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

[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.

 

[harem.king]

About Lockhart's gentlemanliness:

Spoiler: Manners of the free West lands

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To be fair, lockheart is not intentionally deceiving you. Because you LITERALLY caught him snorting that very same white blood for magic visions.

 

[Reyatsu99]

I feel like authored cornered themselves with this wife choice and now have to write the wife away from screen.

 

[wisesage]

I understand, she's probably not a virgin so I won't follow her route, thanks.

She is most probably a virgin.

 

[Briggs]

I love the writing of this novel, it has become increasingly rare for me to bother to read the text of novels nowadays, but I do for this one so congrats ! I really like the different routes and the fact that you can play the middle-ground. Personnaly I'm on the bookworm Cass/coup route with Aurora wife, I do feel that having two cunning women at my side would not play well haha. Plus the king all but admit he was the one to kill his father so I'm just following the family tradition.

 

[SuperNovAA]

Well ..... that was unexpected. this will be the most shocking update of IC's worldview so far. It's very clear that LM was inspired by the Blood Wedding scene from Game of Thrones. and seems that conflict between Cass and who against her ideology will continue in the future (even gamers too!) I don't think Cass is likely woman who will give up so easily (if she survives) I'm definitely looking forward to the ongoing 'Game of Thrones' of the IC world.

 

[Ebonheart (FR)]

I feel like authored cornered themselves with this wife choice and now have to write the wife away from screen.

I'm really surprised that the wives are so quickly sidelined by plot decision after such a strong build-up around the two marriages. What's more, neither the Northerners' bodyguards nor even the Southerners' private army (around 200 soldiers, i think, which could have a major impact on the outcome of the conflict) took part in this struggle. It is somewhat strange that the new allies of the kingdom do not become involved, especially in the case of the Sudistes who could have prevented the coup d'état, but instead make matters much more difficult.

She is most probably a virgin.

Isis is the only person about whom I have any doubts, even though I guess that could be possible. In any case, I don't find it particularly significant whether these women are or are not virgin.


I wonder if Lockhart just isn't interested in women at all, at least when we're pursuing a relationship with the twin sister. The fact that our sister informs us that he prefers to stay with the soldiers in the military camp, and that he has no trouble respecting his new wife's boundaries, even overdoing it to simulate a “consummated” fake wedding night, makes me think that he might actually be gay, and is publicly content to pretend he's the ordinary good husband. Otherwise, I think he's still pretty hard to figure out, a potential rival at first, then someone who seems gallant and presumably nice; however, we don't know if he has a hidden agenda (notably with his affiliation to some kind of rebellious nobles' political think-tank). His modified wedding vows are quite disturbing; I don't know whether he's giving some kind of political speech, or whether he's alluding to the prince and his sister at times in terms of subliminal messages (perhaps a bit of both) in order to reassure them. I think he quickly understands the real nature of the twins' relationship, certainly for quite some time and before Elis came to see him.
Only the ball scene casts a little doubt on this hypothesis, but he may well not yet know the truth, or he may be pretending to defend his scorned honor in public when Elin is given the prince's ring.

 

[Punto]

I'm finding myself asking a lot of questions again, in my opinion a wlktrough or better yet a walkthrough-mod would be helpful.

 

[Raziel_8]

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

Well...Arker, Cass and Ludwig are already dead in my runs (Cass hopefully soon in the ones she got arrested after the coup)

 

[sergerserj]

Please walkthrough ! People asking from release date.

 

[RandomAccountHere15]

I'm finding myself asking a lot of questions again, in my opinion a wlktrough or better yet a walkthrough-mod would be helpful.

Please walkthrough ! People asking from release date.

There's already a walkthrough on the first page, it's just not updated to 0.6 yet. Since LM codes in his native language, it's a bit harder to make a walkthrough mod.

 

[DrakoGhoul]

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.

This truly comes down to context and perspective on a playthrough. I don't see anything wrong with someone disliking Cass for what she does during this update. For a decent amount of players, it might've came out of nowhere that they're drugged with their mother and tossed in a cell. All when they're already not a fan of how Cass acts. In which case, they have no reason to talk bad about Queen, when Cass does some near unforgivable things in the present.

If we're going to do what about Queen here. Then you might as well blame MC too for stabbing Cass eye and giving Alaina and Queen a good enough excuse to exile him in the first place. Or should we blame Cass for slicing him? Or blame the King for accepting the exile idea? Or hell, for killing Cass mom in the first place. We can point fingers all day. However, Cass is responsible for every action she has done in the present. None of this should be getting diverted to Queen. Elin isn't out there doing Coup attempts and drugging people after going to the mage tower. Neither is the Queen, as far as we're aware.

Queen, and by extension Alaina don't get much discussion beyond "simping" because they haven't done much yet. All we know about them is that they pushed for MC to get exiled and Alaina may or may not have been trying to manipulate MC's views with all of her mind lessons. Other than secretly working with Elves and wanting him on the throne. What are we supposed to be holding against her exactly? Queen is completely fine with MC getting on the throne peacefully and doesn't have to do extreme shit like a coup for something he's assured to receive.

If you find that Queen doesn't get as many "negative" comments as Cass, it's because from most people's perspective, she does nothing wrong. We know Queen wouldn't harm her own son. That's his mother and we have no reason to believe otherwise. Cass, however, proved that she has no qualms about harming his mother and her own half sisters to get him to join something he doesn't want to join.

 

[justherefortiddiespart2]

I feel like authored cornered themselves with this wife choice and now have to write the wife away from screen.

Too many paths, it's going to get harder unless he starts merging some of the paths. Fantastic game overall though.

 

[n00bPanda]

This truly comes down to context and perspective on a playthrough. I don't see anything wrong with someone disliking Cass for what she does during this update. For a decent amount of players, it might've came out of nowhere that they're drugged with their mother and tossed in a cell. All when they're already not a fan of how Cass acts. In which case, they have no reason to talk bad about Queen, when Cass does some near unforgivable things in the present.

If we're going to do what about Queen here. Then you might as well blame MC too for stabbing Cass eye and giving Alaina and Queen a good enough excuse to exile him in the first place. Or should we blame Cass for slicing him? Or blame the King for accepting the exile idea? Or hell, for killing Cass mom in the first place. We can point fingers all day. However, Cass is responsible for every action she has done in the present. None of this should be getting diverted to Queen. Elin isn't out there doing Coup attempts and drugging people after going to the mage tower. Neither is the Queen, as far as we're aware.

Queen, and by extension Alaina don't get much discussion beyond "simping" because they haven't done much yet. All we know about them is that they pushed for MC to get exiled and Alaina may or may not have been trying to manipulate MC's views with all of her mind lessons. Other than secretly working with Elves and wanting him on the throne. What are we supposed to be holding against her exactly? Queen is completely fine with MC getting on the throne peacefully and doesn't have to do extreme shit like a coup for something he's assured to receive.

If you find that Queen doesn't get as many "negative" comments as Cass, it's because from most people's perspective, she does nothing wrong. We know Queen wouldn't harm her own son. That's his mother and we have no reason to believe otherwise. Cass, however, proved that she has no qualms about harming his mother and her own half sisters to get him to join something he doesn't want to join.

I tried to sympathize with Cass mostly in my writing so yeah I accept the first part that it comes down to perspective. And in no way I condone any of her actions in this update nor blame the Queen for all but just pointing out the causes of her vengeful state, and actions of the Queen that may have caused it. Also I wasn't just talking about this update but in general. I dunno if you played 'killing Cass instantly' path but it really shows her selflessness even for the sake of her life, and her vengeful, power-hungry side is just a mask that she has worn for so long that she just forgot her oldself, only remembers those bittersweet moments when reminded of, like they belong to somone else. To confirm her suicidal-state and her half-baked plan is just a prolonged suicide: just think of in how many paths she dies or imprisoned and in how many paths she is alive and well.

Elin was sent to a fucking lesbian Hogwarts while Cass has been tried to married off with a jerk by the King, the king who also killed his mother mind you. Also don't forget that all of family members of Elin is still alive and well and they actually care for her and love her, not using her for their ends like Cass' family members. So dont compare these two. She was look down on even before going all-physco and the exile and it only got worse after she lost her eye furthermore she got all alone beside that manipulative jerk.

Queen literally brainwashed the king indirectly with elven oracles, the king who was in his weakest state-of-mind. He killed his brother, and his first wife for the sake of the Kingdom and its peace, atleast he though so. Not suprising how he got dependent on prophecies for the sake of salvation, instead he got cursed. Queen used his dependency for her own agenda. Cass killed all the oracles and come to think of it: she actually saved him or... she wanted to punish him while he is still sane.

 

[ehct2332]

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...

This is tough because I love the writing in this game—this is coming from someone who is bored to death by anything resembling fantasy—but I also feel that better choices and more control over them would make this game close to perfect.

I don't mind different paths as long as each path offers something different and we have full control over the choices offered to us.

Spoiler

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Instead, the plot has developed into something similar to Games of Thrones, which is fine if you're into that. And I'd have kept these darker paths for those interested in mental anguish, but I'd have written some other paths, too.

 

[egfdjksxncWGEDICwsc]

I stumbled upon this gem by accident, and I loved it, the branchings are numerous but not overwhelming, the story also written nicely, the arts are also good.

Anyway, there are 2 versions of "red" coronation that I stumbled upon, one was when I accept cass offer the first time and the other was when I refused cass the first time but accepted the second time and then accepted Isis's offer. Were there other variations for the other coronations?

 

[DrakoGhoul]

I tried to sympathize with Cass mostly in my writing so yeah I accept the first part that it comes down to perspective. And in no way I condone any of her actions in this update nor blame the Queen for all but just pointing out the causes of her vengeful state, and actions of the Queen that may have caused it. Also I wasn't just talking about this update but in general. I dunno if you played 'killing Cass instantly' path but it really shows her selflessness even for the sake of her life, and her vengeful, power-hungry side is just a mask that she have worn for so long that she just forgot her olself, only remembers those bittersweet moments when reminded of like they belong to somone else. To confirm her suicial-self and her half-baked plan is just a prolonged suicide: just think of in how many paths she dies or imprisoned and in how many paths she is alive and well.

I mean, you kind of are condoning her behavior by trying to push the blame for everything that went wrong with Cass on another character. It's one thing to point out what may have led to Cass change. It's another to try to make Queen the damn near sole person responsible for it and everything that happens after it. Cass is responsible for some of those things. Even in the past.

Also, killing Cass early doesn't have the same weight as it did the last update when it was just a cliffhanger. The game pretty much hints that she has a secret way to come back. Even within her own grave, Cass is plotting.

Elin went to a fucking lesbian Hogwarts while Cass has been tried to married off with a jerk by the King, the king who also killed his Mother. Also don't forget that all of family members of Elin is still alive and well and they actually care and love her, not using her for their ends like Cass' family members. So dont compare these two. She was look down on even before going physco and the exile of MC and it got worse after she lost her eye.

What are you talking about? Of course Elin couldn't get married off at the time. She wasn't of age yet. When she became of age, as we now see, she got forced into a marriage that she didn't want. So that point there is moot. As for the rest there. Fair enough, but I disagree with Cass not having any family that loved her. She had her siblings right there until they weren't. Yes, they do count.

Elin wanted to give Cass another chance. She put a spy on her sister instead of actually behaving like an older sister. Cass doesn't even interact with Lia beyond holding her hostage. And with MC, she uses him for her own plot, whether he's for it or against it. If she's lonely in present, that's by her own choice. She had an excuse during the exile. She doesn't anymore after it.

As for Queen. That stuff at the dinner was the result of Cass own actions over the years after the exile. Cass even admitted that she was spying on her. Is Queen supposed to react differently? Not to mention, as cruel as this is going to sound. Queen isn't obligated to be Cass replacement mother. Especially when elves are hated in a lot of places. Her focus is on her own children, as it should've been. And for all we know, Cass didn't want a replacement for her mother.

Queen literally brainwashed the king indirectly with elven oracles, the king who was in his weakest state-of-mind. He killed his brother, and his first wife for the sake of the Kingdom and its peace, atleast he though so. Not suprising how he got dependent on prophecies for the sake of salvation, instead he got cursed. Queen used his dependency for her own agenda. Cass killed all the oracles and come to think of it: she actually saved him or... she wanted to punish him while he is still sane.

This last part is just pure paranoia from your side. The King listened to almost any Oracle that offered him an answer that he wanted to hear. Not their greedy requests. Saying Queen "brainwashed" the King and used it for her own agenda is crazy. Especially when Elves are still hated and can't even enter certain cities. They didn't even gain anything from the political marriage. She couldn't even convince the King to let MC back by herself without Cass killing the others first. If that's brainwashing, Queen did a terrible job.

If you want to continue to blame Queen for a lot of things, that's up to you. I don't think she's as nefarious as you claim her to be. Especially not while trying to get Cass out of the hot seat in the process. Cass going off the deep end doesn't mean Queen has to be bad too. If you feel it's too one-sided, that's simply because Cass went too far.

 

[Ebonheart (FR)]

I tried to sympathize with Cass mostly in my writing so yeah I accept the first part that it comes down to perspective. And in no way I condone any of her actions in this update nor blame the Queen for all but just pointing out the causes of her vengeful state, and actions of the Queen that may have caused it. Also I wasn't just talking about this update but in general. I dunno if you played 'killing Cass instantly' path but it really shows her selflessness even for the sake of her life, and her vengeful, power-hungry side is just a mask that she have worn for so long that she just forgot her olself, only remembers those bittersweet moments when reminded of like they belong to somone else. To confirm her suicial-self and her half-baked plan is just a prolonged suicide: just think of in how many paths she dies or imprisoned and in how many paths she is alive and well.

Elin went to a fucking lesbian Hogwarts while Cass has been tried to married off with a jerk by the King, the king who also killed his Mother. Also don't forget that all of family members of Elin is still alive and well and they actually care and love her, not using her for their ends like Cass' family members. So dont compare these two. She was look down on even before going physco and the exile of MC and it got worse after she lost her eye.

Queen literally brainwashed the king indirectly with elven oracles, the king who was in his weakest state-of-mind. He killed his brother, and his first wife for the sake of the Kingdom and its peace, atleast he though so. Not suprising how he got dependent on prophecies for the sake of salvation, instead he got cursed. Queen used his dependency for her own agenda. Cass killed all the oracles and come to think of it: she actually saved him or... she wanted to punish him while he is still sane.

It's important to keep in mind (maybe you misunderstood what was mentioned in the game) that the king first consulted oracles on his own initiative, some of whom persuaded him to believe in a prophecy that his son would be responsible for his downfall or death. It appears that the queen mother attempted to bribe or recruit oracles to mitigate the impact of others on the king, thus protecting her son by influencing the king's ever-changing opinions. It is said in some conversations with Cass, and possibly with the mother, that these oracles, were dishonest charlatans, they exploited their tremendous influence over the monarch to gain personal power. Apparently, several of them served on the council.
It seems that it was an informal alliance between Cass, a few advisors in the council and the Queen Mother that finally got rid of these highly influential false prophets, although it was mainly Cass who accomplished this thankless task. Some of the advisors at the first meeting with the prince mentioned that the situation had become chaotic with the numerous oracles present at court and at the council, bordering on disorder and certainly internal warfare for power at court, especially with an irascible, fickle and mentally unstable king.

We can only assume with some uncertainty that the king was apparently responsible for the death of his first wife, but he didn't seem to appreciate it, and no doubt his eldest daughter as a result. Yet Cass may have been led to believe by her hatred of her father that he was responsible, and by her own family on her mother's side. I have no idea what happened to Conrad's father, the king's relative. Once again, the king could be responsible for the disappearance of other individuals in the court or in the nobility of the kingdom, but we must also remember the period of unrest and wars that took place during the time of the Red Emperor and undoubtedly after his death.

In my opinion, you see Cassandra as a victim of circumstance, which is technically true, but only in part. However, we mustn't overlook the hatred she feels towards her father, the hostility she shares with her stepmother, and the jealousy towards her half-brother, the heir apparent due to his male gender.
The incident between Elis and Cass reveals a complex dynamic of love and hate, aggression and competition, and a clear rivalry for the throne. It's no doubt for this last reason that the Queen Mother can't stand Cass; apart from her character, she's even a threat by definition, and court intrigues abound. Lady Alaina has seized the opportunity of this accidental quarrel between the two of them to convince the King and Queen to keep the young prince away from court (to keep him away out of fear for the former, and for the Mother to protect him from intrigues and threats).
It seems obvious that she aspires to rule, motivated by revenge as much as ambition, with the support, voluntary or forced, of her half-brother, whom she deems essential to the fulfillment of her designs. In her cynical, pragmatic view of life, she believes only that the ends justify the means, and that the most ruthless prevail.

Also, the sacrificial ending with Cass that you mention only works if you as MC decide to do it, otherwise her plan proceeds pretty much normally (which is inconherent, that Elis does nothing to prevent it, so it's a pretty forced choice and intended as dramatic), with the prince ending up quite often in prison depending on the branching chosen.
So yes, she's a victim of circumstance, born a woman and therefore excluded on principle from the succession; her mother died in troubled circumstances; she's hated and despised by a good part of her family (the father, the mother-in-law, and many at court fear her or distrust her and her intrigues).
She is undoubtedly manipulated at least in part by her mother's side of the family in her resentment of her father and desire for revenge, yet she is unscrupulous and ruthless, and will stop at nothing to satisfy her personal ambitions. Cass believes that a true ruler must be prepared to do whatever it takes to consolidate his power, even if it means betraying allies and killing those closest to him, which is why she asks Elis to “ suicide ” her in a branch of the game, but also for love.
For me, Cass is clearly responsible for her actions from beginning to end, despite the initial circumstances of her life. At various points she could have made different choices and taken completely opposite routes, but she's a stubborn person who will never listen to reason. So for me, she's someone who can't know any form of redemption in her arc, which is what the game wants by design.

The mother has dirtied her hands far less in comparison, and has doubtless resorted less to dubious methods, even if we still don't know what she's up to with Lady Alaina and the elves of her native clan. It's likely that these two women will try to influence Elis to become a more compassionate and just sovereign with regard to the fate of the kingdom's elves, or perhaps Lady Alaina will try to push the future king to promote them through partisan politics in favor of the elves.

 

[Dustellar]

Man, this game is amazing so far, once it's finished I may write a proper review, for now I will say what I think here, you know, back in 2017 I had an idea for a game, it was about an exiled prince that also had a twin, except that he was exiled as a baby so he didn't know he was a prince until later, also no fantasy theme, since I suck at coding and my PC is shit, I was never able to make it a reality, you have no idea how happy I'm to see something similar, except that you are doing it even better than I imagined, the models, the personalities, the intrigue, everything amazing! the plot despite some instances of "too much text" doesn't feel tedious at all, also all the routes that I didn't explore yet! for example... didn't take with me the elf girl so now I wonder how much it would change if I start again and take her with me, that or other changes, I'm doing my best to make a run without casualties of characters I like (I'm sorry Ludwig! ) but seems a bit challenging since I'm going blind

Now about some characters, especially the taboo ones, Cass, the half-sister, is probably one of the hottest characters I've ever seen, her model is so hot (that eye-patch just make her hotter) and I love her crazy personality that scream "I can fix her!" (of course I failed so far and she betrayed me in the most predictable way xD but I don't want to kill one of the most interesting characters in the game) I feel she's kind of right in some topics and I feel guilty for her eye, but yeah her methods are extreme, the little sister is adorable, she reminds me of Hannah from Above the Clouds (F!) with her curiosity, then the queen with her motherly love and milf body, making her elf kind of fix the problem of other games that make milfs so young, in this case makes sense... then the twin sister, nothing against her, but of all the other family members, I consider her the most plain (also, tbh, her husband doesn't seem to be that bad)

Anyway, thanks for the game, you are doing great! I will repeat some parts to see how much I can change so I can start the next update in a better way.

 

[With The]

Man, this game is amazing so far, once it's finished I may write a proper review, for now I will say what I think here, you know, back in 2017 I had an idea for a game, it was about an exiled prince that also had a twin, except that he was exiled as a baby so he didn't know he was a prince until later, also no fantasy theme, since I suck at coding and my PC is shit, I was never able to make it a reality, you have no idea how happy I'm to see something similar, except that you are doing it even better than I imagined, the models, the personalities, the intrigue, everything amazing! the plot despite some instances of "too much text" doesn't feel tedious at all, also all the routes that I didn't explore yet! for example... didn't take with me the elf girl so now I wonder how much it would change if I start again and take her with me, that or other changes, I'm doing my best to make a run without casualties of characters I like (I'm sorry Ludwig! ) but seems a bit challenging since I'm going blind

Now about some characters, especially the taboo ones, Cass, the half-sister, is probably one of the hottest characters I've ever seen, her model is so hot (that eye-patch just make her hotter) and I love her crazy personality that scream "I can fix her!" (of course I failed so far and she betrayed me in the most predictable way xD but I don't want to kill one of the most interesting characters in the game) I feel she's kind of right in some topics and I feel guilty for her eye, but yeah her methods are extreme, the little sister is adorable, she reminds me of Hannah from Above the Clouds (F!) with her curiosity, then the queen with her motherly love and milf body, making her elf kind of fix the problem of other games that make milfs so young, in this case makes sense... then the twin sister, nothing against her, but of all the other family members, I consider her the most plain (also, tbh, her husband doesn't seem to be that bad)

Anyway, thanks for the game, you are doing great! I will repeat some parts to see how much I can change so I can start the next update in a better way.

the reason why i choose path not to kill Cass but send her to prison because i still want her on future update (hope so)