So there is a part in Ashling that I have really been thinking about.
‘I turned swiftly to find the frenzied youth had broken free of the women and was rushing toward me.
I thought he meant to attack me and flung up my hands, but to my astonishment, he threw himself at my feet. “Do you bring the Moonwatcher?†he whispered fiercely.
The two women had hurried forward and pulled him away from me, apologizing profusely. “When these fits come on him, it is as if he is possessed by demons,†one said.’
- Ashling, Isobelle Carmody, pg.426
To me, it seems like this guy knew Maruman and perhaps even goes on the same wanderings as him. Maybe this character will come up again. Maybe this Character was stored where Maruman was. Do you think Atthis uses a lot people like this like he does Maruman?
I'm so sorry, i don't have ay specific thoughts on this except that i remember reading it and thinking it was a juicy morsel and that i wanted to know more.
I guess I suppose that it will be explained in The Red Queen. It was interesting enough to make people wonder.
11 years ago
Tue Jan 01 2013, 03:14pm
I've always wondered about that guy, too. Are we supposed to see other people effected like this, perhaps?
The way he acts and what he says makes me wonder if he's actually a Beforetimer woken up out of cryo nearby (they have a crystal cavern, and Beforetime carvings, why not some cryo pods, too?) and gone a little mad, like Maruman, because of it, but that he's a futureteller sent mad by his visions would be more plausible (or, used by the Agyllians as you mentioned, though why on earth use him in that way only once and never show him again...). It's a wonder Elspeth didn't try recruit him for Obernewtyn come to think of it...
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
11 years ago
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
Dreamscape Artist
I never gave much thought to the youth, I just assumed that he had been affected by his mother's immersion in an isis pool, and rather than a physical deformity, his mind became more open to the dreamtrails.
But it does make sense that he was in cryo, because the way his 'fits' are described are very like Maruman's.
That is a good point. Why didn't Elspeth investigate him further. Maybe she could have helped him if his only problem was deformity. I'm really excited to see what TRQ has to say about if there are any cryo pods or something like it.
I just thought that he was a futureteller who was driven partially insane by visions of the Great White and the possible future Nuclear Apocalypse. If he had those sorts of dreams, it would stand to reason he would also have seen visions of those destined to stop the apocalypse. He would be frantic to know if the day watcher had been taken to Sador because the prophecy said that when the Daywatcher and Moonwatcher accompany the Seeker to Sador the last sign would be revealed (or something along those lines), because that might mean an end to his visions, or at least a partial assurance that they wouldn’t come to pass.
I guess the thing of note here is that, while there's lots of Sadorians who are able to access the dreamtrails (due to immersions perhaps, or due to natural evolution of talent, or both), and there are many Obernewtyn-futuretellers who can also traverse the dreamtrails, there are very few who are shown portions of Elspeth's quest, for safety's sake I suppose.
Or...wait, maybe that's just an assumption I'm making. Are there more who know about bits and pieces of it that we just don't know about? The Sending would suggest this (with the amount of people who've dreamed of things relevant to the quest that we didn't know about). Frantically gibbering "Do you bear the Moonwatcher" doesn't exactly give anything critical away, and without more information it'd just be interpreted as rambling madness.
Maybe that's all it was showing us. That there are many other people (and animals) who are shown portions of The Seeker's quest through dreamtrail proximity (or something), but only a few who are able to knit it all together.
You just made me think of another possibility. Maybe, people like him were meant to pop up to remind Elspeth of he quest and to hold true. I will be excited to see if Isobelle touches on this subject in TRQ.
That a good point Angels Three--if people weren't able to occasionally mention Elf's quest it's entirely possible she could have convinced herself it were imaginary/something Maruman dreamed up in his madness etc. Having other futuretellers see snippets of the quest help to tie everything up and remind Elf constantly that this is something she has to do and can't avoid.
But I still kind of like the idea of the cryo but since we've not had any real mention of this kid again I'm assuming it probably won't be. It always seemed like a kind of offhand thing that happened more to startle Elspeth than anything.
