What Would Be Some Good PoE1 Choices for a Pro-Rauatai PoE2 Character?

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

Hey guys, 

 

This is a bit of an odd thread topic, I know, but to explain it as best I can... I'm trying to make a character that's an intelligence agent for Rauatai who was dispatched to the Dyrwood to gather information before... the plot of the game happened. Now, I want to have as complete of a legacy as I can, but I'm also trying to create something that would feasibly make sense for a pro-Rauatai character. Basically, in the process of hunting down Thaos and resolving the Hollowborn Crisis... because he has to... this character takes opportunities presented to weaken the influence of other outside forces within the Dyrwood and otherwise serve the Empire in various ways. 

 

I'd like to share the backstory I've come up with thus far, and hear your thoughts on it. I've included explanations for some of the options I've picked, because I know they don't 100% match the theme of the character I'm going for. 

 

1. Hollowborn Crisis - This one was one of the hardest, because I tend to play characters in these games as very "Critical Path light", that is to say that they're not defined by the actions they take on the critical path so much as sidequests. 

-- Distributed the soul essence/Pledged to Galawain: This was a difficult one. I was tempted to go with Woedica at first but A: Her choice has been dummied out and B: In order for that to be logical, I'd need to play an anti-animancy character. 

-- Destroyed Thaos's soul: This is more of a personal vendetta type choice. All of the other options for dealing with him seem to be easily reversible by Woedica in the long-term if she wants her puppet back. 

-- Absorbed Maerwald's soul

-- Supported animancy: I made another thread about this topic, but it seems logical that, while Rauatai didn't achieve its military might through animancy, it would at least be open to the idea for military applications. This goes along with my companion choice Re: Kana. 

-- Supported the Doemenels: Probably butchered that name, but it makes sense for an intelligence agent to form ties with one of Defiance Bay's biggest crime families. 

 

2. Companions: 

Most of these choices are incidental/no-brainers and refer to companions who aren't going to appear in the game anyway. Here's the three I think will have the most impact on the plot. 

-- Sacrificed Durance: Since his main writer is gone, I very much doubt we'll see him in an upcoming expansion. I ultimately did this for the stat boost, but in context my Watcher would probably see it as a way to get rid of a potential rallying point were Rauatai ever to attempt to annex the Dyrwood. Flimsy, yes, but ultimately the reasoning is "Stat boost and he most likely isn't going to show up again." 

-- Kana: Anti-isolationist. This was another tough one. Ultimately, I based that decision on the fact that "Anti-isolationist" =/= "Anti-empire" it just means an empire that is open to adopting new ideas and technology, which made sense for a character whose whole purpose is stealing state secrets and such. 

-- Pallegina: Disobeyed her orders. Now, this is why I'm considering not going with Galawain, even if not siding with one of the "Free Will Three" means I can't logically support animancy. Completely destroying Pallegina's political career and robbing the Vallians of a powerful military asset seems very in keeping with this character, and plus you can get some pretty funny reactions from her if you do get a banished Pallegina. 

 

3. White March

-- Kept the souls bound to the White Forge

-- Eyeless went to work restoring Abydon

-- Adaryc lived

-- Concelhaut and most of his apprentices died, but Uariki survived. This is actually a pretty tough call. Uariki is most likely a member of one of the weaker Huana tribes, who probably wants to oust the Kahanga from their seat of power. From a standpoint of destabilizing the indigenous power in the Deadfire, it makes a lot of sense for Rauatai to secretly back as many upstarts as possible. 

-- Shared knowledge with Llengrath: My character would have no need for Concelhaut's phylactery, his goal isn't to live forever. And besides, having an ally of sorts on the Circle of Archmagi couldn't hurt, certainly. 

 

4. Gilded Vale: 

- Accepted coin from Wirtan for his silence

- Killed Kolsc: As much as I, personally, despise Raedric, the logical decision is to help him remain in power so that he feels that he "owes us one." Raedric is a member of nobility, and having someone like that to negotiate with would be of use to Rauatai's interests in the future. Plus, Kolsc dies either way, so all you're really doing is letting him play thayn for a few months.

- Gave Aufra the potion, said it would help. 

 

5. Od Nua

- Reforged the Blade

- Killed the Master Below, didn't learn Scale-Breaker: This is another one of those "Personal decision" type quest decisions, like destroying Thaos's soul. The Master Below isn't willing to negotiate with you like an equal, which would infuriate this character. So, she dies. Plus it gets you a nice bit of extra dialogue when you talk to Llengrath. 

 

6. Defiance Bay: 

- Verzanno died, Danna Doemenel lived

- Lilith lived

- Caedman Azo died

- Gave the Theorems to Nedyn: A bit subversive here. It puts the knowledge out there in the open for anyone to use, which effectively invalidates it. Sometimes that's an effective espionage tool as well. Leaking secure information so that the rival nation can't use it to its advantage later. 

- Absorbed the souls

- Convinced Fyrga that she was unfit for Magran's trials: I mean, she is, objectively. She can't do it herself so she makes you do it. 

- Infiltrated the Leaden Key: Again, an easy choice.

- Killed Lord Harond: With the implication that Aelys is now living happily ever after somewhere, I guess. 

- Made a deal with Nyrid and left him in charge: Sucks to be Purnisc's wife, I guess, but again - establishing links with the criminal underworld, and plus leaving as much of it intact as possible so it destabilizes the Dyrwood. 

- Hid the Parable of Wael

 

7. Twin Elms:

- Took Vela and killed Simoc: I'm not letting a man turn a baby into magical Viagra. 

- Killed Rehstin and convinced Erona to kill herself

- Let the pale elves pass through the breach

- Allowed the Sky Dragon to stay and convinced Hylea to let her stay. This is, again, something of a choice based on personality, rather than profession. As a follower of Galawain, my character would argue that the Sky Dragon effectively earned her right to that nesting ground, and that calling on outside help when you can't deal with the problem yourself is a sign that you've effectively already lost. 

 

So... What do you think? Again, I'm aware there aren't any Rauatai centered choices in the editor, save Kana's ultimate fate, but what do you guys think about these for a character that's centered around information gathering and assassination? 

[handsomenat]

I've made a pro-Rauatai Watcher recently too and faced a similar dilemma. Except I've made her also pro-Woedican and anti-animancy. I think the most important choices are the ones regarding Kana and Pallegina (because the Republics seem to be their major competition. not sure how much of an impact would one deal have on them though). Also interesting choice you've made for Kana. Because it makes sense of course; him being anti-isolationism doesn't make him a dissident even if it could look this way on the surface.

 

As for a spy-assassin type of a character I guess your choices work okay? I wonder though... if you'd kill both Kolsc and Raedric and then left undead Raedric to infinitely oppress his people it would lead to more instability in the region? (how would you know that he'd come back from the dead though. maybe leaving a region leaderless would be enough).

 

Eh reading this and thinking of my own response just makes me realize more that while you can make your own informed choices you can't foresee the ripple effects. The long-term consequences.

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

I've made a pro-Rauatai Watcher recently too and faced a similar dilemma. Except I've made her also pro-Woedican and anti-animancy. I think the most important choices are the ones regarding Kana and Pallegina (because the Republics seem to be their major competition. not sure how much of an impact would one deal have on them though). Also interesting choice you've made for Kana. Because it makes sense of course; him being anti-isolationism doesn't make him a dissident even if it could look this way on the surface.

 

As for a spy-assassin type of a character I guess your choices work okay? I wonder though... if you'd kill both Kolsc and Raedric and then left undead Raedric to infinitely oppress his people it would lead to more instability in the region? (how would you know that he'd come back from the dead though. maybe leaving a region leaderless would be enough).

 

Eh reading this and thinking of my own response just makes me realize more that while you can make your own informed choices you can't foresee the ripple effects. The long-term consequences.

 

That's a very good point. And, admittedly, I HAD considered going full Woedica because, honestly, I could see Rauatai really liking her. She represents Order and Justice and a lot of things that Rauatai likes. I could also see a pro-Rauatai character disliking the practice of Animancy because of how Rauatai essentially became a military superpower through their own ingenuity. So I might go with that (Plus, that way Pallegina is ultimately screwed over). 

 

I just wish Woedica's blessing was still in the game, but ah well. 

 

As for the Kana one, yeah - definitely agreed. Note that the great Empires of the world were certainly not isolationist. It's kind of hard to conquer someone and not be influenced by foreigners. And if you pick an anti-isolationist Kana, Maia doesn't make any mention of him being a dissident. 

 

The Raedric choice is definitely one of the harder ones to work out. On the one hand, I kill him and replace him with an upstart, on the other I kill Kolsc for a potential alliance. If you kill Raedric, Kolsc dies anyway, and then if you kill Raedric as (allegedly) an envoy of Berath, Gilded Vale becomes a lawless frontier town. It could be that this character killed Raedric, thinking Kolsc could be more easily manipulated, and then when he got the news of Raedric's return, dealt with him because it'd be a loose end. It's worth noting that Raedric specifically wants to fight YOU if he comes back as a Deathguard, because you were the one who killed him. 

 

I do like the idea of being pro-Woedican in this playthrough, because... honestly, I feel like a Lawful Evil playthrough could be a lot of fun. Definitely on the side of advancing the best interests of yourself and the people you represent, but you don't go out of your way to screw over people who have done nothing to you. Benevolent empire, that kind of thing. 

[InsaneCommander]

Please share with us any interesting consequences when you play. My next character will be a Rauataian too.

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

Will do!

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

So I ultimately decided to pledge the souls to Woedica, but not make a specific pledge with any one god. The way I see it, Woedica serves as a representation of everything Rauatai likes - tradition, authority, and so on, but Skaen is way too fickle of a god to pledge to.

[hermamora]

So I ultimately decided to pledge the souls to Woedica, but not make a specific pledge with any one god. The way I see it, Woedica serves as a representation of everything Rauatai likes - tradition, authority, and so on, but Skaen is way too fickle of a god to pledge to.

I beg to disagree. Rauatai stands for progress, unification, authority and technology so theoretically speaking they're dangerously close to communism than to old ways Woedica represents. 

[handsomenat]

To be honest I picked Woedica because I wanted to specifically make a lawful evil character who was also an aristocrat. It made sense to me. I didn't want to imply that it would be specific to Rauatai. I'm sorry for the confusion; I mostly wanted to point out differences in my story choices. (Also it's kinda hard to judge the whole Rauatai when we see only their navy and Kana's own reflections. Also Woedica is still somewhat important to Huana as well; her name is invoked by Onekaza, usually understood as the law-keeper and oathbinder).

[hermamora]

To be honest I picked Woedica because I wanted to specifically make a lawful evil character who was also an aristocrat. It made sense to me. I didn't want to imply that it would be specific to Rauatai. I'm sorry for the confusion; I mostly wanted to point out differences in my story choices. (Also it's kinda hard to judge the whole Rauatai when we see only their navy and Kana's own reflections. Also Woedica is still somewhat important to Huana as well; her name is invoked by Onekaza, usually understood as the law-keeper and oathbinder).

Huana's caste system fits perfectly to Woedica domain. Also Onekaza is the queen who wishes to unite Huana under her tribe's rule. So no wonder she worships Woedica. 

[gkathellar]

Remember, it's explicitly stated in PoE1 that Aedyr is Woedica's favorite, and that Woedica will takes steps to assure a return to their former glory if she regains hers. Given that, I would think a pro-Rauataian Watcher would be very wary of supporting her, given that they're a rising power and would find a reinvigorated Aedyr terribly inconvenient.

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

Remember, it's explicitly stated in PoE1 that Aedyr is Woedica's favorite, and that Woedica will takes steps to assure a return to their former glory if she regains hers. Given that, I would think a pro-Rauataian Watcher would be very wary of supporting her, given that they're a rising power and would find a reinvigorated Aedyr terribly inconvenient.

 

Oh, thank you! This is actually a fantastic piece of information. 

 

To that end, it actually makes a lot of sense for this Watcher to support Galawain then, reinvigorated Dyrwood or no. Because Pallegina disobeying her orders doesn't make the Vallians 'stop' necessarily, it just makes them go "Oopsie, guess she was right," if the Dyrwood actually fights back because their souls have been bolstered. Sure, she gets to keep her job, but A: The Watcher has no way of knowing that either of those things will happen and, B: Might reason that even a pardoned Pallegina may hold some sort of grudge against the VTC and be will- (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.... Oh lord.). 

 

Galawain, aside from being the patron of assassins, represents progress in a very direct, brutal sense through his survival of the fittest mentality, which is something I could see Rauatai really getting behind. 

 

Survival of the fittest has also been stated to be a 'law' of nature, which sort of lends itself to Lawful Neutral as well as, to a degree, Lawful Evil characters. 

 

As far as supporting animancy goes, it makes sense to me for an intelligence operative to be interested in using the Dyrwood as a test case of sorts for the science, in order to promote various ideas that could potentially be used by Rauatai in the future. 

 

I know it seems like I'm flip-flopping here, but as someone said, it's really nice to examine these choices and the world that they create through the ripple effects. 

Edited July 11, 2018 by Cyrus_Blackfeather

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

So, I actually read the ending slide, and letting Pallegina follow through with her mission actually winds up worse for the Vallians if you strengthen the Dyrwood. 

 

The Vallians follow through with the trade deal, and the Dyrwood wages war against the Republics for two years. The ducs who sponsored the deal are killed in riots. 

[Parasol_Syndicate]

Would be hard for me to justify that choice, because my (rather slow and stupid) watcher wouldn't know that. 

He would want to help the Dyrwood, and that means talking Pallegina out of her mission. 

 

Your character is of course your own, and up to you whether you want it to benefit from hindsight. 

[InsaneCommander]

So, I actually read the ending slide, and letting Pallegina follow through with her mission actually winds up worse for the Vallians if you strengthen the Dyrwood. 

 

The Vallians follow through with the trade deal, and the Dyrwood wages war against the Republics for two years. The ducs who sponsored the deal are killed in riots. 

 

They deserve that. And they don't deserve Pallegina.