17 KiB
[RT] [HF] A Practical Guide to Evil, Book 3, Interlude: Commanders
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Author: u/None *
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URL: https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/2017/08/30/interlude-commanders/
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Score: 49
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Created: 2017-08-30T05:00:50
Post:
Comments:
u/18scsc [+15] (an hour later)
Can't WAIT to see the Callowan Knights in action. Cat mentions them in the same breath as the Watch, and they've been talked up the entire series.
u/None [+1] (8 hours later)
I'm a little confused about the portal, where it did appear, I was under the impression it came from the opposite flank of winter but ranger was supposed to be there.
u/None [+6] (15 hours later)
The woods to the east were empty, and thick enough besides you couldn’t march in proper ranks through them.
Sounds like Winter came from the East.
The hills to the west couldn’t be marched through from the other side, as far as the goblins could tell, but that meant fuck all when the opposition had wings.
“The hills,” Adair murmured.
There was, Kegan saw, a single person there.
And Ranger is in the hills to the West.
“Just a contact, then nothing,” he agreed, then flinched and turned west.
The madwoman was still sitting on her perch, the former Matron saw. No, what had drawn her officer’s attention was the gate that had just opened in front of the hills.
And the gate opened between Ranger and Summer.
Three thousand of the finest cavalry Calernia had ever seen ploughed into the western flank of Summer and Ranker began laughing.
It would appear the cavalry is hitting the ~40K that remain after 20K peeled off to deal with Winter.
u/None [+1] (15 hours later)
Oh, thanks.
u/18scsc [+1] (9 hours later)
Same.. Ideally they'd attack the detachment of Summer sent to deal with the reinforcements from Winter. The knights should be able to turn that front of the battle so that Winter and the knights can then focus their attention on the main summer force.
u/MoralRelativity [+1] (a day later)
Given what the watch did to take that castle I can't believe that the knights are in the same league.
u/None [+12] (an hour later)
Is it just me or does the intro quotation seem to imply that Juniper outsurvives Cat's Name empowered lifespan.
u/None [+6] (8 hours later)
Not necessarily maybe it's from juniper 's biography of cat
u/Ibbot [+3] (22 hours later)
Read that as Juniper's biography of a cat. Anyways, it does seem that it's written after Cat's death.
u/MoralRelativity [+2] (2 days later)
Having just reread it, I think the implication is there.
And now I can't wait to read about The Battle of the Camps and the Prince's Graveyard.
u/Rheklr [+2] (4 days later)
That sounds somewhat fatalistic. While that wouldn't be out of keeping with the series, it's possible Cat simply retires at some (far off) point.
u/melmonella [+8] Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you (6 hours later)
Awesome! Ranger is here!
On a slightly more serious note, how do you think powerlevels compare? Cat has 30k forces, Summer is at 60k-ish. Call it 80-90k effective force due to fey being stronger than mortals, and add 5k to Cat's force due to Watch. Knights are another 3k, doubled for awesomeness for 6k effective. Cat is probably 3-4k in her own right especially if she uses her Naming advantages properly, same with Deadhand. Winter is another 20k (more powerful than mortals, but have inherent we-lose-to-summer-in-direct-battle malus, so I think effective number is the same). Ranger is probably another 10k by herself based on the hype. Robber is god knows where, but probably prepares another trap-call it another 2k in power. If Apprentice and Archer join the field (and they are supposed to be reasonably close, I think), that's another 8k. 87k-ish total lead by a marshal of the legions of terror and a Named with the Junior Calamity bonus vs 90-ish total Summer, lead by two people with blatant reasoning biases, before you account for whatever traps Summer might have.
To be quite honest, I think Catherine wins this one easy.
u/18scsc [+11] (8 hours later)
I pretty much agree with your assessment. Nauk estimated that the allied armies could beat 30k fae with difficulty. The winter fae drew off 20k. Leaving Cat to deal with 40k summer fae.
3k elite heavy calvary mounting a surprise attack on an unguarded flank is a horror to any commander in the other side. In their initial surprise charge I'd bet they could reduce summer's effective cohesive fighting force by as many as 15k. I doubt they'll be able to actually kill more than 6k in the long term, especially as the summer commanders react and account for their presence. Reducing the amount of soldiers summer is capable of using against Cat too 34k, and perhaps 25-30k for a few crucial minutes.
That's enough to make this a tossup by Nauk's standards.
I'm assuming Ranger's main, and perhaps ONLY role in this battle will be to neutralize the summer princess. Who's an army unto herself. I'm not sure how that'd factor into Nauk's read of the battle, but it's a big deal.
Cat and her allied commanders doubtless have a few other cards up their sleeves, and the force of narrative. Pretty much assuring victory.
u/MoralRelativity [+1] (2 days later)
Good analysis thanks for putting it together. I could quibble here and there but That wouldn't change the "it's close" conclusion.
u/GeeJo [+5] Custom Flair (3 days later)
There's also the narrative causality at play, since this is Arcadia. Cat's flipped the story from a brave retreat under fire to the Battle of Minas Tirith, where disparate allies join together to beat a previously overwhelming unified force.
We've got the besieged defenders. We've got the surprise arrival of a supernatural army of death (Winter/Dunharrow) flooding onto one flank. We've got a force of formerly-exiled cavalry (Callow/Rohirrim) smashing into the other. We'll soon have the equivalent of Legolas swinging under their unbeatable monsters. All we need now is for one of the royals to have an ambiguous prophecy about their invulnerability.
u/melmonella [+2] Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you (3 days later)
...well Cat is destined to fight The White Knight, so she can't die here.
u/GeeJo [+2] Custom Flair (3 days later)
Sure, but there are innumerable stories where she would survive, while her forces would not. Even Summers' own plan allowed for that, with the last through the breach fighting a desperate but doomed defence to save their commander. Even without Cat doing anything she'd survive. She'd just lose someone dear to her (say...Adjutant).
The point is less that Cat's using narrative to save her own skin, than that she's twisting it to destroy her enemies.
u/melmonella [+2] Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you (3 days later)
I meant in response to this:
All we need now is for one of the royals to have an ambiguous prophecy about their invulnerability.
Cat sorta does have that.
u/Anderkent [+3] (6 hours later)
Well utilised heavy cavalry are definitely worth more than 2x, especially in an open field battle. I'd start with 5x and consider 8-10.
u/melmonella [+3] Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you (18 hours later)
I really doubt it's that severe. If we were talking against a mortal army, I might have agreed, but this is fey. For one, their whole army can just decide to fly up to avoid the charge entirely. That'd still cost them something (otherwise, I don't see why they wouldn't be flying all the time), but it's a possibility. Morale damage is likewise basically nonexistant against them. I think charge will be effective, but not five times multiplier effective.
u/None [+2] (8 hours later)
Yeah
Time to see what ranger is capable in a full out war
u/beardedrabbit [+6] (7 hours later)
Given Cat's third aspect is very closely tied to her ice heart from the Winter King, after she dispatches Summer and fulfills her side of the bargain, what happens when she gets her real heart back? Will that free up her third aspect slot? As badass as Fall is, it has troubling narrative implications, which matter in a very concrete way in this universe.
u/None [+11] (8 hours later)
I actually expect her to change names when or before she comes back to the ice king after beating Akua and summer.
u/beardedrabbit [+5] (9 hours later)
That wouldn't be too surprising, defeating Summer / Diabolist is pretty climactic in terms of the story. It would be fitting for Cat to transfer to a newer, more powerful Name afterwards (or even during).
I don't like the fact that the Winter King has some control over her, so hopefully she's able to void that connection in some way sooner rather than later (and in such a way that she gets a baller powerup!).
u/None [+6] (13 hours later)
"Princes' Graveyard" Sounds like a battle against Procer. Battle of the Camps is pretty nebulous. I speculate that this is Afolabi turning on her camp in an attempted Red Wedding minus the wedding.
Edit: Fixed apostrophe
u/melmonella [+2] Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you (18 hours later)
A victorious battle against Procer at that.
u/Oaden [+2] (a day later)
"Prince's Graveyard" might be the one were they shot the exiled prince in the throat, which would make the battle of the 4 armies and one the 5 sided training game
For that interpretation the battle of the camps would already have been fought, and i'm not sure which one it would be. Defending marchford or the assault of Liese don't really match.
Alternatively, the current battle is the battle of 4 armies and one. But we have Winter, Alfobi's army, Rankers army, Kegan's army, the knights and summer. That's 6, not 5. Unless we count Kegan, ranker and alfobi's army as one, and there's another ambush upcoming
u/None [+5] (a day later)
When historians try to pin down Foundling’s methods they point to the Battle of the Camps or the Princes’ Graveyard, but those came later.
It's pretty clear we haven't seen "Princes' Graveyard" yet. Also the placement of the apostrophe is relevant here(which I messed up in transcribing the quote); "Prince's Graveyard" implies a singular prince while "Princes' Graveyard" implies a graveyard belonging to multiple princes.
4 armies and one
The definition that I'm following is the four armies are:
- Legions of Terror (Alfobi, Cat, and Ranker)
- Winter
- Summer
- "Callowan" (Deoraithe, Knights of the Broken Bell)
And the "One" is Ranger in the hills.
Edit: Alternatively, the Knights are part of the Legions of Terror (that what their official status is anyway) and the Deoraithe are their own Army. I lean towards the previous interpretation myself. However, you're right there is room in the story for another army if you have all armies under Cat's direct chain command(Alfobi, Cat, and Ranker, Knights) or embedded (Deoraithe) as one Army and only have Winter, Summer, and Ranger left. It'll be interesting to see what happens next.
u/Oaden [+1] (a day later)
You're right, we haven't seen any battle that killed multiple princes.
i hadn't considered assigning Ranger as the "One", on one hand it kinda fits, on the other, i don't think Cat would risk trying to get Ranger to do anything for her. Meaning she is here uninvited. Which means her plan doesn't feature Ranger.
If Ranger were to do anything in this battle, it be taking out the princess. But if Cat's plan doesn't feature Ranger, then she would have her own plan for taking down the princess. (Though maybe she fucked up and Ranger bails her out. Akua also underestimated the princess)
u/None [+2] (a day later)
I saw speculation on the story page that Cat offered Ranger the Summer Princess's eye to complete her set. However, I think it is actually the Prince's hand that was offered (like literally his hand, not a marriage proposal). She has Winter Prince of Nightfall's eye (who's conveniently in this battle) so I think this is a ripe narrative connection.
“Speaking of that,” Foundling said, popping her neck with a gruesome cracking sound. “If you want to avoid me beating you like a rented mule it’s not too late to make peace. I’ll need hostages and reparations, of course, but you can still get away with losing only a hand.”
“Did you think we wouldn’t notice the Prince of Nightfall’s stench wafting from the woods?”
At their head a one-eyed man rode a horse of shadows, the spear in his hand glinting of murder.
u/Oaden [+3] (a day later)
Would be a weird ass offer though, can't exactly use a hand as jewelry. And Ranger would probably be able to just waltz into the realm of summer and get it herself whenever she fancied, given that she wanders into the realm of winter every year to grab the eye. Which i suppose is a bit of my problem with Ranger being her at Cat's behest. Cat can't offer anything that Ranger can't just go fetch herself whenever she fancied.
The only thing Ranger seems to care about is entertainment. (Which she seems to be getting now)
u/melmonella [+2] Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you (2 days later)
I don't see why Cat would need to bring Ranger herself or include her in her original plan. Originally she thought there would be less than 30k Summer. Now there is 60k but Ranger also came by. Two surprises balance out.
u/Fellan607 [+2] (2 days later)
I was assuming the hand was referring to the traditional story of cutting off a hand for theft. I don't think it'll be jewelry related, but the theft angle doesn't really fit the Acadia narrative angle for a leader's consequence for a failed invasion.
u/melmonella [+5] Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you (6 hours later)
Hmm. Now that I think about it, do we know of anything preventing a person with a Villain Name from taking a Heroic Role?
u/everything-narrative [+11] Coral, Abide with Rubicon! (7 hours later)
Squire is a neutral name. Were Cat so inclined (i.e. not the kind of girl to give Taylor Hebert pause) she could probably call upon the white light instead of shadow.
u/None [+6] (8 hours later)
I agree, I'm one of the supporters that Cat will transcend into another neutral name or even a hero name but keep kicking both sides ass
u/everything-narrative [+5] Coral, Abide with Rubicon! (a day later)
Seems to me there's actually grounds for several categories of names: clackling maniac villain (Diabolist, most Dread Emps), neutrally benevolent (Ranger, Archer), antihero (Lone Star, Thief), hero mcheropants (Whity &co.), and last but most prominent: the pragmacists (Calamities, Cat)
u/melmonella [+4] Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you (16 hours later)
Wasn't talking about Cat in particular. Calamities have a very heavy resemblance to a Heroic party, for example-can their sucess be explained by them taking up Heroic Roles as Villains?
u/everything-narrative [+3] Coral, Abide with Rubicon! (a day later)
Very possibly.
Amadeus and Alaya want for the cycle of violence to end. Wekesa wants nothing more than to further magic. Sabah wants to protect her friends. Ranger wants to become the strongest there is. Eudokia wants(?) to establish a working bureaucracy.
All in all, a fairly heroic bunch!
u/aeschenkarnos [+2] (19 hours later)
Ranger also appears to be a neutral name.
u/cupofcyanide [+4] (7 hours later)
Is Warlock using his husband to spy on Daoine?
u/None [+1] (8 hours later)
I'm not sure, I did not even understood Tik mention on ranker pov
u/cupofcyanide [+6] (8 hours later)
Reread the passage. It was Ranker, not Kegan, which makes way more sense. Makes you wonder if Warlock and Ranker are close.
u/None [+2] (9 hours later)
I Think so, otherwise she wouldn't been using his real name.
u/MoralRelativity [+2] (a day later)
I love the way that initial quote from Juniper gives away the names of some of Cats coming battles.
Something to look forward to.
u/Ardvarkeating101 [+2] Father of Learning (a month later)
We are going to die, Kegan realized with crystal-clear clarity. We are going to die because whatever the Carrion Lord did to teach this child broke her mind.
I know this came out a month ago but Jesus Christ this almost made me laugh out loud in a climate change seminar