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Keldulas posted:This is definitely interesting. The LP caught my attention first for the art style. I love this kind of old illustration hard lines style. you seem to be confused, this IS them being functional
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Sep 3, 2022 19:44
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| # ? May 5, 2024 01:40 |
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1.6 - Getting Schooled We join Gloria and serve the entitled assholes at the table.   It sucks, but at least Gloria wasn't alone in this.  She appreciates the fact that we got her back.  And we have enough willpower to do something again!  As we turn 11, the world gets larger, and we sometimes get to hang out in the town with Tommas.    Tommas has got opinions on the Lots.     So far, everything we know about the world comes from books and our family. As far as we know, Arknians really are magical and better.  The last time we interacted with the Milanidas dynasty, Sophia got run over by horses. This time, it doesn't seem as bad.     This is the first time we actually meet an Arknian, and we are smitten. Meet Octavia Milanidas, the daughter and emissary of Duke Milanidas, the Overseer of Magra.  The options here aren't particularly great, so we go with keeping the dropped handkerchief like a good weird kid.  Our worldview changes quite a bit.  We learn that on top of being callous murderers, the dynasty that rules our province can also be really hot.  Turning 12, we learn a bit more about the political situation in Magra.      God, Gregor sucks.  Oh no, please, don't.   Then do it, coward.      Can't wait to dance on your grave, old man.  We see the power shift away from the nobility a bit. Of note: this game, as mentioned before, is liberal. This means it conflates the suffering of the workers (miners, in this case) with the suffering of owners (Mayer Egmont, who owns the mines) just because they both lack the privileges of the nobility. The Lots and Lot-based laws are the only concern, you see, and the distribution of resources between the owners and the workers isn't a problem. Anatole France lived quite a bit after the French Revolution, of course, but his words ring just a true: "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal loaves of bread." - The Red Lily, 1894 Since the game borrows very heavily from the French Revolution, it's an absolute shame that they do not have a figure inspired by Gracchus "Property is odious in its principle and murderous in its effects" Babeuf. Babeuf was later called the first revolutionary communist, and despite the fact that modern conceptions of European anarchism and communism only showed up decades after his execution, it kinda works. Unlike the major republican factions of the revolution, Babeuf (and the rest of the Conspiracy of Equals) were against the continuation of private property, and for equal access to food for every citizen of France. The Conspiracy went on to attack the chief beneficiaries of the revolution: rich non-noble assholes who miraculously ended up on top, leeching off the people who worked """their""" land and businesses. That's not to say that the Conspiracy was all perfect, of course. Like the vast majority of revolutionaries, their noble ideas didn't include the slaves in France's colonies, particularly Haiti. Just like the rest of the republicans, "equality" only applied to citizens of France. They just went a lot further with what "equality" meant. Anyway, the game does eventually have revolutionary figures, but except for the one correct one that the game whines about going too far, they're all bourgeois liberals. The poor mine owners are oppressed by the nobility, just get rid of the noble yoke, and we'll all breathe free! (Freedom for peasants and workes optional)  Either way, we're now old enough to start prep school.  No more tutors for us!     Tommas joins us at the school, though he has trouble with the (garbage) system.    Our parents will not get off our rear end about the rote memorization, which is, as we all know, the perfect way to get children (or adults!) to understand a subject.  And the work is piling up.    We could focus on learning more legal bullshit, or prayers, or even hang out with Nathan.  But we won't.  We gotta go help our boy!   He's been holding out, but could use a hand.  Or a fist!   Yeah, you better run.  Listen we did alright, get off our back.  But hey, at least working with Tommas made us a little craftier.  Slowly, we learn about the composition of the noble estate in the empire.       This is what Gregor wants.     Weak poo poo, Father.     And, of course, the lowest noble tier.  Speaking of nobles and lowest tiers.    Tommas tries to stand up to the theoretical future nobles.  But that's jsut what they've been waiting for.   It doesn't work out so well for him.  We choose to If we weren't this close to Tommas, we could've ditched him, agree with the noble boys, and hang out at their leader's place. This would've slightly improved the reputation of the noble House Brante, and Tommas wouldn't have been a fan.  Snitching or not, this is a good point - no one here is a noble yet.  Everyone bugs out as soon as the teacher shows up.  After class, we tell on the other boys.  This works out somehow, proving that for all this setting's faults, at least this isn't an English boarding school.  Tommas is, of course, happy that we stood up for him.  And snitching, rather than fighting or trying to get everyone to calm down, nets us another Ingenuity point.  We turn 13, and the school takes us to a holy site for a field trip.    Even if we don't buy the Church's... everything, there is definitely something about this particular tree.  It brings pilgrims from all over the empire, noble and commoner alike, being one of the holiest of places in the entire Arknian empire.     We take a wrong turn, or a right one, and learn something shocking: there are different interpretations of the Twins' will! And some of them even say that the Lots are bullshit!  Of course, this moment of connection to the not-yet-a-heresy of the New Faith can't go on for very long before it's interrupted. Meet Jeanne, an orphan raised by the Church, who's grown to be quite devoted to the Old Faith.   Jeanne will have none of this. Still a kid, but already committed to preventing the spread of dangerous ideas such as "the Lots aren't in the bible".  So who do we go with? -- Who do we follow at the Silver Tree?  A. Look, we came here for the temple, and the girl is cute. Follow Jeanne.  B. Tell us more about this whole "the Lots are bullshit" thing. Stay with the pilgrim.  C. Listen, this all seem very humans-interpreting-the-divine to us. Let's just chill by the tree instead.  Had we focused on Perception in out childhood, we could've had an Insight (the event that triggered at 4 perception). This is where it could've come into play, letting us have an epiphany at the holy site, getting a little closer to the gods.
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Sep 5, 2022 15:59
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Listen to Heresy Lady
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Sep 5, 2022 16:07
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:Listen to Heresy Lady It becomes more clear later, but it's important to note that the New Faith isn't officially a heresy (due to support of several politically important figures). It can become a heresy later, depending on how much power the Old Faith has. The Inquisition absolutely does not gently caress around with things properly labelled heresies. All pyres and broken bones.
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Sep 5, 2022 16:13
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:Listen to Might-Become-A-Heresy-Later Lady
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Sep 5, 2022 16:21
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Double post. This isn't the kind of game I'd want to play myself but I'm glad to read along and participate. I brought my Drake fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Sep 5, 2022 |
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Sep 5, 2022 16:21
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Let's see if the new faith is less bullshit than the old
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Sep 5, 2022 16:32
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As Eve would say, Who's that girl?
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Sep 5, 2022 16:41
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Approach the tree
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Sep 5, 2022 16:49
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:Listen to Might-Become-A-Heresy-Later Lady
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Sep 5, 2022 16:54
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touch grass
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Sep 5, 2022 16:55
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Approach the tree
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Sep 5, 2022 17:38
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I'm sad about the fact that this game lands on the side of Liberalism. stay by the preacher
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Sep 5, 2022 17:56
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C. Approach tree Religion is trippy in this setting, we should try dying sometime too. I honestly really like the priest career even if Georg here probably won't pursue it.
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Sep 5, 2022 18:47
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Stay with the mystery pilgrim woman
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Sep 5, 2022 18:55
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Stay with the Pilgrim.
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Sep 6, 2022 00:39
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Hang out with this cool pilgrim.
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Sep 6, 2022 00:41
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I vote for going off and talking to the tree. Be the Lorax.
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Sep 6, 2022 01:17
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The only one who could ever move me was the son of a preacher man. Well that and the hot blue elfs.
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Sep 6, 2022 02:42
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Treefight!! Treefight!!
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Sep 6, 2022 06:30
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Quackles posted:I vote for going off and talking to the tree. Be the Lorax. Speak for the tree.
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Sep 6, 2022 06:44
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vorebane posted:Treefight!! Treefight!! Tree Law? Tree Law?
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Sep 6, 2022 07:07
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Listen to Might-Become-A-Heresy-Later Lady
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Sep 6, 2022 09:50
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Listen to the Heretic Pilgrim
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Sep 6, 2022 10:39
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Treee
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Sep 6, 2022 10:41
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1.7 - Family Secrets TW: sexual assault  We stay with the pilgrim.    Come on, Georg, you gotta go back to the primary sources!    Georg discovers the principle of sola scriptura, that is, the notion that the bible (in this case, The Lives of the Twins) alone defines faith. No councils, no commentaries, no ex cathedra proclamations, none of them matter in the slightest when it comes to theology. Martin Luther, one of the theologians of the Protestant Reformation, argued that only the bible was divinely inspired (please disregard the process of selecting which books counted as "the bible" that was the Council of Rome), and, moreover, contained everything a Christian needed to understand how to live and believe. Any clarification that came from the Roman Catholic Church was unnecessary, to say nothing about the believes that arose from church tradition: purgatory, indulgences (the man hated indulgences, and for good reason), confession to a priest, etc. As the kids today say, none of those words are in the bible. "The true rule is this: God's Word shall establish articles of faith, and no one else, not even an angel can do so." - Martin Luther, Smalcald Articles, 1537 Of course, both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church (the main inspirations for the Church of the Twins in this game) consider sola scriptura a heresy. Here, we see the writings of Isatius on the Lots and the Empire as, essentially, not divinely inspired. All of that stuff is human conjecture, while only The Lives of the Twins speaks for the gods. Frankly, with the holy texts being written in the same language that people speak throughout the empire, it's surprising this kind of re-interpretation didn't start sooner (it totally did, we'll see actual heresies during the priest path).  Jeanne does not take kindly to this kind of heterodox thinking.  But it does get us thinking about the divine, giving us a point in Spirituality.  This is where things get heavy, so if you don't want to read about sexual assault, skip to the Flash and the Flame event.     We join Mother for a prayer session, like we've done countless times before.  She wants to have a serious talk with us afterwards.    We get to learn how Mother and Father met and ended up together.   Oh.    Oh that's hosed up.      Robert Brante continues to hold the title of "the only good nobleman".     And so we come to the reason for telling us this.  How will we react? This isn't a vote though. One, we're not a monster, and two, we're on good terms with Gloria, so he can't distance ourselves from her.  Gloria is as much our sister as Stephan is our brother, nobility be damned.      We might not have the same view of the situation as Mother does, though. We haven't completely destroyed our will with the Old Faith.  We gotta stick together.  Reinforcing the family, we carry on.  Gloria is very glad that we don't care about the nobles.  As is mother.  Carrying on, we get to learn a bit more theology.     Specifically about magic.    Shout out to these two idiots though, working well together in a moment of crisis.   This is the first time we meet the Inquisition, the Church's militant arm tasked with destroying heresy. Don't ask about the difference between using silver to bind mages (and heal wounds!) and magic, just trust them bro, it's different.  Working together with Tommas makes us the best of friends.  To highlight the longevity of the Arknians, we note that the current emperor has been ruling for a century by now. Stephan and Gregor come home for the holidays.     But Stephan's capital bragging hour is interrupted with the news that Gloria is missing.  We leg it together with our spoiled brother.    Stephan has been learning about the rigid code of honour that the nobles theoretically have to follow. Poor him, forced to not be a piece of poo poo occasionally.  We get to the possibly cursed place just in time.    Nathan was right, Gloria was in trouble.  He's an rear end in a top hat, but he does have a sword.  And he's been itching to use it.  Now, we could follow Stephan's orders and all that noise.  Or we could do something less stupid: get Gloria out and get help.     Congrats, Stephan, you've killed three untrained kids with a sword you've been practicing with since you were, like, three. Big man.  Gregor absolutely loves this poo poo, of course.   Blue Book, Blood Tide, all that noble magic blood bullshit.  Why would we want to be the kind of person Gregor would be proud of anyway? Either way, we pick up an Ingenuity point.  The whole situation is spiraling out of control, egged on by Gregor.    We learn an important thing: a legitimate court has the authority to grant a Final Death, bypassing the whole four-lesser-deaths thing.  None of this frees us from the scourge of homework, of course.      Man... This sucks.     Hey, Robert, what the gently caress? Is he trying to get us to commit perjury?  Not that there'd be any material consequences for a noble lying in court, not against a commoner. -- How does our first contact with the legal system go?  A. Look, Father has a point. Given Gloria's background, the family's reputation would take a hit. Lie on the stand.  B. We're not gonna pretend that Gloria wasn't there. Besides, the punishment for assaulting a noble is True Death. Lie to Father, and tell the truth on the stand.  If we were on better terms with Father, we could've convinced him to treat Gloria fairly in this trial, even if Gregor and the rest of the high society would be pissed. Alas.
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Sep 6, 2022 15:52
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Support Father
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Sep 6, 2022 16:11
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Support Father The assholes who hurt our sister will be punished, doesn't really matter why the judges think they're doing it.
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Sep 6, 2022 16:23
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Support Father We're already at what seems to be a near max for Gloria, and this'll get back at the brutes while also sparing her from the wrath of Gregor should she make herself known.
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Sep 6, 2022 17:03
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We should probably support Father. It's... not ideal, but contact with the law can get fucky no matter who you are.
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Sep 6, 2022 17:07
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Support father They could have just run when we confronted them, but they didn’t. And Gregor can hate us as much as he wants, but making him mad at Gloria would just put a target on her back.
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Sep 6, 2022 17:12
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Support Father.
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Sep 6, 2022 17:47
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Support Father. It's not like this legal system cares about context or anything.
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Sep 6, 2022 18:01
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Support Father. Yeah sorry sis who cares, the system is fake anyways
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Sep 6, 2022 19:02
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Support father. Georg's relationship with Gloria is at maximum so we can afford to take a hit in the relationship at the moment. We may not like the system but we can't do anything to change it right now. Stephan may be a dick but at least he put himself in danger to save Gloria, even if it was for selfish reasons.
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Sep 6, 2022 19:42
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1.8 - RIP in Piss A short one today, since an important event came up right after the trial.  We side with Father, who just wants Gregor to shut up about it, even if it means hanging a few kids.   This is the first time we interact with the legal system, but, depending on the path we take in the next chapter, maybe not the last. The courts are all about this honest and fair.  Delightful legal system.   With the full backing of the gods.  "Glad that's over", thinks Robert Brante, overlooking hanged children.   Gloria herself is not a fan of the proceedings, though not because of any empathy for the executed kids.  All in all, a complete shitshow all around.   But at least our family reputation improves. For the record, mechanically-speaking, this was the right choice. The game does that from time to time, pushing you towards narratively contradictory, but mechanically beneficial choices. Our relationship with Gloria (and anyone else) maxes out at 5 points, and I don't think there are any choices that need a +5 rather than a +4. We really couldn't take another reputation hit, though the event that triggers if our reputation drops only pops up in chapter 4, so we gotta make sure it's 3+ by then. The Unity drop sucks, but we're not low enough for that to really gently caress us up. Same deal, gotta make sure it's 3+ by chapter 4. Shame about the lack of a stat boost, those aren't as common in this chapter, and we have three stats to spread them over. All-in-all, right choice mechanically. However, we spent the entire game so far making GBS threads on the nobility and the Lots, and sided Gloria every time. Now suddenly we do a complete 180, and go with the nobility while turning our back to Gloria.  Anyway, we turn 14, and get to spend more time with Gregor.    On the one hand, a protracted illness that slowly saps your mind and body is a horrible way to die. On the other hand, if anyone deserves it, it's Gregor.  Then it finally happens.    We watch him have another argument with Mother.     Jesus Christ, Gregor.   Oh hey, he noticed us!  Goody. -- What do we do with pyro Gregor? A. drat, let the adults figure this poo poo out, we gotta save Nathan and Gloria. B. We're not letting this rear end in a top hat burn the house down with Mother in it. Stop Gregor. C. Look. Maybe, just maybe, Gregor has a point. We should help him burn the house down.
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Sep 7, 2022 11:26
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Either the after-decision values aren't shown, or you're realizing it's counter-productive to show the results. Stop grandfather
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Sep 7, 2022 11:34
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Delphisage posted:Either the after-decision values aren't shown, or you're realizing it's counter-productive to show the results. For some decisions, I find it more fun to not show the results. I did that once before, when Gregor threw our soldiers into the fire.
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Sep 7, 2022 11:39
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Oh gee, I don't know, this is such a dilemma ahahaha no stop Grandfather and preferably choke the fucker to death in the process.
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Sep 7, 2022 11:43
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| # ? May 5, 2024 01:40 |
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Headbutt grandfather
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Sep 7, 2022 12:45
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