Questions for Fantasy Story

[Electro Queen]

I have a scene something like this in 'Empire: Capital.' In that case, the male antagonist was drunk. Seriously drunk, to the point where the lady in question (barely trained in basic dodges and thrusts) was able to trip him. Then again, he was trying to grapple/grope her, not kill. Had he been sober, this would not have worked.

Holy smokes that’s genius! I think I might just do something like that but instead of drugging the dude I’ll just give him some kind of relaxation pile/substance that severely weakens him. Thank you so much

 

[ThinkerX]

Holy smokes that’s genius! I think I might just do something like that but instead of drugging the dude I’ll just give him some kind of relaxation pile/substance that severely weakens him. Thank you so much

With respect, I'd go with drunk. That way, he does it to himself, and it shows how much stress he is under.

Following up a bit on my suggestion with the 'Second Prince being posted to the hinterlands,' for that I would suggest that while there, he does something major: stops a barbarian invasion in its tracks, suppresses a major rebellion, or conquers a neighboring nation - the sort of thing that would normally result in accolades back home. Instead, he gets told 'we don't care, you're worthless,' and so on. That gives him some actual justification for the attempted regicide thing, because to him, the people that should be paying attention to the barbarian horde or rebellion or whatever are failing big time.

 

[Electro Queen]

ThinkerX



So sorry for the late reply. Today was soooo god damn busy for me.



“With respect, I'd go with drunk. That way, he does it to himself, and it shows how much stress he is under.”



If I wanted to portray the current king as ruthless and tough on the outside but overworked and longing for release on the inside, I would do that but I’m more or less writing him like a stereotypical bad king who rules with an iron fist and takes advantage of the many luxuries that come with being a king. I do plan on having some kind of ‘Character drinks their depression away’ scene in my story but probably for a character who’s actually struggling in their life.



“Following up a bit on my suggestion with the 'Second Prince being posted to the hinterlands,' for that I would suggest that while there, he does something major: stops a barbarian invasion in its tracks, suppresses a major rebellion, or conquers a neighboring nation - the sort of thing that would normally result in accolades back home. Instead, he gets told 'we don't care, you're worthless,' and so on. That gives him some actual justification for the attempted regicide thing, because to him, the people that should be paying attention to the barbarian horde or rebellion or whatever are failing big time.”



Unfortunately the second son doesn’t have anywhere near that much power over the kingdom’s forces. Only the king can order soldiers into battles. The Fire Kingdom also isn’t really concerned at all with conquering more land. They only fight off hordes of outlanders who’re after the source of their magic.



As for why the second son despises the first son so much, well… he honestly doesn’t even hate him that much. He’s more so under the delusion that his father’s teachings have so thoroughly corrupted him that their’s no hope in him redeeming himself. I mean his father raised him to…

• Tax everyone in the kingdom regardless of whether they’re in poverty or not
• Take credit for other people’s ideas and efforts (he took credit for a Volcanologist’s Asbestos suit that could be used to explore the volcanic area for rare materials)
• Discourage women from fighting along men in battle because he views them as sentient breeding machines that are necessary to maintain the kingdom’s future
• Blow up anything that annoys or angers him
• Treat his wife like, at best, a literal slave and at worst, an object for pleasure
• Yell at his son if he gets something in his training/studies wrong
• Prioritise his own happiness over the happiness and well-being of his subjects (he turned down a civilian’s suggestion to build a health-care-centre in the kingdom to treat wounded soldiers and this was the final straw that convinced the second son into going through with his plan of getting his daughter to kill him)

So yeah I’d kinda have to change quite a bit about my story in order to make your suggestion work. Don’t get it twisted though. I adore your ideas and really do appreciate how much effort you spent trying to make my mini-plot as best as possible.