Ireth
Myth Weaver
...where the one being rebelled against is the good guy?
I've only ever heard of stories with the rebels being the heroes, valiantly resisting the evil king/empire/etc. But in my story (actually a freeform text-based multi-crossover RP I'm plotting out somewhat in advance), the king, Bran, is a decent person trying to maintain friendship between his kind (Fae) and the students and teachers of Dunehelden, a combined high school/university for supernaturals. Some are human, often with magical powers; others are vampires or werewolves.
Backstory for context's sake:
The Duneheldians are on friendly terms with Bran ever since he was kidnapped to Dunehelden (which is located in Faerie, and warded specifically to keep full-blooded Fae OUT; the backstory there is irrelevant) by Alinraun, an evil elemental being from another universe, who did so basically for its own amusement. Alinraun was destroyed shortly before Bran became king, and is no longer a concern. There are other beings of Alinraun's kind involved, called the Enduring, who are benevolent toward the Duneheldians and their Fae allies; they are the ones who got Bran out of the wards and let him go home, as well as destroying Alinraun.
Bran is very new to kingship, and none too confident about the whole business; the only reason he has the crown is because Alinraun murdered his mother, who was the ruling Queen. There were no witnesses but Bran and his father, and this has given rise to rumors that Bran is the murderer. Bran now fears, rightfully, that there will be a coup against him and his father and sister, and also that his friends at Dunehelden will be endangered.
The rebels dislike the Duneheldians for a number of reasons: the warded area in their own land being one, the kidnapping being another -- since Alinraun didn't take a physical form when kidnapping Bran (it got into his mind and puppeteer-ed him via nightmares), and no one in Bran's castle except Bran himself ever saw it or heard it speak prior to the murder, no one else believed Alinraun existed. The rebels assume it was the Duneheldians who kidnapped him, when really they simply gave him sanctuary before the Enduring got him out of the wards. Bran's decision to invite the Enduring and some of the Duneheldians to his coronation, as a token of friendship, only exacerbated things.
The Plot:
Right now I really have only three concrete ideas for the plot forward from this point: Bran sends his sister (and possibly his father and his sister's lover as well) to stay with the Duneheldians for protection, with the Enduring getting them safely past the wards, and then the rebels attack the humans. (The rebels have half-blooded Fae among them, who due to their human ancestry are able to pass the wards, albeit with difficulty and discomfort.) Also, one or both of the Enduring are going to do espionage among the rebels. They won't risk getting caught, as they won't be using their humanoid bodies; their elemental forms, fire and moonlight, are much less conspicuous.
So, to the point... what else can I do here? I want to end with Bran and his family safe and sound, and the rebels either disbanded or rounded up and punished accordingly. The problem is how to get there. I have no idea what stories there are to draw on that have the rebels as the villains. SeleneHime suggested looking to Asiatic stories for reference and inspiration, but I have no clue where to start looking. Thoughts? Opinions?
I've only ever heard of stories with the rebels being the heroes, valiantly resisting the evil king/empire/etc. But in my story (actually a freeform text-based multi-crossover RP I'm plotting out somewhat in advance), the king, Bran, is a decent person trying to maintain friendship between his kind (Fae) and the students and teachers of Dunehelden, a combined high school/university for supernaturals. Some are human, often with magical powers; others are vampires or werewolves.
Backstory for context's sake:
The Duneheldians are on friendly terms with Bran ever since he was kidnapped to Dunehelden (which is located in Faerie, and warded specifically to keep full-blooded Fae OUT; the backstory there is irrelevant) by Alinraun, an evil elemental being from another universe, who did so basically for its own amusement. Alinraun was destroyed shortly before Bran became king, and is no longer a concern. There are other beings of Alinraun's kind involved, called the Enduring, who are benevolent toward the Duneheldians and their Fae allies; they are the ones who got Bran out of the wards and let him go home, as well as destroying Alinraun.
Bran is very new to kingship, and none too confident about the whole business; the only reason he has the crown is because Alinraun murdered his mother, who was the ruling Queen. There were no witnesses but Bran and his father, and this has given rise to rumors that Bran is the murderer. Bran now fears, rightfully, that there will be a coup against him and his father and sister, and also that his friends at Dunehelden will be endangered.
The rebels dislike the Duneheldians for a number of reasons: the warded area in their own land being one, the kidnapping being another -- since Alinraun didn't take a physical form when kidnapping Bran (it got into his mind and puppeteer-ed him via nightmares), and no one in Bran's castle except Bran himself ever saw it or heard it speak prior to the murder, no one else believed Alinraun existed. The rebels assume it was the Duneheldians who kidnapped him, when really they simply gave him sanctuary before the Enduring got him out of the wards. Bran's decision to invite the Enduring and some of the Duneheldians to his coronation, as a token of friendship, only exacerbated things.
The Plot:
Right now I really have only three concrete ideas for the plot forward from this point: Bran sends his sister (and possibly his father and his sister's lover as well) to stay with the Duneheldians for protection, with the Enduring getting them safely past the wards, and then the rebels attack the humans. (The rebels have half-blooded Fae among them, who due to their human ancestry are able to pass the wards, albeit with difficulty and discomfort.) Also, one or both of the Enduring are going to do espionage among the rebels. They won't risk getting caught, as they won't be using their humanoid bodies; their elemental forms, fire and moonlight, are much less conspicuous.
So, to the point... what else can I do here? I want to end with Bran and his family safe and sound, and the rebels either disbanded or rounded up and punished accordingly. The problem is how to get there. I have no idea what stories there are to draw on that have the rebels as the villains. SeleneHime suggested looking to Asiatic stories for reference and inspiration, but I have no clue where to start looking. Thoughts? Opinions?