The Illearth War - Chapters 11 & 12

Earthblood

The War Council.

Here the great battle for the Land and all that is good, is contemplated and begun.

We are brought to the Close through Hile Troy's 'eyes' and you can sense almost immediately his fear - he believes the Land is real and can't bear the thought of what any mistake in his calculations and tactics will mean to the Warward.

The Manethrall is introduced to the assembly and immediately confronts Covenant:

Earthblood · Posted: Thu May 22, 2003 6:08 am Post subject:

Forth to War.

The preparations for the seemingly impossible task of moving the entire Warward to intercept Foul's army & make it to Doom's Retreat begin in earnest. 120 rafts will be constructed in 2 days. The remaining Warward ready themselves to march 300 leagues in 28 days (1 league = 12 miles?). Our man Troy is beginning to get back some of his old confidence, untill he speaks to Covenant again:

Fist and Faith · Posted: Thu May 22, 2003 11:25 am Post subject:

Mark · Posted: Thu May 22, 2003 11:43 am Post subject:

Is not the corruption of giants, those Rockbrothers born of fealty and faith, not symbolic of the darkness within us all. In the end is there not something so dark that we must fall before it, whether it be physical or psychological. Remember Honniscrave's anger after the death of Cable Seadreamer.
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He who fights monsters might take care lest ye thereby become a monster themselves;
and if you gaze into an abyss, the abyss sometimes also gazeth into you.

danlo · Posted: Thu May 22, 2003 1:09 pm Post subject:

Or Salty wanting 2 kill in LFB...Damm guys SPOILER warnings please! Spoiler:

(We don't kno the Giants r dead @ this point!).

Excellent job Earthy!!!
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True heroics must be carefully planned---and seriously avoided-Vlad Taltos

duchess of malfi · Posted: Thu May 22, 2003 6:00 pm Post subject:

Yes, Earthy, you did a fine job! Very Happy

As for Troy, I would agree with Fist that is a sheer lack of experience that leaves him flustered. An experienced person would know that in reality, things go wrong, not according to plans, no matter how carefully laid out. Troy doesn't seem to know this...
I've always wondered about his life in our world. Was he sheltered from life's ruder shocks? He is obviously intelligent and must show a great amount of potential for the Lords to make him War Mark, but he always seems to be so lacking in true experience...
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Love as thou wilt.

Fist and Faith · Posted: Thu May 22, 2003 9:48 pm Post subject:

Sorry danlo. I just sorta took it for granted that people who read Dissecting have already read the stuff, and are now looking for in depth discussion. But I'll be good now! Smile

About Troy, maybe he would never have been made Warmark, despite his superior strategies, if everyone hadn't sworn the Oath of Peace. They think that their way is the best way. On the whole, I agree. But maybe they make the mistake of thinking that their way is best for all tasks, and that, therefore, an untried strategist is a good choice for a leader of warriors. But it probably takes a warrior to lead warriors. The Haruchai might be dumbfounded by the choice of Troy.

And yes, nice job Earthblood! There's a lot of misery in these chapters, and it needed pointing out for us.
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We are not required to save the world. We are required to stand up as truly as we can for what we love. -SRD

Mi alasharia la shantih, Darling Silezia.
Isaiah ShadowLurker, mi alasharia la shantih, shantih.

Infelice · Posted: Thu May 22, 2003 10:14 pm Post subject:

Well done, Earthblood. I was absolutely shattered when I read about Fleshharrower - what hope is there if Foul can corrupt a Rockbrother.

I agree that these chapters are filled with a lot of misery. Hile Troy's reaction is a little predictable, and I felt for him - he believed in the Land and all his strategies were geared to help defeat an evil that threatened to destroy that which he had come to love. I doubt he would ever have encountered anything so evil as the Despiser - he was a little inexperience and unprepared.

Elena's leadership in these chapters was so inspirational - I admired her strength and conviction - and it left me with a feeling of hope. Smile

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Pon pon ponponponpon!!

Ryzel

Damelon · Posted: Fri May 23, 2003 1:55 pm Post subject:

Vain · Posted: Sat May 24, 2003 8:36 am Post subject:

My favourite quote for sure:

"The fact is that you're starting to find out just how terrible all this responsibility is. Let me know when you start to feel like a failure. We'll commiserate together."

I suppose much can be said about poor old Hile Troy but I get the impression that if it wasn't for him, the poor old Lords wouldn't have prepared anything quite as substantial - they would have relied on the Giants as in the past. That's where Lord Foul would have had them beat.

I gather we will know more of Troy's possible folly as the chapters roll on. I'm still picturing the sight of Elena speaking to 20 odd thousand men, Staff of Law spewing fire into the sky, ranyhyn rearing - and wondering where's the celluloid version Smile

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Dag son of Dag · Posted: Sat May 24, 2003 1:40 pm Post subject:

COME ON, people! Give poor old Hile Troy a break! Smile

Seriously, how would YOU react when receiving the horrible news he did? He is only human, and personally: I would prefer serving under a general who actually cares about his troops (like HT), instead of a cold-hearted military machine who sacrifices soldiers without even thinking about it. If HT instead of losing control of himself for a moment, had just said: "Hmm. Five days lost. That means we might lose the war, and hundreds of thousands of people will be killed. Oh well. Anyone care for some springwine?" Now THAT would have been concerning.

Anyone else thinks it`s a bit unnecessary to leave three Lords to guard Revelstone and Revelwood? (Amatin, Trevor and Loerya). During the Quest for the Staff of Law, Osondrea alone took care of Revelstone. Can`t help but to think that at least Loerya would have been much more useful at the front.
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Ad majorem Dei gloriam

caamora · Posted: Sat May 24, 2003 3:10 pm Post subject:

That IS a great quote, Damelon.

Fist & Faith, as far as Troy's inexperience and being put in charge of the army, maybe he was just a good salesman! Maybe he "sold" himself to the Lords to become the Warmark!

Anyway, great analogy, Earthy!
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An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.

The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Dag son of Dag · Posted: Sat May 24, 2003 4:24 pm Post subject:

Actually, in a way Elena was a saleswoman..she recognized the potential in Hile Troy when he came to the Land, and "sold" the idea of leading the Warmark to him. He didn`t have any such ideas before she gave them to him, if my memory serves me right.

So, in a way, Elena was responsible for him becoming Warmark (that`s what his title was, right?). And Elena was the result of Covenant raping Lena, and Covenant`s bargain with the Ranyhyn as well as the mental damage caused by Covenant on Atiaran, Lena, Triock and Trell had affected her greatly.

I sense Foul play...
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Ad majorem Dei gloriam

Earthblood · Posted: Tue May 27, 2003 2:13 am Post subject:

Maybe I'm hammering on ole HT a little harshly, but my point was that a leader must be able to show strength and not let his troops see his weaknesses...

Dag, do you really think Foul could have known the future results of Covenant's appearance and actions in the Land? I don't even think the creator could have known all possible futures that might have come to be. Didn't he say in one of his "talks" with TC that he could only chose a person he thought would have the right character in the end and hope that the person would make the "right" choices & help defeat Foul, by their own free will?

Perhaps Foul could have had some influence on these characters during their lives causing them to make choices that would benefit him....
I do see your point though Dag - maybe Foul's hand was touching these folks, based on some of their actions.
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"You're afraid of yourself."

Dag son of Dag · Posted: Tue May 27, 2003 9:56 am Post subject:

Foul probably couldn`t control Covenant directly (and noone else either), but he was an expert at subtle manipulations.

The Creator may have chosen TC, but when TC came to the Land the first thinks he met was Drool and LF..must have been a shock for him, a rather traumatic experience. And then he had to climb down from Kevin`s Watch (keep in mind that it was LF who brought him to that place, perhaps he knew about TC`s terrible fear of heights). Perhaps LF was trying to set TC off balance so that he would do something evil. LF couldn`t know what TC would do, but he could exploit the results of TC`s actions.

Fist and Faith · Posted: Tue May 27, 2003 11:23 am Post subject:

Well put!
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We are not required to save the world. We are required to stand up as truly as we can for what we love. -SRD

Mi alasharia la shantih, Darling Silezia.
Isaiah ShadowLurker, mi alasharia la shantih, shantih.

Ryzel · Posted: Fri May 30, 2003 9:20 am Post subject:

I do not consider myself to have a fear of heights, but I do think that climbing down from Kevins Watch would have tested this assumption.
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"Und wenn sie mich suchen, ich halte mich in der Nähe des Wahnsinns auf." Bernd das Brot