#refugee'' a lot huh. Isn't that interesting

[theintelligentfool]

can we not use the word "refugee" to refer to a user of a different site/app making an account on tumblr. please

[blackjackkent]

All right, we've reached the Blushing Mermaid! Our primary goal here is to find Ethel and give her the old heave-ho, but it's an enormous tavern so presumably there's lots of shenanigans to be had here.

It actually looks like a fun place.

I would go drink here.

Initial exploratory highlights:

A lady on the boat area shown above is talking about Vanra's kidnapping and discussing how it was no doubt the local "squatters" - meaning the refugees.

Another overturned cabbage cart.

A woman clearly crushing on her shipmate and trying to convince him not to go on a date tonight, worried that he'll miss them shipping out tomorrow. Hector, romantic that he is becoming, pointed out that the man should listen to his friend who "clearly loves and worries about [him]." The man decided to skip the date and get a drink with his friend instead. Romance! \o/

An excellent banter between Minsc and Jaheira:

The rules as described by the bartender: "No pissin' or shittin'. If ya break it, ya pay for it. Any fightin' and Captain Grisly will shank ya. Got it?"

A patron who is apparently trying to get the aforementioned Captain Grisly's attention. "She likes a bitta 'pearl diving', a spot of 'keel-hauling', the ol' 'argy bargy' if ya get me." Hector doesn't get him, actually.

A LOT of terrible off-key singing by everyone in the area.

The captain herself is stalking around in what appears to be a private parlor area off to one side:

"Can't a captain be bloody hungover in peace?" she grumbles, hearing them approach -- and then does a double-take as she looks Hector up and down.

The irritation fades at once and she gives him a slow, sly smile. "Oh. Why, hello there..." she drawls. "Captain Grisly at your service. What can I do for a long drink of water like yourself?"

Karlach covers her mouth with one fist to muffle a sudden burst of giggling laughter. Hector blushes. This is getting ridiculous.

"I'm here about a missing girl," he says, clearing his throat and trying desperately for an air of dignity while Karlach snickers next to him. "Vanra."

The captain groans. "Oh, not this claptrap again. Listen, Lora was here, all right? Knocking back pints like there's no tomorrow. But she was *alone.* I saw head nor arse of this so-called 'kid'. And when we tried to kick her out, she pulled a *knife* on my front man. Bet she didn't tell you that bit, huh?"

Hector frowns. This is rather a different impression than he got of the frightened, desperately worried woman at the Flaming Fist barracks. "If Lora's daughter isn't here," he says cautiously, "where is she?"

Grisly shrugs. "Not a notion! But not a soul has seen this so-called Vanra of hers - myself included." She lowers her voice surreptitiously. "Look. I know Lora from my pirating days. She ran with Bart Blackdagger's crew. Heard they tossed her overboard when she gutted the bosun over a game of cards." She crosses her arms. "Now, I'd no beef with her before this. All are welcome in the 'Maid. But threatening my staff? Claiming we took her 'kid'? She's bonkers. *Dangerous*."

Her jaw sets warningly. "Next time she pulls a knife on me and mine, someone might die. Something has to be done."

Hector sighs. He has little interest in the interpersonal conflicts of the local seafaring crowd, and he's not sure he trusts this "captain" not to be lying. Though what cause would she have to lie about Lora, of all people?

"A child is missing," he says wearily. "I just want to get to the bottom of this."

"Gods!" Grisly says irritably. "Do I have to spell it out for you? There *is* no child. Lora is mad as a box of frogs! She's dangerous, and I couldn't call myself a captain if I stood by and did nothing." She reaches into her pocket, pulls out a pouch of gold that clinks heavily as she sets it on the table. "I hate that it's come to this, but I'll pay a hoard of gold to whoever scuppers her. Permanently."

Hector blinks, so startled by this offer that he forgets to be discreet. "That's insane!" he says.

Grisly smiles coldly. "No less insane than lying about having a kid! If you don't do it, I'll find someone else. You can make it painless. Not everyone will."

"Absolutely not," Hector says, backpedaling a step and looking uncomfortable. "I refuse to do your dirty work."

At once, the captain's whole attitude shifts. Her cold smile turns bitter, brutal.

"Tch. You're no fun," she says tauntingly. "I wanted you to stain your soul with the blood of an innocent mother." Her head twists, her body jerks, a flood of green magic rolling over her, transforming her in a way that is all too familiar - just as familiar as the new voice that now streams from her lips.

"Oh well. Guess I'll just decorate the room with your insides - they'll match my new carpet beautifully!"

Ethel again. Just as repulsive as before - or perhaps more so, as she is even larger than she was previously, and her stomach is distended, bulging. Hector remembers the text he read in Mayrina's hideout-- that Ethel has swallowed the missing child, and he will only have one chance to get her out.

"Hello, petal," Ethel sneers, undulating her hips in a strange, horrible mockery of a seductive dance. "Miss me?"

Hector clenches his fists at his sides. Standing in front of this creature again after so many months brings back terrible memories of how mind-shatteringly frightened he was in those first days after the nautiloid crash. He's come so far, and yet seeing Ethel staring into his eyes makes him feel that same fear bubbling up in his gut as if no time had passed between them at all.

"Steady, Hec," Karlach murmurs, low enough for only him to here. She wasn't there when he first fought Ethel - but he's told her of it more than once, and of the fear that went with it. "We've got this. And I'm with you."

Hector draws a slow breath, searches inward, controlling himself, controlling the fear. A little girl's life is at stake here, and however many more that Ethel might also threaten, and he will not let her slip away.

Ready yourself to attack.

"Ah-- not so fast, petal!" Ethel snaps, seeing his fists lifting. "You wouldn't hurt a pregnant woman, would you?" She smiles gleefully. "Little Vanra was so very tasty. I'd hate for her to go to waste."

Hector knew, intellectually, that this was what Ethel was trying to do with the girl... but hearing her speak of it so casually makes him feel ill.

Look at her stomach.

"I'm already showing!" the hag croons. "Doesn't it suit me so well? Vanra sits in my belly, growing fat with power. In time, I'll vomit her up and have myself a fresh young hag to train." She shrugs dismissively. "Unfortunately, that leaves me in a pickle. For while I'd love to rip your guts out, I shouldn't. Exertion is bad for the baby, you know."

She steps forward, her face only a few inches from Hector's, smelling of bog water and death. "So. Walk away. And let me a fine hag make," she hisses.

The urge to leap away is intense, but Hector stands his ground. "No," he says at once. "Surrender the child immediately."

"Or what?" she sneers. "You'll kill me? Touch me and the girl dies. And I'll simply return-- stronger than ever." She rolls her eyes, drawing back and placing a hand on her distended stomach. "Bah. A woman in my condition should be relaxing in the bath, not dealing with this nonsense."

Her eyes flick past him to the room beyond. "I'll leave you to my crew, 'matey.' And should you somehow survive? Stay away-- or Vanra will suffer."

Hector's fist clenches around the potion in his pack, but before he can throw it, she's gone, vanished into emptiness. And suddenly half the patrons in the tavern have shed their skin and shown themselves for what they really are -- redcaps, with blades out.

[sosei]

I just realized I never posted about finishing The Dragon Reborn.

It's a solid book, and its the first in the series to not at all center on Rand, with him having only a few sections where we see his PoV at all.

it(Huh, I hadn't realized how much of an Egwene book this was until I looked at this breakdown just now). wrt

One effect of this is that Rand's throught process so much more of an enigma. Because not only do we not see his PoV, he leaves the group for an extended period of time and the few glimpses we get of him he is positively unhinged with paranoia and sleep deprivation. So badly so that its clear even in his own PoVs that he isn't thinking straight.

The other major effect of this shift in focus is that Mat not only gets his first PoV scene in the series, but he almost universally becomes a reader favorite almost immediately. Cool shit and probability bending around him to frankly absurd degrees aside, there is just something with how post TDR Mat is written that makes him a major departure from everyone else. There are just these layers of frankly impressive writing that gives all of his scenes such a unique vibe. They somehow feel more light-hearted than the rest of the book, despite dealing with as dark, if not darker subject matter than the rest of the characters. I think that partially owes to Mat's Ta'veren* gimmick (which he is only just discovering in this book) being that the laws of probability are warped beyond recognition around him. Allowing certain perilous situations to play out in an almost more slapstick way.

But the Big Thing that makes Mat interesting to read (for me at least) is the massive disconnect between what he says and thinks, and what he does. Unlike the other boys, he has absolutely no qualms against lying if the situation calls for it. The thing is, those lies extend to himself. He will loudly insist that he's no hero from the stories and that only a fool helps someone for nothing in return, with his internal narration very much agreeing with the sentiment. Only to immediately turn around and give a hefty sum of money to a refugee on the street so she can feed her children.

Mat insists not just to the people around him, or even to himself, but to the audience that he is just out for himself and that he'll never do something that would inconvenience him.

But what does he actually do? He travels across half a goddamn continent and breaks into a fortress because he overheard that someone was going to try and assassinate someone he knows.

Mat puts a lot of work into his prankster/scoundrel act, to a point where in-universe a lot of people don't think he is particularly reliable. But there isn't a motherfucker on the planet who is more likely to be right where you need him when you need him that Matrim Cauthon.

Which is going to make for a very interesting post later down the line when that idea begins to contrast with Perrin.