Part 21: Cleopatra Jones and the Traumatized Archon

Cleopatra Jones and the Traumatized Archon

Last time on Tyranny, we chatted with Bleden Mark after breaking the Edict of Fire and decided we were going to Lethian's Crossing. We'll get there, I promise, but we have some talking to do first.



Barik and Lantry want to chat with us about Edicts! I clicked Barik first.

: To be honest, my head hurts.

: That is to be expected. I am no expert in arcane matters, but I understand that the will and commitment needed to shatter Kyros' magic are not resources in abundance.

: Take care that you don't exhaust yourself and become worthless to the war effort. Barik looks you up and down with appraisal, keeping any conclusions to himself.



This is the standard conversation so we exit out.


Moving on!



: Anybody can do it - just think about the wording of the Edict and you'll find Kyros has left options.

: That's like saying winning a war is as simple as raising a giant army and making all the right maneuvers... knowing what must be done and actually doing it... well, that's the dividing line between being a legend and being forgotten.




It's time to go back to the Spire to switch out party members!





Aw, nuts.



I'm not actually sure if they're covered by Kyros' Peace or not. We will chat with them.



We will question them.



Who are we to interfere? I elect to escort them to Tunon rather than take their oaths myself.



And we get an accessory! Sunder's seal can be clicked to give a boost to Armor (reduces damage) and petrification immunity for 20s. I cannot think of a fight that relies heavily on petrification. Oh well, it's the thought that counts!



Rhogalus gets back to us, leaving us with only the decision to lie to him and claim we don't have the super-duper-forbidden knowledge in a way I'm sure won't bite us in the ass later.


We are going to lie and say we never found it, which is technically true as we never found a guy strapped in magic BDSM gear made to tell everyone about everything at the raise of a finger.



See, technically it's a half-truth!

Myothis gets back to us as well.


We will ask Myothis about Bleden Mark's killings.



I've been avoiding going too deep into Myothis' words for a reason, but we'll get some more pertinent information very soon.

Anyway, in the course of rounding up our goon-voted party, Eb has something to say.



: I've been mulling over that structure we found atop Vendrien's Well. Would you be opposed to me studying the sculpture in closer detail?



: You don't need to ask my permission.



Then we go into her normal dialog screen, and I rearrange our party.






Calio wants to chat with us. As she's Tunon's head Fatebinder this is most definitely worth doing.


Jeez, Calio really is the gossip of Tunon's court, isn't she? Even Mark is quoting her.

Anyway, I promised you a chat with Sirin. This is not gonna be a happy chat, be warned.





Sirin is kind of hard to get loyalty with if you didn't help her in Conquest.

: I would know more about you.



: Tell me about your homeland.



: A bunch of families ended up settling near each other and that was my village. It was about 20 miles from Shadow's Rest - and you probably haven't hard of that, either. We were farmers - poor and isolated.



: [Lore 47] Nothing in your past is worth dwelling on? It looks to me like you remember something.



The game makes it very clear that even the Archons are one misstep away from death or ruin. Sirin has a few privileges the commoners don't, but she's still very much a victim of the system.

: What do you remember about your family?

: The good thing about being taken from home when you're still a child is you can't miss the childhood you never got.



: You were taken from your family?



: You have no family left? What happened?



: How would you describe your father?

: Worthless? Hopeless? Devoid of human emotion? Sometimes I feel like we were complete opposites. He seemed incapable of feeling anything and I seem to be nothing but raw emotion.



Keep this in mind going forward. A mature adult like Cleopatra might ask "is Nerat telling the truth?"

: What do you remember about your mother?

: She's dead, so I don't have much to remember. She loved me, that much I know. But sometimes I wonder if what she felt was love or fear. Fear for me - or of me. And sometimes I don't think there was a difference between the two.



: Tell me about your mother's death.



We already got the Cliffs Notes version before. Sirin's mother was stoned to death by angry villagers while shielding Sirin with her body.

: Okay, Sirin. I will never ask you to tell me that story.



: Tell me about your father's death.



: [Subterfuge 47] For someone who always has a lot to say, that was incredibly succinct. Is there more?



Young lady we hunt down people who try to lie to Kyros all the time!

: When I got word he'd been found, I had him summoned to Kyros' court. I wanted to see the man who had condemned me to the life I was leading.



Take a good look at Sirin's portraits throughout this sequence.







: He got what he deserved, Sirin.



Really?



Ok, let's take a step back for a moment. Sirin describes her father as a psychopath incapable of feeling emotion right after stating she "barely" remembers him. Now, if we go back we see Nerat very kindly informed young Sirin that her father was the one responsible for enslaving her to Kyros and encouraging the mob to kill her mother. We can argue that inciting angry mobs is quite literally what Nerat does for a living and go down that rabbit hole, but we've seen Nerat ruin families before.


Remember this? When Nerat taunted Ashe that Nerat had tortured and murdered his son, and Ashe called Nerat a "perverted piece of garbage"? Nerat organized this as entertainment. It's open to interpretation as to whether Nerat's agents found Sirin and he thought it would be hilarious to blame her father or her father sold her out to Nerat or whatever - but this is a well known trick to indoctrinating child soldiers. You make the children do awful things to break them down. It's equally as likely that Sirin's father went out to go to the blacksmith to fix the plow or something and came home to a dead wife and kidnapped daughter, seeing as his reaction is to be grateful he found her.

: Do you have any siblings?



: A living sibling?

: My brother died very young. I never knew him, so I hardly count him as a sibling. Life in the middle of nowhere is difficult. For a single child to survive - let alone more - is a testament to the parents.

This is true! Infant mortality in antiquity was very high.



: I remember my mother talking about me getting a little brother. It wasn't long after I started singing and my powers started growing. She told me that soon it would be too hard for her to travel with me.



Is this the same supposedly absent father? I think someone has built up some delusions about her actions...


: Go on.

: Everyone wanted the Songbird to sing for them and they paid us so much money. So we went. But I didn't want to go without my mother. She was the only real comfort I had. When I was with her, I felt safe - nothing could hurt me.

: There was a trip coming up and I knew she wouldn't be going. I couldn't bear the thought of all those days in the care of my father.

: Her voice breaks again and she closes her eyes.



: My mother's screams cut the song short. And the blood. It was everywhere. I was dragged from the room but I don't remember who took me.



: Go on.

: People came and went all day. There was a lot of crying. And nobody looked at me the same way after that. My mother told me that things like this happen all the time, but even at five, I know what I had done. And part of me was happy.



Back up the dialog tree!



: How long have you been practicing magic?



The lesson here is that, among other things, children should not have power.

: Tell me about your time with the Voices of Nerat.



: How did you meet Nerat?

: I met it when I was unceremoniously dumped on its doorstep by Kyros. All I've felt toward it since the moment I saw it was sheer hatred.

: When one person tires of me, they just hand me off to another. I seem to be quite the handful - no one is truly prepared to deal with me, I suppose.



: Why did Kyros give you to Nerat?

: I made the mistake of trying my song on Kyros and forgiveness isn't exactly in the Overlord's vocabulary. Interestingly enough, I think it almost worked. Can you imagine how differently things would have turned out if I'd had a little more practice?

Sirin is showing some interesting parallels with Bleden Mark lamenting his failed assassination attempt while realizing he's far more powerful now than he was then.

: I was brought out at one of the many lavish gatherings thrown at the place. Kyros loved showing me off. You know - impressing the gathered 'elite'.

: So I performed. I sang, I danced, I convinced people to join in. Then, in the middle of it all, I had a brilliant idea to work one more performance into the show, something that would be the ultimate end to the evening.





: Weren't you afraid of getting caught?



This is a depressing insight into Sirin. Poor Sirin has been abused so much.

: Really? You were trying to save the world?



: Go on.

: Everyone stared, frozen by the yell echoing back at us. Kyros quickly recovered and gave the appearance of cheering us on, but I was convinced I was about to die. Interestingly, my execution never came.



Ultimately the myth of Kyros' infallibility fucks Kyros just as hard as everyone else. There's a bit more I'll get to after Sirin chat.



Not without a good reason! If some fifteen year old kid can punk Kyros, what prevents an ambitious older Archon from trying a sucker punch?



: Why can't you control him?

: I've been inside its mind time after time and I've never been able to get a handle on what's going on in there.

: Every time I talk to it, I feel like a different person is talking to me. And every one of them wants something different.



Uh, that just means Nickelback songs, right?

: Wait a minute - what does Nerat want from you that he's never going to get?



This is one of the moments I'm very glad we deviated from historical society norms.



Nerat is ALSO a creepy pedo guy.

: What has Nerat had you do for him?



Um, nope. We're done here. Up the dialogue tree!



: Tell me more about that headdress.



: What does it do?

: Makes me impotent. Do you have any idea what it's like to have a hurricane raging inside you? To feel the gale crashing against you to be released but only feel a gentle summer's breeze?



: Why do you have it?





: Why can't you simply take it off?



: If you can't take it off, then why did you try to get me to remove it when we met?



That's rather unwise.

: How do you know you'll die if you remove the helmet?

: Because I doubt Nerat and Kyros would go through all the trouble just to play a trick on me. Something this subtle, elaborate, and long-lasting isn't really their style - at least not Nerat's.



Fair enough.

: What would it take to remove it?

: Someone beating the information out of Nerat or Kyros. They are the only ones who know how it was constructed and how it works.

Before you ask, we cannot go back to Lycentia and get her to remove Sirin's helmet. She's stuck with it for the entire game. She still kicks ass.



: You believe Nerat? Maybe he's just toying with you. Have you tried removing it?



: Why the headdress? Why not use magic to gag you?

: They tried magic. It didn't really work. The problem is - spells can be broken. Counterspells can be found, guards can be bribed, people can have 'accidents'...



Back up the dialog tree! Sirin is still an Archon, let's ask her about the locals.



: Do you know anything about what's going on in the Tiers?



: How long have you been here?



: What do you think about Tunon?



: What do you mean?

: Everyone has a presence. It's how my magic works. I reach into them and convince their presence to do what I want.



: If you have to reach into someone's mind to control them, how did you influence entire armies to do what you want?

: I can't influence an army, but I can... persuade them to feel the way I want them to. If I want to get someone to do a specific thing for me, I have to get inside their head and that requires a lot more effort.

: No one can keep me out, but if they're aware of what I'm doing, I can't force them to do anything. At least, not with this thing on my head. She knocks a hand against her helmet.



: I want to know about Kyros.



: How did you come to work for Kyros?

: After my father betrayed me and got my mother killed, I was taken by Kyros' men. I honestly don't know where we went, other than it seemed to take forever to get there.

: Then I was put in school. It was a wonderful and horrible time. I learned how to control and maximize my power. But they underestimated my abilities, or overestimated theirs. I think it was more the latter than the former.



Again, child soldier indoctrination.

: What was life like with Kyros?

: For several years, I was surrounded by people who would smile to my face and sneer when I turned away. They were supposed to be my mentors - my teachers - but all they did was resent me.

: They taught me to refine and control my voice. My power became more directed, more powerful, more subtle. I no longer needed to specifically say what I wanted people to do.

This, of course, let her try to assassinate Kyros in front of witnesses and get away scot free. Are you noticing the self-destructiveness of evil yet?

: I could just think what I wanted, how I felt, and the weaker the mind, the faster they would respond. It still required me to sing, or at the very least make music with my voice, but I could say one thing, but mean something else entirely and the magic worked.

Turning a mostly innocent young artist into a propagandist.



Thus we see the trap Kyros created for herself by constantly hiding.

: I didn't see much of Kyros. She was busy taking care of her affairs. But I was never allowed to forget by whose power I was allowed to exist.



The fate of all favorites of tyrants.

: How long did you work for Kyros?



: What do you think of Kyros?

: Honestly? I didn't really think of him at all at first. If I wasn't getting daily reminders that he owned me and could have me killed any time he wanted, I would have completely forgotten he existed.



: Wait a minute. You've called Kyros both 'him' and 'her'.



Sirin, please. The thread wants answers.

: Is Kyros a man or a woman?



Sirin. Sirin no.



: Tell me, Sirin.





Oh well, back up the dialog tree.

: What can you tell me about the Scarlet Chorus?

: If I never talk to another Chorus member my entire life, I will consider it a success, no matter what else happens. She folds her arms across her chest and levels a steely gaze at you.



Damn, Verse.

: Oh, Verse... anything that helps numb me to the droning sound of your voice. Now, do you mind? I'm speaking with the Fatebinder.



: You weren't a member of the Chorus?

: What? Absolutely not! The only reason I worked with them is because I was being forced to. Once Kyros had this monstrosity placed on my head, I really had no choice.



: What was it like working with them?

: Well, at first I was treated like a queen. I spent all my time recruiting - and let's be honest, the Scarlet Chorus isn't choosy, so it was easy to convince people to join.

: Toward the end I actually started fearing for my life. With this thing on my head, I couldn't effectively control an entire army. So hobbling me was quite an intelligent thing for Kyros to do.



: What do you think of them?



Kids these days.



: What's your opinion on their methods?

: They randomly grab anyone and anything they can get their hands on and hope they'll work if they beat them enough. Sounds like the makings of a fantastic army to me!

: I am repulsed by them and everything they do. Nerat is a disgusting excuse for a leader and I look forward to the day I can watch the life drain from its insane eyes.



Back up the dialogue tree!



: What do you know about the Disfavored?

: I really don't know much about them, Fatebinder. I never got a chance to work with them, so I don't think I'll be much help on this topic.



: What do you think of Graven Ashe?



Just another reminder that Sirin is another character with her own point of view. There are no characters in Tyranny who do not have some kind of agenda and will be offering an honest assessment with full knowledge and bias-free.

: Have you seen them in action?



: You never worked with them?



Back up the tree!

: What about the other groups in the Tiers?



We very briefly met the Stonestalker tribe when Kills-In-Shadow kicked them out of her entourage.

: Tell me about the Stonestalker tribe.

: Not even worthy of my attention. A beast is a beast and you can't ever make an animal be anything more than what it is.

Sirin! Stop being racist right now, young lady!







: Okay, so maybe that was a little harsh. Let's just say that in my brief life I haven't had much experience with the Beastmen, so I haven't had the chance to form much of an opinion on them. Better?



: Tell me about the local Rebel groups.



: Tell me about the Vendrien Guard.



: Tell me about the Unbroken.



: Tell me about the Bronze Brotherhood.



Sometimes Sirin can be outright wrong. Back up the dialog tree!

: Tell me about any of the mage guilds.

: Generally I don't like throwing in with other mages. I've not had a good experience with them in the past so I keep my distance.

: And they're so demanding! You ask them - very nicely, I might add - how to cast a spell and they insist they're not a charity and they're not going to hand over their secrets out of the 'goodness of their heart.' Right, like there was anything 'good' about that one...

: And I didn't even use my magic on him! That's gratitude for you... She trails off and gives you an intent look. Suddenly your head feels like it's too small for your brain. She closes her eyes and takes a breath and the feeling dissipates.



: Tell me about the Sages.



As a matter of fact, I can.

: Tell me about the Earthshakers.



I agree Sirin. They won't be able to have enough spells to always have one off cooldown. That said, the Earth sigil is very good.

: Tell me about the Forge-Bound.

: The group that Kyros used to make my hobble? The less I have to think about them, the better.





One last query.

: Tell me what you know about Edicts.



Dammit Sirin, you're an Archon trained at Kyros' court. Oh well, glad to have you anyway. At the very least we can keep you away from that fucker Nerat.

: It intrigues me. I want to learn what it is and harness it. Sadly, I don't think I have the magic needed to enact or break an Edict.



: I'd remove it if I could.



: You're an Archon. You must know something about Edicts, Sirin.



Back up the dialogue tree!



: What do you think of the state of the world?



: Neither of them seem capable of dealing with the rebels that are taking them down. Which, as far as I'm concerned, is how it should be.



: [Leave] Goodbye.

That was a lot. Here, have a summary.


What can we take away?

Sirin was indoctrinated as a child soldier, and unlike more sanitized franchises like Fire Emblem, that fucked her up pretty badly. First she's abducted and separated from her parents. Sirin doesn't say how much violence she endured at the hands of her teachers, but my guess is quite a bit given that she murders one of them. Most importantly for our purposes, Nerat manipulates her into killing her own father, a transgressive act of violence. We can see that the conditioning didn't take. Sirin has no peers to shame her into falling in line, so her lie is that her father deserved what she did to him and this bred a hatred of Kyros.

You can read about child indoctrination here, it's not pleasant.

As an Archon and a prodigy, we can assume Sirin is somewhat more resilient that the average child would be - she's a canny survivor rather than a cowering victim. She discerns Kyros is ultimately responsible for all the wrong done to her but has to convince herself her cruelty was

All this being said, the developers wrote a short story of Sirin's abduction and her father does not come off very well. The story does hammer home that Sirin isn't just "some kid" but a powerful entity of legend capable of slaughtering an entire village when pressed.

The second thing we can take away from Sirin's indoctrination is just how much leeway the Archons have. An ordinary citizen is not going to survive pushing a Kyrosian mage out the window, but an Archon can! We're going to go way back for this one.


Notice the phrasing. Kyros didn't welcome Graven Ashe, the Archons did. Let's go back to our friend Myothis.


Why did Kyros rename Ashe and his army? The Archons convinced her to recruit them, she didn't get a choice. There are a few hints that if enough Archons get together there's some channel to convince Kyros to heed them, and Kyros is not personally powerful enough to fight every Archon. Look at the lengths she's gone to to keep her armies in the Tiers at odds. If the Archons get word that Kyros is violating Archon's Privilege by mistreating Sirin - and they will, Kyros is showing her off at every opportunity - they could declare a major insurrection and force the Empire into war on two fronts. Even Bleden Mark might be offended if Archons are getting killed for no reason. This also is why Sirin is left alive after her assassination attempt - the Overlord cannot kill an Archon for no reason. That is an attack on every Archon in the Empire. However, if Kyros tells the truth, the Archons they've selected for ambition turn on her and kill her.

Once again, Kyros is dicked over by the systems they put in place to control their empire. The hilarity is that Sirin responds best to simple human kindness because no one was ever nice to her, and it would have been relatively easy for Kyros to adopt her as a daughter, treat her well, and have a reliable and powerful ally, but Kyros cannot do this because she is an evil asshole.