#Nyx being unable to give her his first loyalty even as her Sword (which is how it works in the fusion with SE's Blood of my Blood-verse) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

a-world-in-grey · 1 year

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Life Debts and why Nyx's is a Big Deal

@secret-engima because I've been thinking on this and have Feelings.

Y'all can find SE's original post on Debt Braids here, but a short recap:

Debt is taken very seriously in Galahd. If you owe a debt, it's expected that you pay it off as soon as you can - via goods, services, etc. Very large debts between families can be settled through marriage, but as it requires both potential newly weds to be completely willing (Galahdians don't do divorce, you're married until one of you die), that sort of arrangement is rare.

A Life Debt is declared when a Galahdian believes they owe a debt they cannot repay, usually because the debt is so large, so personal, that a value of the debt cannot be given. In such a scenario, the Galahdian will declare a Life Debt and weave a Debt braid into their hair. A Life Debt is declared on that Galahdian's life. Only they can pay it, and once they die, the debt is fulfilled.

Now, this is where we get to just how serious declaring a Life Debt is. A Galahdian who declares a Debt is declaring that they owe this one person so much, that said person essentially now holds their loyalty over even the Galahdian's own clan and Chief. That loyalty stays until the Galahdian dies. If the person holding the debt dies, the debt passes on to their heir. When the heir dies, the debt does not pass on to anyone else, but even then, the Galahdian is not free from the Debt. Instead, they are free to choose how they will fulfill the debt until they die.

Because Life Debts are such a serious thing, no one can demand a Life Debt as payment. It is only ever voluntary.

So now we get to Nyx's Debt to Regis.

(I won't go into why Nyx declared a Debt - canonically we know Regis once saved Nyx's life, but exact details are for everyone's personal headcanons.)

On the surface, it's not that big of a deal. Oh, it's significant. It's a major commitment Nyx can never take back, but it's not really a problem.

Three things make Nyx's declared Debt significant, even by Galahdian standards. 1) The holder of his Debt is the Mainlander King. 2) Nyx is a Clan Chief. 3) Nyx is the absolute Last of his clan. Any single one of these wouldn't be remarkable, but together they turn what would be a significant but standard Debt into a nightmare.

Regis being an Outsider would normally not be an issue. Oh, there are Galahdians that sneer in private over Nyx declaring a Debt to an Outsider, because they believe Galahdians don't owe Outsiders jack shit. (Is it xenophobic? Yes, but Galahdians have a strong insider-outsider mindset and there will always be extremists in any culture.) But they keep their opinions to themselves because commenting on someone's declared Debt is just asking for a broken nose. Even Regis being a king wouldn't be anything other than an unusual detail (because just what happened that caused Nyx to owe a king a Debt?). The biggest thing about Regis being an Outsider is that to fulfill the debt, Nyx pretty much has to leave Galahd for Insomnia until the king and his heir die or one of them gives Nyx explicit permission/orders to return to Galahd. Which sucks, but that's what Debts mean. Regis - and later Noctis - will hold Nyx's first loyalty until Nyx dies.

Nyx being a Clan Chief is where things start getting sticky. A Chief's first duty must be to their clan. Chiefs, as a rule, do not declare Life Debts. They can't, not when they're first loyalty has to be to the clan, instead of a single person outside the Clan. In the very rare cases a Chief feels they must declare a Debt, they step down from their position as Chief. At least, they should. There's no clan law stating someone with a Life Debt cannot be Clan Chief, but a Chief in such a position will either neglect their clan or their Debt. Neither is something Galahdians regard favorably. There's never been a case where a Chief has refused to step down after declaring a Debt, so none of the Clans have ever had to decide what to do, but it's likely it would not end well.

Nyx being the very Last of his clan means that there aren't any other Ulrics he has a duty of care to as Chief. He is the only one affected by his declaration of Debt, so him remaining Chief Ulric isn't actually a problem. Where him being the Last becomes the final nail in the coffin is if anyone ever joins Clan Ulric. Because unless the Clans somehow find an Ulric that escaped the Burning, Nyx can't step down as Chief.

Nyx's first commitment must be to Regis. Then to Noctis. Not to his people. Not to his friends or any personal relationships. Not to rebuilding Clan Ulric. Any spouse/children/clansmen would always come second unless Regis/Noctis allowed it.

(Do I think Regis and Noctis would allow it, if Nyx asked? Yes. In a heartbeat. But Nyx would have to ask. Might even have to explain, and as a whole, Galahdians tend to be... reluctant, to explain their culture to Outsiders.)

I don't think Nyx really thought about the long term consequences of his Debt, when he made it. He might have, and could have decided that the situation was such that he was honor-bound to declare a Debt regardless. But Nyx has a reputation for not really thinking before he leaps into action, and depending on when Nyx declared his Debt? If it was after the Burning, after Nyx lost literally everyone, he probably wouldn't have been thinking clearly even if he had taken the time to think the decision over. And that's assuming he would have realized the implications in the first place - if Nyx wasn't raised to be Chief, it's very probable he wouldn't have.

Every other Clan Chief would have caught the implications. They would have known, from the moment they saw Nyx's braid, that the Last Ulric would never return to Galahd (not when the likelihood of Nyx outliving a boy 12 years his junior was slim to none). That the Last Ulric would likely remain the Last, condemning the Ulric Clan to die with him.

#ffxv #worldbuilding #galahd culture #galahd #Nyx Ulric #braids #working on my various Sola aus and realizing what it means for Nyx to declare that Debt #in most aus is doesn't end up being a problem because either Regis dies and Nyx transfers the Debt to Sola as his chosen queen #or Nyx never bonds as Sola's Sword before either of them die and is never confronted with that particular crisis #but in Sunshine-verse *Selena is still alive* and *still a child* for about four years after the Burning #...oh I work with that I can *definitely* work with that #then there's the Memories-verse when Nyx finally meets Sola again after Sola's supposed death (and actually *knows* it's Sola)#and he's smacked in the face with the realization that he can't stay with Sola because Sola doesn't want to return to Insomnia #and Sola has very good reasons for not wanting to go back but Nyx *has* to go back *because he declared a Debt*#and that Debt will go to Noctis on Regis' death because Sola is still 'dead' and Sola (now going by Rhea) doesn't want to be Sola anymore #so Nyx can't tell Regis or Noctis about Rhea because they'd want Sola to come back but Rhea *can't* be Sola #can't be the daughter and sister she was before she fell down Taelpar Crag #before Taelpar Crag it could have worked - Sola's first loyalty will always be to Noctis so she would have understood and accepted #Nyx being unable to give her his first loyalty even as her Sword (which is how it works in the fusion with SE's Blood of my Blood-verse)#(and in the fusion with SE's Nox-verse though Sola does ensure that Nox is aware of Nyx's situation when the two are courting)#it's unlikely I'll ever have Regis or pre-Crystal Noctis learn that Nyx declared a Debt or what it really means

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a-world-in-grey · 4 years

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Sola/Nox Fusion II - Glaives

Because the last part for @secret-engima was very much angst, despite the comfort, so now it’s time for Shenanigans. Featuring the glaives, some of whom would like it to be known that they did not sign up for this.

So, from Enablers to Braincells, here we go!

-Tredd, miffed that Axis picked up an LC and didn't share, decides he wants an LC of his own. It takes two days after learning that Nox is Axis' LC and about a week or so after Sola first joins the Kingsglaive practices and starts terrorizing them for Tredd to decide that he wants Sola as his LC. And since Tredd isn't trying to antagonize Sola, the two actually click almost immediately and Everyone is a Horror. Because Sola and Tredd enable each other. Luche is a Cry. (Eventually Ardyn gets involved too and Titus is a Sigh as the red heads cause Untold Chaos.) Tredd is very protective of his LC, and none of the LCs or Retinues are surprised when Tredd becomes Sola's Heart. Because Tredd isn't protective of Sola's physical well being (both are too reckless), but emotionally? Sola's practically his little sister. Anyone who hurts her is going to answer to him.

-Much like Sola and Tredd, Sola and Nyx together usually results in mass cases of Headaches for whichever poor sod is unlucky enough to be in their vicinity. Because Nyx’s idea of what constitutes as Girl Bonding Time generally includes a lot more warping than ‘normal’ (Nyx: boring) activities. And after the first time Nyx, Sola, and Tredd got up to Shenanigans together, Titus put his foot down and has banned the three of them from being in the same vicinity without supervision. Coincidentally, a number of nobles that had made certain remarks a few days earlier found themselves plagued by incessant small annoyances. Such as being unable to find a pen, or stumbling over smooth floors, or discovering someone had slipped bright green hair dye into their shampoo. (Did Titus have any evidence? No. Did he need evidence to know it was those three responsible? Also no.) Nyx bonds as Sola’s Sword, which later leads to Sola giving Nox the shovel talk (which is hilarious to Nyx just for the height differences involved) before cheerfully enabling them to sneak out on dates.

-Crowe and Sola are less Shenanigans and more Explosions. Titus has still banned them from experimenting without supervision after the last time they gave half the glaives heart attacks at seven in the morning. Said magical experiments now include Ardyn, which is not what Titus meant. In this friendship it’s more Sola enabling Crowe’s mad ideas than the other way around, because Crowe’s the one who goes ‘what if we do this’ and Sola is all to willing to come along for the ride rather than reign the older woman in. Because Sola can recognize genius, and genius should be encouraged. (And because if anyone ever becomes Uncle Ardyn’s Sword, it would be Crowe. Though she’d be less a sword and more a fire blast, but the point stands.)

-Pelna ends up halfway between Enabler and Braincell. Most of the situations Pelna enables involve Abyssus in some way, because Pelna is the biggest cat person and spoils Abyssus rotten. No few times Pelna has cheerfully agreed to ‘catsit’ Abyssus while Sola and her actual enablers sneak off to cause trouble for whichever nobles have been disparaging Nox/Ardyn/the Glaives that week. (Pelna does a lot of ‘catsitting.’) As Sola’s Hand, whenever he isn’t helping enable Sola’s most recent idea, it’s usually because he’s helping refine the idea into something that will actually work and not backfire horribly. Which includes helping reign Sola in when her temper threatens to get nasty and land her in more trouble than she can brush off.

-Sonitus, for all that at first glance everyone thinks it's Luche, is the one who becomes Sola's Shield. Or he would, if Sola allowed herself to form a bond with a Shield. Because while Luche is trying to Braincell the Disaster Duo, Sonitus is the one who slips into Sola's blindspots, who silently guards her back because someone has to do it and no one else is stepping up to the plate. And sure, Sonitus thinks Sola is nuttier than a fruitcake, but Sola has very obviously Claimed the Kingsglaive and Galahdians as hers, and Sola is unapologetic about Throwing Hands to Protect that Claim. The day Sola Throws Hands with some of the Crownsguard disparaging the glaives is the day Sola unknowingly cements Sonitus' loyalty. So while Sonitus doesn’t actively enable like some of the others, he is unconditionally ready to Throw Hands with whoever’s sparked Sola’s temper this time.

-Libertus has never commisserated so much with Luche before. To be fair, Nyx and Tredd have never gotten up to trouble together before, but now whenever Libertus finds himself dragging Nyx out of trouble, more often than not Luche is there too, dragging his two red-haired Idiots out of the same mess. Which means now when Libertus is Braincelling his Idiot, half the time he’s also Braincelling Luche’s by extension. He’s discovered that if he can cut in early enough, Sola’s actually the most reasonable of the Idiot Trio. But once the ball gets rolling, it’s near impossible to stop them unless he calls in reinforcements. Though he’s only ever had to call in Titus once. For which Libertus is grateful because the Captain made them all Regret it.

-Luche wants to strangle Sola and Tredd. Can they just Not, for five seconds?! (The answer is no. Sola and Tredd are Yes, all the time.) With Libertus Braincelling Nyx, Titus Braincelling Ardyn, and Luche now Braincelling the Disaster Duo that is Sola and Tredd, the poor Kingsglaive is now out of Braincells. Which is probably why after Sola properly enlists and Nyx and Crowe start collaborating with Nox and Adryn respectively the Kingsglaive gets a heck of a lot crazier in the stunts they pull while on missions/deployment. Glaive deaths have also gone down since, which does not help when Luche’s trying to talk the Disaster Duo out of another of their boneheaded stunts. (Sola’s not even his, but the day anyone lets Tredd Braincell is the day everything goes up in fire, so Luche Sighs and Braincells Tredd’s Idiot too.) At least he doesn’t have to worry about Axis anymore, if only because Axis wound up as a Braincell to his own Idiot.

-Titus would be the Chief Braincell, but he’s long since thrown in the towel. He’s got his own LC Idiot to cluck after, so long as no one makes it his Problem, he Doesn’t Care. And if it becomes his Problem, he’s making it everyone else’s Problem too. Until then, Sola has her own Retinue (and Luche) to deal with her Headaches.

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