Board Thread:The Last Sovereign Discussion/@comment-39332473-20190808194309/@comment-29984007-20190811212613

TheEndingOfTheWords wrote: @Fulminato: Regarding crushing the Lustlord, an invasion of Rodak would be a very different beast than invading Erosia. Estaven, for all his intelligence, was so personally sadistic that the whole country turned on him the first chance they got (we recall the classic advice to the prince, that it is better to be feared than loved - and its corollary, that one should do all in one's power to avoid being hated). His skill at magic was clearly impressive, and his grasp of the tower, but his conventional military strength consisted of various formations of dominated women named after his fetishes. It's my opinion that he thought he could simply protect the country with personal strength alone. Therefore Yhilin was able to conquer Erosia, a country many times larger.

Rodak, on the other hand, is described as prosperous, and from what we've seen, the Lustlord is viewed as well-regarded, if a bit fond of the iron hand. It is an icy country, with mountainous terrain and a well-maintained military, basically a tactical and strategic nightmare to invade. It's true that Simon's group has waged several successfull military campaigns so far, but they've never been a direct military conflict with a committed foe with comparable military strength. The battle of Yhilin was a false invasion, the 3AW was ultimately won by the AoA own madness finally doing himself in, and the invasion of Erosia was abetted by Estaven's own sadism and neglect. It's also worth pointing out that Aram meets several of the same criteria as an invasion of Rodak would. In some was Aram would be worse, since Esthera interfering would probably be seen as a provocation by Ardoheim. I'm not talking about war waged with soldier in the field or covert operation in the rodak, but a single strike by the lustlord alone against a major shardholder he think weakened and caught in a trap and eliminated in a single battle. after try to steal two major shard and flee both time in only a couple of years his ego need to be healed in somehow.

the succubi population of rodak are starting to be restless, the freedom of movement granted in the Dk's influece area it's starting to view very favorable by rodakan succubus population. the lustlord ego wounded, the hold over his subject weakening can prompt him to an haste action for recover the role of prince among the kings. esthera think he will sulk for a decade, i think he will act not now but soon, not years (don't think the timeskip between chapter 4 and 5 will last more the one year like chapter 3 -> chapter 4 time skip), the dialogue in the fuck palace with balia is clear, conflict with rodak, but not conventional war. and there is a defense non-sexual orb in the lustlord palace (in the gathering site) awaiting explanation (after we have received some expanation about dragon skeletons i think we will find answer for that orb)

about erosia invasion, yhilin army it's at best a 30 size in a army of size 175, the vicrtory against the erosian army is sure, but the causality of such conflict are unacceptable, so they plan to limit the "traditional" combat at the minimun and push for killing the head of the snake.