"A fair assessment." Ewan dipped his head. "This is the second oldest Keep--the oldest is Serpent Keep, which was vastly overambitious in its construction. The Ash family was very well-traveled and sought to emulate some of the ancient Eastern and Orthoan castles. It's not very heat-conservative, so that Keep is very, very cold. The Barrasters learned from their mistakes, so our Keep is warmer but looks and feels much blockier and tighter."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Rana sighed a little. “Well, that’s demoralizing. I’d thought we’d get this level of blissful warmth after each leg of the journey.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Sorry." He smiled. "Lord Ash is about as cold as they come, too, in terms of friendly greetings. He's very polite to be sure, but he doesn't see much use in niceties."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“He’ll loathe my father, then.” Rana smirked a little. That would be fun to watch, if she could figure out how to not get caught in the crossfire.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"I'm sure he knows your father well enough already to have formed an opinion," he pointed out. "Reputation Gowan has come north on multiple occasions."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“… that’s true. I forgot about that.” It’d been such a nice break away from him the last few times.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(I love that Ewan and Rana are having this thoughtful conversation and meanwhile in my novel, Torsten and one of his future companions are rolling on the ground fighting. He just knocked two of her teeth out.).
"At any rate, I'm sure Lord Ash won't hold that against you. He's fair in his treatment of others, mostly."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(Hahaha that’s excellent! I actually was going to say I’m appreciative that you nudged me this weekend for this because it’s helped shake off some of my writers block. I had the most delightful exchange between Biryn and Jerica this morning in which she called him Mr. Sparklehands just to piss him off cause he’s a sorcerer in canon xD)
“Oh, that’s good… I guess I wasn’t really worried about that, but good to know it’s not a concern. I don’t expect to be spending a significant amount of time with any of the Lords or Ladies while we’re up here. Not directly.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Fingers crossed, right?" he chuckled. "Definitely stick to talking to my mother Constance rather than Arianna if you have to; mum's a bit stuffy."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"That's all I'll say. She makes swift judgements."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Ah… well hopefully my sister and I didn’t botch her opinion of the Gowans earlier. I know it wasn’t our best first impression ever.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"She was in a bad mood to begin with," he said with a shrug. "Once she's had a chance to wake up properly I'm sure she'll be in better spirits."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Good to hear.” Rana nodded. “I certainly feel better now that I’ve had a chance to rest as well. It makes sense.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"The longer the sun is down, the longer we Northerners sleep," he said. "Like bears. We sort of hibernate."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
