Tag Archives: Jyl ven’Apon

Local Custom – Chapter 37

In which Anne’s troubles are eased, but Er Thom’s may be just beginning.

I don’t recall what I thought the first time I read this and Daav showed up at the end of the chapter. Probably I had a fairly good idea of what the outcome would be, if not how it would be achieved, if only because this is a prequel. One thing I’m pretty sure of is that despite the suggestion offered in the epigraph, I never suspected Daav for a moment of planning to require a balance-price from Anne for depriving the clan of its son Er Thom. (If nothing else, that would be thoroughly unjust, since it was Er Thom’s own decision, with perhaps some assistance from his mother; Anne, as Daav knows full well, never asked or expected any such thing.)

Local Custom – Chapter 36

In which Er Thom hears Anne calling.

The chapter epigraph lays out, bluntly, how much of a leap into the dark Er Thom is making in choosing to go with Anne: if he leaves the clan to follow her, he leaves everything.

There’s an intriguing bit of worldbuilding in one of the incidental details in this chapter: what kind of place is the Academy of Music on Terra, that it has marksmanship as a required course of study?

Local Custom – Chapter 31

In which Er Thom and Anne go shopping.

Things continue to be tense and unhappy.

After a nice bit of happenstance-tweaking by the authors, Er Thom now knows of Fil Tor Kinrae, at least by name, and Anne now knows of Jyl ven’Apon, at least by sight.

Local Custom – Chapter 28

In which Master Trader yos’Galan attends to his duties.

Dutiful Passage is large enough that it remains in orbit, and Er Thom needs to take a shuttle up to it. I was going to say that I don’t think we’ve seen many ships that large so far, but of course Ixin’s trade ship Elthoria was the same (how soon the memory goes!). Not to mention Dutiful Passage‘s venerable predecessor Quick Passage; now that was a large ship.

The scene aboard the Passage is dotted with retrospectively-familiar names. First mate Kadia and cargomaster Ken Rik will still be serving in those positions next time we have a scene aboard, and I’m pretty sure Arsdred will come into it somewhere too, although I don’t recall offhand which of the planets on the Passage‘s route it is (and am making a point of not going to look it up; time enough to find out when the time arrives).

The appearance of Jyl ven’Apon is another one of those instances where extra nuance is added by knowing things from other stories, though I think even if you don’t the basic idea still comes across that her mode of adornment, multiple earrings and all, is not that of a person accustomed to proper society.

Local Custom – Chapter 13

In which Er Thom is generous in his gift-giving.

Daav is playing a dangerous hand, not telling Thodelm yos’Galan about Shan even when she asks straight out if there’s anything else she should know about Anne. But I expect he’s taking his cue from Er Thom, and I can understand why Er Thom would prefer for that news to wait until he is able to deliver it in full and in person.

The mention of the Trade Commission on VanDyk is interesting, because its location suggests a Terran origin: VanDyk sounds more like a Terran name than a Liaden, and one would expect a Liaden trade commission to be situated on Liad itself rather than an Outworld. I wonder if it’s a descendent of the same organization Arin Gobelyn was a commissioner of? If so, the fact that it is now trusted with the registry of Master Traders suggests that the efforts of Jethri and his friends to build stronger ties between Liaden traders and Terran traders met with some success.

We also get a passing mention of Korval’s old allies, Clan Erob, who are now situated on Lytaxin.