I did another run, seeing just how brutal and merciless my idealistic heroine could be. (The invaders must be PURGED WITH FIRE! And everyone who isn’t with us is against us!) Here’s my result:
Tara Oakfell
Status: Helot
Anarchy: 50
Ruthless: 81% Compassionate: 19%
Skeptical: 50% Devout: 50%
National: 68% Cosmopolitan: 32%
Charisma: 1
Combat: 2
Intellect: 0
Wealth: 222
Followers: 287
Arms: 96
Blood: 0
@P_Tigras you read 1984? two sisters about 6 and 9 denounced his father to though police for a bad dream. Its not sci fi. In Nazi soviet regime and Mao; are hundreds of cases recorder in news and police reports some even receive medals. Children are indoctrinated since babies for evil empires,
@MaraJade Not the same thing. You’re not an indoctrinated child thinking about turning in your father, you’re a terrified child thinking about asking for your own death. Children have an extremely strong survival instinct, stronger than that of adults. Except in some very extreme circumstances where the child is already in great pain and facing certain death, or where the child has pre-existing mental health issues, I have a hard time seeing even a highly terrified child begging for death. And even in those special circumstances I think most children would suffer on, unless there are adults present to put other ideas in their vulnerable heads. This child isn’t in any pain yet, there are no adults putting ideas in his/her head, and he/she clearly has enough strength of will to lie to the theurge. The overwhelming majority of 11 year olds in this situation wouldn’t be focused on assuming they were going to die, but on doing anything they could to stay alive. Asking for death smacks of adult (and young adult) rationalization.
@P_Tigras, I agree that this isn’t a case of indoctrination. I also don’t think it’s a case of wilful suicide of the sort we start seeing in adolescence. The thought “life isn’t worth living” may require hormonal assistance to be plausible. It’s different from the urge to pick a quick, painless death over a bad one, when you’re wholly convinced that the bad death is seconds away; and I think a kid raised in a culture where s/he’s been exposed to very bad deaths from an early age might have a different response than the one we see in contemporary Western eleven year-olds.
That said, if this breaks suspension of disbelief for many people, I’m not wedded to it. It is a bit OTT.
Ah @P_Tigras i see your point maybe you are so Indoctrinate to believe you deserve dead for being heretic? No no sense then why you reveal in first place?. I don’t know i always say where the guy hide i was scared and trust they know my though so i think my girl sell is father for survive more knowing how my girl hate his dad and how violent and bad he is. So a unknown guy don’t bother her
Love it
I need more… I would pay for this
@adjppm1227, those 25 followers have started calling you “Lie-Breaker,” because your high charisma brought them around. Doesn’t mean they’re as skeptical as you are, let alone full-blown atheists – just that they’ve broken through the mental barrier and realized it’s OK to call the Karagond clergy liars. As in most oppressively religious cultures (e.g. in our day Iran, Taliban Afghanistan), many people live with an uneasy combination of piety and anti-clericalism. You’ve brought that out of dormancy.
The fact that you survive the winter is a sign of both the limits on the Empire’s coercive power (there are a lot of things competing for the blood that would go into burning down the Whendward wilderness) and the relative pettiness of your rebellion thus far. The Shayard Rim is a backwater; the fact that the helots of its market center have had a revolt is not an imminent threat to Shayard, let alone the Empire.
But don’t worry, before the end of Game I, they’ll get around to you.
@Dreckitt, good call on bringing Theurgy into the temple raid. I’ll work that in.
@Havenstone That mention of Afghanistan reminds me: What are the reasons for the “oppressive” qualities of your world? The rationale for the harrowing is that of supplying magic to fuel a police state, but, firstly, why was one assassination so climactic as to bring this state about? Certainly, the death of Caesar loose’d Strife for a while, but Augustus’ benevolence followed nevertheless - what was different, in this world, to produce a somewhat antithetical state of affairs? And secondly, even given this fearful isolationism of the Empire, what conditions allowed that to extend to such an absolute social level, as they have? Y’see, as with Afghanistan, I’ve often thought the social realities to be supervening upon more economic ones, and whilst your Empire is rather pleasant, you can never really understand something without knowing its causes.
@Bloodwyche think of the heart attack you’d give your father if that happened. The MC pregnant or Breden would probably be the push to send him over the edge or cause him to go streaking around the camp in insanity because his child “disgraced” the family line.
How woul the Rebellion continue if such a situation ever presented itself? *sinks deep into thought*
@Breder is ugly for me when i read male description i was aghh :-& don’t touch me. A coward a too proud of himself liar and 99’99% a traitor i just don’t see what all of you see in him.
Its interesting but i prefer just kill the ugly liar. There would be another romantic interest a noble i have to made noble babies to carry the family nobility i don’t want bastards with my girl she is a perfect aristocrat
@MaraJade well, since I saw you mention Orwell’s 1984 before, I’m guessing you’re familiar with it. If so, think about what is said in the novel - I believe it is written in Goldstein’s book, though i’m not sure as it’s been a year or two since I’ve read it. But, he says that in revolution, middle class will topple the upper class, and then they will become the upper class. Now, there is a difference in this game as there does not seem to BE a middle class - only the aristocracy and the helots (I suppose the clergy or the merchants could be considered middle class, but they don’t factor in as much here). Anyway, this means that should the helots be successful, they will soon become the aristocracy. So I say - go ahead and marry one of 'em, they’ll soon be the rich and powerful! 
@RagEgnite actually, I think it’d be pretty awesome if in one of the later games, if you end up being a poor ruler then you actually end up with a rebellion on your hands. The cycle ends up repeating itself, so to speak.
Though that may not be where Havenstone wishes to take this game, who knows?
Where you imagined that the character we’d be playing as in the game would turn out to be a (generally) poor ruler, I imagined that, since you say the helots would “become” the aristocracy, per say, they would soon forget where they were in the past and have their own (dissentful) serfs.
@Fortunesfaded like you know Goldstein book its a lie doing for Closed party aristocracy to maintain controlled dissidents. Also he is so ugly the only idea of kiss the traitor if he was noble i did it for duty. Im noble and my revolution try more to gain aristocracy and money that peasants i got a high charisma i could convince them with a constitution and better condition of life and end of slavery. I want a codmospolitan commercial aristocracy with meddle class up like a pre industrial revolution. But nobility is all for my girl and she believe helots are uneducated sum who need they guidance to become proper educate people.
She is idealist and good but aristocratic maybe too proud also hate religion nonsense that’s why she becomes rebel bring comerce and education to the kingdom!! Mara del Jade Rebel
@RagEgnite ooh… I like that better! I can definitely see some among the rebels who may be trouble after victory (Radmar and Kalt, for example)
@MaraJade it’s important to note that, according to the Party, the book is a lie. And since the Party dictates what is and isn’t the truth, they can make everyone else believe that the book is a lie, just as they can make everyone else believe that 2 + 2 = 5. It’s my belief that the book is the truth, and the real tragedy of the book is that the Party uses it to assimilate and then eliminate the sympathizers.
If what they’re best at is rebellion, how will they fit into the world after they’ve completed their goal of bringing down he Empire? They’ll be lost without a purpose