Teres

SCSF: Yes, I will always mention you, naturally.

More dramatics, I would guess. Douglass has a talent for making a character look worse and worse with each passing chapter.

She certainly does! And she also loves her drama, too.

I wonder if there might also be some cowardice to his decision, if he's willing to make the entire army go around. It makes me think he's scared of Faraday's sisters, so decides to have no contact with them at all, despite having very important information that they should know.

That was certainly the way I felt about it, at least.

Okay, I kind of like this part. Seasons are fickle things, and they do show up early all the time. It's good that Douglass makes it a point to say that the winter coming early could just be normal weather, rather than everyone jumping to the conclusion that it's definitely evil.

I think this is still supposed to be because of Gorgrael... though I would indeed say it is rather a passive effect of what he does rather than him actively messing with the weather.

Now Douglass has lost me again. If the snow fell so quickly that it covered fields and gardens that hadn't yet been harvested, then how is the road already perfectly clear? Alternatively, if they had time to clear the roads, then why are the gardens still full of vegetables? Even if winter is a little early, they should have harvested most of (if not all of) the produce.

I wondered about that myself... and this seems all too convenient indeed.

But coming up with descriptions for new things is haaaaard! Also, maybe I'm just reading too much into this out of spite, but given how often it shows up and how in-your-face it is, is Douglass trying to make the Way of the Plough into some kind of cult? Because it seems like it's something that everyone's lives revolves around. Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly fine to be religious, but the way this is described, it makes them seem like fanatics.

Hmmm, I doubt she meant that just yet... though it will certainly be this way later.

It has to be a reference to how Sunday is church day in a few of our own religions. Given that Christianity and Catholicism have been referenced in earlier chapters...yeah.

It is just so very silly that they happen to meet on Sundays too, especially since Earth actually exists in this setting.

Based on the way Douglass has described it, I would say that life here is almost impossibly idyllic. Friendly villagers, white picket fences...I can practically hear the children laughing as they run down the streets, and the birds singing happily.

That was what I felt about this, too... In fact, it is so out of place with all the "grim stuff" around it that I will give it a "Tone Soap" point.

Or maybe Azhure was an orphan that he was kind enough to adopt. There are other explanations to this than Hagen specifically searching for a trophy wife he can show off to others like an unusual-looking animal. Douglass, are you not seeing the Unfortunate Implications you're scattering everywhere? Because they're not subtle.

Indeed... In fact, why does Axis assume that Hagen married while he was a Brother? Azhure is twenty-eight and Hagen is not noted to be very old, so it is quite possible that he only become a Brother after his wife "eloped".

Also, who is to say that he has always lived in Smyrton? He might well have lived in Nor earlier, have married there, and then gone to Smyrton when his wife disappeared. Axis could not say one way or another right now.

Not to mention that Hagen invited them into his home and is allowing the army to stay close by. That is very generous of him, and here Axis is (and Belial) laughing in his face and making fun of the fact that his wife abandoned him and their young daughter! Truly, what a hilarious scenario. Fuck you, Douglass. Not to mention that Hagan seems to be angry at Azhure over this, so does Axis not worry that Hagan might do something to punish her when they're alone again? He's just making this worse for her!

Yep! Given that Hagen turns out to be "evil incarnate", this is especially bad.

Edit: I also will put in your remarks about the village people being "ugly", as that is most certainly a pattern.