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[RT][HF] A Practical Guide to Evil Book 3: Interlude: Skirmish I
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Author: u/Yes_This_Is_God *
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URL: https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/2017/12/20/interlude-skirmish-i/
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Score: 49
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Created: 2017-12-20T05:11:03
Post:
Comments:
u/Mgmtheo [+23] The Dread Empire of Praes (42 minutes later)
From user JN in the wordpress comments:
If I remember correctly, the undead were created by having the citizens drink contaminated water which was then activated by a ritual. Perhaps the mystery stew was infected, and the center of the Callowan line is about to turn?
This has merit, we know Akua likes to plant her agents in the 15th, and this is definitely something I could see her doing. Though I do feel it might be a little too subtle for a classic villain such as herself.
u/None [+10] (11 hours later)
I thought the ritual required consuming the tainted water over a period of time. Though the fact it's a "wasteland" recipe is a point in that theories favor.
u/cyberdsaiyan [+17] (8 minutes later)
YES! Finally we see how Cat looks from a regular Callowan's viewpoint. Black Queen indeed.
u/TideofKhatanga [+16] (3 hours later)
Interestingly, none of the characters featured in this chapter had anything nice to say about Cat. The Callowans, both legion and militia, are terrified of her and the two generals are less than impressed with her general attitude.
u/Nihilvin [+10] (4 hours later)
Yeah. Cat has a 'My way or the highway' attitude with those that she's not close to. I wonder if the fact that we see her have barely cordial relations with those beyond her inner circle will bite her in the future
u/18scsc [+7] (a day later)
Even if all goes well, and she ends up having a long, peaceful, and prosperous rule; where, under her careful guidance, Callow sees a new era of justice, culture, and advancement. Even if Cat wins a true "happily ever after" I suspect she'll be far closer to feared on the loved vs feared spectrum of rulers.
u/18scsc [+9] (a day later)
It was interesting how they saw the gallowborne. In the end Cat really did end up executing all those deserters, she just took a while to do it. All of the orginals are pretty much dead, right?
Outsiders don't see how much she actually does care for them, and how she's earned they're loyalty, how they march willingly into hell and beyond on her behalf. They just see a death sentence.
u/CouteauBleu [+5] We are the Empire. (a day later)
Well, presumably at least one of them survived to write the Folorn Memoirs.
u/MoralRelativity [+2] (a day later)
Yes, and I seem to recall that she did promise them death, just a more worthwhile one than the noose.
u/haiku_fornification [+10] (4 hours later)
It's interesting how many titles Cat is given. The Black Queen, Warlord, Duchess of Moonless Nights... It seems like Cat has done more as a Squire than most people do with a full Name in terms of building her own legend. Will this mean she will grow into a more unique, stronger Name?
As for the chapter, it was good to see the battle from other perspectives. It adds a lot of tension (does Cat know what's happening?) and it grounds the world somewhat.
u/MoralRelativity [+8] (5 hours later)
...Will this mean she will grow into a more unique, stronger Name?
I think you might be on to something there. She needs to transition into something, but what? I hope she's not the Black Knight, and there's no way she's going to be the White Knight.
u/Zephyr1011 [+6] Potentially Unfriendly Aspiring Divinity (7 hours later)
Does more unique imply that a name is stronger? I recall it being mentioned at one point that because Hierophant was a rare and unusual name it was weaker, because it has less cultural force behind it.
u/haiku_fornification [+6] (9 hours later)
I think a newer name would be weaker in terms of power but stronger in terms of the narrative. A name like Black Knight has a lot of baggage with it which would mean that your story is more or less defined. A new name would not be so constrained.
u/Oaden [+3] (2 days later)
How it seems to work is that names with a lot of history are stronger, and the more you play the role of the name, the stronger you are still.
Hence the Tyrant, which is a name with tons of history, and is played by a boy that revels in the role and plays it with amazing audacity, is extremely powerfull.
u/silver7017 [+2] (8 hours later)
Yes, it was mentioned that the less common names are weaker in terms of raw power, but I expect that they can make up for it in terms of having powers people are less likely to be able to deal with or predict.
I am still expecting some sort of narrative cliff where everything just goes completely off the rails, like what happened a few chapters back in The Good Student. Possibly this will happen the next time we see Black.
u/melmonella [+1] Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you (8 hours later)
Commonality of the Name is related to how many stories are there about that Name. Cat has a butload of stories about her already, so that'd be related.
u/Zephyr1011 [+4] Potentially Unfriendly Aspiring Divinity (18 hours later)
I'd be surprised if that's enough to make a difference. I was under the impression it's more to do with the cultural inertia behind the name, so new stories that have sprang up in the past year or so don't seem enough to compete with centuries of cultural backing behind names like Dread Empress
u/melmonella [+1] Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you (20 hours later)
It has to count for something, I am sure. For example, Masego didn't have any stories associated with him that weren't stories about Cat, as far as I can tell, so I figure Cat's Name will be in some sense stronger than his, because she has more personal stories about her.
u/Ibbot [+1] (2 days later)
I was under the impression that it wasn't how many stories there were about Masego as much as it was that there weren't as many stories about Hierophants.
u/melmonella [+1] Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you (2 days later)
I think it's both.
u/werafdsaew [+10] (12 hours later)
Joan’s eyes flicked to the Black Queen, still unmoving in the distance. Gods it was eerie how still she was.
I say that's a dummy, and she's trying to assassinate the enemy mages with Thief's help.
u/TheEngineer923 [+8] (a day later)
I think the entire or vast majority of the 15th will be turned into Undead in this fight. Then Cat will say something awesome like 'Not even Death will excuse you from my service' then promptly use her Winter Powers and Necromancy Powers to raise the entire 15th, heralding the coming of the Dead Legion.
At their head will be Catherine Foundling, once the Squire now the Death Knight.
u/ketura [+7] Organizer (a day later)
Death Knight! Perfect!
u/melmonella [+3] Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you (a day later)
We already have a necromancy legion with a vampire head though, IIRC. Wouldn't be original.
u/TheEngineer923 [+2] (2 days later)
Doesn't matter. It fits. Look at the fight between Black and White. Black used several corpses to attack White with and Black is just a regular Named.
Powerful, but compared to Cat he is average in terms of powers as far as Fully realized Names go. He's not even the last Royal of the Fae.
Cat raised an entire contingent of Immortals sworn to Summer. They were literally the STRONGEST rank and file Warriors of an OPPOSING element. A couple thousand normal mooks should be paltry in comparison. More so if she has Hierophant to guide/boost her powers.
And the reason why I am fixated on her new Name being Death Knight is because she's a Squire and in the absence of outside intervention (like an Angel giving an upgrade by doing some story relevant thing like pulling a sword out of a stone), she HAS to become a Knight. Because It's said somewhere in Book 1 or 2 that 'a Squire MUST become a Knight'.
Also, Death Knight fits with her aspects. A living thing Rises and she Takes their life away causing them to Fall (die). Her Necromancy is also a dead giveaway.
u/KiritosWings [+1] (2 days later)
Her aspects are Take, Break, and Fall fyi.
u/TheEngineer923 [+1] (2 days later)
Still fits into the theme. She Breaks a living thing Taking their Life Essence and causing them to fall (Die).
u/CouteauBleu [+6] We are the Empire. (2 hours later)
I like the bit at the end where a sergeant goes "shhiiiiit, this isn't going well at all, I hope my bosses know what they're doing!"
u/None [+7] (8 hours later)
I fell ominous that everyone keep mentioning the fact that she have never "lost" a battle I sure hope she does not star now, but that would be a great plot twits to end this book... if this would be a redemption history but I doubt it.