BattleAxe First Read: Chapter Thirty-Five: StarMan (Part II)
Chapter Thirty-Five (Part I) | Table of Contents | Chapter Thirty-Six (Part I)
SCSF: A good day, everyone, and welcome to BattleAxe! Last time, Axis confronted Ogden and Veremund about their lies, and they revealed themselves. For the reader post:
On the previous part of this chapter, Wolfgoddess notes that sticking a knife in Hagen’s belly would be a good way to go about things if Azhure wanted revenge on him. I would think they should at least consider that possibility.
She further notes that the stitching of Hagen’s wound does not have to be great, so I will retract my complaint about that.
Ill Logic: 206 (-1)
Chessy notes that the mourners would not be doing the washing and stitching (I do wonder if Douglass did this to make the villagers look bad).
Did Not Do the Research: 63
She further points out that Axis does, of course, utter a death threat by holding the knife to Ogden’s throat. Finally, she leaves a small fic that shows how Belial ought to feel.
For myself… Ogden and Veremund should have put up a guard outside if they do not want to be caught, I would think.
Ill Logic: 207
I further wonder why Hagen’s wound is considered “evil” by the villagers. It might be because it has been caused by someone they think is evil, but there should be an explanation for it.
Cardboard Worldbuilding: 81
…This can use a better name. The problem is not always that the worldbuilding is too simple; in cases like this, it just needs an explanation. I will partially go back to an older version of this…:
Gold-Star Worldbuilding: 81
That will do better.
Let me resume with this chapter, then! We last left off with Belial feeling much more respect for the Sentinels now they have revealed themselves. Axis says “very quietly” that they know Gorgrael has arisen and now the Sentinels walk abroad. He thinks for a while, looking at the floor, then looks at the Sentinels and offers to tell them what he is. Ogden and Veremund hold their breath.
At their expressions, Axis gives a bitter laugh. He says that he is the son of Rivkah, “Princess of Achar”, and an “Icarii Enchanter”. Saying this aloud gives him a “great relief”, and his shoulder slump “as if freed of a great weight”. Belial is amazed at this. I do share in his relief, because this means we will be free of all this “who is my father?” agonising, and maybe we can move on to other things.
Veremund eventually nods, and says that is what they think themselves. That is all they know, though; they do not know who his father is “beyond that he is probably an Icarii Enchanter”. Yes, thank you for making that absolutely clear.
We Understand Already: 23
Ogden asks how Axis realised. Axis takes a deep breath and turns to Belial. He notes that they are Axemen committed to killing the Forbidden, but now he hears that the BattleAxe “is of their blood”. He asks Belial what he thinks of that. Belial grabs Axis’s hand and pulls himself up with it. He says the last few minutes have been “confounding” and “confusing” and his mind swirls with it. Still, though he has been raised to fear the Forbidden, he found Raum “more worthy of his respect than of his hatred”, and he does not see an evil Forbidden in Axis, but a friend who desperately needs support. That is about what I would expect.
Belial says that Axis is his BattleAxe, “eyes burning fiercely, daring Axis not to believe him”, that he is the “best commander” he has ever served under, and that he is his friend, and he has never asked after his friends’ parentage. It is a good enough speech, though I would like it better if it were not for Axis and if this was not a foregone conclusion already. Axis gets tears in his eyes and embraces Belial. Veremund nearly “faint[s] with relief”, since Belial just did what might have taken them months to accomplish. Maybe you could leave more things to others, then?
Ogden asks again how Axis realised. Axis looks back at them and says it was the music he remembered, like the ward against Gorgrael and the song he sang to Shra. Raum also said he had the soul of an Enchanter and asked him why he wore the uniform of the BattleAxe when the Icarii hate the BattleAxe. And then before the Avarinheim, when he had Raum at swordpoint, a women came from the trees. Yes, that is all correct.
Ogden and Veremund are interested, since they do not know what has happened and ask after it. Axis gives them a summary of his chase after Azhure and Raum. As for the woman, he does not know. She was of “Acharite extraction” (which he corrects himself to after saying “our”). He then reiterates the relevant bit of the conversation, where GoldFeather says the Icarii sing magically, which he connected to his “own skill at music”, which has apparently “improved immeasurably” since Ogden and Veremund have kept him company. And so he realised that he was Icarii.
Did we seriously need a recap of all the evidence so far and of thoughts we have already seen from Axis? Telling us which things he noticed would have sufficed. I guess Douglass wanted to pad this out or something.
We Understand Already: 24
Ogden now says that they knew he had to be of Icarii blood when he read the Prophecy. After all, it is written in the “sacred tongue of the Icarii” and only an Icarii could have read it. …I guess that is because of a spell on the Prophecy? It almost sounds like anyone with Icarii blood could read it because of their heritage, but that would not work, of course.
PPP: 359
Axis gets up and looks into the fire for a while. Finally he asks why they had him specifically read the Prophecy and why they followed him “all the way around Arcen and Skarabost”. I think you want Arcness, Axis, since Arcen is a city.
PPP: 360
Veremund says it was because they think he is “the One” (yes, we are really going here). Axis asks what that is and Belial answers that it is the StarMan, the one who will unite the races, and the “only one” who can stop Gorgrael. Ogden and Veremund nod. Belial apparently surprised them again, and they think he will be a “valuable ally” for Axis in the next months. Veremund briefly wonders if some of the “deeper riddles” of the Prophecy concern Belial. I do not think so… Axis suddenly hisses that he does not want this, looking between Belial and the Sentinels. Oh, is there more violence, then? Ogden tries to talk to him, but he punches the wall of the fireplace, his fist clenched “in anger and confusion”. He asks how he can be the one to unite Tencendor, since he is the BattleAxe, so he serves the Seneschal, and the Seneschal is… strongly opposed to that, I assume. He does not get the chance to go on, as Ogden says that the Seneschal is “opposed to everything [Axis] is”. He jumps to his feet, “cheeks red and [] grey eyes bright” and embarks on an angry rant.
He begins by saying that the Seneschal, “driven by their devotion to Artor”, spread lies among the Acharites to “incite hatred of the Icarii and Avar”. So… why did the Icarii and Avar not do anything about them, then? If they were such a hate group, they should have been easily suppressed, so this sentiment was either carried more broadly or the Seneschal was more powerful then Ogden suggests. He says that they drove the Avar and Icarii from Achar and “left it vulnerable to Gorgrael” (and how should they have known about him?).
He then says that Axis knows the Prophecy. The three races must unite against Gorgrael and Axis is the One. After all, he is a “war leader” and he can lead Tencendor against whatever forces Gorgrael may send (I highly doubt that). He also has the “blood of Achar’s royal line” and Priam should recognise that he has two heirs. Further, he has “compassion”, as he has shown Ogden “time and time again”. Yes, like in his treatment of Gilbert, or his treatment of Hagen, or when he threatened to kill you just now! The only time he showed actual compassion was to Raum and Shra, and that was probably not wholly of his own will, so what are you talking about?!
Axis will also need “compassion before all else” if he is to unite the races and “destroy Gorgrael”. After all, “destroying” Gorgrael is just such a compassionate deed. Yes, he will need “compassion” (or just understanding) to unite the races, but that does not quite fit in. Ogden’s final argument is that Axis has “the makings of one of the most powerful Icarii Enchanters that ever lived” in him, if he embraces it instead of fighting it.
Let me see… Ogden’s arguments are that Axis is a war leader, that he is of the royal line of Achar, that he has compassion and that he could be a great Enchanter. I can see how he gets there, at least, though it would work better if Axis actually has so much compassion and if he has proved himself in an actual war.
Axis gets torn up over this speech, saying that Ogden lies, since he cannot work against Gorgrael’s sorcery and he could not stop the storm at the Ancient Barrows. Ogden shouts “no!”, waving his fists in the air. He says that Axis cannot do so at the moment. They need to find his father, because if they do not find him, and he is “the only one that can teach [him]”, Axis will “never be strong enough to face Gorgrael”. The Sentinels also need Axis’s father because he will be Gorgrael’s father and without him, they cannot “find or know Gorgrael”.
I have two questions:
1) Why is Ogden so sure that it will come down to a contest of power? The Prophecy, which is the only thing I (and Axis) know at this point, only says that Axis must wield the Rainbow Sceptre to “bring Gorgrael to his knees”, not how he needs to do that. For all we know he needs to break open the sceptre and pour the contents on Gorgrael or move it in a certain pattern. Yes, I am quite certain it does come down to ~power~ in the end, but we cannot know for sure just yet.
2) I suppose that Gorgrael’s father might be able to point them to him (though we know that is not the case), but why can they not “find or know” him if his father is unknown? They could easily catch one of his underlings and get information from them, I would think.
Ill Logic: 207
Now there is silence. Ogden sits in his chair again after a while. With quite some effort, Belial manages to sit on the edge of the bed, “fighting the dizziness that [sweeps] over him”. Axis looks back to the fire. Veremund just looks between everyone. Eventually, Axis asks what he did to Shra.
Veremund answers that he sang the “Song of Recreation”. It is passable, though I might have used “Song of Resurrection” instead. How Axis could sing that without being taught, he does not know, as it is hardly something his father would have taught him in the womb. The Song of Recreation is “very beautiful” and “very haunting”, since it “recreates life itself”. That I can understand. It takes the “intertwined breath” of the dying person and that of the singer as its music and uses “the power of the Stars themselves” to “infuse the dying with life”. Oh, I do like this look into the magic system! (And yes, this power comes from actual stars.)
No Icarii has been able to sing that song “so well” in three thousand years, and no other person than Axis would have been able to save Shra like he did. Of course he is just so good at this… though I doubt if this is really true. Ogden and he cried at it, and Raum was shocked, since he is a Bane, “one of the Avar who well understands the practice of enchantments”. He recognised the song for what it was and knew how much power was necessary for it, so it is little wonder that he asked why Axis is the BattleAxe. Yes, thank you for the thorough recap.
We Understand Already: 25
Belial tries to speak up, though he has some trouble with it. He asks why Axis is “not powerful enough” to defeat Gorgrael if he could resurrect Shra. Axis says, “his voice weary with resignation”, that he does not know how to access his power, and he can hardly stand before an enemy and hope that the right bit of song occurs to him. Further, Belly my Wife can “rally [his] men from a mist-induced fugue”, but he doubts it can send Gorgrael “screaming from [his] sight” (the quality is not bad enough for that, for one). He jokes that it might if Belial was there, given how bad he is at the harp (he also uses “dark music” here, which might be something to note).
Belial is amused, but Ogden is not distracted. He says again that Axis needs his father to teach him, and the Enchanters usually pass their knowledge on to their children. No one can teach a new Enchanter except from an Enchanter from their family, which he repeats is usually the parent. I suppose we will get an explanation for that in time… I do note that this means Axis has to have been taught by someone from his family, and I think that will develop into some half-decent mystery further on, so well done, Douglass.
Axis gets irritated and asks where he will be able to find his father to teach him this. Ogden spreads his hands, puts on a “cherubic expression” and says “who knows what the Prophecy will do?”. Oh, come on! You could at least try for an actual answer instead of effectively taunting him. Axis gets angry and asks what he should do now.
⟨He also says “oh-creatures-of-the-Prophecy”, which should be “O creatures-of-the-prophecy”.⟩
Axis Is Angry: 16
PPP: 360
Veremund says he should do as he was doing, by going on to Sigholt and then to Gorkenfort. I do note we only heard about going to Sigholt from Yr… Both are places where he might find “clues to [his] father’s identity”. He was conceived at one and born at the other, so who knows what might be there? Axis does not really react, and instead asks Belial how he can continue as BattleAxe, “knowing what he knows”. Belial says that he has the command over three thousand people “committed to defending Gorkenfort against the raids of Gorgrael”, and how does that conflict with his purpose as either “BattleAxe or Enchanter’s son”? He will simply go on as he would have done, and in Belial’s view, he now has more knowledge and perhaps more weapons.
This misses the point a bit. Axis was asking how he can keep being BattleAxe when he knows he is of Forbidden blood. An answer like Belial’s could be “because that will keep the troops together the best”. Well, Veremund thinks that Belial spoke well, which Axis agrees with. He then brings up Raum saying that Faraday was still alive and asks how he could have known that.
Ogden and Veremund are “genuinely shocked”. They were sure that Jack and Yr managed to keep Faraday and Timozel alive during the landslide, but they cannot understand how Raum could find out. Maybe he met them? They think that Axis must not know that Faraday goes toward Gorkenfort, because he can still arrive in front of her and “ruin all their plans”. But they also promised not to lie to him, so what should they do?
Veremund decides to offer Axis suppositions. He says that Faraday might have survived falling into the Barrow, since the ground there is “riddled with tunnels and tombs”. Axis thinks she might still be wandering there, and Veremund quickly reassures him that if Raum saw her, it must have been aboveground. She might well be going north from the Barrows to her home, and she must have mentioned Axis to him, because Raum mentioned her to Axis. She might well be home by now, and if Timozel is there to protect her, what can go wrong?
This is a decent cover story, so credit to Veremund for it. Axis relaxes a bit and accepts the story. He says that Ogden and Veremund might not be Brothers of the Seneschal, but they are all that the villagers of Smyrton have, so they should perform the Service of the Dead. At least they have had “some recent practice”.
…Even if Axis has the authority to grant them the right to perform the Service of the Dead (which we do not know), the villagers will not be getting what they thought they would. It would be better to tell them the “Brothers” are unavailable for the Service of the Dead. But then, this is Smyrton, so they probably deserve to be ripped off.
Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 109
Petty Ain’t the Word for You: 51
Belial laughs about this, but gets a spike of pain and holds his head. Axis smiles at him, thinking about Faraday. He “let[s] himself hope a little”. Well, that is nice for him. There the chapter ends.
I think we would miss little if this chapter had been cut entirely. It consists nearly entirely of us learning things we already know, and Axis’s reaction is both too much (such as threatening to kill Ogden) and just too bland in how he accepts his role as StarMan. The only new things we learn are the Song of Recreation and that Enchanters can only be taught by their family (which we could be told elsewhere), and that is about the only worth this has.
Next time, we will be back with Azhure with the GhostTree Clan. Until then!
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Which you should have told him the first time he asked.
Belial, if Axis is the best commander you've served under you need better luck in commanders. Or possibly a change of commanders, depending.
Veremund, grow a brain.
Ogden, you do realize the Seneschal is not, in fact, a serial bodyhopper? That the various men who have held that title are, in fact, different people? You do not know the current Seneschal is so fervently opposed to Axis, because all you know is secondhand gossip from a woman who, if I may be so crass, seems to consider her work of lower priority than her sex life. He doesn't even know what the Forbidden are, how can you be sure he'd recognize Axis as one?
You've got to wonder how much of the story Ogden isn't saying. Personally I'm inclined to suspect he's leaving out all the other groups who thought the Talon, and by extension the Icarii, weren't all they were cracked up to be.
Ogden is talking about the version of Axis which exists solely within his head and bears little to no resemblance to the real one. Or possibly he thinks those were compassionate acts and needs to be force-fed a dictionary.
So, how much contact have you had with the Icarii over the past three thousand years?
Okay, for once a reasonable question gets a reasonable answer. Stopped clocks and all that.
Ogden, just say you have no idea. It'll be more honest.
Belial, dear heart, I'm pretty sure that feeling like you must avoid giving a friend bad news is a sign they are not your friend.
Axis seems remarkably comfortable with sacrilege.
"You're the best commander I ever served under," Belial said, reassuringly. It felt weak and insipid even as he said it, but Axis didn't seem to notice.
It was true, he couldn't recall a better commander, and yet Axis was his friend. Surely he could think of something better to say, some good trait or shared memory, something more personal?
And now his head was spinning. He must have moved too quickly.
He struggled to follow the conversation as he tried to recall his friend's good traits.
"How can I be the BattleAxe now that I know?" Axis asked him, clearly upset.
Give up magic, Belial thought, or else resign after this campaign. "You command over three thousand people," he heard his own voice say, "all of whom are committed to defending Gorkenfort from Gorgrael's forces. What conflict is there between the duties of the BattleAxe or Enchanter’s son?"
And yes, it was true, it was all true, but it was so incomplete as to be a lie and not one he'd wished to tell.
Axis cracked a distasteful joke, and Belial dutifully laughed and wondered how much of their friendship was real.
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Which you should have told him the first time he asked.
SCSF: Exactly! Sure, he might have reacted badly to the notion, but he would have had more time to come to terms with who he is. They do not only not have a good reason to hide it, they are also impeding their own Prophecy.
Belial, if Axis is the best commander you've served under you need better luck in commanders. Or possibly a change of commanders, depending.
I suppose it would be the first, since Belial is several years older than Axis... and I do wonder what his previous commander must have been like, then.
Ogden, you do realize the Seneschal is not, in fact, a serial bodyhopper? That the various men who have held that title are, in fact, different people? You do not know the current Seneschal is so fervently opposed to Axis, because all you know is secondhand gossip from a woman who, if I may be so crass, seems to consider her work of lower priority than her sex life. He doesn't even know what the Forbidden are, how can you be sure he'd recognize Axis as one?
I do note that you are describing the Brother-Leader of the Seneschal, while the Seneschal itself apparently includes the Brother-Leader and all the Brothers. That only strengthens your argument, though. We have not seen Jayme nor any of the Brothers be opposed to Axis because of who he is, even though he has clearly "alien" features. Jayme even adopted him, so clearly the Seneschal is not as black-and-white on this as Ogden is saying it is. (And the way in which he follows it up makes it less likely for Axis to call him out on this.)
And yes, serial bodyhoppers would explain why everyone treats the Wars of the Axe like they happened a generation ago.
I note that Yr has only stayed in Carlon, too, which is not the best place to know what the Brothers elsewhere think. And Ogden and Veremund's interaction with other Brothers has been limited to those in Arcen, who they avoided, and Hagen... so Ogden is probably just claiming this to get Axis to hate the Seneschal.
You've got to wonder how much of the story Ogden isn't saying. Personally I'm inclined to suspect he's leaving out all the other groups who thought the Talon, and by extension the Icarii, weren't all they were cracked up to be.
Oh, me too. They were the ruling group for several thousand years, after all, and if that rule was somewhat authoritarian, there would be all kinds of groups wishing for change and willing to act. But of course Ogden would not say that, because that would mean that the Icarii were not so great as Douglass wants them to be and that the Seneschal is not as uniquely evil as we are supposed to think.
Ogden is talking about the version of Axis which exists solely within his head and bears little to no resemblance to the real one. Or possibly he thinks those were compassionate acts and needs to be force-fed a dictionary.
I would almost think the latter, especially since Axis tried to kill him just now!
So, how much contact have you had with the Icarii over the past three thousand years?
That is a very good question! Sure, they might have heard about people who could sing it very well, but how would they know from personal experience? The best I can think of is that they heard it often during the Wars of the Axe (because of many victims)... but they simply cannot say for sure that Axis is the best at it.
Ogden, just say you have no idea. It'll be more honest.
Hmmm, his deduction is reasonable enough, and I do think Axis should know Faraday still lives... but he should indeed say that he has little idea what she is doing now, because he does not know.
Belial, dear heart, I'm pretty sure that feeling like you must avoid giving a friend bad news is a sign they are not your friend.
Yes, that is very much not a good sign.
Axis seems remarkably comfortable with sacrilege.
He certainly is. It might well be supposed to be a sign that he is "leaving its influence", but I do not like it.
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Good on Belial for realising this (and I do think that is about the extent of their relationship)! Also, am I right in assuming that the Sentinels have given him some kind of mind-control? (I do like that you stuck with my summarisation of the dialogue instead of trying to make up some yourself.)
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I meant that Ogden should just say that he has no idea how they're going to find Axis' father. ('The prophecy works in mysterious ways' is not a plan.)
The mind-tampering in my spitefic is partly the Sentinels, partly long-term exposure to Axis since, well, Axis isn't really a friendly person.
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In my defense, Seneschal is usually a single person's title, not the name of a collective group. For that matter, the term used for the entire hierarchy of the Church is 'the hierarchy', 'the Church hierarchy', or 'the bishops'. Why are they using a singular title?
SCSF: I was just thinking about that myself! The name "Seneschal" feels weird in any case; I guess that it might work if Artor was the king and Achar the household... but that does not make much sense. "The Stewards" would carry much the same meaning, but make more sense.
I meant that Ogden should just say that he has no idea how they're going to find Axis' father. ('The prophecy works in mysterious ways' is not a plan.)
Ah, that makes more sense! This bit blurred together quite a bit, so I did not exactly know what you meant. And yes, he really should admit he does not know, and mabye even ask Axis for tips (if only because he is more likely to know which people to contact to get information).
The mind-tampering in my spitefic is partly the Sentinels, partly long-term exposure to Axis since, well, Axis isn't really a friendly person.
Yes, that would do it, too... and since he has stuck with Axis for so long, I would think that admitting he should have left is no easy thing to do even without outside influence.
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SCSF: Oh yes, that would be a problem, too. The man cannot have healthy relationships, it seems.
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Yeah, in the real world a seneschal is like a steward or a butler. It really does not work as the name of a big religious organisation.
It's like he can't be considered heroic if he's, you know, a nice person. That he has a "best friend" this slavishly devoted to him implies that Belial is a weak-willed loser who has attached himself to the head bully, who accepts his devotion because he can bully him and otherwise use him as it suits him. I actually wrote just such a friendship not that long ago, and it did not end well for the "best friend" when the psychotic bully finally ran out of use for him.
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They promised not to lie, yet have been lying by default for stupid reasons right from the word go, just to drag things out.
If anything, Axis has to be the WORST commander I've ever seen depicted in fiction.
A headcanon, IN canon. Lordy.
And that you know damn well he can and will get violent with you if you displease him. Like he just did about five minutes ago.
That's because his supposed faith in Artor isn't sincerely held and probably never was, whether that was intentional on the author's part or not. And he's hardly alone in that department because out of the entire human population only three individuals and the inhabitants of Smeartown don't instantly abandon their own faith forever just because Axis showed up.
He soon realised these traits numbered in the zeroes.
Yeah, that "joke" was literally just him bullying his "best friend", and not for the last time.
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That doesn't bode well for his men
And that you know damn well he can and will get violent with you if you displease him.
Which would be why I view their relationship as abusive.
More evidence that the Sentinels are blithely mind-controlling the general public...
He soon realised these traits numbered in the zeroes.
That's an excellent summation, yes.
Not an angle I'd considered before, but you do have a point.
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If I had to make a guess, I would say that it's considered evil because they think he was murdered, and murder is universally viewed as an evil act.
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This just made me simultaneously giggle and roll my eyes. That's like saying "your father was probably male." NO SHIT, SHERLOCK. I suppose they could have meant that he was the child of an enchanter, rather than a descendant several generations removed, but the way it's phrased is so horrible.
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Maybe it wouldn't have taken you months if you hadn't been lying about everything from the moment you met them. You've done absolutely nothing to make anyone want to trust you!
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I do actually think that could be implemented. Something like the magic of the language would allow those with the blood of that particular race to automatically be able to understand the language, even if they had never spoken or heard it before. I believe I've actually seen that somewhere before, but I can't remember where.
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Yeah, if they're depending on his leadership skills, the world is doomed from the start. This isn't even a case of a hero just needing the right training to become what he needs to be to save the world; this implies that Axis is just fine the way he is, and doesn't need to change anything.
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If I had to make a guess, I would say that it's considered evil because they think he was murdered, and murder is universally viewed as an evil act.
SCSF: That might naturally be it, too: it was caused by an evil act, so it is evil itself.
This just made me simultaneously giggle and roll my eyes. That's like saying "your father was probably male." NO SHIT, SHERLOCK. I suppose they could have meant that he was the child of an enchanter, rather than a descendant several generations removed, but the way it's phrased is so horrible.
The counterexample to your example is even easier, since that simply depends on someone taking the "father" role even if they do not fit in the traditional mold for it. In this case, since we know the ward Axis sang against Gorgrael was taught to him in the womb, the counterexample would be... that Rivkah got pregnant from an Icarii who was not an Enchanter and that one of their family later showed up to her to teach Axis the ward. It is not impossible, but quite improbable.
Maybe it wouldn't have taken you months if you hadn't been lying about everything from the moment you met them. You've done absolutely nothing to make anyone want to trust you!
They really do not understand that trust helps, do they?
I do actually think that could be implemented. Something like the magic of the language would allow those with the blood of that particular race to automatically be able to understand the language, even if they had never spoken or heard it before. I believe I've actually seen that somewhere before, but I can't remember where.
I will have to see if it actually is the case, I suppose. It does sound sensible enough for "the Prophet", at least.
Yeah, if they're depending on his leadership skills, the world is doomed from the start. This isn't even a case of a hero just needing the right training to become what he needs to be to save the world; this implies that Axis is just fine the way he is, and doesn't need to change anything.
As I recall, that is about how it will unfold, only that he needs to embrace his Icarii side further. At least he will only manage to get this continent blown up?
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Honestly, I'm not even certain that 'trust' is a word in their vocabulary. Or if it is, their definition of it is ridiculously skewed.
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I'm desperately hoping you don't mean that literally, but the way things are going...yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if he somehow contributes to the destruction of an entire continent.
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Honestly, I'm not even certain that 'trust' is a word in their vocabulary. Or if it is, their definition of it is ridiculously skewed.
SCSF: As Chessy said, their definitions of certain terms are quite off, so I agree!
I'm desperately hoping you don't mean that literally, but the way things are going...yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if he somehow contributes to the destruction of an entire continent.
Oh, I am being quite literal! Grancendor (Tencendor's continent, as the NRSG dubbed it) will end up sinking beneath the waves at the end of Crusader. Axis does contribute to it, by completely refusing to research any further threats after this trilogy. Further, if I recall correctly, this happened because Tencendor was "too corrupted" or something, and, in Enchanter, Axis means to "reforge to Tencendor using the sheer force of his personality". I doubt Douglass meant it, but that implies to me that Axis was more than a bit the cause for this.
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Okay, now it's REALLY funny. Our "chosen one" remade the country in his own image and it's so corrupt now it fucking dies. You can bet he doesn't take any responsibility for it either. Plus he and Azhure just blithely go off and leave their kids to deal with the problem they created.
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SCSF: They will be doing something about it... but not looking into further threats after this trilogy is criminally irresponsible.
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SCSF: I do not think it either, but I suppose I will find out eventually!
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I personally wouldn't believe these two if they told me the sky was blue.
Which he does with no difficulty because he has to be right all the time.
With hindsight that future plot development is just plain funny.
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And after all that crap about Axis having "the soul of an Icarii Enchanter", no less. Douglass really thinks her readers are idiots because she always blows her own plot "twists" well in advance by being this ridiculously obvious with her "foreshadowing".
Even by the time book three rolls around he's still yelling at and abusing his underlings and even says "I do not want to hear this!" when someone tries to give him some important intel. It's absolutely ridiculous that he ever got promoted beyond mere foot soldier. Even then, given his lack of comradeship, he'd have been crap even in that lowly position.
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It makes me wonder, if he's this bad while people still insist that he's the best leader in the history of forever, what is the worst leader like?
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Or Luigi Caledonia.
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SCSF: If it is Luigi Cadorna you mean... to the best of my knowledge, Axis will at least
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Lost the same battle eleven times? Yeah, that guy.
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How many commanders has this credulous fool served under anyway? And if they're such great friends... I still need to see some evidence of that.
Which we will never learn anything further about. Instead, despite THOUSANDS OF YEARS of separation, everyone just speaks perfect English. Including the isolationist Avar.
That or she just thinks we're stupid, which given how much hand-holding is in this crap seems likely. Just wait until book two where every time someone gives a speech a character - usually Ogden and Veremund, or Raum - helpfully explains what it "means" even though it's already blatantly obvious.
Just why ONLY Axis can do this is beyond me and will of course never be explained. In fact if anything he's just about the worst choice possible - why the fuck would anyone ever think this foul-tempered, emotionally unstable selfish assohle be the least bit good at uniting anybody, unless it be under a brutal "do as I say or die" dictatorship? Which is what happens anyway, though probably not intentionally. Axis threatens his willing allies, constantly and for no good reason.
Nope. Belial's only role in this story is "yes-man".
Case in point, he's throwing yet another toddler tantrum.
It's SO incredibly kind and compassionate how Axis coldly kills him while he's on his knees begging for mercy, you guys.
Yet again we have a violent psychopath being passed off as "compassionate" and god I hate it.
Yep, he lied through his teeth about Axis being Such A Nice Guy (tm)
NOBODY DOES THIS. Not even freaking cartoon characters do this.
This is of course NEVER explained.
Because this is lazily written crap fantasy, so everything always comes down to mindless brute force and endlessly escalating power levels to a truly absurd degree.
That would actually take effort instead of mindlessly following the stupid prophecy like a slave.
Once again, Douglass cannot keep to a consistent POV to save her grandmother.
This must be why Raum never once uses any magic in the entire trilogy. Or any other bane for that matter.
Stop trying to write comic relief, Douglass. Because you suck at it.
Nope.
And how have you not figured out just how easy it is to piss this guy off?
Surprise!
Like maybe Timmy turning evil! Or her home being attacked by Gorge. Something crazy like that.
Because They Are Evil.
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That or she just thinks we're stupid, which given how much hand-holding is in this crap seems likely. Just wait until book two where every time someone gives a speech a character - usually Ogden and Veremund, or Raum - helpfully explains what it "means" even though it's already blatantly obvious.
SCSF: But of course... We should not miss just how "awesome" these speeches are, after all.
Just why ONLY Axis can do this is beyond me and will of course never be explained.
Well, the Prophecy says so, and the Prophecy needs to be followed to properly defeat the TimeKeepers. Never mind that only his children will matter for that, and since he had them before killing Gorgrael, there is no need to do that, and never mind that the later books will show that the Demons could have been handled much better if Axis had a shred of curiosity...
It's SO incredibly kind and compassionate how Axis coldly kills him while he's on his knees begging for mercy, you guys.
I am somewhat interested to see how Douglass goes about justifying that.
Because this is lazily written crap fantasy, so everything always comes down to mindless brute force and endlessly escalating power levels to a truly absurd degree.
I would almost like to see Douglass mentioning the actual power levels of the characters in numbers, then.
Like maybe Timmy turning evil! Or her home being attacked by Gorge. Something crazy like that.
After all, it is not like she has any part in the Prophecy!
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Or how "awesome" Axis is, since most of the hand-holding about what the speech means comes in the form of "Axis is Special".
Curiosity is unmanly!!
She doesn't. It's just right because Axis is right.
Yeah, she's not important to saving the world at all - no wonder Axis lets her just go off by herself later on with no armed escort because... that would be "inappropriate"? It's absolutely insane just how blithely he ignores the potential for her to be attacked, kidnapped or killed.