Board Thread:The Last Sovereign Discussion/@comment-27713488-20170707041037/@comment-2001:4C4C:244C:A100:D9EB:E8D3:E827:46AA-20170808222024

My opinion of the topics that came up so far in this thread:

@Nomixam - on the nature of corruption and corruption seeds:  I don't think corruption is a byproduct of IK magic. In my opinion it is a type of weapon used only by IKs and succubi. The corruption seeds are essentially artificial, semi-intelligent, slowly spreading nukes that can be countered. When the Incubus King/Emperor/Duke/Whatever invaded Arclent, he essentially carpet bombed the northern side of the continent to create a stable foothold. The natives (elves, humans, Vinario, Givini, etc.) had no experience fighting against that kind of magic, so the seeds spread unopposed for a while - almost to the current borders of the Incubus King's kingdom. Then the Church of Ivala stepped in; with the help of some holy magic they could stop the spreading and fought the orcs and succubi to a standstill. The human armies might have been stronger than the initial orcs, but they suffered attrition from the corruption, so they could not initiate a counterattack.

The Church’s magic can destroy seeds and stop the spreading, but cleansing corrupted lands might not be economically viable, or too taxing on the mages – whatever the case, the IK’s domain is still mostly a „wasteland”. Orcs live scattered in caves and burrows, hunt or raid to get their food – doing that on corrupted soil is no problem for them. As I understand it, succubi prefer to live more concentrated but hidden – remote valleys like Gasm Falls might even be kept free of corruption, if only to allow for agriculture to the remaining human populace.

@Nomixam – on the conflict between Simon and Geoff : Geoff mocks Simon for two completely separate things: holding hands / sloppy seconds with harem members, and „getting better men killed”. In my opinion it is impotant that we realise, that these two are completely separate issues. Simon „getting better men killed” have been analyzed further up, I will not speculate on that. Insulting Simon for his lack of courage around women does not befit an established military commander’s professional standpoint. I feel there is another story here – the most likely one (in my opinion) is that Geoff initially courted Wendis, but she chose the (seemingly) inferior, more introverted, less established suitor: Simon. Now, we know that Simon and Wendis were not the most conservative married couple, but it was definitely not common knowledge. Most likely only their closest acquaintances / occasional partners knew about it – and Geoff was neither. He might still be jealous of Simon getting the girl, and channels his jealousy into these petty insults. Simon understands this, and chooses not to react.

@Nacho2991 – on Andra being evil: I think Andra did not have the required wits to be a criminal mastermind. In my opinion she was a rather simple, but very devout (even bigotted) believer of Ivala. Thanks to her transparency and very conservative worldview, she rose through the Church ranks quickly, always finding people whose ideals corresponded to hers. She worked for what she believed to be the best (and they were good ideas – in an ideal world).

When the Doom King corrupted her purity, she was removed from her position of power in an instant, losing her previous „followers” loyalty and encouragement as well. From this point on, her thought process mirrored any narrow minded individual’s: she radicalized. She found herself an archenemy, and to better combat them, she went to illegality. I see 3 possible people qualifying for archnemesis: Simon, Janine and Sarai.

<span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif">Simon/Doom King is the most obvious choice – he caused her fall from power. I am not sure she realizes the low chances of a direct assassination attempt, she might just try it. Although it most likely will not reach Simon phisically, there can be a point (in the not too far future) when the Doom King attempts to project an image of a consolidated, ordinary ruler to the outside world. Hiding an assassination attempt by a former High Priestess while you are supposed to be kissing puppies and petting children might prove to be very inconvenient.

<p style="margin:0cm0cm0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif">Janine and Sarai both can be seen as the people responsible for enabling the takeover of Yhilin, and profiting off the Doom King’s actions. The relatively harmless way she was deposed might guide her suspicions further towards Sarai. They both are in real danger, since they do not suspect anything, and their entourage are not aware of clericals with possibly malicious intent. Andra partially succeeding in her assassination attempt might force Simon to use his powers to save them (and introduce them as harem members). This would futher the plausibility of my favourite theory – namely that the shard infuences events so that every female ends up in the harem – regardless of Simon’s original intent. Needless to say: I am very curious where Sierra will take the story in the future.

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<p style="margin:0cm0cm0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif">PS: English is not my first language, I don’t know why I even attempt to make these complicated sentences. If some of my points got lost in the mess, just ask.