yeah it’s not exactly a comfortable word to say in an english/french accent
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Pax Shayardica sounds right. It has to do with the Latin name of a country, so it technically depends on how one would Latinize Shayard’s name.
Question for the thread:
Does Breden always get murdered or flee in the final chapter?
Details for playthrough in case they’re needed: was an aristo, 2 Charisma, 1 Intelligence, 70+ compassion, 90+piety, 50-ish homelander; flirted with Breden right from the start, when the uprising in the Rim Square happened, I did not consider him a traitor; in chapter 2 I made him my deputy, very very VERY bad winter, Radmar did lose his boyfriend, and so he hates me; became an eclect in the chapter 3, decided to evade the army. I married him (I love me a charismatic little shit and god if that don’t describe him). When he gave me the Kryptas phrase, I kissed him and said it was dangerous thing to admit; when we get to the caves, obviously, people get sick, Radmar tries to kill him, I get the band to stop him, and obviously, the only way he (and subsequently my character cause Peryn is not gonna bother living without his husband) get out of that scene alive is if he gets tied up. And when that happens, he flees during the fight with the Plektoi. At no point has my character ever thought of Breden as a traitor (nor do I the player think he is), even tying him up was just to placate the rest of the band.
So yeah, does he always get murdered or flee? Or was I just horribly unlucky?
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Breden always ends up leaving if you tie him up. If you have high morale or breden has enough leadership points, the band will accept your decision to let him off the hook. That’s the only way to have Breden stay until the end.
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Quite possibly!
The “Secret Theurge” path will to some extent need to be a part of each game where you could for the first time hit INT 2. But the “gate” where I write you into a situation that can only be resolved with a public display will likely come earlier.
Very little. You’re not going to be able to develop entirely new types of air-arm. Anti-Plektoi bullets are a possibility.
For now, let’s just say that you are definitely not going to stumble onto an unclaimed stash of Talismans that lets you assign them to whoever you like.
Jev is definitely a more plausible candidate for future leadership than Alaine is.
The Hegemony-Halassur war isn’t set up to be won by military valor on either side. It’s locked into a grinding stalemate that will eat up lives until one side or the other gives up.
I don’t think your faction will end up HQ’d in an old mine.
Cerlota is not herself a poet, but Carles would confirm the artistic calibre of the great Erreziano poets.
I’ll write more about Dilek later – maybe not “classified until game release” but for a little while yet.
No. Trying to give living organisms all the key features of a Harrower is likely impossible, and even if achieved, you’d have a Harrower that (a) required massive blood expenditure to create, (b) would need constant feeding and guarding to keep it from wandering off, and (c) would die before too long. The economics just don’t work out, I’m afraid.
Heh, that’s a nice idea. I’m not sure it’ll be possible, but if so, I’ll definitely give it an achievement.
Baneforged? 
Someone’s an Infinite Sea fan.
No, those get used up one way or another, if you have them. The only Theurge-forged item you have a chance of retaining into G2 is the sword.
The folk of the Reach always said “Xthonos,” a borrowing from the Karagond culture that infused their own, and they had converted the rest of Shayard before the conquest.
This is accurate. But if you save them without tying them up, they can accompany you into Game 2.
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Or settles into a cold war that at the very least eats up far less lives as the new status-quo. 
I mean let’s resolve our differences like civilized nations…by taking them to smaller third party states. 
I’m quite sure it will impossible for my mc’s. The sticking point even for my alternate mc are the Laconniers, while the Leaguers can either be part of a (temporary) coalition (though my main mc would do that only reluctantly) or subverted (my alternative mc is open to the idea of a Koinon, but not one with unquestioned Shayardene primacy since he wants to lead it from Wiendrj) the Laconnier’s goals are always outright opposed to those of both my mc’s.
Cabel’s faction is always useful to have on board though. In the case of my main mc for both yeoman support and interesting ideas he may not have considered on his own (like cooperative farming) and in the case of my alternate mc…well he’s entirely for Cabel’s version of nationalism within the new Koinon, since it will split Shayard into more and more manageable states, which is exactly what is needed to subvert and then own the Leaguer’s Koinon…without unquestioned Shayardene primacy and make it like the Holy Roman empire, just without the Holy and the Roman. 
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Does Alya trust the lower clergy enough to grant Diakon Edwer deputy-like authority over her rebels? (or did she have a different candidate in mind by the time of Game 1’s epilogue)
Speaking of Xaos (and “Xaos-lovers”), what is Alya’s long-term plan for handling non-Xthonists?
In Alya’s ideal post-Hegemony government, what do you imagine Phaedra’s demotion/new title/role to be? Imperial Advisor? Ennearch? Some other label?
On the off-chance that Alya (or an AU Alya of the “less backstabby/tyrannical” variety of playthrough) might want to have her cake (eternal executive authority over the post-Hegemony government) and eat it too (retaining the Leaguers as faithful allies/courtiers, rather than antagonizing them into becoming Alya’s bitterest enemies), how many political concessions (e.g. signing XoR’s Magna Carta counterpart) would our aspiring Eternal Thaumatarch be prepared to make?
What are your thoughts on the possibility of luring an entire formation of Plektoi into a chokepoint, and then wiping them all out with a single richocheted, anti-Plektoi bullet?
Noted. Then what about the other way around? More specifically, is it reasonable to speculate that the blueprints for the very first Harrower were inspired from a (now extinct) Kaiju-sized monster eel/worm/kraken that Hera single-handedly slaughtered?
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She trusts Diakon Edwer - but she knows Elery’s competence.
In general, do nothing. She’ll have a strong Diakonate presence in Nyr for missionary work, but she’s not a fan of mass conversion by the sword, and she’s fine with a relatively friendly relationship with the Abhumans. Now, Nyrs who start causing trouble will be part of her blood supply.
Consort.
This is a toughie, as a koinon would run against a lot of the systems she wants, in terms of empowering the merchants, Diakons and bureaucrats (as well as diluting Alya’s power). Ideally, she’d want to co-opt as many Leaguers as she could into the new program - if they’re willing to accept governmental positions that may be separate from their personal estates, then the League’s original program doesn’t need to go forward. Failing that, Alya could be convinced to accept a constitutional government and a Great Apella, if she could insist on the Thaumatarch retaining control over the military, Theurges and Kryptasts, and guaranteed representation for the Ecclesiarchy and the Syntechnia. The latter system shouldn’t be too hard of a sell for the Leaguers.
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Yes, Elery is indeed quite the MVP general for any “prevented the Rim Square Harrowing” MC’s playthrough.
But on another note, what’s the plan for keeping Elery loyal to Alya? (especially after Alya’s ballsy alliance, courtship, and marriage with Phaedra becomes known to the other XoR cast members)
Will Elery’s future role/prize (becoming the poster girl of “social mobility for helots in the new Alya world order”) be enough of an incentive to convince Elery to turn a blind eye to Alya’s controversial taste in romantic/political partners?
From what I understood of Elery’s Game 1 portrayal, she had plenty of reasons to dislike my MC on a personal level (e.g. my MC chose Zvad instead of Breden to be his (initial) deputy, and my MC later decided to honor Zvad’s decision to peacefully leave the band), but was ultimately able to swallow her personal feelings and remain a high-functioning team player on MC’s side (e.g. never outright mutinies against MC, and (reluctantly) accepts MC’s appointed role as a replacement deputy).
Will Alya present enough incentives for the Abhumans to outright join her empire, or could she perhaps only manage to settle for an economic-only union?
I’m guessing it’s the latter, since Alya’s continued (occasional) reliance on Harrowing will most likely offend the “how dare you use other people’s blood” sensibilities of the Abhumans.
#1: And other than (obviously) having her life spared (and placed under Alya’s protection), what do you think are Phaedra’s other incentives for agreeing to this demotion?
Could Alya sweeten the deal by naming Phaedra her immediate successor? (just in case the Eternal Thaumatarch role turns out to not be as “eternal” as planned)
#2: And if both Alya and Phaedra enjoy the same biotech/Theurgic “immortality kool-aid”, I wonder if that adds new meaning to the “til death do we part” aspect of their marriage vows?
#3: On another note, I can easily imagine a Game 5 subplot in which Alya is temporarily abducted/indisposed, leading to Phaedra becoming an easy scapegoat for accusations of attempted assassination/treachery (while the real culprit, maybe(?) Sarcifer, carries out their agenda from the shadows). How plausible do you think this scenario might be?
I see. So we’re talking about something akin to the UK’s peerage system, right? (with the Alya-aligned Leaguers becoming life peers, instead of hereditary peers)
Might Alya take inspiration from @idonotlikeusernames’ idea of “splitting Shayard apart into more manageable states”, or will she find it more useful/preferable to keep Shayard whole?
As part of the Thaumatarch’s top cabinet members, part of the Great Apella, or a mixture of both?
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Ideally. If not, then Phaedra can replace Elery.
She isn’t even considering recruiting the Abhumans to her empire. She wants a trade relationship, a non-aggression pact, and generally for both sides to leave each other alone - which seems like it’ll suit the Abhumans just fine.
1: It’s not actually a demotion because she’s…the successor to an immortal. Alya might make her her successor but only if she trusts her not to put a knife in her back, and wouldn’t do it as part of the recruitment, because offering that as a bribe would piss off even more of her existing followers.
Other than that, what Phaedra gets is her ideas accepted into the new program, like the advancement of biotelos.
2: Not really. Immortality tends to have an ending sometime…but if they stay together, it’s forever.
3: Seems fairly unlikely if Alya has put Phaedra in the hot seat in the first place.
She’d keep a hereditary peerage mixed with elected representatives. Mixed systems are a good way to promote social mobility for the commoners while maintaining the nobility as an institution.
Alya would probably go for the former if it looked manageable, because she does want to dilute that “nationalism” screw, but it wouldn’t be a high priority.
In any scenario where she consents to the Apella, she’ll ensure that it’s dominated by the nobility (in part because the Apella is a sop to the League in the first place) but with representation from the other estates. As for her cabinet, that’s already something she personally selects. Any attempt by the nobility to force anyone onto her council will be promptly slapped down, because she takes counsel from people she trusts.
The main route to advancement for the lower orders will be through service to the Thaumatarchy: Phalangites, Theurges, clergy, scribes for the state bureaucracy, merchants who make generous donations beyond their taxes. Ideally, this will create a “nobility of the robe” to counterbalance the hereditary aristocracy.
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Will we get more information on the frozen lands inhabited by undead in the sequel?
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Unlikely. Badass, but unlikely.
I’m afraid there’s no such beast.
A little more in each sequel, until in Game 5 you’ll have the chance to visit.
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I’d like to inquire more about the finer details of this “retained control.” (in the context of this “Apella vs. Alya” checks and balances dynamic).
Let me see if my following hunch aligns with what you’ve envisioned: Alya can declare war on (or make peace with) whomever she wants, but if she diverges too much from the Apella’s preferred policy, then they can rein Alya back in by withholding her “agency funding/supplies/other resources”, right?
And another question: after Alya’s war is over (with Halassurq, the Laconniers, the Unquiet Dead, (maybe?) Sarcifer, and all of Alya’s other enemies vanquished and/or brought to heel), how does Alya plan on justifying the continued nationwide expense of constantly maintaining a large standing army of soldiers, Theurges, and Kryptasts?
(I can easily imagine that perhaps there might be an Apella “pacifist/demilitarization party” which seeks to take away Alya’s military/intelligence budget, in favor of strengthening social services and amenities)
Or is my question moot, since Alya’s Game 5 (and series epilogue) status might probably involve preserving the perpetual cold war/stalemate between Alya’s regime and the above-mentioned remaining enemy factions? (or is it because Alya has unknowingly doomed herself to an eternity of perpetually suppressing the rebellions of her alienated former allies?)
Good point so far, but I’ve got another question here (for you to clarify): so then Phaedra’s hypothetical inauguration/“reinstatement” (as the Thaumatarch’s heiress) would be much farther down the road, right? (after Alya finally concludes that Phaedra’s loyalty is genuine, and after Alya goes on a PR campaign gradually cleaning up Phaedra’s image across the years)
And on another note, I think I found an apt historical comparison for a Phaedra (who submits to Alya’s authority): Manuel Palaiologos, brother of the “final Byzantine emperor”, who unexpectedly found prosperity, peace, and security by throwing himself to the mercy of the new regime (which overthrew his family).
I know you previously said that Alya has little patience for Laconniers, but if you could humor me for a while longer (with yet another Alya “AU branch”)…
In the eyes of (a more patient/scheming) Alya, could the Apella’s hereditary peerage feature be a useful tool/incentive for dividing and conquering the Laconniers? (thus poetically beating them at their own espionage/intelligence game)
Perhaps Alya recruits defectors/double agents from the Laconniers’ ranks with the promise of hereditary peerages, and then uses them to subvert/wipe out the Laconnier’s “hardcore fanatic” mainstream elements in one fell swoop (e.g. the Red Wedding)?
To paraphrase (and invert) a quote from Paradise Lost, maybe these handful of ex-Laconniers might find it more profitable "to serve in Alya’s ‘imperial koinon’ heaven, then to reign in the soon-to-collapse Laconnier hell."
Given that Calea comes across as more practical/opportunistic (rather than truly devoted to any given ideology), perhaps she could qualify as Alya’s spy/“inside woman”? (for such a grand scheme)
What’s your gut feeling on de Firiac’s loyalty (or lack thereof) towards Alya? (in the grand scheme of things)
Random idea for a “Game 5 epilogue status” of the undead-inhabited frozen lands:
Provided that…
Option 1- Gaesh reforms his ways,
Option 2- Gaesh is deposed/replaced with a more reasonable, peace-seeking successor,
Option 3- Or if the Unquiet Dead are mostly (or entirely) wiped out,
Could these frozen lands be transformed/repurposed into a tourist destination? (e.g. a ski resort) 
And for added flavor, my (presumably immortal) MC would name his hotel “The Eternal Rest”.
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In general, the fact that the military, Theurges, Kryptasts are all expected to swear personal loyalty to Alya (this is unlikely to be controversial) and are not exclusively drawn from the nobility is a big practical limit on the Apella’s power. Taxing and spending authority will be a point of negotiation - if agriculture remains dependent on Theurgy it may be a moot point. As for declaring war on whoever she wants, the long-term strategy is likely to solidify the way she wants pretty quickly - Halassur and the Unquiet Dead are hostile and the Abhumans are as friendly as she can get them.
Moot. Halassur and the Unquiet Dead are beyond Alya’s reasonable ambitions in Game 5 - and if she’s ever in a position to take them down, she’s also probably in a position to dictate terms to the Apella (which, again, she only accepted as a concession, not an ideal).
Yes and yes.
This branch is logically inconsistent. The only reason Alya is accepting an apella in the first place is to bring the Leaguers on side, which sets her against the Laconniers pretty much by definition.
Pretty secure. (I have just invited Havenstone to have him stab me in the back, of course.)
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Just to say: I’ve made the final goodbye rounds of the churches that supported my last seven years of charitable work in Nepal, and emailed off the last edits I’d promised to the charity’s security plan today.
From Monday, my only job will be child care, house work, and writing XoR sequels.
Let’s see how long we can keep this gig going.
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Thanks for the update! The community appreciates all the work you do, so take all the time needed to adjust to your new situation. While we all may eagerly await the next installment, your personal health is just as important to us as your progress.
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A final thank you for your service to humanity.
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Im really happy to hear that you will be working on sequels full time such an amazing news that we will be enjoying more of that amazing world you created 
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And that will probably depend on how difficult the Havenpebbles decide to be, eh?
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I hear that childrearing can be a rocky experience.
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My kids just take us for granite.
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