Blood 27

**Chapter 27**

We return to Ulicia, and the Bad Nuns, who are regaining consciousness. Turns out Jagang is not dead and his headquarters remains un-exploded, much to the Nuns' consternation. Ulicia demands to know why, and Jagang rambles on for a page \~/ about how the Nuns' powers operate at the speed of thought, but he acts *between* thoughts. There's talk about how a wedge can destroy an entire boulder, and space and time, and nothing is really explained. We don't know what a dream walker can do aside from, apparently, stop Bad Nuns from using their magic, and do so in *“that space between thoughts,”* which apparently equates to superspeed.

He does this while stuffing his face like Hoggish Greedly, of course, because *Captain Planet* villains are the image you want to evoke in your serious, grown-up book about “important ideas.”

More speechifying from Jagang, \~/ as he tells the Bad Nuns that Richard helped him by breaking down the Towers of Perdition, but now Richard is an annoyance. He tells the Nuns that, when they tried to free Satan, they baited Richard into defending the living, and . . . well . . .

*“ 'he restored the balance.*

*“ 'In that balance, just as in the space between your thoughts, I come.' ”*

Pinkie, does that make any sense to you?

Me either.

Jagang says that magic *“is the conduit to those other worlds*” – so now God and Satan are *other worlds?!* \~/ He intends to reduce the amount of magic in the world . . . somehow . . . thus weakening both God and Satan. This will keep God and Satan from influencing the world directly, and *“ 'the world will belong to man. The old religion of magic will be consigned to the midden heap of history, and eventually, to myth.' “*

Again with magic being referred to as a religion. *Religions are specific belief systems!* Magic, at least as described in these books, is more like a natural force, akin to gravity or magnetism or something. Magic is no more a religion than thermodynamics. \~/

*“ 'I am a dream walker; I have seen the dreams of men. I know their potential. Magic suppresses these boundless visions. Without magic, man's mind, his imagination, will be unleashed, and he will be all-powerful.' “*

I had a dream once where I could leap about thirty feet in the air and float on the wind like a balloon. Does this have any relevance to my potential? My real-life skills? My actual goals and hopes? My “dreams” in the sense of what I want my life to be like are totally unrelated to my “dreams” in the sense of what goes on in my head while I'm asleep. \~/

Also, how does magic – which is *practiced by humans* – suppress mankind's potential? If anything, it would seem that the ability to make the laws of physics dance on their heads would lead to *greater* advances. Isn't that right, Pinkie?

Yes, like that.

I'm not sure whether to take a drink for this or not, since it is the villain's view. Goodkind could easily mean him to be incorrect, but I'll note that he never specifically calls him out as incorrect.

There's more blather, and we learn that Jagang's eyes only turned lava lampy this year, even though he's been dream walking for twenty years. He can only exert a small amount of influence over the no-magic-having scum commoners, but he can completely control a spellcaster. This is actually interesting, since it gives spellcasters a vulnerability which non-spellcasters lack.

We also learn that the House of Rahl possesses some sort of magical shield that prevents Jagang from controlling anyone protected by it, and that Richard is learning how to use it. Jagang wants that stopped, of course, but he doesn't want Richard killed yet. See, since Richard is an uber-special war wizard, Jagang wants to use him for a while and *then* kill him

The Evil Overlord's List, item #78: **“****I will not tell my Legions of Terror 'And he must be taken alive!' The command will be 'And try to take him alive if it is reasonably practical.' ”**

\~/

Also, Jagang refers to the Ban Nuns as “darlins.” Since there is no apostrophe to indicate a dropped G, this isn't an accented form of “darlings,” and I am forced to conclude that he is using the plural of the word “darlin.” Either that, or neither Terry Goodkind nor his editor understand basic rules of grammar, but how likely is that?

Jagang reveals that all his servants currently present are Nuns, Bad Nuns, or wizards, and that he prefers Bad Nuns because they fear death, since Satan will torture them forever for their failure when they die. Again, this is why serving the Lord of All Evil is generally not wise.

Jagang makes an example of Sister Christabel, a Bad Nun Ulicia thought had been left behind at the BSWH. He orders her to die, and she drops to the ground, screaming and thrashing. Jagang then comments that she was dead before she hit the ground, but her soul is being tortured by Satan. Left unexplained is how he was able to kill her, or why her soul's torture is reflected physically. \~/

We randomly learn that Jagang has Misters serving him. Next, the Bad Nuns get gold rings put through their lips as a sign of slavery, in a scene that's just a little too graphic (no, we did not need to know that the *“unshaven, filthy, stinking soldier”* closed the split ring with his teeth). \~/

Jagang then gives the Bad Nuns back to the sailors who brought them there, with instructions to . . . well, to rape them. All of them. Repeatedly. The sailors, naturally, think this is a fantastic idea, even with the “you can't permanently damage them” caveat. He keeps Merissa to be his personal toy, which I'm sure will be highly relevant to the plot. \~/

And so, the gang-rape begins as the chapter ends. That was vile.

Drinks: 9

Rape Count: 12

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