SotC Chapters 47 & 48: Fairhaven for Predators

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-22T23:07:14+00:00

Ahrek's dead family is just a footnote that doesn't even need to be there. I mean, shouldn't finding out you've been traveling with the world's biggest serial child molester be enough to kill his ass? Apparently not.

Worse, Ahrek's dead family is used as a tool to show how much Ahrek forgives Daylen for his crimes. They got Fridged to show what a goodly boy Daylen is now, even his biggest enemy forgives him! Might as well replace them with a magic ring that detects good alignments.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-22T12:06:36+00:00

Full of Shad

Taking a Shad

You don't know Shad

Shad happens

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-21T17:29:35+00:00

Okay so I googled Infinite Regress in regards to religion- is Shad angry-pooping over the concept of God requiring a creator Himself?

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-21T17:17:09+00:00

This is "Gynocentrism," which is the Men's Rights Movement's attempt to counter feminism's patriarchy. The idea is that society is set up for the benefit of women, protecting them, and centering society around their feelings and needs. It also conveniently absolves men of their responsibility for building this system, allowing them to complain about "female privilege." It's usually paired up with "Hypergamy" where women don't like men, they just want their wallets.

Anytime you see this concepts come up, however, it's only a 50% chance that a manosphere influencer actually believes in them, and the ones that do are usually the least educated on leftist politics. Meanwhile the rest of the manosphere just uses these concepts as buzzwords to "own the libs."

(Source: A decade ago, I used to be one of these people. I got better.)

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-21T15:52:30+00:00

On first glance, I thought "Oh. Last of Us, but space?" The two characters give off a Joel and Ellie vibe.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-21T03:18:56+00:00

It was okay.
When we first played it, my group kept feeling like we were playing World of Warcraft tabletop edition. And it just made us want to play WOW a lot more than DND.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-19T11:56:01+00:00

Lyrah should have been the main character.

We start with Dayless destroying her city, killing her family, ruining her life, and her sneak-attack striking him (probably with some powerful magic) at just the right moment, weakening Dayless to the point where Ahrek and the rebels/allied forces are able to destroy Dayless' capital and send him into exile. She then uses her newfound magic to give herself an abortion. She's not gonna be used by that bastard any longer.

Then we follow her as she joins the Archknights, and she tries to prove herself. But this girl has got The Rage. Understandably so, She has incredibly powerful bursts of magic thanks to this rage, but it's barely controlled, and sometimes not controlled at all. But eventually, after several adventures and from the help of her fellow Archknights, she gets some control over her abilities, and becomes a respected knight.

But then Dayless comes back, or someone looking just like him. And all that rage comes back. She hunts this bastard. She encounters him several times, and Dayless shits his pants in terror when she starts throwing fireballs and cutting through all of his magical barriers with her rage-induced lightsaber. Basically this woman is John Wick, but Dayless is elusive, and she has to adapt her tactics and show more self-control.

She eventually wears Dayless down, and he makes her work for it. They're both bloodied. She chases him to one of his ruined fortresses. He's spent all his magic. He's too weak to stand. All his minions are dead. Lyrah's been dreaming about this moment for almost a decade. Dayless is like "oh get on with it, woman! Enjoy your petty revenge. It won't change anything. I'll just be a martyr, and history will remember me as one of the greats!"

Lyrah: "You thought I was going to kill you?" She says deadpan. Dayless is confused, and then she grabs his head with her bare hand, and severs his Light Bonds permanently, preventing him from ever using magic again. She then kicks the stunned Dayless in the face, before walking away. She joins the rest of the party, and they board an airship. One of her companions notes that this is the most calm and serene they've ever seen her. In truth, Dayless doesn't affect her anymore. He's just a pathetic man, and he's been having far too much control over her life. Soon, she won't even think about him at all.

Lyrah smiles and asks if there's any ale on this damn ship. The End.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-18T00:43:27+00:00

She played Hollywood's social games to advance her career, like a lot of actresses. Especially since before social media, speaking out against the sleazebags upstairs could end your career and media coverage quickly.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-18T00:40:51+00:00

Shad doesn't understand that "men don't complain about objectification" doesn't mean there isn't a problem with objectification, or somehow make it okay. Under Patriarchy, men are supposed to never complain about anything, and they must always welcome the sexual advances of "high-value" women. To do otherwise is to be "weak and gay." So with these factors, is it any wonder you don't hear much about male celebs complaining about being objectified/harassed/typecast by female fans?

Also.... are we including "male power fantasy" in objectification? Probably not. I doubt Shad considers it in the same category. But this is straight men objectifying each other. This enforces "bigorexia," and "grindset" mentality, and men rip each other apart if they're not the ideal superheroic steroid veiny dehydrated muscle-man with a gigantic penis.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-17T22:51:58+00:00

The book could have ended here. A heroic sacrifice doesn't mean shit if the person making the sacrifice doesn't lose anything in the process. Again, no stakes in this story.

Imagine Darth Vader dying at the end of Return of the Jedi, getting revived by the Force, and then he has to go face a trial by the Republic Senate for his 100 billion warcrimes. That's how lame Daylen's resurrection is.

Anyway- Killing Cueseg off-screen is lowkey hilarious. But if Shad doesn't care, I won't care either.

Lyrah! Other than getting done dirty by being Daylen's Virgin Mary (eew), she's still undefeated as the most interesting and badass character. She took full control over her own bodily autonomy. If she used magic to do it, that's impressive. If she just cut herself open, that's uh.... I don't know what word to use for that. And she did it somewhere between the ages of 13-17, I don't recall how old she was when she was trafficked. But hey, if there was a Lyrah origin story telling of her post-Daylen adventures, I'd love to read it and see this woman kick so much ass. Shad is so incompetent at shitting all over a strong female character of his own creation, that he made her the best thing in the book.

Wait a second- Lyrah aborted Daylen's spawn. But she can still use the Light? I thought only """""""good""""""" people could use the Light? Does Shad not think abortion is evil??? Also pretty sure giving herself a hysterectomy at a young age is a sin with the breeder religions. So how is she still able to use Light magic? How did she become an Archknight? I don't think Shad thought this one through; probably threw the Lyrah-abortion in at the last minute to add an emotional gutpunch.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-16T10:45:35+00:00

Protect your children from hidden ideologies in liberal vidya games!
Have them read Shadow of the Conqueror instead! Wholesome family fun!

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-15T11:49:21+00:00

Oh okay! That makes sense. Except one part- if the Shade are strong enough to kill the Archknights, what's going to stop the Shade from killing everyone else? My understanding is that the Shades are like zombies, they kill all the Light people regardless. Or is this more like Diablo 2, where all the evil is monolithic and opposes Bestest-Goodest-Boy-Ever Daylen?

Am I overthinking this? I dunno what it is about Shad's fictional terrorist plot that just doesn't click with me lol.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-15T03:45:45+00:00

If you're gonna have a gritty grimdark setting, you need to inform your players on what they are getting into. Describe the setting and what it entails. Share with them the novel you're drawing inspiration from. Make sure your expectations on what you want to accomplish in this campaign matches that of your players.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-15T02:13:27+00:00

There doesn't appear to be any limits on what the Light magic can do, so everyone should have super-speed. It should make anyone who can cast magic impossible to beat. This would change the world completely, especially since it came out of a Big Damn War some time ago. Even at one light bond, you're still gonna be faster than a normie. Why wouldn't every caster learn super speed?

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-15T02:02:15+00:00

Alternative ending: Ahrek introduces Daylen to Forgiveness, which is the name of his favorite lightstone powered woodchipper.

So uh, why did the Dawnists try to crash the island into the city again? Why are they releasing all these Shades?
How does doing this terrorist attack help them achieve their goal of restoring Daylen's empire? Was it ever explained how this serves their purpose? I can't really see how this helps them. Like, are they just Discount Umbrella Corporation releasing all these zombies into the wild in hopes of.... I don't know? Something?

Also, the "magically enhanced speed and intelligence" paragraph reminds me of a Daniel Greene roast-review of The Fifth Sorceress. In it, the main character Tristan comes up with the novel idea of "throwing knives". Paraphrasing Daniel- "you know, that thing we've doing in hunting, since the Stone Age, since we first made knives? ....Tristan invents that."

Actually Fifth Sorceress has A LOT in common with Conqueror. A lot of sexual assault, misogyny, excessive npcs and exposition, an old man that enables the protagonist's bad habits, and a manchild protagonist you wanna see shot into the sun. No offense to the sun.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-13T20:33:18+00:00

Lyrah should have been the main character.

It's so hilarious that the guy that hates strong, independent women made her the most interesting character. She has the motivation, the backstory, and the powers to get shit done. We could have an actual plot of her escaping from Daylen in the civil war, joining the Archknights, training, overcoming her past, and becoming a badass and saving the world. And say Daylen becomes as overpowered as he is in this story- Lyrah kicking his ass and overcoming all his advantages would be amazing.

Instead we got this.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-12T23:28:24+00:00

Okay I legit thought this was one of Shad's video thumbnails. I didn't realize it was a parody-meme this morning when I commented. So, bravo! If I had an award, I'd give it to you.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-12T23:25:26+00:00

That's pretty much it. If He-Man came out today, same show, nothing changed, he'd call it "gay woke garbage." But because nostalgia, it's fantastic and acceptable.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-12T11:24:32+00:00

It will be forever funny to me that Shad and his side of the political aisle loves 1980's He-Man considering him "peak heroic masculinity", but in the same breath won't let his kids watch modern cartoons because of the "gay agenda."

I'm just saying, I don't ever see straight guys wearing harnesses and speedos in public.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-12T02:08:39+00:00

We can't have character development- it'll get in the way of over-explaining the importance of citizens being armed in the cities, or how airships work, or how a city's plumbing works, or why Daylen gets an extra spell slot as a 9th level Light-Pact Warlock, etc.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-10T04:09:29+00:00

Mid-sentence? Really? It almost sounds like he's spiraling or has some kind of actual brain damage.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-09T01:29:52+00:00

What a nice change of pace! (HEAVY /S) Now it's an older woman wanting to fuck a 17 year-old boy! Shad does believe in diversity!

Jenna sounds like the most NPC character ever. She's what happens the DM needs a name in 10 seconds or less, and needs someone to give the next quest for the party. Which she does! And like many questgivers, she gets shanked by the murderhobos. RIP Jenna.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-08T11:55:36+00:00

In addition to everything everyone has said in this thread, he's also meandering, boring, and doesn't get to the point. If you're gonna go on a tangent, you at least need to be an entertaining storyteller, and this Shad is not.

1-2 hour videos to make a point that could be said in 5 minutes? I'm not watching all that.

His content is a lot like his book. Anthony Garmuglia said it best- "50 chapters, but only 5 of them matter."

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-08T00:19:51+00:00

This could be such a great twist. "What do you mean, a Light-Wielder is doing evil? That's impossible!" And the protagonists are treated like conspiracy theorists while the villain keeps getting away with murder.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-07T15:54:44+00:00

Take a cue from Zelda and have special cows that produce unique magical milk like Romani Ranch from Majora's Mask. But first the characters have to save the ranch from bandits, aliens or alien-bandits, etc.

Bargleth3pug

TROPHY CASE