#roddacember 2022

Roddacember Day 16: Magic

“Some say that the monarchy is a product of a bygone age. Deltora, they say, no longer needs a King or Queen, and the Belt would be better off guarded in a museum than worn around the waist of someone whose only qualification is birthright. Magic, they say, is a relic of the past, and the monarchy is only a symbolic, ceremonial role.

It is true that the Kings and Queens of Deltora have very little political power. Since the creation of Congress and the dissolution of most monarchal powers by King Theolonius, monarchs are rarely involved in the day-to-day operations of the country and possess only limited authority. 

And it is true, that since the defeat of Lord Malverlain by Queen Rix, that Deltora is no longer in the same kind of danger it was in the past. The greatest threat Deltora ever knew, the threat that necessitated the creation of the Belt in the first place, has long been laid to rest.

And of course, it is true that magic no longer holds the importance it did in the age of Adin, Lief, or Rix. When a plane can outfly a dragon, when a genetic test can identify an Ol, when a gun is more threatening than most sorcery, it is easy to imagine that magic is no longer relevant in our modern society. Even the Belt, once the greatest treasure of Deltora, is often seen as more of a ceremonial trinket than the extraordinary weapon it is.

As an avid student of history, this viewpoint has always rankled me. Our past helps define our present, and the magic that created our country cannot be reduced to meaningless formality simply because we are more interested in modern technology.

No where has this been more apparent to me than the farm of Garris Elcot, the current King of Deltora. A lifelong Gripper farmer, he accepted the Belt when he was eighteen after his elderly aunt abdicated the right and his father refused. He has made it clear from the first day of his reign that he finds the position distasteful. Rarely seen at royal functions, he prefers to tend his fields and becomes annoyed when he must leave his crop to deal with what he calls “magical bullshit.”

Yet he does deal with it. Clad in his Gripper-bit boots, dusty flannel shirts, and belt of priceless magical gemstones, he has left the (relative) safety of his fields dozens of times over the course of his life to protect Deltora from magical threats foreign and domestic. Most notably, he and seven dragons risked their lives to dispel the infamous Cantrella haunting--a terrifying event that killed nearly thirty civilians and cost him his eye and two fingers. While bored academics debate the virtues of locking up the Belt in a museum, he risks his life to put it to the use it was intended for--saving lives. But there is nothing surprising about that. The true magic of the Belt of Deltora, from the time of Adin and Lief  to today, has always been in those who wield it. The ordinary people who are willing to fight to protect their country.”

-Yzetli Sombrum

First Royal Librarian

I love Deltora Quest- this much should be clear by now. The twists and turns, the adventure and intrigue, the carefully crafted world that breathes life through its pages with each new block of world building added to the tower. The books are the perfect length to pack an entire thrilling story in without ever feeling like you got too much from it, or not enough.

Something interesting about Deltora Quest is the formulas it falls into- formulas author Emily Rodda has expertly designed to work in tandem with the story.

Let me give an example.

Deltora Quest- or at the least the original- is a series that deals in the number seven, primarily because of the driving factor that forces our characters into action- the seven gems that form the belt of Deltora. The rest of the sevens come naturally after that- each gem needs to come from a tribe and each tribe needs a territory, and then each gem needs an Ak-Baba to take it to its own dangerous location with its own dangerous guardian. Seven gems for seven guardians, if you will. So, it seems almost odd that the series itself is not seven books long.

(By now seven is ceasing to sound like a real word)

No, Deltora Quest the original is composed of eight books- the last being Return to Del. The eighth book in a series devoted to the number seven- it’s almost a little odd. Return to Del is an outlier among its predecessors, and not just because it feels like it shouldn’t fit in the maths- it should. The equation does work. It has to be here. There needs to be a book for what to do after you find all the gems. Otherwise you have to bloat out Valley of the Lost and these are meant to be short kids books. You have a structure- you have a pace. You shouldn’t detour from it.

But Return to Del stands out mainly because it is a breaking of the expected Deltora Quest narrative structure.

Let me lay it out. Here’s how each book goes. A gem needs to be found. The trio heads into a new dangerous territory to seek it out in its deadly location. They face many perils along the way but none more dangerous (arguably) than the guardian who waits for them at the end of their journey. They face them on- near death experiences ensure and then the gem is found. Nothing should come easy to the trio- this is a quest of life and death. And so they need to face a series of challenges before they reach the final one- and the final challenge should be the most deadly of them all. The differences come from the actual story told- what territory they’re in and what guardian they’re facing. The audience comes to know this format with each new book read. They expect it. And it’s good that it’s like this. The somewhat repetition works in the story.

And then Return to Del comes along, whacks them on the head and says ‘hey guys we’re doing something new now’ and by god does it also work.

Return to Del is a wild race of an adventure that guarantees you only one thing upon opening it- and that’s that Del will be returned to. Apart from that, everything is wholly unknown to a new reader. The expected narrative formula is broken and now readers have no way of knowing where the story is going to go. There’s no gem to find. No new dangerous location to explore. No horrifying guardian to either face head on or avoid entirely (Looking at you Glus). What are the trio going to do? Who are they going to meet? Will the Shadow Lord actually show up?

It is a fitting end to a series that wants to keep you on your toes. The formula must be broken in a new and exciting way so that each new twist in Return to Del will take you completely by surprise. You cannot, and you should not, get to know what is coming next. Rodda wants to take an audience who, by now, thinks they are familiar with how her stories work and show them that all they should expect is the unexpected. She is doing nothing by accident. This is all part of her perfectly crafted world, and part of that world means you don’t get to know how it’s going to end.

In other words, you finally found all seven magical gems and completed the belt, what now?

Roddacember Day 22 | Return

12 . Iconic

Barda and Jasmine are right, Bede, thought Lief in disgust. Your famous new song is very poor, and I wish I could tell you so. Bess boasted that your rhyming was perfect. But you have not even bothered to try. Every line ends with a completely different sound. ‘Kirsten’, ‘is’, ‘evil’, ‘I’, ‘am’, ‘her’…

His scalp prickled. He looked back at Bede.

Bede’s eyes were open. He was staring straight ahead, at the paper lying abandoned on the floor beside the tray. He was singing the final lines of his song, his voice lilting, despairing.

‘But her heart is my prisoner,

To me she can refuse no help,

Day 12 - Iconic

I've been bartending professionally for a bit over a year (putting that Classical Civs degree to good use), and so I thought it would be fun to make up a cocktail as my annual single contribution to Roddacember. I ended up making two drinks--a cocktail and a mocktail. All of the ingredients should be easy to find, and the simple syrups are easy to make, although you may not be able to order them at a bar due to the flavours (which in a pinch could be replaced with regular simple syrup, which every bar should have). If you make/order the alcoholic cocktail, I must do my bartender duty and ask that you are the legal age to drink where you live, and that you consume it responsibly! Alright, let's go!

I went with whiskey as the base liquor for the cocktail because it is Canadian winter right now and whiskey on a cold day is delicious.

Simple syrup, if you want to make it at home, is as easy to make as it sounds. 1 part water and 1 part sugar, stir on low heat until the sugar dissolves, and then let it chill. For the cinnamon syrup used below, just put a few sticks into your pot. I'm calling the cocktail The Withick Mire because that's my DQ blog url and because I tried to think of a strong, fantasy-type drink that you could see Resistance members drinking.

The Withick Mire

2 1/2 ounces Irish whiskey (I used Tullamore Dew)

0.75 ounce cinnamon simple syrup.

0.5 ounce of lemon juice

5 dashes of bitters

Stir in a rocks glass with ice and serve. For best results, drink in a garbage dump.

For those who don't drink alcohol I have also made a mocktail. I wanted to make something pretty that you could order at whatever fancy bars Tora surely has. I didn't actually make the cherry simple syrup, my boss makes it at home, but I believe his recipe is a simple syrup base that he blends maraschino cherries into. I personally don't love super sweet drinks, but the cranberry juice cuts the sweetness of the syrup and ginger ale really nicely!

Toran Fizz

4 ounces cranberry juice

1.5 ounces cherry simple syrup

Shake hard with a few ice cubes and strain into a chilled coupe glass

Float with ginger ale until the glass is full.

Best sipped in a marble city.

I talk about Deltora in this text,bot Deltora, Dorne or Shadowlands - it could be anywhere. There I will find things that are not around me. There is a powerful nature, full of magic and wonder.

In my current mood, I'd like to go somewhere wide open and refreshing.

I would like to spend some time in a daze, feeling the breeze blowing across the fresh plains.

I might smell a soft sniff out of nowhere and catch sight of a strange three-legged creature grazing close by.But when I look up and see the jagged grey mountains blocking the northern horizon, I might get a little nervous.

Painted Plains is also good. I might fall asleep whilst poking around a bonfire, lying on my back, gazing at the night sky and sucking on the bones of a Pig Rat.

It is all an illusion, a fantasy.

But when I smell it, when I see someone's back, when I look around, I can feel what is not there.

When I drink the sweet, cold water, I am sure that this evening I will be able to become a soul and go to see the people I want to see.

Touching the cold amethyst, I gently calm my heart.

I see people busily working in the harbour, with the smell of the tide in the air, and I wonder where on earth they are going from our city.

You and I have been to that world. It is the home of our hearts.

13. Judgement

“A king must judge, and must be judged.”