Question

[tagmeth]

Got a question, maybe for a chemist: I'm thinking that the Shadow Guild Assassins write their contracts in the same mere ink that renders their cloth and skin invisible. What, then, makes the invisible ink reappear? I'm thinking that it might be a water based solution of iron/blood, but don't know how plausible this is

Comments

[anonymous]

Try Sulfur Dioxide. A gas would work good. Readily available but unlikely to occur on accident

[queentatooine]

I am on the free livejournal account so I have not had any issues with payment. Hopefully you get it resolved. I would imagine that you could get into the account and see from there if the money went through. If you have recently received a new card, due the exp date, that can also cause it to fail when it normally wouldn't. Then there is always, when in doubt call, I'm sure there is a number somewhere . . .

Thanks for the snippet, I love your story and can't wait to read the next book.

[lost_erizo]

If they are writing in Mere ink on normal paper or parchment, wouldn't the ink render the paper invisible where the writing is? So then the writing would appear as if holes in the shape of letters were carved in the paper. Then you'd just need to put a light or a contrasting color paper behind it in order to read the writing.

[tagmeth]

Good point.

[kernezelda]

What an intriguing snippet!

If you go to your LJ profile, select settings from the second menu bar, it will take you to My Account Settings. Click on the Account tab. There, the first line item will be Account Level, with a description of your account, and at the far right, a link labeled Manage. Click this, and the next page will show your account status. There's a link to the LJ shop on that page also, where, if you do need to make a payment, you can do so.

Wait, what?

[ext_2501233]

Adric is dead?

The tech level of Rathilien is not clear even after 9 books (at least to me): can they extract reactive metals from ore? Burning, say, magnesium would produce actinic (high-ultraviolet) light. Maybe the literal invisible ink glows in the dark after exposure to intense UV? Actually, you don't even have to specify the metal, just having an impossibly bright light emitted when a wire is set alight would be impressive.

(I just learned to thermite weld a few weeks ago, so burning magnesium was on my mind.)

Now that I think about it, glassmaker Marc would be the obvious person to figure this out.

Re: Wait, what?

[tagmeth]

Whoops. Spoiler. I thought that I'd posted that section.

Re: Wait, what?

[ext_2501233]

Now that my brain is going down this path ... could Marc invent a type of glass that lets people see the Shadow Assassins? I have posted this here before: (for me as reader) Jame really needs to exterminate them. She's Kencyr Highborn, she needs to avenge the murders of her relatives. Or Tori, but Torisen is supposed to create rather than destroy. Or Kindrie, but it's directly opposite to his nature to mass-kill people.

Re: Wait, what?

[tagmeth]

Yes, but Marc is still at Tagmeth. His map, although unfinished, has started to play a role.

For that matter, if some agent can make mere ink visible, why not throw or spray it on the assassins themselves? I'm beginning to think that I should drop this idea altogether. It's getting too complicated and contradictory.

Agreed about making the assassins pay, although perhaps not as spectacularly as I had hoped. Jame is accidentally involved.