This is the story of
Duvessa Devereux, a noble woman whose cunning intellect is matched only by her profound amorality. Duvessa is the daughter of Lord Dallan, a great noble and a member of the King's Council. But despite being older, smarter, and more willing than her brother, she's not considered heir material due to the strict patriarchy she lives in. Her future looks bleak as Lord Dallan wishes to marry her off for political gain, but Duvessa has other plans.
All Duvessa wants is her freedom - and as much power as she can get her hands on. For her, it's the journey that matters, not the destination:
Davor: What would all that power have gotten me...really? The things I'd do to keep it...would bring me no closer to the Gods...
Duvessa: It's not about what you get...it's about the chase.
Duvessa: Once I've won, I move on to the next thing. That's the only way I know how to live.
Davor: Hmph...I think that rather sad.
Duvessa: Perhaps it is. But I make do, nonetheless.
To that end, there is no one she isn't willing to cross, nor any depths she isn't willing to descend to. Her mind is her greatest asset, but her body is a close second. Men drool after her, women are afraid of her. With that in mind, the game allows you lots of leeway to shape Duvessa's approach to conflict. Duvessa can allow her body to be used to manipulate others (the submissive approach), not-so-gently coerce others through sex (the dominant way), or rely on pure mental acumen (and brute force) to inflict severe cruelty to her targets.
The game's greatest strength is Duvessa's characterization. Externally, she is a tour de force - confident, decisive, witty and amoral. Internally, though, she is aware that something
must be wrong with her. She is not loving or caring in the slightest. There’s something hollow in her victories. You get the sense that even when she wins, she’s already moved on - chasing the next thing, half-hoping it'll fill the void she won't admit is there.
On the rare occasion she's being honest with someone, instead of making her happy, this merely confuses her:
Duvessa said:
Once again, I don't believe that I'm lying to her.
Unless being sincere is just as foreign to me as being judgemental is to her, and I'm simply unfamiliar.
For Duvessa, people are a means to an end. She might object to being married off for political gain - but only because
it's not her gain. That's her in a nutshell. It's not the cruelty she minds, it's the lack of control. Similarly, a future child doesn't interest her except as an heir, but she's self-aware enough not to inflict herself on a child:
Duvessa said:
An eventual marriage for political gain is inevitable.
However, I'm perfectly happy to bide my time until I find the best union I possibly can.
Perhaps I'll manage to talk some Great House into accepting a marriage which grants my offspring the Devereux name.
Children, however...that's another story.
I would surely make an awful mother, and raising the whelp myself doesn't interest me.
Perhaps I'll have just one...to keep people from talking.
I could ship it off to be raised in Fortbelle, ever so far away from my corrosive influence.
The patriarchal society and the way men treat Duvessa, are a source of both constant frustration and endless amusement to her. When talking about the boys who used to court her in their youth, she says:
Duvessa said:
They were ever so interested in me because of my beauty and my name, but hardly any of them knew a thing about me. They were all such dullards, to boot. So obsessed with reaching this picture perfect ideal of chivalry that they read about in some old romance. Not an original thought in their heads.
But even her privilege has its limits:
Duvessa said:
It pisses me off to think that I was treated with more gravitas by all these powerful men when I was eighteen than I am now.
Jarik, Davor Quinza, Ondrea Calder, Jasen, hell, even my own father. The list of insolent imbeciles who have patronized me since my return is far too long.
Given her character, there are no LIs and certainly no romance in the game. But there are
some sexual partners you can choose to be kind to. I'll talk about my favourite - Erika. She is a naive, bubbly peasant girl. Polite and unfailingly kind, Erika has no filter and no sense of decorum. She nicknames Duvessa "V" shortly after they meet - a major faux pas, given their stations - but Duvessa can't bring herself to lash out because Erika is so transparently earnest.
This eventually leads to Duvessa deciding to be honest and direct with Erika, something terrifyingly out of character for her:
Duvessa: Erika...
Duvessa: You know that I'm a bad person, right?
Duvessa: If you let yourself get close to me, I'll probably end up using you for my own ends. It could very well be ruinous for you.
Erika: Fully aware!
Duvessa: I'm only telling you this because I like you, but-wait, what?
Duvessa: ...so...you know that I'm trouble.
Erika: Yup!
Duvessa: And you're okay with that?
Erika: Affirmative.
Duvessa: Even if it ends up hurting you?
Erika: Yes'm.
Duvessa: ...why?
Going further into this dialogue would be a spoiler, so hopefully this was enough to give you a taste.
The story’s mostly about Duvessa’s scheming - sharp, twisty palace intrigue - but there’s also this creeping discomfort with her own cruelty, and a weird, escalating bout of insomnia that she can’t quite explain.
Even though it's only episode 1, the game has well over 300K words, and can easily take 20+ hours to read.
Choices in this game are significant and lead to major plot differences. I recommend deciding on who you want Duvessa to be, and making choices accordingly. Trying to meta-game it by looking up points or reading the script will only frustrate you. You might hit an early end or two, but even those are smartly written.
Anyway, strongly recommended!
