Name of the Wind 76 - 78

Chapter 76

They watch the creature, and Kote explains that it is not really a dragon, but something called a draccus. It is a large herbivore, so therefore harmless to them. They are pretty rare and gave rise to stories of dragons, but they are not truly dragons.

I thought this was a draccus, since it had been brought up earlier but never discussed, but when Kote called it a dragon I though we were in for the real thing. It's dangerous enough anyway, and eats trees whole. Another interesting feature, it has a streak of Smoky the bear, instictually drawn to putting out campfires.

Chapter 77

Kote and Denna uncover a drug growing and processing operation in the bluffs. Apparently the manufacturer had planted the source trees in a remote part of the forest and was cooking resin in a spot in the bluffs. They find his remains in a destroyed building and his self-defense crossbow. They hear the dracchus coming and climb up into a hiding spot in the bluffs, where they find his lookout spot. Denna eats some of the resin, thinking its maple candy, and Kote performs some medieval emergency medicine, detoxing her with charcoal. The draccus has been eating the drug trees and become addicted, Kote is afraid once the trees run out it will start attacking humans. He resolves to kill it.

I love this stumbling onto the fantasy drug manufacturing operation, totally unexpected and, combined with the draccus, seems to explain most of the weird goings-on in the area, other than the Chandrian attack. Kote continues to woo Denna with an irresistible mix of know-it-all-ness and lack of confidence. He does score points for saving her from overdosing, so he may still win her heart. As for how he intends to kill the Draccus, that should be interesting.

Chapter 78

They watch the intoxicated draccus thrash among the trees, despairing at how they would be able to hurt it. Denna comes up with the bright idea to hang a fire off the side of a cliff, but they'll need rope. They go back and search the ruined shed, find some twine but no rope. Kote comes up with plan B, poisoning he thing with the drug resin. It means all the money they were planning to make from selling it (to reputable pharmacists) will be lost, but will be partially offset by selling dragons scales.  Kote pushes to try to kill the thing ASAP, so they can go back to town in case Denna needs more medical attention.

Nice to see Denna come up with a bright idea here, Kote was really getting to be unbearable. Unfortunately, without rope they can't carry it out so they'll have to rely on Kote's brilliance again.

Name of the Wind 73 - 75

Chapter 73

Kote and Denna meet a swineherd. Kote mimics a rustic dialect to put the man at ease, buys one of his pigs, and invites him to share it with them. Over dinner he pumps the man for information. He hadn't heard anything about the wedding but he knew the bride's family had built a house for her on what he called barrow-hill. The used some stones they had dug up - supposedly barrow-stones. The swineherd had been up further north but had seen a large blue fire the day before the wedding in the bluffs to the north and, wanting no part of it, started moving south. After the man leaves, Kote explains that it was more likely and old hilltop fort rather than barrows on the hill. He points out how the hill gave a great view of the surrounding lands. He points out a taller, more pointed peak for them to climb so he can get a look at the bluffs to the north, and spot Denna's patron, Ash, if he's about.

This chapter was a bit difficult to read, with the he swineherd 's dialect rendered phonetically, but plot wise a very interesting one as we learn about a potential motivation for the Chandrian attack on the wedding. Was this once a Chandrian fortification? Also sounds like there's been unusual activity in the bluffs to the north for a long time, curious to see if it's the Chandrian hangout,

Chapter 74

They rich the top of the target hill. They see some flashes of blue light in the hills to the south. Kote keeps a fire going while Denna sleeps. When she wakes he takes his turn sleeping. He wakes up with her standing over him, worried about a noise the climb up and hide on some grey stones on top of the hill, and spot the creature making the noises - it's a dragon, spouting blue flame!

Sounds like the flashes of blue flame in the bluffs to the north are dragons - do they have any relation to Chandrian? Denna makes a good point that the Chandrian like to kill off anyone who might have heard of something - be it Kote's father's song or rumor of what the wedding party had found on their hill.

Chapter 75

Kote asks Chronicler why he didn't interrupt to say there's no such thing as dragons. He says complete obedience is irritating.

An Air of Mystery

One storytelling technique I love is when you don't see the bad guy or monster at all, or until he very end. If done right, this can really amp up the suspense.

I thought of this when I read Junot Diaz's short story Monstro from the Wastelands2 anthology. The "monster" of the title is only referred to obliquely in the story, so the tension and intrigue just keep ratcheting up throughout the story.

In movies, one of my favorite examples of this technique is Cloverfield. We only get brief glimpses of the creature at the end, and thankfully the special effects are up to snuff to make the monster as terrifying as we imagined.

In both of these examples, the focus of the story is not so much on the monster but in the relationships of the people dealing with it. There's probably something to that. But in both cases, the creatures definitely make their presence felt.

Do you have any favorite examples of this technique?