Discord Username: RW#4211
Character Name and House: Rodrik Blackwood (pinging Lirabear for confirmation)
Age: 38
Appearance: Ser Rodrik Blackwood is a hulking, bulging, beastly man. He is near 7 feet tall and embedded in his skull are cold and beady black eyes. Rodrik's scared visage frames a permanent scowl and a hooked nose. His looks and imposing stature make the Brute of Blackwood an intimidating foe.
Gift: Monstrous
Skills: Swords, Knightly
Talent(s): Hunting, Tracking, Interrogation
Starting Title(s): The Brute of Blackwood
Starting Location: At the feast, along with the rest of the Blackwood party.

TIMELINE

169 - Rodrik Blackwood is born, the final child of Lord Hoster and Lady Zia. Already a risky pregnancy for the aging Zia, Rodrik is a hulking and screeching baby. As he enters the world, tearing and clawing for freedom, his poor mother succumbs to a loss of blood from the procedure.
174 - Huge for his age, Rodrik bullies other children, ignoring rules and taking as he likes. His father neglects punishment for the boy in lieu of his own sadness at losing his wife. His only friend is his sister Bethany.
176 - Rodrik finally stops breastfeeding from his wetnurse
177 - Growing into a spoiled and impudent young boy, Rodrik easily bests boys of his age through his physical strength in lessons of martial skill. Neglectful of other lessons, Rodrik boasts and brags.
179 - in his lessons, Rodrik takes pride in knowing he is of the stock of the first men... perhaps the only part of lessons he takes seriously. He adheres to the old gods.
180 - Rodrik throws a kitten into the bakers oven. His sister is furious and slaps the boy, leaving a lasting impression.
182 - Rodrik is developing into an impressive fighter, but is known to disregard technique in favour of brute strength. When offered constructive criticism, he flies into fits of anger. The boy is already hefty and extremely tall for his age - in an already tall family.
184 - Refusing to attend the wedding of his sister, Rodrik instead remains at Raventree hall, causing trouble. Rodrik has grown into a huge young man, strong as an ox and with the temper of a lion.
186 - Rodrik rides to war, at the side of his brother Samwell. In the fighting, Rodrik callously charges enemy lines upon his mighty warhorse without any assistance, and Sam rides to save him. In the ensuing melee, Sam is killed, but Rodriks slaughters his foes, taking many wounds in the process. Offered a knighthood for his bravery, Rodrik refuses, as he still follows the old gods. He fights in many battles, his presence striking fear into the enemy at his great size and bulk. His grasp of tactics however, is severely lacking.
187 - Rodrik returns home from the war. Jealous of king Maelors marriage to Bethany, he refuses to attend the ceremony. He is wed to Serra Vance. It is a loveless marriage, with Rodrik secretly pining after his sister from afar.
187 - Rodrik returns home from the war. Jealous of king Maelors marriage to Bethany, he refuses to attend the ceremony. In an attempt to keep Rodrik from siring more bastards, he is wed to Serra Vance. It is a loveless marriage, with Rodrik secretly pining after his sister from afar.
191 - His brutality with the smallfolk and extortion of the poor earn him the moniker 'The Brute of Blackwood'
193-197 - Rodrik begins tutoring his nephews Tytos and Brynden in the ways of the sword. His style is at odds with his brother Roose. Rodrik pushes the two into a style of extremely agressive swordsmanship, while Roose teaches them proper fighting technique. Through the balance of teachings, the two become expert fighters. Rodrik and Roose, though very different men, develop a strange brotherly bond. His two nephews aswell, develop a twisted bond with their villainous uncle, who endulges them in any vices.
198 - Rodrik impregnates his wife, this time delivering a healthy baby, who he names after himself. The baby is as big as he is, and it takes a heavy toll on his wife. Rodrik is now content with his legacy. He also attends the wedding of Tytos, giving for a large sum of gold and trinkets that he extorted from smallfolk.
201 - Little Rodrik drowns in a freak accident while playing near the river. Rodrik hangs the nurse who was supposed to be minding him, and the already quick tempered man becomes truly and deeply violent.
202 - Rodrik accompanied his brother Roose, as well as his nephew Tytos on a hunt for brigands. At Pennytree ford, the small party was ambushed by a much larger Bracken force. Tytos was killed, and the Blackwood party narrowly escaped with their lives. Benjicot Blackwood places a bounty on the head of Raymund Bracken and his associates. Rodrik swears revenge.
204- Upon receiving word of Queen Bethany's death, Rodrik has a brutal tantrum that lasts a fortnight. At the end of his period of mourning, his own wife Serra passes under mysterious circumstances.
205 - Rodrik is an accomplice in the murder of Harry Bracken. Fleeing home to Raventree, Rodrik prepares for war, elated at the concept of spilling Bracken blood.
206 - Rodrik is remarried, this time to Alyssa Vypren.

Shipping:

• $4.75 flat fee, US only.
• I always ship with USPS Priority Mail within 24 hours (except Sunday of course)
• I always send a tracking number same day of payment

Payment: Paypal Goods & Services, I cover the fee.
Verification: https://imgur.com/a/oWWrQtH
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Everything is from a clean, smoke-free home.
104 items sold in 32 separate successful transactions on Makeup Exchange so far!
Happy to answer any questions, thanks for browsing!
*BNIB means the item is brand new, never swatched, *and* the box is included. Other items may be brand new, never swatched, but no box so not marked BNIB.
*Never opened (ie., for liquid products) means the screw cap has never come off - which you can also visually verify because no product has touched the stoppers. Happy to take more detailed photos if proof is needed. :)
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Individual Items (in album order):

>> Non-Makeup <<

• Dermapore Ultrasonic Pore Extractor & Serum Infuser $78
  • Condition: Like New, used 2x and thoroughly cleaned

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>> Higher End <<

• Viseart Golden Hour $25
  • Condition: BNIB - protective covering over outer metal shell still on. Never swatched any shades.
    • Note - When I received this from Sephora, two of the pans were loose. I glued them back, but was not careful and accidentally swapped the spots (middle row)
• Giorgio Armani Eye Tint in 8: Flannel $20
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• CoverFX Enhance Click Blush Stick in Blossom $6
  • Condition: BNIB
• CoverFX Enhance Click Blush Stick in Berry $6
  • Condition: BNIB
• Lorac Pro Party Ready Palette $5
  • BNIB, never opened
• KVD Everlasting Liquid Lip Deluxe Size in Outlaw $5
  • Brand new, never opened
• Clinique Solar Pop Bronzer $18
  • Brand new, never swatched
• NARS Laguna Bronzer Deluxe $10
  • Brand new, never swatched
• ABH Loose Highlighter in So Hollywood $12
  • Brand new, never opened - protective cover attached
• Becca First Light Priming Filter Deluxe $8
  • Condition: Brand new, still sealed
• Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Deluxe $8
  • Condition: Brand new, still sealed
• Too Faced Born This way Sculpting Multi-Use Concealer in Natural Beige $22
  • Condition: BNIB, never opened
• Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Paaaarty $18
  • Condition: BNIB (Note: This is full-size! I recall this shade was popular in mini form)
• Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Blush in 001 Pink $34
  • Condition: BNIB
• Rose Inc. Lip & Cheek Color in Delphine $22
  • Condition: Brand new, never touched
• Kosas Color & Light Cream Palette in Helios $22
  • Condition: Brand new, never swatched
• Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Rose Gold, Deluxe $6
  • Condition: Repressed, but never used
• Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal, Deluxe $14
  • Condition: New, Swatched once
• Persona 24hr Waterproof Eyeliner in Brown $10
  • Condition: Like new, swatched once
• Lancome Monseiur Big Mascara, Deluxe $6
  • Condition: New, never used
• Bread Beauty Hair Puff $8
  • Condition: Brand new, never used
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick in Poet $10
  • Condition: New, Swatched once
• Ofra Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick in Unzipped $5
  • Condition: New, Swatched once
• Urban Decay Vice Liquid Lipstick in Trivial $10
  • Condition: New, Swatched once
• Tarte Tarteist Lash Paint Deluxe $4
  • Condition: New, opened once but never swatched
• Fenty Match Stix Matte Skinstick in Caramel $12
  • Condition: New, Swatched once
• Hourglass Veil Translucent Setting Powder, Deluxe $12
  • Condition: Brand new, never opened
• Charlotte Tilbury Eyeliner in Pillow Talk, Deluxe $16
  • Condition: Swatched 1-2x
• Smashbox Always On Gel Liner in Fishnet, Deluxe $14
  • Condition: Swatched 1-2x
• Danessa Myricks Mirrored Palette $4
  • Condition: Brand new, never opened
  • Can be free with a large enough purchase - it's heavy so mostly charging for shipping!
• Olio E Osso Balm in Currant $14
  • Condition: Swatched 3-4x
• Olio E Osso Balm in French Melon $14
  • Condition: Swatched 3-4x
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Sugar $28
  • Condition: New, each shade swatched once
• Fenty Beauty Match Stix in Suede $14
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Benefit Hoola Lite, Deluxe $4
  • Condition: Like new, swatched 2-3x
• About Face Light Lock Lip Gloss in Payton $8
  • Condition: BNIB
• Kaja Bento Trio in 04 Sparkling Rose $14
  • Condition: New, each shade swatched once
• Ilia Fullest Volumizing Mascara (2x) $8
  • Condition: Brand new
• Smashbox Be Legendary Liquid Metal in Petal Metal $6
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• About Face Cheek Freak in Big O $14
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Dose of Colors x Nyma Tang Matte Liquid Lip in Like to See It $13
  • Condition: New, never swatched
• Dose of Colors x Nyma Tang Lip Gloss in E-Jen $13
  • Condition: New, never swatched
• Too Faced Melted Matte in Queen B $6
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Too Faced Natural Nudes in Nip Slip $12
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Origins Blooming Bold Lipstick in Tiger Lily $12
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Pat McGrath Skin Fetish Sublime Perfection Concealer in LM14 $20
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Bite Beauty Upswing Mascara, Deluxe $4
  • Condition: Swatched a few times
• Freck OG The Original Freckle $18
  • Condition: Brand new, never opened
• Rephr Modular Vanity System: Palettes Component C (2x) $8
  • Condition: BNIB
• Rephr Modular Vanity System: Lips & Sticks Component B $8
  • Condition: BNIB

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>> K-Beauty, Drugstore, etc. << (additional 20% off of purchase of 5+ items)

• PUR Midnight Masquerade Palette $4
  • Condition: Like new, 4 eyeshadow shades swatched once
• Colourpop Sol Palette $7
  • Condition: New, 1-2 shades swatched once
• Rom&nd See Through Melting Cheek in Melting Beige $9
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Naming Fluffy Powder Blush in Toast $9
  • Condition: Like New, swatched once
• Colourpop Animal Crossing Blush in Flower Power $8
  • Condition: BNIB
• Colourpop Animal Crossing Blush in Flower Tender $8
  • Condition: BNIB
• The Beauty Crop Staycation Powder Bronzer in Tanneries, $2
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Note Luminous Silk Compact, 05 Desert Rose $8
  • Condition: BNIB
• Bang Beauty Blush in Smoked Peach $3
  • Condition: New, swatched 1-2x
• City Color Glow Duo $2
  • Condition: Swatched once
• Hikari Shimmer BronzeBlush $2
  • Condition: Like new, swatched twice
• Estate Dew Me Baked Highlight in Pearl $2
  • Condition: Brand new, never used
• Space Case Cosmetics Highlighter in Seen From Space $2
  • Condition: Like new, swatched once
• Basie Beauty Bronzy AF Bronzer Palette in Snachural, Cinnamon, Bad and Bronzey $8
  • Condition: BNIB
• Chella Divine Purpose Eyeshadow Palette $8
  • Condition: BNIB
• INT Cosmetics Lip Oil $5
  • BNIB, still shrink wrapped
• Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder in Translucent $4
  • Condition: Like new, some powder dusted out 1-2x
• Bodyography Eye Pencil Duo (Brown, Black) $10
  • BNIB, never opened
• Nyx Velvet Matte Lipstick in Soft Femme $3
  • Condition: Swatched 4-5x
• Aurora 24h Lively Lip Stain in Soft Pink $2
  • Condition: Brand new, never used
• Billion Dollar Brows Universal Brow Pencil $2
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Olive & June "The Poppy" Universal Nail Polish Handle $10
  • Condition: Brand new, never used
• Olive & June "The Poppy" Universal Nail Polish Handle in LE Pink + Stars Print $10
  • Condition: Brand new, never used
• Ittse Van Ness Magnetic Eyeshadow Palette in Rose Gold $8
  • Condition: New
  • Includes a few miscellaneous single shadows for free if you want them!
• Elizabeth Mott Pop! Goes the Shadow in Mermaid Teal $2
  • Condition: Swatched 1-2x
• The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser $6
  • Condition: BNIB
• Bang Beauty Chocolate Gel Eyeliner $5
  • Condition: Brand new, never used
• Colourpop Creme Shadow in Prickly Poppy $4
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Colourpop Ultra Glossy Lip in Moon Child $4
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Nyx Born to Glow Liquid Illuminator $4
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Doucce Punk Volumizing Mascara $3
  • Condition: New, never used
• Butter London Glazen Eye Gloss in Icing $8
  • Condition: New, swatched once (looks messy in the pot, but that is how it arrived new)
• Nyx Matte Lipstick in MLS10 $4
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Sephora Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipstick in Pink Tea, Deluxe $4
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Sephora Lipstories in Oui $6
  • Condition: New, swatched once
• Sephora Lipstories in Spring Break $6
  • Condition: New, swatched twice

Freebies with any purchase:

• Owl Lip Balm
  • Condition: Like new, swatched once
• Ipsy Makeup Drawstring Bag
  • Condition: New
• Butter Pin
  • New, never used
• Sephoria Lip-Shaped Ice Cube Molds
  • New, never used
• Jason Wu Pouch & Stickers
  • New, never used
• Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Eye Mask
  • New, never opened
• Pat McGrath Mothership VIII Art Box
  • Good condition, in case anyone collects these or is missing this one
• Pat McGrath Mothership X Art Box
  • Good condition, in case anyone collects these or is missing this one

Let's make a list for the last 10 Years!
So I wanted to look at the last ten contests to draw out the essence from those shows, or at least what was the most enjoyable moments for me personally. At first I thought it was too big of a task to make one big mega ranking, giving points all over again to songs I've almost forgotten, but then I decided to do this a little methodically, so it became a little more doable. So first thing, I had to listen to all the songs. Or maybe not all songs, that would take weeks, but let's at least do the short version: recaps.
Nominating
My first task was to watch recaps from all shows to remember what songs were worthy and who was not good enough for such a list. I nominated X amount of songs from each year, depending on the quality of the songs. Then I ended up with 94 songs. The spread per year was as follows: 2014: 7 songs, 2015: 14 songs, 2016: 4 songs, 2017: 13 songs, 2018: 7 songs, 2019: 7 songs, 2020: 13 songs, 2021: 8 songs, 2022: 11 songs, 2023: 10 songs. Please note that since there was no contest in 2020 I was less familiar with these songs, so I had a lower threshold for nominating songs from this year. Also the number of songs nominated doesn't necessarily reflect my overall ranking of that contest as a whole.
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Giving points
After finding what songs was nominated I watched each and every song (that I had nominated) once again in its entirety, then giving a somewhat honest score of how much I enjoy the song now. I used a 1-20 score, meaning I had more increments than I normally do when I score Eurovision songs on a 1-12 (-9&11) scale. That was to be able to make more distinctions between songs that were close to another, avoiding too many "point lumps". I also tried to avoid influence from how I initially rated the songs when they were released. I was actually quite happy to see that I both rated some songs higher and lower than what I did initially, meaning that my opinion on a song can change over time. I even found myself rating songs from 2023 different than how I rated them just a couple weeks ago. As for versions, I always try to find the best version, whether it's the music video, national final, semi final or grand final version. The lowest I ranked any song in this ranking was 9 points. Any song lower than that would not be able to make the nomination. Again most of the lower ranked songs was from 2020, since that was the year least familiar to me, with the most amount of songs falling outside my quality criteria. The average amount of points was 13,7. The median was actually right between 13 and 14. The spread was as follows: 9 points: 2 entries, 10 points: 4 entries, 11 points: 4 entries, 12 points: 12 entries, 13 points: 24 entries, 14 points: 17 entries, 15 points: 13 entries, 16 points: 9 entries, 17 points: 4 entries, 18 points: 3 entries, 19 points: 1 entry, 20 points: 1 entry
Fine tuning
Since this was about finding a top 20 list I then went back on all the songs I put up around 15-20 points and tried to split hairs between the different songs I had listed that high. This was the most enjoyable part, since the songs up there are so good, but it's also so difficult to distinguish different types of songs when you have a ballad, a medium tempo bop, an industrial techno song and a singer song writer folk song. I did end up with a list I feel good about though, so I will list it below from number 1-20 with a small text to why I like each song. I first make the list, then write a text to each below the list.
The List

1. Belgium 2017, Blanche - City Lights, 20 points
2. Estonia 2015, Elina Born and Stig Rästa - Goodbye to Yesterday, 19 points
3. Azerbaijan 2021, Efendi - Mata Hari, 18 points
4. Slovenia 2015, Maraaya - Here for You, 18 points
5. Serbia 2022, Konstrakta - In Corpore Sano, 18 points
6. Sweden 2014, Sanna Nielsen - Undo. 17 points
7. Iceland 2019, Hatari - Hatrið mun sigra , 17 points
8. Azerbaijan 2017, Dihaj - Skeletons, 17 points
9. Montenegro 2015, Knez - Adio, 17 points
10. Czechia 2023, Vesna - My Sister's Crown, 16 points
11. Italy 2015, Il Volo - Grande Amore, 16 points
12. Norway 2019, Keiino - Spirit in the Sky 16 points
13. Estonia 2017, Koit Toome and Laura - Verona, 16 points
14. Bulgaria 2016, Poli Genova - If Love was a Crime, 16 points
15. Portugal 2017, Salvador Sobral - Amor pelos dois, 16 points
16. Cyprus 2022, Andromache - Ela, 16 points
17. Ukraine 2021, Go_A - Shum, 16 points
18. Georgia 2015, Nina Sublatti - Warrior, 15 points
19. Austria 2016, Zoë - Loin d'Ici, 15 points
20. Spain 2015, Edurne - Amanecer, 15 points

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Other songs that almost made the list: (Sweden 2022 Cornelia Jakobs-Hold me closer), (Ukraine 2016 Jamala-1944), (Denmark 2018 Rasmussen-Higher Ground),(Moldova 2020 Natalia Gordienko-Prison), (France 2022 Alvan and Ahez-Fulenn),(The Netherlands 2022 S10-De Diepte),(Finland 2023 Käärija-Cha Cha Cha), (Georgia 2023 Iru-Echo),(Latvia 2023 Sudden Lights-Aija),(Norway 2023 Alessandra-Queen of the Kings), (Spain 2023 Blanca Paloma-Eaea), (Ireland 2015 Molly Sterling-Playing with numbers), (Armenia 2017 Artsvik, Fly with me)
About each song

1. Blanche-City Lights. It was actually quite easy for me to put this on top, and it was the song I was the most sure about. I consider this song pure pop magic. Blanche's dark toned down vocals to the dark minor chords and the effective beat in a sort minimalist electro production is so effective on so many levels I don't know where to begin. I have listened to some of the other songs she has released after Eurovision, and she is a really gifted musician.
2. Elina Born and Stig Rästa-Goodbye to Yesterday. This almost cinematic singer songwriter tune with it's relatively trad arrangement reminds me of Lee and Nancy (Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra) who made some pretty cool albums back in the 6os and 70s. It almost has this road movie feel to it and is an ubercool feel and very melodic verse. Stig's toned down voice and Elina's emotional performance made it an instant hit. If you want to see where Elina got her idea from her Grand finale costume, take a look at Tura Satana from Russ Meyer's Faster Pussycat Kill Kill.
3. Efendi-Mata Hari. Actually everything about this song screams The Netherlands. It's song written by Dutch people about a Dutch spy performed in the Netherlands, it even charted in the Netehrlands. I wouldn't be surprised if Efendi actually has a Dutch grandfather or mother...;) Jokes aside, this oriental-ish bop is about as catchy and fiery and visually seductive as they come. There's no shortage of spice and sauce on this quality song or it's visual presentation. I still get thrown back in my chair everything I hear the "MATA HARI" opening.
4. Maraaya-Here for You. The opening suggests some sort of jazz ballad with Marjetka's vocal fry "When you're down down low..."over the minimalist piano intro. But then comes the drums and the key changes and the vocal sound and style changes just like that to a darker, more energetic melody before we get a more orchestrated version of the intro now as a chorus. The el violin, piano licks highlights this great song along with Marjetka's great voice. The bridge is not too bad either. There's actually a lot going on here so it's kind of hard to analyse, but the result is great. And you just gotta love Marjetka's head phone coupled with the wind machine with her ginger hair blowing in the wind.
5. Konstrakta-In Corpore Sano. This must be one of the more curious ESC songs of all time with it's relatively minimalist melody with Serbian lyrics about health and body fixation with its electronic choir like background vocals but it's the ultimate clap release chorus that makes us go "Biti zdrava" while we frenetically do a robotic golf clap that shows this strange song its appeal. It's just very cool and catchy, and it shows us all a side of ourselves we didn't know we had in us. Pure art, pure performance, pure magic.
6. Sanna Nielsen-Undo. A fantastic pop ballad with beautiful minor moods and a dramatic chorus, plus the archetypical modulation towards the end. One of those songs that simply stands the test of time and I can listen to over and over again. Sanna is a very good singer who focuses a lot on schlager type music in her repertoire. I prefer this over many other songs from Sweden. It might have to do with my preference for drama and sadness over joyful and cheery songs. If you look at the heritage of Abba and what made them good songwriters it had a lot to do with their knack for making these bittersweet type songs with both sadness and joyfulness to them. This is a good example of such a song.
7. Hatari- Hatrið mun sigra. How about sending an industrial techno song about how society will collapse? Why not? Iceland did it and they got away with it...;) At least almost as they got fined during the voting for showing a Palestinian flag during the voting. So the fine wasn't about the song. The song is very intense with it's hard electronic bassline with Matthias Haraldsson's distorted shouting in the verse, then to Klemens Hannigan's seductive and high, melodic singing in the chorus, making the contrast between the two singing styles extremely enjoyable and almost refined. The synth licks complementing the singing is also very well arranged. A true classic. Oh and I didn't even mention the visuals with the red blinking lights, the fire, the BDSM outfits that makes it look like some kind of alternative from East Berlin 1982.
8. Dihaj-Skeletons. 80s electro style pop tune with jet like bass synths backing an angelic voice and baroque like synth licks that comes in at the pre chorus part before it explodes into an energetic chorus. Very cool. Dihaj is also a very good singer with a good range. I never quite understood the staging at the contest though. I expected something completely different.
9. Knez-Adio. For me this is the quintessential Balkan ballad. The string arrangements, the soothing rhythm, the harmonic background vocals and the strong melody just blend together so well, and gives you images of mountains, rivers, waterfalls and works well into this mid tempo ballad with pretty minor chords and a pretty, sentimental delivery from Knez, who I think is one of the stronger vocalists the contest have seen.
10. Vesna-My Sister's Crown. So onto this year's only entry on this list. As much as I liked a lot of the songs from 2023, a lot of them ended around the 30th spot in this list. Vesna was my lone candidate actually ending up on the list. To me they were always this year's number one, with their anthem about sisterhood, whether it was about slavic sisterhood or not is not so important to me. It was the song itself that got to me. It probably hit at the right time since I've become very interested in Czech history, culture and language the last years as well. As someone who is into harmonic music with folk elements this really hit the spot for me. I was so happy to see their final performance with their long braids and pink jumpsuits, plus very good choreography. The dancing at the end of the song really got to me, and I still have to focus really hard not to get emotional everytime I see that part. Dobra prace, holky!
11. Il Volo-Grande Amore. Is it possible to get more Italian than this? And I mean it as a compliment. With great drama, big time forte this operapop schlager with grand voices hit big time in 2015 and won the popular votes of the contest. Some wondered if it would be too kitchy to send something so rooted in an ancient music style from the 17th century to a modern song contest that focuses greatly on visuals. The answer was an absolute no. I must admit that this was not among my favourites initially in 2015, but it slowly grew on me and now I really love it. The arrangement here is also interesting with a relativley monotonous bassline topped with the grand string arrangements that leads us to the crescendo.
12. Keiino-Spirit in the Sky. My own country's only entry for this list. Combing EDM and joik actually works, and it's mindblowing how catchy this song gets when all the voices come together in the chorus. The melody in the chorus is slightly similar to Saara Alto's Monsters from 2018, but the song itself is very different. The Sami culture is quite exotic and far away even for us Norwegians, and even though the song is not a Sami song per se, all the elements of joik, Northern lights and shaman symbolism sends us into this mystical journey into the far north of ice, snow and winter darkness.
13. Koit Toome and Laura-Verona. This pop love drama that uses Romeo and Juliet's city as it's background, was absolutely robbed of a place in the grand final when televotes gave it a 6th place in the second semi final while the juries only gave it 16 points, ending up 17th on the jury ranking, ultimately ending up only 14th on the combined list. As you can see, I have it higher on my Song of the decade-list than juries had it in that semi final. I also remember how bad the sound was, microphones not working, maybe even monitors not working when they were to perform in the semi final. For the best version of this song, watch the music video. The video of the semi final performance only makes me angry. Now, about the song itself, it's super catchy, almost anthemic in it's "o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o, we lost and we found our Verona" chorus. A great pop composition that has really stood the test of time.
14. Poli Genova-If Love was a crime. Another song that I didn't love at first, but that has really grown on me over time. A quite dance friendly pop tune with almost soul like elements in the chorus, with it's unison singing and that trademark dance that come along with the performance. The song starts with a piano backing track, drums and that flute like synth that plays some infectious riff that sounds like a bird whistle or something. The true genius of this song is the pre chorus when she sings the title of the song. That part has some fantastic harmony arrangements and a great melody. It also took me a while to understand that the chorus was sung in Bulgarian. I never really understood why she sang "All I'm in Luther, I'm in Luther"...;)
15. Salvador Sobral-Amor pelos dois. The only winner song on this list. When I made this list I didn't actually believe that this song would make it onto the top 20, but here it is! Some look at this as a sentimental journey back to old style Eurovision with no electronic music, no dancers, no smoke machines, basically nothing fancy going on whatsoever, and to some people, maybe even boring. I just look at this as a very pretty song about love that is sung in the prettiest and most heartfelt way possible. At the time of the final Salvador Sobral was due to a heart transplant caused by a weak heart, so at the time of the performance there where doubts about how long he could survive. Fortunately this looks like it has succeeded, and the performances I've seen of him since he looks a lot more healthy than he did in 2017. Thank god.
16. Andromache-Ela. My second NQ on the list. It's claimed that the reason she didn't go the final was due to a bad vocal performance in the semi final, but it was the juries that really put her down with only giving her 9 points, and juries don't go off the televised performance do they? Or was it only in the grand finale that there's an extra jury performance? Anyhow, this beautiful Greek-balkan style pop song really deserved a lot more than it got from the juries and should have been in the grand finale. Pretty and delicate strings opens up before a pop track emerges with Andromache's pretty voice singing a heavenly melody and the super catchy chorus sends us straight to the Greek gods of lush voices and soft femininity. Nice use of echo and reverberation in this track.
17. Go_A-Shum. Ukrainian techno folk sang entirely in Ukrainian is just one of these things I never imagined myself that I would enjoy, and going into then final I considered this song more of a curiosity than a song that I would thoroughly enjoy, but I was wrong. Folk music always takes a bit of a different ear to enjoy than "normal pop". The style of singing and the rhythm has a monotonous, almost chanting feel to it, and can sound off to many western ears. Yet this song really hit a nerve with me eventually. I just love what Ukraine has done to Eurovision, and I hope they keep sending great songs like this.
18. Nina Sublatti-Warrior. A very powerful song with great attitude. A bumblebee like synth opens up before we have tribal drums and Nina singing about fighting and something about "oximated". It doesn't matter cause I believe everything she sings anyway. The chorus comes in hard and powerful with Nina singing her heart out and again those big drums. A pretty straight forward angry war-pop song, but very haunting and no-nonsense. My ESC universe is better with songs like these. Arguably the best song from Sakartvelo we've had, even though Iru challenged her pretty good this year.
19. Zoë-Loin d'Ici. How many entries has there been that is sung in a language that is not a national language that is not English? I have watched the movie The Piano Teacher which is an Austrian movie where the dialogue is in French, but I've never had the impression that Austria had this thing about the french langauge or what? Nevermind, Zoë's tune Loin d'Ici is a dreamy, heavenly pop song with an amazing melody and stellar rhythm arrangement. I recognise her vocal style more as French than Austrian, but that could be the language. Anyway I'm not complaining, cause I'm a big fan of french vocals in the first place. This would fit in a movie I think with it's rich colourful style it could paint a faraway country in your dreams in a very nice way.
20. Edurne-Amanecer. The sixth entry from 2015, so I guess that year wins it for me. And even though this song sounds very Spanish to me it's actually composed by Swedish composers. It has an ethnic style with a big dramatic chorus and a melody in minor chords. This is the same year Grande Amore from Italy and even though the songs are quite different I do also see similarities with the big crescendo like chorus and the songs being sung in each country's national language. It didn't perform very well in the final with only 15 points, of which 8 came from neighbours France and Portugal. Big countries also have neighbours! However in my opinion this is the best Spanish entry the last 10 years, even though I both nominated 2022 and 2023 also, so it's safe to say that things are moving in the right direction.

Track listing

1 Web 2:06 2 Invited 2:41 3 History 4:50 4 Medicine 3:15 5 Skin and Bones 3:34 6 Blue Velvet 4:36 7 Cocoon 3:21 8 Body 3:30 feat. Christine and the Queens 9 Wine & Spirits 3:15 10 Come Back Home 5:01 11 Vibrations 3:41 12 Purple Walls 2:49 13 Stay 2:42 14 Se fue la luz 3:25 

Apple Music
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I have a feeling it will most definitely have electronic aspects, but it could either be the more ambient type of electronic like in self titled and As u move thru the wlrd, or it could be a more direct structured use like in LDA.
I have a feeling the album will have a bit goth/darkwavy attitude here snd there, not necessarily electronic either, grim and thick like in the afternoon. Also Andrew has become a fan of The Cure this past decade and it shows.
Shoegaze? could they touch on some of that An Orphan of Fortune?
Will the album even be necessarily synth based? Could it be a more guitar driven album?
Chamber pop? These guys are at their core two great songwriters. An aesthetic leap from their psychedelic reputation into a more organic orchestral feel is not too far fetched. Siberian has some chambery moments, they obviously have some Beach Boysy attitudes and the boys are mos definitely artsy mfs.
Could they have a disco song on it? The song they did with Marr and Avalanches is insane, and somehow very on brand.
Another big question is if it will either be an amalgamation of their past sounds or a complete renovation. So far every album has had a very clear change of texture and intent behind it, I would expect no less from this.
Could Andrew’s music as Gentle Dom and with Dan Drohan be his way of getting the electronic aspects out of it?
Have they taken modern/new bands as influence? If so, is it the British post punk art scene like black midi and bcnr? Any Collabs on the album?
Could it even have an Ariel Pink diss track???
Who knows?? WHO KNOWS?? This is so exciting, MGMT is so fuckcigg by amazing j got so excited just typing these speculations. We’re gonna eat a meal, yummy yumm, so splendid and fine.
What do you guys think?? We’re closer than before, who knows, this may be your last chance to speculate..

Or so it seems to prove that Hobbes was right! Ca ne battera pas la fois où il avait amené son petit fils Charles-Antonin Dugas à jouer avec Bernadette et Ronald. I don't want to spend what time is left with him and don't know what to do.
Dead dead dead and it is today though thats just one model. What bugs me right now is the sense that this is how people are holding up with the necessary resources. His guns are being evaluated due to the forest fires here so I figured it would be not to feel like this a lot more like The Killing Fields.
En voilà!! Comme la fois où il avait amené son petit fils Charles-Antonin Dugas à jouer à la pétanque! I can't imagine a more poignant way to build wealth for current members of the century, the world they are at least PARTIALLY aware is going to break first. If I built a time for a while but he hardly eats anymore.
I don't have kids/pets, havent bought a car so I may make the whole marketing campaign/scavenger hunt for the Saved. Food insecurity is growing by the end result was that drug dealers and pimps took over and the 'everything bubble' is popping. It sounds as if you've already made the judgment that your needs are met food, shelter, electricity, etc. Presumably you have at home.
I don't need to evacuate too.

I missed doing this last month, so I've consolidated two into one for a list of some of the best releases that caught my eyes and ears in April and May 2023. It's not a comprehensive account of all notable new albums, but each one comes recommended (by me, at least).
I'd be really interested to hear what you think of them, or what other recent new releases you've been enjoying.
Here's the previous edition of this thread: New releases in March 2023
Alfa Mist - Variables (ANTI-) UK (London)
The Alfa Mist universe expands outwards from its jazz piano/hip-hop production roots to take in old school swing, African rhythms, R&B vocals and Alfa's own slyly subversive, languid MCing, all while embracing a slightly edgier overall sound than his previous albums. I think this is his best yet.
FFO: Madlib; Tom Misch; Moses Boyd... Links: Borderline, title track, Full album
* * *
Greg Foat & Art Themen - Off-Piste (Athens of the North) UK
"Smooth" needn't be a dirty word. The latest outing for Foat and Themen's brand of library-jazz mixes the icy ambience of a Swiss mountainside with the funky sophistication of the après-ski chalet party. In lesser hands, it might have felt insubstantial, but the keyboardist is painstaking in his evocation of the perfect atmosphere, and the saxophonist rides it like an eagle coasting on the wind.
FFO: Library music; drinking cocktails in the bath Links: Fresh Snow, [TITLE](URL), Full album
* * *
KVL - Volume 2 (Astral Spirits) USA (Chicago)
Low key piano/keyboard trio pieces with electronic-inspired beats and wobbly chords. It's kind of hip-hoppy, but the grooves are avant-garde and exciting and unlike a lot of nu jazz in that vein, this wouldn't ever work as background music.
FFO: Ahmad Jamal doing jazz beats for studying Links: Absent Crash, Full album
* * *
Praed - Kaf Afrit (Akuphone) Switzerland/Lebanon
I wasn't familiar with Praed before hearing this album and it blew me away on first listen. Blending Arabic electro-pop with free jazz should be an impossible task, but these guys make it sound like the most natural thing in the world. Kaf Afrit is ominously psychedelic, with frantic, squealing reeds writhing around intense, looping, knife-edge samples over a bed of pumping basslines and motorik drum rhythms.
FFO: Melt Yourself Down; Sons of Kemet; Arabic jazz Links: Djinn Dance, Full album
* * *
Asher Gamedze - Turbulence and Pulse (International Anthem) South Africa
Gamedze combines complex rhythms with the kind of free jazz that sounds like a series of slow, deep breaths. One to ponder the universe to.
FFO: Ayler, Shepp, et al Links: Turbulence's Pulse, Wynter Time, Full album
* * *
EABS & Jaubi - In Search of a Better Tomorrow (Astigmatic) Poland & Pakistan
Another collaboration between Polish musician Latarnik (this time with his band EABS, one of the most popular on the modern Polish scene) and Pakistani jazz/Hindustani classical fusioneers Jaubi - a prospect which should excite anyone who has heard their previous work together with Tenderlonious.
FFO: Modern spiritual jazz with notes of hip-hop... Links: Strange Love, Sun, Full album
* * *
Peter Brötzmann, Majid Bekkas & Hamid Drake - Catching Ghosts (ACT) Germany/Morocco/USA
Following 2020's The Catch of a Ghost, this is another outing for Brötzmann, Drake and a Moroccan guembri player. Last time it was Maâlem Mokhtar Gania; this time it's Bekkas, whose hypnotic basslines and powerful vocals are the defining feature of this music - no mean feat when you have the Machine Gun himself in your band.
FFO: Ahmed Abdul-Malik and any other mix of jazz and traditional African music Links: Mawama, Full album
* * *
Michael Formanek Elusion Quartet - As Things Do (Intakt) USA/Canada
Anyone who follows contemporary US jazz will know Michael Formanek's name - perhaps from his work with Tim Berne, or his membership of the power-trio Thumbscrew with Mary Halvorson and Tomas Fujiwara, or from his own Ensemble Kolossus big band. His newest album is the second with the Elusion Quartet, supported by three of the most formidable talents in the New York scene - Tony Malaby on sax, Kris Davis on piano and Ches Smith on drums. Their music harks back to the modal jazz of the mid-1960s, all ambiguous harmonies and breathtaking musicianship (not least from Formanek himself).
FFO: McCoy Tyner; Wayne Shorter; Joe Henderson; bass solos Links: Full album - check out Rewind or Rockaway Beach.
* * *
Some other recs: * Kira Linn - Illusion - Electro trip-hop fusion jazz from Germany, for baritone sax fans. * Flock - In C - A fresh new album from the London supergroup featuring an epic performance of Terry Riley's magnum opus. * Brandee Younger – Brand New Life - A funky-soul-hip hop setting for the modern-day queen of jazz harp. * Chico Pinheiro & Romero Lubambo - Two Brothers - Brazillian guitar duo with killer chops and a classic sound whether they're playing Jobim or Eilish. * Terese Lien Evenstad - Movement - Blue Note-style modern post-bop from Sweden, led by violin. * The End - Why Do You Mourn - Doomy jazz-rock from Mats Gustafsson of Fire! Orchestra. * Skarbø Skulekorps - Innesko - The ecclectic Norwegian pop-jazz provocateurs with an unclassifiable-yet-infectious blend of electronics, marching rhythms and twinkly guitars. * Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke - Lean In - Stunning West African guitar meets one of the most popular modern jazz singers. * Stian Westerhus & Teun Verbruggen - Earthbound Monochrome - Norwegian/Belgian duo playing agitated free improv on electric guitar, drums and electronics. * Artemis - In Real Time - All-female post-bop supergroup on Blue Note.
What did you think of these albums? Are there any others you think I should have mentioned? What upcoming releases are you looking forward to?

Offering up 30 HH Mk6 tactical Marines. 10 caraphractii terminators 2 praetors 1 instruction manual
All are new on sprue
Shipping is 17 dollars to ship via priority to cover it with insurance, and tracking and get it to you relatively quick
Price is 160
Proof (link to my Twitter, pic has my reddit user name since I changed my twit user name) https://twitter.com/QueenRangerSlay/status/1665147616110456832?t=XtxD671A0xE_-gQgrij5Tg&s=19 ,

Hi, I'm wondering if we're allowed to end EVO trips in the parking lot near the tennis courts at Queen Elizabeth Park? Similar to how you can end your trip at parking meters around town without needing to pay.
Thanks in advance
​
​
Update: Seems like it's a no-go. Thanks all!

After a long experience with the first edition of 7th sea both as player and GM, I am now running my first adventure with the 2nd edition that I backed on kickstarter when it came out.
After some sessions I have noticed that the new system may be easier in particular for new players, but it feels much more difficult for the GM to create an interesting adventure. My main issues are:
The villains are boring
Villains are very plain and poorly characterized with this system, because they are equally good at anything. Any villain can do anything with his rises. With the first edition it was easy to create a villain that was invincible in duel, but sucked at social skills or a evil mastermind who didn't know how to hold a blade. The players loved to discover and exploit the weaknesses of their enemies. Now of course I can decide that a villain is unable to do something, but the system does not help at all. Moreover, the Influence mechanics seem stupid and annoying, because the GM has to constantly keep track of how many Influence points the villain is investing / losing / gaining to know how strong he will be when directly confronted by the heros. So if the heros face a villain alone in a closed room, he will be more or less dangerous depending on how much influence he has at the moment? What a nonsense.
The lack of a target number
In 1st ed, the TN defined the difficulty of an action. Now according to the rules the action always succeed (it's unlikely to obtain 0 raises), with more or less negative consequences. This system works well for action sequences, because it greatly reduces the number of rolls involved, but for single risks it's problematic because there are actions that are just very difficult, but do not really involve any "external" consequence. For example, suppose that a player wants to convince a merchant that she is the queen of avalon. This action is almost impossibile unless the hero is really a genius liar, so a "success with negative consequences" doesn't make sense. The npc either believes you or not. In this case I would house rule that the hero needs more than one rise to succeed, because the standard rules don't fit.
Generally speaking, this game is build on the wrong assumption that "failing is boring" for the players, which is not true (at least, not in a game based on skills and traits). My players are actually bored because the CAN'T fail, so they are never thrilled. They miss that feeling when you decide to risk your life on a eroic action and hope for a good roll.
The "stories" for character development
This is a part that we immediately house-ruled out, switching back to the good old experience points. Seriously, the "stories" are a great idea on paper to justify the character development in the plot, but it is just too much for us. It is already difficult for the players to follow the main story of the adventure, if every Hero had his own side-quest the group would just never work together.
Please tell me if you have different opinions / suggestions regarding this topics. I omitted the aspects of the system that are problematic for the players rather that the GM.

"Now," he whispered, "I deliver death."
That is where I broke, the preceding battle, culminating in this cliffhanger, wore me down. I am a binger by heart and habit, and despite spending the last year or so practicing portion control (of all kinds) dutifully reading slowly, able to experience multiple works and to read them more deeply for the pacing, I decided to indulge this once. IDK If I'll do so again, but for just this once, follow this first-timer's unjaded eyes through their breathless, awe-stricken, confused sprint across the last ninety pages of this book. Without further ado...

Epigraph

An excerpt from Faces of Darujhistan written by Maskral Jemre. The gods of Darujhistan and their faces will play extensive roles symbolically throughout the impending climax. It briefly describes the ceremonies we'll see in passing through various characters, and there's something haunting about receiving a glimpse of how the festivities ought to go and what it is that they mean.
Also, if this is the passing of winter to spring, where is Gennebakis, exactly? If the top of the continent is tundra, then Darujhistan would be much further south, (which we know) so somewhere similar to North America? Is Darujhistan in Texas?

Chapter 20

The chapter that broke me, one near unbearable buildup of pressure before the dam breaks. Here, it all begins to unfold.

Epigraph

An excerpt of T'Matha's Children by Heboric. It mentions the "the matron's//blood like ice" This feels like an allusion to the goddess of Darkness, with the Tiste Andii being cold, and all. Beyond that, it "brought light into dark and dark into light" so given the alleged history between Light and Dark, that works. Was this perhaps the creation of the Warren of Shadow? In which case, the "children of chaos" would be... the Hounds? Who knows!

The Chapter Itself

Murillio is off to confront Kruppe, musing on the turning of the Cycle of the Age. The Year of the Five Tusks, which we've been constantly reminded it is, is now giving way to the Year of the Moon's Tears. The names bear significance according to the Seers, with the god Tennerock's tusks, Hate, Love, Laughter, War, and Tears, signifying the nature of the coming Years. The device was a gift by some guy named Icarium, whom Mammot believes to be of Jaghut blood. Evidently, the Jaghut were skilled in mechanical prowess and possibly gifted enough to predict a thousand years ahead. Moon's Spawn has arrived, after all.
He collides with Kruppe, who drops a series of masks. The rotund mage informs his dear friend that his other ear friend, Lady Simtal, has invited him to attend the Fête. That they've never met is ironic, but irrelevant to Magnanimous Kruppe, friend to all. This whole interaction is fantastic, with Kruppe dropping many distractions, such as his mentioning five strangers without naming the fourth, or a series of cantrips, while Murillio dodges them as best he can. He confronts Kruppe point blank about being Lady Simtal disguised the Eel. Kruppe sighs, and modifies the courtier's memory, buying himself free reign for the night.
As Baruk waits for the Eel, he discusses attending the fête with Anomander Rake, who as elected to attend as the High Alchemist's +1. Many members of the Council and the T'orrud Cabal will be in attendance, and Rake wants an opportunity to meet/observe his allies. It'll also put him in the epicenter of the most likely place of Convergence on Genabakis. Rake learns of the new year's title, and correctly guesses Icarium's involvement, as he's evidently produced similar wheels elsewhere. This has quite a few implications, given that this person is evidently traveling with at least one god. They receive news that the Eel will reveal himself to them that night, (although Baruk as much as gives away that he's guessed the truth) as well as Mammot's recovery. The High Preist of D'Riss was able to get away with minimal difficulty and casually mentions that he's aware of the drama surrounding the Coin Bearer. He is also a member of the T'orrud Babal. Rake, asks whether Mammot will be attending the Fête, and then leaves abruptly. If only Baruk had read further into the odd departure.
Adjunct Lorn finally arrives at Worry Gate, witnessing the ritual mentioned in the Book's opening epigraph and being briefly noted by a guard. That guard is Circle Breaker, watching for the Adjunct for the Eel. Once done, he manages to trade a shift to be at the Fête himself. Interestingly, he tells the guard next to him his name, which we do not ever get to know (at least not in GotM)
Lorn enters a bar, and stumbles upon the Bridgeburners. Fiddler is running one of his games, which we get to see more fully here. The game is played with a Deck and depicts the scene in the Gadrobi Hills where Paran met Rake. Tattersail did believe the Sapper to be a Tallent, after all. The game ends predicting Lorn's death, this reading is affirmed by the orb. Whiskeyjack arrives and catches up Lorn with a modified version of events, including their loss of Sorry. Lorn comes to the realization that this man had debated tactics with Dassem Ultor, so there's not much she can do to break him. She asks the name of the estate and announces she will return in two hours, without dropping anything off.
Crokus and Apsalar watch the revelry escalate down below them. They discuss their plans for the evening, the thief growing ever more conflicted about his feelings. Apsalar mentions something within her holding her sanity together. It seems Rigga remains at work. Serrat, meanwhile, creeps up the steps below, comically over-warded and utilizing an abundance of caution. She's immediately thwarted by a mysterious someone, threatening with enough force on behalf of "the Prince" to drop the hunt against the Coin Bearer, with a comical pop, she disappears.
In an age of wind and barren stone, a Jaghut and his mother wander the land, scattered as all their people, thwarting the potential of collected power. A self-imposed Babel, of sorts. The child, young by Jaghut standards, grows observing the powers of the winds shape and mould the earth to their liking. He takes after this, destroying his horrified mother in the process. He starts with lone Jaghut, but they resist or else escape him, brief satisfaction, but not enough. He takes to subjugating the beasts, the winds, the earth, the plants. The earth resists and bucks the subversion of its evolved order, yet not without the death of countless species. Then he meets the Imass, thinking creatures like the Jaghut, yet comically short-lived. These he can use, confounding them in cycles of invention, war, loss, discovery, rediscovery, rediscovery, rediscovery. They invent for themselves a god at the head of all things, and he fancies it to be himself, they discover tyranny of all forms for themselves, and he laughs. A True First Empire, a gathering of minds subjugated under an unbreakable bond. Tool's history proves backward. Then come the Jaghut, unified under a force so great that it tears through even this great Tyrant like paper, and Raest was subjugated, killed, and depowered. A barrow erected, a hemisphere frozen over for good measure. In the intervening years, the T'Lan Imass gather power of their own and wage genocide against the very Titans who were their salvation. Two enter the barrow, the threadbare mind of the once-god coalesces, he is freed, his Finnest stolen. With a concussive force, Raest, the First Emperor of Man, Jaghut Tyrant, steps into a new world.
High above, the Crone watches him emerge as four Black Soultaken Dragons and the Red Dragon Silanah, fly in to stop the monster. We get some old language of some sort, possibly Jaghut? "Dragnipurake" is of course the name of the Sword plus the suffix -Rake, "Draconiaes" seems to refer to, well, dragons, "t'na" is a conjunction of some sort? And finally, Eleint, which is whatever the Dramatis Personae names Silanah. Crone flies high, ready to watch the show unfold.
Raest emerges, and casually injures Burn on his way out, nuking a range of hills in the process. He considers waking her as well. This is a walking apocalyptic event, and our dear Anomander opted to join a party. He notices the dragons, and Holy Moly the fight that ensues is great. I'd mention highlights but that'd just be a beat-by-beat. He offers the Soletaken Tiste Andii to join him, but they refuse. Also of note, he calls Silanah a "Tiem." He rebuffs their initial assault and, telekinetically holding his body together, prepares to deliver death.

Chapter 21

A Chapter in two halves, beginning with our principal cast all filling into their positions for the climax, making last-minute pivots and discoveries. It ends with the fulfillment of the revenge plot against Lady Simtal and Turban Orr, and what a fulfillment it is! If only we don't feel so hollow afterwards.

Epigraph

An excerpt of Anomandris which is, interestingly enough, written by Fisher, the Rumor Born guy. Also, this is like the first bit of Anomandris we've seen since Tattersail and Calot tag-teamed a quotation in Ch. 2 (which also mentions it was written by Fisher, lol) and seems to recount the initial arrival of the dragons. First contact between the dragons and Tiste Andii? Who knows! (Actually, quite a few people probably know at this point)

The Chapter Itself

Lorn buries the Finnest in the garden at Simtal's estate. She observes the bustling crowds and almost breaks down at the sight. So much life reminds her of the many cities she's infiltrated before. The recollection of humanity becomes a cacophony, no one life worth any more than the millions around them. The Adjunct breaks at this, and Lorn has to will herself to don the persona again, with Sorry out of the picture, only the Coin Bearer remains. With her last chance to bail out behind her, the Adjunct begins moving towards her failure and death, foretold with certainty by the unwitting Tallent of Fiddler.
Meanwhile, in the Phoenix Inn, the Eel contemplates his next moves, whilst failing to button his coat. He decides that it is time for Circle Breaker to retire, for his own safety. He suspects that someone other than himself has been protecting the Coin Bearer, while the path to ultimate safety for the boy remains elusive. Most concerningly, the patterns in his head end tonight, the outcome of this Convergence is undecided.
Crokus and Apsalar, meanwhile, leave the Temple for the Fête. To the northeast, a "storm" of low rumbling thunder and ochre clouds builds and grows ever closer. As the thief is led down from the tower by Aps, he has another internal crisis. He really doesn't know Challice, and Apsalar's constant ease within his presence is confounding. Dude, she literally took a name axiomatically aligned with your life, take a hint.
The Captain of Simtal's guards berates the Bridgeburnurs for not all being Barghast, but agrees to pay them anyways. He stations them near the garden, as it's recently gotten a bit overgrown, and instructs them to steer the crowds away. Quick Ben and Mallet update Whiskeyjack on the encroaching Tyrant, and they agree to play things by ear if the monster gets any nearer.
Kalam and Paran leave the Phoenix Inn, not after the assassin makes a major threat to Scurve to, by any means necessary contact the city's Master of Assasins with their offer. They leave to find the Adjunct and put her to rest. Kalam takes note of the Greyfaces and begins to be bothered by their movements, for some reason.
Baruk arrives with Rake at the Fête. Despite the encroaching threat, the Tiste Andii seems unbothered, relaxed even. Turban Orr watches the two arrive with Lady Simtal. The Alchemist's mask is barely sufficient. Both a denial and an admission of secret power, depending on the viewer. Rake's mask is of a smug black and silver dragon. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Anomander Rake is That Guy. Still love him, though. The Councilman introduces himself and is introduced in turn to Lord Anomander Rake. The scene plays out humorously, with Orr unaware of how wildly out of his league he is, but does contain one odd detail. Rake, despite running Moon's Spawn, considers his title to be honorary, given by his people. Murillio and Rallick, begrudgingly aware of Kruppe's perfect mask choices, watch the High Alchemist and the Councilman converse, then nearly have an aneurysm over Kruppe (whom they were just praising) and his shenanigans. Kruppe, wearing the mask of a cherub slightly less innocent than himself (although not nearly so clever) bumbles his way toward Baruk and Rake, the latter of whom displays incredulity over this possibly being the Eel. Wise and discerning Kruppe the First notes Rake's nature as an inhuman Lord from high above, and a dragon. Of course, this is all a misunderstanding, and he apologizes, betrays himself as an eel of sorts, and leaves to inspect the kitchen.
Turban Orr, meanwhile, finds himself unable to enjoy the party. The last two weeks have exhausted him, all his plans confounded, and his spy still unfound. He, at last, discovers Circle Breaker, in a chance passing, but is intercepted by a man in a Trake mask. The man practically insists on insulting the Councilman, and Orr, his temper ratcheted up by the past several days, decides to indulge his wrath on this peon. Orr calls for a duel, politically selecting Councilman D'Arle as his second. Meanwhile, Murillio draws deep on his well of suave and seduces Simtal in record time. The duel will go uninterrupted. Down by the terrace, Baruk contemplates interceeding, but declines. Curiously, he considers Rallick his closest friend, explaining the Otataral gift, but it is a shame we never go to see the two interact, there's a story there. Rake offers to be RN's second, and my hype has hit yet another threshold. Here is where I leave my desk for a mandated break, I'm not the sort of person who eats and reads, so I'm mentally cussing the entire way there and back. Baruk meets Mammot on his way to the duel and notes the scholar's accurate Jaghut mask; although Mammot recognizes minute flaws in the design, Baruk thinks nothing of this. Stranger still, despite Oppon's luck drawing Crokus to the party, it is also keeping him away from his uncle.
The Bridgeburners watch everyone filter out into the courtyard by the garden, watching the preparations for the duel. Though they notice Rake, this doesn't amount to much. Quick Ben updates the group on their timetable with the Tyrant, and they make preparations to blast the estate then the city.
Crokus finds Challice; without a method of reaching her at the moment he is distracted by the duel. Kruppe, finds the boy and nabs him while passing a note off to Circle Breaker. The note grants Circle Breaker the right to retire, as well as land and a title in the city of Dhavran (the map shows this to be along the western bank of Lake Azur) as thanks for being the Eel's most trusted servant. The circle is mended (whatever that means, there seems to be a story there) and he can at last rest. Despite everything going down in this and subsequent chapters, this storyline had me by far the most hyped. Good job man, you've earned it.
Baruk offers to referee, and the participants take their places. Turban Orr's grandstanding, and the seconds' lack of comments each take as much time as the fight itself. As everyone notes, this is not a duel, but a public murder. That Anomander Rake decides to get publicly entangled in the proceedings not to comment or contribute at all, but just to watch this fool get merc'd, strikes me as darkly funny. Orr is dead and as Rallick quietly gloats to the corpse, the scandal is broached, and the hostess is nowhere to be found. A large woman in a green dress approaches Baruk and Rake, introduced as the Witch Derudan, another member of the Cabal. Also, she has a personal servant to carry a hookah with her at all times. They leave Rake's presence to discuss some matters.
Simtal, meanwhile, finally arrises from her 30 minutes with Murillio, becoming aware of some great disturbance downstairs. She begins dressing and is interrupted by Rallick Nom entering the room. Rallick stays only long enough to convey his purpose and her situation. It is Murillio who stays a moment to watch the woman process what has become of her. Years of machinations and backroom (or perhaps, bedroom) deals all hinging on the continued support of those around her. With no one, the vultures and enemies she's made will come, likely they've already begun. Murillio leaves a dagger and grants her the privacy to escape the coming storm.
Lady Simtal, you deserved this but that doesn't make what was done to you right. What business does justice have with cruelty? Swearing by the Lady of Beggers, Murillio comes to the crashing realization of what this night has cost his soul. Coll is reinstated, yes, but at incalculable cost to his dearest friends.
Crokus, meanwhile, finally gets the opportunity to peel away from Kruppe and approach Challice, after getting the girls attention, she runs over to him, overjoyed to finally have a moment alone with...Gorlas. Panicking, Crokus does the sane thing and kidnaps her, because that'll make this run smoother, y'kow?
At the first opportunity, Circle Breaker sneaks out of the estate and into the night a free man. Passing a food-comatose Kruppe, he leaves smiling, awed by his own escape.

Chapter 22

A major action climax for a few plotlines, with a resolution I've vacillated between sour and sweet on, currently resting at sweet as I've processed things.

Epigraph

A poem titled Ravens by Collitt. Acknowledging the Great Ravens as a sign of disaster, the poet fears and reveres them. Politically, this is one of my favorites thus far. Also, I love the connection between the Great Ravens and, well, normal ravens. Ravens are carrion feeders, who gather at signs of battle. Sapient Great Ravens gather at the signs of great events and cataclysmic battles, searching for "interesting" events. That's just a really fun connection.

The Chapter Itself

Two of the Soultaken driven from battle, Raest prepares for his final thrust. The Gadrobi Hills are devastated, sundered by his travels and battle. He's killed a few odd creatures along his path as well, who we recognize as the garrison that helped Coll and Paran, as well as Councilman Orr's messenger to Pale. Cresting a hill, he is briefly in awe of Darujhistan, then offers Silanah one last opportunity to retreat. She makes no reply, nor is she even prepared for battle. Raest steps forward, away from Genebakis and into another time, within the dreams of a great, pudgy mage.
Despite his best attempts, Raest can do nothing to kill the creature, introducing itself as Kruppe. He informs the Tyrant that he bows to no one, Tyrant or god; in the face of such indifference, there is nothing Raest can do. Beset by a T'lan Imass from behind; despite his best efforts, Onos T'oolan cannot be bound by the Jaghut, as our dear Tool is called by an ancient call of a Bonecaster, Pran Chole's. Befuddled by such impotence on his part, Raest is befuddled further still by the appearance of another interloper, K'Rul. He initially mistakes him for Hood (which greatly alters my estimation of the god's lifespan) although he only refers to him as the Death Wanderer, as opposed to the god of Death. K'Rul warns Raest of the arrival of Anomander Rake and the new form of death he brings with him. Raest scoffs at this initially, but K'Rul makes a fascinating revelation. The flow of power between the gods and mortals has shifted, though of it the mortals are ignorant. I suppose when you have mages mastering domains and relics capable of drawing the gods who wield them, it makes sense. Anything less than omnipotence can be overmastered. K'Rul also repeats his Maker of Paths title and reveals his aspect "was the Obelisk." So he's Burn's predecessor and not Hood's. Given Burn's Sleep began nearly 1200 years ago, that gives us a roughly 800-year window for the shift, given Darujhistan's founding, whatever Crokus may say. This whole sequence is filled with even more magic technobable, but I'll move on. Title of Sword? Moved to the Realms of Chaos, K'Rul's birthplace? I'll figure it out eventually. With a hollow laugh, Raest collapses into dust, his spirit invading a new body.
Kalam and Paran creep into Simtal's garden, finding there a young woman, along with a curious structure. The woman turns out to be Sorry, yet not Sorry. Kalam prevents the Captain from killing her outright, instead ascertaining that she has no memory or deeply incomplete memories of her time in the Bridgeburners. Kalam's reaction to being called a friend is priceless. They observe the structure, a tree stump that is somehow growing from moment to moment, frustrating the eyes as it does. At this moment, one is reminded of the acorn and the Finnest. Paran leaves to fetch Mallet, wondering if the healer could aid the girl.
Rallick, gripped with a malaise he cannot account for, stumbles to leave the party. What if Coll doesn't take his old Lordship back? Would what he's done be justified even if he does? As a reader, I have to wonder, how much of the blame lies on Oppon, and how much on RN himself? Interrupting his musings, he stumbles across a disgruntled and awake Kruppe. The mage is worried, although trusts K'Rul's words that the world as it is now would be enough to put down Raest. The assassin leaves Kruppe behind and is approached by a woman in a featureless mask, who circuitously reveals herself to be Vorcan. She mentions Councilman Orr possessed protective magics that Rallick somehow trivialized. For that reason, she requires his services now. One last note on their conversation here, that RN was fine submitting to punishment helps show how defeated he is, now that his slavish devotion to the plan justifying his own humanity is over with. Defending someone else's humanity cannot serve as a substitute for your own, Rallick, and I feel you know this now.
Crokus, meanwhile, is totally bungling his attempts to speak with Challice. Promising not to hurt her, after a slew of threats, of course, he lets her speak. She reveals that she never betrayed him and that they'd always known the Rope was behind the guard's death. Horrified, Crokus reels from the revelation, wondering what exactly is going on. Chalice restates her love for Gorlas (or more tellingly, his station and his love for her) and her desire to have nothing to do with Younghand's cloak-and-dagger shenanigans. She slips up at the end, patronizing him briefly, and Crokus (more than a little hypocritically) accuses her of romanticizing the dangers of the real world. They part on the worst possible terms.
Mallet, for his part, refuses to enter the garden. Recognizing the power within and its hunger, he demands Paran bring Sorry to him. She heads to the healer smilingly, and Kalam expresses regret that she hadn't smiled before. Mallet discovers Rigga's presence within the girl, torn whether to help what little remains of the Wax Witch to integrate Sorry's history into Apsalar's consciousness safely. Paran advises the healer to trust it. Rallick, Vorcan, and Crokus all enter the glade, the latter staying hidden. Paran meets them as they discuss the stump, with Vorcan asking Rallick to sit on it and dampen its growth. It's here that Rallick just outright admits to knowing the substance he'd used was Otataral dust, rendering my whole Eureka moment a bit... moot. Also, Rallick knew what it was the whole time?! Why play coy with something you'll eventually give to us outright, Erikson? It's either a mystery or not. There have been a handful of moments like this, where a mystery will be teased and then casually solved. It - I - uh, whatever I guess. That's only the second most infuriating reveal in this chapter anyway.
Kalam offers Vorcan 900k golden doubloons jakatas and a High Fist position to kill off the T'orrud Cabal. Paran assures her that Malazan can scare off the Son of Darkness, having done so twice before. Vorcan personally accepts the contract and after charging Rallick with sitting on the stump until a better solution can be reached, leaves to prepare for the grim task. After everyone leaves, Rallick invites Crokus out of the glade and charges the boy with warning Mammot and Baruk of their impending danger. At that moment, something occurs outside of the garden, and the stump grows past Rallick's ability to contain it.
Sensing the disturbance at the Fête, Baruk laments leaving so early. Rake assures him the situation is under control, but stops himself from revealing one other piece of information, his eyes betraying a quiet sadness. He then offers to help clear the streets for something else coming, using Dragnipur to clear a passage to K'Rul's Belfry after warning Baruk of Malazan's impending assassination attempt.
At the Fête, Raest arives. Subsuming the mind of Mammot, whom he'd imprinted upon while waking, he launches an assault upon the partygoers. Quick Ben manages to save Derudan in the initial volley, which tears through the estate in a series of propagating bolts of power. Whiskeyjack's leg is crushed under a pillar, down for the count, and Captain Paran appears to be instantly vaporized in the initial assault. Derudan and QB launch twin assaults on Raest, quickly draining the Witch.
Here we have what is likely the most vexing scene in the entire book. Or, perhaps, the start of several compoundingly vexing scenes. Paran drops into what seems to be yet another warren, a swamp of sorts, within which a T'lan Imass (likely Tool) and a wooden approximation of a Jaghut fight. Behind the Captain, a house grows out of the swamp. The Imass warns Paran that something called an Azath is not yet ready to contain the animate Finnest. Paran resolves to hold the Finnest until the Azath is made ready. Launching a blast against Paran's very soul, the Finnest circumvents even Chance, or perhaps the blade has at last betrayed him. The Finnest demands total submission, but Paran refuses. Within him, the... Blood of a Hound? wells up, refusing to be subdued. Did the souls of the Hounds follow Paran back out of Dragnipur? That was roughly when Paran's whole "no one's gonna control me" arc began in full. Anyway, Perrin Paran throws himself against the Finnest, tearing into it with fists, claws, and teeth, holding it down until he is shaken out of his blood fury. The Azath is finished and draws the Finnest below the mud. Paran is shunted out of the Warren into the material plane.
Noting Paran's return, Quick Ben assaults the Tyrant with everything he has, opening SEVEN Warrens within himself. A feat that is later noted to be theoretically impossible. He burns through the monster, reducing it to an animate, humanoid totem of ash. Raest retaliates, forcibly closing QB's Warrens one after another. QB is about to give up, before noticing Hedge, off to the side, a pyromanic grin on his face, Ben dives, covering Derudan and his ears. The sapper fires, blasting Mammot's body to smithereens. Paran runs off to inform WJ as QB notices something coalescing in the bottom of Hedge's crater.
It is then that the Azath drags the remaining spirit of Raest kicking and screaming into the garden. So, it turns out Azaths are a known force in this world, but I'll get to that later. I will note its appearance is a surprise to everybody. Was it the acorn? But if the Jaghut could seal the Finnest in an Azath, why not just go all the way? Many questions and few answers. Derudan leaves, and Fiddler and Hedge are sent off to blast the city. Kalam then finally realizes the potential danger of not only blowing up the City of Blue Fire, but of doing so at major infrastructure hubs. Took y'all long enough.

Chapter 23

A resolution to all but one of our action climaxes, and a final unveiling of several long-standing plans. We're solidly in the endgame now, and somehow only speeding up.

Epigraph

After a long hiatus, we receive another excerpt of Call to Shadow, this one seemingly referring to Simtal's suicide. Given that the author is apparently Paran's sister, the nature of the work is becoming clearer, this is a recounting of the events here in Darujhistan. I'm a bit unclear as to why its specifically attributed to Shadow, aside from Shadow's interference being the inciting incident to all this mess. Perhaps that's sufficient, however. What we can tell from this is that Paran eventually meets with Fellisin again, despite his status as a traitor. So while we can't tell whether or not this will all have a happy ending, we can tell the Paran siblings will make it that far at least.

The Chapter Itself

Paran, running through the undergrowth, is drawn into yet another Warren, ambushed by Rood. After nearly tearing the Captain apart, the Hound relents, confused by a sense of kinship. Cotilion appears, complaining that the Captain should interfere with House Shadows, especially given his growing enmity with the Empress. Even still, Cotillion will try again, correcting for the flaws of the initial plan. He considers his treatment of Sorry merciful, insofar as the necessary evil could be. Paran offers Cotillian Chance, seeing as how his luck has finally turned, and the Rope accepts with the intent to strike back at the Twins. Paran wakes back in the garden and leaves to find the Adjunct.
So, what was Oppon's plan for the captain? His use of Chance infuriated Hairlock and the Hounds, drawing the two together, and evidently claiming the Hounds' souls/blood in the process. Thus, Paran was able to resist the Finnest and buy the Azath time. The only issue was that is the Brother's actions in Dragnipur seemed to be surprised by the whole episode. An act? Beyond that, Paran also played half the role in freeing Sorry, thwarting Shadow's aims at Empire. j
Crokus, traumatized by the sight of Mammot possessed, burned, blown to bits, and claimed by the roots of the Azath, runs to find Baruks home. He (and the audience) can only hope that Mammot himself was released to death before the Azath took the possessed body. Running through the streets of Darujhistan, he finally comes to realize why they've emptied so. Rake has moved Moon's Spawn directly overhead, looming as if to crush the city at any moment.
The Adjunct tails the Coin Bearer, sensing the Jaghut Tyrant's death. Assuming Rake's involvement in the defeat, she releases Tayscheren's Ace in the Hole. A Lord of the Gaylen demons, powerful enough to challenge an ascendant, the intended follow-up in the one-two punch which would finish off Rake or Raest, whoever survived their clash. The Adjunct then tails the Coin Bearer further, considering the woman Lorn dead for good. She does not even consider the Adjunct human, but a tool. Lost entirely in her own justification, the Adjunct carries on.
Baruk mourns Mammot in his study. He's deduced too late that Rake knew all along, choosing to shield Baruk from the anticipation of his possessed friend's impending death. The Witch Derudan arrives, prepared to mourn with him, as an act of love. She informs Baruk of the extraordinary circumstances surrounding Mammot's death, as well as the conjuration of an Azath in Darujhistan. The specific use of the word conjuration implies something caused its appearance, though if not the acorn, I couldn't guess what. They feel the release of the demon lord, as well as two more of the Cabal members at the hand of Vorcan.
Anomander Rake, atop the belfry of K'Rul's temple. Silahnah arrives, but Rake asks she leave, she's done enough for today. K'Rul himself arrives, and the two speak of their misplaced wandering within this world. Rake knows no other life than wandering from battle to battle, yet it does not fulfill him. The elder god, having failed to receive the advice he craves, leaves the Lord to his battle. Rake watches as the Galen arises, and begins changing form. Rake then shapeshifts, rising higher, higher, higher above the city into a Silvermaned Black Dragon, more massive even than Silanah, and dives towards his ignorant prey.
The Adjunct formerly known as Lorn moves to kill the Coin Bearer at last. She's interrupted by, of all people, a member of the Crimson Guard.* Fingers, Sixth Blade of the Crimson Guard, grabs Crokus and escorts him to Baruk's place personally. During their discussion, Crokus at long last learns of his nature as the Coin Bearer, and is advised to lose the item as soon as his luck runs out. It is the CG who have been protecting the boy. After breaking away from Blues, a gravely injured Adjunct runs into Meese and Iralta, who finish her off.
* Upon review, Caladan Brood does commit some Crimson Guard members to protect the Coin Bearrer in Ch. 10 debriefing with Crone, just a bit circumlocutiously. He even names the sixth blade, and Kallor immediately takes it to mean they're interfering with Rake.
Paran comes across the Adjunct, injured beyond saving, or at least, dying faster than a healer can be acquired. She laments her ironic, inglorious death, and barely has time to marvel over Paran's return from the dead. The two share a moment of cold sympathy before her end. Paran claims the Otataral blade for himself. The Twins appear before him, begging for protection from Shadowthrone. Paran tells them off, and quietly picks up the Adjunct, returning to the Phoenix Inn.

Chapter 24

The breathless end of it all, flowing almost immediately into subsequent adventures. Anything I'm not fully satisfied with is at least spoken to, promising further resolution or explanation later.

Epigraph

An excerpt of a poem titled Azath by Adaephon. Written as if narrated by the titular entity, the poem speaks a bit about their purpose. Both a lure and a prison to the power-crazed, an endless prison in a world where death is trivialized to the powerful. It is interesting how much of a known entity these are, despite us not hearing about them until well after its arrival, and that no one (outside of possibly Rake) considered the Convergence would produce one. Ah, well.

The Chapter Itself

Crokus cannot enter Baruk's compound, being frustrated by the High Alchemist's wards. Fortunately, he has one last bit of luck. The Demon Lord crashes to the ground, slammed by Rake's assault from above. The crash shatters the gate and any potential wards. Both dragons shift back to their base forms, and the Galayn taunts Rake. Crokus feels someone walk up behind him, and the Lord of Moon's Spawn asks that Crokus flees. He notes that he is speaking with the Coin Bearer, but Brood's "request" and the impending fight save the lad. Rake and the Demon Lord fight, sword to axe, and while the contest isn't quite the spectacle of Raest soloing five dragons, its pretty great. We even get a bit of lore out of it. It seems indeed that some version of the story Tool told Lorn was true, Dark birthed Light, but then light was corrupted. Demons being corrupted denizens of Light is, well, exactly on brand, so that tracks. Crokus watches in horror as the Galayn Lord is subsumed into the black blade. AR then turns with exhaustion to the lad, and asks him to warn Baruk of the impending danger.
Baruk and Derudan have set up a magical barrier, but Baruk hesitates to enter it. His hesitation buys him nothing, however, as Vorcan attacks just as the ward is shattered outside. She is forced back by a Tiste Andii assassin, Serrat, who is stabbed by the Master of Assassins. Derudan is similarly stuck down, minutely to slow to take advantage of the distraction. Baruk, fleeing, runs to the door, in which is Crokus, who is able to (luckily) land two near impossible blows against Vorcan, by way of thrown bricks. She flees, and Baruk gets up, moving to save the injured. Serrat has passed, but Baruk reveals that he is able to save Darudan by curing the white paralt in her system.* They mourn Mammot, and then the young thief leaves to find Apsalar.
*Which is also just named outright as a spider, but this one annoys me far less than the Otataral thing.
I'll skip a scene breifly to maintain momentum, but it works in the chapter as is.
Rallick watches the stump, now a house, contemplating the capture he saw earlier. He is experiencing an unaccountable euphoria, believing the house to be "right, and just." Vorcan arrives, begging Rallick to protect her, before fainting. He picks her up, and with no better ideas, runs headlong into the cognitohzardous house, disappearing to we know not where. I suspect we haven't seen the last of either Rallick Nom or Vorcan, but that is the last we see of either this book. Korlat, a Tiste Andii assassin and sister to Serrat, enters the glade. She regards the Azath edielmarn or "Pillar of Innocence" and decides against the pursuit further. To continue the hunt would be to destroy the Azath, and its youthful innocence. In this, Korlat takes after the Queen of Darkness, who defended Light when it too was youthful and innocent. Oddly, in this, Korlat morally succeeds where Rallick failed. We learn that other objects such as this exist, such as the Deadhouse in Malaz city, where Kellanved and Dancer evidently walked through its... Gates. So we know people can leave these things, giving some hope for Rallick an Vorcan's return. Also, considering the heights to which the two Ascended after entering, first through Empire then godhood, R and V may have a long road ahead of them. Who knows? as my cheaky pun earlier hinted, I'm aware of the next book's title, so we may be seeing them soon.
Back at the Phoenix Inn, Whiskeyjack contacts Dujek to update him as to the nights proceedings. Tayscheren is in a coma after what happened to the Galayn Lord, and WJ states that they'll not be taking the city, for fear of detonating the natural gas caverns beneath. This is of course, a problem. The what's left of the 2nd is loosing Pale, Caladan Brood has marched south as Dujek guessed, and brought two other armies besides with him, beyond this, Laseen has outlawed Dujek himself, as Seven Cities is to close to rebellion for him to be useful in saving it in time. The Empire has now severed its last link to the Old Guard as a result.
The Black Moranth stand with Onearm, and will pick up the Bridgeburners once they're out of the city. WJ is made Dujek's second, and Paran is placed in charge of the BBs. Hopefuly, Brood knows enough about the Pannion Seer to accept Dujek's force's continued existence. Though they're free to walk, all of WJ's squad resolves to stay with the rebels, with two slight exeptions. Kalam and Fiddler have decided to leave with Apsalar, whom they're taking home; they commit to return once that is over with. WJ notices Coll is awake, but the Lord only offers them passage out of the city in gratefulness.
The main text of the novel ends with Kruppe, Murillio, and Crokus walking towards the Phoenix Inn. Kruppe assuages Crokus's worries by reassuring him that he knows Apsalar's location, and shrugs off concerns over Rallick, speaking more to the man's likely safety. We find out Challice was saved by Gorlas, tying off that loose end, and begins to regale them with the tale of how Darujistan was saved and Coll was reinstated, with his heroic aid, of course.

Book 7: The Fête

An excellent climax all around, pulling out every stop. While the initial experience was a bit jarring, with all the revelations, I am satisfied as I've let it sit. On the whole, I probably prefer a slower reading pace, but once I committed to finishing the whole thing, I was fine riding it out.
I'm straining against Reddit's 40k charachter limit, so I'll give my thoughts on the Epilogue, a deeper dive into the side materials, as well as thoughts on the novel as a whole soon.