The game reminded me a bit of the Calabim civilization in Civilization IV: Fall from Heaven, a dark fantasy mod for a very old game.
In short, you play as a vampire aristocracy that uses humans as cattle to enhance their blood magic-fueled powers. You get to force your human slaves into breeding pits, and eat them later. Basically, you are the Thaumatarchy.
Of course, a few major differences:
The Calabim never develop any technologies nearly as sophisticated as the Thaumatarchy has.
The Calabim are extremely hedonistic and promiscuous. I expected the nobility in this game to have similar recreational/sexual norms, and I was pleasantly surprised when the author went in a very different direction.
The Calabim get a chance to adopt a “Good” religion, abolish slavery, and treat their humans in a more respectful manner. There are legitimate reasons to do this: namely, to stop the spread of an evil demonic cult that turns the world into a hellish wasteland…which is not very good for growing humans.
Of course, “Good” in Fall From Heaven has nothing to do with morality - hence, Calabim of the Order still run Breeding Pits, tyrannical Governors’ Manors, and devour their people.
Come to think of it, that also looks like the Thaumatarchy…
Are you sure this isn’t a dark Monsters Inc allegory???
I was wondering if you could clear up the law enforcement debate. So is canonical law essentially the criminal code in the Hegemony, and do the alastors work for the Ecclesiastes or the Aristarch?
And the Halassurqs don’t breed the slaves they’ve already got to ensure a permanent slave-underclass to perform the worst kind of jobs in their society, like the Hegemony?
If not my mc at least would find that hard to believe.
In any case I assume their slave count will go up again should the Laconniers somehow prevail and let them annex Erezza, right?
You do realize that those norms are mostly just theoretical for most young nobles in the Hegemony and that Simon is a pink unicorn in more ways than one for actually adhering to those silly chastity rules.
I mean Poric (Radmar’s) lover essentially lost his tongue because some young aristo’s didn’t feel like being particularly chaste. In any case it is even worse among the true upper echelons in Karagon itself, with the Thaumatarch’s own heir prince(ss) “nippletwister” as the first exhibit.
You can. If you keep them for the winter as “hostages” they’ll miss the assassination and walk free in the spring.
Always upsets me cause they seem so betrayed when I tell them they need to stay.
Hopefully Horian and Linos will forgive the MC for doing so once you do that. They both seem to be invaluable allies to the rebellion and having their support will be huge for us.
I recruited Bleys into the band, forced the bandits to tolerate him, and he showed up in the list of rebels.
I didn’t specify this earlier, but I sent him on the fencing assignment and it said he came back with the food and money, but only the food was actually added.
I’d be nice if we had an option where the MC insists they stay not because of ransom, hostages, prestige or anything like that, oh no, it’s because they’re just really nice guests.
I mean I think that’s what the option to ask them to join the band is. Which they decline, unfortunately. You can’t really ignore that denial without kidnapping a person.
I never suspected Sybla (or Zvad) of malicious intent-more likely they’re just greedy. As GRRM said, men who fight for coin are loyal only to their purse. You can’t reasonably expect them to help you (as a rebel leader) when things look precarious.
I admit, normally when I play games I go a goody-two shoes route when I can; thus my canon MC for XoR is romancing Suzanne.
However, when a writer takes time to put in an evil route…well, I admit to indulging it, especially when the writing is really well done like @Havenstone has.
So I hope in the sequels we could continue that. I mean, I could see an evil MC removing the tongues of Ecclesiasts so they can’t ‘Speak any more falsehoods’. Then again, this would be the sort of MC who would pile Thaumaturchy skulls into pyramids since just letting them lie loose is a sign of Xaos.
I mean, my Maud’dib wannabe comes pretty close: Heretics, collaborators, culture-traitors, they’re all going on the pyre! And after I free the Hegemony, my armies will march to every corner of the world to bring them the rightful Word of the Angels!
