Kevin's Watch

Upon thinking about the land summons things, one thing baffles me...


Supposedly, upon leaving the land, the person that entered it is in the exact same physical condition they were when they entered it--same cuts, bruises, etc...

But that can't be true. All that walking they do has to give them some sort of physical conditioning and definition that simply doesn't go away that quickly. All that time in the sun must give them a tan. (No, this is not a spoiler, but in Runes, Linden got a tan!) There's no way all of that stuff can simply vanish before they leave...

So, what happens to it? Yes, they generally leave in the same exhausted state that they do when they enter, but being exhausted doesn't make muscle definition go away.

It's probably a good thing that Covenant wasn't terribly observant about this, because it'd either fuel or disavow his unbelief!

In Runes, Linden thinks about this. At one point she thinks to herself that she is out of shape from not having maintained the physical state that she obtained from her months with Covenant in the Land.

That's the only place I've ever seen it mentioned.

Akasri wrote:In Runes, Linden thinks about this. At one point she thinks to herself that she is out of shape from not having maintained the physical state that she obtained from her months with Covenant in the Land.

That's the only place I've ever seen it mentioned.

If it's retained in her transfer back to real life, why didn't Covenant ever notice it in his various trips... *boggle*

He may have saved the Land, little girls, and the souls of Giants everywhere, but he's certainly not a very observant person.

Wait a flippin' minute!

At the end of Lord Foul's Bane, when Covenant and the Questers are on the slopes of Mount Thunder, Covenant is hale and totally free of leprosy, and has nerves on fire with aliveness in all his extremities.

And then when Drool dies, Covenant "falls out of" the Land, and find himself in hospital, back with leprosy and dead nerves.

Talk about PHYSICAL CONDITION!

Insanity Falls wrote:Wait a flippin' minute!

At the end of Lord Foul's Bane, when Covenant and the Questers are on the slopes of Mount Thunder, Covenant is hale and totally free of leprosy, and has nerves on fire with aliveness in all his extremities.

And then when Drool dies, Covenant "falls out of" the Land, and find himself in hospital, back with leprosy and dead nerves.

Talk about PHYSICAL CONDITION!

If you also remember, he makes a big deal about shaving, and then getting stabbed/bruised/cut/scraped etc in the same pattern...

It's rather inconsistant...

Rather than a change in physical condition, things such as Covenant's leprosy and Hile Troy's blindess are a change in perception. While in the Land, their sensitivity to the world around them is different - and Covenant being 'healed' is a change to his senses, just as the Healthsight is a change to senses, which does not remain on a return to the real world. If you pay attention you'll note that one physical change in the Land in particular was not reversed - Covenant stops being impotent in the real world as well as the Land.

One thing I've always noticed, but never made a deal about was his hair. He always noticed his facial hair, but his real hair would have grown noticably in the few months he spent in the Land.
-also-why doesn't anybody ever take a dump, or a leak?

drew wrote:-also-why doesn't anybody ever take a dump, or a leak?

Is that really something you'd want to see?

I was just kidding...but really, you never hear about it in any fantasy lit. I mean if it goes into detail about how a camp was set up, why woulnd't a latrine be dug?

Prothal to Bannor,"Okay, Tuvor is feeding the Ranhyn, I will start a fire, could you dig a latrine? I've got to pinch one off"

EW!!! Yeah I almost threw away The Dragonbone Chair after Simon used the privy as a shortcut through the castle...

The Pumpkin King wrote:Upon thinking about the land summons things, one thing baffles me...


Supposedly, upon leaving the land, the person that entered it is in the exact same physical condition they were when they entered it--same cuts, bruises, etc...

Another aspect of this physical congruence I have thought about is predestination. From the time they are summoned to the time they leave the summoned are bound to arrive at some point were their original conditions matched. This would imply that the summond are not truely free, that they are bound to follow some plan until their summoner dies and they are wisked back to "reality". Thier fate seems un avaoidable. So much for free will...

well that's what adds up to the Unbelievability-ness of it.

Murrin wrote:... If you pay attention you'll note that one physical change in the Land in particular was not reversed - Covenant stops being impotent in the real world as well as the Land.

Now where did you see that! I don't remember TC doing anyone outside the Land!

He tells Linden at some point that he used to be impotent, but not since he went to the Land.

Murrin wrote:He tells Linden at some point that he used to be impotent, but not since he saved the Land first time round.

I'm pretty sure that his impotence isn't so much a physical thing as a psychological thing.

He had been trained at the leprosarium to accept that he was, in fact, an impotent person--in every respect of the word. That he had no place for emotion, or pleasure in his life.

I believe that his first trip to the Land changed how he thought of himself. That he was capable of caring about someone... and capable of... eheh... other excertions, too.

Probably true. I just tried looking up the quote, and it seems to be how he thinks of it ('The Graveller' in tWL, if anyone's interested, btw). I rescind my statement that it was a physical change.

Covenant or Lindens bodies stay in our world. In the second Chronicles Linden is sent back briefly to our World by Covenant to save his life (and save her from suffering in the Land - I think). Perhaps we should be asking how come they have a body in the Land!

Murrin wrote:

drew wrote:-also-why doesn't anybody ever take a dump, or a leak?

Is that really something you'd want to see?

Read George R R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (first book is A Game of Thrones). All manner of bodily functions are incorporated into the narrative. If you think Mordant's Need is graphic, Martin's series is much more so, though excellently written and addictively entertaining.

also-why doesn't anybody ever take a dump, or a leak?

Hope this isn’t too much of a spoiler, but in Runes there’s a brief description of Stonedowner indoor plumbing.

Aranion wrote:

Murrin wrote:

drew wrote:-also-why doesn't anybody ever take a dump, or a leak?

Is that really something you'd want to see?

Read George R R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (first book is A Game of Thrones). All manner of bodily functions are incorporated into the narrative. If you think Mordant's Need is graphic, Martin's series is much more so, though excellently written and addictively entertaining.

Read them. Long ago (year or two, anyway).