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A Cappella Part 311 - One By One


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#1 Guest_Silrana_*

Posted 09 May 2006 - 02:36 AM

AC311-One By One

And all this time, the river flowed
Endlessly to the sea
If I had my way I'd take a boat from the river
And I'd bury the old man,
I'd bury him at sea

And all this time the river flowed
In the falling light of a northern sun
If I had my way I'd take a boat from the river
Men go crazy in congregations
But they only get better
One by one


“All This Time” Sting

 

“Stop staring.”

“Come on, Jar, it’s going to take some getting used to.”

Jaheira chided, “Jarran is right. You could not take your eyes from him all through dinner.”

“I must admit,” Valygar said with a small smile, “I am like Imoen. I find myself looking for Jarran and wondering who this clean-shaven stranger is.”

Jarran grinned at the group. “All right, I’ll try to ignore your ogling.”

“Tomorrow should be fun,” Imoen said. “Everyone will recognize you, looking like that.”

“Well, I came here to see my old friends. I want them to know who I am.”

Sarevok snorted in amusement. “I am happy that they have not realized who I am. I noticed you introduced me to Tethtoril as another one of your siblings, but not by name.”

Jaheira said, “And Tethtoril was not fooled. He was simply too polite to press the point.”

Jarran raised his hands. “I know, he’s too intelligent to be put off for long. But I was hoping he would have some time to get to know Sarevok before learning who he is.”

Imoen yawned. “We’ll see if it worked tomorrow. But we rode all day and I’m sleepy.”

As the others walked towards the doors of the library, Jarran lingered. At Jaheira’s inquiring look, he said, “You go on. I want to look around a while.”

In the quiet, he wandered through the building. He explored familiar rooms, smiling at pleasant memories. Slowly the bard made his way up to the fifth floor, eventually stopping at a familiar door. Jarran hesitated for a moment, then knocked softly.

After a few moments the door opened. A young man in robes said, “Yes?”

“I… I made a mistake. Sorry to have disturbed you.”

The man shrugged and closed the door. A voice behind Jarran said, “You did not think we left the room unused for two years, surely?”

Jarran turned to see Ulraunt standing in the hallway. “Not really, but I wanted to see for myself. I knew you would clean out my room, and Im’s, but Gorion’s… I needed to check.”

The leader of Candlekeep seemed to study him. “I had everything packed away, if you would like to see.”

“I would. Thank you.”

Ulraunt just nodded, then led Jarran down the stairs to a storeroom. “There. Those three trunks.”

“Three?”

The Keeper of Tomes frowned. “Of course. One for each of you.”

“Oh. I suppose I assumed… that you threw everything of mine away.”

Ulraunt said coldly, “I hoped you would not return, but it would not have been proper to assume that you would never send for your possessions.”

Jarran lifted the lid and began rummaging through the chest. “Still, it surprises me that you would keep my things, as much as you hate me.”

There was a long moment of silence. Finally Ulraunt said, “Why do you say that? That I hate you.”

The bard did not bother to look up. “You always have. You’ve resented me since the day I set foot in Candlekeep. Ah!” Jarran pulled a small lap harp out of the trunk. He ran his fingers over the strings and winced. “Ouch. That needs tuning badly.”

“I have never hated you, boy. Feared you, yes. But never hate.”

“Feared me? I might believe that if Gorion and I had arrived here only a few years ago, but I was a small child. How fearsome can a four-year-old be?”

Ulraunt scowled. “After all that has happened to you, you can ask that? Yes, I have already spoken to Tethtoril and heard your tale. He came to my room the instant you and your companions left his quarters.”

Jarran shrugged. “I knew he would tell you eventually.” He took a small red ball out of the chest. “I haven’t played with this in years. Imoen and I would…” He shook himself out of his reverie. “Never mind. You wouldn’t care. You never did before.”

“What gratitude for all my years of protecting the two of you.”

“Oh please. How many times did you call us ‘brats’ and ‘monsters ’? At the gate, you said that you told Gorion I would be the death of him. That certainly sounded friendly to me.”

“And I was right,” the older man said softly. “I wish to Oghma I had not been. Gorion was a great loss to Candlekeep.”

“While I was a welcome one.”

Ulraunt sat down on a crate, his gaze distant. “I was filled with foreboding when Gorion told me that the two of you were leaving. It was so sudden… I knew there would be danger. Then a few days later a group came to the gates. They mentioned to the Gatewarden that there was a shallow grave near the roadway. We went to investigate and found… my friend.”

Jarran stared at the Keeper of the Tomes. “I didn’t think you felt that way about Gorion. You argued all the time, usually about me.”

“Of course we were friends,” Ulraunt said with an indignant snort. “Why do you think Gorion made his way here for sanctuary? Because Candlekeep was the only safe place he knew that was certain to take him in.”

Jarran’s face hardened. “Certain? I was young, but not so young that I can’t remember the argument you had. The two of you were shouting at each other.”

“Yes, because I was telling him what utter madness he was engaged in! Dragging a Bhaalspawn child from place to place, one step ahead of the searchers? He was courting death by taking you as his ward. And his request to raise you within these walls was asking a great deal of us.”

“I’m sure letting a man and his child live here was a terrible hardship for you.”

“Hardship? You young whelp, we had to close Candlekeep’s gates for months because we dared not let an assassin in. Suspicious people lurked just beyond the guards’ arrowshot day after day. Finally Gorion managed to contact some of his Harper companions, and they spread rumors that you had been taken to live in Waterdeep. Only then could Candlekeep return to normal.”

“Then why?” the bard asked quietly. “Why let us stay?”

Ulraunt’s lips trembled at the edge of a disgusted sneer. “I did not wish to. Every fiber of my being told me that I would be taking a terrible risk to allow you sanctuary. But… I could not turn away a friend in need, no matter what his folly.”

He was silent for a long moment, then said with a snarl. “How could you leave him like that? In a hole by the side of the road with a pile of rocks over his corpse! I thought you had some shred of feeling for him but obviously I was wrong!”

Jarran rocked back, blinking in surprise. “I had no choice.”

“Why?”

“Because I couldn’t come back. And they were looking for me.”

“Do not be a fool, surely you knew that I would have let you bring Gorion’s body inside.”

“But I still wouldn’t have been safe. The hunters… they were in Candlekeep. I was afraid, I’ll admit that. I… I killed for the first time and lost my father, all in the space of a few hours. I wanted to run away and hide from everything.”

The anger drained out of Ulraunt’s face. “Hunters inside the fortress? How?”

“I don’t know how they got in. But twice while I was getting ready to leave, I was attacked. Both times they knew me as Gorion’s ward. I had never fought to the death before but they told me they were there to kill me. I did what I had to.” Jarran stared at the floor.

“We found the bodies, but had no idea why they had been killed. I thought perhaps… Gorion took you away because your bloodlust had emerged.”

“Bloodlust,” Jarran said with a weak chuckle. “The first time I went outside and vomited into a barrel. After the second I was so frightened I couldn’t get to Gorion’s side fast enough.”

“Why to Gorion? Why not to the guards?”

“Because I didn’t just want protection, I wanted an explanation. After all those years of study and quiet, why were there suddenly men who wanted me dead? I knew that no one in Candlekeep hated me enough to hire assassins, so Gorion was the one most likely to have the answers. When I reached him, he said he would tell me what was going on once we were safe. He… Gorion was murdered before we could have that talk.”

“How did Gorion die?”

Jarran look up at the old man, startled by the soft, almost gentle question. “He was protecting me. One of the other Children wanted to kill all the others, and I was next on his list. He told Gorion to stand aside, that he only wanted me, but Gorion… he would never have bought his own life with mine. The Bhaalspawn and his followers attacked us, and Gorion told me to run.”

“And you left him?”

“I was no match for any of them, and… I had no idea Gorion would lose. He was Gorion, the strongest wizard in the world, at least to me, so how could he die?” Jarran’s eyes grew misty.

The two men fell silent. Jarran tried to cover his emotions by returning to his search through the trunk. Ulraunt frowned in thought.

Finally Jarran asked, “Why didn’t you ask me all this when I came back from Baldur’s Gate?”

“I was still angry that I had found Gorion’s body discarded by the roadside. And I knew that you would have questions for me… ones that I was not prepared to answer.”

“What do you mean?”

“After we buried Gorion, I searched his room, trying to understand why he left the safety of Candlekeep. I found several letters that spoke of people who had discovered that a powerful Bhaalspawn lived in the keep. And I found the note that he had left for you. That… terrible letter. My first instinct was to burn it.”

“Burn it! Why?”

“It was risky to leave proof of your heritage in writing. But it was not my place to decide that. Gorion was your guardian, and it was his decision to leave that information for you. I prayed that you would never return to read it, for I knew that there were many questions that Gorion had left unanswered. I… knew much, but was unsure what I should reveal.”

Jarran said thoughtfully, “It was inevitable that I would find out. And I know about my mother now, that she was a priestess of Bhaal and a former Harper. Gorion saved my life during the raid, and saved it who knows how many times after that.”

“He saved your childhood as well. He was fleeing more than assassins. Gorion also kept you from the agents of beneficial organizations and lands. He knew that if they raised you, you would have been reminded every moment of the evil that lurked inside of you. Gorion felt that our only hope was for you to be a normal boy, loved and allowed a happy childhood, not a prisoner even of kind jailors.”

“Our hope?”

“All of Faerun’s. Alaundo’s prophecies were enough to frighten any man, and your power… You made the priests of Oghma tremble in dread when they realized how much divine strength was inside a tiny child.”

“Many things are clearer to me now. I can remember waking up and hearing Gorion softly chanting. He was casting some sort of spell to inhibit my power.”

“Yes, half of Candlekeep spent long hours researching the necessary enchantments. When you grew older, we repeatedly reinforced what you could and could not do, so that you would not accidentally discover your abilities. We devised methods of watching surreptitiously for signs of your heritage. ‘The raising of Jarran’ became a profession in itself.”

“You helped as well?”

Ulraunt gave him a look of disgust. “Of course I did! Do you think I would leave such an important duty to those less skilled and learned?”

“If you knew all this, if you were so concerned about me and my upbringing, then why have you always treated me like a mongrel dog trying to steal scrapes from your midden?”

“Because you were a menace to Candlekeep, and I had to do everything that I could to protect my library. When I am gone to dust and you are but a faint memory in history, Candlekeep will still stand as a beacon of learning and knowledge. Nothing could be allowed to jeopardize that. Your presence here has always meant danger. It does even now.”

“I’m not a Bhaalspawn any longer. The gods have removed the essence, and I am just a mortal man. Why do you think I am dangerous?”

“Death still follows you. Do you think Tethtoril and I did not recognize your companion?”

Jarran stiffened. “Sarevok is not the man he was.”

“Yet he remains Gorion’s murderer. At least, that is what I deduced from Gorion’s correspondence and your story. Sarevok Anchev was the other Bhaalspawn who attacked you outside our walls, was he not?”

The bard hesitated for a moment, then said, “Yes. But he died in Baldur’s Gate. Sarevok spent a year in the Abyss, in a special place of torment for Bhaal’s children. He has suffered damnation and learned from his pain. He is not just a Child of Bhaal now, he is… my brother.”

“Then you are more generous than I, for I cannot forgive him my friend’s death, or the deaths of so many from his doppelgangers.”

“Generous? That’s an odd word coming from you. I don’t think you have ever said anything complimentary about me, at least not to my face. You were certainly willing enough to send me back to Baldur’s Gate in chains.”

“How could I have acted otherwise? The bodies we found after you departed, Gorion’s shallow grave, Imoen’s disappearance… and then you return to Candlekeep and bring death with you once more. A gathering of merchants slaughtered under my very roof, and then reports that you were seen leaving the room just before their murdered corpses were found. I was devastated.”

“Devastated? Why devastated?”

“Because I felt that all our long years of work and research and guardianship were for naught. Gorion had failed. I had failed.”

Jarran stared at the older man. “Imoen was with me, so you knew I hadn’t done anything to her. Some of Gorion’s Harper friends were traveling with me, too. Was it so easy to think I had become a killer?”

“You had changed. I know that you will say that your battles after you left here were the cause, but all I saw was a different Jarran than the one who had played tunes for my friend. There was a grimness in your manner, a hard edge to your voice that seemed to confirm all my fears.”

“Thank you for your faith in me.”

“Do not take that tone! Your own Gorion knew your potential for evil. Yes, we often had discussions late into the night when your temper flared. We could feel Bhaal’s power swelling inside of you, and lived in fear of the day that it would break free. He loved you, but he had no illusions about you!”

“Gorion… Gorion was never afraid of me! He knew how much I loved him, he would know… I would never have hurt him.”

“Those words are easy enough to say, but they are the words of a child. When you were small, you frequently had stormy tantrums. When they happened, odd things would occur in the keep. Books flew off the shelves, lanterns blew out with no wind… Can you blame us for wondering what would happen if you turned that anger towards another person? We had to constantly be on our guard. Once you flew into a rage in front of a visiting scholar. Your eyes turned as silver as my beard and your voice shook the ground. Gorion and I hustled the sage off to dinner and made sure that he drank so much wine that he believed your strangeness was nothing more than memories of a drunken dream.”

In a dour voice, Jarran said, “I can accept that you would be afraid when I was too small to control my temper, but by the time I returned from Baldur’s Gate I was a grown man. Surely you could have trusted me then.”

Ulraunt’s sneer turned into a derisive laugh. “Would you dare claim that your temper was gone? I knew you better than that, boy. Your rage exploded at a moment’s notice. Likely it still does.”

Jarran opened his mouth to object, then shut it. “All right, you have me there. I still had a temper then, and maybe I do now, but it’s easier to control now that my essence has been taken. And I’ve seen for myself the destruction that the Children can cause, so maybe I can understand your reasons just a little. But that still doesn’t make me like you any better for the way you treated us while we were growing up.”

“Bah! How should I have treated you, then? Like the special child, the porcelain doll we were required to handle with delicacy? Gorion wanted you to have a normal childhood, so I gave you the same treatment I would give any rambunctious boy allowed to roam free through my precious library. Children among the stacks were a nuisance, and I saw no reason to pretend otherwise.”

Jarran managed a faint smile. “Well at least it was nothing personal.”

Ulraunt snorted. “After Gorion found Imoen, the situation was even worse. Two Bhaalspawn! And that girl… if I thought you were a mischief maker, she proved me wrong. I thought Gorion was going to faint when she came to him, her hand covered in wasp stings, and admitted she got them climbing the highest tower in Candlekeep.”

“Imoen always was the biggest ball of energy in this place.” Jarran broke into a grin. “Did you ever get that robe clean?”

Ulraunt scowled. “From your little contest? I burned it. And do not snicker! It was disgusting!” As Jarran’s chuckles turned into howls of laughter, the edges of Ulraunt’s lips began to twitch. “Very well, it would have been very amusing if I had been watching, rather than the one soaked in urine.”

Jarran gasped as he tried to stop laughing long enough to speak. “I swear I didn’t know she was going to throw her chamber pot out of the window. And we had no idea you were outside the wall.”

The sage scowled, but a faint twinkle lit his eyes. “I knew about your activities, but Tethtoril convinced me that boys will be boys.” A small grin flitted across Ulraunt’s face for just a moment. “You know, Tethtoril and I both grew up in Candlekeep. There were similar competitions in our childhood.”

“Well, you know Imoen. She could never let the boys do anything without showing she could do it just as well.”

“Winthrop was very upset when we realized that she was missing. Why did you persuade Imoen to accompany you? ”

“You need to ask? I didn’t, she just came. She was following us, and hid when she saw the attack. I was afraid that things would get too dangerous, but I have to admit having her with me helped me cope with Gorion’s death.”

Ulraunt studied Jarran for a long moment. “I am glad we had a chance to speak, but I meant what I said at the gate. I wish you had never returned. I look at you and I see the faces of my dead monks, and of Gorion himself. You represent the darkest days of my time as Keeper of the Tomes.”

The bard nodded slowly and said, “I feel the same about this place. I loved it dearly as a boy, but now it only stands as a reminder of a part of my life I’ll never get back. I’ll never have that sense of safety and shelter again.”

The two men were silent for a long moment. Ulraunt said softly, “You have not yet opened Gorion’s trunk.”

“No. I’ll bring Im down here tomorrow, so that we can do it together. Then she can go through her own box as well.”

Ulraunt pulled himself to his feet. “Very well. I doubt we shall see each other again.” He strode to the door of the storage room, then paused. “The book required to enter Candlekeep… that rule does not apply to residents. As troublesome as the two of you were, I suppose you and Imoen qualify.”

Jarran’s eyebrows rose. “I’m not sure what to say.”

“Say that you will never take advantage of my offer.” He turned away for a moment, then hesitated once more. “Candlekeep being what it is, we have collected many reports and tales of the Bhaalspawn conflict. Your actions… your control over your evil influence… stand as one of Candlekeep’s greatest accomplishments. After your bumbling and foolhardiness, you finally honored Gorion’s teachings. Now complete your business here and go.” With that, Ulraunt left.

Jarran gathered up his childhood possessions and smiled. “I’ll miss you, too.”

#2 Guest_Cel_*

Posted 09 May 2006 - 06:08 AM

Very nice!

Definitely an Ulraunt I haven't seen written before.

#3 Guest_Maneyan_*

Posted 09 May 2006 - 07:33 AM

:lol: ...... Woah. That was unexpected.

Well done. You've made a real person of him

#4 Guest_Jean_*

Posted 09 May 2006 - 08:25 AM

Good idea to give Ulraunt a chance to put his point of view. It sort of stresses the child/adult contrast in Jarran - now he's an adult man, he's able to see that people who weren't terribly nice to him may have had their own reasons for acting as they did, not just malice. Jarran the man can understand complexities and grey areas that would have gone over the head of Jarran the boy.

I love the odd pact at the end: Jarran and Imoen to be considered proper residents of the keep, on the condition that they never return. Strangely poignant. *sniffles*

The two men were silent for a long moment. Ulraunt said softly, “You have not yet opened Gorion’s trunk.”

“No. I’ll bring Im down here tomorrow, so that we can do it together. Then she can go through her own box as well.”


Will you be describing that, or shall we hear about it in retrospect? If you do describe it, I may have to prepare a box of tissues...*is a sucker for nostalgia*

Thank you. :lol:

#5 Guest_Silrana_*

Posted 09 May 2006 - 01:22 PM

Very nice!

Definitely an Ulraunt I haven't seen written before.


Thank you. I always enjoy coming up with my own angle on things.

#6 Guest_Silrana_*

Posted 09 May 2006 - 01:24 PM

:lol: ...... Woah. That was unexpected.

Well done. You've made a real person of him


Thanks. The one thing I always try to do in AC is make the people as real as possible. And being a grumpy sharp-tongued pain in the neck doesn't necessarily mean a person is bad.

Thanks for commenting!

#7 Guest_Silrana_*

Posted 09 May 2006 - 01:39 PM

Good idea to give Ulraunt a chance to put his point of view. It sort of stresses the child/adult contrast in Jarran - now he's an adult man, he's able to see that people who weren't terribly nice to him may have had their own reasons for acting as they did, not just malice. Jarran the man can understand complexities and grey areas that would have gone over the head of Jarran the boy.


It struck me that Evil!Ulraunt is a fanon convention. We all tend to see him as a villain figure, I did it myself in a Silrana story. Digging through the game, there isn't much to support it.

He had an ugly argument with Gorion over letting you stay... but he did let you stay, when many others did not. Almost all his dialogues in BG1 are of the 'go away, I'm too important to talk to you' variety. Being vain or snobby doesn't necessarily mean evil. His dialogue when you are jailed after the Iron Throne is not pleasant, but he obviously believes you have just murdered a group of merchants. He isn't likely to be friendly in that situation.

There are other snippets here and there, but for me they added up to a bad-tempered but basically decent person. Throw in that the FR "official" version of Ulraunt is a wise LG ruler, and I came to see him as a curmudgeon rather than a villain.

I love the odd pact at the end: Jarran and Imoen to be considered proper residents of the keep, on the condition that they never return. Strangely poignant. *sniffles*


Well, it isn't strictly a condition, because they *can* come back if they want to. Ulraunt is just making it clear that he hopes that they don't.

The two men were silent for a long moment. Ulraunt said softly, “You have not yet opened Gorion’s trunk.”

“No. I’ll bring Im down here tomorrow, so that we can do it together. Then she can go through her own box as well.”


Will you be describing that, or shall we hear about it in retrospect? If you do describe it, I may have to prepare a box of tissues...*is a sucker for nostalgia*


I'm not sure that will be covered. Jarran and Imoen are giving me that "go away, this is private" look, and at this point I'm not positive that I have enough material for another Candlekeep chapter. I need to let it simmer a bit to be sure. Also, Sarevok is glaring at me to get moving on his set of stories. Jarran and Jaheira are married and semi-settled, Imoen and Valygar have their manor to return to, but Sarevok... Sarevok still has a tale to tell before I wind things up.

Thank you. :lol:


And thank you for commenting!

#8 Guest_Mutant Mike_*

Posted 09 May 2006 - 08:05 PM

Hey.. Good to see the next part up so quickly. Good dialogue here. I liked the conversation between Jarran and Ulraunt. It seemed to flow well.

One pedantic note...

“After we buried Gorion, I searched his room, trying to understand why he left the safety of Candlekeep. I found several letters that spoke of people who had discovered that a powerful Bhaalspawn lived in the keep. And I found the note that he had left for you. That… terrible letter. My first instinct was to burn it.”

“Burn it! Why?”


It seems the 'Burn it' should have a question mark after it...

Otherwise, really nice!

One more step to finishing this all up. :lol:

The Nostalgic Mutant

#9 Guest_Jean_*

Posted 09 May 2006 - 08:16 PM

It seems the 'Burn it' should have a question mark after it...


It reads fine to me with the exclamation mark...though I'm the first to admit that punctuation isn't my strong point.

There are other snippets here and there, but for me they added up to a bad-tempered but basically decent person. Throw in that the FR "official" version of Ulraunt is a wise LG ruler, and I came to see him as a curmudgeon rather than a villain.


Hah, and I like him as a curmudgeon - a) because 'curmudgeon' is just such a brilliant word and how can anyone not like someone who can be described as 'curmudgeonly' :) because he seems quite sweet, if in an extremely grumpy way.

Though I still foam at the mouth in my BG games when he gloats about handing my poor PC over to the Flaming Fist. :)

Also, Sarevok is glaring at me to get moving on his set of stories.


Better do what he wants then. :lol:

#10 Guest_Silrana_*

Posted 10 May 2006 - 01:30 AM

Hey.. Good to see the next part up so quickly. Good dialogue here. I liked the conversation between Jarran and Ulraunt. It seemed to flow well.


Thankee.

One pedantic note...

“After we buried Gorion, I searched his room, trying to understand why he left the safety of Candlekeep. I found several letters that spoke of people who had discovered that a powerful Bhaalspawn lived in the keep. And I found the note that he had left for you. That… terrible letter. My first instinct was to burn it.”

“Burn it! Why?”


It seems the 'Burn it' should have a question mark after it...


I thought about that, but in my mind it was a startled exclaimation rather than a question. OGirl, a ruling? :lol:

Otherwise, really nice!


Glad to hear it. :D

One more step to finishing this all up. :)

The Nostalgic Mutant


As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. I love them dearly, but Jarran and crew will soon be departing for greener literary pastures. They need to move along to make room in my head for a new cast of characters. :)

Thanks for commenting!

#11 Guest_Silrana_*

Posted 10 May 2006 - 01:33 AM

It seems the 'Burn it' should have a question mark after it...


It reads fine to me with the exclamation mark...though I'm the first to admit that punctuation isn't my strong point.


I have called for a higher authority to make a ruling. :D

There are other snippets here and there, but for me they added up to a bad-tempered but basically decent person. Throw in that the FR "official" version of Ulraunt is a wise LG ruler, and I came to see him as a curmudgeon rather than a villain.


Hah, and I like him as a curmudgeon - a) because 'curmudgeon' is just such a brilliant word and how can anyone not like someone who can be described as 'curmudgeonly' B) because he seems quite sweet, if in an extremely grumpy way.


He has his moments...

Though I still foam at the mouth in my BG games when he gloats about handing my poor PC over to the Flaming Fist. :)


Well, I think it points out that a person can be 'good' without being 'nice'. Ethics and pleasant personality traits aren't the same thing.

Also, Sarevok is glaring at me to get moving on his set of stories.


Better do what he wants then. :)


That glare is hard to ignore! :lol:

#12 Guest_Oyster Girl_*

Posted 10 May 2006 - 10:06 AM

One pedantic note...

“After we buried Gorion, I searched his room, trying to understand why he left the safety of Candlekeep. I found several letters that spoke of people who had discovered that a powerful Bhaalspawn lived in the keep. And I found the note that he had left for you. That… terrible letter. My first instinct was to burn it.”

“Burn it! Why?”

It seems the 'Burn it' should have a question mark after it...

I thought about that, but in my mind it was a startled exclaimation rather than a question. OGirl, a ruling? :lol:

*rummages for pedant hat*

If that's what you're going for, the exclamation point is correct. A question mark would indicate a quieter, puzzled tone.

*notes that there is a trend these days toward proscribing exclamation points entirely*

*switches back to stormwater management hat*

#13 Guest_Silrana_*

Posted 10 May 2006 - 05:07 PM


I thought about that, but in my mind it was a startled exclaimation rather than a question. OGirl, a ruling? :lol:


*rummages for pedant hat*

If that's what you're going for, the exclamation point is correct. A question mark would indicate a quieter, puzzled tone.


Thankee, O Font of Knowledge. :)

*notes that there is a trend these days toward proscribing exclamation points entirely*


Understandable, considering how often they are overused. I still think there is a place for them, just in limited doses.

*switches back to stormwater management hat*


*goes back to finding fake driver's licenses*

#14 Guest_AlphaMonkey_*

Posted 10 May 2006 - 06:55 PM

*notes that there is a trend these days toward proscribing exclamation points entirely*


Er... why? I know people tend to overuse the things, but completely removing them from common usage seems a bit... excessive a reaction, no?

Anyway, about the chapter:

I suppose I'm one of those that just kinda fell into the whole "Ulraunt is a jerk!" trap. And maybe there's not much... "textual" evidence to support it, but I don't think the gut reaction that a lot of people get to the guy should be discounted too much, either.

I guess it's just one of those things where... I just plain don't like the guy, and I almost don't want to see him made more sympathetic... sometimes I just like my villains to be villains. :lol:

And he does strike me as... if not a villain, per se, at least a bum who needs to get whacked in the noggin a couple of times - preferably by an irate Charname.

As for the rest of it, though, I'm glad that Jarran and Im are getting some kind of closure out of this whole trip. I never really believed (or wanted to believe) in that whole "You can never go home again" deal, so it's nice to see them at least being able to rekindle some of their old relationships. The Imoen/Winthrop bit from last chapter, for example, got me a little misty eyed. :)

#15 Guest_Oyster Girl_*

Posted 10 May 2006 - 08:00 PM

*notes that there is a trend these days toward proscribing exclamation points entirely*

Er... why? I know people tend to overuse the things, but completely removing them from common usage seems a bit... excessive a reaction, no?

Overuse is part of it. Some people don't seem to realize there is such a thing as a period.

Then there's the school of thought that claims a good writer shouldn't need the added emphasis, or adjectives/adverbs in the 'said' tag for that matter, that the tone should be easy to pick up on from the dialogue itself. I think we've just had a rebuttal of that theory. I'd love to see this one go the way of Strunk and White, to whom it's closely related.

This idea is often taken even further into claims that the dialogue should also make 'said' tags unnecessary; each speaker should be identifiable from word choice and speaking style.

#16 Guest_Silrana_*

Posted 10 May 2006 - 11:31 PM

Anyway, about the chapter:

I suppose I'm one of those that just kinda fell into the whole "Ulraunt is a jerk!" trap. And maybe there's not much... "textual" evidence to support it, but I don't think the gut reaction that a lot of people get to the guy should be discounted too much, either.


I think for most people, the tone gets set by the 'memory' of Ulraunt and Gorion arguing. Ulraunt obviously doesn't like the situation one bit.

I guess it's just one of those things where... I just plain don't like the guy, and I almost don't want to see him made more sympathetic... sometimes I just like my villains to be villains. :lol:

And he does strike me as... if not a villain, per se, at least a bum who needs to get whacked in the noggin a couple of times - preferably by an irate Charname.


And that's why many times through the chapter it is made clear that Ulraunt is not a sunshine-and-puppies kinda guy. But someone can still be a morally good person while being an s.o.b. to be around.

As for the rest of it, though, I'm glad that Jarran and Im are getting some kind of closure out of this whole trip. I never really believed (or wanted to believe) in that whole "You can never go home again" deal, so it's nice to see them at least being able to rekindle some of their old relationships. The Imoen/Winthrop bit from last chapter, for example, got me a little misty eyed. :)


I liked that scene, too. And both of them needed to come here to lay some ghosts to rest.

Thanks for commenting!

#17 Guest_Mutant Mike_*

Posted 11 May 2006 - 07:52 PM


I thought about that, but in my mind it was a startled exclaimation rather than a question. OGirl, a ruling? :shock:


*rummages for pedant hat*

If that's what you're going for, the exclamation point is correct. A question mark would indicate a quieter, puzzled tone.


Thankee, O Font of Knowledge. :shock:

*notes that there is a trend these days toward proscribing exclamation points entirely*


Understandable, considering how often they are overused. I still think there is a place for them, just in limited doses.

*switches back to stormwater management hat*


*goes back to finding fake driver's licenses*


OK... To me it's just hard to read it as simply an exclamation without the question in it, but that's just me. :)

Now, about that driver's license... :twisted:

;) ;) ;)

*goes back to pushing buttons on the mainframe.. err... 'E-Server'. :lol: *

#18 Guest_Majin_Baka_*

Posted 05 June 2006 - 08:57 PM

Yes, I'm back, catching up on a backlog of chapters for this saga.

Just dropped in on this one to say that it was nice to see Ulraunt - after having read the campaign setting (who knows how long ago, since I bought the thing near the end of my time here as a regular member back in 2002) and seen Ulraunt's entry it's interesting to see him handled in one of my favourite Attic stories.

:twisted:

#19 Guest_Silrana_*

Posted 06 June 2006 - 02:31 AM

Yes, I'm back, catching up on a backlog of chapters for this saga.


*waves* Nice to see you!

Just dropped in on this one to say that it was nice to see Ulraunt - after having read the campaign setting (who knows how long ago, since I bought the thing near the end of my time here as a regular member back in 2002) and seen Ulraunt's entry it's interesting to see him handled in one of my favourite Attic stories.

:twisted:


Well, like I told some of the others, there is a difference between BG Ulraunt and the 'official' Ulraunt. I enjoyed seeing how I could blend the two.

Thanks for commenting!




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