[Monoch Ochem]

I remember being initially very confused (and very wrong) about how Hanan Mossag used the Sea demon. I thought the sorcery he used was from it...possibly channelled from the CG through it.

Well, it carried the fleet preternaturally swift across the oceans. It also destroyed Arahathan and Nekal Bara, 2 of the most powerful mages in the North but that was because they challenged it head-on-head.

What I'm curious about....the final battle at High Fort. There was a lake nearby that suddenly exploded upwards and this seemed to have caused the collapse of 2 towers (and other structures) on the Fort. With those 2 towers, 2 mages fell to their death and that seemed to have been a pivotal blow to the Letherii ritual...it got out of control after that and the Edur sorcery raged unchecked.

My question is: was the lake thing the Sea demon's doing? There was mention before of there being subterranean waterways connecting various rivers and streams until they reached the sea. This particular lake, I think, had formed due to calcicretions eventually sealing it off from the underflows. So did the spirit's power access the lake bed via the waterways and exert some enormous pressure on it (or some such thing) with enough force to cause the explosion and the resultant shock-wave that destroyed High Fort's ramparts?

Maybe Hull had given away the mages' strategic layout and HM knew they'd have arrayed themselves that way so he took out the towers to disrupt the ritual?

Or maybe I'm too obsessed with the sorcery in MT....

[Illuyankas]

When I read that, I was certain the seagod/demon was behind it. After all, almost all lakes actually have rivers flowing from them to the sea - access. So yeah, I'd say it was Hannan Mosag and the sea entity's doing.

[Monoch Ochem]

@ Hetan: Was it? Sorry.....or was that Brans Keep or something? Anyway, you know what I'm referring to...the final battle before they entered Lether itself.

Anyway, I have a vague recollection that someone (Malaclypse or IH or someone) may have said that the CG's magic was being channelled through the sea demon, which was why HM was not deformed during that final battle. Anyone else agree?

[tiam]

sorry but this has relevance to the thread.

WTF WAS THAT DEMON???

Seriosly i have my own thoughts on everything in these books as they are the only books i read (seriosly one reread after the other) Anyway i cant understand what it was? I got MT next on my reread ( i just finished Karsa bit n HOC) but it still confuses me even now. Any thoughts would be appreciated

[Dark Mac]

Monoch Ochem said:

Anyway, I have a vague recollection that someone (Malaclypse or IH or someone) may have said that the CG's magic was being channelled through the sea demon, which was why HM was not deformed during that final battle. Anyone else agree?

Eh? Wasn't the final battle the only battle that HM was deformed in?

[Monoch Ochem]

tiam said:

WTF WAS THAT DEMON???

Well, from Nekal Bara's research, it was a spirit that was worshipped by the early inhabitants of Lether. It lived in a pool that had formed due to one of the sink-holes being sealed off. It was later washed out to sea where it fared badly and nearly died. Mael, to preserve it, sealed it with all those others in the realm that Brys visited (Ruse?). It's name was etched on the dolmen to keep its memory alive. Hanan Mosag stole the name from the demon and so could control it. He chained it and fed it all sorts of nastiness to make it strong.

Likely, he used it to channel the CG's sorcery through it (as the demon could withstand the chaotic sorcery whereas the Edur body could not).

Now the interesting bit is whether or not the demon was a midling spirit that later came to godhood through the locals' worship, or was it brought into existence by the act of worship? I think it was brought into existence. My reasons:

When Nekal Bara pierced its flank, she passed all those sacrificial offerings and reached where its heart should have been. There she found nothing....then she realised her fatal error. What bound the spirit together was an accumulated flood of emotions and desperation, and all of this rose up to overpower her within the spirit....whatever had driven the people to such brutal acts of worship, the agony, fear and suffering of the sacrificial victims themselves...all of that was 'stored'. That's how I saw it.

@ Dark Mac:

The final battle in the Eternal Domicile between the Ceda and HM deformed HM, likely because he did not have the sea demon to channel the CG's power through. So the chaotic sorcery deformed HM. To mitigate things, he channeled the sorcery through the Prince and Queen (thereby deforming them). The battle I was referring to was the Letheri army's last stand (led by Unutal Hebaz). I think it was the next day that they entered Letheras itself and the Eternal Domicile.

[Dark Mac]

Ah. I was under the impression that the battle in the Eternal Domicile was the only time that HM really had to stretch himself. He didn't even fight in most of the previous battles, and if he did, he wasn't using much effort. Which of the other battles do we actually see him fighting in?

[Monoch Ochem]

Well he commands that demon. First we saw him unleash it on the Letheri harvest ships. After that, there was the battle at Lether with the grainy-grey sorcery. Rhulad was mad at HM so I take it that he was working personally there, perhaps channelling the CG's magic through the demon.

Interestingly enough, after Rhulad died in Lether and came back, and told HM to clear the guards from his path, I think he used his own magic....Kurald Emurlahnn. That's the sorcery that the Errant turned away from rampaging through Lether. Then there was the show-down in the Eternal Domicile with the Ceda.