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A Thousand Lives I've Seen

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Quahaug has seen the war of Norzelia end a thousand different times in a thousand different ways. First, it was the search for Centralia, followed by the unification under Hyzante, and then the rise of Glenbrook and subsequent betrayal of Aesfrost. Two years after the war ends each time, he goes to sleep only to awaken the morning after Glenbrook's fall. Again and again, Norzelia descends into chaos and war, and Quahaug becomes a passive participant in history once more. After fifty cycles, something finally cracks, and this time, Quahaug finds himself on the day of Frederica's arrival in House Wolffort. Uncertain and worried as to how this has happened, he heads to House Wolffort early and realizes that this may be the chance he's been hoping for each time the world resets. Determined to change the course of history by saving Dragan's life, Quahaug sets out to fight against destiny itself, hoping that this ending will finally be something worth keeping.

A Thousand Lives I've Seen is a Triangle Strategy fanfic written by digitaldreams. The fic follows the game's general plot (particularly, the Golden Ending) with a twist: what if Quahaug knew from the start about the choices House Wolffort could make, including three of the four possible endings?

It can be found on Archive of Our Own here.

All spoilers for Triangle Strategy unmarked.

  • Adaptational Heroism: Lyla actually joins the heroes for the final battle against Idore for the sake of her son.
  • Adaptational Sexuality: Cordelia and Avlora are explicitly lesbians, being in a secret relationship. The fic leaves it ambiguous whether or not the two will make their relationship official.
  • Adaptational Sympathy: Big time with Lyla. She desires nothing else but to be a part of Quahaug's life, but she cannot be as long as Idore is in the picture and it's later revealed that Idore has been grooming her for her entire life. She also cements a Heel–Face Turn by joining the heores for the final fight with Idore. In the end, she's a prime example of Parents as People: while she does love Quahaug, her circumstances prevent her from being the parent she desires to be for him.
  • Adaptational Villainy: As if Idore wasn't enough of a bastard, he's also a rapist in this fic.
  • Adapted Out:
    • While Rufus is still fought in the Roselle Village due to House Wolffort choosing to defend them, Silvio Telliore is not with him due to having been killed in the Chapter 8 arc.
    • Similarly, Patriatte is not fought in the Chapter 15 arc due to having been killed while House Wolffort reclaimed Whiteholm Castle.
    • The fight against Lyla in the Golden Ending is removed, with Tenebris being fought in her stead.
  • Archnemesis Dad: Idore is this to Quahaug.
  • Ascended Extra:
    • Quahaug in the game is an entirely optional character. Here, however, he's one of the main heroes; while all optional party members get their fair share of scenes, Quahaug receives the most of them.
    • Thanks to them being Spared by the Adaptation, Dragan and Frani join the party, and Landroi Falkes also joins the heroes for the fight against Exharme on the Wolffort Demense.
  • Babies Ever After: In the fic's last chapter, it's heavily implied Frederica is with child.
  • Cheese Strategy: In-Universe, Serenoa decides to use Death from Above coming from Glenbrook's strongest archers (including Landroi) and mages against Exharme rather than the fire traps.
  • Child by Rape: Quahaug is this. As it turns out, Idore has been grooming Lyla for her entire life. This obviously led to the point where Idore made Lyla sleep with him, which led to Quahaug's conception.
  • Cutting Off the Branches: More often than whatnot, the heroes follow the obvious right choice. Notably, Serenoa goes on the path he's supposed to go in the game to unlock the Golden Ending.
    • Chapter VII arc: The heroes choose to defend Roland and Frani despite invoking Gustadolph's wrath. And thanks to subconscious memories of loops in which they manage to defeat Avlora without using the fire traps, they manage to do it again here.
    • Chapter IX arc: While that arc also follows Merging the Branches, Serenoa notably goes with the group headed for Aesfrost.
    • Chapter X arc: While it was not entirely necessary (after all, Dragan was with them), Roland still reveals his identity to Svarog. Either way, Dragan and Roland revealing the truth on what happened in the Grand Norzellian Mines turns Svarog into an ally.
    • Chapter XI arc: Hyzante's request for House Wolffort to return the Roselle on their demense to Hyzante was met with a prompt NO from the heroes.
    • Chapter XIII arc: While this choice did not influence whether or not you could go on the Golden Ending, the heroes choose to go with Roland's plan of destroying Aesfrost's warship, though Quahaug had ulterior motives with it (trying to ask Avlora for help, thinking she's the key to preventing the Sadistic Choice in the Chapter XVII arc).
    • Chapter XV arc: Serenoa chooses to go with Benedict to see Lord Symon.
  • Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Inverted. Managing to defend Roland from Aesfrost without setting off the fire traps thirteen times gave the heroes a muscle memory that helped doing it again.
  • Decoy Protagonist: The narration makes it so Quahaug is the main character. However, given how even Quahaug was stumped in finding a better outcome and Serenoa is the one to find it, ultimately Serenoa is the true main character, like in the game.
  • Demoted to Extra: The Scales of Conviction are never used in this fic for the purpose they're used in the game.
  • Dies Differently in the Adaptation:
    • Both Telliore and Patriatte are killed sooner than in canon.
    • In the game's Golden Ending, Tenebris is Killed Offscreen. Here, he's done in by the heroes, replacing the fight with Lyla.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: Much like in the game's Golden Ending, the heroes manage to save Norzelia in spite of the hell they've been through, though because of certain actions from Quahaug, the ending is even happier than in the game: while Svarog still becomes the new archduke of Aesfrost, he also has the comfort of Dragan being alive; Dragan resumes working on the Grand Norzelian Mines for the sake of Norzelia's future; and all three legitimate Glenbrook siblings decide to rule together for a while.
  • 11th-Hour Ranger: Lyla.
  • Family of Choice: After learning that he's actually the son of King Regna, Serenoa reiterates that Lord Symon is his true father, as he was the one who raised him to be who he is. While the aftermath of the fight with Idore has him tell Roland the truth about his birth and that he accepts Regna's legitimate children as his siblings, he still reiterates himself as Lord Symon's son.
  • Fix Fic: Somewhat downplayed. One of the Archive of our Own tags of the fic is "finally a dragan lives fic". Whether Dragan was spared for his own sake, for Svarog's sake, or for both of them is unknown.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • Throughout the loops, Quahaug only saw three endings: Frederica's, Roland's and Benedict's, but never the Golden Ending. Sure enough, it was following the Golden Ending that ultimately broke the time loop.
    • On two occasions, the heroes rely on splitting up. Those two occasions are the Chapter IX and the Chapter XV arcs. While the splitting up would have happened anyway in the latter, Serenoa choosing to go with Benedict on that split up is a requirement for the Golden Ending as Serenoa needs to place his trust on his party to handle three affairs separately.
    • While Lyla getting plenty of scenes from her perspective could be somewhat justified by being Quahaug's mother, it raises questions on the particular why even with Quahaug's Ascended Extra status. Lyla ends up joining the heroes for the final battle against Idore.
  • Heroic Bastard: Quahaug is revealed to be this, being the illegitimate son of Idore, a tyrant he actively opposes.
  • In Spite of a Nail: Sadly, Dragan, Frani and Landroi's survival and Patriatte dying early ultimately do nothing to prevent the Sadistic Choice in the Chapter XVII arc. It's only Serenoa thinking to Take a Third Option that averts the crisis, much like in the game.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: Idore is Quahaug's father.
  • Merging the Branches: While Cutting Off the Branches is often in effect (and Serenoa always follows the branch that allows for the Golden Ending), there are some instances in which the narration focuses on all possible choices:
    • Chapter III arc: Due to Lyla noticing Quahaug in the group, she requests for the Hyzante delegates to stay a little longer in Glenbrook, allowing the party to first go visit Aesfrost, then go visit Hyzante.
    • Chapter IX arc: The party decides to split into two: one group goes to Aesfrots to reveal the truth about what happened in the mines to Svarog, while the other finds evidence against Sorsley. Notably, however, is that Serenoa goes with the former group.
    • Chapter XV arc: While Cutting Off the Branches is in effect (with Serenoa going with Benedict to see Symon), the narration goes out of its way to focus on what Roland and Frederica have been doing. Also, the chapter averts Mutually Exclusive Party Members for one reason or another (Milo because she does not want Anna to see her as an enemy, Cordelia because she wanted to help Roland and Frani with their further fights and because she wanted to find Avlora, and Travis and Trish because Frederica's group managing to convince them to find a way to set things right).
  • Mutually Exclusive Party Members: Averted hard for the ones scripted to join in Chapter XV. Not only do the normally Mutually Exclusive Party Members all join at one of the main protagonists' behest, but Travis and Trish both simultaneously join the party, something impossible in the game without a New Game Plus where you recruited Travis (given how the heroes chose to defend Roselle, Trish was the one of the two who was supposed to join).
  • My God, What Have I Done?: While Frederica and Benedict do acknowledge that their plans in the loops had their flaws, Roland is horrified that he dared to think about submitting to Hyzante in the loops.
  • Mythology Gag: In the final chapter, Serenoa and Frederica plan on going on a journey across the land, while heavily implying Frederica is with child. This actually is a scene that was cut from the game.
  • Obvious Rule Patch: Because of Quahaug explaining the time loop after the Chapter VI arc (except the Sadistic Choice, which he only explains after Symon recovers), some individuals have to adjust to the changes Quahaug makes. For example, Gustadolph sends Erika and Thalas to kill Landroi Falkes instead of Avlora.
  • Out of Focus: Averted. While the main focus is on Quahaug and the Wolffort War Council, all party members get character-developing scenes. This includes Lyla.
  • Right for the Wrong Reasons: Quahaug thinks having Avlora's loyalty is crucial in finding a better ending. Thing is, Avlora does join the heroes in the Golden Ending... but only after you manage to get on that route.
  • Spanner in the Works:
    • Idore thinks Lyla and Quahaug are this in his plan to use the time loop to get what he wants. However, it's clear that Lyla and Quahaug's powers, not Idore's, are what caused the time loop: if Idore's powers were what caused it, then the Roland ending where Idore wins would have broken the loop. Instead, it was Lyla's despair and Quahaug's desire for a better ending that caused the loop, and it's Lyla's atonement and Serenoa finding the key for the Golden Ending that broke the loop.
    • Dragan, Frani and Landroi are straighter examples. Dragan surviving exposes to all of Aesfrost that Gustadolph masterminded the war with Glenbrook for his own selfish gain, making it easier for Svarog to win all of Aesfrosti's loyalty; Frani throws a wrench in Patriatte's attempt to murder Symon due to Frani executing Patriatte for treason; and Landroi's Master Archer status allows Benedict's team to cheese through Exharme's forces.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: Quahaug manages to save several persons that later prove to be massive thorns in Idore's side.
    • A minor Point of Divergence is Quahaug managing to save Dragan's life, which made it easier to turn Svarog into an ally.
    • Frani is also saved by Quahaug, which made the Utility ending permanently inaccessible due to several heart-to-hearts between the legitimate Glenbrook siblings making Roland realize the horrible consequences of giving up Glenbrook to Hyzante.
    • Landroi Falkes is saved thanks to Quahaug revealing to Serenoa that Landroi always died trying to save Glenbrook from Gustadolph, which leads to Serenoa forging an alliance with Landroi. This alliance rendered the Wolffort fire traps obsolete.
    • Thanks to Patriatte being killed early, Symon ends up living to see Serenoa and Frederica's wedding. Symon also was canonically a Spanner in the Works to Idore in a sense, as his desire for Serenoa to forge his own path is one of the factors that allows Serenoa to find the keys to the Golden Ending.
  • Take That!: The fic throws multiple jabs at Hyzante in general and at the Utility Ending in particular.
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: The fic throws one to Dragan and Svarog early one by having the former survive his assassination attempt. This leads to Svarog learning about the truth about Dragan's fate from Dragan himself, securing one of the conditions for the Golden Ending (having Svarog as an ally). And at the end of the fic, Dragan resumes his work on the Grand Norzellian Mines.

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