Bastion App

[heroofbrightwall]

Player name: Rinjii or Linz
Age: Old. -_-
Contact: Plurk: MissRinjii
Other characters: Abe no Seimei

Character name: The Prince ( named Rowan for the purposes of rp )
Series: Pure Good route Fable III
Canon point: Post game.

Summary: History - Rowan's very early history is hardly mentioned, free as it was from tragedy or complication up until the death of his father, the former King of Albion, and even then his life remained largely unchanged afterwards as his elder brother loved and raised him just as carefully with assistance from their manservant, Jasper, and the old weaponsmaster, Sir Walter Beck.

The true complexities of Rowan's life began long before he was born, over fifty years ago when his father was a woman and saving all of Albion from destruction. Rowan's father was once a young woman named Sparrow who lived in the cold streets of Bowerstone with her older sister Rose. Two young orphans, hopeful for better things, bought a supposedly magic music box and made a wish to go to the grand home of Lord Lucien, the local noble in Fairfax Castle. Their wish was granted, though tragically only because Lord Lucien believed them to have the blood of Heroes, which he needed in order to complete his mission of building the Tattered Spire off the coast of Albion that he would later attempt to use to resurrect his dead wife and daughter.

Lucien killed Rose with a single shot, then fired upon Sparrow who fell through the window behind her and into the streets below. Broken and near death she was found by the blind seer, Theresa, who took her to live with the gypsy folk outside of Bowerstone. Ten years passed and Sparrow grew up, then began her quest to stop Lucien and avenge her sister. Its took many years of struggle and hardship, meeting other Heroes and even being imprisoned in the Tattered Spire for another ten years, brutally tortured and pushed to unspeakable acts merely to survive. In the end, with the help of the other Heroes Hammer, Garth and Reaver, Sparrow stopped Lucien, saved Albion, and was elevated to ruler of the realm, leaving the Tattered Spire in the hands of Theresa. The other Heroes went their separate ways while Sparrow traveled her country and went about ensuring its safety. While exploring Fairfax Castle Sparrow became locked in an underground chamber and was made to believe - wrongly - that she could not escape without drinking an elixir held therein. The brew turned out to be a Potion of Transmogrification that turned Sparrow from a she into a he. It was a difficult adjustment for her, though the castle staff were entirely indifferent, as were the people of Albion. King or Queen, it hardly mattered.

It was never confirmed if Sparrow had children of his own or adopted them - considering his own extraordinary circumstances of leadership it wasn't a matter for debate, suffice to say he did not have a queen. His choice of heirs was merely accepted, and he raised his sons with love and compassion. Logan grew up strong and beloved by all, known for his heroism and adventures exploring distant lands while Rowan was a sweet child, the castle favorite and renowned for his kindness with the castle staff. Sparrow ruled for nearly fifty years before passing at last, leaving Logan to raise Rowan.

Upon returning from his last adventure overseas, Logan began a slow descent into paranoia and cruelty spawned by events in the distant land of Aurora that he disclosed to no one, not even his dear brother Rowan. Despite his steady mental decline Logan managed to run the kingdom - albeit as a tyrant - and keep the ugliness of his actions from his younger brother. Logan went to great effort to maintain Rowan's childhood as long as possible, but eventually even Rowan fell victim to Logan's increased obsession with perceived betrayals.

At seventeen years of age, Rowan was finally forced to confront his brother's illness, forced to decide between saving the life of his childhood friend or a group of rioters outside the castle. If he did not choose himself, Logan would execute them all. Rowan chose his friend Elise over the strangers, and she judged him harshly for it. It was the worst thing that had ever happened in Rowan's life, and sparked the events that lead to the young prince becoming leader of a revolution, usurper of the throne and the savior of all Albion.

All of the events from the day he left the castle to the day he saved Albion are outlined here.

After being crowned king, Rowan was forced to make many decisions in regards to the care of Albion and the state of the treasury. Money was suddenly of very little issue to the kingdom since while Logan was crusading against his own people, Rowan had been buying homes and remodeling them, then renting them out and using the profits to buy businesses. In the years he traveled and fought, he amassed a sizable wealth of his own and donated all of it to the kingdom once he was crowned.

This did not mean his tasks were simple or that his decisions could not weigh heavily on the state of the nation.

Choosing to pardon Logan for his crimes against the country was not a popular idea, but better for the safety of Albion. With Logan still alive, he pledged himself and his sizable army to your cause, adding much needed and already very skilled knights to the collection of mercenaries bought by sparing the mercenary leader, Saker. After judging Logan - an entirely personal task by comparison to the rest - Rowan is hurried into his next rulings, one after the other, to ensure the readiness of Albion for attack.

Lowering the taxes means raising the moral of the people and ensuring they take to Rowan as the new king, but also puts pressure on the treasury with a decrease of income. Logan's taxes were so astronomical by comparison, however, that there seemed no reason not to lower them.

When faced with the decision to build a school in the old factory or reinstate child labor, Rowan demanded a school be built. There was simply no question to it. Reaver renovated the building, and abolishing child labor ensured the loyalty of Page, leader of the Bowerstone Resistance.

The proposal to rebuild the Old Quarter, which was destroyed in the revolt against Logan, took more debate than some things. Leaving it would mean more immediate funds accessible for other parts of the war effort. It meant that people were busy elsewhere on other tasks and it was certainly a powerful image to come upon as testimony to the might of the Resistance. However Rowan decided that the long term ramifications of leaving it in ruins were more negative than anything. Many citizens of Albion were without homes, and many businesses were destroyed. By rebuilding the Old Quarter, Rowan rejuvenated the area, started turning profits from the city again and in time the rebuilding would pay for itself in citizen productivity.

Deciding the guard budget for Albion was a non-issue. Without well-trained and funded policing, Albion would destroy itself from the inside out. Under Logan's rule and his refusal to siphon money into the city guard, theft, rape, murder and other crimes had sky-rocketed, and organized crime was taking a solid foothold. Rowan wanted his people safe from the Darkness, but if he couldn't even protect them from petty criminals, what was the point of it all?

When it came time to decide the fate of Aurora, Rowan felt honor bound to extend his help to the distant country. It was a costly effort and Rowan could have abandoned the desert folk to tend to his own people, but they had rescued him, nursed Walter to health and suffered the torments of the Darkness for years already. As the front line against the coming war, Aurora was a prime staging point. Rebuilt and properly protected, it could later prove a valuable asset in trade. The long term benefits were reasonable enough, but the immediate benefit was the Auroran leader, Kalin, and her army. While not very large, they were very skilled and had already proven their worth in the battle against Logan. In the end Rowan chose to accept Aurora as a territory of Albion, thereby extending his rule across the globe and ensuring Kalin's loyalty and arms.

Gaining the Auroran diamond for the treasury, as well as the silver statue, were more like pleasant distractions from his duty to the throne than anything else. Donating them to the kingdom was simply a gesture of generosity as keeping them would serve no purpose.

Child benefits were abolished under Logan's rule. While it seemed an extraordinarily large expenditure to reinstate child benefits, the future of a kingdom is based on the health and welfare of its youngest generations. Hobson had suggested actually charging people for having children. The idea was repugnant enough to make the choice easy. As such, the morale of the people increased right along with the health and education of the youth.

The choice to renovate the old shelter and orphanage for the less fortunate seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea until Reaver suggested turning it into a whorehouse. Interestingly enough, the idea of a whorehouse seemed a popular idea and would create enormous revenue. When it was made clear, however, that it could not be both a whorehouse and an orphanage, Rowan chose to renovate it as a shelter and orphanage alone. The children and homeless were more important than the wasteful entertainment of the populace.

When Reaver expressed concerned over the waste issue in Bowerstone, Rowan was all too ready to agree - he had traveled in the sewers beneath the city and experienced the disgusting environment of the industrial sector. Reaver suggested doing something about it, though his option was to dump the sewage in the swampy forest of Mourningwood, which was considered largely uninhabitable anyways. However there was a small community there that represented itself fairly and counter-proposed a sewage reclamation facility. Rowan liked this idea much better and the cost of building one was not terribly steep. Never mind that he had property in Mourningwood that he wanted to preserve. The end result was happy people in Bowerstone and Mourningwood, as well as cleaner air and streets.

The crime lord Nigel Ferret was causing trouble in Bowerstone and Rowan went to deal with it directly himself, having previously dealt with the man and had him slip the noose. Decimating Ferret's gang and imprisoning the criminal was only right. When the man offered a bribe in return for his freedom, the insult alone would have been enough to turn it down, but Rowan wanted his streets free of bad news like Nigel Ferret. Without the man there to organize criminal activity the city morale and safety improved and Page was even more grateful.

Under Logan's reign there was a strict limit placed on the amount of alcohol citizens of Albion were allowed to buy. rowan had the choice of leaving the limit in place, putting a ban on alcohol entirely, or doing away with the limit. While not a drinker himself and seeing no good reason for people to imbibe, the people of Albion deserved the freedom to choose for themselves and the popular vote was in favor of lifting the limit so Rowan did away with it. In return his reputation became more favorable with the smallfolk, garnering greater loyalty and increasing patriotism.

Not one for breaking promises in the first place, Rowan was intending to do nothing less than open the Brightwall Academy to the public once again. Reaver, however, suggested that the academy require a tuition to attend. While it seemed like a good way to create revenue and still educate the populace, the unfortunate result would be that only the wealthy could attend. In the end Rowan chose what was better for Albion in the long term - educated smallfolk were likely to be significantly more productive and most certainly would be able to begin applying themselves to things other than farming alone. As a result Rowan's popularity with the people increased, and the academy entertained an immediate influx of hopeful scholars-to-be.

In effort to procure more funds for the treasury, Reaver proposed draining Bower lake and mining the area, turning it into a quarry. While the area was indeed rich in resources and a quarry could open a profitable avenue for Albion, Rowan chose to preserve the natural beauty of the area in favor of the counter argument presented by the Albion Historical Society. Aside from the fact that local property value would drop, Bower Lake was where the former King, Rowan's father, had grown up, raised by the gypsies that had once populated the area. As a matter of respect, Rowan chose to leave it unchanged.

Logan's policies always kept Albion on the brink of bankruptcy and the panic caused by the knowledge of the coming Darkness only made things worse. With the economy in crisis and the final days before the invasion drawing near, Rowan had two choices - let the economy collapse or bail out the economy with money from the treasury. Considering the castle treasury was doing quite fine for itself and a shattered economy would serve no one if Albion survived the war, Rowan chose to funnel money into the kingdom and keep businesses afloat as long as possible. This served to calm the people, provide basic needs and kept the panic to a dull rumble instead of letting it careen into chaos.

Since Aurora was already constantly battered by the Darkness on a nightly basis and their numbers were greatly depleted, Kalin, the leader of the Aurorans, proposed that a guardpost be posted in the Shifting Sands desert in order to warn the people ahead of time of any oncoming attacks. Reaver countered that Aurora was a lost cause and posting soldiers in the desert was suicide. As the first line of defense against the Darkness, Rowan felt it only reasonable to station a unit in the desert so that when the time came, the survivors could evacuate. No life was any life important than the next, and Kalin's maintained loyalty was invaluable.

The last royal order of business Rowan was left to make before the Darkness arrived was what to do about the leader of the Dwellers, Sabine, and his claim to the mountains of Mistpeak. As the first people to offer aid to Rowan when he left the castle, his promises to them were the most important of all. They wanted nothing from the king but the rights to their ancestral homeland. While Reaver suggested building a logging camp in the mountains, Rowan chose to give the land to the Dwellers. If they wanted a logging camp, they would built it themselves - Rowan would not be responsible for uprooting the mountain folk.

In the end, Rowan's decisions made him a popular monarch. They solidified his alliances, kept the people safe and secure and improved the overall quality of the entire kingdom. With money constantly coming in from healthy businesses and people spending comfortably, the treasury never lacked for funds. When the time came to fight the darkness at last, Rowan and all of Albion were well prepared. All the money in the treasury was made available to the war effort and with the people so loyal to Rowan, there was absolutely no lack of willing and dedicated soldiers.

Albion defeated the Darkness, and nearly every man, woman and child survived because of Rowan's generosity and heroic efforts. Once the war was over and Rowan's old friend and mentor Sir Walter Beck was properly mourned, all that was left was to run the kingdom, survey the land, and hope that he could have a reign of peace as long as his father's had been.

Personality - Rowan is nothing if not compassionate. Raised by royals who came from humble beginnings as witnessed in the events of Fable II, he understands the plights and suffrage of others better than many nobles his age and acts accordingly.

Aside from his natural compassion and giving nature Rowan is a happy, summer child. He smiles easily and jests comfortably with others whether noble or farmer, a fine example being his cordial relations with his servant, Jasper or his long time friends, Elise. There is not a class system in Rowan's mind, merely occupations that put people in places of higher authority. Being King is not a matter of blood or station to him, it is a matter of himself being "the one for the job". He displays such qualities through his interactions with the castle staff, such as his encouraging words to the frightened workers in the kitchens. Because of his open nature and inherent honesty people often dismiss Rowan as childish and naive. Logan remarks on this quite directly. This is only further compounded by his pleasure in simple joys and his obvious innocence. Raised by doting parents and fiercely protected by his brother up until the last years of Logan's rule, Rowan faced very few hardships and as such, never developed the sort of "hardness" present in many among the ruling class. He is more than willing to stop in the street and play a game of pat-a-cake, comfort a sobbing woman or carry a crate for a tired man. These activities are constantly witnessed throughout the game when one chooses good interactions over evil. Many people consider him naive for his simple views; he considers them jaded for being unable to find pleasure in small things.

His choices are guided by his personal experiences coupled with knowing what is right, though not always easy ( or more accurately because its either good or evil, and if you're choosing the good path, you choose the "right" deeds). Often in his life Rowan has been faced with choices where the outcome would have been the same whatever he decided, but the options were either to make it easier on himself and more difficult on others, or difficult for himself and easier on those he is responsible for. Whenever a ruling has to be made, Rowan does what he knows is best for the people, regardless of the complications he is certain to face as a consequence. He would always rather take weight onto his own shoulders and see to the comfort of Albion and her people. The strain of his decisions is reflected over time in the gradual change of his complexion.

Often at great risk to himself Rowan is willing to face enormous challenges to prevent others from being endangered. This is not exclusive to those he knows well; strangers of all sorts have asked for aid and received it for no other reason than Rowan could not sleep knowing someone less suited to the task was carrying it out ( or because game mechanics say the hero is always heroic). He stands by his decisions and brooks no argument from his advisers once the order has been issued. He lives largely free of guilt and regret ( highlighted by the increasingly "angelic" appearance he gains making good decisions including skin becoming glittery, hair and eyes glowing and elegant pearl-colored scroll-work appearing on his skin ) because he travels the righteous path no matter how hard the uphill climb may be, but this does not mean he never has moments of weakness.

Like all men Rowan is fallible and at times he questions the long term effects of his decrees ( evidenced in his highly expressive gestures and facial expressions, though it is largely supposition - he only directly questions his options openly once ). He knows what is right and what is best for his kingdom, but he often wonders what his life could be like were he anyone else. He loves his realm and its people though he regularly wishes for the freedom to travel and adventure ( and chooses to do so regularly when he could just send one of his soldiers instead ). Saving an entire country and all of the people within it is no small task; he has earned his place of power, but it has chained him to a throne he never wanted ( formerly he had been perfectly content to have Logan as king, until others insisted Logan was going mad and not suited for the position at all ). It has estranged him from his only family that he loved dearly and has limited him in his ability to live his life freely. He does not regret leading a revolution and freeing Albion from tyranny, he simply longs to be the child of so many years ago before responsibility, honor and duty became his core principles ( as evidenced in his final words to a dying Sir Walter Beck, as he weeps over his fallen friend and they reflect together on Rowan having been a child with hopes and dreams of being a Hero, not a king ).
As his decisions are important in defining what sort of person he is, here is a list of the choices Rowan had to make of the course of his life.

Before leaving the castle Rowan's only close relationships were with his brother Logan, his valet Jasper, the weaponsmaster Sir Walter Beck and his childhood friend Elise.

Without a father-figure in his life Rowan looked to those men that fit the role and found what he needed in Walter. The grizzled old war veteran was firm but kind, and taught Rowan a great deal about war, defending himself, treating people as he wished to be treated and everything else necessary for being a ruler one could respect.

Logan was a protector and guardian for most of Rowan's life up until his madness took hold of him at last and made him lash out at his brother. Even though Logan was in steady mental decline for the past seven years prior to Rowan's departure, he still managed to raise and protect his little brother, and keep him from the worst of the world.

Jasper was a friend more than a servant, ever there for humorous encouragement or necessary reprimand on the matters of manners and etiquette. Even after leaving the castle, Jasper remained loyal and tended to Rowan's needs, ensuring the young prince would want for nothing, so long as Jasper had a say.

Elise and Rowan grew up together, prince and noble. While there isn't much said about their relationship in terms of years and activities, its indicated that they were always very close, getting into trouble together. If Elise is spared instead of the rioters, she grows quite furious over the prince's decision and you do not see her again for a long time. When you happen to meet again, she is engaged to be married to someone and you can either encourage her to go through with it as her friend, or steal her away as a closure to a romantic interest. Either way, she returns to being the prince's close friend and as always before, supports him in his endeavors.

Theresa the Blind Seer is a well known prophetess in Albion from a time long-forgotten. A guide to Rowan and Logan's father and one who helped raise the late monarch, she is much respected in the royal family. When she appeared and told Rowan that Logan was mad and unfit to be king, he accepted the uncomfortable truth and agreed to follow her lead on the road to rule. Throughout his meteoric rise to leading the revolution, Theresa was there every step of the way, reminding him always to be grateful for those that helped him and offering advice in his tasks. She is ever a calm voice of reason, urging him onward to greater acts of heroism.

Sabine, the leader of the Dwellers, was a crusty old man, cocky and full of fiery passion. Above all, his main concern was ever the safety and health of his people. At first he did not trust Rowan and refused to aid him, forcing the prince to endure several tasks to earn his assistance. Pushing Rowan to prove himself gave the prince an opportunity to learn just what kind of person he wanted to be. The Dweller's had been harried constantly by the mercenary band lead by a surly giant of a man named Saker. Given the choice to kill Saker or spare him, Rowan gained two allies in one pass by sparing the man and stopping the mercenary raids on the Dwellers. Sabine's constant enthusiasm for progress and the coming wars inspired Rowan to keep pressing forward, even though he was very unaccustomed to so much work and danger.

Major Swift and Ben Finn, two soldiers at Fort Mourningwood, taught Rowan the value of good leadership, integrity under fire, honor and duty. They encouraged the prince to get to know the men fighting for the country, helped him learn the ropes in a foxhole, so to speak, and were the first of the royal army to pledge allegiance to Rowan, defecting from Logan's militia. When Major Swift was later publicly executed as a war criminal without ever turning over the rest of the resistance, Rowan learned his most valuable lesson about what kind of dedication and loyalty he could inspire in others.

Page, leader of the Bowerstone Resistance, was a strong-willed and hard-hearted woman that hated Logan and distrusted Rowan immediately simply for his association with the king. despite her harsh manners and complete disrespect towards royalty, she proved to have nothing but Albion's bet interests in mind. When she needed help and there was no one but Rowan there to offer it, she took it. Their success in her mission led to her reconsidering her position on the young hero. Page taught the prince about the people that suffered in the darkest parts of Albion. She taught him about doing the right thing, no matter how high the odds were stacked against you, and most of all she taught him that a king is nothing without his people.

The leader of the Aurorans taught Rowan some of his hardest lessons in life. While others imparted to the prince practical things good for virtually any walk of life, Kalin gave Rowan a glimpse into himself. The calm, quiet, sad survivor of a lifetime of torment under the attacks of the Darkness showed the prince what he was and what he had become over the years. She showed him Aurora, a country of people bent but not yet broken, and she showed him what his years of struggle had bought him in strength of heart and soul above all else. Despite suffering so much for so long, Kalin and her people trusted Rowan without a second thought and asked nothing of him in return. No task was demanded, nothing to prove himself. Kalin respected him without question - from Kalin, Rowan learned to have faith.

The last person to become part of the prince's advisers was perhaps the most unexpected of all - former enemy Reaver, head of the industrial sector and presumably reformed pirate. While one would like to think the greatest lesson to be learned from a villain like Reaver was as simple as "what not to become", the smooth-talking lech actually proved to be invaluable in offering not entirely unreasonable alternatives to difficult decisions. While generally his proposals were rejected, Reaver proved invaluable in carrying out royal decrees and seeing large tasks through in a timely fashion. Things that might have otherwise taken months or even years to complete were usually accomplished in weeks or even days under the watchful eye of the Hero of Skill. More than anything Reaver got a pass on his near-criminal acts on the merit of being the late king's "friend" - if Reaver was capable of being such a thing. From the ex-pirate, Rowan learned that the right path was not always necessarily the best, that sometimes one had to consider the options to really appreciate the final choice and that you can't let your personal opinion dictate your decisions when the welfare of others is involved.

Powers: Rowan is a Master swordsman with rapiers, cutlasses, longswords and scimitars. He is a master marksman with pistols and average with rifles. He is a master chef - though only in baking. He is a master swordsmith as well. Magically, Rowan is filled with raw power that can be put to a variety of purposes. In order for him to use his magic for combat, he channels it through gloves that turn it into a specific force, be it fire, force, conjured blades, a storm of lightning or a blizzard. On his person upon entering the Bastion he will have his Dragonstomper .48 pistol, Beadle's Cutlass, a Vortex gauntlet and a Shock gauntlet.

Entry: The Prince will be lost on the Skyway! Initially. While he's a capable fighter and able to take care of himself, it would be lovely if someone happened upon him and gave him the rundown of what's going on, but he'll make it to the Bastion on his own of no one is available.

Other: n/a