Stone 18

**Chapter 18**

Richard is riding through the snow with Nun #1, who we might as well call by her actual name, since it looks like she's going to be around for a while. Verna, then. That name makes me think of a middle-aged secretary with horn-rimmed glasses and a pencil behind her ear; not a very appropriate image for a sorceress.

Richard is angsting to himself about how mean Kahlan was, and how could she do such an awful thing. In this particular case I don't have a problem with it; Richard has a legitimate reason to angst, what with the weeks of torture and apparent betrayal and so on. Also, it only goes on for half a page.

Richard decides to tell Verna that he is the Seeker, and he has responsibilities. Among other things, he mentions that the Keeper is trying to escape from the underworld. Verna replies, *“We do not speak his name. You are not to speak it as you have just done. When we must speak of him, he is addressed as the Nameless One.”*

Okay, point one: Richard didn't refer to Satan by name. “The Keeper” is a title if I ever heard one, even if it is capitalized. We have no idea what the Keeper's actual, true name might be. Point two: “addressed as” makes it sound like the Nuns talk to Satan personally. What she should have said was “referred to as.” Grammar fail. \~/

Richard and Verna have a discussion where she agrees to stop calling him “child” and he agrees to refer to Satan as “The Nameless One.” Richard insists that Satan is in danger of breaking free; after all, a witch woman told him so! Verna points out that witch women aren't know for their forthrightness. Richard counters that he was attacked by a screeling. Verna says that screelings aren't necessarily sent by Satan; instead, they simply escape the underworld and run amok. Finally, Richard says that *“there are prophecies that say [screelings] are sent when the veil is torn, sent by the Nameless One.”* Verna logically asks if the veil has been torn before, and if not, how anyone could know what screelings look like. Richard admits that his information comes from a childhood memory of Kahlan's, after four drunken wizards sang her a song.

Yeah.

Incidentally, this whole conversation is peppered with references to the Creator, and having faith, and how He is perfect. Pronouns referring to the Creator are always capitalized, so I'm going to go ahead and call him God, since that's clearly who the Creator is supposed to be. So now we have God and Satan.

Richard tells Verna about the spirit gathering, and how Rahl's spirit appeared and burned Richard. Verna finds out about the “spirit frogs” and calls the Mud People *“savages”* with *“false beliefs,”* indicating that the frogs caused hallucinations that the Mud People and Richard interpreted as spirits. Interestingly, Richard (who is technically a Mud Person himself, remember) says and does nothing to defend “his” tribe in the face of the White Missionary's skepticism. Like, for instance, the fact that the “hallucinations” gave him information *neither he nor any of the Mud People could possibly have possessed* (namely the name of Shota, someone who could tell him where the Magic Boxes were) in Book 1. Not that I expected him to, but it would have been nice.

They ride on, and Richard thinks about how he is the Seeker, which means he is the *“bringer of death.”* I'm not sure what the connection is, but there you go. Does this mean all soldiers, hunters, warriors and mercenaries are Seekers?

They pass some Bantak shepherds who try to give Richard various presents. Richard can't understand them, so Verna explains that they think he is a wizard. There's a conversation between Richard and Verna about how, yes, he lied and told the Bantak he was a wizard in order to save lives. Verna is outraged, and insists that lying is a crime, the Creator hates lies, etc, etc. But...isn't Richard a wizard, or at least an apprentice wizard? We've been told repeatedly that he has “the gift,” which seems to indicate that he *is* a wizard. All this really does is make Verna look silly and dogmatic.

Richard refers to himself as *“the bringer of death,”* which freaks Verna out. She says that there is a fragment of a prophecy that states *“he is the bringer of death, and he shall so name himself.”* Richard muses on *“how many people he was going to have to kill to get the collar off. One, or a hundred, it didn't matter.”*

Our hero.

They make camp. We learn that the horses have spade bits, which are cruel and awful, and Richard wishes they had snaffle bits instead. He then wanders off to stand watch. He angsts for a bit about Kahlan sending him away, and finally throws away the hank of hair she gave him, saying that he sets her free. Next, he draws the Sword of the Homicidal Hobo and looms over the sleeping Verna for a bit.

Um, what?

Yes. Richard looms over Verna and gives every indication that he is about to slaughter her in her sleep. \~/ He cuts his forearms on the sword, which still seems like some warrior's ritual and still makes no sense for a woods guide. Then he...suddenly realizes he's a monster. Yes, Richard! Hold on to that thought!

Finally, he angsts himself to sleep.

Drinks: 2

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