The Edessa Legacy [Chapter 1.10 - 5.18.2023] «12...Next Go

DeidreMahariel

The Kingdom of Edessa, ruled by magic and long believed to be an unopposable power, has fallen. As an overwhelming foe breaches the castle towering in the heart of Edessa, two young royals -- the last of their Line -- meet, and one makes a desperate attempt to save all that they hold dear.

This is where our Legacy begins.

~~~

Sul sul! My name is Deidre, and after a five year break from playing the Sims, I am here to make my teenage self proud by finally completing a Legacy Challenge! I will be following all standard legacy rules, my only succession law being that each heir must be biologically related to the founder/heir before them.

You can read the story from the chapter selection HERE (I'm new to Wordpress so please forgive the bare bones blog for now), or from the links below! I plan on fluctuating between story-heavy, structured chapters, and lighter gameplay-driven ones as the plot leads me. If that sounds like your cup of tea, I hope you'll take a look!

0.1 - Prologue

Generation 1
1.1 - A Foreign Land
1.2 - The Library
1.3 - Love Day
1.4 - The Line of Edessa
1.5 - Farewells
1.6 - Beginnings
1.7 - Four Walls and a Chicken Coop
1.8 - Dahlia
1.9 - Truths Yet Untold
1.10 - Equinox

Thank you so much for reading -- feedback is very much appreciated, and I hope to have some new updates soon!

DeidreMahariel

Chapter 1.3 is available now!

HermioneSims

Hi @DeidreMahariel , I noticed you've opened this thread a few days ago but didn't have the time to give it a look earlier. Anyway, I finally managed to read the chapters, this legacy it's very interesting!

First of all, I know well that it's not easy at all to put together the dynamics of a legacy (mostly based on a very normal lifestyle) with any supernatural plot, but the prologue about what's happening in Edessa was very engaging! I'm very curious to know more about that country, their magic and why they are at war, but with a whole legacy to go I guess that we will slowly get more information as the story progresses, isn't it?

It was also a very interesting premise about why the founder found himself in the middle of nowhere without any of his belonging. Quin really seems to be from some old-style royal family, getting used to the contemporary customs and technologies (while also living in a tent eating fish) doesn't seem easy at all for him... But I admit to find the struggle of story characters quite entertaining to read, bwahahaha.

At least he's not alone and there are people willing to help him, Cecilia in particular really seems determined to get closer to him... And seeing whether she will succeed is another thing I'm curious to see now XD

DeidreMahariel

@HermioneSims Thank you so much for reading and for the kind comments! It means the world to me!

It's definitely been a challenge to set up the scenes in Edessa, a magic-based monarchy, without much CC or advanced screenshot skills on my part. But yes, a legacy gives me a lot of time to pepper in information and flesh out the setting and history of Edessa over time, as well as explain why poor Quinton ended up cast out on his own!

After reading your legacy, I can see why you'd appreciate the struggle! Story-based legacies have always been interesting for me to read, so I'm having fun trying my hand at one!

Stardust123

I'm really enjoying the story of this legacy! I love how you've started it out! I will keep my eye out for more chapters

DeidreMahariel

@Stardust123 Thank you so much!! I really appreciate you coming by to check my legacy out.

Also, as to avoid double-posting, Chapter 1.4 is now out! A little bit of lore, a little bit of romance, a little bit of our founder just really not vibing with nature.

This is also my first chapter with a content warning

alcohol and a brief mention of pregnancy loss

so please keep an eye out for that! In general I'll be keeping my story to a PG-13 level, but heavy subjects will come up from time to time, so I'll try to be careful to label them appropriately as they do.

HermioneSims

New chapter! This was very emotional...

First of all, poor Odette! There aren't many details on what exactly happened to her, but it doesn't seem anything good... Too bad Quin doesn't know what is happening. Also, his reasoning about why his sister sent him there was quite interesting, what could have been her plan after all?

Rahmi's confidence was very sad as well, that's a sum of very tough and unfortunate events....

The following paragraph was definitively on a lighter tone though, Quin and Cecilia are very sweet together

DeidreMahariel

@HermioneSims Thank you again so much for your comments!

I wasn't sure if Rahmi's confession would be out of place in a story like this, and it originated from a misunderstanding from my part -- I'm relatively new to the Sims 4, and the first time I created a save after buying Cottage Living, my sim met Rahmi and she was pretty such immediately pregnant. I mistakenly assumed that she was always pregnant at the beginning of a save, so when she asked Quinton to walk her home in the first chapter, she said that she was in a "delicate situation." I definitely could have just never brought that detail up again, but then I was writing the scene at the bar and Rahmi came in with the Sad emotion, and I decided to just roll with it and let it be a bit of a bonding moment between her and Quin.

I'm glad you like Quin and Cecilia together! She was very insistent about getting involved with him, but she's a bit of a cutie pop, so I'm not too upset about it!

Stardust123

Another great chapter! Can't wait to read more!

DeidreMahariel

Chapter 1.5 is out! Quinton doesn't get as much screentime in this one, but I hardly think he'll thank me for it.

DeidreMahariel

Chapter 1.6 is out now (as well as a brief behind the scenes post here -- these will typically not be very important, but take a look after the chapter if you'd like!)

I've been fortunate to have an excess of time to work on this, but I'll definitely be slowing down as I prepare for a move at the end of the month. Let's see what progress I can make before then.

HermioneSims

Two new chapters!

Very interesting section about what's happening back in Edessa, Odette and Tabitha are really demonstrating their strength there.
I'm also noticing Quin didn't show any magic up to now (if I'm not wrong?), interesting...

I was almost convinced when he announced to be planning to leave anyway, Cecilia's announcement was a total surprise for me! (in the sense that I didn't expect it to happen so soon)
The choice of the founders to build a house in the empty lot they are given at the beginning is always one of the hardest ones to justify, in the real world it really doesn't make sense to prefer it over moving in with someone else or buying any other house! Yet, legacies remain legacies. I'm sure they're getting a fantastic house with enough space for a lot of cows though XD

DeidreMahariel

@HermioneSims Thank you for the comments!

Cecilia's announcement definitely happened quickly, maybe a bit too quickly -- actually, if I can make a quick reference to the Miller Legacy...

Can I do a spoiler within a spoiler? I can! Anyway, in the chapter with Cassy's pregnancy announcement, I saw you make a comment along the lines of dealing with pregnancies in the storyline without showing or directly mentioning the "woohoo," per say, I had just written 1.5 and could definitely relate to the dilemma!

In any case, Quinton needed a very strong motivation to stay, and legacies demand babies, so it sort of just worked out that way!

Cecilia has such a cute little house too. I'll have to move someone in there so it doesn't go to waste -- a future spare perhaps?

SnowBnuuy

I'm gonna be a bit slow reading this due to life 'blegh's but I am up to 1.2!

Your screenshots are so pretty < 3 I really like how you introduce the story as well, jump straight in and blend the exposition with the action. As someone who gleefully info-dumps myself this is so great! : P From my first guesses it seems Quinton's from a pretty high-up place, so I wonder how the more everyday Henford lot would respond to him if they knew his actual identity. Humiliation? Quin THIS WOMAN is being very hospitable! Be appreciative! Ah wait, no he is grateful. Well as grateful as someone like that can be : P

I quite like that Quin seems to think the woman's kindness will be her downfall. I guess in the world of the rich everyone is at each other's throats and it's dog eat dog and every man for himself and whatever, so kindness isn't really a concept he'd be used to. I don't believe he let anyone perish at the moment. I thnik it's guilt that he couldn't save someone in a situation where he did the best he could.

On a funny note with Quinton being surprised axolotls are real, fun fact, I thought narwhals were fictional until I was 17...His reaction to .gifs were so funny XD And the ads...NO QUIN DON'T CLICK THE 'HOT SNGLE WITCHES IN YOUR AREA' BOX!!!! NO YOU ARE NOT A PRIZE WINNER!!!! Yeah, don't get used to people's kindness when you offer in return, Quin. Most people's kindness isn't infinite!

DeidreMahariel

@SnowBnuuy Hi!!! Thank you so much for your comments! Absolutely no rush on getting caught up -- I appreciate you coming by to check it out at all!

Quinton's definitely stubborn about getting help from others, particularly from those of "lower" status -- he's at least reasonably polite when poked, given all his grumbling. I appreciate your analysis of Quinton's reasoning -- you're correct that he doesn't expect people to be genuinely kind for nothing in return, especially to an outsider like him.

Like Quinton, I also didn't know axolotls were real when I first saw a character based on one (Dr. Shrunk from Animal Crossing), so that was definitely a personal draw -- how funny that you have a similar experience! To be fair, sea unicorns definitely sound like something that should be fictional.

blueybluesky

I'm enjoying reading this so far. Looking forward to your next update

SnowBnuuy

Up to 1.5!

THE LORE! I am eating up this lore hhhhhh it's so GOOD. Ahh Quin, you've relied your whole life on magic. You could do with a workout or two, strengthen those muscles! I laughed so much at 'these damnable insects are trying to devour me!' I like that there are anomalies to children being born with magic...WAIT is that her being taken away? NOOOO

I like that the (what I assume is the) Edessa estate is almost call creepy rich white. Whenever I see a house majorly in white my first thought is 'yup, they're hiding something' : P WELP there we go, if Quin thought he was gonna get back home now, not likely. To be fair I feel like he'll get accustomed to Henford life and not want to go back. A life in the country with a kid isn't so bad! Maybe. Probably beats the dog-eat-dog nature of being in a rich bloodline family that's for sure. The only difference would be the smell of excrement wafting through the countryside every morning... XD

DeidreMahariel

@blueybluesky Hi!! Thank you so much for giving my story a look! I hope to have a chapter done in the next day or two, though it's been giving me a bit of trouble. I'm really glad you've enjoyed so far!

@SnowBnuuy

LOOOOOREEEE! Aww, thank you so much! I'm absolutely a lore-junkie, so expect more of it coming soon!

I enjoy your interpretation of the Edessa setting. Whether Quinton gets accustomed to Henford has yet to be seen. He's definitely well outside his comfort zone (and makes an effort in the game to make me aware of it) -- all the better for our amusement.

DeidreMahariel

Chapter 1.7 is available now!

This is a longer chapter than usual, and it gave me quite a bit of trouble to write on top of a very (very) long work week. I also have a new found appreciation for those of you who take the time to edit most or even all of your screenshots.

HermioneSims

New chapter!

The lore is definitively becoming more and more intriguing! So Quin comes from all another parallel dimension/timeline where many things are completely different from where he's now, it doesn't sound like he will manage to return back anytime soon...

Also become baby is coming, I suspect that for a while he and Cecilia will be busy with other matters!


Odette's power is very interesting btw, and the graphical effect on her "dreams" very pretty too!

mightysprite

Enjoying reading this! Bookmarked

DeidreMahariel

@HermioneSims

Getting home is definitely more complicated than Quinton anticipated (and not just because of legacy laws this time... okay, maybe it's still because of legacy laws ).

Thank you so much! I feel like I don't take the time to explore when I'm playing the Sims normally, so it was fun to go around finding pretty or interesting places for the "dream" screenshots. There are a few more I wanted to use too, but Odette's explanation was starting to get a bit lengthy as it is.

@mightysprite Hi!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to read -- I'm so glad you're enjoying it so far!

mypalsim1

Hey there. Thought I’d pop in and say hey.
“Hey!”
There did it hehe. Started reading today and keep getting interrupted with that darn thing called work. Lol. I’m loving the whole story concept. 🙂

DeidreMahariel

@mypalsim1 Hey to you too! Haha, work can be like that -- I really appreciate you coming by and giving my story a read; it means a lot to me!

I'll be on hiatus for a little while longer -- I haven't even had the chance to open my game since the face bug has been fixed, as I'm in the final stretch of prepping for my move. With luck I'll survive putting my cats through a 12 hour car ride and get settled in enough to work on a new update next week.

DeidreMahariel

Hello! It's been a minute!

The cats survived the car trip and have since seen squirrels for the first time, which is very exciting. Also Chapter 1.8 is out now!

HermioneSims

That sounds like a quite long car trip!

As for the chapter instead

Here there is Dahlia! She's indeed very cute, and her parents appear exhausted to reasonable levels...

Rahmi's conversation instead was very... interesting. As well as what remained untold. I mean, for the people involved it may have been quite awkward, but for us readers it gave a lot to think about. In small communities it's impossible to keep any secret, that's very true...
The details about Cecilia and Rahmi's past were undoubtedly quite interesting, yet I mostly focused on Quin and the fact he didn't tell about his past to anyone yet, and also about those painful flashbacks... Is it the effect of some spell?

I'm definitively very curious to see how this evolves, for sure.