Thursday, August 21, 2014

Page 798

Then you are wiser than I, it would seem.’ Axiolis fell quiet a moment as they reached the elevator once more. ‘My servant’s wife is dead now because of what the Vanguard did to us. His wife. Practically my daughter. When I think about that... I become much less confused.

I’m sorry to hear that,’ said Garovel.

When Zeff and I were interrogated, their questions seemed to be most concerned with the oldest of Zeff’s daughters, Gema. It appears as though the Vanguard is quite desperate to find her.

Did they tell you why?

Supposedly, she killed an Intarian diplomat, but I do not think that would evoke the level of aggression they have shown toward the rest of the Elroys. I sense a greater plot behind all of this. At a guess, I would say that Gema has become involved in some kind of power struggle. I only wish we knew where she was.

Tell me more about these Elroys,’ said Garovel.

Very well.

-+-+-+-+-

The Golden Fort’s assembly hall was a domed chamber of formidable size, naturally lit during the daytime by two high-placed rows of elliptical windows. Gold-and-white banners hung from the ceiling as yet another reminder of Hahl Saqqaf’s presiding ownership.

Asad had been waiting all afternoon for another chance to speak. Abbas and the others had heard his arguments four times previously, and still no decision had been made. The routine had begun to wear thin.

As he sat listening to a lesser lord from Egas drone on about rural livestock, he just tried to resist the urge to rub his forehead and sigh. Thankfully, at least, his red cowl allowed him to hide his expression. He was the only one of the eight Sandlord heads garbed in crimson today, as he was the only one intending to speak before the assembly. It made him stick out in the line of seated white robes, but he was accustomed to such things by now. His golden yellow eyes and black full body tattoos had never made it very easy for him to conceal himself, even among his brethren here.

Not much longer now,’ said Qorvass in Valgan. ‘Just be patient.

To Asad’s eyes, each one of the eight reapers present was a large insect--a scorpionfly, more precisely. Their long wings, however, consisted of burning flames, and their bulbous eyes held a dark glow.

16 comments:

  1. I really like how everyone views the reapers slightly differently.

    Also my guess is the Gema either found an old (1000+ years) servant or some kind of artifact similiar to Lynn's gauntlet except significantly more powerful.

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  2. My guess is that she found out about the plot to overthrow Sermung.


    The seeing differently thing is a really cool detail. And says a bit about the person. Well played, Frosty.

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  3. I wonder what it says about Hector that he sees the most stereotypical thing ever?

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  4. ooh the plot thickens. Feels a bit early for hector to be getting involved in a civil between the Vanguard given how powerful the upper echelons of the Vanguard . Trial by fire. Hector will be forged in pain, blood and war. So looking forward to it.

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  5. I am hoping more that he gets taught by someone with a materialization ability, since so far he is has only been taught theory by Garovel compared to being physically shown. I would prefer it to an sudden power up since he is lacking in skill compare to his power level.

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  6. You know who's an experienced materialization user central to the plot whose reaper we know already? I'm thinking Hector will get some nice materialization-specific mentoring in an oath or two, if Zeff's deep-frozen radium-bound brain gets reanimated.

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  7. * Jumps up and down excitedly* and and Zeff has dual elements and if Hector has them too it would be awesome. ahem back to normal. Yeah zeff is definitely high mid tier in power and skill would love for Hector to have him as a teacher.

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  8. Mostly, I want to see Hector with finger guns. And various attacks keyed to rude hand gestures.

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  9. He wants to fit in?

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  10. It really is one of the cooler details.

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  11. Little world building details like that are one of my favorite things about this story. That and the banter.

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  12. Unless Frosty's been trolling, perhaps Hector will gain a couple of hidden tricks for his repertoire once he figures out what exactly his element is. That, plus emergence.

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  13. I'd say it says he's the protagonist and thus, on some level, a surrogate for the audience, hence something that is familiar to the readers.

    Plus, he sees GLOWING skeletons in black shrouds with scythes. The glowing part is, like, SUPER original, don't ya know.

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  14. I love how it suddenly became a super critical analysis ;)

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