David Guymer’s second Idoneth Deepkin story, The Learning takes a look at the cold, pitiless way in which their nature forces them to behave. Born with a rare pure soul, Ubraich is removed from his family at an early age and taught to manipulate powerful magic to hunt down the monsters of the deep ocean. The work of an embailor offers great prestige within idoneth society, but it’s difficult and dangerous work. Aiding his master in the breaking of a particularly stubborn beast, Ubraich learns an important lesson in how to survive and thrive, but will it come back to haunt him?
While this doesn’t look too closely at the recognisable, warlike elements of the idoneth, by focusing on a smaller scale story it demonstrates all of the creepy weirdness of this faction in a really personal way. There’s lots to think about in this dark and unhappy story, with plenty of opportunities for Guymer to dig into interesting ideas like how the idoneth perceive Teclis and his role in their society. It’s quite long, almost two stories in one really, and takes its time to pay off narratively, but it’s worth it for the best look yet at this particularly strange faction within the Mortal Realms.
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