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teresChapter Thirty-Six (Part I) | Table of Contents | Chapter Thirty-Seven (Part I)
SCSF: A good day, everyone, and welcome back to BattleAxe! Last time, we spent some more time with the Avar, and we saw them react to earlier events. For the reader post:
On the first part of this chapter, Chessy notes that “quern stones” are an actual tool for grinding. I have amended it there already, but I did think it worth noting.
She further notes the absence of a harvest festival, which I would indeed be expecting from the Avar. I see that the NRSG already noted that, too… Come to think of it, as Chessy says, it might just be a “too much of a harvest festival” and thus not allowed, because it would be too Acharite, and too agricultural. I would not be surprised.
She then notes that Pease asking Azhure who she “dreams of” is all too personal a question to ask. I suppose that Douglass wanted to show us Azhure being uncomfortable; while this might work with a group of friends, it does indeed overshoot its mark when applied here.
PPP: 364
(Though it is not relevant here, I did talk with Epistler about some future plot points, in case that interests you.)
We last left off with Raum confirming that Faraday was chosen as Tree Friend. There is silence for a while as the other Avar think this over, and we get told more about Tree Friend. Ever since the Wars of the Axe, when the “southern Avarinheim” was destroyed and the Avar were driven back, it has been “legend among the Avar” that Tree Friend will appear one day. Tree Friend will then lead them back out into Achar and allow them to “re-establish themselves and the Avarinheim on the barren plains that [run] down to Widewall Bay”.
That tracks with what we have heard, mostly because we know the larger part of it already. I do appreciate that the Avar have a legend of their own, though I have some problems with this. First, let me show the map…
I was just going to complain about the talk of the “southern Avarinheim”, but that is clearly a fair description, so… that brings me to the “barren plains”. As we have seen already, the plains of Arcness and the Seagrass Plains are not barren at all. Further north, we have the WildDog Plains, which cannot be all that barren if they support so many dogs (their prey needs to live off something, after all). I can see the southern plains of Arcness, bordering on Widewall Bay, be barren, since they would be quite dry because of the climate, but they would hardly be wastelands.
IYES: 37 (+2)
So then we learn that Tree Friend is supposed to re-establish both the Avar and the Avarinheim. I have no trouble with the former, but the latter does trouble me, since that would entail destroying all these plains as they are now. …I think that is another reason for the insistence that the plains are “barren”; if they are, that means that forest can be planted on them without destroying anything, and that makes replanting the Avarinheim quite a bit more convenient. That fits with the “deforestation leaves never-healing wastelands” idea I talked about earlier, since replanting the forest would presumably “heal” those. I do not think Douglass thought this way, but it is the ideas I am getting from her treatment of it, and it is just… not how anything works. (I might just have liked it if she had actually implemented this, but that was not to be.)
Going back to the topic at hand, replanting the Avarinheim is certainly a possibility, but it would have to be done with care, especially since the conditions on the Avarinheim’s former area have changed quite a bit in the meantime. So how will that be done? It would also need to be done with regard for the plains, as they are certainly not “barren” and pasting forest over them would quite destroy their ecosystem. How will that be prevented? Then there are the people who are living on those plains, like the Renkins, and the Seagrass Plains yielding grain for the whole of Achar. Will those people be evicted when Tree Friend comes? Where will the grain for Achar come from then, and is it alright to possible expose more land to agriculture?
I think that could make for a quite interesting plot, if Douglass were willing to answer those questions. As it is… Douglass will ignore most of this, though we will also not be getting a full-scale reforestation. (And most of these problems would not be problems all that much if this took place decades after the Wars of the Axe.)
Back to the present, the Avar do not like that Tree Friend is an Acharite, “of the race that had both slaughtered the Avar and the Avarinheim”, and find it “unthinkable!” Once again, this strong reaction would work better if there had not been a thousand years between the Wars of the Axe and now. Also… I would think that Tree Friend would ideally be quite familiar with the Acharites, especially those of the plains, or even hold power among them, to ensure that leading the Avar and Avarinheim back will not go wrong. If Grindle, for example, were Tree Friend, he would not have much resources to keep the people of Achar from attacking the Avar when they appear. If Tree Friend were Acharite, in contrast, the Acharites might listen… and if Tree Friend is a Lady of Skarabost and the Duchess of Ichtar, they would have quite some means to make people accept the Avar.
I had not put much thought to that earlier, but Faraday being Tree Friend is a quite lucky break, because she does have quite some authority, and she is specifically royalty in Skarabost, the area where the Avar would first be coming into if they spread. So Tree Friend may be an Acharite, but she is one of the best choices they could have had in any case… though I am quite sure Douglass completely ignores this.
FYRP: 126 (+2)
Well, Raum can that the Avar are thinking about this. He goes on with his story, knowing that they do not “really want to hear the words”. After he tested Faraday, he bonded and presented her to the Mother, like he did with Shra. Then they went to the Sacred Grove, where the Horned Ones were, who “greeted [Faraday] and called her Tree Friend”. Raum pauses to let everyone absorb this news. We cut to GoldFeather, who naturally has less trouble with it. She knows that the Avar “place[] all the hopes of their race in the long-hoped-for Tree Friend”, so finding out that Tree Friend is an Acharite is “a hard blow for them to absorb”. Yes, thank you for repeating what we just heard!
We Understand Already: 26
She then thinks about Faraday and remembers that Raum said something to Axis about her, which she cannot quite remember (he said that she lives, which I would think would not be that hard to remember). Azhure is quite mystified, and GoldFeather indicates to her that she will explain later. Then she looks back at Raum, thinking that “[s]trange days [are] upon them”. Ooh, ominous! …Or it would be if we had not known that already for half the book and are now waiting for something to happen with that.
After a bit Barsarbe reluctantly asks where Tree Friend is now. Raum says that she is travelling to Gorkenfort, at which GoldFeather looks at him with hard eyes, and that she is to marry Duke Borneheld there. At this, GoldFeather “[gives] a strangled moan, her hands flying to her mouth, her eyes distressed”, which makes everyone look at her. I can certainly imagine why; after all, Borneheld is still alive, and we have seen she feels guilt about him, not to mention that Faraday’s situation might remind her of her own with Searlas. So this is not badly done.
Azhure asks her what her is, concerned because she has “never seen GoldFeather anything less than totally composed” (which does fit with what we have seen of her so far). GoldFeather then grabs Azhure’s hand and holds it so tight that “she crunche[s] the bones of Azhure’s fingers” (which I hope is hyperbole). Azhure finds it uncomfortable, but says nothing. Grindle then asks what is going on, and we cut to GoldFeather’s POV, as she “[fights] to compose herself”.
She tells us that “some of the Avar, mostly Banes” (who specifically?), know that she comes from a “high-born Acharite family’, but none knows who she really was. After all, she has “buried her past completely” when she came to live with the Icarii. But now there is Borneheld. Before this day, she has “hardly thought of him in almost thirty years”, then she feared he might be BattleAxe, and now Raum has mentioned him.
Um, if she has hardly thought of him since she came to live with the Icarii, how does she feel so much guilt about him? Her reaction, and her earlier worrying, do not quite fit with her never having thought about Borneheld in the meantime, either. I just do not believe it; sure, she may have tried to leave her past behind her, but what we see clearly shows that that did not wholly succeed in the meantime.
PPP: 365
She thinks this is “[h]ardly coincidence” and wonders if the Prophecy will pull her into “its frightening entanglements”, too. That is certainly a valid concern… though I am not quite feeling why she is so reluctant. It is probably supposed to be because she left her past behind her, and does not want to be dragged into it again, but we have not heard just what was so terrible about it, and playing a part in the Prophecy does not have to mean she will interact with her past. Douglass needs to explain it a little better, I think.
So, she finally tries to reassure the group with a smile, and says she knew Borneheld’s father once. He was a “hard and humourless man, more comfortable with his enemy at the point of his sword than wasting time in needless pleasantries”, and she does not imagine Borneheld will be anything less. Disguising her reaction as worry over what might happen to Faraday is reasonably smart, and we are also supposed to believe that Borneheld is very bad, after all. I do wonder just what enemies Searlas is supposed to have had; sure, I can come up with some, but we should probably not be guessing. She finishes by saying that the Prophecy “moves in mysterious ways” and thinks to herself that the Duchess of Ichtar will once again “become friend to the Forbidden”. I think that is Douglass drawing parallels, GoldFeather (not that I do not appreciate it).
Raum looks at GoldFeather, “concerned by her sudden pallor”, but he knows he needs to tell still more news, which “[will] confuse, perhaps frighten” the group even more. Well, we were able to endure it the first time, so I think this will not be all that bad. So Raum explains that Tree Friend is not the strangest news, and as they know, he and Shra were captured in Smyrton and held “for four days in foul conditions”, which brought Shra near death. I… think the lack of food and drink and the beatings are more important than the “foul conditions”? Yes, the former is probably included, but some specificity could hardly hurt here.
PPP: 366
Pease is shocked at this and holds Shra tight, who is, by now, “awake and listening to Raum avidly”. So, on the fourth day, the villagers brought the BattleAxe, and Shra was “no more than an hour from death”. Barsarbe wants to break in now, but Raum holds up a hand and tells her to wait until he is done speaking. He held Pease in his arms and watched Axis walk toward them, and he thought they were dead, but then… Axis “asked to hold Shra”. Pease asks if Raum let him, “her voice angry and hostile”, which I can understand quite well.
Raum says that she was not there, and he saw “compassion, not hatred” in Axis’s eyes, so he gave Shra to him. He held her for a moment, and then… the BattleAxe, “the one man [they] have all been taught to hate and fear without thinking”, recreated Shra before his eyes. Hmm… Shra was going to die anyway, so I cannot much blame Raum very much for giving Shra to Axis, but he should not be dismissing Pease quite so readily; she is Shra’s mother, after all, and, like he says, they have all been taught to fear the BattleAxe! On that matter… why are the Avar “taught to hate and fear” the BattleAxe like this after a thousand years? I can see them being taught how to recognise the BattleAxe, and the Axe-Wielders, of course, but this makes little sense when the Axe-Wielders have not fought the Avar for hundreds of years.
FYRP: 127
The Avar are now “stunned into complete silence” (as they might well be), and look to Shra and back to Raum. Raum says he has “never heard such power” from an Enchanter before, not even from StarDrifter, the “most powerful alive today”. In the body of the BattleAxe lies the “soul of an Icarii Enchanter”. Yes, Axis is stronger than the most powerful Enchanter; we get that he is totally Awesome, Douglass. Also, it is… not great to hear about StarDrifter again, to say the least.
We cut back to GoldFeather, who is “battl[ing] to control the emotions within her”. She realises that it is not just Axis’s resemblance to Priam that makes him so familiar, but also that he has “the facial bone structure and the eyes of an Icarii”, and what she thought was his arrogance caused by the Seneschal’s ignorance is actually the “natural demeanour of an Icarii Enchanter”. Then a “crazy thought” drifts out of her subconsciousness, “so disturbing that it threaten[s] to drive her over the edge of sanity”, but she thrusts it back “into the darkness where it belong[s]”. She thinks about how she will not consider it, since he “died!”.
Who do you think you are fooling, Douglass? It is very clear by now that GoldFeather was once Rivkah and that she thinks the BattleAxe might be Axis, her son… but she still does not come out and say it! At this point, it’s hindering our insight into Rivkah, even.
This is What the Mystery: 29
Let me look further… So the Icarii have a different “facial bone structure” and eyes than the Acharites? That is good to know, though it is quite useless without us knowing just what it looks like… which would be a great way to indicate that someone has Icarii heritage without saying it explicitly.
FYRP: 128 (since these differences would be used to mark Icarii, and it helps to know what they are)
Then… I thought that his arrogance lay in dishonouring Raum? Dishonouring Banes is not a “demeanour” of any kind, Douglass.
PPP: 367
That aside, if Axis’s behaviour during their meeting is the “natural demeanour” of an Enchanter, that… does not say great things about the culture of the Icarii. But it seems like we are supposed not to see it like that, so…
Can’t Argue With Icarii: 10
Then we have more Drama with GoldFeather thinking she will “go crazy” if she thinks about Axis still living. A word of advice: if your story’s understanding of mental illness is about as nuanced as Lovecraft’s, do more research into it! This (and actually, all the talk about “madness” so far) is so very much not how anything works that it is almost hilarious. (I do seriously wonder if she has much experience suppressing such thoughts and if so, why…)
Finally, GoldFeather deduces that Axis is the BattleAxe (within half a day, no less!) and she is horrified… because her son has become the BattleAxe, I suppose? I do not quite know what is going on here yet.
Back with the others… Barsarbe asks what Axis being the BattleAxe means, and how it could be, while twisting her hands in her lap and looking “distressed”. …I do not quite like how Barsarbe is the only one of the Avar who seems to be so distressed about all this, especially given the pettiness we have already had. And yes, this is the opposite of what she was supposed to be bad for before, but I do find it quite clear.
Petty Ain’t the Word for You: 53
Raum “fold[s] her hands in his own” (that strikes me as a bit presumptuous), and says they will need to present it to the Yuletide Meet; the sooner the Icarii and Avar can discuss it, the better. Well, that is solid advice. Grindle agrees but is concerned. After all, they will need to start for the meeting place within a few days, so will Raum be able to travel? Raum gets determined, and says he will need to manage. If they make him “some crutches”, he should be able to keep up. You should make them quite sturdy and be sure to keep clear of the terrain, then.
Helm (Grindle’s oldest child, for reference) says that they could make a sled; pulling Raum would be no trouble, since the paths are clear “most of the way to the north” (so the Avar are keeping the snow out of the forest). Grindle looks at Helm with “affection and pride”, and compliments him, saying that he will make for a fine clan leader one day. Helm swells with pride, and his sisters “gaze[] at him admiringly”. Fleat nods, “clearly proud of her son”. …It is a good solution, to be sure, but it is hardly the great accomplishment everyone is making it out to be.
Godmode Engaged: 10 (I doubt this can hurt)
Azhure breaks in awkwardly, not wanting to speak, but driven by her uncertainty about her situation. She asks if she can travel with them, since she cannot go back to Smyrton now, and we are told that Grindle let her stay until Raum told his story, but her position is not yet resolved. Barsarbe looks at her “consideringly” and says that it might be best if she says exactly why the villagers would not want her back. I do understand that they want to know if they can trust Azhure, but if you put it this way… it is obviously because Azhure has fled to the Forbidden.
PPP: 368
Azhure is rightly worried that the Avar will not understand “the circumstances surrounding [Hagen’s] death”, as Barsarbe already reacted badly to GoldFeather suggesting that Azhure had used violence to free Raum. She looks about the group, feeling their eyes on her and “feeling very alone”. She turns to GoldFeather, but she is too preoccupied with thinking about Axis to help out. So she first says that she helped Raum and Shra escape, which the villagers would not want her back for to begin with.
She then looks at her hands, “unconsciously cleaning imaginary blood” from under her fingernails (which would work better if she had had bloodied hands), unable to look anyone in the eye. She says that they would not welcome her either for having “mistakenly caused the death” of Hagen and for having knocked Belial unconscious. She looks at the Avar again, hoping they will understand, and says that she was desperate to help Raum and Shra, before begging them to understand. …I would have liked to see more emotion about Hagen’s death from her, but I suppose that is not to be.
We then get this:
But her own guilt about Hagen’s death and Belial’s injury shone from her face and hardened Barsarbe’s heart.
“Wanton violence always results in heartbreak, Azhure.” Barsarbe’s voice was cold. “Your actions caused his death. Even though the act was not premeditated, it is still murder.” The Avar, as wild as they were, abhorred physical violence, let alone murder; any brutal behaviour was extraordinarily rare among them.
Credit to Douglass, this does have its intended effect of Azhure’s attempt at misunderstanding misfiring and her presumably feeling even worse. I cannot imagine that she feels much better after being called a murderer, after all!
The big problem with this, though, is that Barsarbe’s reaction makes no sense! Azhure clearly does not think that what she did was right, and this “hardens Barsarbe’s heart”? And then she thinks that Azhure needs to be told that it was murder?? It is certainly heartless, and an awful thing to say, but why does she ever think that Azhure does not know it is bad?! Beyond that, Azhure did not say that she used “wanton violence”, and, in any case, Barsarbe should know better than to make such groundless accusations. But I suppose she is Bad now, so we get this.
Petty Ain’t the Word for You: 54
PPP: 369
All of this might work if Azhure had stabbed Hagen to death in a fit of anger, since what Barsarbe says is roughly sound in and of itself, but here… I get the idea that this is in part Douglass wanted to use some grand language, because it does sound good. For the rest of it… maybe you should not be talking about how “wild” the Avar are, Douglass. Also, while I can accept that “brutal behaviour” is rare among the Avar, I cannot help but remember that the Bane-making ritual entails a quite brutal sacrifice. Finally, you want “especially” instead of “let alone”.
FYRP: 128
PPP: 370
That “wild as they were” in particular is practically “noble savage”; I suppose Douglass did not think about this, given how minor it is, but it is still quite unfortunate. I also do not exactly know what to make of the focus on physical violence; it is perfectly possible to hurt others without doing anything physical, after all, and this seems like it might encourage the Avar to turn a blind eye to emotional abuse, for example.
At hearing this, Azhure hangs her head, “too ashamed to meet Barsarbe’s eyes”. I can imagine that very well, and I think she should probably be having a full-on breakdown, given how bad she felt at “killing” Hagen. Also… I would expect the other Avar to react to this, either to have the same reaction as Barsarbe, or to point out that she has no evidence for her accusation of murder. Yes, that is probably because that would “get in the way” of the scene Douglass wants to have, but it still bothers me… not in the least because it means that Barsarbe’s accusation goes mostly ignored. Accusing someone of murder without any evidence for it is not a good thing, after all.
Gold-Star Worldbuilding: 89 (this ought to be a big deal for the Avar)
Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 111 (for lack of a better place to put it)
So Azhure says that Hagen was a “violent man” who “abused and maltreated” her since her mother ran away. She did not mean to kill him, but she was afraid of what he “would do to Shra”, because he… At this point, I would bring up that he stood with a knife over Shra and was ready to strike, but Azhure decides to relate it to how Hagen abused her. She pauses, naturally “unwilling to show these people what she [has] never shown or spoken of to anyone else”, but she is just desperate for them to understand “why she had taken the foolhardy actions she had”. She tells them to look and think that if she has to, she will.
So Azhure is now going to lay bare the abuse inflicted on her for everyone to see, for nothing but Drama. I find that in quite poor taste, especially given that lack of care we have had for Azhure’s abuse, not to mention that this would be an awful experience for Azhure. She has just left Hagen behind, and now she is reminded of his abuse in full force, before an audience of people she barely knows, and who might not even react well! (And that is not to mention that she has always hidden it, so having anyone see it would not be nice.) As before, this is all too much to put on Azhure, and Douglass does not seem to realise how serious it is.
And, of course, she could easily say that Hagen threatened Shra; the proof of Shra being in danger does not have to come from her own abuse. Also, what “foolhardy” actions? She tried to save someone who was about to get killed! In fact… this, along with “if I have to, I will”, feels quite like something she could have developed from Hagen’s abuse; she might well default to assuming she is wrong and push herself to do things she would not normally do. If this were intentional, I would quite like it, but since it is probably not… it feels on a certain level like Douglass invoking Hagen’s abuse to get Azhure to do what she wants, and I do not like it.
Ill Logic: 208
So she starts fumbling with “the fastenings at the back of her dress”. GoldFeather rouses herself enough to push Azhure’s hand aside and unfasten “the gown” herself. We get some description of her folding it back, and she is “startled at what she [sees]”. She tells the others to look, and then “twist[s] the woman’s upper body around with her hands so that the others [can] see”. Um… Azhure is facing the others, so I suppose it would be possible to let everyone to one side see her back, but to let everyone see, she would need to break Azhure in half. It would also be easier to pull on Azhure’s shoulders rather than on her upper body.
Did Not Do the Research: 64
Ill Logic: 209
Everyone gasps in horror, since this is what they see:
Running down Azhure’s back were the raised and red scars that looked to be the result of years of repeated vicious beatings; running down either side of her spine their tracks ruined her pale skin. She was marked for life.
That does suck, but I do not care much about the focus on just the physical scars, and how those “mark her for life”. After all, the emotional abuse she endured (being called “evil” by Hagen, for example) will be much harder to shed and have a far greater impact on her than these scars. Yes, they are more visible and make for a nice image, but it is not the most important thing. In fact, it seems almost like the scars themselves, and not Hagen’s causing of them, is what “marks her for life”… In any case, I find it hard to follow Douglass’s lead here.
Then we have the suggestion that the scars are caused by “years of repeated vicious beatings”… which does not work at all. Beatings would simply not cause such narrow scars, nor would they look like this. This is clearly the result of cuts which got infected, so you need a better Red Herring, Douglass.
This Is What the Mystery: 30
(I also note the reference to her “pale skin”, which is… a bit awkward given how the Avar have been handled.)
For Azhure showing her scars… if these had been caused by an accident, for example, I would not have nearly as much trouble with this scene, because there would likely not be very much other stuff attached. Here, when she shows her scars, she does not just show her scars, which shows Hagen’s abuse, she is also showing everything tied up with it, for the very first time, to people she barely knows! I get the feeling that Douglass did not think about that, and so she once again ended up with something more serious than she probably meant.
Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 112 (via the same reasoning as before)
Thankfully no one makes nasty comments now, but it would be a quite unpleasant experience for Azhure all the same.
Well, GoldFeather puts the dress back and gives “the tense women” a hug, which is nice of her. GoldFeather tells us that in “all the years she [has] known Azhure”, Azhure has “never, never mentioned this to her”. That is only to be expected, given that you only met for a night at a time. Come to think of it, this might well be the longest time they have spent with each other, and I would be interested to see how this develops…
Either way, she looks at Barsarbe “challengingly” and prompts her for a reaction. Barsarbe is shocked; even as a healer, she has never seen anything like this. As she tells us, child abuse is “rated close to murder” in Avar society, “but [does] it justify murder?” Well, it is good to see that Barsarbe is relatively reasonable about this, though I still wish she would stop assuming it was murder. Come to think of it, would there not be a general answer to this…? Then again, if child abuse is thought of as “close to” murder, that is something that would need to be evaluated in more detail, which is why Barsarbe should be asking for more details.
At this point, Shra gets up and walks over to Azhure. She touches her forehead, looks back at Raum and says “accepted”. Raum frowns and asks what she means. Shra repeats “accepted”, “almost angrily now”. Azhure looks up, eyes bright “with the shame that the Avar [have] seen her back”. Yes, that was clearly a very good thing for her, was it not? You really should have realised just how bad this is, Douglass! Azhure explains that after Hagen died, Shra put her fingers in Hagen’s blood, then ran them over her forehead and said “accepted”. GoldFeather wants to know what it means, to which Raum says that it is strange and he is not sure, but it might mean that she “accepted Azhure’s father’s death as a sacrifice to the Mother”. And, according to later canon, she did.
I have some problems with this. Yes, I grant that Shra was a Bane when she did this, and I grant that Banes can do this. Further, I must grant that Shra knows at least something about this (else I doubt she would have made the connection between blood and “accepted”). Given all of that, I find that this should be considered invalid, for the following reasons:
-Shra is still a small child, and is unlikely to understand fully what happened, which means that she cannot make an informed decision to accept Hagen’s death as a sacrifice.
-She was also quite clearly upset due to Hagen trying to murder her, which would interfere with her decision-making ability in any case.
-She did not know about Azhure’s deeper history of abuse, which is quite essential context to make a good decision.
-She had, in all probability, not received any Bane training in the while since she left Fernbrake Lake, and if she did, it would have been the very basics, not anything on how to accept sacrifices.
Any of these four issues would be enough to invalidate this sacrifice, and this assumes that Shra had any idea what she was doing! In short, I am positive this was not the case. I will not score this yet, since it is only a supposition.
Shra walks over to Azhure and looks at the rest of the group. Raum says that if it was not for Azhure, he and Shra would not be here now. Azhure showed “great courage”, first in trying to make them more comfortable, and then in freeing him. He says that they should let her stay for the time being, since she cannot go back. If the Clan wants to, she will answer to the Yuletide meet for her violence. I quite agree! If she wanted to hurt the Clan, after all, she could have easily fled back to Smyrton and sent the villagers after them, so she is probably not a danger. As for judging her… everyone here is all too entangled with her actions to be objective, and especially in the case of something as apparently controversial as what she did, that is quite necessary. The Yuletide meet would indeed be a better occasion for that.
Barsarbe then considers and nods, before giving a very stilted speech.
Talk Like a Natural: 8
She first says that she will accept that “Shra has apparently approved of Azhure’s actions”. Yes, from what we just saw, Shra did approve, and she is a Bane, but that does not prove much of anything. Then again, I am happy to see that Barsarbe does not say that Shra accepting Hagen’s death is valid…
Ill Logic: 210
She further accepts that Azhure has saved Raum’s life, but she cannot easily accept “the violence she has demonstrated”. She will support what Raum says: let her stay with them, and let her answer to the Yuletide Meet for “the death of her father” and assaulting Belial. So she does not call it murder now? That is an improvement!
Grindle nods and accepts this, too. Azhure can stay with them, and he tells her to be “well and welcomed to [their] Clan”. He smiles for the first time, “his face completely losing its normal austerity”, and we learn he has accepted Azhure for whatever reason Shra did. Because of course he needs to follow Shra’s lead here, no matter that there are much better reasons to accept Azhure.
Ill Logic: 211
That aside, I do like this! It is good to see Azhure accepted here. Azhure smiles, relieved, since she can at least stay with the GhostTree Clan for a while. The chapter ends with her thanking them. At least someone is allowed to be happy for a bit…
Overall, I find this one of the better chapters of the book. It certainly has flaws, chief among them Azhure “having to” show her abuse, and Douglass trying to maintain the “mystery” of who GoldFeather really is, but the better points, like the Avar worldbuilding, and the Avar deciding to accept Azhure, make it relatively bearable for me. Join me again next time, as we go back to Faraday and Timozel. Until then!
(no subject)
Wednesday, 26 February 2025 18:15 (UTC)You know, I can't help but suspect that all this melodrama over the Tree Friend being an Acharite is meant to not-so-subtly reinforce the idea that the Acharite culture is evil and must be destroyed.
So, if the natural demeanour of an Icarii Enchanter looks like arrogance does that mean they all naturally have resting bitch face? Inquiring minds desire to know.
Uh, Helm? Sleds only work when pulled over snow. That's what they're for.
Barsarbe, it is intent that determines if a deed was murder. The absolute most you can accuse Azhure of is manslaughter, and quite frankly she didn't even do that! Hagen's death, legally speaking, was death by misadventure and morally speaking was an innocent accident.
Douglass's 'grand language' would sound better if she actually understood it. As it is, it sounds nonsensical instead.
Hang on, those are whip marks! Forget scarring, she could have been crippled!
There's also the 'slight' issue that Hagen's death in no way resembles the sacrifice ritual, but I've already talked about that.
(no subject)
Wednesday, 26 February 2025 19:52 (UTC)There's also the 'slight' issue that trees require more water then grass does. If the conditions are bad for grass, they're likely bad for the trees of the surviving Avarinheim.
SCSF: Indeed, and that would certainly be trouble in the southern Plains of Arcness (as I see I noted earlier). The Avar could probably use magic to get around that, and they must have done so in the past... so why is ploughing worse than keeping a forest alive in a place it should not be? How is that "living in harmony with the land"? The more I see of this, the more I get the feeling that most of the Avar do not actually know how to do so, which hardly gives them a high ground over the Acharites.
You know, I can't help but suspect that all this melodrama over the Tree Friend being an Acharite is meant to not-so-subtly reinforce the idea that the Acharite culture is evil and must be destroyed.
In this specific case, I think it is meant to emphasise just how divided the different races are (especially since Barsarbe, who is supposed to be "overly strict", shares this sentiment)... but in the execution, it does look like what you describe.
Uh, Helm? Sleds only work when pulled over snow. That's what they're for.
Well, if the roads are "clear", I imagine it should be possible to draw Raum on one, though it would probably be easier to use crutches, and that would help him with recovering from his injury, too. In fact, that is just what he ends up doing the next time we see them!
(Also... I think that Helm means the roads are clear of snow? If so, that is just where the sled would work best. If not, Douglass should have been clearer.)
Yes, and that is why Azhure should be asked! In fact, she could have solved this by saying "Hagen was about to kill Shra. I pulled on his ankle to distract him, and he fell on his knife and died." They would not necessarily believe her, but this scene would be quite a bit less silly, at least.
Douglass's 'grand language' would sound better if she actually understood it. As it is, it sounds nonsensical instead.
Exactly! It sounds roughly convincing on a surface level, which is probably all that Douglass considered, but it completely crumbles beneath logical thought.
Hang on, those are whip marks! Forget scarring, she could have been crippled!
Given what the cause turns out to be in the end, she should be dead by rights, in another case of Douglass turning up the drama all too much.
There's also the 'slight' issue that Hagen's death in no way resembles the sacrifice ritual, but I've already talked about that.
Indeed... The only reason I did not complain about that is that this apparently "counts" as a sacrifice according to the Horned Ones, so I guess it could be legitimately done this way, though we certainly need an explantion for that.
(no subject)
Thursday, 27 February 2025 05:21 (UTC)Which it shouldn't because the Avar have never practised human sacrifice before this point and I very much doubt they do after it because... well, you know. No violence? Ring a bell?
(no subject)
Thursday, 27 February 2025 06:17 (UTC)SCSF: If that were truly as big a thing as Douglass is making it out to be, they would not be sacrificing these hares, either, so I would not be very surprised if human sacrifices were sometimes carried out. That said, I am quite sure that scene is only there to justify this one and shill Shra.
(no subject)
Thursday, 27 February 2025 06:43 (UTC)(no subject)
Thursday, 27 February 2025 19:46 (UTC)SCSF: Exactly, and most things are over- and under-explained. It makes for such a bad reading experience!
(no subject)
Thursday, 27 February 2025 16:42 (UTC)(no subject)
Thursday, 27 February 2025 19:54 (UTC)SCSF: Indeed... It sounds like it would be interesting to explore how this came to be, but I think that this is it, unfortunately.
(no subject)
Thursday, 27 February 2025 16:54 (UTC)In fact, she could have solved this by saying "Hagen was about to kill Shra. I pulled on his ankle to distract him, and he fell on his knife and died."
Which would also have the benefit of giving Barsarbe's "wanton violence always results in heartbreak" line a sensible context, as she could use it to dismiss Hagen's death as the natural consequence of his actions.
(no subject)
Thursday, 27 February 2025 19:57 (UTC)SCSF: I doubt she cared about that, given how much the forest is glorified.
Which would also have the benefit of giving Barsarbe's "wanton violence always results in heartbreak" line a sensible context, as she could use it to dismiss Hagen's death as the natural consequence of his actions.
Oh yes, that would work much better!
(no subject)
Thursday, 27 February 2025 05:16 (UTC)God that title is stupid.
This just makes the whole "grr, Farming Bad" crap even worse because WE NEED IT TO SURVIVE. Destroying all that farmland should have caused mass starvation!
Instead of which food just seems to come right out of nowhere, sometimes in the quite literal sense.
Which she never does! The Avar will NEVER be re-integrated into society and instead will remain a separate community which is generally off limits to outsiders.
What is with bad fantasy protagonists endlessly repeating things anyway?
Now I'm picturing her as an actress from an old black and white movie where women must always show fear by putting their hands over their mouths or on their cheeks, bugging out their eyes and screaming a lot while shaking their heads from side to side.
Our first clue as to what a horrible cold-hearted person she is. At least Selena had the excuse of not rescuing her elder son because she was DEAD.
After this, of course, everyone becomes extremely blase about being controlled by that fucking thing.
As with Borneheld, this means he was pure evil. Because being socially awkward = evil.
Of course, Saint Axis is in no way "hard and humourless" and most at home when he's killing things. Nuh-uh!
And not the least bit traumatised, naturally.
You mean the chief enforcer for the organisation that kills and tortures your people? OMG, how incredibly unreasonable.
Guess what, the guy does NOTHING with this "power". He barely even uses any magic at all.
As we never find out what that is, this statement is meaningless.
Apparently looking like an arrogant ass all the time is meant to be taken as a good thing.
This is just melodramatic and childish.
And this will never be addressed. There's a half Icarii present right now, yet nobody picks up on it here for the same reason?
"Going insane" or "going mad" isn't even a thing
Exactly! And no, it WASN'T murder. Murder requires intent. It was literally an accident which was mostly self-inflicted. No court of law would ever have convicted her.
So do I. Douglass' handling of abuse continues to be horribly insensitive and ignorant.
How the fuck was she putting this thing on in the morning all by herself if it fastens up the BACK?
Speaking of insensitive and ignorant, this is a horrible way to describe scars as "ruining" you. Also, surprise surprise, she is not in fact "marked for life". Douglass mishandles the scars almost as badly as Paolini would.
But she's quite happy to literally bare it all to a bunch of strangers. Right.
Of course, this goes ignored because in Douglass-land, childhood doesn't exist. All children have adult level judgement and are expected to take the same level of responsibility for their actions, even as babies.
Otherwise I'd have just assumed Shra was imitating something she's seen an adult do without really understanding it, the way actual toddlers do.
(no subject)
Thursday, 27 February 2025 06:17 (UTC)God that title is stupid.
SCSF: It will never not be, unfortunately.
This just makes the whole "grr, Farming Bad" crap even worse because WE NEED IT TO SURVIVE. Destroying all that farmland should have caused mass starvation!
Indeed... Looking at the map of Wayfarer Redemption, it looks like Minstrelsea only covers the eastern third of Arcness and Skarabost, which seems like it is more on the fringes of the respective provinces, and presumably has less impact, but it should be a large consideration!
Which she never does! The Avar will NEVER be re-integrated into society and instead will remain a separate community which is generally off limits to outsiders.
That does undermine the message of the Prophecy, does it not? (Not that I mind all that much, outside of there apparently being no Avar left after Tencendor falls; I will always be bothered by that.)
Now I'm picturing her as an actress from an old black and white movie where women must always show fear by putting their hands over their mouths or on their cheeks, bugging out their eyes and screaming a lot while shaking their heads from side to side.
That about fits with my mental image!
Our first clue as to what a horrible cold-hearted person she is. At least Selena had the excuse of not rescuing her elder son because she was DEAD.
Either it is that, or this is some spell going on here (as Anya went with in Discordant); there are certainly enough of the latter to make that plausible.
After this, of course, everyone becomes extremely blase about being controlled by that fucking thing.
Aside from some token protests which only serve to highlight just how bad the Prophecy is, that is, which is a quite bad way to indicate that it is good news.
Of course, Saint Axis is in no way "hard and humourless" and most at home when he's killing things. Nuh-uh!
Does he find it "better than love", too?
And not the least bit traumatised, naturally.
She is nothing but a My First Toddler doll at this point.
And this will never be addressed. There's a half Icarii present right now, yet nobody picks up on it here for the same reason?
I think she does not look like that, since we have heard nothing about it, but I have no idea why not.
"Going insane" or "going mad" isn't even a thing
Exactly!
Exactly! And no, it WASN'T murder. Murder requires intent. It was literally an accident which was mostly self-inflicted. No court of law would ever have convicted her.
And I am quite sure the Yuletide Meet will not do so, either. I suppose Douglass just wanted more Drama for Azhure?
How the fuck was she putting this thing on in the morning all by herself if it fastens up the BACK?
Thank you for catching that! I already had the idea that something was off here.
Speaking of insensitive and ignorant, this is a horrible way to describe scars as "ruining" you. Also, surprise surprise, she is not in fact "marked for life". Douglass mishandles the scars almost as badly as Paolini would.
It absolutely is (and from how much I talked about this, it is easy to see how much it bothered me). For the scars... do I remember it right if they are gone after the end of Enchanter...?
But she's quite happy to literally bare it all to a bunch of strangers. Right.
I could see it if she actually thought she would be sent back to Smyrton if she did not, but there is no reason she cannot explain that Hagen tried to kill Shra, so it is indeed weird.
If Shra had been an Icarii, I would understand it, but there is no indication that Avar children grow up so quickly, and she is not giving speeches yet... so, as you say, she probably just copied what she saw Raum do.
(no subject)
Thursday, 27 February 2025 06:35 (UTC)For a "creative writer", Douglass really wasn't all that creative, and especially not when it came to this sort of thing. It doesn't even sound grand or dramatic.
Never mind undermining it; it actively means the Prophecy failed to come true! There is no "bridge to understanding" forged between the Avar and the humans. We never see either side reconciling their differences or anything like that.
In other words the "heroes" of that trilogy are so fucking useless that not only does Tencendor get destroyed but the Avar are wiped out forever. Bra-VO. *slow clap*
As he is not capable of love, the answer is presumably yes by default.
Probably because Douglass didn't decide to make it a thing until book two, when said character became her new favourite doll.
It's definitely just cheap angst fodder by making it that Nobody Likes Her, Sob Sob.
I've worn plenty of dresses and not one of them fastened "up the back". That sort of thing is for Victorian ladies who have personal maids to help them dress.
Correct. They get magically removed for no reason just so Azhure can be Perfect(tm)
(no subject)
Thursday, 27 February 2025 20:29 (UTC)For a "creative writer", Douglass really wasn't all that creative, and especially not when it came to this sort of thing. It doesn't even sound grand or dramatic.
SCSF: That is just what makes it sound so bad... As for being creative, I have to grant that she will get creative in finding new ways to make this trilogy unbearable.
Never mind undermining it; it actively means the Prophecy failed to come true! There is no "bridge to understanding" forged between the Avar and the humans. We never see either side reconciling their differences or anything like that.
Hmm, I am not wholly sure if that means the Prophecy did not come true... It says they need to find that understanding to defeat Gorgrael, after all, and given what I have read of Douglass so far, it might as well mean that they are no longer hostile to the Acharites, or that they give gifts to our "heroes". (And, in any case, once Drago was born, the Prophecy was fulfilled, not that anyone would know that now, because no one bothers to investigate anything.)
In other words the "heroes" of that trilogy are so fucking useless that not only does Tencendor get destroyed but the Avar are wiped out forever. Bra-VO. slow clap
Given that there are six thousand Icarii still out there after the fall of Tencendor, I might expect some Avar to exist out there, but I guess Douglass did not want to write them any more. Well done, indeed.
As he is not capable of love, the answer is presumably yes by default.
I meant to reference Roran with it, and his talk about how battle is better than sex.
Probably because Douglass didn't decide to make it a thing until book two, when said character became her new favourite doll.
That is probably the case, though I doubt that Douglass would have wanted to give a hint this early in any case.
I've worn plenty of dresses and not one of them fastened "up the back". That sort of thing is for Victorian ladies who have personal maids to help them dress.
And she would not be having anything that fancy... This bit is a prime example of Douglass putting Drama (Azhure needing to be helped out and so delaying the reveal) before sense.
Correct. They get magically removed for no reason just so Azhure can be Perfect(tm)
Yikes. At least Douglass did not have Azhure magically make her abusive childhood undone, but she certainly does come close to that.
(no subject)
Friday, 28 February 2025 00:30 (UTC)Ha! Burn. She's only original and "creative" when it comes to putting in completely out of nowhere batshit insanity that doesn't remotely fit the setting, so I'm not calling it a good thing! The freaking Statue of Liberty even shows up at one point.
She didn't even make it to book two of this trilogy before completely losing interest in them, after all. The only thing they contribute is giving Axis a frigging STICK.
That's it.
A stick.
I mean the more you think about it the more comical it gets.
Oh, I know. God that moment was horrible and creepy. Sorry, Katrina - you just don't turn him on as much as killing does.
It gets hand-waved later on with a line that goes something like "she wondered why she didn't look like him at all" and then it's never mentioned again.
She might as well have, because after the pure horror that is the end of book two she just... gets over it.
(no subject)
Friday, 28 February 2025 16:30 (UTC)Ha! Burn. She's only original and "creative" when it comes to putting in completely out of nowhere batshit insanity that doesn't remotely fit the setting, so I'm not calling it a good thing! The freaking Statue of Liberty even shows up at one point.
SCSF: I did know that one! And yes, Douglass certainly did like her wild stuff, though I am more tolerant of that beyond this trilogy, presumably because it does not try to be generic fantasy and quite out-there simultaneously.
I mean the more you think about it the more comical it gets.
And they did not even make it themselves! There is the Mother, but I do not even know if she is supposed to be Avar or what she even is.
It gets hand-waved later on with a line that goes something like "she wondered why she didn't look like him at all" and then it's never mentioned again.
But of course...
She might as well have, because after the pure horror that is the end of book two she just... gets over it.
That is about what I expected to occur, but is still in very poor taste.
(no subject)
Saturday, 1 March 2025 02:05 (UTC)Doubly so given that the way it happened should have made the trauma ten times WORSE and added further trauma on top. But noooo, can't have that. Then she wouldn't be OMG PERFECT!!!
(no subject)
Friday, 28 February 2025 11:43 (UTC)I just realized, this is a bit of paradox, if you take into account everything we know about the Avar. They don't plant things, right? Well, if you're going to grow a forest, it has to start somewhere. You could theoretically wait for it to spread on its own, but unless you plant saplings to help it along, that could take centuries. No new trees for you!
I know I'm being facetious here, but it's fun to point out these little things to highlight just how stupid some of these plot points are, like them going extinct because they like to murder their own children.-
I can let this slide, because if you come from a race that lives in a dense forest, you could easily view open plains as being barren, even when they're nowhere near empty.
-
Is anyone surprised that she never addresses what could actually be a really cool conflict? Anyone? Aaaaanyone at all? Those of you in the back? No? Didn't think so.
-
Not to mention that they somehow managed to find what is implied to be one of the only people who actually become sympathetic towards the Avar, and is willing to toss away everything she had been brought up to believe in what might be the fastest 180 I've ever seen a character do.
-
Nah, she's too busy explaining and re-explaining things we already know, because she apparently thinks her readers have memories worse than a goldfish with Alzheimer's.
-
Case in point... Stop wanking over Axis, already! We all hate him, and we're not fooled by you insisting that he's actually the Best Thing Ever.
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So all of the Icarii Enchanters are arrogant assholes, then? I would not be surprised if this was true.
-
THE EVISCERATED BUNNY BEGS TO DIFFER!
I am never going to let that go. You can't tell me how peaceful someone is shortly after describing how they tore the still-beating heart out of an animal's chest.-
It makes me wonder if Douglass is interchanging 'beatings' and 'whippings'. Because if she were whipped, long, thin scars like that would be the result.
(no subject)
Friday, 28 February 2025 18:05 (UTC)I just realized, this is a bit of paradox, if you take into account everything we know about the Avar. They don't plant things, right? Well, if you're going to grow a forest, it has to start somewhere. You could theoretically wait for it to spread on its own, but unless you plant saplings to help it along, that could take centuries. No new trees for you!
SCSF: Indeed they do not, and even if they did want to do so for the forest, I hardly imagine that they would be much good at it. In either case, Faraday will be the one to plant all the saplings for the forest that eventually exists, so I suppose that circumvents the problem?
(Of course, it would still be much more difficult than the Avar seem to think...)
I can let this slide, because if you come from a race that lives in a dense forest, you could easily view open plains as being barren, even when they're nowhere near empty.
If it were just the Avar, I would like it, as I do the name "Plains Dwellers" (which they use even though areas like Rhaetia are peopled). But after the talk about how the Plains of Tare and Arcness are "barren" (from Acharite characters!) and how wonderful the Avarinheim is, I cannot help but think that this is Douglass talking.
Is anyone surprised that she never addresses what could actually be a really cool conflict? Anyone? Aaaaanyone at all? Those of you in the back? No? Didn't think so.
Oh, I am hardly surprised, just quite peeved that this would make for a quite sensible source of Drama, and she does not use it!
They really should choose for her as a matter of practicality, if nothing else.
Nah, she's too busy explaining and re-explaining things we already know, because she apparently thinks her readers have memories worse than a goldfish with Alzheimer's.
At this point, she is almost beginning to remind me of Newcomb, though she is still far from as bad about it as he is, thankfully. (Incidentally... how much of that did you read?)
Case in point... Stop wanking over Axis, already! We all hate him, and we're not fooled by you insisting that he's actually the Best Thing Ever.
Oh, she will ease off on that eventually... because Azhure needs to shilled more.
So all of the Icarii Enchanters are arrogant assholes, then? I would not be surprised if this was true.
From what little I remember, it is not exactly a universal thing, so this is not wholly accurate.
THE EVISCERATED BUNNY BEGS TO DIFFER!
I am never going to let that go. You can't tell me how peaceful someone is shortly after describing how they tore the still-beating heart out of an animal's chest.Yes, I will not be letting that go, either! I could get behind a sacrifice, and I might support one that involves tearing the hare's heart out immediately, but one where the hare is severely wounded, then the Bane puts their fingers in the wound and marks the prospective Banes, and only then tears out the heart... I cannot support that. If they need to get blood from a living hare, they could do just as well with a smaller cut in a region with good blood supply (the ears, maybe?). It might take longer, but it would be less cruel. What they do now seems to be done just for convenience, and I find that not enough to justify the hurt it causes.
So, if it needs to be done this way, it could be done with much less hurt to the hare, and the fact that they do not reflects quite poorly on them.
It makes me wonder if Douglass is interchanging 'beatings' and 'whippings'. Because if she were whipped, long, thin scars like that would be the result.
Oh yes, that would make sense, though that turns out not to be what is going on; this is a very clumsy Red Herring for it.
(no subject)
Friday, 28 February 2025 18:35 (UTC)How much of Newcomb's work? I'm...actually not sure. The name is familiar, so I know I must have at least glanced at it before, but as far as I know, I've never actually read any of it.
(no subject)
Friday, 28 February 2025 18:46 (UTC)SCSF: I see that you did follow MG's spork of The Fifth Sorceress up till the first part of chapter five, so that is where you know him from! And I rather meant if you had read more of those sporks, like The Gates of Dawn, and The Scrolls of the Ancients; I would not advise you to read them, as I did from The Scrolls of the Ancients onward.
(no subject)
Friday, 28 February 2025 18:59 (UTC)(no subject)
Friday, 28 February 2025 19:16 (UTC)SCSF: Most certainly you did! And yes, I would say it is a good thing; The First Sorceress is about as offensive as it gets, and overly edgy; The Gates of Dawn is incredibly boring; The Scrolls of the Ancients is somewhat decent, but that does not last, unfortunately.
(no subject)
Saturday, 1 March 2025 02:11 (UTC)The non-impartial narrator who is far too fond of the sound of her own voice. Do what a proper author would do and be invisible, you arrogant wanker.
It's possible she isn't quite as misogynistic as Newcomb, but it's by a very narrow margin.
Watching that business go down is going to have everyone in the comments section tearing their hair out.
And they don't even make use of the meat afterwards! They just toss the corpse away like garbage.
One which just gets more and more painfully obvious as book two endlessly drags it out.
(no subject)
Saturday, 1 March 2025 11:04 (UTC)The non-impartial narrator who is far too fond of the sound of her own voice. Do what a proper author would do and be invisible, you arrogant wanker.
SCSF: In Threshold, at least, she removed that problem entirely by using a first-person narrator.
It's possible she isn't quite as misogynistic as Newcomb, but it's by a very narrow margin.
And I might say she improved in the end... At least her plots do not devolve into "there is another Dark Lord, Tencendor is in grave danger again, and Carlon is on fire yet again".
Watching that business go down is going to have everyone in the comments section tearing their hair out.
I am not quite sure of everyone, but I can certainly see it happen.
One which just gets more and more painfully obvious as book two endlessly drags it out.
I am not looking forward to that...
(no subject)
Saturday, 1 March 2025 12:14 (UTC)Mind you, she had the exact same issue with writing sequels that completely invalidate everything that happened previously, to an equally baffling degree.
True, it's entirely possible that at least one of the commenters here is bald.
Neither am I. God Douglass treats her readers like idiots.
(no subject)
Saturday, 1 March 2025 02:08 (UTC)She desperately wants us to think Axis is the greatest, all while writing him as a sneering bully. It's ridiculous, not to mention insulting.
Yeah, that was just fucking awful and not the last example of brutal animal sacrifice that really did not need to be there.
(no subject)
Saturday, 1 March 2025 09:07 (UTC)Oh no... Honestly, I'm not really surprised, but I am dreading it. I don't care if they're fictional animals, it's still awful.
(no subject)
Saturday, 1 March 2025 11:24 (UTC)(no subject)
Saturday, 1 March 2025 19:33 (UTC)(no subject)
Sunday, 2 March 2025 06:03 (UTC)(no subject)
Monday, 31 March 2025 14:24 (UTC)And there will be plenty of human(oid) sacrifice later on, too!