[Icarium Kalam]

Just finished Midnight Tides and I have to say I want to know more about the Forkrul Assail. Where the heck does this race comes from? How was their belief system shaped? Must kill everything for peace...

[HoosierDaddy]

You are not the only one. The only other information we get on Forkrul Assail comes in Reaper's Gale, and there isn't much there, either.

[Hinter]

Not sure if it's peace they want, more like inertia or the lack of change.

[Eispeis]

What I fail to understand about them is how they don't rule the universe by now (then/milennia ago/in 3 seconds - take your pick).

Fair enough both K'Chain Che Malle (sp?), Tlan Imass and Jaghuts are powerful as fudge as well, but from what little we've seen of Forkrul Assail so far they seem to be the shizzle.


PS!
Sorry about the ekstremle poorly hidden swears, but I'm uncertain to the swearing policy in these here forums ya hear.

[L'oric]

 Eispeis, on Feb 25 2009, 08:01 AM, said:

What I fail to understand about them is how they don't rule the universe by now (then/milennia ago/in 3 seconds - take your pick).

Fair enough both K'Chain Che Malle (sp?), Tlan Imass and Jaghuts are powerful as fudge as well, but from what little we've seen of Forkrul Assail so far they seem to be the shizzle.


PS!
Sorry about the ekstremle poorly hidden swears, but I'm uncertain to the swearing policy in these here forums ya hear.

The way I explain it to myself is that we have seen only the really strong ones that are their version of Ascended. Especially the one Karsa meets up with.

Spoiler

The errant seems to have been able to take them on fairly well all things considered.

[HoosierDaddy]

Where do you get that idea? And, spoiler that last part, it's from Reaper's Gale.

[Soulessdreamer]

The impression I got was that the race was fairly solitary and spead out, possibly even very slow to reproduce. Also I got the impression that they wandered the worlds/warrens.

Of course it has been awhile snice I read the books.

TTFN

[Hetan]

 L'oric, on Feb 25 2009, 03:54 PM, said:

The way I explain it to myself is that we have seen only the really strong ones that are their version of Ascended.

Whilst I like that analogy, I'm pretty sure I remember someone (it may have been Silchas or Anomander Rake) speculating that they had always been hard to kill.
There's more evidence in later books about the Fork'rul Assail, but not to be talked about here unfortunately.

[Abyss]

The ones we see in HoC and MT were beaten and stuck under rocks or in caves. Presumably they would have to be strong enough that they could not just be killed outright by whomever bound them (Icarium and some Tlan Imass in Calm's case, for Serenity the implication was First Empire mages but it's not certain), and then strong enuf to survive x millenia under a rock, which does suggest they are exceptional members of the species.

Then again, the only definitive kills we've seen were by Kettle, who was arguably a FA herself, and Silchas.


- Abyss, chilled.

[Cowl's Disciple]

As to the question of why don't they rule the universe; we still have no idea how many of them there are or, really, how they think. Perhaps there are simply not enough assail now (or ever?) to do so!

[L'oric]

I have come to think that the Imass don't kill all of the most powerful things they meet not because they can't kill them but because they trap them within a Tellann Ritual to suck away their power.

Why do I think they have ascendant like beings within them? Well other races all have their exceptional "heroes." The Tiste of course have theirs down to even individual sub races. Jaghut have their tyrants. KCCM have matrons. Imass and Tlan Imass obviosuly did.

Spoiler

Dragons as the embodiments of particular warrens- BH?

.

Spoiler

TTH have those that are warrens unto themselves. BH?

I have no idea what to spoiler here. So I am just being safe.

Spoiler

I guess it would be cool if the Assail were the only ones that were all tough but maybe they have judges and peacemakers and other titles to a whole society based on mediation by the sword.

Sincerely

[Aptorian]

This is weird. I swear I posted a reply in here yesterday and now it's gone. Did someone delete it because I mentioned something from TTH?

It's a conspiracy!

[HoosierDaddy]

What the hell is there to talk about Forkrul Assail in TtH?

But, I also think you had responded in here at some point. Maybe you deleted?

[Aptorian]

There is a mention of a battle, or a series of battles, where a number of FAs participated.

[HoosierDaddy]

Ahhh, yes. I remember. Good point. Fairly weak though. Didn't really provide "knowledge".

*MUST NEED REREAD TOLL THE HOUNDS.

[L'oric]

 HoosierDaddy, on Feb 26 2009, 01:18 AM, said:

Ahhh, yes. I remember. Good point. Fairly weak though. Didn't really provide "knowledge".

*MUST NEED REREAD TOLL THE HOUNDS.

Reapers Gale spoiler Thanks HoosierDaddy! (I feel kind of dirty just writing that)

Spoiler

Its where Beak is with Captain Sort and Fist Keneb just as they disembark...set out on Lether. Beak tells them all about the Just Wars and everything...I do not know where the scene is that has the Errant killing a bunch of them as well....but I seem to remember that.

IF anyone wants to enlighten me by all means.

This post has been edited by L'oric: 27 February 2009 - 04:33 AM

[HoosierDaddy]

That's Reaper's Gale, brother.

[D'rek]

Bits I can think of off the top of my head:

From MT: Silchas takes Kettle into a dreamy scene/pocket warren thingy where there's a big pile of harnesses from FA that Silchas killed, and he reinforces the notion that "they needed to be killed" (as a race, not this group per se).

From BH:

Spoiler

Ganath talks about them when she speaks of the Errant, saying that the Errant's becoming the avatar of change and the enemy of stagnation set him at odds with the FA. This is where we get the idea that the FA were pro-ennui, didn't like 'chaotic' change or discord, if you will.

From RG:

Spoiler

Udinaas is in a dream where there's a temple and loads of bodies. The Errant shows up and so does Menandore and she says the bodies are FA, killed by the Errant's own hand.

From RG:

Spoiler

Beak talks about the Just Wars, wars fought between the Tiste Liosan and Forkrul Assail, based on different interpretations of true Justice

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I think the reason they don't rule is simply that they don't want to. They want "peace," or their version of it anyways. Enslaving the world would veer away from that, I think.

[Sheve]

Mammot to Crokus: GOTM

"in the early cycles in this realm, three great peoples struggled for dominion, none of them human as we whould know human.
Bowing out early in the struggle were the Forkrul Assail, or the Krussail as they are now known.
Not through weakness, but ..well, disintrest.
The remaning two peoples warred endlessly.
Eventually one fell, for they were a race of individuals, battling as much among themselves as against their racial enemies.
They were called the Jaghut, through the term has degenerated these days to jhag or shurl.
While losers in the war, they did not dissapear entirely - it´s said some Jaghut survive to this day, though, thankfully not on Genabackis."

pg 370.

The reason for them not ruling the world perhaps?
They simply dont care.

This post has been edited by Sheve: 04 June 2009 - 09:27 AM