#king erlan

[ramonag-if]

A Kingdom for a Wolf is a Virion AU story available to all Patrons (free included) here.

In another life, the wolf never wandered. Instead, you were raised in golden light and quiet schemes, under the ward of a man with grey in his hair and ambition in his veins.

In the solar atrium, beneath the scent of figs and old ash, Virion readies you for the future he’s long imagined. One where you do not kneel, but one where you rule.

Tonight, the court will see only polished silver and fine smiles. But behind them lies a promise.

You will not be cast aside, not while he draws breath.

💕 Read on Patreon by becoming a member (free included).

✨️ Wishlist the game on Steam and follow the page.

🎮 Play the free demo on itch.io

[ramonag-if]

Assuming the mc never met Irus and consequently the rest of the team, how would his family feel about an mc turns into a blood guard hunter? similar to the protagonist of the game "Ghost of Tsushima" basically hunting any blood guard outpost? Using poison on their supplies, burning their buildings down and freeing prisoners?

You can sort of play that role in this (unfinished) game, the only difference is that the ROs are aware of the MC hunting down the Blood Guard.

I'm assuming you mean Irus' family in this scenario.

Erlan: He sees the MC as an evil villain who needs to be destroyed at all costs.

Virion: He sees an opportunity, and Virion is never one to waste an opportunity like the MC.

Miva (Irus' mother): She sees the MC as doing the only thing they can and will reach out to offer help in dismantling the Blood Guard.

And as a bonus:

Irus: He'll support Erlan's view on things until he actually learns the truth and meets the MC.

[ramonag-if]

Kinda love the idea of Virion unironically being one of the best suited to raise MC - at least in their younger years. I assume things get a bit messier as the politics do, especially if/when he does become king and his choice of heir becomes a legitimate factor given MC's heritage.

Speaking of, in that AU, how does Virion go about seeking the throne? Is Erlan still poisoned and by the same person (not sure what the spoiler rules are for this blog vs the patreon ^^;) or do things play out differently?

Also given Virion's...machinations in Vinia, is there any chance of MC meeting their extended family in this AU? Or is that bridge more or less burnt with Salyra's death?

I seriously love Virion as a character 😅 It's really a shame he doesn't feature more in the game because he's so fun and villainous that it's hard not to love him.

With heirs, there's no need for bloodlines etc and Virion's ancestors (Erlan and Irus' too) were once rulers from Ishari. Virion doesn't care for the war, he thinks Erlan trying to take control of Ishari because of a broken betrothal is stupid and a waste of resources. So like how he appointed Morden (an Ishari-born man) as the new general of the Blood Guard, he'd likewise name the MC his heir and anyone who disobeys will feel the full might of his displeasure.

Virion would try to get the throne through subterfuge, political scheming and by undermining Erlan's reign. Erlan is not a natural fighter nor is he particularly good at swordsmanship. But Virion is and that's why he has respect in the Blood Guard - he trained alongside them and has made friends with the senior soldiers and recruits so if anything, Virion wouldn't need poison, he'd just stage a coup. It's similar to how he exiled Irus in the main plot. With Erlan dead and a young, inexperienced prince at the helm, Virion convinced the nobles he'd be a better ruler.

The MC would probably learn about their extended family from Virion. He has spies everywhere, but he would have known a lot about Vinia on account of Elora's father's assassination. Once he discovers the MC's family, he'd go back and forth on telling the MC but would eventually tell the MC because despite his machinations for the throne, he does genuinely care about the MC in the AU story.

[ramonag-if]

I’m sorry for not saying before that RaisedByErlan and RaisedByVirion were separate asks/universes 😅. I didn’t know that there was a RaisedByVirion ask—I just found out now 😭.

—RaisedByErlan asker

It's okay! 🌸 Everything’s a bit chaotic with game development, the Steam store page and remembering what I answered when, so it's only normal to be a bit confused 😅 Yes, there is a Virion AU where he raises the MC and seems to do a better job than Ahlf 😆

[ramonag-if]

How would Erlan prevent his nemesis Salyra from taking kidnapping MC in the #RaisedByErlan verse? Would he even want to prevent Salyra from kidnapping the MC? I imagine that the MC is around age ten when Ahlf died in this verse. The MC was around 4-5 years old when Salyra left them with Ahlf right?

Also, what would Irus’s reaction/opinion be towards the (kidnapping/custody battle) whole thing? I’m guessing he’s the same age as MC. Is his mother around him during this time?

Honestly, Erlan would let it happen. Technically he's not breaking a promise to Ahlf. He did try to raise the MC 😆 And if Salyra wants the MC so badly, he'd let her take the MC. Virion wouldn't. But this isn't his AU.

Irus is a year older than the MC, but he'd be confused as to why the MC would have to leave/the issue of Salyra coming for them. He'd do his best to keep the MC with him, even if that just means pleading with his father to keep the MC around.

Miva disappears only if the war happens and then continues on unsuccessfully for decades for reasons you'll learn in Chapter 11 👀 But, for the sake of the ask, she'd want the MC to be with Salyra since she wouldn't want to separate a mother and child, and doesn't see Erlan as being the best role model for the MC.

[ramonag-if]

For the RaisedByErlan ask: How would Salyra react to Erlan being forced (by oath to a dying man) to raise MC like a daughter? I’m guessing when Erlan and Ahlf were young and their friendship was extremely strong, the two nobles promised to be like a favorite uncle to each other’s future children. Ahlf successfully reminded Erlan of this youthful promise when he got Erlan to make the oath (Ahlf wanted to ensure as best as possible that MC didn’t get abused by Erlan’s courtiers).

In no universe where Salyra is alive would she allow Erlan to keep the MC 👀 Even if Ahlf made a deal like this with Erlan, you can bet a lot on Salyra cutting through anyone who stood in the way of her and the MC. It's a bit sad since we don't see this in the main plot with Ahlf raising the MC instead 😬

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I just like picturing Erlan’s face when he realizes that he can’t weasel out of raising Salyra’s child—the MC. 😈

To his credit, he still had enough honor—and whatever remained of his conscience—to keep his word to Ahlf. And Ahlf, no doubt, had been thorough in making Erlan swear an oath to raise the child himself rather than passing them off to someone else. Perhaps Ahlf feared another guardian might mistreat the child—but at least Erlan, bound by both the oath and their past friendship, would do better than that. Erlan still kept Ahlf as Irus’s guardian/protector even after exiling Ahlf, after all.

Their friendship was very complicated 😅 I think if it wasn't for the war, they might have still been friends even if Ahlf and Salyra got together. But power corrupts and ambitions got in the way of their friendship. I'd say Erlan was closer to Ahlf than he was to Virion, so you can imagine why he'd want Ahlf to still be Irus' guardian.

[ramonag-if]

Honestly, how would Salyra react if Ahlf gave a 10 year old MC over to King Erlan (his former best friend) to raise? Like Ahlf was dying from a horrible sickness and knew he would only have days to live—so he got in contact with Erlan and got him to promise to take care of MC (similar to how Ahlf took over to ensuring Irus’s safety after Erlan’s death). Ahlf kind of lost contact with Salyra—otherwise he would have given MC over to her.

Wait, is this the raised by Erlan ask? I need to stop going days and weeks between asks on Tumblr 😅

I mean, in the AU with Virion,this is how it happens. Ahlf dies and Erlan's appointed as the MC's guardian. He accepts because it's Ahlf's child and Erlan can't really refuse, so it'd be similar in this scenario.

Erlan would accept the MC and have others raise them. In this case, it's very likely that Virion will step in because, besides making sure the MC is clothed, fed and given an education, he's not interested in actually raising them.