VN Ren'Py Imperial Chronicles [v0.7] [Lazy Monkey]

[Ozygator]

Yep, that's what I was referring to. It's why I'm curious how it's going to work for those that captured her. Cass has too much stuff stacked against her after the failed attempt. While I still haven't managed to get the scenes where Queen and Lia are killed. If that also happened, MC can't hand wave it by just saying "Nah, Cass is my sister. She killed my mom and younger sister but it's okay". That's the Queen and Princess we're talking about there.

With the amount of ways you can kill Cass this update. MC definitely won't have too many problems letting her get executed, that's for sure. Especially when MC can kill her himself or betray her multiple ways.

It will be interesting to see how the story plays out for those who kill Cass. She's one of the "three snakes" that's alluded to in the very beginning, and as noted in that prophecy, if ANY of the three snakes are killed, the other 2 choke off the MC and the world ends.

 

[Ozygator]

Would be cool to be be able to "play" Callahan by going along with his plan to get his support, then kill him with (or without) Cass instead of being forced to eliminate her.

I think a plan like this would greatly impress Cass also and show her the MC is more conniving than she thinks he is and that he can also handle more convoluted plans and schemes.

It would also allow Cass to survive and if done right would prove to her the MC does see a place for her without having to have a bloody coup and kill a lot of people and have her become 'evil' or crazy.

 

[DrakoGhoul]

It will be interesting to see how the story plays out for those who kill Cass. She's one of the "three snakes" that's alluded to in the very beginning, and as noted in that prophecy, if ANY of the three snakes are killed, the other 2 choke off the MC and the world ends.

I guess it depends on who the other two are, no? If you believe all three are his sisters, I don't see why Elin and Lia would be MC's downfall. If you believe Ludwig is one of them, he can die in the dungeon this update.

 

[Ozygator]

is there any walkthrough mod for this game?

No, there is a walk through that goes through the end of the last version (5) which we can assume any choices in 6 would be self-explanatory since most of the points that matter occur before 6 happens.

 

[Ozygator]

I guess it depends on who the other two are, no? If you believe all three are his sisters, I don't see why Elin and Lia would be MC's downfall. If you believe Ludwig is one of them, he can die in the dungeon this update.

The prophecy was the three snakes, one want back to his cradle, one the throne (irf I recall) and the other held the dagger above the crown.

I would think one would be the queen, not his sisters, but it could refer to the three sisters and him having to manage them without any of them getting out of balance. In the temple vision we get to pick all three sisters and see what each does. Cass destroys the world and is covered in blood, Elin destroys the world with magic and only Lia more or less just says that death is inevitable but doesn't push it forward as a goal to achieve.

 

[DrakoGhoul]

The prophecy was the three snakes, one want back to his cradle, one the throne (irf I recall) and the other held the dagger above the crown.

I would think one would be the queen, not his sisters, but it could refer to the three sisters and him having to manage them without any of them getting out of balance. In the temple vision we get to pick all three sisters and see what each does. Cass destroys the world and is covered in blood, Elin destroys the world with magic and only Lia more or less just says that death is inevitable but doesn't push it forward as a goal to achieve.

What's stopping MC from just dumping one of them, or himself, into another world, though? Well, beyond the plot of course. It's not like these prophecies are actually omnipotent and far reaching. To be frank, MC and Elin could just open a portal to another universe to avoid the calamity altogether. Whether that be dumping the others over there with them or leaving by themselves. The fate of one universe shouldn't realistically have any hold on the other.

Not to mention. What happens to MC when some of them die of old age or by something else completely beyond his control? Especially if it's Cass. She's human after all. I think that's a pretty bad fate for MC. That he has to basically babysit them and make sure they're all happily content with their existence.

Don't worry about some of that above there. That's just me rambling about some thoughts I had about the prophecy.

 

[Ozygator]

You really thought it would be a good idea to defend devs like ICSTOR?? LOL, I must have hit a nerve.

If ICSTOR is the only dev that you know that has slower releases, and you base all slow release dev's on them, that shows how shallow and uninformed you are. Here are some games that release 1-2 times a year and each release usually provides hours, not minutes, of content.

Sexbot
Pale Carnations
Shut Up and Dance
The Inn
Desire of Fate

With that being said, do some dev's waste time? Yep, they do. Not all do, and if you base the quality of a dev on their release cycle you have a faulty presumption to begin with

Oh, and let's not forget.. Those who whine and complain about dev's 'milking' or some other garbage, when they aren't actually supporting that dev themselves, just show how jealous and petty they are. Spend your money where you want, don't worry where others spend theirs. For every ICSTOR there are dev's who truly do these games as a part-time thing, and still release good quality content and a lot of it.

 

[Ozygator]

What's stopping MC from just dumping one of them, or himself, into another world, though? Well, beyond the plot of course. It's not like these prophecies are actually omnipotent and far reaching. To be frank, MC and Elin could just open a portal to another universe to avoid the calamity altogether. Whether that be dumping the others over there with them or leaving by themselves. The fate of one universe shouldn't realistically have any hold on the other.

Not to mention. What happens to MC when some of them die of old age or by something else completely beyond his control? Especially if it's Cass. She's human after all. I think that's a pretty bad fate for MC. That he has to basically babysit them and make sure they're all happily content with their existence.

Don't worry about some of that above there. That's just me rambling about some thoughts I had about the prophecy.

Well, this isn't a sci-fi type story and traveling to entire new world and universes is not the focus. The focus is on *this* world they live on, so asking why they can't just destroy everything they are supposed to protect, on some whim, doesn't make much sense regardless of story plot.

And what happens when one of them dies of old age? Well we'd assume the current issues would be long resolved by then, no? I doubt the prophecy was intended to be forever, but mainly to direct the MC on the *current situation* and to guide them past the issue without fucking shit up. This is in line with typical, and normal, fantasy type stories who don't really worry about things that might happen decades later, unless the prophecy alludes to that, and this one distinctly does not do so.

 

[DrakoGhoul]

Well, this isn't a sci-fi type story and traveling to entire new world and universes is not the focus. The focus is on *this* world they live on, so asking why they can't just destroy everything they are supposed to protect, on some whim, doesn't make much sense regardless of story plot.

And what happens when one of them dies of old age? Well we'd assume the current issues would be long resolved by then, no? I doubt the prophecy was intended to be forever, but mainly to direct the MC on the *current situation* and to guide them past the issue without fucking shit up. This is in line with typical, and normal, fantasy type stories who don't really worry about things that might happen decades later, unless the prophecy alludes to that, and this one distinctly does not do so.

That's the thing though. We don't know when MC will complete it or be free from the prophecy. It could persist until MC himself dies. In which case, MC is trapped with keeping whoever the 3 are alive. Pretty much until he dies. That honestly sounds like a shitty hand to be dealt.

Especially if MC can't finish the prophecy by just resolving their issues way before their time expires. Because the way Cass behaves, her HP bar is destined to go to E way too many times.

 

[nasty.pickle]

Very impressive work Lazy_Monkey, thank you for the game!

The world-building is excellent - striking balance between giving you enough and gradual information for the world to feel real without boring you and/or detracting from the story. Characters feel genuine, with their own motivations and desires, instead of being props and mere placeholders for MC's dick. The branching based on choices is also very good, lot more thorough than your usual AVN, the red coronation ending gave me chills. Any chance there could be opportunity to double-cross Calahan in the future? I think that would be fantastic and would not require too many changes/additions I feel. And having psycho-Cass as a sub is highly satisfying. Well-written story, really like the MC's path(s) so far, you can be goody two-shoes or a rapey, manipulative bastard (while I prefer the former, the latter is well done and gives a bit more "ooomph" to the story). The music and accompanying sound at key moments are done juuuuuust right. Really enjoyed this one!

Are you planning a steam release? would buy on day 1. Gonna have to check out your other game now, keep up the good work man!

 

[Craudiao]

That's the thing though. We don't know when MC will complete it or be free from the prophecy. It could persist until MC himself dies. In which case, MC is trapped with keeping whoever the 3 are alive. Pretty much until he dies. That honestly sounds like a shitty hand to be dealt.

Especially if MC can't finish the prophecy by just resolving their issues way before their time expires. Because the way Cass behaves, her HP bar is destined to go to E way too many times.

Only the lazy monkey can confirm you for sure, but...

Maybe the question isn't whether they die or not, but whether the MC kills them or not...

From what I've read from the comments, Cass is one that can:
Stay alive
die for MC
die by third parties

If so, just killing Cass with the MC would be considered a "path to ruin"

 

[DrakoGhoul]

Only the lazy monkey can confirm you for sure, but...

Maybe the question isn't whether they die or not, but whether the MC kills them or not...

From what I've read from the comments, Cass is one that can:
Stay alive
die for MC
die by third parties

If so, just killing Cass with the MC would be considered a "path to ruin"

That's an interesting take. It definitely would be much less excessive than pretty much having to be their guardian angel. As that's pretty unrealistic that you have to guarantee they live, no matter what they do. I will definitely find out for sure in the future. I have 3 playthroughs with Cass dead on them already. All via different means. I will do the same with Elin or whoever is the other two from the prophecy.

All that said. It's honestly kind of crazy how I still haven't reached my Mage and Bookworm playthroughs yet. This update brought so much stuff with Cass that I'm branching my warrior saves like crazy now. I went from 3 to like 7 or 8 now. For added context, I only do extreme stuff on the warrior path. For Mage and Bookworm, I try not to be too murder crazy.

 

[Hadron-5]

Stay alive
die for MC
die by third parties

 

[Craudiao]

That's an interesting take. It definitely would be much less excessive than pretty much having to be their guardian angel. As that's pretty unrealistic that you have to guarantee they live, no matter what they do. I will definitely find out for sure in the future. I have 3 playthroughs with Cass dead on them already. All via different means. I will do the same with Elin or whoever is the other two from the prophecy.

All that said. It's honestly kind of crazy how I still haven't reached my Mage and Bookworm playthroughs yet. This update brought so much stuff with Cass that I'm branching my warrior saves like crazy now. I went from 3 to like 7 or 8 now. For added context, I only do extreme stuff on the warrior path. For Mage and Bookworm, I try not to be too murder crazy.

I don't know for sure, but I see the snake prophecy as follows
Arker --> Cass
Alaina --> mom
Ludwing --> Callahan

 

[Vasy]

I love this VN, my sole real complaint being that the mage route continues to feel like an afterthought in comparison to the other two.

 

[n00bPanda]

[[SPOILERS AHEAD]]
To all; say what you want about Cass, although she is not my favorite I wont deny that she is certainly a ride-or-die chick and probably sees MC like herself too. I mean she knew and said that coup's success depends on MC and so it did. She fucked up without MC, she knew she was going to fuck up without MC. Thing bothering me is that her foolishness reached to point where she convinced herself MC wants the exactly the same things as herself and when turned down she either gets herself killed instantly in self-pity (aka suicide) or initiate her half-baked plan which may be called her prolonged suicide. The coup was in motion way before the wedding maybe even before MC came to palace... This confirms she really believed MC would want to join her. She hoped that MC is still the mischevous kid she knew and hoped that exile, humiliation and all the other things made him bitter or better yet vengeful like herself; because this is what she became after all that.

Behind that pragmatist and physco mask; she is very lonely, not alone mind you. Yeah, she has her aunt and her uncle or whatever... They only use her for their ends, for their revenge. All you simps, simping in harmony, praising her: Queen this, Queen that blabla... ignoring the fact that she is the one who broke the family up. Caused the exile of MC therefore made Cass isolate herself, made Elin go to the Tower. In addition to these, she may have been the mother figure for Cass but no, she choose to antogonize her. No doubt Queen has her own agenda in favor of MC but come to think of it, did she ever asked what MC wants? Quite the contrary, she is being rather pushy about whole regency and succession thing. Add to this: although she didn't make any moves yet, she is certainly the one who set the events in motion in the past. All these reminded me of a line in the Dune, a line about Jessica.

“My mother is my enemy. She does not know it, but she is. She is bringing the jihad. She bore me; she trained me. She is my enemy.”

―Frank Herbert, Dune

Hey, I may exaggerating things lads, feel free to give haha reaction or better yet bully me.

 

[Craudiao]

[[SPOILERS AHEAD]]
To all; say what you want about Cass, although she is not my favorite she is certainly a ride-or-die chick and probably sees MC like herself too. I mean she knew and said that coup's success depends on MC and so it did. She fucked up, she knew she was gonna fuck up without MC. The coup was in motion way before the wedding maybe even before MC came to palace... She hoped that MC is still the mischevous kid she knew and hoped that exile, humiliation and all the other things made him bitter or better yet vengeful like herself; because this is what she became after all that.

Behind that pragmatist and physco mask; she is very lonely, not alone mind you. Yeah, she has her aunt and her uncle or whatever... They only use her for their ends, for their revenge. All you simps, simping together like: Queen this, Queen that blabla... ignoring the fact that she is the one who broke the family up. Caused the exile of MC therefore made Cass isolate herself, made Elin go to the Tower. In addition to these, she may have been the mother figure for Cass but no, she choose to antogonize her. No doubt Queen has her own agenda in favor of MC but come to think of it, did she ever asked what MC wants? Quite the contrary, she is being rather pushy about whole regency and succession thing. Add to this: although she didn't make any moves yet, but she is certainly the one who set the events in motion in the past. All these reminded me of a line in the Dune, a line about Jessica. Did they used this line in the movie, anyone?
“My mother is my enemy. She does not know it, but she is. She is bringing the jihad. She bore me; she trained me. She is my enemy.”

―Frank Herbert, Dune

Hey, I may exaggerating things lads, feel free to give haha reaction or better yet bully me.

I agree, even if cass were the protagonist, the work would be called cinderella... There are many similarities in the evil stepmother who excludes her husband's first daughter from the family, and she was very clear about this at the table...

 

[dzejwid]

This AVN i very good, story is awsome, renders are good and models also. I have only one thing that make me a little disappointed. We don't always have free will to chouse ouer path.

When i get to wedding moment i was disappointed that i have only two choise and want to quit this game. If someone like NTR it's okey but it should be avoidable. I give ring to Elin but the i need to chouse betwen two different princess and MC is happy on he's wedding like nothink happened. After that Elin look when they were on the table....


I know that most AVN are for good renders and sex scens but with this good story it's a pitty that we are forcet to do somethink that is very different with character what we try to create.

 

[Abhai]

This AVN i very good, story is awsome, renders are good and models also. I have only one thing that make me a little disappointed. We don't always have free will to chouse ouer path.

When i get to wedding moment i was disappointed that i have only two choise and want to quit this game. If someone like NTR it's okey but it should be avoidable. I give ring to Elin but the i need to chouse betwen two different princess and MC is happy on he's wedding like nothink happened. After that Elin look when they were on the table....


I know that most AVN are for good renders and sex scens but with this good story it's a pitty that we are forcet to do somethink that is very different with character what we try to create.

yup, i dont like that particular "choice" myself.

this particular "story-driver" could have been done much better imo - even if our mc has to choose his bride out of those two, he should have a choice to consumate marriage or not (something similar as with his twin-sister).
this way it is just dumb (sorry dev) and kinda ruins otherwise great game.

why bothering with all those diff paths and all, if you force sex scenes and characters upon your players?
just make it KN - many fappers, particularly harem (or ntr) ones, will be as happy as average zooners in typical "deep" fuck-fest game...

 

[n00bPanda]

I agree, even if cass were the protagonist, the work would be called cinderella... There are many similarities in the evil stepmother who excludes her husband's first daughter from the family, and she was very clear about this at the table...

I wouldn't call her evil stepmother, we don't know the purpouse of the exile fully yet. Though I have a theory: She was probably scared of possible assassination attemps on MC by Western lords if he were to stay at castle or better yet; she herself or one of her elven oracles may have forseen things that forced her to take action. And after MC and Cass hurt each other she may have convinced King (or King himself) to exile MC easily, with oracles she may make him believe MC threatens his kingdom. If MC were to be killed, Cass would be the new heir and maybe thats why she antogonized her unknowingly. And maybe Cass thinks the same as us and that's why she killed all the fanatics and whatsoever. Blaming them for her isolation, loneliness and bitterness.
As of now, we don't know any 'Western' lords, how many they are or how powerful are they etc. The only thing we know about them is that they are threatened by some kind of Jacobin faction.

I am wasting my only holiday by writing theories about some VN game.