[center][h3]The Ainedal Kingdom - Daldun Castle[/h3][/center]

[indent]The night sky was glowing with the flames of the city around them.  Embers sailed into the air and thick smoke clouded up the sky.  The King looked grimly at the sight below, it was over, they had lost the city and soon the castle would meet the same fate.

"To think the war was lost in only a matter of four months."  The King mused with a pained look on his expression.  Their eastern neighbors had suddenly invaded without warning, taking on Ainedal completely by surprise.  By the time they had responded the enemy had already gained a strong foothold by taking over one of the Kingdom's strongest fortresses, thanks to an enemy spy opening up one of the gates to the enemy.  The kingdom had fought to the best of their abilities, but there just hadn't been any time to prepare so in the end, all they had managed was to slow the enemy's advance.

The end was near.  It was only a few hours at best until the castle was breached also.  The king turned from the window and looked at his family.  Before him were the Queen and their two children, twins a mere thirteen years old.  While they were twins, they were fraternal, one boy and one girl.  They both sported worried expressions as they tried to gauge what their father was thinking.

"My Queen, my children.  I've called you here for a very important reason...it is time for you to leave."  The King's face turned hard as he finished his sentence.  The Queen's eyes lowered in resignation from already having guessed what her husband was going to say.  The teenagers' eyes grew wide at the implications.

"But father that cannot be!  Surely there is still a way to beat the enemy back!"  The boy shouted, trying to find some light in the darkness.  The King merely shook his head.

"What do you mean we have to leave!  What about you father!"  The young princess questioned, panic starting to creep into her voice.  The King sighed, knowing it was a questioned that needed an answer.

"I cannot, the enemy needs a convincing victory if we are to prevent further casualties in this war.  If they find I have fled, they will not stop destroying the Kingdom until they have found me.  They must capture the head of state if I am going to be able to protect my people as the loser in this war.  I'll be happy if I at least know you are safe."

Suddenly the door to the room burst open as the captain of the royal guard threw the doors open.  "Forgive me my King!  The enemy has breached the castle wars and are pouring in as we speak!"

"Curse them, we won't even last another hour at this rate!  Hurry captain!  You must take my family and leave through the secret passage at once!"

"But my liege!  As the captain of the guard I cannot just abandon my King!"

"You are doing no sure thing!  You will be protecting my family, my lineage!  There is no greater honor!  Now GO!"  The king commanded of the captain, who became silent in the face of the King's fury at being questioned.  He knew the King was not truly angry with him, he was just becoming desperate because of their situation and the only thing he felt could be done was to save his family.

"At once sire!"  The captain thumped his breastplate with his fist and turned toward the royal family.  "Come we must depart at once."

Tears started to stream down all their faces as the captain started to hustle them away.  The queen put both arms around her children as they started to go, but then, the young princess broke free and rushed toward her father.

"No!  I don't want to leave you father!"  The King tried to keep a straight face, but the sight of his daughter rushing toward him in complete distress broke him down as well.  Before he could stop himself he fell to his knees and hugged his darling girl, as tears flowed from his own eyes and wet her hair with their streams.

"I know...I know, but there is nothing to be done.  Stay strong my dear...I pray you find happiness some day.  Until then, stay strong."

"Your majesty..."  The captain of the guard spoke in almost a whisper, not wanting to intervene in the touching moment but know that time was of the essence.

"Quite right."  The king detached himself from his daughter so the captain could get a grip on her.

"No!  Let me go!  I want to stay!  FATHER!!!"  She screamed as she was dragged from the room.  The last sight she saw of her father was of the King standing alone, wiping his tears and turning his face to stone as the doors closed, one last time.[/indent]

[hr]

The Kingdom fell that night and the royal family fled to Corbin Keep on the western border.  The Borklein Kingdom had successfully captured the king and Ainedal was no more.  Unfortunately that was not the only tragedy that night as in the mad dash to escape, the prince got involved in a carriage accident and lost the use of his legs.

The time is five years later, the twins and their mother have been biding their time in Corbin Keep, waiting for the right opportunity so they could strike back and take back Ainedal from the invaders.  Thankfully the loss of their buffer nation has made their western neighbors quite nervous and talks have been proceeding fairly smoothly with the Lancor Commonwealth for assistance.

[center][h3]Setting[/h3][/center]

[indent]This is a medieval fantasy world, humans being the most common species.  Magic exists but in general is more about one's ability to tap into natural mana sources than innate magical strength.  As such magical applications are somewhat limited, being more supportive than outright destructive in many cases.  Religions are prolific, with many nations having multiple religions sects, though the main religion of the Ainedal Kingdom was that of a monotheistic sect of which the royal family believed in.

The twins are now eighteen years of age and are more than eager to start taking back their kingdom, but they need to find ways to strengthen their standing and gather resources for battle.  They need to try and incite rebellion among their nation to the invaders while courting the Lancor Commonwealth for support in their endeavors.  Due to losing his legs the prince stays at Corbin Keep while trying to bolster their diplomatic ties to the surrounding nations while the princess has been training in war tactics and command.

The stage is set and the war for Ainedal's independence will soon commence.  How will you help their cause?[/indent]

[center][h3]Military Strength[/h3][/center]

[indent]To foster a feeling of progression I'll be adding a sot of stat to the role play.  As we will be starting out as remnants our overall military strength will be rather low.  This can be bolster through story progression by freeing towns, gathering support from other nations, hiring mercenaries, or upgrading our equipment.  This can also be effected by how well we do in military campaigns and the like.  Poor decisions can result in loses of military power.

Now the stat itself is more for story purposes, but if you don't pay attention to it you can land yourself in big trouble.  I'll be putting up several nearby targets at a time with their own military stats.  Take on a large target too soon and the consequences could be dire, but take on only small targets and we might not gain strength fast enough to deal with the enemy when they go on high alert.[/indent]

[center][h3]Character Sheets[/h3][/center]

Feel free to mess with the format how you wish, just include this basic information at least.

[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b] [Description or Picture]
[b]Occupation:[/b] [Lord, mercenary, priest, knight, etc.]
[b]Military Strength:[/b]  [Max of 20.  Someone with a high standing is more likely to have more personal troops, such as a Lord.  Military strength will be based on manpower for convenience sake and will not take skill into account.  1 if by yourself.]
[b]Personal Skills:[/b]  [Skills you have acquired such as swordsmanship, tactics, foraging, metalwork, magic, etc.  Basically anything that could be useful on a campaign.]
[b]Trivia:[/b]  [Whatever you want to add to add a little flare to your character, maybe something that bothers them or a fairly useless but unique skill.]
[b]Biography:[/b]  [At least a paragraph or two.  Don't have to give too much history if you don't want to but should at least explain why they have gotten involved in the conflicts to come.]