#sdc december 2022 wednesdays

[ykoriana-imperatrix]

SDC Month - December 2022 - Wednesday #2

We are back with another what-if scenario! Before we do start, however, I would just like to add something that I think I failed to make clear last week — much like the theories from June, these scenarios will be solely based on canon information from the books and website both (and anything from online chats with the author, if relevant). They will not take into account any (further) development of/headcanons relating to any characters, events, worldbuilding, etc. (especially the first) from fanon.

(Cut for length (trust me, this one definitely needs it) and some spoilers here and there.)

A Daughter Can Oft More Fates Decide

(This title, is, of course, a reference to the epigraph from the chapter "The Conclave".)

As you might have guessed from the title, my concept for today is: what if Azurea had given birth to a daughter instead of a son? (And, yes, @suth-sardian, I know, I know, we already explored this particular concept through our own discussions, so this week's installment is not exactly exciting new material, but I feel it isn't exactly rehashing pre-existing content either. After all, this scenario is getting introduced to a wider audience via this project, which is always a plus, no?)

Getting back to the core concept at hand: nothing else changes in this scenario. Azurea, unfortunately, still dies in childbirth, the exile deal between Sardian and Ykoriana still happens, and so on. The only difference is that we now have a Carnelia* (and yes, I do imagine Carnelian could perfectly serve as a unisex name, but I like Carnelia, it is sort of a portmanteau of carnelian + the existing name Cornelia, so I'm going to use it for this post from here on) instead of a Carnelian as the child decisions must be made about.

As @suth-sardian pointed out when we initially had this discussion, it is very possible a significant change would be at play here, that being the fact that Sardian would be legally unable to take his baby daughter with him in his exile (that is, if that was even his intention in the first place; having a young daughter and having a young son would be very distinct situations for a Chosen lord to deal with). Little Carnelia might still be an infant who would not be subject to confinement in the forbidden houses for many years, but the fact the exile was (for all anyone knew at the time) meant to be permanent would mean this young lady would eventually find herself reaching the age of menarche in circumstances under which she couldn't be properly confined as the Law-that-must-be-obeyed dictated. So, what would Sardian do regarding his young daughter?

One would assume he would just leave her behind at Coomb Suth, being comforted by the fact that she would still be growing up around her grandmother Urquentha, and so would not be entirely bereft of the presence of Chosen members of her paternal family (and lineage). And yes, given what their society is like, I imagine that even under more normal circumstances, where Sardian was never exiled, he would have never been particularly close to a daughter, but being a distant figure in her life would still be quite different from not being around at all. Plus, we know Sardian is an atypical Chosen lord in many ways; he might never have been a doting father to Carnelia regardless of circumstance, but he would still feel fondness and (perhaps more importantly, given his values and strong sense of honour) paternal responsibility for her. She would likely even be safer among the Suths than her male canon counterpart, given that, unlike him in the same circumstances, she would have posed no threat to Spinel in terms of his plots for usurpation of the Ruling Lordship.

There is, however, Ykoriana's offer to consider still, which would — seeing as she made it prior to Azurea's death — still be in play. I think that Sardian, knowing how close Ykoriana had been to her sister, would at least give the idea some thought and try to figure out if his child would ever be remotely safe around her aunt. While personally, I do think Ykoriana would feel more favourably towards Azurea's daughter than she ever would towards Azurea's son, and I don't think that would be a thought that would never cross Sardian's mind, at this point, he would still be acutely aware that Ykoriana loathes him (and who knows if that hatred might not eventually bleed into her view of his daughter) and that the birth of Carnelia caused Azurea's death, and it is surely not impossible Ykoriana might resent her to some degree for it (as she does regarding Carnelian in canon). In addition (another point @suth-sardian made when we originally had this discussion, as I recall), while a son of his growing up in the Masks would still be living in the world of men for the most part, and could be far more easily protected by Kumatuya if needed, a daughter would mainly be under Ykoriana's sphere of influence. And so, Sardian might just not want to take that risk at all; he'd know that his daughter’s safety would be far more assured if she was left at Coomb Suth.

I will not speculate at great length about Carnelia herself, and what she would grow up to be like in terms of personality, since the circumstances are too different from canon to keep any speculation from getting too fanfiction-like if it goes on too long. But considering she would be growing up with Urquentha as her main adult Chosen influence, I believe it's quite likely she would develop a personality similar to that of her grandmother, and be more of a typical haughty and blood-proud young Chosen woman, lacking the compassion and kind heart that characterises her male counterpart. Children, real or fictional, mainly learn compassion and empathy from the adults in their lives, usually parental figures, and Carnelia would just lack the key circumstances (and individuals) conducive to Carnelian turning out as he did.

What about Sardian himself, and how would he fare in his exile in this alternate universe where he did not have his son with him? We do know Carnelian's presence was incredibly important to how his life in the Hold played out, from what he says in the chapter "The Blood-Ring":

When we came here, this place was a perfect mirror to my mood. That first winter was terrible. Many died. When they did not know I heard them, our people whispered that I had brought them across the black water to the Isle of the Dead. I almost shared their belief. As bleak and colourless as the Underworld is said to be, this island was worse. If you had not been there, swaddled in Ebeny's arms, I might have let it remain always so. For your sake, I let the household improve the Hold.

Now, it is impossible to guess with complete certainty if what-if!Sardian's mindset would have ever improved, or if we would find the Hold and the people living there shadows of their canon selves by 15 Kumatuya (that if they were even still alive). But I do believe it is not a total impossibility this Sardian could have eventually reached a point where his mental state did improve somewhat, even if it took much longer and it never reached the same levels of contentment it did in canon. Sardian is nothing if not a very resilient man, and in the absence of Carnelian, it is possible he might have developed a deeper bond with (some of) the members of his household earlier (it's not like his atypical attitude towards his slaves originated during the exile years even in canon, after all, we do know he genuinely loved Fey and considered her his favourite sister, which probably went back to when were both children, or close enough). On that note, one could wonder if the composition of the household Sardian takes along would be changed by Carnelia's existence and the fact she would likely be staying at Osrakum. I imagine Sardian choosing to take Crail, Brin and Grane along would almost certainly be unchanged — he seemed to have had significant trust in them and valued their competence for a long time, and it is not like the roles they would be playing would be affected by Carnelia's presence or absence. The same would, I'm sure, be true of others like Naith, Krib, Poal, Rale, Mari, and so on. It is when it comes to Ebeny and Keal in particular that I believe we could see a change — if Sardian is not taking his newborn child along, he does not really need any specific household woman to be serving as a wet nurse, be that Ebeny or any other, now does he? In my view, whether Ebeny and Keal stayed or left would depend more on Sardian's feelings regarding Ebeny then, and his reasons to have Keal (only a child at the time, remember) be part of the household in exile. If Sardian already had some fondness for Ebeny at the time (and didn't just see her as a random concubine), and that wasn't more of a development occuring during the exile years (which isn't made completely clear in the canonical material), then yes, I do think he would still want her to go. As for Keal, it would come down to whether Sardian was taking him along more for his own sake (Keal maybe being a marumaga son he happened to have some fondness for even then, which we also have no idea was the case or not) or for Ebeny's, so that she wouldn't have to suffer being separated from her child.

So, the years pass, and assuming everything still goes as it did in canon, and Kumatuya lies dying by the 15th year of his reign, a trio of unexpected visitors arrive. I think that, barring Sardian dying earlier for whatever reason (but let’s assume he does not), this is still going to happen regardless of Carnelia(n)'s sex or location — as I mentioned in the last what-if post, I feel like bringing Sardian back would always seem like a good move to Aurum, and, of course, Kumatuya would relish the chance to see him one more time no matter the universe. In fact, I think that this scenario might give Aurum added investment regarding convincing Sardian to return, and in the absence of Carnelian’s clear parentage as his main argument, he would play up the fact that Sardian had not seen his daughter in 15 years, wouldn't he like to have that chance, might even work in (feigned) affection for his own daughters as a comparison, etc. (And while I don't want to make this point into too long of a tangent, since Aurum just had a what-if post focused on him last Wednesday, Azurea's child being a daughter is incredibly fortunate for him in this scenario — remember, he is still actively looking for a third wife... Carnelia would be young (all the better in terms of a greater chance to eventually produce a son), particularly pure-blooded as ladies of the Great go, a niece of the current God Emperor and a cousin to the future one... he would likely find no better potential match short of Ykoriana herself.) And yes, I do think Sardian would return, even in the absence of Carnelian and thus the danger posed by Aurum deducing his parentage. What-if!Sardian would likely be less attached to the Hold than canon Sardian, as discussed above, he would still absolutely want to have a last chance to see Kumatuya, and I do think he would be curious about his daughter, what she would be like, how had she been doing for all these past years. So, once again, the "Baran Bunch" sets out on the way to Osrakum, only this time as a group of four instead of five.

(*While I don’t want to go too deep into the rabbit hole of what would Sardian name a potential daughter, I feel that in more realistic terms, Urothre would be a fairly plausible possibility, since it would probably mean something along the lines of “little carnelian” (from “ur”, “lesser, little” and “óthrá”, “carnelian”) and the original Urothre would be an ancestress of this child, and even one that was actually from the Great and not the House of the Masks itself. Depending on Chosen society’s view on necronyms, especially those concerning the recently deceased, it is also possible Sardian might at least consider naming his daughter after her late mother. If he did so, he might have the intention of endearing Ykoriana to the child via honouring Azurea... but then again, it is possible that Ykoriana would just see it as an insult to her sister’s memory and it would just make matters worse. Seriously, this could probably be its own post.)

And this is where I'll put a stop to my speculation within this particular scenario. Yes, there is so much more that could be speculated about, especially when it comes to Sardian and Carnelia's thoughts and actions after the former's return to Osrakum, and how the events from then onwards would be changed from canon... but this post is far too long already, and fellow fans, friends and companions, bear with me, I don't want to fall into the aforementioned rabbit hole, or any other, and have this reach novel length. Who knows, maybe a continuation of this particular what-if scenario can even be part of a future SDC month?

#stone dance of the chameleon #the stone dance of the chameleon #sdc month 2 2022 #sdc what-ifs #sdc december 2022 wednesdays

[ykoriana-imperatrix]

SDC Month - December 2022 - Wednesday #3

Today, on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, we return for the third instalment in this project. The true question — can I keep the posts in this series from getting ridiculously long? (I think you can probably guess the answer to that.)

(Cut for not only length but spoilers for The Masters through Dragon Fire.)

Not His Sister’s Keeper

(Yes, the title is a biblical reference.)

And I imagine that means you can already imagine what is going to be our topic of discussion for today... Presenting: what if Flama had not been murdered by Molochite and had been around for the election?

Now, let me just make one important point clear: I am convinced Molochite would still have attempted to murder Flama, but any attempt(s) would have been unsuccessful (I feel it's not that wildly implausible a premise; we do see several unsuccessful assassination attempts in the actual books), that being our main point of divergence between canon and this scenario. After all, we do know for a fact his situation was quite desperate:

(...) she had underestimated her other son. Molochite had known that his sister's votes would neutralize those his mother cast for him. His brother was more popular than he—not only in the House of the Masks but among the Great. He had murdered his sister.

So, if everything else remains the same (which is what I'm going with for this scenario), it would just feel out of character if Molochite didn't still at least try to get rid of Flama.

That said, what else does change? According to the chronology for Kumatuya's reign from the old website, Flama died on the 25th day of the 9th month of 14 Kumatuya. The events of The Masters start on the 23rd day of the 9th month of 15 Kumatuya — so we are looking at almost exactly an entire year's worth of potential changes brought about by this divergence. And while Flama herself might be a posthumous character we know little about, in my relatively humble opinion, we do still learn enough about her (mainly, from Ykoriana's POV chapter) to make some good enough guesses (which wouldn't be the case if we were trying to speculate about, say, Aurum's late son). We know Ykoriana was Flama's main adult influence ("Flama she had kept as close as the Law permitted"), so, much as in the hypothetical case of female Carnelian and Urquentha, Flama's personality was likely shaping up to be much like her mother's. We know she was strong-willed and stubborn, and absolutely determined to vote for her favoured brother Osidian (who she was also quite close to according to both Ykoriana and Osidian himself), regardless of how her mother felt about it:

‘Flama promised to vote for me.’

Carnelian caressed Osidian's jaw. 'I'm sorry.'

'We loved one another since we were children. When I am the Gods...'

Headstrong, the girl had fought her over who would succeed Kumatuya. Given enough time, Ykoriana would have been able to gentle poison Flama's love for Nepheron.

In my view, the aftermath of the failed assassination attempt(s) (though I'm leaning more towards there only being the one; Ykoriana was taken by surprise by the murder in canon, I am certain she would act to prevent any additional attempts in this scenario, where the failed attempt would alert her to the danger, and she likely wouldn’t be the only one doing so) would have had a significant impact in Flama's relationship dynamics with her main line relatives. (Well, those we have enough information to speculate on, at least; we have nothing to go on to consider Nurpayahras, Nayakarade and/or Tiye's relationships with anyone within their family that's alive during canon, let alone Flama. How Kumatuya might have felt about her is also a complete mystery (like many other things involving him): my guess is that they most likely rarely if ever interacted (which would also mirror Ykoriana seeing Molochite and Osidian as strangers), as I imagine might be the norm for most Chosen men regarding their daughters.)

No, let's instead focus on the relationships we have actual information to go on. How Flama felt about Molochite is not exactly known, but considering his reputation within (and outside) the Masks and the fact that she so strongly seemed to prefer Osidian, I feel it is a fair assumption that at best, she likely disliked/mistrusted him (if not outright hated him). The fact that he tried to murder her would naturally only intensify these feelings (and possibly make her somewhat paranoid about the possibility of further attempts).

Regarding Osidian, I think this incident would only draw her closer to him — not only would he probably have been left as the only family member she had complete trust in (more on that in a moment), ensuring he won the election would have become even more of a necessity. (And this is Ykoriana's daughter and Osidian's sister we are talking about — I do think she would feel vindictive joy at personally witnessing her would-be murderer's grisly demise at Osidian's Apotheosis.)

Her relationship with Ykoriana would suffer from the attempted murder, I believe. Even if she wasn't at all involved, Molochite would still be her favoured candidate, who she intended to rule through — no matter how close mother and daughter might have been, I can't see this incident not leading to feelings of pain, betrayal and anger from Flama's part, and thus creating a rift between the two. (Now, I don't think it is impossible their relationship could have been repaired to at least some degree eventually (we do know acts of betrayal, intended or not, are not uncommon among the Masks, and who's to say how, for instance, Nayakarade's relationship with Ykoriana evolved before and after Kumatuya's election), but I do not see that happening in the short-term, which is what we are looking at here.) And I think Osidian would take advantage of that (and it is possible Kumatuya would also actively advise him to do so? This would be consistent with how terrible the state of his own relationship with Ykoriana must have been... but again, it would still be dependent on his dynamic and frequency of interactions with Osidian, and involve many factors we have far too little information to go on), despite his love for his sister being genuine — after all, we do know he had apparently always feared Ykoriana, despite the two having had very few interactions throughout his life:

Osidian frowned. 'I've seen little of her: mostly, I fear her.'

So I believe that he would see getting Flama away from their mother's influence as being in the best interest of both of them. For Ykoriana herself, however, this would be a terrible blow on both a personal and a political level: the only one of her children she had ever genuinely loved now deeply mistrusted her, and any chances of that plan of gently poisoning Flama's love for Osidian having a chance (even if remote) of ever working would be gone. No, I feel that despite the situation now looking quite dire for her/Molochite's faction, she instead would cling to the same pragmatism she did in the aftermath of Flama's death in canon, and double down on trying to ensure Molochite's victory, because ruling through him would quite possibly be the only thing she now felt she had left. Osidian would be, if anything, even more determined to have her neutralised and left completely isolated in the depths of the forbidden house, and now Ykoriana wouldn’t even have the slight hope that Flama might try to persuade him to be more lenient towards her (as she might have had they still been on good terms).

(And regarding the possibility of Ykoriana being seen as the culprit in the case of Flama's attempted murder as she was with her actual murder in canon — I feel that Flama herself, unlike Osidian, would know their mother well enough/have a different enough type of relationship with her to be certain that it had been Molochite behind the attempt and not her... Though that said, who can know for sure? While for this scenario, I am going with the idea that Flama did know who was responsible, and told Osidian (and possibly others in the Masks close to her, if she had those bonds) because it feels like the most plausible option to me (and the rift between mother and daughter would already arise regardless), it is also possible that the doubt was such that it led to this even deeper feeling of betrayal, and that Flama actually believed (or came to believe) her own beloved mother had tried to have her killed. A far more tragic sub-scenario, I think, and one where their relationship would likely be left beyond any hope of repair.)

About the election proper, let us consider the state of Osidian's faction as well. The situation by the time in which the faction representatives would have left Osrakum in canon would certainly be much better, with Osidian's victory and not Molochite's now seeming assured... yet I think that said representatives leaving with the intention of persuading Sardian to return could still very much be a definite possibility. Yes, Flama's survival and the added 8000 votes would make an immense difference, so Sardian's support would be far less of a necessity in this scenario, but I do think that (as mentioned in the last what-if post) was never Kumatuya's main goal when first deciding to discuss it with Aurum — he mostly wanted to see Sardian one last time (though that said, even given the very favourable situation of his faction, it's not like what-if!Osidian wouldn't benefit from having further support). How might Flama have felt about her father trying to put this plan into motion? Well, she’s unlikely to have had a positive opinion of Sardian given her (until recently) close bond to Ykoriana, but then again, considering their now-strained relationship, it’s possible she would be more conflicted, and maybe reconsider previously-held views at least to some degree. Though perhaps we should also take into account the fact that despite her young age, she would still be a very pure-blooded (and adult by their standards) lady of the Masks, and so might feel some resentment towards others becoming important players within Osidian’s faction because she wanted that to be her role, and this her time to finally come into the spotlight, away from the shadow of her mother and her status.

And the faction's far more comfortable position regarding the balance of votes makes it even more likely that we would see someone other than Osidian himself in the place of main faction manager/faction leader by proxy. (Flama, despite most likely not being old enough to have to be legally confined to the forbidden house at this point — she would only be 10 (almost 11 in our years) — would, I think, be very much her mother's daughter in this regard and consider it beneath her to handle any negotiations in person. And, of course, she could definitely afford not to show herself.) On that note, I feel like, once again, Aurum would see Sardian's support as a plus; his reputation and abilities would all be beneficial for the faction as a whole, and his lack of ambition/opportunism would make him an ideal partner in faction management in Aurum's eyes, as that way he could reap any rewards solely by himself.

When it comes to the representatives' identities, I feel like those might be changed in this scenario in the cases of Aurum and Vennel (we know little if anything about the Ruling Lord Imago and his motivations, so no reason to believe he wouldn't send Jaspar to the Hold as in canon). As the position of Osidian's faction is significantly more secure, Aurum would, like in the first what-if scenario we considered this month (if for different reasons) be less desperate, so it’s not impossible he might want to remain in Osrakum to further ingratiate himself with Osidian — and thus ensure maximum gain from his eventual victory — and send some lord he trusted well enough in his stead. Ykoriana and Molochite, meanwhile, would be in the reverse position of greater desperation, so I feel the former might not underestimate the representatives' mission as much as she did in canon, and so would want to take greater care when it came to settling on an adequate representative, instead of the canonical half-hearted selection of the first candidate that seemed good enough (my apologies to Vennel, but as I have said in the past, he did not exactly prove himself competent).

I do think the group's journey and its outcome would mostly go as it did in canon, especially if Aurum still decides to go himself — as we know Jaspar did not have the necessary knowledge (or was even old enough) to figure out Carnelian's parentage, and odds would be good that Aurum's hypothetical replacement and Vennel's would not either, there would be no one capable of putting the pieces together and forcing Sardian's hand in the sub-scenario where Aurum stayed at Osrakum. But again, it is possible Sardian still decided to return* just to see Kumatuya one last time, as we considered for last week's scenario... And who knows, it could really go either way with Aurum; the heir-related desperation would still be at play, after all, and he could have thought the risk of the journey worth it just to ensure he got Sardian on his side, and so there would be no other, less-desirable faction management partner potentially taking advantage of any existing power vacuum. (And yes, one could have done so in his absence, but since as far as we know that did not happen in canon, I'm willing to believe it didn’t here either.)

So, assuming the representatives' journey still happened and Sardian and Carnelian did return with them, then I think it almost certain Ykoriana's assassination attempts did as well — why, she has even more motivation for them in this timeline, as the last thing she needs is Osidian gaining even more support, and getting rid of both Aurum and Sardian could be her last chance at dealing his faction a significant blow.

(*Yes, I am aware I've now had three distinct what-if scenarios where Sardian's return still occurs even given the changes at play. What can I say? Maybe it just happens to be something akin to one of the fixed points in time from Doctor Who in the SDC universe.)

There is much more I could speculate on within this particular what-if scenario — particularly involving what happens after/if the entire group makes it to Osrakum unscathed (well, four-fifths of them, anyway) as in canon, and how Flama being alive might or might not affect Carnelian and Osidian meeting and the development of their relationship. As this post is already too long, however, I think I'm going to do the same as I did for the "A Daughter Can Oft More Fates Decide" scenario and potentially have a second part for it during a future SDC month. I will see you all next week for the fourth and last what-if scenario for this month.

#stone dance of the chameleon #the stone dance of the chameleon #sdc month 2 2022 #sdc what-ifs #sdc december 2022 wednesdays

[ykoriana-imperatrix]

SDC Month - December 2022 - Wednesday #1

Introducing the other new weekly project for this SDC month: what-if scenarios. In a sense, I feel one could consider it similar to the theories project, as a theory tries to piece together a scenario that might have happened through available canonical information, while a what-if focuses on a scenario that could have happened had some change, great or small, impacted the events of canon. They may not be sister projects exactly... but perhaps one could call them cousin ones?

Just a few notes before we start: for this project, I tried to choose scenario ideas useful enough to generate some (hopefully interesting) speculation and discussion, but which would keep the resulting posts to a reasonable length as well (say, of a maximum around those of the theories from June, but more than just a handful of sentences along the lines of "well, I guess this would happen, that's about it"). I also wanted concepts that would result in more canon-based speculation and not something more akin to fanfiction — for instance, a scenario where some random lord accompanied Aurum and Jaspar on the journey to the Hold instead of Vennel would be far from ideal, because I'd have to completely make up everything about what said lord would be like in terms of personality and motivations, how would those influence his actions, etc. Basically, I wanted scenario ideas that would allow for some degree of freedom of speculation, but at the same time still be grounded in canon and the characters at their core. Did I succeed? I'll let you be the judge of that.

Should the Gods Ever Grant Him a Son of His Own Blood

(I thought it only fair that, like their theory cousins, the what-if scenarios had their own individual titles. This one comes from a quote from George R. R. Martin's novel Fire & Blood.)

My first concept proposal for this project: what if Aurum and Sardian's sister had a son born not too long before the events of canon? (For the purposes of the subsequent speculation, let's say this hypothetical boy would be under the age of one by the time The Masters begins, born in early 15 Kumatuya or thereabouts.)

Now, given what we know about Aurum, I'm sure we can all agree that this would be a hugely significant change to him. The reason he married Sardian's sister in the first place was in order to produce a son and heir to replace the one born from his first marriage, who died young. It might have taken over two decades to get a son from this second marriage, but in this scenario, he'd finally have the heir he'd been dreaming of for years. And I very much believe this would lead to a major change in Aurum's behaviour: this version of him would be far less desperate. So yes, while I'm certain he would still absolutely want to cling to what power and influence he held for the remainder of his natural life, I think this Aurum would perhaps reevaluate his priorities in the wake of the son’s birth, which would lead him on a somewhat divergent path from that of canon!Aurum. Yes, politically speaking, managing Nephron's faction would be a huge plus in terms of the eventual potential rewards... but recall that in canon, he would almost certainly have been hoping to secure a third marriage (in order to have a chance to produce the much hoped-for heir) as part of said rewards. What-if!Aurum, as I said earlier, would lack that factor of urgency and desperation, and while yes, his infant son could still end up succumbing to child mortality, I think securing an additional match for the purpose of having a just-in-case backup heir wouldn't exactly be high in Aurum's list of priorities. (Remember that matches with pure-blooded ladies are very costly and not exactly easy to come by; I imagine this hypothetical idea would be seen as a more than a little frivolous waste of iron from what-if!Aurum's perspective.)

No, instead, I feel like the son would have become his number one focus. By 15 Kumatuya, Aurum would be an elderly man (if one in implausibly good health), and he would know that even in the best case scenario, he was likely to die while his son was still quite young. And I believe he might actually seriously think beyond his own death and be concerned about how the election for his successor might go — what if any supporters his young son would have might not prove enough to stand against some too-ambitious second lineage lord, and his treasured bloodline, his precious long-awaited heir, ended up being ousted from the Ruling Lordship? (Additionally, I imagine the threat of assassination would be very much present — even if it wasn't as much of a risk while Aurum himself lived and was in good health — since a small, vulnerable child would be too tempting a target for scheming relations...) So Aurum would know that the best way to avoid these dreaded outcomes would be to make sure his son was as old as possible when the election came about — that is, that he would need to live as long as possible. Of course, there would only be so much he could do in that regard, though he did already seem to canonically have a healthy lifestyle (a definite plus), and I'm certain he would be vigilant enough regarding any potential assassination attempts on his person as well. There would not be much that could be done regarding the threat of any fatal genuine accidents or unexpected medical conditions... but he could avoid unnecessary risks. Such as, say, going on a cross-continental journey fraught with all sorts of dangers for several months.

Yes, you read that right, I do believe Aurum would not travel to the Hold in this scenario. I think he might still see trying to convince Sardian to return as potentially useful in terms of strengthening Nephron's faction, and it is quite possible he would still discuss it with Kumatuya, but I really cannot see him going himself, taking into account everything that could go wrong for him (and/or his baby son in his absence) in the meantime. Instead, I think he would safely stay behind at Osrakum, continuing to channel his efforts into gaining more support for Nephron (and drawing support away from Ykoriana and Molochite if the chance presented itself; for instance, he might make far more of an effort to try and win Jaspar's father and his faction over to his side in this timeline). As for who might be sent as the faction representative on the journey in Aurum’s stead... well, we do know said faction did canonically include more lords of standing than that of Molochite, so it may not have been as difficult for Aurum to select a good candidate as we might think, one who would have enough loyalty to the cause (or at the very least, enough fear/respect of/for Aurum himself) to do exactly what was expected of him and not even entertain the thought of betrayal.

There you have it, my best attempt at trying to explore what might have changed in comparison to canon in this particular what-if scenario! What did you think about it? Do you feel it was an interesting and/or entertaining choice of idea, or not particularly (though if the latter, perhaps you will enjoy some of the future installments more)? Do you agree with my views of how this might have played out (even if, as with the theories, these topics tend to be fairly subjective), and if not, in which way(s)?

#stone dance of the chameleon #the stone dance of the chameleon #sdc month 2 2022 #sdc what-ifs #sdc december 2022 wednesdays