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The Last Daughter; Dragon-Blooded Sorcery School Quest

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
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Gazetteer said:
That's going to be a separate vote.
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Yes! All the Yes! We need a hearth bond with the sacred necromantic cinnamon bun so we always know where she is.

[X] House V'neef

I have a great many reasons for this.

First and foremost, I have been hoping to collect all of Ambraea's best chums into the hearth, and even if not getting L'nessa isn't quite none negotiable, I don't particularly like some of the directions Mnemon pushes Ambraea in and find sorcery mentoring and protection by itself not an even trade, let alone a positive one.

Sesus meanwhile seems a good deal more transactional and flexible but but Oban and Cerec are clearly biding there and waiting for an opportunity, which, while not the worst approach, we'd be waiting for them to inform ambraea of such opportunities. The flexibility is somewhat counterbalanced by the position of dependence on the members of house sesus for advancement ambraea would put herself in.

The other reasons are no less nuanced. There is something inherently appealing about being involved as a critical piece in Vneef's play for the throne. To interact with the adopted former patrician and outcast members of house V'neef and the dynast houses she has allied with or seeks to ally with. To tackle problems of sorcerous, military, political, and potentially anathemic nature with freedom and creativity rather than the strict guiding hand of a tiger mom Mnemon.

There is also the fact that we still need to finalize things with Vneef, and if we place priority on Vneef finding a good mentor to make up for passing on mnemon she'd have to give it her best shot, and she is a shrewd negotiator with far reach do to the merchant fleet. I certainly don't know who she might arrange that might at least try to measure up, but it would be interesting to find out, and probably something of an interesting plot piece in the sequel.

Lastly, I kind of just want to give Sthera a kick in the pants? Like, I sympathize. She lost someone irreplaceable and now there is a literally hole in her minds eye where he used to be, but she isn't going to avenge him fruitlessly throwing away her life to battle the bull of heaven alone, or by ending each night drunk on her back in a pile of substitute lovers.

Sthera is too cool a character to let go to seed and spend the rest of her days as a miserable drunk, and Ambraea certainly won't be in a position to kick her ass and kabedon her in sesus or mnemon's houses.

On a seperate note, I think Gazetteer just foreshadowed a proper stress relieving spar between Nazat and Ambraea? This will be fun.
 
[X] House Sesus

Sesus strikes a good balance between protection offered, in Sesus's power and influence, and agency for individual action, as we are marrying in not being adopted. Vneef and gambling on becoming our own House after winning the civil war is the high-risk play, but Sesus gives us more flexibility and does not risk the wrath of Mnennon.
 
[X] House Mnemon

V'neef is in such untenable position that it is not even funny. Not only Mnemon hates her there is also Peleps who hates their control of merchant marine and all the money from it going to V'neef instead of them.

That is 2 very old and very powerful houses that is against her from the get to go. As allies go they have very little to counterbalance this.

I am not enthuesesed for Mnemon as I thought I would be but Sesus is not winning this vote so Mnemon it is. If Sesus gets more votes I might switch but V'neef is death trap.

Oh also V'neef herself is Essence 3 character. So you know Mnemon might curbstomp her rather casually if this whole thing devolves to a fight and they were to come against eachother. No wonder V'neef is training with pistols Fire wands.
 
I recently reread the start of this and was reminded of just how much L'nessa has done for us and how she's stood by us. Given that we've always picked to stand by our friends over what might be the optimal move, I can only go:

[x] House V'neef
 
[x] House Mnemon

I really like Mnemon as a character, and the idea of Ambraea growing closer to her eldest sister and finding that she likes the woman is actually really tempting, given that in this very update we had Ambraea reflecting on how much the idea of having a bond with her sister like Amiti has with her own appeals.
 
[X] House Mnemon
She seems like a super cool gal and left the best impression among those pitches.
The envy about sibling bonds this chapter was also really touching and it would be hilarious if Amiti's derailment of the Sesus pitch accidentally yeeted Ambraea to Mnemon. Sounds almost like Venus shenanigans, right?

V'neef has way too much plucky protagonist energy for Ambraea.
 
And here it is.

[X] House Mnemon

Mnemon has my confidence as the next new Empress. She's the strongest candidate and I'd much rather be with her than against her. I'm also definitely interested in seeing her relationship with Ambraea play out.

V'neef doesn't really inspire my support - she always feels more like a figurehead for a greater anti-Mnemon movement rather than a candidate in her own right.

Sesus, while interesting, feels like a compromise more than a decision. I also don't know how much their shadowy vibe fits with Ambraea.
 
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