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Completed [LP] Bleed for your Kingdom, officer! Codex plays Guns of Infinity

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Nov 29, 2016
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1,832
Lady Katarina's eyebrow rises. "Did you?" she asks sceptically.

You nod. "I did. I rather thought all the pieces fit together quite well," you reply confidently. "I would even cite the fact that you and Caius share a physickal resemblance, were it not for the fact that any such similarity would clearly have been a coincidence."

The dark-haired noblewoman nods. "I must suppose that one also must possess the insight to know why I felt the need to hide what I did?" she asks with a flash of her wicked grin. "Aside from the normal exigencies of my professional circumstances, of course." You nod. Tierran inheritance law, in all of its intolerably complex glory, had been hammered into your head early and often; it was the one thing no aristocratic education could ignore, the one thing that maintained the continuity of the Unified Kingdom's baneblooded lines, supervising the title from father to son, or if no sons were available, father to daughter…

…or rather, to the daughter's husband.

With that in mind, it is no wonder that Lady Katarina had been so anxious to protect her identity; she was the key to the vast riches of Leoniscourt: the monopolies, the hereditary offices, the trade tariffs worth twenty thousand crown a year. Had the army, with its vast supply of impoverished, unmarried banebloods known…

…had you known.

Perhaps Lady Katarina did have valid reason to guard the name of her family so well, yet there cannot help but be some part of you which sees it as something of a vote of non-confidence. If she has not trusted you with her name until now, then you cannot help but wonder how much she trusts you at all.

-

Another thought comes to mind. "If this deception was to protect you whilst among the officers of the King's Army, does that mean…"

Lady Katarina nods. "It does. With my mission here in Antar having culminated in the war's successful conclusion, I shall be returning to Leoniscourt on the same ship. Afterwards, I shall be returning to Aetoria to resume my duties."

You find your curiosity getting the better of you. "Your mission?" Surely with the war over, there would be no point in keeping the great scheme in which you had occasionally been involved a secret for any longer.

"My mission," the Royal Intelligence officer echoes, "was to engineer the destruction of Prince Khorobirit, his house, his political support, and his army. This was done by goading him into rash action through the one avenue of attack he could not ignore."

You do not say a word, but the silence that follows forms the question without ambiguity: how?

"Khorobirit was unassailable behind his army," Lady Katarina begins again, her voice barely above a whisper, "but that did not mean we could not strike at his heart. For two years, we manoeuvred the elements of our plan into motion, drawing Prince Khorobirit further and further south, further away from his initial headquarters, the fortress of Januszkovil."

You are not sure you understand; what was so special about a fortress that Khorobirit used to occupy?

It seems something on your face has made your incomprehension plain, for Lady Katarina continues her accounting without awaiting your inevitable question.

"When Khorobirit left Januszkovil, he left his wife and daughter there," the Royal Intelligence officer explains, her face kept carefully blank. "While the King's division moved south, I sent a combined force of grenadiers and lancers to strike the fortress."

"What happened then?" you ask, the dread already crawling up your spine as you realise you are nearly certain that you already know the answer.

"We stormed the fortress at sunset," Lady Katarina replies, her blue eyes suddenly shallow and dull. "Lady Aleksandra—Khorobirit's daughter—she managed to escape with a handful of bodyguards. Princess Anna—Khorobirit's wife—she was trapped within the keep with the remnants of the garrison, she…" The dark-haired noblewoman pauses for a moment before expelling the next words from her body as if they were a long sigh. "…she fought to the last."

The sounds of the port are drowned out by silence now as the significance of what you have just heard turns about in your mind.

"When Prince Khorobirit learned of his wife's death, they say he became consumed with grief and rage," Lady Katarina continues. "That was when he made the decision to commit to an immediate attack on what he thought was Havenport's isolated division at Kharangia. The rest…"

The rest you know. You saw what had happened when Prince Khorobirit's army was thrown against the King's Army and its carefully prepared trap on the River Kharan. You took part in the victory, what you had thought to be your victory; a victory which had been bought by the murder of a woman who was only guilty of being loved by the wrong man.

1) "Then it was a victory well won, by Royal Intelligence and the King's Army both."
2) "It was necessary to ensure our victory; I have no right to condemn it."
3) "I cannot say I approve of such ruthless measures."
4) "How could there be any justification for such barbarity?"
 
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Lady Katarina nods. "My thoughts exactly," she replies softly. "It was the only viable option we had available."

You nod back. "If your only options were to carry through or allow our army to persist in its hopeless position and await its annihilation at the hands of the enemy, then I, for one, cannot fault your choice." You pause as you find the corner of your mouth flickering into something of a grin. "In fact, I rather think that means I owe you my life."

Lady Katarina listens, then nods. "Our ship is soon to embark," she announces, subtly changing the subject. "I must see to my maids and their mounts." "Saints go with you," she intones, more out of politeness than any real affection, before turning away. You watch Lady Katarina as she boards her ship, your head full of thoughts. Your new knowledge of her position has changed both nothing and everything.

Nobody could contest the fact that you and the dark-haired young noblewoman have had your differences of opinion. However, that does not mean you consider her your enemy.

Now, you have a fresh list of reasons not to give her the excuse to consider you hers.

The risk of turning Lady Katarina against you had seemed terrible enough when she was 'merely' an agent of Royal Intelligence. Armed with the authority of her professional station and her reserves of intellect and personal charm, she would have made a dangerous person to cross.

Were she able to get her hands on the wealth and influence of the Earldom of Leoniscourt, either by herself or through the manipulation of some hapless cats-paw husband, then that danger would increase tenfold.

Then there is Cazarosta.

Saints be damned, why are things never simple?

-

A shout from the docks brings your mind to more immediate concerns.

Your ship is about to leave, and it would likely be best if you were on board when it did.

It is but the work of a few moments to proceed down the quay and up the walk to your waiting vessel, yet your short passage seems to stretch into an eternity, the beat of your hobnailed boots against the stone slowing as you take your last steps upon Antari soil.

Only when your feet plant themselves firmly upon the ship's deck and your shadow is swallowed up by the shade of the spreading sailcloth overhead does time seem to return to normal.

You make your way to the quarterdeck just in time to see the last line cast off. There you remain as your ship pulls away from its anchorage. There you remain for hours yet as you watch the still-shattered walls of Kharangia fading into the distance, as you watch the land which you fought upon and bled upon for so long falling away in your wake.

Finally, as the day begins to dim and the cold night winds begin to rise, you head below deck. You must see your horse fed and eat supper yourself. You must check that your baggage is stored and that your cabin is to your liking.

Meanwhile, your ship continues on, south and east, carrying you towards the embrace of the encroaching, uncertain darkness.

And to home.

To be continued in Book III
LORDS OF INFINITY

Personal Information

As of the Autumn of the 613th year of the Old Imperial Era.

Sir Alaric d'al Ortiga
Age: 25
Rank: Captain

Wealth: 1754
Income: 15

Soldiering: 75%
Charisma: 43%
Intellect: 5%
Reputation: 24%
Health: 65%

Idealism: 63%; Cynicism: 37%
Ruthlessness: 39%; Mercy: 61%

You are a Knight of the Red, having the right to wear bane-hardened armour and wield a bane-runed sword.

You have no decorations as of yet.

Unit Information


Sixth Squadron, Royal Dragoons
Senior NCO: Staff-sergeant Campos

Discipline: 39%
Morale: 44%
Loyalty: 46%
Strength: 57%
 
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So, where does this leave us?

Book 3 is not yet released but Paul is working on it. I don't know if there is an approximate release date yet - perhaps LordTryhard does - only that it may take a while as the author is involved in parallel projects. I am definitely interested in continuing the story of Lord Dumb d'al Ass once that's out an I had a chance to play through it with my own character.

If I decide to do anything else with this series in the meantime, I will update this thread. Until then, good bye and thank you - it certainly has been quite a ride.

 
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You will be entering a book centered around political intrigue as a braindead muscleman :D
So the terrifying part is that you've just passed the best part of your career.
 

LordTryhard

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Jul 7, 2018
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Book 3 is not yet released but Paul is working on it. I don't know if there is an approximate release date yet - perhaps LordTryhard does - only that it may take a while as the author is involved in parallel projects.

It'll be a couple of years, probably. The author says he will probably get a beta out by the end of this year, but Guns was in beta for at least two years IIRC. And Choice of/Hosted Game authors don't really do specific release dates.

If anyone wants more information on the next game, or on the world in general, here is the author's blog:

https://cataphrak.com/

And here is his monthly series of worldbuilding articles:

https://cataphrak.com/patreon-content/patreonsoldiers_guide/

---


You will be entering a book centered around political intrigue as a braindead muscleman :D

Not just political intrigue, but also estate management.
 
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Do people even get alerts for 5 year old threads? Let's find out.

So, Lords of Infinity (aka Book 3 (aka the sequel to this thingy)) came out in march (available on steam marketplace and other retailers, give the dev some money, this is not a sponsored video btw.)

This post is a sort of interest check for continuing the story of Alaric d'al Ortiga into Book 3. Reason why I'm gauging interest is because this is going to be a very uh particular experience, and I don't feel like going through the trouble of starting a new thread etc if there isn't much demand for it.

Besides the fact that it has been 5 years and no one (myself included) remembers much of the story, the LP will face following challenges:

1. Lords of Infinity is fucking massive; Sabres is 200k words, Guns is 400k, Lords is 2 million words long (edit: merely 1.6 million, not sure where I got 2mil from.) Its very much a slow-burn narrative about political intrigue and estate management - that is not to say there will not be opportunities for conflicts to break out or mettle to be tested, but just bear in mind that this is going to be a much slower-paced and less soldiering-focused narrative. Many updates, which I will hopefully post daily, will terminate with relatively minute dialogue / internal monologue options, which do actually have subtle mechanical effects, but nonetheless most will not be particularly exciting.

2. Your all-brawn no-brain minmaxed character build, already struggling in books 1 and 2, will be downright crippled in book 3, almost to the point where the LP may end up being a "choose how you fail" experience. A story of failure can be interesting in itself, of course, and so is the story of a 25 year old muscleman with FAS and PTSD coming home to settle his family's debts and rub shoulders with career politicians. But if anyone was frustrated by the character's rather underwhelming performance in the LP so far, well, its going to get even worse in the sequel.

3. I plan to write some sort of brief primer summarizing events of past Books, but its going to be extremely scarce, because the details are quite faint in my mind after so many years.

So yeah, if you wanna see and participate in all that, throw up some reactions and/or posts (preferably expressing moral support, because Alaric is going to need it,) indicating as such, and if it ends up being more than a couple of guys then I will throw a thread up sometime this week.
 
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