(re: brief rant on previous page) Okay, yeah. Except for killing the rat. That disturbs me. I don’t know why he did that, either, and I don’t like it one bit.
The bit with the rat throws me, too. Jhalm’s got some sort of agenda of his own (or possibly the agenda of someone he answers to, which would likely mean a god and mean his neutrality is seriously compromised) beyond the mandate of the Veiled. The question, of course, is what and why.
I just presumed he had to kill it in order to intercept the message. People used to train hawks to take down carrier pigeons as late as the Korean war. I presumed he took it out with a sling or hark because. well, he strikes me as exactly the sort of person who opens other people letters and re-seals them again when he’s done, and i bet he’d still do it if he was a civilian. he just seems like that sort.
Besides, If he didn’t intercept The Statues message to Digger how would he know Digger was coming to the temple? I just presumed that for him killing the rat was a necessary step in finding out were Digger was and he set out to “intercept” that rat as soon as he suspected/heard that The Statue might be contacting Digger. I Have no doubt that he wouldn’t think of it as any different from reading someone Else’s texts.
Well, this is my first time through (and aren’t those page number jumps a hoot?!) but I’m reminding myself that just ‘cos the man is holding a dead winged rat doesn’t mean he killed it… but at the very least, hiding it is a worry.
I confess to some curiosity as to why Jalim killed/stunned the rat. Was he planning to have Digger taken prisoner?
(re: brief rant on previous page) Okay, yeah. Except for killing the rat. That disturbs me. I don’t know why he did that, either, and I don’t like it one bit.
The bit with the rat throws me, too. Jhalm’s got some sort of agenda of his own (or possibly the agenda of someone he answers to, which would likely mean a god and mean his neutrality is seriously compromised) beyond the mandate of the Veiled. The question, of course, is what and why.
I just presumed he had to kill it in order to intercept the message. People used to train hawks to take down carrier pigeons as late as the Korean war. I presumed he took it out with a sling or hark because. well, he strikes me as exactly the sort of person who opens other people letters and re-seals them again when he’s done, and i bet he’d still do it if he was a civilian. he just seems like that sort.
Besides, If he didn’t intercept The Statues message to Digger how would he know Digger was coming to the temple? I just presumed that for him killing the rat was a necessary step in finding out were Digger was and he set out to “intercept” that rat as soon as he suspected/heard that The Statue might be contacting Digger. I Have no doubt that he wouldn’t think of it as any different from reading someone Else’s texts.
Well, this is my first time through (and aren’t those page number jumps a hoot?!) but I’m reminding myself that just ‘cos the man is holding a dead winged rat doesn’t mean he killed it… but at the very least, hiding it is a worry.
“*mutter mutter mutter stomp stomp stomp* Jerk.” Still makes me giggle.
But, didn’t the rat give the message to Digger? As in, the rat no longer has the message? Giving Jhalm no reason to intercept it?
Plus the rat is a Sacred Temple Rat. Why is he destroying a sacred creature??
I think the rat was supposed to lead Digger back to the temple or something. She told it to wait outside at one point, IIRC.
Or hm, was it referenced later that Jhalm did indeed try to get her lost in the woods? I dunno.