[Shinrei]

Ok, for perspective, I read TtH before I read this so if something was mentioned in that book to help explain this it wouldn't have stuck in my brain. Also, I feel like because this is such an obvious question that is not being discussed on this board, I must have missed something major along the way so please fill me in.

What was the purpose of the Ereko/Kallor meeting?

[Grief]

Ereko is the last of his race, who kallor tried to exterminate.
He lets kallor kill him.

Essentially it works as a plot-device to show kallors curse weakening, as he is cursed to fail in all his efforts, and suceeds in wiping them out.

As a plot, it doesnt make that much sense, and I personally didn't like it much.

[Shinrei]

That's it? I agree, that's lame. I thought there had to be more to it, because it was a really weak sequence.

[Grief]

Well, I can think of little reason, even if you were feeling like dying, that you'd go across a bunch of places to give the person who swore to wipe your race out, and eliminated many of them, the satisfaction of killing you.

[Aptorian]

Actually there's nothing that indicates that Kallors curses are weakening. It's purely a reader speculation and nothing of the sort has been hinted at so far. It'd been deduced because all the EGs have now overcome their curses and people think that now Kallor will also be free of his curses but there's nothing that indicates this is happening.

Ereko's story made little sense and it seems he was only in the story to do some info dumps on Elder Times and look bad ass while he did nothing. There's no explanation why Ereko felt he needed Kallor to kill him, if he realy was tired of life he could have ended it long ago on the stormwall.

[Grief]

Apt:

Ereko is supposedly the last, therefore Kallor hasnt failed in that. Id say that kinda shows the curse weakening.
Also, he has a role in a house, sanctioned by the master of the deck. Im not sure its possible you can get one(at least a major one) without ascension being involved.

[Aptorian]

The curse that said what he made would crumble to dust doesn't mean that he will automatically fail at everything he does. It would make it pretty annoying to shave or build a campfire if that was the case If the last Tel Akai practically summons him and lets him impale him then it's pretty easily done. After all the death of the Tel Akai was a powerfull vow of it's own.

As for the positions in the houses, all though we know little of this selection process, I don't think any of the positions demand ascendancy perhaps with the exception of Ruler. Trull was not ascended and he was a Knight.

[Dancer+]

I think everyone is being too pedantic, just because Ereko's motives are not explained explicitly does not mean they are not there/essential. Perhaps Ereko was travelling home to die, something sentimental like that. It's not weak, it's just not explained and that's fine by me.

[Aptorian]

But that is weak, sloppy writting by the author. That's the main problem I had with this novel. To many things that just happen with out any real obvious meaning behind them.

[The Drum]

didn't Ereko say he was 'told' to follow Travellar by his god or some such? If so then his god must have wanted him dead.

[Sinisdar Toste]

the enchantress, the damned Queen of Dreams told ereko that traveller was his deliverance, and i've been tryin to figure it out ever since

[Traveller]

I'm sure there was more to Erekos death. He knows where he's got to go, and who's there to kill him - and yes, it would be lame if he was just 'tired of living.'

But he says he's 'from the earth,' and sort of hints that he needs to return to it.

When he dies, he literally turns back into dry gritty earth that blows away. I think maybe he needed to die for some yet unknown purpose - we know the war among the gods is imminant - maybe he was needed/reclaimed for use elsewhere. Traveller says he 'returned to the earth, returned to his mother.'
Would that not be Burn?

He obviously wasn't mortal in the normal sense from the start.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 08 January 2009 - 12:44 PM

[Benji]

Remember those giants that QB found way back in MoI? The ones protecting Burn? Maybe Ereko's gone to become one of those.

[Aptorian]

Some theorises that Deneuth was one of these mud-diamond-giants. Question is if Deneuth was in fact Ereko once...

[Benji]

I thought Denuth was female... Maybe I'm wrong, but either way I don't think they're the same person. Ereko didn't seem like the kind of person to hind behind a new name (he was pretty open to Traveller, Kyle and the Lost Boys after all).

I think he's exactly what he was portrayed as. The last surviving member of an ancient race who just wanted to return to the earth. Millions of years can really take it out of you sometimes...

[Ain't_It_Just_]

I was annoyed that kallor had to ONCE AGAIN call on the CG for help. Frigging pussy.

[williamjm]

 The 20th, on Dec 27 2008, 11:23 PM, said:

What was the purpose of the Ereko/Kallor meeting?

I suspect part of ICE's purpose in putting the plotline in the story is to contrast it to some of the other plotlines. Kallor has made a vow to pursue vengeance against all of Ereko's race and we see that he does that even though any rational reason for fighting the Tel Akai has long since passed. A lot of other characters in the book have vows of vengeance or similar (Traveller, Kyle, the Crimson Guard, the Wickans, Yath) but there's a wide variation in how they deal with them. Kyle, Shimmer and the Wickans show more willingness to not pursue their vows than Traveller or Kallor do.

[Ain't_It_Just_]

It seems to me that many vows sworn in the books are silly...the Avowed, Trav, Kallor. Ok, maybe not Trav.

But the Avowed have become irrelevant and defunct-they are the invaders, as one of them said. And Kallor? Probably can't even remember when or why he made the vow to vanquish the Thel Akai. They should show more sense.

[williamjm]

 Ain't_It_Just_, on Jan 9 2009, 08:03 AM, said:

It seems to me that many vows sworn in the books are silly...the Avowed, Trav, Kallor. Ok, maybe not Trav.

But the Avowed have become irrelevant and defunct-they are the invaders, as one of them said. And Kallor? Probably can't even remember when or why he made the vow to vanquish the Thel Akai. They should show more sense.

I suspect that's part of the point that Esslemont is trying to make. Making unbreakable vows of vengeance is not really a very sensible thing to do.

[Mr Nom]

I think that if you accept that Traveller\Dassem is Dessembrae 'The Lord of Tragedy' then it was fitting that he should bear witness to the last surviving member of a morally pure and peaceful race (and his closest companion) being murdered by a power mad tyrant.

The implications of this may not be directly explained in any more books but it surely confirms Dassem as Dessembrae and helps understand the great torment that Dassem is constantly besieged by.

I think the deliverance promised Ereko will be to see Dassem taking out Kallor in the future. Something that might not have happened previously because Dassem had no such motivation to kill him previously.