One thing that can occasionally be a bit immersion breaking is using blatantly OC exclamations IC for lack of any better alternatives (e.g. “sweet Jesus” “oh god” “f*****g hell” etc).
As such I figured it might be handy to try and compile a list of setting appropriate suggestions for the next time you feel the need to swear at something/someone. Whilst I’m sure each nation will probably develop their own regional curses / expletives I suspect there will also be some empire-wide ones that are in common usage amongst the citizens of the Empire and it might be useful to try and generate some examples as inspiration.
So without further ado here are a couple I’ve been kicking around to try and get the ball rolling. Please feel free to contribute more and/or discuss the below.
“Sweet Empress” or “Empress” - setting appropriate version of “Sweet Jesus”
“Labyrinth take you” - IC suitable way of telling someone to go to hell or otherwise GDIAF
Using eternals as expletives works well I think e.g.
Sorin’s balls or Sorin’s icy balls
Generally any usual bit of swearing is fine as far as I’m concerned but sometimes falling into the trap of saying Oh god or Jesus is good to have an easy alternative. Hardest thing is having it sounds natural and not forced
The talented Brian Wells over on the Marches Facebook group posted a whole load of marcher specific phrases before Event 1 last year. Here are a few of my favourite
“Die and get lost!” could replace go to hell. “Worshiper” is a pretty strong religious insult I reckon.
Orcs can swear by their ancestors, of course, and call for their aid. I don’t think people would properly swear by an emperor, not even the First Empress, but by the Throne, the First Treaty or my Duty would work.
“Lictors bear witness!” is rather stronger than “god be my witness.”
Urizen mutter “poise poise poise” when trying to keep their calm or just when faced with the stupidity of the world.
If you liked the league ones here’s a few more of his!
[quote]‘Leaguer’s promise’ or ‘Leaguer’s word’ or ‘Leaguer’s Oath, – a promise that serves only as long as it is convenient.
‘Leaguer’s pig’ – a pig or item that only exists on paper, or in someone’s imagination: a made up thing. Example: “Mark me my lads, we’ll build up this Leaguer’s pig with every fair report and seeming that all shall think it so.”
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For those of us who’ve read all about the Labyrinth, and how some souls take longer to make their way out of it than others depending on what that soul did during it’s life… the phrase “Get Lost” takes on a much darker meaning IC.
If you also happen to be a Navarr, that is twice as offensive as the background has us as messengers between everywhere of note.
In other game systems I’ve used “Goblin toucher” as a good insult, but alas we don’t have those in Empire.
It’s one that is used in Wintermark, though it’s a really serious insult to use it, so something a little less severe is what I was thinking of.[/quote]
Fucking hell (or hells) works OK as long as you can justify your character having picked up expletives from people who call the Realms hells, which works for some and less for others.
“Damn” works fine IMO; it can expand to “damned to wander the Labyrinth forever,” which is theologically sound AFAIK. It may be slightly blasphemous but so are a lot of OOC expletives.
The best one I heard was a Highborn child to his older, Changeling brother: “Go wash your horns!”
I tend to mutter “Virtue’s oath” or “By the virtues” most often in exasperation (usually instead of ‘for fuck’s sake’ or similar), but that might be just because my character is always having to roll his eyes at everyone else’s lack of (among other things) Ambition. I think those expressions may originally have come from Malachai/MorkaisChosen on the Highguard FB group?
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Yeah, I think I came up with that one - definitely use it a lot, except I’m now trying not to since Percival’s a lot less religious and a lot less sweary, so it doesn’t work as well.
(Mostly at the moment I’m going for the fact that “Bugger!” seems a lot stronger coming from an elegant and restrained Merrow; I only start swearing when things get bad.)
Brian Wells’ stuff is very funny first time I encountered it. If he were persuaded to put it into some sort of format I’d love to link it off the Empire LRP Page one weekend. We do the odd bit for physical things people have made, it’d be nice occasionally to draw attention to the cool words they write as well
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