29 KiB
[RT][HF] A Practical Guide to Evil: Prologue
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Author: u/Yes_This_Is_God *
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URL: https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/2018/04/09/prologue-4/
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Score: 86
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Created: 2018-04-09T04:03:39
Post:
Comments:
u/Croktopus [+35] (45 minutes later)
Oh, how I've missed this.
I gotta say, when the bells tolled, I was expecting it to end up being that the Woe had found a different party of heroes and were dispatching them, and then this party witnessed the end and nope'd their way out of Callow.
u/Ibbot [+30] (28 minutes later)
As we start the new book, I just want to remind everyone that we now also have /r/PracticalGuideToEvil.
u/Ardvarkeating101 [+29] Father of Learning (an hour later)
I like how she went from standing before the choir of contrition and it being a momentous moment of self-actualization and now she just does it so she doesn't have to kill the same hero twice.
It's so commonplace they don't bother to make songs about it anymore.
u/akaltyn [+15] (an hour later)
Its a different choir I think, but not sure which
u/Ardvarkeating101 [+21] Father of Learning (2 hours later)
Endurance
u/ricree [+26] (2 hours later)
"Even Jehan the Wise hung himself some princes. Seven and one, like in the song.”
Well that little throwaway line isn't going to be in any way meaningful or ominous, is it?
u/panchoadrenalina [+22] (3 hours later)
Seven and one was the number of crowns cat promised to larat? :o
u/ricree [+22] (3 hours later)
Yup.
“Now complete your end of the bargain, abomination,” she hissed. “You’ve had your fill of me.”
“I will take the crown of seven mortals rulers and one, to lay them at the feet of the Prince of Nightfall,” I said.
Her face went still. A glimmer of something like fear passed through those shining eyes, and shit that wasn’t good at all.
“You know not what you have promised,” she said. “This must not come to pass.”
We still have no idea what it means, nor why it terrifies Sulia so, but seeing that very specific number pop up again is quite interesting.
u/Rheklr [+14] (11 hours later)
Larat is also no longer the Prince of Nightfall, so it's unclear if that affects the deal. I suspect not, given this line:
We swear ‘til the day of last ruin, ‘til all debts are paid
when Larat swears to Cat.
u/Oaden [+1] (a day later)
So.... Larat serves until he has his crowns and the.... does his treachery thing? Probably establishes himself as winter king or something
u/None [+2] (11 hours later)
now that we now is from a song, a old and popular, or at least referenced in one, i would say for the weight it would have on the story, maybe stronger than a pattern of 3 and we know how hard that can bind the Fae specially now that cat is half fae.
u/CouteauBleu [+23] We are the Empire. (an hour later)
Fantasy French! Hurray \o/ I kinda want to translate every sentence they say now.
Just one time, I'd like to see one of these idiots actually say "Yes, I surrender." What's the point of being overwhelmingly strong and terrifying and totalitarian if the people who oppose you have zero conservation instinct?
Clearly, A Practical Guide should stop bothering telling us the life story of Catherine and all the people she meets; and instead be nothing other than funny quotes by kings and tyrants about the nature of power. It's what we're all here for, obviously :D
u/akaltyn [+27] (an hour later)
Just one time, I'd like to see one of these idiots actually say "Yes, I surrender." What's the point of being overwhelmingly strong and terrifying and totalitarian if the people who oppose you have zero conservation instinct?
I don't think they really can. What we've been shown with white knight and this stalwart paladin seems to indicate that they have effectively submitted their will to their Choir. I suspect they have limited free will, in a similar way to how the Harshallam would mass mind control people
u/LordGoldenroot [+20] (2 hours later)
While that would be the case with heroes who follow a choir those who don't should still have their full free will. That said, becoming a named requires a belief in something bordering on madness and most heroes who would be going out of their way to try to kill her would likely have belief that would prevent surrender.
u/None [+16] (5 hours later)
[removed]
u/CouteauBleu [+13] We are the Empire. (6 hours later)
Yeah, I think she might have been more successful if she'd lead more into the "temptation" thing.
Like, maybe tell them "Oh, so your purpose is to study the Faery battlefield! Neat! Tell you what, I'll totally allow it, as long as you swear not try to hurt me or my people for the duration of your stay". (and then they're like "Hey, loophole, that means we can hurt her if we leave and come back!")
Then at the end, invite them for a formal dinner, where they have James Bond style discussion between bad guy and villain, and just before they leave, give them the offer: "You know, our country could really use heroes like you to bring order to the bandit-ridden lands".
u/scruiser [+2] CYOA (11 hours later)
That sounds like it might start a pattern of three and/or give them more time to build up narrative weight. Safer to be more direct than to play games that give them time,
u/hoja_nasredin [+1] Dai-Gurren Brigade (2 days later)
for this reason I created topic for quotes. The quality of quotes decreased over time.
u/M3mentoMori [+22] (3 hours later)
oldschoolvillian on the wordpress comments brings up a good point:
Oh, shit – Catherine can raise the dead and retain their power. Does she have five parties of Heroes raised and held in thrall to her?
We already know Cat could raise intelligent undead well before she was to transition into Black Queen, and there's no reason to believe she's lost that power since. Her line about 'this one's already claimed' fits the theory, too.
Glad this series is back, and eagerly awaiting Wednesday.
u/Zayits [+13] (6 hours later)
Given that she apparently killed four more heroic bands, presumably of the same size, she now can go full Triumfant and put together three legions of undead, with a full heroic party bound to each one's standard. Maybe make them act like an actual general staff.
Alternatively, she can stay closer to our version of the mythes of the Wild Hunt, and have those heroes as her entourage.
u/GeeJo [+4] Custom Flair (11 hours later)
Alternatively, she can stay closer to our version of the mythes of the Wild Hunt, and have those heroes as her entourage.
This seems to me to just be begging for a Hero to show up with an aspect that would free the undead from their shackles mid-fight.
At which point Cat is surrounded by 4+ full adventuring parties of heroes with a high motivation to kill her, in poetic turnaround. Maybe she can cry out "Impossible!" when it happens. Redemption and vengeance for a full score of Heroes all at once in a single move is too tasty for the narrative-fairies to leave alone forever.
No, much safer to have them raised and sent to do good elsewhere on Cat's terms.
u/Zayits [+3] (11 hours later)
Raising dead is a big deal in the Guideverse. The only time we've seen it happen or mentioned is when Cat tricks a bunch of angels into declaring her a queen by going through one of the most recognizable patterns for gaining power. Yes, it's still known well enough that Cat can reasonably guess that winning the race for the sword would mean she has to be resurrected, but Black doesn't mention anything like resurrection at will in his "heroes are OP, plz nerf" rant. His interludes don't show any concerns about killed heroes returning to haunt him, while angelic intervention - something that already happened one and a half times in the series already - is mentioned as an element in the stories he heard, so we can safely assume for now that mass resurrection sin't in the cards.
u/hoja_nasredin [+1] Dai-Gurren Brigade (2 days later)
Dead King has resurrected heroes bound to his will.
u/Empiricist_or_not [+3] Aspiring polite Hegemonizing swarm (10 hours later)
Doesn't she already have a fae wild hunt sworn to her service?
u/Zayits [+6] (11 hours later)
Fae who are likely to go away when their treacherous leader does, and who geaerally are otherworldly creatures with their own very specific weaknesses and powersets. No reason not to claim a few human heroes with wildly varying combative powers as well.
u/Empiricist_or_not [+1] Aspiring polite Hegemonizing swarm (11 hours later)
Absolutely agree on raising Heros, well up to the point where it's depending on magic. . . so I don't know if she's putting them down for good or going to keep them somewhere they'd go all explodey if they betrayed her.
I think we've seen Cat has learned Black's lesson abut power and is building infrastructure.
u/Zayits [+2] (11 hours later)
Name tricks aren't magic, so they aren't subject to conventional magical warfare. At best they can be disrupted, but given that a Crusade is nigh, I bet on people just spamming miracles at them.
u/Oaden [+2] (a day later)
Raising dead heroes to serve you sounds... unwise.
Its the kindda thing that has the undead hero wrest control back in a momentous moment when forced to kill a friend and turn on you instead,
u/None [+15] (2 hours later)
I think cat got a page from the undead king and is making her own collection of heroes, I know I was pushing for more heroes to join her but man I did not expect it to be this way.
u/Zayits [+15] (3 hours later)
“Your mother also said a bowl of cream and bread crumbs would keep the fairies happy, Mary,” the old man mocked. “How’d that go again?”
A whole goblin tribe settled at Marchford and that turned out all right.
Please tell me Catherine had to call it Lesser Footrest Tribe.
“Don’t you think it was a little racist to assume I was a goblin?” the creature mused. “Plenty of people use rooftops, you know. They’re like streets that make it easier to murder.”
The Stalwart Paladin blinked, then opened his mouth. Had he – but the goblin had just said… He closed his mouth.
See, losing in the exchange of verbal barbs like that is the first sign that the encounter will go hard for you. I don't suppotr the fan ideas about Robber getting a Name, but I see where that comes from.
“No,” she said. “But I’ll try with the next batch anyway. Sixth time’s the charm, right?”
Six is the number of significance for Choir of Judgement. Guess that was the last batch of the kitchen sink heroes sent by the Heavens.
Some sorcery must be behind the machines, he thought, for there could be no other explanation for how swiftly they kept firing.
Somebody had slept through all lectures on engineering.
“Masego will be pissed,” he said. “Half a day’s work and it kept for a single blow. At least you’re not reforming.”
And that, kids, is why we don't rely on magic items.
“I’m the Adjutant,” Hakram Deadhand replied, baring his teeth. “I had a light meal this morning.”
"I came to kick ass and chew heroes, and your asses are already kicked".
She rose, and as she did the air cooled and her flesh knitted back. She shed the burnt skin like a snake, and her pupils broke as fresh ones forced themselves forward.
I wonder if there's any cost to this kind of regeneration.
Iason, son of Idrim, We offer you the misery of Endurance.
I take that Endurance is a Choir different from Fortitude?
The blankness fled, Iason’s eyes opened and the last thing he ever felt was a spike of frost going through his forehead.
And it looks like Cat is getting her own undead heroes!
u/Rheklr [+4] (11 hours later)
I wonder if there's any cost to this kind of regeneration.
Most likely to do with the mental shift that occurs when using Winter.
u/None [+2] (11 hours later)
I did not get the first 2, care to explain ? English is not my 1st language.
u/Zayits [+3] (12 hours later)
I made a big post about Catherine being close enough to a god in terms of power to be worshipped, and mentioned milk and bread as potential offerings to her, since those are most common fae offerings in our folkore. Looks like it's just a superstition in the Guideverse, though.
The second bit comes from chapter 56 of book three, where Catherine makes a drunk joke about naming Robber the first and only member of the Lesser Lesser Footrest Tribe. I referred to the fact that Cat's promises are magiically binding now, so a tribe created "by my authority as Vicefuckingqueen of Callow" may just have been enough to count.
u/Hoactzins [+15] (an hour later)
Damn, get wrecked. Makes sense though, the betty and veronica style love triangles never end well for the heroes.
Was the woman he saw at the end Akua's soul? That's... concerning... I wonder if she's whispering into Cat's ear?
u/paradoxinclination [+13] (48 minutes later)
Six different bands of heroes taken down just in the last year, huh? Well that definitely sets the tone for this book.
u/M3mentoMori [+17] (3 hours later)
Sounds more like five, to me. I usually hear 'third time's the charm' prior to the third attempt, not the fourth.
u/GMan129 [+4] (3 hours later)
nah between this chapter and the next another one shows up and promptly dies
u/akaltyn [+15] (an hour later)
It also gives a nod to how Black was at the beginning of the series, casually killing off lots of heroes.
u/Rheklr [+5] (11 hours later)
And crucially, without using aspects. That they've learned to use skills instead is pretty important.
u/PastafarianGames [+7] (13 hours later)
I'm pretty sure Hakram popped an Aspect in order to withstand Smite.
u/Zayits [+1] (12 hours later)
Aspects are at least partially decided by the publically known part of the story (though not entirely, as this chapter shows). I wonder whether Cat has enough Aspects now to feel safe drawing on them, and whether she's trying to set up a story for a new one, say, to make it manifest when a hero finally accepts the deal.
u/Rheklr [+3] (12 hours later)
Cat's aspects mostly broke when she embraced Winter (there was a shell of Take left iirc) but Hakram didn't use a single aspect either.
Cat might be able to get new aspects when she transitions, but it isn't clear that she has, and I highly doubt such a transition would occur off-screen. Black broke that transition in Liesse and I suspect she'll end up with a different name - possibly Dread Empress, given that she heard The Girl Who Climbed the Tower, but then again Cat is all about breaking stories.
u/Zayits [+1] (13 hours later)
I think that the one remaining was Fall, given that she said it to have grown far beyond what an Aspect should be. I'm still of the opinion that the transition happened at the coronation, and that her nwe Aspects will be based on her duties as the Queen of the Hunt, similar to those of Queen of Summer (to destroy her enemies, to protect her lands, to see the natural phenomenon metaphysically linked to her victorious).
Edit: Hakram also used his Stand to survive Smite, and likely took wounds knowing that he could Rampage-heal them iif necessary.
u/hoja_nasredin [+1] Dai-Gurren Brigade (2 days later)
I thought she would be Warlord.
u/Zayits [+1] (2 days later)
Come on, the author has spent a chunk of Hakram's interlude explaining why this could never happen after people didn't listen to his explanations in the comments. Orcs calling her that is a way of addressing a superior commander.
u/CouteauBleu [+12] We are the Empire. (6 hours later)
“Yes yes, praise the Heavens and much defiance. That aside, out of curiosity,” the Red Mage smirked, “has that speech ever actually worked?”
"But not today, and not through this weak an instrument."
Oooh, are these Cenotaph references I'm seeing? Nice! (it's a very popular Worm fanfic; technically, the references would be from its sequel Wake)
u/aerocarbon [+16] NERV (31 minutes later)
Oh, Gods below. It's back.
Thoughts:
- Still kind of confused why she even bothered with this rigamarole in the first place. Why not have them corpses at the bottom of the Hwarte before they even noticed? She won (granted, it wasn't an easy fight nor was it won by the skin of her teeth - but Cat won) but why risk it at all? I understand that she doesn't want to be like Black, but she seemed certain that their intent was to kill her from Day 1. The extent of the prep she took here means that she was fully expecting a fight. Does she think that she'll eventually get through to a band of heroes if she keeps plugging at it? That, to me, seems kind of far-fetched.
- Good to see Larat as her left-hand man. Good interplay between him and Cat. I very much enjoy how she acknowledges him as her 'treacherous lieutenant,' and I wonder how she plans on dealing with him when the time comes.
"She rose, and as she did the air cooled and her flesh knitted back. She shed the burnt skin like a snake, and her pupils broke as fresh ones forced themselves forward."
What fresh hell is this? A glamour? Winter magic fuckery? Name power nonsense?
Twice the Stalwart Paladin recieves an eleventh-hour superpower, threatening to deus ex machina his way into a victory, and twice Cat clamps down on that shit. She's getting good at hero-killing, and it is simply glorious to behold.
Stal-Pal's induction into the choir of Endurance reminds me of Black's legendary Motive Rant in Book 2, Chapter 36.
"Gods, I’ve even heard of Choirs stepping in to settle a losing fight. The sheer fucking arrogance of it."
- I am confused, however, at how she managed to gatecrash the Stalwart Paladin's shonen power-up. Good on her for breaking a potential Pattern, but again, what fresh hell was that? Masego memes? And who is the "beautiful, dark-skinned woman?" I'm half inclined to believe that might be Archer, but I'm not sure how she'd be able to help Cat and co. break into a heaven. Could it be Diabolist?
u/CouteauBleu [+25] We are the Empire. (an hour later)
I understand that she doesn't want to be like Black, but she seemed certain that their intent was to kill her from Day 1. The extent of the prep she took here means that she was fully expecting a fight. Does she think that she'll eventually get through to a band of heroes if she keeps plugging at it? That, to me, seems kind of far-fetched.
I really hope we see it happen eventually. I mean, she did get Thief.
u/None [+1] (11 hours later)
same here, maybe she can even have 2 factions the woe and the joy or something like that, 2 teams that she can use for different encounters depending of the enemy or the mission, we have to deal with demons and shit ? lets take massego, is there a enemy villain that the empress send, lets take white and co and show then a brand new world (of pain), letting cat almost always have the weight of the story on her side, or making the enemies step up their game.
u/Zayits [+2] (12 hours later)
I'm more inclined to believe that if she can get heroes to join in significant numbers, it would be a mix between standard Wild Hunt and a "Knights of the Round Table" kind of deal: an entourage of people with stories of their own, bound to her by an oath, a cause and a fealty.
u/BausMANGO [+24] (an hour later)
I'm inclined to think that its Akua - her soul in the collar of the mantle & arms draped over Cat's shoulders
u/calmingRespirator [+20] (an hour later)
I’m pretty sure the beautiful dark skinned woman is Akua’s soul, knitted into the Mantle of Woe. She is probably also what allowed Cat to gatecrash the Serephim Intervention, by a combination of gate making powers and Diabolist understanding of the Other.
u/ricree [+17] (2 hours later)
Still kind of confused why she even bothered with this rigamarole in the first place.
Practice, I think, is the most likely explanation. Both in directly fighting heroes in a relatively low risk setting, and also for trying to find a way to actually convince them. Butchering hero's works well enough in the short term, but eventually her goal has always been to rise above the petty good/evil squabbles and actually help people. If she is to accomplish this, however, it will eventually require some accomodation with the nominally good side. Presumably, she has been varying her approach with each group, and hopes to find some way that actually does get through to them.
u/Esryok [+10] (20 hours later)
Judging by the behavior of the innkeepers it also seems Cat's getting a lot of good PR out of public hero-killing. The anti-Evil wife was practically rolling her eyes at the foolishness of heroes, calmly accepting that this new lot was doomed. Then there's the husband, talking about how everything is fine until these meddlesome foreigners stick their noses in.
Feels like we're making good progress towards that cultural victory.
u/Zayits [+7] (7 hours later)
Why not have them corpses at the bottom of the Hwarte before they even noticed?
Because to have power over them (to either have them join her or to turn them into Winter zombies) she needs to actually make the offer and/or them to be in Callow.
What fresh hell is this? A glamour? Winter magic fuckery? Name power nonsense?
Probably Winter pushing through, likely at the cost of Cat's agency (notice how her descriptions channge).
I am confused, however, at how she managed to gatecrash the Stalwart Paladin's shonen power-up.
Remember the one time Cat tried to get an eleventh hour superpower? Well, an epiphany triggered early has a cost to it, and angelic intervention seemingly follows similar rules, which allowed Cat to follow Iason in his empowering dream sequence, just like the demon of Corruption followed Cat into hers.
u/Zayits [+5] (14 hours later)
Reposting from the other thread since I just realized what made me feel that mild disgust:
May I take a moment to bitch about how the heroes treat the locals like bloody NPCs? Seriously, I get that Iason is a former lay brother, and Lergo is a highborn, and more likely to be antisocial as a mage, but them being annoyed at the innkeepers was more offputting to me than their lack of any solid plan. Cat may have cut them off early when they started explaining their reasoning, but what she would have never done is resorting to using the verbal equivalent of "skip dialogue" button on the elderly couple, and not just because they're Callowan.
u/werafdsaew [+1] (a day later)
How does Catherine crash the one-on-one between the Hero and his choir? How can she just...do that?
u/Zayits [+3] (a day later)
Reposting from earlier in this thread:
Remember the one time Cat tried to get an Aspect too early? Well, an epiphany triggered early has a cost to it, and angelic intervention seemingly follows similar rules, which allowed Cat to follow Iason in his empowering dream sequence, just like the demon of Corruption followed Cat into hers. How much of this is due to Akua' lingering influence or Catherine being her fairy opposite is up to debate.
u/Boron_the_Moron [-8] (7 hours later)
Wow, this is really bad.
- Opening with a meaningless quote, attributed to a fictional character I neither know nor care about.
- Starting with a giant infodump, about characters and places I don't know or care about yet.
- Constantly Telling instead of Showing.
- Bombarding the reader with so many Dumb Fantasy Proper Nouns that the narrative is impossible to follow.
If I picked this up in a bookstore, I would have stopped reading by the third line of the first paragraph. People think this is good storytelling?
EDIT: I am an idiot.
From other comments in this thread, and the lack of clear labelling in the text itself, I assumed that this was the prologue to the first book in the series, re-posted for posterity. I judged the story from that perspective. I realise now that this was a mistake. I have not read any of the previous books - I intend to rectify that soon.
Mea culpa.
u/notokaycj [+17] (7 hours later)
Have you read the other three books? The title is unobvious about it but this is the prologue to Book 4. It's probably sheer nonsense if you haven't already read the rest.
u/Zayits [+9] (8 hours later)
While, ideally, eventually having the book published is Erraticerrata's end goal, it's still a web series. A web series that's currently on its fourth book, so a lot of story-related names and terms (that were referenced before multiple times) are to be expected.
Partially the infodump is caused by the introduction of a new PoV, and partially it's the writing style leaning heavily on its medium, but I'd say that the end result has enough story told through interactions. Besides, the heroes assuming a lot of stuff without checking is kind of the point of this chapter, it makes sence that most of the dramatic buildup would be mainly in the central character's head.
If I picked this up in a bookstore, I would have stopped reading by the third line of the first paragraph.
I see from your comments on r/rational that you, indeed, picked up the story likely without reading the three previous books. While your other comments suggest you don't come to discussions like that to enjoy the read, did you consider starting with the beginning, to see if the more down-to-earth perspective would make the narration easier for you?
EDIT: Sorry, I thought you did know that this is the latest chapter, and made some seriously uncharitable assumptions about you. Upvoted.
u/Sarkavonsy [+8] (13 hours later)
Took me a moment to realize that you think this is the start of the story. This is the prologue of book 4.
u/nineran [+8] (10 hours later)
... while I have seen a series where an interlude or a prologue to a middle book makes sense when flying in blind, I cannot name more than a handful. That’s a really high standard.
I’m having trouble guessing why you would apply that standard to this? This isn’t a bookstore or even a standalone book.
More to the point, please point me to the web-fiction that meets your standard. I’d like to read it.
u/panchoadrenalina [+5] (a day later)
upvoted for the edit, the story is great imo, (if you start from the begining, you should give it a try)
u/leniadolbap [+4] (11 hours later)
Username checks out.
u/Karranor [+5] (a day later)
Regarding the edit, after your comment I reread that prologue while "forgetting" what I know about it.
Yeah, it would be really really bad that way.
But most of the stuff that's "told" is something the reader is supposed to know already and the point of it is to show (and not tell ;) ) how the events we know of are perceived by others.
u/muns4colleg [-10] (2 hours later)
Frankly, I really hope a hero comes along that's actually smart enough to bring a massive fuck off army along with them to burn down the country around Cats ears. The endless villain wank in this story started getting old around the same time it stopped bothering and just started putting her against other baddies. And now it's come back because we haven't had enough of this story being smug and boring.
u/Zayits [+11] (7 hours later)
"Bring a massive fuck off army along with them to burn down the country around Cats ears" is exactly the kind of thing she tries to prevent. Besides, a hero resorting to shit like this is what you no doubt would call villain wank.
Seriously ,what's so smug about the protagonist trying to both avoid perpetuating the war "for the greater Good" and to prevent crazies from getting power?
u/OmniscientQ [+14] (2 hours later)
Then quit reading it. There are no points to be earned or achievments unlocked by forcing yourself to read bad fiction.
u/CouteauBleu [+0] We are the Empire. (5 hours later)
"Achievement get: You are a really snarky person. Congratulations!"