Prince Jean ([jeen] | / dʒin /)

Craft-literomancy and using words woven into his crafts are Jean's Literomantic specialties. Some examples include blankets woven with healing magic to help those in recovery from the war, or the duplication of a necklace for Luna to wear so it self-repairs when she inevitably chews on it.   When he writes fiction, Jean focuses on litRPG as a genre, so he draws upon RPG related powers with relative ease in his Literomancy.   Jean loves animals, and animals know it. He is often capable of handling creatures that others cannot, and can get them to do things for him that boggle the minds of people who are less adept.   Jean can gore with his antlers in partial or full bunny form.

When the Prince engages in combat, he typically wears a medieval knight's plate armour and wields a medieval broadsword. He picked up these skills at the Society for Creative Anachronism events his parents brought him to as a teenager.

Early Life

Prince Jean was a wild jackalope-presenting Wererabbit who was adopted by Sable Aradia and Erin Righ at approximately age 12. He has little memory of his early life, and can say only that by the time he was found by the Lapins on a camping trip, he was little more than a feral jackalope, with some vague memories of being a street kid and an awareness that he was running away from someone or something.   As a teenager, Jean's struggle to understand unwritten human social cues frequently got him into trouble. His school record is spotted with suspensions and the occasional expulsion, although he managed to avoid running afoul of the law. Despite his exceptional intelligence and his mother's aggressive advocation he spent most of his school years in "special ed" classes, and has a diagnosis of autism.   He eventually dropped out of high school in frustration, and found work with the BC Parks Service and then a wildlife rescue, where he could indulge his love of animals and avoid people. He dated occasionally, but developed no long-term partnerships, nor seemed to have any interest in doing so.  

The First Word War

The outbreak of The First Word War took Jean by surprise, since he was in the woods when it happened. But when he learned of the events at the 2020 Game of Tomes, he immediately returned home to lend whatever aid he could.   With his family being one of his few touchstones in human society, he was devastated by the deaths of his siblings, both older and younger, and even more devastated by his undeath at the Fall of the Warren. He was often observed trying to get close to his mother, and cursing the hunger that drove her away.   Since his right leg was broken below the knee in the assault on the Warren, Undead necrosis cost Jean his right leg near the end of the War. Since it was never recovered, it did not regenerate when Jean was resurrected, and he has fully adapted to the use of a springsteel prosthesis.  

Well, I guess somebody’s got a lucky rabbit's foot.

— Prince Jean, post WW1

  Jean never blamed his father for his actions as The Nite Qing, nor for the loss of his foot. His father’s refusal to return home following the War hurt him more than he would publicly admit, and this was part of the reason Jean began to spend much of his time at The Cavern.  

Peacetime 2021

The ascension of House Lapin and the founding of the Lapin Protectorate in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse came as almost as nasty a surprise to Jean as the War itself.  

What do you mean they want to make you the Queen?! Are they nuts? Do we look like high muckimucks?

— Prince Jean prior to his mother's coronation

  Yanked out of the wilderness and thrust into the savage world of global politics by necessity as The Chief Rabbit's eldest living child, he did not take to it well. He was regarded by his peers as being awkward and withdrawn, and he spent most of his time with his writing, his fibre arts, and the menagerie of animals he acquired to compensate for the wildlife rescue he missed.   Yet, driven by his devotion to duty and unwavering loyalty to his family, Crown Prince Jean turned his philanthropic urges towards his future subjects and the Realm. He built a sanctuary at the Warren where Literomancers could come to write in companionable silence at all hours of the day and night, and had it recognized as official Tourney grounds for the Tourneys of Tales so that the writing done within its walls would count towards overall House scores.   During the April 2021 Tourney of Tales, Prince Jean met and began dating his mother's good friend, the Queen of Bats Siobhan the Writer. Things quickly became serious between them.  

The Second Word War

The outbreak of The Second Word War was as unwelcome a surprise to the Bunny Prince as the first. Despite his royal mother's suspicions he aggressively defended the Bat Queen's innocence, although he still fought loyally for his House. When Her Rabbitness and Her Batness made peace it was a great relief to him.   The Prince of Rabbits was instrumental at the Battle of the Warren. Having caught The Filking Plague, he wrote the filk In Words We Trust that rallied the Tome Knights to victory against The Undead Horde 2021, but was unable to perform it due to battle wounds.   Prince Jean and the Bat Queen announced marriage plans at the celebratory feast following the Battle of the Warren. These plans were recorded and aired as part of the GOT News Network debaucle.   Jean was angry and deeply hurt by not being informed that his Meles cousins were, in fact, his siblings. He immediately made efforts to build a relationship with his brother Lord Galakrond and the other Forgelings. He has not yet entirely forgiven his mother for this, although he has decided to move past it.   With the revelation of the parentage of the Meles children, some controversy erupted around the Prince having been adopted, rather than being the Bunny Queen's natural born son, and whether he had a legitimate claim to the Lapin succession. But the royal position never wavered, and after an unsuccessful court challenge, the matter was eventually, for the most part, dropped.  

Early 2022

In January of 2022, a near-successful assassination attempt on Queen Sable Bright-Eyes drove the Prince back into the political fray and postponed his wedding plans. Required to assume the duty of House Leadership while the Bunny Queen recovered, he once again embraced his duty and familiarized himself with the customs of diplomacy until he was exacting to a fault. Yet his overtures to the other House Leaders were often misinterpreted as being forced.   In a way, they were, since he understood unwritten diplomatic social cues as well as he did any others. To complicate matters, most of the other House Leaders, having once been average working class people, continued to conduct some of their behind-the-scenes politics informally and according to their own social rules.   The Bunny Prince was unable to rally House Lapin and their performance suffered in the Tourney, especially after a second assassination attempt on the Mother of Bunnies, this time by poison, looked as though it would be successful.   But the Prince supported his fiancé in her efforts to organize a ritual to save his royal mother, and he leant his literomancy to the task. His relief knew no bounds when his father returned home, lending the power of his love to the ritual as well, and the ritual was successful.  

July Tourney 2022

Royal wedding plans resumed and Prince Jean turned his attentions to strengthening the Babbit Alliance. He continued to spend much of his time at the Cavern and made numerous friends among the Chiropterans, simply by pitching in where he could. He stayed out of the public eye while the Queen's public reputation was savaged, mostly because he felt he was likely to worsen matters, and because Queen Sable insisted he focus on wedding plans. A date was finally set for the beginning of October.   The Prince of Rabbits was once more dragged into conflict, however, when he was inadvertently forced into The Battle of the Book. He wrote bravely, but did not individually manage to generate the 50K target, being particularly drained by the maladies caused by the The Iron Tome, perhaps due to his proximity. He was awarded the title Defender of the Realm for his actions in the conflict.  

"A Stupid Accident"

In September of 2022, while the Bunny Prince and the Bat Queen were headed to Whistler, BC to enjoy a weekend hiking and fishing at the resort, their driver swerved to avoid a deer along the Sea-to-Sky Highway, and the car went off the cliff. The driver was killed instantly, and the Prince was critically injured. Queen Siobhan died in the crash as well and could not be revived, despite Queen Sable’s best efforts.   The Prince gave little outward sign of his grief. Instead, he threw himself more fully into his duties, preparing vigorously for the coming war in November. Whether this is a denial of his grief, a manifestation of his neurodiversity, or simply that he is better at conforming to the expected traditional royal standards of stoicism than his mother, no one can say for sure.  

The Third Word War

Prince Jean volunteered for The 50K Offensive at the outbreak of WW3. Unfortunately he did not succeed in generating the necessary literomantic energy needed in the ritual, and was afflicted with the necrotic curse. He fled the Warren immediately following the rite, determined not to bring more trouble on his family, and fell to the Undead Horde defending House Chiroptera. He was later seen at the Battle of Mount Mitchell, missing both legs and driving a tank wheelchair, but apparently this time he managed to keep his leg, and it was restored upon his resurrection. This need to make use of a motorized wheelchair might explain why he was not spotted at The Battle of Kin Beach.  

I felt my literomantic powers waning and I've decided to embrace it. I'm going to go get Gala. I'm going to go get him, and bring him back to you.

— Prince Jean, in a letter to Queen Sable following his undeath

 

Post WW3

Since the end of the War, the Prince has been quietly recuperating at the Warren. He is co-parenting Uri Kwake (who calls him "Papa") with Prinx Tempest Kwake and Duke Buddha Kwake. He is now often seen carrying his son and newest little sister Princess Luna around in his coat, and spoiling them rotten.

The Lapin Crown Prince has a diagnosis of autism, although this might in fact be Feral Child Syndrome. His intelligence borders on genius level, despite his social awkwardness.

The Prince of Rabbits has all the qualities that embody the ideal of chivalry. He is loyal, honourable, and brave. These traits sometimes get him into trouble in modern society, which tends to be a bit more cynical than he is.

Prince Jean is absolutely dedicated to his family and the Lapin Protectorate. He credits his parents for not only saving his life, but his soul as well, since he is aware of just how feral he had become before they coaxed him into their lives. His overpowering sense of duty often drives him to push himself to extremes.

 

Erin Righ = Father

Sable Aradia = Mother

Daniel = Older Brother^†

Rebecca = Older Sister

Mykola Void = Younger Sister

Senna Nightshade = Younger Sister

Lord Galakrond = Younger Brother

Missi = Younger Sister

Salembear = Younger Sister

Xantos = Younger Sibling

Jellybean = Younger Sister

Monkey = Younger Sister

Batman = Younger Brother

Merrie = Younger Sister^†

Alexandrea = Younger Sister^†

Luna = Younger Sister

Dave = Uncle^†

Princess Sunny = Aunt

Tempest Kwake = Entie

Realm of Music = Uncle

The Bunny Prince gives lip service to Frith and El-Ahrairah, but is not particularly religious.

LOTS. The Lapin Prince keeps a virtual menagerie of reptiles, spiders, and other creatures that get little love among most people. He also has two cats.

Jean has a flat midwestern American accent, indicating that must have been his place of birth. How he got to the Canadian woods from there as a child is anybody's guess. He says little until he gets to know someone, and then he speaks with sarcastic humour and little to no filters.