That’s great! Well, I think that, in the long scope of the franchise, a jack-of-all trades might end up surprising people (like, uh, other rebellious factions and opponents) by proving to be an okay commander whilst having the reputation of a bookworm, or managing to be a good leader whilst being known as a thug.
Do Laconnier circles promoto a certain of speaking, dressing and presenting oneself amongst its members? How would they look on an outsider (like a Wiend) who tries to assimilate into their view of Shayardene culture?
Teren sounds workable. People tend to dwell on the bit about how being feared is better than being loved, but Machiavelli clearly states that being both loved and feared is better than being feared alone. In addition, I think people forget that in Machiavelli’s time the word fear was also a synonym for respect. As the King James Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
My noble MC is more of a Leaguer than a Lanconnier in his outlook any way, so this definitely has potential. Nevertheless I’m still a bit apprehensive because this is pretty much the only RO my noble MC is likely to be interested in (aside from a modded Suzane who I find mildly interesting) unless the Diadoch doesn’t mind being a spoil of war. As you already know, I’m skeptical of gender-flippable RO’s in general, and I very much hope this one doesn’t misfire the way Breden did.
Of course Prince(ss) nippletwister also genderflips. Anyway I do seem to recall you liked genderflipped Dandy, aka Daisy in Evertree Inn. So genderflips can work and our dear author has now also had the opportunity to reflect on what went both wrong and right with Simon/Suzanne and Breden and carry that forward into Teren and Prince(ss) nippletwister.
And I mostly copied your code for Simon, so thanks for that.
Being the operative word. Prince(ss) nippletwister does seem to be a more physical/sexual creature than the others we know thus far…
Agreed on Kalt and Breden.
I very much agree here too, don’t see how that would work with my mc either.
I’m willing to hope for the best, but if not the author himself did admit our particular rebellion may not be a good dating service. And other than modded-in Simon there is nobody that jumps out for my mc either. There isn’t a smart, sceptical male merchant RO who would be a good complement to my mc either, for example.
While the same character, Daisy and Dandy in Evertree Inn have different flavor text that seriously affects their appearance, and on occasion, their actions, especially their physical actions. @Havenstone hasn’t done that with his characters to date. The male and female versions are identical, including physical interactions, and appearance is left entirely to the reader’s imagination. As for XoR, Breden and Kala were turn-offs, and while I liked Suzane, the romance interactions have been fairly thin so far and I did have to write a mod to romance her. So um, I’m still skeptical…
And yes I’m aware the Diadoch gender-flips too, so I have the same concerns there plus the issue of my character planning on crushing and dismembering Karagond to ensure it never rises again just as Julius Ceasar did Gaul. So that one is unlikely to work out…
So glad that your girlfriend enjoyed XoR. I have to confess that I didn’t know about Queen Nzinga when writing the game, so I can’t claim her as an inspiration… but now I do, and can start to dig into her story for source material, so thanks!
Yes, absolutely–and they see it as authentic Shayardene custom, so would be offended by people from other archonties putting it on. One of the reasons they hate Horion (as he can tell you in an obscure side path of Game 1) is that he consistently points out that they’ve made up some of their Olde Shayardene Ways from whole cloth and borrowed others from Erezza.
Also that you should murder every man, woman, and child from rival families, not be afraid of preemptive war, feign virtue while being ready to discard it at once when necessary… the “fear” is I think pretty clearly meant to go beyond just respect.
But it’s often overlooked that Machiavelli was himself a committed republican, for all the honest advice he gave to tyrants.
No promises, mon frere. The reasons you dislike Breden may well apply to Teren as well; I don’t plan to invest time in gender-differentiated flavor text, for example.
It personally think the Prince was a rather sophisticated way of him trolling the “noble” elites of his time.
My mc already assumes this is what every noble and priest does by default and even then only when they lack the power to openly place themselves above the law.
Aww…not even with prince(ss) nippletwister, since they would appear to be the most physical of the ro’s judging by their monicker.
Well then those things may just call for a real content mod.
You’ve been around long enough to remember the source of that moniker, and it wasn’t me. I don’t plan to put physically explicit sex scenes into XoR, even for the Diadoch.
The Diadoch’s existence is kind of interesting. I got the impression that a side effect of all the Changes the theruges did to themselves was infertility if not outright sterility. Maybe this is more a feature of the lower order mages, but the irrelevance of hereditary succession seems evident given that therugical capability and artifacts are the source of power and likely legitimacy among the Hegemonic elites.
Do karagon theurges use theurgy to change themselves? I thought that they didn’t, otherwise they’d be unable to cross wards (aside from flying over them I guess)
They extend their life at a minimum. Not sure how they avoid the wards. I know we discussed the changes made to crops to accelerate their maturation wouldn’t prevent them from crossing a ward.
Certainly they have many therugically modified accruement not the least of which is bandoliers of aetherial blood.
It’s not a side effect of Change-making, but you’re not on the wrong track.
As for the ability to cross a Ward, it’s worth noting that fleeting Changes like making yourself fly (or temporary acceleration of the body’s natural healing processes) don’t affect it.
If you wanted to permanently levitate yourself or regrow a failed organ, otoh, you’d be locking yourself out of the capital cities of the Hegemony. So yes, all the things Theurges do to themselves, including lifespan extension and the Thaumatarch’s “insurance policy” for Ennearchs, cannot involve permanent Changes.
Almost certainly not. They’ll have too many alternative rebellions to join that better suit their convictions.
Forgive me if you have already answered that, but does that mean we will enter in conflict with other rebellions? And will we be able to crush them to assure only we are in the spotlight?
I’ve probably been overly influenced by all the forum conversation around the Diadoch. I presume one of the criteria to be heir-apparent to the Thaumatarch is to be a powerful theurge. If they even are a wastrel, as some of us presume, they have at least turned in their theurgy homework. Although if they haven’t it may be a source of an other legitimacy crisis for the current regime.
I just assume that the Thaumatarch never leaves Aekos, and thus can be an immortal alien monster.
Hm, that makes me wonder if elder Third Kyklos Theurges who didn’t make Ennearch but have the resources to outpace aging have formed their own clique of archmagi in Karagond. I mean, immortality can’t be more expensive than a Plektos…right?
Havenstone mentioned way above that the Diadoch has an interest in agricultural theurgy.
Also, tons of rulers and their heirs have their… vices. It’s more, when they have a pile of work dumped on their desk, have to strap on a set of armour, or get a political appointment do they do their job.
Nothing wrong with working very hard and then going nuts when you’re off duty.
I think they are actually powerful and probably very talented, but being both very talented and continually being told you’re very talented can sometimes be bad for work ethic.
As for their sexual proclivities that reminds me of Cassius in Cata’s game, of course Takara has no chastity ethos among the elves, but then the Diadoch like all high ranking nobles is free to ignore that part of the canon at will.
I suppose you can also live a very long time by doing repeat rejuvenation procedures. In an imperfect analogy if what the most powerful Hegemony theurges currently do is akin continually resetting the clock then that wouldn’t be a permanent change. On the other hand doing what my own mc potentially wants and outright freezing the aging process at the gently greying temples stage would probably count as a permanent change.
However removing the whip scars on his back, if done correctly by temporarily enhancing the healing telos of the skin beyond the normal, human maximum probably isn’t a permanent change, as the enhanced healing factor is temporary and it doesn’t protect against additional, war scars in the future either.
I’d be obliged if you want to link it, gives me something to read when I have a Brussels commute again, one of these days.
I don’t plan to put physically explicit sex scenes into XoR, even for the Diadoch.