Darkfall: Shadows of the Deep
Darkfall: Shadows of the Deep
By Lee Mountford
The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):
This one starts of right where the first one ended. And I mean right where it ended. We’re talking about a couple of hours at most. I wondered what had happened to Max and now I know. He’s sitting on a stone wall waiting for the Deathborn to return. Max and Jack join forces to do a bit of information gathering together. I feel like Max sees something in Jack that may make him a candidate for the Shadowhands.
Our dealings with Theodore is limited in this one. Dude is an asshole. He is just not respectable. There is no way I would follow him into battle. Dumb ass would get my ass killed. I’m just not a follow orders blindly kind of person. That’s part of the reason I like Jack. He still uses his head and is not willing to die on some morons orders. This one goes back and forth between Assandra and Jack with Max. That is of course until we meet Tom Sullen who turns into a creature called a lyshen. His transformation is followed and it’s kind of cool to see the process. Once he is fully turned he is fast, strong, big and extremely hangry. Like full of rage hangry. Not just I need a small snack hangry. With this comes a fairly gory interlude. It’s pretty descriptive so if you are sensitive to gore you may want to brace yourself. Lots of entrails here.
Turns out Tom was bitten by one of the creatures that are being kept by his boss at their settlement. He worked for a fishing company that becomes the focus of Max and Jacks investigation. It also happens that this is where the “crimson lord” (aka Assandra’s mother murdering father) has taken Assandra attempting to get her to finish what her sister had started. Essentially he is using her. I know that she is very mad at the Deathborn situation but I really hope that this does not cloud her judgment. So far she is keeping a healthy level of suspicion but I don’t know that this is going to last. I can hope and dream.
And some dreams get beaten within an inch via baseball bat then stabbed 90 times and to finish it off, a shot to the head. I know that she is curious about things, naturally but how could she ever agree to what they wanted her to do. SMH! Luckily it does not turn out as planned and well needless to say they get a bit more than they bargained for. The entities reaction is fantastic! Made me smile a mile long and then when the emissary shows up…well it was like setting an ant hill on fire. Honestly I can’t say I blame it…I want to put Vern in his place too. Can’t stand self-important scum like him. This final battle met with my approval. The only thing is that I feel bad for are the creatures that were trapped in the hull. They had nothing to do with the poking of the bear.
Lyshen
Closing thoughts:
Moving forward I do hope that they leave Assandra alone but I know that this will not be the case. She seems to have learned her lesson. I do have a concern and it does not sit with the self proclaimed “crimson lord” (who stole the cloak the he wears along with the title from a cult called the Crimson Dawn) but lies with Gus. When he wakes up he is not in a good place and still is not in a good place. Touching the living monolith changed him and I suspect that it is not a change for the better. He no longer seems to care about anything but remembering what he was shown before it sent him into a coma. I really don’t want to see Gus turn evil. He was such a wonderful, kind, and knowledgeable character. He always hungered for knowledge but I think his motives are now driven by sinister urges. I hope that I am wrong but with the way he is acting at the end I don’t think so.
Per usual the writing is very well done. The characters are both likable and detestable. You root for them and you hope they suffer. As stated above there are some gory bits in this one so be prepared for that. For me those are often the most tasty bits. Enjoy.
