The Eternal Exile: A Nation Hopping AAR

[Dewirix]

To paraphrase Planet of the Apes "you blew her up, you maniac!".

I get the feeling that Hauritz and Talena might be on different sides of a Japanese civil war what with your comment about buying DW.

Tremendous achievement to have come as far as you have. You're definitely due a break, but I'll watch for the next part with anticipation.

[Sather]

Bah, I hate storys on hiatus. I have to wait for way to many of them. -.-
But I understand that you need some distance from this for a while, it helps the story to take a break from time to time.

So until then. ^^

[Boris ze Spider]

Nice cliffhanger, I wonder what heppens.

[Chris Taylor]

No! Ye gods, Magnum. I didn't see that coming. (insert obligatory cutscene of Admiral Kirk yelling "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! into communicator!) EDIT: I hope Lucille—or somebody who's left—will give the colonel the beating he richly deserves.

Well, like everyone else, I eagerly await the next installment. Though I understand if you're going to be on hiatus for a while—3 months is a lot of hard slogging when you update every other day!

[blsteen]

Cliffhanger, hiatus
Tune in next season to see who blew up Talena.

[TheExecuter]

I don't see a dead body.

Talena will be back...in part II?

[Ashantai]

Thanks for your kind replies guys. This will be my 99th post in the thread, but more importantly, this is a thanks to everyone who posted here, even if it's only one post!

Beowulf: Glad you liked it! Depending on what happens with DW after a certain point I may have to stop adding gameplay sections, and just do the narrative. We'll see.
Dewirix: Thanks! And especially thanks for your support over the course of this AAR. Your AAR inspired me to continue with it's grand majesty, so I return the compliment.
Sather: Yes, that's how it happens, I fear. But you're more likely to get Part 2 if I take a break then if I tried to force myself on.
Boris: Thanks! What will happen is VERY unexpected.
Chris Taylor: Yep, it was mostly every day. I learned that the best way to get readers is to keep the AAR at the top of the forum. In order to do that a post a day was the best idea, and since I'd planned ahead, it was possible. Don't worry, the Colonel will eventually get what he deserves....
blsteen: Right! It's like 24!
TheExecuter: She will indeed! You don't think I'd kill off the main character, did you?

Now this is a list of those who have posted here. A big thank you to everyone. But special thanks goes to Dewirix, Boris and blsteen. You can, if you like, accept a Time Cookie from me! Corny I know, but as my top three posters I'm very thankful.
To everyone else who posted, thank you! This is my first successful AAR (IE, one that went more than 5 updates) and I couldn't have done it without you!

Who Posted?

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98
Ashantai

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53
Dewirix

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46
Boris ze Spider

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37
blsteen

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32
Beowulf1990

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Range

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22
morningSIDEr

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Razgriz 2K9

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adamclason

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Sather

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8
Zhangku

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7
Chris Taylor

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6
Keinwyn

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5
TheExecuter

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4
dinofs

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4th Dimension

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3
aronnax

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3
Eber

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BootOnFace

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Zitanier


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Blxz


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mkhuh


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CatKnight

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Sortulv

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Kipsnif

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The_Shepherd

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poloport

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Sqwerlpunk

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damienreave

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paradigmx

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Zozo

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Kapt Torbjorn

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Dachspmg

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LoneWolfEburg

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kfijatass

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Eridite

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sprites

[Boris ze Spider]

You are welcome, always glad to read this aar.

[blsteen]

Indeed always interesting

[Sather]

That's what I meant. Sometimes a break helps. A story written when you force yourself is going to suck nine times out of ten. ;-)

If you have time to spare, it would be great to see, how the countrys Talena visited look like at this point of time.

Oh and last word from me for now: I hope you don't give Talena an Amnesia, it's really overused. ;-)

[Chicken]

Great Story!!

I just stumbled across this the other day when I was studying for a final, and I've been absolutely captivated by it since! A few thoughts:



***SPOILER ALERT***
My opinions and comments below may contain spoilers about the story. So if you haven't read it, please don't read my post as you're depriving yourself of a great story!

• The story is totally original compared to anything I've read. I don't read that many AARs on here, and most of them die before they reach a satisfying (although I'm not saying I'm satisfied with it ending here...) ending.
• This is sort of off the wall, but I absolutely love the name Talena. No idea where you got it from, but I think it added more to the story than a lot of things told as part of the story did. (Weird I know)
• The style of playing where you bounce around the globe playing different countries was very interesting, maybe not unique, but again it added yet another dimension to the story.
• I will admit, I was really starting to get a bit bored with the story around the time Talena left the Ottoman Empire. It seemed like it was meet ruler (or rebel), assist them to victory, rinse and repeat. But then there was the new antagonists, protagonists, and the like to inject new life into the story. Great work!
• Your writing style really does involve the reader with what's going on. I was reading one segment a few nights ago before I fell asleep, and I was only actually absorbing every other line. Then when I went to read the next section later the next day, I had to go back and reread the previous one because I was lost.
• I'm not so sure I agree with Talena's relationship with Lucille (like you said you thought people wouldn't). I have nothing against that sort of thing, but it seemed like it came out of nowhere too much. I know you said you had planned it for some time, and revealing the bit about her past with Selena earlier could have spoiled the plot. I suppose if I look at it through your perspective, I can see what you did, but I'm still not sure it needed to be done.
• Did I mention... Great Work!
• Last thing. The way you set up plot twists and cliffhangers was simply amazing. Everything came out of left field, but at the same time, it wasn't so far fetched that I was driven away from reading further.
• My only regret is that I started reading at the exact time you finished. Sometimes I get lucky and pop in right before a major update is coming. I guess it was a blessing in disguise though, since I got to read the whole thing at my leisure, not having to wait for updates.

Again, I really hope you come back to write part two. I've got that 'deprived' feeling like I just got back from a week in Mexico, all I want is more Mexico (Talena). Thank you so much for writing this. Anyway, GREAT writing, and good luck with whatever you're taking time off to take care of!

[morningSIDEr]

Great updates, as ever, I really hope part 2 is ready soon, especially as things have been left on such a tantalising cliffhanger! I have been greatly enjoying this AAR, especially due to Talena, and as such I have chosen you as the next Character Writer of the Week.

Congratulations!

[Ashantai]

Boris, blsteen: Thanks!
Sather: Amnesia is overused, and won't be a part of this story. I want Talena nice and angry.
Chicken: Whoa thanks! That's pretty awesome praise, and I really do appreciate it. To be honest, I wished I had built up the Talena/Lucille thing a bit more. Don't worry, I'll work more into it soon! Yes, the India part was really just 'marking time' as that's a pretty slow part of the game. Before the Reformation and the big technology changes which give the Europeans such an edge.
morningSIDEr: Thank you!

With my hundreth post in this thread I would like to give an update. Due to the extremely positive reaction I've recieved I intend to work on this over the Xmas/New Year's break. So expect updates in early January!

This brings me to the next point. DW is coming out soon, and I intend do get it. Therefore, I have something of a dilemma. Do I keep playing this game using the old HTTT build at the same time I'd be playing DW, or do I do something unexpected?
My thoughts are that I could transition straight over to DW in 1533's historical setup, basically resetting history back to how it should be, and making Talena the only one (apparently) the one who can remember her distorted timeline.

What are people's thoughts on this. I can work either way.

[Chicken]

Well, what you end up doing is entirely up to whatever you think would make the story more interesting. If you do plan on using the different factions in Japan as part of the storyline, then by all means, do it because it enhances the story. The new features of divine wind look pretty awesome... If the story can support the transition to DW, then so can I.

[Sather]

Whatever makes for an interesting story is fine with me.
You probably would need to come up with a good in-story explanation for that shift, which Talena can go figure out. To be nitpicking again: That actually would be some sort of amnesia, only on everyone else. ;-) So you might reintroduce fellow travellers and Lucille also knowing about the things that happened before.

[Chris Taylor]

Congratulations on the award! You've put a lot of thought and effort into the AAR, and it's great to be recognised for it.

[Antani]

I ASSURE YOU, i'm not writing here just for a quote
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QUOTE ME! lol

[Beowulf1990]

WOOT, I'm number 5!!!!!

That makes me feel important

[Dewirix]

This brings me to the next point. DW is coming out soon, and I intend do get it. Therefore, I have something of a dilemma. Do I keep playing this game using the old HTTT build at the same time I'd be playing DW, or do I do something unexpected?
My thoughts are that I could transition straight over to DW in 1533's historical setup, basically resetting history back to how it should be, and making Talena the only one (apparently) the one who can remember her distorted timeline.

What are people's thoughts on this. I can work either way.

At this point a little icon tells me you already have DW. I'm going to be awkward and put forward a third option - play the Japan part of your AAR in Divine Wind, then go back to your HTTT install for the rest of the game.

As far as I can tell Japan's still on its home islands in your game and the daimyo mechanics are likely to give you enough to play with without having to invade overseas territories. Therefore, Japan can be treated as a self-contained game.

[Beowulf1990]

I have to admit that makes things a lot more interesting up there. But he might have played all the way through already and have the whole story worked out. In that case I wouldn't dare suggest abandoning that.