Chapter 16 Page 32

…..oops?

(EDIT 12/20: Look for the next page to be posted later tonight)
(EDIT #2: Page is taking longer than expected. Looks like it’ll be Wednesday evening.)

17 Comments

Not forgetting the brutal murder of an innocent riding elk…

hey, that elk was nowhere near innocent… D:

Don’t you just hate when you forget things? Forget where you left your keys, if you turned off the oven before leaving the house, murdered your liege lord and placed his sons on the throne using evil sorcerers probably bent on destroying everything you hold dear. Memory loss is such a pain.

He remembers THAT part. He just (at the time) forgot the part about it being A Really Bad Idea….

I believe this is what TV Tropes calls “Fridge Horror”…

Not really. Fridge Horror is when the *audience* comes to a horrific realization regarding the unstated implications (which may or may not be intended by the author) of something that happened in the story. When it happens to a *character*, it’s “Explain, Explain… Oh, Crap!”

You’re right! You’d think with all the hours I’ve murdered on TV Tropes I’d have known that by now, LOL…

Maybe you have an article of jewelry that’s affecting your memory?

So, what are his options now? His (I assume) sworn duty is to serve and protect the Patriarch of Tamuran, who currently is Johlan. Despite Johlan usurping the crown, he is the eldest son and his father never officially declared Ranon the heir to the throne. So Owings’ loyalty should belong to Johlan. That’s a bit of a pickle he’s in.
Of course, if Owings has got any sense, he should get outta’ Dodge, or at least try to free his fellow guardsmen from the brainwashing jewelry. He should start with the doctor (assuming the doc isn’t an Inkuratu sorcerer) and use the exam room as cover to, guard by guard, smash each charm.

That Johlan is the Patriarch and that Owings owes his loyalty to the Patriarch is a cheap excuse. After all, he knows now that he was party of deposing the old P (whom Owings considered a reasonably good ruler) and installing Johlan as such, which I doubt Owings would consider an acceptable way of reaching the throne. Especially since O was used for this against his own will.

So yes, of course he could reason that “he owes his loyalty to the Patriarch and Johlan is the Patriarch”, but I doubt he’d ever fully buy it himself, but realize that this is a rationalization allowing him to keep on with his life.
I don’t think Owings is the type of person who’d find that acceptable.

He might decide that it is good enough if he has any family or other people whos safety he considers more important than his personal honor, but we have seen no such characters so far.

Besides, that wouldn’t make for a very interesting story, it will after all, be more fun to follow a viper plotting at the kings court ;D.

Man, I’m really not good at this. My post reads like Owings should support Johlan without question *thump fist on table*, when what I was trying to suggest was a moment of doubt two to five seconds long when this idea might go through his thoughts before Owings dismisses it. It’s a technical argument that Johlan might use if he found out Owings wasn’t under the influence of the ring (although Johlan would likely have Owings killed instead). I sure don’t think Owings is a “Rules Before Reason” kind of person.

He really is in a pickle though. A strong vinegary brine with lots of garlic and habaneros. No dill.

I would think Owings could be more of a mongoose. The vipers are the king and his sorcerers. His evil smelling sorcerers.

The “viper”-part was a play on the form of his Tu’Naul(?) companion. Effire, you know, the viper… (ok, sure, I’m not certain a cobra is counted as a viper, but close enough?)

Fwiw, I got it.

And now…pedantry!

Vipers and cobras are, in fact, two different taxonomic families.

Vipers have long fangs and their venoms are generally proteases – ie, they break down body tissues.

Cobras have short fangs and their venoms are mostly paralyzing neurotoxins.

For seem reason, the fact that the soldiers didn’t do things completely of their own free will, and were being influenced, is more satisfactory then a realistic storytelling that they turned again the king, or were bought and paid for or were more loyal to a son who made promises than a father who served well.
Since his guards assassinated him, I wonder if the partriarch figured that they were being influenced before he died? It only said his sons were more traitorous then he thought.
I also wonder if Johlan feels out of control, of the inkians, and broke the ring on purpose, as an “accident” when they were fencing.

I see no reason why the princes shouldn’t also be under inikian influence?

I think Ashlar might be, kindof doubt Johlan is though.

I think that both Johlan and Ashlar still have their free will at the moment, but the Inikis definitely have a hold over them, one they’re not aware of I’ll bet.