tests, but two years passed and no one had passed all three tests.
One day, while Esmeralda, the beautiful princess, and Myrna, her governess, were weaving a messenger came and requested the princess come to the royal court. Myrna made sure Esmeralda was dressed in her finest court clothes and hurried the princess to her parent's court. There Esmeralda saw a handsome young prince with a fine entourage. He was dressed all in blue and gold, but she did not recognize his livery.
Her royal father introduced the handsome prince as Reginald Ducane, prince of Chlug Remassog. He had passed the test of strength, managing to lift a dragon's head and retrieve a golden cloth from beneath (in those days, dragons and men were friends). He had passed the test of wisdom, choosing correctly which unicorn was telling the truth and which was lying about the contents of the chests they protected and retrieving the sapphire from the chest. Now, he had only to face the test of temperament. Since no one else had passed two tests thus far, their Majesties had decided it would be good to have the princess present for the final test.
With Myrna by her side, Esmeralda took her seat, troubled by something she couldn't place her finger on. She watched as the young prince was given two screaming children and told to retrieve the silver chalice the children had hidden. One child complained of being too hot; the other too cold. The Prince wrapped the cold child in his own cloak and fanned the hot child with his own hat. Then they were tired and not tired; the prince dealt patiently with each child. But the more he cared for them, the more demanding and irritable they became and he got no closer to the silver chalice.
The Prince kept his patience all through the day, dealing amiably with the bratty kids (let's call a spade a spade here, shall we?). But as evening started to fall, his patience became strained and his face darkened. One child wanted to play tag and the other wanted to play chess. As patiently as he could manage he set up the chess board for the one and began to chase the other.
But as darkness fell across the grand hall and the servants began to light the candles, something finally occurred to Esmeralda. Quickly, she leapt into the arena and scooped up the child playing chess. She handed the child to Myrna and grabbed the running child as it went by. She handed this child to Myrna as well and turned to face the now angry Prince.
"Chlug Remassog, you say?" Esmeralda asked sweetly.
The Prince bowed graciously, "Indeed, my lady."
"Surely you've misspoken, my lord. Didn't you mean the Land of the Inversions?"
Realizing his disguise had been seen through, the Prince transformed into a huge troll and howled. "Think you've won, do you little miss? In three days time you will disappear from this land and none save true love will find you again!"
With that, the troll disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
Quite predictably, despite all precautions, the Princess did disappear three days later, along with her governess. A huge reward has been offered to whomever can return her safely. The first clue is in that long winded post above - we already know you're gonna go, so it's now up to you to figure out where to look first and get going! Time's a wasting!
Actions?
(You already know each other. You are at the castle and trying to wake back up from the boring story the herald just told.)
The time came for the princess to be betrothed. No small matter, since Gossamer's continued peace and happiness depended on how well she would be ruled. Word was sent far and wide that there would be three traditional contests for the princess' hand: one of strength, one of wisdom and one of temperament. many princes, nobles and even commoners came to take the three tests, but two years passed and no one had passed all three tests.
One day, while Esmeralda, the beautiful princess, and Myrna, her governess, were weaving a messenger came and requested the princess come to the royal court. Myrna made sure Esmeralda was dressed in her finest court clothes and hurried the princess to her parent's court. There Esmeralda saw a handsome young prince with a fine entourage. He was dressed all in blue and gold, but she did not recognize his livery.
Her royal father introduced the handsome prince as Reginald Ducane, prince of Chlug Remassog. He had passed the test of strength, managing to lift a dragon's head and retrieve a golden cloth from beneath (in those days, dragons and men were friends). He had passed the test of wisdom, choosing correctly which unicorn was telling the truth and which was lying about the contents of the chests they protected and retrieving the sapphire from the chest. Now, he had only to face the test of temperament. Since no one else had passed two tests thus far, their Majesties had decided it would be good to have the princess present for the final test.
With Myrna by her side, Esmeralda took her seat, troubled by something she couldn't place her finger on. She watched as the young prince was given two screaming children and told to retrieve the silver chalice the children had hidden. One child complained of being too hot; the other too cold. The Prince wrapped the cold child in his own cloak and fanned the hot child with his own hat. Then they were tired and not tired; the prince dealt patiently with each child. But the more he cared for them, the more demanding and irritable they became and he got no closer to the silver chalice.
The Prince kept his patience all through the day, dealing amiably with the bratty kids (let's call a spade a spade here, shall we?). But as evening started to fall, his patience became strained and his face darkened. One child wanted to play tag and the other wanted to play chess. As patiently as he could manage he set up the chess board for the one and began to chase the other.
But as darkness fell across the grand hall and the servants began to light the candles, something finally occurred to Esmeralda. Quickly, she leapt into the arena and scooped up the child playing chess. She handed the child to Myrna and grabbed the running child as it went by. She handed this child to Myrna as well and turned to face the now angry Prince.
"Chlug Remassog, you say?" Esmeralda asked sweetly.
The Prince bowed graciously, "Indeed, my lady."
"Surely you've misspoken, my lord. Didn't you mean the Land of the Inversions?"
Realizing his disguise had been seen through, the Prince transformed into a huge troll and howled. "Think you've won, do you little miss? In three days time you will disappear from this land and none save true love will find you again!"
With that, the troll disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
Quite predictably, despite all precautions, the Princess did disappear three days later, along with her governess. A huge reward has been offered to whomever can return her safely. The first clue is in that long winded post above - we already know you're gonna go, so it's now up to you to figure out where to look first and get going! Time's a wasting!
Actions?
(You already know each other. You are at the castle and trying to wake back up from the boring story the herald just told.)
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