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Zereldo -> The Fallen Prince: Drakath and Robina's lost love. (DF/AQW) (11/4/2013 8:56:35)
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Discussion Thread here The Fallen Prince: Drakath and Robina's lost love. (DF/AQW) Discussion thread
I based this off what we already know about Drakath and the following quote from Artix
quote:
One of the many chances he has included the missed romance between himself and the Ranger, Robina. There is no small irony that if Drakath had followed his heart, and it had lead to marriage... he would have likely ended up as King due to Robina's secret double identity as the Princess Victoria. (I do not think this story has ever been told... if not, I hope it is one day.)
The Fallen Prince Drakath.
King Alteon the balanced was a man respected and revered throughout Lore. In his youth he overthrew the tyrant, King SlugWrath, and restored peace and prosperity to Lore. However, as wide spread as Alteon’s respect may have been, there were those who resented him and his rule. In usurping the throne from the tyrant, Alteon inadvertently set in place his own demise. The crown prince Drakath was cast out of his home and denied his birthright as the king of Swordhaven. Being robbed of everything, his family, his home, and his right to rule, the prince grew up in bitterness, anger and resentment. He eventually grew to become the champion of chaos, wreaking havoc across Lore. But this was not always his nature and it was by no means inevitable. Prince Drakath was faced with one last chance to restore himself to greatness. This is the story of Drakath’s Descent into darkness and the point that some would claim that he went beyond redemption.
The Founding of the Darkwolf Bandits.
Drakath woke up early. Today was an important day for him after all. Recruitment for his new gang would not take care of itself. All things taken into consideration though, how hard could it be for him? He was, after all, the rightful heir to the throne of Swordhaven. Once he overthrew Alteon any members of his gang would be richly and royally rewarded. In his mind it was a hard offer to refuse, especially considering that no one could pay better than a king. For the last few months he had been living in Surewood Forest, building a hideout to house his future gang. It had been tough going, but the hard physical labor of building a hide out on his own had strengthened him. It was work unbefitting for a prince, but if it was required to reclaim the throne, it would be done. Keeping such a hideout secret required a lot of thought and planning and so his mind had also been sharpened. He had also managed to map most of the forest within his head and knew its layout by heart. With his preparations complete he began his journey to a small town known as Falconreach.
Drakath arrived at Falconreach before midday. Although it was not the biggest of towns it was near the Centre of many trade routes and so had a steady stream of adventurers and mercenaries. Drakath hoped to capitalize on this.
“Who among you has a thirst for gold?” He loudly declared. This gave him the attention of many adventurers and mercenaries.
“I offer you the promise of riches, the likes of which you have never seen before! Wealth given to you from the royal treasury itself.” His declarations were bold and daring. The mercenaries drew closer, but the more honorable amongst the adventurers began to back away.
“I am the true prince and heir to the throne, Drakath!” He revealed while holding up his royal sword. Help me regain my rightful throne and the greatest of treasures will be yours. You will be remembered as great and honorable men. None of you will ever have to work another day in your life.” At this point the mercenaries went wild. There was no mistaking that this young man was indeed the son of King Slugwrath. He walked away from his first day of recruitment with roughly twenty mercenaries following him. No standard adventurer had dared to sign up.
Some claimed Drakath’s success that day was only due to the fact that he was the son of King Slugwrath. While this did factor into his success, in truth, his oratory skills had also played a large part. He was confident, persuasive and calculating. Drakath had an identity of his own. He was a strong character and was beginning to shape himself without the shadow of his father’s rule overhanging. The Darkwolf Bandits were founded, and there was a huge amount of energy present within the gang. It was a promising start.
The hood.
About a month had past since the Darkwolf Gang had been founded and everything seemed to be going well. Drakath had expanded his force to roughly fifty men, all of which had some battle experience. Drakath, however, was not satisfied. To overthrow Swordhaven, Lore’s capital, he’d need more than a gang of fifty ragtag mercenaries. He led them personally in a rigorous training regime and they were very quickly becoming and elite fighting force. His training was superb. He knew how to fight well from a mix of royal blood and royal training.
Discontent grew among the men. A month of inactivity upset them. Their needs were provided for in terms of food and water, but there was no pay as of yet. This bothered a small group of the more experienced mercenaries who began to count the wealth they could have accumulated had they been hired elsewhere. They were the most experienced at combat and questioned the usefulness of the training the prince was imposing upon them. Their discontent led them to question how capable Drakath was as a leader, and whether in real combat he could protect himself. Most of the men were fine with the promise of wealth, and valued the training as they themselves noticed the difference, but some were swayed into questioning Drakath’s leadership. A plot was hatched amongst five members of the gang. Many of the others who knew did not want to participate, but rather wanted to watch and see how the plan ended.
The plan was simple. Get Drakath alone in the woods where the rest of the gang could not interfere because some were loyal to Drakath and might intervene. The five of them would fight the prince and see if he was strong enough to fight back and deliver on his promises. All they had to do was wait for the right moment.
It was less than a week and Drakath gave them the opportunity they sought.
“Several crates of weapons and armor will be transported through here in a small group of caravans. The merchant convoy is destined for Swordhaven. We have a chance to weaken our enemies while bolstering our own forces. I want five men for a small precise stealth mission.” The five conspirators instantly volunteered.
They journeyed to a cliff face overlooking the road that the caravans would be traveling by and waited till nightfall. After a few hours the Caravans were spotted. Drakath was ready to pounce upon his prey but found himself surrounded by his five bandits, unable to move.
“What is the meaning of this?!?!” He demanded.
“Sorry your majesty. We just need to see how strong of a leader you really are.” Responded the leader of the conspirators.
Although Drakath was indeed a very capable warrior he was surrounded and outnumbered. He could not hope to come out unscathed. He may have been able to beat them, but he would still have been severely wounded. He raised his sword, ready to repel the first blow dealt to him when seemingly out of nowhere one of the bandits dropped dead with an arrow in his back, followed by another bandit being struck. Drakath took advantage of the confusion by quickly killing another two of the bandits. His sword work was strong and graceful compared to their brutish combat style. After finishing off his second victim he looked over to see the last bandit killed by arrows.
“Well Mr. it seems you’re not as helpless as you looked,” he heard a voice say. “That said, the final score is three to two so I win.” It was the voice of a young woman, strong, but playful and friendly.
“Who are you?” Asked Drakath. She seemingly appeared out of nowhere. “Robina the Hood, at your service. It seems you’ve had a close run in with some bandits by the looks of things.” Had it been anyone else Drakath would have instantly claimed leadership of the Bandits and brag. This Robina girl however, she intrigued him.
“I suppose you could say that. Thanks for the help.” He said cautiously.
“No problem,” she said. He did not respond because he was almost entranced by her looks. Her brown hair seemed too well kept to be that of a common ranger. She walked and held herself with an element of grace. Her face was friendly and joyful, but showed no signs of weakness. He found her pleasant to look at, but something about her did not quite fit.
She began to speak again.
“You don’t look like you’re from around here.” Evidently she was sharp, making the same observations about him as he had made about her.
“Uh… I’m not exactly welcome at home. But I plan to change that. What about you? You seem like you’d be better suited as the daughter of a lord than as a ranger.”
She hesitated for a second, and produced a slightly forced laugh. “ha ha, funny you should say that. No I’m just Robina the Hood, nothing more to me than that.” Drakath wanted to ask more, but he was worried he would come across as an annoyance. For some reason he did not quite understand he did not want her to know who he really was either.
“I better get going,” she said out of nowhere. “ I have places to be. I hope I see you again sometime.” She quickly ran off into the shadows.
Drakath softly responded under his breath. “Me too.”
Drakath returned to the hideout without the five bandits. Those that knew of the conspirators’ plans had any doubts of Drakath’s capabilities erased. The gang remained loyal to him from that point.
Dilemma
The gang was growing at a large rate. There were now over one hundred of them and they were waiting for action. Their training was going surprisingly well and they were looking more like soldiers than rag tag bandits. Up until this point they had been surviving off of the land and their hunting. But with such large numbers this was no longer sufficient. Being mercenaries the men were starting miss their lifestyle of living off jobs and paying for their meals with a degree of freedom.
“I say we start raiding nearby towns for supplies and gold,” said one.
“I agree, we can increase our strength quicker that way,” said another
“Lets have some action for once, I’m tired of sitting around training. Let’s do something!” The men were in an uproar. Drakath was unsure about letting the men raid innocent villages. The Darkwolf Bandits needed to be seen as liberators, not villains.
“I will not allow it,” said Drakath. “If we need supplies, let’s steal from Swordhaven. We can make ourselves stronger by weakening them.”
“Are these not your rightful subjects Drakath? Isn’t it your right to take whatever you want from them as your own? Surely as King you could restore what we take now?”
“Give me time to think,” said Drakath as he walked out of the hideout and into the forest.
Upkeep had been hard and he knew it. He was desperate to keep morale up and could not afford to loose any men to desertion, or for any to oppose him again. He was not his father, but his throne was at stake. It was HIS throne after all, and he was not willing to let it slip from his grasp. The Darkwolf Bandits were promising and growing stronger by the day. Perhaps if he played his cards right within a couple of years he could wage a proper war with the capital. But the present had its own issues, and his future could not be attained until they were resolved.
Reluctantly he agreed, but he would not go on the raids himself. His battle was with Swordhaven and Alteon. Not his future subjects. They came back with wealth, food and weapons. They had better equipment to match their new skills and were more like a small army than ever.
The Spark
It had been less than a week since the raid, but Drakath was still troubled. As he had when he made his initial decision about the raid, Drakath went for a walk in Surewood Forest to be alone and consolidate his thoughts. He did not normally walk quite this far away from the hideout, and came to a part of the forest he did not recognize. He took advantage of this to further his knowledge of the surrounding forests and by chance took a turn and saw none other than Robina sitting on a log while playing with her hair.
“Robina?” He half said half asked. She was startled and quickly jumped up. Her cheeks turned a little red.
“Oh hey there, it’s you again. Oh I feel so bad, I never asked you for your name.”
“My name’s Drakath,” he said without thinking. He froze up and desperately hoped she would not realize whom he was. She sat there clearly thinking about something. She looked smart enough. Maybe she would figure it out.
“The name seems sort of familiar, but I can’t quite place it. I know I only met you that one time.” She said this as if she was still pondering his name.
They stood there for a while, but it felt like several eternities. The silence left both of them feeling uncomfortable and they could barely look at each other. Drakath was the first to break the silence.
“Your hair is nice. It’s really well kept for a ranger.” Robina began to blush again, and let out a small smile. “You’ve got a cute smile too.” He added. She was looking at him, her smile growing and her eyes widening when, suddenly she her face became stern.
“Let’s stop this now. You’re just some guy who’s probably like any other guy. I’m not interested in you,” she said.
Drakath was taken back, and hurt more than he though he would be. In addition, he was the rightful king, and certainly not just some guy. “There’s more to me than you realize. I’m not just some guy!” he snapped back. She quickly responded with a playful smirk on her face.
“So you are interested in me?” He responded by nodding, reluctantly.
“I guess there’s no use in denying it,” he added.
They stood there in silence for another minute. This time Robina was the first to speak.
“Sorry if I cut you short, but you’re just the son of some Lord, I don’t think you’d understand me.” She said.
“Don’t be so sure,” he began. “What would I need to understand you?”
A playful spark lit up in her eyes.
“You’d have to know the forest better than I do,” she laughed. “And good luck with that” she added playfully. She drew out an arrow and began shifting it between both hands, bending it slightly.
“There is a water fall through cave west of here, if you’ve ever been there,” he suggested. Robina dropped her arrow, she had not heard of any waterfall in this part of the forest, and had not thought she’d have been outdone so quickly.
“No, I haven’t,” she said surprised.
“Oh, you haven’t,” he started. “Well, that’s a shame you know. It’s really quite a scenic place. It’s just so beautiful.” He paused slightly before finishing. “Almost as beautiful as you.” She smiled again, this time without blushing.
“Fine, fine. There’s more to you than I thought Drakath. I’ll admit, I’m a tad interested in you too. Let’s just hope that waterfall really exists. It was nice to see a guy that could fight for himself though.” She said.
“Well how about you follow me to that waterfall and see if it’s real or not. It’s not too far, it’s and nice place. Maybe you’ll see I am worth a chance.” He said trying to persuade her.
“Fine, you win. But the waterfall better be as nice as you say it is, and a real place for that matter. You don’t want to make a girl with a bow angry you know,” she said in joking manner.
The waterfall
It was not long before they arrived at the cave that led to the secluded waterfall. It was known to virtually no one. Drakath’s extensive exploring had uncovered it. He had debated using it as his fortress, but it only had one exit and if they were surrounded they would have had no escape and eventually starved. It only took a minute or so for them to walk through the cave system and emerge on the other side.
It opened up to a wide expanse that was sheltered on all sides by rock faces. There was a waterfall seemingly coming out of the rocks that originated from an underground spring. The water was cool, calm and so clear that it was almost crystal like. The plant life was entirely undisturbed and there were vibrant wild flowers, large trees and colorful plant life everywhere. Robina was stunned.
“I don’t believe this! I’ve never seen anything so beautiful and tranquil before, ever!” she said. Drakath looked up at her. In his mind her beauty put the scenery to shame.
“See I was telling the truth,” he said.
“I believe you now. This place really does exist,” she said, still in amazement.
“Not that. I meant you really are more beautiful than this place,” he half stuttered.
“You’ve won me over Drakath, you really are a charmer,” she said smiling. He walked over to her confidently, though his smile was still shy, and held her hand in his.
They talked for hours sitting against a large tree. They had a lot in common, but they kept too many secrets from each other to be fully aware of how much they shared. They understood each other and enjoyed each other’s company. For the first time in years Drakath had someone in his life he genuinely cared about, and who also cared about him. Robina was glad to have found someone who was not as superficial as her previous suitors. As the sun began setting Robina leaned in close and the confident prince went in for a kiss. As the night grew old, Robina rested her head on Drakath’s shoulder, and he held her in his arms, gently stroking her head and playing with her well-kept hair.
She woke up in his arms the next morning. They were happy together, until Robina remembered that she had been out the whole night and needed to return home.
“I’m sorry Drakath, I really need to go. I’ll see you again soon ok,” she said as she ran off. He was sad to see her go, but knowing he would see her again soon re-assured him.
The couple
During the day Drakath drove himself and his men hard in training. As his strength grew, so did his love for Robina, but so did his longing for his throne. Robina was in his mind a queen, but to ensure she was treated that way he needed his throne back. The evenings were always spent with her, in their secret spot beyond the cave. Luckily, the Darkwolf Bandits had stolen a large treasure chest, which contained enough gold to sustain them happily for months. They were living a comfortable life and had no issue with their leader vanishing every evening.
As they got to know each other better, the mystery of whom they really were began to eat away at the couple. Both knew the other was hiding something, but neither was willing to pry for the truth or reveal their own truth at first. Perhaps this was best since they had not known each other long, and their secrets were large and needed an equally large degree of trust to be shared.
One night Drakath thought it was time for Robina to know the truth of his past. They sat down by the waterfall leaning on that same tree where they had shared their first kiss.
“What’s troubling you Drakath?” She asked sensing something was on his mind.
“My past, it haunts me you know. I just...” She cut him off by asking him questions.
“You were thrown out weren’t you? Made to leave your home?” She asked.
“Yes, yes I was.” He said solemnly.
“Oh Drakath, I’m so sorry. I’m here for you ok.” She said comfortingly.
They sat together in Silence for a bit, watching the ripples on the rivers surface caused by the waterfall, holding each other’s hands. Drakath began to speak again.
“Banished by the so called King no less.” At this Robina froze and was stunned into silence. Drakath, however, began to talk excitedly and passionately.
“You see this water fall Robina, it is rightfully mine. The whole of Surewood Forest is rightfully mine. Swordhaven and every land Alteon claims to hold dominion of, it is rightfully mine! I am the rightful king, the exiled prince, Drakath.”
“Slugwrath” she said half gasping.
“Yes. Being a banished prince is rough, I’ve had to survive on my own, but I’ve made it. My throne though, I will reclaim it. I will overthrow the ‘King’ who overthrew my father.”
“What if there was another way?” She suddenly asked.
“Another way? What do you mean?”
“Well maybe if he saw that you weren’t your father he could give the throne back to you. Maybe he’d even let you marry one of his daughters.”
“Marry one of his daughters? I want that man gone! I would never marry one of that foul man’s daughters,” he said sternly. He looked at her and noticed that for whatever reason she was visibly upset.
“I don’t see why you’re upset,” he said as he grabbed her hands and held them in his. “Besides, why would I want to marry a princess when I could marry you,” He said tenderly. Robina looked at him with a smile and pulled him closer for a kiss.
“Drakath, you’re clueless, but I love you. I think we can make this work,” she said.
“I love you too, but what do you mean?” He asked.
“I can’t tell you my past yet, but you’re right, I’m not just a ranger. For now, you can think of me as the daughter of a lord. I might be gone a few days ok, but I’ll be back so don’t worry. You just have to trust me.” She gave him another kiss goodbye.
Drakath walked away confused and unaware of the fact Robina was actually Princess Victoria, the daughter of King Alteon. He was so distracted that he did not notice the flying eye emerge from a bush behind him and speed into the night sky.
The Forces of Doom
Unbeknown to Drakath the growing power of the Darkwolf Bandits had attracted the watchful eyes of the Doom Knight Sepulchure. Sepulchure himself was intent on waging war on everything for the plane of darkness, and had his own grudges against Alteon. It was Drakath’s small but elite force that he had his eye on, but the Necrotic Blade of Doom, which he wielded, had its own ideas.
“Do what you want with the bandits Sepulchure, but I want Drakath,” Said the Blade.
“He is nothing but a worm. The force he commands is what I want. It grows by the day in both power and numbers,” he responded.
“You remember who he is, Drakath Slugwrath. If you use him, he can recruit all of his father’s old allies to our cause against Alteon.
“So he would be another puppet for the ShadowScythe to command?” Asked Sepulchure.
“No, more than that. Drakath has more within him than you are aware. He will be a great addition to our forces,” said the blade.
“And how exactly do you hope to persuade him to join us?” Asked Sepulchure.
“We offer him the power he needs to destroy King Alteon. We offer him me, as his weapon. That said, we will make him work for it first. He will have to retrieve the dragon boxes for us.” Said the Blade
“That will leave me without a weapon.” Answered Sepulchure.
“If you have both dragons and the orbs, you’ll have no need of me.” Said the blade.
“Fine, I’m not one to oppose, but he gets no blade unless he fulfills those tasks.” Said Sepulchure.
“Agreed,” responded the Blade.
Approached by Doom
Drakath was alone in his quarters. It was the first time in nearly a month that he had not been with Robina in the evening. He had gone to the usual spot where they normally met and waited there for an hour just in case. But walked back to the camp. He felt lonely, but was taking advantage of the time to get a bit of extra rest. As he was beginning to doze off, he felt another presence in the room and opened his eyes to see shadows darker than he had ever seen before.
“Drakath I offer you the power to reclaim your throne,” said the figure. Drakath hurriedly raised his sword.
“Who are you and what do you want?” He asked.
“I am the Doomknight Sepulchure, and I want the same thing as you. For Alteon to be slain,” he responded.
“I’m sure that’s not the only thing you want,” said Drakath accusingly.
“Perceptive, I do indeed have my own agenda. Here is my deal. You help me gain allies and collect two specific artifacts, and then my sword, The Necrotic Blade of Doom, is yours to command,” said Sepulchure. The sword looked menacing, and it clearly had some sort of magic empowering it, but it was hard for Drakath to believe one weapon could tip the balance of power and win him a kingdom. Sepulchure saw the reluctance on Drakath’s face and held out the sword.
“Touch the sword. It is all you will need to do to see its power,” he said. Drakath reached out to touch the sword and as the tip of his finger touched the cold blade he felt overwhelmed by the power of darkness. It seemed nearly limitless as if nothing could stand in his way. In his mind, the Blade became something that he needed. I seemed to be the only way to guarantee his ascension to the throne.
“What is it you would have me do?” Asked Drakath.
“Help me gather allies. Together we will turn all your father’s former allies against Alteon. Also, there are two dragon boxes I need collected. Fulfill these tasks and the Blade is yours.
Recruiting Xan
Xan seemed like a good first choice for recruitment. He was a mad Pyromancer who sought revenge on the blue mage Warlic. He was a loyal servant of Drakath’s father and so it seemed like he would be the best person to start with.
Drakath knocked on the large black metal door.
“Who is it?!?!?!?” Said a loud resounding voice from inside the fortress.
“This is Drakath Slugwrath. I come seeking your aid,” he yelled back. There was a small pause, and then what seem liked an unending chorus of laugher. When it finally died down the voice simpy said
“come in,” and the doors opened.
Drakath walked through a fiery chamber until he finally made it to a large cavern where lava could be seen on the walls and collecting in a pool below. On a large obsidian throne sat Xan permanently engulfed in flame.
“Prince Slugwrath you’ve grown. What could you possibly want from me?” he spoke partly in a sarcastic tone.
“I am here to ask you to join Sepulchure’s allies. I ask you to do this as the rightful heir of the Slugwrath family line,” said Drakath. Xan’s eyes widened. He had not expected that.
“Me helping Sepulchure? Hahahahahaha!!! I was convinced you came to me asking to aid you in revenge” laughed Xan.
“Sepulchure is helping me with that. Now will you join Sepulchure or not?” Demanded Drakath.
“Of course I will, I still have some loyalty left for your throne-less family line, and Sepulchure interests me. I have heard of him and know that he will be able to aid me in some of my goals,” said Xan.
“I’ll let him know,” said Drakath as he began to walk away.
“Before you go prince Slugwrath, think about your throne. Think about everything that was taken from you. Let all your anger swell up and burn inside. Now remember who was responsible for doing this to you. Let the inferno of your hatred fuel you, but whatever you do, don’t let anything else let you lose sight of that, or you will find your will doused and extinguished, and you will never reclaim what is rightfully yours.” Said Xan before breaking out into another spurt of laughter.
Drakath’s thirst for power and revenge were growing much faster than he was aware of.
Victoria
It had been about a week since Robina had disappeared, and Drakath still went to wait for her everyday. Although the flames within his heart for revenge had grown, they still had not consumed his love for Robina. He saw a figure coming towards him and stood up. It was Robina and she ran towards him into his arms. He held her tight and kissed her.
“Robina, I’ve missed you,” he said while stroking her hair like he often did.
“Drakath I tried to work things out at home, I did everything I could but there’s only one thing I can do. There is something I need to tell you.” She said while still in his arms.
“What is it Robina?” He asked. She began to speak.
“I am actually,” but she never finished her sentence because Sepulchure appeared at that very moment with the flying fortress of Shadowfall.
“Good work Drakath, the time has come to move on. We leave at once. You still have much to do to over throw Alteon.” Yelled Sepulchure. Robina was so shocked she would have fallen to the ground if Drakath had not caught her.
“No, you can’t,” screamed Robina. “There’s another way, there has to be.”
Sadly Robina’s pleas did not even enter Drakath’s mind. Within him, he was considering so many things that he did not even have space to think of her words. He could not decide between using the Blade, or the Darkwolf Bandits to gain the throne. The blade was the quick option, but the Darkworlf Bandits let him stay by Robina’s side. Drakath was trying to choose, between his newly found love, or his life long desire of reclaiming his throne and asserting revenge. Xan’s warning replayed in his mind, over and over. Try as he might, Drakath could not escape the past or let it go. He had to have his throne back or else he would never be satisfied with himself or satisfied with Robina.
“Drakath now!” Yelled Sepulchure.
“I’m sorry Robina but I have to do this. I love you,” He said as he gently laid her to the ground and gave her one last kiss goodbye.
“I love you too,” she said just in time for him to hear it before entering Shadowfall.
Robina, or more accurately Princess Victoria, went home and locked herself in her room for a week and cried. She never told anyone of her romance with Drakath. It was months before she resembled her former self again. It seemed Drakath had truly broken her heart.
Drakath swore allegiance to the Shadowscythe and Sepulchure. He missed Robina dearly, and attempted to suppress his feelings for her by plunging himself whole-heartedly into his work for Sepulchure. This worked for the most part, but no matter how much he focused, he could never fully erase her from his heart. During the heat of the battle or a mission or planning he may have seemed to have forgotten about her, but whenever the work was done the image of her would appear in his mind and his heart would ache. He never was able to forget her, and he never stopped loving her.
The greatest irony of this story is that Drakath did not know Robina was really princess Victoria. Had he only followed his heart and stuck but her side marriage would have, more likely than not, led to Drakath being the King of Swordhaven.
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