Spoiler - how is the place of earthblood intact?

[DavidDel]

In FR, when Linden escapes after drinking the earthblood, the entire mountain is almost destroyed - this is in the past, during Berek's time. So how does Amok, Elena and TC find it intact in TIEW which happens after this?

[rdhopeca]

In FR, when Linden escapes after drinking the earthblood, the entire mountain is almost destroyed - this is in the past, during Berek's time. So how does Amok, Elena and TC find it intact in TIEW which happens after this?

The mountain in TIW has been cracked by an old "earthquake". It is not "intact".

[High Lord Tolkien]

Reread that chapter.
In the act of saving herself and pursuing Roger Linden she forms the path that Damelon and others will use in the future.
She literally catches the falling chunks of mountain and reforms them around her as she's chasing them.

[Demondime-a-dozen-spawn]

I wonder where the voice-propelled boat that Covenant and Elena later use to cross the underground lake came from.

Put in place by Damelon too?

I know that without Damelon's Door, anyone wandering around down there would be lost forever, but still, all Damelon's precautions against anyone stumbling across the Earthblood accidentally seem to indicate that he didn't have much of a problem finding it in the wake of all the previous destruction set in motion by Linden's, Roger's, and Jerry's visit.

If, as HLT points out, Linden left a straight path for Damelon to follow, how was the path that Covenant and Elena followedcreated? Was that all just the product of Lore?

[Vader]

Damelon probably sealed the way to Earthblood after finding it, leaving "his" door the only way to reach it.

Secrets door, traps ... makes you wonder, doesn't it? And now feel free to guess who really did the job for Damelon, who really sealed the path, built the door and took care that those who miss the door are being trapped.

[Demondime-a-dozen-spawn]

Not Lord Foul, I hope. :paranoid:

[Vader]

Not Lord Foul, I hope. :paranoid:

Who is the structures, traps and door builder?

[High Lord Tolkien]

I know that without Damelon's Door, anyone wandering around down there would be lost forever, but still, all Damelon's precautions against anyone stumbling across the Earthblood accidentally seem to indicate that he didn't have much of a problem finding it in the wake of all the previous destruction set in motion by Linden's, Roger's, and Jerry's visit.

"easy"? You have nothing to base that on.

If, as HLT points out, Linden left a straight path for Damelon to follow, how was the path that Covenant and Elena followedcreated? Was that all just the product of Lore?

I never said anything about "straight".
One of the largest mountains in the Land was falling down on Linden's head.
I'm sure the "path" Linden created ......damn-it! you're making me dangerously close to praising Linden.

Seriously though, asking for too much detail ruins the story.
Like, how did Kevin (who was never there) know it well enough to create Amok with the knowledge to get there?

[Hashi Lebwohl]

I concur--it is clearly Linden who kept the path to the Earthblood clear for Damelon; however, Damelon's Door is pure Lore and has nothing to do with Jeremiah's ability.

My only problem with the entire Earthblood episode was that when Linden Commanded that she be shown the truth, she was not specific and should therefore have been shown all truths facing her and her situation at that time, especially regarding both Anele and Esmer. She should also have been shown the truth of the path she was taking.

High Lord Tolkein: Kevin would have learned about the Power of Command from his father and grandfather, even though Loric never saw fit to use it...as far as we know. Kevin, himself, must have concluded that the Earthblood would not help him against Lord Foul, for whatever reason. Perhaps Foul cannot be subjected to Commands?

[High Lord Tolkien]

She should also have been shown the truth of the path she was taking.

How so?
And how so without ruining the rest of the story for the reader?

High Lord Tolkein: Kevin would have learned about the Power of Command from his father and grandfather, even though Loric never saw fit to use it...as far as we know. Kevin, himself, must have concluded that the Earthblood would not help him against Lord Foul, for whatever reason. Perhaps Foul cannot be subjected to Commands?
[/color]

It's stated in the story that Foul is outside of Time and so can not be affected by the Power of Command.

All we know for sure about Kevin and the location of the PoC is that he was never there *with any Bloodguard*.
He could have been there at any time in the centuries before the Haruchai came to the Land.

[wayfriend]

My only problem with the entire Earthblood episode was that when Linden Commanded that she be shown the truth, she was not specific and should therefore have been shown all truths facing her and her situation at that time, especially regarding both Anele and Esmer. She should also have been shown the truth of the path she was taking.

I once thought this as well.

However, upon closer examination, I discovered that Linden issued the Command specifically to Covenant and Roger, not to the Earth. (As Elena once issued her Command specifically to Kevin.) So she was only shown the truth about Covenant and Roger.

With the full force of the Power of Command, she demanded of her companions. "Show me the truth!"

[Hashi Lebwohl]

How so?
And how so without ruining the rest of the story for the reader?

It's stated in the story that Foul is outside of Time and so can not be affected by the Power of Command.

All we know for sure about Kevin and the location of the PoC is that he was never there *with any Bloodguard*.
He could have been there at any time in the centuries before the Haruchai came to the Land.

Without ruining the story? *shrug* I don't know for I am not the author. I just ask the questions...I don't always claim to have the answers, as well.

Unlike some fantasy worlds, The Land does not have every little detail of its history written down and mapped out; if such details did exist, then we would know what Kevin did, when he did it, where he did it, etc. Honestly, I wouldn't want that kind of detail--it detracts from the enjoyment of the story itself. Enough is enough...too much is definitely too much.

I concur, wayfriend--she looked right at them and had her attention focused directly on them; she wasn't thinking about anyone or anything else at that moment. The Power of Command is literal--what you ask/Command is exactly what you get; nothing more and nothing less.

[DavidDel]

I was thinking that the battle with Elena and Kevin ruptured something and then the water and earthblood mixed - also opening holes in the rock. Bannor states: "The battle of Kevin and the High Lord has opened a crevice in the floor of Earthroot. We must ride the water down, and seek an outlet below." The boat was moving in that direction because of the current, but it does not state whether the current moved there anyway, whether a battle had taken place or not.

But didn't Linden also create the same sort of turmoil in her battle with Roger? I am only guessing here that the lines into the past must either have been erased by Theomach or the destruction with Linden wasn't that extensive as SRD has written.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

There are probably a couple of hundred years between the time that Linden, Roger, and Jeremiah are in Earthroot and the time that Damelon makes his way there. That is plenty of time for the falling rocks that Linden uses to settle into place and make the passages stable.

Their battle did trigger the earthquake that had already been building underneath Skyweir, but that's all. (as if that isn't enough)

Even after the battle between Kevin and Elena, it should be possible to make one's way back to the Earthblood. It depends upon whether or not Damelon's Door still exists (and there is no reason to believe that it doesn't).

[Demondime-a-dozen-spawn]

Not Lord Foul, I hope. :paranoid:

Who is the structures, traps and door builder?

Ahhhh.

*BINGO*

Got it.

That will be a very interesting devolment if it is so.

"easy"? You have nothing to base that on.

I said "didn't have much of a problem," not "easy." But yes (or no), I have nothing to base it on other than Damelon's over-the-top precautions. The measures Damelon took to prevent something (potentially) extremely bad from happenening were extreme measures. He found the Earthblood, didn't he? He didn't want the next guy down the trail monkeying with it.

I never said anything about "straight".
One of the largest mountains in the Land was falling down on Linden's head.
I'm sure the "path" Linden created ......damn-it! you're making me dangerously close to praising Linden.

All I meant by "straight" is continuous.

Now, now. There's no need to praise Linden for her sheer dumb luck.

[Wheelwash Whitecap]

Damelon had lore and made a clear path sometime after LA or as stated above LA made the path as she went out.

I think LA was stupid to travel all that way and endure all that she had, just to waste her POC on finding out the truth about Roger and Jerry. Surely she could have come up with a better command than that!

[AjK]

My only problem with the entire Earthblood episode was that when Linden Commanded that she be shown the truth, she was not specific and should therefore have been shown all truths facing her and her situation at that time, especially regarding both Anele and Esmer. She should also have been shown the truth of the path she was taking.

However, upon closer examination, I discovered that Linden issued the Command specifically to Covenant and Roger, not to the Earth. (As Elena once issued her Command specifically to Kevin.) So she was only shown the truth about Covenant and Roger.

But that still doesn't narrow down what specific truth about Roger and TC she wanted to know. And as far as I can tell, the PoC didn't reveal all truths about the two of them. The way I came to terms to this had more to do with her intent than her words or to whom she spoke them. I choose to believe that the PoC responds to a person's desire (and their words only in the sense that they reflect that desire.) Also, from a literary style & writing effectiveness perspective, "Show me the truth!" sounds a lot better than "Show me why Covenant is always drooling Springwine!" or "Show me why my son's eye is twitching harder than the father of a 16 year old girl on prom night!"

[Hashi Lebwohl]

I suppose it is possible that the Power of Command grants the user what they want but not necessarily what they think they want. Those two things are usually not the same.

[SleeplessOne]

I think LA was stupid to travel all that way and endure all that she had, just to waste her POC on finding out the truth about Roger and Jerry. Surely she could have come up with a better command than that!

to be fair, I dont think the specifics of the Command were LA's priority in that situation; she was more concerned about Esmer's advice that she should 'drink of the Earthblood' before her companions; she'd learned to not fully trust the duplicitous duo over the course of their journey together, so in effect her command killed two birds with one stone; she prevented them from drinking the Earthblood first, whilst also pulling the veil on their, ahem, glamour ...

maybe she could have thought of some 'better' command, but given the circumstances it was probably the right thing to do .. in fact I'm not sure if there is any 'better' command to make, the conceit seems to be that any command made will have unforseen adverse effects on he/she who commands; Linden's emotional battering at the revelation of her companion's true identities was hard enough for her to bear, I'd speculate that had the command been any more ambitious the backlash would have been commensurately vicious ...

[AjK]

I suppose it is possible that the Power of Command grants the user what they want but not necessarily what they think they want.

My view is that it grants you what you think you want. The verbal expression of that desire could fall short of exhaustively describing your wish but your intent carries the day. The problem that usually arises is that you are not clever enough to see all the ramifications of getting what you wanted. Just my personal take...

Those two things are usually not the same.

Completely agree.