Monday, May 5, 2014

Page 673

--donation bonus week (day 5/5, post 5/5)--
Then I don’t know how else we can help you,’ said Axiolis.

Neither do I,’ said Dergoz. ‘Not so long as you refuse to cooperate.

We are cooperating as much as we can. We can’t tell you what we don’t know. Why are you so quick to assume we are lying? When have we ever given you cause to think we would?

A thick silence consumed the office as the reapers stared at one another.

Allow me to simplify your understanding of the situation,’ said Dergoz. ‘If you do not tell us where we can find your daughter, then we are going to ask your wife. And then we are going to ask your children.

Zeff’s irritated expression slowly melted away, turning first into blank realization, then gradually into a hard glower.

Dergoz was not finished talking, however. ‘You are a good man, Zeff. We do not wish to hurt you or your family. But that is the severity of the matter at hand. Gema Elroy must be found at all costs.

Why?’ said Axiolis. ‘What could possibly be so important about Gema that you would threaten to harm our family? Innocent children!

Your children are not innocent. They are Elroys, and all Elroys are Vanguard.

Pah! You think having Lawrence as your servant gives you the right to change our laws?! Zeff’s children are not Vanguard until they come of age! You are threatening the very people we are supposed to protect, you utter fool!

“Ax, stop,” Zeff said lowly, and the reaper seemed to understand.

Dergoz allowed Axiolis to settle down before resuming. ‘Your disapproval is noted. Are you going to tell us where Gema is now? Or do you wish to let the situation run its course?

Zeff tried to think. He didn’t have the information they wanted, so obviously, giving it to them wasn’t an option. If he lied, perhaps that would buy time, but how much? And what would he even use that time for?

Ah, but before you answer,’ Dergoz went on, ‘I should also mention that we have been shadowing your family in Aguarey for the past twenty-three hours.

12 comments:

  1. Yeah, the Vanguard are obviously the good guys here... Though maybe they're all just possessed or something.

    Typo:
    "And what would [he] even use that time for?"

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  2. @Ankou

    There are no good guys in a war, just the guys who fight for your side and the enemy. No one ever wants to believe that the "good" guys will do bad things, when in truth war brings out the worst in people. They will do the most cruel, immoral, vindictive and depraved things imaginable to win. Like any other army, the vanguard will do whatever they believe is necessary to win, even if it requires the screams of dying children as a means to an end.

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  3. Yes, I totally agree.


    It's just that for some reason, people tend to see things very black/white. "Abolish is bad and since the Vanguard are their enemies, the Vanguard have to be the good guys." This is not how reality works of course, but it seems very ingrained in human nature. You can see that in many comments. When the Elroys where indroduced and it turned out they kill their children to turn them into servants, the first guess was of course Abolish. Or when Salazar decided to leave the Vanguard -- she shouldn't leave because the Vanguard is the only thing standing between Abolish and world destruction.


    I'm definitely not excempt from this line of thinking, I did think that Hector would eventually join the Vanguard. He still might, who knows. I'm just always happy to see Frosty adding moral gray areas to his story, because this is how it is in real life.

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  4. I love how this changes from "People living under the earth" with a joke every 2 minutes style fantasy to something reminiscent of (heavily scaled back so you can see the good bits) warhammer fantasy type of story. Who needs good guys.

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  5. You know, the truly sad thing is that Dergoz does not seem to understand, loyalty is based on trust. People do not fight for you because of god and country, but ultimately to keep there loved ones safe. By threatening Zeff’s family, he has only insured that he will destroy the rainlords loyalty to the vanguard.

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  6. So, what is your typical update schedule. It seemed to be that you were throwing out a few a day, which was very impressive. However I am now hitting refresh impatiently wondering when the next update will be.

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  7. I generally get out two per day. Generally.



    Everyone, I do apologize for the lack of updates the last couple days. I wanted to do a bit more research before these upcoming pages. You can probably guess why.

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  8. Yup...how much you want to bet he's now rethinking the offer Salazar made - the one he hadn't even been willing to think about before?

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  9. OH MY FRIGGING GAWD! Dergoz has now earned my dislike faster than any other character! That's amazing with characters like Geoffrey or any random Abolishers flitting around.

    I really like Axiolis here. He thinks of the Elroys as family and is appropriately pissed off with how things have devolved. Who the Hell did Gema kill to earn her whole family such distrust?

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  10. New Year's Resolution: Stop being a lazy ass. One example, catching up on one of my favorite series

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