Annotated 17-1
I see this note from Phil on the script: “I’m making a special effort to seek as little change as possible this go-round, both in the interest of fairness from the previous chapter, the expedience at which we must complete this one, and the standing promise that B’ial Vezk gets to be your baby. So, basically, the only things I’ll want to change are cosmetic in nature.” Does that mean there was more argument about Chapter 16 than I remember? Probably. There was sure a lot of argument about this one, “cosmetic” and otherwise.
Not about this page, though. I had notes for many more wood elf characters than we could end up using, but here were the two who became Gr’Zl and Tay’Lr: Rhino’Sr. Remember the bit about Syr’Nj’s would-be suitors tending to be Gaston types? Rhino’sr was one of those: a prolific hunter several years her junior. Rhino’sr chafes under the restrictiveness of his people’s ‘don’t overhunt’ rule and is spoiling for a fight with humans simply because it’ll serve as a proper outlet for his aggression. He had no problem finding a woman who worships his strength, and you’d think that would take some of the edge off for him, but since he’s gay it doesn’t really help.
Faerm’Sr. Rhino’Sr’s wife. A seamstress and quiet thinker, whose intellect hasn’t yet saved her from the lie of her varryn-bond.
Phil rightly urged we make the wordplay behind the names simpler and more accessible (“tailor”), but other than that, these notes translated pretty directly into the finished product.
Faerm’Sr…Fair Measure?
Sounds more like “fair, m’sir” to me.
He calls her “my kudzu” which implies that she’s, well, clingy and smothering, I guess.
Makes sense, at least from his perspective. He’s so deep in the closet that he doesn’t even understand the concept of being gay, let alone know that he is. That means he’s married to a woman who wants more than he is willing or even able to give, and he doesn’t have a clue what the real problem is. He probably sees her as very smothering, and blames her for it.
Eh, I dunno. It’s clearly meant as a term of endearment, not a put-down. And there’s no reason to think that kudzu is an invasive species in B’ial Vezk. Given the wood elves’ attitude towards plants, it could have connotations of fertility, vibrant life, and affection.
Why is she frowning? Is it because she knows that such promise will, as it had always be the case, fail to give her the fulfillment she seeks?
She was trying to get him riled up and he responded with a chaste forehead-kiss. Doesn’t bode well for his promise.
Auldspices…
Provided by Izayamust’Fa.
“The human is now a dwarf. I’m on a horse.”
Am I remembering correctly that this was the first time we heard about varryns since Syr’Nj gave hers to Byron? We all suspected it meant more than she said initially, but I think this was the first time we got more data on its actual significance.
Okay, one last time. These are dwarves… but those out there are far away.