[Flawed]

Perhaps Bens Soultaken form is an Azath.

He has souls within him.

He will be at the final confrontation and change. Suck up all the babies and a few that annoy him or who have cheesey feet and POW job done.

He will just have many many more souls within him this time.

[iRFNA]

Or his soletaken form is a moon.

He'll turn into a moon and roll over everyone, then fly off into space while cackling.

[poeg]

More than merely Soultaken, we have QB also telling Hedge exactly what will be happening after he does 'suck on this winged cow' bit. How is everyone OK with QB seeing the future in this instance and not in his own demise? The clues are all here and they don't point to father light but to the scattered remnants of one broken alien god. We were told the Crippled God was brought down, shattered and remains incomplete thus his suffering. What would a portion, all be it a small one, of the Chained God's original essence actually represent? After all, merely the gate to darkness made the most terrible of weapons in Dragnipur. Could this not be one thing also found by the rapidly changing QB in Raraku?

[Ceda Cicero]

poeg, on 08 December 2010 - 09:52 PM, said:

More than merely Soultaken, we have QB also telling Hedge exactly what will be happening after he does 'suck on this winged cow' bit. How is everyone OK with QB seeing the future in this instance and not in his own demise? The clues are all here and they don't point to father light but to the scattered remnants of one broken alien god. We were told the Crippled God was brought down, shattered and remains incomplete thus his suffering. What would a portion, all be it a small one, of the Chained God's original essence actually represent? After all, merely the gate to darkness made the most terrible of weapons in Dragnipur. Could this not be one thing also found by the rapidly changing QB in Raraku?

I'm not sure I follow. Are you proposing that QB found a fragment of the Crippled God in Raraku and either just kept it, or incorporated it into his soulshifting process/general arsenal of badass reserves?

Also regarding your point on Dragnipur, as I've always understood it, the fact that it houses the Gate of Darkness is incidental to its function as "the most terrible of weapons." Yes the Gate is trundling along inside of Dragnipur, but the fact that Dragnipur is a terrible soul-enslaving sword is because Draconus fashioned it that way, not because its relationship with the Gate imbues it with soulsucking abilities.The evidence we have suggests that Draconus crafted the sword to house the Gate of Darkness as a potential (although slightly convoluted) solution to the problem of Darkness vs. Chaos.

This post has been edited by Ciceronian: 08 December 2010 - 10:34 PM

[poeg]

Ciceronian, on 08 December 2010 - 10:32 PM, said:

poeg, on 08 December 2010 - 09:52 PM, said:

More than merely Soultaken, we have QB also telling Hedge exactly what will be happening after he does 'suck on this winged cow' bit. How is everyone OK with QB seeing the future in this instance and not in his own demise? The clues are all here and they don't point to father light but to the scattered remnants of one broken alien god. We were told the Crippled God was brought down, shattered and remains incomplete thus his suffering. What would a portion, all be it a small one, of the Chained God's original essence actually represent? After all, merely the gate to darkness made the most terrible of weapons in Dragnipur. Could this not be one thing also found by the rapidly changing QB in Raraku?

I'm not sure I follow. Are you proposing that QB found a fragment of the Crippled God in Raraku and either just kept it, or incorporated it into his soulshifting process/general arsenal of badass reserves?

Also regarding your point on Dragnipur, as I've always understood it, the fact that it houses the Gate of Darkness is incidental to its function as "the most terrible of weapons." Yes the Gate is trundling along inside of Dragnipur, but the fact that Dragnipur is a terrible soul-enslaving sword is because Draconus fashioned it that way, not because its relationship with the Gate imbues it with soulsucking abilities.The evidence we have suggests that Draconus crafted the sword to house the Gate of Darkness as a potential (although slightly convoluted) solution to the problem of Darkness vs. Chaos.

Why would he have to have "found" anything? We're talking about an alien god are we not? Why is it he/she/it must be something not at all alien and as such found by QB rather than the opposite?

I also see it as the power within Dragnipur WAS the gate of darkness itself. In the last Avowed novel we're treated to a rift of darkness gobbling up everything attracting its attention so imagine if you will the power and control afforded such through the gate of darkness itself. There is no way whatsoever that the gate of darkness was there by happenstance.

[Iccarium]

Doesn't Krul or someone mention that Quick Ben is second only to Kruppe for being the smartest mortal alive?

Not sure an elder god or something of that could be hiding in QB without Krul knowing but who knows.

[Siergiej]

IIRC the one who says this is Dujek or Whiskeyjack. Definetly not K'rul. And I wouldn't take that as really meaningful

This post has been edited by Siergiej: 19 January 2011 - 12:08 AM

[Iccarium]

Siergiej, on 19 January 2011 - 12:06 AM, said:

IIRC the one who says this is Dujek or Whiskeyjack. Definetly not K'rul. And I wouldn't take that as really meaningful

How would either of those know Kruppe's power? When I get home I will try to find the quote.

[Siergiej]

I assume they could have figured it when Caladan Brood was trying to kill Kruppe with his Holy Hammer of Badass. In the process, he started a new orogeny in the world of Wu, but Kruppe remained unscratched. Exactly in that moment Dujek and WS had the opportunity to see that he is not some ordinary fat, sweaty, mule riding dude. But don't take it too seriosuly, I am aware it's a longshot.

And as for the quote, here You go:

Quote

Dujek emptied his goblet. 'Damn,' he sighed. 'All right. We ignore, as best we can, the Crippled
God. We remain focused on the Pannion Domin. Still, my friend, I mislike it. I can't help but be
nervous in that we are not actively engaged in considering this new enemy…'
'I don't think we are, High Fist.'
Dujek's glance was sharp, searching, then his face twisted. 'Quick Ben.'
Whiskeyjack slowly nodded. 'I think so. I'm not certain—Hood, I don't even know if he's still alive,
but knowing Quick, he is. Very much alive. And, given his agitation the last time I saw him, he's
without illusions, and anything but ignorant.'
'And he's all we've got? To outwit the Crippled God?'
'High Fist, if Kruppe is this world's foremost genius, then Quick Ben's but a step behind him. A
very short step.'

This post has been edited by Siergiej: 19 January 2011 - 12:49 PM

[Bauchelain the Evil]

And of course it means slightly more than nothing because WJ has never met the other resident genious of WU like Tehol, Pust or Udinaas

[Paran]

Udinaas is not a genius. He's just very perceptive about the lies that we tell ourselves, and is extraordinary in that he has so much empathy and does not accept the lies he tells himself.

[amphibian]

Paran, on 25 January 2011 - 06:22 AM, said:

Udinaas is not a genius. He's just very perceptive about the lies that we tell ourselves, and is extraordinary in that he has so much empathy and does not accept the lies he tells himself.

He is so good at doing those things that the term "genius" fits him.

I believe Erikson has no single "smartest characters", but in terms of "Figuring Shit" out, Udinaas is very near the top - if not at the top - of all characters in the series.

Karsa is of course the champion of "Doing Shit".

[Tattersail_]

Blueiron, on 21 October 2010 - 11:10 PM, said:

Soletaken of D'ivers? so... [wild speculation] he has a set number of "shapes" arising from a bunch of different soul (they look the same because he got rid of the other wizards' bodies) and he switches between them. He's been working on being able to take the form of many of them at once, but still having the same, single body. This is so that he can access more power at once, because each soul can only access the warren that its original wizard could. This also explains why he has trouble accessing a large number of Warrens at once: he was still working on the whole multi-Soletaken thing. [/wild speculation]

Also, this sort of remind me of Trake's Legion in MoI, when they all semble together into a single tiger.

Bah, SE's novels are so mind bending that even my own speculation confuses me.

-Blueiron, noting the irony of saying "I still can't wait" for tCG

I think he is a D'ivers and that I think I have said it before but he is a snake D'ivers. In MOI he visits that witch of Burn she calls him a many headed snake and other things similar to this. In that whole passage a lot comes out and every thing she said is true. Even at the end of the conversation she said she likes the cold which was a reference to Burn and Omtose Phelack

[chaosek]

Just rereading MoI (which is in Dutch unfortunately so paraphrasing) and WJ tells Rake the story of QB. Among those souls QB absorbed is a soletaken follower of Poliel. QB can use all warrens apparantly that his souls have, so it would stand to reason he can also use the soultaken form. Since Poliel represents pestilance a rat, snake or scorpion wouldn't be a strange guess (or was it Soliel, damn so many facts to remember).

[Tattersail_]

chaosek, on 25 January 2011 - 10:11 AM, said:

Just rereading MoI (which is in Dutch unfortunately so paraphrasing) and WJ tells Rake the story of QB. Among those souls QB absorbed is a soletaken follower of Poliel. QB can use all warrens apparantly that his souls have, so it would stand to reason he can also use the soultaken form. Since Poliel represents pestilance a rat, snake or scorpion wouldn't be a strange guess (or was it Soliel, damn so many facts to remember).

look for the part where is talking to the witch about Burn and her fever, he has to cramp into her little dingy hut and she gives him a few revelations but she does use Snake a few times, he has been called it by many other people. If you use Snake as a finder word then you will see it crops up quite often

[Siergiej]

He is called a snaked by the witch in Memories of Ice - that's right. I think he is called this numerous times. But IIRC his sister calls him a wolf in The Bonehunters, just after he saves her - in my opinion both would fit, but who can guess his soletaken form better than his own sis?

[Siergiej]

Sorry for the double post, but something has just come to my mind...

Remember the scene in The Bonehunters, when Hood asks Paran for a favour, and every reader is like "WTF! Damn You Steven Erikson, why didn't you write exactly what Hood is up to!"? Quick Ben was there, eavesdroping, and if i recall correctly, he was kinda shocked after what he heard. But he is ultra clever, and had a lot of time to think everything through (about 2 years I think). So maybe now he knows (or thinks he knows) where exactly is Ganoes Paran and what is his plan - and I think it's rather possible, that it may have something to do with Hood, who has just gave up his position in the House of Death and appeared in... Letheri continent, regrouping with a few of his fellow Jaghuts. So QB, after doing everything he could, to stop the Nah'ruk from crushing Bonehunters now went to aid Paran... or maybe stop him?

Hood + Paran + Quick Ben = unstoppable force, don't ya think?