Wow, so Leta is conspiring with the Witch King? I mean I get why she feels so burned, but that is extra. She either has been very good at disguising her hatred for Julia, or she is more “it’s just business” than she let’s on.
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How does one come to that conclusion? She wanted Augusta married to her nephew, which is in her own self-interest. She and Titus are family, so she has ample opportunity to speak to him, as well. Her plot doesn’t act in the interests of the Witch King.
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Titus hints of powerful friends, the tie to the assassination attempt, the knowledge of Augusta true parentage as a weapon, and who his threat at revealing it best serves.
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Wouldn’t it make more sense to presume the “powerful friends” in question are Iblin and his co-conspirators? Given they’ve already shown capable of infiltrating the castle and orchestrating assassination attempt (which is pretty confidence-inducing) have enough money to afford most powerful poisons, have beef with the Prefect (along with Julia) and are technically Titus’s and Leta’s family, so quite less of a wild card than a guy who apparently wants to burn the capital city to the ground?
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Honestly, I don’t think “beef” is enough to describe Iblin’s feelings towards the murderous power couple. The narrative from the bridge battle flashback shows how dedicated Iblin was to his daughter Victoria. “Nothing will stay between me and my daughter” or smth like that. Besides, Hadat got trashed by Iudia post-civil war, so there’s nothing for him there.
I would not be surprised if his only goal in life nowadays is to acquaint Julia and the Prefect with a dagger, most preferably in the throat.
Man, I like Iblin so much, and we only meet him in one scene. I need more Wrathful Dad content. Sorry @fsix of hijacking your post to gush about Iblin, please accept this freshly-made digital 
as an apology.
If Leta does plot against Julia & Co then it would benefit the Witch King. Throwing Iudia into chaos just as Uzin Khan and his merry band of misfits arrive would certainly help our resident warlock’s trip to Iudia. So, even if she wasn’t plotting with WK, her actions would indirectly aid him. Just another case of Iudia shooting itself in the foot.
Well, this is if Julia doesn’t go along with Leta’s wishes. Or hell, the Prefect might not agree with this marriage (I sure don’t). I don’t see Leta’s schemes going without a hitch. (this is Shattered Eagle, after all; nothing goes right) So some problems might arise later down the story.
The bed-fixing assasin is quite a mystery. He didn’t behave in a way that would belie some beef with the Prefect. He seemed rather friendly, if not a little condescending. And he was a foreigner too, with some very apocalyptic words to adress the Iudians in general. Maybe I don’t remember some ulterior information, but to me it always seemed as if he was sent by good-old Uzin Khan through Iblin as intermediary. Since the sorceressess know of the poison, that would mean that the WK would have been able to learn how to produce it during his stay at Hogwarts with the Church.
If he was sent by Uzin, that means Iblin is plotting with him? If so, case closed. If not, well, it could very well be the MOTHER OF SORCERY. Because why not?
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I mean it’s possible, but not strictly necessary. Iblin could be resourceful and well connected on his own. So, i’d apply Occam’s Razor here without any more info. Uzin can be also supplied as one of potential red herrings to throw you off during investigation, which doesn’t make all that much sense if he was the actual ultimate culprit.
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Oh no, Occam’s Razor! My one weakness!
There is certainly a great possibility of red herring, but it could also be a case of reverse red herring. We might not expect him to be the culprit because it would be too obvious. So for now it’s TBA.
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Me, meanwhile: I got no fucking clue who did it I just blamed the senate
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Maybe the real assassin was the friends we made along the way
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The only morally correct choice.
We do get to sleep in Julia’s bed and get cuddles 24/7/365 now, so I see that as an absolute win. Well, until she sends the Prefect on the couch for having taught Augusta non-Julia ways of governing.
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Love this so far! 
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You know, @Oreven, sometimes you say the words on my mind which I dare not utter. The inner voice in my head made manifest. And you’re better with memes than I am, to be sure.
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Someone ought to be the Id in this rather Superego-centric IF, if we are to employ some freudian terminology. But it’s mostly because I love cuddles. And hugs. I want more Augusta hugs. They warm my poor heart torn by all these schemes, mysteries, betrayals, murders, massacres, barbeques etc etc taking place in and around Iudia.
No joke, by the end of this IF we will need something like this, but several times larger.
“Welcome to GAME THEORY! Where we discuss what Sci-Fi thingy will come next to this antiquity-themed world.” - Patricius Matthaeus
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It happened all over the place. I’ll make a note of what I was doing next time it happened, but it was mostly when I was checking to see what stat changes a given choice affected.
That might have been it, given that I was probably checking the stats, then saving the game, then trying to make a choice.
Yeah, I’ll be careful about that, thank you for the head’s up.
It would be crazy if the mother of soccery talked to uzin, and he just randomly said “I didn’t want to conquer Ludia anyway” After he just ravaged havernica and northern ludia . He then Left got an nose bleed and died. Then we have to go an fight the germs
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Someone’s played a little too much Jurassic World Alive, or Dragons. Please don’t throw stones at me, I’m not a grammar ****.
That aside, it would be a neat parallel to Pope Leo I and Attila the Hun’s meeting during the latter’s most civilised visit of Italy. Although I don’t see the Spooky Scary Sorcery Mom doing the talking, but rather the other leading figure of the Church, the White Lady (I think that’s her title). She seems more inclined to, well, speak. Red Lady would merely stare at him and he would get creeped out and just leave.
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That reminds me, how do you pronounce Iudia?
Writing has been a bit slower this past month due to work and travel unfortunately, but I’m hopeful I can try to get this chapter finished by the end of August. If not, certainly September. There’s quite a lot of branching from previous chapters to account for before I wrap up and end the first act.
Iblin will certainly have a role to play in the story to come.
Yeah, this is a DashingDon issue, unfortunately, nothing I can do on my end.
Just for a quick low down:
The head of the Church of Gaia is the Holy Matron, referred to simply as Her Holiness most often. She is clothed in white to represent her purity and stainless virtue as the Goddess’ most faithful servant. She is selected by the high priestesses of Kyro to serve for life, with the blessing of the Goddess. The Matron oversees the vast empire-wide Church, handing down decrees and dispensation, and ensuring the absolute unity of faith from schismatics. Her Holiness was chosen 8 years ago, after the passing of the previous Matron.
The Mother of Sorcery is, as you could expect, a far more shadowy figure than the public facing Holy Matron. She is clothed in red to represent the Holy Fire that is most sacred to the sorceresses, symbolizing the gift of knowledge that the Goddess has bestowed upon her faithful. No one knows how the Mothers of Sorcery are chosen, not even the sorceresses, but they appear to serve for life. Few know who the current Mother was before ascending to the title due to her age and secrecy.
I was imagining it as “you-dee-ah” if that makes sense.
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It does, thank you.
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