Dragonstone 26

Chapter 26
The Mages of the Magical Mage Council of Magey Magickness natter pointlessly for a couple of pages, among other things pondering whether the individuals mentioned in the . . . sigh . . . “rede” are actual, literal animals. Unless Samurai Chick turns out to be ten cats stacked on top of each other in a lifelike human suit, I think that's unlikely. This pointlessness continues for a while until Vanidar reaches the remarkable conclusion that, hey, maybe “dark water” doesn't literally refer to, y'know, literal water that is literally dark.
In much the same way that “The Cat Who Fell from Grace” was not literally a cat.
These people are geniuses, I tell you what. \~/
So they decide that maybe it refers to the town of Morkfjord, which means Darkwater in Viking-ese. There's another reminded that the “rede” specifically says the Generic Elves can't come with, and then we get to see a magical globe. Samurai Chick is astounded, astounded, at the idea that the world is round.
The magic globe shows, among other things, little sparkles where mages live, and “dark sparkles” where Black Mages live – Black Mages being, you guessed it, evil mages. Awfully convenient how all the evil people are obviously, irredeemably evil with no blurring of the lines or shades of gray.
And, hold the phone, does this mean the mages know for a fact the exact location of every evil wizard in the world? That, uh, sounds like some useful information there. What are they doing with this? Using it to track down and neutralize these so-called Black Mages? Bring them to justice for their crimes? Keep them under observation so as to minimize the harm they can cause?
Or do absolutely nothing? That's good too, I guess. \~/
We also get a vague hint that Samurai Chick's “tiger” – i.e., her tiger tattoo – gives her some sort of warning or insight.
The Generic Elves and the mages then babble about destiny and free will for a while, which eats up a couple of pages and accomplishes nothing.
Nine days after their arrival – so much for that false sense of tension – the Generic Elves leave Black Mountain, the mages having given Arin a new horse to murder by neglect. They decide to travel together until they reach the Silverwood, “but no farther, for to continue with [Arin and Samurai Chick] might jeopardize the mission.” How they've reached this conclusion I do not know, since the “rede” didn't come with a helpful timetable of exactly when she should “take only these, no more, no less.” For all they know, their continued presence the day after Arin's vision might have already doomed the world.
The chapter ends with the reveal of the name of the mage who parleyed with the dragons, Ordrune. Which is not at all like Orodruin (original names are haaaarrrd \~/). For some reason, this is treated as a startling revelation, despite this literally being the first time this person has ever been named or referred to.
Drinks: 3
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