Author's Notes
Intro - Chapter 7
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Chapters 15 - 21
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Chapter 15
Why did Moreen wait for Birch? Not just the eleven years he was in Hell, but for the extended time when they were dating/courting but not fully together. I think it's pretty obvious Moreen is the textbook definition of "helplessly in love" with Birch, but how does one present that without making the character weak and kind of sad to behold? Moreen's recitation of their relationship is pretty condemning toward Birch, and it highlights a character flaw I didn't even originally intend him to have - he's a little self-absorbed. Yes, he's a paladin and is serving and saving others at the expense of what he wants most in the world, but it honestly never occurs to the younger Birch the extent of damage that causes to Moreen. He wants to be a paladin and wants to be serving others, so ultimately his sacrifices are fulfilling his desires at the expense of Moreen's. Maybe Moreen should have pointed this out to him a decade or so ago, but as she correctly surmised, Birch wasn't capable of following through with it then. Had he stayed, I don't doubt that it might have only been a couple years at most more before things came to a head between them. It's important to note that this conversation happens within mere days of their reunion, so it was an inevitable step in their relationship.
Birch rarely handles emotional scenes well, at least where Moreen is concerned. Most of this is due to A) his long absence from her and the emotional limbo he's been in, and B) think about it: he's emotionally still where he was ten years ago. You do a lot of growing and changing in relationships in ten years, either by trying and failing at them or by living in one with someone. Birch hasn't had that. His only emotional relationship was with his dakkan (who died years ago and couldn't talk back to him in the first place) and then he was tortured by demons for a few years. I think it's perfectly understandable if his emotional intelligence is a little stunted at this point and isn't handled well.
The scene with Danner and Alicia is sort of fun, because in his own way he's even worse with women than his uncle is. Danner's never really been around women (not romantically anyway), and he's never seriously tried to court someone. While he ultimately tries to do the gentlemanly thing, he's so confused by and unaware of the emotional backdrop Alicia is working from that he's, well, shniecked.
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
Moreen drops a little detail in here that doesn't really come up until book 2. "I could have seduced you and gotten pregnant..." Birch and Moreen have never had sex, and as far as I know, they're both still virgins.
Birch rarely handles emotional scenes well, at least where Moreen is concerned. Most of this is due to A) his long absence from her and the emotional limbo he's been in, and B) think about it: he's emotionally still where he was ten years ago. You do a lot of growing and changing in relationships in ten years, either by trying and failing at them or by living in one with someone. Birch hasn't had that. His only emotional relationship was with his dakkan (who died years ago and couldn't talk back to him in the first place) and then he was tortured by demons for a few years. I think it's perfectly understandable if his emotional intelligence is a little stunted at this point and isn't handled well.
The scene with Danner and Alicia is sort of fun, because in his own way he's even worse with women than his uncle is. Danner's never really been around women (not romantically anyway), and he's never seriously tried to court someone. While he ultimately tries to do the gentlemanly thing, he's so confused by and unaware of the emotional backdrop Alicia is working from that he's, well, shniecked.
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
Moreen drops a little detail in here that doesn't really come up until book 2. "I could have seduced you and gotten pregnant..." Birch and Moreen have never had sex, and as far as I know, they're both still virgins.
Chapter 16
Here it is, what is easily the darkest chapter in this book and one of the darkest in the whole trilogy. I honestly don't know why this scene even occurred to me, but when I looked back later at the narrative of the story, it just made a lot of things make sense. (See the Spoilers section once you've finished the book.) Originally, Sal only went after Moreen and was immediately repelled as you see now. But wow, what an ineffective demon! He hides in the shadows and comes forward to attack one normal person, and she essentially beats him up and sends him running with his tail between his legs. Sal's sinister points took a major hit with that, and it was only when I thought of his first attacking Alicia that this chapter really began to come together.
This is one of two chapters in this book that make me cringe a little, not for the scenes in themselves, but because I know certain people will be reading this - namely my parents. I know, I know. But still. I don't care about them reading about people getting disemboweled, decapitated, or burned alive (all of which happen at some point in this trilogy), but rape is one of the most horrendous and vile things imaginable, and I still get uncomfortable knowing some/all of my parents (including at least one of my in-laws) will be reading this chapter. That doesn't stop me from writing it, of course. Oddly enough, the thought of my kids reading this someday doesn't bother me much. Huh.
The contrast between Alicia and Moreen here is striking. Sal is successful with Alicia largely because she barely knows Danner. Moreen, on the other hand, is wholly familiar with Birch and his mannerisms, down to the way he carries himself when walking. Sal's attempts to influence her mind are easily shaken off, as she cannot accept this as Birch from the first instant she sees him. I hope the tension of the scene is sufficiently strong. You know Sal has just raped Alicia, and you see the same scenario being setup for Moreen, and you have to wonder if it's going to happen again. Of course, Moreen introduces the use of the Tricrus in fighting demons and sets herself up as a target of retaliation, but more on that later.
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
What could possibly make Alicia follow Danner to Nocka, thus keeping her in the story and giving them a chance to interact and eventually be drawn together? (Spoiler alert, Alicia and Danner are a love interest, if you couldn't see that one coming.) Alicia's a little too cynical to go flying off after a man she just met thinking she's in love with him, and having her decide to go back to Nocka and either run into Danner via Marc or else randomly happen upon him in the streets would be more than a little contrived. But following her rapist to confront him and exact revenge? That's exactly the type of thing Alicia would do.
Moreen's attack on Sal sets his revenge in motion, which is of course the spur that sets her off after Birch. This necessarily keeps Moreen in the story into the next book, and ultimately redefines her relationship with Birch. When it comes down to it, Moreen realizes the only way she and Birch will ever be together is if she goes to stay with him, rather than expecting him to come stay with her. If the Dragoenix hadn't been destroyed, she probably would have stayed there waiting, and Birch would have kept getting drawn away by one thing or another. It's who he is, and she knows that. It may not have been the best way for her to come to the decision, but ultimately it is her choice, which is, I hope, why it works, and why we can support her in doing so.
This is one of two chapters in this book that make me cringe a little, not for the scenes in themselves, but because I know certain people will be reading this - namely my parents. I know, I know. But still. I don't care about them reading about people getting disemboweled, decapitated, or burned alive (all of which happen at some point in this trilogy), but rape is one of the most horrendous and vile things imaginable, and I still get uncomfortable knowing some/all of my parents (including at least one of my in-laws) will be reading this chapter. That doesn't stop me from writing it, of course. Oddly enough, the thought of my kids reading this someday doesn't bother me much. Huh.
The contrast between Alicia and Moreen here is striking. Sal is successful with Alicia largely because she barely knows Danner. Moreen, on the other hand, is wholly familiar with Birch and his mannerisms, down to the way he carries himself when walking. Sal's attempts to influence her mind are easily shaken off, as she cannot accept this as Birch from the first instant she sees him. I hope the tension of the scene is sufficiently strong. You know Sal has just raped Alicia, and you see the same scenario being setup for Moreen, and you have to wonder if it's going to happen again. Of course, Moreen introduces the use of the Tricrus in fighting demons and sets herself up as a target of retaliation, but more on that later.
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
What could possibly make Alicia follow Danner to Nocka, thus keeping her in the story and giving them a chance to interact and eventually be drawn together? (Spoiler alert, Alicia and Danner are a love interest, if you couldn't see that one coming.) Alicia's a little too cynical to go flying off after a man she just met thinking she's in love with him, and having her decide to go back to Nocka and either run into Danner via Marc or else randomly happen upon him in the streets would be more than a little contrived. But following her rapist to confront him and exact revenge? That's exactly the type of thing Alicia would do.
Moreen's attack on Sal sets his revenge in motion, which is of course the spur that sets her off after Birch. This necessarily keeps Moreen in the story into the next book, and ultimately redefines her relationship with Birch. When it comes down to it, Moreen realizes the only way she and Birch will ever be together is if she goes to stay with him, rather than expecting him to come stay with her. If the Dragoenix hadn't been destroyed, she probably would have stayed there waiting, and Birch would have kept getting drawn away by one thing or another. It's who he is, and she knows that. It may not have been the best way for her to come to the decision, but ultimately it is her choice, which is, I hope, why it works, and why we can support her in doing so.
Chapter 17
I'm pretty sure in the early drafts I referred to Sal having a soul, which was a slip of the brain that makes absolutely no sense, especially once I got into the series a little further. This was later changed to "essence," a term that never wholly satisfied me. It was too generic. I actually set out to find a word that worked and eventually came up with āyus. I don't remember where I found the word I adapted (probably buried somewhere on Wikipedia... I spent a lot of time there researching angels and demons), but this one stood out and finally was implemented. The concept of the āyus becomes more and more important as these first three books progress, and by the time book 3 is in full swing, you'll be pretty used to seeing it.
This is really the only other time you see the world from Selti's eyes, and it showcases his intelligence just a little bit. It's worth noting that Selti probably wouldn't have fared as well had Sal not been weakened by the mark Moreen drew on him. Still, he single-handedly cripples a demon lord and drives him off. Not bad for an adolescent dakkan.
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
There are a few hints in here that Selti is a little more than what he seems, which of course you may already have an inkling of because of his abnormal shapeshifting abilities. It will be a while before the mysteries surrounding Selti are fully solved.
This is really the only other time you see the world from Selti's eyes, and it showcases his intelligence just a little bit. It's worth noting that Selti probably wouldn't have fared as well had Sal not been weakened by the mark Moreen drew on him. Still, he single-handedly cripples a demon lord and drives him off. Not bad for an adolescent dakkan.
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
There are a few hints in here that Selti is a little more than what he seems, which of course you may already have an inkling of because of his abnormal shapeshifting abilities. It will be a while before the mysteries surrounding Selti are fully solved.
Chapter 18
Finally, we get to meet normal paladins. Nothing against Birch, but he's hardly typical, and at his best he could never adequately represent five of the seven Facets (the ones he's never belonged to). While none of the men here are "stereotypes" of their Facets, they're all indicative to some degree of the traits that Facet primarily exhibits. The only exception to this is Wein, who is a poor example of anything other than being a jerk. For some reason, I have problems writing Violet paladins - probably because I'm trying to avoid coming across as preachy, and that's kind of part of their role in life, so they get short-changed a bit, or at least that's the way it's worked out so far. I try to give them better treatment in the characters you meet in passing. Fortunately, I know that will change in the next trilogy when faith and piety take a more central role, but it's a sticking point with me for these books.
I'll be honest that I originally didn't have a clear idea of why Wein was such a jerk to Danner at first, so the scene always felt a little weak to me. Originally Wein pissed himself when Birch confronts him and Wein sees his eyes, which was the source of the bad blood between those two, at least. When I went back to remove the pants-wetting (which was silly and not at all in keeping with a man who just helped fight off demons not long before his appearance here), I had to put more thought into the scene. Finally I settled on Wein's upper-class background sparking his quarrel with Danner, and I subsequently stumbled into some of the better lines James delivers as rebukes to the Violet paladin. Not only do these improve the interplay between the characters over the original drafts, but they offer a little extra glimpse into the philosophy of the Prism.
Nuse's name came from a philosophy class I took, unfortunately it ended up being applied to the wrong person. Nous means "reason" and "intellect" in ancient Greek (more or less) and was supposed to be James's name, but for some reason it ended up being the irrascible older Blue paladin rather than the level-headed leader of the group. Oh well.
Is it me, or is Birch a little overly dramatic at times?
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
Major spoiler you won't figure out for two more books: Birch is wrong about the source of Selti's abilities.
I'll be honest that I originally didn't have a clear idea of why Wein was such a jerk to Danner at first, so the scene always felt a little weak to me. Originally Wein pissed himself when Birch confronts him and Wein sees his eyes, which was the source of the bad blood between those two, at least. When I went back to remove the pants-wetting (which was silly and not at all in keeping with a man who just helped fight off demons not long before his appearance here), I had to put more thought into the scene. Finally I settled on Wein's upper-class background sparking his quarrel with Danner, and I subsequently stumbled into some of the better lines James delivers as rebukes to the Violet paladin. Not only do these improve the interplay between the characters over the original drafts, but they offer a little extra glimpse into the philosophy of the Prism.
Nuse's name came from a philosophy class I took, unfortunately it ended up being applied to the wrong person. Nous means "reason" and "intellect" in ancient Greek (more or less) and was supposed to be James's name, but for some reason it ended up being the irrascible older Blue paladin rather than the level-headed leader of the group. Oh well.
Is it me, or is Birch a little overly dramatic at times?
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
Major spoiler you won't figure out for two more books: Birch is wrong about the source of Selti's abilities.
Chapter 19
This is the best glimpse of Birch's experiences in Hell so far, since you get a few different memories joined in one. In this first memory the childris make a brief appearance "off screen" as it were, and you don't really get a good idea of why Birch fears them so much. Suffice to say, they nearly killed him, and had Sultana not been there at his side, you wouldn't be reading this story right now.
It was challenging trying to come up with tortures for Birch that were horrendous enough to be "Hellish" but not so bad that it strains credulity that he survived as long as he did. Probably the key thing to remember is that he was frequently given the opportunity to heal himself. As long as his injuries were within his power and skill to heal, his captors could do whatever they wanted and leave it to him to correct the damage. Even the idea of healing himself was a form of torture, since the longer he went without healing meant longer without fresh tortures inflicted on him, plus living with the knowledge that his healing was playing into his captors' hands.
I actually had to dial back some injuries when I realized Birch wasn't nearly a good enough healer to recover from them. For instance, originally Birch's eyes were boiled in the socket as they were stabbed by a demonic finger. Instead his eyes are just "cut" which still effectively blinds him (which was necessary for several of these memory scenes that happen throughout the series), but is conceivably still repairable for Birch. The boiling eye just sounds better, and I still kind of miss it. ... I wonder about what goes on in my head sometimes....
A late, yet eminently appropriate, addition to the final memory (and the first appearance of the Voice) was the bit about Birch not violating his oaths. "Will not" versus "cannot" - Birch quite literally cannot break his oaths, it's just not who he is. Oh he's physically capable (free will and all that jazz), but he's not psychologically capable. Which is probably why he has such a hard time figuring things out with Moreen.
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
The last scene of his memory miiiiiiight come up again in the next book. I'm just saying, is all. Could be important. It might even come up again in a completely different trilogy. Hmmmm...... Plans within plans.
It was challenging trying to come up with tortures for Birch that were horrendous enough to be "Hellish" but not so bad that it strains credulity that he survived as long as he did. Probably the key thing to remember is that he was frequently given the opportunity to heal himself. As long as his injuries were within his power and skill to heal, his captors could do whatever they wanted and leave it to him to correct the damage. Even the idea of healing himself was a form of torture, since the longer he went without healing meant longer without fresh tortures inflicted on him, plus living with the knowledge that his healing was playing into his captors' hands.
I actually had to dial back some injuries when I realized Birch wasn't nearly a good enough healer to recover from them. For instance, originally Birch's eyes were boiled in the socket as they were stabbed by a demonic finger. Instead his eyes are just "cut" which still effectively blinds him (which was necessary for several of these memory scenes that happen throughout the series), but is conceivably still repairable for Birch. The boiling eye just sounds better, and I still kind of miss it. ... I wonder about what goes on in my head sometimes....
A late, yet eminently appropriate, addition to the final memory (and the first appearance of the Voice) was the bit about Birch not violating his oaths. "Will not" versus "cannot" - Birch quite literally cannot break his oaths, it's just not who he is. Oh he's physically capable (free will and all that jazz), but he's not psychologically capable. Which is probably why he has such a hard time figuring things out with Moreen.
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
The last scene of his memory miiiiiiight come up again in the next book. I'm just saying, is all. Could be important. It might even come up again in a completely different trilogy. Hmmmm...... Plans within plans.
Chapter 20
The new paladin characters continue to take shape here, and again I'm sorry that Wein gets short-shifted as the jerk, because it does a disservice to the Violet Facet. I kind of wish I had a chance to show what he was like before this storyline kicked in and brought out the worst in him. He wasn't exactly an affable, fluffy guy, but he wasn't nearly as bad as he's made out to be here.
Nuse is one of my two favorites of the new paladins - he's certainly the most fun to write. He gets away with things the others can't, but he never forgets what he is or why he's there. Vander is probably the hardest to write, and it's because of a really bizarre trait I decided to give him. It makes for an interesting idea (his "secret" as it's eventually called), but don't look for the reasoning behind it anywhere in this book.
For those keeping score, the slate has been wiped clean and stands at "Friends killed by Danner's irresponsibility and thrill-seeking = 0". Fal is alive, and everything's better now, right? Faldergash was never intended to die (his supposed death was just part of the means of getting Danner out of Marash), and I wasn't ready to put away his character just yet. There's still a lot to see about him and about gnomes in general.
Yes, the Prismatic Council is a bunch of bureaucratic posers. You can be a member of a holy order and still be a complete ass; people are people. This will not be the last time they muck things up.
It's not explicitly explained, but the question laid to rest by the color of Birch's cloak is how to balance the jintaal. Had Birch resumed his previous association with the Red Facet, it's probable they would have pulled Garet from the group and just sent the six of them. Had he resumed the mantle of the White Facet, things would have remained the same (just with fewer gasps and murmurs).
If you thought Birch was actually going to follow through with giving up the Prismatic Order and going back to live with Moreen, you haven't been paying much attention to who he is. Shame on you.
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
Actually, as you've seen, Vander's secret itself isn't even explained here, much less the reason it exists. Those are split up in the next couple of books. Haha.
I'm not quite as bad as Joss Whedon, in that I don't have to kill off favorite characters (I'm still sad about Wash), but I'm more than willing to if the story calls for it. Faldergash just didn't need to die...yet....
The colors of the Facets and the people associated with them are a recurring theme you'll see throughout the entire Pandemonium War series. When you see a paladin wearing a particular color, it should tell you a lot about who they are on the inside, even if it's not readily apparent.
Nuse is one of my two favorites of the new paladins - he's certainly the most fun to write. He gets away with things the others can't, but he never forgets what he is or why he's there. Vander is probably the hardest to write, and it's because of a really bizarre trait I decided to give him. It makes for an interesting idea (his "secret" as it's eventually called), but don't look for the reasoning behind it anywhere in this book.
For those keeping score, the slate has been wiped clean and stands at "Friends killed by Danner's irresponsibility and thrill-seeking = 0". Fal is alive, and everything's better now, right? Faldergash was never intended to die (his supposed death was just part of the means of getting Danner out of Marash), and I wasn't ready to put away his character just yet. There's still a lot to see about him and about gnomes in general.
Yes, the Prismatic Council is a bunch of bureaucratic posers. You can be a member of a holy order and still be a complete ass; people are people. This will not be the last time they muck things up.
It's not explicitly explained, but the question laid to rest by the color of Birch's cloak is how to balance the jintaal. Had Birch resumed his previous association with the Red Facet, it's probable they would have pulled Garet from the group and just sent the six of them. Had he resumed the mantle of the White Facet, things would have remained the same (just with fewer gasps and murmurs).
If you thought Birch was actually going to follow through with giving up the Prismatic Order and going back to live with Moreen, you haven't been paying much attention to who he is. Shame on you.
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
Actually, as you've seen, Vander's secret itself isn't even explained here, much less the reason it exists. Those are split up in the next couple of books. Haha.
I'm not quite as bad as Joss Whedon, in that I don't have to kill off favorite characters (I'm still sad about Wash), but I'm more than willing to if the story calls for it. Faldergash just didn't need to die...yet....
The colors of the Facets and the people associated with them are a recurring theme you'll see throughout the entire Pandemonium War series. When you see a paladin wearing a particular color, it should tell you a lot about who they are on the inside, even if it's not readily apparent.
Interlude
I really didn't feel like going into a Harry Potter-esque mystery about who the real traitor was, where the intrepid heroes drag you the reader along the path toward the obvious choice only to discover the clues were there all along for someone else entirely, etc. Don't get me wrong, I like those books and it's a great plot device, it's just not right for this story. You can probably already figure out who the traitor is in their midst, and if not, don't worry, it's not really a secret, Min just doesn't care enough about mortals to concern himself with his name, and this first conversation is all from his perspective. The thing to really keep in mind during these long-distance communications is that Min is maintaining his hold over his puppet and implanting thoughts while reinforcing others, all while trying to maintain the fiction of his assumed identity.
The Three's decision to allow Moreen to live is obviously necessary for the plot, and the potential to use her against Birch is probably the only thing significant enough to override their desire for vengeance. Of course the other key moment from this section is the revelation that someone else has just escaped from Hell, and if you're paying attention to names, you know that Kaelus is known as the "Devil's Deuce" in Dividha - coincidentally enough, the next book in this trilogy is called the same thing. Hmmmmmmm.....
Please note, Danner has been in training to become a paladin for a matter of days, and he's sneaking out at night in a move that could result in severe punishment, perhaps even expulsion. This is not a man who has learned a lesson about taking risks. After all, Faldergash is alive, no harm no foul. Any growth and maturity he was working toward in that respect was reversed by the simple fact that Faldergash is alive.
A quick note about names. As you might expect, different cultures have different traditions regarding family names. For example, everyone in Danner's family uses de'Valderat as their surname, and this sort of family name is the most common tradition. The other dominant convention is what you see with Garnet jo'Garet, and is pretty much exactly what it looks like. The "jo" in the name means "son of," so Garet's name in turn indicates his father's name was Meerkit. Moreen's surname is an'Beatriz, which is the same thing for the feminine line: her mother's name was Beatriz. In that cultural tradition, boys take their name from their fathers (assuming they know who it is) and girls from their mothers until they marry, there is no "family" name. There are no examples of it happening in this book, but when a woman gets married, she would typically adopt the naming convention of her husband's family. Thus if Moreen were to marry Birch, she would take his name of de'Valderat. If a woman were to marry Garnet, her surname would become ap'Garnet - "married to Garnet". Yes, it's patriarchal, but that's the world (of Lokka, anyway).
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
Birch's thought about the deficiency of non-human paladins isn't merely academic, though it's not necessarily a critical point to the series. It ultimately points to two separate issues: an underlying racism even amidst the holy order of paladins, and the fact that the other races really do view things differently than humans, including religion. Most of this trilogy is human-centric, because the world is dominated by humans and so is the list of main characters, which can lead you to the same mistaken impression most humans have, which is that the other races all pretty much think and feel the way humans do.
The issue of Birch's "allergic" reaction to his weapon should start pointing you toward certain ideas, which are obviously backed up by the final confrontation between him and Sal.
I'll be honest, I'd completely forgotten that The Three planned on using Moreen against Birch, or that they were even working on a plan to break him. That's why it seems to so quickly shift to a "okay, let's kill him now" plan and no further mention of their intentions for Moreen is ever made. It wasn't until this was already published and I went back through yet again (for at least the tenth time) that I noticed this little foible. Crappola. It will be addressed in the next book, at least to provide some rationale, but I won't lie to you and say it was planned that way.
As I mentioned a while before in the spoilers, the Coalition really doesn't play much part beyond their initial pursuit of Danner, and it's for the simple point of expediency. Realistically, it makes sense to me that they'd back off about now anyway. Ultimately, how much would they be willing to throw after one man for the "crime" of living with a gnome? (Remember, as far as we know, they don't know anything about his thefts.) Never fear, though, this is hardly the last time the Men for Mankind Coalition will appear in the Pandemonium War.
The Three's decision to allow Moreen to live is obviously necessary for the plot, and the potential to use her against Birch is probably the only thing significant enough to override their desire for vengeance. Of course the other key moment from this section is the revelation that someone else has just escaped from Hell, and if you're paying attention to names, you know that Kaelus is known as the "Devil's Deuce" in Dividha - coincidentally enough, the next book in this trilogy is called the same thing. Hmmmmmmm.....
Please note, Danner has been in training to become a paladin for a matter of days, and he's sneaking out at night in a move that could result in severe punishment, perhaps even expulsion. This is not a man who has learned a lesson about taking risks. After all, Faldergash is alive, no harm no foul. Any growth and maturity he was working toward in that respect was reversed by the simple fact that Faldergash is alive.
A quick note about names. As you might expect, different cultures have different traditions regarding family names. For example, everyone in Danner's family uses de'Valderat as their surname, and this sort of family name is the most common tradition. The other dominant convention is what you see with Garnet jo'Garet, and is pretty much exactly what it looks like. The "jo" in the name means "son of," so Garet's name in turn indicates his father's name was Meerkit. Moreen's surname is an'Beatriz, which is the same thing for the feminine line: her mother's name was Beatriz. In that cultural tradition, boys take their name from their fathers (assuming they know who it is) and girls from their mothers until they marry, there is no "family" name. There are no examples of it happening in this book, but when a woman gets married, she would typically adopt the naming convention of her husband's family. Thus if Moreen were to marry Birch, she would take his name of de'Valderat. If a woman were to marry Garnet, her surname would become ap'Garnet - "married to Garnet". Yes, it's patriarchal, but that's the world (of Lokka, anyway).
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
Birch's thought about the deficiency of non-human paladins isn't merely academic, though it's not necessarily a critical point to the series. It ultimately points to two separate issues: an underlying racism even amidst the holy order of paladins, and the fact that the other races really do view things differently than humans, including religion. Most of this trilogy is human-centric, because the world is dominated by humans and so is the list of main characters, which can lead you to the same mistaken impression most humans have, which is that the other races all pretty much think and feel the way humans do.
The issue of Birch's "allergic" reaction to his weapon should start pointing you toward certain ideas, which are obviously backed up by the final confrontation between him and Sal.
I'll be honest, I'd completely forgotten that The Three planned on using Moreen against Birch, or that they were even working on a plan to break him. That's why it seems to so quickly shift to a "okay, let's kill him now" plan and no further mention of their intentions for Moreen is ever made. It wasn't until this was already published and I went back through yet again (for at least the tenth time) that I noticed this little foible. Crappola. It will be addressed in the next book, at least to provide some rationale, but I won't lie to you and say it was planned that way.
As I mentioned a while before in the spoilers, the Coalition really doesn't play much part beyond their initial pursuit of Danner, and it's for the simple point of expediency. Realistically, it makes sense to me that they'd back off about now anyway. Ultimately, how much would they be willing to throw after one man for the "crime" of living with a gnome? (Remember, as far as we know, they don't know anything about his thefts.) Never fear, though, this is hardly the last time the Men for Mankind Coalition will appear in the Pandemonium War.
Chapter 21
Yet again, we're being introduced to a whole new list of characters, and since they're in training to become paladins, you can bet they're going to exhibit traits consistent with the different Facets.
I did something extremely silly when I first wrote this book: I didn't keep track of what people looked like. It seems strange and such a simple thing, but I didn't really lock their descriptions in stone the first time around, so when I started going back through the series, Michael was blonde in one book and had dark hair in another. Other traits were tacked on in later books and brought back retroactively into earlier areas to restore consistency, which occasionally created even more problems than it solved. The fun I had with that led to an exhaustive read-through of the entire trilogy looking for personality traits, favorite foods, hair colors, heights, facial hair, personal histories, etc, all recorded in a massive list about every single named person in the series, even the ones who've been dead for centuries and don't actually appear in the pages of this book. (There are over 200 individuals on that list, by the way, by the end of book 3. Fun fun.) And yet even with that, it still wasn't the most painful retroactive correction process I had to go through with these books.
I've said it before, and it's conceivable I'll say it again. I hate writing Brit Grindstone's dialogue and I wish he would learn to speak the human tongue properly.
There's a piece of the scene with Alicia, Deeta, and Moreen that I don't think carries across well, but you tell me. When Deeta mentions that she thinks Nocka is where Danner was headed, she isn't saying it as justification for her own travel, she's saying it to Alicia as an enticement of sorts. She knows Alicia was interested in him, and she's trying to do something nice by nudging Alicia that way. This section isn't written in any way from Deeta's point of view, so it's harder to bring that point across given Moreen's focus and Alicia's numbness.
The third section of this chapter was a late addition, and it ties in with the quote I chose to lead this chapter. I started with the question of why each of these people had joined the Prism, and the first standout for me was Flasch. The chapter quote highlights this question and provides the beginning of an answer for him. But it took me a while to realize that I hadn't really given a solid rationale for one of the primary characters in the book: Danner. Why did he actually decide to join the Prismatic Order? He was raised a thief and was largely ignorant of the paladins until Birch came along. This section was written to answer that, as well as to help put the question of the Coalition to rest.
I had a lot of fun writing Gerard Morningham, and who wouldn't? He's a bit of a challenge to get right, because I don't want him to come across as comical, and I try to shy away from completely vulgar language, but Gerard walks the line there more than anyone else. Certain aspects of Gerard are taken from my JROTC instructor in high school, just cranked way past what even that man had going on. There's a few non-curse-laden comments Gerard says that are almost direct quotes.
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
The little bit about Trebor healing Marc's nose is such a minor detail, but it actually ended up blending in perfectly with two separate, larger story points in this series. One has to do with who (not what) Trebor is and the nature of this type of healing in Lokka. The second, more nebulous, point has to do with the fact that he can do it at all right now. Trebor is not a paladin, but he can still heal Marc. More importantly, he mentions he was able to do so before he even joined up for training. That really won't come up as an important point until it's needed in book 3, but it's been there all along, even before I was really aware of it.
After re-reading Danner's interview with the paladins, I want to know who the former assassin was that the Prismatic Order admitted. That's one of a couple dozen drops in the bucket of Lokka's history that I want to know more about. The other bit I included here was the concern about admitting so many people with shady pasts. That won't come up again in this trilogy, but it will probably have an impact in both of the next two trilogies.
I did something extremely silly when I first wrote this book: I didn't keep track of what people looked like. It seems strange and such a simple thing, but I didn't really lock their descriptions in stone the first time around, so when I started going back through the series, Michael was blonde in one book and had dark hair in another. Other traits were tacked on in later books and brought back retroactively into earlier areas to restore consistency, which occasionally created even more problems than it solved. The fun I had with that led to an exhaustive read-through of the entire trilogy looking for personality traits, favorite foods, hair colors, heights, facial hair, personal histories, etc, all recorded in a massive list about every single named person in the series, even the ones who've been dead for centuries and don't actually appear in the pages of this book. (There are over 200 individuals on that list, by the way, by the end of book 3. Fun fun.) And yet even with that, it still wasn't the most painful retroactive correction process I had to go through with these books.
I've said it before, and it's conceivable I'll say it again. I hate writing Brit Grindstone's dialogue and I wish he would learn to speak the human tongue properly.
There's a piece of the scene with Alicia, Deeta, and Moreen that I don't think carries across well, but you tell me. When Deeta mentions that she thinks Nocka is where Danner was headed, she isn't saying it as justification for her own travel, she's saying it to Alicia as an enticement of sorts. She knows Alicia was interested in him, and she's trying to do something nice by nudging Alicia that way. This section isn't written in any way from Deeta's point of view, so it's harder to bring that point across given Moreen's focus and Alicia's numbness.
The third section of this chapter was a late addition, and it ties in with the quote I chose to lead this chapter. I started with the question of why each of these people had joined the Prism, and the first standout for me was Flasch. The chapter quote highlights this question and provides the beginning of an answer for him. But it took me a while to realize that I hadn't really given a solid rationale for one of the primary characters in the book: Danner. Why did he actually decide to join the Prismatic Order? He was raised a thief and was largely ignorant of the paladins until Birch came along. This section was written to answer that, as well as to help put the question of the Coalition to rest.
I had a lot of fun writing Gerard Morningham, and who wouldn't? He's a bit of a challenge to get right, because I don't want him to come across as comical, and I try to shy away from completely vulgar language, but Gerard walks the line there more than anyone else. Certain aspects of Gerard are taken from my JROTC instructor in high school, just cranked way past what even that man had going on. There's a few non-curse-laden comments Gerard says that are almost direct quotes.
Spoiler Section - Only read this if you've finished the book.
The little bit about Trebor healing Marc's nose is such a minor detail, but it actually ended up blending in perfectly with two separate, larger story points in this series. One has to do with who (not what) Trebor is and the nature of this type of healing in Lokka. The second, more nebulous, point has to do with the fact that he can do it at all right now. Trebor is not a paladin, but he can still heal Marc. More importantly, he mentions he was able to do so before he even joined up for training. That really won't come up as an important point until it's needed in book 3, but it's been there all along, even before I was really aware of it.
After re-reading Danner's interview with the paladins, I want to know who the former assassin was that the Prismatic Order admitted. That's one of a couple dozen drops in the bucket of Lokka's history that I want to know more about. The other bit I included here was the concern about admitting so many people with shady pasts. That won't come up again in this trilogy, but it will probably have an impact in both of the next two trilogies.
Intro - Chapter 7
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Chapters 15 - 21
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