TheFuzzyLumpkin posted:

I'd imagine every plat squad has an adult heading it up, much like Duane and Jon do this one. So while Duane killed one caster down there, it's not a guarantee he killed a child (and I suspect the story will go out of its way to show that to the reader at some point, even if Duane himself never finds out.) Cope goes for some big asks from her audience but revealing her main character to be a child murderer is probably too far even for her.

TheFuzzyLumpkin posted:

I'd imagine every plat squad has an adult heading it up, much like Duane and Jon do this one. So while Duane killed one caster down there, it's not a guarantee he killed a child (and I suspect the story will go out of its way to show that to the reader at some point, even if Duane himself never finds out.) Cope goes for some big asks from her audience but revealing her main character to be a child murderer is probably too far even for her.

Motherfucker posted:

Child soldier murder is not the same thing as regular child murder. Like, if the kid has an AK and is shooting at you from a window I feel like blowing them away isn't really a sin, yaknow. Its just sad and horrible psychological warfare and would probably be a perfect catalyst for... I dunno, a signature seething loathing of a certain country.

TheFuzzyLumpkin posted:

Also, the underground plat squad wasn't doing the warfare equivalent of sniping. They were overloading the khert so other spellcasting would become impossible, and then everything would resort to a no-pymary physical attack. Presumably the enemy thinks it has superior physical firepower in this instance, but nothing the underground rebel squad was doing posed a direct physical threat to Duane's squad. I'm not sure what would be the real-world equivalent to that, maybe radio jammers so you couldn't call in air support?

TheFuzzyLumpkin posted:

Also, the underground plat squad wasn't doing the warfare equivalent of sniping. They were overloading the khert so other spellcasting would become impossible, and then everything would resort to a no-pymary physical attack. Presumably the enemy thinks it has superior physical firepower in this instance, but nothing the underground rebel squad was doing posed a direct physical threat to Duane's squad. I'm not sure what would be the real-world equivalent to that, maybe radio jammers so you couldn't call in air support?

Oxxidation posted:

at 100% overload the khert ceases to enforce physical laws within the affected region, which would be horrendously fatal

that probably wasn't the aim if they're currently getting blitzed by spearmen tho

quote:

Nah, not cancer. What happens is the khert is temporarily damaged when you exceed Mogul’s Number - permanently damaged in hot spots along the border - and it can’t instantiate the world properly. Material Aspects go all out of whack. Your whole body is made of Materials, of course, and when you go into those areas you run the risk of having your Aspects ripped out or altered, perhaps permanently. It’s a low risk though, since your soul is a good glue that keeps you together pretty well.

However if you make a baby in that kind of environment - or a little piglet - it’s growing in an environment in poor shape to ensure it turns out as expected. You’re likely to wind up with some kind of mutant.

This is a big problem in Fachlyne where the Weeping Plague is. They call the resulting monsters plague fiends but they’re really mutant humans and animals born in areas where the khert’s been damaged. As if Fachlynians don’t already have it bad enough. Don’t vacation there.

Kyte posted:

Wait then what about those places with no khert at all.

Kyte posted:

Wait then what about those places with no khert at all.

TheFuzzyLumpkin posted:

No, they do have a soul, it's just different from a human soul. The khert still holds their material aspects and wrights can cast spells on them, they're regular matter as far as the khert's concerned. They don't have the ability to get rited and command it the way humans do, and the way their soul is structured means their memories don't go into the khert forever, but they're not immune to its effects the way senet beasts and first materials are.

As far as the khert's concerned humans are in a special class.

quote:

Anonymous asked: You mentioned that this is the first time Duane's thought about this story since he died. He seems really shaken up describing Jon's death. Have the years and his own death changed the way he views Jon? Is he suddenly realizing that maybe Jon was right about his motives?

That’s how memory works, isn’t it? Our brains blur the details, make us forget certain aspects, make us focus on others at the expense of context. We forget how hurt someone looks in favour of remembering how we were victorious and righteous. It’s more helpful to our survival to do this. Regret is crippling. We don’t have time for second guessing.

But what if your brain had died and, with it, all these coping mechanisms? What if all you were left with is the unvarnished reality suspended forever in your soul like amber? How do you now interpret this?

Duane’s telling this story aloud, leaving out details, trying not to be so raw, but internally, he’s reliving these events and seeing them with a crystal clarity that, even fifteen years ago, he didn’t have.

He be shook.

This will have consequences going forward. Both for how Duane views himself and for how he views Alderode. There are also some juicy current day plot details in here that he didn’t recall at all.

And yes. He remembers Jon differently. He’d told himself Jon was scared and that his hesitation had caused the catastrophe that followed. But now Duane realises Jon simply had a crisis of conscience and Duane had not been the kind of calm, reassuring, thorough commanding officer that the situation had required.

I kind of don’t like calling this a “flashback” chapter for this reason. Duane’s essentially living it anew now. This didn’t happen fifteen years ago. It’s happening right now, between his ears.

TheFuzzyLumpkin posted:

Ash's tumblr posted:

Secret message to BizzAnon: Pretty close, though you’ve not touched the domestic politics she’s also wrangling

We’re getting close to the end of the First Book so our Crescian hijinks need to start coming together. We’re off to Alderode for Book 2 and a whole new set of schemes.

Tar_Squid posted:

Suddenly it makes sense that Duane didn't see the silver weapon doing its dirty work in Alderode, just what looked like a good old fashioned rioting mob- what if Sonorie's little tools of destruction land in the hands of someone that decides to say, curse every non-foreigner or non-Soud in Alderode to be filled with murderous intent at each other? Or towards Soud... or Ssaelit... or heck, Gefendur! All out religious warfare!

I mean as far as Cresce is concerned the end result would be the firey destruction of Alderode, so its not like it would be BAD for them, just uh totally not what Sonorie probably had in mind.