Annotated 14-1
Before we get into the meat of this chapter, let’s check in on the few folks who won’t be a part of it. Phil originally suggested that Gravedust and Rachel should also remain behind to tend to Byron spiritually, but (1) Byron doesn’t really need that much care now that Syr’Nj’s Phase One is done, (2) I didn’t want any of the new recruits to hit the sidelines this early, and (3) if Syr’Nj and Byron are out of action, Gravedust is pretty much the only one who can openly take command on this mission. Bandit may be in charge, but she’s got to leave the others under Gravedust’s supervision as a distraction or she will be attacked on sight. Scipio barely speaks, Rachel is still too much of a follower especially when Frigg is present, and Frigg is Frigg. Ardaic has a little bit of a point, which puts Syr’Nj’s work under a deadline.
Syr’Nj is choosing not to disclose Byron’s exact condition to Ardaic, for much the same reason she gave Bandit not to disclose Gravedust’s death powers to Ardaic. If Gastonia decided any of its Peacemakers represented a threat that outweighs whatever assets they offer, it’s pretty obvious what they’d do about it.
Phil was concerned about overusing the mess hall and wanted this set in the trophy room instead, but I think the more open area and dinnertime setting may suit this scene better. Or maybe we just forgot to change it in the panel notes for John.
Gastonian sexism hasn’t been as obvious as its racism (speciesism?) and the prominence and authority of warrior nuns alongside more familiar-looking male authorities probably left a good first impression on that front. But there were reasons beyond sentiment that Mother Scarlett didn’t feel she could hold onto power without a male figure backing her up.
How much time has passed between the events of the last chapter and now? The impression I get is not long.
But last chapter Syr’Nj was mentioning she would have to analyze Byron’s condition more. Here she’s already concocted up an experimental formula. This implies at least a few weeks have passed.
Much less than that would be my understanding.
Syr’Nj’s experimental process is pretty rushed by modern scientific standards, but among her disciplines is a training in field medicine, where you’ve got to act fast or you may as well not act at all. She only has so much time to develop something for Byron before the consequences of his incapacitation grow beyond a stern visit from a government liaison.
And likewise, the team can’t sit on their investigation too long or the trail will go cold. The travel times of Arkerra may mean they could realistically wait a day or two, but not much more time than that.
‘Not that those other things are helping.’
Riiiight, Ardaic. Because Byron is doing such a very good job of maintaining focus at the moment…
“A gnome? An Elf?”
“Goodness no we’re not barbarians, now back to the kitchen with you.”
I mean, in a fantasy setting, a race is the same thing as a species unless some kind of in-universe theory is given as a reason that they’re different things (generally; Star Trek, as you may know, made an effort to explain how the two are different, as befits its genre).
To my recollection you’ve only ever referred to Arkerra’s races as races, even within Arkerra’s lore, so in-universe the thing you’re talking about is racism. That’s just straight up derivation of relevant terms.
The Sepia World perspective might have been a little different since any player significantly similar to myself would definitely call it speciesism (per this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speciesism?wprov=sfla1 ) as it is recognizable as such, but say that racism works as well since speciesism is generally a failure to consoder the needs of a species and racism is distinctly more hate-fueled than neglect. The former also deals with “animals” while the latter deals with “people” (not that I think there’s a difference outside of legal discussions, since people are animals in my book).
So, it’s both a matter of who you ask, and what you mean to imply by your word choice. Though some animal rights activists could make a strong case for moral equivalence between the two, only some of us nutjobs consider animals to be people.
It’s a Byron of a different color!