Welcome back to the Dragonlance Reread! And this week’s chapter titles have ellipses, so you know they’re exciting.
Last week we detoured to EVIL HQ, where we had a villain-off where everyone took turns billowing their capes and reciting their tragic backstories at one another.
We’re going to leave Evil to it this week, and return to our heroes. Is Laurana really going to walk into this painfully obvious trap? And what happened to #TeamTanis?!
“The trap…” and “A peaceful interlude.”
Summary
We open with Bakaris, who is spending his time in jail, plotting revenge, imagining his death, generally being an unpleasant person, having an unpleasant time. Laurana, Flint and Tas break him out. Flint accidentally lets drop that they’re swapping him for Tanis, and Bakaris does his best to use that fact to wind everyone up. (Ironically, he’s not… all wrong?)
The three heroes and their prisoner sneak outside of the city and meet Gakhan, a Draconian minion. Gakhan and Bakaris disarm the companions (Bakaris gets frisky until Tas intervenes), and usher the group into a convenient grove of trees just outside the city walls.
There, they find wyverns—mini-dragons, dumber, less magical, and very poisonous—but no emo half-elves. Gakhan claims that Tanis is very, very sick, and if they want to collect their dying friend, they’ll need to fly to Dargaard Keep and do so in person. As this is now the trappiest trap ever trapped in Trapland, Laurana gets cold feet. Bakaris grabs her and dismisses Gakhan. The draconian has his orders from Kitiara, but, meh, even if it all goes wrong, Bakaris will take the punishment. So he saunters off, leaving the three unarmed heroes with their predatory former-prisoner.
There’s some banter: Bakaris insists that Tanis is dying. Tas chatters. Flint sulks. Laurana emotionally yo-yos between ‘ZOMG TRAP’ and ‘but Tanis!’. Eventually Bakaris cuts through the chat with the threat of wyvern stings. Everyone is forced to board a wyvern; Flint and Tanis on one, Laurana and the two-close-for-comfort Bakaris on the other.
They fly for an hour, but then Bakaris sets them all down a mile away from the keep. Using the threat of the wyvern to keep Tas and Flint in line, he proceeds to assault Laurana. She pretends to faint, and makes a run for it, but Bakaris grabs her and literally drags her into his cave. The metaphors are unsubtle. Bakaris is about to have his wicked way, but Tas stabs him with his hidden knife (way back from Autumn Twilight!). In the ensuing wrestling match, Laurana kills Bakaris by knocking him onto his own dagger. Good riddance.
However, things don’t end well. The three heroes are about to head back to the city when Lord Soth shows up. He snags Laurana, and tells the others to go back to Kalaman and spread the word. They’ll discuss surrender in the morning. Eep.
A good time to jump to #TeamTanis. What have they been up to since their ship got eaten by a whirlpool?
Tanis is trying to interrogate Berem. Where are they? Who is he? What’s going on?! He loses his temper, but Goldmoon and Riverwind pull him away before he strangles Berem (#darkTanis). Berem, to everyone’s surprise, opens up. He’s not quite as mute as he’s been pretending to be.
Berem confesses that he’s over three hundred years old. And that the Dark Queen’s minions have been chasing him forever, without any rest. He’s pretty worn out. He dies and lives and dies again. He doesn’t know why, and all he wants is peace. The emerald seems to be the key, but he can’t remove it from his chest.
Tanis recaps their whereabouts, which is to say, unknown. There was the massive maelstrom, and then, who knows? When he awoke, he was with Goldmoon, Berem and Riverwind, and were in this massive, ancient, ruined room. But where are the others?
Berem didn’t lead them here intentionally, as Tanis initially suspected. In fact, he’s keen to leave. He’s hunting for something, and needs to find it. But he can’t tell Tanis what it is. Or why. He does share where he came from—a small village named Neraka, which no one has ever heard of.
That line of questioning comes to an end when a wizard walks in. Red-robed, like Raistlin, but not, sadly, our friend. The mage snorts and wanders off. The adventurers follow him, and discover that their surroundings aren’t limited to a single room—there’s corridor after corridor of ruined riches. They keep almost losing the wizard, but then catching sight at the last minute.
They split up to cover more ground, and Tanis finds a map, a model of where they are. The city, for that’s what it is, is (was) beautiful, absolutely gorgeous, in fact, with a stunning tower at the center. Whilst Tanis tries to remember his history, Berem finds the answer in an inscription over the door—they’re in the ruins of the ‘City of Damnation’: Istar.
Notable Quotes
[Tanis] remembered thinking that death would be easy and welcome, even as he fought to grab hold of a piece of wood.
I know this is about drowning, but there’s an ungracious bit of me that points out that emo Tanis would rather die than face his problems (some of which are self-created). I’m afraid he’s in my bad books.
Monster(s) of the Week
Wyverns! Poor wyverns; they aren’t really all that bright, are they? For some reason, I think of them as particularly dense housecats. Dim, snappish, grumpy, but less evil than, you know, irritable. I blame the internet for reducing everything to housecat status.
Unnamed Red Wizard? Maybe? His only line of dialogue was a grunty-howl thing.
Lord Soth, again.
Jared’s Take
For a species of non-human that’s supposedly immune to fear, Tas is afraid a lot:
- Dragonfear
- Tower of Palanthas
- Silvanesti dream(?)
- Lord Soth
Am I missing any others? I feel there have been more. I understand the mechanic—kender aren’t entirely immune to magical fear. But in a literary sense, this ‘it is so scary that even the kender is scared!’ shtick has been played out.
On the other hand, I feel a bit that the Istar reveal was a bit of a damp squib. The Cataclysm has been referred to in vague, hushed terms, but with the exception of Lord Soth’s story (and a bit of Astinus’), we’ve never really brushed up against it. And it doesn’t feel particularly relevant to the struggle at hand: instead, this comes across as an interesting, but not vital, side-quest (a bit like the one in Baldur’s Gate 2 where you hang out with the sea creatures).
As we’ve discussed earlier, the relationship between modern Krynn and the Cataclysm is also a little woolly. It has been three hundred years. But in some places, it feels much more recent—Tarsis, where they still haven’t tidied up the mess, for example. Or where trade routes haven’t been re-established. In others, it feels like it has been thousands of years. They refer to it with varying degrees of distance as well, leaving me slightly confused about how much people know, or care, about this apocalyptic event.
Again, as mentioned back in Autumn Twilight, it is bizarre how the various regions of Krynn are so ignorant of one another—while at the same time, groups like the Knights and the Elves and (of course) the Dragonarmies, are moving freely around the continent. Either traveling to the next region over is a really, really big deal. Or… it isn’t. And our party are caught in a strange, in-between place. For some, like Goldmoon and Riverwind, it makes sense that they’ve never previously left their small patch of turf. For others, like the well-traveled and experienced heroes, it is odd how confused they are. Again, this may stem from how the world functions as a game and how it works as a book. For the purposes of bringing the readers along, we need some charitable ignorance from the characters. But as to understanding the average level of geographic, religious or historical knowledge held by the people of Krynn? I’m no more clear.
And, of course, the trap. Bakaris is one-dimensional, despite his POV moments, but still threatening. He manages to dominate our three heroes quite effectively, and his attacks on Laurana—emotional, physical and sexual—are textbook cases of trying to take power over her. It is fitting that it is by faking weakness that Laurana manages to break his hold over her. And that, by ignoring/discounting Tas, he creates another instrument of his downfall.
Still, what a ridiculous series of events. The fact that this kind of heist was even possible speaks volumes about how, in the words of Spaceballs, “Good is dumb”. No wonder Kitiara was so confident in the previous chapters. Fortunately, Evil is even dumber. Except Evil also has Lord Soth…
In the absence of Mahvesh, I’ll leave the final word on Good’s strategic ability to Prince, who notes that “you say you want a leader, but you can’t seem to make up your mind”.
Jared Shurin is an editor for Pornokitsch and the non-profit publisher Jurassic London.
The fact that this kind of heist was even possible speaks volumes about how, in the words of Spaceballs, “Good is dumb”.
Well again, it’s not that “Good is dumb” but rather that “Good is drunk, exhausted, and suffering from severe chronic stress.” And indeed we actually see Laurana’s brain starting to come back on-line in this chapter (which makes sense given that the passage of time would end the intoxication effect on her and thus enable her to start thinking much more clearly). It just didn’t quite reboot fast enough for her to see through the trap until it was too late.
Except Evil also has Lord Soth…
Yeah, Soth is real impressive at defeating an unarmed woman who is clearly shaken from having fought off a rapist mere seconds before. It’s just interesting that for all of Soth’s supposed power, he never seems to take part in any battle against an opponent who is actually in a position to fight back.
Anyway, Chapter 3 is just brutal to read. It is awful seeing Laurana being repeated psychologically and physically abused by Bakaris, and as cathartic as it was she strikes back and kills Bakaris, that victory is immediately rendered meaningless by Lord Soth showing up and kidnapping Laurana. (Meaning that all Tas’s resourcefulness and Laurana’s ferocity accomplished was having Laurana go from being in the clutches of one misogynistic psychopath with a major grudge against her to being in the clutches of an even more dangerous misogynistic psychopath with a major grudge against her.)
This chapter does however give us some possible additional insight into the scope of Laurana and Tanis’s past relationship as it establishes that Kitiara believes that Laurana and Tanis were previously intimate. Now obviously this isn’t conclusive as it is certainly possible Kitiara could have made an unfounded assumption about the nature of Laurana and Tanis’s past relationship. Still, there is good reason to conclude that Kitiara’s belief is probably correct. We know that Tanis discussed his history with Laurana with Kitiara, and in any such conversation Kitiara certainly would have wanted to know whether Laurana and Tanis had been intimate before, so it is certainly plausible Kitiara would know the details of Laurana and Tanis’s sexual history. Furthermore the text never outright says Laurana is a virgin (as opposed to Goldmoon, Tika, and Alhana all of whom are explicitly established as virgins), so that certainly could imply that Laurana had been intimate with Tanis before. And of course Laurana waiting for Tanis for all those years, and Gilthanas being so angry at Tanis that he ended his friendship with him over Tanis’s relationship with Laurana, both make a lot more sense if Laurana and Tanis’s relationship had been consummated at some point. (Since that would make the relationship seem much more real to Laurana and much more threatening to Gilthanas.) Thus I’m inclined to believe that Kitiara’s claim that Laurana and Tanis were lovers is correct which in turn further shows that Laurana and Tanis’s past relationship was much more serious than just a childish crush.
Otherwise, and while I’ve made this point before it does bear repeating, Chapter 3 clearly shows that Kitiara deliberately set Laurana up to be raped by Bakaris. Accordingly, this is also the point in the story where it becomes irrefutable that Kitiara is a complete monster. Prior to this everything Kitiara did at least had a certain military logic to it, so if you could get past that Kitiara was fighting for a reprehensible cause you could at least respect her as a capable warrior and commander. But there’s no military logic to Kitiara putting Bakaris in position to rape Laurana; such an act is actually counter-productive for Kitiara’s military objectives and is therefore just extreme cruelty for its own sake which marks Kitiara as a psychopath. This is also why it amazes me when people try to portray Kitiara as some sort of feminist figure. She is employing rape to make another woman suffer. Such a horrific act makes Kitiara one of the worst misogynist in the entire story. (And all of this bodes very poorly for Laurana as Kitiara’s prisoner.)
@1 To be pickly, it marks Kitiara as a sadist, not a psychopath. It’s the difference between not caring about people, and going out of your way to cause them pain. What kind of behaviour do you expect from Team Evil?
I was confused by this quote, since I did not see how Lord Soth–while definitely evil–qualifies as a “misogynistic psychopath with a major grudge against” Laurana. But then I read your post more carefully and realized that you meant Kit, with Lord Soth just being a proxy. Okay then.
@2 To be pickly, it marks Kitiara as a sadist, not a psychopath. It’s the difference between not caring about people, and going out of your way to cause them pain.
I stand corrected. (Though really both of those descriptions seem applicable to Kitiara.)
What kind of behaviour do you expect from Team Evil?
Well Team Evil can have its Erwin Rommel types (the otherwise honorable warrior fighting for a horrible cause), and it’s villains who are ruthless, greedy, and power-hungry but who don’t enjoy cruelty for its own sake, so Kitiara had plenty of other archetypes to go with other than Complete Monster.
@3: I was confused by this quote, since I did not see how Lord Soth–while definitely evil–qualifies as a “misogynistic psychopath with a major grudge against” Laurana. But then I read your post more carefully and realized that you meant Kit, with Lord Soth just being a proxy. Okay then.
I did mean Kitiara. Though the quote mostly works for Lord Soth as well. You just have to change “major grudge against Laurana” to “major grudge against elven woman” which obviously would still leave Laurana in a very bad situation (especially since per the game modules Laurana “reminds him painfully” of his lost elven wife.)
as it is certainly possible Kitiara could have made an unfounded assumption about the nature of Laurana and Tanis’s past relationship. Still, there is good reason to conclude that Kitiara’s belief is probably correct.
Except for the fact that Laurana was still the elven equivalent of a child. But hey, if you want to make Tanis a rapist too, go for it.
Chapter 3 clearly shows that Kitiara deliberately set Laurana up to be raped by Bakaris.
In what way is this clear? Gakhan clearly tells Bakaris not to, he just also recognizes he is powerless to stop him without killing him, and isn’t sure how Kit would react to that. If it was deliberate on Kit’s part, why would he do that. It’s clear to me that Soth is there for that very reason, to stop Bakaris from taking things too far. Especially considering Kit’s plan to give Laurana to Soth, Soth definitely wants her innocence intact so he can destroy it himself.
Except for the fact that Laurana was still the elven equivalent of a child.
Well if Laurana was the equivalent of 15 at the time and Tanis was the equivalent of 18 then that wouldn’t make Tanis a rapist even by most modern legal systems much less by medieval standards. And anyway Laurana is explicitly underage by elven law even at the time of the Chronicles, and that clearly isn’t deterring Tanis, so I don’t think Laurana being underage would have stopped Tanis in his adolescence.
But hey, if you want to make Tanis a rapist too, go for it.
I don’t think my own preference enters into it. The novel establishes that Kitiara clearly believes that Tanis and Laurana had a prior sexual relationship, and based on her prior relationship with Tanis it is very likely she would have accurate information on that subject.
In what way is this clear? Gakhan clearly tells Bakaris not to, he just also recognizes he is powerless to stop him without killing him, and isn’t sure how Kit would react to that. If it was deliberate on Kit’s part, why would he do that.
What are you talking about? Gakhan never once tells Bakaris not to touch Laurana. Here’s the exact conversation.
Bakaris turned to the draconian. “Gakhan, go back to Kalaman. Let us know the reaction of the people when they discover their ‘general’ missing.”
Gakhan hesitated, his dark reptilian eyes regarding Bakaris wearily. Kitiara had warned him something like this might occur. He guessed what Bakaris had in mind- his own private revenge. Gakhan could stop Bakaris, that was no problem. But there was the chance that-during the unpleasantness-one of the prisoners might escape and go for help. They were too near the city walls for comfort. Blast Bakaris anyway! Gakhan scowled then realized there was nothing he could do but hope Kitiara had provided for this contingency. Shrugging, Gakhan comforted himself with the thought of Bakaris’ fate when he returned to the Dark Lady.
“Certainly, Commander,” the draconian replied smoothly. Bowing, Gakhan faded back into the shadows.
So not once did Gakhan try to dissuade Bakaris from what he was doing. No orders, no warnings, not even a gentle suggestion. Nothing. And the fact that Kitiara, who knew perfectly well what that Bakaris would try something with Laurana, insisted that Bakaris be a part of the exchange in the first place and then didn’t give Gakhan explicit instructions on what to do if Bakaris did try anyway, makes it clear that Kitiara fully wanted Bakaris to rape Laurana.
It’s clear to me that Soth is there for that very reason, to stop Bakaris from taking things too far. Especially considering Kit’s plan to give Laurana to Soth, Soth definitely wants her innocence intact so he can destroy it himself.
If that’s the case then why did Soth not show up until after Bakaris had already dragged Laurana into the cave? Soth arrived far too late to stop Bakaris from taking things too far. And the fact that he didn’t intervene earlier but only revealed himself after Bakaris was dead and Laurana was on the cusp of getting away, suggests that he had specific orders from Kitiara to let Bakaris rape Laurana. (Otherwise, Soth would have stepped in just as soon as he saw Bakaris drag her off to the cave, since that obviously meant Laurana was in immediate peril.)