Ending Question about Age of Decadence

[Üstad]

So I made Antidas emperor, blew up entire Madoraan and killed Meru in Al-Akia, the end text says; Antidas become a burden so Carrinas got rid of it and blamed Paullus, Carrinas also made Teron barely recognizable but what does that mean? Did Paullus manage to take Teron or Ganezzar?

Did Carrinas win in the end? Also why we remain drifter in this ending we should have go with Carrinas no?

 

[Twiglard]

Antidas and Teron are a lost cause. I dunno about the Ganezzar bit but the only good ending for Antidas is Agathoth being his advisor.

 

[vota DC]

Carrinas Is silly. If you left him alone wiping other two houses he fails just like Antidas. He can't even have a career in the army.

 

[Kalin]

Vince hates Antidas because he modeled him after his old boss. That's it. No matter what Antidas can't win. It's fuckin bullshit, you get da magic nooka, you get da magic airship but you can't nuke Caer-Tor because wtf man, what gives? Vince gon Vince.

Team Antidas represent!

 

[S.torch]

blew up entire Madoraan

Bad decision to make.

 

[Twiglard]

blew up entire Madoraan

Bad decision to make.

Not necessarily since you can metagame SP gains and save one skill point for the God ending.

 

[vota DC]

Vince hates Antidas because he modeled him after his old boss. That's it. No matter what Antidas can't win. It's fuckin bullshit, you get da magic nooka, you get da magic airship but you can't nuke Caer-Tor because wtf man, what gives? Vince gon Vince.

Team Antidas represent!

But Antidas Is a naive guy that can be deceived by every charlatan. It Is not just Teron being doomed but also Antidas being a bad leader despite having some noble ideals.
Carrinas Is supposed to be smart but he can't do anything to achieve a better result of Antidas. He Is just Antidas without the puppet of agathoth option.
Antidas while unable to become emperor Is still able to achieve a stalemate with the other house, even in this scenario Carrinas can't do better.

 

[Üstad]

Vince hates Antidas because he modeled him after his old boss. That's it. No matter what Antidas can't win. It's fuckin bullshit, you get da magic nooka, you get da magic airship but you can't nuke Caer-Tor because wtf man, what gives? Vince gon Vince.

Team Antidas represent!

But Antidas Is a naive guy that can be deceived by every charlatan. It Is not just Teron being doomed but also Antidas being a bad leader despite having some noble ideals.
Carrinas Is supposed to be smart but he can't do anything to achieve a better result of Antidas. He Is just Antidas without the puppet of agathoth option.
Antidas while unable to become emperor Is still able to achieve a stalemate with the other house, even in this scenario Carrinas can't do better.

Are you referring to the triumvare ending? As far as I remember Antidas becomes puppet emperor, Meru becomes Pope and Carrinas rules the land with help of the player.

 

[vota DC]

Vince hates Antidas because he modeled him after his old boss. That's it. No matter what Antidas can't win. It's fuckin bullshit, you get da magic nooka, you get da magic airship but you can't nuke Caer-Tor because wtf man, what gives? Vince gon Vince.

Team Antidas represent!

But Antidas Is a naive guy that can be deceived by every charlatan. It Is not just Teron being doomed but also Antidas being a bad leader despite having some noble ideals.
Carrinas Is supposed to be smart but he can't do anything to achieve a better result of Antidas. He Is just Antidas without the puppet of agathoth option.
Antidas while unable to become emperor Is still able to achieve a stalemate with the other house, even in this scenario Carrinas can't do better.

Are you referring to the triumvare ending? As far as I remember Antidas becomes puppet emperor, Meru becomes Pope and Carrinas rules the land with help of the player.

Antidas has one with Aurelian defeated and Crassus standing as rival, I think Carrinas can achieve this one too. The triumvirate Is more about a non standard Crassus victory.

 

[Üstad]

Antidas has one with Aurelian defeated and Crassus standing as rival

Never got this one, how to achieve it?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Vince hates Antidas because he modeled him after his old boss.

lolwut?

 

[Vault Dweller]

So I made Antidas emperor...

Correction: you convinced Carrinas to proclaim Antidas emperor. Claiming doesn't make it so and Carrinas doesn't have the power to make it so even if he really wanted it.

...blew up entire Madoraan and killed Meru in Al-Akia...

In other words you destroyed all noble houses that held the Imperial Guards in check so the Guards now reign supreme and don't need Antidas anymore.

Did Carrinas win in the end? Also why we remain drifter in this ending we should have go with Carrinas no?

Carrinas can't win against Paullus.

As for Antidas, he's simply a weak leader. He can be a good baron under a strong king but he'd never become a king. Thus the best outcome for him is to bend the knee and serve Gaelius.

 

[Üstad]

In other words you destroyed all noble houses that held the Imperial Guards in check so the Guards now reign supreme and don't need Antidas anymore.

Yeah I get that part, simple balance of power thing and I know Antidas is weak and dumb. I also know after the other 2 big house is gone, there is no need for Antidas simply legitimacy doesnt mean shit anymore.

Carrinas can't win against Paullus.

Why though? I was confused about this part, can't he hold Teron with forced labor and digging in? What happens to him in the end? It's obvious IG reigns supreme but I wonder about the details.

 

[vota DC]

Antidas has one with Aurelian defeated and Crassus standing as rival

Never got this one, how to achieve it?

Very similar with the one with Carrinas becoming enforcer of Meru, the difference Is that Antidas save Meru for the sake of weakening Aurelian but without an alliance after the siege. Then you must sabotage Meru without killing him.
Carrinas must be dead and I think Serenas in charge, I am not sure there Is a stalemate with Aurelian totally wiped out with their city destroyed.

No idea why there isn't just an Imperial Guard vs Crassus stalemate......I mean they are counting Meru and Antidas as the remaing powers and Paulus doesn't have the guts to come out his fort leaving the task to contain Meru to.... Antidas.

 

[Whisper]

So I made Antidas emperor...

Correction: you convinced Carrinas to proclaim Antidas emperor. Claiming doesn't make it so and Carrinas doesn't have the power to make it so even if he really wanted it.

...blew up entire Madoraan and killed Meru in Al-Akia...

In other words you destroyed all noble houses that held the Imperial Guards in check so the Guards now reign supreme and don't need Antidas anymore.

Did Carrinas win in the end? Also why we remain drifter in this ending we should have go with Carrinas no?

Carrinas can't win against Paullus.

As for Antidas, he's simply a weak leader. He can be a good baron under a strong king but he'd never become a king. Thus the best outcome for him is to bend the knee and serve Gaelius.

Antidas is only really good person in this setting, all other are evil or egoistic. And he cant even properly win.

If we could make full 6-man party we could probably storm Guards main base, kill all leaders and make Antidas emperor. But here you only control 1 person.

 

[Twiglard]

Antidas is only really good person in this setting, all other are evil or egoistic. And he cant even properly win.

Antidas is ineffectual, it doesn't make him good. There's nothing virtuous about him. If anything, he squanders his people and resources by own incompetence. Has bandits on his doorstep due to the inability to rule with an iron fist. Pays the taxes to a con man selling fake artifacts.

If we could make full 6-man party we could probably storm Guards main base, kill all leaders and make Antidas emperor. But here you only control 1 person.

That really doesn't fit the tone of the game. The player character isn't meant to be some superhuman. There's plenty of ludonarrative dissonance but this affects the narrative directly. Why not kill a whole legion while we're at it?

 

[Ihavenoidea]

Why not kill a whole legion while we're at it?

Not enough healing items

 

[Vault Dweller]

Why though? I was confused about this part, can't he hold Teron with forced labor and digging in? What happens to him in the end? It's obvious IG reigns supreme but I wonder about the details.

I don't recall the exact wording of that particular ending, but Teron can't be defended against an army. It's not a fortress like Ganezzar and it can't withstand a siege. There's no bad blood between Carrinas and Paullus, so there's no reason for Carrinas to die defending Teron.

Antidas is only really good person in this setting, all other are evil or egoistic. And he cant even properly win.

Antidas is ineffectual, it doesn't make him good. There's nothing virtuous about him. If anything, he squanders his people and resources by own incompetence. Has bandits on his doorstep due to the inability to rule with an iron fist. Pays the taxes to a con man selling fake artifacts.

Precisely. It's a very common historical archetype, much more common than a conqueror or a capable administrator.

If we could make full 6-man party we could probably storm Guards main base, kill all leaders and make Antidas emperor. But here you only control 1 person.

Caer-Tor has a handful of people only because Torque would have choked if we tried to show it as a proper military camp.

 

[Üstad]

the difference Is that Antidas save Meru for the sake of weakening Aurelian but without an alliance after the siege.

How?

Then you must sabotage Meru without killing him.

What? How?

There's no bad blood between Carrinas and Paullus, so there's no reason for Carrinas to die defending Teron.

So Carrinas just hands over Teron to Paullus then.

 

[Whisper]

Antidas is only really good person in this setting, all other are evil or egoistic. And he cant even properly win.

Antidas is ineffectual, it doesn't make him good. There's nothing virtuous about him. If anything, he squanders his people and resources by own incompetence. Has bandits on his doorstep due to the inability to rule with an iron fist. Pays the taxes to a con man selling fake artifacts.

Precisely. It's a very common historical archetype, much more common than a conqueror or a capable administrator.

Are there good or evil sides in this conflict than? People say that like in Real Life there cant be, but it is not true. Like in real world now Armeni-vs-Azer war where Azer are muslims backed by agressive Turks (=evil side) vs Christian nation that just defends itself from attack.
Or ISIS is bad side and Russian forces bring peace to Syria by fighting them. Or WW2 and Soviet Union vs Nazi (=evil side).

And who is closer to good side in game?

 

[Alpan]

Seeing as this particular thread on Endings lore actually got answered, I might as well try my luck plugging my own question from the big thread:

So, about one of the endings:

Spoiler

In the Ascension ending, which one of the seven beings is involved in the final operation? Whose power does the new God exercise? If none of them, where does that power originate from?

I assumed it was Balzaar's power, but there's no characterization in the scene and it is (rather deliberately, I assume) left ambiguous.

Vault Dweller?

 

[Twiglard]

Spoiler

Balzaar, he gets pwned by you. He's the voice speaking to you in the Star Room, and inviting Meru to Al-Akia.

 

[vota DC]

the difference Is that Antidas save Meru for the sake of weakening Aurelian but without an alliance after the siege.

How?

Then you must sabotage Meru without killing him.

What? How?

There's no bad blood between Carrinas and Paullus, so there's no reason for Carrinas to die defending Teron.

So Carrinas just hands over Teron to Paullus then.

Carrinas dead, Meru alive but pyramid destroyed or the creed will win even if Daratan is standing.

I don't recall the exact wording of that particular ending, but Teron can't be defended against an army. It's not a fortress like Ganezzar and it can't withstand a siege. There's no bad blood between Carrinas and Paullus, so there's no reason for Carrinas to die defending Teron.

I remember an ending about Carrinas assassinating Antidas and blame Paullus for his death, then he collect a lot of taxes and try to fortify. They don't mention Carrinas being killed, but since he blamed Paullus looks like he was preparating for a war rather than just handing Teron to the Imperial Guard.

Antidas is ineffectual, it doesn't make him good. There's nothing virtuous about him. If anything, he squanders his people and resources by own incompetence. Has bandits on his doorstep due to the inability to rule with an iron fist. Pays the taxes to a con man selling fake artifacts.

Antidas has no knowledge for evaluating those artifacts. And being supernaive means that he thinks everybody is honest so Feng that can provide tons of artifacts is better than Cassius which is truly honest but provides less artifacts.
For the same reason Teron is in ruin: Antidas was too naive to foresee that Meru could betray him.

 

[Twiglard]

Let's not forget about Commercium running Teron. Another reason why Antidas sucks.

 

[Ol' Willy]

Are there good or evil sides in this conflict than? People say that like in Real Life there cant be, but it is not true.

Who was good and who was bad in the WWI? Brits, which starved Indians by the millions? French, with their brutal colonial rule? Russia, a reactionary state? Germany, which was late to the party and wanted a bigger share? USA, which made millions over this war?