Original fiction: Outlands. Sons of the Path arc, part 1

[maldoror_gw]

Gah, I hate to post and run after so long, but here t'is, enjoy, please review as this encourages me to work past the apathy I've felt towards writing this path month...

Link to all chapters

Comments

[hopeofdawn]

Yay! I've been rereading the older chapters, and hoping for more--I'm so glad to see this! And I like Haakonson--he's unexpectedly appealing and multilayered. I'm glad the Pere Gathas aren't automatic bad guys--or at least not *obvious* ones! :D

[cathedral_junki]

i second this. I really /like/ Haakonson. And i think its intresting that he's also and Inlander.

[maldoror_gw]

Thanks :) I do like creating protagonists with more than one dimensions, particularly one who is not entirely black or white, but a shade of grey in relation to the hero.

[askerian]

But those facts did not concern visitors who could appear out of thin air right in front of the God's Gate. Ryou, who could do the kind of mental judo known to all business managers
Pffft. XD Oh, I love how he can use his job experience to decipher that kind of political stuff.

(the small, private one, only twice the size of Ryou's apartment back in Tokyo)
I want to be impressed XD but, you know, it's Tokyo. It's easy to see Ryou would be, though, since that's his frame of reference. *snerk*

Two weeks in the royal palace had not begun to habituate him to talking authoritatively to anybody.
... XDDD ♥ oh Ryou. That politeness must be bred so deep.

'I want to give you something to distract you, and I know how you love to explore and ask all sorts of questions.'
Yes, but that also means RIDING. ... though I guess if Ryou is busy controlling his horse and judging how saddle-sore he's going to get then he's not worrying about other stuff. XD

to allow the shimmering tight green silk bodice to peep through- and still revealing a

[askerian]

"Inlanders cross to the Outlands often. That's how the Outlands were colonized.
--DOH. This makes so much sense.

the Path closed of itself
Typo? ^^ And oh man, only fifty people and they must be pretty WTF about it. *... vaguely tempted to do fan-fanfic now*

And more to the point, it was obvious from several things Haaskoning had said and done that the Per Gathas would require his total allegiance, and for Ryou that was not possible; his faith, as Assyrians would put it, was to Darius and by extension to Leyam and Assyria.
...X33333

said Haaskoning with a genial smile, and Ryou remembered that the blighter would know a lot more about it than he did.
Bwahaha Ryou does not like him.

I am at the age where I should think of passing on my role to a younger man in a few years.
*not tempting you to come join us because your ambition wants you to take my place at all, btw, no, this bit of info slipped out totally on accident.*

"....Really. Well, that is...surprising.""also, I am not trying to minimize my WAIT WHAT at all." hohohohoho

[maldoror_gw]

'Aw, he can't even sit Seiza. Mean. I bet that'd look real strange to Leyam and Darius, though. Hmm.'

True; at the time, scribes and such used to sit cross-kneed I believe. Only slaves knelt, and that was to grovel. A Japanese man sitting Seiza is very obviously not grovelling ^__^ It makes my knees and lower back ache to watch in the movies...

I have to admit, writing that bit with Darius's approach to diplomacy was one of my favorite bits in this chapter ^__^

'I am at the age where I should think of passing on my role to a younger man in a few years.
*not tempting you to come join us because your ambition wants you to take my place at all, btw, no, this bit of info slipped out totally on accident.*
'

Lol, you caught that ^___^ Juuuuust a simple hint.

It will turn out Haaskoning had another reason to think Ryou might be using his powers soon (and not just because he's probably figured out Ryou has as little impulse control when it comes to Darius as Darius does when it comes to Ryou...)

[toshirodragon]

Oh indeed on the last line there!

Well well well, the leadership of the Per Gathas is a bit of a surprise, though in context it DOES make sense.

And once again I shake my head at Leyam, laugh and swear thaat I love him to itty bitty bits!

[maldoror_gw]

Leyam just steals every scene he's in and eats them for lunch ^^; He sort of barges into chapters I hadn't intended to put him either. But he's fun to write!

[evanelric]

Whee! I'm glad I got to see a new chapter so quickly, haha! Looks like I picked just the right time to get into this story

[maldoror_gw]

Well I do occasionally stretch those 10 minutes of research. Or rather, I'll do 10 minutes for one section, but then I'll do another 10 minutes for another section that also happens to be on the same subject. Still, considering the insane breadth of this fic...I imposed that 10 minute rule because otherwise I'd be overwhelmed by the quantity of stuff I did not know and the number of mistakes I'd be bound to make, and I'd have never written a word.

'Hiding things in plain sight, I guess. Excellent job on that, too.'
Lol, thanks ^_^ I do like doing that...

[reflecttheother]

"and still revealing a lamentable lack of cleavage to go with it."
Yes, Ryou really does need to hop back to the Inlands for a moment to pick up a Wonderbra and a pair of chicken cutlets. They really would just tie Leyam's outfits together.

“Ashur and Enlil, not like that,” groused Leyam, looking around. “That makes my knees ache to watch you.”
Ryou shifted from Seiza position to sit down on his butt with his feet resting on the steps of the dais at a comfortable angle."
I love how Ryou is getting used to Assyria in a general manner, but that there are still these little moments of culture clash/difference.

“No fun. Well I said, just as diplomatically and with as many words, that you were not a court retainer or my pet magian, but a stranger from Ezo who was bedding my brother.”
Ryou’s eyes flickered shut briefly. Yes, Leyam would say exactly that."
Completed outed. I love Leyam <3

[maldoror_gw]

'Yes, Ryou really does need to hop back to the Inlands for a moment to pick up a Wonderbra and a pair of chicken cutlets. They really would just tie Leyam's outfits together.'

And give the entire court of Assyria major conniptions.

Thanks for the encouragements! These great reviews were the things that kept me sticking to my self-appointed task of *finishing this bloody fic!!*