History VisualNovel / SoulOfSovereignty

* WeatherControlMachine: It's implied that weather in the Mosaic is artificially controlled, as Loïc expresses that he has come to appreciate the cold weather in Tarn because "a chill against [his] face feels refreshing when [he] knows it wasn't decided by commitee".
* WhamShot:

Centuries prior, the merciful [[TheMaker Builder]] foresaw [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the world]]. To protect humanity, He formed the [[TheArk Mosaic]]: a towering, vertical continent to serve as a haven for His people and His creatures. TheOutsideWorld, now flooded with monsters and natural disasters, has only in recent decades been deemed safe enough to reenter.

As of December 2023, a short demo entitled ''Soul of Sovereignty: Prelude'' has been made available on the creator's itch.io page, and may be downloaded [[https://gigidigi.itch.io/soulsov/ here]]. The soundtrack is by Gigi and Creator/TobyFox, and can be found [[https://gigidigi.bandcamp.com/album/soul-of-sovereignty-prelude-ost here]]. A developer/art blog can be found [[https://pallisia.tumblr.com here]].

* AnachronismStew: The rigid theocracy, fantastical airships, and colorful costumery painting the world are meshed with cable television, flashlights, snowmobiles, and most notably [[spoiler: [[DramaticGunCock a distinctively modern semi-automatic handgun.]]]]

* NotHimself: The first time Loïc feels [[spoiler: Ysmé take control of his body]], his motions immediately become rigid and shuddery. Attempts to [[FightingFromTheInside resist the loss of control]] fail, the feeling only subsiding when [[spoiler: [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou Ysmé decides to leave him be for the time being]].]]

* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: Twice. [[spoiler: When Ysmé discovers the new {{Geas}} she has over Loïc, she briefly contemplates how funny it would be to force him to attack Langlais before realizing this would almost definitely get her new servant arrested or [[SuicideByCop worse]]. Later, when Ysmé ascends to godhood, she considers whether she wants to kill Langlais and his troops before deciding he'd serve her better by [[SpareAMessenger warning the Church of her coming reign]].]]

--> '''The Voice:''' [[spoiler: The Sovereignty is the power to [[RestartTheWorld remake your world]]. Consider the world [[TheUnfettered she]] will make.]]
--> '''Loïc:''' [[spoiler: Can it be so much worse than [[CrapsaccharineWorld this one]]?]]

** Ysmé [[spoiler:pointing a gun at Loïc]] when they are inside the temple.
** Ysmé [[spoiler:getting stabbed and ''dying'' in the middle of the ritual to gain the power of the Sovereignity.]]

Centuries prior, the merciful [[TheMaker Builder]] foresaw [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the world]]. To protect humanity, He formed the [[TheArk Mosaic]]: a towering, vertical continent to serve as a haven for His people and His creatures. The old world, now flooded with monsters and natural disasters, has only in recent decades been deemed safe enough to reenter.

* SoapOperaDisease: Ysmé shows up at the Lamplight seeking for a cure for an unspecified disease she has suffered her whole life yet no doctors have been able to remedy. [[spoiler:It turns out to be a lie.]]

* DiesWideOpen: No DiscretionShot here. [[Ysmé is stabbed clean through the heart by the Voice of the Sovereignty's [[AbsurdlySharpBlade deadly scroll,]] all while Loïc looks on in horrified shock as the light leaves her eyes.]]

* YouCanSeeMe: [[spoiler:After Ysmé dies, Loïc seems to be the only one capable of seeing her ghost. He speculates that it might have something to do with the botched ritual, and that her time on this plane of existence is fading fast unless he finishes it.]]

Far to the north of the Mosaic sits Tarn, a frigid GhostTown hanging on by only a thread-- the dying flame of the [[RatherInnAccessible Lamplight]], an inn situated at its heart run by a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold crotchety-yet-generous]] former adventurer named Alma. Years ago, it would have been the centerpiece of a network of treasure-hunters, eager to re-explore the world outside the Mosaic in search of relics the world left behind. However, they found little- leaving an "age of discovery" that died in the shell before it could hatch. Once again, with no particular reason for most to leave the Mosaic, the old world has been left to rot. Nowadays, the Lamplight is hardly more than a charity for Tarn's less fortunate.

* SoapOperaDisease: Ysme shows up at the Lamplight seeking for a cure for an unspecified disease she has suffered her whole life yet no doctors have been able to remedy. [[spoiler:It turns out to be a lie.]]

* TheTower: We haven't gotten a perfectly clear look at the Mosaic yet, but its description would imply that it is a massive vertical structure capable of housing an entire planet's worth of people and creatures. While appearing colorful and lively on the surface, both Loïc and Ysmé suggest that its wealth is plunged from darker roots and that the Church of the Builder acts as a religious hegemony over many who live there.

Centuries prior, the merciful [[TheMaker Builder]] foresaw [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the world]]. To protect humanity, He formed the Mosaic: a towering, vertical continent to serve as a haven for His people and His creatures. The old world, now flooded with monsters and natural disasters, has only in recent decades been deemed safe enough to reenter.

* AbilityMixing: Loïc explains that chaining together the effects of several flowers can create new ones, such as cloud sage being used in tandem with a few others to form a full {{Teleportation}} spell to a remembered place rather than a [[AstralProjection brief glimpse at it]].

* AllAccessibleMagic: [[ThePowerOfCreation Artisanry]] is so popular in the Mosaic that it's used for the [[MundaneUtility mass-production of goods]] and even children are capable of minor illusions with it. In addition, Loïc's [[LanguageOfMagic flower reading]] is explicitly a form of [[FantasticScience magical linguistics]] that can be studied by anybody with the time and resources to do so.

* AllAccessibleMagic: [[ThePowerOfCreation Artisanry]] is so popular in the Mosaic that it's used for the [[MundaneUtility mass-production of goods]] and even children are capable of minor illusions with it. In addition Loïc's [[LanguageOfMagic flower reading]] is explicitly a form of [[FantasticScience magical linguistics]] that can be studied by anybody with the time and resources to do so.

Centuries prior, the merciful [[CrystalDragonJesus Builder]] foresaw [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the world]]. To protect humanity, He formed the Mosaic: a towering, vertical continent to serve as a haven for His people and His creatures. The old world, now flooded with monsters and natural disasters, has only in recent decades been deemed safe enough to reenter.

* ImperfectRitual: [[spoiler: Loïc gets a few sentences into the invocation naming Ysmé his Sovereign before he is interrupted by the Voice, who has suddenly lost its composure.]] Later, with the help of [[spoiler: the sprig of sage he'd been saving to see his daughter, he summons a link to the Voice and completes it with prejudice. [[GoneHorriblyRight It goes off without a hitch.]]]]

* YouMustBeCold: After Loïc and Ysmé depart from the Lamplight to visit the Hollow Temple, he frets after how well she will manage in the frigid temperature outside. However, rather than drape his own cloak over her, he takes the enchanted [[PlayingWithFire pallisia blossom]] he's wearing and [[EstablishingCharacterMoment offers it to her instead]].

''[=SoulSov=]'' takes bountiful inspiration from literary fantasy and JRPG games alike, weaving both forms of storytelling into a fiction that delves into both the self-interest hidden in acts of kindness and the virtue hidden in one's most selfish desires.