The Cauldron

from Destiny: Chapter 11, pg. 112 [American PB] (Oelendra telling Achmed she expects to be repaid for helping out with the F’dor children)

 

Achmed hid a smile as Rhapsody waved back.  What the Lirin champion did not know was that he had already repaid her a lifetime ago by not accepting any of the multitudinous contracts on her life he was offered back in the old world.

 

 

Wouldn’t that have been the most awesome battle?  The Lirin sword master in her prime vs. a cwellan-less Achmed still with his old tie to blood.  And since there were multitudinous contracts on Oelendra's life that means many other assassins tried to kill her---and obviously failed.   

 

I think Oelendra might have stood a chance against Achmed; his advantage was always stealth and his ability to hear his target's heartbeat, but Oelendra would be hard to surprise, so most likely it would’ve have ended up being a blade-to-blade contest.

 

But why would Achmed not accept the contract?  Is it because he was Tsoltan’s slave and only killed the people he wanted to kill?  Or was this even before that, and he just figured that going after Oelendra would be too formidable a task to risk it---and since he doesn’t like to gamble, he simply chose not to.

 

And I thought that Achmed could still hear all the heartbeats from everyone that was from the old world---like he does with Rhapsody?  I’m probably wrong about that one---never mind.

I bet that he didn't accept the contract because he thought that it would be risky.  I doubt there were any warm fuzzy feelings or moral obligations that kept Achmed from accepting the contracts.  He probably thought it was a stupid risk.  That is how I see it anyway.   

I thought that it might have had something to do with Pendaris and Oelendra fighting the F'dor, and Pendaris dying as a result of it.  Perhaps Achmed felt a kinship with those that would willingly give their lives to fight the same enemy he was racially bound to hate.

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

I'm under a similar impression, Krinsel.  We know that Achmed always chose his assignments, at least until he was forced to serve Tsoltan.  While he had no true alliances, he only accepted assignments on the side of good (or at least the side of those who were anti-F'dor, frequently meaning the Seren.)  Oelendra makes a comment about this while Rhapsody was training under her:

    [The Brother] had always served as an independent, neutral to all causes and serving no one lord, but
    rather whoever interested him...Then, that seemed to change.  We never knew for certain, but it
    seemed that during the early days of the Seren War he began to serve the enemies of the Seren
    king...several of our leaders and allies met their ends through the deadly disks of the cwellan.
    (Prophecy, American PB, p. 298).

I think he never accepted any offers against Oelendra because he saw no value in killing her.  Loosely, they were on the same side, and she still had much to offer in the fight against the F'dor.

Sam I am. wrote:

from Destiny: Chapter 11, pg. 112 [American PB] (Oelendra telling Achmed she expects to be repaid for helping out with the F’dor children)

 

Achmed hid a smile as Rhapsody waved back.  What the Lirin champion did not know was that he had already repaid her a lifetime ago by not accepting any of the multitudinous contracts on her life he was offered back in the old world. 

 

Hmm, I probably read it wrong, but I always thought by 'her', he meant Rhapsody... I think it had something to do with the paragraph before that one... But it seems to make more sense that it's  Oelendra...

 

Continue on, if you will! ^_^

 

 

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Avatar Art © Rhapsody - Yargh, that would be Thesa, the fiery Pirate Captain! =]

I always loved this line.  It would have been cool if he said that to her face.  That would have been an interesting conversation.
I agree that Achmed didn't take the contracts against her because it was of no value or interest to him.

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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

OR, and this is pure speculation, he didn't kill her because she was...wait for it...

Related to the mysterious person he was unable to save in his youth!!!

Ooooh! Yeah, think about that!



Or it could simply be he has a soft-spot for Liringlas women.

In all seriousness, I think the only reason he never accepted a contract to kill her was simply because it didn't agree with who he was. She'd never done anything evil, and was working as hard as she could to kill their common enemy, so he had no real REASON to kill her, you know?

There are tons of reasons why he might not have killed her though...could be he was a friend of Pendaris even. No one but Miss Elizabeth knows for sure, and she's awfully quiet about these sort of things!

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Avatar is a close-up of one of my kitties.

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." - Buddha

I don't think that he was Pendaris' friend or anything like that.  Achmed doesn't make friends.  The only friends he's ever truly had are Grunthor and Rhapsody.  He wouldn't have not taken the contracts because of any altruistic reasons, but because Achmed is a very selfish and cautious person who doesn't take risks that would jeopardize him or that had no purpose/value.  Achmed's no patriotic type either, so I don't think he stayed his hand because of a desire to serve Serendair.  The only person that he served and obeyed willingly was himself.

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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

I agree with what madhatter said. Achmed is selfish, doesn't like to gamble unless it exceeds his own ends (and why kill Oelendra if she is against the F'dor?).

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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.*

Wow, I completely thought that this was a new thread that SIA cooked up again. But then I realized it was from over a year ago. I had to re-read through again, because I didn't even remember it. MN, are you bored with your summer? Many old threads consigned to the Cauldron graveyard are finding their way back to brief life again. Why give them false hope of resurrection?

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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

Haha! You are right in your assessment, madhatter. MN is bored with her summer! And I haven't seen Sam I Am around here for a while...

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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.*

SIA is MIA...hehe.

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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

</lurk>
SIA's post count shall forever remain.... just under 1000 posts.  For shame...
<lurk>

Interesting, people come and people go, others stay longer than another. Thus is The Cauldron Cycle!

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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.*

We've got the staples: meat, potatoes, carrots, onions, but every so often we get a little extra flavoring.  I see Sam I Am like a fresh, aromatic cilantro with a dash of red pepper, but you can't have the same seasonings day in and day out.  Sometimes a little more garlic, others more of a minty hint - but always new and exciting. 

I do hope he comes back one of these days.

 

*Cough* was this a thread about Achmed?  Hmmm...he's a sharp bite of cheddar to me! lol

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

This was a thread about Achmed, but I don't remember what it was about. Too many topics about our assassin friend to keep straight...he certainly is popular. ;)

I think of myself as quite a boring taste...eh...yes, it is so boring that I can't even think of a name for it. But now I'm getting off-topic again...what were we talking about? ;)

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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

Mmmmm, SoA stew, Grunthor would be proud!

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Avatar photo taken by me, from my window.

I think Grunthor might be a bit devastated!

Me? I don't know, I guess I could be an ordinary, original slash of American Cheese!

I think Achmed might had wanted to start shooting the idiots who kept on asking him to assassinate Oelendra, at least, I would!

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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.*