Song of Homana - Part One - Chapter Five
Jun. 17th, 2020 12:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatSo last time, we learned more about the Cheysuli genocide in one chapter than we did in all of Shapechangers. Finn got to be human, and Lachlan shows that HE at least understands when white people shouldn't co-opt the stories of people of color.
We rejoin Team Carillon as they near the Keep. Finn apparently has been pensive and snappish, which Carillon thinks is unlike him. Well, he did end up explaining the genocide of his people, Carillon. That often is a factor.
Oh god, I'm defending FINN.
But Carillon is worried that now that they're home, Finn might "put off his service"
It set the hairs to rising on my neck. I had no wish to lose Finn. I needed him still. I had learned much in the years of exile, but I had yet to learn what it was to lay claim to a stolen throne. Without Finn, the task would be close to impossible.
Jesus fuck, Carillon, get a room.
Anyway, all of a sudden, Finn starts swearing and communicating with Storr. Carillon calls Lachlan a wise harper for saying nothing and waiting. Finally Finn breaks it off, looking bleak. Storr warned him about something, but he doesn't elaborate. He tells them to wait behind.
I feel like that's less than helpful Finn, you're lucky Carillon wants to bang you.
Carillon pushes for an answer: Storr can touch no lir. So hey, we FINALLY get confirmation of something I'd wondered a lot in Shapechangers. The lir DO talk to each other. Which makes me wonder about the scene where Alix is like "I hear what Cai is saying, but Finn has to wait for Duncan to talk." Couldn't Cai just tell Storr?
Why am I thinking about this? Shapechangers is just a terrible book. Also, to be fair, I think this was revealed at the end of that book too.
Anyway, Storr can't even sense Alix. Alix has been able to communicate with lir even when Ihlini were around to block the connection, so this is a problem.
He need say no more. Could Storr touch no lir at all, the situation was grave indeed. “There may be danger for you as well,” I told him quietly.
Oh dear god. Get a room and get this out of your system!
So anyway, Finn takes wolf form. This is the first time Lachlan has seen it. Interestingly, he first watches as though he might learn it, then he looks a little green. I am reminded that, unlike Carillon, Lachlan practices magic in his own right.
“They do not merit fear,” I told Lachlan clearly, “unless you have done something to merit their enmity.” I smiled as his eyes turned to me, staring as if he thought I too might be a wolf, or something equally bestial. “You are an innocent man, you have said: a harper…what have you to fear from Finn?”
But a man does not stop fearing the specter of childhood nightmares so easily, no matter how innocent he is. Lachlan—with, perhaps, more guilt than he claimed—might have better reason to fear what he saw. He stared after Finn, seeing nothing now, but the greenish pallor had been replaced by the white of shock and apprehension. “Wolves cannot know reason! Does he know you in that shape?”
This is actually interesting. Carillon may be projecting onto Lachlan here. There's been no indication that Ellasians have any real fear of the Cheysuli. Certainly they are able to claim sanctuary, and the only people who have attacked Carillon and Finn are Homanans. Carillon is the one who would have been raised in proximity to Shaine's insanity.
If anything, Lachlan's question proves that his concern is more rational than visceral. Carillon reassures him that Finn "knows everything a man knows . . . But he also claims the wisdom of a wolf. A double threat, you might say, for one who deserves careful consideration."
...
We are like three pages in!
Anyway, Carillon compares Finn's gifts to Lachlan's, which is an interesting comparison, and makes me want to know more about the general cosmology of this world. Both Lachlan and Finn seem to be at least circumstantial evidence that their respective gods exist. Neither tries to deny the others' existence. But do the deities get along?
And what DO they worship in Homana? Is Homana a completely secular nation?
So anyway, Carillon also explains the phrase that Finn had said before he left: "Tahlmorra lujhala mei wiccan, cheysu", which means that "the fate of a man rests always within the hands of the gods." This is the core of the idea behind "tahlmorra", which is another interesting bit of information that would have helped to flesh out the Cheysuli a lot in Shapechangers.
It's really quite sad that Carillon has been able to learn more about the Cheysuli in the first few chapters of his book than Alix was able to learn in the entirety of hers.
Lachlan gets a great bit here:
Lachlan shook his head slowly. “Not so alien to me, I think. Do you forget I am a priest? Admittedly my god is singular, and far different from those Finn claims, but I am trained to understand the faith a man holds. More than trained; I believe it with all my heart, that a man may know and serve his deity.” His hand tapped the harp case. “My gift is there, Carillon. Finn’s is elsewhere, but just as strong. And he is just as devout, perhaps more so, to give himself up to his fate.” He smiled. “Tahlmorra lujhala mei wiccan, cheysu. How eloquent a phrase.”
Lachlan is a rare character in this sort of literature: a priest of a monotheistic, patriarchal God who is genuinely respectful of other, more pagan style religions. Carillon asks if Lachlan has any similar phrases, and Lachlan says that Carillon would never be able to say it, since he lacks the throat for Ellasian. (Ellasian, as we see from names like Rhodri, Cuinn, Llewellyn, and Lachlan himself, is pretty clearly an allegory for Welsh.)
Lachlan's phrase is "Yhana Lodhi, yffennog faer", which means "A man walks with pride forever when he walks with Lodhi, humble".
Finn interrupts the religious discussion with a horrible revelation: the Keep is destroyed. BURNED. (And we know from last chapter exactly how hard that must have hit). There's no sign of the Cheysuli.
Carillon goes to see for himself and it's pretty evocative:
Snow covered nearly everything, but scavenger beasts had dug up the remains. I saw the long poles, some snapped in two, some charred. I saw scraps of soiled cloth frozen into stiffness, colors muted by time and harsh weather. The firecairns that had stood before each pavilion lay in tumbled fragments, spilled by hostile feet and destructive hooves. All of it gone, with only ragged remnants of a once-proud Keep.
Carillon thinks about Duncan, and especially Alix. He thinks about how, in exile, he'd never even considered the possibility that they might be dead. Duncan and Alix are as much a constant for him as Finn is. And you know, it's funny, but I actually believe that. Carillon has only mentioned Duncan a few times, but there's this sense of respect, and even borderline hero worship. I've gotten the sense that Carillon thinks of Duncan as the kind of leader that he wants to be himself.
...having read Shapechangers, I have no idea why. But there you go.
Obviously Carillon loves Alix more than he loves Duncan, but I genuinely do believe he feels strongly for both characters. And it's a nice bit of subtle writing (...unlike the thing with Finn).
So anyway, Lachlan makes a sound, and Finn and Carillon realize that he knows what happened. This looks very bad for him, but Lachlan explains that he'd known about the destruction of the keep when it happened, but had forgotten. It was three years ago, and done by Ihlini. On one hand, that's convenient. But on the other hand, I kind of like this.
Whether accidentally or on purpose, Jennifer Roberson has actually given us a fair bit of nuance here. Lachlan is a good guy. Probably the single best guy we've had in the franchise so far. He's not a racist, nor a rapist, he's understood their suspicion and shown sensitivity and respect. He's a good guy.
But he's white. And he didn't know any of the Cheysuli. So the destruction of the Keep is something awful that he'd heard about, but didn't feel deeply. He could forget about it.
Carillon asks if Tynstar has influence in Ellas, something Lachlan emphatically denies. There was one raid across the border, this one presumably, and there have been songs made about it. Lachlan didn't care to recall it.
Finn pushes Lachlan for any details that he can remember; He doesn't believe that all of the Cheysuli are dead. And when Finn says he should have spoken earlier, since Lachlan knew they were coming to the Keep, Lachlan says something interesting:
“How am I to know them all?” Lachlan demanded. “The High King gives the Cheysuli shelter, but he does not count them, old or young. I doubt Rhodri can say how many Keeps or how many Cheysuli are in Ellas. We merely welcome them all.”
This time it was Finn who colored, but only for a moment. The grief and tension were back at once, etching lines into his face. He wore his mask again, the private mask, stark and hard in his insularity. “They may all be dead. And that would leave only me—” He broke off.
Lachlan took a deep breath. “I have heard that those who survived went back into Homana. North. Across the Bluetooth River.”
Do you see what I see? Finn and Carillon don't seem to, but they're grief-stricken and horrified. But I see another soft retcon in the series.
In Shapechangers, we were presented with the idea that the Keep was IT for the Cheysuli. Someone must have pointed out to Ms. Roberson that if that's the case, then the Cheysuli are already gone as a race. But Lachlan seems to genuinely believe that there is more than one Keep. He says the King wouldn't even know how many.
There are other Cheysuli alive out there. That's what Lachlan is saying. And that's why we can even have this multigenerational book series.
Anyway, Finn can't verify, it's too far for the lir-link. Carillon challenges Lachlan about his convenient recollection, Lachlan merely says that Harpers are privy to much.
When Finn tries to compose himself, Lachlan offers his harp skill to try to rouse the Homanan people. He can sing the song he'd sung in the tavern: the Song of Homana, to test how people feel, and see if they'll answer Carillon's call.
Finn is skeptical, but Carillon thinks it will work. He remembers how the song affected him. But he and Finn need to talk so he sends Lachlan away. Then he immediately tells Finn that he gives him leave to go find his clan.
And this is where Finn shows us that Carillon's ridiculous mancrush may well be reciprocated:
“There is. You must go. Your clan—your kin—have gone north across the Bluetooth. Home to Homana, where we are bound. You must go and find them, to set your soul at peace.”
He did not smile. “Healing Homana is more important than seeking out my clan.”
“Is it?” I shook my head. “You told me once that clan- and kin-ties bind more closely than anything else in Cheysuli culture. I have not forgotten. I give you leave to go, so I can have you whole again.” I held up a silencing hand. “Until you know, it will eat at your soul like a canker.”
The flesh of his face was stiff. “I will not leave you in companionship to the enemy.”
Finn is willing to give up the chance to find his brother. And Alix, the woman he was obsessed with for an entire book. For Carillon. For Carillon's cause and to keep him safe.
...get a room, Finn.
Carillon tries to reassure him about Lachlan and reminds him that it's Carillon's tahlmorra to take back the throne. Finn points out that tahlmorras can be broken, and warns him not to fool himself into thinking he's safe.
This is FINN saying this. FINN. Finn, who shrugged at the thought of an impossible war because he knew Carillon would succeed. He's worried enough about Carillon that he doubts the prophecy!
And Carillon, who is all but fixated on him, who had, at the beginning of the chapter, nearly had the vapors at the thought that Finn might leave his service, is sending the man out to find his family. Because he knows that's what Finn needs.
This is love, damnit.
Also, get a room.
We rejoin Team Carillon as they near the Keep. Finn apparently has been pensive and snappish, which Carillon thinks is unlike him. Well, he did end up explaining the genocide of his people, Carillon. That often is a factor.
Oh god, I'm defending FINN.
But Carillon is worried that now that they're home, Finn might "put off his service"
It set the hairs to rising on my neck. I had no wish to lose Finn. I needed him still. I had learned much in the years of exile, but I had yet to learn what it was to lay claim to a stolen throne. Without Finn, the task would be close to impossible.
Jesus fuck, Carillon, get a room.
Anyway, all of a sudden, Finn starts swearing and communicating with Storr. Carillon calls Lachlan a wise harper for saying nothing and waiting. Finally Finn breaks it off, looking bleak. Storr warned him about something, but he doesn't elaborate. He tells them to wait behind.
I feel like that's less than helpful Finn, you're lucky Carillon wants to bang you.
Carillon pushes for an answer: Storr can touch no lir. So hey, we FINALLY get confirmation of something I'd wondered a lot in Shapechangers. The lir DO talk to each other. Which makes me wonder about the scene where Alix is like "I hear what Cai is saying, but Finn has to wait for Duncan to talk." Couldn't Cai just tell Storr?
Why am I thinking about this? Shapechangers is just a terrible book. Also, to be fair, I think this was revealed at the end of that book too.
Anyway, Storr can't even sense Alix. Alix has been able to communicate with lir even when Ihlini were around to block the connection, so this is a problem.
He need say no more. Could Storr touch no lir at all, the situation was grave indeed. “There may be danger for you as well,” I told him quietly.
Oh dear god. Get a room and get this out of your system!
So anyway, Finn takes wolf form. This is the first time Lachlan has seen it. Interestingly, he first watches as though he might learn it, then he looks a little green. I am reminded that, unlike Carillon, Lachlan practices magic in his own right.
“They do not merit fear,” I told Lachlan clearly, “unless you have done something to merit their enmity.” I smiled as his eyes turned to me, staring as if he thought I too might be a wolf, or something equally bestial. “You are an innocent man, you have said: a harper…what have you to fear from Finn?”
But a man does not stop fearing the specter of childhood nightmares so easily, no matter how innocent he is. Lachlan—with, perhaps, more guilt than he claimed—might have better reason to fear what he saw. He stared after Finn, seeing nothing now, but the greenish pallor had been replaced by the white of shock and apprehension. “Wolves cannot know reason! Does he know you in that shape?”
This is actually interesting. Carillon may be projecting onto Lachlan here. There's been no indication that Ellasians have any real fear of the Cheysuli. Certainly they are able to claim sanctuary, and the only people who have attacked Carillon and Finn are Homanans. Carillon is the one who would have been raised in proximity to Shaine's insanity.
If anything, Lachlan's question proves that his concern is more rational than visceral. Carillon reassures him that Finn "knows everything a man knows . . . But he also claims the wisdom of a wolf. A double threat, you might say, for one who deserves careful consideration."
...
We are like three pages in!
Anyway, Carillon compares Finn's gifts to Lachlan's, which is an interesting comparison, and makes me want to know more about the general cosmology of this world. Both Lachlan and Finn seem to be at least circumstantial evidence that their respective gods exist. Neither tries to deny the others' existence. But do the deities get along?
And what DO they worship in Homana? Is Homana a completely secular nation?
So anyway, Carillon also explains the phrase that Finn had said before he left: "Tahlmorra lujhala mei wiccan, cheysu", which means that "the fate of a man rests always within the hands of the gods." This is the core of the idea behind "tahlmorra", which is another interesting bit of information that would have helped to flesh out the Cheysuli a lot in Shapechangers.
It's really quite sad that Carillon has been able to learn more about the Cheysuli in the first few chapters of his book than Alix was able to learn in the entirety of hers.
Lachlan gets a great bit here:
Lachlan shook his head slowly. “Not so alien to me, I think. Do you forget I am a priest? Admittedly my god is singular, and far different from those Finn claims, but I am trained to understand the faith a man holds. More than trained; I believe it with all my heart, that a man may know and serve his deity.” His hand tapped the harp case. “My gift is there, Carillon. Finn’s is elsewhere, but just as strong. And he is just as devout, perhaps more so, to give himself up to his fate.” He smiled. “Tahlmorra lujhala mei wiccan, cheysu. How eloquent a phrase.”
Lachlan is a rare character in this sort of literature: a priest of a monotheistic, patriarchal God who is genuinely respectful of other, more pagan style religions. Carillon asks if Lachlan has any similar phrases, and Lachlan says that Carillon would never be able to say it, since he lacks the throat for Ellasian. (Ellasian, as we see from names like Rhodri, Cuinn, Llewellyn, and Lachlan himself, is pretty clearly an allegory for Welsh.)
Lachlan's phrase is "Yhana Lodhi, yffennog faer", which means "A man walks with pride forever when he walks with Lodhi, humble".
Finn interrupts the religious discussion with a horrible revelation: the Keep is destroyed. BURNED. (And we know from last chapter exactly how hard that must have hit). There's no sign of the Cheysuli.
Carillon goes to see for himself and it's pretty evocative:
Snow covered nearly everything, but scavenger beasts had dug up the remains. I saw the long poles, some snapped in two, some charred. I saw scraps of soiled cloth frozen into stiffness, colors muted by time and harsh weather. The firecairns that had stood before each pavilion lay in tumbled fragments, spilled by hostile feet and destructive hooves. All of it gone, with only ragged remnants of a once-proud Keep.
Carillon thinks about Duncan, and especially Alix. He thinks about how, in exile, he'd never even considered the possibility that they might be dead. Duncan and Alix are as much a constant for him as Finn is. And you know, it's funny, but I actually believe that. Carillon has only mentioned Duncan a few times, but there's this sense of respect, and even borderline hero worship. I've gotten the sense that Carillon thinks of Duncan as the kind of leader that he wants to be himself.
...having read Shapechangers, I have no idea why. But there you go.
Obviously Carillon loves Alix more than he loves Duncan, but I genuinely do believe he feels strongly for both characters. And it's a nice bit of subtle writing (...unlike the thing with Finn).
So anyway, Lachlan makes a sound, and Finn and Carillon realize that he knows what happened. This looks very bad for him, but Lachlan explains that he'd known about the destruction of the keep when it happened, but had forgotten. It was three years ago, and done by Ihlini. On one hand, that's convenient. But on the other hand, I kind of like this.
Whether accidentally or on purpose, Jennifer Roberson has actually given us a fair bit of nuance here. Lachlan is a good guy. Probably the single best guy we've had in the franchise so far. He's not a racist, nor a rapist, he's understood their suspicion and shown sensitivity and respect. He's a good guy.
But he's white. And he didn't know any of the Cheysuli. So the destruction of the Keep is something awful that he'd heard about, but didn't feel deeply. He could forget about it.
Carillon asks if Tynstar has influence in Ellas, something Lachlan emphatically denies. There was one raid across the border, this one presumably, and there have been songs made about it. Lachlan didn't care to recall it.
Finn pushes Lachlan for any details that he can remember; He doesn't believe that all of the Cheysuli are dead. And when Finn says he should have spoken earlier, since Lachlan knew they were coming to the Keep, Lachlan says something interesting:
“How am I to know them all?” Lachlan demanded. “The High King gives the Cheysuli shelter, but he does not count them, old or young. I doubt Rhodri can say how many Keeps or how many Cheysuli are in Ellas. We merely welcome them all.”
This time it was Finn who colored, but only for a moment. The grief and tension were back at once, etching lines into his face. He wore his mask again, the private mask, stark and hard in his insularity. “They may all be dead. And that would leave only me—” He broke off.
Lachlan took a deep breath. “I have heard that those who survived went back into Homana. North. Across the Bluetooth River.”
Do you see what I see? Finn and Carillon don't seem to, but they're grief-stricken and horrified. But I see another soft retcon in the series.
In Shapechangers, we were presented with the idea that the Keep was IT for the Cheysuli. Someone must have pointed out to Ms. Roberson that if that's the case, then the Cheysuli are already gone as a race. But Lachlan seems to genuinely believe that there is more than one Keep. He says the King wouldn't even know how many.
There are other Cheysuli alive out there. That's what Lachlan is saying. And that's why we can even have this multigenerational book series.
Anyway, Finn can't verify, it's too far for the lir-link. Carillon challenges Lachlan about his convenient recollection, Lachlan merely says that Harpers are privy to much.
When Finn tries to compose himself, Lachlan offers his harp skill to try to rouse the Homanan people. He can sing the song he'd sung in the tavern: the Song of Homana, to test how people feel, and see if they'll answer Carillon's call.
Finn is skeptical, but Carillon thinks it will work. He remembers how the song affected him. But he and Finn need to talk so he sends Lachlan away. Then he immediately tells Finn that he gives him leave to go find his clan.
And this is where Finn shows us that Carillon's ridiculous mancrush may well be reciprocated:
“There is. You must go. Your clan—your kin—have gone north across the Bluetooth. Home to Homana, where we are bound. You must go and find them, to set your soul at peace.”
He did not smile. “Healing Homana is more important than seeking out my clan.”
“Is it?” I shook my head. “You told me once that clan- and kin-ties bind more closely than anything else in Cheysuli culture. I have not forgotten. I give you leave to go, so I can have you whole again.” I held up a silencing hand. “Until you know, it will eat at your soul like a canker.”
The flesh of his face was stiff. “I will not leave you in companionship to the enemy.”
Finn is willing to give up the chance to find his brother. And Alix, the woman he was obsessed with for an entire book. For Carillon. For Carillon's cause and to keep him safe.
...get a room, Finn.
Carillon tries to reassure him about Lachlan and reminds him that it's Carillon's tahlmorra to take back the throne. Finn points out that tahlmorras can be broken, and warns him not to fool himself into thinking he's safe.
This is FINN saying this. FINN. Finn, who shrugged at the thought of an impossible war because he knew Carillon would succeed. He's worried enough about Carillon that he doubts the prophecy!
And Carillon, who is all but fixated on him, who had, at the beginning of the chapter, nearly had the vapors at the thought that Finn might leave his service, is sending the man out to find his family. Because he knows that's what Finn needs.
This is love, damnit.
Also, get a room.
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Date: 2020-06-18 01:41 am (UTC)