Silence serving venison

[+Oltux72]

Upon a reread that stuck me in my eye, virtually speaking.

How and whence? I would have assumed people on Threnody being mostly vegetarian, just for reasons of safety. Eating animals may happen in larger settlements. Silence serving meat is odd enough. But venison? Would they really keep deer? That seems like an unthinkable luxury under the circumstances. So do they hunt? That, frankly, looks like outright suicide. I suppose in theory you could use a gun or crossbow and a lot of silver, but that would make venison a luxury good, not something you serve in a simple waystop. How is this possible?

[Weltall]

Asked and answered:

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AndrewStirlingMacDonald

How does Silence butcher deer? Because she serves venison.

Brandon Sanderson

You can do these things if you don’t do it in the wrong way, at the wrong time.

Calamity Philadelphia signing (Feb. 20, 2016)

 

[Karger]

Strangulation would work, some kinds of poison(their are types that will kill some animals but not effect humans and if you can feed it to them you are good), building traps of the right kind(if you set off a trap you are drawing your own blood which is fine) their are ways to kill things without you drawing the blood personally.

[+Oltux72]

6 hours ago, Karger said:

Strangulation would work, some kinds of poison(their are types that will kill some animals but not effect humans and if you can feed it to them you are good), building traps of the right kind(if you set off a trap you are drawing your own blood which is fine) their are ways to kill things without you drawing the blood personally.

But not to butcher an animal. So are you saying that shedding blood applies only to living organisms?

[Karger]

8 hours ago, Oltux72 said:

But not to butcher an animal. So are you saying that shedding blood applies only to living organisms?

I think so.

[+Oltux72]

4 hours ago, Karger said:

I think so.

I should reread myself. My apologies. Silence is afraid to uncover her hammer while it still wet with blood of man she had just killed. So I am afraid, blood is blood.

One other thing: They have a gelding in their stables. I cannot help myself. These people have a death wish or their culture precludes them from certain adaptations to their environment.

[Karger]

7 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

I should reread myself. My apologies. Silence is afraid to uncover her hammer while it still wet with blood of man she had just killed. So I am afraid, blood is blood.

The man was alive when the blood was shed.  Also her knowledge was anecdotal not systematic.

Edited June 5, 2019 by Karger

[RShara]

She would also take it home to butcher it, safe behind the silver circle. But it seems like once the person was dead, she could open the sack (to get the next person) without very much danger.

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In some ways, blood was easier to avoid. A simple nosebleed or issue of blood wouldn’t draw the shades; they wouldn’t even notice. It had to be the blood of another, shed by your hands—and they would go for the one who shed the blood first. Of course, after that person was dead, they often didn’t care who they killed next. Once enraged, shades were dangerous to all nearby.

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Silence looked up, tense, watching the other men as William Ann pulled the sack tight. The shades nearby paused, but this didn’t draw their attention as much as the strangling had. So long as the sack’s lining of tar kept the blood from leaking out, they should be safe. Silence hit the man’s head twice more, then checked for a pulse. There was none.

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Slowly, blessedly, the eyes started to fade away. Silence sat back and let the silver knife slip out of her fingers to the ground.

William Ann opened her eyes. “Oh, God Beyond!” she said as the shades faded back into view. “A miracle!”

“Not a miracle,” Silence said. “Just luck. We killed him in time. Another second, and they’d have enraged.”

 

[+Oltux72]

38 minutes ago, RShara said:

She would also take it home to butcher it, safe behind the silver circle. But it seems like once the person was dead, she could open the sack (to get the next person) without very much danger.

You could use a silver circle to butcher, but silver is blackened when shades run into it. Hence your venison dish would be a luxury.

And yes, eventually you can remove the sack. But it takes many hours. Otherwise Silence and William Ann could have just cut off the heads of the corpses in the forest.

[RShara]

16 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

You could use a silver circle to butcher, but silver is blackened when shades run into it. Hence your venison dish would be a luxury.

And yes, eventually you can remove the sack. But it takes many hours. Otherwise Silence and William Ann could have just cut off the heads of the corpses in the forest.

Mmmm did you read the quotes from the book? As soon as the person died, the blood was no longer any irritant to the Shades.

[+Oltux72]

6 hours ago, RShara said:

Mmmm did you read the quotes from the book? As soon as the person died, the blood was no longer any irritant to the Shades.

I did and they said the exact opposite. The shades quieted down because the people stop struggling. The blood was still dangerous. If it weren't, Silence could have exposed the hammer or cut off heads.

 

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So long as the sack’s lining of tar kept the blood from leaking out

 

[RShara]

Just now, Oltux72 said:

I did and they said the exact opposite. The shades quieted down because the people stop struggling. The blood was still dangerous. If it weren't, Silence could have exposed the hammer or cut off heads.

No?

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Slowly, blessedly, the eyes started to fade away. Silence sat back and let the silver knife slip out of her fingers to the ground.

William Ann opened her eyes. “Oh, God Beyond!” she said as the shades faded back into view. “A miracle!”

“Not a miracle,” Silence said. “Just luck. We killed him in time. Another second, and they’d have enraged.”

They killed him just in time. If he hadn't died, the blood would have made the Shades enrage. Here, some more context might help.

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Silence slammed her hammer into his arm, causing him to scream. Then she brought it down on his face with a crunch. She ripped off her sweater as he groaned and thrashed, somehow wrapping it around his head and the hammer.

“William Ann!” she screamed. “I need a bag. A bag, girl! Give me—”

William Ann knelt beside her, pulling a sack over Chesterton’s head as the blood soaked through the sweater. Silence reached to the side with a frantic hand and grabbed a stone, then smashed it into the sack-covered head. The sweater muffled Chesterton’s screams, but also muffled the rock. She had to beat again and again.

He finally fell still. William Ann held the sack against his neck to keep the blood from flowing out, her breath coming in quick gasps. “Oh, God Beyond. Oh, God . . .”

Silence reached slowly to her side and took out her silver dagger. She remembered another night, another sea of glowing green eyes. Her grandmother’s last night. Run, girl! RUN!

That night, running had been an option. They’d been close to safety. Even then, Grandmother hadn’t made it. She might have, but she hadn’t.

That night horrified Silence. What Grandmother had done. What Silence had done . . . Well, tonight she had only one hope. Running would not save them. Safety was too far away.

Slowly, blessedly, the eyes started to fade away. Silence sat back and let the silver knife slip out of her fingers to the ground.

William Ann opened her eyes. “Oh, God Beyond!” she said as the shades faded back into view. “A miracle!”

“Not a miracle,” Silence said. “Just luck. We killed him in time. Another second, and they’d have enraged.”

 

Not, "We got the bag just in time," but "We killed him in time." His death being a factor in the Shades not enraging.

[+Oltux72]

1 minute ago, RShara said:

No?

They killed him just in time. If he hadn't died, the blood would have made the Shades enrage. Here, some more context might help.

Not, "We got the bag just in time," but "We killed him in time." His death being a factor in the Shades not enraging.

No. The dead also stop moving, to state the obvious.

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He finally fell still. William Ann held the sack against his neck to keep the blood from flowing out, her breath coming in quick gasps. “Oh, God Beyond. Oh, God . . .”

He was dead. Yet William Ann still held the sack.

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That was still tied in the sack around Chesterton's head. It would have blood on it, so she couldn't get it out until that dried or she was in someplace very, very safe.

Chesterton by that point had a smashed head. He was dead. And the blood on the hammer was his.

[RShara]

Just now, Oltux72 said:

No. The dead also stop moving, to state the obvious.

He was dead. Yet William Ann still held the sack.

Chesterton by that point had a smashed head. He was dead. And the blood on the hammer was his.

I see what you're saying now. I think it's still unclear and could go either way.

[Karger]

38 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

Chesterton by that point had a smashed head. He was dead. And the blood on the hammer was his.

But by that logic the shades will get made at anyone who preforms say a blood transfusion.  I have no evidence that this is the case and you are free to disagree but the idea that the shades care about what happens to dead things strikes me as slightly silly. 

[+Oltux72]

4 hours ago, RShara said:

I see what you're saying now. I think it's still unclear and could go either way.

There is more:

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She intended to get that corpse. Bodies were heavy, and there wasn't any way she'd be able to cut off just the head. Not out in the Forests, with shades about.

As for the shades being silly, they care about running, but only at night and they care about kindling a fire, but fire as such is perfectly OK. The conclusion that they are a bit silly looks neigh inevitably to me.

Edited June 6, 2019 by Oltux72
Answering to overlapping answers and my response

[RShara]

11 hours ago, Oltux72 said:

There is more:

As for the shades being silly, they care about running, but only at night and they care about kindling a fire, but fire as such is perfectly OK. The conclusion that they are a bit silly looks neigh inevitably to me.

She might be being extra cautious, but it is a strong argument in your favor. It just seems like a very weird thing!

Regardless, her inn is inside the silver circle, so she should be safe. Or it might be that they're only drawn to dead things' blood at night? She says something about how they're far more aggressive at night than in the day. IIRC, you can run during the day, but not at night.

Inside her protection, in the day, being careful, should work, I'd think.

You might also be able to hang the deer (or body, whatever), upside down so that the blood mostly drains into a properly lined sack before butchering it?

[+Oltux72]

42 minutes ago, RShara said:

Inside her protection, in the day, being careful, should work, I'd think.

You might also be able to hang the deer (or body, whatever), upside down so that the blood mostly drains into a properly lined sack before butchering it?

You could do such a thing. But why would you? It is a considerable risk to your life and the expense in silver is large. And that just to serve some travellers meat for dinner? I cannot see the economics adding up.
OK, it may be that the settlement of the continent is recent and they will develop into vegetarians in a few decades, with their culture placing a large emphasis on stubborness. Or something unknown is going on.

[RShara]

2 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

You could do such a thing. But why would you? It is a considerable risk to your life and the expense in silver is large. And that just to serve some travellers meat for dinner? I cannot see the economics adding up.
OK, it may be that the settlement of the continent is recent and they will develop into vegetarians in a few decades, with their culture placing a large emphasis on stubborness. Or something unknown is going on.

What I'm saying is that the silver circle is pretty big. And she's indoors, behind several walls. So they might not be close enough to enrage, anyway.

[Karger]

13 hours ago, Oltux72 said:

She intended to get that corpse. Bodies were heavy, and there wasn't any way she'd be able to cut off just the head. Not out in the Forests, with shades about.

Remember this is the cosmere.  Death does not happen immediately and those guys died barley a minute ago.  Their aspects have probably not completely separated yet.

[+Oltux72]

1 hour ago, Karger said:

Remember this is the cosmere.  Death does not happen immediately and those guys died barley a minute ago.  Their aspects have probably not completely separated yet.

That was a considerable time after they were robbed off the corpses.
Anyway, even assuming that this time is still too short, then the obvious answer would have been to wait for dawn. Running through a dark forest with shades around, bearing a heavy load is an unattractive option anyway. And she was not that much in a hurry. She'd just put a tarred tarpaulin over them, just in case, and wait for dawn to do the decapitation.
The whole reason Silence let William Ann join her was to use her as a beast of burden. The plan makes no sense if there was a reasonable way to detach a head out in the Forest.

[Karger]

1 minute ago, Oltux72 said:

The whole reason Silence let William Ann join her was to use her as a beast of burden. The plan makes no sense if there was a reasonable way to detach a head out in the Forest.

Waiting in the forests at night is dangerous.

[Agent34]

Not to derail the topic of murder and corpses in hell but as a potential reason for Silence serving venison it could be because it's dangerous. She wants her guests to feel secure and safe and serving something that can only be prepared if you have the best security would contribute to that.

[Scion of the Mists]

1 hour ago, Agent34 said:

Not to derail the topic of murder and corpses in hell but as a potential reason for Silence serving venison it could be because it's dangerous. She wants her guests to feel secure and safe and serving something that can only be prepared if you have the best security would contribute to that.

And because if it's dangerous to produce venison, it'll sell for a lot more.  

[Karger]

12 minutes ago, Scion of the Mists said:

And because if it's dangerous to produce venison, it'll sell for a lot more.  

True.  I also do think their is a way to butcher it without aggravating the shades.   Silence does not allow bloodshed even in the safety of her own home.