Sneaking out it is, apparently!
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Our poor dad. He's, like, never happy with us.
...Poor us.
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And our new outfit, as requested.
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And we like our swords.
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...That is so cheap. Soooo cheap. Look at that 99 points. Cheap.
Anyway, we can kill people with magic OR swords. Joy!
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We're sorry, villagers!
...But somehow, I get the vibe you're still better off than you will be on the magical nuke path.
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I can screenshot conveniently now. I'm not typing that out. MWAHAAHAHAHAHA! *is drunk on her newfound power*
Almost no choice.
Your fiance, Duke Talarist of Sedna, has sent you a message. He does not personally command enough soldiers to turn the tide against this invasion, but his king in Talasse is eager to discuss a formal alliance.
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It's....Something, anyway. He's trying, maybe perhaps.
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Now, this is a serious...Oh, who am I kidding?
The half of you or so that voted down this route want a confrontation. We don't want to run away, even in the other half!
...Besides, running away just gets us a game over as we abandon our position of queen to hide with our fiance. That's no good.
So lets
Meet with Diplomats.
You can get upset with me later, and we'll get another chance to suicide if it looks like you'll enjoy plan nuke more.
You prepare yourself as best you can to meet with the representatives from Shanjia.
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For the record, he really is their king, and his backstory's given at the upper limits of Foreign Intelligence (or whichever one's the Intrigue skill). We could actually see about it later, so I'll refrain from mentioning it here.
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...That's...That's a very dangerous spot check fail, isn't it? Let's see what the man's file says...
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After Elodie does not tolerate this guy's BS. I actually feel slightly better for having failed this check, I dunno about anyone else.
Now, let's see what the file on this guy says...
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...Thanks, game. Real helpful.
"War benefits no one, don't you think? Such a terrible waste. Better to settle things in a civilised manner. A contest. A game, so to speak, with Nova as the stakes.
Should I win, then your domain will submit and accept me as Overlord with no further resistance."
I kind of find it hard to picture Banion not resisting...
"Should I lose, then my army will leave your domain in peace and shed no more blood."
Well...We can't not know more, can we? The people of Nova are counting on us to find a path to saftey for them...
"What sort of game?"
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"I propose a formal duel. My powers against yours. The winner takes control of Nova, the loser...dies."
It's a life-or-death magical duel for Nova, all our fighting prowess against all of his.
"Your game by your rules, for my life? That doesn't sound fair to me."
Do evil sorceror-kings set out on some sort of magical domination of the world need to be fair, Elodie?
"The rules of formal dueling have been passed down for centuries and must be upheld.
It is important that we do this by the ancient codes."
"Why should I?"
I can't decide if I admire her courage, or think she's being incredibly dumb.
"If you refuse, then the war will continue."
This is a huge lie.
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"Really?"
"I swear it by the gods. Nova will be free and safe."
Without us in it, if we lose.
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Nova...Our home... Was just an obstacle he had to get through, to get not even to us, but to the power of our crystal.
"It won't work for you!"
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Among those circumstances...Is transferring it to someone weak-willed enough to control or eliminate, adjusting it over time. Or...Well, these 'old codes' he has in mind will do the trick, too. All he has to do is kill the wielder of the crystal in this special duel.
Spoilers for a route we didn't take below: we'll sadly never learn this here, but I think it adds a lot to say it.
Spoiler
Show
This is the why Fidelia, former queen of Nova, died.
He used his magic to get her out of the way, so we'd be the ones standing here, at his mercy.
He's the one who killed our mother, for a stupid magic rock.
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What we'd have learned with a sense magic check is that the man is
powerful, even though we've done all we can.
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And now...We have a choice to make.