So, I was looking at the timeline and I was impressed by just how long of a time it took Karagon and Hera to actually put down the Kingdom of Shayard despite their theurgic advantage and the element of surprise. The first strikes and the invasion of Shayard are launched in 4 HE… but Aveche only falls in 18 HE and the Queen dying with the heir fleeing to Laconne only occurs in 30 HE.
Which brings me to a question, that I would assume is probably hotly debated among Shayardene nationalists. Was there ever an opportunity during the war for Shayard to ‘win’ (or at least force a stalemate)? Some Karagond blunder that went unexploited or some ceasefire that fell through? I remember it being said passingly that there were a number of ‘quisling’ houses. Are these traditionally blamed for the fall of the de Syrnon monarchy in Shayardene circles?
Can MC destroy magic from this world with overwhelming magic of his own ( essentialy destroying magic from his world). MC is able to learn it is possible to create magic storms and they enhance the user magic to a unparalleled level so is it possible , eye of the storm ( if MC decide to visit it during his journey) is the main source of all magic is it seem like a different dimension or world leaking into MC one or greatly amplifing his world magic that it is practically possible ( before it was only able to move at most spoon at most) or effects all living beings throw atmosphere over centuries to change them ( as we have seen do time and time again) and thrive in intelligent creature ( more like try to control them or change them and more complex a sentient beings more it deposit or attracted toward it, and some perticulay intact deposit create magical enhanced element due to MC world interaction and specific condition present in that area
And I think MC will be very deeply impacted after interacting with it and will change him dramactelly
And nothing beat wiping out magic from the world, which is the core foundation of this behemoth empire and magic is op during medival times or even gun power time but it definitely inslave humanity to it and there is no getting around it , no matter what it will be a very long and hard fought ( way longer than our) time before this world will injoy today modern standard
Or MC have to do Destroy the ability to do magic subconsciously On the whole human race ( might be possible if you can control genhi in the storm somehow) I high double it can’t do it with its powers at its disposal
I think doing that would involve changing the nature and telos of the whole human species. It’s quite a task to change even an individual permanently, so I don’t think it would be possible for the MC to work a change like that on everyone.
Magic cant really be destroyed since that would change how the weird aether stuff works in human bodies. All you need is that and some mental exorcises, you could purge knowledge of it but then some kid will find a scroll or get the words right eventually
Making Grand Shayard a sole/main focus of G3 and especially the starting point of it provides some interesting replayability options. Self-contained installments of a series are waaay underappreciated if you ask me.
Honestly? I feel like Stormwielder was dropped as a title for a reason. It’s got a bad mouthfeel imo, Stormwright is much snappier, and pairing the two next to each other just feels awkward. Could just subtitle it ‘Grand Shayard’ which is descriptive if boring. Could do like… Wardfall? Something with Wards perhaps. Naming isn’t my strongest area lol
I have to agree, I don’t like “Stormwielder” either. It’s pretty difficult to say and it doesn’t really roll off the tongue. Also, how are you going to make a cheeky reference to the title as in the previous entries? “I am the Stormwielder?”
I really like “Wardfall”, I think it’s pretty catchy and straightforward. That’s supposed to be the main event from what I’ve heard. And there’s no obligation to keep it a 1 word title.
You can also look to the Assassin’s Creed series for inspiration. They have loads of 1 word titles.
Are the Rim nobles (and those in the “Anglo” portion of Shayard generally) more like Saxon nobles who collaborated or are they like Anglo-Normans who’ve assimilated to local culture after being there for so many generations? Realistically, seems like the Rim nobility could be a mix of both. They do tend to have French names (unless they adopted a Koine one) unlike the commoners, so that’s why I’m asking.
Is it possible for a MC to seriously maintain both his motivation for social improvement and his personal desire for power in this game series? I want to play a realistic and complex character like that.
Right – back from trekking and ready to hit the XoR grindstone again! But first, some responses:
Yep – accent work has been part of the plan for Grand Shayard for a long time.
It would probably take INT 2 or higher to become fluent, but yes, that should be possible.
I had exactly the same reaction when I fished it out of the archive. Glad I got Game 1 done a little ahead of that timescale.
No, I wouldn’t expect it to. As powerful as my experiences of encounter have been for me, I know that power is in part a function of the worldview I was raised in. As you’re doing with your questioning, I try my best to take other people’s worldviews seriously enough to understand how I’d see the world if I held them–and I know that from a host of perspectives it’s easy to interpret what I’ve experienced in non-theistic terms.
Of course I’d be happy if my stories moved a few people to “dare the conditional,” in Francis Spufford’s words–to have a go at reaching out to the loving, personal, transcendent Ground of Reality that might be there, and see what happens. As someone whose own life has been immeasurably enriched by the relationship, I’m delighted when anyone else finds themselves tapping into that Life.
But even as an outsider to the tradition, I also recognize the beauty, truth, and wisdom in Shinto (and polytheism in general, which is in many ways the most prima facie plausible interpretation of reality). And as an anti-Constantinian Christian – i.e. one who thinks that overall it was a bad thing for the Way of Jesus when it became the faith of an empire – I rue the fact that Christianity is so harnessed to Western-ness that it’s so naturally and easily caught up in resistance to Westernization.
There’s no consensus definition of “religion,” and as @Ramidel said, many of the most commonly-offered ones are so shot through with Christian (or at least monotheistic) assumptions that it’s quite normal for people from non-Abrahamic traditions to find that the category is a very poor fit for their lives, practices, beliefs, institutions, etc.
Off to lunch with my kids now – will respond more later…
I have to admit, as an institutionally irreligious person who’d consider herself at most agnostic, I find a certain… resonance, with your story about the rain in Kandahar. I’ve been out in the world, feeling the full force of nature around me, and there’s… something in it. I don’t know if that’s God, or the Universe, or just the brain playing tricks, but there’s something greater than ourselves that can be felt in creation. I don’t know if it’s something that really can be explained beyond a sensation, or if it even should be, but like I said I resonated with the ways you described your interactions with God.
(That said, I’ve never heard any voice or instruction. I think I’ll leave the Charismatic experiences to those Christians that find comfort in it.)
@Havenstone Will our MC or some in game faction be interested in meddling with the language matter of Shayard? From what I get with current information you provided to us there are already several dialects of it in Rim+Irduin+Grand Shayard region alone.
So - will we be able to start some unifying efforts to provide one single brand of Shayarin to the country? I mean something akin to France’s fight against its regionalisms.
In any scenario where that was possible – where everything between Sojourn and the Olossar ocean had been broken down so far that Sojourn was the best-placed faction to prevail – the name for the realm would be “Xaos.”
If the Laconniers got the secret of Ward-making, which of course is a level of mystery even better-protected than the secrets of Theurgy, then yes, they’d probably be keen to wall off Shayard with Wards.
The tech for full plate armor exists; it’s just mostly a thing of the past, as in our world’s early modern period. Even more than gunpowder tactics in our own world, battlefield Theurgy has pushed Phalangite infantry to prioritize mobility and rely on more flexible, lighter armors. Plate armor would give you extra protection against arrows and blades…but good luck trying to hide from a Theurge or adopt any meaningful anti-Theurge tactics while you’re lurching around in it.
I don’t think I’ll be writing that in, fun and poignant as it could be. You’re not known to the de Irde as an aristo, and if they find out who you are, I don’t think marriage will be the first thing on their minds. And I’ve got to keep the RO numbers (including hookups) manageable.
Both geographically and in population terms, Shayard was just so much bigger than Karagon–a Karagon which was working its way through Erezza when the invasion of Shayard started, and was at war with Nyryal by the time it was finished. The history also doesn’t mention that the “last Queen” who fell in 30 HE was the tenth de Syrnon monarch to fall to the Thaumatarchy over that 26-year war. Karagon broke the military power of Shayard much more quickly than it was able to quell and control the countryside; by 30 HE, the de Syrnons had for decades been fighting a slow guerrilla resistance, hiding among a sympathetic but increasingly subdued population. At last they stopped naming new heirs, and shifted from fighting to conspiring in the shadows.
The Houses that became early collaborators with the Karagonds are indeed blamed for betraying their liege. But it’s pretty hard for most people who know the history to imagine Shayard winning. Anti-Theurge tactics aren’t easy to carry out even now, and back then, they were barely known at all.
Confiscated it. Stilos and Calea aren’t barbarians.
No, that won’t be possible. The magic of my gameworld is a technology, at heart; and once a technology is out of the bag, especially one that can power such a wide range of outcomes, it’s easier to destroy the world than to destroy that technology from the world.
I like Wardfall a lot…and I’m wondering whether I like it more than Downfall as a prospective title for the former G4, now G5. That game ends with the final collapse of the Thaumatarchy, but a lot of the action throughout it will be driven by falling or fallen Wards.
Hmmph. Maybe I’ll go with XoR 3: Burgeoning Glory.
They absolutely are. Same in the Westriding.
I hope so! That’s certainly a balance I think should be possible. Idealism and ambition are far from opposites, even if they also reliably each throw up problems for the other.
Yep. Either a nationalist or cosmo MC might decide that Shayard needs a single dominant dialect, though probably only a nationalist would cast it as the One True and Ancient Language of the Nation.
I’ve been wondering what our housing situation will be like in Irduin. Will we be homeless, forced to sleep on the streets and steal food, or will someone shelter, feed and clothe us?
If it’s the later (I hope it is, the MC hasn’t had a proper bed, clothes and meal in literal YEARS ) will it act as some sort of base of operations? A part of me is excited at the thought that the de Irde family might welcome a MC they like into their home as an honored guest, but that’s probably a little far-fetched…
Or maybe we’ll pretend to be a functioning member of society and earn our existence in a legal manner? Imagine being a business owner in Irduin and seeing two disheveled high profile wanted rebels and an Erreziano Theurge walk in and asking for a job.
Glad I got Game 1 done a little ahead of that timescale.