Tag Archives: Port Road

The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 3, Scene 1

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In the Hall of the Mountain King
Enter Talizea, Miri, Jeeves, Val Con, the Tree, clowders of cats and kindles of kittens

In which the house is unsettled.

“In the Hall of the Mountain King” is the title of a famous piece of music by Edvard Grieg, originally written as incidental music for Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt. The relevant bit of the play tells how Peer Gynt visited the court of the Mountain King and formed a connection with one of the King’s daughters, not entirely to the satisfaction of anybody involved. The supernatural and inhuman Mountain King’s most famous moment has him proclaiming a philosophy of supreme selfishness that regards everyone and everything else as inconsequential.

…and I’ve said all this before on the blog, because Crystal Dragon used “In the Hall of the Mountain Kings” as a chapter title when it had a sequence set in the domain of the Great Enemy. To have the same metaphor now applied to Jelaza Kazone is, to say the least, disconcerting.
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The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 2, Scene 1

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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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The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 1, Scene 3

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In Vertu’s taxicab, on the Port Road. Outside, a blizzard.

In which Vertu’s passengers see signs of other travellers.

Speaking of things I’ve never heard of because I live somewhere that it never snows: graupel. I thought from the context of it being something on the road surface that perhaps it was “gravel” being mangled (like the “Salmo’s Fire” later in the story) by Surebleak dialect, but it turns out it’s a particular type of thing that falls from the sky, something like a cross between a snowflake and a hailstone.
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The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 1, Scene 1

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In the house of the taxi driver
Enter Vertu and Cheever

In which Vertu Dysan greets the new day.

The story is subtitled “A Minor Melant’i Play for Snow Season”, which offers a hint at what it’s likely to be about. Melant’i plays involve dramatic consquences revolving around points of correct behaviour; the examples we’ve had described seem to generally end with dead bodies, and sometimes with buildings burning to the ground.
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Accepting the Lance – Chapter 91

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Surebleak Port
Office of the Road Boss

In which Miri’s day suddenly gets more interesting.

So, Pat Rin did send the alert to both Val Con and Miri, regardless, which makes perfect sense and is what I would have assumed in the first place if the narrative hadn’t implied otherwise.

It annoys me that this is what I’m thinking about when there’s a dramatic climax going on.
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Accepting the Lance – Chapter 89

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Surebleak Port
Office of the Road Boss

In which Miri’s having a quiet day at the office.

Wait, I remember now: it’s Val Con’s day to be Road Boss, only they swapped so he could look after Emissary Twelve. Presumably whatever official rosters there are still say it’s Val Con’s day, which would be why Pat Rin sent the alert to Val Con and not to Miri.
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Accepting the Lance – Chapter 88

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On the Road

In which Emissary Twelve appreciates flowers.

Even while Boss Surebleak stirs up trouble, life goes on. Somebody said, earlier in the book: that’s the only way to do it. You have to keeping planning for life After.
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Accepting the Lance – Chapter 73

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FlourPower Bakery

In which the snow removal team has more than snow on their minds.

We haven’t had a scene set in FlourPower since back when it featured in “Skyblaze”.
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Accepting the Lance – Chapter 72

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Jelaza Kazone

In which Korval catches up on the morning news.

There seems to me to be a lot of book left for where we’re at.
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Accepting the Lance – Chapter 55

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Surebleak Port
Office of the Road Boss

In which people want to talk about voting.

I wonder if the editor of the newspaper is the same printer on Conrad’s turf who started up the first newssheet after his arrival. If so, she seems to have taken to it pretty well.
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