Blood 44

**Chapter 44**

Zedd is eating. It's funny. \~/ Hypocrite talks to him but he wisely ignores her. We find out that Zedd has somehow managed to slip spells through the collar's block, including setting a magical trap on the IM Book. When Hypocrite opened it, it shot a *“bright, burning cinder”* into the air, and Zedd informed Hypocrite that if it hit the ground, she would die. I have no bloody idea why he would cast that particular spell, nor why he would warn her; Zedd has made it clear that he intends to slaughter the Nuns without mercy (and more power to him, I say). If he can kill Hypocrite and free himself, why the derping derp doesn't he?

Hypocrite managed to dash off a short message to Verna before she had to close the IM book. Now she begs Zedd to cancel the spell, counter-intuitively telling him that *“The lives of Sisters are at stake,*” after he threatened/promised to kill them all. A genius she's not.

Zedd reminds her that she's abducted and enslaved him, and is currently preventing him from helping his friends, who may be in deadly peril. He reminds her that if he ever catches both her and Nathan asleep, he'll kill her. He then goes to sleep.

I'm starting to like Zedd a little.

Hypocrite appeals to Nathan for help, but Nathan reminds her that he's argued against her plan from the beginning, and that Zedd is absolutely serious. Hypocrite wonders how Nathan can be so callous *“after all the years we've been together,”* to which Nathan rather magnificently answers, *“You mean, after all these years of captivity, how can I still rebel against it?”*

Welcome to the Sympathetic Characters List, Nathan.

Hypocrite cries over this, and I don't care. She asks Nathan if he's ever known her to be cruel other than to save lives, or *“struggle other than to preserve life and freedom?”* Nathan retorts *“I presume you mean other than my freedom.”*

Hypocrite angsts some more \~/ (dammit woman, SHUT UP!) and attempts to justify keeping a man imprisoned and enslaved for nine centuries. Nathan, quite rightfully ignores her bawling and informs her that he wants the collar off, and the one and only thing he won't do to get it off is kill her (out of a misguided sense of sympathy, I presume). The chat some more, and the scene ends.

Back to Richard. A messenger arrives and gives some non-information, and we learn that Richard's search party of a *hundred thousand people* has been out Kahlan-hunting for two weeks now.

Richard and Berdine have been busy translating the Mysterious Journal of Mystery, and Richard is now better at it than Berdine: *“It was often easier for him, now, to simply use what he had learned to translate from the journal then to show Berdine and have her do it.”* Keep in mind, Darken Rahl made Berdine a Dominatrix *specifically because she knew High D'Haran.* And now Richard has surpassed her in two weeks. \~/

Richard has named the author of the journal Kolo, short for *koloblicin,* a High D'Haran word that means “strong advisor.” Kolo's journal exists to infodump on the history of Dickland, about the war (what war? *The* war, of course!) and the Towers of the Lost and Found, and so forth. The wizards are desperate to complete the Towers, and also are trying to forge a Sword of the Homicidal Hobo Truth. Richard is *“chilled”* to learn that men died to make his sword.

There are some hints about “*the sliph,”* which seems to be some sort of female entity that lives in the well in the room Kolo's bones were found in, and which has the ability to transport people long distances. Richard deduces that Kolo was sealed inside that room when the Towers were activated, and that his destruction of the Towers unsealed the room and may have awakened the sliph.

And with that infodumping out of the way, we move on to Brogan, who has become convinced that God is going crazy.

Um.

Okay.

Drinks: 3

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