@Wiwaxia @whimsicalobservant So here is the thread for Drowtales: Moonless Age! Thoughts on what's happening? Bets on who'll kick the bucket? Opinions on Best Clan? (I'm betting Valla dies. The stomach-clutching is not a good sign, and who knows whether Yuhle could've been diverted to the kitchens as she was wandering around the Kyorl compound)
I don't think any of the old Ilharesses are making it out of this alive, honestly. Although I hope Waes goes out like a badass with many much shadow tentacles. Also, look at this sprite recolor I did a while ago of Naal as a Fire Emblem shaman:
Also, here's a link to the first page for anyone stopping in who hasn't read the thing. You should go read the thing. It has cool demonology and drow that don't want to make you bang your head against Unearthed Arcana until the binding breaks and is approaching homestuck levels of sad, eminently shippable, color-coded kids.
There's also here! It's the second half of the story, and you'll miss some stuff, but a lot gets summarized. Hm, I think that some of them will last? Just because killing off Quain or Zala would be very hard in the few pages before the end of the chapter, and killing them during a timeskip would be cheap. But I agree that the clock is ticking down on them. I hope we see the Belds reaching out to their Balv cousins - if memory serves, they're not especially close, but the battlefield techie clan might be able to help the super traditionalists adapt.
I dunno, they've both got their poison timers ticking. I agree about killing them offscreen, but even if the poison doesn't get them, I can't see them surviving to the end game.
Valla would be an asset to Anahid, but sadly I'm not seeing that happen. Unless Anahid actually gets to her with her talking and ability. Valla could be the edge that keeps Anahid alive in the mess that Chel is going to become. Yeah, that seems likely. But if/when Quain goes down, the Sarghress will as well. There's no way Ariel can hold them together. Maybe with Koil'dorath's help, but she won't hold as much power as Quain did. seriously, Koil would be Ariel's best bet. (or a highly specialized nether summoner / empath / person who can fuck with auras who can patch Laele back together) Thankfully Chrys and Ariel have been working together already, so they might be able to keep the alliance running, at least. Ash'waren already fucked off, and that might be her ticket to survival - depending on where she is. What's-her-name, the Ill'haress of the Illhar'dro, is in trouble as well, because unless she strikes a deal with Snadhya'rune about food deliveries, Nuqrah is going to go down as well. (Nega'fanae is her name) Asira'malika currently has the best chances of surviving this. Yes yes yes this And I wonder where Kiel will end up, she's been too central to the story to just disappear rn. (I wonder if they Valleygurl will finally make their appearance) (YES I KNOW THEYRE A GAG CLAN THEYRE STILL AWESOME)
Kiel finds Sharess Hm, she has ties to most of the other clan heirs, but they're not likely to feel kindly enough towards her to give her a place to stay. Her 'betrothal' to Nau isn't likely to last. And, well, she's the Vloz'ress head madwoman, Diva'ratrika and Shimi'lande's assassin and the one who caused the citywide possessions, as far as anyone knows.
I can see her skipping town entirely, honestly, either up to the surface or down even farther into the rift (where the storyline has pretty much never gone, actually). Actually, it occurs to me that the one viable political refuge for Kiel if she can't depend on Chrys's charity and doesn't want to make a go of it on her own? Snadhya. Now that would be interesting.
Oh dear. And Snad would gladly take her, too. Hooooh boy. (Although I'd expect Kiel to keep a knife aimed at Snad's back, just in case) ... I kinda want Snads to meet Diva. And I want Dive to slip up around Sillice at some point and reveal something only Diva'ratrika could've known.
Is there anything down the rift except for lava? Or magma or whatever? ...Oh boy, Snadhya WOULD take her. Maybe Kiel could be a super spy for Chrys over in Felde?
Augh, I just realized. When Khaless went to give Kiel a way to kill the fake Diva'ratrika, she was ALSO setting up Kiel to take the fall when Shimi'lande was assassinated.
Ayup ::D And Chiri is the only one who could testify that it wasn't Kiel, but instead whatever she sensed around Snads -- and of course, Snads would never have harmed Shimi, what makes you say such a thing? There are people who can testify Snads was somewhere else at the time of the murder. Kiel, now...
Well, there were likely Vloz who could say Kiel was at the fortress - but then again, they're Vloz, and a good chunk of them are probably dead by now. Anyways, it wouldn't have been Snads who killed Shimi - either it'd be one of her pets, or it'd be Khaless.
oh heyyyy I didn't realize we had a Drowtales thread :D I've been reading the series for a long friggin time; think I eventually figured out that I started around mid November 2002! OTL Hmmm wonder if Minka's gonna get his revenge- my bets are on that Snadya gets in there somehow. Curious to see her reaction to how things went- she didn't get any seers, and lost another tool in Yuh'le, but by all indications she wanted Valla ousted from power, which DID come to pass. ;U
Actually I think Snads wanted Valla in power - it seems like very few peoppe knew about Anahid, and I haven't seen much (besides her apparently accepting the empath help) to suggest she was part of Snadhya's group. I think Snadhya orchestrated Shimi's assassination, because, like the Dutan'vir, she was acting as a stabilizing force in Chel. Valla, who was very much BURN THE HERETICS PURGED THE TAINTED KILL 'EM ALL was just the sort of leader to cause discord and fear that Snadhya could take advantage of. Anahid, as a very accepting and apparently calming force, is not the sort of leader whose actions she can take advantage of; afaik Anahid sees tainting as like a debilitating wound - not something to be killed over, something that means someone sacrificed a lot for you, but also not something to be sought out, and for that reason I don't think Anahid's view of nether summoners varies much from the main Kyorl ideas, except for MAYBE introducing the idea that tainted summoners, if they wholeheartedly repent, don't need to be killed. So I think this represents a loss for Snadhya - I think she was hoping that Valla would be violently overthrown, and that she didn't see an abdication as being in the cards. Certainly she wouldn't have predicted Kousei surviving.
I think Snadhya actually set this up quite well as a win/win for her: either she gets the canny but hawkish Valla, who is not a force for stability and is potentially willing to work with Snadhya or at least turn a blind eye while she moves against the Judicators, their mutual opponents; or she gets a full-blown schism and more chaos and blood than she could ever dream of; or she gets a more conciliatory leader (Ana, although I doubt that Snadhya knew about her in all that much detail) who will have to deal with unrest from the warhawks within the Kyorl and may not be as suited as Valla to dealing with Snadha's political machinations (and who if need be can be assassinated as Shimi 2.0). Ana is cleverer than Snadhya would probably have liked, and the loss of Yuhle, the more-or-less bloodless exchange of power and Valla's willingness to work with Anahid are all definitely spanners in the works, but I think she's walking out of this chapter with the bronze at least.
More thoughts: actually, i think the biggest threat to Snadhya's interests in the Kyorl right now is the fact that Chiri knows of her involvement .
@KarrinBlue Wait, if you think Snads wanted Valla in power, why d'you then say you think she was hoping Valla would be overthrown violently? x3 Just wanna make sure I'm parsing it right. And this may or may not be relevant, but Snads openly threatened Valla'drielle during her speech in Felde. In other news, I wonder why Anahid (evidently) accepted the help of the Sul triplets with the crowd. Surely she had to figure something shady was going on, doubly so with her freaky-deaky mind powers. And I agree that Snadya definitely isn't getting all she wanted out of this chapter, just like in the end of the Beldrobbaen one- no pet seers for her, loss of Yuh'le- but I'm reasonably sure she's still getting SOMETHING out of it.
Oh yeah, if Chiri and Chrys/Kiel ever managed to compare notes (especially figuring out the 'Snadhya had Khaless put Kiel in a position to destabilize Zala's forces, what remained of Diva'ratrika's stabilizing influence, and act as a falldrow for Shimi's murder' thing) then they could have a Bad Thing For Snads going on. ... no one really knows that Snadhya began the Nidrachaal now, do they?
I think Snadhya originally wanted Valla in power to destabilize Chel and make people more willing to turn to Snads for peace and protection; Valla being violently overthrown is a benefit. I assume that the assassination of the Judicators was to make Valla more suspicious and violent, or make her easy to get rid of, or both. Basically Valla, in life or in death, is more useful to her end goals than Anahid. Does that help?
