[Aptorian]

Perhaps I'm jumping to conclusions, perhaps this is just a crazy theory, but bare with me.

Remember that scene from RG that Taralack Weed recounts? The story of his peoples great shame? Some of us believed that this tribe, of an unspecified race they slaughter, were in fact remnants or descendants of the Eres'al people.

Now here's the thing that I just remembered

p. 460, RG

Quote

Twelve scraggy huts, from which rushed three warriors with spears, shrieking as they lined up in a pathetic defensive line in front of five starving females and a lone two- or three-year-old female child.

Quote

When they were all dead, the lone child crouched down and hissed at them like a cat.

p. 461, RG

The big guy with the shadow hounds appears, and takes possesion of the child

Quote

"Abandoned by the Deragoth and their kind, they had failed in life's struggle." He turned to regard the child. "But this one I will take."

I didn't really think so much of this child before. It was unlikely that it became the Eres, maybe it was just chosen for some position in a house/realm or it was fated for some other destiny, but I doubted it was something important.

Then I read a link IH made in a thread in the MT forum. It's one of several quotes regarding Kettle and the Eres from a page on the Wiki:

http://encylopaediamalazica.pbwiki.com/Why...ll+and+the+Eres

I'm only going to take a part of the quote, but notice the stuff in bold:

Quote

She details how the Azath selected a body and she was prepared by nerek witches, the body of the child kettle, and that she saw with eyes of the dead child kettle, and through the eyes of a me on the outside who wasn't a child who is described:

“I was tall. Not as tall as you. And I had to wear my hood up, so no-one could see how different I was. I'd come from very far away. I'd walked, when I was young, hot sands – the sands that covered the First Empire... they called me the Nameless One... It was a title. They said I'd been prepared from birth. That I was a true child of Eres. And that I was the answer to the Seventh closure, because I had the blood of kin”

I think a part of Kettle could actually be the child from the Gral Legend. I'm also inclined to theorize that the last child of the Eres'al was the first Nameless One.

EDIT1: Bah, rereading the post... it does sound out there.

EDIT2: No actually, this is good... how are you ever going to disprove my theory? Brilliance

[D'rek]

Seems like a good theory. The Tasse were indeed decribed as being tall.
But you need to link the child being taken by the man with the Hounds to becoming "the Nameless One". Meanwhile, I feel a need to point out that the assault on the Tasse is "two months before the Great Fall". Evidently the Great Fall could not be the downfall of the FE, as the Nameless Ones were around for quite a while in the FE. Perhaps 'tis the fall of the CG, if it were visible from two continents away...

Aptorian;273190 said:

I'm also inclined to theorize that the last child of the Eres'al was the first Nameless One.

Surely not the last child, as the Eres'al is still having (or at least making) babies in the present.

[Aptorian]

Well, and this is just my opinion, the Eres'al is either long dead and only her spirit remains, or being great spririt/goddess, she doesn't count as "living Eres'al" any longer. The Time Traveller theory could also mean that the Eres isn't alive in our time.

Anyway, when I said last child of the Eres, I ment the last child of the last known tribe of supposed Eres'al.

[D'rek]

Either way, the Nerek far out-live the Tasse so all those Nerek babies in the generations to come beat the Tasse baby by a lot.

[MagustheDarkLord]

I never thought about it that way but it really does make sense that she could be one of the Eres'al we hear about all the time.

EDIT: Yes I recall a passage mentioning the fact that the Eres'al was a time traveller. Going from time to time. I don't remember the book. Come to think on it, might have been like Shadowthrone that said that. I don't really recall.

Just a thought though....

[Aptorian]

A said:

Either way, the Nerek far out-live the Tasse so all those Nerek babies in the generations to come beat the Tasse baby by a lot.

Yes but the Nerek are descendants from the Ere'al. They resemble humans or Imas more than the Eres'al.

The people the Gral kill on the other hand, look a lot different. More similar to the Eres and the Eres'al. The last remnants of the people that ran with the Deragoth.

[Sinisdar Toste]

Aptorian;273447 said:

The last remnants of the people that ran with the Deragoth.

anyone else shiver weirdly at the thought of that?

[Seed]

it was a bit of a mind f*ck when leoman first ran into them back in err bonehunters? can't remember, and you realised what part the deragoth played in uplifting the early humanoids. Then again when you found out they were the last seven remaining of an entire race that once roamed the place.

I have to wonder just how many races have risen and fallen in the deep dark past of the world that have never been mentioned. It makes me feel better about my crazy theory that D'rek is the last example of a race of wormy type parasite creatures that died out/were wiped out back in the early times. Maybe I've been watching too much stargate recently.

[Wry]

Quote

“I was tall. Not as tall as you. And I had to wear my hood up, so no-one could see how different I was. I'd come from very far away. I'd walked, when I was young, hot sands – the sands that covered the First Empire... they called me the Nameless One... It was a title. They said I'd been prepared from birth. That I was a true child of Eres. And that I was the answer to the Seventh closure, because I had the blood of kin”

I thought this was the fokrull assail part of her talking, the nameless one are a cult linked to them, they're tall, different looking...

[Mentalist]

Hmmm.. I can buy into Kettle having the soul of that child--I see nothing really wrong with that.
I don't buy her being the first NO, though--since from what I gather Dissembelackis (we're all assuming that he's the one who takes the kid, right?) and the NOs were not the best of friends in FE.... or maybe I need to continue my series re-read that dropped off at MoI...

[D'rek]

kud13;273656 said:

Hmmm.. I can buy into Kettle having the soul of that child--I see nothing really wrong with that.
I don't buy her being the first NO, though--since from what I gather Dissembelackis (we're all assuming that he's the one who takes the kid, right?) and the NOs were not the best of friends in FE.... or maybe I need to continue my series re-read that dropped off at MoI...

I was definitely not assuming the guy was Dessimbelackis. We don't know if those hounds were of Shadow or Darkness, or neither. Could just have easily been Edgewalker with the Shadow Hounds... or not.

The NOs relation with Dessimbelackis is odd. There are some mention of him trying to eliminate him, and other references call them the "Right hand of the emperor"

And isn't this Gral story a bit overly descriptive for a 'legend'? Passed on from generation to generation, every Gral could immediately recognize the importance of the shadow-man's chain coat being ankle-length...

[Venerus]

Wait wait wait... I was sure for some reason that Kettle was Trull's daughter... Gah, must find quotes. The Eres definitely takes Trull's seed in HoC, and I could have sworn... sigh... must find quotes now...

[Aptorian]

Yes, everyone knows of the connection, but the Eres also runs around raping Bottle just for kicks.

I think it's the forum consus that we haven't seen the EresTrull child yet. For all we know, it could be the child we see the Eres pregnant with in HoC or BH. Or maybe in our time the child is already grown and free in the world.

[Imperial Historian]

Quote

I think a part of Kettle could actually be the child from the Gral Legend. I'm also inclined to theorize that the last child of the Eres'al was the first Nameless One.

Admittedly it's a nice theory, but we know that the eres bearing trull's childs home was seven cities, the sands of the first empire, so if she gave birth to trull's child she would be from seven cities.

That said I do think the child from Gral legend is significant, my pet theory is that she is both the first and last of the eres, and the eres we have been seeing throughout the series, and hence is the only eres who travels through time, precisely because she is both the first and the last.

Ok that might be even more crazy than your theory but i'm sticking with it.

Oh and venerus, just check the link in the first post for quotes

[Sinisdar Toste]

the truth of the eres is she's SE;s desu, i mean deus ex machina to account for any timeline inconsistencies:D;)

[Venerus]

Thank you, Historian! I *knew* I'd read it somewhere!

[The Dark Wanderer]

From what I remember, the Gral legend is old. So that means ST wasn't, well wasn't ST as of yet. Now I know the Eres'al can time travel, but if ST could I'ld have thought we'd know by now. So then who is the person with the hounds who saves the child? Putting it out there as a notion to be shot down by whoever gets there first, but I think it could well be Edgewalker which suggests that he's got plans.

[D'rek]

Well it is hard to say for sure that these are the Hounds of Shadow, but it seems likely, since the clearing was 'covered in shadows', and just the way they show up with the dude is precisely the way ST shows up.

As for who it is, we could speculate wildly on it all day I suppose. I'll add this though, whoever it was is probably the very same unknown master of the Hounds when they attacked the Imass FE:

HoC, on Chapter 8, said:

Onrack: "The Logros crossed paths with them [the hounds of shadow] only once, long ago, in the time of the First Empire. Seven in number. Serving an unknown master, yet bent on destruction."
Trull: "The human First Empire, or yours?"
Onrack: I know little of the human empire of that name. We were drawn into its heart but once, Trull Sengar, in answer to the chaos of th Soletaken and D'ivers. The Hounds made no appearance during that slaughter.

[Dave26]

This is my first post but in the privacy of my own head I subscribe to the theory that the tall guy in the Blue Chain Coat was Edge Walker.

[Wry]

I know it weird, and i reread the passage again and again trying to shake the idea but... I'm convinced those people and the child are the descendants of the deragoth and the Eres... disgusted as i am by the thought!! The features, the teeth, the implied protectorship of the deragoth... please someone prove me wrong!!