aw heck naw emoji embed fail 
haha wing dings fail
laugh at this user
Hmmm… what about Morden’s decision to not go with the player when they first wake up and him telling us he doesn’t want to kill during the Forest of Masts segment of the story?
he’s a cu- can i say the c word here
See what happens (if you gaslight the mods into thinking you are Australian they can’t stop you for fear of being racist)
First Series of essays
To Preface: I don’t agree with basically everything I’m saying in these essays. This is just a thought experiment that helps me get in the mind of villains. Which is good practice for writing.
Acheron
(I’m using Acheron to be lore accurate): So Acheron is surprisingly easy to justify his actions. He was a poor boy living in a world where magic made you strong and he was without. When he obtained the Absorption curse, it wasn’t technically his fault that he grew a lust for power. Hades at least somewhat influenced him (should the lore doc be believed) however, it was his fault that he continued to listen to that call for power. I think that all Acheron wanted was control. Control over his life, he was born disadvantaged and then was given a supreme boon that allowed him to grow stronger than almost every other force in the world. Granted this want for control spiraled into a want of world domination, but … would it have been so bad? If only Acheron was left with magic, maybe there wouldn’t be so much chaos in the world today. If he controlled everything, who’s to say he would do a bad job?
King Arthur
Again another easily justified character (boy I sure hope I don’t have to justify something like wiping out an entire nation!) Basically the Olympians were corrupt, they gave humanity magic, and knew the chaos that would befall humanity because of it. Arthur was doing a good deed by overthrowing those tyrants. Also he wasn’t truly a pirate seeing as he himself was king and exempt from such laws. Any act that could be construed as piracy is simply the brutal practicality of war. His goal in creating the Sea Curses was to make humanity equal to the gods, it was only due to Prometheus’s intervention that those who received them were random. Overall Arthur was a strong leader who was trying to do what he saw was best for humanity.
Specific Arthur Points
Hostages: He’s constantly at war due to his conquering ways. It’s better than just killing them, isn’t it? Terrorism: There’s no evidence that I’m aware of that he’s committed such acts. Piracy: Stated above. Treason: The man was king of his own nation, he physically can’t commit treason so long as he keeps his title.
Shura
He’s a ronin, meaning he’s a samurai who no longer has a master. He may be an exile from Ryujin for all we know, after all I’m pretty sure Ryujin and the Bronze Sea are on opposite sides of the War Seas (This isn’t a canon fact, but it would make sense.) For all he knew we were a Ryujin bounty hunter there to claim his life. This is the War Seas after all there are people that would kill you soon as say hello to you. Shura was perfectly justified in attacking an unknown variable that somehow knew his location, after all is that not what we players do a lot of the time?
Argos’ strive for power
He was born without magic and getting on in years. It makes sense that he would want to try and find ways to keep ahead of those younger or more magically inclined than him. After all, isn’t improvement of skills what all humans strive for?
Morock
There is no justification for Morock, he’s a fraud that could be killed by glowing mentally ill people (Knights Radiants.) Jokes aside, he’s like all Cursebearers wielding the power of the gods for his own ends. It just so happens that his ends include amassing as much wealth and notoriety as possible. Also given that he now has a slightly weaker curse he’s no longer truly boosted. Honestly I don’t see any Cursebearer as “boosted” because it still requires some skill to utilize properly. I know it’s a lot more intuitive but the difference between a skilled Cursebearer and an unskilled Cursebearer is enormous.
Elius
He’s a victim of societal pressure. He’s a noble who is skilled with magic, and in this world of intense warfare the military and nobility effectively have no separation. I doubt that without the influence of Calvus and Carina, Elius would never have joined The Order. However, he had a valuable skill and since The Order has a vested interest in obtaining power he was too valuable to pass up. Honestly given how strict and tyrannical the Caesars can be the only alternative he may have had was death. Same goes for Carina, they were given ultimatums probably as soon as they were old enough to fight. It’s a horrible situation that they had no choice in because they were born into a certain class and with certain skills.
Carina
I don’t think she was truly slacking off. I imagine they would have their most valuable fighters stationed across the island ready to try and stop this dangerous terrorist that took down, and I can not stress this enough, an entire military fortification. If she seemed to be slacking off, that’s just the relaxed readiness of a trained fighter. All warfare is based on deception after all.
King Nero Caesar II (He would have to be second, since Calvus is IV but only III king of Ravenna)
Right … Him. Okay so I know I justified Acheron, who y’know exterminated 80% of the planet’s population, but that was an accident. Nero … man there’s not even a way to justify his real life counterpart. I guess y’know he had to establish himself in the Bronze Sea, and the destruction of Winterviel was a show of force. But like he didn’t even do anything useful with the island. A proper conqueror (Wotan) would destroy the settlements on the island and then use its resources to fuel his war machine. All Nero did was build a fort that got razed due to the cosmic force that embodies random chance. This is the one monumentally stupid and pointlessly evil character in the AU that I can’t even think of a way his actions are justifiable.
Opticalcord (Technically an AU character)
Look man having >100k bounty without being a pvp head is totally reasonable. (This is totally not a biased opinion from a Grand Navy Captain, who’s grinded over 6k npcs just to get up to 300k.) Honestly if you don’t like pvp, I just suggest running get a decent runner build and disconnect as soon as the in combat tag goes away. It’s what I- (I mean completely hypothetical gravy captain who doesn’t like pvp) do.
Kars: I don’t actually know who this is. If you could provide more information I could make a proper essay.
Caleb Banks/Ravenna Farmers
He’s not Aquaman, I don’t think he can actually communicate with angler fish. He was just wanting to challenge you to see if you had what it takes to be a true angler. As for the Ravenna farmers, do you know what happens to feudal peasants when they don’t meet their crop quatas? They die. Also, you offered your help without asking for full details, any annoyance that you experienced in gathering ingredients for fertilizer is on you. They were just trying to make a living and keep themselves alive.
Calvus
Right so he definitely has some unresolved trauma due to the destruction of the Blasted Rock. He took the throne way too young. He was led astray by The Order, into becoming a puppet ruler unable to make the decisions that would have been best for his nation. There’s also the continued persecution of the Wintervielans, which isn’t justifiable but more of the blame is placed on his ancestors who started it; he just didn’t stop it*. *Calvus’ actions I should hope you all know aren’t truly justifiable. He’s a corrupt and tyrannical ruler who believed in what was basically proto-fascism.
Wotan
Okay, so again he’s just trying to do what’s best for his people, and if Vetex is going on actual Nordic cultures then his reign should actually be a rather decent affair. Vikings (which is a job not a culture.) were clean, had child support, free-form rap battles, and a bunch of other surprisingly progressive and egalitarian social structures. The only people that Wotan doesn’t treat properly are those he conquers, but given a few generations (which he will continue to reign due to his curse) those people he conquers will be citizens of Keraxe. So his conquering of the War Seas is totally justifiable, should you look at it from a historical perspective.
Prometheus
It’s quite likely that he knew what was going to happen long before he gave magic to humanity. I imagine he has some plan that we don’t know about yet. Perhaps he wanted humanity to rise above the gods? I don’t know, but since he does have foresight it’s likely he had/has a carefully laid out plan and has already seen all that the AU contains. There’s also the fact that Titans don’t truly die so he may be planning some grand return. Though this may have been delayed by Acheron reviving his body. Overall I think given his mythological precedent his gifting magic to humanity was a bid to make humanity greater than the Olympians.
Morden: I don’t know how to put quotes in details. (you should also click on the full post, to read a full essay on his character.)
3 Likes
i identify as australian now
I do agree with the heroic characters, like Morden, Iris, Neviro, ect.
OH OH I HAVE A GOOD ONE
Ana. The Sailor.
Not on the forums not an AU character, they will not get an essay.
brotha.
no.
ermmmm they technically ARE an au character, the protagonist
Screw it
Durza
already done, Acheron. Edit: sorry I’m using lore accurate names.
why not
Because I’m not defending real people who have done irl degeneracy. Opiti was becuase it was in game. This is the last I will comment on this topic.
Torren
can you be my lawyer and defend why I used my waffle magic to destroy the entire town of Archaxios
Sure under what category do you qualify?
Loss of loved ones
Nation under your control whose interests would be benefited
Loss of control due to a curse
Humanity despising deity whispering in your ear
Raised by secretive order bend on world domination
Societal pressure from your superiors
Having a silly goofy mood
If any of these motivated the destruction of that innocent town, I can guarantee* to get you acquitted.
*Do note I have no legal authority and am wanted in several countries for crimes against the Grand Navy.
Bronze and Wings Law Firm: Just Because They Were Orphans Doesn’t Mean They Weren’t a Threat.
Yeah I see you as a guy who got the 1.25million fame for deckhands without pvp, and continued to do this until the deckhand update