I’d almost forgotten about that, thanks for the shout out! I really need to get back and try some new playthroughs soon.
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Idk if this comparison works but can Mc transform alastors from a corrupt extortionate institution to proper law enforcers similar to how Napoleon transformed the Gendarmerie to an elite corps in a short amount of time with only a few adjustments to their organization and role?
And about state capacity for large states could the Mc’s government rely on its personnel and the system their leaders devise for them instead of technology to increase or retain high amounts of state capacity? Again, similar to France under the consulate.
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Folks: you won’t often hear me ask for help, but a dear friend with three young kids is raising money for her cancer treatment, and I’d be grateful to anyone who considers whether they might be able to contribute to the cost. Any amount, however small, would be an encouragement to her and her family.
Don’t let me know if you donate, please – I’m a big believer in “the right hand not knowing what the left is doing” on these things – but know that you have my warmest thanks. 
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Hey, I just belatedly saw that a thoughtful (and friendly) review of XoR went up on YouTube six months ago:
Go give some views and thumbs up!
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You should add the map to Stormwright and Uprising to give a better idea of where is what
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We welcome the coming month with joy!
ALL HAIL JULDUIN!
Angels willing, the town shall open its gates to us soon.
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Angels willing, indeed.
All I can say is, however disappointed any of you may be to reach June 30 with no update, I’m even more so.
When I started writing the Irduin chapter, I thought I’d do a light-touch version of what I was planning for Grand Shayard: pick two demographics you want to spend time with, one primary and one secondary.
The touch became less light as I wrote…partly because scope creep is a thing, but partly because (as I wrote upthread) I realized that to make it feel worthwhile to have spent time with these characters, they needed more room to breathe.
That led to some slow months, writing out the complexities of how the paths interact as we reach their ends. And now I’m in the thick of writing murders and blackmail and assassination and duelling a Theurge and shit blowing up…and I’m sorry, I don’t want to give that to you half-finished.
I’ll confess I’ve also not spent every moment writing. After starting the month single-dadding it with my wife at a conference, these last couple weeks we’ve been on family holiday at a lake…and while I’ve been up late writing most nights (and racked up another coding-dense 35,000 words of XoR in June), I’ve also been out swimming with my boys and climbing up Alpine foothills and enjoying good food and wine.
It’s got me fortified for the big July push. I’ll be doing all I healthily can to make Julduin happen. The only thing I can ask you to bet on is that I won’t stop til we get there. That’s for certain; Julduin is a plausible hope.
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Talk about Christmas in July.
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i cant wait until my 3 cha 1 int mc duel’s theurge 
im sure nothing bad will happen
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Can you say which demographics will we be able to spend time with?
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Not the author, obviously, but some of the possible “demographics” to visit could be:
The nobility (Leaguers vs Laconniers vs Loyalists)
The priests (Ecclesiasts vs the Diakonry)
The merchants (the Talone vs the local guilds)
Everyone else (free yeomen and the helotry)
I’m 100% sure we’re gonna be able to interact with the various noble factions but everything is a guess on my part.
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Chirex, consigned to canal boat duty after her unforgivable failure to nip the Rim Commotion in the bud, seeing this suspiciously familiar stranger walk into town:
(We can only wish)
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The noble de Irde family; the Ecclesiast (and as a bonus his friend the Alastor); the merchants; the yeomanry; the helots (compliant or resistant); and the innkeeper.
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Now I’m kind of wondering what will happen if my failrun (a Helot who managed to get “rabid hatred” from the Aristocrats and “offered chests of gold for your head” from the Merchants) meets with both the de Irdes and the Merchants.
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Are these two different groups of helots or two ways we can steer the helotry?
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And we can only devote significant time to two? That’ll be a difficult choice for my mc, but considering his rebellion already has a good reputation with the helots and given the need to remain undercover in our new alias it might be time to seriously expand into the ranks of the merchants and the yeomen as getting those two groups on board too is key to achieving anything sustainable in the end. 
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Thanks for the answer.
My homelander aristo-oriented MC will certainly choose to spend time with de Irde, but the secondary option is more tricky. Maybe the resistant helots could be an interesting choice, even if counterintuitive - after all maybe it would be wise to keep would-be rebels close to you if you want to preserve some social order in Irduin.
Or yeomantry, to search for Cabelites.
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That sounds like an amazing holiday @Havenstone I hope you and your boys had fun! 
The sneak peaks so far sounds amazing. If all that comes, it means that Irduin won’t just be a small holiday retreat for our MC, but an action packed small town adventure. Definitely worth the wait in my opinion!
Also, us Europeans will be busy until the 14th with football, so you’ve got yourself some extra time. 
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Please allow us to donate to the same group multiple times in Uprising, because I donated 3000 money units to the Diakons then they were only generally indiferent to me, although I donated so much to be absolutely sure that they would have maximum relations with me
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You need to give them like double that. They’re greedy folks.
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