Author Answers (June) (Patreon)

General

Hi Lena, I’ve recently started re-reading The Lord of the Rings and it’s got me wondering…. How would the Shepherds take to a stay in the Shire? Who is living out their cottagecore dreams and who absolutely “needs to get away from these country bumpkins!”

I just have to tell you that the thought of this absolutely made me burst out laughing, so thank you for asking it: it absolutely delighted me!

Blade: he's got to get the fuck out of here. these barefooted hairy natives are just crawling all over the place imploring him to drink their beer and be content with sitting in the sunshine or catching trout or something. he is SOOOO suspicious of this place. it does not compute with his Violence Brain. he is peering behind Godun Puddlefoot's barrels of pipe-weed looking for the smuggled explosives or other dark secrets this place is CLEARLY hiding. he is getting the hell out of Dodge as soon as he can because this place is giving him the creeps!!! it'd be like moving into the Stepford Wives neighborhood for him LOL, everyone just being like :)) hello :)) we are extremely happy and trusting here and know nothing of the darkness plaguing the outside world!! :)) care for a pint??

Trouble: he's mostly just bemused for the first 24 hours, just going along with whatever they want and sharing drinks with them and eating their food like "ok?? oh, you... you want to throw a party? for me? i mean... i'm not going to tell you no..." On day 2 he sort of settles in and starts to enjoy himself, like, hello ma'am, you need me to push this wheelbarrow for you? *rolls up sleeves and starts to enjoy role-playing Stardew Valley for a little bit* hey, you're right, it is sort of peaceful just lying under a tree watching the clouds as a bubbling brook gurgles nearby...

By day 3 he's bored out of his skull and parts with them on good terms but definitely heads out lol, he's not one for the sleepy life! And then they're just one part of a weird adventure he had one time lol, like a random village he just stumbled on where everyone was half his height and perky and well-fed!

Tallys: she would enjoy a respite here for like... 2 weeks to a month! she's helping the hobbits in their gardens, she's learning recipes from them and helping them harvest dandelions for their brambleberry pies or what have you, she's marveling at their idyllic life and wondering why the rest of the world can't live this way! It would be a wonderful vacation and mental retreat for her, but it wouldn't be something she'd want to live in full-time, especially because the majority of hobbits don't tend to be, like, an introspective folk in general, so the conversation would feel a little shallow for her after a while! But she'd appreciate the place deeply and remember it fondly; she'd be like Gandalf, coming to visit sporadically over the years!

Shery: 🥹🥹 please let her stay here 🥹🥹 this is her home now 🥹🥹 it's her exact idea of heaven! I genuinely believe she would live in the Shire full-time if given the choice and would be blissfully content. She would probably be the first ever non-Hobbit elected mayor LMAO. She would live and die in the Shire!!! Picnics and hanging laundry in the sun and reading a book at the edge of the Brandywine and finding ways to use up all of the leftover sugared plums... this is her life now!

Riel: GOD no. the idea of sitting in a hole in the ground while hairy, dirty-footed little people who always smell faintly of damp earth, root vegetables, and ale implore him to eat their handmade food is his thirteenth reason. do they even have the concept of washing their hands before they roll out that pie dough?? what... what do you mean most of you live near the river but don't know how to swim?? you eat 11 meals a day? YOU CALL YOUR HOUSES HOLES AND BURROWS?? YOU THINK YOUR PEOPLE INVENTED GOLF?

he feels like he's in Alice in Wonderland, but not in the fun way. he's trying to get out of there like

Chase: he is polite, but fairly disinterested in the Shire. he charms the pants off of them, but he's just tolerantly waiting for his chance to slip away, because he can't think of anything more boring than just sitting around and basically eating and doing nothing all the time lol! it wouldn't even be fun to cause mischief here because it's so gentle and peaceful and idyllic! there's no chaos?? no edge?? no sophisticated carousing?? he can't even steal from anyone because everyone is basically just a farmer, he'd feel really bad 🥹 he is aware that he's extremely out of place here, but he's more disassembling about it and just sort of patiently and gamely plays along with everything until he can find an opportunity to yeet himself to more exciting pastures!

Red: he's interested in the Shire on an academic level, though bemused the more he tries to do any research on it. like, what is their system of governance? how does their economy work with so little industrialization? what's Buckland and how do the clan dynamics work? but no one seems to be able to give him really thorough answers, so after a few weeks of "field-study" he'd probably move on because either the Elves of Rivendell or the ruins in Eriador or--god forbid--Tom Bombadil's shack are calling out to him for further exploration! but he'd be happy to return to the Shire as a kind of home-base in between his travels!

Ayla: she's extremely distrusting of the Shire's whole... shtick. she's not hostile, she's just sort of nonplussed and also like 'okay there's no way any of you people are real.' like your whole lives are really just gardening and drinking beer and your highest-stakes conflict in the community is your greedy relatives trying to move into your house if you've disappeared for over a year? bffr. so they'd be like "welcome to Bag-end! we are so pleased to--" "yeah yeah yeah, you want me to stay with you a while... thanks but no thanks. i'm just gonna load up on some of your vegetables for the road and then dip"

Briony: she just finds the whole thing delightful! she loves the hobbits and the cozy atmosphere of the Shire 🥹 she'd definitely stay a while, pitch in, and become a beloved fixture of the community, probably happily gathering herbs or firewood or helping out with the manual labor that would be extremely easy for her to handle (and maybe showing off a little in the process), letting hobbit kids take rides dangling from her biceps or something like that! it wouldn't be her forever home, but she could easily stay in the Shire for around a year or a bit more, especially if she needed to recuperate from harder things (can see a battle-weary, shell-shocked Briony sort of having to recover here for whatever reason). Eventually her heart would call her elsewhere, but it would always be a place she intended to come back to and visit regularly!

Lavinet: hmmmm it's certainly a quaint and idyllic little place, an extremely charming village, to be sure, but it's not somewhere she'd be personally interested in living in for an extended length of time. a bit too... rustic for her tastes. but undeniably pleasant and lovely! the noble in her is silently wondering who really owns the land (like is there a feudal lord system, etc.) and how the Shire would fare as like a tourist destination/stopover for travelers LOL, but she'd wisely keep her mouth shut on that. She'd stay for a few days before moving on to more interesting pastures!

Halek: toke him up with some of that Old Toby babey!! he's chefing it up for these hobbits and voraciously learning their recipes and foods and then just laying there piping smoke-rings for the rest of his life, byeeee

hi lena~ for #tellmeeverything this month, i couldn’t seem to find if you had answered this already but i was really curious what your thoughts were on what the “normal” age for the different races to have kids is? since mages/ket can live to be 200ish, are they typically reproducing well into their 100s, or do they more often have kids earlier in life? or for elves, is there ever a point where they can’t have kids anymore, biologically? like, is poor tallys having a period for 600/700 years? the poor thing. i imagine norm/hunter is pretty similar if not the same as us though, given their lifespans.

Hi anon, thanks for your questions!

So an "average" age for Mages/Kets to start having kids tends to be in their 50s-60s, about 1/3 of the way into their natural lifespan. In the 50s this would be the equivalent of starting a family young-ish, but not like teen parents, like the 22-25 age bracket for us, and around 60-65 would probably be the equivalent of having a kid at 30-33, which is more typical for Mages in Red's culture (it varies regionally, of course). For Ket in Thielwood/Ygrath, it's probably more typical to start in the early to mid-50s, though Blade's parents were older when they had him (Gladius being ten years older than him). Having a kid in your high 70s to 80s would be like having a kid in your 40s in the eyes of society: still totally possible, but not as common!

While it's still technically biologically possible to have a kid around the 100s, it's generally not recommended and you'd be seen as a fairly older parent. Fertility rates drop drastically around this time and menopause sets in, so it's pretty late to try around this age!

For Elves, a typical age to start having children is probably 300-400, though no one really bats an eye if you go higher! Around 700-800, the natural desire for children and fertility rates tends to wane, and by 1000, the time for child-bearing biologically is astronomically low, though still technically possible--just vanishingly unlikely, especially considering it's quite difficult to get pregnant as an Elf anyway.

And yes, Norm and Hunter cultures have a similar timeline to ours!

What's the story behind the Sesz isles? How did it end up being Norm majority without being under the Autarchy?

So the Norm peoples had spread throughout the Continent and the world way before the Autarchy was established 200 years ago: the Sesz Isles, the Ivory Isles, Elinden, and many other places (including the western part of the Continent) were already populated hundreds to thousands of years ago, with their own systems of governance and economy developing accordingly. So the Sesz Isles were already their own Norm-majority island nation way prior to the Castigation, the war during which the political and military forces of a specific Norm leader (the first Autarch) marched across the Continent and conquered it under his banner. The Autarchy's forces--at that time--lacked naval power, so they didn't attempt to tackle the island nations in their first war, concentrating more on seizing the city-states and seats of power on the Eastern side of the Continent, which were far more directly threatening and of interest to the Autarch's armies; and they haven't shown much interest in attempting a full assault on those island nations since, especially because the trade and import/export system between them all is so complex, delicate, and so far has been fairly fruitful for both sides. It's hard enough maintaining the vast mainland empire, so to stretch the net of governance out to the isles, which could very easily be cut off from the other outposts, and provoking another messy war hasn't been something the previous Autarchs were interested in. (The same goes for the North, though there have been intermittent wars and skirmishes up there; so far, they've always managed to repel the Autarchy's forces, but the Autarchy also hasn't committed to a full-scale invasion, primarily because there isn't that much they really want up in the North. It's sort of a Napoleon vs. Russia situation up there.)

TL;DR - think of the Autarchy as the Roman Empire and the southern isles as literally any other place in Europe. People were already there, so that's how it's a Norm-majority without being under the banner of the Autarchy!

Okay, istg that you've talked about the Ivory Isles before, but I've spent two hours looking and for the life of me can't find it. Mostly I'd like some basic information about them, like how long does it take to get there from say Courtshore or Conte? Can anyone go if they pay for passage, or are there restrictions? Are there any notable differences between the individual isles, and do they have names? What's the general culture and economy like? Sorry if that's too many questions, and I guess it really isn't basic, lol

I might have, but I might have not lol, I can't keep it straight anymore either lol! 😂

How long does it take to get there from say Courtshore or Conte?

It really depends on the weather, what ship you're sailing, what the routes look like (high corsair activity or not, etc.), which island/port you're sailing to within the Ivory Isles, and the currents, but from Courtshore to Kyprin (the major port and capital city on the big island, which is still called Koppyri or the Koppyr Isle), it would take 5-7 days on an exceptionally smooth trip! From Conte, it would take closer to 10-14, again considering that all conditions are ideal!

Can anyone go if they pay for passage, or are there restrictions?

Pretty much anyone can go, but there are a lot of things to consider! If you want to travel through the major ports (which is the only legal way to travel to the isles), you need to board a ship with a letter of marque or a permit to land in both countries. These are issued to authorized merchant ships, military vessels, and some private (pre-vetted) vessels, so it's not hard to procure a seat on one of these, but sometimes there are waitlists, high fees, or just other considerations to navigate; you can't just show up and get on any old ship unless, again, you want to do things illegally. Passenger and crew lists are also inspected by the port authorities, so if you're a wanted person trying to flee a known crime, this is also something you'd need to consider. (Though this tends to be skewed towards crimes in that city: for example, if you commit a grievous crime in Courtshore, you're going to have a way harder time getting out through its port than you are, say, if you committed a crime in Karzai five years ago.) However, people who are wanted by the Autarchy for any reason and have officially been declared outlaws are going to have their information and sometimes even likenesses shared with the port authorities, as well!

Upon landing in the Ivory Isles (this goes for the Sesz Isles and Kresh, too), depending on the nature of your profession, you're going to be issued papers (basically like a travel visa) that allow you to stay in that country for an X amount of time. They don't want people from the Autarchy just hopping on over and just deciding to stay, so generally travelers and tourists are going to be issued a standard 2-4 week visa, and if they're stopped and caught with an expired document, it's decently likely that they'll wind up in jail and sent back on a boat (after paying pretty much all they have in legal fees). However, some places are more lax about this than others: Kresh cares way less than the Sesz Isles or the Ivory Isles, for example, and Elinden doesn't bother with it at all!

Are there any notable differences between the individual isles, and do they have names?

The map doesn't actually do a great job illustrating the isles or the distance they are from the Continent or each other (in an effort to condense things and save space), but there are actually dozens of islands in the Ivory Isles alone! The main one is Koppyri, with the capital Kyprin, and the other significant ones include Yimsuat, Luarin, Madye, and Hazarin. I've never "been to" the Ivory Isles in the stories or, like, in my mind LOL so at this point in time, I can't say the notable differences between the isles, except that Koppyri is extremely populated around Kyprin (which is quite similar to Conte in vibes as a port city), and then the rest of the island is like 85% tropical forest, mountains, and then small towns and fishing villages dotting the coasts almost exclusively. Luarin and Yimsuat are less populous and are considered sleepier, more private vacation destinations for nobles to retire to: a lot of aristocrats (including Ivory Isles or Koppyri aristocrats) own second homes there, and a large part of their economies is based around that. The towns in Luarin and Yimsuat are more like resort towns and are more characterized by large hotels, resorts, spas, and luxury, with higher standards and displays of wealth, whereas Koppyri is more where the "common-folk" tourists go--Koppyri tends to be where the touristy excursions and safaris and festivals and shows and things are. There are specific ethnic groups of people in Koppyri who are famed for their animal-training and acrobatics, so they put on a lot of entertainment and shows in the streets of Kyprin or in its courts, whereas you don't really see anything like that in Luarin or Yimsuat. Madye and Hazarin are just, like, there, but they're pretty residential and hold a lot of farms and plantations for the products the Isles export, like chocolate and khav, and people don't tend to travel to them unless it's for business.

Hope that all helps!

Hi, Lena! Could you tell us a bit more about queerness in Blest? Some orientations and identities are less known even in our modern times. Queerness can be obscure for us, and we have the internet! What does it look like for them in the fantasy setting? To what degree is queerness socially accepted? To what degree is queerness, well, known of as a possibility? (Not in the sense "gay marriage real", just the most basic "realizing that you may not be heterosexual".) How much well-known and widespread are queer labels and what are they? How about queer sex education - how often is it covered? On another hand, how did your queer ShoH LIs discover that they're queer? Was it obvious from them from get go or was there some special moment that made them go "Oh"? I'd love it if you could include Neon here - when you mentioned that he's aroace... With two best friends with quite robust romance lives back in the Circle (Red and Pan), I really worry for him that he could feel a bit alienated. As always, feel free to pick and choose any questions that you like! I'm sorry for sending so many. ^^' And thank you so much for hosting a Q&A this month! The timing aligned with my birthday so perfectly that it makes me scream. :D

Hi Kar, thanks for your kind words and happy birthday! :) I won't be able to answer all of your questions with the level of detail I'd like this time, so apologies on that, but as a brief touchstone, here's an honest overview. In the earliest days of the game (back in 2018), I initially planned on Shepherds being extremely dark and dystopic, where Diminished captives could be forced into household slavery with impunity and Diminished-Norm as well as same-sex couples and relationships were heavily discouraged or sometimes even outright forbidden by society, for both religious and "practical" reasons (like maintaining a pure-blooded Norm majority in the population, etc., which is how the Autarchy won the Castigation in the first place). This was not something that was present in the original Shepherd novels, but was something I was planning on introducing to the game to stress just how oppressive and suffocating and evil life under the Autarchy was.

As time has gone on and the years have passed, though, I've changed as a person, the world has changed, various things in my personal life have unfolded, and my feelings about the game and its world have fundamentally shifted. Long story short, I'm no longer interested in hammering down an exclusionary or discriminatory attitude towards queer people or relationships in the game, at least to the extent of what might be considered more "realistic" for an autocratic government like the Autarchy. I just... don't have it in me anymore; maybe it hits too close to home, or it doesn't spark joy for this fantasy world I cherish so much, or all of the above. But, being completely honest, I just feel like I want to provide a world for people to escape to for a little while, "realism" or historical accuracy be damned. There's certainly still darkness and oppression present, and bias and discrimination too, but it won't manifest specifically towards queer characters or relationships. I only say all of this to clarify for people who may have read the one or two comments I made about it on the COG forum six years ago and feel what I say now might be a contradiction!

So, as things stand now: queerness and the different kinds of sexuality are generally universally-accepted and not commented upon throughout most of the Continent. The Elves are known to be the most liberated in their understandings of both sexuality and genderqueerness, followed by the Mages, where no one bats an eye at anything except maybe poly relationships, which are incredibly uncommon. Ket and Hunter culture tends to be more outright heteronormative and conservative, but queer relationships aren't frowned upon; they're just less common. Queer relationships among the Norm commonfolk is probably among the highest between all the groups and is just a common, standard fact of life: you could live in a rural farming community and see two girlfriends and it wouldn't be any different or remarked upon than if it were otherwise.

However, there is still pressure for nobles and aristocrats to marry an opposite-gender partner and have children to continue their bloodlines, even if it's well-known that one or both of them is queer. Having affairs or a long-term extramarital partner (queer or not) is basically an open secret and no one really bats an eye at that as a "solution" to things, but being openly poly or having an open marriage is not accepted and considered quite scandalous: discretion is still expected. Depending on the family, it can still be life-ruining to marry a same-sex partner and flout convention altogether, but adoption is becoming (grudgingly) more accepted, even among heterosexual couples, and you'll see like one or two heirs who were adopted by queer parents and who sort of just forcibly made everyone accept the matter. Attitudes about it are gradually lifting, though still extremely slowly!

In general, an awareness about queerness is pretty prevalent (Red realizing he was attracted to multiple genders was not really an obscure or unknown fact that he had trouble navigating, it was pretty casual), though there's less awareness around asexuality and its adjacent spectrums in a social sense. Blest society is pretty romance and marriage-focused, so while concepts and understandings about asexuality are present and commonly accepted, they're still nascent. (For example, Daren hasn't realized he's aromantic but allosexual, and even if/when he does figure that out, he won't use those specific labels and will have some trouble discerning exactly where the distinction lies for him personally or how to articulate/define/identify it.) People on the ace/aro spectrums aren't seen any differently from other queer people in society, by the way, like Neon was never bullied for not having any interest in pursuing relationships: there's just less conversation and education and awareness about it!

Queer labels are pretty much in the pre-1800s: i.e., non-existent. There aren't general terms that people use to describe themselves or their sexual preferences, like "I'm gay" or "I'm a lesbian" or "I'm pan." If it's discussed at all, it's sort of just "I like women" and it's left at that: there aren't specific labels for it equivalent to our modern definitions or understandings, and it's talked about as a preference/orientation rather than it is as an outright identity/label.

Obviously, this is all painted with a very broad brush, and there's going to be variances and permutations and fluctuations everywhere, but that's all I have time for at the moment! Hope that all makes sense!

Spoilers

I can't think of a way to phrase this without sounding morbid, sorry djdbdj have we hit the point in the story where the main cast can be killed, depending on choices? like, I replay the game and read somebody in a perilous situation, and think "oh geez are they gonna lose the plot armor here in this swamp of doom when the game is finished" lol

Good question! Here's the good news: we have not hit that point in the story where main companions can be killed yet; I think it would drastically change the tone of the narrative so far if, say, it were possible for Trouble or Red or someone to have died in Wallmire, you know? So the possible deaths so far are the ones you know about: namely, Caine, Prihine, and whatever else occurs on missions (Nathe, Saranae, etc.)

Bad news: we are about to hit that point very shortly. Like, extremely soon. That's why I'm taking a break once I wrap up this chapter to get things in order with the character interludes and unfinished routes... before we proceed... 🥲

Why did the recruits want to join the Shepherds? Did they have previous combat experience or killed anyone before joining?

The current Patreon short story pretty much goes into this in more detail, but here are their reasons lined out:

• Justyn: Justyn was raised by his older sister (I think she's 12 years older) after their parents both died when he was pretty much a baby. When he was 15, she got married to a very nice carpenter, and at 17 he (Justyn) decided to take off and travel as a bard to let them raise their own family and not crowd their small home. He traveled around as a minstrel for next several years, but shortly before MC was attacked at Prihine's wedding, his traveling caravan/acting troupe was attacked on the road by a swarm of demons... everyone died except for him. :/ He survived through sheer luck (he was knocked unconscious and his body was covered by an overturned wagon) and when he crawled out of the wreckage... That was the catalyst for his deciding to join the fight against the demons, partially out of vengeance for his fallen comrades but also to ensure that innocent people everywhere wouldn't have to suffer the same fate!

He knew how to shoot and could hold his own in tavern brawls (somewhat), but he'd never killed anyone before the attack on the road that took his caravan (if you count killing demons then).

• Cybele: this sounds kind of bad (it comes off better in her short story) but basically, Cybele was raised in a farm settlement just outside of Haven. She had a girlfriend/childhood sweetheart (a Norm neighbor), who always had aspirations to leave their tiny community and see the Continent as a Relay Rider (basically a marathon courier/horseback messenger who rides from outpost to outpost to pass on really urgent messages). This girlfriend sort of kept iterating this desire of hers, but Cybele, being Cybele, was both too content with farm life and didn't really share the same ambitious fire to get out ASAP or seek her own fortunes (her natural laziness and also Elven passivity and lack of urgency also played into this: it was always something she sort of put off towards 'the future,' or 'maybe next year,' but obviously 'next year' or 'sometime' means something very different to someone who's going to live to 80 versus someone who's going to live to 1000+). Eventually her girlfriend realized that they were fundamentally incompatible in this sense--as a matter of personality--it'd be like one partner having aspirations to go serve in the Peace Corps before pursuing medical school and the other one being content to live at home in her parents' basement and spending her evenings playing Wii with her kid brothers and sisters and not ever really giving any thought to changing things up or getting her own place. So Lacey, fed up, submitted her application to the Relay Riders, was accepted, broke up with Cybele, and moved to Haven basically overnight.

Cybele, in a panic and finally realizing her (now-ex) lover had been dead serious, went after Lacey and basically begged her for another chance, and it was a whole thing where she showed up at her work and inadvertently made a scene, promising that she'd take things seriously and that she'd get a job in Haven and support Lacey in her dreams, etc. For Lacey, the love had already been quenched by repeated disappointed, so they ended things on worse terms. I'm not really sure exactly what was going through Cybele's mind, but as she was sort of trudging miserably through the streets, she either saw some Shepherds on patrol or heard people talking about them or something, and she got the idea to join up as a Shepherd. I don't know if it was a fit of pique, like a 'fuck you Lacey I'll prove you wrong, you're going to regret breaking up with me when I'm a glamorous and heroic Shepherd, how dare you say I'm incurious and unadventurous and don't care about seeing the world, I'LL SHOW YOU!!' or if it was more a 'maybe this will impress her/change her mind/she'll see how much I've changed and fall in love with me again 🥹' or just an impulsive 'I don't really know what my purpose is and maybe signing up for boot camp will straighten me out since I have nothing better to do/live for' moment, or maybe a mix of all three, but that's how she ended joining up!

She had no combat experience and had never killed anyone prior to joining the Shepherds.

• Daren: he says he joined up because he believes in their cause and the higher purpose of protecting people from demons (instead of the transactional nature of mercenary work), and that is true, but there's definitely a measure of seeking approval/community subconsciously in there, too. It's a whole thing, but Daren is a caste-less Ket who doesn't belong to an official city-state, so he never got any of the training/camaraderie/mentorship that most Ket fighters like him are due, so he has a subconscious craving for external approval/guidance/hierarchy, rather than being an independent mercenary, where he was either alone just making money or surrounded by people who didn't really understand him. Hence his "teacher's pet" behavior! He also naturally doesn't play well with others (kind of judgmental/critical/self-righteous) but thought things would be better in a military structure like the Shepherds, where the standards would be more in line with his own!

He has a lot of combat experience and has killed some people, though it's not as high as if he were an assassin or anything like that.

• Ysa: sort of spoilers for the next chapter of the serial story, but Ysa's father was an arms dealer from Korgoth who didn't know his first wife had Mage blood, so Ysa's nature was kind of a ✨ surprise. ✨ Things at home were okay--her dad wasn't the best but she lived in luxury for most of her life--until he remarried, and his second wife (who was a religious zealot) hated her and treated Ysa like a monster. She eventually ran away from home, and, terrified that her dad's contact network would pursue her, she fled south and (friendless and alone), she decided to join the Shepherds for the protection they offer Mages from the Autarchy!

She did kill a man who attacked her on her journey out of Korgoth, but she never stuck around to confirm whether he was actually dead or not, so she doesn't actually know this. She had some piecemeal training prior to joining the Shepherds, but it was mostly in riding and a little self-defense and not outright combat.

Hi Lena! Welcome back from vacation. Here is a question for June Q&A: During Wintersum, what are the seating look like? Who sit next to who? Is the table a grand dinning table or is it a circle table? Or each RO sit in group instead?

Hi Rynna, thanks so much! I imagined the Wintersun feast to have lots of very long rows of tables, sort of like this or this:

(Though there was no head table, that was just where the cake was at the front of the room.) I don't really have any idea of who sat where: I do know that the 'inner circle' didn't all sit together (they're cliqueish, but not that cliqueish) and were scattered in smaller groups throughout the room at different tables, so it just depends on who you chose to sit with! I leave it to headcanon who else was sitting on your immediate next chairs: could have been your particular configuration of close friends (Riel, Shery, Tallys, or Red, Pan and Neon next to Chase and his thieves, or Trouble and some of his friends among the ranks, or what have you) or it could have been random recruits, it was just random seating where you just grabbed an available seat! Hope that makes sense lol!

If you choose to pick up the dark tome, outside of using it in Chapter 9, is there any negative consequences? Does it end your game early? I had my character pick it up this run because I thought it was the only way I could defeat the first faceless lord. How does it impact stats? Sorry if you can't answer this!!

To my recollection, outside of Chapter 9, there aren't any negative consequences to picking up the dark tome, though using it to research Black Sun in Chapter 2 (which isn't in your guys' version yet, sorry) and then telling the others about it will get you some alarm/weird looks! It definitely doesn't end your game early, though, and it actually knocks your courage, cunning, and magic up by one point if you pick it up! So far, pretty much the worst that happens is you don't end up using it, haha. Hope that helps!

Obviously the inner circle knows how/why MC is special and important but is there anyone else that kinda connects the dots? Like do other shepherds start to sus out that pretty much all recent major events relating to the order all seem to revolve around MC?

Not to say they figure out MC is basically a demigod. More like they get the feeling that they're probably more than just another officer/captain/commander.

Well, the fact that the MC is referred to as the "Hero of Haven" means that people even outside of the Order recognize the significance of their deeds and the pattern that develops around them, so most recruits are well-aware of MC's reputation and that they're much more special than the average rank-and-file! They just don't necessarily know why, and they're also not clued in to all of the mission details that would make it starkly obvious that MC faced down five Faceless Lords and knocked them down each time; they just hear stuff like "MC did something big in Capra" or "MC saved the Hunters from this plague" or "MC freed a whole arena full of gladiators from a powerful demon in Heth Macoll" without necessarily always hearing the details that Faceless Lords were behind these circumstances each time! So they definitely know that MC is special in some way, but the general idea is that they're just an insanely powerful Mage, or possibly a mutant as Cyble puts it, in a similar-but-not-quite way that Blade is a famous assassin prodigy and Chase literally never seems to die, etc.! It's not as "obviously connected to the demons" to outsiders as it is to people who actually know about the Words of Power and the kithma beacon, if that makes any sense: they just view MC as generally larger-than-life in an obvious and legendary way, but they don't connect the dots in terms of what that means!

Always in awe how well you know your characters. I always struggle to think of how they would react to situations and keep that consistent. Question: Do you ever write scenes that fit really well amd you are happy with but later think like "No, that would be out of character for Blade to say.". Any examples if that's the case?

Ah, thank you so much! The nice thing about characters is that, like real people, their answers and reactions don't always have to be that consistent: there are certainly times where you might expect Riel to handle something with academic aplomb, like the Sibella de Vespe issue, and instead he goes the petty and offended route, lol, or things that you'd expect Blade to blush and stutter out, he actually displays a little bit of rizz! They can be unpredictable, which helps them feel more fleshed out, so don't worry too much about keeping your own characters' reactions consistent! Their mindsets can depend on something as simple as what kind of day they've been having and their feelings can change wildly depending on the context!

As for your question, I don't recall ever having written a full scene out and then deciding that it's not in-character for someone. I certainly get that in line-editing, where I sort of wince and notice that Blade is talking too formally (even for him) or Chase says something a bit too modern and anachronistic, but those are tiny word tweaks rather than whole scene changes. However, I do run into this problem, just before I write the scene, not after: I'll have plotted out someone's whole character arc or planned on a scene years in advance, get to the point where I actually have to write the scene, and then belatedly realize, "...shoot, I don't actually think they would do/say this!" So I'm usually saved the hassle of writing the whole thing out and then tossing it out when I realize it's not in-character, but I definitely come up against blockades where I realize it's not going to work if I keep going with what I was planning on, lol. This is usually when I have to take a break and let it stew for a long while before I figure out an alternative without having to go back and rewrite the whole arc!

More often, though, the issue is that "this narrative isn't leading the direction I want it to go" or "this plot point isn't narratively interesting or deep enough and I need to think through it more" rather than "this would be out-of-character for the character to do". For example, I'm majorly revamping Tallys' interludes (in my head, I haven't written the rest of them yet) because I think what I had planned places too too much focus on her feelings about Norms and her hatred over what happened with her clan: some of it gets addressed in the main story, so I don't want to keep retreading old ground, and I also want to find ways and stories that better showcase the other sides of her personality, too, so I'm still sitting on that. So it's less an issue that the scenes are out-of-character for her and more that I don't think they're as interesting for the readers or myself as they could be.

One example of what you're talking about, though, is that I planned on Blade and MC having a big blow-out fight in his romance route, similar to Chase's "torpedo" in his--but I'm sort of balking at the idea of that now, because while the angst is good, I don't think the way I planned on the fight unfolding and things he'd say/his motivations would fit Blade in his current iteration right now. So I'm still thinking through stuff like that!

I hope that all makes sense!! And thank you for your kind words!

Hi Lena, hope you had a fabulous vacation/so much fun attending the wedding! Sounds dreamyyyy 🩵 This may be preamature to ask, so if it’s too much of a spoiler disregard, how do the ROs who aren’t in Ch 9 respond to hearing about what’s going on with Sibella? How do they approach a romanced!MC held it together for the mission but is still clearly very shaken and disturbed by the revelation of the Leashings and how it pertains to Diminished (and as an extension, the treatment of Court Mages? Talking to Keph made me SO emotional 🥹) ? Also another if you’re so inclined and it’s not too greedy of me: Spoiler Q about my favorite romance topic ! (I am nothing if not predictable) Will we see the reactions of the other companions (maybe only close friends who would have known about it or those who figured it out) to the torpedo? And as an optional part B: If not, what’s the general attitude of the rest of the gang to it considering they are/ could be very close to one or both of the parties involved?

Hi kingdom, thank you for your well wishes as always! I'm actually going to leave off answering your first question, since we will be getting everyone's explicit reactions to the truth about the Leashings and the Sun Court and Sibella in the next chapter, so you'll see what they have to say about it themselves soon!

For your second question: it's doubtful that we'll see the reactions of the other companions to Chase's torpedo. I don't typically have other characters play into or react to other character's day off interludes unless they're plot-relevant (Blade having to bail Trouble/MC/both out of jail), and it would be too much branching to determine who's a close friend of MC's who also would have figured it out or been told about it even though Chase and MC are trying to keep it a secret (for example, Halek might be your best friend in the game but he's sure as HELL not going to bring it up lol), and there aren't any good opportunities to talk about it in a main chapter mission, either, unlike Briony's brief "who's your crush" talk in Chapter 6! So, unfortunately, what MC's friends say about the torpedo will be left off-screen rather than expounded upon in the game. But I can give you the gist of what they'd say!

Blade: it's... really in your best interest to NOT let him know that you were not only sleeping with Chase but also got your heart broken by him and now the team dynamics are all fucked up because you're not talking, lol! 🥹 at best, he might notice something being off if your MC is particularly emotive or easy-to-read, and he might in general feel worried about that, but whether he'd specifically connect it to "perpetually absent from my sight if he knows what's good for him" Chase Trinaeste, I'm not sure! While he cares deeply about BFF!MC, the comings and goings of The Thief rarely cross his mind naturally, so he's less likely to notice something is up between the two of them specifically unless he was like their third on a mission or something LOL CAN YOU IMAGINE

Trouble: he'd probably notice this right away (one day they're thick as thieves, the next they're not, and Chase suddenly does everything he can to stay as far away from the compound and MC as possible), but I'm not sure he'd actively do much about it aside from tentatively pulling MC aside like a week in and asking awkwardly, "Hey............. you ok?" Chase's mind is kind of a mystery to him, and even he senses the thief's complete unpredictability when it comes to vulnerability and emotions, so he'd probably hesitate to make things worse by running Chase down and beating some sense into him the way he might with someone more straightforward. I think he'd definitely be super disappointed in Chase, and he'd be there to lend an ear and a shoulder to MC, but I don't think he'd actively want to get involved and put his foot in The Mess and would just stay out of it to let them sort it out between themselves unless specifically asked otherwise! At most, if he was really protective of MC, he might kind of give Chase the cold shoulder and avoid him for a bit, but they're both his friends and he doesn't really want to take sides, so he's just hoping they resolve it between themselves sooner rather than later and is just waiting out the storm!

Tallys: she would also wait to comment on things until at least a week in: she knows MC and Chase are adults who are also trying to keep things on the down-low, so it's not something she would bring up right away until she saw the true strain it was causing the two of them! She'd ask MC about it over drinks and would just generally check in on their state of mind, and she'd be extremely sympathetic to MC once she heard what happened (and would probably sigh and shit-talk Chase a little bit like '...of course he did that, he has the emotional maturity of a bean' and also act completely unsurprised he ended up breaking another heart), but she probably would limit her involvement unless she and Chase happened to be in the same room alone together sometime later, at which point she might stare at him silently and provoke him into listening to her sage, lofty, and later thoroughly-ignored advice!

Shery: she would be HEARTBROKEN on MC's behalf, and thoroughly shocked that Chase could be so obtuse and cruel! she thought he was always so emotionally perceptive and considerate... she knows he has a good heart deep down, so how could he do this?? she would be so betrayed and confused, almost as if he'd done it to HER lol! it'd be like #1 shipper finding out her ship might not be endgame lol... she'd do her best to encourage MC and tell them that she's sure things will work out and Chase will come to his senses and apologize, but meanwhile she's watching worriedly from the sidelines like 🥺👉👈 why aren't they together, it can't end like this...

Riel: Worst Person to approach about this. He loves you but his know-it-all 'I told you so' 'are you really surprised'/general contempt for Chase is extremely strong. The best-case scenario is that you tell him everything and he stares at you like

meanwhile his mind is frantically like: 'don't be inhuman, you have to say something. the utter unsurprise you feel is not helpful in the least and would be callous to remark upon. what's the most sympathetic thing you can say right now??'

Riel: 'I am sorry that you're in distress.'

Which he is! But Riel already is not very invested when it comes to affairs of the heart, and then when it comes to Chase, a man who so thoroughly advertises his emotional unavailability, the complete predictability (to Riel) of him blowing the whole thing up leaves him with a faint sense of incredulity, like a child contemplating a very bright flame and then sticking their hand in it and then crying from the pain, while he's like 'yeah. what did you expect??'

Red: ah, the natural and unwilling mediator, against his better judgment. he's good enough friends with both of you and cares about your wellbeing so much that he will listen with a sympathetic ear and let you vent all you want about the torpedo. he will give you incredibly gentle, sympathetic, level-headed advice, affirm your emotions, tell you to try and take your mind off of it and be kind to yourself as you navigate your feelings, and then good-naturedly trundle off to go track Chase down and Have a Talk LOL. It's not really about lecturing Chase for him, it's about getting Chase's side of the story and caring about both of his friends' welfares, no matter how their actual relationship turns out!

Ayla: 'dude. oh my god. where is he? i'll beat his ass.' Chase has earned her Enmity forever. he's on her shit list. blackballed in Ayla Land. It's on sight. they're not friends anymore and never will be unless he somehow makes things right with MC and MC explicitly forgives him to Ayla, in which case they'll go back to exactly how it was before lol. Depending on her relationship with MC, she might actually go kick a door down and yell at Chase and be like 'what the fuck is wrong with you???' or she might just give him the cold shoulder and the evil eye and overlook his existence for the rest of their lives, it's 50/50 lol!

Briony: unless MC specifically swears her to secrecy, and maybe even then, she's hunting Chase down and giving him a good old-fashioned smackdown (while he artfully dodges and she swings her fists around like

(but with superstrength)

out of all of the friends, she probably takes the Torpedo most personally because she's been soooo invested in their romance this whole time and has presumably heard everything from MC, so she's getting extremely specific about her angry rant, like "HOW COULD YOU??? HOW COULD YOU SAY [X INTIMATE THING] AND PUT YOUR ARM AROUND THEIR HIP AND TELL THEM YOU'D NEVER LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO THEM IN WALLMIRE AND THEN DO THISSSSSSSS" MAKE IT MAKE SENSE CHASE BEFORE YOU LEGITIMATELY GET KILLED. THE COUNCIL DEMANDS ANSWERS. YOU FU--

Lavinet: she is soooo disappointed in Chase and thought better of him, but also isn't totally surprised that this happened! she's definitely going to have a talk with him, though it will be considerably calmer and more level-headed than it would be with the others... but her cool disappointment would also be pretty clear, she'd be pretty stiff with him, but would want to hear it from his side of things! if she succeeded in prying anything of use out of him, she wouldn't violate their confidence by telling it all to MC outright, but she'd definitely use it to encourage MC to either wait things out and have hope, or cut their losses and move on, depending on Chase's answers!