Spirit Walker - Spoilers - Chapters 1 through part of 14

[DigitalMaestro]

Don't forget: The first whore was a shaman and she was quite human. The Shadow Fox had a mental monologue about how she would have to keep him in harlot's dens a bit more so she could breed him without suspicion. The Shaman nature of the girl is what made him choose her.

Cannot wait for the next chapter or ten!

-Digital Maestro

[michaelsuave]

Don't forget: The first whore was a shaman and she was quite human. The Shadow Fox had a mental monologue about how she would have to keep him in harlot's dens a bit more so she could breed him without suspicion. The Shaman nature of the girl is what made him choose her.

Cannot wait for the next chapter or ten!

-Digital Maestro

I didn't think the harlot was actually a shaman, just that she had a stong connection to the spirit world...? I thought the shadow fox was trying to breed other human shamans through the harlot etc, not that the harlot was actually a shaman. Could be wrong, but that's how I read it, let me know.

~Michael

[michaelsuave]

Nah, he's not nearly that bad. He's still quite sociable and can be very glib, and would very much prefer to talk his way out of situations than just kill everyone, as he talked his way past the Loreguard in Riyan.

That too is an aspect of guile and deceit.

The reason the fox has put him in situations where he has to kill is because she's showing him that there are times when talking does not work, and killing is necessary to get the job done. Getting on the ship is the perfect example of it. The captain would not board him as a passenger nor hire him as a sailor, no matter how glib and charming he was. He determined this from talking to the sailors and hearing about his personality from the men who worked under him. And so he resorted to a much more brutal method.

Which was the correct answer. It would have been the only way to get on the ship.

He naturally seeks to avoid violence and confrontation as a matter of personality, which is a trait the fox favors. She's just been training him in how and when to know that talking won't work, and violence is mandated, which is, in a way, a lesson in wisdom.

True wisdom isn't pacifistic like Buddhism. The truly wise man knows that violence is sometimes necessary, so the wise man must understand violence, be capable of it when necessary, and know when and how to apply it. This approach may sound cold-blooded, and it actually is. This is an aspect of life that Kyven had no experience with in Atan, and so he's getting a crash course in the judicious use of violence at the outset of his Walk. Not all his lessons will be about violence, but the fox wanted to lay the groundwork immediately, so he understands that violence may be necessary and be capable of resorting to it.

He's passed that test.

Yay, he passed that test... so um, when do we get to hear about the next one?

[Fel]

His next lesson?

Humility.

[nightwing1978]

why do i get the feeling that the former slaves aren't going to rejoice with him, but lock him up

[DigitalMaestro]

His next lesson?

Humility.

So... If we send chopsticks and sushi, will the next chapter come faster? We cannot abide this blasted waiting and will do near anything to curb it!

[Lochar]

His next lesson?

Humility.

The 'just because you're on your Walk with a totem doesn't mean everything is going to go your way' lesson.

[DigitalMaestro]

SPOILER WARNING

From Ch 5 discussion:

Just be careful not to equate the shadow fox to other, more benign "guiding spirits" from other stories, like the Goddess or Cybi. She will lie to him and deceive him when it suits her own purposes, and she is more than willing to be quite brutal to him when she feels it's necessary.

Looking at ch6:
Brutal is right! She definitely was brutal taking his humanity! I didn't think he was all that heartless to the Arcans. He just wasn't ready to cross breed yet. I can't say I blame him. I have nothing against people of other races, but I tend to be a bit purist in my personal interests. Other races just don't turn me on at this point in life. Besides, blonds are a dying race and I've gotta try and save it. lol

Speaking of Cybi, it'd be nice to see some more of her...

[Fel]

That's not why she did it. It has nothing to do with the sex, it has everything to do with the motives behind it.

Just as an example.

Kyven doesn't understand why Arcans act the way they do. He lacks a basic understanding of the true hardships they face in life. As the fox noted, to him, they are ONLY Arcans. This is something that, as a Shaman, he needs to understand intimately for reasons that will become clear as the story progresses.

The first lesson with Bella and the cat and the ferrets, it served two purposes. The first was to teach him, and the second was to manipulate him into this very situation. The fox played on his trust in her and his human need to "do good," for he hadn't yet learned the lesson that sometimes there are no happy endings for the innocent. She turned his need to do good against him, and now she's exacting a heavy price against him for his stupidity.

No good deed goes unpunished.

The fox is teaching him wisdom, and he'll learn a hell of a lot of it when he has to walk a mile in an Arcan's shoes.

It's a lesson that would have been inevitable. The fox is cunning, and Kyven was unaware of her true motives. She would have trapped him into a situation where he would ALLOW her to do this to him eventually.

Yes, allow. This is something a spirit could never do to someone who was unwilling. She had to trick him into allowing her to do it, or at the very least securing from him an agreement that would allow her to do it against his wishes.

But don't despair too much. There's a purpose behind all this, one that Kyven will eventually understand, maybe even appreciate. He hates the fox right now for what she's done to him, but time will change that, as it does all things.

[michaelsuave]

Fel, you are a bastard leaving us like that, AGAIN! That being said and vented, the Fox also gave him something, some power, some endurance, something. I'm wondering if maybe when she turns him back into a human, that she leaves the arcan agility and strength... Its his major weakness, and Fel did make suspicious mention of it earlier on in the chapter, foreshadowing perhaps? The shadow fox did say that she gave to him also...

~Michaelsuave

[Metatrone]

I hate to say this but I can never truly relate to your characters Fel, they are simply far too forgiving to suite my nature...

[Sage4Eros]

OOooo!!! I just thought of something! He can no longer cast Active spells, only use a Passive ability like his Spirit Sight, right? Well he isn't a Fox Arcan now, he is a SHADOW Fox Arcan. Shadow foxes are "monsters" with innate magical "passive" abilities- Shadow Melding and the ability siphon magic directly from the Spirit World to power that ability. The Shadow Meld is effectively a maintained illusion that is powered by a direct link to the Spirit World. I wonder how many chapters until he remembers that fact and starts to experiment.

If he DOES end up with those abilities, I wonder if his totem is going to let him keep them when he regains his humanity. I can see him loosing an Arcan's physical strength and endurance when he becomes human again, but KEEP his ability to tap into the Spirit World's magic to offset the physical limitations that a human has. What this could mean is that he will never be able to pump as much energy into a spell as an Arcan, but he could MAINTAIN a steady flow of lesser energy much longer. Remember- the Shadow Fox said that most of her spells (such as illusions) were were spells that needed to be maintained. So Arcan shamans could cast more powerful Lightning spells or Cones of Cold, but Kyven could maintain an illusion with minimal effort.

[Metatrone]

Ooo I'm thinking Fel i going for somewhat more involved solution of the hole learning of humility by becoming an Arcan thing. There's a striking similarity between the Arcans and the Were form of some other very popular line of characters from another series... Perhaps Kyven will be the the very unique first shapeshifter when he learns humility or something... Perfect solution - to the Arcans he is an Arcan,with the advantages of their capacity to use the power of the spirit world, to the humans a human and meanwhile the perfect spy. Guile and Deceit.

[sOmeone]

Perhaps Kyven will be the the very unique first shapeshifter when he learns humility or something... Perfect solution - to the Arcans he is an Arcan,with the advantages of their capacity to use the power of the spirit world, to the humans a human and meanwhile the perfect spy. Guile and Deceit.

That is what I was thinking

[dellstart]

Perhaps Kyven will be the the very unique first shapeshifter when he learns humility or something... Perfect solution - to the Arcans he is an Arcan,with the advantages of their capacity to use the power of the spirit world, to the humans a human and meanwhile the perfect spy. Guile and Deceit.

That is what I was thinking

well said , this does fit well with the shadow fox's modus operandi