OOC: quick poll for my curiosity

[justwantsafety]

Poll for everyone, having played DDS or not:

I know what I think about this line in DDS. I'm curious as to how many other people interpret it which way, though.

The line is, while he's running away from the Embryon again, terrified, shaking like a leaf and stuttering: "I'll give you my territory and my hideout... Just leave me alone!"

I don't think he was thinking clearly either way, but the question still seems to remain...
[Poll #1561858]

For those not familiar with DDS, Harley's the leader of a faction that opposes the Embryon (the player-characters) who came into his base and were chasing after him. And later on in the game, the Embryon decide to vacate their current base completely, in favor of moving to a different one, for whatever that tells you of the rules about bases and armies.

I guess that's all that's immediately relevant. :|a Thanks in advance.

Comments

[prosecutes]

Hmm, in that case, I think of it this way: If before the whole thing at the beginning of the game, they had no emotions... how could Harley have known that it's bad to leave his men behind? If all they ever did was fight because they were promised something awesome for the winner, then all the alliances and strategical formations they formed were just that -- strategic rational thoughts. One such strategic tactic is the option of retreat. Another is surrender.

Emotions aren't rational. Harley just began to feel emotion when the attack on his base happened. With so many strange new feelings crowding his mind at once, I think his offer to surrender his base and his men was just another strategical tactic. Fear and panic overwhelmed any other emotions he might have felt then, so if he had lived longer in the game, perhaps he'd have felt guilt for it after the attack.

But he didn't, so we're left to wonder and hypothesize. When a character has so little going for them in canon, you can choose a lot of potential paths for headcanon. You can just as easily say he's a douchebag who would do the same thing again in Somarium.

So TL;DR and to answer your question: I believe Harley did intend to buy his freedom by selling his tribe, but in the state he was at the time, I don't think he would have necessarily understood that it was bad to do so.

[justwantsafety]

No arguments here. It's also just as easily said that he thought the Embryon would've forcefully taken everything, army included, anyway... but he might be allowed to keep his life if he didn't actively repel their takeover. Plus, the sooner it's theirs officially, the sooner they might not see a reason to continue attacking.

Surrendering might actually be doing his men a favor.