All Comments on 'A Dream of Empire Ch. 015'

Like the explanation of surnames in this world as indicators of power, and the Coat-of-Arms.

World-building question, asked because I've thought about it for a day: you've been mostly skirting the potentials of sex magic; are there some solid norms in your world against its non-consensual use? (Talos doesn't seem to mind much, if at all.)

A society would quickly move down possibly-dark paths otherwise, if this (reader's) world is representative. A few authors on literotica have explored this, Paul Lucas (where it's rare) and Salamando_Flames (where it's all females and a very rapid change dropped on contemporary earth) and the stories go very dark very quickly.

I was thinking of a sort of sexual magic used as a means of control over others. Another related fictional example is the (non-magical(?)) techniques used by the Honored Matres in Herbert's later Dune novels. The Bene Gesserit much more benignly used lesser forms of such techniques to form and strengthen normal emotional bonds as part of their political long-games.

The Law of Consent works well as a constraint to resolve this, so that question is neatly answered.

I don't recall, did Talos consent to the connection with Alanna, the spell/solution that Alanna described as in a text called 'Compassio' (Freedom Pt. 11)? Perhaps he did, heck I would not be surprised to find that he set up the preconditions for it somehow.

30+ years? Interesting. Impressed, and looking forward to many more stories.

The Rayya parts of Elan were a dark tale; I had managed to forget most of them.

Ramblings, because I'm finding these mind connections both fascinating and carefully drawn. They do not need an answer, especially if that would slow down your writing. :-)

From Alannas point of view, she had just risked destruction of her soul indirectly attacking (?) a much more powerful enchantress who had turned not-good, to save Cass, and was desperate to avoid such a change in herself. And she was pregnant with Talos' child, who would need a stable mother. And she is an empath, so connections are not something she personally fears. The justifications were easy.

What WERE the potential downsides anyway? They retain individual identities. The upsides include empathy enhancement for Talos, and an utterly reliable, powerful ally (who should study and train more). (And could the connection be 3+ way?) What happens to the other if one of them is hurt or tortured, or dies? That has not been made clear. The warded valley in ADoE-8 suggests that it could be survived. I'm not convinced that Talos would not have assented if it had been fully explained, even though he says in Freedom-11 that he would not have agreed.

Tatiana clearly has a focus on discouragement of impediments to the full development of every person's potentials as part of her personal ethical framework. (This is good.) She's young (+4 :-); does she have much experience with other ethical frameworks?

Looking forward to your possible deft handling of these issues in future stories.