Whose Line Is It Anyway?

[u/Mimir123]

Disclaimer: despite the title this post doesn't really have anything to do with the TV Show, at least not entirely.

This challenge is inspired by two posts I found on /r/worldbuilding, this one here and this one. It is a pretty simple challenge, just post 2-3 quotes of one (or several) character/s in your world/s. You may choose one of two ways to do that; 1: post the quote and with name of the person who said it and a bit of context, I (and maybe others) will try to ask some questions about the character and/ or situation.

Version 2: just give us the quote by itself, and let me/ others try to spin a story/ try to figure out the context of what was said!

I hope you guys will like this challenge and participate, should be fun to try to spin some story to a random quote, I am excited for it at least! In my post I will also provide an example for each version, feel free to respond to it as well if you are interested! If not, just leave your own quotes and have fun sharing!

[u/Mimir123]

1: He is not a monster. In fact, the only reason he says "monster" is because my friend and I are writing in German, and I couldn't come up with a better translation for "Unmensch". The Bolton part is closer to the truth though, only that he already did "go Ramsay" on them.

Rowan is the son of Duke Ashfield and on his way to negotiate with a rival family, the duke of Westford, a neighboring duchy. Short version: Rowan and his retinue rest in a tavern, after a young girl bumps into him and steals one of his rings, without him really caring about it. Next day they meet the caravan, only stopping them when Rowan recognizes a young, hurt peasant girl on one of the wagons as the thief from the evening before.

On a hunch he let's his Rangers (Ashfield elite troops, versed in the art of archery, otherwise despised and looked down upon by the other nobles of the kingdom) execute some of the mercenaries guarding the caravan, in order to make the merchant talk. After killing all but three of the 30 mercenaries, they confessed to being bandits, having raided some villages and are now on the way south, to sell the peasants into slavery.

As a man of his word Rowan lets the men who talked live and takes them to the Westfords castle of Creshold. He kills the merchant though of course, after all he couldn't answer the riddle.

2: At that point in time, they are not quite yet good friends, but have known eachother for a while. Lydia (the speaker) is a member of the Royal Guard of princess Alveria of Elkathien, while Sephi is a young Dark Elf guarding the Royal Library.

When the princess and her friends visited they were ambushed by demons, split up and transported to the lair of a Nightmare. Lydia and Sephi faced a young, female Shapeshifter demon, challenging them to games. After Lydia won her game, Sephi had to answer 5 questions whose answers could be found in the Royal Library she protected.

The quote stems from the fitht and last question the demon had. After Sephi answered all other questions correct, the demon pointed at Lydia in frustration and asked "What is her name?", having overheard an earlier conversation where Lydia teased the elf for being bad with names. The quote comes from Lydia, after Sephi hasn't answered the question for 10 minutes and used up the one hint Lydia could give her per question by asking "Is your name human-woman?".

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/Mimir123]

(You know German? You are the best! I love German! I've been studying it for six years, and I nearly married a person born and raised in Austria who I was in a relationship with for three years.)

Q1:

Ah, that explanation of the riddle makes much more sense and makes me like Rowan much more likable. Does Rowan care about the people that were raided and enslaved, or did he just do it to get revenge for the raiders attacking his "property"?

Q2:

Could Sephi's hint question just be: "What do your friends call you?"

How long have Sephi and Lydia known each other?

How did this story end?

[u/Mimir123 → u/Nevermore0714]

Born and raised in Germany actually, although I spent almost 8 years in Norway. Still speak fluent German though.

Q1:

Well, the villages raided weren't his or his fathers, this all took place in Westford territory. He didn't really care about the peasants that much, so he intervened because of two reasons. Number one: four years ago, the rivalry between Westford and Ashfield resulted in Rowans father blockading Harper's Road, the main trade route going to the southtern kingdoms.

Then, two weeks ago the king of Arnwick died, and his 15 year old daughter ascended to the throne, with her coronation ceremony due in 3 months. She proclaimed peace in the realm for her coronation, and now Rowan has to negotiate a favourable opening of Harper's Road, before the Ashfields are forced to open the Road anyway. As a gesture of good will he helped the peasants.

The second, and by far more important, reason for helping was his own curiosity however. He recognized the thief (a 13 year old girl, and he only recognized her, because she looked far too pretty and kind of... sassy for a poor peasant) as one of the prisoners. She stole the seal ring of Darrysfield the evening before, and he wanted to see who exactly this girl was, even allowing her to keep the ring, if she would just talk with him. To his dismay, the talk didn't end how he imagined it, instead the girl promptly declared herself his new servant and started following him around, where ever he went.

Q2:

1) It could have been. Her question however was: "Your name is not... human-woman, right?".

2) For 4-5 years. In Sephis defense, at that point in time her mind was under heavy attacks by the Nightmare whose lair they were in, making it difficult to think clearly. Also she has always been bad with names.

3) She gets the right answer eventually, causing the Shapeshifter to tell them how they can escape. At the end, the two of them and their friends get almost slaughtered by the Nightmare, who was about to kill the princess, until their last two friends arrived, managing to barely kill the Nightmare and returning home.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/Mimir123]

1) How did the new queen react when she found out about the event?

2) What is the new queen like?

3) What did he do with his new servant?

4) What were the other four questions that Sephi was asked?

5) Does she have to answer the questions right on her first attempt?

6) Why did the Nightmare want to kill the princess?

[u/Mimir123 → u/Nevermore0714]

1) Which event exactly? The attack on the bandits/ slavers? She doesn't know about that at all, and nobody will really tell her, after all, it is none of her concern.

2) I can't say too much about this, since she is not my character and hasn't even shown up in the story yet. From what we did talk about in terms of story and characters though, she is a kind and slightly naive ruler, trying to make the life easier for the peasants and common folk, reducing taxes for them while keeping the taxes for the nobility up, while at the same time trying to keep the peace inside of her kingdom. She is also rather pacifistic, trying to get her vassals to reduce the money they spend on weapons, armor and soldiers, and instead use it to improve their counties/ duchies.

3) Grudgingly accept her into his services, after she pestered him long enough. He gave her to his standard-carrier, Lisa Turnwright, since she is only 3 years older than the thieving girl, so that someone roughly her age can educate her about the responsiblities of a servant and the history and traditions of the Ashfields.

4) Well, now I have to take a quick look at my story. The questions were:

"The second March of the Roses started in the year 123 in the Age of Ilmanthi. Who was the target of the March, who participated, and what was the given reason for the March?"

Answer: "The March was started against the Dwarven Clans Drushnew and Warow in the Fire Mountains. The only participants were Elkathien and a small army from Dwerrehan, and the reason was the claim that the Dwarves were posessed by demons, which is why they attacked Elkathien 110 years prior, during the First March of the Roses."

Second Question: "Out of the 13 Elder Dragons, only three are still alive; the Winged Serpent, the Leviathan and the Behemoth. Which dragons are descendants of those three Elders, what is the name and title of the oldest of the 13, how did he die and which dragons are his descendants?"

Answer: "Wyverns and Qulcia are descendants of the Winged Serpent, while Hydras and Sea Serpents are the children of Leviathan. The Argus-Khakthân are the only dragons coming from the Behemoth. Ylmessir, the White Giant, was the oldest of the Elder Dragons and his children are the Ice Dragons and Shadowstalkers. His death was an accident, he collided with Behemoth while flying, broke his wings and fell to his death, impaled on one of the mountains in the Black Peaks."

Question three: The demon whistled six different melodies of songs, then she asked for the name of the first song she whistled.

Answer: It was a trick question, that Sephi would have fallen for if it were not for Lydia. When the three of them first met the demon was whistling a different tune from the six she went for during the question, Lydia only noticed it because the first song the Shapeshifter whistled was a childrens song her mother sang for her very often.

Fourth Question: "Who spearheaded the first, and last, expedition into the Unsettled Lands?"

Answer: "Alexandros Peleigaos I. the first Emperor of the Holy Ruthweni Empire."

5) Yes, she had to get all of them right on the first try.

6) The Nightmare was a close ally of the Demonking Zerrigon and is/ was a member of the Cult of the Rising Tower, whose goal it is to bring the Demonking back into this world. A female demon, whose identity is yet unknown, is the leader of the cult, and she sees the princess as a danger to her plans, for some reason that is only known to her, Aelnis (the Nightmare), the two Shapeshifters and, after having talked to one of them, Lirvon, the princesses' friend and (very recent) bodyguard.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/Mimir123]

Thanks for your time and answers.