Annotated 21-16
So I don’t know if it was clear or if I ever said it before, but “The Battle of the Burning Heels” is so called because that was the battle where the dwarves were forced to retreat into the desert, its hot sands scorching their mountain-conditioned feet as they went.
I think there was initially more conversation between Gravedust and Syr’Nj about their respective cultures and the reasons they ended up leaving them behind. It would’ve been kind of neat, but I don’t think it really would’ve added anything to the series as a whole.
Thought about rendering the flashback here in a different, yellower palette, but Phil correctly noted it was best to keep the flashbacks looking consistent.
Collectively most peoples seen at worst settle into their baser instincts and at best act try not to stay out of things. They rarely if ever rise to their potentials.
If that’s the explanation for Burning Heels, it seems most likely that it’s just the Savasi name for it, so what do the Humans call it?
Those in the know about Gastonian military history (the equivalent of those who could name the battles of the Spanish-American War) would call it “The Battle for the Solates.”
The common folk call it “The Solates Purchase.”
Bedard’s doing, I take it?
Him and those like him. He’s the most powerful propagandist of his age, but not the first.
So getting swamped by a torrent of arrows was a really traditional way for Gravedust to die, then!
I mean, we’re kind of a bunch of dicks even without other sapient species to oppress.