Initiate's Trial Speculation (contains Arc 3 spoilers)

originally posted by Sleo

Dang! I lied! I swear, I looked all over for the Start New Thread button!

At any rate, this is a thread for any spoilers for chapters after chapter two!

I swear, I CANNOT WAIT until someone swats that #$%@& Morriel/Selidie Prime! GRRRRR!


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I mean, Annette, didn't you just want to strangle her when she interrupted Daliana and Lysaer???

originally posted by Annette

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Something was bound to go wrong there, but I am looking forward to Lysaer and Daliana eventually consummating a relationship. From Lysaer's reaction, she seems a perfect match, a setting where he is not fighting for his sanity would probably be better.


Speaking of relationships, perusing the glossary I have just noticed something. Jeynsa ended up marrying Sevrand s'Brydion, who would have guessed that one. I am wondering if any of the s'Brydion had anything to do with Arithon ending up handed over to the Koriani.

originally posted by Sleo

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I don't think s'Brydion had anything to do with it. I thought the book was pretty clear it was the Companion, Eriegal.

It looks to me like she's heading toward love being the thing that can possibly save Lysaer. Or at least be a step in his redemption. I'm amazed I actually like the guy in this book.

I got very teary in the scene with the King of Havish. When he agrees to confront the Light after Dakar presents his case.

originally posted by Annette

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I doubt Eriegal was in on it alone, but we will have to wait to see if Melhalla has any further traitorous smirch on their clan reputation. Keldmar's wife had a suspicious name though, and Sevrand's was not promising. You have to wonder sometimes how the clan born feel about a name with bad connotations. Although I thought snake might have been for wisdom or cunning, turned out not to be the case.


Sevrand (sevaer'an'd) - one who travels behind, a follower

Sindelle root meaning: san - black, dark; ael - destiny; 'e - suffix for future in potentia

Eriegal - snake


It was interesting to see the crown jewels in action, explains why the royal defenders were dying so fast when resisting the spread of the Mistraith

originally posted by Maggie

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Just got finished reading this morning! I was going to wait rather than award the sneaky Kobo for putting it out before the release date. But my greediness for the book overcame my better judgement, and I got it anyway… And I was NOT disappointed. Except that part where it ended. That was pretty disappointing. Great book Janny! I really really REALLY loved it!


BUT, here are (some) of my thoughts:

the most AH-HA! moment of the book for me was almost certainly where Janny tells us that the Biedar know where the Paravians are!

Also, who else thinks that Jessian Oathkeeper is the same person as Enithen Tuer?

And my favorite line was the way Janny described The Hatchet, "A puny laughing stock at love." I lol'd

I was trying to figure out the worldsend gates… Anyone have any thoughts?
What came through the gates (as far as I can tell)

Northgate = Dragons
Southgate = Marak and the Mistwraith
West Gate = Mearth (where Arithorn and Lysaer come through)Also where the state jewels were mined.

Anyone know of any mention of the east gate? I didn't see one in this book, but maybe I missed it in one of the others.

originally posted by Annette

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While I do suspect some of these characters being spirits we might have known under another name, not sure I would ever connect Jessian with Enithen Tuer. Jessian was way before human settlement on Athera, her story can be found in the short story Sundering Star.
https://paravia.com/discus/messages/19/2567.html?1160185576


To guess what might return through Eastgate we would have to know what if anything went through it in the first place. Janny seems to be keeping it a secret. They should have put a lock on that Northgate once the dragons went through.

originally posted by Maggie

Ah, I didnt realize there was more to that story. I'll have to go read it now… Thanks annette!

originally posted by Sleo

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I thought the Jessian bit was fascinating!

I finished it last night and loved the ending. Only problem is I want to know what happens next! The beginning of a new arc… always a bit slower. I remember feeling a jolt when I read Fugitive Prince and not liking it as much until I read it a second time.

King Gestry was soooo sad!

I would've liked to see more of Selidie's anger. I can't WAIT until she gets hers.
I wonder if Lysaer will be able to live with what he's done.
Dakar, have you noticed? is always thinking the worst is going to happen.
I wonder what happened to Khadrien?
I LOVE Isfarren! What a horse!
And Arithon, snagging the spells! It's gonna be hard to get this guy, you idjit Koriani! His new powers, even without knowing the past, are AWESOME!

And I finally understand why they kicked Dakar out of the Fellowship. So he could act on their behalf.

And Luhaine! Sacrificing himself for Davien! Hopefully Davien will show a little gratitude. He's awfully fond of Elaira and methinks she's gonna need some help.

Anyone want to wager that she's going to take Selidie down???

And I think our questions about necromancy are answered. Many strings are tied off, or we got more information about them!

originally posted by Trys

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As to a lock on Northgate, in way they did - Chaimistarizog. But we don't why he's not minding the gate. My guess is there's a reason why the gate is being left in a a bidirectional state.

originally posted by Sleo

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Absolutely! There are no throw away lines in Wurts books. I noticed that one, too! And wondered where he was.

originally posted by Maggie

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Sleo, I would not take your wager on Elaira taking Selidie down. Its gonna happen, I've been convinced for a while. In one of the books, one of the fellowship makes a throwaway comment that he thinks she is the only Korathian that has the ability to master the final test to become prime, and that so many of Morriel's candidates died because it gets harder and harder with each generation (I assume because the final stage is mastering the waystone, and they never clear the stone)… Not sure which book mentioned it, but I remember the line…

Also, I think that Northgate is bi-directional because all of the drakes that did not want to go into a long term (nearly permanent) sleep in one of the grimwards went somewhere else. But they were able to come back because… Okay, I admit, I'm having a little bit more trouble with that part. But if I could hazard a random guess, I'd say that they come back because some of the Drakes might decide they want to be near the paravians.

originally posted by Annette

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The dragons in the grimwards are dead not sleeping, their spirits whether awake or dreaming are not free to go through the gate. The live dragons hibernating perhaps like mountainous caves like Seshkrozchiel. It seems she might have returned to the one under the Mathorn Mountains. I do not see how a fellowship sorcerer being in the same kingdom as Arithon breaks their oath of non intervention, be interesting to see if Davien has to leave before Arithon crosses into Rathain.


Probably the dragons would not agree to leave if the gate was locked behind them.

originally posted by Sleo

That bit about Davien prompts me to wonder if he should stay outside the F7 circle so that he can help Arithon? Sneaky.

originally posted by Trys

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I can't see anyone convincing a dragon to do anything that it did not want to do. My guess is that most of them went through Northgate for reasons we don't know. It could have happened long before humanity arrived and perhaps shortly after the Fellowship did.

As to where Chaimistarizog is, I think s/he is on the other side of Northgate, was serving as a guard to ensure that no one wandered through but someone did and that prompted Sethvir's question as to where s/he was. Does anyone else think there should be some concern that there are drakes on the other side of Northgate and it may not be guarded?

I did find Asandir's response, "Not yet." Additionally, we know why he doesn't know. The drake was young. So the dragons are breeding on the other side of Northgate.

originally posted by Annette

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But Davien is still part of the fellowship of 7, would the stone not crack if Davien helped Arithon? Mind you Sethvir seemed to help Elaira when she was watching Gestry's coronation.

I thought all the gates were created as part of the compact with the Paravians that allowed humanity to settle on Athera. Unless they created the Northgate earlier that would mean the dragons only left just before or sometime after humanity settled.

Perhaps not relevant but Chaimistarizog was the fire gate keeper, which should be the Southgate, on the Paravia side it is connected to the North or earth gate. A similar thing happened with the Westgate, on Mearth's side it was connected to the Eastgate. Besides if there had been a dragon standing guard on the Northgate all this time on the Paravia side you would think we would have heard something about it before now. Seshkrozchiel seemed to have been the first appearance of a live dragon for a while.

If the Koriani had 4 skulls of unhatched dragons, it is even possible dragons were breeding on this side of the gate after the humans arrived. Either that or it takes a while for dragons to hatch. If they had been Seshkrozchiel's you would have thought she would have noticed a bit sooner they were missing.

originally posted by Sleo

There's a scene somewhere talking about Gestry's ancestor fighting the drake spawn. I got the impression that dragons were around in the early days. Also, Selidie doesn't seem too surprised at Seshkrozchiel's appearance back in Stormed Fortress… or here, either. BTW, I loved the scene where she perches on the roof of the inn where Dakar and Daliana are trapped! Hilarious!

As for Davien still being a part of the compact, is he? Hmmm. Didn't he break it when he incited the uprising?

originally posted by Mike A

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Sleo and Maggie,

I for one am not convinced either Elaira or Arithon will be the one to take down the Koriathain. In the scene between Elaira and the Biedar eldest, Elaira is charged to deliver the stone knife to Arithon, but the crone very conspicuously does not confirm that Arithon is the one destined to wield it.

I also found it interesting that we got confirmation that the Koriathain (specifically Selidie) are practicing necromancy.

originally posted by Roisin

Just a thanks for the book! Just got it… getting ready to reeeeeead.

originally posted by Paige Madison

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Wow finished the book last night! I definitely think Daliana is my favorite new character! I love it when a girl doesn't take crap from anybody! Davien's rescue of Daliana and Dakar was classic! Nothing like a dragon to liven things up!

An interesting speculation, Morriel/Seldie's eagerness to break the compact seems either to not share the Fellowship's understanding that all of mankind would have to be destroyed or that proscribed knowledge is more important to her than potential destruction of mankind. Where does she fall here? She seems pretty cold about individual lives but seems to favor the supremacy of mankind above all else. I seriously doubt she is ignorant of the terms of the Compact, that's why I believe she has different point of view on the consequences of the Compact being broken.

originally posted by Annette

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Mike A, the Biedar pretty much confirmed Arithon was going to be the one to wield the knife in Stormed Fortress. That might not have anything to do with Selidie/Morriel's demise though, her own waystone is more likely to be her downfall. Either that or trying to harm Arithon some other way that backfires on her.


quote:

They had battled ravenous drake spawn, and died in the bale-fires of dragons gone rogue.



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Which bare vista jutted against the storm-whipped breakers of the northern ocean, a place gashed across by the scars from the last outbreak of drake war, fought to a stand-off fifty-six years ago



Rogue dragons it seems have been causing trouble only recently on Athera. So the comment Sleo is thinking of might not relate to when the dragons first left.