To be fair none of those choices are ones that would have much of an impact in what’s written in the story so far, the cannons thing, for example, isn’t gonna come into play until we get to what I guess is a siege warfare portion, and of course that’s probably going to come with the trade-off that those things are hard to drag around and our easy targets
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We’re forgetting that the Marshall never asks Balaban about the scouts before the ambush happens.
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Can we have option to house arrest Elya instead of throwing her in cell and let her roam under eye of loyal guards?
She is still princess and sister .
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Yeah, but there’s no need to ask about them – Balaban mentions they’re hosted at his estate and that’s where your group is heading, so the MC has every reason to believe they’ll get to talk with their scouts in just a few minutes.
Yeah:
You and the Queen are joined by twenty knights as you meet on the road with the Count.
"I am at your service, my liege," he says. "I have been eagerly awaiting your arrival. Your scouts have been very well-mannered as guests. A delight to care for."
Elya bows from atop her horse. "The pleasure is all mine, Baron Balaban."
"Come!" He offers a very wide smile. "You must be famished for some warm food. I have been preparing a banquet in my manor, and the kitchens of every household have been ordered to prepare a hot meal for your soldiers."
I suspect you might’ve glossed over this due to knowledge as a reader what was actually done to those scouts, but the MC isn’t aware of this, so they have no reason to take the comment as anything but its face value.
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My Marshal meets my friend’s Marshal
Don’t tell Rade my Marshal is cheating on him
My friend made a top hat variant of the Cowboy Gov’nors called Gentleman Gov’nors. They can shoot arrows from the top of their hats and fly with helicopter blades like Inspector Gadget.
Also some more lore about Cowboy Gov’nors: the air inside their hat is warm and moist which makes it the perfect environment for mold. However, the mold doesn’t naturally occur inside the hat. My Marshal was infected with mold when he put on the crown which was secretly moldy in the inside.
Ever wonder why everyone who puts on the crown becomes unhinged and/or makes stupid decisions? Sobik, Belos, my Marshal. It’s because of the mold. Now that it’s inside his head, my Marshal got the worst of it. Elya was spared from the mold because my Marshal stole it from her before she could put it on.
People think my Marshal’s weirdness comes from brain damage but the brain damage only caused his obsession with Rade. Everything else was because of the mold.
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Hi, I’m late to the party. What do we know about the F/F option? When is she appearing?
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Oh wait he does say that when marshall meets him? I probably not noticed…
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In anwser i think next chapter but I could be wrong lol
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Because of you now I cannot play this game without having a mental image of the Marshal without some sort of hat, mine now goes in my mind with this hat.
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All shall know the suffering of being unable to unsee the hat Marshals
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Being blind has its perks, one of them being I get to avoid this atrocity
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I sure hope so, rn even that Vedran has more of a love life than my Marshal ;_;
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Something to hope for at least 
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I hope she shows up next chapter as a genuinely allied vassal for the royal army, a welcome change from Balaban’s balderdash. That fits almost every description we have of her (noble, important, depending on her exact situation it’s likely understandable why she wasn’t at the coronation, a potential friend for any Marshal).
@Krit the description in question is in the forum thread and tumblr.
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Oh neat, didn’t know we have some background on her too.
I really hope it’s a slow burn romance just like the first book romances. She may not be suicidal anymore but I think a sapphic Marshal still wouldn’t know how to open up to people in that way. Especially since she might never have had a chance to ever connect with that side of herself, considering how she spent most of her life in a male-dominated environment.
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Okay, I have been waiting to read the new content, and didn’t want to comment on it since I haven’t read it. However, this argument just lost me.
I’ve been in the team “It makes perfect sense for the Marshal to not be suspicious” up till now. However, if this dude is telling me that my scouts are guests at his manor (guests implies relaxing), and that they didn’t return to the army and report their findings (clearly a breach of duty). I’ve got to switch to team “Marshal should have noticed some red flags”. At the very least one of my scouts should have returned to the army with the Count’s entourage.
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But you are literally heading to the place where they’re allegedly stationed, right after your arrival to the town. So the scouts would be able to report their findings directly to your ear there.
There’s no derelict of duty in staying where they were ordered to stay. Quite the opposite, leaving the post without being ordered to could be viewed as insubordination. If you wanted them to return to the army, that should be done by dispatching them new orders. Except apparently the Marshal hasn’t done this, likely because of how pointless that would be, if you expected to see them in just few minutes yourself.
(also probably worth to keep in mind the scouts were posted there mostly as representatives, to “make a good name” for your faction while the main host was making its way there. Not to snoop around, so they aren’t really expected to have any findings of note)
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IMO, you hit the nail on the head with the ‘player agency’ remark. My own experience is that the IT_O books are heavily narrative-driven, without a great deal of room to influence the story that gets delivered to you, the player, versus some other reader. You’re always going to be a mistreated bastard MC who responds by developing mental health issues that manifest in very particular ways, you are always going to be forced into a friendship with Darin no matter how you actually feel about the character, you are always going to be subjected to long periods of introspection that may very well not remotely match the version of Marshal you are attempting to play, et cetera.
My hope is that with participation and feedback, more choices will be implemented that do provide some of that agency I found sorely missing in the previous book.
Details help – it’s good to pick out places where you wished you had another (or any) option, why something felt ‘off’, where the way the MC was made to respond was opposite of what you actually wanted to do, and so forth.
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Yeah, that hurt. Elya’s the only member of our family I actually like; I have to say that took me aback when it turned out we threw her in the criminal cells.
That is not how my Marshal wanted her treated; I understand the need to keep her secure (for all the good the story let that do..), but surely there’s a compromise that can be made as opposed to the full down-in-the-dungeons treatment.
Especially if we want to attempt to keep some form of a relationship with her, how is that supposed to help?
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I suspect Elya was far more affected by her only remaining family member she trusted unconditionally stabbing her in the back, than her living accommodations. There’s some precious irony in getting all concerned “oh no, not the prison cell” after pulling that number on her. As if that’d change anything.
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