I don’t know about everyone, since it’s effectively going to mean many more dead Iudians, after they have to face the Witch King at full power, possibly with his new barbarian friends.
But some people will be pleased, that’s for sure.
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@Azan I would have liked to have the option to calmly call the Empress out for lying to me about her war plans, particularly if we are lovers. The idea being I express that she’s never lied to me before, and doing so now is like a stab in the heart. If I have high enough Dutiful, she would theoretically feel guilty about that, as I’ve never been anything but staunchly loyal.
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In what way/when do you think she’s lied to MC about her war plans? The MC mentions being kept out of the loop which is unusual for them, but not being lied to, iirc…?
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She dropped a bomb on the MC at the same time as the other councilers. Up to this point, they have been united, discussing plans well before they are presented. Her keeping the MC in the dark about something so large is a blatant lie of omission, which implies a lack of trust. I shouldn’t have to say that a breach in trust among lovers is kind of huge deal.
I mean, she told the goddamn mother of sorcery before us. That would definitely sting.
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“You believe yourself to be terribly clever, don’t you, Prefect?”-Julia, probably
Honestly, if the Prefect is not Julia’s lover, I can definitely see her being absolutely fine with it. Actually, scratch that, I believe she would encourage it. You sleep with someone and you get a whole faction to back you? That’s dirt cheap.
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One thing I will say about Julia’s campaign, as a point of clarification, is that the premise she is operating off is that the Witch King’s army will pick Gruthungia clean, if only by necessity. The fear expressed by some you’re referring to is that if the campaign is truly that brutal, it might cause some to attack Iudia on based on desperation or spite even though the Witch King will need to take from their lands as well.
The reason she expresses as to why she wants to delay them for as long as she can through the scorched earth tactic, is that she believes it will give her the time to unearth Elysium and find the Key of Heaven, which is, of course, another dubious plan in the eyes of most characters.
Are you referring to when she initially is quiet while concocting her plans at the start of Chapter IV? I’m not sure I’d see that as lying, as she was not withholding information from the Prefect before she decided on her course of action, which required all due haste to see through. It does note she is uncharacteristically quiet to you, and that is true.
Did she now?
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For this matter, with high enough subterfuge you can fake it (just like you can do it with Julia) I get a feeling Julia would be amused by this more than anything.
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Maybe it’s just how my MCs relationship with her was, but I have always been her most loyal supporter, and we talked about plans for things long before they were made public. The issue is not that she kept it quiet for a long time, but that she gave me absolutely zero warning before dropping that bomb on me with the councilors. She treated me like one of them, which I definitely am not.
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I don’t want to spoil anything, but I can only recommend that you keep reading, because there’s more than meets the eye to this context.
Fair enough. I’ll see where in the chapter I can fit that in, and it might help answer part of your question.
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Maybe so, but like I said before, I would have liked the opportunity to comment on that. She might counter by asking me to trust her, but I would be remiss if I wasn’t honest with her.
On the subject of romancing people (faking it or otherwise) a question: currently, it seems that there’s only one point for each character when you can express romantic interest, and if you don’t do it then, that’s it, all romantic interactions are turned off. But it’d be nice/more flexible in terms of story-crafting and whatnot, to have those subsequent flirt actions be available and potentially start a romance at later point.
I don’t mean Julia here because that’s a special case, but the other potential ROs. Strange as it sounds, not all players are thirsty to the point of hitting flirt options with people they know nothing about (yet)
I’ve made it so the MC comments on her quietness if you choose to speak with her after the council, and she’ll give you an answer there.
You get another chance to trigger the romance flag when you reach the point where you can take the next step. That’s how I’ve implemented it so far for Darius, who has another point in this chapter where you can seek a relationship with him. Originally his “romance lock” scene was going to be in Chapter V along with the others, but I had to shift his earlier in my outline for timeline purposes.
Good point, I’ll adjust that.
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Ohh, nice, this sounds fine. But will this include faking the romance, too? Because this doesn’t seem possible in the current iteration with Darius – the “next step” checks if prince_fake_flirt is already set, and this requires the romance to already be initiated in such manner previously.
Of course, there’s a difference between being someone’s lover and loving them. I didn’t know this when we started of course, but I’m leaning towards deciding that whatever feelings my MC had for Julia may have started to wither after that little flashback in chapter 4. He’s only in it at this point for Augusta’s sake, and for the sake of the Empire itself.
In retrospect, it’s probably good I always went with Duty rather than Love as MC’s motivation because Julia… y i k e s.
(that said, as this chapter notes, the empress does have a comfy bed)
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I kinda like the idea that with the Power motivation, me and Julia get together as a way keep each other in check. Like we’re both capable of killing the other, but it’s just better to keep them around.
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The comfiest bed in all of Iudia, mind you. Don’t disrespect the Empress’ bed like that.
I agree with you on the whole duty aspect. Rare are the IFs where I choose a child above a RO, but in this case it feels like the best choice on a personal and political level. Don’t get me wrong, I love Julia for being an autocratic girlboss, but when I see in Augusta a better future for the Empire, I can’t really bring myself to go along with Julia’s desire for Gruthungian BBQ.
Also I can’t bring myself to hurt Augusta in any way — I’m basically hostage to my own parental instincts. That kid deserves all the happiness in the world, and no one will tell me otherwise.
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Might be worth for you to nudge Augusta on the tyrant path in alternative playthrough, just to see what she can potentially become, and to steel yourself somewhat against those puppy eyes.
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One thing I am relieved about is that pretty much everyone’s whose commented about it seems to like Augusta and her character development. Writing child characters is honestly pretty hard, especially when they have such an outsized role in the plot like she does and how much you have to interact with her. When I was first writing this I was thinking that it would be a tough sell, but I’m glad people enjoy her character.
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That’s not… quite what I meant, but it does the job. I was hoping for it to be a bit more personal (if you’re lovers). Something more like, “Julia, why didn’t you tell me about your plans? I had to find out at a council meeting? You told the Mother of Sorcery before me?” And have it be more sad than angry. As if saying without saying, “You don’t trust me anymore?”
She’s very well written imo. I love the fact that she can grow to see you as a parental figure, if you play your cards right.
I’ve been caring and compassionate in private, but I throw her into the deep end in public. My job is to advise her, not rule for her.
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