With the much-awaited release of A Cauldron of Bitterness comes the release of discussions that were previously restricted to Patreon members. To prevent unwanted exposure to spoilers, make sure to read A Cauldron of Bitterness in full - available now on AzaleaEllis.com.
So, does everyone hate Hite? What should Siobhan do about this new problem?
Should I write a short bonus scene from the POV of the other Red Guard agents where they bet on if/how Hite will get assassinated by the Raven Queen?
Heâs definitely in the nutjob that doesnât care about the lives of other people categoryâŚ
At least if she can cast 3 spells at once it would allow her to show them there is a way to at the very least get more time.
And I wouldnât say no to a small bonus POV if it does not take too much time to write !
Yes. Split him.
Damien or Titus POV would be more fun.
I am definitely looking forward to Hite getting killed! I am already imagining Lacer battling and killing him to save Siobhan!
I hate Hite. Reminds me of a rich SOB that thinks because theyâve got some power theyâre invulnerable. I fear, however, itâs not a brag of he can carry out his threat.
Also kinda funny; everyone in the scene is a little bit like: âoh god I am not even ready for a fight tonightâ And Hiteâs going, âso, whoâs up for a fight? Iâm thinking I can take you. Nothing like a good fight to get the blood pumping amiright guys? Guys?â
I wonder if Lacer and Hite have gotten into it. Heck, Lacer might have worked with him because they are both researchers. I bet they hate each other.
Tricky to answer this. Expose his vulnerabilities. Separate him from his allies. Use Lacer, who wonât like being interfered with. Get a bodyguard; maybe a rescued null?
Also, never attack from an obvious direction; you want a guy like that to be tired and off balance before the confrontation. Siobhan is always counter-punching against these people who are above her weight class. She knows where the bases are; she needs to start assessing when she can ambush them for a change.
She also needs to do something about this bullshit rain spell. I suspect with a grasp of shamanistic magic sheâll be able to pull that kind of BS magic apart from the inside. Maybe devour some fate so she can start spending it to change the outcomes
She does still have the rending keychainâŚ
Not quite at the level of hating him yet, seeing as heâs only just appeared as a character. However, Iâm in strong dislike territory for him already.
Certainly seems like his time is running out (in more ways than one) given how quickly he wants progress. Maybe S will try to purposefully use Amber/shadow familiar to kill this guy at some point.
Iâm wondering if a weather manipulation spell could do enough to interfere with this meeting in the rain thing? Or her shadow levels up again to extend what it can eat/cloak from
She should kill him. Ultimately, thatâs a solid goal, and possibly attainable within her vows. Iâd have to go back and check what they agreed to be sure.
Siobhan made her vows with the Red Guard as an organization, not with a sect of it or any particular individual. Heâs repeatedly showed bad faith and a willingness/eagerness to break vows that he is held under.
At this point, with those threats, I find it shocking that she doesnât consider the agreement null and void.
yes, please a bonus scene where we get a perspective from red guard agentsâ side. How they recieved this order to let him meet her and their outlook and feelings about hite and this meeting.
This is an interesting turn of events and possibly will lead to a glimpse of inner workings and politics of red guard. There must be some factions who are wary and opposed to hite or people like him having such power and how far they are willing to go to achieve it. Agents who are willing to ally with siobhan who donât want this SOB to have this information and power and are chafing with their oaths and greed of colleagues like lacer and are unhappy about them not actually being âall for peopleâs safetyâ. It can also lead to lacer and siobhan working together and understanding things from otherâ s perspective and hopefully resolve their differences.
Or
As she is already researching for her memory seal and now him. She can actually find out how to transfer consciousness and when he comes after 3 months, transfer his consciousness to spirit realm etc which will warn red guard to not push her further in future
Iâm wondering why the red guard is researching that. Maybe an artificial lifeform could be immune to aberrants like a Null?
Yes and yes.
The man makes me itch for Siobhan to do unreasonable, unwise things. Heâs the kind of slime that would tear identical twins from their mothers to use in experiments if he were given the chance. Seeing even other Red Guard agents hate and fear him and root for the Raven Queen to put him in his place would be darkly amusing.
I think itâs fairly clear he has a personal stake in this research - possibly a desire to take a new body and extend his life. It would explain his avarice and impatience.
What should Siobhan do about him?
Honestly, right now I think the most impressive thing would be if she just said âit will take the time that it takes. I do not appreciate your tone.â And then uses her shadow void to punch her way out of their rain spell. If it can eat through enchantments and cut her way to the spirit realm/land of dreams then it should be able to eat their rain spell and take her back to reality.
She might need some help from her passenger-prisoner. I donât think sheâd make the connection otherwise or might not be willing to try it unless it failed.
Regardless, the Red Guard are not treating her with appropriate respect and her being able to break free so dramatically and seemingly effortlessly would seriously put them on the back foot. I seriously want her to bare her teeth and rattle them. Or if Hite tries to grab her with a spell or something just effortlessly devouring it with her shadow - cutting him from it like she did with Lacer - should be enough to really put the wind up him.
Edit: You know what? Iâd really love for her to ice pick him in the ear with her shadow. Just put him on the ground with seemingly no effort and bypassing any defences he has. Let the bastard feel some terror, especially if she does this after just shrugging off one of his spells seemingly effortlessly. The Red Guard should be more afraid of her.
I wonder how Hite can threaten her so brazenly with his last statement:
âYou have three months to prove your worth as an independent researcher.â
He is essentially saying that he / the Red Guard will kidnap her for forced human experimentation in three months.
Perhaps I have missed something but what is stopping Siobhan from just⌠leaving (from Hiteâs perspective)?
It was established that while her anti-divination can be overcome with force, it becomes increasingly infeasible over large areas such as the entire city, let alone over countries-distances if she decides to leave for Silva Erde.
Sure, the Red Guard has special resources but since it was now established that she is not an existential threat, they are less incentivized to pump many resources into finding her.
I kind of doubt they will actually able to find her, especially if she liquidates all of her assets to purchase the warded jewelry and focuses her future studies into anti-divination.
Siobhan could actually decide to fully copy her Myrddin journal and give back the original, to sharply decrease the chances of the Crown/Lenore wanting to find her as well.
In the grand scheme of things, if she decides to leave the âLenore chapterâ behind, her dangerous machinations will have largely paid off as she gets off scot free.
I believe the most significant thing she will lose by leaving is the content of the other journals but staying to access them seems too risky given how the situation with the Red Guard is tipping.
I am very curious how this all will turn out.
i think she could have argued that before red guard knew about her possible success in transfer of consciousness. Initially they were trying to find her because of pressure from crown and if she had mitigated that threat i.e return the book and leave lenore after proving she is no threat to general public . Now as hite said directors are interested in that research and hence willing to go extra mile and use their resources to track her down. Pendragonâs threat or authority is insignificant in front of red guard organisation. Its just how they will explain that doing this is in alignment with their âdoing for peopleâs goodâ motto.
Itâs going to be interesting when hite, while still an asshole, turns out to be the one that helps her deal with the seal in her mind.
Hite is an easily hate-able character, I think the goal is there are ancient red guard looking to extend their lives, who donât care how. Think if they make themselves a carnivore body theyâll be able to continue on indefinitely . I am hoping she manages to trap them in some thing useless and the destroys them. itâs most likely and inner council that has ruled the red guard who have long left their ideals behind. And are probably causing the speed up of aberrants through misinformation for the use in rare materials 
. Looking forward to the last few chapters
While Hite does seem custom designed to be hateable from the outset (he is supposed to strike us as a Mengele, right?) I find myself hating him less than I now do Lacer.