Sunday, July 29, 2018

Birthday, Apartment, Test, Weird Al, Dragonsteel 3.3

Heather's birthday was Saturday the 21st. I made her breakfast in bed, and she had a party that night where I cooked hamburgers on the outside BBQs. It started to rain, though, so we relocated inside. We had cake and ice-cream and chocolate-chip cookies and hamburgers. The girls painted their nails. I catered and took care of the children.

After weeks and weeks of apartment shopping, our searching is over! On Friday we were approved to move into the Meadows apartments in Mesa Arizona! Although is was pretty fun to apartment shop, it was also stressful, so I'm glad that that's over.

On Thursday I left work at noon so that I could go take a test: the "Assessment of Professional Knowledge: Secondary" test. I need to take it to get my teaching license. I don't have to have it taken by any particular day, but with August going to be crazy, as well as living in Mesa, I decided to just take it now. So I did. Did I pass? I don't know. There were two essay portions, so they don't give you your score yet, but there were also 100 multiple choice questions, so you think they could have at least given me a "this is your score without the essays" score. Anyway, I think I did pretty well on it. I think I passed.

Who is this handsome young man? Street View on Google Maps It's me, guys. (In the green shirt and blue gloves crouching down.) This was taken a year ago this month when I was working for Provo Parks and Rec.

Here's a cool video I found: 


Here are the last chapters in Part There of Dragonsteel:

Chapter 47

During Topaz’s nine months in the Ekrobila, he’s quickly advanced through the ranks. Because of his photographic memory and ability to use microkinesis, he can do seemingly impossible tasks with ease, such as memorizing entire books of chants and emptying out fireplaces in less than a half-hour. The day finally arrives where the Drath will make him a Drath, and Topaz will be able to ask three questions to the goddess he briefly saw earlier.

Topaz enters the chamber but is horrified to learn how the goddess is summoned, as a bound and gagged 14-year old girl wearing nothing but a shift is brought in. As they begin to tie her to the altar, Topaz tries to think of a way out of the predicament, but finally admits that he’s wasted the last nine months. He then uses his microkinesis to rescue the girl and they begin their escape. As they’re escaping, an army of Sho Del attack the Ekrobila. Topaz and the girl use secret passages to escape from the Sho Del and make it out of the fortress.

Later, Topaz surveys the wreckage of the burnt down fortress, and uses microkinesis to locate a piece of Dragonsteel. It spells the name of one of the gods Frost already gave them. Topaz finds a Drath survivor who says the Sho Del attacked because they had been holding Yoharn, but he’s back in Lakdon now. Topaz notices a Sho Del corpse and realizes that its bones don’t pulse in microkinetic vision: there’s no Dragonsteel in the bones. Thus they aren’t Sho Del, nor human, and Topaz has no idea what they could be.

Chapter 48

Jerick is now third in command, under Tzern and Sharn. Through practice he can sense Dragonsteel from far away, and marks a map of where Dragonsteel will soon appear. In the two months since the discovery of the Sho Del illusion tactics, Tzern has become leader of all the troops of the Shattered Plains, and many permanent bridges have been set up. Tzern calls Jerick in and says Emperor Aronack will soon call him to a new position now that the Sho Del have essentially been completely defeated, and with Sharn getting married, Jerick will be in charge in four months’ time.

On a run, Jerick watches as the Sho Del army approaches. He and the other Tzai have trained themselves to sense the Sho Del magicians, which Frost calls the Kame Ken Den Tu. Jerick slays the Kame Ken Den Tu and half the Sho Del army disappears, casuing them to retreat.

Tzern gets a letter that the Horwatcher’s Ekrobila has been attacked and completely destroyed by Sho Del. Frost exclaims that this is impossible. Tzern says that their entire army is being called away by Emperor Aronack to join the army he’s been gathering, which they assume is to attack U Poni Sho Del. Jerick requests that he first make a detour to stop the Sho Del that attacked the Ekrobila. Tzern agrees, and gives him a horse and some of his own armor. 

Chapter 49

Ryalla learns verb conjugation forms in the Trexandian language from Torell, but her mind keeps drifting to think about the Horwatchers. She now knows that their “magic” comes from using Tamu Kek bones, such as communicating from mind to mind, and believes Scathe was talking about moving Prince Yoharn back to the city. She realizes that the Horwatchers try to fit the part of mystics from the old ballads, and that they claim the goddess Slonis as patron.

Ryalla visists the Temple dedicated to Slonis and finds Yoharn in a hidden room. The guards have Tamu Keks and sense her even while invisible, so she goes to Hsor for help. Hsor immediately believes her when she says the Horwatchers have the prince, and they go to the hidden room. Hsor then tells the Horwatchers that they have betrayed their agreement with him, and kills one with a sword, and the other two using magic to separate their hearts from their surrounding veins. Ryalla, horrified, tries to escape, but Hsor catches her and orders from the Temple priests a second room to lock Ryalla away in.

Interlude Three

In the Sho Del council chambers, a Kame Ken Den Tu named Du Len storms in. She demands from the thirteen Sho Del council members why she was called back from the Shattered Plains. They inform her that the war is lost now that the humans have discovered their illusion tactics. Then Du Len’s father, Fa Len, tells Du Len that it isn’t too late for her to become an adult, as there is still some Ana Ku Mae (Dragonsteel, presumably) to be found. Du Len rejects this offer, even though it means remaining as a child forever, an undesirable fate that more and more Sho Del are forced to accept. Du Len storms out of the room, vowing to never stop fighting, even if it requires killing every last human.

End of Part Three

Monday, July 16, 2018

Dragonsteel 3.2

This book has 56 chapters, which means just 10 more chapters and an interlude to go!

On another run, Jerick and a fellow bridgeman named Ham discuss the elite force of Ki Tzern’s army, a clan of tan-armored warriors who can jump chasms and other magical feats. They see them fighting nearby and talk about how Ki Tzern’s a better general than Demetris. Sho Del appear riding giant lizard horses, something no one’s seen before. Suddenly, some Sho Del start attacking the bridge crews. Some bridgemen try to hide behind the only cover out on the plains: large boulders that are scattered on every plateau. Jerick fights with a Sho Del and wins its sword, but the rest of Bridge Four is slaughtered. The tan-armored warriors drive off the Sho Del, and Gaz promotes Jerick to bridge leader.

Chapter 31

Jerick tries to be a valiant leader of the bridgecrew, but they ostracize him and no one will listen. On a bridge run, Jerick takes Dente’s place at the front center of the bridge, claiming it was his duty as bridgeleader to be there. Dente, confused, aggres, knowing it’s the most dangerous spot on the bridge.

On the run as they approach the Sho Del, an arrow approaches Jerick. Jerick manages to switch to microkinetic vision, and wills the Axi of the arrow to dissipate, which they do, saving Jerick’s life. Jerick somehow knows he won’t be able to do that again. They only lose one bridgeman that run, while the other bridges lose three or four each.

That night around the fire Dente thanks Jerick for saving his life. Jerick tells the men stories of some legends, such as one about how the trickster god deceives his brothers. The other one he tells is of a humble table-maker who, due to his diligence and dedication to his craft, became king. Jerick praises bridgemen, saying they have the least armor and are the first into every battle. He encourages them to be the best bridgemen they can be, and they shout their agreement.

Chapter 32

In the kingdom, Hsor takes over the investigation for the lost prince. It’s been ten months since his disappearance. Topaz visits the city, and Ryalla is able to sneak up on him, something he swore wasn’t possible. Ryalla urges Topaz to find Yoharn, but he curses and says he as too many other important things he has to do, but he suggests that Ryalla can find him.

Topaz gets Ryalla to confront the possibility that she can do magic. He shows his topaz ring and makes a rainbow appear briefly on the wall, but says he can only scatter light briefly, he can’t bend light like Ryalla can. He encourages Ryalla to play around with bending light and to practice. Ryalla agrees to try and find the prince and Topaz says he’s leaving for a while.

Chapter 33

Jerick and his crew search the chasms for Sho Del bones. They find a corpse that has composed, and Dente collects the bones into a sack. Above the chasms, Dente sneaks the sack past the guards, and a smaller bridge man, Kep, is accosted by the guards. Members of Bridge Four, including a large man named Gathban, nicknamed Rock, come to his aid. 

That night, Gathban makes soup for the crew and the men talk about why they came to war. They talk about Jerick’s past, how he had been part of the king’s bet and how he can read and write. Jerick says he’ll teach anyone who wants to learn how to read.

About two weeks later on a bridge run they get a chance to use the bones. They had them constructed into shields, which are ideal shields because they are light and, as Topaz told Jerick, had Dragonsteel in them. The use the shields in their approach, while making sure they didn’t mess up the timing of the assault. Jerick gives Gaz a shield in exchange for him putting more men on his crew. 

On the plateau, Jerick realizes that during the battle while the bridgemen just sit there is a great time for Bridge Four to learn how to fight and practice with the sword. Jerick senses something and the crew sees a large figure in intimidating armor join the Sho Del ranks, whom Gathban calls the Lord of War.

Chapter 34

Bat’Chor travels through Tzendor and marvels how agriculture has sprung up where they used to be a wasteland. He visits his seveth cousins, who, due to the nature of close family ties to Ke’Chan, is still close family. They eat lunch together and Bat’Chor is introduced to the odd invention known as a clock.

Bat’Chor makes it to the house of Lord Ki Avel, who owns a Dragonsteel necklace Bat’Chor came to see. Ki Avel is rude to Bat’Chor and tells him that no one can see the necklace, to which Bat’Chor knocks him out cold. Ki Avel’s wife lets him see the necklace, but Bat’Chor informs her that it is not Dragonsteel at all, but silver. Lady Ki smiles at the new power this knowledge gives her.

Chapter 35

Bridge Four practices their fighting and are getting better. That night at soup, Jerick commends Dente on how his reading and writing are improving. Gathban praises Jerick as a leader, because he cares about his men. Jerick thinks back to his life in the palace, and though he can remember Ryalla well he can’t really remember what Courteth was like. He thinks about how he tried to find Frost in camp but couldn’t locate him. Other bridgemen wish to join Bridge Four’s soup circle, and they let them. Gaz comes with a message for Jerick, that Demetris has heard about what Jerick’s been doing and is going to be there in person to watch on the next bridge run.

On the next run, the soldiers arrive a little before the Sho Del, but Demetris orders them to stop and wait for the Sho Del to set up their arrows before they continue. The shields work great and the battle is an easy one. On a nearby plateau, the well has turned black, which means it will give out Dragonsteel shortly. Demetris thinks about taking it even though it’s in Ki Tzern’s district, but a Ki Tzern scout appears, followed by Ki Tzern’s army.

Ki Tzern’s army uses mechanical bridges, but the Sho Del soon topple these into the chasms, leaving his army surrounded and trapped on the plateau. Demetris chuckles and orders his army to leave Ki Tzern to his fate, but Jerick and Bridge Four all know what they have to do. Against orders they run to the plateau and set up their bridge to rescue Ki Tzern, fighting Sho Del the whole time. An illusion appears but Jerick jumps through it and fights with a Sho Del on a lizard beast. Jerick shifts his vision to microkinetic view, and somehow is able to shoot out lighting from his body, which hits the Sho Del’s metal armor and kills the Sho Del. Bridge Four manages to rescue Ki Tzern’s army, but the Lord of War appears, seems puzzled by the electrocuted Sho Del, and orders the army to attack. Ki Tzern’s army is saved when a dragon descends from the sky, and the Sho Del bow down to it, then retreat. Jerick gets a closer look and realizes how Dragonsteel got its name: dragons grew it on their bodies.

Ki Tzern commends Bridge Four for their bravery, and offers them to leave Demetris and join his army. He says that he will make Jerick more than just a bridgeman. The tan-armored warriors then arrive and apologize for not being able to come sooner.

Chapter 36

Cathis the Horwatcher sits in a building in Jarg on a recruiting trip. He hopes to become an elder Horwatcher, known as the Drath, but to do so he needs to recruit people who need to recruit people who need to recruit people. He and a person he recruited ten years previous, Endelo, finish giving a test to a boy, who leaves. 

As the two Horwatchers discuss who to recruit, they are interrupted by a peasant who wants to see Horwatcher magic. Endelo grants his request by passed a Tamu Kek bone over a candle to light it. It takes him only six passes over the candle, which is very talented, as the lowest number ever done was three passes. Endelo puts the bone down and talks with Cathis, and the peasant picks it up. The Horwatchers are horrified and the peasant quickly moves to put the bone back, but when he does so it passes over an unlit candle and it burst into flame.

The Horwatchers are stupefied and have the peaseant do it again, which he does so with only one pass. The Horwatchers are eleated and believe that finding and recruiting this man could get them into the Drath. They tell the man, who claims his name is Jerick, that he will be coming with them and made a Horwatcher. Both of them are so excited they don’t notice the small smile creep onto the hawkish features of the man’s face, or a glove on his hand covering up a large ring.

Chapter 37

Ki Tzern’s camp is much more organized and disciplined than Demetris’s was. Bridge Four is sent on leave, and Ki Tzern asks questions about Jerick’s backstory. It seems unbelievable to Ki Tzern, but then Frost appears and confirms everything Jerick said. Ki Tzern asks how Jerick was able to shoot lightning, when it is a tool of not Oreon, but his brother Xeth the Black. 

Jerick is asked how he was able to jump through an illusion, and Frost explains that Sho Del illusions are not illusions of light, but are a cognitive magic that causes a person’s brain to fill in details itself. Hence, people can be and have been hurt and killed by illusions, and explains how they still give off Axi patterns when looked at microkineticly. Ki Tzern tells Jerick he has some options for the future, including becoming a member of his tan-armored elite force, known as the Tzai. They watch two Tzai fight, and it seems as if they can slow down time and move faster than possible.

Later Frost and Jerick talk and Frost explains that he checked in on Jerick from time to time. Frost explains that the three realms, physical, cognitive, and spiritual, exist but aren’t as people describe them: everything exists in all three realms, and the Sho Del are using the cognitive aspect to make illusions. The Tzai manipulate the spiritual aspect: they can shatter swords with their bare hands by changing its spiritual nature, which has violent repercussions in the physical world. Ki Tzern tells Jerick that the Tzai have also learned how to get rid of their nightmares, and Jerick decides to join their ranks. 

Chapter 38

Ryalla and some maids watch as a messenger arrives at the throne room with a letter for the king, which is rumored to be a ransom note. Ryalla tries to consciously affect light and manages to be able to see individual light rays, and is then able to force them to bend around her, making her invisible. She finally admits to herself that she’s been able to do that for quite some time.

Ryalla goes to the door and wills the light bouncing off it to move forward a bit, making the door appear closer. She sneaks behind the illusion and gets in the throne room, then shifts the light rays of the door back onto the door. The king, Hsor, Scathe, and Martis are there discussing the random note, which asks for fifty thousand to return the prince. Hsor and Scathe leave and Martis talks to the king about moving up his and Courteth’s marriage, and him becoming heir, which the king agrees to. Ryalla then notices the ransom note has the same violet seal on it that she saw earlier at Martis’s place.

Chapter 39

Topaz and Cathis make it to the Horwatcher’s fortress, the Ekrobila. The three months they spent traveling have given Cathis plenty of time to show off Topaz as a powerful undiscovered Horwatcher. They enter and the Drath decide that Topaz is too powerful to be trained by anyone but a Drath, so he will not count as Cathis’s recruit, to Cathis’s utter dismay. Topaz is led to a room to meditate.

Topaz sneaks out instead and pokes around the fortress. In a scene of dramatic irony, he almost opens the door to where Prince Yoharn is being kept prisoner, but voices in the hall cause him to stop picking the lock. Topaz looks into a room to see some Drath dancing naked around an altar, and a being of power appears. Topaz starts to head back when he hears a voice calling him Cellin, a name which he has not heard in a long time. 

The voice belongs to the being who calls himself Oreon the White, and he appears to Topaz, bombarding him with his awesome power. Topaz is thrown to the floor and can barely contain his muscles, so powerful is the god before him. Oreon commands Topaz to worship Him and give himself to Him, and Topaz is about to do so when he looks at Oreon microkineticly. Microkineticly the god appears as a void, sucking in light and life, and Topaz refuses to succumb. Oreon leaves, and as Topaz falls into unconsciousness he has the thought that he needs to figure out what that was, no matter how long it would take.

Chapter 40

In his months of training as a Tzai, Jerick practices the arts of Gvel Mou, Gvel Tzou, and Gvel Too. Gvel Mou is tensed relaxation, being able to completely relax all of one’s muscles while at the same time becoming completely aware of one’s surroundings and able to respond quickly at a moment’s notice. Gvel Too is contemplating a single idea for extended periods of time. Jerick ponders over the concept of beauty for an entire day and night.

Gvel Tzou is contemplating a single object for an extended period of time. Jerick is given a wooden jewelry box, which he studies and ponders over for weeks. He’s told if he can open it using just one finger he can start going on Dragonsteel runs. One day as he ponders it, in a state of Gvel Mou he jets his finger forward, puncturing the side of the box. His mentor Tzai named Sharn comes in and sees this, and grabs Ki Tzern. Ki Tzern says Jerick is full of surprises and that the exercise was meant to be futile to teach patience, but that to keep his promise Jerick will start going on night Dragonsteel runs with Sharn. Jerick will also start learning Gvel Dar: maintiaining Gvel Mou while fighting. 

Frost contemplates his position in a game of Dek when he receives a telepathic mind-thought from Topaz, who is using Tamu Keks to do so. Frost mind-thinks back, which Topaz uses as proof that Frost is more than what he says he is, but Frost’s denies it, saying that there are so many Tamu Keks where Topaz is he could communicate with a dead ox that way. Frost gives an update on Jercik, and Topaz wonders why Jerick is not more willing to use his powers, and what is holding him back. Frost tells Topaz how Jerick has joined the Tzai and that he once shot out lightning during a battle.

Chapter 41

Bat’Chor visits a museum in Tzendor that Emperor Aronack established. He moves with the crowd to see a shield that has Dragonsteel in its center. Bat’Chor is the last one there, and the Dragonsteel there did come from the altar of five gods, but it’s of a god Frost already gave them. As he turns to go he notices that he’s surrounded by guards sent from Emperor Aronack himself, who claim that Bat’Chor fits the description if the man who attacked Lord Ki a few months ago, and that he’s been taken in to appear before Emperor Aronack for judgement. 

Chapter 42

Over a year since the kidnapping, Ryalla sits in a temple and offers burnt sacrifice and prayer for Jerick. She exits the Temple and uses her ability to bend light around herself to sneak into one of Martis’s secret meetings. He and five noblemen discuss how the king has agreed to pay the ransom, but Martis talks about how the Sho Del probably kidnapped him and how they are known to replace children with changelings, and how even if Yoharn came back they wouldn’t be able to trust him.

Ryalla attempts to bend light into an image she created, something she hasn’t tried before. She creates the image of a scroll with a violet seal and projects it three times so only Martis can see it. Martis freaks out and has everyone leave, then goes to a secret compartment and gets out his letter to make sure it’s still there. It says that Martis can pay money to ensure the prince is never seen again, so now Ryalla knows that Martis wasn’t the kidnapper.

Martis and Courteth’s wedding is performed. Ryalla is troubled and considers the Horwatchers as the next best possibility of being the kidnappers. She also worries about the king’s safety now that Martis is just one step away from the throne.

Chapter 43

Jerick and Sharn sit on a shattered plains, their only company the large boulders on the plateaus. When Dragonsteel first emerges from the wells, it emits a flash of light, which the Tzai look for. Jerick and Sharn see a flash and head towards that plateau. They use the Gvel Dar to leap across the chasms. When the reach the final plateau, they sense something is wrong. The Sho Del ambush them a moment later.

Jerick is almost killed, but Sharn rescues him. They notice the Sho Del have painted their faces so that they could sneak up on them. Sharn gathers the liquid Dragonsteel. Jerick realizes that if he looks microkineticly, he can easily tell where the chasms are and is thus able to leap across them with greater ease.

Two weeks later, Frost and General Tzern are playing a game of Dek. Negotiations are sometimes played over a game of Dek as its pieces can be used for nuances of conversation, such as attacking, uncertainty, or suspicion. Tzern tells Frost how the Sho Del have tripled their numbers recently somehow, and how Jerick is doing so well as a Tzai, which makes him suspicious. Frost plays an attacker, informing Tzern that Frost will vouch for Jerick. 

Jerick comes in, carrying four full Dragonsteel vials. Tzern agrees to switch him to day runs. Taern mentions he misses one of his advisors, called Dellanios, which through questioning turns out to be Topaz under another pseudonym. Jerick tells frost that the combination of the Gvel Dar and microkinesis allows him to sense where Dragonsteel will appear hours before it does, and Frost warns him to show restraint showing off his powers, as it could make others jealous. 

Chapter 44

Bat’Chor doesn’t do well in prison, as Ke’Chan do not do well in captivity, being free spirits. All escape attempts fail. In the middle of his second month of imprisonment he hears troops outside, and for the next month watches through his window as an army gathers. Bat’Chor believes that Emperor Aronack is planning on invading the Sho Del homeland, U Poni She Del.

One day a tall officer comes in and demands that Bat’Chor tell him where the necklace is, to Bat’Chor’s confusion. The man says that Ki’s wife was found dead and the necklace gone, and Bat’Chor realizes that Ki Avel probably woke up to find his wife run away with the necklace, and assumed it was Bat’Chor. The tall man says that Emperor Aronack will judge Bat’Chor himself, and leaves.

Chapter 45 

Four months after the wedding, Ryalla, invisible, overhears the Old Kalord talking to his son Martis. The Old Kalord calls Marits evil, that while the Old Kalord hurt people for rage, Martis hurt people for pleasure. They leave and Ryalla, visible, runs into Courteth, sleep deprived and with a huge welt on her face. Courteth asks where Martis is, saying he gets mad when he needs her and she’s not there, and asks Ryalla to talk with her that night.

Later that day Ryalla takes up her usual post of spying on Scathe, but nothing interesting happens again. This time, however, Scathe picks up a Tamu Kek mumbles something, as if communicating to someone telepathically. He then is able to sense Ryalla there even though she’s invisible, and she leaves. That night Ryalla goes to comfort Courteth, who admits being cruel to Ryalla. Courteth asks if she’s still beautiful, even covered in bruises. They hear Martis coming and Courteth urges Ryalla to go before he comes in.

Chapter 46

On a day run, Jerick notices something odd: this battle doesn’t have the illusions they usually do. Him and the other Tzai engage in the battle, and Jerick fights and takes down a Sho Del on a lizard-horse, then notices the Lord of War. The Lord of War and Jerick fight each other, the Lord of War using Gvel Dar and a sword made of Dragonsteel, which can cut through anything. Jerick bashes in the Lord of War’s helmet, forcing him to remove it. Doing so reveals that the Lord of War is actually human, and he retreats, although Jerick isn’t sure if it’s because he doesn’t want the humans or the Sho Del to see that he’s human.

Jerick notices that the Sho Del forces have somehow suddenly multiplied ten-fold. He and the other Tzai race to General Tzern, but Jerick is wounded. Bridge Four comes to his rescue and protects him. They are soon overwhelmed, and Jerick notices a dead body on the ground with large cuts, but with no blood. His mind begins to put pieces together, and realizes there weren’t any illusions this battle because the Sho Del were focusing their cognitive strength on something else. He notices the large boulders and remembers how everyone he talks to about them have described them differently, and how Frost said that the Sho Del illusions aren't illusions of light, but an imprint that causes a person’s brain to fill in details itself. The reason everyone sees the boulders differently--is because they are also a Sho Del illusion. 

Jerick stabs his sword into a nearby boulder, and it disappears, revealing a Sho Del in red hidden in it, now writing at the end of Jerick’s sword. It dies, and as it does, all the Sho Del within a 20-foot radius disappear, along with all the wounds that Jerick and Bridge Four have. Jerick tells other Tzai to start attacking the boulders, and as they do huge portions of the Sho Del army disappear. Only about two dozen of the fifty thousand Sho Del actually happen to be real.

In the aftermath General Tzern and Jerick look over the scene of corpses, each one without a single wound mark on them. They discuss that the Sho Del have been using this tactic for quite some time, and probably have scouts near their camps to maintain the illusion of wounds. Their false illusions were used to fool the Tzai and others into thinking they could see through the illusions, when the fact was that most of their army was an illusion to begin with, which also explains the lack of Sho Del corpses in the chasms. Tzern apologizes that he was suspicious of Jerick.

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Quick post (about cool science things)

The electron is so perfectly spherical that if it were blown up into the size of the solar system it would only be off by the measure of the thickness of a hair.

How many digits of pi do you need to accurately measure the size of the universe (only being off by the size of a hydrogen atom)? Answer: not 42, sorry, that would be cool, it's actually 39 digits.

Atoms are mostly just empty space. In fact, a hydrogen atom is actually 99.9999999999996% empty space.

Monday, July 2, 2018

Incredibles 2, Dragonsteel 3.1

Heather and I went and saw Incredibles 2 Saturday. It was a good movie. From the previews I thought it would be mostly about Mr. Parr trying to raise his kids, and was pleasantly surprised when the movie also had tons of action secenques interspersed with that, with Elastigirl out fighting crime and facing the Screen Slaver.

Wednesday is my last day of class! Woot woot! That meant that last week I had a big project, so I didn't write as much of the Dragonsteel summary as I wanted to. But here's what I added so far:

Chapter 22

The king announces the engagement of Martis to his daughter. Jerick packs his bags and goes to the stables to get a horse to leave for the Eternal War. A betrothal lasts two years and he hopes to earn glory and be back by then. Ryalla, Topaz, and Frost all try to stop him, saying the Eternal War is not eh place to gain glory. He leaves anyway, and Topaz curses the fact that the bet, which would have been completed in less than a week, is now ruined. He also bemoans that the only other human that is like him has run off. Frost corrects Topaz, mentioning that while Topaz has the power of life, Jerick has the power of destruction. Frost agrees to go after Jerick and watch out for him.

Interlude Two

Hsor prays in his room and is visited in person by Oreon, the White One. Hsor explains to the God how Prince Yoharn was captured in the confusion with the assassin. Oreon tells Hsor to stay in the confidence of the king, then leaves, leaving Hsor drained from his experience. 

End of Part Two

Chapter 23

Four days after leaving the palace, Jerick’s chariot is stolen, and he’s left to scrounge for himself. He sympathizes with the poor working class and remembers what that was like a long time ago for him. He enters a tavern one night to warm himself by the fire before finding an alley to sleep in later, as he has no money. A traveling storyteller gets up and begins to tell a story to lighten everyone’s mood, but he’s terrible at telling stories and just makes the occupants angry with him. Jerick saves the day by taking over for the storyteller, telling it in a ryhtmic way as he learned in his studies.

After the story is done the innkeeper gives him some free food and Jerick considers storytelling as a way to make it down to the Eternal War, but knows it probably wouldn’t work. An illiterate man comes up to him and asks him to write a letter for him, which Jerick does for the payment of a silver crin. Frost then reveals himself and that he’s been following Jerick, waiting for him to give up and go back. Jerick admits that he was about to, but the fact that he can be paid for being literate, in a society where those people are rare, changes everything. Jerick gets himself and Frost a room to stay in.

Chapter 24

In Jarg, Topaz and Bat’Chor go into an inn for food. The roasted pig in there makes Topaz physically sick, and Bat’Chor asks him if he misses being able to eat meat, to which Topaz responds that it’s been so long he can’t remember. Bat’Chor then takes offense at something someone says, and gets into a brawl, which is typical of Ke’Chan people. Topaz, unable to fight, wanders outside and ponders how Jerick can do microkinesis too but is able to eat meat and fight. Bat’Chor exits a little later, victorious. They find another inn to stay at.

Topaz writes out a Ke’Chan prophecy for Bat’Chor, and then explains other stories from different cultures that all share the similar thread of a peasant becoming a great leader and unifying the people to defeat an evil threat. Topaz admits that he had been hoping to use Jerick as someone that people would think matches the prophecies to unify the people against what is coming. He then explains how while these stories all have different origins and he doesn’t really believe them, the stories about an evil force all stem from the same source. He makes a chart showing how through history the different versions of the stories all lead back to the same origin. That is what they are fighting: the fifth god.

Topaz doesn’t believe these stories, and admits that he had been hoping to use Jerick as someone that people would think fulfills the stories and prophecies in order to unify mankind to prepare for what’s coming. The stories of the evil force he does believe, and Topaz draws a chart demonstrating how all of these stories have stemmed from one single ancient story.

Chapter 25

Three months after leaving the palace, Jerick and Frost arrive on the Shattered Plains. Frost explains that the Dragonsteel seeping up through the ground fortified the earth surrounding the wells, while erosion eroded in between, leaving plateaus with chasms between them.

They go to General Demetris’s camp. Demetris is unsavory and an envious person. He cares only about Jerick’s castemark and thus Jerick gets assigned to the bridgecrews while Frost is ordered to be Demetris’s scribe. Jerick, bewildered, gets assigned to be on Bridge Four, with a Ke’Chan man named Gaz as their leader. A horn alarm sounds and they rush to their bridges to go on a plateau run.

The bridge crews carry portable bridges to lay across the chasms so that the army can pass from plateau to plateau. For about an hour Jerick is forced to run with the bridge, lay it down, wait for everyone to cross, then pick it back up and run some more.

They reach the last plateau before the one where the Dragonsteel well is, where Sho Del are already set up. The Sho Del can jump across chasms and thus do not need bridges. The Sho Del fire arrows into the bridge crews, but Bridge Four manages to get their bridge across. Jerick sees terrible giant beasts, but he is informed that those are just Sho Del illusions. The Sho Del and Demetris’s soldiers fight, and the humans end up getting the Dragonsteel from the well at the center of the plateau. Jerick realizes he now has to carry the bridge back, this time with only two-thirds the number of men as before. 

Chapter 26

Immediately following Prince Yoharn’s kidnapping the palace was in an uproar, but after about four months things quieted down. Ryalla is struck by how quickly Jerick has been forgotten in the chaos. The school teachers prepare to head back to Trexandos, and Vendavious reveals to Ryalla that he knew it was her doing Courteth’s homework the entire time.

Ryalla is still Courteth’s slave, but Courteth has less power over her and can’t make her punish herself. With school over, Ryalla wonders how she can still learn, and turns to Torell. She makes a deal with him that she’ll help him to lose his peasant accent if he’ll continue to teach her secretly.

Chapter 27

On a boat, Bat’Chor and Topaz talk. Bat’Chor’s father recently died, and there’s a two-year mourning period before Bat’Chor will take over his house. Bat’Chor asks Topaz why Topaz chose him, and Topaz replies that Bat’Chor is a great learner and open-minded. Topaz says it’s hard for him to have faith anymore, and he needed someone with strong faith. 

When they reach shore, Topaz says they need to split up to find the fifth god’s name. Bat’Chor knows everything that Topaz does now, and they have two continents to cover. Bat’Chor will search Tzendor and look into a Dragonsteel necklace he’s heard about, and Topaz will try to infiltrate the Horwatcher’s fortress.

Chapter 28

Jerick has nightmares about the Sho Del and their illusions. He is awakened for a bridge run, and because of how many bridgemen die, Jerick is one of the most experienced members of the bridge crew after only a few months. He talks to a Keeg, a fellow bridgemen, and they start their run.

On the Dragonsteel plateau, a dragon is spotted flying above them in the sky. A bridgemen named Tenne comments that it’s Drephrast, king of the dragons and lord of the Sho Del, but hasn’t been seen in a decade. The dragon leaves and Tenne mentions that Jerick is wasted as a bridgeman; he’s too poised, confident, and clever. 

General Ki Tzern, a fellow general and someone Demetris considers his arch-rival, comes up to Demetris and offers compliments on how well he did on the Dragonsteel run. He also offers Demetris plans for a new bridge mechanism he designed that could save bridgemen lives. Demetris, believing everyone thinks the same way he does, believes Ki Tzern is being sarcastic and trying to put Demetris down. Demetris declines, to Ki Tzern’s confusion. 

Chapter 29

Ryalla’s lessons with Torell are going well, and her next assignment is to read the essay about Axi. Ryalla goes to Kalord Strafen’s manor. She sees Kalord, but she wills herself not to be seen and he looks right past her without noticing her. She goes into Martis’s room to give him a letter from Courteth, and Raylla notices he’s holding a scroll with a purple seal on it.

Ryalla goes to the stables to see her brother, Hert, who is a slave there. She finds him having a secret meeting with some ominous characters in one of the empty stalls, and he warns her that it’s dangerous there and that she should go. She gives him some fruit and then leaves.

Chapter 30

Jerick and Bridge Four are on chasm duty: they walk the bottom of the chasms and scavenge any usable weapons to bring back up. Jerick finds a Sho Del body and wonders why they’re so rare down there when about the same number of them and humans fall into the chasms. Gaz calls them back up to be ready for a plateau run.

On the run, the Sho Del are already at the well. Jerick and Bridge Four perform a move they’ve been practicing: they put the bridge on its side as they approach to block the incoming arrows. It works, and not a single bridgeman dies, but Jerick realizes that his idea ruined the timing of the entire assault, and the army is defeated. For a month afterwards Jerick is treated with complete distain and contempt by everyone in the camp, but it eventually blows over.

On another run, Jerick and a fellow bridgeman named Ham talk.