#salyra

the fact that, to both of mc's parents, mc is just too much like the other for them to handle. i'm unwell. i need to lay down. possibly forever. will never stop thinking about this.

also, what would ahlf think if he knew that, when salyra met mc, she thought mc was 'every bit' like ahlf?

Yes, so much of drama, so much emotional trauma for our poor, sweet MC 🥺😔

The road to the throne is paved with betrayal, sacrifice… and maybe a little blood.

The MC and ROs will survive — but that doesn’t mean everyone does. Some names are etched into history. Others, into tombstones.

So tell me...

Who do you think won’t make it out of Crown of Exile alive?

Vote with your heart — or your suspicions.

Only to come back a few days later, confused/mad because "he rejected me because he wanted to propose to me and, of course, I said yes but is he really this petty??"

Would Elora even be surprised that Irus would pull this sort of bs?

Irus has spent months working on that perfect proposal and he usually never puts this much effort into anything, so he really, really wants to propose 😅

Elora: She's probably known about Irus' proposal plans for a while so she'll comfort the MC as best as she can while telling them to get used to this kind of crazy.

Oren: Oren will be weeping alongside the MC but comforting them as well. He doesn't care so much as what Irus does but would be upset to see the MC upset.

Anu: Anu would be flabbergasted as to why the MC even said yes then offer to beat Irus up to teach him a lesson.

Zikar: He's annoyed at Irus but will remind the MC that they'll be royalty soon.

Belahm and Siduri: Happy for the MC - they don't care how the proposal happened only that at least someone is finally getting married in the family (not to name and shame Zikar).

So after the reveal of Salyra’s role in stopping Erlan and Lamahu’s engagement, she insists that she tried ignore the visions at first but that ‘it’s no so simple’ to defy the gods, and that the consequences would have been even worse if she tried, and thus she meddled and set of Erlan’s wrath in the aftermath. Basically makes it sound like there was literally no other way to solve that issue other than to humiliate Erlan and drag Ishari into war because ✨ The Ancient Ones ✨ said it was the only way despite the fallout being visible from miles away.

Flash forward a couple decades though, and Salyra suddenly seems a lot more willing to not only defy the the will of the Ancient Ones herself but to also drag an at least somewhat unaware Anu into it by trying to get her to keep MC out of the battle that they were, in the most literal sense, born to be a part of. After forcing a potentially lethal dose of delayed Divinity on an unknowing INFANT MC presumably for this exact scenario and again, justifying it and absolving herself of guilt because mommy Elluha said it was okay, allowing her adult child to make the choice to fulfill the destiny SHE SET THEM ON is a bridge too far because *checks notes* Salyra has to actually acknowledge the danger they’re in instead of being able to make up an idealized scenario in her head - y’know something crazy like MC’s birth convincing a racist, bloodthirsty narcissist like Erlan that war is bad actually and that they should all get along.

Anyway, I get that the public is probably unaware of the majority of what actually goes on with their beloved high priestess, but does no one in the know (Anu, Sagron, Lamahu, higher ranked prepress) question her at ANY point? Anu especially given she has by far the most up to date context of all of this and isn’t getting the luxury of sending those she cares about away from danger despite her own divinity.

Like the visions Salyra had about the engagement and her response led directly to the war, the kid she basically betrayed the temple to have with Blood Guard general did nothing to solve said war for 20+ years, the plot to poison Erlan backfired spectacularly and brought the war directly to Ishari because they somehow didn’t account for Virion having a shred of political know-how let alone the skill he actually has, and now she’s all of a sudden trying to give MC a get-out-of-destiny free card, consequences for defying the gods be damned, because…what? It’s THAT much harder to stomach seeing her own kid sent off to war after basically subjecting an entire generation of Ishari to the same fate that she finally has the nerve?

Are the other members of the temple really able to believe that after the deities were so unyielding in how things had to go up to this point, and saw the casualty count as a necessary evil, they’re willing to make an exception for Salyra’s Special Kid and that there’s NO possible way Salyra is acting in her own interests even if it means subjecting everyone else to the supposedly unthinkable consequences of ignoring the will of the gods? Or has Salyra always had more of a choice in things than she has acknowledged, and has been exaggerating the consequences of disobeying the gods to try to absolve herself the trauma inflicted by her making the wrong choices by insisting there was never another option in the first place?

The thing with Salyra 20 years ago versus Salyra in the current demo and side stories is that she's starting to realise the truth of visions not being completely clear-cut as she once interpreted them. Some would say that this is exactly what the Ancient Ones planned by providing her this vision, others will say that free will exists so the interpretation is always bound to be flawed/questioned.

The deities aren't supposed to be all good either — they have their own goals, flaws and motives that aren't really explored in the current demo (it sort of ties back to fate and the four ages of the game universe).

Salyra is the High Priestess, so people are trusting of her decisions (divinity plays a role in her overall influence/sway), and after the war, so many of the worshippers with more knowledge and experience got killed/imprisoned that most of this knowledge is lost.

In telling Anu to keep the MC safe, Salyra is choosing to be selfish. She has contingency plans for Rana, too, but we don't see this discussed in the game or side stories.