I love the secret twin sibling play. I’d still try it even though I’m completely confident that they’d never in a million years believe it.
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Thanks for the candid feedback!
MC’s identity-mystery in earlier parts of Book 2 is a known and longstanding problem that I’ve been trying to hack away at (with evidently mixed success). The fake name mechanic in particular has tripped me up a lot because the code is a bit of a mess on the back end. Will definitely look into improving this moving forward.
As for the transitions - I fear a big portion of that is indeed the authorial intent (i.e. the Ilya section is subtly heralded by her ‘returning to her trance’, which is intended to signpost that the plainly-disconnected next segment is a memory sequence). I guess the hope is that with memory-recalling being so prominent in the series (it’s the foundation of Book 1, and frequently employed in Book 2), it would make the ‘harsher’ transitions like this one easier to follow haha.
Fist of the Dark Lord is a very fun idea. It could even be the case that 25% Spiritism mages learned this specific spell from the repertoire for this express purpose…
That said, I think this might have to wait a while as I never tracked the Leon-decked-the-mage variable in Book 1 haha. I do already plan on doing some minor rewrites anyway, possibly to be released during or after Book 2’s publication. The largest reason is a White Fangs-focused scene (present in the current demo as a flashback) that’s pretty obscure to access right now, but might fit in better alongside Book 1 content (snippets below).
Anyway yes, probable Book 1 rewrite incoming and I’ve made a note to track that particular variable!
Less sure about protesting the burning as a method - it feels like quite a specific complaint (for lack of a better word) and I fear this conversation, when it is eventually had, is plenty packed already (Jove knows there’s no shortage of complaints the mage can leverage against Leon…). Will continue to think about it!
…
It’s painfully difficult not to spill out the entirety of my plot outline documents sometimes…
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Years of service evidently not enough, nor the bloodletting and bone-breaking you performed at his behest. And perhaps if you were merely his archmage, some faceless genius thrust by station into the mantle, you might have understood. Accepted that blind trust had no place in the calculus of kings.
The evidence was damning, you can see that much. Your sister architect of the invasion, your powers an echo of hers. Your dagger in the saintess’s heart. To Julius, or indeed any ruler worth their salt, the pyre would have been a matter of course.
But he knew you, damn it. Risked his skin to save yours even before you won him his crown. The only reason you fought the war at all: your faith in him and his, the radiant future he might win for Param, for Arvanand. For you.
How quickly the cloak turns, once he got his way.
Words cannot express how happy I am to see this in the game, my entire thought process of Leon summed up in this one section.
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Hi, Parivir. I don’t know if others have reported this bug, but just wanted to let you know that since reuniting with Eli, MC’s name is missing from Eli’s dialogue pretty much all the time. Here’s an example.
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I’ve gotten this issue too. When I started the story from the beginning (Book 1) and try to play it through, this happens. If you use the skip function to skip to this chapter then it doesn’t.
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Late to the party but easy decision for me. You’ll run out of mana a lot faster than you’ll run out of knife.
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Actually since you bring it up, I think I’m content to go with the high mage route, at least partially because of the sunk cost fallacy (in for a penny and all), but mostly because I went with Gweila, and that kinda covers my bases in the standard ‘squishy wizard’ weaknesses.
Low strength? There’s a glyph for that.
Low defense? There’s a glyph for that.
Running out of mana? Gweila has a spell for that.
Fighting another spellcaster? Gweila has a spell for that.
Then it gets better since spiritism is his primary mastery but he uses Gweila, which is all part of the plan. See everybody thinks they’re gonna have a leg up on my mage since he’s known for his mastery of spiritism but just when they think they have Rune on the ropes, bam! He throws out spells like an automatic rifle.
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Thank you for the report - I’ve tried to fix this bug some four or five times now but it seems every solution I introduce only breaks the feature in a completely different way. Very much wishing I’d never introduced the fake name system to begin with now, and quite seriously considering removing it altogether–it may well be beyond what I’m capable of, codewise x)
Rather fond of the passage, too - sat back in my chair when I finished writing it and thought yep, never touching a single word of this!
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Not to toot my own horn, but writing code is my day job, and I’m quite good at it. Hit me up if you want help.
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I wonder if you can develop this into some kind of power systems like nen or stand. It’s really interesting seeing an IF formulate their own original power systems.
Wow! It’s been a long time since I last played the demo! There’s so much new stuff! 
I really like the new direction; the pacing feels more natural and MC’s relationship with Arcadia seems more reasonable and less combatative. Tahlia keeping her cards close to her chest allows for a lot more depth of interpretation, as opposed to her repeatedly leveraging threat after threat against a resentful, rebellious MC, for example.
The fact that MC is conscripted into the least objectionable, most broad-reaching “rescue” missions feels hard to argue against; even an MC that’s suspicious or resentful of Arcadia would likely agree to save innocent civilians.
On the topic of MC’s new life:
I actually really like the option to use the fake name, even though game-wise it would probably require several “off-ramp” opportunities for MC intentionally revealing their identity, if/when they feel comfortable enough.
Fake Name Opinions
Taking a new name was an instinctive, knee-jerk response for my MC, who was there initially against their will and unsure what to do with themself in the meantime. But that does mean that they would eventually need to explain to the rest of the Saber operatives, or, more likely, accidentally be “outed” by Eli in Ch7.
Having a triple-life was complicated, but also an oddly compelling option. They’re not who they were in Sienan (at least as long as they aren’t in Sienan); they’re the Mask identity (Heiritor, in their case) with Saber; and they were Avir, neighborhood alchemist botanist alongside other civilians in Thulrum. That all felt right; they’re just not sure how to juggle things just yet. (They’re also not sure what to do once their “contract” is up, either. They want to leave… but they don’t have anywhere to go, either. And Thulrum’s not so bad.)
Name-Coding aside, the identity aspect that I found more confusing was the facial glamour Tahlia had put on MC. Myst mentions it in Ch6, noting that it’s something Tahlia does for high-profile new arrivals, but I’m curious if that’s a spell that she maintains in perpetuity, and if some people can see through it? Eli recognizes MC right away without their mask, after all. I do really appreciate the emotional significance of their recognizing MC, though. I hope that part doesn’t change, though it’s hard to explain, if a glamor is in place.
If “something has to give”, conceptually, I think the glamour is more easily abandoned than the alias or a scene I really, really like. 
(Though I am, admittedly, quite biased in that regard.)
I was also slightly confused by the choice of which Phantasma to sever; I feel like I could have used a paragraph or two explaining the significance of the choice, both in terms of power sets, and maybe also in terms of whose powers / legacy we continue to carry?
Mild Spoilers About Powers?
I liked keeping Satiel’s power set, for example, but I felt kind of bad about “denying” Reagusa, after knowing what the Dynast and Augur had gone though.
Does severing them mean that the Dynast (or Augur) are now “on the hook” again until a new host is found? Or will the powers simply be dormant in a new (non-person, non-living) vessel?
Were those only emergency measures, and is the Ashai’s method the “right” one - one that doesn’t require the same sacrifices the Dynast and Augur had to make?
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Beginning of Chapter 10
Not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but I hired Eli and yet the bottom option is still greyed out? According to the code that was the only condition, so not sure what happened.
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Hello,
I’ve just finished Chapter 6, and apart from some general wording errors and stuff, I’ve noticed one thing code-wise. So in case noone’s brought it up yet:
beware - potential spoilers
*temp deedscost variable is set as a condition for one of the questions that one can ask in the tahliaexpo section - but I have not found anywhere were it would set ‘true’
EDIT: Have found another in Chapter 7 besides the usual wording and pronoun mixups.
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Is it true we only get like 5 minutes of dialog with her? Please say it ain’t so.
Found a possible bug in changer 6 2. There seems to be two separate dialogue paths if you create a spirit gate to the bandit camp or not. If you do create the gate, neither Y or F’s relationships get set correctly so they show up as “unmet person” still, and they don’t get their default starting values.
These are the lines from the non-spirit gate path
*set kyusuha 1
*set ryusuha 50
${yusuha} gives you a knowing glance as the pieces fall into place in your head. If ${yhe} hadn't already known that you were an arcanist, ${yhe} certainly knows it now.
-----------
*set kfalco 1
*set rfalco 35
"Oh, come off it, ${falco}," ${yusuha} complains, crossing ${yhis} arms as ${falco} leaps to the ground. A gust of sudden wind blows upward underneath ${fhim}, likely by way of ${yusuha}'s manipulation, which appears to slow ${falco}'s fall and silence the noise of ${fhim} hitting the ground. $!{fhis} curly white hair bounces lightly as ${fhe} sticks the landing. "I got the job done, didn't I?"
And these are the lines from the spirit gate path
*goto shrubbery2
${yusuha} gives you a knowing glance as the pieces fall into place. If ${yhe} hadn't already known that you were an arcanist, ${yhe} certainly knows it now.
*choice
-----------
The new arrival—${falco}, evidently, gazes around the clearing, ${fhis} expression growing dissatisfied as ${fhe} catches sight of ${yusuha}'s work. "Was that really necessary?"
"Oh, come off it, ${falco}," ${yusuha} complains, crossing ${yhis} arms as ${yhe} does. "You know I wouldn't have done that without good reason."
Edit:
And found a new bug. For the masks, selecting the imperial style of mask will set the mask variable to “venetian”, but “venetian” is only checked for during the callsign assignment and not the fluff text. The if statements check for “imperial”
#A finely-crafted mask of Imperial make, with slight, delicate features painted with swirling gold colors against a black-and-white surface.
*set mask "venetian"
"Isha-on-high, but that [i]is[/i] beautiful," Myst says. "A silver piece says some poor craftsman is nursing his hands from the effort it took to put this together."
You pull your mask on,
*if ((mask = "plain") or (mask = "imperial"))
its cold clay edge
Edit: Edit: And another one. Chapter 7 3. E uses F’s pronouns. This happens in 2 places, mostly the same surrounding text though.
and see that Eli has regained ${fhis} consciousness.
Edit: Edit: Edit: (Maybe I should finish a full play through before posting bugs I’ve found so I don’t have to keep editing things)
After the flashback in chapter 7 2 fname gets set to your real name so there’s a couple of instances in chapter 7 and 8 where you’re referred to as your real name where I don’t think you should be.
Chapter 7 3
"Choose wisely, ${fname}," ${falco} warns,
Chapter 8 1
${yusuha} makes a show of scoffing at the idea. "Too outsized a task for a newbie, don't you think? I mean this as no insult to you, ${fname},
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Hi once more, If found another thing codewise:
again Spoiler ahead probs
in Chapter9_thulrumRedux - when we get to offer Eli a Job with us (#then come work for me instread option) the “elihired” variable does not get set → I hired her and still everything depending on this variable proceeds as if I had not in all further chapters.
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