[quote=“Moreau, post:964, topic:15992, full:true”]Etienne and Echo are 21 years old, and therefore this is their first ‘season’, where nobles come to hunt for spouses and make political alliances (often mixing the two activities together to save time).
That’s why Lady Calinas’ plan has to happen now. There is precisely zero chance that the twins will not be inundated with attractive suitors, and they will be strongly encouraged to choose a spouse, to determine the future direction of the Monarchy.
The stakes are high, and every noble with a child you can take out in the daylight is going to be there, trying to snag one of them.[/quote]
Somehow, I suspect that as far as Calinas is concerned, failure is not an option.
[quote=“Moreau, post:964, topic:15992, full:true”][quote=“P_Tigras, post:963, topic:15992”]
Given the decadent licentious ways of the court, how is it that plunging necklines, even below the belly button ones, are scandalous? As I recall, Calinas showed off the pleasure myrmidon’s nude body to her guests, and then promptly named that myrmidon heir.
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The neckline isn’t necessarily a problem per se, but it does encourage accusations of narcissism and shallowness, two things that a Princess should not wish to be associated with.[/quote]
The Princess’s altruistic concern for the well-being of the peasants, the very foundation upon which the nation is built, clearly demonstrates that she’s the responsible one in the room. If anyone is narcissistic and shallow, it’s all of the nobles who think only of their own aggrandizement and pleasure. Yes, I do believe my MC will tell her that. 
[quote=“Moreau, post:964, topic:15992, full:true”][quote=“P_Tigras, post:963, topic:15992”]
Is the mother of the royal twins still alive? If she is, how does she get along with her husband and children? If she isn’t, has the King remarried?
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I honestly haven’t decided the fate of the Queen. I’m inclined to think that she has passed on because it adds more urgency to the Royal Succession if there is nobody except Etienne or Echo to take the throne.[/quote]
Speaking about being under pressure, and knowing your appreciation of David Bowie, I’m suddenly reminded of that particularly famous collaboration with Queen, Under Pressure.
[quote=“Moreau, post:964, topic:15992, full:true”][quote=“P_Tigras, post:963, topic:15992”]
I’d much rather wrap my MC’s spouse around his finger. Honey catches more flies than vinegar as the old saying goes…
It would be interesting to play a myrmidon who starts out playing both the perfect child and the perfect spouse, only to find the two roles pulling them in very different directions at some point.
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That is one of the angles I’d like to cover in the Noble path, do you show loyalty to your Mother by pushing young Etienne to abandon his studies in favour of his statecraft? Or browbeat Echo into acting in a manner befitting her station so you can push Mother’s policies into law?[/quote]
browbeat the heir? Heaven’s no. My MC is but the heir’s spouse, not the heir herself. Browbeat her too much and she might start resenting me, or worse, stop listening to me entirely. Now if my honored mother would be so considerate as to fund a home for destitute widows and orphans in Strom, I could then bring the princess for a tour, and approval of that trade route she desires would become certain…
[quote=“Moreau, post:964, topic:15992, full:true”][quote=“P_Tigras, post:963, topic:15992”]
Is there any reason why the myrmidion can’t have children the old fashioned away aside from personal choice? I thought the MC was fully functional biologically speaking, including reproductively.
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While they possess all of the correct parts for procreating in theory, they are technically speaking a different species. [/quote]
Without the ability to reproduce with each other and/or humans, myrmidon’s aren’t a different species so much as a construct. Being able to reproduce is one of the key characteristics of living beings.
Furthermore, as mentioned recently in a different thread, it’s certainly possible for different species to be interfertile, such as wolves and coyotes.
If they can’t, then it very likely was a design decision that they not be interfertile, one that could be fixed by a forge. I don’t see why a forge couldn’t modify a myrmidon’s eggs/sperm to be interfertile with humans. The myrmidon’s non-genetic enhancements wouldn’t get transferred unless they were due to nanites.
And if for some reason the player doesn’t want to risk “going under the knife”, taking a bit of DNA from both parents to make an infant strikes me as child’s play for the forge.
I believe myrmidons capable of reproducing are much more likely to be perceived as a threat than myrmidons that aren’t able to reproduce. The fact that myrmidons are generally superior and do not age I think would create plenty of tension as it is once the humans around them realize the myrmidon isn’t human. Now imagine their suspicions regarding the myrmidon’s children…
[quote=“Moreau, post:964, topic:15992, full:true”][quote=“P_Tigras, post:963, topic:15992”]
Given that these fabricated persons are not in any way bound to do the will of their creator, and in many ways more dangerous than normal humans, I think I’d rather stick with outfoxing normal humans.
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I’m not condoning any course of action that involves mechanized assassination, you infer what you want…[/quote]
[quote=“Moreau, post:964, topic:15992, full:true”][quote=“P_Tigras, post:963, topic:15992”]
How decadent. What happens if a married woman should become pregnant by her “open secret” of a lover? I suspect a lot of male nobles, if aware, would draw the line at accepting another man’s child as one of their heirs. What is her cuckolded husband likely to do? What is she likely to do to avoid scandal? I expect many operas have been written about this sort of thing…
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I should imagine there is a very sudden reconciliation as soon as she knows, then a concerted attempt to pass off the child as their spouse’s. If that doesn’t work, there will be scandal and grounds for divorce, which is not commonly employed but is an effective deterrent against accidental pregnancy because if there is one thing nobles don’t stand for it is losing money. [/quote]
Hmmm…it strikes me that quite a few might consider elimination of the evidence as a preferable option to scandal and divorce if the attempt to effect a “sudden reconciliation” fails, and sometimes even when it appears to succeed, not that such heinous actions would ever be brought up or admitted to in polite company.
[quote=“Moreau, post:964, topic:15992, full:true”][quote=“P_Tigras, post:963, topic:15992”]
Interesting. Another way to score points with the princess is to share or at least be supportive of her sense of noblesse oblige…
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I can see the wheels turning in your head there… 
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The wheels are always turning. To expect otherwise is like expecting liquid water not to be wet.
[quote=“Moreau, post:964, topic:15992, full:true”][quote=“P_Tigras, post:963, topic:15992”]
Do either of the royal twins have existing lovers? Or are both single at the time the MC meets them?
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Both are single, both have been jealously guarded since birth to ensure that they do not form any ‘untoward’ attachments to anyone but their future potential spouse. Their Father has always been acutely aware that his children are political currency, and he will not allow anything to devalue that currency.[/quote]
When you talk like that you make them sound so vulnerable. Someone needs to…educate them, yep, that’s it, because education adds value… For the good of the nation, we will endeavor to add value to the “currency” instead of devaluing it. 
[quote=“Moreau, post:964, topic:15992, full:true”][quote=“P_Tigras, post:963, topic:15992”]
She has a weakness! How adorable!
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I feel like I want to pre-emptively warn my characters about you…
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Feel free. From what you’ve told us about our rebellious princess so far, warning her will only make the MC more intriguing to her eyes…
