Abyss, on 16 May 2013 - 04:05 PM, said:
I'm blanking on where/when we get info on why Baudin becomes Knight. I think it was MoI but am unsure so i don't want to spoil but it is explained somewhere.
As of Hoc what we know is that Dassem was Knight of Hood, something happened at a Chaining that might have been Envy's fault, and Dassem's daughter ended up dying, leading to Dassem's break from Hood's service.
As for the why and how, as of HoC what we know is that a god or ascendent can invest a portion of their power in a person and use that person as a form of champion (Mortal Sword, Destriant, SA, Knight, Champion, Soldier, etc etc). The title isn't as important as the nature of the investment, and it comes with certain vulnerabilities for the god, such as QB seizing Hood through Talamanadas in MoI, the damage to Fener when his Grey Swords are wiped out, and how Karsa more or less does whatever he wants and the Rock Faces and the CG are pretty much dragged along for the ride, similarly for Gruntle and Trake's dealings. What we know of Dassem from MoI and Karsa's storyline on HoC suggests that a god/ascendent cannot break off this relationship once it's started, but the invested champion can chose to keep the power and more or less ignore the god if they're strong enough. It's unclear whether the champion can just 'break' from the god entirely.
There's more on this sort of relationship in later books so RAFO.
As of Hoc what we know is that Dassem was Knight of Hood, something happened at a Chaining that might have been Envy's fault, and Dassem's daughter ended up dying, leading to Dassem's break from Hood's service.
As for the why and how, as of HoC what we know is that a god or ascendent can invest a portion of their power in a person and use that person as a form of champion (Mortal Sword, Destriant, SA, Knight, Champion, Soldier, etc etc). The title isn't as important as the nature of the investment, and it comes with certain vulnerabilities for the god, such as QB seizing Hood through Talamanadas in MoI, the damage to Fener when his Grey Swords are wiped out, and how Karsa more or less does whatever he wants and the Rock Faces and the CG are pretty much dragged along for the ride, similarly for Gruntle and Trake's dealings. What we know of Dassem from MoI and Karsa's storyline on HoC suggests that a god/ascendent cannot break off this relationship once it's started, but the invested champion can chose to keep the power and more or less ignore the god if they're strong enough. It's unclear whether the champion can just 'break' from the god entirely.
There's more on this sort of relationship in later books so RAFO.
We learn about Baudin in HoC when Pearl and Lostara find the place where he fell. Pearl notes that Hood came personally to collect Baudin. Putting this together with his appearance in MoI (where his burnished skin and Malazan characteristics are noted) gives us the full picture.