TWL Chapter 17: Blood-Speed
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 5:31 am
As a desert sun rises on the Center Plains, Covenant, infused with and exalted by the gift of Waynhim-blood, trots his way toward Revelstone, hoping to learn what fate has befallen his companions. Vain lopes along beside him, like a fluid automaton, impervious to the Sunbane and completely unaware of anything but maintaining a detached accompaniment of Covenant.
Thanks to the Waynhim transfusion, TC has knowledge of the named regions through which he is traveling, and we are graced with SRD's ability to come up with etymologically-imbued-with-meaning and phonetically-pleasing place-names.
For a day, straight through the night, and for nearly all of a second day of desert sun, he runs using Waynhim power, casually sipping vitrim (almost needlessly, it would seem). His ecstasy of eldritch energy expires near nightfall, and he regretfully continues, though now only at a steady walk.
Intending to walk for most of the night, he almost immediately comes within spying distance of a small campfire. He sneaks close enough to identify a female Rider of the Clave who has made camp for the evening, and is in the process of stealthily resuming his solo (well, do you count Vain?) journey, when he is approached by one very hairy, growling-angry Courser. This alerts the Rider, Memla na-Mhoram-in, to her guest. She almost immediately recognizes him as the Halfhand, and he finds out that she (and a few other Riders fanning about Revelstone's outer approach) have been expecting him, though not as quickly as he had arrived.
Once Memla dispatches the Courser ["Din! Watch and ward"] she and Covenant have a tense first meeting, where she becomes increasingly vexed over his attitude toward the Clave and his complete lack of trust in even basic hospitality. Covenant, for his part, is extremely wary, since he has–through Sunder's word and his own experiences–so far a less-than-shining opinion of the Clave, and is anxious to know what has happened to his friends.
After an expository tutorial on rukhs and their abilities, given through Memla's explanation of how she came by her information of Sivit [the na-Mhoram-wist who was trying to claim Hollian in Crystal Stonedown], Memla claims no knowledge that Santonin [the na-Mhoram-in who the Graveler of Stonemight Woodhelven says captured Linden, Sunder, and Hollian and bereft the Stonedown of its Stonemight] has captives, or has even passed nearby, only that he has been away from Revelstone for many days. TC is wary of this, but doesn't press, other than ask whether Santonin could have passed undetected. Memla concedes that this is possible, but is frustrated at the implications of duplicity that he is making about her fellow Clave-men.
Covenant decides to trust Memla enough to bear him to Revelstone, though in Unbeliever fashion he isn't making it pleasant for her.
The next morning, another desert sun crests the horizon, and Memla and Covenant make a days journey toward Revelstone on the back of the Courser. En route, Covenant gets Memla to talk of the Rede [including the Three Corners of Truth, a three-premise creed that hinges everything around the Sunbane, and provides the metaphoric basis for the triangular rukh design], and Covenant learns that it is essentially based on a lie claiming Berek Halfhand betrayed the Land and joined with a-Jeroth of the Seven Hells [the Clave name for Lord Foul]. He keeps this to himself, not knowing how to discount her belief, thinking that the only way to prove himself is to destroy the Sunbane. He manages to offend Memla anyway, and she refuses to tell him more that day.
The next few days bring suns of fertility, and Memla must now use her rukh to clear a path for her Courser to continue towards Revelstone. Covenant remarks on Vain's amazing ability to keep pace behind the Courser, though Memla's path closes so quickly behind them that the Demondim-spawn is forced to travel unaided through the organic obstacles laid out for him by the Sunbane. This he does without exertion, blankly, and with complete success.
They come upon Revelstone rather suddenly, leaving the out-of-control flora of the fertile sun behind as they gain the rocky area surrounding the Keep.
Revelstone is described anew, and Covenant is struck again by it's lasting magificence, which leads him to briefly mourn the loss of the Giants and their grand abilty to carve such a work of both obvious and inscrutable beauty from the stone of the promontory.
Memla sets the Courser straight for the entrance tunnel beyond the broken outer gates, but Covenant quickly dismounts and refuses to enter until the na-Mhoram himself comes and promises him safety within the keep.
Gibbon, the na-Mhoram, does come out, alone and bearing only an iron crozier (a taller version of a rukh) apparently as a sign of his office. He is a rather plain, monk-like leader, except for bright red eyes, of course. His blandness doesn't set well with Covenant, but after a brief discussion about who should mistrust whom, Gibbon does believably claim no knowledge of Santonin's whereabouts or any word of Covenant's companions.
He invites Covenant (and only Covenant) to enter, who after brief hesitation follows him up to the great inner gates of Revelstone. Gibbon re-enters, and as soon as Covenant follows him, the gate slams shut behind him, shutting Vain out completely, and leaving Covenant in darkness. [END OF CHAPTER]
The main theme in this chapter is mistrust. Nobody trusts nobody. I think Donaldson finesses his way through presenting Memla to us, because in a relatively short time, he has to introduce Memla, give us a believable idea of her life in faithful service to the Clave, and then immediately start attacking her belief system at the very core. The attack hasn't begun quite yet, but you can see it brewing just beyond the margin.
There is also a decent amount of explanation in this chapter about the powers of rukhs, and how communication and tracking can occur through them.
Finally, this is the first time we meet Gibbon, and though we are seeing things through Covenant's blunted senses, he seems to instinctively dislike Gibbon, who is so bland that he isn't believable, though everything he says seems to make sense.
The only issue I have with the whole chapter is the under-reaction to Gibbon's red eyes---the fact that, other than note their color, Covenant doesn't seem to think that's the slightest bit odd. Sure, he's got red eyes, but I'm more worried about how calm and beatific the guy is. THAT's weird.
Note that to prepare myself for this analysis, quotation wise, I did type the whole darn thing into Word. Going forward, I can post bits as needed, though I managed throughout my synopsis and short analysis NOT to quote passages.
Let me know if you'd like to see any portion quoted, and let the dissection begin!
DW
[Weird, warped, and weary of typing for a few hours]
Thanks to the Waynhim transfusion, TC has knowledge of the named regions through which he is traveling, and we are graced with SRD's ability to come up with etymologically-imbued-with-meaning and phonetically-pleasing place-names.
For a day, straight through the night, and for nearly all of a second day of desert sun, he runs using Waynhim power, casually sipping vitrim (almost needlessly, it would seem). His ecstasy of eldritch energy expires near nightfall, and he regretfully continues, though now only at a steady walk.
Intending to walk for most of the night, he almost immediately comes within spying distance of a small campfire. He sneaks close enough to identify a female Rider of the Clave who has made camp for the evening, and is in the process of stealthily resuming his solo (well, do you count Vain?) journey, when he is approached by one very hairy, growling-angry Courser. This alerts the Rider, Memla na-Mhoram-in, to her guest. She almost immediately recognizes him as the Halfhand, and he finds out that she (and a few other Riders fanning about Revelstone's outer approach) have been expecting him, though not as quickly as he had arrived.
Once Memla dispatches the Courser ["Din! Watch and ward"] she and Covenant have a tense first meeting, where she becomes increasingly vexed over his attitude toward the Clave and his complete lack of trust in even basic hospitality. Covenant, for his part, is extremely wary, since he has–through Sunder's word and his own experiences–so far a less-than-shining opinion of the Clave, and is anxious to know what has happened to his friends.
After an expository tutorial on rukhs and their abilities, given through Memla's explanation of how she came by her information of Sivit [the na-Mhoram-wist who was trying to claim Hollian in Crystal Stonedown], Memla claims no knowledge that Santonin [the na-Mhoram-in who the Graveler of Stonemight Woodhelven says captured Linden, Sunder, and Hollian and bereft the Stonedown of its Stonemight] has captives, or has even passed nearby, only that he has been away from Revelstone for many days. TC is wary of this, but doesn't press, other than ask whether Santonin could have passed undetected. Memla concedes that this is possible, but is frustrated at the implications of duplicity that he is making about her fellow Clave-men.
Covenant decides to trust Memla enough to bear him to Revelstone, though in Unbeliever fashion he isn't making it pleasant for her.
The next morning, another desert sun crests the horizon, and Memla and Covenant make a days journey toward Revelstone on the back of the Courser. En route, Covenant gets Memla to talk of the Rede [including the Three Corners of Truth, a three-premise creed that hinges everything around the Sunbane, and provides the metaphoric basis for the triangular rukh design], and Covenant learns that it is essentially based on a lie claiming Berek Halfhand betrayed the Land and joined with a-Jeroth of the Seven Hells [the Clave name for Lord Foul]. He keeps this to himself, not knowing how to discount her belief, thinking that the only way to prove himself is to destroy the Sunbane. He manages to offend Memla anyway, and she refuses to tell him more that day.
The next few days bring suns of fertility, and Memla must now use her rukh to clear a path for her Courser to continue towards Revelstone. Covenant remarks on Vain's amazing ability to keep pace behind the Courser, though Memla's path closes so quickly behind them that the Demondim-spawn is forced to travel unaided through the organic obstacles laid out for him by the Sunbane. This he does without exertion, blankly, and with complete success.
They come upon Revelstone rather suddenly, leaving the out-of-control flora of the fertile sun behind as they gain the rocky area surrounding the Keep.
Revelstone is described anew, and Covenant is struck again by it's lasting magificence, which leads him to briefly mourn the loss of the Giants and their grand abilty to carve such a work of both obvious and inscrutable beauty from the stone of the promontory.
Memla sets the Courser straight for the entrance tunnel beyond the broken outer gates, but Covenant quickly dismounts and refuses to enter until the na-Mhoram himself comes and promises him safety within the keep.
Gibbon, the na-Mhoram, does come out, alone and bearing only an iron crozier (a taller version of a rukh) apparently as a sign of his office. He is a rather plain, monk-like leader, except for bright red eyes, of course. His blandness doesn't set well with Covenant, but after a brief discussion about who should mistrust whom, Gibbon does believably claim no knowledge of Santonin's whereabouts or any word of Covenant's companions.
He invites Covenant (and only Covenant) to enter, who after brief hesitation follows him up to the great inner gates of Revelstone. Gibbon re-enters, and as soon as Covenant follows him, the gate slams shut behind him, shutting Vain out completely, and leaving Covenant in darkness. [END OF CHAPTER]
The main theme in this chapter is mistrust. Nobody trusts nobody. I think Donaldson finesses his way through presenting Memla to us, because in a relatively short time, he has to introduce Memla, give us a believable idea of her life in faithful service to the Clave, and then immediately start attacking her belief system at the very core. The attack hasn't begun quite yet, but you can see it brewing just beyond the margin.
There is also a decent amount of explanation in this chapter about the powers of rukhs, and how communication and tracking can occur through them.
Finally, this is the first time we meet Gibbon, and though we are seeing things through Covenant's blunted senses, he seems to instinctively dislike Gibbon, who is so bland that he isn't believable, though everything he says seems to make sense.
The only issue I have with the whole chapter is the under-reaction to Gibbon's red eyes---the fact that, other than note their color, Covenant doesn't seem to think that's the slightest bit odd. Sure, he's got red eyes, but I'm more worried about how calm and beatific the guy is. THAT's weird.
Note that to prepare myself for this analysis, quotation wise, I did type the whole darn thing into Word. Going forward, I can post bits as needed, though I managed throughout my synopsis and short analysis NOT to quote passages.
Let me know if you'd like to see any portion quoted, and let the dissection begin!
DW
[Weird, warped, and weary of typing for a few hours]