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| - Toc the Younger has been marching with the Tenescowri for three weeks after the events in Bastion. Electing not to speak, Toc has gained a semblance of notoriety amongst the Tenescowri as having a particularly perceptive eye, some guessing that he communes directly with the Pannion Seer. He is noticed by Anaster who takes him into his inner circle of lieutenants. Toc makes several observations: the armies are followed by massive, ensorcelled condors, the lieutenants and Anaster are always well fed, eating those Tenescowri who die from hunger, and Anaster's mother frightens Toc more than anyone else in the army, even more than the Seer. Despite having starved to the point of emaciation, Toc refuses to eat human flesh, but he feels his resolve crumbling.
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| abstract
| - Toc the Younger has been marching with the Tenescowri for three weeks after the events in Bastion. Electing not to speak, Toc has gained a semblance of notoriety amongst the Tenescowri as having a particularly perceptive eye, some guessing that he communes directly with the Pannion Seer. He is noticed by Anaster who takes him into his inner circle of lieutenants. Toc makes several observations: the armies are followed by massive, ensorcelled condors, the lieutenants and Anaster are always well fed, eating those Tenescowri who die from hunger, and Anaster's mother frightens Toc more than anyone else in the army, even more than the Seer. Despite having starved to the point of emaciation, Toc refuses to eat human flesh, but he feels his resolve crumbling. Toc thinks about how the Pannions have been sending soldiers to the south to deal with Envy, Tool, and the Seguleh. Entire regiments have been wiped out, along with the undead K'Chain Che'Malle, who are often taken down by Garath and Baaljagg. Toc thinks that the Seer is getting nervous as the flashes of Envy's sorcery appear to be getting closer. As the army reaches Outlook, a fort in the mountains, Anaster tells his lieutenants that the Pannion Seer requests to see Toc in person. Toc is forced to crawl up a flight of stairs, finding horrifying reminders of the Seer's cruelty along the way. When he at last meets the Seer, he sees an old man's corpse on a chair, but behind him there's a man-shaped figure, speaking through the dead body. The Seer casts a healing spell on Toc that mends the damage done by weeks of starvation, but slowly to avoid the mental trauma of force-healing. The Seer tells him he has a "wolf's eye", and offers him an unknown meat, which Toc, possessing a wolf's senses, can identify as venison. The Seer questions him about Envy's party. Toc denies knowing them, and the Seer says he'll need to stop them himself. Toc suddenly sees out of Baaljagg's eyes. The weather turns to sleet and hail, and ice begins forming on the ground. Tool and Envy talk about how this resembles Jaghut magic, and that an alliance between the Jaghut and the K'chain Che'Malle is unthinkable. Neither Tool nor Envy can nullify the magic affecting the weather, and are forced to march on, enduring the icy winds. Back in the Seer's quarters, Toc notices that the creature controlling the dead human is indeed a Jaghut, but that grey tendrils wrap around him leading down to feed on another, more deadly source of power than Omtose Phellack. The Seer knows of Toc's vision through Baaljagg's eyes and accuses him of trying to assassinate him in a bid for the Throne of the Beast Hold. For a brief moment, Toc sees a child screaming, "You lied!" before pain grips him and he finds himself in a dark room with a massive figure. The Seer tells Toc that this is the K'Chain Che'Malle matron that was once imprisoned in the The Rent at Morn. Driven mad by the endless years of pain, and the loss of her children, she clings to Toc with an insane need. Her attention shatters Toc's bones, but the healing spell persists, causing Toc's bones to knit back together only to be shattered again by the Matron. The Seer promises Toc he'll keep him alive for as long as he wants. Held so tightly, Toc cannot scream, hearing only the mad whimpering of his captor.
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