although in the lion king analogy, I feel like our prefect is Zazu 
Augusta: I just can’t wait to be [empress]!
True, CoGs usually are all about the ROs. And to an extent I think Julia captures that particular aspect.
But I’m glad we all enjoy our bureaucrat parent/mentor simulator.
We have some clear leaders emerging, Augusta by a large margin and then Julia with a healthy percentage of her own. I am sure Augusta would be very pleased that she’s the favorite of so many! Though curiously, Julia leads by on Tumblr, with a roughly equivalent number of respondents. What can I say, I do love me some good data.
Now, let’s see how the other characters stack up in the readership’s eyes since these margins are so commanding:
Omg idk how I’ve missed this WiP! This is sooooo good! The story is extremely well done, i actually really like playing as a man in a matriarchy. The options for everything feel like they always make sense and aren’t like crazy for my MC to pick any of them. I will say idk how to do like make stuff hidden for potential spoilers so I’m just put SPOILERS but I’m not sure if the order of choices you pick for when you are trying to find the woman that hired the assassin, I forgot her name, but the first time I played through that I failed in finding her in time and she killed her self, but the 2nd time I did it(had to reload because I didn’t play for a day and the game reset and my last save was before that part) and I just picked everything from the first to last, and that time I found her alive?? Picked the same options for the everything and was actually caught off guard because I was just trying to speed run to where I was before until I noticed the we actually found her lol. So idk if that’s a bug? Or like it actually matters the order you pic the options?
Depending on when you played last, I adjusted many of the variables involved with the investigation, so you might well have succeeded now where you didn’t before.
When I first read this story, I enjoyed it greatly. Everything fit together so nicely and it was an intriguing piece of interactive fiction. But on the sorceress path, focusing on knowledge and a certain Prince it became… wow. I did expect something like that but to see it confirmed was great. I can only hope that the PC is able to grasp some of that ancient power…
Lo and behold, one month later, I bring the famed second half of the ch1 typo anthology just in time for the update! You’ll forgive if some of the formatting is wonky—there’s just lots of images to sort through.
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The gradual reveal of the Old World is something I’ve especially enjoyed writing, as the MC can only really learn about it on certain routes (Sorceress and/or Darius). Rest assured, there is much, much more to be delved into.
Perhaps. As exemplified in that scene, such ancient power demands sacrifice to wield…
Thank you! This kind of feedback is awesome to have, I really appreciate the effort. Not to mention pointing out that one anachronism, perhaps I’ll replace that with ‘carriage’ instead LOL. I’ll start working on correcting the typos.
“throw to the wolves” should be fairly time resistant. Well, unless there’s no wolves in the game’s world. /s
You know what’s fascinating about the top contenders of the empress-less poll? I’ve not spoken once (outside of big mandatory meetings) with Amalrik or Darius. Not once.
Perhaps I should at least do a run with them at some point just to see, they seem quite popular, haha.
Darius is the most chill character in the entire game
I’d be pretty wary of Darius., given he’s got no qualms using you for his scheme(s) if you don’t meet his standards. Kind of raises a question how much of his chill is just a mask.
There is no character that is not trying to use you in this entire game. And everyone has things they’re not telling you. Darius openly lies to you in order to steal an important relic. He’s not just some languid prince who just wants to read scrolls in luxury. He’s in Iudia for a reason, and it’s not just to avoid an assassination. He’s after something bigger than the Pharian throne. If you’re in his way, he will attempt to remove you as quickly as he can.
Love the story so far, can’t wait to see what happens next!
I’m definitely suspicious of Darius (can’t speak to the other ROs), but considering I fake-romanced Julia I’m absolutely ready for the irony to come back and bite my Prefect lol.
Also, I seem to have inadvertently made my Prefect Titus’ twin - fair skin, black hair, blue eyes - which always made it seem strange when anyone questioned Augusta’s paternity:
“The Empress gestures to Augusta, who walks to stand beside her opposite to Her Holiness. It does not take a genius to notice that Augusta does not wholly resemble either of her parents. Julia and Titus have fair skin, black hair, and blue eyes, or gray in Julia’s case. She takes after you almost entirely, with fair skin, gray eyes, and black hair.”
Please exempt me from all consequences of my actions, thank you! Haha!
Augusta, and for that is winning the polls
Now that’s a difficult choice to make. On the one hand, there is Darius the Tech Nerd. On the other hand, there is Leta the Family-Oriented.
I love Leta. Her personality and story are great (we’ve yet too see the last of her, I’m sure).A minus for her, however is that she attempts to have her grandson married to Augusta and that’s a big no-no in my book. I can’t really blame her for trying to do it, considering the circumstances, but still leaves a bad taste in my fatherly mouth.
Darius is, for a lack of a better word, a great bro. Sure, he got his schemes, lies and whatnot, but that’s par for the course in the world of Shattered Eagle. Also, he got that curiousity for the ancient civilisation/ not-Atlantis that I share with him. He’s a cyborg now, so that’s a + too.
Ugh, this is impossible. I can’t decide. Damn you @Azan for rendering me empressless!
@Azan I gotta ask, how do you discover Darius’s secret?
That’s a bug, let me go in and fix that.
In order to impress Darius enough to let you in on his plans, you have to
There might be something to be said for that! Augusta has fairly transparent goals, like “be Empress one day” and “try to have at least one functional parental figure in my life.”
I’ll say this about Darius: If you impress him sufficiently, he’ll truly let you in on his plans, as you’ll see soon enough in the story. He does trust you to operate on him already, after all. We’ll delve more into the depths of his character, but suffice to say a man like him wants someone who can operate on his level and shares his intellectual curiosity. Unlike many other schemers in Kyro, the man is first and foremost interested in knowledge, not power or prestige…and as has been shown plain enough, he’ll pay any price to gain it. Will say I got a little Odin-esque inspiration for that scene haha.
I expected Darius to win the Empressless Edition of the poll. But I am pleasantly surprised by Leta’s strong showing. Goes to show that you don’t have to be a RO (or daughter) to win people’s hearts (or votes).
Kudos to our dear author for creating a great cast of characters.
Although, as shrewd MC can note, not enough to go unconscious in your presence. But that’s quite understandable.
Not sure if i would call family-oriented someone who will readily throw under the bus the family members they don’t personally approve of.
It’s less family-oriented and more nepotistic than anything else I suppose. It’s for the power of the family but not necessarily for love of the family.
