The Witches of Snowfall
“The Snow Women” is a story that commences with a snowball fight pitting women against men. Imagery is used to confirm the widely shared opinion of the men that a snowballing at the hands of the women of Snow Clan is no laughing matter. “Snow Women were reputed to wield mighty magics, particularly through the element of cold and its consequences: slipperiness, the sudden freezing of flesh, the gluing of skin to metal, the frangibility of objects, the menacing mass of snow-laden trees and branches, and the vastly greater mass of avalanches. And there was no man wholly unafraid of the hypnotic power in their ice-blue eyes.” The sensory detail here is specifically geared to connect the referential description of “Snow Women” to the strategic means by which they use the tactical advantage of climate to their witchy advantage.
Black Magic
“The Unholy Grail” is the origin story of the Gray Mouser. It tells the tale of his early youth as an apprentice to a great magician and his internal conflict over whether to pursue black magic or white. “The frigid darkness was beaten by wings of stone. The steely light of the stars cut into his brain like painless knives. He felt a wild black whirlpool of evil, like a torrent of black tigers, blast down upon him from above, and he knew that it was his to control. He let it surge through his body and then hurled it down the unbroken path that led to two points of darkness in the tiny room below—the two staring eyes of Ivrian, daughter of Duke Janarrl.” This internal conflict leads relentlessly to the moment of this imagery, which is consumed by blackness. In the darkness lies a black whirlpool and black tigers with only the tiniest pinpricks of light offering contrast and promise. Ivrian is not merely the daughter of his nemesis who has consumed his heart with a dark passion. She is salvation: the woman he loves, the white light of his life.
Misogyny
The very first mention of the Thieves’ Guild in the book occurs in “The Snow Women” when Vlana describes it as an ancient organization with an unbreakable rule against women becoming members and she is driven to perpetrate vengeance upon them. In the story “Ill Met in Lankhmar” it is learned that practically “the first law of the Thieves’ Guild was never kill the hen that laid brown eggs with a ruby in the yolk, or white eggs with a diamond in the white.” This is imagery which is the equivalent of advice to keep your eyes on the prize, of course, as it reminds thieves that whatever else they may feel about the origin of their haul, you never take the opportunity to destroy the gift that keeps on giving. At the same time, however, it is also imagery which underscores the foundational misogyny of the guild.
The Origin of a Name
The Gray Mouser was not always known by that name. During his long period of tutelage under the master magician Glavas Rho, he had been known simply as Mouse. The master was fully aware of the internal conflict within his young apprentice and the words he said often come to mind later: “My Gray Mouse, still midway in his allegiance between white magic and black.” This is an efficiently succinct way to describe the turmoil existing in Mouse as to whether to pursue magic for the purposes of darkness or light. This mixture into shades of gray not only becomes the origin story of the Gray Mouser’s new name, but also foreshadows his future career.
