10 KiB
A Practical Guide to Evil: Book 2 Chapter 27 - Cut
-
Author: u/None *
-
URL: https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/2016/06/15/chapter-27-cut/
-
Score: 14
-
Created: 2016-06-15T12:22:03
Post:
Comments:
u/None [+4] (21 minutes later)
Damn, I did not expect things to go that way. I guess I've been thinking of Cat as the hero, and anticipating tropes along those lines. When a hero takes a dangerous chance to increase their power in a desperate situation, I expect them to succeed and boost their power just in time to save the day. But Cat's a villain, and when a villain tries that things usually end poorly for them.
Still, Squire is a transitional name, so hopefully when she becomes a Knight she'll get all three aspects.
u/Running_Ostrich [+1] (a day later)
Cat's battles all seem to revolve around her opponents underestimating her and her jumping in with her powers to win. Eg. Pulling out new powers vs Juniper, controlling her dead body vs the lone swordsman and vs the devil or shooting the Prince leading the silver spears.
It's been working out for her so far, so it was a bit surprising to me that she lost since her battles often seem to end up with relying on her powers to pull her through. Maybe if she had more preparation it would have been better, but I found it a bit odd that she lost here.
u/Reasonableviking [+3] (41 minutes later)
So apparently one attempting to remove the taint of a corruption demon can permanently damage a name. This seems like a poorly thought out plot point to me. We intentionally don't know much about names but if you can permanently damage a name by accident why hasn't the Black Knight been crippling the heroes he kills first so that they come back weaker?
u/None [+2] (48 minutes later)
That's a good point actually. I don't think Black would fuck around with demonic corruption, but if it's possible to mutilate a Name permanently without first infecting it with a demon it seems like something he might have done. Perhaps heroic Names have more divine protection than villainous ones. Or maybe Black didn't consider it necessary since his plan was to change the culture of Callow enough that they'd stop getting their traditional names and start getting Praesi Names instead, like what's happened with Cat.
u/Reasonableviking [+1] (an hour later)
I suspect you don't need the demon, since the demon was simply the reason soul surgery happened, you just need warlock and he'd be able to do a lot better if he was aiming to mutilate a soul instead and since warlock>apprentice.
u/None [+2] (an hour later)
/u/ErraticErrata can you comment on this?
u/ErraticErrata [+8] (2 hours later)
The Name of Squire itself isn't damaged, only Cat's version of it. Any Squire coming after her would have no trouble getting their aspects.
u/None [+5] (3 hours later)
Ohh, that makes much more sense. “The Name of Squire is permanently crippled” made it sound like damage to the Name itself that would persist to future holders.
u/Reasonableviking [+3] (3 hours later)
Cool, but unless it's intentional for Apprentice to be giving incorrect information you might want to change the bit where he says that the "The Name of Squire is permanently crippled".
Otherwise Black Knight looks like a dummie or Warlock has a lot more morals than we thought.
u/vallar57 [+2] Unseen University: Faculty of High-Energy Magic (4 hours later)
I started reading this web novel recently, and I have a question about some older stuff.
Namely, the rules of War College games seem a bit weird. For example, what stops any team from just handing their flag to a good scout and order him to hide and not come back under any circumstances, essentially securing a draw if hey lose the battle itself?
u/None [+1] (8 hours later)
Seems like the kind of thing you'd do if your army has already been defeated and you're hoping for a draw. Which is pretty much what Cat did iirc. If you have your full army it should be impossible for someone to sneak in and steal it.
u/vallar57 [+1] Unseen University: Faculty of High-Energy Magic (9 hours later)
Is there a reason not to do it anyway? You never know if you'll win or lose the confrontation, but if you manage to hide your flag, you'll be guaranteed at least a draw in any case.
u/None [+1] (9 hours later)
Yeah, I dunno. There's always the possibility of the scout being found by the enemy.
u/vallar57 [+1] Unseen University: Faculty of High-Energy Magic (17 hours later)
Highly unlikely: I mean, Cat has successfully hidden two lines for several days, with attacks on the enemy to boot.
u/whywhisperwhy [+1] (21 minutes later)
Short, and brutal.
The only upside I can see is that only the Squire Name is crippled, when she transitions to a new Name she should be able to maximize its potential.
Unless a Name's power derives mostly from the soul in which case maybe having missing pieces of soul will continue to hamper her.
Okay, no upside.
u/None [+1] (24 minutes later)
The physical damage is also interesting. Cat's starting to look more like a stereotypical villain.
u/MultipartiteMind [+1] (a day later)
Edit: Having finished the stream of consciousness, now reading the comments. 'Oh, well' regarding no lasting scorched-earth Squire effect. --Hmm, the Vader comment also got me thinking about the Sith, for Black Knight and Squire. Speaking of which, of the Black and White Knight, can only one have a Squire at a time I wonder? Do you get cases where the Black and White Knights' apprentices are both claimants and one has to be killed before the other can become a proper Squire? (I also find myself thinking about the number of effective adjutants there must have been to wear enough of a groove in Fate to allow an Adjutant, and whether the position of adjutant is more recent than for example chancellor/vizier.)
Second edit: This leads me to reminisce about her reaction to her mind being messed with. The potential redemption arc messed with her mind; the potential redemption arc got started when she saved someone she otherwise should have killed; she saved him as a deliberate act to start a war to further her own goals; her reaction: "I won't forgive him for messing with my mind!". Given that he thought she'd die from what he did to her, I find myself wondering what she thinks he could have done to change that outcome, other than immediately fall on his sword instead of surviving and starting the war she wanted him to.
(Stream of conciousness reactions.)
Painful that, to get a glimpse of such an awesome power and then have it gone forever. Good thing that she's going to get fresh aspects after Name promotion (and would have lost the old ones anyway).
Are all Squires from here on out going to have only two aspects, or is it just for her? Or is it that no Squires will ever have that particular aspect again? (If the first, actually rather badass. --Also, that's hypothetically a way to destroy the Chancellor name, though allowing its inheritance and the destruction are both so laden with risks it probably wouldn't be done.)
Aside, thoughts drifting back to an earlier chapter: A non-Name goblin has shown himself willing to attack a Named person out of hatred, showing a certain level of willingness to put his life on the line. Having failed, this goblin tells you that, since you're underground, you can kill him with impunity. The goblin could in this situation have instead claimed that it was willing to be executed afterwards in order to kill you. Do you
A: Kill the goblin, assuming that it's true that you can kill him with impunity, and that he was stupid enough to tell you that (goblins famed for being intelligent/cunning/sly), or
B: Not kill the goblin, assuming that he was willing to put his life on the line or throw his life away to harm you before, and that this is a trick to harm you by getting you to kill him?
Either way, with that level of interference the matter could probably be covered up fairly easily... however, I find myself curious about whether there's going to be later confirmation of the no-scrying-underground rule, or else an amusing double-take if scrying underground is mentioned as completely normal. (Or even just a comment about the cover up, with a mention of scrying underground possible.)
I find myself wondering how things are going to go, physically, for her. Get weaker and weaker, more battered and broken until she gets out of the game or dies meaningfully? Get/Seize some sort of healing potion/blessing to restore some of her body's damage? Keep her physical problems, but get enough (promotion aspects and/or other, e.g. protheses) power that she's more effective than she was before (the 'Darth Vader' route)? Hmm. A chronic downward spiral would be depressing, so an uptick at some point would be nice. Promotion, some point in the future, is one writing-on-the-wall sign of that already, though not looking forward to the probable prerequisite.
That ends up reminding me of another question: 'If the Squire can also lead into the White Knight, why is the Name connection so damaged by a potential redemption arc?'. Hmm.
u/ErraticErrata [+1] (5 days later)
"Are all Squires from here on out going to have only two aspects, or is it just for her? Or is it that no Squires will ever have that particular aspect again?"
Addressed in comments above.
"If the Squire can also lead into the White Knight, why is the Name connection so damaged by a potential redemption arc?"
In the first book, Catherine's name was kickstarted by another character. The consequences of that are still being felt and have yet to be fully explored.
u/MultipartiteMind [+1] (7 days later)
That's what I intended to refer to in my edit after reading the comments about 'no lasting scorched-earth Squire effect'
Kickstarting: Ahh. That's indeed interesting, I hadn't realised it made a difference who did that. (Any effects from it also being done by the person who didn't stab here then, I wonder, or would that have just been if the aspect had been successful...)
(I remember wondering before whether she would try to kickstart Adjutant--no longer necessary, if I remember correctly.)