One thing I noticed is the description of those strange metal buildings in the old city. Given the modern world, could those be skyscrapers/steel buildings? It would be very interesting if the true power of the church was merely modern technology. Arthur C. Clarke anyone?
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WARNING! A LOT OF THEORISING(rambling) AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
It is quite clear, at least from my perspective, that the author intends the reader to question the state religion, aka the Church of Gaia. You can already show skepticism towards Juliaâs claims that she somehow communicates with the Goddess, or that said Goddess directed her towards a Key of Heaven to help her. Moreover, the text itself, barring any player choice, displays caution with regards to any potential divine intervention/power.
There are some very heavy C. Clarke vibes(for a lack of better word) from them. This reminds of Herodotus (5th century B.C.E.) describing the pyramids as being the works of giants, since he couldnât believe people were capable of bulding such large structures back then (weâve still got people today that say they were built by aliens with, again, the same reasoning as Herodotus).
It could be that Iudians, or some preceding civilisation, developed steel manufacturing techniques (mind you, IRL, steel began being used for buildings in and around the 18th century!) and implemented said steel in architecture. Consequently, it could be just a case of lost knowledge, such as was the case for Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the second half of the 5th century C.E, when people gradually lost the knowledge necessary to maintain Roman engineering, such as aqueducts, because there was no longer a state wealthy enough to support the costs. (Britannia is a clear example of this)
The Holy Fire used by the Iudian sorceresses is by far the best argument for the "Church of Gaia is just superior technology ". It might be called âmagical fireâ made up from âmagical powderâ that only sorceresses know to create, but itâs evident (my opinion) that, like the Byzantine Greek fire, itâs just a recipe that is jealously guarded by the state. I wouldnât be surprised that an eventual plotline in the story would be the MC learning the recipe and potentially giving it to some third party to further their ambitions.
Now, we havenât yet seen my boy the WITCH KING (God I love this name), but I would not be shocked if he just learned the recipe for the Holy Fire and is using it to great effect in his conquests, since he did interact a lot with the Church (and was even presumed a convert).
Still, what gives me pause is whatever Julia thinks she talks with the big G herself. Our dear Empress is clearly a very pragmatic, no-nonsense person, and so I find it hard to believe she would just make stuff up to the Prefect about visions. An explanation could be that her interactions with Gaia have as medium, just as the Oracle of Delphi and many other supposed contact with the divine in our own history, hallucinogenic substances (mushrooms, if you will), and so the equation would look something like this: fear of death+mushrooms+religious beliefs= find Key of Heaven.
Of course, there are a lot of unknown factors this early into the story (itâs just Chapter 1 after all). It could be that it is a case of a religion built around misconceptions about the past, in which case the Church of Gaia was formed around the need to justify technology that seems to the people of Iudia as âmagicâ, and those who possess some semblance of knowledge with regards to it and its use are treated as privileged. Ooooor itâs just that the Church of Gaia is made up of a bunch of cynic, power-hungry atheistic ladies that control the flow of information so as to maintain their grip on society. Or, most likely, itâs just neither of these and Iâm just sharing the mushrooms with the Oracle of Delphi.
TLDR: Itâs either Arthur C. Clarke or mushrooms.
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Interesting thoughts here. 
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I love a good theory.
But where does this happen?
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This was very interesting and well done, looking forward to more!
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@Oreven If the Church is not an explanation for past technology and is just cynically guarding technologies to steer the ship of state, our beloved Julia is almost certainly involved. She might just be lying to the Perfect - as the text itself states, even if we are her lover, she keeps us close, but not too close.
In fact, doesnât Julia respond equally well if you instruct Augusta that the Empressâ power comes from the Legions instead of the goddess, which is the atheistic perspective? That seems impious.
Regardless, I would wager that despite being the right hand to the throne, we are far from knowledgeable on all of Iudiaâs secrets.
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I wouldnât describe them as two mutually exclusive beliefs to have, because, truth be told, cognitive dissonance is not something most people actively attempt to rectify. I could definitely see Julia have in her head something along the lines of :
âI am the Regent of the Goddess, personally ordained by Her to carry out her Will, but said Goddess doesnât intervene in the mortal plane because of question of free will and whatnot, and so it is up to me, the most devoted servant of Gaia, to use the means at my disposal to make Her will come trueâ
This was the case in history, most of the time, with those who trace their right to rule from divinity. Of course, (insert any Medieval ruler ever) would say their power comes from God, but at the end of the day, God doesnât smite their enemies, so they need armies to (metaphorically) smite those who oppose them.
That is an excellent argument to make. Because as @Azan states in the IFâs description
And indeed, the IF itself also raises this idea by stating that Juliaâs love or trust of the Prefect is limited by the fact that she is, well, the Empress. Thatâs politics for you.
100% agree, which is further reinforced by this
There are clearly things that the Prefect, be they male or female, are forbidden from knowing by the established powers that be.
I emphasise the word caution, because the text itself doesnât outright deny the idea, but rather merely implies that the veracity of the claims made by the Church are not 100% clear.
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@Oreven Also, the very possibility of male sorcerers is a repudiation of the Church. They say it is the will of Gaia that their craft be only taught to women, and Gaia is allegedly the source of their power. If the âpowerâ can be taught to men, at least one of these things is not true. It lends credence to the idea that Holy Fire is merely a chemical construct.
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@Aeternitas
Fully agree, that is one of the most damning arguments against the Church. If the Witch King is truly capable of âsorceryâ, then itâs GAME OVER for our state religion.
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Just played for the first time, and very much enjoyed. I didnât understand how the magical fire works, because with scholarship, you can modify the magical fire, but men (which I played as) donât know how to use magic at all.
In that conversation, you arenât modifying the Fire yourself but asking the Empress to direct the sorceresses to do so.
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Daaamn! That was so good. This is going straight into my favourites list. Excited to see how the story progresses.
One question I had is will we get an option to pick different hair lengths and styles?
How does hairstyles work in Iudia? How does it differ from men to women?
Sorry if this is already asked.
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Thank you! I plan on adding some more appearance customization options for the end of Chapter I when I release the next installment, I can add in a few length options for sure. As for styles, Iâd have to do a bit of research, thatâs not something Iâve thought of as much. Good question!
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how come there isnât a relationship stat for Titus? I really wanted to know what I am to him since I screw with him here and there
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My guess is that his opinion of someone is immune to how that person actually treats him.
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Oh, sure, I can fix that for the next update.
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I love how gender can affect the story 
, and in a matriarcal environment at that since I havenât read much stories that have that kind of environment. Keep it up author
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I have finished the appearance field on the stat sheet (it gets filled out at the end of Chapter I). You can choose your MCâs height, hair color, hair length, eye color, and skin color. The details will mostly be cosmetic, but it does potentially affect one storyline, depending on which customization options your MC picks.
Thank you! Iâm glad itâs been an interesting element of the story.
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Is there a possibility that I can do poly between the empress and emperor? just asking 
Lol. That would require the Empress wanting to give Titus the time of day.
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