Tag Archives: Jarome

The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 9, Scene 1

In the Hall of the Mountain King

In which Vertu Dysan greets the new day.

With Toragin’s solution, the authors are doing a thing they’ve done a few times before: establishing the outline of the solution, but leaving the details to be filled in later in case a later story should suggest a particular detail.
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The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 8, Scene 2

In the Hall of the Mountain King
Enter Joey

In which the guests are settled for the night.

Joey, despite being in the stage directions, is not listed in the dramatis personae. But then again, neither are any of the other cats, except Chelada.

Vertu started out the story thinking of the unregulated cab drivers as something that might need to be addressed at some point. Now, having seen how much trouble an untrained driver can get himself and his passengers into, it’s become pressing business for Boss Gotta. Or, no, not quite for Boss Gotta, if we take Boss Gotta as being the person who’s gotta do it because they happen to be present when there’s nobody around whose job it is; as Vertu says to Jemie, in this situation they are the people whose job it is.

The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 8, Scene 1

The Gate
Enter Nelirikk and Jarome

In which Vertu and her passengers make it within the gate.

Jarome, it turns out, is another character who is in the cast list twice, once for his first appearance in person and once for when he becomes someone known by name to the viewpoint characters.

I don’t know if it’s because she’s in the middle of a conversation between Liadens when it happens, or if she’s still Liaden enough in her head that it would have happened anyway, but I note that when Vertu’s viewpoint refers to Miri it names her as “Miri Tiazan” and not “Miri Robertson”.

The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 7, Scene 1

In the Hall of the Mountain King
Enter Dragons

In which there is a dance of dragons.

There have been several occasions in recent stories where Val Con, or someone else, has raised the question of how the Tree actually regards the creatures that live under its branches. Part of what this story is about, and particularly this chapter, is giving an answer to that question.
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The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 6, Scene 2

In the shadow of the Tree

In which the number of Vertu’s passengers increases again.

“Salmo’s Fire” is St. Elmo’s Fire, a weather phenomenon related to lightning; Yulie’s description of what it is and how it happens covers the basics. He doesn’t mention, since it’s outside his experience, but on Earth it’s particularly associated with the masts of ships, which is why it’s named after the patron saint of sailors.
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The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 5, Scene 1

In the Hall of the Mountain King

In which Korval prepares to receive guests.

We have not previously encountered Finifter’s Shave, the ship that brought Toragin and Chelada to Surebleak, but the planet Finifter has been mentioned a couple of times. It’s one of the stops on Tan Sim’s trade route in Trade Secret, and one of the planets discussed in Culture Club in Saltation.
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The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 4, Scene 3

A Rescue

In which the number of Vertu’s passengers increases.

Toragin’s remonstration at, presumably, the Tree gives us the outline of her cause: Chelada was promised that she could have her kittens under the Tree, which must have seemed an easy thing to promise when Jelaza Kazone was just down the road from Lazmeln’s clanhouse, and then when the distance suddenly became much greater, the promise still existed but was much harder to claim, and the Tree apparently didn’t find it necessary to ease the way at all.
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The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 4, Scene 2

On a snow-filled road, under a snowy sky

In which Boss Gotta takes stock of the situation.

From the fact that he (or she) got a mention in the dramatis personae, I was expecting Boss Gotta to have a more prominent appearance than just a single name-drop and then never mentioned again. Although I suppose metaphorically Boss Gotta continues to be present and active.
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The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 4, Scene 1

Comes a stranger from the storm
Enter Boss Gotta

In which Vertu’s cab reaches the scene of the accident.

From context, Boss Gotta (“Boss Gotta, a metaphor”, according to the dramatis personae) is a Surebleak version of the philosophy Vertu embraced in “Skyblaze”: if you find yourself saying “somebody’s gotta do something about this”, and there’s nobody around with a clear claim to the problem, that means you’re somebody.

This time, when Anna speaks soothingly to her dog in the language that slips by Vertu’s ears, the narration does report one of the words she uses, which we know the meaning of though Vertu doesn’t.

The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 2, Scene 1

Beset in the belly of the storm
Enter Toragin, the blue-and-red driver, Chelada

In which Toragin del’Pemridj’s quest hits a detour.

A new act brings a new viewpoint character: Toragin del’Pemridj, Clan Lazmeln.

We’ve heard of Line del’Pemridj before: a Lady del’Pemridj was one of the guests at the garden party in “A Choice of Weapons”. And Clan Lazmeln: in Carpe Diem, when Shan was refusing absolutely to let Nova strong-arm him into a contract marriage, he mentioned that he’d been married twice already, once to Padi’s mother and the other time for clan-political reasons to someone from Clan Lazmeln.
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