@wolfsliege said: // I had always thought the same. Jessamine didn’t look like an efficient leader at all, so Burrows just had her out of the picture because he thought he could do better.
A man like Burrows wouldn't have been able to understand Jessamine's strength you are so utterly correct. He makes it very clear he has little compassion himself, people are problems to be dealt with, not worked around and god forbid worked with, and he'd understand it even less in someone who is supposed to rule.
And everything else, I think Jessamine could have handled, rulers in times of change have to be more malleable, more compassionate and she seemed progressive enough (something else, I think, Burrows would have found weak), and Dunwall was changing drastically. In those situations you move and change with it, or you get left behind and she seemed to be inclined that way, given the little you do have of her policies.
Plague however, sudden plague of that magnitude no less, strikes everyone dumb, and it takes a real cruelty to deal with it.
Because seldom is a good king, a kind one. Or at least that's what I can see Burrow's tell himself as he consoled himself over what he's done.
Watching Master and Commander and all I can think is baby Corvo, slipping in the blood and dodging around the debris lugging oil to the canons. Just recently promoted to midshipman and he's all of 13, and it only happened because the actual midshipman got his arm blown off around the tail end of Serkonos and the pirates tricked them and came up hard in the mist that they couldn't afford to be waiting around to do the promotion properly, and Corvo was the only other boy there that was half presentable, had at least a year under his service, didn't piss himself in fear and already knew how to hold a weapon decently enough.
Getting drunk after the battle with his new title and singing with the rest of the boys, till he's red in the face and half falls asleep listening to the older lieutenant's tell stories until they put him to bed.
This is a weird ramble about nobility and started about names, but it went a lot of places, but it's going to cover some political stuff about nobility, some customs and maybe some things to think about to do with death and the death of kings. I hope it's useful and an entertaining read! I included some historical counter points as well for people to research and look up some stuff themselves. As ever don't take my word as any kind of authority on the matter and look this stuff up yourself and if you don't agree with me -- my ask box is always open and I would love to hear from you! Likewise, if the dev team says different, then the dev team says different and I defer to them. But so far they seem to follow historical counter points fairly closely so they are my sort of bar I put them against / draw my view of the isles from.
THIS IS A LOT OF READING AND I AM SORRY I JUST KEPT TALKING ABOUT NONSENSE THINGS.
Okay first thing that I see fairly often and it's so obscure that I get no body knows about it b u t I wanted to say something about it:
A ruler only becomes addressed as "the Ist" when there is a second. Emily would never have been called such during her reign, as she is the first and only Empress Emily and there is no need to determine between one ruler or another of the same name. See: Elizabeth I is not called that ever until Elizabeth II takes the throne, and then you need to determine which one is which. King John need never be called "I" because he is the only King John of England. Likewise, Emily would never be formally announced as "Emily Kaldwin the First" because she is the only at this point. The inclusion of the number is not so much a formal part of their title, as something to distinguish them from the eight other George's that came before them, say. More a common sense for the sake of legislation than anything else.
The Outsider gets a free pass because he can see all of time and space to know if there is a second or third. To her courtiers however? No. She'd just be Empress Emily.
On the title of Empress/Emperor. To be called such, you have to have a collection (and I think the general rule is at least four but, I have no exact sources to back up the particulars of that, so go with what you want) of states. So it is unlikely that pre-unification of the Isles, that the leader of Gristol was called Emperor. He was probably just a King. It seems like definitely a post unification thing. The title is also probably much longer, though it was probably more work than the dev team wanted to add, but if it was more historical I suppose it might read something like (and this is just supposing there are different titles that we don't hear of in game): Queen Jessamine of Gristol, Empress of Morley, Tyvia and Serkonos, Princess of Meya. Duchess of Karnaca, Duchess of Alba, Sovereign of the Order of Redmoor. Okay I am sure you can see how complicated this can get. ( x ) But people are always, always referred to by their highest title. So she would be Your Imperial Majesty on first meeting, then Your Majesty, and then maybe, Your Grace and then only if ur bff or married to her and it's in private and only in private, Jessamine.
NOW TO THE MEATY BIT:
Names tend to be reused given the popularity and life of the King in general, and here is where I get to ramble about one of my favourite subjects, Kings and Death. Kings can and will assume a different name upon taking the throne that is more favourable to the people's memories. Sometimes, it is the name of their fathers, and this can also be done also to give the sense of a King without end. One who reigns over eternally. But flip sidedly, its entirely possible there would never be another Empress Jessamine due to her bloody end. This wouldn't be done out of hatred for her, but out of politics. No, no no wait don't run away, let me explain:
Kings are not allowed to be associated with death (wielding it of course, is a different matter). I mean if you follow the customs, Kings aren't even allowed to attend the funeral of their dear friends because the King being at a funeral is considered enough to make people consider the death of the king. Hell one of Anne Boleyn's accusations of treasons was saying that another courtier would marry her if the King was dead -- and no really, that was serious enough to be an accusation of treason (trumped up as that is, for a High Chaos post game, that's the sort of intense level it could get to), and was treated as such. Even saying that "One day the King will die and we should be ready for it" was a poor choice. Kings planned out their own deaths, hell their entire funerals, because of this, because no one else was allowed to broach the subject for them. Even then, it was done privately, discreetly. Goodbyes would be given formally to the family, and a select trusted would be allowed to tend the King on his death bed. Heirs apparent were seldom allowed near by. (Which I always found it cool that even three or four years early, they seemed to have this sense that it is coming to an end and soon to make the plans at all). For that matter Henry VIII was not allowed to go to his dearest friends funeral, or attend executions. It has both heart breaking and nasty sides to it. (Another possibility is that even if Emily had been around for Jessamine's funeral, it is still highly unlikely she would have gone to her mother's funeral).
So, with this in mind, as much as I love the idea of naming a respective daughter after Jessamine. The assassination of an Empress has serious, serious ramifications, beyond even just the usual worry about people thinking about death. I don't mean just poor Emily and Corvo losing their ... mother and whatever Corvo and Jessamine actually were behind closed doors. I mean, kill a king, and all kings are mortal. Which haha, we modern people know that ofc Kings are mortal. But that shit is srsbznz. I mean potentially Empire toppling business. Jessamine didn't just die, she was murdered, when she was supposed to be safe behind her high walls, when her position was supposed to ward her against all such attempts. Murder happens to lesser men. She's a sickening shock to the nobility that yes, even that high, isn't safe. But it means they can someone of that power can be killed at all and that power can be taken for themselves, because even if he was brought down, the Lord Regent still did it and nearly got away with it, etc, etc. That sets a precedent. One that allows Kings and Queens to die and be replaced. This is dangerous, and forever after if there was another Jessamine, people would say her and think of the first Empress Jessamine, the one who was killed. This happens not just with death of course, if a King is particularly cruel, no one wants to be associated: see probably why there is only one King John. She would come almost to be loved and abhorred in the same breath because she was the poor Empress that allows Emperors there after a justification to be doubly paranoid about their nobility. She would be abhorred because she was the Empress who was murdered like common men are, and she's supposed to be better than that. Even Burrows is aware of the danger of treating the matter like a triviality. It can't be. It's not allowed to be. If it is this means disaster for any ruler after, and no one will ever forget it. Jessamine's death will be remembered longer than her life is. No ruler would want to willingly invoke that memory. Not for a long time and things were stable, no ruler would want to let that thought willingly pass through their courtiers mind. Her name in some ways would become a taboo that went hand in hand with treason. Invoked only when people wanted to strike fear, not love. Jessamine thought herself loved, and look what happened. Jessamine thought she could trust, and look what happened.
Friend just added a lovely point: as Jessamine's reign was largely an okay one, at least in regards to Burrows after her she would be remembered better. Jessamine probably became a fairly common name, if it wasn't already.
Moreover, Daud will be treated even better/worse by the Dunwall History books once the truth came out (and yes, even if the events of the Brigmore Witches came to light, people would want to know so if Corvo didn't kill the Empress, who did then huh? Again, not a trivial matter). In the same vain, he would be put on a pedestal as having skill unprecedented and damned to the most black hearted man. Normal men are not allowed to kill Empresses. Machiavellian geniuses are, Outsider marked abominations are, but a normal man with thoughts and feelings, even of regret? Are not. Because if they are, that means anyone can. It would be very soon after that in the history books, Daud's humanity would be lost. To the propaganda machines, he'd become a figure of myth very quickly, as something that could never be repeated. There are no men like him. Men who crafted their lives to one task, marked by the Outsider to be instruments of death. Fear him, never wish to be like him, because what he is terrifyingly unattainable. Another darker path would that be in years to come, someone may name a heir after him, just to instill that same fear into those that opposed him. Highly unlikely, but it's the sort of shit they would pull to make sure no one treated Daud like a common man that could ever happen again. The Lord Regent/Royal Spymaster would be the same, and the High Overseer. In fact, I can see both these positions become precarious there after, and an excuse for open distrust to be placed in the Abbey. Some Luther style reforms being shoved in there in time because obviously it's corrupt and must be examined.
Anyway I hope this gives some ideas of the long term of effects of Jessamine's death on politics of Dunwall and that I don't sound too much of a pretentious idiot for rambling like this.
Or rather, historically one could only be considered truly educated if you knew Latin, and that held true until the mid 1800s at least. If it was a book worth reading, it was written in Latin, for a very long time.
Corvo I don't think would care / never bothered to learn more than he had to, Daud I think would know it just to be more of an adequate spy/assassin.
