VN Ren'Py Karlsson's Gambit [v0.8.2B Final] [Grym Gudinna Games]

[jaxofalltrades]

So then answer this: what does Grymm give Callista? Not theory, actual substance: how is she used by Callista? What part of Callista's plan is advanced, or more specifically: what is the result from the information and direction she gives Grymm?

While Callista refuses to use video communication, evidence suggests that Grymm does know who her benefactor is. She knows that Queen is very familiar with her, her character, her father, that she knew him well years ago, knows history of the Karlsson empire, and current interior workings of the Board, but is not on the Board, knows that Elena is Olivia's mother, and knows when Elena found out despite it's secret, she knows the siblings, knows who #7 is and how they'll vote, and she knows the whole Gambit plan. Considering Grymm mentions Elena in the third person, and that she will support Olivia, which Queen is showing she's supporting Alessandra, means Grymm knows Queen is not Elena. Now this certainly sounds like a point to support her not knowing Queen's identity, but she doesn't know Callista, and therefore if she even likes Olivia. With an absent mother, the only concept Grymm has of a parent is Alexander, and she knows what he did/try to do to Astrid, so if he abandoned his own blood, why should Callista, in Grymm's mind, support a non-daughter?

Grym gives Callista what any Karlsson sister can...a chance for Kane to live. Callista tells Grym that Kane is the key, which ensures that he's not simply killed right away but given a chance. Then, depending on how we, the players, choose to have him act, Kane may or may not be "worthy" of keeping alive but they still need his sperm. That's the "actual substance" but you can argue in theory that Callista could have approached any sister. Apart from that, we DON'T know Callista's plans since we're NOT Tess...so I'm going to call this conversation over until Tess reveals more in coming updates.

My memory may be hazy but in the temple scene, was it stated the Gambit Queen refuses video communication? I recall she refused to meet in person, and it was just her basically on speaker phone with Grym Guddina in the temple. I don't recall mention of video communication. Grym doesn't seem to know the whole Gambit plan but she does knows more than Jules. We don't know if she knows more than Veronica. Nothing Grym has said suggests she knows the whole Gambit plan to my recollection. The only thing we know that Grym knows about the Gambit Queen is that she is a third party outside of the board. None of what you said is evidence Grym knows who her benefactor is, just who she can eliminate from the list of possibilities. And you said yourself that she doesn't know Calllista...which would suggest that Callista isn't even on Grym's Gambit Queen suspect list...

From what we've been shown by Tess, the only people who know that Callista is alive in the Karlsson group are V, Astrid, Elena, and Kiyomi. Some may like to assume Olivia knew since she was there to witness the "helicopter accident" and she's a good actress. Delilah might not even know considering how Cynthia treats her but I digress. There's no real mention of Alessa's mother but that doesn't mean she was absent. We literally just weren't told anything about their relationship, or lack thereof, to know either way. My point is, again, we haven't been shown anything yet to suggest Grym knows exactly who the Gambit Queen is so she wouldn't be wondering why Callista would support a "non-daughter." She's possibly wondering why this mysterious Gambit Queen is supporting her, but Tess hasn't revealed in game much else to know what and how much Grym Gudinna actually knows or thinks.

 

[Maviarab]

I recall she refused to meet in person, and it was just her basically on speaker phone with Grym Guddina in the temple. I don't recall mention of video communication

Correct, it's never mentioned.

We don't know if she knows more than Veronica

She doesn't...as Veronica controls the Gambit, anyone else knows what Veronica tells them. The only way Alessa may know more than Veronica (and by extension Callista) is if she is Deathbed Daughter. But that still..remains to be confirmed.

the only people who know that Callista is alive in the Karlsson group are V, Astrid, Elena, and Kiyomi. Some may like to assume Olivia knew

Correct.

Delilah might not even know considering how Cynthia treats her but I digress

Extremely unlikely, but then it's very likely Delilah isn't a DeKock anyway. So if Cynthia doesn't know, no other DeKock does.

There's no real mention of Alessa's mother but that doesn't mean she was absent. We literally just weren't told anything about their relationship, or lack thereof, to know either way

No there isn't. Correct again heh.

This is the issue, Yu makes arbitary statements as facts. Absent mother syndrome? WTF? So because 'we' haven't seen her in the 8 days we have been there, and there is no mention of her at all..that makes her suddenly absent through Alessandra's childhood? *shakes head*...

Good post Jax.

 

[YuNobi1]

Grym gives Callista what any Karlsson sister can...a chance for Kane to live. Callista tells Grym that Kane is the key, which ensures that he's not simply killed right away but given a chance. Then, depending on how we, the players, choose to have him act, Kane may or may not be "worthy" of keeping alive but they still need his sperm. That's the "actual substance" but you can argue in theory that Callista could have approached any sister. Apart from that, we DON'T know Callista's plans since we're NOT Tess...so I'm going to call this conversation over until Tess reveals more in coming updates.

My memory may be hazy but in the temple scene, was it stated the Gambit Queen refuses video communication? I recall she refused to meet in person, and it was just her basically on speaker phone with Grym Guddina in the temple. I don't recall mention of video communication. Grym doesn't seem to know the whole Gambit plan but she does knows more than Jules. We don't know if she knows more than Veronica. Nothing Grym has said suggests she knows the whole Gambit plan to my recollection. The only thing we know that Grym knows about the Gambit Queen is that she is a third party outside of the board. None of what you said is evidence Grym knows who her benefactor is, just who she can eliminate from the list of possibilities. And you said yourself that she doesn't know Calllista...which would suggest that Callista isn't even on Grym's Gambit Queen suspect list...

From what we've been shown by Tess, the only people who know that Callista is alive in the Karlsson group are V, Astrid, Elena, and Kiyomi. Some may like to assume Olivia knew since she was there to witness the "helicopter accident" and she's a good actress. Delilah might not even know considering how Cynthia treats her but I digress. There's no real mention of Alessa's mother but that doesn't mean she was absent. We literally just weren't told anything about their relationship, or lack thereof, to know either way. My point is, again, we haven't been shown anything yet to suggest Grym knows exactly who the Gambit Queen is so she wouldn't be wondering why Callista would support a "non-daughter." She's possibly wondering why this mysterious Gambit Queen is supporting her, but Tess hasn't revealed in game much else to know what and how much Grym Gudinna actually knows or thinks.

At the temple:
G: And of course you're not here in person. More speaker fun.

Meaning this is the typical way they've been communicating. My point being she hasn't seen Callista.

Remember at the pool, Alessandra briefs Kane on what the proverbial "gold medal" he potentially can win in the rehab program, and also slips that if he succeeds he will be worthy of having [at least one of] Alexander's daughter(s), (she uses "daughters" but this probably means "pick of the litter" rather than all of them.) She may not know about the Alexander Jr. objective, but she definitely knows a winning Kane will "join" the sisters. Plus the phone conversation on Day 1 between Dominique and Juliette shows that the whole Board knows that Kane is important, and they all want to know what he's like, so Alessandra would already know not to kill him.

Q: [at the next Board meeting] You will learn what your father truly wanted from the person that will inherit his entire empire...for that, you must turn Master on your direction...you will see that he is the final key.

This sounds like Alexander Jr. was supposed to be revealed at the next Board meeting (where Olivia meets them all, but before she arrived), however Veronica doesn't reveal that part until day after, instructing to keep it from D/J/A/O, and then Callista asks he why she revealed it so early, so something's not adding up. Again Callista tells her to draw Kane to him, with the reason being that he is the FINAL key to inheriting Alexander's empire (aka the Gambit Winner). If Callista didn't think Grymm wants the crown, she wouldn't waste time telling her how to get something she doesn't care about. If she wants Grymm to win, then she put her on the fast track to victory. If she wants to ensure that Grymm doesn't win, either a) she wouldn't say anything, or b) give her bad intel.

 

[PickerLewd]

When I read Tess's comment about the possible "auctions" on the previous page, I thought that when episode 8 is finished, we should theorise about the 15 possible endings .
In my case, I never thought about the possible auctions and I already had more than 15 endings in mind.

 

[Dreadlord Sinister]

When I read Tess's comment about the possible "auctions" on the previous page, I thought that when episode 8 is finished, we should theorise about the 15 possible endings .
In my case, I never thought about the possible auctions and I already had more than 15 endings in mind.

the possibilities seem endless

 

[bkrrish1995]

It's possible there will be a b version...grammar fixes and little bugs etc...but effectively yes, 0.8 Part1 won't change now.

Thanks

 

[MilesEdgeworth]

Callista's motivations would have to be something more than just keeping Kane alive, as that could have been achieved in any number of ways such as going on the run, hiding out in the wastes, staging his death etc. Luckily, Kane, Seth and Olivia are all even alive at the start of the game considering the world they live in.

Elena recently parroted Callista's intentions of ending the war between the dekocks and Karlssons by uniting the families through Kane. Kane's safety is her first priority but that's her main objective

She doesn't...as Veronica controls the Gambit, anyone else knows what Veronica tells them. The only way Alessa may know more than Veronica (and by extension Callista) is if she is Deathbed Daughter. But that still..remains to be confirmed


Extremely unlikely, but then it's very likely Delilah isn't a DeKock anyway. So if Cynthia doesn't know, no other DeKock does.

She pretty much has to be at this point, Veronica's running the contest, and Juliette and Dom are playing to win. Only person whose motive we don't really know is Alessandra. I don't think she's the only one that knows more than what Veronica tells her. We know that Juliette at least knows what the banker told her which def didn't come from veronica

We can confirm that Delilan isn't a Dekock thanks to Tess's no incest rule.

 

[jaxofalltrades]

This is the issue, Yu makes arbitary statements as facts.

And apparently, I'm a glutton for punishment. Ironically, I haven't played any of the sub routes. But here I go again.

At the temple:
G: And of course you're not here in person. More speaker fun.

Meaning this is the typical way they've been communicating. My point being she hasn't seen Callista.

Remember at the pool, Alessandra briefs Kane on what the proverbial "gold medal" he potentially can win in the rehab program, and also slips that if he succeeds he will be worthy of having [at least one of] Alexander's daughter(s), (she uses "daughters" but this probably means "pick of the litter" rather than all of them.) She may not know about the Alexander Jr. objective, but she definitely knows a winning Kane will "join" the sisters. Plus the phone conversation on Day 1 between Dominique and Juliette shows that the whole Board knows that Kane is important, and they all want to know what he's like, so Alessandra would already know not to kill him.

From what we know of Alexander, I think we can fairly assume that the "bar of worthiness" for his daughters isn't a mystery; so yes, a winning Kane or any "strong man" would theoretically have the opportunity to "join" the sisters without knowing about Alexander's grandson stipulation.

To be fair, I'd be more concerned with Jules wanting to kill Kane than Alessa but I just threw that out there because all Callista has ever done was supposed to be in service of the goal to give Kane a fighting chance at surviving. That's always going to be a tangible result of contact with any of the sisters and the Gambit Queen that Callista's hoping for. Any other intention or goal is not currently known to us players.

Q: [at the next Board meeting] You will learn what your father truly wanted from the person that will inherit his entire empire...for that, you must turn Master on your direction...you will see that he is the final key.

This sounds like Alexander Jr. was supposed to be revealed at the next Board meeting (where Olivia meets them all, but before she arrived), however Veronica doesn't reveal that part until day after, instructing to keep it from D/J/A/O, and then Callista asks he why she revealed it so early, so something's not adding up. Again Callista tells her to draw Kane to him, with the reason being that he is the FINAL key to inheriting Alexander's empire (aka the Gambit Winner). If Callista didn't think Grymm wants the crown, she wouldn't waste time telling her how to get something she doesn't care about. If she wants Grymm to win, then she put her on the fast track to victory. If she wants to ensure that Grymm doesn't win, either a) she wouldn't say anything, or b) give her bad intel.

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[Stan5851]

To be fair, I'd be more concerned with Jules wanting to kill Kane than Alessa

What makes you think Jules has such plans for Kane? I don't know about the sub routes, but on the Dom routes Juliette hasn't made any explicit plans to kill Kane. She did mention that she was willing to take Kane as a slave if he was less dominant, but I haven't heard anything about killing him. I think Kane is relatively safe for now, considering everyone is well aware that he's irreplaceable...Oh, and removing/leaving Kane's sperm as we know it is useless too...at least as long as Veronica watches him and keeps him in such a state that artificial insemination remains impossible. (Although, we're told, this sperm preservation process can't last forever).

But anyway, as for Jules' target outside of the Board, I believe it's Olivia. We've already had direct conflict with her, with Juliette openly threatening Olivia (in case GoodOlivia refuses to give Seth to Kitty and decides to protect him)... So in that sense, we should be more concerned about Olivia's health as a dangerous rival to Jules than we should be about the health of Kane, who hasn't yet gained enough power and influence to pose a real threat to anyone. And something tells me that it will be KaneDom (when he gets rank Z) who will have to protect Olivia, not the other way around.

 

[Sharpshooter890]

What makes you think Jules has such plans for Kane? I don't know about the sub routes, but on the Dom routes Juliette hasn't made any explicit plans to kill Kane.

Well, if you're big enough of a fuck-up (K1-K2 looser) in ep.8 scene she tells Kane that she wants to 'devour' him. Personally, I can't wait to see that happen, I hope it's something more creative than a Sarlacc Pit though. Maybe Evil Olivia will join the fun too, one can hope! Just imagine this pathetic slab of meat crying just like Thad, asking them "Why are you doing this? (Oh man, they are so evil!)". And they just laugh and start to make out while Kane is slowly 'devoured' (whatever that means).

But yeah, on the Dom path Jules may dislike us (if we play as GoodKane) but Olivia is an immediate and obvious threat to her, not Kane. And EvilKane is her soulmate (assuming they have souls), so no threat there at all.

 

[Maviarab]

Okay, I'm going to dip but final summary: "Working" with any Karlsson sister, to me, seems like Callista just trying to ensure Kane has multiple avenues for surviving the Gambit. So keep wondering why specifically Grym? Why Alessa? But the answer might be the same as how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie roll center of a Tootsie pop? The world (outside of Tess and co) may never know..

This is the one I always come back around too...I still don't see why Alessa....and it's annoying me I can't connect the dots as to why Callista dealing with her.

What makes you think Jules has such plans for Kane? I don't know about the sub routes, but on the Dom routes Juliette hasn't made any explicit plans to kill Kane. She did mention that she was willing to take Kane as a slave if he was less dominant, but I haven't heard anything about killing him. I think Kane is relatively safe for now, considering everyone is well aware that he's irreplaceable

This 100%. And once again, we come back full circle to things that happen on the subPath just don't make sense in any contextual way at times....because it is not the default state of play, the femodom in this is salad dressing. (sorry subs).

But anyway, as for Jules' target outside of the Board, I believe it's Olivia. We've already had direct conflict with her, with Juliette openly threatening Olivia (in case GoodOlivia refuses to give Seth to Kitty and decides to protect him)... So in that sense, we should be more concerned about Olivia's health as a dangerous rival to Jules than we should be about the health of Kane, who hasn't yet gained enough power and influence to pose a real threat to anyone. And something tells me that it will be KaneDom (when he gets rank Z) who will have to protect Olivia, not the other way around.

Also this...and probably where once again the SisTeam and SisBro points will come into play more going forward. Just how much do they have each others backs, just like in the past when kane was always there for Olivia, always protecting her, looking after her (when they were not split apart by Callista). This...is default Kane.

 

[Dreadlord Sinister]

Welcome Dreadlord! Don't forget your proper place and be sure to get my heels nice and clean. They a little messy from walking all over Jakey earlier. Oh, have you also met my friend Eloise? She is soooo lovely! You'll love her, she just the absolute best! I#ll make you an appointment to go and see her!

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The interstellar legion requires that I see a doctor every 6 months to get my brain checked for space bugs and whatnot. However if she accepts legion insurance I'll schedule an appointment for one of those tongue enhancements.

 

[Dark Quean Olivia]

Well, if you're big enough of a fuck-up (K1-K2 looser) in ep.8 scene she tells Kane that she wants to 'devour' him. Personally, I can't wait to see that happen, I hope it's something more creative than a Sarlacc Pit though. Maybe Evil Olivia will join the fun too, one can hope! Just imagine this pathetic slab of meat crying just like Thad, asking them "Why are you doing this? (Oh man, they are so evil!)". And they just laugh and start to make out while Kane is slowly 'devoured' (whatever that means).

But yeah, on the Dom path Jules may dislike us (if we play as GoodKane) but Olivia is an immediate and obvious threat to her, not Kane. And EvilKane is her soulmate (assuming they have souls), so no threat there at all.

Fun with Julie? Ohh I'm definitely all in with that idea. Can I bring more friends too?

 

[YuNobi1]

all Callista has ever done was supposed to be in service of the goal to give Kane a fighting chance at surviving.

Not quite. She's clearly working on a KG-DS peace resolution, which is both unnecessary, and holds no bearing, to keep Kane alive. Rather an alive Kane, according to Veronica and Callista, might be necessary to make the peace resolution. There's also whatever scientific discovery that V-C mention in their first meeting that Callista was helping with (which sounds like Veronica already solved in the second meeting?) It seems to be related to Veronica's "star" hologram anti-gravity system that the pair are in, and thus definitely not contributory to Kane's longevity in any way. Now the planet-saving/Second Collapse prep can be associated to the goal of keeping Kane alive as a by-product of keeping thousands alive.

1. Just because the board "met" to welcome Olivia doesn't mean they had an actual board meeting that day...From how Cassandra described it, it was an irregular, informal "meeting" to greet Olivia and nothing more.

Day 2 Veronica and Elena discuss a recent revelation (we now know this was Olivia's mother).
Day 3 Grymm also knows of Elena-Olivia, thus who could have been Alessandra's swing vote is now "Only Olivia".
In the very next scene, Elena asks for pics/vids [of Olivia] but she doesn't confess of whom specifically, meaning that she's not supposed to know yet and is hiding that she does. Dominique detects Elena wanting one of the siblings specifically, and tries to pry it out of Elena, so either she truly doesn't know, or she does know but like Elena she can't reveal that she knows. Since neither come out and say the name, the Elena-Olivia has not been officially announced, so anyone who already knows has broken the rules.

Day 4 Board meeting. You think this pack of perpetual liars are going to tell anything of value to one as lowly ranked (from them) as Cassandra? Yes Olivia's part in the meeting is just to say "hi" (just like Zuko's part in his first War Council was to sit and listen), but Cassandra briefs Olivia before Alessandra arrives, so there was definitely time for the Board to meet and quickly address pre-Olivia topics. One such topic clearly was A+E=O is publicly announced, not only with Yvette's warning to Elena hours later at the pier, but also with all the sisters saying how excited they are that Olivia "is finally here", but since they've also been instructed not to inform Olivia of her parentage until the Welcome Party, they don't reveal the reason behind such statements. It's also clear that Elena and Alessandra are now openly aware of the other's knowledge, because Elena tries to reach out to Olivia, but Alessandra intercepts, silently communicating to Elena to keep her hands to herself. If they were all briefed and given instructions about A+E=O, then Veronica certainly had the opportunity to explain to the Board WHAT is Alexander's goal, and thus the objective of the Second Gambit, but she doesn't.

Students are told what topics to study ahead of time, but not all ace the test...

That's only when all the students know the same information at the same time. Sticking with your analogy, here's what's going on: Teacher sets a final exam on the 31st, but on the 1st of the month he announces "the final exam will be some time this month." So the students (and parents) start scrambling to try to prep for a test that they don't know the material that will be covered, nor when the exam will occur. With no specifics, they start reviewing everything they have ever learned. The teacher then has a family emergency and leaves for the month. At around the 10th, the student teacher's aide, whose 4.0 GPA has exempted them from the exam, starts piecemealing POSSIBLE covered material to the class, so no one is positive how much of the exact exam she has, or what instructions she has been given from the teacher, all they know is she's "acting substitute" for the exam. About the 15th, one of the students is secretly given the list of chapters from the textbook that will actually be on the exam, and that the exam will be on "one of the last days of the month." While not the actual test questions, it's still more information than what any other student has. On the 20th, the aide meets with the PTA, which is just the aide's mother and one other parent: "Mrs. Smith", and shares both the exam questions and matching answers, instructs them not to share with the students, and tells them that they will need to help administer the exam. On the 30th, the aide finally gives a list of covered material to the class, and the exam is conducted on the 31st. Is Mrs. Smith being the only parent of a testing child having the full exam, or one student receiving exclusive but limited information before official common knowledge, sound like "fair play" to you?

 

[kinkyshin]

The best part about the tentacle pit is that I'm guessing one day you'll be able to shove Juliette in there.

 

[PickerLewd]

Well, if you're big enough of a fuck-up (K1-K2 looser) in ep.8 scene she tells Kane that she wants to 'devour' him. Personally, I can't wait to see that happen, I hope it's something more creative than a Sarlacc Pit though. Maybe Evil Olivia will join the fun too, one can hope! Just imagine this pathetic slab of meat crying just like Thad, asking them "Why are you doing this? (Oh man, they are so evil!)". And they just laugh and start to make out while Kane is slowly 'devoured' (whatever that means).

But yeah, on the Dom path Jules may dislike us (if we play as GoodKane) but Olivia is an immediate and obvious threat to her, not Kane. And EvilKane is her soulmate (assuming they have souls), so no threat there at all.

And here I thought Crow was K1-K2 Kane's number one fan .
To devour means to eat something that is alive, I have done it with a very small fish and it is horrible because you feel the movement when you swallow. Obviously you can't eat a human being unless Jules has a giant monster as a pet, similar to the ones Jabba the Hutt had .

 

[MilesEdgeworth]

The best part about the tentacle pit is that I'm guessing one day you'll be able to shove Juliette in there.

Juliette feels way too comfortable around Kane. First being alone with him when he barely knows her and he has that death juice. Allowing herself to be bent over a pit. I get that Kane seems safe but at least take some precautions


Regarding the sisters and Callista, I assume she had similar meetings with all the sisters. Remember that during the Veronica meeting, she had no idea which sister was going to show up to the meeting. For the Alexandria meeting, I doubt Callista was advising her how to win since one of the things she was talking about was Elena possibly getting what she wanted. I think she was meeting with whatever sister would meet her and ensuring that the gambit was run fairly so as not to ruin whatever results she was going for.

Making me do work this early smdh

 

[Maviarab]

And here I thought Crow was K1-K2 Kane's number one fan .
To devour means to eat something that is alive, I have done it with a very small fish and it is horrible because you feel the movement when you swallow. Obviously you can't eat a human being unless Jules has a giant monster as a pet, similar to the ones Jabba the Hutt had .

Well..to be fair PL...Jules kinda does have a giant pet Sarlacc....spikes and tentacles an' all...

 

[PickerLewd]

Well..to be fair PL...Jules kinda does have a giant pet Sarlacc....spikes and tentacles an' all...

It's pretty obvious that I'm the only one here who's never played K1-K2, isn't it?
I must look like an idiot .

 

[MilesEdgeworth]

It's pretty obvious that I'm the only one here who's never played K1-K2, isn't it?
I must look like an idiot .

the pit is on the dom route when you fuck juliette.

Also with the sarlac pit, kane not knowing his father and callista running around looking like a discount darthvader, was Tess going for a star wars theme this update?