#dont get me wrong they fuck nasty and are switches who power struggle

[bhaalsdeepbat]

In the vein of embracing the darkness and kinda owning it, I imagine Redeemed Durge x Spawn Astarion would have viciousness punctuated by tender loving care. Like, turning a Bounty job into a fun little hunt, giving into predator instinct and enjoying the thrill and adrenaline. Durge holding someone still while Astarion gets his fill, then gleefully ending it. They both just appreciate one another's prowess.

Then they're heading back to wherever they're staying, lingering touches and stolen kisses exchanged along the way, then they topple into bed before the sun can even peek over the horizon. Their limbs are locked, bodies pressed, secure and proud of the way they wield their combined strength. Just cuddles while basking in one another.

[meet-me-at-kingsmeet]

The (very troublesome) unification of Vere/Akielos

@exy-king @time-limit what is politics LOL,,, Im just going to answer this relatively paragraph by paragraph to keep it simple and I’ll also point out im not familiar with Australian history so if anything I say clashes then my bad lol

Delpha would definitely have to go under independent rule for several main reasons: 

Like you said, Vere and Akielos need to compromise and hold Delpha equally so there isn’t an underlying power struggle of “well THIS country has more land” blah blah blah 

Delpha is an area that has already dealt with forced intermixing (if im remembering correctly) So the people of Delpha would probably accede to the idea of independence rather than secede back and forth between the two countries. 

^^This means the people of Delpha appreciate their King’s independence which leads to one less civil war having to be worried about

I see Delpha as the beginning of city-states in Akielos and Vere especially if it will still be under rule of the King’s just advised by a council

(^^Nikandros will probably be put in charge of this council. Not only would it make sense because he is definitely one of the more higher ranked men in the kingdom, has served at Kingsmeet and as a Kyroi, and showed substantial loyalty to the King of Akielos it is the only fair political move that I can see being made for Nikandros? Like, yes Nikandros loves Damen but realistically after all the bullshit he was put through to have someone else be given that power.....BIG YIKES. Because we gotta remember Nikandros is a born bred noble/politician, loyalty to a king can really only be pushed so far)

The more public intermixing of cultures would be very healthy for other areas of the two countries to see, plus the fact that Delpha is a more wealthy land would show strong trade and power. With the right address, Laurent/Damen could make it seem like Delpha is so powerful because the kingdoms/people are combined

Avoiding Mutiny 101

Laurent and Damen would both have to immediately address the insurrection of both The Regent and Kastor:

The Regent: Pretty simple honestly? He has done a lot of damage but many veretian (and akielon) soldiers/nobles and the council witnessed the evidence against The Regent’s betrayal. Laurent would just have to have it written in the books (history/veretian newsletter??) What happened and the evidence behind it. Once it is made absolutely public that The Regent is the reason King Aleron died, and his mutiny against Crown Prince Laurent, like almost anything he has said will be put to deep shame along with anyone who still agrees to it. “Did you hear prince Laurent did this-” “That’s just what The Regent wanted us to believe. He also said Akielos was the cause of our King’s Death.” So now not only is Laurent in the clear (for the most part, it will always be a gradual step-by-step) but Akielos is no longer being held responsible for the death of their king. So basically what Laurent is gonna need to do is exactly what The Regent was gonna do to Laurent: shit talk the fuck out of him. (Honestly?? Yaaaaaass) 

Kastor: A lot of people are gonna be like “damen would never crap-talk his brother bc Kastor was family!!” like....thats great and true and all but politically that’s not going to work in Damen’s favor and knowing Laurent he is gonna wanna get this done asap. It will need to be made public that Kastor attempted to kill Damen (The originally plan seemed to be: Damen is framed for Laurent’s murder (if he doesn’t actually attempt to kill the surly fucker), and is then put on trial and killed for treason). That’s definitely murder/treason by proxy. More people sway to Damen side, let everyone know he killed King Theomedes (who everyone seemed to respect) and Kastor’s supporters diminish by quite a bit. 

Running a country is all about keeping the lower/working class people in a desired group mindset and you usually do that by having a hero, a victim, and a villian (having the reg ppl be the victims earns brownie points)

In the beginning both countries are going to to have people who dislike their own rulers, and then have the other monarch to top it off. So while the real work is slowly getting done, the first few months would have to be complete slander towards those who opposed Laurent/Damen (think of an Ad Hominem type of politics) 

Delpha flourishes and Marlas...gains a Palace??

First of all...........idk WHERE the money comes from so i’m just going to assume that both Akielos and Vere have no money issues whatsoever (im SHOOK,,Vere literally just lost a war and land like 6 years ago so???????)

YES Laurent and Damen are canonly building a palace in Marlas (see: The Summer Palace). I’m gonna shoot for the stars and say that it will be similar to what King Louis XIII did when he built Versailles (WHICH WAS VERY EXPENSIVE so that’s why I’m confused because it seemed that maybe a year at most had went by and Damen/Laurent were already building a new palace that would have to include both Veretian and Akielan style/aesthetic, I can’t imagine that being cheap and so I assume the people if Vere/Akielos could become angry at this. Seeing new Kings, one of them you probs dont trust, spend a bunch on a palace?? YIKES) BUT, it has been done before in history. 

^^^I can see the palace being built being acceptable by 

Already having the funds to build it

Using the building of the Marlas Palace to have artists/architects from Akielos and Vere work together

It creates jobs for the people!

^^^Slavery has already been abolished

The Palace is a good idea dont get me wrong. Mixing architecture, having a Palace in the middle of the two countries, and showing off both countries wealth is great for morale......But to do it within a year of power? *long whistle*

But hey i guess if Delpha is working out and they use most of the economic stability being granted from that city-state? Not to shabby

tbh im kinda pissy that i dnt kno more about the working class of Vere/Akielos

King’s Rising? No! Emperor's Rising!!

If you look at European geography, countries with monarchies are SMALL! The more bigger countries that had monarchies didn’t even really carry that title (Austrian-Hungary Empire)

Akielos and Vere uniting would make WAY to large a country to run, two King’s or not it would be way to overwhelming in a country where the people still didn’t totally get along. 

It’s difficult bc unfortunatley iphones dont exist, and, imagine an enemy country having their troops fight a war on opposite ends of Vere and Akielos: communication is going to be so important and having a messenger travel back and forth like 500-1000 miles for news?? Lmao thats hilarious

“Calling from Arles: We need support. STOP” 

 “Calling From Ios: We need support. STOP” 

middle man Marlas is like “well we only have enough troops right now for one place so who needs it more???” 

And then three weeks goes by. THATS TERRIBLE

Fast communication is essential during war. Its a main reason why the first form a telecommunication was created (see: American Civil War Morse code telegraphs)

Vere/Akielos would def need to become an empire. 

I can see this working best by removing a monarchy and switching to an empire form of ruling while then creating city-states (This is how The Roman Empire and Ancient Greece worked--lots of city states--but Laurent/Damen would have to make it work under one rule. 

god that sounds like so much messy work that would take so much time BUT THEY GOTTA WORK FAST

mainly bc i think Laurent woudln’t trust anyone to continue their work after they die so he would be up in everyone’s business like “chop chop you fuckers” 

This is looking to have very little free time for Damen/Laurent

Soldiers/Money/Communication

Money is definitely the first thing to address. It is what makes the world go round fam. Its why servants work. Its why Akielos had slaves: to save money

again if slavery was abolished than Akielos just lost a lot of money and therefore where did Palace money come from? Delpha? A large loan they took from banks? did they tell their people they took that loan? If the palace starts a deficit Laurent/Damen are fucked

Training soldiers together is a great way to intermix the people. I think building multiple training grounds across Akielos/Vere and forcing the soldiers to interact and work together. 

What’s really good for an economy, forces soldiers to fight for each other, and also could destroy nasty internal nationalism? A WAR!!

Laurent and Damen are gonna have to pick fights with other countries outside Patras/Vask (and do this after they stabilize alliances with Patras/Vask

Let me tell you about M.A.I.N.

To unite their people and start and win a war they will need to:

Glorify the military as a way to draft more soldiers (Akielos already seems to have a glorified military so wee)

Showcase Alliances: “Vere and Akielos will protect each other!” “Our alliances with Patras/Vask are stronger bc of Vere/Akielos uniting!” Obligation to fight if allied nation does, shit like that

Imperialism: steal land for trade?? idk this one isnt that important unless you can think of how it can be useful

Nationalism!!: THIS IS A BIG DEAL!!! Nationalism is and always will be a current issue. Nationalism and Religion are the two main big reasons a war happens. Vere/Akielos both suffer from obvious nationalism. (Please keep in mind that Nationalism in M.A.I.N. is not friendly competition. Its a very unhealthy and intense devotion to a country and leads to xenophobia). By having a war, Vere/Akielos can be like “Look at this other country we are fighting. We are much better than that stupid, pathetic, country. Let’s unite and fight and take!! (there’s the imperialism!). 

Language of the people!

FUCK ME

this is some shit that won’t be fixed immediately 

Veretian and Akielon will both have to be taught (do they have schools?? im pissy again) 

People will have to learn the languages in their own way. 

If soldiers are forced to intermingle and fight together it will quicken the learning

The common people will be the reason new phrases and words will combine and a new language will be created

If the kingdom/empire tries to prioritze a language it will piss a lot of people off (cause nationalism) so common people mixing the language into creating an entire new one for the united country is the main way I could see this working out

Marriage and Heirs!

I know you said this was a whole other bag of cats but its a VERY IMPORTANT bag of cats

Uniting in marriage is a very common way of uniting/creating alliances. 

It doesn’t always bring the people together BUT if the marriage works and the politics move swimmingly and the heir becomes beloved (in our world, if it was a male heir it was like FUUUUUCKK YAAAASS QUEEN) it can create a really strong bond!

If you have an heir

Smudge that idea away all you want it is the main reason for marriage alliances. 

Im not kidding if the couple didn’t produce an heir the alliance could collapse 

i can’t stress this enough like not just politically this was/is a HUGE deal to the common people too

So Damen and Laurent get married. Now they have united their kingdom through marriage, yay! Step one complete

Now they need an heir. 

NOT JUST ANY HEIR

The point is to mix Country A and Country B

so let’s look at it this way:

Damen has an heir. It can be from Jokaste or a Vaskian woman doesn’t matter 

It has to be Damen. Maybe Akielos won’t care who the mother is bc that’s their culture but we need to worry about Vere’s culture too now. 

If Damen chooses an heir that’s Akielon or a Vaskian, it will probably be more of an insult to the Veretian people if anything. 

There’s...no Veretian bloodline...where is Vere’s stability?? 

This means, going by history that if Damen doesn’t have an heir that’s half Veretian........the marriage is honestly kind of moot 

Damen will have to eventually have a child with a Veretian woman (noble, most likely). That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll have to marry her. I think They could get around that by claiming the baby as “not a bastard bc the mother is a surrogate” 

BUT YEAH heirs are super important so that’s honestly how I see it needing to go

YEP its long sorry about that. My main knowledge of history is Ancient Greek/Roman and French history (Which was before i read capri believe it or not) so that’s what this stuff is heavily based on along with other histories too of course. 

Hope I helped and sorry if it’s confusing or somthing and totally hmu again if you have more questions/wanna keep talkin bout this <<33