Jump 201: Long Live the Queen

Jump 201: Long Live the Queen
>The Tower, reversed: A new lifestyle and enlightenment.
>Demeanor: Willful (-100)
>Drawbacks: Share the Pain (+300), Double or Nothing (+100), The Grand Alliance (+400), All Hair to Arisse (+200), No Gods, No Queens, Only Man (+300)
Elodie's going to be very angry when she realizes what I've done, but I'll be up front with her. I don't know whether I've forced her on a harder road or whether I've found a version of her on that harder road, but I'll be here for her.
And I rolled Angry Demeanor initially - yes, it was worth paying those points.
>Skills: Royal Demeanor, Conversation, Expression
These three should fast-track her for what she needs to know.
>I See You (1100)
It would be silly to go beyond this most of the time, but Elodie being able to see me is a rather important thing.
>Savvy Princess (1000)
Hey, helping her have a good head on her shoulders is a good part of why I'm here.
>Lumen (700)
Learning the local magic is Very Important. Not learning it would be a mistake.
>Jump Lumen (400)
What's that? Give her one of my abilities to help her on her way?
>Advanced Jump Lumen (300)
Why should I limited myself to one? Five is better.
>Awakened Jump Lumen (0)
Also I'm here for less than a year, so there is very little time for her to get familiar with these things. Perhaps I should also choose things that don't inherently NEED a lot of work to be mastered.
>Sword Art Online: Tutorial
Because making her teachers more competent and speeding up how quickly she learns EVERYTHING will be crucial to her survival. I'll see to it that she masters every skill that her tutors can offer.
>Metalocalypse: We Are Many
Letting her attend with nine tutors at once will also speed that up immensely. Stress might go up rather a bit though.
>Hellsing: The Art of War
She'll definitely be intelligent enough to deal with it, and to tie everything together into a cohesive whole. Why limit yourself to the given outcomes of events? Look at the whole tapestry, outplan everyone, figure out how to sway everyone to your side.
>Devil Survivor: Let's Survive
"Never give up, Elodie. Not on yourself. Not on others. Never, never, never give up."
>Overlord: Level One Hundred
"Because one day, very soon, you'll be at the top. And the reason I want to see you on top isn't to have you look down at those beneath you. It isn't to look smugly over the lands and people that you command. It's so you can look to the horizon, to protect those people who you care about, who can live peaceful lives under your aegis."

Really, dealing with the three skills I bought in the first weak to confirm that she's gotten them mastered helped Elodie immensely. Diplomacy was the order of the day, often carried out by herself on the weekends (though not every weekend, poor kid). Sure, everyone was at war, it was pretty terrible and the mood was one of increasing worry, but as time progressed... the strangest thing happened.

There was a sudden outbreak of peace.

It started with the peasant revolt eight months after her mother's death, as the armies were knocking at the nation's door. She went out and she talked to them. And they listened. And then... slowly... one by one, they knelt. And it was at this moment that I knew everything would be all right. That she'd taken everything I'd told her and taught her to heart.

When Arisse's troops were on the march, she stepped forward alone and spoke with Arisse in person, with Briony at her side. And with telling Arisse the plan - intentionally making certain that Lumen are more widely accepted and intending to have Julianna and Selene accept her as their heir - across the negotiating table, Arisse falters, then then pledges her loyalty, subsequently being brought in as a royal advisor. After all, Elodie has proven to be far more capable than any fourteen year old should, lumen or no.

The rest of the arriving armies had intended to use Arisse and the peasants as fodder in hopes of running roughshod but with the prospect of actually having to fight a conflict that Nova was uncannily prepared for, and with their allies and the peasants now turned back against them, they pledge to follow Togami instead. But when he arrives... Elodie speaks to him. Accepts his challenge to duel, with his word of honor that all forces under his command will leave if Elodie is still standing at the end.

And then she sings to him. And... the damnedest thing; she offers to teach him the songs she knows. Asks that he teach her the songs he knows. The subtext: an alliance between two lumen, and he sees himself in her, but without the lust for power, realizing that perhaps he has lost his way. He agrees. He prepares to leave.

The remaining nobility are furious and launch an attack in violation of the informal treaty.

Nova's forces are prepared for such an eventuality. Togami is utterly enraged by such a brazen act and helps. Personally. The conflict is quite brief, the attacking army decapitated, leaders largely captured, and... well, the future looks bright, with Nova abruptly having direct control of FAR more of the continent than it did the day before.

With the advent of the printing press and advances in medicine being distributed, Elodie is doubtlessly going to go down in history as a wise queen even before her coronation, even if she does elect to join me after the coronation. I lamented her being forced into this position before she should have to be ready for it, and offered her a normal childhood. She accepted, as did Louise, at the end of the jump prior.

Normal lives. Happy lives, spent among equals, not singled out, not having to live up to insane expectations... these two deserve that.