Aramon doesn't need her personality - frankly, it has little to do with Aramon. If you take personal offense to the blatant flaws of modern Xavax culture, as your defensive response hints, then clearly you recognize at least part of the problem. If you recognize the problem, then please do something about it. Easier said than done, of course. There is far more than your own ambitions or desires at play, especially now that the Saoi is pregnant [with twins, was it?]. Selenia ruled the way she did because she had to. Granted, her IC personality design influenced her reactions, but the general trend owed more to our history than her personality alone. Its far too convenient to blame Selenia for everything that went wrong, obscuring the responsibility and and flaws of the other powerplayers who influenced the ultimate outcome. I still say the biggest and most blatantly horrifying mistake y'all ever made was abandoning Xavax. Part of me wonders how y'all found some clever way to justify doing the exact opposite of what we had always said, embodied, and promised. From give no quarter, fight until the end, pride and honor, to tucking tail and fleeing north. Magnus was profoundly flawed, but he's not the one who abandoned and doomed Xavax. Sorry but hat one's on you guys.
A little behind-the-scene history lesson:
Selenia did not depose Magnus as you were led to believe. She was already Magnus' chosen heir, as they had discussed his abdication and planned for her Xerarchy long before the Alaran spy and Dodger's rebellion. Did no one find it suspicious that Magnus held no landed titles [unlike every ruler who expects to remain in power], casually handed her the capitol of the entire Imperium, command of its home duchy, patronage of its army, and later [toward the end of his reign] changed the Phoenix from a male archetype to a female and named her the Phoenix Reborn? She was the anonymous informant who provided intelligence on rebel discussions/plans which formed the basis of Magnus' accusations, and was explicitly ordered to take advantage of rebellious sentiments in order to secure her succession. Not the only informant, as those of you in the [early] secret Inquisition may remember. Numerous agents, both within and without the Inquisiton, were tasked with infiltrating their ranks. For a time, the Inquisition was a hotbed of activity - until a certain someone joined the Inquisition and we took it all to personal private channels. If you recall the Inquisition getting very quiet all of a sudden, you might just know what I'm talking about.
The rebellion was glorious. Frustrating as hell, but glorious. In a short span of time we went from wondering how to convince all the Selenia-haters to stand down, all the way to everyone immediately taking her side and voting her in with abandon. From public condemnation of any suggestion that Selenia, or in some cases a JeVondair in general, would ever dare be a candidate for Xavax rulership, to Long Live Xerarch Selenia in the blink of an eye.
Forgiving the rebels was a nice touch, but Selenia wasn't so foolish as to let sleeping dogs lie. She quite effectively dismantled the anti-Selenia faction that convinced Magnus to appoint Crownguard to Isadril. For those who may recall, or were involved, this was primarily the Ibladesh faction which formed the counter-balance to the pro-Selenia faction. For those who don't, they were led by a certain infamous priestess who opposed Selenia and called for a war to conquer Ibladesh and found the first of many planned satellite states in what was to be the Xavax federation. As was discussed [with those who mattered] at the time, the point of giving power to both factions, and particularly for the inception of a Lurianesque federation, was to allow for a more dynamic environment of rivalry and constant debate. Precisely like the Templar-Inquisitor rivalry of Obia'Syela. Unfortunately, the Alaran spy threw a wrench in the plans and they took it a step too far.
In the end, the ones who lost were the anti-Selenia factions and myself. Magnus was supposed to resign soon after he built the palace, quietly becoming the high priest of the Phoenix cult to bless Selenia as the Phoenix Reborn in an epic communal feast-style realm-wide RP arc. Instead, I had to deal with political drama and Dodger's constant insults instead of pumping out the rest of the RPs for my abdication. Not wanting to stall the process and delay Selenia's rise to Xerarchy nor the inception of the official Xavax faith, I ended up forgoing much-needed sleep in lieu of replying to a flood of annoying missives and lengthy [parallel] RPs just to get swamped, frustrated, and watch it all burn when I realized I couldn't dig myself out of it faster than I was being buried.
When !@#$ goes south, you ride the wave and go out with a bang. I'm not going to lie: I wasn't exactly the epitome of stability at the time. I was in the beginning of a !@#$ty divorce after our daughter passed away at birth and my marriage went to hell, my stepson - the boy I raised as my own - was in and out of the ICU, and toward the end I was living out of my car and posting RPs from a parking lot by Dunkin Donuts. (Free wifi is a godsend.) I was a mess and it bled over into my IC behavior. I definitely don't blame y'all for wanting to get rid of him, and thus me, but !@#$ happens and the past is the past.
Speaking of, I've not forgotten Iuz Vidar Crownguard and his star role in screwing Xavax twice-over. nor has Sigrid. FunFact: She came to Sirion to become an assassin and make his [and Robb Starfall's] life a living hell.
If someone convinces JeVondair to abandon the Goldwings and join the RedWings instead, she'll probably end up going back to that option.
Otherwise, me might just end up with a Xavax federation of rival city-states after all. What're the odds of it all going full-cycle? Puts a smile to my face, it does.
