Trealla Fantrol, Liad
Year Named Trolsh
Third Relumma
Banim Seconday
In which the First Speaker of Korval has business with the First Speaker of Plemia.
Delm Plemia is a contrast to his kinsman. He does show signs of narrow-mindedness (such as judging Shan and Anthora because they don’t fit Liaden ideals of good looks), but he doesn’t dismiss them out of hand because they’re part-Terran, nor take it personally that part-Terran Korval thrives while old established Plemia struggles.
The moment where Nova invites Delm Plemia to precede her through the door (compare the moment a few chapters back where Shan waved Kayzin through the door before him, and their respective reactions to being thus singled out) is one of those bits of Liaden cultural worldbuilding that I wouldn’t have noticed if I were reading this at my usual speed.
I don’t think I’ve remarked before, though I remember it having been mentioned in earlier stories, that the Liaden fashion is for doorknobs in the centre of doors. That seems impractical; a position near the edge improves leverage and simplifies the locking mechanism. Perhaps it is only a fashion in houses high enough that practicality need not be the only concern of the architect.
I had noticed that center door position also. I immediately thought of hobbits, actually…or at least, of Tolkien’s illustration of Bilbo inside Bag End with the front door standing open.
According to some research (with the help of Google) I find that center door knobs…which are a pull only, not the type of knob that turns and is part of the latch mechanism…were popular in the Georgian period, and especially in France. They look elegant, but are inefficient physics.
On this current re-read, I also noticed that it’s mentioned at least once in this novel that on Dutiful Passage the doors to private quarters are unlocked by placing one’s hand on a palm-reader plate which is located in the centre of the door, presumably by analogy to the doorknob.
Yes, It would seem so. So now it’s not the physics that are inefficient, but the sensing mechanism . . .