Ashes of the Tyrant - Chapters 19-21

[Chad]

The hunt is on for the maurezhi in the catacombs under Djerad Thymar and Dahl is creeping closer and closer to the Underdark it seems.

It's a new week which means we keep this adventure rolling. Looking forward to everyone's thoughts on what I expect will be an action packed section.

Happy Reading

[Erin]

And let's see, what else...

Oh, here is the full craptitude of Arjhani. And thereby we come back around to ways Mehen is like Farideh: both have this selfish guy in their pasts they're not quite over. I don't think Mehen quite sees the parallel though.

Dahl is the main reason I got okay with using Graz'zt. I think the demon lord kind of epitomizes his dark side--this need to have people validate him fits right into Graz'zt's kind of broken hierarchy/alpha beast mindset.

Here too is the full story of why Mehen was exiled. This, much like Havilar's, I had a sense of, but it wasn't until I sat down to write this book that I really figured out who Pandjed was and why Mehen left. And how Mehen and Dumuzi were sort of reflections of each other.

I like Dumuzi and Havilar's conversation here about the catacombs, and I think it sums up something I think is important about writing about a "weird" culture: They don't know what's "weird" about them, because it isn't weird. Dumuzi can't imagine not knowing where he's meant to be buried. He wouldn't comment on it but for the fact Havilar finds it kind of macabre to know. He's not there to explain his culture to the other characters--his culture can explain itself as everyone interacts with it.

Oh, I killed Tarhun in here didn't I? No head of state is safe, apparently.

[Justin]

I found the true story of Arjhani's departure to be far more interesting than the tale that Mehen has been telling his daughters. In fact, you could argue about who was in the wrong here. Sure, maybe Arjhani should have gotten rid of the dang vial of whatever poison it was. But there's no indication that he was going to use it, and he might have been perfectly happy to live with Mehen and his daughters indefinitely.

I was surprised that Farideh drifted so easily back to Lorcan in this section, at least for a brief moment. At least she found herself surprised too!

I enjoyed the bits where the demon attacked both Arjhani and (in this section) Tarhun. It was fun to see things from the perspective of the creature, with the style of the writing changing along with the perspective.