Chapter 102: Echoes In Eternity

*A 'Chain of Events.' Let us meditate on that image for a moment. A* chain *of events, where one event leads to the next, and that one leads to the next, on and on. But events do not work that way. One event, one action, one* choice*, can lead to many more events spiraling out from there, making the 'chain' appear more like a net, or a web.*

*Still, the image does hold for many uses, where we trace back one step at a time to an instigating cause. And the image of a chain, or a net, does function metaphorically in other ways. Like chains, or nets, events can lift us up. They can also restrain us, bind us, imprison us, hold us back, limit us to a specific area. They can help anchor us to safety. They can be fine and delicate, almost ornamental or even unobtrusive, or stout and strong, made of thick links that bear titanic forces. And, with the proper effort…*

*They can be broken.*

*Their effects can be halted, through recognition and choice. A blood feud can be stopped, with the chain of tit-for-tat injury and death ended. A system of injustice can be shattered and rebuilt with an eye for greater goodness. A legacy of brutality can be overcome.*

*A new chain can be forged, one attached to a hoist to raise, instead of a shackle to bind.*

*—Fyrir Hiccup House Haddock VI, Collected Public Sermons & Private Contemplations*

## Major Events

* Toireasa thwarts Rodhlaug's attack and gets her to back off.
* Nanna diagnoses Fishlegs with the hundred-days (whooping) cough. Heather learns that many others have the disease.
* Viggo promises William Iron-Arm that if they get more territory, William will be high on his list of possible lords to rule over it.
* Taskill reports to Mac Bethad that their men have killed the possessors of Mildew's contingency letters.

## Characters

### Humans

* Rodhlaug nic Savage
* Toiréasa
* Heather
* Nanna clan Hofferson
* Fishlegs clan Ingerman
* Atali
* Peader (first appearance; only appearance)
* Unnamed Alban soldiers
* William Iron-Arm (first appearance)
* Viggo Grimborn
* Kurya
* Tirek (first appearance)
* Drago Bludvist
* Unnamed merchants
* Mac Bethad
* Unnamed skald
* Gruoch
* Taskill Thaddeusson

### Dragons

* Meatlug
* Windshear

## Analysis

### Epigraph Tie-In

* The epigraph discusses chain of events. The chapter shows the following:
	+ Kurya thinking long term about the possible chain-of-events his actions will have and deciding it is better to treat his new vassal with kindness and not tyranny as he concludes kindness is rewarded with kindness while tyranny is rewarded with resentment and rebellion.
	+ A merchant and his brother were ableists and managed to get Drago stranded in a desert years ago with the intention of leaving him for dead. As a result, he would later find himself among the Pechenegs where Elder Khursa showed him kindness. Kurya reflects that In gratitude for that kindness, after he tamed several dragons, Drago gave them to the Pechenegs. As a result of that, the Pechenegs conquered the very city the brothers that tried to have Drago killed stayed at and Kurya learns what they did to Drago. The chain of events comes full circle by Kurya sentencing the brothers to being stranded in the desert like they did to Drago.
	+ Mac Bethad listening to a Norse saga that involved a bloody cycle of violence.