The Royal Family of the Forest

This story is one of the more elaborate tellings of what happened 500 years ago.

The Tale

Long ago, the forest was led by five royal animals of the forest. The King Hart, the Queen Bear, the Princess Rabbit, the Prince Fox and the Jester Weasel.

There was a terrible tragedy where a lover was lost and one of the Royal Family fled in anguish. Who left changes on the tellings, but the most common tellings have The Princess Rabbit or The Queen Bear fleeing.

Some tellings even have the Jester Weasel leaving, but this is mostly told by jesters of modern courts trying to exemplify their importance.

Whomever left, the remaining members of the family and their retinues left one by one to find them, naughty to return until the lost member was found.

Modern Day Worship

Modern day worshipers have splintered into different groups. Each one claims ancestry to one of the Royal Family’s retinue. They tend to have friction with other groups that don’t agree on who left first, causing this whole debacle. There’s not many in each group, no one group has more than 500 followers.

King Hart

The followers of King Hart believe that the Princess Rabbit left first, but the Queen Bear left shortly after. They travel in search of the ladies of the court, but tend to have conflict with the Prince Fox and the Jester Weasel followers. As they travel, they tend to expect reverence and the Foxes and Weasels do not give that much respect.

Queen Bear

Followers of Queen Bear believe that Princess Rabbit left first, and that other groups unfairly slander the name of the Queen by saying that she abandoned the court early. They travel in search of Princess Rabbit, so they may return her to court. They get along with Jester Foxes and King Harts, but have conflict with Princess Rabbit followers who seem to be hiding her somewhere. They also suspect Prince Foxes know where she is hiding, and often accuse them of withholding information. As they travel, they make sure they are known to be as powerful as they are.

Prince Fox

The followers of Prince Fox claim that the Princess Rabbit left first, but that Prince Foxes helped her escape. They tend not to care for King Harts or Queen Bears because of this, but will always have a place for Princess Rabbits and Jester Weasels at their tables. As they travel, they tend to sneak around and listen to what rumors are about and shape them away from finding the rabbits.

Princess Rabbit

The followers of Princess Rabbit believe that Queen Bear left first and that Princess Rabbit was blamed for chasing her off. They get along with the Prince Foxes, but tend to hide and avoid all the other factions. They believe that everyone outside of the Foxes are out to get them, and have focused on hiding skills in their studies.

Jester Weasels

The Jester Weasels believe that the Weasel left first. They believe that he left first and then tricked the Queen and the Princess to leave shortly after. They tend to be mirror empaths when dealing with other groups. They will say they believe the other’s interpretation of events and support them in whatever beliefs they hold.