Hanako Games

Illyria headcanons [might involve minor spoilers?]

#1 by randomprojects - Sep 20 2022

I've been replaying Wolf Hall recently, and the hints that Gary lets slip about his home and family sound really interesting. I was a little disappointed we players don't have an opportunity to learn more about Illyrian culture or get more information about Gary's parents, and I was wondering if people have headcanons about Gary's homeland and/or family?

Like, my headcanon is that Illyrians were originally a seafaring people, but were forced to abandon their ancestral home—possibly escaping into the Otherworld. If Gary joins the Midnight Poets, he mentions that most poems from his homeland is about the heartbreak of "losing that home," which suggests that displacement/diaspora is a national trauma. The seafaring part mostly comes from Illyrians in antiquity being good shipbuilders/having a strong navy. I also think Illyria only exists as a nation in the Otherworld, so all citizens are mages... but with the dangers the Otherworld pose to children, either the Mantle of the Woods/monarch has some contract that protects Illyrian residents within their territory, or non-noble Illyrian parents have to raise/foster their children in human society?

As for family stuff... I do have a headcanon that protections extending to the Mantle of the Woods's spouse is only valid if the marriage contract is established when the Mantle is holding eir title, so marriages before receiving the title/after relinquishing the title are not included in the protections (not that the heir's spouse would be completely unprotected, I don't think, and there'd be some protections available to former Mantles + their spouses too, accounting for cases of abdication or when Mantles die before their spouses.) Gary does suggest that he'd be bound to the responsibilities "once he's an adult" in Minnie's route, so it seems like the title is transferred once the heir reaches adulthood.

There are zero evidence or hints that this might be the case in-game though, so it's just a random concept.

(Also, the impression I get is that Gary is an only child, but the game description on Steam and itch.io has him as the "eldest son and heir," which implies he has siblings? It'd explain why his parents seem fine with mind-wiping and abandoning him (after 16 years of investment to nurture him as the heir) in the ending where Gary attacks Damien, but dialogue in-game indicates he's an only child... Any thoughts on that?)

Re: Illyria headcanons [might involve minor spoilers?]

#2 by Draxynnic - Sep 26 2022

Historically, most of Illyria was invaded in the early Dark Ages, mostly by Slavic peoples, so yes, that would explain the displacement trauma, although the Albanians are thought to be the descendants of the survivors. That said, my personal theory is that The Wood is a hidden magical realm where a remnant of Illyria survived - not in the Otherworld proper, but hidden from the attention of non-residents. Part of me, in fact, is now wondering about fey myths in the western Balkans, since in the Magical Diaries universe, the Illyrians might be the source of such legends. Such a realm would likely be safer for children and any non-magical folk than the Otherworld proper, but likely requires a lot of magic and deals with Otherworld entities to maintain, hence the importance of the Mantle.

Regarding Gary's family status - if he's the only child, that does make him the eldest by default. When it comes to his possible mindwiping and abandonment, I think it's likely that Gary's family is furious, but whatever fallout that might come from that fury is not in the scope of the story. It's not likely that Illyria will be able to punish Petunia in a direct and obvious enough manner for it to become common knowledge.

The responsibility of the Mantle could be a case where the responsibility is shared, hence why it is assumed as soon as an heir is old enough for it. It's also possible, however, that it's enough of a burden that holders of the Mantle want to pass it on to the younger generation as soon as possible. There might even be aspects to it where a young adult is more suitable than an older one as long as they have the proper training, even taking into account that magic-users can extend their own lives.

Re: Illyria headcanons [might involve minor spoilers?]

#3 by randomprojects - Sep 27 2022

Oh, the "shared responsibility" angle is pretty neat! Gary does mention being used to take care of vineyards and woods etc in his internal narration when asked about his gardening experience, so it'd make sense if there's an aspect of co-rulership/shared responsibilities to it. (There's no implication that the system couldn't be specifically set up to gradually ease responsibilities from the old Mantle to the new one; if so, I wonder what are the historical circumstances that gave rise to such a system.) As someone who likes looking at legal documents within a narrative/fictional system, I'm super curious about the wording of the contracts surrounding the position lol.

I think your idea re: Illyria's location makes sense too—I like Illyria being an in-between state/nation, not solely of the Otherworld but not bound to real world borders either. I really dig the idea of Illyrians essentially having dual citizenship (Illyria + nationality in the mundane world), but given how Gary refers to the mundane world, it also makes sense to assume the magic folk there are even more culturally isolated from non-mages (then again, it might just be Gary's... unique background, and he has some familiarity with the concept of television/radio, and seems to have picked up some stereotypes about America commonly portrayed in TV, meaning that they're not completely clueless).

Re: Illyria headcanons [might involve minor spoilers?]

#4 by Draxynnic - Oct 5 2022

My impression is that most inherited responsibilities have a system where the heir is eased into their new responsibilities rather than being dropped in cold when their predecessor is no longer around to guide them. It's the sensible way to do things both for the incumbent to have someone trusted to delegate to, and for the heir to have some experience before they start. The interesting thing, though, is that Gary indicates that as soon as he starts taking up the Mantle, he's just as bound as his father. That suggests that whatever responsibilities he takes up as heir can't simply be passed back and forth - once he's inducted, whatever responsibilities are assigned to him are his.

Which might be a reason to transfer full responsibility early on when reasonably practical - it means the previous incumbent is still around to offer guidance.

Regarding TVs and such - the impression I get is that outside of the Iris Academy rules, magefolk aren't forbidden from using technology, just from mixing it with magic. So there's no reason the Illyrian royals couldn't have TV and radio. However, it would possibly explain a lot if generally speaking, their only interaction with the outside world is through such means...

Re: Illyria headcanons [might involve minor spoilers?]

#5 by randomprojects - Oct 7 2022

Oh yeah, agreed. The TV thing is more me musing that it's more likely that Illyria is either in the human realm but magically masked, or in an in-between plane, than fully in the Otherworld proper. (Depending on how the Otherworld works, just getting electronics to work in the Otherworld may already violate the no mixing rule.) I really like the suggestion that TV/radios are the primary way for the Mantle and family to interact with wider society.

Yeah, Gary's implication that he'll be bound just like his father as soon as he takes up the Mantle are what sparked my interest in trying to figure how it might work. I got the vibe that his mother has more freedom, but not by that much (though it could just be her not wanting to travel without her spouse or otherwise preferring to stay in Illyria for whatever reason), so I sort of assumed that the spouse of a Mantle also share responsibilities via the associated contracts, though on a lighter scale.... Which then got me thinking about the different contracts surronding fiance vs spouse, and what roles other Illyrian nobles play, if there are other nobles etc 😅

Re: Illyria headcanons [might involve minor spoilers?]

#6 by Draxynnic - Oct 9 2022

My guess would be that unless there's an expectation that an heir take a spouse before taking the Mantle, there are no formal magically binding responsibilities on the spouse (although there is probably an even greater expectation of children than normal royalty). However, this could likely lead to other responsibilities being placed on the spouse because e isn't bound to the magical responsibilities, and is therefore able to carry out duties that would be difficult or impossible for the Mantle bearer. Most royal visits to other polities would likely be carried out by the royal consort, for instance.