cyoa [CYOA] Jeralt's guide to raising children

[Sooks]

Valla and Fodlan speak the same language, I guess. Which is not the language of Fateslandia, apparently. But considering how little we know about Valla in Fates, this is believable.

Now the real question is why we would refuse to spar with Garon—

[Punished Dayni]

10 hours ago, Shrimpy said:

Jeralt cursed the merchant, for she forgot to tell him one of the more important pieces of information...

That the people of the new continent don't speak fodlani.

Now he is stuck alone with his kids, after he refused the merchant's offer, in an to him unknown land without the ability to communicate with it's people.

'In hindsight, i should've realised that, but i've lived more than 300 years only speaking fodlani.' 

Well that was going to be an issue regardless, damm Babel.

10 hours ago, Shrimpy said:

There's was even a family that took care of his kids from time to time. They even have a kid of their own that's a couple years older than his, Charlotte.

So he could catch on to names, but didn't have much understanding of the Nohrian tongue after months.

Jeralt's as shit with languages as me!

10 hours ago, Shrimpy said:

"Sorry, Sir, i don't understand you." Jeralt tells him while shaking his head.

The leader of the knights look at him, and then

"You...same......Queen Arete."

speaks to him in broken fodlani.

'Wait, the Queen is from Fodlan?' Jeralt thought to himself, confused.

"The Queen?" Jeralt ask.

"Yes...Queen. Come with me." The knight tells him.

Oh no, Valla and Fodlan are tied together?

(So that suggests the dragons have a common language that their subjects learn too? Would make sense for both settings, especially in my headcanon that the Dawn and Dusk dragons were just Anankos in disguise and he fucked off to Valla)

10 hours ago, Shrimpy said:

10 hours ago, Shrimpy said:

Garon is not Ganon yet, so i am headcanon'ing him as a wise old king....for now. I will go a bit deeper into his life later. Maybe.

Garon but he's not made of goo.

Faateslandia is going to go to hell in a handbasket isn't it?

[Shrimpica]

5 hours ago, Sooks said:

Now the real question is why we would refuse to spar with Garon—

Short answer: Story will diverge depending on this

Long answer: i actually wanted the choice after the Arete meeting, but i was too lazy to write another section and moved the choice back and changed it (but consequences will be the same)

10 minutes ago, Awoken Dayni said:

I hope... i will be able to implement Valla well xD

10 minutes ago, Awoken Dayni said:

Faateslandia is going to go to hell in a handbasket isn't it?

I mean, it was chosen as the central place for a multi FE crossover Ü

Edited July 14, 2022 by Shrimpy

[Punished Dayni]

17 minutes ago, Shrimpy said:

Short answer: Story will diverge depending on this

ooooh, wonder how much it might piss Garon off.

17 minutes ago, Shrimpy said:

I hope... i will be able to implement Valla well xD

Let's be fair, it'll probably suck to my eyes because Anankos is my kryptonite. Anankos is my Chaos.

I can't fucking stand Anankos, he pisses me off.

Mom said it's my turn to kill Anankos.

Anankos bought the last Corrin Amiibo at my local Toys R Us, even though he knew I wanted it

Anankos does a lot of volunteer work and makes a big impact in his kingdom.

But off me and my usual opinions, we already get a sense that Arete's distance might be beyond just being strange to Garon's court but could be due to language barriers, which makes me wonder if Garon learned the language because of her or before he knew her and how much he knows about Valla at this stage-

Fades into bubbles

Edited July 14, 2022 by Awoken Dayni

[AnonymousSpeed]

We must spar and we must lose.

[Shrimpica]

Chapter 3: Queen of the forbidden domain

Left. Right. Block and counter.

'What a troublesome opponent!' Jeralt thought to himself.

Even though he has more than 250 years experience over the king, the spar is proving to be more difficult than expected.

Then again he decided to not use his crest. It' just a spar after all.

Blocking an axe strike, he spots the king grinning from ear to and having fun.

"Haven't faced an opponent this strong since Sumeragi. You are good, Jeralt!" The king tells him.

'Well. If he is having fun, might as well enjoy it!' And Jeralt decided to kick it up a notch.

To the onlookers, it was like watching two experienced and battle crazy nuts going at it.

A slash evaded, a strike blocked, a blocked counter.

The dance goes on and on.

------------------------------------

After the spar, the king invited him to talk with the suppossed fodlani queen.

The vibes Jeralt got from her...

'She reminds me of Rhea.' He thought to himself.

"Arete, i have brought a Knight from your country." 

Confused, she looks at him and asks

"Knight, you aren't someone i recognize. Are you from the forbidden domain?"

"Forbidden domain? Is that what they call Fodlan over here?" Responds Jeralt.

"Fodlan...So you are one of Sothis' people. To still use the same language after thousands of years..."

"You know the name of the goddess, yet you aren't from Fodlan?" Jeralt asks her.

"It was my job to know about such matters. After all... No, it does no good to dwell on this. Tell me, Knight, was Sothis betrayed too?"

"Betrayed? Well, i wouldn't know about betrayed, but the tenets of Seiros do mention how Sothis left for the heavens after humans abused the powers gifted by her." Jeralt answers he questions.

"I see...."

"So he isn't from your country after all, Arete?" Asks Garon.

"No, he is not. It's good to find someone else who speaks the language though." She responds.

Jeralts then turns to the King and asks

"A question, your Majesty. Did you learn the language to communicate with her?"

"That would've been romantic, but no. I learned it long ago for the Trials of the Rainbow Sage."

"The Rainbow Sage?"

"I will tell you the complete story another time, but let's just say it was the way to get my shiny legendary sword, Siegfried."

"And you needed to learn fodlani for that?"

"Yes. Say, Jeralt, i have a proposition for you. How about becoming a retainer for my wife?"

To Jeralt, that was a very lucrative proposition. A good pay, someone to speak with, and a way to learn the language of the land. Not to mention he lived as a knight for like, three hundred years, so he doesn't lack the experience.

On the other hand, a knight working for the royal family is a really dangerous job, especially since Arete is clearly a newcomer, and raising the kids might be harder then.

Thinking it over, Jeralt arrives at his decision.

Chapter 3, End.

Vote here!

If it wasn't clear, declining the spar last chapter would've led to Garon not offering the job!

Anyway, i hope you enjoyed this chapter with some insight into the crossover lore i am planning. It is a bit short, and i wanted to write more, but i have been writing way too much for Fodlan discourse the last few days so forgive me lol.

Hope y'all enjoy this!

Edited July 17, 2022 by Shrimpy

[Punished Dayni]

5 minutes ago, Shrimpy said:

To the onlookers, it was like watching two experienced and battle crazy nuts going at it.

A slash evaded, a strike blocked, a blocked counter.

The dance goes on and on.

Some say they're still dancing to this day.

Wait, wrong story.

4 minutes ago, Shrimpy said:

"Knight, you aren't someone i recognize. Are you from the forbidden domain?"

"Forbidden domain? Is that what they call Fodlan over here?" Responds Jeralt.

Jeralt apparently illegally crossing the border between worlds now.

This can only end well.

5 minutes ago, Shrimpy said:

"It was my job to know about such matters. After all... No, it does no good to dwell on this. Tell me, Knight, was Sothis betrayed too?"

"Betrayed? Well, i wouldn't know about betrayed, but the tenets of Seiros do mention how Sothis left for the heavens after humans abused the power gifted by her." Jeralt answers he questions.

"I see...."

Well, Sothis and Anankos knew each other.

Arete will remember this

Dayni will remember this

6 minutes ago, Shrimpy said:

"I will tell you the complete story another time, but let's just say it was the way to get my shiny legendary sword, Siegfried."

Ah yeah, he did make it.

I thought it was in Nohr much longer (being that it was made with the other regalia ages ado), but this changes nothing in practice.

6 minutes ago, Shrimpy said:

To Jeralt, that was a very lucrative proposition. A good pay, someone to speak with, and a way to learn the language of the land. Not to mention he lived as a knight for like, three hundred years, so he doesn't lack the experience.

On the other hand, a knight working for the royal family is a really dangerous job, especially since Arete is clearly a newcomer, and raising the kids might be harder then.

Well I know my choice.

[Sooks]

Becoming a retainer to the queen? Boring, where’s the sense of adventure? Also, that’s a big commitment to be loyal to someone very close to someone who will eventually going so “GWAHAHA!”

Wait no I didn’t mean to persuade Ruben, Ruben stop, don’t, nooo—

[Shrimpica]

42 minutes ago, Awoken Dayni said:

Dayni will remember this

I hope i don't disappoint.

 

36 minutes ago, Sooks said:

who will eventually going so “GWAHAHA!”

depends

[Punished Dayni]

Just now, Shrimpy said:

I hope i don't disappoint.

To be fair, I am meming with that line.

But that is a significant nugget of info so soon.

[Shrimpica]

Chapter 4: Concubine wars

-A few years later-

Location: Castle Krakenburg

Another sibling to k*** for her m****r. To Camilla, this was something she had already done multipe times.

But she can not stop. No matter how much...

'Blood...is that me? Did i just k*** *********? My sweet little *********'

she wants to cherish her siblings instead.

For her m****r has to become queen.

If her m****r does not, then...

"You. You. YOU. YOU! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

'No, it's better to not dwell on this'. Dismissing her thoughts, the 8-year old takes her axe and prepares to strike her blue haired sister while her two emotionless green haired retainers weren't there.

'Now!' 

Leaving her position and running at her target, Camilla raises her axe...

before getting stopped by the queen's retainer, Jeralt Eisner.

------------------------------------

For Jeralt, the last few years have been rough. Being a knight in Nohr, and a new queen's retainer at that, while learning a new language alongside her was a much harder job than he expected.

Especially after Gunter retired a few months ago with princess Elise's birth. The king's children from his many concubines started dropping dead right after.

And he just found the cause of it.

'Of all things...A royal inheritance dispute. This will be ugly.' Jeralt thought to himself as he captured princess Camilla.

The princess who looked more emotionless than his own -now 4 year old- kids.

------------------------------------

"Your majesty, i bring news." Jeralt announced as he enters the throne room with Azure, Byleth, Bylass and the captured Camilla in tow.

"What do you have for me, Jeralt?" The king asks, tired, sad and weary.

"We might have a royal catastrophe on our hands. I just captured princess Camilla trying to kill princess Azura." Jeralt responds, shaking his head.

"What?" Asks queen Arete, furious.

"Wait, Arete, i will deal with this." Without showing emotion, the king approaches his emotionless daughter, "So it was you, Camilla?"

The girl doesn't respond.

"Emma. Arthur."

No response from the princess.

"Marx. Laura. Kriem-"

"Don't say that name!" The girl suddenly responds, her eyes fearful and sad.

"Please, father, don't!"

The girl is traumatized, Jeralt realized.

"Kriemhild."

And the girl breaks down, sobbing hysterically and rejecting the world around her.

"I had to. I had no other choice. I had to protect them. I had to stop them. I.." The girl kept muttering to herself.

"Jeralt!"

"Yes, your majesty?"

"Summon all concubines. No one leaves the castle. Not even a child. All the knights are temporarily under your command and only answer to your or to me, and to no one else!"

"Yes, your majesty!"

And Jeralt knew that a purge was coming.

------------------------------------

'And what a mess it was. Thankfully, it didn't blow up into a full civil war.'

'It almost did though.'

'Especially with how many noble families and knights were involved in the matter.'

Jeralt thought to himself on his way to meet the king.

'Knights bribed by the noble families to kill kids, mothers sending children to take the lives of their own siblings and even mothers killing their own children. What a fucked up mess.'

And he used to think a place without crests might have it better than Fodlan. 

'Yet humans are the same everywhere. Greedy and power hungry.'

Mass arrests and consolidation of power followed what is now publicly known as 'Concubine wars'. And the uninvolved nobles, while unhappy with the consolidation, decided to tow the line for now as to not face king Garon's wrath.

Entering the throne room, he comes face to face with king Garon.

"Ah, Jeralt, it's good you are here. Come, we have much to talk about." 

Approaching the king, Jeralt greets him.

"Hard times are upon us, Jeralt." The king starts, "And i need someone i can trust, and Gunter is refusing to come out of retirement."

Jeralt had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"Are you sure, your majesty? Do you really want to make an outsider the head of the knights?"

"It's exactly because you are an outsider that i trust you, Jeralt. That, and you've proven yourself and your loyalty the last few years. How many times did you save Arete from mysterious assailants while i was busy? Who solved the mess we found ourselves in before even more were killed? Who led the knights well during the crisis we had?"

"And what about my kids, your majesty?"

"If nothing changes, they are to become Azura's retainers, as planned. They are her only friends, after all, and she theirs."

"Can you give me sometime to think it over, your majesty?"

"Sure, but don't take too long. We need to plan for the upcoming meeting with Hoshido. We haven't even decided the location yet and i would like your input."

------------------------------------

Princess Camilla looked at what remained of her siblings.

Her older brother, the crown prince, Xander.

Her younger brother, Leo.

Her younger sister, Azura.

And her youngest sister, Elise.

She knew she was the main reason why their numbers are so low now, for she was the one who murdered the highest number of royal children.

Yet she got to live.

"Hey, Cassita."

Calling the servant of the queen, Camilla asks her something she'd wanted to ask for a while.

"Can i hold Elise?"

"Of course, princess Camilla."

Holding her -now one year old- sister in her hands, Camilla swears to herself.

She will take care of her siblings.

She will protect them. Spoil them rotten.

She will atone for her sins by doing the one thing she always wanted to.

By cherishing her siblings.

'And if anyone, no matter who, ever dares to threaten or hurt them...' The princess thinks to herself,

'I will k̴̛̙̖̘͒̆̀̓́͂͗̓́͛̕̚͝i̶̧̢̡̖̠̣͇͉̗͍̘͔͎̮̙̊͒̿̈͂̅̄̋͠l̶̢̧̹̪̬̤͉̥͓͙̤̯̪̻̾́́͂̉͐̐͐̽̓́̉͘̚l̷̻͕͔̫̓̌ them!'

Chapter 4, End.

Vote here!

So...yeah, i decided to make a chapter of that little thing Fates hints at sometimes. Hopefully it was good. Dunno.

Anyway this decision will have major ramifications for the story going forward.

[Sooks]

Well, uh, there that was… interesting. There’s no way it’s a good idea to take on even more responsibility to a family member of Camilla here, let alone let our kids be in charge of Azura after Camilla went all psycho. I mean sure, she wants to atone now, but…

We’d also be taking on responsibility in Nohr’s military, which isn’t known as the most just of organizations. Or at least, not in the Fates we know.

3 hours ago, Shrimpy said:

So...yeah, i decided to make a chapter of that little thing Fates hints at sometimes.

Wait, what? When does Fates hint at this?Did Camilla actually have a good support buried somewhere?

[Shrimpica]

3 hours ago, Sooks said:

Wait, what? When does Fates hint at this?Did Camilla actually have a good support buried somewhere?

Yup. Some of supports (not just Camilla ones, but for example Leo/Elise jp one) mention it and side materials confirmed it was a thing.

3 hours ago, Sooks said:

after Camilla went all psycho. I mean sure, she wants to atone now, but…

I just tried to write a "How Camilla came to be'

She was always a psycho. I just wanted to focus more on that instead of la incest xD

[Punished Dayni]

On 7/20/2022 at 3:03 AM, Shrimpy said:

'No, it's better to not dwell on this'. Dismissing her thoughts, the 8-year old takes her axe and prepares to strike her blue haired sister while her two emotionless green haired retainers weren't there.

On 7/20/2022 at 3:03 AM, Shrimpy said:

The princess who looked more emotionless than his own -now 4 year old- kids.

Well, that's some early combat experience.

Especially the 4 year olds being asked to defend a princess.

On 7/20/2022 at 3:03 AM, Shrimpy said:

"Your majesty, i bring news." Jeralt announced as he enters the throne room with Azure, Byleth, Bylass and the captured Camilla in tow.

Wow, great naming there Jeralt.

On 7/20/2022 at 3:03 AM, Shrimpy said:

Princess Camilla looked at what remained of her siblings.

Her older brother, the crown prince, Xander.

Her younger brother, Leo.

Her younger sister, Azura.

And her youngest sister, Elise.

She knew she was the main reason why their numbers are so low now, for she was the one who murdered the highest number of royal children.

Camilla learning from Dimitri with the covered eye and mass murder.

Or is it the other way around?

On 7/20/2022 at 3:03 AM, Shrimpy said:

So...yeah, i decided to make a chapter of that little thing Fates hints at sometimes. Hopefully it was good. Dunno.

It's the kind of stuff I think would have needed more time to explore. Think about it, the Concubonkage is supposed to be conflict between the mothers that the kids get dragged into and that's why it becomes as devastating as it does, with kids being asked to commit murders for their parent's love and their standing. It'd be a fascinating angle to explore the perspective of parents who will lose in the end and how far they're willing to go to deal with the excess seed of Garon. The events of this chapter solely cover the tail end of it and the fallout of Camilla being caught red-axed.

I'm assuming in this case Arete lives.

[Saint Rubenio]

Zalgomilla lol

[Shrimpica]

4 minutes ago, Awoken Dayni said:

It's the kind of stuff I think would have needed more time to explore. Think about it, the Concubonkage is supposed to be conflict between the mothers that the kids get dragged into and that's why it becomes as devastating as it does, with kids being asked to commit murders for their parent's love and their standing. It'd be a fascinating angle to explore the perspective of parents who will lose in the end and how far they're willing to go to deal with the excess seed of Garon. The events of this chapter solely cover the tail end of it and the fallout of Camilla being caught red-axed.

True. I could have made a few more chapters out of this, but

• Fates gives us breadcrumps, i tried to somehow make a toast out of it XD
• It wouldn't really fit a CYOA unless i do like 4-5 interludes (one from each kid's pov), and i would have more interludes than main chapters then xD

Still, i hope what little i wrote was good enough^^

6 minutes ago, Awoken Dayni said:

I'm assuming in this case Arete lives.

i tried to hint at this with

On 7/20/2022 at 4:03 AM, Shrimpy said:

How many times did you save Arete from mysterious assailants

 

[Punished Dayni]

7 minutes ago, Shrimpy said:

True. I could have made a few more chapters out of this, but

• Fates gives us breadcrumps, i tried to somehow make a toast out of it XD
• It wouldn't really fit a CYOA unless i do like 4-5 interludes (one from each kid's pov), and i would have more interludes than main chapters then xD

Still, i hope what little i wrote was good enough^^

Your choice makes sense, t'was fine enough.

Personally, taking perspectives from those who don't survive would have been my priority to see the full brutality of the time, but that'd be distracting for the purposes of this story.

Breadcrumb toast sounds like me trying to toast wholegrain brown bread then top it off with hard butter

8 minutes ago, Shrimpy said:

i tried to hint at this with

Just wanted to say that because I thought Arete did die in Nohr in Fates.

[Shrimpica]

3 minutes ago, Awoken Dayni said:

Just wanted to say that because I thought Arete did die in Nohr in Fates.

Yeah, or atleast as far as we know.

Jeralt being here and understanding her lets her live....for now

[AnonymousSpeed]

hey

what gives?

[Shrimpica]

Blame 3 Copes

I still intend to continue this...just not now

[AnonymousSpeed]

1 minute ago, Imperator Squilla said:

Blame 3 Copes

Blaming other things for your problems? Sounds like...COPE!

Nah though, do whatever you want.

[Acacia Sgt]

So this was not suddenly back...