Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 2:15 pm
Chapter Six: A Few Lessons
What can I add about this chapter?
We get a long look at Master Quillon. Wearing plain gray robes, he has bright eyes, protruding teeth and a nose that twitched and kept on twitching. He is rabbit-like. I'm not sure what his rabbity appearance signifies. Is it a facade of weakness intended to fool foes? Maybe a little but I think it is more that he represents Mordant itself and its citizens. As he tells us in his history lesson Mordant is a non-aggressive nation rich in farming lands that is situated between two beasts of prey that covet it for themselves (Alend and Cadwal). Likewise he is a member of the peace-seeking Congery beset by the unknown Imager(s) that send their horrors against his people.
So he is 'a rabbit' but that doesn't make him pathetic or weak. He is a decent man that try to act on his beliefs. Caught in the ideal that King Joyce and his Adept propagated he faces his challenges without flinching.
I went into the Hop-Board themes in the last chapter. In this one we have Havelock again sitting in front of an empty board moving imaginary pieces. What's going on there?
- It is a sign of his madness (the classical symptoms)
- We can't see yet what is going on (in the struggle for Mordant). Both Havelock's opponent and their moves and pieces are hidden.
- None of the players in the 'game of thrones' have taken their places openly on the board. The stage is still empty.
- Havelock is setting the board by guiding Terisa in the right direction.
We also learn some interesting things about Imagery and its history:
- The first High King of Cadwal was an Arch-Imager. He consolidated Cadwal as a nation through the use of Imagery. Later Alend was also consolidated through the force of Imagery. Cadwal is the oldest nation of the three.
- The number of Imagers in the Congery seems pretty low when compared to the historical examples. When Terisa enters Mordant, there are only about 30 Imagers to welcome her. But in the past more than a hundred were used by Cadwal alone for example. Perhaps the wars and the decimation of Vagel's cabal (and other rogue Imagers that couldn't be controlled?) left the numbers of Imagers in Mordant low. Or is Quillon's assertion that Imagery seems to flourish in times of war more true than we realized?
- What a great description of Havelock going mad
What can I add about this chapter?
We get a long look at Master Quillon. Wearing plain gray robes, he has bright eyes, protruding teeth and a nose that twitched and kept on twitching. He is rabbit-like. I'm not sure what his rabbity appearance signifies. Is it a facade of weakness intended to fool foes? Maybe a little but I think it is more that he represents Mordant itself and its citizens. As he tells us in his history lesson Mordant is a non-aggressive nation rich in farming lands that is situated between two beasts of prey that covet it for themselves (Alend and Cadwal). Likewise he is a member of the peace-seeking Congery beset by the unknown Imager(s) that send their horrors against his people.
So he is 'a rabbit' but that doesn't make him pathetic or weak. He is a decent man that try to act on his beliefs. Caught in the ideal that King Joyce and his Adept propagated he faces his challenges without flinching.
I went into the Hop-Board themes in the last chapter. In this one we have Havelock again sitting in front of an empty board moving imaginary pieces. What's going on there?
- It is a sign of his madness (the classical symptoms)
- We can't see yet what is going on (in the struggle for Mordant). Both Havelock's opponent and their moves and pieces are hidden.
- None of the players in the 'game of thrones' have taken their places openly on the board. The stage is still empty.
- Havelock is setting the board by guiding Terisa in the right direction.
We also learn some interesting things about Imagery and its history:
- The first High King of Cadwal was an Arch-Imager. He consolidated Cadwal as a nation through the use of Imagery. Later Alend was also consolidated through the force of Imagery. Cadwal is the oldest nation of the three.
- The number of Imagers in the Congery seems pretty low when compared to the historical examples. When Terisa enters Mordant, there are only about 30 Imagers to welcome her. But in the past more than a hundred were used by Cadwal alone for example. Perhaps the wars and the decimation of Vagel's cabal (and other rogue Imagers that couldn't be controlled?) left the numbers of Imagers in Mordant low. Or is Quillon's assertion that Imagery seems to flourish in times of war more true than we realized?
- What a great description of Havelock going mad