I can’t believe it!! Take me!! I’m all yours!
That is anyone’s prerogative of course. I’d say try it anyway and see how you like it, but obviously whether you can enjoy it or wish to purchase the title is left up to you. The third title will have a recap possibility for the events of this title as well as pre-made options to select from, making it recommended, but not necessary, to play Voice of God.
I did mention that I had switched it over to female gender-lock over on the thread for the first title, but it was a fairly brief mention. Not an announcement. Up until recently I was still holding onto a gender selection, but honestly I found this to work far better for the story I wish to tell. So, I hope to see you in the Seeker of Paradise thread when that eventually pops up.
It might eventually, if the first Earl carried on using his original name and did not change it for the crusades. More likely to be mentioned if he also became a Grandmaster. For creating one in the frame story, yes. There is mention of him if you select the choices that would have led him to be banished out to the crusades.
That would be an oversight on my part. I’ll have another look at the phrasing and mix it up a bit.
First of His Blood was definitely based heavily on early medieval period and stayed there through to the end. By the end coat of plates style transitional solutions became more common, but still generally very rare. Voice of God is very much early renaissance period, which means that Norwall is still a decade at least behind the technological and art curve. The Holy Seat will be a hotbed of technological progress, but still a major backwater compared to parts of the Orient and the Accadian Empire.
Nah, probably not. I can have my periods of rapid progress, but I’m nowhere close to certain prolific authors on here. Paul and Zachary come to mind instantly as notable ones.
I can clarify the age a bit. It will be updating constantly on your stats page, but that’s still very much under construction.
Yes, it’s very likely the sword is in the family if you got it back in the day and were not banished to the crusades.
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Ayyyyyy it’s lit asf
@Goshman Forgive me but I didn’t see an answer to this but I did see that you liked it. When I played through she didn’t show up so I’m hoping with fingers crossed that she will be available in a future update.
Also, yay for keeping Ulfberth!!
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Having played the FoHB to refresh my memory and playing the demo, I think I’m able to capture my feelings a little better about the demo.
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I’ve not read anything on the Aswick thread, so the sudden thrust into gender lock female came out of nowhere to me. Especially given that we were an older child moving around the “home away from home” in the capital. Is it a game breaker? Not in and of itself but the problem that I had was between the sudden thrust into character and a gender I couldn’t relate to, I’m already having a problem with connecting to the new MC.
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If I have a crazy-elaborate system of industry, raw materials gathering and trade with the guild going with my high nobility MC from FoHB, I’m again finding it hard that my family is in dire financial straits that necessitates my father ship me off to a monastery instead of using me as a bargaining chip in terms of marriage. I think someone said that there could have been many daughters born and frivolous spending that could’ve drained the coffers. Perhaps so. However, the saying “Show, don’t tell.” comes to mind. Now, I caught the references to faded clothing and an issue with low money before the announcement. The disconnect comes from me telling the old man in the prologue how well the economy from FoHB is to a: “You’re suddenly broke” in chapter 1. Just left me scratching my head.
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This brings me to the monastery. Initially, after reading the demo for the first time, the word in my head was: “railroading”. No choice in the manner, not having a choice about how my character feels about this, etc. MC was just led off like a lamb to the slaughter especially when the monastic beatings came into play. Now, I realize that the same “railroading” accusation could be leveled at FoHB: You’re sent off to be a knight (no choice), you get a minor choice of where you go based off drawing straws, otherwise the core choices remain the same. I never felt bad about this because I felt connected with my character and I was there for knightly escapades anyways. Another issue I had was the large usage of Latin. In FoHB, you did describe some of the words you used in the knighting ceremony so people without a seminarian education can hold their own. I felt like I needed to go back to school to fully appreciate the Lain to appreciate those aspects of the monastery. I appreciate that aspect of your world building but I feel everyone won’t bite on this.
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I’m cautious to see what you are going to be doing with your church. It’s clear this is a fictionalized version of the Roman Catholic Church of the medieval times. Potentially, you could have MC get an “out” through programs similar to nuns being smuggled out (like Luther’s wife) and you can get back to the rest of the medieval life that, admittedly, I was expecting.
You do great work, so I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. I’ll just admit I’m kind of disappointed by this turn of events.
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I’m usually not one for gender-locked games, considering a majority of them are locked to male protagonists, but seeing the gender-locked female tag had me super surprised and excited, so I gave the demo a shot. I’ll admit that I’ve never played the first game, but after sitting down with this demo I’m definitely picking it up to get a better grasp of the world you’ve created. I never thought playing as a Friar would ever be something I’d be interested in but I really like the idea now, I can’t wait to see if/how the Saint we’ve chosen will come into play further along in the story.
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One other question: why can’t we join the Andromedans, if they’re so desperate for members?
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I hope you don’t mind me asking a Lord of Aswick: First of his Blood question on this thread but it’s technically not a help question I didn’t want to make a new thread.
Okay, so in the game you help the female heir claim her birthright. Then there is a scene, when she’s now queen and you’re her advisor, where she sexually assaults you and then nothing happens.
So my question is what is up with that? Was that supposed to led to something else with the queen that I missed? Are you going to address it in the remake?
I really would like an answer because that was just so bizarre and seemingly pointless.
Also, I’m really excited for the new game. I liked the first one and I know I’ll love the second.
Seriously though please explain the whole queen bedroom scene.
This is quite interesting.
First, let me say that I don’t mind the gender lock for this. There are plenty of male gender locked games so I feel that it’s only fair to have a game like this.
That aside, I did want to be a little more rebellious towards the people who felt it was in the MC’s best interest to suffer for the sake of a religion MC didn’t willingly join. If it’s a necessary part of the story though, not much can be done I guess. 
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To be honest, I want to be rebellious in at least one playthrough. I think @Goshman would provide the choice to escape once you exit the monastery in a later part.
Also, I hope that our second MC gets a chance to kick-start the Reformation in Norwall (or at least contribute).
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I don’t know, our MC was handed over young and was raised in a culture that venerates these traditions and offices. Rebelling overtly would be hard, and might derail the early story. As we go on, though, I do expect more dramatically rebellious choices.
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i dont enjoy reading from a female pov so i will not be reading or buying this nor will i ever buy a hosted or choice of game with gender lock as female for that matter, is just my personal taste.
But i have to tell you what most disappoint me is the fact that this is a sequel to a game, making it gender locked female will make some people like me that dont enjoy playing as a female character having to pass on the sequel or be forced to play it as it is, i certainly dont like jumping from 1 book to book 3, it breaks immersion even if you have a recap.
I think thats the end for me in this series, atleast i have still Golden Eagle to look forward from you 
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I wish you the best luck and hope this works for you in the end.
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not a real fan of female pov I can never really get into it so I will skip this game but still good luck
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Yeah, that’s a slip-up on my part. If Catherine isn’t there, she’s slipped through the cracks and I need to fix that.
Because @CaballeroDeAndromeda would get a big head if I allowed that.
That’s meant to be a bit of a jarring scene, both in subject matter and the way it is handled then and there, as well as afterwards. That is one of the scenes I intend to modify, expand, and refer to again in the major update to FoHB.
The short version of an explanation would be that I wanted to show that Augustina was far from a frail maiden, had a very powerful and commanding presence, and that the MC was powerless before the will of the Queen. It’s also a scene where several major tropes are smashed all in one blow.
There are a lot of small things about the relationship between the first Earl and the Queen that bother me somewhat. The rape scene, while not going anywhere, does need more context and repercussions.
Thanks for the excellent write-up about your concerns, @IronRaptor. A couple of your concerns are lapses on my part, such as referring to poverty despite having a well-off family based on choices of the first game. That’ll be fixed up in the next demo update, and the position of the MC and the family as it is in Voice of God will be clarified a bit further.
As for the Latin, I will need to elaborate on that much better. You’re right. I’ll find a solution to that issue, although I feel that I have hashed over this particular complaint of using another language with both FoHB and Golden Eagle now.
Now for the general matter of switching it up from First of His Blood to Voice of God, changing themes, changing eras, changing the MC.
Lords of Aswick was never intended as a medieval generational story that would rehash the same kind of power politics, warfare, or circumstances throughout all titles. I said it early on with FoHB that my plan for the series was to explore certain times and explore very different circumstances and difficulties that the MC would have to tackle in turn. In fact, the MC’s twin brother’s story in this title is largely the story of the first Earl of Aswicdale, except pushed ahead a century and with a looming powerful family lineage standing behind him.
I’ll accept openly that some will have difficulty relating to an MC who is essentially a nun, a woman, someone who cannot inherit Aswick itself or bear children in order to continue the main family lineage. Just as I accepted that FoHB had those very same issues, except that then the issues were for those who could not relate to a male character. That is a matter of individual taste and is something I cannot have an impact on. Anyone who feels hesitant about my choice to tell a story, I would say go in with an open mind and try it out, but I don’t expect anyone to buy a story that simply isn’t for them.
I don’t have a marketing department pushing me in any which way. I write what I want to write and tell the stories I wish to tell. If it happens that people cannot accept a female lead or a female perspective, which I will do my utmost to present and do justice to, then I will take the economic hit down the line. I have no qualms with that whatsoever, as long as the audience that does read the book find that it satisfies what they seek in a title such as this and I feel like I have added to the IF and HG library in some positive and/or constructive manner.
Each title in this four-book series, to some degree, is about breaking the norm. That isn’t a core issue I want to tackle with each title, but I’m conscious that each title will bear that as a theme due to the nature of stories about a more or less “good” protagonist rising to power. In the first title the barrier was being of gentry, where the only way to rise to power was through warfare and patronage of powerful figures. Only on the crusade path was success down to personal merit, and even there you had your very own patron to keep you in position to earn that merit.
In this title there are even more walls. Obviously I have not established a strict patriarchal society, although I have seen many discussion on these forums claim that there is a medieval European style of patriarchal society in place. That is not entirely true, but at the same time that is not something I have explored… yet. The church is a major way for women to find places of power, especially on the mainland where traditions are slightly different, or the Holy Seat where traditions are a lot different from what you might see in Norwall. Very few probably went down the crusade path, so few likely know of a certain female Exarch who aided the MC in the Orient. I can see already that many are expecting a Sister’s life to be one of humility and little chance to progress further in life, that rebellion and escape from the clergy are necessary in order to get back to “society” and the clutches of power. There will be rebellion, there will be a reformist movement, there will be opportunity to sway the events one way or another and choose a path to become the Voice of God, whether that is as the head of an independent Church of Norwall, or by cajoling your way to the Holy Father’s seat. Those are the norms that need to be broken in this title. The piety bar will sway back and forth and determine how much of a brutal politician you are, or whether or not you truly believe yourself to be a prophet.
Future titles will also serve to break norms in the many ways, and will take the MC away from the comfort zone of Norwall. Seekers of Paradise will take place after a religious conflict in the vein of the English Civil War, but will take place in a New World where resources are few and each misstep may result in an unfortunate conflict with natives. Brow the Bear a Crown will consider the difficulties of a more modern war, and the very real difficulties of climbing to such a position where a mere nobleman without royal blood may become King.
Each title will be a very distinct story in a very distinct period of time. Some may find that jarring or disappointing, but I can do very little about that without compromising on the whole point of the series, which is to explore and experience intriguing events and time periods exactly where the action is thickest.
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Wait what sexual assault scene I played and supported the queen and don’t remember seeing that. Do you have to defy her and disagree with often.
he is talking about us being the Queen’s secret lover.
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You can do that how I was always forced into some marriage.
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Awww…kinda sad this one is locked to female, so it is not for me. For me to play female mc everything just has to click and come together right from the start, like with Iris’ brilliant deconstruction of “beauty” and the beast.
So I’ll just be here in the corner waiting patiently for you to resume Vive la révolution! Umm I mean the Golden Eagle. 
Still wish you all the best though.
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Thank you for responding and yes it does need more. But anyway, like I said, hidden in my rant, I love your game and I can’t wait for more of that universe.
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(in my playthrough) you have to collect a list of rebel nobles name and give it to her during this event she will be making advances toward you.
(ps.1 you can’t marry her, you are only her sex partner/lover) (ps.2 yes, you still have to marry someone else.)
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