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[RT][HF] A Practical Guide to Evil: Book 4: Interlude: Kaleidoscope
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Author: u/Zayits *
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URL: https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/2018/05/23/interlude-kaleidoscope/
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Score: 88
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Created: 2018-05-23T04:01:38
Post:
Comments:
u/Ardvarkeating101 [+22] Father of Learning (21 minutes later)
That oath to the Pilgrim is going to be spent on something for Cat, either at keeping to some terms or the Liesse accords.
Also: greater evil emerging, either the dead king or the tower? I was skeptical at first but this seems like further evidence that Triumphant is returning.
u/PotentiallySarcastic [+10] (48 minutes later)
Now that'd set up a proper crusade!
u/Oaden [+3] (a day later)
Or the Hierarch and the Tyrant. One that plays the game like a fiddle, another that hates everything it stands for.
u/MoroseSoul [+16] (32 minutes later)
Damn. It seemed to be going well after the last chapter too. As pissed off as I am against the Pilgrim for doing that, I can't bring myself to actually dislike him. He seems to be a genuinely good person who isn't blinded by the Good and Evil labels like the other heroes we've seen.
u/CeruleanTresses [+29] (55 minutes later)
I'm not even pissed at him, personally. When the sky opens up and drops a lake on top of thousands of people, and you have the power to make said lake stop falling on thousands of people, what else can you do?
u/Ardvarkeating101 [+5] Father of Learning (58 minutes later)
Make sure I aim better next time?
u/TaltosDreamer [+3] (15 hours later)
Right? Mental note: more boulders next time
u/MoroseSoul [+5] (an hour later)
I was thinking more in terms of his actions putting Cat into a weird fae-coma and and Masego on life support.
But you're right that it isn't fair to blame him.
u/FormerlySarsaparilla [+7] (14 hours later)
Looking forward to Thief pulling a Weekend At Bernie's during the parley!
u/GeeJo [+5] Custom Flair (14 hours later)
The Prince of Nightfall could give her some Glamour to keep the charade going. And Thief's definitely the better one to stick it on - having Archer in charge of any kind of negotiations can only end poorly.
u/None [+5] (15 hours later)
[deleted]
u/Ardvarkeating101 [+1] Father of Learning (18 hours later)
Scouting and spying on the army that is now on the other side of the marshes, yes.
u/Oaden [+1] (a day later)
Won't work on the pilgrim of course, but Thief as hero on Cat's side would also invite the sit down with the pilgrim.
u/ashinator92 [+6] (an hour later)
Why is the chapter called "Kaleidoscope"?
Is it Kat's body kaleidoscoping in a weird way? The battlefield? The perspective changes in the chapter?
u/DeliciousDelicious [+23] (an hour later)
Same view that changes at different angles?
u/rumblestiltsken [+4] (19 hours later)
The titles always have multiple meanings, but what struck me most was that the two sides did the same thing (power gambit killing tons of people, a full seventh of cat's host was killed by the wall play) but that everyone in the interlude including juniper sees cats actions as the monstrous and scary ones. The proceran fences were just good tactics, apparently.
It appears to be some named/weight thing, in that the walls were made by lots of npcs and the portal by two named, but the juxtaposition felt very "through the looking glass" to me.
Edit: to add a bit more, it has got me rethinking the setting a fair bit. It explains why Amadeus is so successful, since his whole schtick is making best use of non-named and avoiding weight and backlash. Also explains why the gnomes hate technological advancement, which would disrupt the status quo that keeps the whole continent down, by making named less relevant. Effectively they don't need to police Calernia because the stories enforce stagnation.
I know these thoughts are nothing new, but this chapter has given me a bunch to think about.
u/FeO_Chevalier [+6] (14 hours later)
Disappointed that Cat is still winning by maiming herself and her allies.
Prince’s Folly is likely Amadis insisting that the Procerans attack while Kat is incapacitated despite the Pilgrim arguing for caution. Trudging through an icy swamp filled with corpses will be a very bad situation when Kat awakens from her coma with a new name. I’m curious to see what dilemma Kat‘s inner devil and angel argue about during this name dream.
u/Empiricist_or_not [+2] Aspiring polite Hegemonizing swarm (18 hours later)
That or it becomes the princes graveyard after someone hurts one of Cat's inner circle while she is out.
u/Taborask [+4] (19 hours later)
I actually think there's a chance one of the Woe is gong to bite it. The only characters we know for sure survive the story are Juniper and Aisha (from chapter header quotes) so anyone else is fair game. honestly, one of my few beefs with the story is the lack of real consequences or failures until now. only three important characters have died, one of which turned out to be a traitor. my money is on robber or Archer
u/FeO_Chevalier [+2] (a day later)
Hakram has an oath with Cat that ends on their reunion. He’s narratively doomed.
u/Taborask [+1] (a day later)
what's he doing right now anyway?
u/werafdsaew [+1] (22 hours later)
Prince’s Folly
What Prince's Folly? It's not in the story AFAIK.
u/FeO_Chevalier [+2] (23 hours later)
Meant the Prince’s Graveyard. This battlefield is already halfway there.
u/Oaden [+1] (a day later)
I think he means Prince's graveyard, which was mentioned in one of those excerpts above the chapters, written by Aisha.
u/TaltosDreamer [+3] (15 hours later)
I love seeing how scared she makes them. Though it worries me Saint and Pilgrim hurting her like this. At this rate they are cutting winter back down to an aspect again :(
u/CouteauBleu [+1] We are the Empire. (8 hours later)
Next time Cat will keep her gate open just long enough for everyone to think "Wait, is that a giant lake falling on mOH SHIT" and then close it immediately.
u/PrettyDecentSort [+10] (12 hours later)
Cat's not going to use AbsPos again until Pilgrim is off the board. It would be sheer idiocy to expose herself to that kind of risk for any length of time.
u/Oaden [+1] (a day later)
So camp Evil is down its 2 heroes, and the good army plans to attack once they find that out.
They still need to wade through the march to attack, which is like begging Juniper to crush it, so they will have to rely on hero support.
So what is going to happen? Cat makes a timely recovery? Juniper pulls a genius victory out of her ass. Alternatively, we can get Story shenanigans, but story generally favors good over evil. Like, evil can't get a pattern of 3 (Arguably, the opening move was good's victory, then we call the gate a draw)
or we Oath shenanigans. I'm pretty sure that if the side of good violates the agreement between the pilgrim and Cat, that cat gets to collect her due and bring more of he power into creation. (Like the duke of violent squalls being able to do so if he won the duel.) Now the oaths involve sacking cities, not calling for angels, demons or devils, the treatment of prisoners and the genuine surrender. I can see some of the princes getting antsy after the lake, and violating one of the latter two.
u/None [-3] (51 minutes later)
Malanzas do not leave their debts unpaid.
By switching to Mastercard today you can save 15% off of any hero merchandise.try it out today for free!
We can not be held responsible for any losses that incur at the hands of thieves and tyrants.
u/Ardvarkeating101 [+8] Father of Learning (55 minutes later)
Wow, barely took you an hour to start copying Wordpress comments for meaningless internet points
u/Flamesmcgee [+6] (57 minutes later)
A more generous interpretation is that they're the same person crossposting to all the relevant discussion threads.
But yeah, that's rather lame.
u/Ardvarkeating101 [-1] Father of Learning (57 minutes later)
Doesn’t that just make it sadder? That they need to post something in multiple places to get the attention they need?
u/Flamesmcgee [+10] (an hour later)
Eh, I don't know. Sometimes people do it with posts that could potentially spark interesting discussions - those can make sense to crosspost, maybe.
But I can see where you're coming from.
u/None [+3] (an hour later)
my glorious humor must inflict laughter.