#kcd talk

"just attack it", "just take it down", "why doesn't divish just do it", "ohh his wife he can't even fuck! nobody gives a damn", "henry doesn't even really care for radzig at this point" etc.

and i have to go back to that one solitary thing this game literally cannot exist without: love. it's the main aspect, it's the pillars the story stands on, it's everything.

medieval movies and books like to picture the old times ala skyrim: "my son was very young when he died. but he did so while doing his duty. he fell for skyrim! he fell for the empire! i do not mourn for i am proud!"

"oh, i loved my father more than anything. but he is gone now. that is life."

it is. but. hear me out. people back then - were actually just like people now. we break down when we lose someone we adore, cherish, love, protect. no matter how stoic we may be, we don't take it lightly, do we?

so, if you think about it, is it a plot-hole, when divish refuses to attack his castle because

it's his home and he loves it

his wife is in there

his friend is also in there?

robard would not attack if it were divish in there. radzig would not attack if it were henry in there. hans would not attack if it were hanush in there. istvan would not attack if it were erik in there. captain bernard would not attack if it were hans in there.

it all comes back to love. and wanting people you care about safe.

martin running back to certain death because his wife is in the village when the cumans attack.

both parents worrying about nothing but their beloved son even while they are being brutally murdered.

everyone on talmberg willing to lock henry up just to keep him away from skalitz (for reasons yet unknown).

theresa making a last stand for someone just as lost as her.

the understanding he's met with when henry comes and admits his failure to radzig, the fact that he went against direct order. (nothing, absolutely nothing else but radzig being in debt to martin, or radzig being someone close to henry, could explain the understanding, the acceptance, and the outcome of the whole situation. how do you think henry - who is just a young man, not a hero, not a dragonborn, not a chosen one - would get away with all this?)

henry backed out of the night raid on talmberg because hans was wounded and wouldn't survive long enough for the mission to succeed.

hans (in one of the outcomes) carried him out on his back, saving his fat ass. no time for glory, no time for saving the hostages when it's suddenly your best friend who is on the ground and bleeding out. he might have succeeded with the mission. yet he didn't hesitate when suddenly it was him who was put in the shoes of those who just wanted to keep their loved ones safe. it was stephanie for divish (he approved the raid). it was radzig for henry (he was the one who went first and most willingly). and it was henry for hans (who immediately backed out on henry's behalf). all those actions were based on love.

would you attack talmberg, knowing there was someone you loved? someone you wanted to know better, someone you wanted to learn how to love, someone who could have been much closer if he only tried? someone you only just met?

the whole story starts with love, continues with love, ends with love. it is everywhere you look and you don't even have to romance anyone to see it, to feel it. it is in the npcs' lives, it's the motivation behind so many actions. it's in henry's decisions. in your decisions.

And Radzig's face in the next cut

he learned of having a different father and one of his main concerns was, if dad knew, would he love me, would he hate me? did they lie to him? the feeling of betrayal not only on his behalf but the parents that raised him

mother was left behind and of course, she had to find a man to marry, she had no choice, but Radzig did, and he didn't marry her even though he knew she was pregnant with his child. he wouldn't blame his mother if he learned that she lied to Martin, too. he blamed it all on Radzig (as he should), and not only because he was the only one at hand, but because he had the power of making choices

the disgust and horror of it all

only to learn,

oh, Martin knew from the beginning. he took you as his own, blood or no blood, and loved you as his own. he knew, he loved you, he called you his son and meant it.

the relief, the baffled response, "he did?", fragile and so afraid

they both back out of the glorious quest on behalf of the other.

henry just freshly realized he has yet more people to lose in his life, but hans is one of them, and he won't lose both radzig and hans.

and hans, for the first time in many years, cares deeply for a friend, a real friend who stood by him all this time.

hans goes on the raid (and robard is asking him, are you SURE MY LORD because honestly, this may end up badly) and hans is all light hearted about it for henry's sake, because someone has to keep this hothead in line, right? and oh, the famous battle awaits! but it's really all for him.

henry is more reluctant to leave this quest without saving the hostages, because he still has someone inside. he understands how serious the trouble is only when hans gets injured, only then he kicks into action. he must choose.

look I know, I know

if there is anyone out there who lives for mocking this man, it may be me. ever since this character was introduced, I was torn between laughing at him and poking him with a stick, and feeling nothing but compassion because that man is a loser in both funny and heartbreaking way

my headcanons may be at fault. I see the faces he makes, the little reactions, the incredible awkwardness (and cannot for the life of me understand how people on reddit can possibly think of him as "cool").

I mock every single scene he is in. (lovingly.) I laugh at his "hmmm" that screams "HELP" and I howl at his words of "wisdom" as he speaks of God's test when Henry's having a hard time

and then comes a time I feel nothing but pity and love and sadness and think, man, he is trying. (he isn't. he is drinking wine.) but you know, he could be trying.

and all this time I wonder what makes me like Radzig, and what makes me like Hanush, when I reread an old fic of mine and remembered

that Radzig is so aloof most of the time because he just realized he has been distancing himself from his family for nothing - because that heartbreak the distance was supposed to save him from, was here anyway

that Hanush doesn't really go for this stoic (fatalistic?) approach to life and he kicks around until the last breath and wants Radzig to do the same

and that he wants Radzig to go and tell Henry the truth, and worry openly, and talk without fear about that kid, and be there for him, and risk it all because you are here to live and love with all you have, no matter how much it hurts in the end. (because it will. but that's part of it all. and if you don't have the guts to go through that, you don't deserve what comes before that.)

Radzig tries to practice stoicism, and he doesn't get the most important thing. that you are allowed to care and cry and mourn, that you are here to love with every fiber of your being until the day you can't.

Suddenly he is awkward as fuck, and you know, Henry, we were young. And it. Uuhhhappened. Good luck. Call me... father. Perhaps. I would tell you! On my death bed. Maybe. Probably not. Uhhhhhhnnhhh

Radzig when he wasn't found out: *whispering "son" as Henry leaves, longingly and sadly, and sounding so natural that you believe he's wanted to say it for years*

"Dear Donkey,

this mission got out of hands again. Do be careful for I do not wish to lose you. But if you happen to pull out a few miracles out of your sleeves, it would be wonderful. Remember, my boy, this is all God's test.

I shall continue to drink wine and watch my people sleeping in the dirt of Rattay's streets.

Protect that idiot Lord you're with, by the way. Don't get killed on his behalf though, Hanush will have a chance to keep this town much longer if the kid dies.

I still don't know what sword you are talking about.

If Istvan told you other shit of your parentage and history, do not listen.

Bye,

Rattay's KCD event, 15th June 2024

First I have a few outside pics for you; Rattay guards at their posts, the Upper Castle where the event was taking place, Pirkstein where the courtyard was made available (but not the castle, to my knowledge - you can see my last visit of Pirkstein in this post). The local pub did our national sport (=making an overpriced and not even a good menu for a day) justice.

Let's continue on to the Tour (TM). We gained an access to a small room with KCD merch to have a look at, some art, weapons. We could take a look at the cellar ("this is old, and be careful, and I hope you have a light") and the attic ("this is also old. and in terrible shape. do take care."), so if one paid the 200 crowns this required, they really had to consider it a generous donation to the community and not a payment for services provided (listening to about four sentences from the guides in total, and being rushed all the time while trying to read something about the game in the small room). I admit I was excited about a possible castle tour as a whole, so not being told anything about the castle was rather disappointing.

And lastly, you could watch or participate in activities such as trying out an armour, some weapons, archery, riding a horse, or dice.