Temple 23

**Chapter 23**

And we're with Verna and General Rei. We learn that the moon did not rise red this night, unlike the last three nights; this was as Verna predicted, but the stupid, silly, superstitious soldiers thought the world was coming to an end or something. Stupid commoners, thinking they understand things.

It develops that Verna met up with Rei and his Hundred Thousand Soldiers after Richard sent her north to tell Rei that Kahlan had been rescued safely, and I'm still boggling at the sheer stupidity of *a hundred thousand soldiers* tramping around with as much impact on their surroundings as a Boy Scout troop. That is a *huge* army for the time period; it's a pretty darn respectable size force even in the modern day. It outnumbers the standing armies of many of the nations in the area, who are likely to see it as a conquering host come to destroy them all. **It needs a massive amount of supplies.**

Terry Goodkind does not understand army scale. Or logistics. Or politics. \~/

Rei, absent direct orders to the contrary, wants to hang around near the border with Europe in the hopes of blunting the Imperial Order's invasion. Verna tells him that *"the Imperial Order's forces are large enough to crush even an army of this size without losing stride. [. . .] by sheer numbers alone, the Order will swallow you whole."*

Yeah, 100,000 men is basically a drop in the bucket, right? \~/

I know it's tradition when writing fantasy STORIES OF IMPORTANT HUMAN THEMES that the Good Guys be severely outnumbered. Tolkien did it. But if you want to do that, maybe don't give the Good Guys such staggeringly huge forces so their enemies have to have *mind-bogglingly* huge forces in order to casually outnumber them.

Verna and Rei discuss strategy for a bit, which would be more meaningful if we lowly readers knew anything of the geography of Southern D'Hara, or the Midlands, or wherever the heck this is taking place. Rei says that *"Lord Rahl is a reasonable man,"* which causes Verna to roar with laughter. I have to agree with her.

Verna says she wants to confer with Warren, as a fellow magic-having, non-scum-commoner, before giving the General permission to, y'know, do his job. I was not aware that she outranked him.

Rei notes that the Imperial Order has spellcasters of their own, and Verna mentally reminds us that some of them are Bad Nuns and some are Nuns, compelled to serve by Jagang's dream walker talent. Rei wants Verna and her Nuns to help counter that magic, should they engage in battle. Verna *"would like to think that Sisters of the Light, those charged with doing the Creator's work, would be above bringing harm to anyone."*

Verna's cute when she tries to pretend she has a conscience, but I haven't forgotten that the Nuns' entire society is based on the enslavement and imprisonment of young children, and the systematic torture of young men. I haven't forgotten that they kept a man permanently enslaved for no reason whatsoever. I haven't forgotten that they are faithless oathbreakers. I haven't forgotten that they condoned and participated in - and forced young children to participate in - a ritual of degradation and murder.

\~/\~/

Rei rather hysterically refers to the Nuns as *"gentle,"* something even Verna can't let pass. She produces her death dlido and tells Rei that *"if you see one of these coming for you, run."* Rei does *not* question how useful a death dildo would be against anything with greater reach than a fist - such as bows, crossbows, spears, swords, axes, maces - or how useful it would be against someone wearing armor or wielding a shield.

Verna retires to her tent and gets out her IM book to chat with Hypocrite. They spend two pages recapping events we already know, and also Zedd is hungry. \~/ Verna is astonished when she mistakenly believes that Hypocrite took Zedd's collar off, confirming my belief that she is a heartless slave-owner who sees nothing wrong with enslaving a man and using threats and coercion to force him to assist in the capture of another man who has escaped his unjust imprisonment. Aren't our protagonists wonderful people? \~/

Anyway, Verna knows only that the Jocopo were a people living somewhere in the wilds, and they have all been wiped out - if you recall from two books ago, they were wiped out by the Mud People through heroic assassination and slaughter of children.

Out of nowhere, Verna tells us about four other Nuns who had been her childhood friends, Christabel, Amelia, Janet and Phoebe. Phoebe is currently free and with Verna, Christabel turned out to be a Bad Nun, and the last two are Jagang's slaves. Verna decides she must attempt a rescue mission.

That was sudden.

Verna wakes up Warren to tell him her decision, but Warren looks terrible. He says the headaches have returned, the headaches that represent his gift going awry, and which will inevitably kill him. The only counter is to be trained by a wizard - not an inferior, non-penis-bearing sorceress - or put on a collar. Unfortunately, the Nuns have no extra collars, and there are no helpful wizards nearby.

But! Warren has very conveniently had a prophecy! If he goes with Verna on her ill-considered rescue mission, he may live. If he does anything else, he will die.

What a bleak and strangely specific prophecy.

Verna, naturally, tells him he can come with, and the chapter ends.

Drinks: 6

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