Order of the Amber Die
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Chapters One through Ten:
Luma’s sibling situation develops further, but unfortunely not better. It seems her success during In the Event of My Untimely Demise has already been forgotten, and Arrus is ready to jump on her whenever he gets a chance. It’s a bit difficult to tell what ratio of that is perfectionism and antagonism, but he veils either well by adding a playful element, albeit somewhat transparent, to his critique of her every move. But it’s good to see her starting to stand up for herself more.
The scene with her stepmother was a little more telling though. As with Arrus, it’s not easy to tell if Yandine's admission of neglecting Luma is genuine, but considering the family is about ti be in a state of flux due to Randred’s condition it could be an real attempt to make her family stronger even though she has no blood ties to Luma. The situation reminded me a little of Stelan and Lenelle from Plague of Shadows, as the latter was also the matriarch of an influential family with her husband at death’s door. My suspicions that Lenelle had something to do with Stelan's condition may have been wrong, but something about Yandine is similarly nagging at me. As a native to Korvosa, it’s safe to assume she was raised to despise Magnimar since birth, and I’m curious about the backstory about why she came here in the first place, because even though that was over 25 years ago, with the recent Korvosan activity at Grand Arch I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to suspect her to be involved in some way.
But what I really don’t understand, which I hope I will soon, is the whole Hendregan situation. It’s only been a few weeks, but I was so happy to see him again! When I was reading the description of his tattoos at No-Horn, I was thinking “Could it be?” and then when I turned the next page “It is!” actually came out of my mouth, haha. Then he blew up the bar. [Way to open strong, Hendo!] I have no real speculations as to what was he doing there, and I don’t see him as a suspect behind Khonderian’s murder considering he wasn’t charred remains. Maybe he’s the person who Luma has seen following her, but then again he’s never been one for sneaking around like Gad and the others.
That brings me back to Luma and some of her abilities. I’m starting to think maybe she’s learned more than just a thing or two from Ontor. She seems trained in Stealth, we just saw her use Sleight of Hand against a pickpocket on her way to Triodea, and in the encounter with Noole she could’ve been using Bluff to trade feints with him, which is usually paired with Sneak Attack. I must admit, I’m surprised at the lack of skill adjustments for the urban druid archetype. I wouldn’t think Luma’s a multiclassed rogue if, let’s say, the urban druid gained Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nobility), Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth as class skills instead of Handle Animal, Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (nature), Ride, and Survival. The other urban archetypes have similar substitutions, so why not urban druid? I don’t ever see Luma making use of the Nature Sense or Wild Empathy class features either. Those seem like missed opportunities to really make this archetype come to life, despite Luma doing a really good job of that in this story thus far.
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Order of the Amber Die
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I thought Luma's family had some serious issues before, but this is taking it WAY too far! They threw her in the grinder!? Seriously? I think that was hands-down the most gruesome scene I've read in Pathfinder Tales. Up to her waist in gears, bones pulverized, blood everywhere...unbelievable. I thought Ontor was her side for sure, but even he turned on her. There must be something the others have on him, or maybe Iskola charmed him, because it's hard to believe that he'd just let her go out like that. It would've been more merciful if he had just ended it with his blade, and not being man enough to go through with it made it that much worse.
What I want to know is why they didn't just leave her in prison for killing Khonderian? Why set her free, if only to kill her? What harm could she really have done them from the Hells? There's clearly something far more sinister going on here than what we know so far. Sure, a high-profile murder is terrible and all, but for Luma's siblings to be able to do that is monstrous. I wonder if they're just all evil characters, and have been this entire time, or if there's an outside force pulling their strings...
That was so messed up. Wow. Hard to get it out of my head.
However, despite what she went through, I like the new Luma a lot more. She's no longer trying to appease anyone, to fit in with everyone. Now she's a force to reckon with on her own, and with her new crew of fellow outcasts and outlaws she's even more formidable. I like how this new wayward cast has come together, all being so different and joining Luma for many different reasons. It's actually quite close to the classic adventuring group, with Priza, Hendregan, Thaubnis, and Noole filling the roles of the fighter, magic-user, cleric, and thief respectively. Definitely the strangest adventuring group I've seen, but I think it totally works.
Now let's see how they put it all together and face off against a professional group who has been training with each other all their lives...
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I loved the grinder scene, it made me chortle so hard when I got to that part.
I mean, yeah, it was super messed up, but on the other hand, props for coming up for something that actually made me wince as I was reading.
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Order of the Amber Die
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I loved the grinder scene, it made me chortle so hard when I got to that part.
I mean, yeah, it was super messed up, but on the other hand, props for coming up for something that actually made me wince as I was reading.
When you first read the description about the grinder, you know right away that someone or something is going to get caught in, then after one of the golems fell victim to it you think that's it. But you're wrong, because then - surprise - the main character goes in! Totally unexpected.
I also liked it for it's game mechanics. You wonder how she doesn't die after half her body is wrecked by this thing, but then you think if this was in a module it's probably a CR 10 hazard that does 10d6 damage per round, or something like that. But since Luma was able to stop it and had enough hit points to barely survive, it makes more sense in those terms, rather than seeing something like that in a movie, where exclamations of disbelief would probably be heard all around. Action and drama, shock and awe, blood and gore...this scene has it all.
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The betrayal of family, for me, was the linchpin *gotcha* in this novel. My heart broke... I literally had to stop reading, put the book down and catch my breath. What a superb moment. The "B!tch Slap" from hell...
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Order of the Amber Die
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(Chapters Twenty-One through Thirty)
As I settled into the final chapters, I was feeling pretty good about everything. The group was complete, they established a (modest) base of operations, and almost all the reconnaissance was done except for one last thing: it was time to "Meet the Korvosans" at Nirodin House. Sheesh. So not only does Luma and her new allies have to face off against her siblings, but a second group of characters that they know almost nothing about? At least Luma is familiar with how her family operates and what their abilities are. Despite her being able to identify their roles, she has no idea how experienced the Korvosans are and what tricks they have up their sleeve. At least Luma was able to get away from that situation. That was a rough series of Bluff checks she had to make, and given what we know about her it's not likely her Charisma is very high, so that makes me think even more that she has a few levels in rogue since the Urban Druid archetype doesn't alter class skills as it should.
Then there's the Hellknights. Honestly, I forgot all about them up until now, probably because after they first appeared I expected a showdown between them and the Derexhi crew, but since the betrayal that seemed out of the picture. As I was reading this scene, I was thinking that this must be one of the reasons Hendregan was brought in. Aside from him being one of my favorite characters in all Pathfinder Tales, here he serves as a necessary plot device to get Luma through he Hellknights, because - let's face it - without him it's TPK and the story ends in a bloody mess. Thinking back to part two of Nightglass, it's clear that the Hellknights are a fearsome force to be reckoned with, and I don't think Luma would've stood a chance no matter how nasty her new sickle is.
The climactic battle at the end went how I expected, which is not to say I wasn't entertained, because it's great when all the pieces fall into place and no stones are left unturned. I'm sure we all figured that the whole plot the Derexhi crew orchestrated had some game-changing political implications if they were to succeed, and at least one of our heroes had to die (R.I.P. Priza) to stop them. Although I should have, I didn't expect the Korvosans to be betrayed as well, but they were truly the perfect scapegoats for this plot. It had a very Game of Thrones feel to it, and I loved it.
But, alas, I was wrong again about the questionably distressed spouse having betrayed her husband. I like how Luma tested her in the end, proving she wasn't complicit of Randred's poisoning, and also how she used Yandine to track down Ontor. The end was bittersweet, as I did feel a pang of pity for him, and the last few lines were particularly gut-wrenching:
"You loved me," she whispered. "And you killed me anyway."
That was the most emotional denouement (in any medium) that I've experienced in a very long time.
Well done, sir.
