[Ashamanic2]

shadowthrone said:

old age?
unfortunate accident?
fell down the stairs?

Well, he does refer to the Seguleh as his mortal kin, so, in general, they must be mortal. He could have died from all manner of things

[GingerBreadMan]

Perhaps Skinner killed the Seguleh 2nd on Assail, and didn't take his mask. The dead seguleh finds himself not so dead and begins hunting Skinner to force him to take it.

Course the mask may have nothing to do with Skinner/Undead Seguleh(not that they are all that lively while living, more like robots)

[Dolorous Menhir]

I get the sense that people who die in a tragic falling-down-stairs related accident do not get offered positions in High House Death.

[fan_83]

well maybe the second was in too good a mood.. too much alcohol and women and accidentally fell down the stairs.. and maybe before he died he offered a bargain...

[GingerBreadMan]

Have we seen any evidence that Seguleh do anything for fun? I wonder how Seguleh have children, perhaps the first gets to mate or something.

[zeeny]

Quote

I wonder how Seguleh have children

I wonder actually, what does a female seguleh seem like. Probably someone should make a point to SE about writing in one;o)

[Loof]

My thought was that the members of the cabal had been around for a long time, but then "long time" is a pretty relative term in malazan land...

[Dinivan]

'my mortal kin' suggests in my eyes that the soldier is a born seguleh and not the 2nd because he killed the original 2nd. And then you don't need to be dead to look dead (look at the T'lan Imass). So why isn't it possible that Hood decided that such a warrior would be a great buddy and invited him in his house? Consquently Hood designed his appearance a bit or didn't think of sponsering his servent some preserving measure and time has worn the soldier a little bit down...
And as immortal servant to Hood the soldier doesn't value the seguleh thingy any more and so doesn't wear the mask or he wears the mask only when he is doing something as seguleh but not when doing a job for Hood or it started to itch him or didn't stay on the shrunken skull or whatever.
Hunt for Skinner? Either job for Hood, but then why especially Skinner and not all the avowed? So this leaves some insult / loss / whatever that cries for revenge. Witness!

[Dolorous Menhir]

Why go to such elaborate lengths?

The Soldier was the Second, he died doing something heroic, so Hood gave him a position in HHD, EXACTLY THE SAME WAY that Baudin got to be Knight.

Thus, he was a great warrior (like Baudin), died in a manner worthy of note (like Baudin), and was given a position in HHD (like Baudin). He appears dead because that's what he is (like Baudin and Talamandas...both very dead).

You don't need any of this "doesn't wear the mask because it hasn't fit since Hood gave him plastic surgery" stuff.

He carries the mask because he was the Second (IN LIFE) but does not wear it because he ceased being the Second WHEN HE DIED. It may well be he wants to give Skinner the mask because it was Skinner that killed him.

[Tiger_sword]

Im not sure wether thats why he wants to find skinner though. It sounds like he has a lot of hate for skinner and wants to kill him, rather than give him a mask.

[Set'alahd Crool]

It seems he must've been dead a while if he didn't know the seguleh live on an island, and not in darujhistan under the tyrant's rule, which ended hundreds of years earlier. That's a long time for there to be no second.

[Blind]

As I pointed out in another thread, the Seguleh kept Rake's mask for him since his visit, which was about five hundred years ago. It is quite plausible to imagine that they kept the Second's place for just as long, or longer.

I can imagine that such a rigid society as the Seguleh wouldn't know what to do in the event of something unexpected like a disappearance, and would keep the second's place vacant forever (instead of doing the obvious thing, and make a new Second mask), just because they don't know who the current Third would have to defeat to earn the title of Second.

I believe that the Soldier of Death is the only Seguleh Second there is. Even if someone killed him, they didn't take the mask, and had no way to prove their rank to the island Seguleh.

[Blind]

The difference is that Rake defeated all these Seguleh on the island, so they know he should be seventh. What I meant is that if somebody killed the Second outside the island, they would need to have the mask, or their claim is worth nothing to the other Seguleh - and being Seguleh Second means nothing outside the island. The Second's killer, if he exists, doesn't seem very interested in claiming the position in any case.

[GingerBreadMan]

Well we are fairly certain he is not from the island, perhaps he remained in charge of a group of warriors to do something, whatever it was. I think they ran into the Avowed, after a huge struggle, Skinner killed the Second but then committed a huge slight by refusing to pick up the mask. Thus the Second doesnt like Skinner, and yet must hold the mask for him.

[vaiski]

As for holding the mask or whatever, the Soldier doesn't seem to be that interested in Seguleh customs anymore.. 'The fever zeal still grips my mortal kin, does it? Idiots!'
Also, Cheater of death! implies that theres much more involved than a simple issue of Seguleh rankings.