Here Be Monsters! An Adventure Involving Magic, Trolls, and Other Creatures; The Ratbridge Chronicles Volume 1 Manipulation

Manipulation makes the world go round, for better or for worse, and this is especially true in Ratbridge. First, there's the bizarre political landscape of the resurrected Cheese Guild. Snatcher dominates this scene by bullying, threatening, and cajoling his minions into doing what he wants. Then there's Snatcher's relationship with the police, which seems shady to say the least. And dressed as Madame Froufrou, Snatcher cons all the fashionable ladies of Ratbridge into believing his nonsense about Parisian fashion in order to turn a profit.

Even outside of Snatcher's manipulative ways, though, this stuff is already going on in Ratbridge: Willbury, for example, has learned the fine art of verbal manipulation as a lawyer, and he uses it to combat the icky manipulative ways of the failed patent acquisition officers. So no matter how you slice it, there's a lot of manipulation happening either up front or behind the scenes in Here Be Monsters!

Questions About Manipulation

1. How does Madame Froufrou manipulate the fashionable ladies of Ratbridge into hanging on her every word?
2. Do you consider Ratbridge's police force corrupt? Or do you think the incident with Snatcher was not typical for them?
3. What is the best proof that Willbury is a master of verbal manipulation?
4. Why do you think Snatcher was so successful at attracting minions?

Chew on This

Willbury is a good lawyer because he knows how to manipulate words to convey the things he wants them to.

Snatcher has perfected the art of manipulation: equal parts threatening and bribing.