[iso9001]

Hi all,

I have started the fourth book and questions are piling up Before them, I am curious if there is someone else besides me who is relieved to see Karsa is not in the second book

Here are my questions:


1) What exactly is Karsa's wooden sword? How come he can cut pieces of flesh with a wooden sword?
2) I believe I will get to know more of the flooded warren, if not explained already, right?
3) What made Pormqual what he is, a coward maybe? I expected a lot more of a High Fist rather than letting Coltaine die or disarming the army? Maybe he was under spell just like King Theoden of LOTR.
4) Is there any specific reason for why Laseen chose Tavore as Adjunct?
5) Why didn't Nok prevent the rebellion and save Coltaine if he had such opportunity and power?
6) Why residency in Deadhouse is important? What benefits does it provide and how?
7) Nok explains Tavore about the disappearances of Emporer's old crew but I guess I failed to understand. Did they fake their deaths because they were Napans and they thought that people would think of them as the acoomplices of the assassination? What does being Napan have to do with all these?

Regards

[Andorion]

iso9001, on 26 December 2015 - 05:14 PM, said:

Hi all,

I have started the fourth book and questions are piling up Before them, I am curious if there is someone else besides me who is relieved to see Karsa is not in the second book

Here are my questions:


1) What exactly is Karsa's wooden sword? How come he can cut pieces of flesh with a wooden sword?
2) I believe I will get to know more of the flooded warren, if not explained already, right?
3) What made Pormqual what he is, a coward maybe? I expected a lot more of a High Fist rather than letting Coltaine die or disarming the army? Maybe he was under spell just like King Theoden of LOTR.
4) Is there any specific reason for why Laseen chose Tavore as Adjunct?
5) Why didn't Nok prevent the rebellion and save Coltaine if he had such opportunity and power?
6) Why residency in Deadhouse is important? What benefits does it provide and how?
7) Nok explains Tavore about the disappearances of Emporer's old crew but I guess I failed to understand. Did they fake their deaths because they were Napans and they thought that people would think of them as the acoomplices of the assassination? What does being Napan have to do with all these?

Regards

1. Sword is bloodwood - superhardwood that can be sharpened to an edge. The edge is created by treating it with bloodoil
2. Yes
3. A corrupt stupid coward.
4. She wanted to control the Paran family, make them prove their loyalty after Ganoes deserted plus Tavore is supposed to be a great strategist. More on Tavore RAFO
5. Nok is a naval commander with no authority over land armies, Without those he couldn't stop the rebellion. Plus he was probably under Pormquarls orders
6. Staying in any Azath makes changes. RAFO
7. Forgetting but I think this is mainly RAFO

[Puck]

iso9001, on 26 December 2015 - 05:14 PM, said:

7) Nok explains Tavore about the disappearances of Emporer's old crew but I guess I failed to understand. Did they fake their deaths because they were Napans and they thought that people would think of them as the acoomplices of the assassination? What does being Napan have to do with all these?

Pretty much. Laseen's Napan, possibly of the royal Napan line. She arrived on Malaz Island with the other Napans, and they joined forces with Kellanved way back when. She hatched her plan to take over the Empire without knowledge of the other Napans, but thanks to being Napans and former allies, it was clear that they'd be suspected of having been in on her betrayal. So they faked theit own death both to avoid that and to disassociate themselves from Laseen.

This post has been edited by Puck Puckster: 26 December 2015 - 05:50 PM

[iso9001]

Thank you Andorion and Puck Puckster


I think this book is not as exciting as the previous ones but I believe it will get better after Book 2 - Cold Iron.

Regards

[worry]

Excitement is only one of many important feelings a book can inspire.

Re: Pormqual, I do believe he is meant as an example of Laseen's short-term, politics-first thinking, as he is a personal appointee. In a way, Pormqual and Tavore are both examples of this, though with different reasoning as stated above.

[Esa1996]

iso9001, on 26 December 2015 - 05:14 PM, said:

I have started the fourth book and questions are piling up Before them, I am curious if there is someone else besides me who is relieved to see Karsa is not in the second book

I might have been somewhat relieved Karsa was not in the second book. Found his chapters really boring until he got captured in that town. It got better from there, but I can't remember whether I found him interesting enough by the end of Book One not to be happy that he wasn't in Book Two. He gets better though. He eventually became one of my favorite characters in the entire series.

This post has been edited by Esa1996: 27 December 2015 - 11:51 AM

[iso9001]

Esa1996, on 27 December 2015 - 11:50 AM, said:

iso9001, on 26 December 2015 - 05:14 PM, said:

I have started the fourth book and questions are piling up Before them, I am curious if there is someone else besides me who is relieved to see Karsa is not in the second book

I might have been somewhat relieved Karsa was not in the second book. Found his chapters really boring until he got captured in that town. It got better from there, but I can't remember whether I found him interesting enough by the end of Book One not to be happy that he wasn't in Book Two. He gets better though. He eventually became one of my favorite characters in the entire series.

I read something about him so my expectations of him are really high. Alas, couldn't see those happen yet

[Kanese S's]

iso9001, on 26 December 2015 - 05:14 PM, said:

Hi all,

I have started the fourth book and questions are piling up Before them, I am curious if there is someone else besides me who is relieved to see Karsa is not in the second book

Here are my questions:


1) What exactly is Karsa's wooden sword? How come he can cut pieces of flesh with a wooden sword?
2) I believe I will get to know more of the flooded warren, if not explained already, right?
3) What made Pormqual what he is, a coward maybe? I expected a lot more of a High Fist rather than letting Coltaine die or disarming the army? Maybe he was under spell just like King Theoden of LOTR.
4) Is there any specific reason for why Laseen chose Tavore as Adjunct?
5) Why didn't Nok prevent the rebellion and save Coltaine if he had such opportunity and power?
6) Why residency in Deadhouse is important? What benefits does it provide and how?
7) Nok explains Tavore about the disappearances of Emporer's old crew but I guess I failed to understand. Did they fake their deaths because they were Napans and they thought that people would think of them as the acoomplices of the assassination? What does being Napan have to do with all these?

Regards

1. Bloodwood is a tough wood with oils that, when polished, can harden into a sharp edge.
2. You'll see.
3. Your guess is correct. Mallick Rel plays the part of Wormtongue here.
4. That's revealed at some point.
5. Because Pormqual imprisoned him when he revealed that he planned to.
6. It's a house of the Azath. Such buildings have unusual qualities.
7. A lot of various reasons, which become clearer later on. A big chunk of the original Malazan 'high command' as you might term them were Napan.

[iso9001]

Kanese S, on 28 December 2015 - 12:19 AM, said:

iso9001, on 26 December 2015 - 05:14 PM, said:

Hi all,

I have started the fourth book and questions are piling up Before them, I am curious if there is someone else besides me who is relieved to see Karsa is not in the second book

Here are my questions:


1) What exactly is Karsa's wooden sword? How come he can cut pieces of flesh with a wooden sword?
2) I believe I will get to know more of the flooded warren, if not explained already, right?
3) What made Pormqual what he is, a coward maybe? I expected a lot more of a High Fist rather than letting Coltaine die or disarming the army? Maybe he was under spell just like King Theoden of LOTR.
4) Is there any specific reason for why Laseen chose Tavore as Adjunct?
5) Why didn't Nok prevent the rebellion and save Coltaine if he had such opportunity and power?
6) Why residency in Deadhouse is important? What benefits does it provide and how?
7) Nok explains Tavore about the disappearances of Emporer's old crew but I guess I failed to understand. Did they fake their deaths because they were Napans and they thought that people would think of them as the acoomplices of the assassination? What does being Napan have to do with all these?

Regards

1. Bloodwood is a tough wood with oils that, when polished, can harden into a sharp edge.
2. You'll see.
3. Your guess is correct. Mallick Rel plays the part of Wormtongue here.
4. That's revealed at some point.
5. Because Pormqual imprisoned him when he revealed that he planned to.
6. It's a house of the Azath. Such buildings have unusual qualities.
7. A lot of various reasons, which become clearer later on. A big chunk of the original Malazan 'high command' as you might term them were Napan.

Thank you Kanese S's

How can someone find, enter, and live in an Azath House? Is this explained before?

Regards

[Esa1996]

iso9001, on 28 December 2015 - 09:40 AM, said:

How can someone find, enter, and live in an Azath House? Is this explained before?

Find an Azath? Search and hope that you're lucky. Kinda like what Fiddler & Co did in Deadhouse Gates.

Entering and living haven't been talked much where you are at the moment. ICE's books talk more about it IIRC than Erikson's.

[Andorion]

Esa1996, on 28 December 2015 - 10:49 AM, said:

iso9001, on 28 December 2015 - 09:40 AM, said:

How can someone find, enter, and live in an Azath House? Is this explained before?

Find an Azath? Search and hope that you're lucky. Kinda like what Fiddler & Co did in Deadhouse Gates.

Entering and living haven't been talked much where you are at the moment. ICE's books talk more about it IIRC than Erikson's.

I think its stated in DG that the Azath decided who it will let enter and the Guardian decides who it will let stay inside(MoI)

[iso9001]

I see, thank you. I think as Andorion pointed out, it is up to the guardian.

Some questions:

1) How did Kalam end up in Shadow realm, babysitting Shadowthrone's army? How did he accept the offer is there is an offer? I don't seem to remember that.
2) What is the resurrected children army for. AFAIK, Apt asked ST for the resurrection.
3) What does Shadow's losing its master mean? Cotillion tells this to Kalam as "(...) the shadows have lost their masters but anyone will do”
4) I kinda like how Kalam and Cutter fails to display proper respect to their so-called patron What about you?
5) Why did Kalam accepted Cotillion's offer? Is it because he had no other choice or because Cotillion made sure Kalam would be interested as "a confluence to his own desires"?
6) what benefits someone gains when a God blesses weapons/armors etc just like Cotillion blessed Cutter's knives?
7) Is Onrack the one who took one of the severed head on Silanda and then used it for the repairement of the rent?
8) How did Tiste Edur warren shatter? The flooded warren is a shard of the Kurald Emurlahn right?
9) Onrack doesn't want to use his Tellann warren so that others will not realize he is out there and think of him still in the rent right?
10) I think I will learn more on the Dog-like statues but for the time being, I think they are hounds and the two alive ones are the duo Paran rescued. I might be wrong tough

[Andorion]

iso9001, on 28 December 2015 - 01:57 PM, said:

I see, thank you. I think as Andorion pointed out, it is up to the guardian.

Some questions:

1) How did Kalam end up in Shadow realm, babysitting Shadowthrone's army? How did he accept the offer is there is an offer? I don't seem to remember that.
2) What is the resurrected children army for. AFAIK, Apt asked ST for the resurrection.
3) What does Shadow's losing its master mean? Cotillion tells this to Kalam as "(...) the shadows have lost their masters but anyone will do"
4) I kinda like how Kalam and Cutter fails to display proper respect to their so-called patron What about you?
5) Why did Kalam accepted Cotillion's offer? Is it because he had no other choice or because Cotillion made sure Kalam would be interested as "a confluence to his own desires"?
6) what benefits someone gains when a God blesses weapons/armors etc just like Cotillion blessed Cutter's knives?
7) Is Onrack the one who took one of the severed head on Silanda and then used it for the repairement of the rent?
8) How did Tiste Edur warren shatter? The flooded warren is a shard of the Kurald Emurlahn right?
9) Onrack doesn't want to use his Tellann warren so that others will not realize he is out there and think of him still in the rent right?
10) I think I will learn more on the Dog-like statues but for the time being, I think they are hounds and the two alive ones are the duo Paran rescued. I might be wrong tough

1. Memory slipping but the army is composed of the children rescued by Apt in DG, and at some point after the end of DG Kalam and Minala become their foster parents
2. RAFO
3. Definitely RAFO but related to Shadow warren not having a proper ruler iirc
4. Yup. Mortal-god relations are a favourite aspect of MBotF for me
5. Cots may have manipulated him just a bit
6. Varies according to god and weapon but increased effectiveness in general
7. Nope. Different Imass
8. Yup. How it shattered - long term RAFO (seriously)
9. Blanking on this
10. Yup, more info to come

[Esa1996]

iso9001, on 28 December 2015 - 01:57 PM, said:

I see, thank you. I think as Andorion pointed out, it is up to the guardian.

Some questions:

1) How did Kalam end up in Shadow realm, babysitting Shadowthrone's army? How did he accept the offer is there is an offer? I don't seem to remember that.
2) What is the resurrected children army for. AFAIK, Apt asked ST for the resurrection.
3) What does Shadow's losing its master mean? Cotillion tells this to Kalam as "(...) the shadows have lost their masters but anyone will do"
4) I kinda like how Kalam and Cutter fails to display proper respect to their so-called patron What about you?
5) Why did Kalam accepted Cotillion's offer? Is it because he had no other choice or because Cotillion made sure Kalam would be interested as "a confluence to his own desires"?
6) what benefits someone gains when a God blesses weapons/armors etc just like Cotillion blessed Cutter's knives?
7) Is Onrack the one who took one of the severed head on Silanda and then used it for the repairement of the rent?
8) How did Tiste Edur warren shatter? The flooded warren is a shard of the Kurald Emurlahn right?
9) Onrack doesn't want to use his Tellann warren so that others will not realize he is out there and think of him still in the rent right?
10) I think I will learn more on the Dog-like statues but for the time being, I think they are hounds and the two alive ones are the duo Paran rescued. I might be wrong tough

1. He ended up there at the end of DG. Fiddler asked to be sent somewhere where he could join the Malazan Army, Kalam wanted "peace" so he stayed in the Warren, and Shadowthrone gave the kids for him to look over.
2. RAFO
3. Blanking on this one...
4. As do I
5. Blanking... Perhaps he didn't see any reason not to accept it?
6. Blanking...
7. ...again...
8. Talked about in Kharkanas Trilogy, so RAFO. IIRC, yes. Might be wrong though.
9. Once again, blanking...
10. That's what I though too back when reading HoC.

[iso9001]

Thank you guys, you are awesome

[Kanese S's]

iso9001, on 28 December 2015 - 01:57 PM, said:

I see, thank you. I think as Andorion pointed out, it is up to the guardian.

Some questions:

1) How did Kalam end up in Shadow realm, babysitting Shadowthrone's army? How did he accept the offer is there is an offer? I don't seem to remember that.
2) What is the resurrected children army for. AFAIK, Apt asked ST for the resurrection.
3) What does Shadow's losing its master mean? Cotillion tells this to Kalam as "(...) the shadows have lost their masters but anyone will do"
4) I kinda like how Kalam and Cutter fails to display proper respect to their so-called patron What about you?
5) Why did Kalam accepted Cotillion's offer? Is it because he had no other choice or because Cotillion made sure Kalam would be interested as "a confluence to his own desires"?
6) what benefits someone gains when a God blesses weapons/armors etc just like Cotillion blessed Cutter's knives?
7) Is Onrack the one who took one of the severed head on Silanda and then used it for the repairement of the rent?
8) How did Tiste Edur warren shatter? The flooded warren is a shard of the Kurald Emurlahn right?
9) Onrack doesn't want to use his Tellann warren so that others will not realize he is out there and think of him still in the rent right?
10) I think I will learn more on the Dog-like statues but for the time being, I think they are hounds and the two alive ones are the duo Paran rescued. I might be wrong tough

1. He went there at the end of DG.
2. They're for having, just in case ST and Cots need another card up their sleeve when they find themselves in a tight spot.
3. RAFO
4. Cotillion's never one to stand on ceremony.
5. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
6. Depends.
7. No.
8. How it shattered is RAFO but there are bits and pieces here and there. The Nascent is a shard, yes.
9. Onrack was never in the rent.
10. RAFO

[iso9001]

Thank you for the answers

Does it make sense to think that Tays also dwelled in Deadhouse? I assume he is stronger even then the most of the High Mages. Besides, what advantages a mage gains when he becomes a High Mage? What decides someone to be a High Mage?

Regards

[worry]

It's fair to say any/all of the Old Guard spent time in the Deadhouse, I think. Not necessarily equally, I'd imagine, but details are of course sketchy on that time in their careers.

High Mage exists both as a Malazan military rank and as a more general fantasy skill level. There's overlap, but I'm not sure how much. It doesn't hurt to think in terms of RPGs, though it's obv a lot less scheduled than experience points/levels.

This post has been edited by worry: 29 December 2015 - 07:31 AM

[Kanese S's]

It gets murky, since as you say, "High Mage" definitely seems to be a formal title in the Malazan military as well as used outside it.

At least at the Siege of Pale, there were three identifiable tiers of mages. Squad Mages, who seemed to be, like Quick Ben, attached to small military units, Cadre Mages, who seemed to be part of a group of mages assigned to that particular army, more powerful (at least in name) than the squad mages, and High Mages, folks like Tayschrenn and Nightchill, who were called in from elsewhere, specifically for that assignment.

Being a High Mage seems to be a pretty damn Big Deal.

At least if I'm remembering right, there don't seem to ever be that many of them at once. Rare enough so that not even every field army gets one. Using multiple High Mages at once at Pale really seemed to widen people's eyes a bit in-universe.

[iso9001]

Kanese S, on 29 December 2015 - 08:07 AM, said:

It gets murky, since as you say, "High Mage" definitely seems to be a formal title in the Malazan military as well as used outside it.

At least at the Siege of Pale, there were three identifiable tiers of mages. Squad Mages, who seemed to be, like Quick Ben, attached to small military units, Cadre Mages, who seemed to be part of a group of mages assigned to that particular army, more powerful (at least in name) than the squad mages, and High Mages, folks like Tayschrenn and Nightchill, who were called in from elsewhere, specifically for that assignment.

Being a High Mage seems to be a pretty damn Big Deal.

At least if I'm remembering right, there don't seem to ever be that many of them at once. Rare enough so that not even every field army gets one. Using multiple High Mages at once at Pale really seemed to widen people's eyes a bit in-universe.

I seem to remember the reaction during the Siege of Pale. There was also a terror-like shock when Gesler and his team was getting out of Aren (was it Aren?) along with Heboric when a High Mage entered the scene. They were all holding their breaths

Regards