Why decide between them? Go for both!
One of the things that confuses me about this particular tale is how the Romans and the Saxons ended up getting combined as âRomano-Saxonsâ, since originally the Saxons were Germanic viking sorts who settled and tried to conquer Arthurian England. Meanwhile the Romans had pulled out from England before Arthur was even born and his family was descended from Roman emperors and generals. So when Iâve heard Romano used as a prefix in reference to Arthurian England, it has always been Romano-British or Roman-Briton, because after centuries of being part of the Roman Empire, the Celts of southern England had become Romanized and taken on many of the trappings of Roman culture and civilization, a culture and civilization of which Arthur was hailed as the great defender. The term Romano-Saxon is a new and strange thing to me.
I was playing through Book 1 (again), and I was wondering if we could have a chance to talk to Merlin at the post-wedding banquet. We have the option to talk to Vivien and learn about Avalon a little, so maybe we can get an early glimpse into the magical misadventures of Merlin.
@P_Tigras In @jeantownâs Guenverse the Romans were kicked out of Britain a long time ago by Boudica.
But I agree that the term âRomano-Saxonsâ is somewhat confusing. They seem to be just Saxons, barbarian invaders who have some kind of alliance with the Romans, sealed by the marriage between Hrothulf and Cornelia.
@NJG I will see what I can do.
@katiiemiiller Thank you for playing and for posting! Comments like yours keep me motivated to work on the game as much as I can. Iâm so happy that you enjoyed it. I do very much want to enable Guen to change her mind later about the characters, so I really hope I can make that work well â right up until the end. Oh, and as @OtherGrimm says, you donât have to be torn between Arthur and Lancelot.
I had to decide that for this game and its plot/world, I just couldnât make the story work with genderswapping. But I do hope to make up for it by writing a Robin Hood game where the player can choose genders for ALL of the main characters!
Me too. But I donât think you need to worry about it not getting finished, unless something really tragic happens. Iâve been shoving my way through some of the toughest parts (for me) to write lately, and my motivation to finish has not waned at all. Which isnât to say that I donât get more done, and enjoy it more, when I know people are excited for it, so thank you again for your comments!
Good point. Iâd just have to figure out where to work that in. Journey to the battle, I guess. Though the more stuff I put there, the less likely it becomes that I would add a separate Camelot branch to part 1 â although, of course, Arthur could order some of the knights to stay behind and protect the queen, so she could still interact with some of them.
Think of it as sort of a âwhat ifâ alternate reality. No, historically the Romans and Saxons did not form a cohesive group like the one described in the game; mostly, they were fighting each other. But what if a sorceress exiled from Rome got together with a nomadic Saxon chief, and they accumulated followers from both sides? The game isnât meant to be historically accurate in any way, so I get to play around and have fun with the what-ifs. (Itâs also worth noting that in this fantasy AU, the Romans never conquered Britain, although they did try. So Arthur does not have any Roman ancestors that anyone knows of.)
They are mostly Saxons, but theyâve accumulated some other exiles from Rome, too. Iâd say itâs about a 1:4 Roman to Saxon ratio, so a lot of people just refer to them as Saxons to simplify.
Hmm⌠hmm⌠I will have to see if I can think of a conversation worthy of Merlin. Part of the reason I hold him back is because I want his appearances to be memorable. If something comes to me, I will add him.
So whoever rules Rome is an enemy of Cornelia? I hope Guen will be able to exploit this when the Romans invade Britain.
weeelllll⌠Rome is really big and somewhat impersonal, and Cornelia hasnât made it her business to antagonize them, so they mostly donât think about her a whole lot these days â they just donât want her back.
She may in the sense that she may be able to get the Romano-Saxons to ally with her against Rome. They have more reasons to hate Rome than Rome has to hate them.
I love doing that when I make pictures, take classic stuff and turn it around - such as Beauty and the Beast.
But I will love that game even more once you make it, just as I love this game.
Wouldnât Guen be coming into this with some knowledge of Leo because of her own father?
I do find it fascinating to see what happens when you take a story and change the genders of all of the characters.
Do you mean knowledge of Ector/Arthur? (Leodegrance is Guenâs father, of course.) In the Guenverse, Cornwall has been proudly isolationist for a long time. Leodegrance and Ector were friends, but one of the main reasons their friendship endured was that Ector had distanced himself from Utherâs kingship, which Leodegrance didnât approve of. When it turned out that Ectorâs foster-son was the Pendragon heir, and Ector was now an advisor to the throne, Leodegrance pulled back a bit from their friendship for a while.
So I imagine that Leodegrance met Arthur as a child a few times while visiting Ector at Wilderfort, and maybe Ector met Guen once when she was a child, but Guen hasnât really heard a whole lot about Arthur because Cornwall has generally kept itself apart from the rest of Britain, and Leodegrance never talked all that much about his friendship with Ector for that reason.
But, of course, all backstory is still very much a WIP.
Could Guen, say, manage to cause unrest in Rome and somehow make the Romans believe that the Romano-Saxons did it, so the Romans end up getting so pissed off that they obliterate the Romano-Saxons?
That is something which the Ruthless Ambitious Guen would do, tbh.
Also, are the Romans in-game the Roman Empire in real life, or did you make it up, like with what you did with the Romano-Saxons?
Ah, whoops. I actually meant knowledge of Uther. I assume Leo must have spoken of Uther at some point, given his disdain.
Yes! Does it change things? If so, why? Does it not? If so, why? Makes you use the old noggin, it does, pondering upon matters of our preconceptions and social constructs and so forth and so and so.
Is it not canon (as canon as the Arthurian legends can be) that Leodegrance was a vassal of Utherâs? And that he was holding the round table for him, eventually giving it to Arthur as dowry? Correct me if Iâm wrong though.
In any case, it would be wonderful to see Guen having her own thoughts about the other people in the kingdom. Comparing Uther to Leodegrance and to Arthur would be wonderful headcanon. hahaha
Also, how would the Romano-Saxons thing affect Arthurâs conquering Rome stage. That is, if you will incorporate that particular part of the legends. Wonder how various Guens would react when they found out that theyâre suddenly an empress⌠xD
Yes, probably. If Guen learned leadership from her father, she may even have had some lectures on why Uther was a bad leader. So I guess maybe that could come up somewhere.
It is indeed as canon as Arthurian legends can be, which is to say, flexible for any new writer to do with as they will. Iâve decided I just like the idea of Leodegrance being more distant from the Pendragons, since it adds unfamiliarity to Guenâs arranged marriage, and also gives very clear reasons why an alliance would have been appealing to all parties (except maybe Guen), and why thereâs so much pressure on the marriage.
Agreed. I do think it could work to let Guen discuss some of the backstory with the knights on the way to Badon Hill â that kills two birds by allowing her to get to know them better, and allowing the reader to learn some of the backstory.
Sadly, Iâm not planning right now to have Arthur attempt to conquer Rome. I might change my mind, but it doesnât really fit into the long-term plot I have planned, and it doesnât really seem in character for my Arthur. The Romans will, however, attempt to conquer Britain in the final book(s).
And before anyone asks, let me reiterate that my Romans are anachronistic and fantastical and not intended to represent the real historical Romans.
Someone already did ask.
aaaaaaa @NJG Iâm sorry, somehow I totally missed your post! (Thanks, @OtherGrimm!)
Theoretically thatâs a very cool idea; practically speaking, it would take us so far away from the main plot that I donât think Iâd be able to incorporate it in a satisfying way.
Right, so, as I said without even realizing youâd askedâŚ
Sorry again!
Poor @jeantown probably had a rough day at work. That, or senility is kicking in⌠(Iâm kidding! Please donât murder me!)
You said that different characters will have different opinions on different kinds of Guens (not necessarily like that). Is there a certain Guen that Lancelot likes or dislikes? I know he dislikes the Guen that likes to be called âyour majestyââŚ
For the purposes of reputation and other stats, are the Round Table Knights and regular soldiers considered separate entities?