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Redemption has nothing to do with Ulthuan, because the word redemption is all about internal change, not external. There's a whole separate option for getting forgiven by Ulthuan, after all. No, redemption is about redeeming herself to herself. Actually becoming worthy again, at least in her own eyes.

Ulthuan isn't gonna acknowledge that, but that's a completely different matter.
 
Given the nature of Fanriel's crimes and the nature of Ulthuan's elite that seems like a reasonable and healthy thing to assume. There is no redemption for this that we can reasonably plan for or work towards. The elves have societal PTSD about the Blood of Anaerion and in Fanriel's case it has proven correct.
Even if it seems to be impossible, we have to strive to atone for what we have done and earn redemption. There's more than one way to achieve it and even if returning home is not one of them, we have to have hope and be obsessed with the idea of redemption, for it is a powerful motivator to do great things in order to redeem our name and perhaps one day, earn a a right to go home, however meager that hope is.
Redemption has nothing to do with Ulthuan, because the word redemption is all about internal change, not external. There's a whole separate option for getting forgiven by Ulthuan, after all. No, redemption is about redeeming herself to herself. Actually becoming worthy again, at least in her own eyes.

Ulthuan isn't gonna acknowledge that, but that's a completely different matter.
It is the universal option of achieving everything else, not just for our own self-esteem. We can redeem ourselves in more, than one way and basically it means, that we will strive to be what we were. To return to the state from before our tragedy and exile, being the rich, noble, heroic and proud Asur of yesterday, in our own eyes and the eyes of others. A high bar, but one worthy of pursing and it will most certainly keep us alive.
 
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Redemption has nothing to do with Ulthuan, because the word redemption is all about internal change, not external. There's a whole separate option for getting forgiven by Ulthuan, after all. No, redemption is about redeeming herself to herself. Actually becoming worthy again, at least in her own eyes.

Ulthuan isn't gonna acknowledge that, but that's a completely different matter.

Looking at it from the internal redemption perspective it seems equally impossible if for another reason. Fanriel did what she did because she was and is under the effect of a divine curse. She will never not be under the effect of a divine curse. Just a few updates ago she did something impulsive that endangered her wellbing and the wellbing of her companions because of the curse. It is just that in this case luck broke in her favor

Ultimately though it is a matter of taste, I do not really want to be brooding 90s anti-hero elf and would find reading about those dead elves a hundred updates in the future annoying.

Fanriel: Oooh that's a nice flower. That reminds me of the flowers they wove into the hair of the elves my negligence killed. Woe is me! *heads off for mandatory brooding, climbing ornamented buildings optional* :V
 
Ultimately though it is a matter of taste, I do not really want to be brooding 90s anti-hero elf and would find reading about those dead elves a hundred updates in the future annoying.

Fanriel: Oooh that's a nice flower. That reminds me of the flowers they wove into the hair of the elves my negligence killed. Woe is me! *heads off for mandatory brooding, climbing ornamented buildings optional* :V

I'm pretty sure there isn't one of these options that makes that happen, and also isn't one of them that makes her feel less guilty either. Frankly, looking for redemption or to make up for her crimes make this less likely, if anything, because for it to be a goal it needs to be achievable. She has to think redemption or making up for what she did is, in fact, something she can achieve which helps a bit with the potential hopelessness.
 
Concerning redemption: yes, it's unlikely that we will ever get it from ourselves, but striving towards it is still a worthy goal.
 
A memory comes to you just then, of three masked figures speaking with one voice, a terrible figure of flame standing behind them all gazing down on your young form.

"This one will walk many paths."
Quite an intresting prophecy, and extremely open ended, which is good for a quest character.

Hopefully one of the paths isn't the Path To Glory

spread before them is a wooden board, intricately carved with a map of Ulthuan, divided into regions and kingdoms each adorned with various symbols and connected to each other by lines. In front of each of them is a number of coloured wooden tokens, adorned with the symbols of each kingdom.

"Loremaster, we were just-" Beren says, looking alarmed, but you cut him off.

"No need, I see what's happening here."

Triumph, it is called, a popular board game invented in the time of Bel-Shanaar the Explorer. The basic premise is that each of the players takes control of one of the Ten Kingdoms of Ulthuan, and must conquer the continent using military power, intrigue and economics. However, it is designed in such a way that a player cannot make progress without allying with another, yet betraying these alliances is not only encouraged but an integral facet of game mechanics.
Sounds like a fun & infuriating game. Does it include outside influences? Can the Druchii invade? Or is that after it's time? Although there could always be a expansion pack...
 
don't believe redemption is possible. Her folly has caused an international incident between Ulthuan and their oldest and most trusted allies against Chaos
I don't know that I'd quite describe the relationship between Asur and Lizardmen that way.

I'd say it's more like "Those guys over there that also fight Chaos who we try not to bother because that tends to get a hand bitten off". There certainly isn't trust.

Allies to me implies some degree of cooperation that doesn't exist, and this is not the first time that Lizardmen have killed Elves- this time, the reason is just easy to see.

[x] You want to earn redemption.
 
This is probably the one most likely to keep us from falling to chaos if nothing else. Even the KILL CHAOS one can still draw corn's attention, even if it's based.

[x] You want to earn redemption.
 
edit: changed vote based on new information
[X] You want to earn redemption.
[X] You want to make up for your crimes.

I'm conflicted. I would very much like to make up for our crimes, because it feels more alturistic. earning redemention is more 'I fucked up and I need to be a better person' whereas making up is more 'I fucked up and I need to find some way to make it up to the people I hurt.' And yet at the same time, undoing the negative consequences without personal growth is also egoistical and feels, kinda empty or something? As if we broke a random vase and bought the owner a new one, but you can't just exchange something to make the dead of a loved one okay again. And trying to do so without a very good understanding of our flaws and real change. That feels wrong.

Ultimately, I think I want to do both redeem and make up, with the understanding that making up is going to be extremely hard to impossible, because even if we save 7 thousand elven lives, that will bring cold comfort to the over 7 hundred elves we got killed, nor their families. In a way, the only ones who could declare us to be redeemed is the loved ones of our victims, and I think that will be a very tall task indeed.
But true understanding and true, heartfelt remorse are a very important first step, and it seems to me we are at least on the first step towards that.
 
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Isn't this the Redemption option but worded differently?
Redemption and making up for your crimes are similar but distinct goals.

Words cannot convey the sheer level of feral glee this update inspired in me.

We landed a good contract and Dorial got to show off why he's a Bladelord and remain cryptic - as is his wont and that was great. But the highlight for me was Fanriel's companions - I absolutely lose it (in a good way) whenever the Swordmasters get screen time (I'm so invested in them, to quote that Narnia meme - I was there when they were writtten). I love Fanriel interacting with them, I love them interacting with each other... I love all of them and everything about them. The fact that they're all fan creations is just icing on the wonderfully electic cake that is the mix of backgrounds and home kingdoms in the squad. And we got character interaction over Asur Diplomacy which is unbelievably cool.

I had to read the update four or five times over before looking at anything else because I kept on getting so excited that I wanted to read it all over again. You're doing an amazing job, Blackout.
Aww, thanks. I often feel like I struggle to write good dialogue and bring out a character's personality, so I'm happy to hear people liked it.

and nd if a graduate of the White Tower couldn't pull back -> and if a graduate of the White Tower couldn't pull back
Thank you, fixed now.

Okay, back up for a bit. What in the world are they teaching kids in Ulthuan? That the dwarfs kills elves just for shits and giggle?
They're teaching kids that dwarfs kill elves because they were duped by Malekith and are too stubborn to admit that they were wrong.

As @SoulCaptain mentioned, official elven history says that they tried to explain to the dwarfs about the Druchii but dwarfs simply couldn't comprehend the idea of civil war, and that when Malekith's agents attacked dwarf caravans High King Gotrek Starbreaker couldn't keep his vassals in line and his own son, Snorri Halfhand, led a Throng to raze the city of Kor Vanaeth (Present day Altdorf) to the ground. When Gotrek's ambassador arrived in Lothern to demand recompense for the caravans after the dwarfs had already committed an act of war, Caledor II ordered him thrown out, but he pretended not to know anything about the attack, drew his axe and swore by his beard that he would not leave until Caledor II had paid weregild. As such, Caledor II ordered him shaved and sent back to Karaz-A-Karak as a declaration of war.

Of course, dwarf history has its own version of events which says that the elves went out of their way to conceal the existence of the Druchii from them out of pride, unwilling to admit to the shame of some elves being in open rebellion against the Phoenix Throne until after the caravan attacks at which point the dwarfs rightly distrusted them, and that Kor Vanaeth was razed in response to the beardshaving rather than instigating it. Sure, they know now that Malekith was behind the attacks and the caravan grudge was struck out, but with the information they had at the time their actions were justified and the war was fought over the beardshaving, not the caravans. Thus they did nothing wrong.

Both sides accuse each other of historical revisionism to make themselves look better, but nobody can prove anything in a way the other side would accept.

Her folly has caused an international incident between Ulthuan and their oldest and most trusted allies against Chaos, one that led to seven hundred Asur deaths and change.
I don't believe she's done anything to the Dragons of Caledor?

The Asur and Lizardmen are not allies, and certainly not trusted. They fight the same common enemy, but the alien mindset of the Slann makes it impossible to do any lasting diplomacy with them, and they've come into conflict many times before.

What does happen? Suicide?
Elves do not die of old age, and so it is often these obsessions, the strength of one's purpose, that determines their lifespan. As they age, and experiences of sorrow and loss pile atop one another, the burden usually slowly becomes too much to bear, and the elf will fall into a deep melancholy, during which they will begin to physically deteriorate until eventually peacefully falling into a sleep they will never awake from. Indeed, it can sometimes be difficult to tell when death has occurred, for due to their timeless and magical nature, elven bodies do not normally decompose.

Quite an intresting prophecy, and extremely open ended, which is good for a quest character.

Hopefully one of the paths isn't the Path To Glory
It's only the first verse of her prophecy. There's more to it which will be revealed later.

Sounds like a fun & infuriating game. Does it include outside influences? Can the Druchii invade? Or is that after it's time? Although there could always be a expansion pack...
No, it's a contained system. Outside of trade nodes at the edge of the map the rest of the world doesn't exist.

The point of the game is that there are no random elements, outside of the players themselves.

Also speaking of which, trying to put some more effort into improving our swordsmanship skills could be good. And amusingly might make the quest name misleading b/c if we pursue that route instead of improving our magic we pretty much become a Swordmaster that happens to know some magic :p
Bold of you to assume that the Sword Arts of the God of Magic (Well, one of them anyway) involve no magic.
 
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