Community

My two favorite things about this selection?  First, the crazy, dangerous, seedy, scary place that is Mistshore.  Second, my new favorite character – the Han Solo of Mistshore- Ruen Morleth.

I think Jaleigh did a fantastic job describing Mistshore in all its… glory.  Most characters enter a dangerous place like Mistshore to seek treasure or chase down a bounty.  But poor Icelin goes there as a last resory to try to save her skin.  I suppose when a scarred elf wants you dead and the city watch is trying to arrest you, Mistshore is the only place you can go.  This element of the story is working really well for me.  You can sense the desperation of all the pitiful creatures in Mistshore.  And Icelin is now right there with them – running scared for her life.  This is fantastic storytelling.

And Ruen!!  He really, really reminds me of Han Solo in so many ways.  Jaleigh, was Solo an inspiration for the coolness of this character?  I have a feeling that just like Solo, Ruen has a list of enemies a mile long.  And he’s just such a badass while going about his business!  This guy is awesome.  We’re just introduced to him at the end of this selection and I can’t wait to hear what kind of trouble he’s going to get us in.  One wraith down.  The rest of Waterdeep to go! 

Gold piece, believe it or not, Ruen's character owes more to Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop than he does to Han Solo. Not sure how many people have seen it, but I remember watching that show and thinking, geez, you'd never know from looking at Spike's character that he was such a graceful, wily fighter.  The style of the animation and the way he's drawn give the viewer the impression that anyone could break him in half.  But you can't always judge by appearances, and I like that blend of fragility and strength. 

Which brings me to Dado's observations about Sull.  If you don't mind, I'd like to open your question up to the group and maybe expand on it a bit because it makes for a good topic of discussion: why do you think Sull throws in with Icelin?  Would you be more likely to believe in his motivations if he was an adventurer rather than a shopkeeper?  Why? And from Sull's perspective, since you already know the potential consequences for his actions, what are the potential consequences of inaction?    

I agree with Gemini about Sull’s motivation.  Shared responsibility of the community is a timeless concept.  In fact, Sull’s willingness to risk his life for Icelin, a girl he barely knows, is a story element that I like.  It makes me think that there is something very special about Icelin.  It adds to her mystery.  It’s almost as if everyone (except, perhaps, Icelin and the reader) knows that there is something very special about the girl – something worth protecting.  And this gets back to the story element I’m really enjoying.  Icelin doesn’t know her past.  But she’s going to need to figure it out fast.  Because something in her past is wreaking some serious havoc on the  present. 

Gemini, yes, I liked the idea of a character being strong but who doesn’t necessarily fit the type, someone that might easily (and mistakenly) be dismissed.  Although I don’t think Spike would be caught dead wearing Ruen’s hat.

Gemini and Gold piece, on feeling a sense of responsibility for the community—I like that.  I tried to present various communities in the novel, each defined by different circumstances.  There’s the wealthy, high-class citizenry like Cerest and the Lock sisters, and the working community of Caravan City, the Watch, and of course Mistshore itself.  Then there are the people who stand on the fringes of each, the isolated ones.   Because they are on the run, Icelin and Sull are now in the latter group, but Sull retains that sense of the normal working person of Waterdeep, or at least that was my intent.  I wanted that felt since this is a novel about Waterdhavians and their city. 

On an individual level, with Sull, I wanted to explore a character who , though he has his own secrets and joys and tragedies in his life history, is not in himself something remarkable, not an adventurer or a traditional hero.  He’s just a person who tries to do what’s right.  On the other hand, Dado, your point is well taken—Sull is risking a great deal.  You might well question his motivations, but bear with me a bit longer and then see what you think.     

And Gold piece, if you want to compare Ruen to Han Solo, I’m the last person who’s going to argue.    Scoundrels and rogues are my favorite kinds of characters.

One more note, Dado mentioned liking that the novel takes place in one area of Waterdeep.  It’s funny, in my original outline, I had Icelin’s journey taking the group to Downshadow and at least one other neighborhood, but I realized at some point that I was never ever going to be able to cover that much territory and do it justice without going wildly outside my word count, so with Susan’s blessing I cut and reworked that part.  Sometimes you never know how much you’re going to have to say about a place until you actually get to that part of the story.  That was the way it was with Mistshore. 

After thinking a little more, Sull also gets himself involved in this nasty business pretty quickly.  He kills one man and nearly kills another in his shop, and he could be worried he's going to get pulled in by the watch for these actions.  It does seem like he must have a connection to Icelin's guardian, grandfather, or someone else, but I think he still works even if this connection doesn't emerge.

One thing I like about him is that he doesn't seem to have any distinct martial training.  He's just using his butcher's tools and his size advantage in combat.  I think this is a realistic representation of how someone this big would fare in combat, even without training, in an age where people were fighting with swords and clubs.  Someone who was much, much bigger than most people would have a huge advantage, especially in a street fight situation.

I was more questioning his role in the story from a writing standpoint.  I got in a big debate with a Lit. professor recently about Game of Thrones.  She was accusing Martin of filling his story with "paper tiger" characters with no real role and poor motivations.  I love Martin's characters, so the fight was on!  It's not uncommon for this is be one of the big complaints about fantasy in general.  It was always at the top of the list of complaints about Tolkien and Lord of the Rings.  Critics saw a lot of his characters as one-dimensional props.  I don't agree with this assessment either, but I see where the argument is coming from.

I think we're going to see Sull explored a little deeper moving forward, but this was just something that stood out in my mind in this particular section. It seemed to me like Icelin's situation might feel more desperate if she were truly on her own without a friend to turn to.  

I'm liking his role as a character more in the next section, but I'll save that for the next section!

Mordrim - I get the sense that a lot of people know about "the incident" that keeps getting alluded to by many of the characters.  It seemed like the whole watch knew about it because it involved the (accidental?) death of members of the watch.