The Thorns of War
The Thorns of War Update #34
Hello all
The Loveless route has been uploaded and is ready to download. Just re-download your copy of the game to update the files.
The route itself can be found as a part of Guillaume's route. You need to click on Guillaume's portrait. Then, at the prompt 'who did King Auguste want to become queen?', click on 'Me'. And then choose the last option, "No, I behaved as instructed and King Auguste chose me".
There is a lot of branching on this route (I even added more save slots to help). I’ve tested extensively both before and during the beta period, but please let me know if you come across anything that seems inconsistent or find any bugs.
Moving forward, I will be returning to work on Frederique’s route. Since it was previously giving me trouble, I have reworked the route from the beginning and I am much happier with the new direction.
I am excited to return to working on Frederique and feel much more positive now, which I am hoping will show in my progress.
I will post again here with an update soon.
Many thanks to everyone for your patience and support.
Files
Get The Thorns of War
The Thorns of War
Visual Novel
| Status | In development |
| Author | Blackcross & Taylor |
| Genre | Visual Novel |
| Tags | Female Protagonist, Otome, Romance, Yuri |
More posts
- The Thorns of War Update #3370 days ago
- The Thorns of War Update #32Feb 14, 2024
- The Thorns of War Update #31Mar 12, 2023
- The Thorns of War Update #30Nov 13, 2022
- The Thorns of War Update #29Oct 02, 2022
- The Thorns of War Update #28Jul 31, 2022
- The Thorns of War Update #27May 08, 2022
- The Thorns of War Update #26Mar 07, 2022
- The Thorns of War Update #25Feb 28, 2022
Comments
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Umm. I encountered a bug during the main story (before any romance paths were locked in). Minor Spoilers Ahead:
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It is during the ball when Sophia is having an argument with Lord Galin. If you choose "You are wrong Lord Galin" you will get this error:
[code]
I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.
While running game code:
File "game/Loveless.rpy", line 3745, in <module>
NameError: name 'guilds' is not defined
-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------
Full traceback:
File "script.rpyc", line 5864, in script call
File "Guillaume.rpyc", line 33, in script call
File "Loveless.rpyc", line 3745, in script
File "renpy/ast.py", line 1898, in execute
if renpy.python.py_eval(condition):
File "renpy/python.py", line 2276, in py_eval
return py_eval_bytecode(code, globals, locals)
File "renpy/python.py", line 2269, in py_eval_bytecode
return eval(bytecode, globals, locals)
File "game/Loveless.rpy", line 3745, in <module>
NameError: name 'guilds' is not defined
Ren'Py 7.4.11.2266
The Thorns of War 0.0
[/code]
You can ignore this and it will continue onward without anymore errors but I'm not sure if this choice has any triggers, rewards, or consequences.
Hello and thank you for reporting this.
This was supposed to be a bug that was fixed by version 2.6 of the game. Can I ask you if you have downloaded the latest copy of the games files?
Please let me know if this error is still occurring in 2.6 and I will investigate further ^_^
Many thanks for playing
well, I'm in my fifth (5) playthrough so be h o l d
spoilers?
I somehow managed to get the Tyrant Queen ending in my first playthrough (i know, there's nobody as surprised as I am, I guess I'm getting better at being conniving). The whole route was VERY satisfying; from the female rage to being able to actually change things for the women in my entourage (they missed a bullet alright) and for the people of segunda, wow. Also, bonus points for making avaliable a romantic interest as Mathys while i kept mourning Bastien, thanks I hate it ;;; (just kidding I LOVE HIM but Bastien it's canon for me, so I started choosing him as the love I betrayed orz).
nOW. I've been trying to get to sweet quirky leo for my second playthrough and I'm STUCK. it seems if I choose that I let him go, the route leads me to ambassador by default and there's almost zero interactions with him (???) what am I doing wrong? when I chose bastien he appeared first at the ball and we spoke amiably (lol) and then by the garth and we spoke more opnely, but if I choose him as love interest then he ignores me... I'm at my wits end. any hint would help a lot ;;;;
so yeah pls send help <3 I love this game
I'm glad you're enjoying the game so far.
For Leopold, if you want to romance him you can't have jilted him in the previous game. The logic being that Leopold is a proud man and he no longer trust the MC after she abandoned his love and married his mortal enemy.
So if you pick any other background, it should work fine.
Many thanks for playing - I hope you enjoy Leo's route.
i mean, it makes sense, but i'm by the book and so the moment i saw a reference for the previous game i just dived there lol. I'll try that, thank you so much <3
Ah, this game is truly a treasure! I thought I'd just pop in to check out Leopold's path on the loveless route, and then I was completely swept off my feet by Mathys. What a wonderful route, and I truly loved seeing the journey Iolanthe was on and its eventual outcome. Thank you very much for this awesome game. :)
Ah, thank you for your kind words! I'm glad to hear you found an unexpected romance with Mathys and I hope you enjoy/enjoyed Leo's route as well. ^_^
Many thanks for playing
we are so back
yes, finally my fix. i'll be back after extensively finishing this route (84 years later...)
Super! I might even have Frederique's route finished by then ^_~
Many thanks for playing ^_^
you are the gift that keeps on giving ㅎ__ㅎ I'll definitely have all endings by then!!
just passing by to say that this route is pure, unadultered women rage, and i'm loving every second.
Hello!
BEHOLD ALL THE SPOILERS
Definitely my favorite route overall, second would be Leopold's.
I ADORE Iolanthe's agency in this route, how clever she is, how she uses her skills and uses the preconceived notions of what the princess should be to her benefit. I believe she is honestly at her best here, such, such fun.
Not only do I believe Iolanthe is at her best here, I think Guillaume shows the most opportunity for growth, and this is also the first time we can learn about Leopold without the lens of the devoted husband; it's quite a bit of different characterization that was interesting to see.
In part I totally understand why Leopold would avoid Iolanthe if they were previously lovers; because he knows she's smart; knows she has the capability of manipulating him; thus he won't give her the time of day, she's the enemy now, but GOSH it would have been so satisfying to work as allies alongside him with that romance in the backlog; wanting to be queen, even as he said; he'd make her queen; simply because she wants him to not get his revenge, perhaps in part thinking it's all consuming for him; in part because his thoughts of revenge have gotten in the way of considering how he'd actually be a good king, but I recognize, that's what fanfic is for! XD I did have moments though; where I was surprised Leopold didn't see through her, especially given how clever she can be at the early parties, before committed to his route. Is there a mechanic for this?
As per Guillaume, given the difference between his love route good ending of Iolanthe standing next to the throne and loveless with romancing Guillaume and good ending has them both with their own thrones, I do wonder if normal romance Guillaume will ever come around to the respect loveless Guillaume slowly can achieve. Indeed, I'd argue Guillaume has far crueler moments in his romanced route, because there he still believes he is acting with love; with care; it's not only cruel, but it's a lie. At least loveless Guillaume doesn't have those airs.
And in between all of this Iolanthe is staunch, she is clever, she does whatever she can.
Mathys' route is very satisfying, a believable not-so-slow-burn, especially with the interplay of Iolanthe potentially lying to him/manipulating him, I do wonder, with his pure romanced ending, how much long term power Iolanthe could have with him as her consort. She'd need to keep that military in place, she'd need to always keep control. Wouldn't the people demand she marry; have children, so on? Would she ever be able to actually marry him, would he ever want to be actually married to her; given what he'd be expected to do in that position? (Presumably as prince consort?)
I found Vesala's route a little less satisfying; while the manipulation of Ozol and following up on Leopold's backdrop was interesting, it felt in part that we were repeatedly seeing Vesala's faults, learning about her people, and less about who Vesala actually is. The romance itself; though not as romantic as Mathys', still felt very stilted, I think I saw Iolanthe pine for an off-screen Vesala a few times, there was the scene with the pastries, and then moving of the hair at one moment, and rescuing her, otherwise not much else. With Mathys, the interplay was 'is it manipulation, are you convincing him you care for the commonfolk, and do you care for him as well', and with Vesala it felt like 'look, Leopold's route from the other side, do you trust her, even though she's repeatedly shown to be naive and none of it seems to work, but she's a professional, don't worry!'
I think in part this is a little true for all the lesbian routes so far; Iolanthe is always rescuing them; Iolanthe is the politically savvy one, but their skills don't seem quite as equal in comparison to hers; or if they have skills of their own (Sofia), they don't really have a place in the game.
Couple smaller thoughts:
SO SATISFYING TO GET TO ONE UP MOTHER DEAREST. Oh my gosh, so lovely.
Why is Frederique so helpful/supportive this time round, but not in the romanced Guillaume route?
Who was sending the false notes in the beginning of the route?
Your writing quality and the quality of the situation; the cleverness of Iolanthe's manipulations are on clear display, and have only gotten better with each subsequent route release; to the point I actually worry somewhat for the earlier routes; Bastien's route seems so tame and somewhat empty compared to this for example; different stakes, different situations, of course, perhaps Iolanthe can't always have her high drama.
Otherwise, thank you so much for such an amazing release, the Rose of Segunda is one of my favorite visual novels, and I do believe the Loveless route release has quality that competes with and occasionally exceeds the former.
Thank you for the amazing game!!!!!!
Hello and thank you for your kind feedback.
To answer some of the questions you raised. (Spoliers)
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There is no mechanic for Leopold’s trust. How I envisioned it was that the MC actually aiming for the throne herself – not just the act of it, but being the kind of person who would even think of it – is just impossible to consider for a lot of the characters.
For her whole life, the MC has done nothing but submit and she has spent the last two years being the court’s doormat. Whether what she says is insightful or stupid, that does not change the fact that, in people’s minds – be it for duty or her own spinelessness – she is resigned to her lot.
Segunda is closer to an Elective monarchy. While it is preferred, from a stability point of view, to have heirs, so they can be trained for the role of sovereign from birth (and be a shoo-in as a candidate for the throne), it is not necessary. No one will be forcing the MC to have a child.
That said, Mathys and the MC would not be allowed to marry – the difference in their rank is too great. Even after making Mathys a noble, it would be frowned upon, and he would refuse to be made a noble anyway.
“Why is Frederique so helpful/supportive this time round, but not in the romanced Guillaume route?”
In the Romance Guillaume route, the MC chooses to be with Guillaume, something Frederique was doing his best to protect her from. He feels he no longer knows who she is and it alters his view of her and leaves him feeling confused as to his role in their relationship.
In the Loveless Route, MC is still, in his mind, the same person she has always been – their mother’s unwilling pawn, so Frederique can still remain in his role as ‘brotherly protector’.
Anyway, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the route overall, and thank you very much for playing.
The Loveless route is so amazing!! I think it might actually be my favorite so far.
Went for the solo route first and damn, I remembered why I love Iolanthe so much as a protagonist. She's such a smart, strong, and relatable protagonist without being over the top. I've played so many commercial and indie otome games and she ranks among the best for me.
I've just finished Leopold's ending and it was fantastic! I do wish there was a lovers-> enemies-> lovers route with jilted Leopold for angsty love/hate shenanigans but I can also understand that his personality probably doesn't allow for something like that...
Off to capture the other characters now!
It's also lovely to hear that you're working on Freddy's route. He (and Leo) are my favorite characters from the first game so I've been dying for his sequel. Thank you so much for your hard work, and I'm looking forward to your updates.
Many thanks for your kind feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed romancing Leopold and best of luck pursuing the other characters. ^_^
Many thanks for playing
I finished my first playthrough and you were right dear author, the ending was worth the stress! I cried so much... (happy tears!) What a JOURNEY.
SPOILERS BELOW AND LONG REVIEW (1 route)!!!
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I GOT THE HAPPY ENDING WITH LEO! 😭💕 I started crying when he said he loved her and keept crying till the credits rolled! I could barely read haha. It was such a relief, not only to go from "I could never love a woman like you" to "I already worship you" LIKE I know MC was pretending to be someone she's not and manipualting him like a pro, so obviously he wouldn't love the persona she created BUT I WAS SO WORRIED I HAD MESSED SOMETHING UP. But no!!! And at the very end, when MC says she feels peace... my ugly sobbing, ugh... I love our protagonist so much, always, but some routes make her go through so, so much hardship and pain and have people treat her so horrendously, that when she's finally free and happy it hits different. She deserves the world, truly my favorite character, I'd argue the BEST character objectively.
I still have to get her an ending where she goes through with being the Queen, but Leo gives her all the power, freedom, validation and respect she wanted AND ALSO a wonderful marriage and equal! HIS ENDINGS ARE ALWAYS SO SATISFYING! Is there as husband out there who admires and respects his wife more than him?! I DOUBT IT!
But even before Leo's route, before any romance, our protagonist was incredible and the plot and machinations! She's such a schemer, always 10 steps ahead, and I was so moved by how she could manipulate the entire court without sacrificing anyone... but herself. She breaks my heart in the best way. She's willing to get assaulted, to fall into the icy river, to endure all sorts of humilliations... but (in my playthrough) refused to ever be cruel to someone else. Especially her ladies. Albertine, Francesca, Charlotte, de la Tour... she helped them and never chose the easy, cruel path. I JUST LOVE HER SO MUCH! I'm always rooting for her, in awe of her and depending on the route, pitying her. But she always rises above her circumstances. Truly a Queen.
Now... Guillaume. Oh, oh boy. Do we open that can of worms? I'm curious, in a masochistic way, about his route in Loveless. I'll do it. But what a bastard. I thought his normal romance route was already hard to stomach because of how he treated MC, and I remember saying after playing it I understood Francesca a lot more, because if that's how he treated the woman he loves, how would he treat a wife he doesn´t? NOW I KNOW. I commend you, though, because his writing and his relationship with MC is so realistic and well-written. Very compelling, in a horror kind of way. I'm always a bit scared for MC when she gets a happy ending with him, because I always wonder... how long will this last? But the concept of MC trying to love him in Loveless is too interesting for me not to try it! Your writing, especially for MC and her emotional journey is always top notch and I need to read what would happen!
I'll be back when I finish Guillaume and Mathys' routes! But already 10/10, you ALWAYS deliver. I used to write years ago and what I wanted most was for readers to feel deeply, whatever it was, when they read my stories. You manage that. Every time. Next time I'll play I'll have tissues ready!
Ah, I am glad you managed to get the ending you were hoping for after all that worry! Many thanks for your kind words - I am always grateful for your encouragement.
And I would be interested to hear what you think of Guillaume’s route, if you manage to brave it. ^_^
Many thanks for playing.
Great !!! Congrats on get it done !!
Happy to follow this new route :-)
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it. ^_^
MY BABY FRED IS COMINGGGGG
He most certainly is! I'll be sure to keep everyone posted as to my progress ^_^
I haven't finished a single playthrough yet because I keep going back between my Mathys save and what I BELIEVE is my Leo save 🤣 I'll be back with a lenghty review once I do most routes but damn do I need the walkthrough for one specific purpose.
SPOILERS BELOW
I HAVE NO IDEA IF I'M DOING LEO'S ROMANCE PROPERLY OR EVEN IF THERE IS A REAL LEO ROMANCE 😱 He said he doesn't love MC and she isn't the kind of woman he could EVER love BUT he proposed AND MC has been playing him like a fiddle this whole time, she's pretending to be someone she's not!!! So maybe if she reveals her true self he could love her?! But does that mean allying with him or keep manipulating him and becoming queen?! I DON'T KNOW! Mathys on the other hand is giving puppy in love / will die for you (love it) SO MAYBE I DIDN'T TRIGGER LEO'S ROMANCE PATH OR MAYBE THAT PATH IS NON EXISTANT.
I wanted Leo to be my first ending but I think it will have to be Mathys because at least I know 100% those 2 are head over heels, no just allies or friends. I'M TERRIFIED OF LEO'S PATH 😀 That "I do not love you" will HAUNT ME FOREVER.
No more dramatics, sorry! I'm just VERY immersed. Will wait for the walkthrough! (And I'm LOVING this route. I have lots of thoughts I'll share when I'm done! It can be summarised as MC THE QUEEN THAT YOU ARE).
Oh dear! I hope the ending you get is worth all this stress!
The walkthrough is coming, but if you want something Leo-specific just to ensure you're on the right track, email me at support@blackcross-taylor.com and I can give you some feedback without any worries for spoilers.
(Just adding here - you sound like you're on the right track to me. There is a decision coming up - just pick the option where you don't actively work against Leo and you should be fine going forward)
Hope you have fun with Mathys, at least ^_^
Thank you for the tips!!! I will fight for that Leo first playthrough then! The stress just means I'm deeply immersed and love the characters too much 🩷
I’ve been following ur progress for years and it’s so good to see!!!🫶🏽🫶🏽 I’m so glad ur feeling positive ab Frederique’s route again!!! (can’t wait to see my man again🙂↕️)
I’ll be playing the loveless route this week, ik it’ll be as amazing as the rest of the game <3
Ah, thank you. I really hope you enjoy it.
Yep, I am honestly so excited to be working on Frederique's route again. I wanted to do some today, but I forced myself to focus on the Loveless walkthrough instead. ^_^'
Monday though!
Just uploaded version 2.6 to correct a small bug.
I just got to the point where the direction the loveless route is going to take is revealed and I'm SO excited! Thank you so much for your hard work!
You are very welcome.
Fight well! And please let me know if you make it ^_^
I made it! \o/
SPOILERS
I got the Tyrant Queen ending! I was really nervous about whether I'd be able to pull it off, but as soon as Mother declared for me I knew I had it in the bag, haha.
I spent most of the route vacillating between feeling bad for Guillaume and anticipating the look on his face once the plan came to fruition.
That was great fun! Wonderfully intricate and well-written!
Next I'm going to take it from the top and see about some romance. I'll probably start with Leopold — I loved the dynamic he and Iolanthe had in the other
Guillaume route, and while I didn't see much of him this playthrough, I was definitely intrigued by what I saw
(not that I was going to pursue him right off the bat since I played Iolanthe as uninterested in men this time around).
Thank you so much for this splendid update!
And sorry that the formatting of this comment is wonky: there's something wrong with the reply box today.
Aha! Congratulations!
I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the game so far. Good luck with the romance! I hope you have fun with Leo ^_^
And please don't worry about the formatting - it looks fine to me.
Many thanks for playing
The Leo branch of the route is so freaking good!! I knew I was going to enjoy it but I'm honestly kind of blown away. It may actually be my favourite route so far, and that's in spite of it having a lot of stiff competition. I loved the way the relationship developed over time, especially starting from the initial proposal and the inception of the true alliance onward. Super enjoyable and honestly really touching.
I think I want to try Vesala's branch next assuming I can find my way onto it, haha. In any case, this update is phenomenal.
Ah, thank you for the kind feedback. I was a little worried people would not like the direction I took their romance, but I didn't want to just write Leo Route v2.0, so I am glad that you enjoyed it.
Good luck and please let me know if you need any tips. I think it's pretty straightforward, but that's easy for me to say. ^_^
So excited! Thank you for the update, and best of luck with your coming work!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy the route. ^_^
Completed my first playthrough last night! TLDR: slow start, but it was a phenomenal route, and I really enjoyed
I first felt the route started off pretty slow, but in hindsight, I suspect that was intentional, to actually get through the sense of boredom and frustration MC is feeling, and then the plot twist came and there was actually a goal to pursue! And then the slow start makes even more sense considering this route is longer in in-game time as well. So, it was a slow build, but definitely well worth it in the end, when leads to pursue kept piling up to the point we had to actually choose and prioritize. I was a little worried about having to choose between them, but I think it's good to have that kind of challenge. Though, I don't know if I missed it in the chaos, or it was never stated in-game on the path I was taking, the outings with Sir Aurele seem to have stopped without any discussion as to why.
Oh, I also enjoyed how there were callbacks to many other routes -- Leipzel, speedrun of the Rouaine tasks, and another entry to point to discover Leopold's deepest, darkest secret. And I might discover even more crossover in the coming playthoughs, excited to discover those! But was so glad for some of the differences from Guillaume's love route, especially how Frederique stuck around, and MC actually had an entourage! At least she has some friends(ish). Speaking of them, found it interesting how the route was more or less built around the entourage and their families (for better or for worse, for some of the ladies). And finally, we got to work with Mariette!
And still on the topic of character dynamics, was interesting to have a more antagonistic dynamic with Leopold. Didn't always enjoy the cutting words, I have a soft spot for him and I'm just a big softie ooc, but was exciting to see MC being able to (out)match him in wit and cunning and manipulation. And just, how astute she is, reading and judging everyone from afar. And speaking of cutting words, never thought I'd say this, there were scenes I was actually grateful for Francesca's sharp tongue!
Okay, time to speak of the path I took, spoilers ahead. When I began, I intended to romance Guillaume, the original intrigue the loveless route held for me was the "finding love in an arranged marriage" trope. But then with his behavior and MC's ambitions, I decided to keep manipulating him and go for tyrant queen instead (I think I've played the game enough by now to know in advance that's what you'd call the ending!). Also chose to get close to Vesela, hoping to discover the thing that I can hold over Leopold's head. After playing the previous routes, it didn't feel too hard to pursue some other leads and gather up plenty of support. Also managed to get Guillaume to love MC and even when she was asking for divorce, he was all apologetic, letting her have her own house with no complaints and even offering her to keep a dowager princess title. I felt kind of sorry for him at the time, but his reaction to the betrayal... yeah that's exactly why I'm having MC be queen in her own right, not as his wife. It was a sweeping victory, with three small regrets: throwing Albertine and Francesca under the bus and only making friends with Vesela. Then I quick replayed to actually romance her and save my ladies-in-waiting. :) Was very, very happy with that outcome!
Now time to explore more paths and endings, I'll see how many I can collect without the guide. For one, I'm interested in seeing how it changes character dynamics if I actually pick a jilted lover. Might try to see next if I can properly domesticate Guillaume in the 3 in-game weeks, haha. And I'll probably try to save romancing Leo for last, I still look forward to his path. :)
Okay sorry for the ramble! Thank you so much, this route is amazing so far and I'm excited to explore even more!
Many thanks for the detailed feedback. I am glad you’ve enjoyed the game so far and I hope you find the other love interests just as interesting. And speaking of your hunt for more endings, the ending list is up on the website now, in case you get stuck and need a hint. ^_^
Many thanks for playing
FREDDY FREDDY FREDDY FREDDY FREDDY
Ha ha, not long now
Awesome, can’t wait to play it!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it when you do ^_^