13 KiB
[RT][HF] A Practical Guide to Evil: Book 4: Chapter 15: Bravura
-
Author: u/Zayits *
-
URL: https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/chapter-15-bravura/
-
Score: 68
-
Created: 2018-05-18T04:01:17
Post:
Comments:
u/Yes_This_Is_God [+31] (43 minutes later)
Alright, I'll just say it for everyone:
GOOD IS BULLSHIT
u/notagiantdolphin [+9] (an hour later)
The Gods Above seemed to get the Bard out of whatever deal they made with the Gods Below, and the Dead King has his glowing gemstone. I really, really hope that whatever that gem alerts him to is at least as much bullshit as this and the Saint put together.
Or that Cat managed to convince Ranger to hide in a guideverse bag of holding equivalent for strategic deployment as a middle finger in this battle, whatever.
u/CouteauBleu [+8] We are the Empire. (9 hours later)
I think the Dead King's gem was him getting a message from Malicia.
u/cyberdsaiyan [+22] (an hour later)
Man that last paragraph, I could feel the despair at her effort getting completely invalidated. Erraticerrata brilliantly toes the "only the author can save them now" line by making us temporarily forget about all the secret plans and powerful people on Cat's side, just for a moment.
Also that conversation with Zeze feels like it's foreshadowing some super important stuff, like the "end" of the great debate of the gods... will creation unravel if/when it happens? Also foreshadowing potential pantheon woe replacing the old gods?
u/HPMOR_fan [+11] (9 hours later)
Also that conversation with Zeze feels like it's foreshadowing some super important stuff, like the "end" of the great debate of the gods
This actually fits really well with what Cat is trying to do. Change how the world works. Without the context of Black/Cat he sounds just like a megalomaniac villain destined for failure. But together it feels like a fight not of Good vs Evil but Freedom vs being Bound.
u/cyberdsaiyan [+9] (13 hours later)
It also shows in small mentions of how the good guys are becoming "blatant in stacking the deck". Instead of small nudges, they've started ramping up their interference.
All the while I imagine the gods below just laughing at them saying "even when you stack the deck, you are losing". I can imagine the level of interference going above an unspoken line, granting great power to the Evil side.
u/HPMOR_fan [+2] (21 hours later)
You're right there have been several mentions about that lately. I just took it as the way it's always been but Cat hasn't been around long enough to have seen it. But it could be indicating a tipping point is coming.
u/hoja_nasredin [+9] Dai-Gurren Brigade (6 hours later)
An updated map of Callow https://i.imgur.com/WjvI3Nr.jpg
u/melmonella [+3] Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you (6 hours later)
Where is the stairway?
u/Ardvarkeating101 [+3] Father of Learning (10 hours later)
The updated part wasn’t the stairway, it was the erasing Liesse.
But I think it was south of hedges
u/Razorhead [+4] (a day later)
Not only that, Harrow has been removed from the map. You can see the distortion near Hedges.
u/Ardvarkeating101 [+3] Father of Learning (a day later)
Where?
u/Razorhead [+2] (a day later)
Directly left of Hedges. You can even see the border of the map bending.
Compare with this map, the original.
u/Ardvarkeating101 [+6] Father of Learning (a day later)
(I was joking, like, what's Harrow)
u/Razorhead [+1] (a day later)
Well, whoosh to me I guess.
u/KarlitoHomes [+2] (11 hours later)
Nice work with the other change.
u/cidqueen [+6] (53 minutes later)
Grey fucking Pilgrim
u/CouteauBleu [+2] We are the Empire. (27 minutes later)
So... portal out of here?
u/Oaden [+8] (3 hours later)
Still got the absolute position thing, what ever the hell that is.
Plus what ever the hell Adjudant is doing.
u/ForgottenToupee [+2] (28 minutes later)
Fuck man, I just don’t see how they’re gonna turn this around
u/TaltosDreamer [+2] (17 hours later)
The Saint Of Swords doesnt seem big on sight powers... I wonder how tough it would be to drop illusions on the heroes and let Saint think she is cutting through the villains? Would be quite the poetic way to end the Grey Pilgrim.
u/Flamesmcgee [+2] (2 days later)
Nah, she ripped through Cat's glamour with extreme ease.
u/TaltosDreamer [+1] (2 days later)
She cut through it, but didnt see through it. Her answer to just about everything seems to be to cut first and ask questions later. It will only take a split second swing to permanemtly solve a lot of this hero infestation.
u/Ardvarkeating101 [+2] Father of Learning (a day later)
Just realized that It’s now Cat vs. 7 heroes and 1. Those poor sods.
u/signeti [+1] (2 hours later)
This arc so far is so disappointing. I really hoped that this once there is going to be conflict, where Cat wins with her skill and smarts. But it seems that author is angling once again for her to go with some desperate move that will leave her/her people or Callow in shambles.
u/CeruleanTresses [+12] (2 hours later)
Why do you say that? I don't get that impression. We're still pretty early in the Procer conflict.
u/signeti [+6] (2 hours later)
She and Masego have to defeat dozen heroes, while there is Grey Pilgrim, who can resurrect them and Saint, who can basically cut anything. All the while her army is dying around her. This seems like prime set up for another Foundling Gambit. And we haven't even seen oppositions magician.
u/CeruleanTresses [+17] (2 hours later)
I don't think I agree. It's possible that Cat will do something Pyrrhic and fuck over Callow again, but that seems more the type of thing to happen at the climax of the arc. All I see happening right now is a typical end-of-chapter cliffhanger where our protagonist faces seemingly insurmountable odds. It's a normal story trope. It doesn't mean she's not going to use skill and smarts to overcome this challenge.
u/Chesheire [+15] (7 hours later)
I think the biggest argument against Cat doing a Pyrrhic Victory is that she is actively fighting against that. Her outlook upon battle has changed, and we've seen her ideals shift from a "no matter the costs"/"Justification is for the just" to wanting to stop the bloodshed and destruction of her country.
It might be a little too literal, but I think Cat truly does believe what she said to Juniper before - she's sick and weary of the costs of war. It's because of this that I think that she'll not pull another "Foundling Gambit" and instead rely upon her gathered allies and their plans to pull her through.
Although, the story just wouldn't be the same if Cat just all of a sudden gave up her impulsive nature, or her personal battles. After all, Named fights are the realms of near demi-gods.
As a side note, has anyone else noticed how much Cat has grown from the impulsive girl in the beginning? I just re-read through the entire series, and I am SERIOUSLY impressed about how much growth she's shown as a character. It makes sense when she's been thrown through the ringer for the past years, but for a girl of 18, almost 19, she's had to become so mature. Grey Pilgrim was right about that, she is a casualty of war - be it God's War, or just the war on creation.
u/CeruleanTresses [+7] (10 hours later)
Yeah, that's why I think it it happened at all it would have to be at a climax of the arc. Cat's not going to casually abandon her new ideals over some skirmish. Resorting to a Foundling Gambit would be a big deal because it would mean the failure of the objectives she laid out earlier in this arc. I think she's going to be tested on this in a serious way at a proper plot-fulcrum moment--then and only then will she be confronted with a really compelling temptation to burn everything down to eke out a win. Hopefully she'll pass that test.
u/cyberdsaiyan [+3] (23 hours later)
It also helps that she now has almost absolute political control and thus, plenty of options to bring to the table. The regals of callow are subtle in their power grabs, unlike the backstabbing wastelanders, and the officers in the Callowan army are all people that cat trusts. The founding gambit has almost always been used when cat didn't have the political backup for a proper planned victory or against people that flip the entire board when they think they will lose. It's easy to forget with procer's entire might at the doorstep, but she actually has power now, and not just named stuff.
u/signeti [+6] (2 hours later)
I would be really happy if that was the case. But do you think she can overcome dozen heroes + Grey Pilgrim + Saint just with skill and smarts? I believed it before this last chapter, but the moment Grey Pilgrim can resurrect dead heroes, that changes situation completely.
u/cyberdsaiyan [+17] (3 hours later)
this is a clever writing trick that is brilliant but skirts very very close to the sort of despair you're feeling right now.
Cat has allies. The end of the chapter pits her against extreme odds and you think "well that seems pretty impossible to beat". But she has the entirety of the woe behind her. Thief, archer, Zeze and Hakram are all currently doing other important things, slowly setting the stage. Not to mention robber and his band.
Black, Malicia, the tyrant and ranger are all wild cards who all have varying motives that might convince them to help her in different places.
Remember that cat also has a huge story advantage and the holy war has mostly been reduced to being an invasion by the terms with the pilgrim. Cat has yet to use the "absolute positioning" trick and goblinfire. There are still many unused cards that she can play. The author deliberately drives your attention away from them, which is a great story trick to build up suspense. Unspoken plan guarantee is in full effect.
u/HPMOR_fan [+10] (4 hours later)
Also Cat's whole fight is a distraction to give Masego time to take out the healers. If GP can resurrect the healers too that's going to be a bigger problem. There are probably limitations though, like number of times or number of times per hero per day, or only works on heroes who have taken him as a mentor.
u/Iconochasm [+11] (9 hours later)
It's also not a full resurrection. A dagger in the eye is invariably fatal, but it's not like they're instantly cold bones. Pilgrim was there fast enough that it's more high level healing than actual resurrection. And we don't know if the hero will have suffered any permanent damage anyway from the knife to the brain.
u/Chesheire [+5] (11 hours later)
I think that the biggest thing that you're forgetting - and rightfully so, as that's what Erratic is trying to do - is that it's NOT just Cat. Cat doesn't have to overcome a dozen heroes with demi-god tier backup. She has people for that. In fact, that's pretty much all of the previous chapter have been building up to in the background - Cat now has people she can trust to actually do things/be competent.
So no, I don't think Cat can overcome a dozen heroes + Grey Pilbitch + Saint Cunt just with skills and smarts. But I think Cat, Adjutant Hakram, Juniper, Nauk, Robber, Vivienne, Masego, and the ARMY OF CALLOW can overcome them.
u/Anderkent [+3] (8 hours later)
Well, her goal never was to defeat the heroes; I'd expect at the end of this arc all fo them are still alive, but the political motivation behind the crusade is somehow gone.
u/CeruleanTresses [+3] (10 hours later)
I mean that's the whole point, it's supposed to seem to the reader as if this challenge is impossible to overcome so that it's more impressive when she pulls it off.
u/CouteauBleu [+13] We are the Empire. (9 hours later)
Being pedantic, but I don't think the Grey Pilgrim can resurrect anyone. He just healed mister knife-in-the-eye in the nick of time.
u/RynnisOne [+3] (10 hours later)
In a few tabletop games, at least, there are "last ditch" mid-level resurrection spells that work at no penalty if used the round of, or immediately after, death.
I assumed the Pilgrim used something like this. I wonder how many times Sword and Board will have to take a knife to the eye before he quits the fight?
u/CeruleanTresses [+2] (12 hours later)
That's a good point, the text did kind of make a point of saying sword and board was in his "death throes" rather than saying he fell over dead.
u/melmonella [+2] Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you (13 hours later)
Yeah, nick of time really seems like Pilgrim's style.