The One Tree, Chapter 6: The Questimoon

[danlo]

Greetings! Our steadfast Dromond seems to be preoccupied in real life and Infelice is starting to shake the gates in anticipation of getting her two chapters up. Dromond as soon as you are ready to post something here-slap it on up like Pitchwife's pitch and we'll incorporate it from there. In the meantime I need dAN and everybody else's help in fleshing out this chapter-From Nicor to Ravers, dark moods and squalls, to a fast wind and Bare Isle and the first sighting of Rawedge Rim the edge of a continent that actually exists east of the Land across the Sunbirth Sea!

Key points:
* Linden Avery is wiped out from ordeals and confession
* Thomas Covenant begins to recover
* TC burns off his beard with the ring in attempt to control at least some of it's power
* LA has told him everything excepting her mother-she feels unworthy of TC-due to that omission
*Four days of confusing winds after squalls and after a week, or so, Starfare's Gem is hit by a mounting SW wind called Roveheartswind, or the Questimoon
*LA's spirits brighten, the Giants are very happy-TC becomes increasingly impatient
*Galewrath tells TC the Questimoon should hold till they reach Bare Island
*TC talks with LA about freedom of choice and Foul's manipulation of his actions via Joan's attempted sacrifice

During one of their colloquires, he abruptly said, "Maybe I did sell myself for Joan." He had spoken about such things before. "Freedom doesn't mean you get to chose what happens to you. But you do get to choose how you react to it. And that's what the whole struggle against Foul hinges on. In order to be effective against him--or for him--we have to make our own decisions. That's why he doesn't just possess us. Take the ring by force. He has to take the risk we might choose against him. And so does the Creator. That's the paradox of the Arch of Time. And white gold. Power depends on choice. The necessity of freedom. If Foul just conquers us, if we're under his control, the ring won't give him the power to break out. But if the Creator tries to control us through the Arch, he'll break it." He was not looking at her; his eyes searched the rumpled waves like a VSE. "Maybe when I took Joan's place I gave up my freedom."

*TC and LA ponder Vain's role in things and why the Clave's rukh could hurt him (personally) but the Grim had no effect--TC remains suspicious of Vain's past actions
*They discuss Foul's knowledge of LA

She still remembered that pronouncement exactly as Covenant had relayed it to her: There is despair laid up for you here beyond anything your mortal heart can bear. But Lord Foul had said nothing to her. On Kevin's Watch he had let her pass untouched.

"He didn't need to," she replied bitterly. "He already knew everything he needed to about me." Gibbon-Raver had revealed the precision of the Despiser's knowledge.

He regarded her with a troubled aspect; and she saw that he had already considered that possibility. "Maybe not." he returned in denial. "Maybe he didn't talk to you because he hadn't planned for you to be there. Maybe when you tried to rescue me you took him by surprise and just got swept along. If that's true, then you weren't part of his original plan. And everything Gibbon said to you is a lie. A way to defuse the danger you represent. Make you think you don't have a chance. When the truth is that you're the biggest threat to him there is."

*The dromond continually increases speed during a five day blow and Bare Isle is finally spotted
*Bare Isle is a small barren place that resembles a cairn or "warning" marker (reminisient of the Collosus) shaped like the fist of a drowning man

At the same time, Honninscrave lifted his voice over the Giantship. "Hear me!" he cried--a shout of yearning and trepidation, as lorn and resonant as the wind. "Here we pass from the safe Sea into the demense and ken of the Elohim. Be warned! They are lovely and perilous, and none can foretell them. If they so desire, the very Sea will rise against us."

*As the ship passes the island the Questimoon fades to lesser crosswinds, but they still make good progress

*The next morning is landfall. LA awakes to see a coast of large jagged mountians stretching north and south "as far as the eye could see" and Starfare's Gem is at rest facing a foreboding channel -an inlet to a fiord that Honninscrave calls the Raw
*Honniscrave has been here before and explains that the channel is fed by the River Callowwail that emmenates from a spring called the clachan by the mysterious Elohim and that it's fountian marks the very heart of their realm, Elemesnedene
*A discussion ensues re: the true natue of the Elohim
*Honniscrave is very wary and paints a dire picture of their power
*TC is perturbed saying Foamfollower described them as a laughing faerie people. And that some of the Unhomed elected to stay with them as others lived in Braithairain, after that, to help the people there fight the destructive Sandgorgons of the Great Desert
*Honninscrave tells of the "gifts" of the Elohim and the strange, and possibly disapointing, "barter system" of achieving such gifts
*Honninscrave feels optimistic as he doesn't anticipate harm in the name of the white ring and the Earth-Sight
* the dromond moves cautiously through the fiord toward the river
*The First confides to LA that Honniscrave has a great need with the Elohim and fears he may barter himself in the process

*The Search travels in longboats up the mouth of the river as TC tells LA about Hile Troy. He notes the "bargain" HT was forced to strike with Caer Wildwood
*The party enters Woodenwold nearing the clachan and the wild maze of the interdimensonal maidan that exists within the fountianhead

As they neared the trees, Hergrom and Ceer found a natural way along the riverbank. Soon the quest was among the woods, moving towards sunlight. Woodenwold was dense with oak and sycamore, ash and maple punctuated by willow, old cottonwood, and young mimosa. In the shadow of the Rim, they shared the mood of the dour stone: their browns and greens were underscored by gray and ire, But when the sun touched them, they sprang instantly into vibrant autumn blazonry. Crossing the shadowline, the companions passed from gray into glory. Woodenwold was an instant ignition of color--flaming red and orange, sparkling yellow, russet and warm brown. And the leaves danced about their feet as they walked, wreathing their legs in gay anadems so that they seemed to trail fire and loveliness at every step. Among them Linden walked as if each stride carried her further from her own mortality.

*LA hears bells, but no one else seems to notice, the bells seem to hold hints of language in them
*Eventually they must stand still and await the Elohim
*Daphin appears

Then the company was no longer alone. With an eldritch concatenation like the slow magic of dreams, the belling swirled around the trunk of a nearby ash; and a figure flowed out of the wood. It did not detach iitself from the tree, was not hidden against the bark: from within the ash, it stepped forward as if it were modulating into a new form. Features emerged as the figure shaped itself: eyes like chrysoprase, delicate brows, a fine nose and soft mouth, Wattle-slim and straight, deft and proud, with a grave smile on her lips and a luminous welcome in her gaze, the woman came forward like an incarnation of the soul of the ash in which she had been contained; and here departure left no mark of presence or absence in the wood. A cymar draped her limbs like the finest sendaline.

Linden stared. Her companions started in surprise. The Haruchai were poised on the balls of their feet. Covenant's mouth opened and closed involuntarily.

But Honninscrave faced the approaching woman and bowed as if she were worthy of worship.

She stopped before them. Her smile radiated power of such depth and purity that Linden could hardly bear to look at it. The woman was a being who transcended any health-sense. Softly, she said, "I am pleased that you so desire our goodwill." Her voice also was music; but it did not explicate the ringing in Linden's mind. "I am Daphin." Then she nodded to Honninscrave's bow. "You are Giants. We have known Giants."

Still the bells confused Linden, so that she was not sure of what she was hearing.

Daphin turned to Brinn. "You we do not know. Perhaps the tale of your people will interest us."

The chiming grew louder. Daphin was gazing directly at Linden. Linden had no control over the sound in her head. But she almost gasped in shock when Daphin said, "You are the Sun-Sage."

[matrixman]

Thomas Covenant is a man who is forever impatient to get moving, like he was in the first Chronicles. Now, of course, his motive is different: he is pressuring himself to fulfill his responsibility for the Land. Whereas in the first Chronicles, he was consumed with trying to run away from any kind of responsibility for the Land.

As readers, we're impatient to move along, too. Or at least very eager to, because we're sailing the seas with Giants, about to explore new lands in this magical world. From Lord Foul's Bane to The Wounded Land, it's been nothing but the Land. Not that we don't love the Land, but it's a welcome change to be away from it for a while. The world now becomes larger, filled with more possibilities. Remember the first time you turned over the page of TOT and saw the maps to the Elohim and the Bhrathair? That's right, no Land!

The approach to the land of the Elohim--the barrenness of Bareisle, the forbidding rock of Rawedge Rim--tells us that these "faery people" aren't going to be children's leprechauns. And Honninscrave's story of the Elohim's granting of the gift of tongues to his people, though a seemingly small gesture, hints at how profound their power is: won for our people in a time many and many generations past, yet still unwaning and untainted. So: any Giant anywhere, and every Giant who will ever be born, will automatically have the gift of tongues, simply because the Elohim will it to be so.

They're like the genie granting--or denying--wishes. Be careful what you ask for.

Maybe I only have eyes for the Elohim here. I'm entranced by them like the Giants are. About Daphin: Her smile radiated power of such depth and purity that Linden could hardly bear to look at it. The woman was a being who transcended any health-sense.

No kidding!

Speaking of health-sense, once again Linden is the one who first senses something happening beyond her purely physical environment: the mental chiming of the Elohim.

There is a thread in the TC forum in which the idea had been suggested that perhaps Linden's percipience is nothing more than what ordinary Landsfolk had all along, back when the Earthpower was prevalent. I am skeptical of this idea. I find it hard to believe that your average Stonedownor somehow has the ability to sense the mental communication of a being of pure Earthpower! What the heck is a person of such obvious exceptional ability doing in a village herding cattle? Reading the minds of his sheep for fun and profit??

Also in this chapter we see Daphin proclaim to Linden: You are the Sun-Sage. I don't believe you could take any average Joe (or Yeurquin) from the Land and plop him in front of an Elohim and be proclaimed a Sun-Sage. Linden has the goods, not them. They're small, small people.

[dANdeLION]

It's hard to say how different Linden's health-sense was than the average Stowndowner. Consider this; I have the same two hands that most people have, yet some of us are surgeons, sculpters, violinists, etc. What makes one better at a given task than another? I always thought that Linden's medical training is what set her apart. The people of the Land always looked outside of themselves for the power of healing. When they looked inside, they seemed to find Desecration a bit too much, so they tended to focus outward. So it's no surprise that they just relied on their health-sense without exploring it. In their minds, it was of the Land, therefore it must be sufficient. Linden, like Covenant, and like a lot of earth people, learned to rely on her own strength and knowledge. I think that accounts for her power as much as anything else.

[danlo]

All the granite, sycamore, oak and cottonwood references remind me of New Mexico. I love SRD's description of the dromond almost being shallowed alive by the towering granite cliffs that threatened to crush it as it moves through the fiord and into the lagoon. And then, as the Search enters futher up the river, it resembling a toy on a pond, as they leave it behind.

[Durris]

To me, this chapter had a teeth-grinding sense of danger from the time Bareisle was sighted. I read TOT a bit too fast when I was an undergrad, and I've revisited it (at least this portion of the story) less often than other parts of the mythos, so it felt almost like reading it for the first time.

I don't trust the Elohim as far as I could kick them--I mean as far as my wimpy RL flatlander's feet could!

Did anyone else find it unusual or rash that so many members of the Search hazarded this visit?

The tale, or rather, the two different tales, of the 100 Giants who stayed with the Elohim--or did they just perish on the maidan?--went well beyond instilling "a healthy respect" for these beings.

Can that much power ever coexist with so few obligations or restraints without disaster?

[dANdeLION]

i don't know if I would define the search's decision as 'rash'. They needed to find the One Tree, and desperate times call for desperate measures. At least the Ravers won't attack TC in such a place as this.

[Seafoam Understone]

Interesting concept though... what would/could the Elohim do with Ravers? Even another thought... Imagine a Raver posessing an Elohim!

[matrixman]

A Raver possessing an Elohim? Do you rave??

It's interesting that the maps in the book show the lands of the Elohim and the Bhrathair in isolation, and not on a world map showing their relative position to the continent of the Land. Even the Atlas of the Land carefully avoids such a world view. Because of this lack of a concrete sense of geography, the voyage of Starfare's Gem attains a dream-like quality. We head out to Sea, the Land recedes into non-existence. After a time, Bareisle and the land of the Elohim "pop" into existence out of the oblivion of the sea.

The advantage of this approach is that it leaves that world open-ended in its design, so SRD has leeway to conjure up new lands and peoples as he goes along, without his options limited by a "set in stone" global map.

When I start thinking about the sea-faring Giants, questions come up. The kind of questions a pesky fan would annoy SRD with . Were the Giants roaming the seas long before humans showed up in the Land? How is it that they "missed" the Land in all their millenia of sea voyaging until Damelon's time? And by the time of the Second Chronicles, after the passage of so much time, you'd think that such irrepressible adventurers as the Giants would have circumnavigated that world several times over already. Yet there's not a hint that they ever "bumped" into the Land in the time between the First and Second Chronicles. The Clave's soothtell sure didn't mention any Giants.

Grimmand Honninscrave sure seems to know where he's going, so it's not like the Giants are clueless about where things are in the world. Is the Land like a big blank spot on their maps? It'd be nice to sneak a look at Honninscrave's maps to see what the world looks like according to Giants.

And the term "Giant" is relative, isn't it? At Home, I imagine they're not "giant" compared with everyone else. Among their own, their size is just "normal." Did they realize they were Giant only because they kept encountering races smaller than them? Is Home twice the size of the Land? Mmm, relativity...

Sorry if I've gone off the deep end. SRD must be hugely annoyed at this point.

[Durris]

It's interesting that the maps in the book show the lands of the Elohim and the Bhrathair in isolation, and not on a world map showing their relative position to the continent of the Land. Even the Atlas of the Land carefully avoids such a world view. Because of this lack of a concrete sense of geography, the voyage of Starfare's Gem attains a dream-like quality. We head out to Sea, the Land recedes into non-existence. After a time, Bareisle and the land of the Elohim "pop" into existence out of the oblivion of the sea.

Yikes.

You've uncovered something central, MM. I think the dreamlike disconnect between the voyage and the Land goes well beyond an authorial device to leave the "world" open-ended...it confers a liminal quality on the whole voyage.

The Search goes off the edge of the map, as it were, into mare incognitum (I can't very well call it terra incognita--splish, splash ) where literally anything can happen. As someone in Le Guin's Earthsea Trilogy puts it, "Rules change in the Reaches."

The sense of being outside the normal order of being intensifies in Elemesnedene (sp?) and will reach its zenith at

Spoiler

The Isle of the One Tree

.

Now I have a new way of seeing the legend of St. Brendan's sixth-century voyage...he allegedly sailed from Ireland to the Americas in a leather coracle (without benefit of Nicor), encountering dreamlike wonders all the way.

[matrixman]

Yes, Durris, that's it! Outside the normal order of being...sailing off the edge..."here there be dragons--or Elohim..."

Maybe that's what is mesmerizing to me about this voyage. In all the previous books, we've been on solid earth, rock and soil. Unchanging, dependable. Familiar. Take that away, and suddenly the rules change. We're now on the ever-changing, unreliable, unfamiliar waters of the ocean. Indeed anything can happen. Who knows what secrets the sea will reveal, what beauty and terror awaits us out there...?

[kastenessen]

How is it that they "missed" the Land in all their millenia of sea voyaging until Damelon's time? And by the time of the Second Chronicles, after the passage of so much time, you'd think that such irrepressible adventurers as the Giants would have circumnavigated that world several times over already. Yet there's not a hint that they ever "bumped" into the Land in the time between the First and Second Chronicles.

Maybe I'm stretching here, but what do you see when you're getting closer to the coast of The Land, you see a volcano and a swamp, you see the Spoiled Plains and Hotash Slay and maybe even Foul's Creche. It's all hostile territory and I don't know if I would stop there...But if your people were lost, then New Land would be something to look for, so I agreeMM, between the first chrons and the second chrons the Giants, if they found this "new" territory, they must have stopped somewhere to look...or maybe the Land is a land like Avalon, a land beyond a veil...?

Dreamlike it is...

Woodenwold was an ignition of color - flaming red and orange, sparkling yellow, russet and warm brown. And leaves danced about their feet as they walked, wreathing their legs in gay anadems so that they seemed to trail fire and loveliness at every step. Among them, Linden walked as if each stride carried her farther from her mortality.

And this is just the beginning...

kasten

[matrixman]

Yes, the Land might look quite unappealing to anyone approaching along where Foul's Creche once stood. It may be just a sheer cliff now, after the promontory collapsed into the sea at the end of TPTP. The Great Swamp, Ruinwash, Spoiled Plains...the Lower Land is not exactly a tourist mecca, is it?

Avalon...that's something to think about. Hmm...

[Fist and Faith]

Daphin turned to Brinn. "You we do not know. Perhaps the tale of your people will interest us."

I've always been pretty disturbed by this line, and we've discussed it in one thread or other. But since we're in this chapter, what's the deal?? I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that,

Spoiler

from what we're about to learn, it would seem that any of the Elohim can see any part of the Earth - if they look. But the knowledge/awareness is not automatic, they have to direct their attention to specific places.

But still! None of them ever looked around the Westron Mountains? None of them ever felt a pull from the strength of the Earthpower's interaction with the Vow??

[matrixman]

Wow, F&F, I was just thinking similar thoughts!

I was thinking: would it have been different if it were a Bloodguard standing before Daphin and not a "regular" Haruchai? The Elohim would surely feel the Earthpowerful aura of the Vow coming from the Bloodguard. But the presence of a Bloodguard necessitates the presence of a Lord, so my little speculation goes nowhere. The last "Lord" to leave the Land was the Lord-Fatherer, Berek. Wonder if he ever came across the Elohim in his search for the One Tree?

[Durris]

I was thinking: would it have been different if it were a Bloodguard standing before Daphin and not a "regular" Haruchai? The Elohim would surely feel the Earthpowerful aura of the Vow coming from the Bloodguard.

I hadn't thought of this before, but certainly the Earthpower of the Vow was conspicuous to other beings of Earthpower, e.g., the Ranyhyn throughout Bloodguard history (unless it was the moral aspects of the Vow they were responding to, or, since they were in their way telepathic, the mind-speech--probably all of the above) and the lurker in the Sarangrave in TIW.

The illusions, testings, arrogance, and mendacity of the Elohim versus the brittle rectitude of the Vow...not a salutary combination. It's just as well it didn't happen!

[Mystikan]

The Elohim's lack of knowledge of the Haruchai is certainly interesting, and says a lot about the Haruchai. Bearing in mind that the Elohim are Earthpower incarnate, and the Haruchai had sufficient lore of their own to swear a Vow that effectively defied the natural order (the Law), perhaps they were too "close" to percieve each other. Consider the nature of the Vow and the strength of the Haruchai service in defiance of all the odds - can you imagine your common Stonedownor - or even a Lord - being able to defy death in this way? (The Old Lords were supposed to have lived for thousands of years, but all the New Lords lived only slightly extended lifespans) There's much more to the Haruchai than meets the eye.

The Elohim strike me as being ephemeral, ethereal, like the wind and air. Whereas the Haruchai come across as being solid and more than real, like stone and land. So perhaps they are two sides of the Earthpower manifest, and may be too close or possibly "back-to-back", so cannot perceive each others' reality? This dualistic theme is also echoed when Findail and Vail combine to make the Staff of Law V2.0; the etherealness of the Elohim combining with the solid reality of Vain to create a balanced Law. It's interesting to note that while Daphin says "You we do not know" to Brinn, later on, when the Haruchai are expelled from Elemesnedene, we have this point-counterpoint:

But before they were dispelled, Linden caught one piercing glance from Cail, a look of reproach as if he had been betrayed. His voice lingered in her after he was gone.
'We do not trust these Elohim.'
Chant snorted. 'Let him speak of trust when he has become less a fool. These matters are too high for him, and so he thinks in his arrogance to scorn them. He must count himself fortunate that he has not paid the price of our displeasure.'

And in the next paragraph, Linden says:

'We came here in good faith. And the Haruchai are good faith. They don't deserve to be dismissed. I'll be lucky if they ever forgive me. They're never going to forgive you.'

So the antagonism between Haruchai and Elohim is mutual. The fact that the Haruchai explicitly distrust the Elohim suggests an inability to perceive their true nature, as opposed to the fact that the Haruchai can perceive something in other living beings that makes them want to defy life and death to serve them; just as the Elohim had never perceived the Haruchai - and the Elohim don't serve anybody but themselves.

And another thing: note SRD's use of italics and capitals here. I note that almost everything in the books that is directly related to Earthpower in an "ethereal" or "natural" sense is italicised - aliantha, amanibhavam, Melenkurion, lillianrill, rillinlure, etc. Yet things related to Earthpower in a "solid" or "real" sense, like Ranyhyn, Gravelingas, Hirebrand, Stonedownor, etc are not - although they are capitalised. This is no accident - there's a semantic in this use of italics and capitals. Now look at the VERY Earthpowerful nature of names that are italicised AND capitalised: Haruchai, Elohim, Melenkurion, Elemesnedene. And Haruchai is capital-italicised as well as Elohim. This suggests to me that the Haruchai are a lot closer to the Earthpower than we are led to believe, and that this has a lot to do with the Elohim treatment of them.

I can also see in this an echo of Findail's antagonism to Vain - the Elohim seem unable to cope with the solid and real, and the Haruchai have no tolerance for the ethereal (as in they have no use for "lore" etc). Duality again, not so much between good and evil, but in the real versus the ethereal. (And yet again in the theme of the Land versus TC's "real" world). Does this also mean there could be a relationship between Vain and the Haruchai? The mind boggles!

---

Now, the reason I came to this thread in the first place: I was directed here from a discussion of the geology of the Land in another thread. There, I was discussing the location of the realms of the Elohim and Bhrathair in relation to the Land. Matrixman comments that the dissociation of these realms is deliberate; but after seeing this thread, and thinking about what I've posted above, I'd be willing to bet that Melenkurion Skyweir (close to the home of the Haruchai) and Elemesnedene (the home of the Elohim) are diametrically opposed on the Land's planet - in the same way as America and Australia are on opposite sides of the Earth - to reflect this duality.

[matrixman]

So the antagonism between Haruchai and Elohim is mutual. The fact that the Haruchai explicitly distrust the Elohim suggests an inability to perceive their true nature, as opposed to the fact that the Haruchai can perceive something in other living beings that makes them want to defy life and death to serve them; just as the Elohim had never perceived the Haruchai - and the Elohim don't serve anybody but themselves.


the Elohim seem unable to cope with the solid and real, and the Haruchai have no tolerance for the ethereal (as in they have no use for "lore" etc). Duality again, not so much between good and evil, but in the real versus the ethereal.

I'd be willing to bet that Melenkurion Skyweir (close to the home of the Haruchai) and Elemesnedene (the home of the Elohim) are diametrically opposed on the Land's planet - in the same way as America and Australia are on opposite sides of the Earth - to reflect this duality.

Also very acute observation about SRD's use of capitals and italics, Mystikan. It makes a lot of sense to me. The duality of Haruchai and Elohim. Real and ethereal. Wow. You've given us a lot to think about.

Durris, you like looking into the etymology of SRD's words, correct? Mystikan's thoughts on SRD's semantics should complement that well.

[Durris]

Yikes. Every now and again (well, a good deal more frequently than that), I read a post that humbles me thoroughly with its profundity, and this is one of them, Mystikan. I've printed it out to ponder at leisure...I don't yet have a sufficient blood caffeine level today to do metalinguistics onscreen and off-the cuff.

[Fist and Faith]

Truly, Mystikan, extremely well done!! Excellent thoughts on the real/ethereal opposition, and SRD's use of italics! How many times have I said that this site is awesome because of the different views people give us of TCTC!!

This suggests to me that the Haruchai are a lot closer to the Earthpower than we are led to believe

Well, even if we weren't paying enough attention to notice, or didn't understand what was being said, we still had Mhoram's

"In their way they know the name of the Earthpower more surely than any Lord."

The Elohim's lack of knowledge of the Haruchai is certainly interesting, and says a lot about the Haruchai. Bearing in mind that the Elohim are Earthpower incarnate, and the Haruchai had sufficient lore of their own to swear a Vow that effectively defied the natural order (the Law)

I'll have to take issue with this. Although you took it back later.

[kastenessen]

Yes brilliant post Mystikan! When I read Elemesnedene i got the feeling that the Earthblood under Melenkurion Skyweir had it 's total opposite in the river Callowwail's origin: the fountain in the center of the maidan where it sprouted like a geyser...

It's waters arched in clouds and rainbows to fall around the base of the mound, where they collected to form the river. The water looked as edifying as crystal, as qlinquant as faery promises; but the travertine it had formed and dampened appeared obdurate, uncompromising.

kasten