Oh there's totally would be people who'd violate the spirit of the law and pull bullshit to not serve demihumans in bars and stuff like that. Most of it would be like 'I don't want no Demis on my side of the farmland!' and 'im not banning demis from my craft shop, i'm banning vagrants who cant afford anything. If they just happened to be demi's 'shrug'' now you get into the destabilization of the entire system because Yukihime isn't an aristocrat or politician who'd play the game. She'd take one look at it, and then knock them around for disrespecting her and thinking they could get away with it. I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying this.
Yukihime is more of a mob boss in mentality than politician, however. Take that as you will.
Segregation would mean a lot of effort put into how each location is split up. Plus you would have to make sure both sides have access to the same quality services, else you'll seem to be discriminating against either humans or demihumans.
Anti-Discrimination Laws are going to be needed eventually but "Temporary Segregation" doesn't do any of that. It is literally just forcing Humans & Demihumans apart, hoping the isolation would somehow not reinforce their biases.
It doesn't combat the racism, and is even pretty racist itself- acting like Humans and Demihumans can't get along. Seriously, even President Lincoln realized forcing 'Black' and 'White' people apart wouldn't work.
So yeah, the Segregation vote personally offends me and it doesn't even include Anti-Discrimination Laws.
Adhoc vote count started by Kkutlord on Jun 23, 2019 at 8:27 PM, finished with 965 posts and 14 votes.
[X] Empower intellectuals. Master Hillwick didn't just host a bunch of martial artists, he also sustained one of the largest hubs for heretical thought, philosophers and free thinkers on this side of the country. Make use of their education and brain power to coordinate the villages.
I see many broken kneecaps for her collection in the future!
For either choice, I'm guessing Yuki will do whatever the fuck she wants when it comes to "vigilante" justice. You're not a vigilante if you are the law!
Do racism analogues from our world apply here if demihumans (what a racist name, why would they call themselves that?) and humans have physically different abilities? Namely, demihumans age up with levels, whereas humans don't seem to. There are kingdoms ruled by demihumans, right? So why don't we get in touch with them and see how they think? Also, do their people call themselves demihumans too?
Again, vote as you wish, there's validity in both choices. I personally don't like the whole "here's all the things that could go wrong with that option" thing we're doing, so I'll just leave it at that.
...Maybe this is much too heavy a subject to put into a dumb isekai quest. But like, slavery and you can't just magically end slavery and say 'things were then good forever'.
But this is something I like to call 'Crisis Points' in my writing where we have these hard choices to make that have immediate consequences. The first of these was in the Throne Room, the second was with Itsuki, and now at the end of the Castle Scarwood Arc.
[X] Empower intellectuals. Master Hillwick didn't just host a bunch of martial artists, he also sustained one of the largest hubs for heretical thought, philosophers and free thinkers on this side of the country. Make use of their education and brain power to coordinate the villages.
[X] Exile them and send your more loyal monks to inhabit these new temples to spread your philosophy.
[X] Hate Crime Tax and other similar laws. Every time someone vandalizes a demihuman home, they must pay restitution. Repeat offenders will be exiled.
So, you might be wondering exactly why Demihumans accept the label 'demi human' so readily even though it sounds really fucking racist? Well, because it is, but it's also pretty much a reclaimed term by the time Shield Hero canon starts, with both demi human nations using the term to give their peoples solidarity, as they can't afford to split the party against human majority nations like Melromarc. When 'DemiHuman' was first termed, it was almost 100% due to fear and to make them seem 'subhuman'.
This is because Demi Humans all have one thing in common: A supernatural ancestor. Through the power of magic, shape shifting, weird shit you don't want to think about, divine intervention, magical experiments gone wrong you name it, people began diverging from regular human status... Into something more powerful. The initial demihumans must have been literal demigods... So you might be wondering well, then how did humanity survive and not go extinct during this time? That's because Demi's aren't and never have been monolithic, they were even less so at the time. So they fought each other because they saw each other as rivals. Then as bloodlines dilute so does the power generation by generation as they get further away from their supernatural ancestor. The four hero summoning was probably invented to try to even the playing field with early demihumans... Only to add in more chaos and not really help out that much until like... Six hundred to maybe a thousand years ago? These days, the gap from demihumans and regular humans is much smaller and negligible. Aside from aging a bit faster and being a bit stronger on average Demihumans and Humans are on a equal playing field.
Anyway, so the term demihuman was only really used to discriminate against people with a supernatural ancestor and there was no common 'demihuman identity' until the establishment of Siltvelt and the changes to the world wide political scene.
So, now to the more modern reason humans and demihumans hate each other: Religion and War.
(oh good Sword of Mars gets to talk about fictional religions and make world building for the fictional work he's writing a quest on yay! not.)
Then the Four Heroes actually succeeded at bringing about world peace and an age of international cooperation... Only for them all to die and it to fall apart immediately. Those heroes turned into legend, and became the basis of the Four Heroes Church, and it's heretical sects the Church of the Three Heroes and The Church of the Shield. So, sometime like a thousand years ago (or so) religion did that thing where it splits into offshoot religions of itself, Three Heroes going into some racist monk's brain somewhere in Melromarc and the Shield going into where Siltvelt would eventually form itself from. So summoning the Four Heroes was a sacred right that happened every time they needed a new set after the previous ones died...
Faubley, is the most populated and rich land on the continent. Because of this, it sees itself as the rightful summoners of the Four Heroes mostly for their genes and to marry their kids to them for prestige and this pissed everyone else off... Sort of because they also wanted that prestige, and also because they genuinely wanted to see their religious figures. So they needed a political reason to fight Faubley over the summoning of the Four Heroes, and what better way to do that than embrace a heresy (there was also the fact that Faubley controls most of the religious upper hierarchy that they could use to influence other nations with). So Faubley was eventually forced after most of the continent went to war (aside Q'ten Lo which doesn't care) to allow them to summon a hero of their choice, to the countries that mattered anyway, that being: Faubley, Melromarc, Siltvelt. (The fourth slot was offered to Q'Ten Lo, who rejected it because they don't care so Faubley also holds onto it...) But this meant that the continent is even more divided than before and Melromarc started feeling the effects of embracing a religion that embraced human supremacy, and the various demi human groups in Siltvelt already held a bunch of local religions that stated their individual race was better than everyone else with a minor Shield Hero church dedicated to the Shield Hero from the Four Heroes Church due to his favorable actions towards Demihumans.
Naturally both them tried to kill each other every other generation, the more and more Demihumans identified themselves as 'Demihumans' in solidarity. Humans and Demihumans enslaved each other and killed each other for generations, until Siltvelt and Melromarc had a final showdown fifteen years ago, when Siltvelt somehow massed enough soldiers to make a bid for continental supremacy, only to be destroyed by Aultcray in a mostly Pyrrhic victory. Mirellia, now Queen of Melromarc sought reconciliation and the end of constant warfare and they both signed an uneasy peace with the construction of two safe havens, a village in Melromarc for free Demihumans and one in Siltvelt for free Humans...
TLDR: Demihumans and Humans hate the shit of each other because they've been in a forever war that only just ended.
TLDR2: Demihumans accepted the term demihumans out of solidarity against Melromarc to unite themselves against a common foe and discourage infighting.
Additonal Note: Sometime within that time frame Siltvelt had a small scale civil war that led to Schildfrieden splitting off to form a Noble Republic, and Melromarc lost land to a mercenary revolt that formed Zeltoble.
Another Additonal Note: Q'Ten Lo literally doesn't do anything. I don't get it either.
Edit: this thing was full of errors, I was a bit distracted, my dog just went in heat.
Love the backstory for the setting! Very politicized, very frustrating. I like it.
So did Melromarc summon all of our current four heroes at once, or were there representatives from the other kingdoms presiding over the ritual?
Adhoc vote count started by Plausitivity on Jun 23, 2019 at 4:45 AM, finished with 963 posts and 12 votes.
[X] Empower intellectuals. Master Hillwick didn't just host a bunch of martial artists, he also sustained one of the largest hubs for heretical thought, philosophers and free thinkers on this side of the country. Make use of their education and brain power to coordinate the villages.
Nope, they summoned them all at once on their own instead of summoning them all in Faubley, who was using the crisis of the wave attacks to reassert itself as hegemon to coordinate against the Waves. It was a political power grab in Melromarc by the Three Hero Church (and Malty), and it failed spectacularly. It's also why the much more competent Queen Mirellia (the actual monarch of Melromarc) is out of the country using diplo fu against all the other nations that are very mad about their savior figures being summoned by Melromarc instead of the previously agreed upon nation(literally in this case, because you're the last batch before the end of the world).
Though it's probably a good thing you weren't summoned in King Pig's domain.
Then you had them kicked out with a few spare carriages to help carry the more wounded men. Lord Rey and his men might be a problem later on, but you don't regret sparing them... Everyone should get a second chance, and you didn't want to take away a father in front of his children. If he comes to face you in the field again, you wont hesitate to cut him down though.
I have to ask where does healing meant letting them go?
Did we have to add an sub vote to imprison them especially Rey?
Did we kept Rey's family or did we let them and servants not slave go with him and his soldiers?
I don't mind the speech and healing but letting them go annoys me.
I have to ask where does healing meant letting them go?
Did we have to add an sub vote to imprison them especially Rey?
Did we kept Rey's family or did we let them and servants not slave go with him and his soldiers?
I don't mind the speech and healing but letting them go annoys me.
Because the questers took the gold option? I've always been very clear that the mental states are always extreme and manic. Even when they're very vague it should be really easy to figure out what Yukihime is probably going to do with each color.
She let them go due to mercy. It has the additional value of adding more weight to give you more sympathy at the local and upper level. You were always going to make an example of Rey, this is just a more creative one. Hmm... Consider it like this: Yukihime was always going to let the soldiers and his family go after she was done healing them, she considered executing Lord Rey for his transgressions but as she was under the mental effects of gold, decided to forgive him instead. Lord Rey without his army, his land and his money is nothing. He stopped being a threat and he stopped being consequential, so she kicked him out without a second thought.
The more punitive options were available but, that's not what was chosen and everyone gambled on a colored option.
[X] Empower intellectuals. Master Hillwick didn't just host a bunch of martial artists, he also sustained one of the largest hubs for heretical thought, philosophers and free thinkers on this side of the country. Make use of their education and brain power to coordinate the villages.
[X] Exile them and send your more loyal monks to inhabit these new temples to spread your philosophy.
[X] Hate Crime Tax and other similar laws. Every time someone vandalizes a demihuman home, they must pay restitution. Repeat offenders will be exiled.
[X] Empower intellectuals. Master Hillwick didn't just host a bunch of martial artists, he also sustained one of the largest hubs for heretical thought, philosophers and free thinkers on this side of the country. Make use of their education and brain power to coordinate the villages.
[X] Exile them and send your more loyal monks to inhabit these new temples to spread your philosophy.
[X] Hate Crime Tax and other similar laws. Every time someone vandalizes a demihuman home, they must pay restitution. Repeat offenders will be exiled.
Because the questers took the gold option? I've always been very clear that the mental states are always extreme and manic. Even when they're very vague it should be really easy to figure out what Yukihime is probably going to do with each color.
She let them go due to mercy. It has the additional value of adding more weight to give you more sympathy at the local and upper level. You were always going to make an example of Rey, this is just a more creative one. Hmm... Consider it like this: Yukihime was always going to let the soldiers and his family go after she was done healing them, she considered executing Lord Rey for his transgressions but as she was under the mental effects of gold, decided to forgive him instead. Lord Rey without his army, his land and his money is nothing. He stopped being a threat and he stopped being consequential, so she kicked him out without a second thought.
The more punitive options were available but, that's not what was chosen and everyone gambled on a colored option.
Also for what its worth, given how many enemies we're making letting those we captured free after we beat them doesn't really meaningfully change the formula(1001:1 vs 1000:1 is negligible)...and it DOES encourage losing enemies to surrender because they KNOW we'd treat them decently, so we might be dealing with favorable rout thresholds in future.
[X] Empower intellectuals. Master Hillwick didn't just host a bunch of martial artists, he also sustained one of the largest hubs for heretical thought, philosophers and free thinkers on this side of the country. Make use of their education and brain power to coordinate the villages.
[X] Exile them and send a messenger across the border to request missionaries from the Church of the Four Heroes to replace them.
[X] Hate Crime Tax and other similar laws. Every time someone vandalizes a demihuman home, they must pay restitution. Repeat offenders will be exiled.
[X] Empower intellectuals. Master Hillwick didn't just host a bunch of martial artists, he also sustained one of the largest hubs for heretical thought, philosophers and free thinkers on this side of the country. Make use of their education and brain power to coordinate the villages.
[X] Exile them and send a messenger across the border to request missionaries from the Church of the Four Heroes to replace them.
[X] Hate Crime Tax and other similar laws. Every time someone vandalizes a demihuman home, they must pay restitution. Repeat offenders will be exiled.
WARNING: THIS CONTENT CONTAINS SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND EXTREME CHILD ABUSE. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Three days. Three days had passed since Raphtalia had gained her newest master, and already she hated him with the fury of… of… of a thousand raging, city destroying fires! Yeah! Paul was treating her quite poorly, punishing Raphtalia for the slightest slip ups. And it wasn't just the slave brand. There had already been two beatings, and Raphtalia had been denied her gruel more than once. And on top of all of that, she had to wear this stiff, itchy, frilly, short-skirted, black and white dress. It was very demeaning.
Ever since she had discovered the possibility of solving her problems by killing them, ever since she had found hope, Raphtalia had become more aware of every last injustice done against her. It would have been easy to sink under the weight of it all, to just curl up and die. A large part of her still wanted to. Raphtalia wouldn't have to live in this harsh world anymore, and she could see everyone she had lost again. But then, she knew Keel was still alive- that man wouldn't let any of his toys perish- and it was possible that Sadeena was out there, too.
Also, Raphtalia really, really wanted to kill Paul. Can't kill someone if you're dead.
Now, the homicidal young girl was looking over the herbs laid out on the table in front of her. She was in the kitchen tent, along with all the lower ranked mercenaries who were on cooking duty. Raphtalia picked up a leaf, and hesitantly nibbled on it. It tasted bad, but didn't seem to be immediately poisonous. That was a shame. (Later, Raphtalia would reflect that it isn't exactly a good idea to figure out if something is poisonous by taste testing.)
"MAID!" A voice bellowed from outside. "Where. Is. My. Tea!" Raphtalia jerked up, and hurried to a pot hanging over a fire. She grabbed the pot with her bare hands, only to let out a yelp and drop it. She looked down at her burned hands, and then at the teapot spilling its contents onto the ground. Horror dawned in her eyes. A few of the cooks glanced at Raphtalia, but most looked away, and no one came to help her.
The tent flap billowed as Paul stormed inside, clad in a gambeson. He coldly glared at the slave, and snapped his fingers. Raphtalia followed the tea pot to the ground, letting a cry as PAIN coursed through her. Though it faded quickly, she was still shaking, and the spasms had triggered another coughing fit. A couple of the cooks gave Paul disapproving looks for making a scene. The man grabbed Raphtalia by the collar, and dragged her away.
Later that day, Raphtalia was cleaning her master's weaponry, under the semi-watchful eye of said master. She lifted a long knife, feeling it's weight in her hands. A high quality blade, easily able to part flesh. Raphtalia learned this, as the fingers of the hand grasping the blade were now covered in blood. She had barely felt any pain as the dagger sliced her palm open. She glanced back at Paul, who raised an eyebrow in response. Raphtalia turned back to her work, and clenched the fabric of her dress in her injured hand, to staunch the flow of blood.
Really, it was good that she was working with weapons. She might have to fight her way out of the adventurer camp. In fact, she felt a call to these swords, spears, knives, shields, and bows. A primal part of Raphtalia demanded that she shed the blood of all those who had hurt her. 'Soon,' she thought to herself as she stealthily tied a rag around her hand. 'Not yet. But soon.'
Raphtalia finished her work, and wrapped the various weapons in a cloth: an arming sword, a long knife, a shortbow, a lance, and numerous daggers and arrows. The girl took the bundle in her arms, struggling under the weight; the physical exertion was also aggravating the lingering pain from the day's earlier beating. Bruises would definitely be forming. Raphtalia ignored it, and turned to her master. Paul didn't say a word, just turned around and walked off. Raphtalia staggered after.
Once more, Raphtalia coughed. Violently, of course. It was late at night, but she couldn't sleep. Didn't want to. She didn't like nightmares. 'Besides,' she thought. 'The stars at night are pretty.' Raphtalia, along with all the other slaves, were chained to posts under the night sky, given blankets to sleep on. Most of the mercenaries were sleeping inside the tents, although a few were standing watch, Ermyn among them.
Raphtalia wiped her phlegm covered hands on her dress- it was becoming quite stained at this point. Her master would likely have her clean it soon, after torturing her for daring to get dirty. Raphtalia's ears twitched, then, at the sound of chains rattling.
The wolf-man, a personal combat slave of Ermyn, had settled down next to Raphtalia. "It's a beautiful night," he started, in a polished voice that hinted at a higher education. "Don't you think?" Raphtalia looked over at him, tense, and nodded slightly. What reason did he have for being here, beside her?
"You know," the wolf-man continued, "when I was young, I wondered if anyone lived up there." He gestured to the expanse above them. "In the stars. My father said that the spirits of our ancestors were up there, watching over us; and that when we died, we would join them, to watch over our own descendants." The wolf-man let out a small chuckle. "On the other hand, my papa would say that-"
Raphtalia interjected then, speaking in a voice tight from lack of use. "You had a father and a papa? How-" The girl coughed, before sitting up to let the fluids in her lungs drain. "How does that work?" The wolf-man rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his muzzle. "Oh. So she speaks!" He let out a barking laugh. One of the night watchmen shot a glare at the slaves, and the wolf-man flinched back. "I was adopted, presumably," he continued in a whisper as Raphtalia attentively listened, curiosity in her eyes. "Although, for all I know, they did some sort of magic ritual to have me. I don't think I'll know until I'm up there with them."
The wolf-man took on wistful look, staring up at the stars. Raphtalia, however, was still tense. She thought over her words, and spoke again. "Why are you talking to me?" The wolf-man, although he did not move, gave Raphtalia the side eye. "You belong to Lieutenant Paul, do you not?" The demihuman bristled at the thought of him, and nodded. "As I'm sure you've already discovered, he is a cruel excuse of a man. The way Lady Ermyn talks about it, he's gone through personal slave each month. I think she just keeps him around because he's the master for many of the other combat slaves." Raphtalia raised an eyebrow. 'Lady' Ermyn? She certainly wouldn't be addressing that man as 'Lord'. However, she said nothing, allowing the wolf-man to continue. "You're young. You deserve better, but the only release is death. If you're going to die, I want you to do it on your own terms."
Raphtalia let out a small gasp as the wolf-man took out a small, chalky tablet. "This is a poison," he explained. "Called 'Endless Sleep'. I've had it with me since my Coliseum days. Supposedly, if you drop this in a liquid, then drink it, the next time you go to sleep, you will die. Painlessly." He lifted his arm out to Raphtalia, the tablet in his hand. "I want you to have it. I'm too high of a level for it to work on me anymore, to say nothing of the various masters I've had. But you… you don't deserve what Paul is going to put you through."
Hesitantly, barely believing this was happening, Raphtalia took the tablet, and tucked it into the folds of her dress. "Thank you," she whispered, before laying back down alongside the wolf-man. Raphtalia looked up into the stars, thoughts whirling inside her head. "My daddy talked about a War in Heaven," she eventually said. "I never learned what it was about. But I like what your father talked about more. Being with our ancestors sounds a lot better." The young girl waited, before saying "My name's Raphtalia." The wolf-man gave a toothy smile, and responded "Mine's Theo. May we see each other in the stars." Raphtalia let a small smile come onto her face, and closed her eyes. Seeing her new friend(?) again in the stars sounded nice. But that would have to come later. She had work to do.
The next morning, Raphtalia was toddling after Paul, the weapon bundle in her arms. She wasn't sure if the Endless Sleep would work on him. Theo had said that he himself was too high level for the poison to work on him. Did that mean he ignored it? Or would it have a lesser effect? 'Tonight," she thought to herself. 'I'll slip the poison into his evening tea.' Raphtalia felt the pill in her dress pocket, and the swordbreaker dagger she had slipped into her shoe. 'Then, I'll break my chains, slip into Paul's tent, and stab him. Just to make sure. Then I'm free.'
'Then what?' A part of Raphtalia asked, but before she could think of an answer, they had arrived at their destination: a clearing within the camp, where Ermyn was leading most of the mercenaries- about eight dozen of them- in training. "Alright, men," she began in a strong voice. "The next Wave is coming soon. And with the Shield 'Hero' having shown her true colors, the kingdom needs warriors to defend the world. The King will pay us well to be those warriors." Ermyn was pacing in front of the assembled adventurers, looking into the eyes of each one. Raphtalia kept an ear swiveled in their direction was she helped Paul put on his armor. "I won't lie to you. We all remember how bad the last Wave was, and this is going to be worse. But we will. Stand. Strong. We've delved ancient tombs and forgotten dungeons. We've fought across the whole continent, for kings, lords, and senators. When the times got tough, we swallowed our pride and accepted jobs from the filthy demihuman kingdoms. Will we back down now?!" A resounding "NO!" came from the crowd. Pride was gleaming in Ermyn's eyes as she looked over her company. Raphtalia rolled hers as she tightened a buckle, resisting the urge to yank it down hard. 'So you're a good leader,' she thought. 'Doesn't excuse anything.' "So let's get to work, you sons of whores! We've gotta be tough enough to fight off the monsters when they come!"
A resounding cheer came from the gathered adventurers. They broke up and scattered through the clearing, drilling maneuvers and sparring with each other. Ermyn intermingled among her men, correcting any mistakes they made and providing firm encouragement- to the humans, at least. A cold "Do it again" was all that was given to any of the combat slaves. Raphtalia, now that Paul was training with the others, sat off to the side and watched. She absorbed everything she could: how the mercenaries held their weapons, how they shifted their feet, how they plunged their blades into straw dummies.
Raphtalia felt her vision drawn to Paul. The man was strangely agile in his full plate; Raphtalia thought that sort of quickness was impossible in heavy armor. He wielded a wooden arming sword in his main hand, and a long knife in the other, expertly parrying his opponent's strikes. For a moment, Raphtalia imagined that she was fighting her master, a blade in each hand, inflicting him with painful cuts and scratches, drawing the fight out before plunging her sword into his black heart. Then, as he sank to the ground, Raphtalia took her other weapon sliced Paul's head off in one clean stroke.
A nearby clanking noise drew Raphtalia out of her fantasy. She drew in a small breath as she looked up to see Paul, staring down at her with a strange look in his eyes. "You were staring at me, maid," he drawled. Raphtalia didn't respond, only beginning to breath heavier. This couldn't be happening. She wasn't ready yet. She wasn't ready yet! Paul knelt down before Raphtalia, and placed a hand on her shoulder; the look in his eyes only intensified. She was being consumed with panic. It felt like she couldn't breathe, and her lungs burning as the filled with phlegm and blood. "It's only natural, for your kind." What was he saying? What did he mean!? "Normally, I wouldn't stoop to the level of giving my attention to a filthy demihuman. You are all worthless." Paul took off his glove, and softly touched Raphtalia's cheek with his bare hand. She was paralyzed. He was going to beat her he was going to make her hurt he was going to snap his fingers and the pain would be back-
"However, this needs to be done." Paul forcefully grabbed Raphtalia by the arm-
Raphtalia vomited what little there was in her stomach onto the ground outside the kitchen tent. She was kneeling over the puddle of sick, clutching at her belly. Her throat convulsed, and it felt like she was about to spew more, but there was nothing left. Instead, the convulsions triggered a round of hacking coughs. Phlegm and blood joined the puddle as Raphtalia stared dully at her hands, one still wrapped in a bloodied rag. The other was missing two fingers. She resisted the urge to bring her hands to her face.
She felt dead inside. After what she went through at the hands of that man, all the torture, seeing her best friend- her best friend die, it had felt as though there left nothing left of Raphtalia to be broken. However, Paul had taken the last scrap of dignity she didn't even know she had left. She had been violated, disfigured. Her thoughts were slow, and everything felt wrong. Did she really think she could break free? Theo was right. She needed to die on her own terms.
Raphtalia put her hand into her dress pocket, and took out the poison tablet. She looked bleakly at the instrument of death. Shifting into a sitting position, Raphtalia prepared to release herself from this cruel world, to walk among the stars. Then, she felt something in her shoe poke at her toes. "Oh," she whispered. Raphtalia took out the swordbreaker dagger, and admired the serrated blade. Just looking at it sparked something her heart. It was like a burning fire, that demanded to be fed. Raphtalia pressed the flat of the knife against her cheek, feeling the cool metal through freshly scarred skin. She hated Paul. She would kill Paul. And she would make it painful.
Wiping the vomit off her mouth, Raphtalia tucked the swordbreaker dagger back into her shoe, clenched the hand holding the tablet of Endless Sleep, and got to her feet. Everything came into focus for her. Never again would Raphtalia serve another. She would come down like the wrath of the Heroes on anyone that tried.
Raphtalia walked into the kitchen tent, purpose in her stride. The cooks, of course, ignored her. The demihuman grabbed a fistful of tea leaves, then dropped them and the chalky tablet in a pot of water. As she hung the pot over a fire to boil, Raphtalia took comfort in the feeling of the dagger in her shoe, instead of the odd feeling of breathing through her nose, or the way it hurt to squint. The Endless Sleep would not be enough to kill Paul. Besides, she wanted to see him die with her own eyes.
That night, Raphtalia sawed at her chain with the swordbreaker dagger, looking around furtively. She already cut herself a couple times, and was lucky the wounds were shallow. The pain was nothing compared to what she had gone through earlier that day. Her apron and headdress had already been cut up to serve as bandages. She never liked them anyways. Too itchy.
Finally, the chain broke near the base of her ankle cuff with a snap. Raphtalia froze, almost certain someone was going to hear. However, no one came running towards the slaves. She gripped the dagger in one hand, and began sneaking towards Paul's tent, on the other side of camp. More than once, Raphtalia had to crawl through the mud or freeze utterly to avoid the gaze of the night watchmen. She avoided their watchful eyes, with more luck than skill, and made it her target.
Inside, Paul was sleeping fitfully on his cot, his skin glistening with sweat. Raphtalia trotted over to him, and placed a pair of fingers from the less injured hand on his neck. His pulse was still there. But it was slower. He was weaker. Raphtalia didn't know Paul's level, but it was certain to be high. She was thankful that the Endless Sleep was at least partially working. She took her hand back, and glanced over at her soon-to-be-ex master's weapon rack. That arming sword looked nice.
A scant few seconds later, Raphtalia was armed with said blade, which was much too large for her. But she wanted the irony of slaying Paul with his own weapon. Taking the sword in both hands, Raphtalia stood over Paul, breathing quickly as she prepared to stab down into his throat.
She was hesitating. Why was she hesitating? She wanted with all her heart to kill this man. Maybe it was her mother's voice in her ear, urging her that to take a life was wrong. Was it the faint disgust she had felt at seeing the blood ooze from her various wounds? She didn't know.
Suddenly, Paul stirred, blearily opening an eye, focusing on Raphtalia's face. "Maid," he croaked. "I knew you would come here. Your kind always needs more." But her distaste for blood was nothing compared to her disgust at those words. Raphtalia growled, and plunged the sword down with all her might. Paul's eyes flew open, and he flailed, choking on his own blood, trying and failing to scream. Raphtalia lifted her weapon, and swung it around to bite deep into her victim's chest, a mad look in her eyes as she was splattered with gore. She hefted the sword for another strike, but then, somehow, Paul found the strength to reflexively snap his fingers.
A cry of PAIN tore from Raphtalia, her slave crest crackling with purple light, and her injured hands not dropping the arming sword, but tightening around the hilt. Raphtalia screamed, tears running down the grooves of her scarred cheeks as she slashed at Paul's bleeding body over and over and over. Everything HURT. Her chest was BURNING, and it seemed as if her entire world was PAIN. That PAIN only fed Raphtalia's frenzy, until finally, it stopped.
Raphtalia collapsed, the sword clattering on to the ground, coughs wracking through her. It hurt, yes, but is was nothing compared to before, only lingering aches and pains left. An icon declaring "+10,000 XP" appeared in the corner of her vision with a ding, but Raphtalia ignored it. Instead, she picked up the arming sword with one hand, the swordbreaker dagger clutched in the other. Raphtalia looked into Paul's still open eyes. She found nothing. Her master was dead.
Raphtalia let out an adorable cheer, raising her weapons- one still dripping with blood- above her. As she eagerly hurried around the tent, gathering supplies for her escape, Raphtalia did not process the battle cries outside, the glow of raging fires, or the clash of steel against steel.
Made me feel angry, sad, and feel a constricting sensation on my chest. Good job, I like the writing! Though you should add in addition to "extreme child abuse", "mutilation" as well...
Well that is not a worrying change in mood for Raph. Can't fathom how she'll be like mentally now on. Maybe all of the other slaves were freed when Paul died? Slaves no more! Rise up!
Ah, they shall rue the day they decided that slaves were a good idea! Hope Raph can make it out of this battle alright... she's hurt and tired, from the looks of it.
Wasn't expecting poor Raph to get disfigured. Wonder how the horrible master connected 'this slave is watching me' with 'I must remove her fingers to stop her watching me'?
Wasn't expecting poor Raph to get disfigured. Wonder how the horrible master connected 'this slave is watching me' with 'I must remove her fingers to stop her watching me'?
Nobody else is looking to vote, so fuck it tallying at 2AM because night owl.
Adhoc vote count started by Sword of Mars on Jun 28, 2019 at 2:05 AM, finished with 39 posts and 14 votes.
[X] Empower intellectuals. Master Hillwick didn't just host a bunch of martial artists, he also sustained one of the largest hubs for heretical thought, philosophers and free thinkers on this side of the country. Make use of their education and brain power to coordinate the villages.
Adhoc vote count started by Sword of Mars on Jun 28, 2019 at 2:06 AM, finished with 39 posts and 14 votes.
[X] Empower intellectuals. Master Hillwick didn't just host a bunch of martial artists, he also sustained one of the largest hubs for heretical thought, philosophers and free thinkers on this side of the country. Make use of their education and brain power to coordinate the villages.
Adhoc vote count started by Sword of Mars on Jun 28, 2019 at 2:06 AM, finished with 39 posts and 14 votes.
[X] Empower intellectuals. Master Hillwick didn't just host a bunch of martial artists, he also sustained one of the largest hubs for heretical thought, philosophers and free thinkers on this side of the country. Make use of their education and brain power to coordinate the villages.
[X] Exile them and send your more loyal monks to inhabit these new temples to spread your philosophy.
[X] Hate Crime Tax and other similar laws. Every time someone vandalizes a demihuman home, they must pay restitution. Repeat offenders will be exiled.
[X] Empower intellectuals. Master Hillwick didn't just host a bunch of martial artists, he also sustained one of the largest hubs for heretical thought, philosophers and free thinkers on this side of the country. Make use of their education and brain power to coordinate the villages.
[X] Exile them and send a messenger across the border to request missionaries from the Church of the Four Heroes to replace them.
[X] Temporarily separate them and try intermingling them down the line.
[X] Empower intellectuals. Master Hillwick didn't just host a bunch of martial artists, he also sustained one of the largest hubs for heretical thought, philosophers and free thinkers on this side of the country. Make use of their education and brain power to coordinate the villages.
[X] Exile them and send a messenger across the border to request missionaries from the Church of the Four Heroes to replace them.
[X] Hate Crime Tax and other similar laws. Every time someone vandalizes a demihuman home, they must pay restitution. Repeat offenders will be exiled.
[X] Empower intellectuals. Master Hillwick didn't just host a bunch of martial artists, he also sustained one of the largest hubs for heretical thought, philosophers and free thinkers on this side of the country. Make use of their education and brain power to coordinate the villages.
[X] Exile them and send your more loyal monks to inhabit these new temples to spread your philosophy.
[X] Hate Crime Tax and other similar laws. Every time someone vandalizes a demihuman home, they must pay restitution. Repeat offenders will be exiled.
So forgive me for the bit of short debate between characters here. I need to establish that this happened in story. I also need to you know... Write Yukihime's perspective and thoughts on exactly why she chose to choose these options without hand waveing it.
You had a massive fucking dilemma on your hands. You didn't know fuck all. You think outside of the literal former slaves in your force, you are the most uneducated person in your army... It was one of your major flaws, your own incompetence shames you, a boiling of your blood churning in your veins you were oh so aware of. So you called in Master Hillwick, Sir Gregory and William people who weren't stupid children playing dictator. "We need to replace these... Barons and Manor Lords. They are agents of the old regime and need to be removed. Tolerating their presence will do nothing but undermine us and they'll easily betray us and support the old regime. I will hear your suggestions then." You hide your own lack of expertise behind a facade of accepting 'suggestions', instead of desperately grasping for answers for something you barely understood. Sometimes you wonder why people even follow you, sometimes you wonder why your subordinates haven't cut you down and taken your place...
First to go is Gregory, "I believe we should empower the farmers. They must know their craft better than anyone else and would likely make you very popular with the locals. We'd likely see recruitment spike and rally the entire administrative area to our cause-" Only to be interrupted by William "And cause a famine? Phah! Farmers who aren't educated, aren't connected to any greater hierarchy who know nothing of organization or the division of labor? Maybe if they were educated beyond how to swing a sickle at some grain you'd have a foot to stand here. No, obviously we should use what we have freely available, our monks. They are an educated, learned people we can trust." Master Hillwick blew out some smoke from his pipe, and began to speak "That's also foolish. The monks are spiritually learned men. Most don't know how to effectively use farmhands... They'll be able to do it, and adapt in time... But it'd be mediocrity at best, and at worst full of dismal failure. People will also begin to question the real head of the revolution we're planning as well, too much influence will be given to me and will show the wrong message. So instead I say we use the heretics and learned men I've been hosting. People who spent most of their lives hiding in libraries and learning valuable skills only to run afoul of politics and the church... They'll be loyal to Yukihime, for they share the same endgame instead of myself and finally put them to use somewhere. Intellectuals will manage the former manorial system likely superior than the barons and petty lords." You had already decided. You decide to power on through to the next topic, before the name calling gets worse. While it was possible another, much more valid and effective option could've been revealed you couldn't see anything productive coming from any debate.
"Master Hillwick's suggestion of empowering Intellectuals will be what we do to replace the local administrators. The position will be nonhereditary and succession will be left to myself, with Master Hillwick to advise. Afterwards we will readdress succession at a later date as we expand and are required to delegate. Now, onto the next topic: Religion. Obviously we cannot allow the Church of Three Heroes to remain in our territory, so they will be expelled... It just remains to be seen what we replace them with... If we replace them at all." You can see Sir Gregory is a bit upset at being shut down, but you think his idealism was blinding his sense for that...
"We should kill them, it'd be-" You interrupted Hillwick with a enraged glare "I will not butcher innocent priests and nuns for their religion. If your suggestion includes killing them, then don't bother wasting any of your air." Your voice was cold, you will not budge on this issue... Hillwick merely nodded "Forgive me for my lapse in judgement..." You nodded at him, you couldn't allow yourself or your revolution to degenerate in that way... You waved at him to continue "We should pillage and burn their precious temples and take their decadent wealth somewhere more important." Sir Gregory got out of his chair, shock over his face "Burn down the temples! Surely we'd expect rebellion for this cruelty... No, we should instead contact the Church of Four Heroes in Faubley. They'd fall over themselves to send us replacement priests and bishops. Importantly it'll be familiar to the peasants and allow them to worship while accepting the Shield Hero as a Heroic figure instead of a cursed one." Sir Gregory makes a good point here... You release a small hum and direct your eyes toward William who has yet to speak on this matter. "Why should we allow the worship of a cruel God? Why should we continue to subject ourselves to an uncaring lord in the sky who barely assists its worshipers? Where was the divine miracles during all the fighting in the last century? Unless you count Aultcray's absurd prowess as a miracle, to massacre hundreds with impunity without warning... No. We're already accepting heretics and philosophers both churches want burnt at the stake! I say, we create an entirely knew branch of philosophic and religious thought... Yukhime we will write your manifesto and teach it to masses!" William was a true believer, and you were uncomfortable with a whole ideology being created around you... But you relented when you started getting angry at the thought of uncaring gods and miracles. You interrupt the debate again, startling your advisers much less with them getting used to how you were running things. You suspect they will debate before meeting you from now on which you are thankful for. You don't have the head to sit there for political debate.
"We will implement William's plan into action. I will, with the help of William will construct our own philosophy and distribute it to the masses. I expect some religious conflict to arise from this, but the peasants will learn a harsh lesson if they dare to oppose my will." You needed to be punitive to keep everyone in line, or at least you hope that's your real reason and you weren't anticipating more bloodshed... You continued, none of your uncertainty appearing in your tone "Finally we must deal with the reality of the racial conflicts between the former demihuman slaves, and the human serfs... I have already decided upon a course of action. We shall release a series of punitive laws against saber rattlers and those who wish to target people due to having supernatural features... 'I reject the world!' That's what I said, right? Well now it's time to walk, the walk and replace the world with my own vision! It'll be illegal to discriminate against a demihuman! To deny a demihuman service, to vandalize their property, and so on... Why stop at Demihumans even! Legalize homosexuality and give them similar protections! Allow people to practice their own religions freely without persecution! Make it illegal to abuse the disabled, mentally or physically! Let us begin our social revolution!" You notice William furiously writing down what you said down on parchment... What you were saying was probably centuries more progressive than anything this cursed world has heard before... Of course, you all needed to write this all up into easily understandable law and distribute it... Then it merely comes down to if you can enforce the law... You'll make examples of those who think they can resist the future.
The next day had you awkwardly sitting around in a castle doing fuck all... From what you were told by Sir Gregory that it will take... Maybe a year to expect any reprisal from Melromarc due to the pitched battle, where you crushed their only real force in the West... It'd be sooner but the destabilization of Geopolitics have ensured that Sci-Sch-Schi- FUCK! S-whatever is actively skirmishing with their forces on the other side of the country. Q'Ten Lo is making some ominous rumblings and Siltvelt has apparently been teetering on the brink of civil war and infighting for a while now... Your immediate concern however is Faubley... You hope he isn't... A pedophile and asks you to marry him or something... It'd be a declaration of war... Everyone knows what happens to the Queens of Faubley, broken... Ripped apart, or suicide. The mere thought makes you tremble in impotent rage, the thought that you were in striking distance of a country with a leader so vile...
Your rage was interrupted by:
[X] And then reignited anew due to a Marriage proposal to King Ulrich FaubleyYou... You fat slug! Let's see how smug you are when I choke you to death with your own entrails! (International Revolution)
[X] An invitation to a peace summit headed by Queen Mirellia Q. Melromarc. You think there might be a peaceful solution yet. (Peace?)
[X] Reports of a small army of refugees and volunteers from across the country. You will need to house the former, and arm the latter. (Civil War Arc continues).
So, I just remembered in canon that Schildfrieden threatened to go to war over Naofumi...Over mistreating him... You raised your flag in open rebellion, so they're mobilizing for war on your behalf.
[X] Reports of a small army of refugees and volunteers from across the country. You will need to house the former, and arm the latter. (Civil War Arc continues).
[X] An invitation to a peace summit headed by Queen Mirellia Q. Melromarc. You think there might be a peaceful solution yet. (Peace?)
If we find a civil end to the war now, we can mostly avoid the civilian casaulties that made me not want to rebel in the first place. We might not be able to achieve all of our goals, but we can get a foothold that we can use to expand from there.
Plus, we have a religious philosophy now - one spreading actually decent values. If we succeed in spreading it, we have a second plane on which we can wage war.
