Short Fiction · Chapter
Temple Trouble explained
Verkan Vall and Brannad Klav visit Stranor Sleth to investigate escalating tensions in the Hulgun kingdoms, where King Kurchuk of Zurb, influenced by Chuldun advisors and their god Muz-Azin, has closed the temple of Yat-Zar and arrested its
What happens
Verkan Vall and Brannad Klav visit Stranor Sleth to investigate escalating tensions in the Hulgun kingdoms, where King Kurchuk of Zurb, influenced by Chuldun advisors and their god Muz-Azin, has closed the temple of Yat-Zar and arrested its priests. Stranor details the political intrigue, including a failed invasion of Jumdun, and the broader paratime operations masked as religious activities. The chapter explores the legal and ethical complexities of paratime intervention, as Verkan Vall explains the need for flexibility in outtime laws.
Themes in this chapter
Power and Corruption
King Kurchuk's alliance with the Chulduns and the manipulation of religion for political control illustrate the corrupting influence of power.
Alienation and Otherness
The Chuldun god Muz-Azin and its human sacrifices highlight the cultural and moral alienation between timelines and belief systems.
Technology and Social Change
Paratime technology is hidden behind religious rituals, showing how advanced tools can covertly shape primitive societies.
Characters to notice
- Verkan Vall
Special assistant to Chief Tortha of the Paratime Police; investigates the crisis at Zurb and advocates for pragmatic enforcement of paratime laws.
- Stranor Sleth
Resident agent for Transtemporal at the temple; reports on the political situation and the arrest of priests by King Kurchuk.
- Brannad Klav
Vice president of Transtemporal in charge of operations; impatient with Stranor's handling of the situation and rigid about legal protocols.
- King Kurchuk
King of Zurb; influenced by Chuldun advisors, he closed the temple of Yat-Zar and ordered the arrest of its priests.
- Tammand Drav
Paratime agent at the Zurb temple (alias Khoram); defied the king's order and transposed his people to the First Level.
Key passages
“It started, really, about five years ago, when Kurchuk, the King of Zurb, married this Chuldun princess, Darith, from the country over beyond the Black Sea, and made her his queen, over the heads of about a dozen daughters of the local nobility, whom he’d married previously.”
Stranor explains that the trouble began five years ago when King Kurchuk married a Chuldun princess, bypassing local noblewomen, which sparked resentment.
This sets the stage for the political and religious conflict in Zurb.
“Muz-Azin fancies human sacrifices. The victims are strung up by the ankles on a triangular frame and lashed to death with iron-barbed whips.”
Stranor describes the brutal sacrificial practices of the Chuldun god Muz-Azin, emphasizing the timeline's violent culture.
Highlights the moral contrast between the paratimers' values and local customs.
“But the law is the law—”
Brannad Klav insists on strict adherence to First Level regulations, even in paratime operations.
Illustrates the tension between legal rigidity and practical necessity in paratime work.