The monarchy is done...

The monarchy is done. After trampling on the will of the people and plunging the country into disastrous wars and famines, the people have risen up and disposed of them. The king and queen were evil or ignorant enough as makes no difference, and are dead.

The king's son, an infant boy with no knowledge of his father and mother's sins, is still alive. He is imprisoned and scheduled to be executed next week. Certainly he is dangerous. He is the rightful heir to the throne and any attempt to revive the old regime would marshal itself around him. It is a troubled time, and his very existence gives rise to the idea of an alternative to the new government.

He is also innocent. He had no involvement in the troubles of the country and is a saintly, good-natured child who only means well. Your PCs have been approached by one of the few surviving counts of the old monarchy, now thrown in with the new people's government, to rescue him and ensure he is raised safely and in secret. Do you take the job?

Depends on the setting, my fellow players, and the potential outcomes.

It's obvious the nobility just wants to use him to retake the throne, and wants him raised to be a pawn in their ploy.

Come on, it's the plot of a thousand books and stories.

So nab the kid, kill the count, and go off to another country where we can freely raise the boy to slay the undead.

Works for me, sound plan.

We're playing GURPS: Arse Magical, so the boy is probably a sorcerous prodigy as well. We induct him into our cabal and use him to take the throne after the ravages of the revolution weaken the realm.
As it was written*, so shall it be.

*Just yesterday, but that age matter spell is ace.

We carry the child away, and teach him the ways of republicanism and law. We impress upon him the need for humility and caution in the exercise of power, and the need to hold those with power to account for their actions. We also teach him about the nature of power, the value he holds in the eyes of the nobility, and the likelihood that they will attempt to use him for their own ends.

Eventually, when he comes of age, we let him choose his own path, whether to reclaim his kingdom, or join the new republic as a free citizen (if it's still standing by then). To lead him any further would be an affront to the very ideals which we have taught him.

As the party's Bard, I convince my fellow companions to rescue this innocent youth from the clutches of this revolting republicans, whisking him away to another country.
Where I turn him into a prostitute, do you realize how much a former prince would go for?

>Your PCs have been approached by one of the few surviving counts of the old monarchy
>to rescue him and ensure he is raised safely and in secret. Do you take the job?
Obviously.

The only concern would be that the count wants to use the boy as a pawn, but as he wants our characters to raise him we can ensure he grows up right, outside of scheming noble influences.

Take him, Guard him to keep purely manipulative nobles at bay, and raise him well as we can. When the time comes and the country is is chaos (as any new government is at first) Stand by him as he attempts to reunite the people under a reformed monarchy.

And of course ask for at least a duchy as reward.

You'd become counts, with the party leader becoming the duke.

Absolutely not. The will of the people will be heard, íts demands are dictatorial, and the old regime will end by sword and fire so that we might then hammer our swords into ploughshares and turn our fires to clearing the brush for our farms and homes. A new government that will constantly be on guard for the illegitimacy of royal legitimacy will become ever more tyrannical, ever more focused not on the ideal of a republic but in maintaining the power of a government, if it does not relieve itself of its war mentality. For our futures, the boy dies.

Spoken like a true apologist. If Republicanism were the future surely it wouldn't need so much violence to be achieved. People would simply recognize its legitimacy in the same way the people recognize that of the King. We'll whisk the boy away and raise him to the king this country needs in twenty years.

Aren't most monarchies initially achieved by one guy violently conquering an area?

If I'm evil, yes. If I'm good, no.

Obviously I can use this as a method of advancing myself incredibly. A few years down the line, there's going to be an upset, and I'll be perfectly placed to be the new king's best friend. But that would cause even more bloodshed.

So if I'm good, I kill the remaining members of the royal family, and don't tell anyone.

Republican revisionism.

No, last time something like this happened in game /ss/ happened and the focus shifted.

Does my character take the job?
Hell no! I'm playing a thief that makes Clouseau look like a genius, but he can still see what happens 15 years down the line when he becomes a liability for the regime behind the puppet-king.

Does my party take the job?
Tough to say. Wouldn't be the stupidest thing we've done, by far.

The king's legitimacy! The king's legitimacy is, will be, was always nothing more than a shambles, established by violence, maintained by murder--of those who dared to raise their lot above their station, of those who dissented against this "legitimacy", of revolutionaries and republicans, of innocents. In this way it drew power to itself, power it would never cede, power apart from and against the people. The old regime turned its arms against its people time and again, and did so for what has become the final time. For this time, the might of the people was the stronger and its justice, it's revolution, has prevailed, and the people have established their republic.

But as its enemies, like yourself, slither in the darkness, picking up the shards of that shattered sword that once hung above the heads of the people so as to aim it at their heart, it will and must continue to resist. It must destroy the weapons arrayed against it. That boy is but one.

>Aren't most governments initially achieved by one guy violently conquering an area?

Guys, guys... What if, guys, what if... guys....

Constitutional Monarchy to reach out to champions of both the old and new regimes.

We're adventurers, we're already counts.

Cunts more like

>Do you take the job
No. On the one hand he truly is innocent, but on the other the danger isn't what he is but what he could become. I would attempt to publically speak out in his favor, argue that he should be raised in government house arrest or exiled to a far away land or colony rather than killed, but if the new government decides he has to die I will begrudgingly accept their decision.

>Flight to Varennes
>Armoire de fer
>The Lords vehemently refusing equality to the Commons
It was tried, it didn't work out.

Thatsthejoke.jpg

How much are they offering?

How much are they offering us not to tell the Republicans about this?

How much will the Republicans offer us to not take the job?

A dukedom 20 years later is nice, but what's the upfront payment

>The royalists offer you the title of duke without any land
>The republicans offer you a chateau and 20 acres of arable land, but you remain a mere citizen
Remember: you're not really a duke if you don't have the title, which should keep you safe from anti-noble sentiment.

Am I from this country? Do I have any reason to care? I'm sure at least one member of the party is a local, but seeing as I have to appease my grandfather's bloodthirsty ghost, I may have more pressing issues.

His axe hungers for skulls.

A ducal title is nice, and as an adventurer land is a weak payment, so I'm leaning towards the royalists... if they agree to pay for the kid's upbringing (which we'll skim off a bit, obviously), then they're on.

Republicans need to up their game - they're already known to be the sort to upset the natural order of quest-giving nobles and to betray loyalty oaths to the crown

If the count is in with the new lot, he's probably held onto his wealth and will be staggeringly rich.

guess who's getting abducted and trained into a little smitebot!

s t o r y t i m e

Hell yes. ROYALIST RESTORATION WHEN?

Might have surrendered a bit to the revolution to show his support and win his survival - good point though, he is likely to have a fair bit

The obvious choice, duh! Raise him, instill my will and ideas, overthrow the Republic, place him on the throne and rule the land from behind the curtains. Filthy peasants. They can't even run the government they want properly.

A duchy in the future provided the kid succeeds at restoring the monarchy vs. land that can be flipped right away if need be? Yeah, no. I'll take the land.

This guy gets it.

This ought to be illegal.

We took on the burden of smuggling the surviving prince out of danger, and one of the characters who was herself a noble of the country, felt a personal devotion to keeping him safe and a love developed from there. The key detail this whole situation is, he was 10 and she was an adult. Cue uncomfortable /ss/ situation where the game focus shifted from standard adventurers, to supporting the loyalist efforts and claim based around their relationship and eventual marriage.

What the fuck, that actually looks like a girl!
This is why we needed a revolution. Maybe two, just to be on the safe side.

Does anyone have any info on this Federico Flórez? I looked around but all of info is about the painting or the artist.