Choice of Rebels: Uprising — Lead the revolt against a bloodthirsty empire!

[Norilinde]

@Ramidel

The latter will require a certain bit of the former competition. Remember, once you’ve completed the “takeover” phase of the revolution, you need to consolidate power, and judging by the blueprint we’ve received, there’ll be at least one more bloody drowning after Aekos falls.

I’m not sure if by competition you refer to former officials of the Hegemony or to members of would-be fellow revolutionary states. My MC intends to rely heavily on friendly merchants and would consider picking non-Ecclesiast former Hegemony officials on a case-by-case basis. As for members of would-be fellow revolutionary states, my MC would prefer they join the MC’s government. My MC is expecting merely toppling the Hegemony to take decades so whatever my MC’s long-term goals, my MC does not expect to achieve everything quickly.

@idonotlikeusernames

Oh, mine would agree with you about that, but he needs to call himself something and Goete is the best possible choice for him, Theurge is obviously out of the question and who the heck even knows what f*** wisard even means anymore. Wisard would also tie him too much to ancient Shayard, which given his opinion of the current cream of the crop of Shayard’s so-called “nobility” is an order he despises only slightly less then the Hegemony itself. Tying himself to that historical abomination by calling himself a “wisard” is also obviously out for him, which leaves Goete as the only thing with enough “brand name recognition” to be worth his while.

Good point about “wisard” being tied potentially too closely to ancient Shayard. My MC’s concern is also partly that claiming to be a Goete acknowledges the existence of Xthonos and the “Angels” whereas my MC is going to publicly deny the existence of both unless proven otherwise.

@idonotlikeusernames

Largely true, but we do know Hallassur is the main competitor, a slave-based society (at least to some extent) and not to be trusted. Barring the abhumans, the unquiet dead and whatever remains of old Brorachia other powers would lie across the oceans and while my mc would like maritime expansion and trade with them their direct influence in our affairs is likely to be minimal.

Regarding Halassur:

@Havenstone had commented:

Out of curiosity, did I ever actually say that Halassur is a slave society? I just did a search and couldn’t find it.

and

The Halassurq Empire did traditionally enslave captives in war – and still does, when it can get them. But three centuries of increasing military focus on a single front, where prisoners are scarce because of heavy reliance on Theurgy and Plektoi, have changed its society in lots of ways.

Some of the key ones I’ve hinted at already:
Their curt speech carries faintly across the ravine. “Have a care to catch every child. Alive.” Is that a tremor in the Theurge’s voice? “They’re the most important ones to bring back for punishment.”
“Harrowing children, kurios?” The flatness of the Phalangite’s tone perfectly conveys his disgust. “Was that not why we fought the Halassurqs?”
“These are traitors and criminals, corrupted beyond repair by the devil ${lname}. Not true children. Find them all.”

And I’ve tweaked the intro to the Carles prologue so it will now read: “The Halassurq Empire had spent most of the past three centuries at war with the Hegemony. Though peace had prevailed for over a decade, they were still best known as child-killers whose religion was a blasphemy against Almighty Xthonos.”

I recall a discussion that the wars with Halassur involved the Hegemony trying to attack in that direction so I’m not sure whether Halassur is actually the main competitor. The fact that Halassur allied with the old Nyrnakan Republic against the Hegemony would at least be one thing in Halassur’s favor from my MC’s perspective and though other details about Halassur would repulse my MC, my MC would want those details verified rather than trusting Hegemony propaganda.

@idonotlikeusernames

The abhumans I think are our best bet to find a friendly power as the unquiet dead seem to dislike all living things and if something functional remains of old Brorachia deep in the hinterlands of the now Xaos lands they have good reasons to hold grievances against us.

The Abhuman Federation does seem to be a promising potential ally. My MC would withhold judgment on the Unquiet Dead until my MC knows more about them.

@Ramidel

I’d rather live forever

If nothing else, living forever in so far as the undead still live would seem to my MC to be a better plan than dying of old age not that my MC personally expects to live long enough to die of old age even if the rebellion succeeds.

As for Broracha, if there is anything left and I got the impression that the original Stormwright might still live, foreign relations with Broracha might depend on Broracha’s propaganda for the last few centuries. Did Broracha blame the rulers of the Hegemony or the people of the Hegemony for everything that happened? If Broracha blamed the Hegemony’s rulers, then that is a sentiment with which my MC’s rebellion would agree. If Broracha blamed the population of the Hegemony for centuries, then the odds of peace on that border would be low.

@idonotlikeusernames

The Hegemony currently also has so much unused maritime potential both for the navy and trade it’s practically criminal in how it’s being squandered at the moment. Plus the signature work that my mc would want to put his name to, being the grand canal, would drastically enhance the nation’s naval and maritime trade potential while doing nothing at all for it’s land based power or trade.

@Havenstone Are there other continents across the oceans in this game universe? Even if my MC found secret Hegemony maps claiming no, my MC would distrust both their veracity and their competence so would want to eventually send exploration fleets just to check.

Since there are already sentient non-humans, I was also wondering whether there might be any sentient aquatic or amphibious beings, either abhumans or something else. I imagine amphibious abhumans would be pretty impressive as marine infantry. If the seas off of the Hegemony’s coast are already populated by sentient beings, it would improve trade as well.

I wonder if submarines which handle air filtration by wisardry are used for inserting landing parties, if not that is something my MC’s rebellion will have to try. It seems like a sufficient aetherial blood supply and a basic knowledge of chemistry could handle air filtration. @Havenstone Are magnetic compasses or sunstones in existence yet? What about accurate clocks at sea for use in finding longitude?

@Havenstone On a different note, thank you by the way for giving the week number as a stat and for letting the MC accompany Elery on the return trip from the sheep raid. I choose to head-canon that what whispered conversation did occur included my MC asking about Yebben.

@idonotlikeusernames

It will also require a strong central state, at least for my mc to make it clear to the federal republics that slavery and the caste system are no longer going to be tolerated.

My MC would definitely agree about the need for a strong central state regarding the matters you mentioned, religious issues, foreign affairs, defense, commerce, and disaster relief. My MC would not care if non-seditious songs or books are printed by individuals in a regional language as opposed to the federal lingua franca.

@Lys

I whole-heartedly agree with this. Hell, I know it is beyond the scope of the game, but I would have loved to given some additional non-combat responsibilities to Pin and Alless, sort of building them up for when they get to older to take a position of responsibility in the rebellion.

I think they both definitely have potential to hold positions of even greater responsibility. The end of the first game at least on my play-throughs mentions the band splitting up with some going into Shayard and some into Wiendrj. So there may already be additional important positions open in the second game.