The Second Ward

[matrixman]

...since it was the 2nd Ward that pointed the new Lords to the location of the krill....

Did you mean the Staff of Law?

"But the Staff of Law opened doors deep in Revelstone -doors which had been closed since the Desecration. The Lords hoped that these chambers contained other Wards of Kevin's Lore-but no Wards were there. Yet among many things of forgotten use or little power this was found-this which we offer to you."

Woops. You're right! Major screw-up on my part.

I remember now...the Second Ward increased the Lords' healing knowledge, right? They were able to revive a good part of Trothgard by the time of The Illearth War.

[balon!]

(My tid-bit on the previous point)

The Ur-Viles alos had another undercurrent to their almost complete lack of interest in the Second Ward, although it doesn't show up untill later; Vain.

If the Wards were the pinnacle of power for the Lords (and assuambly for mankind) then Vain was the pinnacle of Ur-Vile (or Demondim, whatever) power. They not only would have no intrest in the Lords Power but, at least in my mind, would probably feel a sort of disdain for it.

I mean, the whole breeding program led up to Vain, so that means they were most likley working on it non-stop, including when the Quest made their way into Mount Thunder.

They just didn't need it or want it, they had Vain. Or they would eventually.

[matrixman]

Good points regarding Vain, Balon.

Wasn't sure if talking about Vain would constitute a spoiler for those who may not have read the 2nd Chrons...but maybe that's being too precious.

[Relayer]

If the Wards were the pinnacle of power for the Lords (and assuambly for mankind) then Vain was the pinnacle of Ur-Vile (or Demondim, whatever) power. They not only would have no intrest in the Lords Power but, at least in my mind, would probably feel a sort of disdain for it.

I mean, the whole breeding program led up to Vain, so that means they were most likley working on it non-stop, including when the Quest made their way into Mount Thunder.

They just didn't need it or want it, they had Vain. Or they would eventually.

I'm not sure this is true. The ur-viles may have been working on some kind of breeding program, but I don't think they broke from being Foul's servants until some time after the 1st Chronicles ended. So, anything they'd done before that time was not really pointed towards creating Vain - at least not as we eventually see him. Plus, he was intended primarily to become the Staff of Law - which was not destroyed until late in TPTP.

In fact, the ur-viles may have given up their "quest for perfection" when they chose to create Vain. Or, they found a way to make that quest become more important than just their need to overcome their self-loathing.