The Ritual of Desecration

[Cord Hurn]

I thought it was always clear that the RoD was performed either on Kevin's Watch or in Kiril Threndor (tbh I don't remember, I'll need to re-read them soon), and that the entire Land was desecrated.

My memory says it took place in Kiril Threndor, according to what Foul tells Covenant while he's transporting TC from Kiril Threndor to Kevin's Watch.

[Lazy Luke]

There's no connection in any of the books between Amok and the Fourth Ward.

[Horrim Carabal]

My memory says it took place in Kiril Threndor, according to what Foul tells Covenant while he's transporting TC from Kiril Threndor to Kevin's Watch.

Of course it took place in Kiril Threndor. That's why the Staff was found under the mountain by Drool.

[Cord Hurn]

There are other places inside that mountain besides Heart of Thunder, though, where they might have met that could result in the Staff being buried deep in the mountain to be found by Drool Rockworm. I can't find anything in the text that says where in Mt. Thunder Drool specifically found the Staff, but CAN find a place where Fangthane states he met Kevin in Kiril Threndor (the bold emphasis is mine, of course):

[quote="In the third chapter of Lord Foul's Bane, entitled, "Invitation To A Betrayal", was"]There was a low, grinding noise, as of great teeth breaking against each other, and a chilling mist intervened between Covenant and Drool, gathered and swirled and thickened until Drool was blocked from Covenant's sight. At first, the mist glowed with the light of the burning stones, but as it swirled the red faded into the dank, universal gray of fogs. The vile reek melted into a sweeter smell--attar, the odor of funerals. Despite the blindness of the mist, Covenant felt that he was no longer in Drool's cavern.

The change gave him no relief. Fear and bewilderment sucked at him as if he were sinking in nightmare. That unbodied voice dismayed him. As the fog blew around him his legs shuddered and bent, and he fell to his knees.

"You do well to pray to me," the voice intoned. Its deadliness shocked Covenant like a confrontation with grisly murder. "There are no other hopes or helps for a man amid the wrack of your fate. My Enemy will not aid you. It was he who chose you for this doom. And when he has chosen, he does not give; he takes." A raw timbre of contempt ran through the voice, scraping Covenant's nerves as it passed. "Yes, you would do well to pray to me. I might ease you of your burden. Whatever health or strength you ask is mine to give. For I have begun my attack upon this age, and the future is mine. I will not fail again."

Covenant's mind lay under the shock of the voice. But the offer of health penetrated him, and his heart jumped. He felt the beat clearly in his chest, felt his heart laboring against the burden of his fear. But he was still too stricken to speak.

Over his silence, the voice continued, "Kevin was a fool--fey, anile and gutless. They are all fools. Look you, groveler. The mighty High Lord Kevin, son of Loric and great-grandson of Berek Lord-Fatherer whom I hate, stood where you now kneel, and he thought to destroy me. He discovered my designs, recognized some measure of my true stature though the dotard had set me on his right side in the Council for long years without sensing his peril--saw at the last who I was. Then there was war between us, war that blasted the west and threatened his precious Keep itself. The feller fist was mine and he knew it. When his armies faltered and his power waned, he lost himself in despair--he became mine in despair. He thought that he still might utterly undo me. Therefore he met me in that cavern from which I have rescued you: Kiril Threndor, Heart of Thunder.

"Drool Rockworm does not know what a black rock it is on which he stands. And that is not his only ignorance--but of my deeper plans I say nothing. He serves me well in his way, though he does not intend service. Likewise will you and those timid Lords serve me, whether you choose or no. Let them grope through their shallow mysteries for a time, barely fearing that I am alive. They have not mastered the seventh part of dead Kevin's Lore, and yet in their pride they dare to name themselves Earthfriends, servants of Peace. They are too blind to perceive their own arrogance. But I will teach them to see.

"In truth it is already too late for them. They will come to Kiril Threndor, and I will teach them things to darken their souls. It is fitting. There Kevin met and dared me in his despair. And I accepted. The fool! I could hardly speak the words for laughing. He thought that such spells might unbind me.

"But the Power which upholds me has stood since the creation of Time. Therefore when Kevin dared me to unleash the forces that would strike the Land and all its accursed creations into dust, I took the dare. Yes, and laughed until there was doubt in his face before the end. That folly brought the age of the Old Lords to its ruin--but I remain. I! Together we stood in Kiril Threndor, blind Kevin and I. Together we uttered the Ritual of Desecration. Ah, the fool! He was already enslaved to me and knew it not. Proud of his Lore, he did not know that the very Law which he served preserved me through that cataclysm, though all but a few of his own people and works were stricken into death.

"True, I was reduced for a time. I have spent a thousand years gnawing my desires like a beaten cur. The price of that has yet to be paid-for it and other things I shall exact my due. But I was not destroyed. And when Drool found the Staff and recognized it, and could not use it, I took my chance again. I will have the future of this life, to waste or hold as I desire. So pray to me, groveler. Reject the doom that my Enemy has created for you. You will not have many chances to repent."

The fog and the attar-laden air seemed to weaken Covenant, as if the strength were being absorbed from his blood. But his heart beat on, and he clung to it for a defense against the fear. He wrapped his arms about his chest and bent low, trying to shelter himself from the cold. "What doom?" he forced himself to say. His voice sounded pitiful and lost in the mist.

"He intends you to be my final foe. He chose you--you, groveler, with a might in your hands such as no mortal has ever held before--chose you to destroy me. But he will find that I am not so easily mastered. You have might--wild magic which preserves your life at this moment--but you will never know what it is. You will not be able to fight me at the last. No, you are the victim of his expectations, and I cannot free you by death--not yet. But we can turn that strength against him, and rid him of the Earth entirely."
[/quote]

[Cord Hurn]

I'd take Kevin's word over Foul's, anyday.

Add to the evidence file that the Staff of Law was found in the mountain, where Kevin would have lost it. Foul did not want to touch or wield it, as it was not something suited to his powers. Doubtful HE put it there for Drool to find.

I now note bikebryan answered this already. Neveretheless, I'm going to leave my post up with the LFB quote--because I think it's always fun to scroll along and then get to read something from Donaldson's writing.

I think the reference to Kevin standing where Covenant kneels refers to Kevin's Watch, though. I'm assuming Foul very quickly transported Covenant from Kiril Threndor to Kevin's Watch, to decisively put the wild magic out of Drool's reach.

[Horrim Carabal]

Kevin knew the Ritual would kill him, destroy everything he built, nearly destroy the Land itself. The only thing that made it all worthwhile was it would also slay Foul. Kevin was sure of it at the start of the Ritual, else why would he do it? Even a 90% chance wouldn't have been worth it. He was 100% sure the Ritual would destroy the Despiser.

But it didn't. And Foul knew it wouldn't - else why would he take part in it? He's not suicidal.

Kevin's lore-mastery was less than he thought. His arrogance and his despair combined to create the catastrophe.

The Ritual hurt Foul, it reduced him for a thousand years. But it didn't kill him, and it utterly destroyed the Old Lords.

a-Jeroth considered this a fair trade, and he even says Kevin "knew doubt" at the end (before the Ritual was completed) when he realized he might have made a mistake. I suppose it was too late to stop by then.

[wayfriend]

I think the reference to Kevin standing where Covenant kneels refers to Kevin's Watch, though.

I think that, as long as Covenant is in the "attar-laden air", he is in Kiril Threndor, although he may have been transported from where Drool resides. Not until "a low hum of wind rose through the new silence" has he reached Kevin's Watch. At that point, Foul speaks no more.

[Cord Hurn]

I think the reference to Kevin standing where Covenant kneels refers to Kevin's Watch, though.

I think that, as long as Covenant is in the "attar-laden air", he is in Kiril Threndor, although he may have been transported from where Drool resides. Not until "a low hum of wind rose through the new silence" has he reached Kevin's Watch. At that point, Foul speaks no more.

Sorry, wayfriend, but I must respectfully disagree. I think as soon as Covenant no longer sees the red glowing rocklight and no longer smells the vile reek, that he is no longer in Kiril Threndor and has been instantly teleported by Foul to Kevin's Watch.

[quote="In the third chapter of Lord Foul's Bane, entitled, "Invitation To A Betrayal", was"]There was a low, grinding noise, as of great teeth breaking against each other, and a chilling mist intervened between Covenant and Drool, gathered and swirled and thickened until Drool was blocked from Covenant's sight. At first, the mist glowed with the light of the burning stones, but as it swirled the red faded into the dank, universal gray of fogs. The vile reek melted into a sweeter smell--attar, the odor of funerals. Despite the blindness of the mist, Covenant felt that he was no longer in Drool's cavern.

The change gave him no relief. Fear and bewilderment sucked at him as if he were sinking in nightmare. That unbodied voice dismayed him. As the fog blew around him his legs shuddered and bent, and he fell to his knees.

"You do well to pray to me," the voice intoned. Its deadliness shocked Covenant like a confrontation with grisly murder. "There are no other hopes or helps for a man amid the wrack of your fate. My Enemy will not aid you. It was he who chose you for this doom. And when he has chosen, he does not give; he takes." A raw timbre of contempt ran through the voice, scraping Covenant's nerves as it passed. "Yes, you would do well to pray to me. I might ease you of your burden. Whatever health or strength you ask is mine to give. For I have begun my attack upon this age, and the future is mine. I will not fail again."

Covenant's mind lay under the shock of the voice. But the offer of health penetrated him, and his heart jumped. He felt the beat clearly in his chest, felt his heart laboring against the burden of his fear. But he was still too stricken to speak.

Over his silence, the voice continued, "Kevin was a fool--fey, anile and gutless. They are all fools. Look you, groveler. The mighty High Lord Kevin, son of Loric and great-grandson of Berek Lord-Fatherer whom I hate, stood where you now kneel, and he thought to destroy me. He discovered my designs, recognized some measure of my true stature though the dotard had set me on his right side in the Council for long years without sensing his peril--saw at the last who I was. Then there was war between us, war that blasted the west and threatened his precious Keep itself. The feller fist was mine and he knew it. When his armies faltered and his power waned, he lost himself in despair--he became mine in despair. He thought that he still might utterly undo me. Therefore he met me in that cavern from which I have rescued you: Kiril Threndor, Heart of Thunder.[/quote]

When Foul tells Covenant that High Lord Kevin stood where he kneels, he is saying Kevin came to plot the Ritual while using the Watch to gaze upon the Land. I also maintain that Foul talks about being in Kiril Threndor in the past tense, so most of Foul's dialogue (from "You do well to pray to me." to "...Think on that, and be dismayed!") takes place upon Kevin's Watch.

From the ground near the Watch, Lena observes what happens but cannot hear it, and thinks the man within the grey cloud is fighting the cloud.

[quote="In the fourth chapter of Lord Foul's Bane, entitled "Kevin's Watch", was"]Abruptly, he heard a scrambling noise behind him. His muscles jumped; he dove to the wall and flipped around, put his back to it.

Opposite him, across a gap of open air beyond the wall, stood a mountain. It rose hugely from cliffs level with his perch to a sun-bright peak still tipped with snow high above him, and its craggy sides- filled nearly half the slab's horizons. His first impression was one of proximity, but an instant later he realized that the cliff was at least a stone's throw away from him.

Facing squarely toward the mountain, there was a gap in the wall. The low, scrambling sound seemed to come from this gap.

He wanted to go across the slab, look for the source of the noise. But his heart was laboring too hard; he could not move. He was afraid of what he might see.

The sound came closer. Before he could react, a girl thrust her head and shoulders up into the gap, braced her arms on the stone. When she caught sight of him, she stopped to return his stare.

Her long full hair-brown with flashes of pale honey scattered through it-blew about her on the breeze; her skin was deeply shaded with tan, and the dark blue fabric of her dress had a pattern of white leaves woven into the shoulders. She was panting and flushed as if she had just finished a long climb, but she met Covenant's gaze with frank wonder and, interest.

She did not look any older than sixteen.

The openness of her scrutiny only tightened his distress. He glared at her as if she were an apparition.

After a moment's hesitation, she panted, "Are you well?" Then her words began to hurry with excitement. "I did not know whether to come myself or to seek help. From the hills, I saw a gray cloud over Kevin's Watch, and within it there seemed to be a battle. I saw you stand and fall. I did not know what to do. Then I thought, better a small help soon than a large help
late. So I came." She stopped herself, then asked again, "Are you well?"

Well?

He had been hit -His hands were only scraped, bruised, as if he had used them to absorb his fall. There was a low ache of impact in his head. But his clothing showed no damage, no sign that he had been struck and sent skidding over the pavement.

He jabbed his chest with numb fingers, jabbed his abdomen and legs, but no sharp pain answered his probing. He seemed essentially uninjured.

But that car must have hit him somewhere.

Well?

He stared at the girl as if the word had no meaning.

Faced with his silence, she gathered her courage and climbed up through the gap to stand before him against the background of the mountain. He saw that she wore a dark blue shift like a long tunic, with a white cord knotted at the waist. On her feet she had sandals which tied around her ankles. She was slim, delicately figured; and her fine eyes were wide with apprehension, uncertainty, eagerness. She took two steps toward him as if he were a figure of peril, then knelt to look more closely at his aghast incomprehension.
What the bloody hell is this?

Carefully, respectfully, she asked, "How may I aid you? You are a stranger to the Land--that I see. You have fought an ill cloud. Command me." His silence seemed to daunt her. She dropped her eyes. "Will you not speak?"

What's happening to me?[/quote]

The cloud was at the top of Kevin's Watch for several minutes, enough time for Lena to get to the top of the Watch within a minute or two after Lord Foul and his grey cloud departs. And Lena states she saw Covenant stand and fall, which corresponds to the description in the previous chapter of what happened after Covenant no longer felt Drool was near, and right before Foul says, "You do well to pray to me." So, all of that happened on the Watch.

In light of that, it would seem that Kevin's despair conquered him while looking out over a Land he was repeatedly failing to protect from Foul's armies. And it was then that he believed it was worth it to wreck this Land for many years, as long as its damage wasn't permanent like he assumed damage to Foul would be. Looking over the sweeping glory of the Land from the height of Kevin's Watch made him resolve that any consequence was worth the Land being rid of Foul, once and for all.

[darthbuzz]

I was going to post but think it has all been resolved.

[Lazy Luke]

The Ritual hurt Foul, it reduced him for a thousand years. But it didn't kill him, and it utterly destroyed the Old Lords.

a-Jeroth considered this a fair trade, and he even says Kevin "knew doubt" at the end (before the Ritual was completed) when he realized he might have made a mistake. I suppose it was too late to stop by then.

Amok said, concerning white gold: In his last days, High Lord Kevin yearned for it in vain. Was it his need for white gold that made Kevin "know doubt"?
To understand High Lord Kevin first understand Thomas Covenant, seems to me a good rule of thumb.
Covenant feared the destruction of the Land through the unbridled power of wild magic, and we know what happened when he too faced Lord Foul.

[DrPaul]

Amok said, concerning white gold: In his last days, High Lord Kevin yearned for it in vain. Was it his need for white gold that made Kevin "know doubt"?
To understand High Lord Kevin first understand Thomas Covenant, seems to me a good rule of thumb.
Covenant feared the destruction of the Land through the unbridled power of wild magic, and we know what happened when he too faced Lord Foul.

I think it's clear enough from reading the First Chronicles as a whole that it would have been Kevin's growing doubt that led him to cast about for desperate "solutions". The RoD was one such. The yearning for white gold would have been another

[Horrim Carabal]

I think it's clear enough from reading the First Chronicles as a whole that it would have been Kevin's growing doubt that led him to cast about for desperate "solutions". The RoD was one such. The yearning for white gold would have been another

Also, we have to remember that, had Kevin not performed the Ritual, Foul might well have exterminated the Old Lords and reigned supreme in the Land. The fact that such a victory would have brought him only frustration would be cold comfort to the beings he would be free to torture and kill. Same with the beauty he would have been able to defile and warp. But, free of Desecration, would the Land have been better off with Foul as its supreme being?

[Lazy Luke]

My memory says it took place in Kiril Threndor, according to what Foul tells Covenant while he's transporting TC from Kiril Threndor to Kevin's Watch.

Of course it took place in Kiril Threndor. That's why the Staff was found under the mountain by Drool.

That would explain why the Staff of Law had iron heels. Lord Foul could easily have instructed Drool on metallurgy.
Never in a million years would iron heels have been part of Caerroil Wildwood's design.

[Horrim Carabal]

Never in a million years would iron heels have been part of Caerroil Wildwood's design.

Good point.

[Savor Dam]

Setting aside anything that may or may not have been mentioned in the Last Chronicles, I do not believe there is anything in the First or Second Chronicles that points to Caerroil Wildwood having any role in the design of the Staff of Law. It was fashioned by Berek, was it not? Do we know of any occasion where Berek came into contact with the Forrestal?

[bikebryan]

Setting aside anything that may or may not have been mentioned in the Last Chronicles, I do not believe there is anything in the First or Second Chronicles that points to Caerroil Wildwood having any role in the design of the Staff of Law. It was fashioned by Berek, was it not? Do we know of any occasion where Berek came into contact with the Forrestal?

Also a good point. It is likely that the Forestal placed the runes on the second Staff of Law as there was not really anybody else wise enough in lore to do so. Yes, the Elohim were still about, but they were NOT going to help Linden and acted against her in every turn.

[Lazy Luke]

I do not believe there is anything in the First or Second Chronicles that points to Caerroil Wildwood having any role in the design of the Staff of Law. It was fashioned by Berek, was it not? Do we know of any occasion where Berek came into contact with the Forrestal?

...when Berek became aware of the Earthpower, he would have became aware of the Forestal. In much the same way Thomas Covenant destroyed the Staff of Law through contact with the Forestal.

When the iron heels were attached to the Staff it then became an implement of 'Law', and not Earthmagic. Like a 'lightning rod' conducting electricity - instead of tapping into the healing power of 'The Land'.

[IrrationalSanity]

I agree that the heels were almost certainly part of the Staff of Law from its creation. Obviously, they didn't "grow" as part of the One Tree. But like the carved runes, they were integral to the Lore making the Staff a tool - both strengthening and constraining, until it was ideally suited to the hands of the Lords.