11 KiB
[RT][HF] A Practical Guide to Evil: Book 4: Interlude: Crusaders
-
Author: u/Zayits *
-
URL: https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/2018/05/02/interlude-crusaders/
-
Score: 76
-
Created: 2018-05-02T04:01:24
Post:
Comments:
u/CouteauBleu [+23] We are the Empire. (3 hours later)
I like how the Grey Pilgrim is completely taking for granted that Black will lose the coming battle. I guess he doesn't have the benefit of knowing Black, so he doesn't know how surgical and thorough the guy can be.
It's funny, in a way, it looks like since he met Catherine, he respects her more than he respects Black, who he only has secondhand accounts of.
Black is the implacable man who specializes in anticipating people who specialize in blindsiding implacable men. The Vales is a super defensible position, and the Heroes are going in with what appears to be very limited intel. I don't know if Black is going to hold the city, but whether or not he does, I expect his enemies to get wrecked.
u/Zayits [+16] (5 hours later)
Oh yeah, "he will not repeat his past mistakes" isn't a great improvement on its own for someone facing Black Knight.
I still hope that he heard the beginning of Bard's monologue about how she had Sabah killed (he was only fifteen or so feet away, and Tyrant might have let him hear her). Googling the memories about Bard would show him more of the big picture, which would be necessary if he's ever to start thinking for himself.
u/CouteauBleu [+14] We are the Empire. (6 hours later)
Oh yeah, "he will not repeat his past mistakes" isn't a great improvement on its own for someone facing Black Knight.
It's not even like he made mistakes in the first place. He almost got flattened while essentially being at his best.
EDIT: Nevermind, I was misremembering that scene.
u/Zayits [+7] (7 hours later)
Not exactly, enough googling would allow him see the goblinfire shell game coming, for example, and Amadeus notes Hanno didn't bother learning to use Ride for anything other than closing the distance. Combining Ride and Recall would turn him into a human missile, and that's not mentioning the possibility of tricks like searching for a memory that would capitalize on something Black Knight wouldn't be able to know, or, you know, buying an actual mount to tap into Ride without having to say the word.
Guess being the kind of person to convict himself for being unable to address a case with insufficient amount of data, and then to offload the responsibility for his actions to those who won't feel the consequences of them, marks a person with little imagination.
u/OmniscientQ [+3] (18 hours later)
The way Named fights have been depicted so far, it'd be a gamble to burn two aspects at once. More powerful, certainly, but it leaves Hanno at a disadvantave if the combo fails to deliver. Rolling the dice against Amadeus...
Well, I could see an argument in favor of it. Amadeus has shown that he will win the slow-and-steady style of fight.
u/Keyenn [+4] (17 hours later)
Ride was supposed to be a very good trump card, and he essentially waste it. So no, it's not his best.
u/Sarkavonsy [+3] (22 hours later)
I mean, in that scene, Black repeatedly thinks "mistake" to himself every time Hanno makes a misstep. He notices like at least half a dozen, iirc.
u/sparkc [+6] (4 hours later)
I think on balance i am more looking forward to the interludes concerning the Calamities and their battle at the Vales than I am Catherine’s upcoming conflict.
u/CouteauBleu [+8] We are the Empire. (5 hours later)
Well, I wouldn't go that far. Last time was kind of a drag.
u/sparkc [+10] (10 hours later)
To each their own. I loved every bit of the Free Cities interludes. There’s very little well written competence porn out there so i’ll take whatever I can get from Black’s POV.
u/WalterTFD [+5] (9 hours later)
The question is how many Heroes are in the anti-Black force. We've got 14, 2 of which are old monsters, in the anti-Cat force. Is Black dealing with the same amount, less, or more?
u/Zayits [+2] (14 hours later)
Probably less: they spoke about a struggle of Named against Named, so White Knight, Witch and probably Valiant Champion (given her "monster slayer" narrative, she's likely to target the host commanded by an orc, a vampire and a dragon. Then again, she might have went north with her mentor).
u/WalterTFD [+1] (15 hours later)
Isn't her Mentor Hanno, who is south?
u/Zayits [+7] (15 hours later)
She's a Levantine, Hanno is just her team leader, while Tariq met every single other hero from levant in his lifetime. White Knight may even be the former team leader, given that the sisters are dead and the Bard was probably banished for some period of time.
u/panchoadrenalina [+17] (45 minutes later)
I, once again, am having worm flashbacks reading this (tough to be fair there is ample cases of this in the guide itself). Everyone that sees Cat/Taylor underestimates her and underestimating the MCs is at the very top of things not to do in fiction. Thankfuly the Pilgrim is not marching to war with his spear so far up his ass that is ticking his ubula.
We met the Saint and she is scaring the princes into line. is that good or bad? I mean if they follow the terms of engagement it might mean that they will be more competent that previously thought. By the way the Saint's ass also doubles as a scabard for her blades, since she is following the moral leanings her last name, Montfort, inspires. Simon of Montfort was one of the leaders in the crusade to quash the catar heresy in the middle ages. he was famous for saying "kill everyone God will choose his own." anyway that she curses the princes into shape is amusing.
u/aeschenkarnos [+12] (5 hours later)
The cracking pace of updates is also reminiscent of Worm, in the best way.
u/DTravers [+9] (10 hours later)
Everyone that sees Cat/Taylor underestimates her and underestimating the MCs is at the very top of things not to do in fiction.
I like that, to be honest. It's unrealistic but I much prefer to see Catherine win than lose. It...feels good.
u/panchoadrenalina [+8] (10 hours later)
I like it too. But sometimes want an antagonist that sees the mc as a genuine threat and spite their best efforts loses. Akua did almost that but then she hugged the idiot ball and decided she wanted cat as her pet monster.
u/None [+10] (11 hours later)
I love how there is an in-universe explanation for Hugging the Idiot Ball.
u/Zayits [+5] (15 hours later)
Not to mention there's a popular perception of diabolists as generally mad (and a mundane explanation to that, as keeping extensive notes on demons affects their immediate surroundings). Akua's self-destructive tendencies combined with her doublethink skills was what made her so entertaining to watch, in a trainwreck kind of way.
u/cyberdsaiyan [+17] (an hour later)
Grey Pilgrim having spent most of his time is the Levant, has no idea the lengths that Proceran royalty will go to for some power.
The Pilgrim and the Saint have a good cop bad cop thing going, pretty fun stuff.
I wonder if the Watch that Duchess Kegan sent them will be under suspicion now that the heroes have shared their doubts.
Looking forward to what cat has planned to solve this unholy mess at her doorstep.
u/Ardvarkeating101 [+14] Father of Learning (2 hours later)
From what I can tell from the comments, the current theory is marrying half a dozen individuals.
u/cyberdsaiyan [+11] (2 hours later)
damn, so we CK2 now?
u/ATRDCI [+8] (15 hours later)
Make the ruler of every country an undead horse controlled by Cat
u/Neverwant [+1] (a day later)
Undead
horsegoat
u/CouteauBleu [+11] We are the Empire. (2 hours later)
I wonder if the Watch that Duchess Kegan sent them will be under suspicion now that the heroes have shared their doubts.
Yeah, the jig is up now. They'll probably be taken prisoners as soon as they arrive, especially if the heroes have someone with a lie-detecting power.
u/cyberdsaiyan [+5] (3 hours later)
Amadis kinda seems to think that Kegan can be trusted though, since she apparently asked for a lot of land. His dislike of heroes might play into the outcome.
u/CouteauBleu [+4] We are the Empire. (3 hours later)
Yeah, but now that the question has been raised, there's no way they'll let it slide.
At best, they'll keep the Watch at arm's length (eg not let them in their camps with all the juicy assassinable officers) until the Watch has proved their loyalty by killing Calllowans.
u/Keyenn [+3] (17 hours later)
Honestly, it may not be able to detect anything. "hey guys, go to that Host and help them until new orders"
-> Lie detector -> They are here for helping us.
One week later...
"oh look, new orders, now, kill the leaders"
u/DTravers [+5] (3 hours later)
I wonder if the Watch that Duchess Kegan sent them will be under suspicion now that the heroes have shared their doubts.
If any Watch are actually being sent. I suspect they'll mysteriously arrive too late to help.
u/WalterTFD [+9] (9 hours later)
I still think that the Watch assassinating the Crusade's mid level officers is Headsman.
u/um_m [+3] (4 hours later)
Do a Waldron Frey to see who wins first?
u/anewhopeforchange [+10] (17 hours later)
i like how every war feels like way harder than the one before it without there feeling like a power creep
u/Ardvarkeating101 [+3] Father of Learning (19 hours later)
Next up, angel-demon-mecha-gnomes
u/anewhopeforchange [+1] (19 hours later)
she did angel and demons already though i definitely look forward to the gnomes
u/Empiricist_or_not [+3] Aspiring polite Hegemonizing swarm (a day later)
Are we seeing the Gigantes hinted as a future opponent/Calamity death flag: we now have two potential Calamity killers Hanno and Witch of the Wood mentored by the Gigantes?
u/werafdsaew [+2] (17 hours later)
So the Saint of Swords is definitely not like the Faker then.