A Nation at War

Finally, the day has arrived. The King's brother has attempted a coup, having taken most of the Palace but even now he searches for his nephew. All hope is not lost however, as the young Crown Prince has a loyal but small retinue of retainers and guards. 4 Guards and 2 servants, a total of 7 counting the Prince. He is now faced with a difficult choice of how to proceed. [[Surrender->Surrender]] [[Fight->Fight]] [[Flee->Flee]]

While he stood there in indecision, his uncle's soldiers came across them, numbering 10. The young Prince decides to surrender, he could not, in good conscience, force his loyal retainers to die so that he could live. And so, he orders his men to stand down and he steps forward. His heart aches with fear but still he stands forward. [[He holds his head in resignation and allows himself to be taken away.->Captured]] [[Now that he holds the enemy soldiers' attention, he quickly gives a signal to his four guards to attack.->Surprise Attack]] [[He tries to negotiate with his potential captors, trying to convince them over to his side.->Negotiation]]

The Prince has decided to fight. So, the 4 soldiers at his command immediately set about making a defensable position. They finished just in time as a group of 5 soldiers arrived, there was a few moments of silence as the two groups stare at one another before combat breaks out. n the defended area, only a few of the enemy can attack at any one time, therefore giving the Prince's forces a slight advantage, although stamina won't last long. Two loyal guards fall but the rest of the enemy have been slain. [[Take their armor, hide the bodies, and pretend to be some of the soldiers to sneak out->Sneak Out]] [[Take their armor, hide the bodies, and split up. Have 1 of your loyal men remain behind to spy on the enemy for the future.->Split Up]]

While Fleeing, Prince can choose to do it with all haste possible or with slow speed [[Go with all haste->Fight]] [[Go slowly and carefully->Split Up]]

The Prince is brought before his uncle, separated from his loyal retainers. [[When he is brought before his Uncle, he tries to negotiate.->Uncle Negotiate]] [[When he is brought before his Uncle, he is silent, and just stares at his Uncle in disappointment.->Resignation II]]

The guards commit to a surprise attack on the Prince's signal, managing to take down 3 of the initial 10, leaving 7 left for the 4 loyal guards to face. While they fight, the royal guards doing their best but slowly falling one by one, they shout at the Prince to flee. [[Listen to guards and flee->Sneak Out]] [[Stay and attempt to help, as the Prince has some training->Stay and Fight]]

"Wait! There's no need for violence!" the Prince shouts. [[The Prince says, "Think about it, we are countrymen, why is it we are fighting ourselves, my Uncle. He, in his stubborn pride, refuses to bow. But, we don't need to suffer for his mistakes. Put down your arms."->Appeal to emotion]] [["Hold on, let's try to talk this out. While you outnumber us, capturing us will cost you more lives and also, the lives of my own men. I would rather avoid that so let's talk."->appeal to logic]] [["For now, my uncle holds onto power, but that will not always be so. There are other nobles who share my sentiments and shall support me, and once the nobles that support my Uncle are gone, there will be a vacancy, a vacancy that I'm very willing to fill with those who have proven to be of big help to me."->appeal to greed]]

The Prince and his retinue are able to sneak out of the palace successfully. There is now a new dilema that rests upon the young Prince's shoulders, on how to proceed. [[Discard armor and fancy clothes->Discard]] [[Keep Armor and his clothing->Keep Armor]]

The Prince commands for one of his loyal retainers to stay behind and keep watch on his Uncle while he is away. The Prince also asks him to do whatever is necessary to get into his Uncle's good wishes, even if that means slandering the Prince's name. This is for both of their sakes. [["I wish you the best of luck," the Prince says to his retainer before he leaves.->Sneak Out]]

"Uncle, I don't want the crown. If you want, I can disappear or even publicly endorse you, so that the transition is clean. Whatever it is you want, I shall do it," the Prince offered. [[Dialogue to disappear->Convince II]] [[Dialogue to publicly endorse->Endorsement]]

The Uncle turns away, unable to meet the Crown Prince's gaze. There are a few moments of silence, before he turns and faces him, saying, "You don't understand, I had to do it." He paces a few steps and then says, "I didn't want to do this you know, but I just can't let you take this nation that my brother made and make it weak." [[The Prince doesn't respond, maintaining his gaze on his uncle.->Silent Judgement]] [[The Prince says, "This is the only way for peace, Uncle. I couldn't watch my Father lead this nation down to its death."->Argue with Uncle]]

The Prince remains silent, the Uncle finally shouting, "Say something! Be angry! Be sad! Do something, don't just stand there!" [[The Prince remains silent.->Resignation III]] [[The Prince says, "Well what can I say, what can I do?"->Talk]]

The Uncle sighed. "You were always a kind boy, that's why I cannot trust you with the Crown." "So you mean to go to war, to destroy what my Father created!" the Prince shouted. The Uncle barked, "YES! That's what I mean to do, because it's the only way for some of part of this Kingdom to survive! Peace with the enemy will be an insult to what my brother made!" The Prince shook his head. "What you do will destroy it." The Uncle retorted, "And a slow decay is any better? I would rather die fighting that rotting away as they lord themselves over us." [[Dialogue 1->Angry Arguing ]] [[Dialogue 2->Understanding Argument]]

The Prince continues to remains silent, and the Uncle finally just nods. "Fine. I understand. Just know that I am truly sorry, nephew." The Uncle then stabs the Crown Prince with a knife, the Prince just continuing to stare silently into his eyes, judging him. And, when the Uncle drew away, the Prince collapsed onto the floor and onto his back, doing is best to breath steadily as the life ebbed out of him. A Failed Ending

The Uncle then lets out a dry laugh. "I suppose you're right. There isn't much to be said, is there." He then fell silent. "You do know how this is going to turn out, right?" The Prince nodded. "I know, that's why I'm here. Just, promise me one thing, Uncle." The Uncle looks expectantly at the Prince. The Prince says, "Don't lead our people to destruction, sometimes, we must swallow our pride." The Uncle sighed, but nodded. "I'll try to search for such an alternate solution, but I cannot promise I will find it." The Prince just nodded, and fell to his knees, bearing his neck for his Uncle, who, after a few moments of hesitation, swiftly cut it clean off. A Failed Ending

"You're a fool Uncle, that's why my Father got the crown and not you!" the Prince spat. The Uncle retorted, "And you are weak, unworthy of your Father's name. Had you been strong, we would not be in this situation!" The two men shouted at each other for a few moments more before the Uncle had the guards restrain him, the Uncle saying, "It gives me no pleasure, Nephew, but you must die so that your father's legacy may live." The Prince smirked. "What you're doing is killing two of my father's legacies: me, and his Kingdom. At least I will not be faulted for destroying what my Father created. I wish upon you Uncle, the misfortune of watchign the consequences of your actions. May you live long afterwards, tortured by that knowledge." The Uncle said nothing, grasping the hilt of his sword and then, in one swift slash, cleaved his nephew's head from his shoulders. A Failed Ending

The Prince sighed, took a moment, and said, "Look Uncle, I understand, it irks me too to bend the knee to those oppressors. But, for the sake of our nation's survival, we must kneel before them so that in the future, we can still have a chance to rebel." His Uncle let out a sigh of his own. "I envy you, to be able to have such hope. But you don't know them like I do, you havent seen what they are capable of. There is no other solution. Their power is absolute, the moment we kneel we can never stand as a nation again. At least in this way, we can die standing." The Prince shook his head. "We aren't like the others who knelt, we can and will stand again Uncle, I just ask that you stop this, stop shedding our own blood so we can focus on the true enemy and plan how to kill them instead." The Uncle nodded. "A fair solution, nephew, perhaps you are right." The Prince raised an eyebrow, as the Uncle approached him, a strange expressino on his face. The Uncle then hugged his nephew, before stabbing him in the back with a knife. As the Prince fell to the floor, staring at his Uncle in disbelief and disappointment, the Uncle said, "I'm sorry Nephew, but there is just no other way. Take comfort in the fact that I am likely to join you soon."

His Uncle's soldiers glance at one another with uncertainty, before they finally lowered their weapons. The Prince motioned for his men to do the same, letting out a breath of relief. [["You served my Father to protect this nation, and that is what I want you to do under me. My Uncle is misguided in his stubborness, he will lead our nation to destruction. Join me, so we can stop him."->Convince to Join]] [["I'm not asking you to help me fight my Uncle, just to let me and my retainers go. Let there be no more blood shed today."->Successful Flee]]

The soldiers let down their weapons, the Prince using this chance to say, "I know that the odds are against me. So I won't ask you to gamble your lives on me, just to pretend that you never saw us. Please, that's all I ask." After a few moments, the officer nodded. [["Thank you, I will not forget this." the Prince says as he flees with his retainers.->Successful Flee]]

"Look, I know that supporting me doesn't seem to be the best option, however, life is full of gambles. And, should you bet on me, I will make sure that you don't regret it." the Prince offered. The soldiers discussed it amongst themselves, before their officer spoke, "I'm sorry, my Prince, but your Uncle is in a far better position, it would better suit us to remain loyal, than to gamble on you. I'm sorry my Prince, but I shall have to ask you to surrender your arms." The Prince's face fell, as he gave the order to submit to capture, they couldn't fight back. [["At least let my retainers go, I am the only one you want."->Captured]]

The Prince continued, "My Uncle must be stopped and I can only do that with your help. Please, in memory of my Father, join me so we can protect what he left behind. With you by my side, the others shall be more easily swayed, convince them that we are not the enemies my Uncle wants us to think we are." [[The Prince repeats, "Join me."->Captured]]

The Prince is able to flee with the help of the guards who ignored him. He flees the castle, taking refuge in a sympathetic commoner's home who allows them to change their clothes so that they can more easily flee. As the Prince sees the capital grow smaller over the Horizon, he swears to one day return. A Successful Ending

"Not a half bad idea, nephew," the Uncle mused. "It could increase my legitimacy but still, I don't know if the bons outweigh the cons of keeping you alive." [[Prince can push the issue to try convince further->Convince II]] [[Prince Uses the indecision/distraction to move over to a table that has a pen, potential weapon->Kill Uncle]] [[Give up->Resignation II]]

The Prince joins in the combat, temporarily balancing the odds, enough for both sides to disengage and go back to their defensive positions. [["Join us, let's stop the shedding of more blood. Help me take back the throne from my Uncle."->Failure to Join]] [[Continue Fighting->Fight On]]

The armor and clothing are discarded in favor of more unassuming clothing, provided by a citizen who is paid handsomely to keep quiet. With their new disguises, the Prince and his retinue hitch a ride on a merchant caravan out of the city. They have successfully escaped.

Continuing to use his Uncle's soldier's armor as a disguise, they approach the gates which are patrolled by guards. They manage to bluff their way past the guards and outside the city on an excuse of patrolling the slums outside of it, which is where they flee out into the countryside. A Successful Ending

The Prince gets on his knees. "Please uncle, I truly have no desire for the throne. I just want to live out my life in peace, I am willing to be sent off to the most remote part of the country where you will never have to see me again. Or, you can keep me here so that you can keep an eye on me, I... I just don't want to die Uncle." THe Uncle hesitated, as he saw his nephew kneeling there, willing to concede so much just so that he could live. Finally, he nodded. "Very well, I am not a cruel man. I will give you one of my estates, my servants there shall serve you and keep watch on you, to make sure that you keep your word." The Prince nodded, bowing his head as he clasped his hands as if in prayer. "Thank you Uncle, thank you so much." The Uncle stands his nephew up, his hands on his nephew's shoulders. He said nothing, just straightening his nephew's clothes before he commanded the guards to escort him out and to treat him with respect. Once he was alone, he just looked at a picture of his late brother and sighed. An Alright Ending

The Prince had used his Uncle's monologue to inch closer to the table, eventually grabbing the pen and flipping it, rushing towards his Uncle with the pen finding its way into his Uncle's jugular. As his uncle lay there bleeding out, the Prince fell backwards, throwing the pen away as soldiers surrounded both him and his Uncle, hands on the hilts of their swords. As the Uncle lay there, gurgling his last, the Prince muttered, "I'm sorry Uncle, but I cannot allow you to destroy my Father's legacy." The Prince takes a moment to overcome the surge of emotions he feels, before he takes a breath and takes command. A Successful Ending

The Soldiers refuse to join up, and continue the fight. Numbers are still on their side and finally, all but the Prince and his servants are alive. The Prince is left only with a sword, and he was inflicted with a nonfatal wound to his arm. The soldiers tell him to surrender, to which the Prince [[agrees->Captured]] [[refuses, continues to fight on.->Death]]

With the Prince joining in the fight, and maintaining the momentum, he and his loyal guards prevail, but barely. Now, there is only 1 guard left by his side, the others unfortunately lost their lives. [[Take the armor of his Uncle's soldiers as disguises.->Sneak Out]] [[Take the armor of his Uncle's soldiers as disguises.->Assassination]]

The Prince refuses to surrender, his blade held out. The enemy soldiers engage, the Prince manages to stab one in the chest, but is unable to draw out the sword in time to block the strike from another soldier, which bites him in his side. He grunts and falls to the floor, as his servants cry out, attempting to stem the blood. But, it is too late, and he just lays there, finally passing on. A Failed Ending

Using the armor of his Uncle's soldiers, the Prince and his guard use it to get close to his Uncle. He claims to have word on the Prince, ad so is brought to his Uncle, which is where he stabs his Uncle, taking off his helmet and revealing his identity afterwards, before he takes command of his now deceased-Uncle's soldiers and reclaims the throne. A Successful Ending