HFQ Official Snippet #14

n7axw wrote:

eldrwyrm wrote:First of all, Mr. Weber, thank you and Merry Christmas to you and yours.

I wonder if we are going to see more of Sandaria, and if she will become the embodiment of a new approach to religion and belief. So far we have Dr. Mahklyn who is becoming our resident Deist, Baron Rock Point is the Atheist (I don't think he'll slip over the line into agnostic, but I could be wrong), and Paityr is still wrestling with his own beliefs.

I hope we see more of her, particularly if she and Anjhelik split on their reactions to the truth but still have to work together. Though David really doesn't need another complex character, a split like this could give him another interesting forum for talking about doctrinal differences. Of course it also gives him another character that we care about just enough for it to be heart wrenching when he kills her off for dramatic effect.

Where is this business of Rock Point being an atheist coming from? I know that Nahrman says the Rock Point is struggling in the snippet, but just prior to the Battle of the Markovian Sea in AMAF, he utters a beautiful, utterly believing prayer.

I'd need some textev that would be a bit more definitive to callRock Point an atheist.

Don

cadastral wrote:We saw the scene where the Archbishop of Hankey betrayed the Circle from Clyntahn's viewpoint in By Heresies Distressed. May, 893, Chapter II.

Personally, I wonder if Clyntahn is actually a PICA of one of the Archangels. It could explain why he is so sure that God and the Church are aligned with his own desires. It could be RFC's ultimate plot twist...

JeffEngel wrote:Clyntahn's willful way with recollection of facts is at least a rhetorical tactic. My guess is, he's got a way of tracking "the way things are" and "the way things I'm demanding they be treated as" both at the same time and switching as needed, to make things the way he wants them and to keep people wondering about him. The "mad dog who must be appeased" schtick gets him a long way, after all.

fallsfromtrees wrote:

JeffEngel wrote:Clyntahn's willful way with recollection of facts is at least a rhetorical tactic. My guess is, he's got a way of tracking "the way things are" and "the way things I'm demanding they be treated as" both at the same time and switching as needed, to make things the way he wants them and to keep people wondering about him. The "mad dog who must be appeased" schtick gets him a long way, after all.

The schtick works only until his immediate subordinates decide that he is too dangerous to have around, ala Robespierre, or Hitler, and there is a plot to remove him. In Robespierre's case, it was successful, and in the case of Hitler the plot failed, when the bomb failed to kill him.

If, for example, Rayno becomes concerned about his future health, and cuts a deal with Duchairn, there is a possibility that Clyntahn gets arrested by the second tier of the Inquisition, and put to the Question quickly, which will lead to his confession that he had in fact been acting on behalf of Shan-Wei. It appears that Rayno, as Clyntahn's deputy is the person who handles all of the interface with the lower ranks of the Inquisition, which means that there could be a cabal just under Clyntahn that will take him down.

JeffEngel wrote:Clyntahn's willful way with recollection of facts is at least a rhetorical tactic. My guess is, he's got a way of tracking "the way things are" and "the way things I'm demanding they be treated as" both at the same time and switching as needed, to make things the way he wants them and to keep people wondering about him. The "mad dog who must be appeased" schtick gets him a long way, after all.

fallsfromtrees wrote:The schtick works only until his immediate subordinates decide that he is too dangerous to have around, ala Robespierre, or Hitler, and there is a plot to remove him. In Robespierre's case, it was successful, and in the case of Hitler the plot failed, when the bomb failed to kill him.

If, for example, Rayno becomes concerned about his future health, and cuts a deal with Duchairn, there is a possibility that Clyntahn gets arrested by the second tier of the Inquisition, and put to the Question quickly, which will lead to his confession that he had in fact been acting on behalf of Shan-Wei. It appears that Rayno, as Clyntahn's deputy is the person who handles all of the interface with the lower ranks of the Inquisition, which means that there could be a cabal just under Clyntahn that will take him down.

JeffEngel wrote:Rayno and Clyntahn have both been under the impression that Rayno's got no hope of retaining the power he has now under another Grand Inquisitor or ascending to that post himself. So Clyntahn's safe from that... under normal circumstances.

Rayno may see about that, and Duchairn (and others) may take him up on it, if the jihad keeps going very, very badly. I am nearly sure Clyntahn has arrangements to spy on Rayno and eliminate him if need be that Rayno is at least not supposed to know about. I'm also sure Rayno would suspect such plots and look out for them, so it's a guessing game who'd win that little contest. In any case though, if things get bad enough, Rayno may be happy to lose a position in a current Church structure in order to retain a position in some Church or at least alive, if/when it comes down to that if he remains Clyntahn's faithful servant.

fallsfromtrees wrote:

JeffEngel wrote:Clyntahn's willful way with recollection of facts is at least a rhetorical tactic. My guess is, he's got a way of tracking "the way things are" and "the way things I'm demanding they be treated as" both at the same time and switching as needed, to make things the way he wants them and to keep people wondering about him. The "mad dog who must be appeased" schtick gets him a long way, after all.

fallsfromtrees wrote:
If Rayno feels threatened enough he might just acquire one of hte heretics new pistols, walk into Clyntahn office and plug him, and then claim self defense, and very probably get ex post facto support from Duchairn and Traynair, simply because they are glad to have Clyntahn gone. At that point the great cover up starts, and Clyntahn's name gets smeared very badly.

Thrandir wrote:Thanks for the Xmas snippet RFC

My 2 cents worth on the below discussion:

Rayno knows Clyntahn has his own network of spies and informants. There is plenty of text-rev from Rayno's point of view acknowledging that if he does anything too radical to displease Clyntahn then his life is forfeit.
He knows that Clyntahn knows he has in the past doctored reports to him and therefore he knows that if he even so much as hinted at betraying Clyntahn he would be made an example of. One of the most compelling pieces to support this is when Rayno delivers the letter left by 'Merlin' after he had dispatched the Inquisitors & guards responsible for the Savyn investigation into the locks blowing up.
He is in all the way with Clyntahn because he himself has made enemies who would quite happily see him off if Clyntahn fell, afterall he was instrumental in gaining some of the material Clyntahn uses to keep some of the Vicars on-side.

[snip]