When Did SRD Decide to Write the Second Chronicles?

[KaosArcana]

Has he ever discussed that?

I'm wondering if he plotted things out in advance or just
took advantage of the plot details he left himself at the
end of PTP ....

Spoiler

Covenant's destruction of the Staff of Law, for example.
He couldn't have Covenant consciously tap into the power
of the wild magic without violating the tenets that kept the
Unbeliever sane ... so Covenant's destruction of the Staff gave
him a discovery that let him use the wild magic without being
able to call the magic up at will. But did Donaldson plan on that
act coming back to haunt Covenant thousands of years later?

Something that makes me think he may not have had a sequel in
mind when he ended TPTP is ...

Spoiler

The Haruchai. For all intents and purposes, the Haruchai
were Bloodguard in all but name in the Second Chronicles. The
impression I got from Banner in the first series was that the
Haruchai required sleep and food like other men ... didn't he
share a meal with Foamfollower and Covenant after the second
death of Elena? (That's one of the weak points of the Second
Chronicles I think, actually. Not having the Haruchai require
sleep or food-- or at least not be shown to need them--
diminishes the sacrifice the Bloodguard made, IMO. Losing
a spouse is tragic, but there's a special kind of horror for
being immortal and conscious for thousands of years.) If he
had been planning the 2nd Chronicles and had fully intended
for the Haruchai to be as they were shown in it, I'd have
thought Bannor would not have said some of the things he
said ...

[Fist and Faith]

Yeah, we've discussed the Haruchai in the 2nd Chronicles a good deal. No easy answers. Did they evolve between the Chronicles? Are they able to go without sleep for long periods when they must? Who knows? But seeing Cail do all the stuff he did is worth the confusion!

[Nav]

Yeah, we couldn't decide whether the Haruchai ate food at the same time as the others in the quest but they weren't specifically mentioned. There was also the possibility of whether they slept in shifts or not.

I personally suspect that this was the case. The Bloodguard's longevity and endurance arose from Earthpower, and (with the exception of Andelain) there isn't any of it about in the 2nd chrons. I don't think SRD would miss something that obvious.

[Romeo]

Didn't it say that the Haruchai were roused from sleep when the Ghaddi's wife snuck into the room? Or it was at least some time around then, that I think it was described that at least one of them was sleeping.

Now that you mention it, though, I have to agree. I think he should have added more un-bloodguard like descriptions in the second chronicles. Very good point.

[Ryzel]

If Bannor shared a meal with Foamfollower and TC after the second death of Elena (That would be in "Colossus" in TPTP?) that would be AFTER the Bloodguard had ceased to be Bloodguard. (This happened between TIW and TPTP.)

[Furls Fire]

I have a book entitled "Realms of Fantasy" which goes into different fantasy stories, among them is LOTR and also the Chronicles. In that book, Donaldson was quoted as saying something to the affect that he never intended on expanding the story beyond the first chronicles. It was only after Lester Del Rey came up with an absolutely horrible sequel that Donaldson starting plotting out the second AND the third set. I'm just wondering what has taken him so long to get the third set going, the wait has been awful!

Peace,

Furls Fire

[Romeo]

The third chrons are coming about now because it's the right time. He said in an interview that his writing occurs in cycles. He writes a big project, then some short stories, then a mystery. The Gap books were his last big project, then Reave the Just, then The Man Who Fought Alone (the mystery), and now it's big project time again.

I'm also pretty sure that he didn't do the third chrons right away because he wanted to show that he could do more than just Covenant. So he pumped out twenty years of writing in different genres. Now it's time for the Return.

[caamora]

I don't think that the Bloodguard went without food. They just chose not to sleep or die a natural death. And Ryzel was correct in saying that Bannor and the Haruchai of the 2nd chrons shared a meal and slept AFTER the Vow had been broken. The Haruchai in the 2nd chrons were not Bloodguard - they just chose to protect TC and Linden. Therefore, they did not take the old Vow, as did the Bloodguard with Kevin did.

[danlo]

Kaos, like the posts above indicate, I, 4 1, am totally satisfied btween the distinction of the Haruchai in the 2nd vs the Bloodguard in the 1st. They slept, sometimes, but they were aslo seriously attuned 2 their mission!

[KaosArcana]

I think the evidence is unclear as to whether or not the
Bloodguard had to eat or not. And here's why I think
that:

On the Plains of Ra, a Vow-less Bannor tells Covenant:

"Ur-Lord, I say to you that the Vow was broken. Many things
were broken. You were present. We could not-- ur-Lord, I am
old now. I, Bannor, First Mark of the Bloodguard. I require
sleep and hot food. Thoguh I was bred for mountains, this
cold penetrates my bones. I am no fit server for Revelstone--
no, nor for the Lords, though they do not equal High Lord Kevin
who went before them."

The question then becomes whether or not the Bloodguard
needed food at all. After all, maybe Bannor could get by on a
cold sandwich when supported by his Vow.

In the Second Chronicles, Cail drinks some voure when he's
infected with Sunbane fever, but there is no other instance that
I can recall in the Second Chronicles of a Haruchai eating or
drinking. If someone can find one, please let me know where
it's at. (I reread _The Wounded Land_ and most of _The One
Tree_ recently, so my memory is fairly fresh up through
Brathairrealm.)

The Giants give cabins to the Haruchai on Starfare's Gem, and
Ceer and the First shared a room in the gaddhi's palace (should
Pitchwife have been jealous? ) but we still never saw the
Haruchai sleep. Brinn was knocked out by sleeping power used
on him by the Lady Alif, but that's not the same thing as stacking
Z's.

The point of all this is that I can't think of a single moment when
we see a Haruchai sleeping or eating in the Second Chronicles.

In _White Gold Wielder_, there's a point where Mistweave chastizes
himself because he wasn't able to match Cail and stay awake on
guard duty ...

[CovenantJr]

To my mind, the Haruchai of the Second Chronicles essentially employed a small-scale version of the Vow. They committed themselves to Covenant and Linden, and so chose to forsake a number of comforts, perhaps food and sleep. I assumed the Haruchai didn't sleep or eat during the Second Chronicles, and basically functioned as Bloodguard, but without the restrictions on their behaviour and decisions that the imposed on themselves with the Vow. I don't think the Haruchai could have lasted for centuries without sleep on the strength of their promise to TC and Linden. IMO, they refrained from sleep, but it is a testament to their strength of will and loyalty, rather than a Vow of the type they gave Kevin.

[Fist and Faith]

From GILDEN-FIRE:

And, in part because of their Vow, they needed little food: as long as the hardy aliantha grew and ripened throughout the Land in all seasons, the Bloodguard required no other sustenance.

Of course, Lena told Covenant:

This is aliantha. We call them treasure-berries. It is said that a person can walk the whole length and breadth of the Land eating only treasure-berries, and return home stronger and better fed than before.

I think Lena's quote is a bit of folklore, and that only the Bloodguard can actually do that. But it would seem they did, indeed, need to eat something, so it seems unlikely that the Haruchai of the 2nd Chronicles did not. SRD probably just didn't bother showing us. After all, the Haruchai don't bother with frills. Did we need to see them eat bland, boring food?

As for sleeping, the only time I know of was from that powder. I think the following quote intends us to understand that Cail did not sleep:

Mistweave lay felled in his canvas cover as if during the night his desire to match Cail had suffered a defeat. Only Cail, the Demondim-spawn, and Findail were on their feet.

Mistweave had been trying to match Cail for days.

[KaosArcana]

Fist and Faith:

From GILDEN-FIRE: Quote:
And, in part because of their Vow, they needed little food: as long as the hardy aliantha grew and ripened throughout the Land in all seasons, the Bloodguard required no other sustenance.

Ah THAT explains it. I never read Gilden-Fire.

[KaosArcana]

Fist and Faith:

From GILDEN-FIRE: Quote:
And, in part because of their Vow, they needed little food: as long as the hardy aliantha grew and ripened throughout the Land in all seasons, the Bloodguard required no other sustenance.

Ah THAT explains it. I never read Gilden-Fire.

[Lord Mhoram]

I think Lena's quote is a bit of folklore, and that only the Bloodguard can actually do that.

Why would only the Bloodguard/Haruchai be able to do this? Certainly helped Covenant in both the First and Second Chronicles.

[Fist and Faith]

I think that because of the wording, "in part because of their Vow". What do you suppose the other part(s) was? I imagine it is because they were Haruchai, meaning they had amazing strength and stamina. Since nobody else had either of those things, much less both, I don't think anybody else can live on nothing but aliantha.

[Lord Mhoram]

Bloodguard can live on nothing, right?

Hmm, I guess you're right: one can't live on just aliantha...maybe the Last Chrons will clarify this.

[Fist and Faith]

No, Bloodguard can't live on nothing. But I think that, because of their Vow and their native Haruchai strength and stamina, they can live on less than anybody else can. Aliantha alone will sustain them.

[Lord Mhoram]

Oh I see. Thanks.