In Sylvan Shadows - Chapter Fifteen
Oct. 29th, 2025 07:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatSo last time, our heroes escaped captivity and we saw a lot of elf-dwarf clashing. I wonder if I might have found Elbereth more tolerable early on if Ivan had been there to ridicule him all along. Oh well, missed opportunities.
The chapter starts out with some tactics. Danica's got a plan to get through the enemy line without getting caught. Cadderly approves. The dwarves would rather bash some orog skulls. And Elbereth thinks he's spotted the leader's camp. Danica's on board with the change in plan. Cadderly's a bit less so.
Elbereth asks Danica what she thinks. Cadderly isn't sure he likes "that the elf prince, who always seemed to value nothing but his own opinions, had asked for Danica's approval."
I've got mixed feelings about this. I don't really approve of jealousy, not in the least because it's GOOD to respect the opinions of one's partner. That said, this entire book has given Cadderly plenty of reasons to be uncomfortable with Danica and Elbereth's dynamic in general.
I'm not even sure there is anything by way of romantic or sexual attraction between Danica and Elbereth, but the book has made a lot of their mutual understanding and I'm still not happy with the fact that Danica apparently sees nothing wrong with how her new BFF treats Cadderly.
Anyway, Danica's on board with Elbereth's plan. The dwarves are too. Cadderly points out that there's only five of them, but no one is listening. Elbereth fills them in on Ragnor and Cadderly's reaction basically leads into a three stooges routine.
“Wonderful,” Cadderly muttered grimly. This time, Ivan paid enough attention to kick him in the shin.
“If Ragnor is at the camp, then we can expect he will separate himself from us by whatever monstrous guards he can muster.”
“Wonderful,” Cadderly said again. Danica elbowed him hard in the ribs. The young scholar began to get the feeling that he wouldn’t even make it to the enemy camp if he kept commenting.
Okay, so Cadderly's not being particularly helpful here, but I'm not sure why this necessitates borderline slapstick violence? I'm also not sure what the enjoyment factor is here.
I have enjoyed stories where the main character is an underdog who isn't fully appreciated by his friends/allies until a climactic moment. And maybe that's what Salvatore is going for here? But the tone seems off and unsatisfying to me. I was enjoying Ivan last chapter because he was targeting Elbereth, who very much deserves getting the wind taken out of his sails at times. But it's much less fun to see them gang up on Cadderly for the crime of being less than enthusiastic about raiding the enemy leader's camp.
Ivan asks about the monsters, while Danica asks how sure Elbereth is that this is the enemy's camp. He admits that he's making an assumption, because of the location and because there are no other tents around.
Cadderly points out that it could be Dorigen's camp. Ivan's on board either way. His interest surprises Elbereth, for some reason.
I do like this:
“I do not know how we might best approach,” the elf said honestly. “If we sneak in as close as we may, perhaps we will discern an appropriate attack route.”
“In what order?” Ivan asked.
Elbereth looked at him blankly.
“As I thought,” remarked the dwarf. “Ye’re more for working on yer own than to leading a fight. Step aside, elf. I’ll give ye a plan!”
Because he's got a point. Elbereth is supposed to be the prince of Shillmista. He, for some reason, has the respect of Shayleigh and the other named elves. He's contrasted positively with his father. But he really hasn't shown any real leadership ability.
Bullying hapless scholars doesn't count.
Elbereth is skeptical, which lets Ivan give him a pretty good speech as to his own motives. Basically he doesn't give a shit about Elbereth or the wood (though he acknowledges that Pikel likes the forest), but he's here for Danica and Cadderly.
And to give him some credit, ugh, Elbereth admits to himself that Ivan might be the better choice to plan the attack and gives Ivan access to the map.
I also like this bit:
“Our lives are not important,” said Elbereth. “If we can kill the enemy leader, whether or not we escape is of no concern.”
Cadderly’s mouth dropped open.
“Yer own life’s not important,” Ivan agreed, “but the rest of us would prefer to keep our skin, thank ye.”
Cadderly’s sigh sounded clearly like a note of gratitude to Ivan.
Hey, Elbereth? How is anyone supposed to know Ragnor's dead if you die here? Also, given that your dad is old and cowardly, who is going to lead your people when this is done? Also, your allies aren't elves and maybe shouldn't have to die for your cause?
Ivan basically says that Elbereth and Danica lead the way, since they're the fastest and will get the first chance "at the boss". (I'm very amused at the unsubtle use of RPG terminology here.) Cadderly comes in next, observing to see where he's needed.
Caddderly realizes that he's being politely shunted out of the way, and is pretty okay with that. Hah.
Ivan and Pikel take up the rear, to protect from the bugbear bodyguards. Elbereth likes the plan, especially the part that gives him first dibs at Ragnor. He'd thought Ivan would want the glory.
Cadderly's still not completely okay with the plan and asks what if Dorigen is still there. Elbereth's boast about doing more harm to their enemies is less than helpful, but Danica points out that many of her fighting styles are designed for fighting wizards.
That might be difficult if she's in battle with other monsters, so Cadderly's in charge of dealing with Dorigen. He's still pretty freaked out about the crossbow, and Danica's still pretty stupidly dismissive of it. She claims they'd be better off if Dorigen focuses on crossbow over spells, but again, it basically just means free spells.
Ivan just says they'll hope Dorigen is not as good a shot as Cadderly is. Which, fair, I guess. Anyway, they plan to attack at twilight, since the humans in the party will need to be able to see. It'll be up to the dwarves to cut them a path back out.
Cadderly's not completely useless though, as they travel, he starts reading the Tome of Universal Harmony, which is apparently the Bible for Deneir. There are spells that might be useful there, which surprises Danica, who never really considered Cadderly the spell-casting type of priest. And to be fair, we haven't really seen him do much of that either.
Cadderly's found a spell of silence that might work on Dorigen if she's there. Danica is not convinced because in this book she's a terrible girlfriend. I'm sorry, but she is. Clerical magic is definitely a thing in this setting, even if Cadderly himself hasn't had reason to practice it. And she was JUST saying that Dorigen's spells are more dangerous than exploding crossbow bolts.
I'm annoyed because I really enjoyed their relationship in Canticle, but in this book, I have no idea why these two should be involved at all. She doesn't seem to respect his abilities, she is completely unsympathetic to his trauma, and she lets her new best friend bully him in front of her. All I can think is that Cadderly must be very good-looking (or good in bed) if she's dating him despite apparently not liking him much at all.
Cadderly admits to himself that, while he's a disciple of Deneir, it's more because he was raised in the sect. He spends as much time with priests of Oghma, and doesn't really consider himself a priest of either one. He also wonders if he should spend more time learning the healing spells instead. But oh well.
So anyway, it's time for action. As usual, I don't really intend to recap this unless there's something particularly notable. Elbereth and Danica are good fighters. Cadderly is anxious and tries to focus on the spell of silence just in case. The dwarves end up fighting bugbears, and showing off amazing teamwork, and Ragnor gets a suitably dramatic entrance.
Ragnor and Elbereth get the big duel set up. Ragnor taunts Elbereth with his elf-ear necklace, but Elbereth isn't distracted. It's a size and strength vs. speed and agility kind of fight.
I admit, Ivan and Pikel's comic relief martial arts are working well in this scene, particularly when they rope Cadderly into it. It's a nice contrast to the dramatically serious Ragnor and Elbereth fight. Ragnor definitely seems to be getting the upper hand though, especially when he pops a stiletto out of the bottom of his sword.
Fortunately, Ivan comes in to interrupt the battle before Elbereth gets his ass killed. Elbereth is his usual gracious self:
Elbereth’s fears trebled as Ragnor pushed a secret button on his weapon’s crosspiece and a second blade, a gleaming stiletto, protruded from the bottom of his sword, its wicked tip just an inch from Elbereth’s head.
Elbereth struggled wildly, kicked Ragnor repeatedly about the knees and groin. The ogrillon only grinned and forced his huge arm down.
Something slammed into Elbereth’s side. He saw the sudden confusion on Ragnor’s face, then the world went flying about him. He hit the waist-deep river hard, twisting an ankle and a knee in the process, then he understood, for he heard Ivan griping and water gurgling.
“You pulled me from my battle!” Elbereth roared as he grabbed his sword. “I could have—“
“Died,” Ivan finished evenly, though that wasn’t exactly what the elf had in mind. “Stop yer whining, elf,” said the dwarf with a derisive chuckle. “And get me helmet, would ye?”
Ivan is definitely the MVP of this part of the book.
Somehow everyone is reunited at the river, and then Ivan gets shot in the leg. Oops!
The chapter ends here!
The chapter starts out with some tactics. Danica's got a plan to get through the enemy line without getting caught. Cadderly approves. The dwarves would rather bash some orog skulls. And Elbereth thinks he's spotted the leader's camp. Danica's on board with the change in plan. Cadderly's a bit less so.
Elbereth asks Danica what she thinks. Cadderly isn't sure he likes "that the elf prince, who always seemed to value nothing but his own opinions, had asked for Danica's approval."
I've got mixed feelings about this. I don't really approve of jealousy, not in the least because it's GOOD to respect the opinions of one's partner. That said, this entire book has given Cadderly plenty of reasons to be uncomfortable with Danica and Elbereth's dynamic in general.
I'm not even sure there is anything by way of romantic or sexual attraction between Danica and Elbereth, but the book has made a lot of their mutual understanding and I'm still not happy with the fact that Danica apparently sees nothing wrong with how her new BFF treats Cadderly.
Anyway, Danica's on board with Elbereth's plan. The dwarves are too. Cadderly points out that there's only five of them, but no one is listening. Elbereth fills them in on Ragnor and Cadderly's reaction basically leads into a three stooges routine.
“Wonderful,” Cadderly muttered grimly. This time, Ivan paid enough attention to kick him in the shin.
“If Ragnor is at the camp, then we can expect he will separate himself from us by whatever monstrous guards he can muster.”
“Wonderful,” Cadderly said again. Danica elbowed him hard in the ribs. The young scholar began to get the feeling that he wouldn’t even make it to the enemy camp if he kept commenting.
Okay, so Cadderly's not being particularly helpful here, but I'm not sure why this necessitates borderline slapstick violence? I'm also not sure what the enjoyment factor is here.
I have enjoyed stories where the main character is an underdog who isn't fully appreciated by his friends/allies until a climactic moment. And maybe that's what Salvatore is going for here? But the tone seems off and unsatisfying to me. I was enjoying Ivan last chapter because he was targeting Elbereth, who very much deserves getting the wind taken out of his sails at times. But it's much less fun to see them gang up on Cadderly for the crime of being less than enthusiastic about raiding the enemy leader's camp.
Ivan asks about the monsters, while Danica asks how sure Elbereth is that this is the enemy's camp. He admits that he's making an assumption, because of the location and because there are no other tents around.
Cadderly points out that it could be Dorigen's camp. Ivan's on board either way. His interest surprises Elbereth, for some reason.
I do like this:
“I do not know how we might best approach,” the elf said honestly. “If we sneak in as close as we may, perhaps we will discern an appropriate attack route.”
“In what order?” Ivan asked.
Elbereth looked at him blankly.
“As I thought,” remarked the dwarf. “Ye’re more for working on yer own than to leading a fight. Step aside, elf. I’ll give ye a plan!”
Because he's got a point. Elbereth is supposed to be the prince of Shillmista. He, for some reason, has the respect of Shayleigh and the other named elves. He's contrasted positively with his father. But he really hasn't shown any real leadership ability.
Bullying hapless scholars doesn't count.
Elbereth is skeptical, which lets Ivan give him a pretty good speech as to his own motives. Basically he doesn't give a shit about Elbereth or the wood (though he acknowledges that Pikel likes the forest), but he's here for Danica and Cadderly.
And to give him some credit, ugh, Elbereth admits to himself that Ivan might be the better choice to plan the attack and gives Ivan access to the map.
I also like this bit:
“Our lives are not important,” said Elbereth. “If we can kill the enemy leader, whether or not we escape is of no concern.”
Cadderly’s mouth dropped open.
“Yer own life’s not important,” Ivan agreed, “but the rest of us would prefer to keep our skin, thank ye.”
Cadderly’s sigh sounded clearly like a note of gratitude to Ivan.
Hey, Elbereth? How is anyone supposed to know Ragnor's dead if you die here? Also, given that your dad is old and cowardly, who is going to lead your people when this is done? Also, your allies aren't elves and maybe shouldn't have to die for your cause?
Ivan basically says that Elbereth and Danica lead the way, since they're the fastest and will get the first chance "at the boss". (I'm very amused at the unsubtle use of RPG terminology here.) Cadderly comes in next, observing to see where he's needed.
Caddderly realizes that he's being politely shunted out of the way, and is pretty okay with that. Hah.
Ivan and Pikel take up the rear, to protect from the bugbear bodyguards. Elbereth likes the plan, especially the part that gives him first dibs at Ragnor. He'd thought Ivan would want the glory.
Cadderly's still not completely okay with the plan and asks what if Dorigen is still there. Elbereth's boast about doing more harm to their enemies is less than helpful, but Danica points out that many of her fighting styles are designed for fighting wizards.
That might be difficult if she's in battle with other monsters, so Cadderly's in charge of dealing with Dorigen. He's still pretty freaked out about the crossbow, and Danica's still pretty stupidly dismissive of it. She claims they'd be better off if Dorigen focuses on crossbow over spells, but again, it basically just means free spells.
Ivan just says they'll hope Dorigen is not as good a shot as Cadderly is. Which, fair, I guess. Anyway, they plan to attack at twilight, since the humans in the party will need to be able to see. It'll be up to the dwarves to cut them a path back out.
Cadderly's not completely useless though, as they travel, he starts reading the Tome of Universal Harmony, which is apparently the Bible for Deneir. There are spells that might be useful there, which surprises Danica, who never really considered Cadderly the spell-casting type of priest. And to be fair, we haven't really seen him do much of that either.
Cadderly's found a spell of silence that might work on Dorigen if she's there. Danica is not convinced because in this book she's a terrible girlfriend. I'm sorry, but she is. Clerical magic is definitely a thing in this setting, even if Cadderly himself hasn't had reason to practice it. And she was JUST saying that Dorigen's spells are more dangerous than exploding crossbow bolts.
I'm annoyed because I really enjoyed their relationship in Canticle, but in this book, I have no idea why these two should be involved at all. She doesn't seem to respect his abilities, she is completely unsympathetic to his trauma, and she lets her new best friend bully him in front of her. All I can think is that Cadderly must be very good-looking (or good in bed) if she's dating him despite apparently not liking him much at all.
Cadderly admits to himself that, while he's a disciple of Deneir, it's more because he was raised in the sect. He spends as much time with priests of Oghma, and doesn't really consider himself a priest of either one. He also wonders if he should spend more time learning the healing spells instead. But oh well.
So anyway, it's time for action. As usual, I don't really intend to recap this unless there's something particularly notable. Elbereth and Danica are good fighters. Cadderly is anxious and tries to focus on the spell of silence just in case. The dwarves end up fighting bugbears, and showing off amazing teamwork, and Ragnor gets a suitably dramatic entrance.
Ragnor and Elbereth get the big duel set up. Ragnor taunts Elbereth with his elf-ear necklace, but Elbereth isn't distracted. It's a size and strength vs. speed and agility kind of fight.
I admit, Ivan and Pikel's comic relief martial arts are working well in this scene, particularly when they rope Cadderly into it. It's a nice contrast to the dramatically serious Ragnor and Elbereth fight. Ragnor definitely seems to be getting the upper hand though, especially when he pops a stiletto out of the bottom of his sword.
Fortunately, Ivan comes in to interrupt the battle before Elbereth gets his ass killed. Elbereth is his usual gracious self:
Elbereth’s fears trebled as Ragnor pushed a secret button on his weapon’s crosspiece and a second blade, a gleaming stiletto, protruded from the bottom of his sword, its wicked tip just an inch from Elbereth’s head.
Elbereth struggled wildly, kicked Ragnor repeatedly about the knees and groin. The ogrillon only grinned and forced his huge arm down.
Something slammed into Elbereth’s side. He saw the sudden confusion on Ragnor’s face, then the world went flying about him. He hit the waist-deep river hard, twisting an ankle and a knee in the process, then he understood, for he heard Ivan griping and water gurgling.
“You pulled me from my battle!” Elbereth roared as he grabbed his sword. “I could have—“
“Died,” Ivan finished evenly, though that wasn’t exactly what the elf had in mind. “Stop yer whining, elf,” said the dwarf with a derisive chuckle. “And get me helmet, would ye?”
Ivan is definitely the MVP of this part of the book.
Somehow everyone is reunited at the river, and then Ivan gets shot in the leg. Oops!
The chapter ends here!
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Date: 2025-10-31 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-10-31 02:39 pm (UTC)