Temple 21

Chapter 21
We're suddenly with Clarissa, who is inside an abbey watching as her town is sacked. There are some unnecessary descriptions of the things being done to the city and the inhabitants, the salient bits being that the attackers are using magic, and they're slaughtering the men and children but not the women. We learn that Clarissa is hoping she'll be safe in the abbey, as it's “a sacred place, devoted to the worship of [God] and the good spirits.” Also, some mysterious person – a man this time, for a change – apparently told Clarissa that all this would happen.
The city's name is Renwold, and it has never been taken before. More loving descriptions of the fate of Renwold's citizens, and we learn that the invaders are summarily murdering all the old men, young boys, and “those seemingly without useful trades,” while chaining up the men with valuable skills. The old women are likewise all slaughtered, and the survivors divided into three groups and have a ring put through their lower lips: copper, silver or gold, based on their age, hotness, and bangability.
Yes, the invaders are all misogynists. It's the one trait Goodkind knows should be applied to villains, so he applies it liberally and often. \~/
We learn that the youngest, prettiest women – those now bearing gold lip-rings – used to be nasty and cruel to Clarissa, who is no more than a 6/10 on the Hotness Scale, and is now the incredibly ancient age of “early thirties” and still unmarried. There's a bit about the now-defunct social politics of now-defunct Renwold, about which I care not at all. If you're wasting ink on the social interactions of people who are currently being murdered and/or enslaved, and whose entire society and culture has just been destroyed, they had damn well better be relevant at some point.
They're not going to be, are they?
Dammit. \~/
The invaders start breaking into the abbey, and the abbot panics, telling Clarissa to hide the books and generally fluttering around being useless. The Imperial Order soldiers (oops, that was supposed to be a big reveal at the end of the chapter) unceremoniously kill the abbot and stick a silver ring through Clarissa's lip. In a surprisingly effective bit, Clarissa's tries to hold onto her sanity as she thinks that these slavers valued her more highly than her own people.
Drinks: 2
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