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Тренируем мой детский английский и вспоминаем The Tyranny.

It's been some time since my character left the Overlord's side and joined the Rebels. We plotted a reunion of a shattered land, the Tiers, gathering all who could fight for their home. The Tiers were in a disarray indeed, whole regions have fallen to anarchy or were controlled by forces loyal to Overlord Kyros. My duty was to reunite the countries, and do so fast, as Overlord's armies were on the march to bring our rebellion to a swift end. And so i decided to start with the most desperate one - Stallward.
This place was fucked up in a most spectacular way, suffering under a terrible Edict of storms. Edicts were Overlord's more powerful magicks - spells, capable of swallowing the entire regions and lasting INDEFINITELY. Their only drawback was dependence on a certain conditions, although such terms were set by the Overlord him/herself, and probably were chosen quite carefully.
The region in question deserved such a fate by being defiant - armies of Kyros tried time and again, but the Regent's fortress, guarding the entrance to the province, refused to yield, prolonging the land's independence. The losses of occupation army were substantial, claiming even General's son, and so the Overlord grew impatient, and later - furious. An Edict was cast, and the enemy, civilians and even Overlord's very soldiers were swallowed by the raging storm. The first strikes were the most terrifying - thousand of lightnings scorched the earth, howling winds threw people around like dolls, sand scraped armor and skin alike. The region was lost to both would be conquerors and it's inhabitants, reduced now to a merciless wasteland. The shamed army was renamed as Disfavored, the failures, destined now to endlessly patrol the broken land, still seeking the conquest in the name of Kyros. Regent's garrison barricaded in the castle, leaving the people of the region to die. And die they did - from wind, from sand, from lightning and flying debris, from hunger and thirst, from disease and sword of their own brethren. There was no escape either - people of the region were now considered cursed, and every refugee, trying to escape that hell of a land, would find only persecution and death.

People adapt. I guess, you can even adapt to a perpetual storm around you, living mostly in underground cavities, launching heavily armored and clothed expeditions to gather food and medicine from ruins. This would be their lives now. The Edict would not end, never, not until the last of Regent's line would perish. Yes, that was the condition bestowed upon this land by Kyros - die, as long as your lord lives. The people asked their lord to die. They begged. Sending desperate parlors to the castle walls - please! Kill yourself! We're suffering! End our torment! The lord refused them, saying that only he could save the land, despite the fact that all he did was hiding inside the castle walls. And so the Unbroken, the last remnants of Stallward's regular army, decided to kill him - and the Edict. Their timing was perfect, as I now needed both soldiers and lands to support my rebellion. We stroke a deal - i kill the Regent, they pledge their loyalty to me, along with the whole region.

I met their leader, Mattias, at the borders. He belonged to this old kind of patriots, believing that survival of a country must come before all else. He reminded my of Vernon Roche, albeit older, grittier and much more tired. Together we marched through his broken homeland, twisted by Edict into a terrible hellscape of naked bone and rusted steel. Indeed, it was Stallward no longer - the age renamed the land into a Grave of Blades. I laughed, reminded of an Iron throne. The wind howled anxiously through the canyons, as we slowly moved forward the castle, trying to cover ourselves from every-finding sand and occasional lightning strike. Finally, we were at the gates. I met the Regent himself, old and weary now, greeting me from the walls, and asked him to do the same thing he was asked hundreds of times - Kill yourself. Save your people. He rejected, as always. But unlike the peasants or even Unbroken, i was once a Kyros Judicator. I wielded power rivaled by few. We stormed the castle that night, killing everyone who stood in our way. Mattias fought with a cold fury, mercilessly slaughtering his old brethren. At last, we entered the throne room. The Regent was there, in a richly decorated armor, scared and pale. But he was not alone. No... And then, i understood.
Beside him stood the supposedly dead son of invading General, and with him - a woman, Regent's daughter. In the back of the throne room i saw a closed door and heard the cries of an infant. The Last of the Line. It was not selfishness of an old man, or some deluded attempt to save Stalward, no, the Regent was protecting his own daughter, and later grandchild. Ahhh, i wondered, how did it happen? Captured enemy of a high profile, secluded castle, forbidden romance? Such a pity it would not to be, because, well, what difference did it make? The region still had to be freed. Freed from suffering, from death, from endless descent into nothingness. How was it, the needs of the many? They pleaded, they begged, they bargained for some other solution. And there was, perhaps, after all Tyranny allowed a lot of freedom in the way you played the game, so i suppose there were some half-assed compromise to be made, or a full-blown happy ending, what do i know. But ive made up my mind. I looked at Mattias. Pale, sweated, yet with the same cold determination in his eyes. I took a step forward. My cause was righteous, i knew, but beyond that, knowing that these... star-crossed lovers chose their happiness over other people's lives, i felt some grim satisfaction breaking them.

I stood, later, by the crib. The game was cruel enough to let the mother survive the battle, lying now in the puddle of her own blood, crying and begging to spare her child. But i had to do it, right? Ohhh, i didn't -HAD- to do it myself, tho, no no, i was able to make Mattias do it, or a party member, if i took one for the mission. But how could I? It was my decision. My responsibility. Only mine... By some twist of fate, i played this walkthrough as a monk kind of character, relying mostly on unarmed combat. So, as I pressed the button, i think i had to literally strangle a toddler... The mother's cry grew resonant with the dying gasps of her offspring, and soon it was over for both of them.

We left the castle in silence. No words were needed. The country, once known as Stalward, and later as a Grave of Blades, was now our dark crucible, harboring it's salvation - and a first step in my new rebellion - with a price we would not forget... And yet, seeing the morning sky, cleared at last from the terrible storm, i was filled with a sharp, cathartic feeling, marvelous and terrible at the same time. Watching sunrise in this godforsaken country, i felt... Validated.