The Void and the Successor Power abhors a vacuum. As the crown loses its potency, the entities that manage the new technologies inevitably seize control. These successors are rarely individuals; they are systems. The military apparatus, the central bank, and the intelligence ministry become the new, invisible kings of the modernizing world.
[1] Introduction: The Architecture of Decay in Flintlock Fantasy [source]
[1] 1 Defining the Paradigm Shift [source]
The political landscape of traditional speculative fiction has long been dominated by the concept of "medieval stasis"—a worldbuilding design where societies remain technologically and politically stagnant for millennia, governed by feudal lords and divinely appointed monarchs.XNMngX8GYmB5Gz2TZw-Npiber3GIKRA75tveTIA5PtFbmDv6hx_iZBpLZWhRSWpC422CMk-tF74mFGs8b9H--Q7FqATLNZHg8XaU9T6PwzKIlrHX-iMpuzocCggS3VGRv21q3qS" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">41, w1wv0-SQsz18n5QIYGkxNoD-wMVpUTahiSiPIIVSs9506aytwOMY8pdKsvEdFBiPG0NUMbeKld50TzhP1CasWozV0ImuxEGsZx3h-xkEQmSeRjOyjPmlkY3SAUHaLhlJs95UpKSRn9aUgA9LnhjwWjGvtHUHguo0A1e6ybvQXF09MyDKFmu39DkWAI8zuqwA=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quora.com">3] In these traditional settings, power is inherently tied to bloodlines, ancestral land ownership, and ancient, unreproducible magic. However, the emergence of flintlock fantasy (often colloquially overlapping with "gunpowder fantasy") represents a systemic disruption to this static design.
By shifting the technological baseline to an analog of the real-world 17th to 19th centuries, authors of flintlock fantasy thrust their fictional societies into the chaos of the Age of Revolution and the Industrial Revolution.britannica.com">51, XNMngX8GYmB5Gz2TZw-Npiber3GIKRA75tveTIA5PtFbmDv6hxiZBpLZWhRSWpC422CMk-tF74mFGs8b9H--Q7FqATLNZHg8XaU9T6PwzKIlrHX-iMpuzocCggS3VGRv21q3qS" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">4] This subgenre does not merely add muskets to a medieval setting; it utilizes early industrial technology as a crucible to examine complex, systemic issues of class, economics, and political philosophy.ZMm4LRbjBuUspPOY6Pd1Uy6J6i07Y9mZSBnHcxX5FnXX5OODSXzPOq6DC3GC03m4Je-BxlCUXptuN-oYVSPXqfrLCEMC8IlHZIHVwROkf8bf" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wikipedia.org">61] The architectural shift from a localized, agrarian kingdom to a sprawling, industrialized nation-state requires a fundamental redesign of how power is administered, distributed, and legitimized.
[1] 2 The Concept of Institutional Decay [source]
The creative directive of this analysis is decay—specifically, the slow, inevitable obsolescence of traditional power structures. In flintlock fantasy, the absolute monarch does not always fall to a swift assassin's blade; more often, the crown rusts into irrelevance. The monarch's authority decays because the mechanisms required to run a modernizing state—complex supply chains, mass conscription, global trade, and mechanized production—exceed the cognitive and administrative capacity of a single sovereign.VyyNbgqp0A8rgPKAL8A-nms-y6QdWYckVZax6Gf-Cl6CEWwNG-Q6YYrSMMAFd15iQe19ixqg5_HjSqvwBVAWKsWkzCkkOK2XMFAP2M9ZjvaOUvGVYCPcWLdiPnJljdgdVd0G-9CQ-rjPX79QYpckVOzs2MVTmLuvDwrng==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">75]
As the crown's potency wanes, a void opens. This report examines what fills that void. Through the lens of popular works by Brian McClellan, Django Wexler, Joe Abercrombie, and Adrian Tchaikovsky, we will analyze the rise of professional standing armies, powerful commercial banks, and complex bureaucratic state apparatuses. These institutions emerge as the pragmatic successors to the throne, replacing the visible, personal authority of the king with the invisible, impersonal authority of the system.
[2] The Mechanisms of Power Void and Replacement [source]
The decay of the monarchy in gunpowder-era fantasy is driven by specific, interlocking mechanisms. To understand how the crown loses its power, we must examine the forces that actively erode it.
[2] 1 The Democratization of Violence [source]
Perhaps the most profound societal impact of flintlock technology—both in real history and in its fantasy analogs—is the democratization of violence.9XO8BpTFvb28zXTyMN6m2keFfkqAyge1CM6e-FWdEoJauHI9jzBfr9a23I7LTm9NT60KEY98wxWFvG3MR9oLd5tUdwM5nvUR6z0ILt6Q9THMqHCnuN6ZMHlM5ytb" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wikipedia.org">81] In traditional medieval fantasy, the application of lethal force is an elite privilege. A skilled swordsman requires a lifetime of training and caloric surplus, while a traditional wizard requires decades of esoteric study and often a specific genetic lineage. Thus, power remains inherently concentrated in the hands of a magical or martial aristocracy.
The introduction of gunpowder fundamentally breaks this user experience. It takes only weeks to teach a peasant how to load, aim, and fire a musket.ScmDQ5Ml5fLjtFN8pxDdhtKBOYufHmK-Ru5IDDNRzN-FV8yWgeeH-rz1iPAHtMKe2CNHSMfAkVit5akeaKP-tljy74FLM2Bn5ljQeBGKDltFVCQytyFT-lkAH8i7OIB-ynqM9OfC6fu0TMEDK9Vbs5Rwz6JGq1AnB5BO65EE2slAoZzgm6fQZoVEtD0X4R4f8JOpK3a8=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lumenlearning.com">91] When a conscripted, illiterate farmer can shoot a hole through the chest of a classically trained aristocratic wizard from a hundred yards away, the ancient social contract immediately breaks down.
This dynamic is central to the tension in the genre. Magic is traditionally used by the elite to maintain the status quo, but the introduction of firearms turns the societal hierarchy upside down.JMxTt9s669WimbK8PaSrLMEuk6JIVQqkIweLFg7ccgYSV-Sav2mYFpYohtgDAQQ1YwiUWQiN55Q=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ushistory.org">101] The traditional magical elite, who often view themselves as untouchable demigods, suddenly face existential vulnerability at the hands of the masses. This technological shift acts as a great equalizer, stripping the crown of its monopoly on force and transferring it to anyone who can manufacture and distribute black powder.
[2] 2 The Shift from Feudal Levies to Professional Standing Armies [source]
As warfare transitions from localized skirmishes between noble houses to massive, attritional conflicts between nation-states, the traditional feudal levy becomes obsolete. A monarch can no longer rely on a decentralized network of lords calling up their poorly armed peasants for a few months of summer campaigning.
The modernization of war requires a professional standing army—a massive, permanent institution dedicated to logistics, training, and strategic command. This shift is vividly mirrored in history during the French Revolutionary Wars. The introduction of the levée en masse (mass conscription) fundamentally altered the scale of warfare.
In flintlock fantasy, this exponential growth in military size requires an equally massive administrative tail. The army itself becomes an institution more powerful than the crown. Generals, field marshals, and quartermasters begin to wield the true power of the state, as they control the men, the munitions, and the supply lines. The monarch is increasingly reduced to a figurehead, dependent on the military apparatus for survival.
[2] 3 Industrialization and the Economic Metamorphosis [source]
The transition into a flintlock fantasy setting fundamentally alters the economic base of the fictional world. Power shifts from those who own the land (feudal lords) to those who own the means of production (industrial capitalists).M-PAUKTAkP0HRjezz7okw6yr1iNywyuBELilQyknOb4017cBtsFPDlke2gMDdg6U9w9n9iy6VgBkgLa3iFR9kfX7ylt2qdEBEgKiowSzkvM=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mariemullany.com">141]
As these worlds teeter on the edge of a transformation analogous to the 19th-century British Industrial Revolution, the agrarian economy decays. Nascent mass production, steam-powered mills, and early capitalist structures begin to dominate. The exploitation of labor, the rise of the bourgeoisie, and the commodification of arcane resources create a new class of power brokers: the merchant guilds and the banking houses.xFstBVpCPPa0pYTvbf1Cdt-sPziqrQO-pQlwjVqaaUZZ3gbAW0SGXrthiQe1JBrH8kXbfampcQsazssW7nlhdNXx4-Kn9P3T4qZ4xEnjMgujG6bvvHB6g8ab98lEpdHvUEF-imLOYFFP8kGT9Kx7PFV3p" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">xlibris.com">151] A king may wear the crown, but if a commercial entity holds the kingdom's debt, the true sovereignty has shifted. The economic complexities of industrialization require a level of financial management that renders the traditional royal treasury obsolete, allowing commercial entities to fill the void.
[2] 4 The Birth of the Bureaucratic Apparatus [source]
As both the military and the economy scale exponentially, the state must evolve to manage them. This necessitates the birth of the bureaucracy—an administrative system governed by departments staffed with non-elected career officials.QMPs-FHzU-xCrVf80-kiqFbVTQSqBjQVe3YNH2QceIeN3NsRZjX8Xg8ANS76GIuiACqPv-iww8XO9xTEfpETaFxRt4E3OLvQeVnSqSREq1tje_QMR5jTLZzdFLjPishob-0TMeSACyFcsdWdHmSBWu37nFwwUPdc3G6RkdneGkEFCh46o=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">162]
German sociologist Max Weber noted that bureaucracy's emergence as a preferred form of organization occurred alongside the rise of a money-based economy, possessing the specialized expertise, continuity, and certainty needed to handle the demands of capitalist production.z9u-zipiXbXjq9bzWHRAkjH9P3AIjOtmxs1FfiNRKtvfSdVwHXBCVbzGnnjGXR1qQlhKa7xZAq17j130o5N3NE3U4Pk-7GgdZlMeD8hYvWD-jYEb3gBeuB5tfaENrIpH2h7NuhROfDAuZLCy2LBtFhPA==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blogspot.com">175] In our historical 19th century, phenomena like the spoils system gave way to merit-based civil services (such as the US Pendleton Act of 1883) to manage the vast expansion of postal services, land management, and wartime logistics.FexmiV5CNEj7zeOsBbjDe6nQ8jK8nzAjHaCfEuNcGJn859sNcxFJwoPuN-Mm8KYU7xbfmzx80Ajixmi53E82UGGpYtCYCEQtVrGJUc2rRomeyXet1ZhX6zNXH5WMTi5rvXyV" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cannonballread.com">189, JMxTt9s669WimbK8PaSrLMEuk6JIVQqkIweLFg7ccgYSV-Sav2mYFpYohtgDAQQ1YwiUWQiN55Q=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ushistory.org">10, 79ZZE6Vl00oC7Q5Bwserx8aKITVixg7ej2UU6xRdKqjuvkzcFsBYi407oCpFWE5-oaSx6L6ZOkKPRGbLIziyKlbPwEDH6eWx2JS7Rrj_ACh59CdCWLIlynSV62Duc7wHDtPcA==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">siue.edu">11]
Within flintlock fantasy, the bureaucracy often manifests as shadowy ministries of information, taxation boards, and intelligence agencies. These sprawling networks of clerks, spies, and administrators slowly usurp the king's direct authority. The monarch issues a decree, but it is the bureaucracy that determines how—or if—that decree is implemented.
[3] Case Studies in the Waning Crown [source]
To illustrate how authors actively design this institutional decay, we will examine four distinct manifestations of the power shift across prominent flintlock fantasy series.
[3] 1 The Military Dictatorship: Brian McClellan’s Powder Mage Trilogy [source]
In Brian McClellan’s Promise of Blood, the decay of the monarchy is not a slow rot, but a violent amputation. The novel opens in the immediate aftermath of a military coup. Field Marshal Tamas, the highest-ranking officer in the Adran army, overthrows the corrupt and incompetent King Manhouch XII, sending the monarch and the entire corrupt nobility to the guillotine.v7lz7tiNdr8s1T6FgPA5DoA32UlQPl8hUaWJ8pE85oWGX0MUuNAbXEBMZMWZu6k1OU1Ed2pXlmVBFEf1WM9aMkvxSOeHfkJE2iX6vWh1B3B3gDmfR1KgBwQ23mSg0UPs-05Ptc76k5fUf0S22BGWe0eQDV6aiyViEopqpIzZ2y" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">barnesandnoble.com">1912, fandom.com">13]
The Mechanism of Decay: Tamas's coup represents the violent displacement of "Divine Right" by military pragmatism. The traditional monarchy was protected by the Royal Cabal—"Privileged" sorcerers whose magic was inherently tied to the elite class and a divine covenant known as Kresimir’s Promise.tnakoOxtcmukuUfMmni9e59VusvLsgAdmgl4iozXODO0KSwTsojBjhpdNVDLIjW7He5l93axeydmwQAvZNy1Aaa0DvgOe0TijlvxptgwTk9ExHx5WuF1LYC3CrXjaFl92kQo9yLy8c5xnFfwnAWWJgAM4Vx6JfjkJ2FdN3vGE" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">2014, xFstBVpCPPa0pYTvbf1Cdt-sPziqrQO-pQlwjVqaaUZZ3gbAW0SGXrthiQe1JBrH8kXbfampcQsazssW7nlhdNXx4-Kn9P3T4qZ4xEnjMgujG6bvvHB6g8ab98lEpdHvUEF-imLOYFFP8kGT9Kx7PFV3p" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">xlibris.com">15] Tamas, however, is a "Powder Mage," a new breed of magic user who metabolizes gunpowder to achieve superhuman strength, speed, and the ability to manipulate bullets over miles.dBB1Dw9xR0d0wruWd5MOHqY-AUwgOi-mvwVmWDjTgYxrB9BtRCtPvfkg1l7-moab4HFWcHyhHFSacxvAJV5xOO6q1CzSl7Ms=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fanfiaddict.com">2116] The Powder Mages represent the industrial age and the democratization of force—they use manufactured powder to gain abilities, whereas the Privileged rely on aristocratic tradition.C4ih0qt-569TuyhB0aBK7Z438dxHmXfugw1FRIzGWOzvfPsvTVZsUFT5ZFkRGJIbdnY7dPKFuTptbgA==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tvtropes.org">2214]
Filling the Void: With the king dead ("The age of Kings is dead, and I have killed it," Tamas declares), the void is immediately filled by the military apparatus.2rSEUiOgdJ-D2ZGV7CEyKSEclWolxCWX-SwDY5ERbjCzR9-irhX5PDj7pRMwgRZMGgAH2Eyz1WcPD5YyWWQ8Dcqd0i3J5B03HQk2ecox8wCBDm7gEs8Y2QYewy" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fandom.com">2313, z9u-zipiXbXjq9bzWHRAkjH9P3AIjOtmxs1FfiNRKtvfSdVwHXBCVbzGnnjGXR1qQlhKa7xZAq17j130o5N3NE3U4Pk-7GgdZlMeD8hYvWD-jYEb3gBeuB5tfaENrIpH2h7NuhROfDAuZLCy2LBtFhPA==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blogspot.com">17] However, Tamas discovers that dismantling a monarchy is simpler than replacing it. He must suddenly navigate the complexities of governance, relying on a patchwork council of labor unions, the church, mercenary forces, and the criminal underworld.B26ad7FnRgJ9dpOkKFvGAuMaEVxQjjgYYoWVsvowvp505fRp4MrYHkyq-3Z7mZuLOTunjaqNb5uZGqPyKVXDspM65WpXJS89Gc9nfdLPck7SZHyrng==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">djangowexler.com">2418, v7lz7tiNdr8s1T6FgPA5DoA32UlQPl8hUaWJ8pE85oWGX0MUuNAbXEBMZMWZu6k1OU1Ed2pXlmVBFEf1WM9aMkvxSOeHfkJE2iX6vWh1B3B3gDmfR1KgBwQ23mSg0UPs-05Ptc76k5fUf0S22BGWe0eQDV6aiyViEopqpIzZ2y" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">barnesandnoble.com">19] The loyalty of the average Adran citizen shifts from a divinely ordained king to the pragmatic, albeit bloody, protection of the professional standing army. The state survives only because the military bureaucracy is organized enough to repel foreign invasions and manage domestic riots.
[3] 2 The Deep State: Django Wexler’s The Shadow Campaigns [source]
Django Wexler’s series provides a masterclass in the quiet usurpation of royal authority by an intelligence bureaucracy. Set in the kingdom of Vordan—a direct analog to pre-Revolutionary France—the series explores a nation teetering on the brink of financial collapse and political radicalization.L7tKCWBifwOg0Pfn9CMvLl7hzX7q0nlOa0m7TYjtUwqnmpmulOgxy5mioJXC3ZdMIBjmyF838WPxwFCU4rhzAD2MD7e-V3HyK9arIjQ7ojcwNvf1paZOQ1Hj36eAXsZwdHhiEsgw5ogPBvDkcDOFsrSpIEpHK2lfB19fejj44yIN5Rdd0St4Qxp0SrMEpnF1c8K5U=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wordpress.com">2520, dBB1Dw9xR0d0wruWd5MOHqY-AUwgOi-mvwVmWDjTgYxrB9BtRCtPvfkg1l7-moab4HFWcHyhHFSacxvAJV5xOO6q1CzSl7Ms=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fanfiaddict.com">21, C4ih0qt-569TuyhB0aBK7Z438dxHmXfugw1FRIzGWOzvfPsvTVZsUFT5ZFkRGJIbdnY7dPKFuTptbgA==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tvtropes.org">22]
The Mechanism of Decay: The Vordanai crown is losing its grip not through a sudden military coup, but through systemic illness and administrative usurpation. King Farus is on his deathbed, leaving his sheltered teenage daughter, Raesinia, as the heir apparent.Zy40QjGJOj4C-zT70jOaGTxFUJek3cK6JT5stnZjqpbKdSOuVBPdA0UjuFd9L0B-aXbV-GnR17RX226i70Gq-DCaf0s6i9XNbJhFsB8LwwPzcDnK0stYT0VAwPjje8o6O5ol1TpDcEuteaxT03caqTnsNNvFfyBpygpSafJ9Xk5zox9bKfJmSTtHGIw==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">desertcart.com">2622, 2rSEUiOgdJ-D2ZGV7CEyKSEclWolxCWX-SwDY5ERbjCzR9-irhX5PDj7pRMwgRZM_GgAH2Eyz1WcPD5YyWWQ8Dcqd0i3J5B03HQk2ecox8wCBDm7gEs8Y2QYewy" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fandom.com">23] The monarchy is heavily indebted to neighboring kingdoms, and its authority exists largely in name only.
Filling the Void: The true power in Vordan is held by Duke Orlanko, the Minister of Information and master of the Concordat secret police.-IaIXH52UKOY74EFYykuLWqGymnUCW2LLrQLY5G8YFwOn2KVdLFRWRCt9Q-0Y5fSZwF4AYk4W5LQXdt2q-fZozcPRTaBfOMffv1i6XrQggstBMbO5Of7wSPuQLEDytaYef32oAxCpParfptcuhS27-ZUfa-10zvmk2Bzmve" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cannonballread.com">2724, L7_tKCWBifwOg0Pfn9CMvLl7hzX7q0nlOa0m7TYjtUwqnmpmulOgxy5mioJXC3ZdMIBjmyF838WPxwFCU4rhzAD2MD7e-V3HyK9arIjQ7ojcwNvf1paZOQ1Hj36eAXsZwdHhiEsgw5ogPBvDkcDOFsrSpIEpHK2lfB19fejj44yIN5Rdd0St4Qxp0SrMEpnF1c8K5U=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wordpress.com">25] Orlanko represents the terrifying peak of bureaucratic overreach. He commands a hidden army of spies, assassins, and informants, using blackmail, fear, and state-sanctioned disappearances to consolidate control.Ouf5APXskNXSlOGD7Ksz0QNKfZBDPK-jHHWRFK-gwwFAUK8BcR5i1tYEw1BfKBDkGSe2rFavbuysVW-e4J14LBQlJOues-qbt-esKcXX9A2N6SBUelthd1dMP7ifIXVg==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tvtropes.org">2824, Zy40QjGJOj4C-zT70jOaGTxFUJek3cK6JT5stnZjqpbKdSOuVBPdA0UjuFd9L0B-aXbV-GnR17RX226i70Gq-DCaf0s6i9XNbJhFsB8LwwPzcDnK0stYT0VAwPjje8o6O5ol1TpDcEuteaxT03caqTnsNNvFfyBpygpSafJ9Xk5zox9bKfJmSTtHGIw==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">desertcart.com">26] He views the upcoming Queen Regnant as a mere puppet.
In The Shadow Throne, the conflict centers not on battlefield glory, but on who controls the state apparatus in the capital. Returning war hero Janus bet Vhalnich (a Napoleon-esque genius) and his loyal officers must navigate civilian riots and political treachery to counter Orlanko's deep state.T4J7NuE9h4sb7XZoeO97Enh7-lekiLMCF7V-eUhOOtEqy8cscsdS9qKxbQ-oe5uLElmr-kWi8kSo00-DH4oly8q1yN8fOPeHrLagrt0qbn9GhV-AnwZRtnuXFMsoIspKluPXpCSrz2JkX8cU=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joeabercrombie.com">2923, -IaIXH52UKOY74EFYykuLWqGymnUCW2LLrQLY5G8YFwOn2KVdLFRWRCt9Q-0Y5fSZwF4AYk4W5LQXdt2q-fZozcPRTaBfOMffv1i6XrQggstBMbO5Of7wSPuQLEDytaYef32oAxCpParfptcuhS27-ZUfa-10zvmk2Bzmve" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cannonballread.com">27] The series brilliantly depicts how the visible monarch (Raesinia) is entirely dependent on the invisible institutions (the army and the secret police) to exert any actual influence. The transition here is from a monarchy to an administrative tyranny, where the bureaucracy itself acts as the sovereign.
[3] 3 The Commercial Mega-Corporation: Joe Abercrombie’s The Age of Madness [source]
Joe Abercrombie’s The Age of Madness trilogy shifts the timeline of his established fantasy world forward into a gritty, smog-choked Industrial Revolution. The traditional power structures of kings and warrior-lords have been superseded by the relentless march of capitalism, machinery, and debt.D3eKan-jGFJFh3Qh0dMkF4atJh0QvnrYipBW-xZGnUClf17hYIWpisPynUSIBZIrlQXNEyqRDD1UdICByHQXAJd9gBDdwourVOsDb4BAylozk2o4FYNGcHJP0fWgU7i217MvDFJsve6a3JjlEZudHYSXmNNbm5Lg==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forbes.com">3028, T4J7NuE9h4sb7XZoeO97Enh7-lekiLMCF7V-eUhOOtEqy8cscsdS9qKxbQ-oe5uLElmr-kWi8kSo00-DH4oly8q1yN8fOPeHrLagrt0qbn9GhV-AnwZRtnuXFMsoIspKluPXpCSrz2JkX8cU=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joeabercrombie.com">29, D3eKan-jGFJFh3Qh0dMkF4atJh0QvnrYipBW-xZGnUClf17hYIWpisPynUSIBZIrlQXNEyqRDD1UdICByHQXAJd9gBDdwourVOsDb4BAylozk2o4FYNGcHJP0fWgU7i217MvDFJsve6a3JjlEZudHYSXmNNb_m5Lg==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forbes.com">30]
The Mechanism of Decay: King Jezal, and later his son King Orso, sit on the throne of the Union, but their power is entirely illusory. The nation is tottering, weakened by fruitless wars and crippled by disastrous interest rates on sovereign loans.PuPT5Oogx3XLkWTVy2z7oLggIJ4lIkDPfdB-rws-5IgGpcPFAOe5jQ6CNJax92DuOfvSgqIqMT11GtWUvM7dcIhyry89qoSOxAn3DyOLzNjqGCdfaMbKmWCrX9Y4od7PlpF9UlBMoostPiVNvgE88sCEizjSARJuTazTBJPILQ==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">3129, PuPT5Oogx3XLkWTVy2z7oLggIJ4lIkDPfdB-rws-5IgGpcPFAOe5jQ6CNJax92DuOfvSgqIqMT11GtWUvM7dcIhyry89qoSOxAn3DyOLzNjqGCdfaMbKmWCrX9Y4od7PlpF9UlBMoostPiVNvgE88sCEizjSARJuTazTBJPILQ==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">31] The visible government is merely a front for the true masters of the realm: the Banking House of Valint and Balk, secretly controlled by the immortal wizard Bayaz.ZwRmS5YqyPDqnxSDXM8BrveDOyc1HqGcogMqh8-JR7XjKYhKDvJTaTPladgFEIsmbgWE27g6EVBTH5Y8wHwOYx3m7Iv4rJbKZsqrAc7PIsxpMJ3fzFvS7jhC3DrP4akHqHoNd67Vx4qQWBbWt7ksTs-eiuzgU1eMXz1Ees0EbWd6pwE3o=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">3228, ZwRmS5YqyPDqnxSDXM8BrveDOyc1HqGcogMqh8-JR7XjKYhKDvJTaTPladgFEIsmbgWE27g6EVBTH5Y8wHwOYx3m7Iv4rJbKZsqrAc7PIsxpMJ3fzFvS7jhC3DrP4akHqHoNd67Vx4qQWBbWt7ksTs-eiuzgU1eMXz1Ees0EbWd6pwE3o=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">32] Bayaz uses the bank to forever hold the purse strings of the Union; if any lord resists his will, they are promptly reminded of their legally binding, insurmountable debts.0N35g57Qcx92C4HsVZObvMTyoeS2sT43N-EP8-zrkzkzsSqH8j3InrN0vQ2ciKmu08FByJRA4V-Jf8yG1ymVhwOCvF70FP97LYoUtmiUdwBuhcppzmMeD-CWR4eE95mVkEriORr5zZQwz8SBJY2gyT9zu0dEbCGhkXv93c6fo2qB7wGr3PMuQ==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fantasy-hive.co.uk">3332]
Filling the Void: In this setting, the void of absolute monarchy is filled by the mega-corporation and the industrialist. Characters like Savine dan Glokta—a ruthless investor who builds fortune on the backs of child labor in stifling, deafening mills—wield far more actual power than the Crown Prince.Pc-tFZUJ0CqMd-XSMAvS3FxdrJTSNfrbgnhi4P3wFmduschcdMHECfSE5WzZBgwbVsSSAuq-k0SsMDF6e8nH9uQzoWXenE91AwCpaPuOFIrBkUTr3WgsIVAsYFLx1sInr9YrRnUUd5LzluSt4=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">3429, D3eKan-jGFJFh3Qh0dMkF4atJh0QvnrYipBW-xZGnUClf17hYIWpisPynUSIBZIrlQXNEyqRDD1UdICByHQXAJd9gBDdwourVOsDb4BAylozk2o4FYNGcHJP0fWgU7i217MvDFJsve6a3JjlEZudHYSXmNNb_m5Lg==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forbes.com">30]
Abercrombie explores the sociological backlash to this new corporate tyranny through "The Great Change," a violent uprising by factions known as the Breakers and Burners.JcaY2GFJwo0us=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">3529, 0N35g57Qcx92C4HsVZObvMTyoeS2sT43N-EP8-zrkzkzsSqH8j3InrN0vQ2ciKmu08FByJRA4V-Jf8yG1ymVhwOCvF70FP97LYoUtmiUdwBuhcppzmMeD-CWR4eE95mVkEriORr5zZQwz8SBJY2gyT9zu0dEbCGhkXv93c6fo2qB7wGr3PMuQ==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fantasy-hive.co.uk">33] This Luddite/Marxist revolution seeks to violently overthrow the capitalist system, reflecting the real-world anxieties of industrialization where workers are ground into dust by the machinery of progress.a0sp5GOW41iqmD995NVqWv5F79vstR5qynGdOiGGE0N5rS1SWeULHMOvdKBnSYi43I8dKnPsqzObmIJNFOcqBKnv0spg8Wb0OLi2CKQevVlWd5d060B-xyX44CrJ5hQySbt4H3vKubZdDrZdT34AIg4d6y5GDYi2dp2pKjIPrFBY91-mRTN73P13" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strangehorizons.com">3634, reddit.com">35] The authority in Abercrombie's world is entirely transactional; loyalty is not to a king or a god, but to the entity that signs the paycheck or holds the mortgage.
[3] 4 The Conscription of Society: Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Guns of the Dawn [source]
Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Guns of the Dawn provides a unique lens on the decay of a traditional monarchy under the crushing weight of total, industrialized warfare. The kingdom of Lascanne is locked in a brutal, attritional swamp war with its neighbor, Denland.fMEVIiD55wv3DOexOfBtgEmSGe0twWQeu1i0AENUEinYjSVjbT3tJAPKnlbtvo85oam6ab2qiSOY5iv8XCpfdChnqEktATQEgjGnIcGX5HuGZHpbwaI1rz4-ri32OLuiim42ri-n7e9l4=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tvtropes.org">3736, fMEVIiD55wv3DOexOfBtgEmSGe0twWQeu1i0AENUEinYjSVjbT3tJAPKnlbtvo85oam6ab2qiSOY5iv8XCpfdChnqEktATQEgjGnIcGX5HuGZHpbwaI1rz4-ri32OLuiim42ri-n7e9l4=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tvtropes.org">37]
The Mechanism of Decay: Denland has recently undergone a revolution, overthrowing its monarchy to establish a republic. Lascanne, viewing this new government as an existential threat to its own royal legitimacy, declares war.reo94wb2ytQdHijpdyAbJtdxhf4fnVALgDv4k0C-M0TkED-QrgTZwuEDcwP8yZayvKR9XV7sJVyBRfeNd6bu88PLy9TajJsFpsq4U6vOVcDOLlp8N4JA==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">weatherwaxreport.blog">3836, reo94wb2ytQdHijpdyAbJtdxhf4fnVALgDv4k0C-M0TkED-QrgTZwuEDcwP8yZayvKR9XV7sJVyBRfeNd6bu88PLy9TajJsFpsq4U6vOVcDOLlp8N4JA==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">weatherwaxreport.blog">38] However, the war drags on endlessly, draining Lascanne of its resources and its male population. The traditional social order—a patriarchal "fantasy of manners" filled with ballrooms, highborn privilege, and rigid gender roles—begins to fracture under the sheer demand for human capital.Dl2qlBuEuHTGCF9d1ydvtSBSFn-XL7YlJaLrgi605OiphhZ994bE=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thefantasyinn.com">3937, Dl2qlBuEuH_TGCF9d1ydvtSBSFn-XL7YlJaLrgi605OiphhZ994bE=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thefantasyinn.com">39, scribd.com">40]
Filling the Void: The state's desperate need for soldiers forces it to institute increasingly draconian conscription laws, eventually passing a royal decree requiring one woman from every household to be drafted.scribd.com">4041, Gb7VxfnczUgvwtkZzP8Wm0E8GpjDRBt45NJooHMHjAmxO9vDA1Fi5zAp72hBNsmz0WbIIPMuFISi2xb0eZhHctwD6Z7BohghrKfL0XFpyLsH48TLZMAe2svLZbwurN0kUOuy56kqRZEcg3SYbUPEim3LswDTCNkCa1-U8hCIKxQlYKXOO6DewCfpN9RcYmfmg==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">42] The protagonist, Emily Marshwic, a genteel noblewoman, is thrust into the mud and terror of the front lines.DGzA6v1DZJiFMGimn3TMw8hMxWeSSDGFd57ZoqWupy7pub7JowMD9vVDqZ3wGK3YAW7ZVJFvE87BNQNTtrZzhDvWVwbN3LpLxtxwM-X10D7HANrIhGl4pn6oTp3Y" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">audible.com">411, Dl2qlBuEuHTGCF9d1ydvtSBSFn-XL7YlJaLrgi605OiphhZ994bE=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thefantasyinn.com">39]
In this narrative, the monarchy's power decays because it cannot protect its citizens; instead, it consumes them. The authority of the state transitions from a paternalistic protector to a ravenous, bureaucratic meat grinder. The illusion of noble privilege is shattered by the great equalizer of the musket and the uniform. The state apparatus (the military high command) becomes a totalitarian force that overrides all previous societal norms regarding class and gender out of pure, desperate pragmatism.Gb7VxfnczUgvwtkZzP8Wm0E8GpjDRBt45NJooHMHjAmxO9vDA1Fi5zAp72hBNsmz0WbIIPMuFISi2xb0eZhHctwD6Z7BohghrKfL0XFpyLsH48TLZMAe2svLZbwurN0kUOuy56kqRZEcg3SYbUPEim3LswDTCNkCa1-U8hCIKxQlYKXOO6DewCfpN9RcYmfmg==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">4237, scribd.com">40]
[4] Philosophical and Sociological Implications of Systemic Decay [source]
When power shifts from a visible, divinely ordained individual to an impersonal, sprawling bureaucracy or a distant commercial council, the fundamental relationship between the citizen and the state is irrevocably altered. This shift carries profound philosophical and sociological implications.
[4] 1 From Visible Sovereign to Impersonal State [source]
In a traditional absolute monarchy, the social contract is highly personal. The King is the physical embodiment of the state, often ordained by the gods (e.g., Kresimir in the Powder Mage universe).r4kUjDbEGCQqdd-DbwO99CWMqt0NsQK2uF0W80BpKuWvRkS3i5YeFlYB-xXa429kZRh26uORg3ILTJfWtMXlIFomwSBJRgnR1cgmHZJPCMDvsCJLU7Fg9DpvSWWESu67SRo94yHQ==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wikipedia.org">4314, r4kUjDbEGCQqdd-DbwO99CWMqt0NsQK2uF0W80BpKuWvRkS3i5YeFlYB-xXa429kZRh26uORg3ILT_JfWtMXlIFomwSBJRgnR1cgmHZJPCMDvsCJLU7Fg9DpvSWWESu67SRo94yHQ==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wikipedia.org">43] When the harvest fails or taxes are too high, the peasant knows exactly who to blame: the King. The target of public ire is visible and localized.
However, as the governance structure transitions to a bureaucracy or a banking conglomerate, authority becomes deliberately opaque. German sociologist Max Weber warned of the "iron cage" of bureaucracy—a system of rule-based, rational control that traps individuals in a dehumanizing, impersonal web.nYeEft0Zta3qT0uxmkB69s4xPwT5HSi1wwBouVtUpBWLFxJx557WSM3VWE6GPDsrNlPK1uW3SHYFtEqGdzDL-XokofSoUThvqJALnQ584Xv-GMB6hQYyW-58gaTGAg8DMcyrGlddpMa9Q9Tw==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">442]
If the Bank of Valint and Balk forecloses on a farm, or the Ministry of Information disappears a dissident, the average citizen cannot simply march to the castle and demand an audience. The system is intentionally designed to absorb and deflect accountability. The citizen is alienated from the source of power, forced to interact with mid-level clerks, tax farmers, and unfeeling officers who are merely "following standard procedure." This creates a deep sense of societal nihilism and disenfranchisement, as the enemy is no longer a tyrant with a face, but an infinite labyrinth of paperwork and policy.
[4] 2 The Illusion of Progress: New Tyrannies for Old [source]
A recurring theme in flintlock fantasy is the realization that the destruction of the monarchy does not equate to the arrival of utopia. The pragmatic ascendancy of new institutions often results in new, more efficient forms of tyranny.
When Tamas executes the nobility to establish a republic, he inadvertently triggers a brutal civil war and a foreign invasion, forcing him to act as a dictator and send thousands to the guillotine just to maintain order.1zbNDtYJFGvXQhfbQS4cJFbupXT1rYNfG-DKnuZapQexv-gclztD92Rq6cLPUkMC9607erSzMtfpgQQW8SqnZSmiMM-5tJC8Ke9ZqeALVVgzxs=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">britannica.com">4513, M-PAUKTAkP0HRjezz7okw6yr1iNywyuBELilQyknOb4017cBtsFPDlke2gMDdg6U9w9n9iy6VgBkgLa3iFR9kfX7ylt2qdEBEgKiowSzkvM=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mariemullany.com">14] When the Breakers and Burners attempt to overthrow the capitalist system in Abercrombie's works, their revolution quickly devolves into mob justice, fanaticism, and worse suffering for the working class.4631, reddit.com">35]
The transition reveals a cynical truth about organizational design: merit-based systems and republics are highly susceptible to being co-opted by those who control capital or military force. The decay of the divine right merely paves the way for the rule of the ruthless pragmatist. The citizen trades the capricious cruelty of an inbred king for the calculated, industrialized cruelty of the factory owner or the secret police chief.
[4] 3 Gender, Class, and the Restructuring of Social Order [source]
The industrialization of magic and warfare inherently disrupts the rigid class and gender hierarchies of the medieval paradigm. Because muskets and factory machinery do not require the massive physical strength or lifelong martial training of a longsword, the workforce and the military can—and must—expand their talent pools.
As seen in Guns of the Dawn, the sheer scale of modern warfare necessitates the inclusion of women in the military.4736, Dl2qlBuEuHTGCF9d1ydvtSBSFn-XL7YlJaLrgi605OiphhZ994bE=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thefantasyinn.com">39] The gun becomes the great equalizer, eroding traditional gender barriers out of mathematical necessity. Furthermore, the rise of the merchant class and industrial tycoons shatters the caste system. A lowborn commoner who patents a better steam engine or masters the logistics of gunpowder supply can suddenly wield more geopolitical influence than a duke with a thousand-year pedigree. The concept of "nobility" decays, replaced by the socio-economic metrics of wealth, utility, and administrative competence.
[5] Historical Anchors: Real-World Data in Fictional Frameworks [source]
Flintlock fantasy resonates deeply because it anchors its magical worldbuilding in highly accurate historical models. To fully grasp the magnitude of the fictional decay, we must examine the real-world data that authors use as their blueprints.
[5] 1 The French Revolution and the Levée en Masse [source]
Django Wexler and Brian McClellan heavily base their political turmoil on the French Revolution.481, dBB1Dw9xR0d0wruWd5MOHqY-AUwgOi-mvwVmWDjTgYxrB9BtRCtPvfkg1l7-moab4HFWcHyhHFSacxvAJV5xOO6q1CzSl7Ms=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fanfiaddict.com">21, nYeEft0Zta3qT0uxmkB69s4xPwT5HSi1wwBouVtUpBWLFxJx557WSM3VWE6GPDsrNlPK1uW3SHYFtEqGdzDL-XokofSoUThvqJALnQ584Xv-GMB_6hQYyW-58gaTGAg8DMcyrGlddpMa9Q9Tw==" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">44] The collapse of the French monarchy in the late 18th century provided the ultimate historical case study in traditional power decay and the rise of the military-bureaucratic state.
Prior to the revolution, the French Royal Army was an exclusive institution, with 90% of its officer corps comprised of aristocrats.496] As the Republic faced invasion from multiple European monarchies, it radically redesigned its military apparatus. Military strategist Lazare Carnot implemented the amalgame strategy, mixing young enthusiastic volunteers with old veterans, and more importantly, instituted the Levée en masse in August 1793.506, wikipedia.org">8]
Growth of the French Armed Forces (1789 - 1794)
Historical insight: This exponential scaling was impossible for a traditional monarchy to manage. It required a massive, centralized bureaucracy to arm, feed, and pay a million men. Ultimately, this massive military machine became the state, paving the way for a brilliant artillery officer—Napoleon Bonaparte—to transition from military general to Emperor, a trajectory directly mirrored by Wexler's character Janus bet Vhalnich and McClellan's Field Marshal Tamas.
[5] 2 The 19th-Century Bureaucratic Explosion [source]
The rise of the commercial and administrative state in Abercrombie's works parallels the bureaucratic explosion of the 19th century in the United States and Europe. As nations expanded westward and industrialized, the legacy systems of patronage and "spoils" (rewarding political friends) became wildly inefficient.
Growth of US Federal Civilian Employment (1816 - 1925)
Historical insight: The shift from a patronage system to a merit-based civil service formalized the bureaucracy as a permanent, immovable fixture of governance. Just as the US government spawned the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Federal Reserve to manage a booming industrial economy, fantasy realms spawn entities like the Ministry of Information or Valint and Balk to manage the complexities of their modernizing worlds.609] The monarch is eventually squeezed out, entirely dependent on these administrative juggernauts to enact any policy.
[6] Conclusion: The Pragmatic Ascendancy of the Faceless Power [source]
The creative exploration of decay within flintlock fantasy provides a sophisticated lens through which to view the evolution of organizational design and power dynamics. The decline of the crown is not a tragedy of lost nobility, but a systemic inevitability. When the technological and economic foundations of a society transition from medieval agrarianism to industrial-era capitalism and mass-mobilized warfare, the architectural structure of the absolute monarchy simply cannot scale.
The introduction of gunpowder democratizes violence, shattering the monopoly of the magical and martial elite. The requirements of total war force the creation of massive standing armies, turning military generals into the true arbiters of state security. The economic complexities of nascent industrialization give rise to banking syndicates and merchant guilds that hold the nation's debt, effectively purchasing sovereignty from impoverished kings. Finally, the sheer logistical nightmare of managing these new realities necessitates the birth of the sprawling, faceless bureaucracy.
As authors like McClellan, Wexler, Abercrombie, and Tchaikovsky demonstrate, the void left by the decaying crown is swiftly and pragmatically filled. However, the average citizen soon discovers that trading a visible, divinely ordained monarch for an impersonal, labyrinthine bureaucracy offers little true liberation. The new power structures are vastly more efficient, but they are also vastly more detached, replacing the personal cruelty of a tyrant with the industrialized apathy of a system. In the gunpowder era, the age of kings dies its bloody death, but the age of the machine—relentless, administrative, and absolute—is only just beginning.
References
[1] Aura-Signal. (2026). "Flintlock: Magic, Industry, Society - Report 019." Aura-Signal. wikipedia.org">2: Aura-Signal. (2026). "Flintlock: Magic, Industry, Society - Report 019." Aura-Signal. w1wv0-SQsz18n5QIYGkxNoD-wMVpUTahiSiPIIVSs9506aytwOMY8pdKsvEdFBiPG0NUMbeKld50TzhP1CasWozV0ImuxEGsZx3h-xkEQmSeRjOyjPmlkY3SAUHaLhlJs95UpKSRn9aUgA9LnhjwWjGvtHUHguo0A1e6ybvQXF09MyDKFmu39DkWAI8zuqwA=" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quora.com">3: Wikipedia Contributors. (2025). "Bureaucracy." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. XNMngX8GYmB5Gz2TZw-Npiber3GIKRA75tveTIA5PtFbmDv6hxiZBpLZWhRSWpC422CMk-tF74mFGs8b9H--Q7FqATLNZHg8XaU9T6PwzKIlrHX-iMpuzocCggS3VGRv21q3qS" class="text-muted hover:text-primary border-b border-dotted border-grid-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reddit.com">4: Aura-Signal. (2026). "Flintlock: Magic, Industry, Society - Report 019." Aura-Signal. britannica.com">5: Reddit User Mournelithe. (2019). 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