Our last Samklem’Ns passage is a more successful Twain tribute, I think, based very very loosely on his pioneering work with the character known as Negro Jim. But it’s less admirable than its inspiration.

Wood elf society has no slaves in it, at least not at this point in time (we only know so much about its earlier development), so Samklem’Ns is calling out another culture’s inhumane practices, whereas Sam Clemens called out his own. What’s more, the wood elves’ near-universal hatred of humans and the humans’ own long history of exploitation make it downright impossible to tell how accurate this portrayal is. But considering what will almost happen to every gnome in Gnometown under Taro’s government, maybe it’s not too far off.

“What’s he going to do when he catches me?” might seem a little naive of Syr’Nj, though not as naive as it would be if Gr’Zl had been casting meaningful glances at her developing body or running his fingers possessively through her hair. Even so, this chase is somewhere between an innocent kids’ game (“You’re it!”) and… something else, and that’s an ambiguity we don’t want resolved.