Suitor needs to turn back

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Rachel Udin

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India (Circa first century), though in this case it doesn't really matter, I think. You'll see after I lay it out for you.

Problem goes like this:

The low-ranking princess involved has to look like she's cursed. So I figure 3 times in a short period of time would make the offers go down the hole.

I made the first possible husband have food poisoning. ^^;; Some potty jokes were in there. It wasn't pretty.

The second suitor's family was overbearing... and insulted the MC's mother. The suitor also never showed up for the meeting...

The third suitor... I originally lined up like this:

He comes upon a sick elephant in the road (a valid Indian superstition) and then turns back because he doesn't want his riches diminished.

I'm not satisfied with this version. Because it kind of buckles to the western notion of Indians with elephants. Blech. Bordering on stereotype and it also creates a giant plot hole which I had to go and fill. Though the character grows from it, still, I have to do extra well to pull that section off and put it in. (Plus, I can do the same thing without having to use the elephant...) i.e. I don't want to hit on 100% TM of what the West thinks of India and make it seem exotic. I want it accessible...

I want it to escalate too... the misfortune. (Without using death. Ya know, save death for the shock value later. Like killing slaves and their children in a horrible plague.)

So I thought it doesn't have to be Indian, per se. It could be a host of other reasons that suitors give up the chase. Only my knowledge of history isn't so nuanced. I can't think of a single case where this is true. I can only think of where kings managed to succeed or they simply fizzled after they married (Henry VIII, for example).

Help? What do I type into the Google search?
 

Lil

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1. He is kidnapped and held for ransom.

2. He rides off from his party for exercise, is thrown from his horse and is injured and unconscious. The people who find him carry him off to help him, but they are afraid they will be accused of injuring him so they hide him.

3. Same as 2 but he has amnesia.

4. Same as 2 but the people who find him rob him. He is left to try to beg his way back home.

5. Lightning strikes and he is blinded. He doesn't want to go courting in that condition and goes home. The blindness can be temporary.
 

benbenberi

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A watercourse unexpectedly rises (for whatever plausible or fantastical reason you please) and
- washes out the only road he can travel, making him turn back & rethink his intent (obvs bad luck is a bad omen!)
- washes out roads and bridges, poss. while people are on them, making him turn back with casualties
- nearly drowns suitor & party while they are in the middle of crossing a usually peaceful ford, making him turn back with casualties
 

sciencewarrior

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A watercourse unexpectedly rises (for whatever plausible or fantastical reason you please) and
During the monsoon season, from June through September, storms are extremely common. It wouldn't be hard for him to be caught in one. Although an out-of-season tropical storm would make her look really unlucky...
 

frimble3

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Maybe he hears of a slightly higher-ranked princess, and either takes back his suit or sneaks off to check her out, and gets delayed?
It may not be unlucky, but it emphasises your princess's lack of status, that he doesn't prize her. Which, in itself, reduces her percieved value.
I like benbenberi's 'flooded river' options. Not only the 'unlucky', but the ones where the suitor turns back with the injured shows that he's a good man, an even bigger loss.
 
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