Argh, you guys actually made me hunt down the Rell narrative. But it's okay, because I think it's worth spamming for a few discussion points.
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I was young. Very full of myself. I had been promoted to the highest martial body of my people. One of the youngest ever to have been so honored. I fought many duels -- but not as you and your people seem to understand them, to the unnecessary death or sloppy exhaustion. At the level I fought, blood was rarely spilt. All could be decided by the judging body in a mere one or two passes. Speed, technique, execution. Perfection of form and precision of application. Indeed, some matches were lost merely because of what one contestant failed to do. An opening overlooked. A technique not pursued to its uttermost realization. For us, in short, fighting had become a form of religious dedication and expression.
. . . I did the unthinkable -- I disputed a ruling. The judges, all my superior in rank of course, re-emphasized their judgement. I, then, dared to question their interpretation. For this presumption I was expelled from the martial order of my society. Forbidden to carry arms. All that was left to me was a life as a craftsman, farmer or servant. I would remain free, but would never fight again. Well, you can imagine . . . How could I in my hot youth bear to watch my peers -- men and women far less skilled than I -- walk by exalted in rank while I bowed before them? No. I chose exile instead.
--ROTC p.578
I think that this passage actually supports just how dicey it is to rely on Seguleh rankings, because it seems -- at least within their own society -- their status is determined not just by victory, but by some platonic ideal of the duel and how closely a Seguleh can match to it. What appears to be implied is that, at a certain level, one could
technically win one of these duels but still lose points because you did not win it in the most perfect way. It sounds as if Rell did not contest a result (which would imply an ass-beating), but an "interpretation" -- that he had indeed performed the proper execution. And, from how he talks of fighting in their society, that seems to be up there with telling the Vatican they've been misinterpreting a particular scripture for years.
What I'm trying to get at is that the point of fighting for the Seguleh is not merely to beat the other guy, it's a pursuit of spiritual perfection via martial perfection. The capacity for issuing a beatdown is a consequence, not the goal. The danger I see for Seguleh at a certain level is that, when dumped into the "real" world, suddenly their particular terms of engagement would no longer apply. They're seeking perfection in technique; their oponent is going to be seeking not to be vivisected. Generally speaking they're so skilled they can administer a beatdown within a matter of seconds, but as stated, if they come across someone ungodly powerful like Karsa wasting time on perfect technique is going to get their wristbones hammered into their elbows. (This is why I'd argue that, while I agree with whoever said Rell had probably gotten worse in Seguleh terms since leaving, he's probably gotten a lot better at
real battles.)
Another thing with rankings is that, in the Malazan world, they should not be trusted. Tayschrenn is said to be the only High Mage in the army, but we've heard it said Quick Ben certainly qualifies, Beak had a savant-like mastery of numerous warrens, and Heuk unveils a full-blown manifestation of KG -- yet all are "only" squad mages. To be ranked in any society you must first compete or be witnessed in action, and a good many really powerful people don't want to because of the attention it draws. I find it possible a couple of really talented Seguleh are probably lurking in the background but low-ranked because, for whatever reason, they do not want to progress. (If I had that kind of life expectancy I would probably hold off too.)
Plus, I've kind of lost faith in rankings since we've learned that while the current First Sword of the Empire is unquestionably good at his job, he's still an idiot.
Regarding Seguleh and magery, I really do wonder about that. I doubt they have enough time to produce a lot of mage/fighter combos, like the Guard has, but it would make sense that a society that's joined spiritual perfection with physical actualization would invest some attention in Denul. So perhaps Seguleh do have some use of magic, but only insofar as it applies to the body.
And slightly off topic, I'm still wondering what the Seguleh Iron Bars enountered were looking for. So far my only guess is those pickled Seguleh . . .
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