Okay, you know the trope about the chosen one who was sent away as a babe. Placed in the hands of some noble sheepherder to raise to manhood when he would take up his sword and reclaim the kingdom from the usurper/evil brother. But what about a twist?
Quakers!
No seriously. Imagine if you will a kingdom that values war-craft above pretty much all else. There were a lot of them back in the day. Let's say a viking like tribe with elves or some such. The old king dies and leaves two sons, one decidedly older than the other. The older son plots to kill the younger because he knows that the nobles don't like him all that much. So one of the old ministers spirits younger prince away to be summoned again in due time. So when the time is right the minister sends his minions after the prince hoping to restore the status quo. But when said prince arrives it turns out he has been raised these past two decades by Quakers and is not only a thoroughly devoted member of said church but an aspiring minister.
Well he is very sorry they have a tyrant and of course he would like to help but there is no way he is picking up the magic sword. Pacifist you see. And making a pact with the otherwordly creature trapped in that bottle? No sir, and isn't that enslavement anyway? And while they are a fine bunch of dwarves, rogues, and eleven archers no he can't swear an oath of allegiance to the merry band of misfits, it's a religious thing. And he can't do much of anything on the Sabbath Day or course. But hey! The infighting for the past twenty years has left lots of widows and orphans to serve. He'll get right on that! They keep catching him doing un-princely things like washing the feet of old women and helping out with the care of fatherless babies. Then he starts talking about things like how terrible it is that they still have slavery, human or otherwise, and shouldn't the women be a tad more equal, and shouldn't the 'savage' tribes under the other Prince's rule have access to fair treatment under the law? And the minister doesn't like where this is going and begins to wonder a bit if he wasn't worried about the wrong prince after all.
Quakers!
No seriously. Imagine if you will a kingdom that values war-craft above pretty much all else. There were a lot of them back in the day. Let's say a viking like tribe with elves or some such. The old king dies and leaves two sons, one decidedly older than the other. The older son plots to kill the younger because he knows that the nobles don't like him all that much. So one of the old ministers spirits younger prince away to be summoned again in due time. So when the time is right the minister sends his minions after the prince hoping to restore the status quo. But when said prince arrives it turns out he has been raised these past two decades by Quakers and is not only a thoroughly devoted member of said church but an aspiring minister.
Well he is very sorry they have a tyrant and of course he would like to help but there is no way he is picking up the magic sword. Pacifist you see. And making a pact with the otherwordly creature trapped in that bottle? No sir, and isn't that enslavement anyway? And while they are a fine bunch of dwarves, rogues, and eleven archers no he can't swear an oath of allegiance to the merry band of misfits, it's a religious thing. And he can't do much of anything on the Sabbath Day or course. But hey! The infighting for the past twenty years has left lots of widows and orphans to serve. He'll get right on that! They keep catching him doing un-princely things like washing the feet of old women and helping out with the care of fatherless babies. Then he starts talking about things like how terrible it is that they still have slavery, human or otherwise, and shouldn't the women be a tad more equal, and shouldn't the 'savage' tribes under the other Prince's rule have access to fair treatment under the law? And the minister doesn't like where this is going and begins to wonder a bit if he wasn't worried about the wrong prince after all.
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