Of Ersatz invaders and gangsters

One of the most complex part of the stringing process has been the identification of the identity of Ersatz group in this world. I’m really divided by the possibilities of stringing, as there are characteristics that are lost in one while this one has what the other doesn’t.

See, I have two main proposals. There are times when one feels the most opportune, while at other times I’m clinging for the other one. The attempt to blend them in one has been proving itself to be quite hard as well.

So one of them is the classical one where Ersatz is a reign that rivals Ilium as the supremacy of a region. I like this one because it’s good for the stringed world. It is nice for the story as it is. What I really like about the Invaders version is that it could be related to history as Germanic tribes invaded Rome. It’s one of these nice details that add the feeling of having deep roots in the foundation of my project.

The second suggestion is that Ersatz is a crime group working inside Ilium, which works as keeping Ilium entirely a representation of myself, with all good and bad things inside. They would also be working with the less morbid but equally dangerous saboteers involving mostly mindtrap muggers that bring crime and corruption to the city. It makes more sense in the psychological point of view, and it would give this version the equivalent feeling of deep roots that the other version has with History.

There are some things I need to keep in mind, though. I’ve once used to separate scourgers as Ersatz and Lazurian and also Zhàn, but I think in the end they might all be the same, so I need to understand more precisely what it means to have a Lazurian and Zhàn Scourger that differs them from the Ersatz one. And since I’ve brought the Veszprem allies, I’ve been reevaluating what it means to have them all being enemies. After all, Shaytan meaning Life, could be benevolent sometimes. My life isn’t just bad luck all the time.

The most delicate point that I must work carefully, though, and makes the complete difference between those two versions, is the point that Ilium and Ersatz are very deeply connected. Their existence revolves around each other. They are like sibling essences. They quite need each other sometimes.

As I write this text I can slowly define what they really mean and what I need to have, and I’m slowly making my decision. But it’s not going to happen so easily as I need to have my mind pondering the facts cautiously. I need more time to focus in this problem alone, a manual labor of decision, since the automatic resolve I’ve always resolved and I’ve been waiting for doesn’t seem to be working.