An imperial prince assassinated in a power struggle.

Reader woke up in the body of Prince Reynault Armata. As the memories of the prince started merging with his, Reader brought his hand to his neck to find it still wet with warm blood. However the gash which he had died from had fully mended.

Now as prince Reynault, Reader picked himself up from the ground where he had bled out and took stock of his surroundings. He was standing in the midst of what was left of his ambushed imperial convoy. The bodies of his knights, servants, carriages and horses were strewn about carelessly along the stretch of lonely forest road, while the full moon overhead gleefully bathed them in her haunting pale light.

In hindsight, Reynault wasn’t at all surprised that an attempt had been made on his life. He was just amazed at the audacity and openness with which the attack had taken place. To ambush a member of royalty and his imperial convoy this close to the imperial city itself? One would have to be pretty bold, or pretty stupid, or perhaps pretty **** to pull off such a sacrilege. Probably all three.

This all started three months ago during the winter. The old emperor, Solomon Arxlanta, had finally succumbed to the illness and poor health that had been plaguing him for the better part of 2 years, leaving behind seven ‘grieving’ queens, and at least twice the number of eligible heirs, both male and female.

Perhaps out of sloth, or spite, or perhaps all part of his plan, the late emperor failed to determine an order of succession among his many heirs. Conversely, he had been known to be unpredictable in his favor, showering one heir with attention while keeping the others at arm’s length, and then making another his favorite out of the blue while snubbing the others.

As things stand, the Empire of Arx lies divided into seven factions, each supporting one of the seven houses of the widowed queens and the claim of their children to the throne.

“This could prove interesting,” Reynault muttered to himself.

Yet a part of him, perhaps a remnant of the departed prince’s desire, wished to leave behind the imperial burden, politics, and intrigue. Tired of it all, he just wanted to disappear from his current life and start another. Thanks to the ambush, it would seem like there was no better time to slip away than this very moment.

“It would seem that I am at a crossroad,” Reynault said. “I could…”

1. Give a flying fuck about my right to succession, take this opportunity to escape and start a new life under a new identity.
2. Continue on to the imperial city, reinstate myself in this treacherous game of imperial succession and aim for the crown.