Speculation on the next in the Safehold series

Loren Pechtel wrote:

thanatos wrote:There are a number of plot threads that come to mind from HFQ and the rest of the series that we could see addressed in the next installation:

1) Thirsk - Obviously, he is going to be presented with the truth. Merlin doesn't do personal house calls for anything less (see HFAF and Paityr Wylsyn's exposure to the truth).

I can't see Merlin telling him the whole truth. Thirsk is going to learn his family is safe in Charis but I see no reason he's going to see the big picture.

Right. At this point Thirsk's commitments are wrong for him to be a candidate for the truth. If he wishes to do something about the situation in Dohlar, I think Merlin would find a way to help him with his communications and get him sensitive intel. But it won't be even so much as the seijin sees visions version of the truth. More like access to the seijins intel network without explanation for how it's being done.

Don

Loren Pechtel wrote:
Merlin makes plenty of use of electricity in TF tech items. Obviously it can be adequately stealthed to be safely used. He doesn't introduce electricity because crude electricity isn't going to be stealthed.

No, Merlin hasn't introduced electricity because it is against the proscriptions. His "personal" use of electricity is in the realm of TF equipment, which is all proscription damned anyway (including both he and Nimue) and therefore used secretly.

Edited to fix the messed up quote.

Yup!

There's no way there'd be as many locals marched off to the concentration camps as you'd save soldiers who didn't have to face all that powder!

Anyway, they're just enemy aliens. Of no account whatsoever.

Loren Pechtel wrote:

crucisnh wrote:Like you said, it's DW's story. But it's always struck me as odd that Merlin (or now, Nimue) doesn't do more behind the lines sabotage of things like ammo dumps, or gun powder factories, or shipyards, or steel factories, etc. Gun powder factories or ammo dumps would seem particularly susceptible, given that one small explosion could have such catastrophic results. Maybe deliberately attack an ammo barge in a canal lock ... just like the earlier accidental incident. It's a two-for-the-price-of-one attack. Destroy a good deal of gunpowder, and take a canal lock out of action for a few weeks or more.

This sort of attack wouldn't even have to be aimed at the "thinkers" on the enemy side, which Merlin has wanted to cultivate. Just attack certain key areas that would have a major impact on the enemy's ability to support the war effort.

Yeah, he could have driven them nuts blowing up ammo dumps and it would have saved a lot of lives.

Louis R wrote:Yup!

There's no way there'd be as many locals marched off to the concentration camps as you'd save soldiers who didn't have to face all that powder!

Anyway, they're just enemy aliens. Of no account whatsoever.

Loren Pechtel wrote:Yeah, he could have driven them nuts blowing up ammo dumps and it would have saved a lot of lives.

Expanding on this:

How about something like blowing ammo dumps when the air temperature is 30F. Pretty soon they'll spot the pattern and waste a huge amount of effort trying to figure out why ammo dumps (but never their research samples) explode at that temperature. They'll be looking for some flaw instead of sabotage.

Loren Pechtel wrote:...They'll be looking for some flaw instead of sabotage.

That'd be the *rational* response. The problem is that at this point the inquisition has about as much contact with rationality as I do with Neptune. Look what happened the last time, when it *was* actually an accident!

Sure, someone (almost certainly *not* an inquisitor) might eventually notice a pattern. And then they're going to either mention it to someone and get told to shut up and/or disappeared, or they're going to keep their mouth shut for fear of the same. The inquisition will never believe it, and even if they did that wouldn't help all of the innocents that would be punished for the 'sabotage' long before anyone notices any pattern.

To the inquisition everything is enemy action until proven otherwise, and they have a very idiosyncratic definition of 'proof'. There's a reason that ever since Sarkyn Merlin has gone to incredible lengths to stay far away from any innocent towns and leave ample evidence of his own 'demonic' presence as opposed to anyone more mundane. If ammo dumps just started exploding, without incredibly clear evidence to the contrary the inquisition is *guaranteed* to jump to the conclusion of sabotage by locals, regardless of exactly how you do it.

It's time for the Duchairn arc to reach a climax. I had a blackly unethical idea about how to resolve it. It would depend on someone with access to TF camouflage using it for evil.

Imagine that Durchairn is visiting a charity and is addressing a large crowd of the poor. Suddenly someone in a Schuelerite robe appears, shouts "For God and Clyntahn!", fatally shoots Duchairn, ducks around a corner and can't be found.

The crowd will take the failure to find the murderer as proof that the Temple guards were in on it from the start. Nothing will pacify them short of Clyntahn's dismembered corpse.

Without Duchairn there's nobody we know of who could keep the Church afloat financially..

Magwair would have to figure "I'm next". In his place I'd open the Guard's armories to the mob.

3910104i

Expert snuggler wrote:It's time for the Duchairn arc to reach a climax. I had a blackly unethical idea about how to resolve it. It would depend on someone with access to TF camouflage using it for evil.

Imagine that Durchairn is visiting a charity and is addressing a large crowd of the poor. Suddenly someone in a Schuelerite robe appears, shouts "For God and Clyntahn!", fatally shoots Duchairn, ducks around a corner and can't be found.

The crowd will take the failure to find the murderer as proof that the Temple guards were in on it from the start. Nothing will pacify them short of Clyntahn's dismembered corpse.

Without Duchairn there's nobody we know of who could keep the Church afloat financially..

Magwair would have to figure "I'm next". In his place I'd open the Guard's armories to the mob.

an excellent if very dark plan

Expert snuggler wrote:It's time for the Duchairn arc to reach a climax. I had a blackly unethical idea about how to resolve it. It would depend on someone with access to TF camouflage using it for evil.

Imagine that Durchairn is visiting a charity and is addressing a large crowd of the poor. Suddenly someone in a Schuelerite robe appears, shouts "For God and Clyntahn!", fatally shoots Duchairn, ducks around a corner and can't be found.

The crowd will take the failure to find the murderer as proof that the Temple guards were in on it from the start. Nothing will pacify them short of Clyntahn's dismembered corpse.

Without Duchairn there's nobody we know of who could keep the Church afloat financially..

Magwair would have to figure "I'm next". In his place I'd open the Guard's armories to the mob.

Remember that it is TextEv that Vicar Clyntahn never goes outside the Temple. So for him to go to pieces ( ), the mob would have to come to him!

Now what do we know of the interior of "The Temple"? We know it has multiple levels but not how many. It has an exterior armor impervious to any contemporary weaponry. It has a large entryway into a very large area where the original geography of Safehold is overlaid by (again) impervious transparent coating. It perfectly maintains an interior climate. It has meeting rooms, residences, offices, at least one armory and a basement fit for something to be in! We also know that the interior doors can be forced by devices possessed by the Temple Guards.

What we do not know is if there is a food source within the Temple, if there is a way to 'seal' the entryway(s), if there are food sources not requiring supplies from the outside, riot control measures for the interior, and on and on.

So the ultimate query on this line is this, can the mob get to Clyntahn or can he seal himself off and laugh at them, at least temporarily?

Charybdis wrote:Remember that it is TextEv that Vicar Clyntahn never goes outside the Temple. So for him to go to pieces ( ), the mob would have to come to him!

Now what do we know of the interior of "The Temple"? We know it has multiple levels but not how many. It has an exterior armor impervious to any contemporary weaponry. It has a large entryway into a very large area where the original geography of Safehold is overlaid by (again) impervious transparent coating. It perfectly maintains an interior climate. It has meeting rooms, residences, offices, at least one armory and a basement fit for something to be in! We also know that the interior doors can be forced by devices possessed by the Temple Guards.

What we do not know is if there is a food source within the Temple, if there is a way to 'seal' the entryway(s), if there are food sources not requiring supplies from the outside, riot control measures for the interior, and on and on.

So the ultimate query on this line is this, can the mob get to Clyntahn or can he seal himself off and laugh at them, at least temporarily?

I have noticed that too, that Clyntahn seems to stay within the Temple Grounds(TG). Of course, it doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't leave, but it's never been written (IIRC) that he has ever left. So I have speculated about that. How likely is it that someone would stay like that. IMO it wouldn't be very likely at all, unless the TG are quite large and contain everything he wants/needs/desires within the TG. It also sends a message (again IMO) that Clyntahn is scared to go "outside" which is an indication of weakness. But if the TG is like a city itself, then maybe that wouldn't be such a problem. Unfortunately we don't know enough about the Temple & TG to be able to make many conclusions about all this stuff. I do wonder about the security of the TG, though. After complete and dominant control by the church for hundreds of years, I would bet that their security procedures have gotten pretty lax. I doubt if they could ever imagine anyone threatening them, at least with enough power to potentially succeed. Random thoughts, sorry if I digressed.