Daedalus V2.0 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 So, I got a couple of chapter done. Two things to comment on before I start anything else: first, he seems to have finally decided on a decent chapter length, at least so far. I can only hope this doesn't change. Second, the blurbs from the Tome at the start of each chapter are really starting to piss me off. This was a crappy idea. Third, the characters have arbitrarily decided that saying "years old" is soo last book, and so have made up a new term: New Seasons of Life. The Duke has already used it five times in about 30 pages, so it may be the "Half a Groat" of this book. So, prologue time. The prologue takes place in the POV of Ragnar the Blood Stalker, some sort of strange sentient Blood Stalker who can think for himself, and hates Wigg with a passion despite the fact that Wigg spent months trying to cure him, and the fact they used to be friends. Turns out that Ragnar, along with his trusty assassin/spy/sidekick Scrounge (I kid you not, these are their names), are in the service of the child. The child has done some redecorating in their segment of the Royal Palace (ooh, more redecorating! Ragnar thinks the child's decorating skills are top notch.) Eventually, Ragnar sticks a big tube into a hole in his skull to suck some of his prescious brain fluid out, before discovering that the child's minions have been very successful today, having captured 30 (!) consuls and stripped them of their tatoos. Ragnar then goes to deliver some brain fluid to the child, who is (it would turn out), Tristan's son. Some reference is made to his "parents in the sky" and some such nonsense. Tristan's son looked like he was 8 years old (oh, more of the hyper-accelerated growth cycles? Why??) when he showed up a couple of weeks ago, and now looks about 10. Some mention is made of some devious plots and such before the chapter ends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wolf Maid Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 So Tristan has a kid now? Oh dear, I think I missed this in the last book. Must read that thread again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shryke Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Love the Title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecchi-Oni Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Love the Title. Wow... that was truly truly horrible. How did the child got to the Royal Palace, what tattoos, what consuls? So many plot holes that the book must be printed on cheese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man Who Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Consuls have tattoos that let each other know that they are consuls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talyn Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 I love the title as well. I would be quoting some of the more absurd pieces from the chapter be there is no need the prologue and chapter 1 are on The Duke's website. The Gates of Dawn Sample Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecchi-Oni Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Wow. No words can describe that monstrosity. Btw who shagged Tristan's sis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talyn Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Her husband, believe it or not. He is now deceased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iceman of the North Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Btw who shagged Tristan's sis? When? If you're thinking about her daughter, she was pregnant with her at the beginning of the first book, I'd assume her husband was the father. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daedalus V2.0 Posted December 3, 2007 Author Share Posted December 3, 2007 Yeah, the consuls are the special wizardly police force that the Directorate trained. They were introduced in book 1, and you may recall that there are over 1000 of them. I have no idea how 1000 trained wizard police failed to do anything to keep the peace after the Royal Guard got wiped out, but there you go. The child showed up descending from the sky on a ray of light. I'm more concerned with the fact that he's been fully trained in the use of magic, has aged about 10 years and has essentially taken over half of Estrucia in less than a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daedalus V2.0 Posted December 3, 2007 Author Share Posted December 3, 2007 So, for the sake of completionism I'll do chapter 1 here as well. Tristan is visiting with Shailiha (her new nickname is Shai, which I prefer greatly to her old name) in her room in Hogwarts the Redoubt, and she has apparently pretty much returned to her former self. She wants to make sure that her child is having the best care available, before scarfing down a couple of pastries and asking Tristan to go visit their parents' gravesite for her. He agrees and Shannon the Small shows up (there are four gnomes in the Redoubt, those being Shannon the Small, Shawna the Short, Michael the Meagre and Mary the Minor) asking Tristan to come see Wigg and Faegan. End of chapter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maid Sansa Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Oh the smart gnome names! *vomits* I'm not even going to comment on the prologue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diabloblanco18 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 "I find this supposedly magnificent work to be both boring and sophomoric." Tristan's son describes the book quite well, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daedalus V2.0 Posted December 3, 2007 Author Share Posted December 3, 2007 So, chapter 2. Tristan shows up at the rooms where Wigg and Faegan are tending to a wounded consul. This is apparently the only consul to return to the Redoubt, so they plan to ask him what the hell is going on. They wake him up and he tells them about how the rest of his squad was wiped out killing a harpy, and he wound up with another squad led by one of Wigg's most talented consuls. They met some tree lizards with red glowing eyes and got beat down, due to their magic having no visible effect on it. The lizards carried off the rest of the consuls, but left this one for dead. He goes back to sleep, the three protagonists talk about his story for a while, decide the tree-lizards were created by some sort of evil vagaries-user and think that they have to find some more of the consuls before it's too late. Tristan goes off to visit his parents' gravesite and the chapter ends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myshkin Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 (there are four gnomes in the Redoubt, those being Shannon the Small, Shawna the Short, Michael the Meagre and Mary the Minor) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zap Rowsdower Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 I was always puzzled by the gnome naming conventions- do all names have to be followed by adjectives describing how small they are? And do those adjectives have to have the same first letter as the name itself? If so, it would seem to really limit the field of names to choose from. Also, can two gnomes share the same adjective? If not, do they have to engage in some sort of Highlanderesque duel to determine which one is able to use it? "There can only be one Shannon the Small! Argghgh!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wolf Maid Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 He agrees and Shannon the Small shows up (there are four gnomes in the Redoubt, those being Shannon the Small, Shawna the Short, Michael the Meagre and Mary the Minor) asking Tristan to come see Wigg and Faegan. End of chapter. Megan the MINOR? Minor in what? age? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanatic-Templar Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 He's only getting away with this because they're gnomes. Should the Duke attempt this with DaÃn the Dwarf, he risks a sword through the throat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daedalus V2.0 Posted December 4, 2007 Author Share Posted December 4, 2007 So, chapter 3 is in the POV of Geldon, who is walking through the streets of Tammarland on his way to gather some information or something. He remarks on how aweful the place is now that the royal guard are all wiped out (1000+ wizards can't keep the peace, even in one place?), what with women "selling their bodies" all over the place (the distain that the Duke writes about this with is somewhat shocking. It seems to me that the Duke dislikes prostitution almost as much as he hates homosexuality), and how there are lines of men formed up to take advantage of the best ones (uh huh, sure). He comments on how common assassins have become recently, and how anybody can be killed for a price. He thinks about how obvious it was that the Minions have been here, thanks to the symbols they painted in blood being all over the city. He then shows up at the market district, where some businesses are thriving thanks to their owners ability to pay a bunch of thugs to protect them, while bartering takes place in the streets. He ends up talking to some beggar named Stumpy or some such, who has no legs. The beggar tells him about some announcement that will be taking place at the tavern at noon, so Geldon pays him some gold. The beggar then shambles off to a line for one of the prostitutes. Geldon walks into the inn, where he meets a bartender named Rock, who seems to be a pretty decent sort all things considered. Despite being the bartender at the most infamous inn in the country, Rock laments the loss of law and order that the Royal Guard provided, and immediately hits it off with Geldon. At this point Scrounge comes in, and like Kluge in the last book gets a full page of description. All that you need to know is that he looks really dangerous and has a miniature repeating crossbow (yes, a crossbow with a magazine, which can me fired without cocking, from the same mind that brought you the extendo-sword) which is attached to his forearm and can be fit under his sleeve, and some sort of dagger or short sword or something. All of the murderers, assassins and assorted scum in the room, recognising him immediately, shut up and raptly pay attention to Scrounge's announcement. Turns out the Benefactor is offering a reward of 200,000 gold for the capture or death of one Prince Tristan, for the crimes of Regicide and Patricide. An ex-Royal Guardsman shows up, calls Scrounge a liar and pulls out his sword, so Scounge pumps three crossbow shots into his chest in the blink of an eye, steals his sword, removes the crossbow bolts and replaces them in his magazine and leaves. End of chapter. So, once again my own opinion here, but if the protagonists are so concerned about the lawlessnes and such here, and Tristan is forced into hiding to avoid the bounty hunters, why the hell has he not opened up a portal to Parthalon, grabbed about 50,000 Minions and restored peace to at least the Capital? II mean, if I had a 300,000 strong army of uber-warriors with incredible discipline and my kingdom had turned into an anarchic hell-hole besieged by horrible mutant creatures, I would probably bring a fair portion of said army to help my country out, rather than just saying "oh, a couple of wizards and myself should be more than enough to restore peace to and police my entire kingdom." ETA: FT, you mean Dain the Diminutive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diabloblanco18 Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 All that you need to know is that he looks really dangerous and has a miniature repeating crossbow (yes, a crossbow with a magazine, which can me fired without cocking, from the same mind that brought you the extendo-sword) Admittedly, it's less ridiculous than the extendo-sword, but somehow I doubt Newcomb has actually heard of the Chu-Ko-Nu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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