The Cauldron

I'm between reading The Floating Island and The Thief Queen's Daughter in preparation for The Dragon's Lair, and right after re-reading Prophecy and Destiny.   Some things that I thought were interesting:

It has been mentioned before, but the griffin hex door from the Crossroads Inn holds a prominent place in both Series.   It is is also mentioned in the short-story, Threshold, as a significant stop over point for the last heroes of the Island of Serendair:

Legends II, Ballantine Hardcover, p. 515:

An hour's ride put them at the crossroads, where the legendary inn stood, abandoned and empty of most of its furnishings.  The Crossroads Inn had been a place of historical impact beyond any a building should have a right to possess; a critical meeting place and refuge of blessed ground in the Seren War two centuries before and even after it, famous for its hospitality, safety, and the vast stone hearth where the fire was never extinguished.  Now it was dark, hollow as the woman's eyes.  Its door, once gilded with a golden griffin and said to be the talisman by which the inn remained untouched even in the times when enemies occupied the westlands, was missing, taken over the sea with the First Fleet.  Its entrance yawned open like a dark cave.

We know from the SoA, that this gilded door became the door of  Llauron's Tree Palace.  In The Floating Island, we learn that The Crossroads Inn became Ven's home away from home, and it had certain other residents such as the Spice Folk, Murphy the Cat, and McLean, the blind Singer who while sightless, had the gift of being able to see things quite clearly.  

Ven and his friends "cured" or resanctified the Crossroads from a rover's revenent which had unleashed an ancient evil at the site, and while doing this, Ven discovers an oddly shaped and jagged edged "stone" which cast a rainbow when brought in contact with sunlight.  The King told Ven that a rover would create a puzzle box to contain his most valuable treasure, and this "rock" was an item that was buried within a rover's box of bones.

Dragon scales take a prominent role in both Series...we hear about Faron's scales in Elegy For a Lost Star, the mention of the Seren Shara's Deck, the Stolen Deck, and the "fortune telling" scales in The Thief Queen's Daughter.   Achmed is obsessed with making his Lightcatcher which draws upon the power of the vibrations of color, much like the legendary dragon scales were rumored to do.  Faedryth, the Nain King, has his own version of this device which he calls the "Lightforge" which enables him to see or scry what might be hidden from ordinary view.  Might the power that tainted the crossroads have been related to what appears to have been a highly powerful dragon scale buried with an ancient evil?  What could have happened if that evil was unleashed?  Might the Book of All Human Knowledge have prompted a treasure hunt by power hungry seekers who tried to harness that potential for themselves?  Might this have been what ultimately woke the Sleeping Child, destroying the Island?

In another thread, Madhatter mentioned a Rainbow Dagger which Achmed had possession of at one point in the series.  I don't remember this item myself, but I think Mri Niun is researching the exact reference to update her thread on All Things SoA .  Might this dagger bear some relation to the stone in the rover's grave?

I also wondered about what we learned of Hrfra (sp?) one of the Elder F'dor, who once absorbed the power of naming through her possession of a Lirin Singer.  Is this connection somehow associated with Ven's episode at the crossroads?

The name of the ship which rescues Ven and brings him to Serendair, and also the ship which bears Gwylliam away from Serendair with the Third Fleet are both called The Serelinda.  Are these ships the same ship?  If they are, it could explain some of the magic that transformed the First Generationers to immortal status.  The Serelinda sailed to The Floating Island on at least one occasion that we know of, a very mystical and magical place that can only be "called" with a balance of all the elements.

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"No, they're not real, but thanks for noticing"! WoW Dwarf Female /silly
Avatar by Krinsel

According to the All Things SoA, Krinsel, Hrfra is spelled: Hrarfa. I sure hope people are using that Dictionary I made...

Very interesting Krinsel, I love how you gathered all these references that we have thus far of all the books and how they are similar and relate to one another. (Makes me re-think my ideal of doing that Dictionary of All Ven Polypheme Books).

The Rainbow Dagger would seem interesting, seeing that Achmed had it. I'm still researching it, and haven't found the exact reference, although I have put what I remembered into the Dictionary I made.

I also like the ideal of how the "rock/dragon's scale," Ven Polypheme got from the Rover's Puzzle Box could had been an element that destroyed the island. Perhaps Ven Polypheme happened to take the scale over the "Sleeping Child's Grave," and caused it to erupt. Although that is probably not likely.

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"Fire-child, star-child, what is kel? Sword-bearers, song-weavers, that is kel."
-The Faded Sun trilogy by C.J.Cherryh.
My Avatar is my cat, Niun.
*Keeper of The Dictionary of All Symphony of Ages Knowledge & The Ven Polypheme Dictionary Guide.*

Sorry Mri, I was so tired after writing that long post yesterday that I didn't check the Dictionary!

Something else that occurred to me after writing the original post was the revelation that the Crossroads Inn door left with the First Fleet, rather than the Third Fleet.  There was an inherent power within that door, and there is a dubious power in the ability of prophecy - in that somehow with the power of suggestion, we sometimes create our own realities based upon what we think will happen.  We see that in the SoA with Tristan being easily manipulated by the F'dor in his grief over losing Prudence, and the prophecies made by the Seers, which had layered and multiple interpretations whose meanings remained true, but essentially unclear.

Gwylliam had a vision of the destruction of Serendair, and did what he could, as a king, to protect his people, and thereby his office, from being destroyed along with it.  In that effort, he sent out his people in a series of waves keying up the Symphony as he stepped up to the Conductor's podium.  In an effort to preserve what was important to the people of Serendair, to give them a cohesion of purpose, he sends out important pieces of lore with each wave, to be safely carried to their New World.

What if, like the destruction of the Purity Diamond by Anwyn, the exodus of the Crossroads Door was planted as a "good idea" in Gwylliam's head, but actually gave the F'dor a stronger base from which to operate by clearing the way of an obstacle through which it could not previously pass?  This act in itself could have set the pieces in place for the destruction of the Island which as the birthplace of the Firstborn of all the races, made the Secondborn race, the F'dor, gain an upper hand for their ultimate dominance of all Creation, even into the Afterlife.

Thoughts?

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"No, they're not real, but thanks for noticing"! WoW Dwarf Female /silly
Avatar by Krinsel

I don't think that actual door had power...it just served as a warning of the power of the place to all things evil.

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"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."
~Edgar Allan Poe
"Darest thou now O Soul, Walk out with me toward the unknown region, Where neither ground is for feet Nor any path to follow."
~Walt Whitman
~Avatar made by Me, madhatter.

I do agree that the door could hold a more symbolic meaning, MH, but symbols often tend to be given or attributed with power that might not be naturally occuring in them. 

An inn is generally associated with welcome, sheltering, warmth and comfort; a home away from home.  In the Series, Rhapsody speaks of the doors she left open that she never planned to close, and in contemporary life, there is the term "Open Door Policy", which implies that a mutual give and take exists, with a "subordinate" made to feel comfortable petitioning a "superior" - most often in a working relationship. 

The Crossroads Inn stood as a safe haven from the dangers present at the crossroads.  The "evils" at the crossroads were shut out (symbolised by the closed door), and barred from entry into the sanctuary that was the home away from home for weary travellers.  For Ven, The Crossroads Inn became his second home, with a secondary family found in Mrs Snodgrass, and other more than temporary residents, including the children in the Hare and Mouse Warrens.  The door, through the power of the lore of hospitality, held at bay the outside world and its inherent dangers.  When the door was removed and sent with the First Fleet, it opened the door for those evils to run rampant in a previously sanctified place, desecrating it, much like the removal of the Ela Bell clappers in the Bethe Corbair bell tower desanctified it, making it "safe" for the F'dor to make it his base of operations.

 

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"No, they're not real, but thanks for noticing"! WoW Dwarf Female /silly
Avatar by Krinsel

But if you remember from Threshold, the door was gone, taken by the exodus, but the F'dor couldn't enter the inn, and was ill from being in proximity to the sanctified ground.

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"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."
~Edgar Allan Poe
"Darest thou now O Soul, Walk out with me toward the unknown region, Where neither ground is for feet Nor any path to follow."
~Walt Whitman
~Avatar made by Me, madhatter.

I thought that the F'dor was already weak, having invaded the body of the elderly fisherman, so any residual sanctification would have hindered it, just like when Grunthor was still affected by the tainted ground of the Bethe Corbair cathedral, even though the process had already started in re-sanctifying it.  I'll have to read it fully again, but you could be right...I'm just thinking that that absence of the door quickened the desecration, slowly eating away at it until the F'dor had an opening into entering the world out of the Vault. 

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"No, they're not real, but thanks for noticing"! WoW Dwarf Female /silly
Avatar by Krinsel

It may be that the door has hidden power (or had, since it probably went up in ashes when Ashe burned his father's house down). Elizabeth Haydon never went extensively into the door, but it has been a while since I've read Floating Island and Thief Queen's Daughter, so she might have mentioned it more there. I'm more of a person who waits for the author to reveal whatever they imagined to me, rather than speculate. Not to say that I don't try to figure out what's going to happen, but I'm not much for theories. I don't want to rain on your parade....I have to re-read all this stuff anyway.

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"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."
~Edgar Allan Poe
"Darest thou now O Soul, Walk out with me toward the unknown region, Where neither ground is for feet Nor any path to follow."
~Walt Whitman
~Avatar made by Me, madhatter.

Not at all MH...I'm pretty much the same as you when it comes to letting the author tell the story in his or her own way.  The difference I see with EH, however, is that with the emphasis on puzzles in the Ven books, that there might be an element which EH wants us to figure out for ourselves - in that "magic hides in plain sight". 

Even when it came to who the identity of the Guardian really is (gads, can't find the reference...must have been in the chat thread from way back) she mentioned that all the information was there up through Destiny, and that we should be able to figure it out for ourselves. 

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"No, they're not real, but thanks for noticing"! WoW Dwarf Female /silly
Avatar by Krinsel

I still haven't been able to figure it out from Destiny alone; it bothers when a solution to a puzzle eludes me.

---

"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."
~Edgar Allan Poe
"Darest thou now O Soul, Walk out with me toward the unknown region, Where neither ground is for feet Nor any path to follow."
~Walt Whitman
~Avatar made by Me, madhatter.

I still don't understand how exackly we can figure it out... I mean sure, Haydon told us that if we study it long enough, we can guess who it is, but we won't entirely be sure about it unless Her Majesty tells us herself.

---

"Fire-child, star-child, what is kel? Sword-bearers, song-weavers, that is kel."
-The Faded Sun trilogy by C.J.Cherryh.
My Avatar is my cat, Niun.
*Keeper of The Dictionary of All Symphony of Ages Knowledge & The Ven Polypheme Dictionary Guide.*

Alright, I'm just about done reading The Dragon's Lair and two things struck me.

The first is this:

The Nain occupy the High Reaches, correct? Well, didn't Tsoltan take up resistance there during the Third Age? And didn't the Three Nain Explorer's that brought Garnax/Scarnag to his dragon lair said that they were fleeing from some sort-of evil that was slowly invading there lands? Well, what if that evil was the F'dor that later took over Tsoltan? What if, eventually, Tsoltan's future F'dor did indeed come to Serendair, take over the High Reaches (killing the Nain off in the process) and lived there as described in Rhapsody, Child of Blood?

And I admit that madhatter was right, even though Marisynos was mentioned in the books, she wasn't the main dragon. She was only the mother that guarded Sagia and wanted her egg back that was taken by the Nain.

So what do you all think? Is it possible that the evil that was slowly taking over the realm of the Nain in the Northland was the F'dor that later possed Tsoltan?

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"Fire-child, star-child, what is kel? Sword-bearers, song-weavers, that is kel."
-The Faded Sun trilogy by C.J.Cherryh.
My Avatar is my cat, Niun.
*Keeper of The Dictionary of All Symphony of Ages Knowledge & The Ven Polypheme Dictionary Guide.*

There is no knowing if it was the same F'dor spirit that took over Tsoltan, since there are several spirits out in the world, all bent on destruction. And I don't think Tsoltan occupied the "High Reaches" since the High Reaches was entire mountain range. It says in Rhapsody that Tsoltan was in the Spire, the location of which is never revealed, although I think the Spire was in the High Reaches. And he couldn't have killed off the Serendair Nain, because they were part of Gwylliam's exodus to the new world. I think it is a mystery to wait on for the next installment. But I definitely thought "F'dor" when I read that part.

---

"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."
~Edgar Allan Poe
"Darest thou now O Soul, Walk out with me toward the unknown region, Where neither ground is for feet Nor any path to follow."
~Walt Whitman
~Avatar made by Me, madhatter.

Now this is purely speculation...

If I remember correctly Tsoltan's spire was made primarily of obsidian, which is the result of volcanic activity.  It makes sense to me that Tsoltan could have used the natural forces contained within a volcano and bent and/or enhanced this activity to hasten the wakening of The Sleeping Child. The Nain probably felt the taint of the F'dor within the mountains which they occupied, which prompted them to search for a new place to call home.

It also occurred to me that according to Ganrax/Scarnag's story it took centuries for the Nain to return, and not one of them were his original caretakers.  The great Seren War might have been fought during that time (although I can't remember how far removed Rhapsody was from Vandermere) which could have been prompted through the F'dor in the volcano.  I also wondered if Tsoltan was a "lucky" F'dor who found a weakness in the vault in a place that abutted the volcano and was able to escape through it.  Then perhaps the Nain stayed behind longer than anticipated because they sought to contain the taint as best as they could, by reinforcing the weakened spots to prevent any other F'dor from escaping, before they abandoned the mountains.  Remember that The Brother had to go to another spot to meet one of Tsoltan's "friends", which would indicate to me that any escape route might have been repaired by those who were exceptionally talented with manipulating earth and stone - the Nain fit that bill perfectly!  

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"No, they're not real, but thanks for noticing"! WoW Dwarf Female /silly
Avatar by Krinsel

Hmmm....I was always curious about what exactly Achmed saw that made him run away, besides the Vault that he opened. The instructions that Tsoltan gave him were couched in riddle and misdirection (just like a F'dor).

It would also help to know at what part of the Second Age that Ven lived. We know that Rhapsody lived in the Third Age about 1100 years into it. At what year did the Second Age end?

Anyway, the Nain were allies of the High King, so they would definitely had been the F'dor's enemy. Are they as sensitive to the vibrations of the world as the Lirin are?

---

"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."
~Edgar Allan Poe
"Darest thou now O Soul, Walk out with me toward the unknown region, Where neither ground is for feet Nor any path to follow."
~Walt Whitman
~Avatar made by Me, madhatter.