Sunsbane

Chapter 1 : A Prince and A Commoner

The sun is high up, the trees sway gently in the breeze, birds are frolicking merrily in the centerpiece fountain of the town square and it looks to be a calm and peaceful day in the city. . . or is it?

*Thump!*

The side door of a nearby eatery slams open. With it, two young man bursts out looking panicked and terrified. Shortly after, a tall, brawny older man seems to be chasing them out the door while donning nothing other than a tight purple shirt, an apron and a . . skirt? Most of the locals around looks puzzled, while some of them let out a small gasp as they witness this event. "What's happening?", "Who are they?", "Is that guy wearing nothing under that skirt?" they asked each other. All good questions but alas to answer them, we may go back in time, where it all began. 10 years back to be precise.

<Artwork here soon>

The city of Kaida. Capital of Edreshia, home to cultural happenings and main trading city for traveling merchants across the land. The main populace  are humans, though elves, dwarves and gnomes alike also reside in peace within the walls of the city. At the heart of the city lies the castle that houses the king of the country of Edreshia, King Draton Ordred IV and his royal family. King Draton has ruled over the country for many decades and his rule brought forth the forwarding development of the land and he is generally loved by his subjects.

"How is this relevant to 'Skirted Man' situation?" you may ask. Well, one of the subjects that serve inside the royal castle is one of the terrified souls running from said man.

He is Fost Mildew, a human boy with short ashen-gray hair, brown eyes, slender body and gentle voice. He himself does not know where he comes from or how he came to be in the castle. When asked about it, his usual reply is, "My earliest memories are playing and running around the castle grounds,".

Other servants of the castle know for a fact that Fost is not a member of the royal family and as far as they know, they haven't seen his parents serving the family as well. "My name was given to me by milady the Queen, though when I asked her about it, she would simply say it does not matter where I'm from,".

As for his role in the castle, Fost is tasked to simple chores of the castle such as laundry duty, stable hand and chores in the kitchen. He is not forced to work, however he insisted on doing something for his stay in the castle. He is close friends with the Prince of the country, Prince Ransly Ordred, whom also is the other terrified soul that ran from the Skirted Man.

Prince Ransly is of the same age as Fost. His hair is brown and short, has sharp blue eyes and tall for a lad his age. He has a younger twin sister named Rania and an older sister named Serah. Ransly is loud, active and can be overbearing at times, however he has soft spots for his sisters and mother. As for his father, he deeply respects and fears him at the same time. Being the sole Prince of the family, he is likely to take up his father's place on the throne.

Ransly is not overly fond of the idea of sitting in the castle and ruling in stone rooms. He wishes to have grand adventures, finding treasures and slaying mighty beasts. He is trained at a young age in swordsmanship, which he proves to be quite the prodigy.

He requested that Fost to be trained too so that he'll have a sparring partner in the castle grounds, in which is granted. In terms of combat abilities, it is notable that Ransly is slightly better than Fost.

One day while sparring, Ransly unleashes a flurry of attacks on Fost. Fost can barely withstand his attacks before he finally falls, followed by a series of taunts by Ransly,

"Hah! I have to admit you held your ground very nicely but only to fall elegantly to the fiery fury of Ransly The Mighty! I think I can see your face on the ground on the count of you falling so hard," he said.