I’ve been around for a minute and I’ve never heard anything like this, from official CoG guidance or community consensus. As with all things it depends on the circumstances. My only thing is that the Victoria interlude could perhaps use slightly more reactivity regarding the player? Just a bit to show that what we do effects how people see us, even our enemies.
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I’ve been reading alot of IF so I started to compare how each author handles POV. From POMA, I the Forgotten One, Wayhaven, Sword of Rivenia, etc. Each of them treats POV like bullets and use each one sparingly. Most of them seems to never cross the line of more than five pages for POV.
I think an extended one is fine in this instance and fits the story well. I like the way it brings the reader back down to earth in terms of realizing our PC look very similar to Victoria as she does to the PC.
I’d like that too. Julia is terrible, but I think even people that hate her could see the right PC as a moderating influence (because they absolutely can be). “Well, she is a monster but she’d be even worse without Prefect X around”
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Ironically if the Prefect romances Julia, it’s somewhat the opposite in the perception of many, this is why there’s a public favor loss. Julia’s actions may be feared or despised by some sections of society, but directly condemning the Empress can be bad for one’s health.
You could likely get away with much easier saying, “the Empress is a good woman undone by the sinister, seductive advice of her lover! If only she was here, she’d know how bad it is!” It’s not unlike a “Good Tsar, Bad Boyar” dynamic.
Of course, Victoria would know better than to assume Julia was a good woman at all. Whether she would (potentially) know better enough to see the Prefect as a moderating influence might not be something she’s terribly concerned with, especially if the Prefect slew her mother.
The reduction to the compromise stat reflects this mechanically, but Victoria and Iblin will have quite a more hateful outlook towards the Prefect themselves in dialogue as well.
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Will a prefect who killed her mother have more difficulty negotiating peace with Victoria?
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I was going to say that perhaps there should be other stuff aside from if they killed Aite but there really isn’t anything else he would know, or care to know, aside from maybe a reference to their job, the only other thing I could think of would be that, since she is allied with the Siqari, that she could learn that the Prefect is the one responsable of sparing their people, maybe going how they had mercy for enemies of the state but not her mother or something.
I don’t mind the length so much as having Victoria find an item just seemed like an unnecssary digression from the plot given it didn’t really feel like it paid off.
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I disagree since it grants insight on the lore. It established that the Lance of Bodmil is not a trick (even if it’s actually ancient technology and not the holy relic they believe it is), shows how the Lance works and possibly its limitation, and that Iudia is not the only nation that possesses ancient technology.
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I’ll second this one. Maybe if we were nice to Victoria, or have a good reputation with the opposing faction, there could be some more ambivalence regarding Victoria’s position on us? Perhaps she contemplates letting us retire peacefully instead of executing us?
I love the lore and theirs is so much world building potential, but it’s kinda useless to the whole IF considering all the MC does is management. Though the lore is perfect for the sequel to come. A young MC this time to explore the great world building the author created not a 40 year old having trouble walking.
There won’t be a sequel, this will be an entirely self contained and standalone work. If the Prefect has the skill and inclination, they’ll be able unravel a great deal about the world around them.
The legionary Prefect is definitely not at that level of mobility loss, and neither are the remaining prefects. That’s what the Health stat reflects in some part.
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It’s not useless tho because the ancient technology is a major plot point. If anything the secrets of the ancient world are the main plot. It’s not just a minor piece of backstory because it is connected to what Gaia is and what her intentions are, especially when you consider that the story takes place after a virus wiped out the previous civilization and undid what was likely millenia of technological advancement. It’s essentially the overarching plot while various political factions remain unaware of the real danger as they fight their (comparatively) petty conflicts.
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Question: If you don’t meet with Darius after the battle of Kyro (an option when allying with him), will he send a letter explaining things? The information he reveals at that meeting is quite important, not exactly the kind of thing you can skip over.
I’m a bit late to the conversation, but I’ll give my thoughts on the characters:
Consentia and Ceto are straightforward representatives for their respective factions, quite bland to be honest.
Darius and the Goddess are fun characters, but the interesting part about them is their role in the ancient technology plot, not really them as people.
Titus dies everytime; Julia’s wedding scene is just too good. “Never bow to me again, my love”? I live for that shit!
Vicky is hype. I eagerly await when we’ll get to shout at each other across the battlefield and what her terms will be. Isn’t the entire point to get revenge for her mother?
Antonius is very interesting. He actually brushes up against the gender hierarchy of Iudia, a topic that doesn’t get enough exploration. I suppose it’s a given he’s dynamic, his gimmick is choosing between two options.
Overall, I think the faction leaders suffer from being political actors. There’s so little time away from the politics, when we can learn about them as people. Julia, around whom the game of politics is played, for whom the scheming and thirst for power are vital character traits, does not have that issue.
The climax of the game is clearly going to be fighting Uzin Khan, someone who knows much of the old world. He rides against Iudia to destroy the Goddess, a thing of the old world. The old world is crucial to the conflict going on. MC is actually perfectly positioned to learn of the ancients, being one of the few people in the world who could get in direct contact with the Goddess.
Too well positioned, really; a sequel about raiding ancient ruins wouldn’t be as fun if all the secrets are already revealed in this installment.
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I have a former Prefect of Collection who has also become quite an adept fighter to the point I can kill the assassin unscathed, and resolve the whole coup attempt with minimal damage to the capital. There is no reason any Prefect can’t be quite a badass.
I don’t think there was any phase where Roman society valued youth as much as we do. Early middle age was still the normal time for a successful Roman to become a major official even later on in the empire.
Honestly, early middle age is still the time most people actually make it big today too. For me a 40 year old protagonist is a nice change of pace and more believable than very young protagonists.
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Yes, but by virtue of not being able to follow up with further questions or expound on details, you won’t be gaining all of the same information you could while meeting him.
Yes, there won’t need to be a sequel for you to have the chance to learn more about the old world. Of course, a character who allied with Darius and/or have high Scholarship will be able to learn far more than one without either and therefore be able to act on said accumulated knowledge. The sort of relationship one cultivates with the Goddess will also play a large role in what you learn.
I think the story should be resolved well enough by the endings I have planned. Of course, there will be hints of what may come next in the history of Shattered Eagle’s world and the Prefect can’t learn everything, but I think the plot threads will be tied up well enough.
Any sequel would have to account for incredibly divergent world states at the end of Shattered Eagle’s epilogues, and besides, the Prefect can die in the last chapter, but each death will have a unique epilogue, it’ll be a true ending and not merely a fail state. In fact, some ‘death’ endings I imagine won’t be perceived as failures at all by certain readers.
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Our mortal body dies and we ascend to a higher plane of existence (The Goddess Route), or we go down fighting and killing the Witch-King like an absolute badass. Just two of my guesses.
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We beat the Witch-King and Augusta decides we’ve become surplus to requirements and we go out like Aetius.
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At least if Augusta was actually competent then I would be like “That’s my girl”. If she is of the Theodosian type, then I would rather have the Witch-King spare Iudia the trouble.
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This is why my Prefect would agree that “when you play the game of thrones, you win or you die”.
Actually, the anticipation of this kind of thing helps explain why people that seize power by coups, usurpations or regencies usually feel they have no choice but to keep going historically.
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