Esmer and the Elohim

[Borillar]

The more I read about Esmer, the more confused I become. But I think I'll narrow my confusion down to 2 basic questions:

1) The amount of power Esmer commands seems odd, given that neither of his direct parents were Elohim. And since Cail had no such power whatsoever, all the power Esmer has comes from the merewives. We know that Kastenessen's lover learned lore from Kastenessen, and passed at least some of that down to the merewives. But it didn't seem that they possessed the power of Elohim themselves, and Esmer is even one more generation removed...

2) When Linden asks Esmer why he didn't simply go back in time to fetch the Staff for her (given his power to traverse time), he responds that "The Elohim respect the Law of Time. It preserves the Earth. They have no wish to rouse the Worm of the World's End. To that extent, I am bound by their Wurd." But his conflicting personality is driven by Cail and by the merewives, and the merewives, it seems, are seeking to destroy everything, according to Esmer (earlier he tells her "The Dancers of the Sea desire the end of all things"). So why is Esmer bound by the Wurd of the Elohim?

[I'm Murrin]

In the chronicles, much power can be gained through paradox. Esmer is a living paradox, divided against himself, the conflict between his twin natures the catalyst for his power.

And as for his parents - the merewives were half-Elohim, but the grief and anger inherited from their mother made them become what the did. Cail was Haruchai, and we know already that the Haruchai have always been a powerful race; the very fact that they have the mind-speech, made the Vow, and were immune to the sunbane, shows this.
I think perhaps the vitality inherited from his father may have been what brought out his grandfather's Earthpower in Esmer, where it had been less apparent in the merewives.

[JD]

I agree with Murrin, even though Cail didn't have any direct power like a weapon, the Haruchai were an extremely powerful race. Plus Esmer inherited his extreme passion from Cail.

[drew]

I wonder if he also inherited his complete dissrespect for Linden from Cail?

[CovenantJr]

I think he inherited that from me. Bloody Linden

[JD]

Drew the Haruchai/Bloodguard/Masters are very absolute about all aspects of thier Life. Linden gave Cail and the other Haruchai reasons to Doubt her. They in the end were of course, wrong about her.

[variol son]

I think he inherited that from me. Bloody Linden

Silence fiend!

I simply cannot understand how so many people on this site hate Linden. After all, the issues she faces are much more accessable to us than Covenant's. None of us has leprosy, but it's likely that many of us have felt powerless, and desired power yet feared the responsability that accompanies it.

Anyway, that was off topic. Sorry.

Sum sui generis
Vs

[Fist and Faith]

*rassin' frassin'* damned Jane taking over a Tarzan book *grumble*

[variol son]

Oh pshaw! Linden never took over the book. Sure she featured heavily, but usually her crises were related in some way to her relationship with Covenant, and he was the catalyst that set her on her journey in the first place. Without him, Linden would have ended up doing exactly what Foul wanted.

Sum sui generis
Vs

[drew]

I wasn't trying to start Yet another 'Who hates Linden thread'.

But all of the Haruchai on the quest (Brinn mostly) had a real hate-on for Linden...It's possible the Esmer may at some point take a little revenge on behaf of his dad..or he may go the other route, and try to redeem his fathers actions toward Linden

...or possibly it may never come up

[CovenantJr]

I simply cannot understand how so many people on this site hate Linden. After all, the issues she faces are much more accessable to us than Covenant's

Just to cap off this little tangent:

I find Covenant's straits far more comprehensible than Linden's. Ok, I'm no leper, but Covenant's conflictedness and his odd combination of total doubt and unbreakable resolve just resonate with me.

Whereas Linden is just some whingey hag

[variol son]

Oh I just give up. You straight men will never understand her anyways, so why bother?



Sum sui generis
Vs

[onewyteduck]

I don't know that I would have called Linden whiney.......
She was rigid, self-righteous, sanctimonious, unforgiving, holier-than-thou, had tunnel vision and poop that smelled like roses but not whiney!

[CovenantJr]

I didn't call her whiney either I called her whingey She whinges. Maybe that's a Brit word...

She gripes and moans, she's utterly self-absorbed, she seeks to (to coin a phrase that amuses me) snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

She has no strength, no character, no good qualities, no purpose, no commitment, no optimism.

She's a self-centered, self-pitying, insipid, vacuous, petulant, shrill, defeatist, demanding, WHINGEY, resourceless, sheeplike, melodramatic, flimsy, shallow, vapid, parasitic, grasping, emotionally dependent, manipulative, WHINEY harridan with fewer redeeming features than dried vomit.









...And you think Esmer disdains her?

[I'm Murrin]

I didn't call her whiney either

WHINEY harridan

[CovenantJr]

That was intentional, you cheeky monkey

[lurch]

...back to the subject of thread..Esmer,,two sided coin Esmer.
...When taken down a notch or two,,so as to be related to at our level..the character keeps coming back as ,,the nature of Paradox. Paradox itself.
...I suspect the Esmer Character will go thru the biggest arc of change of all the characters. Paradoxes do get resolved in the real and the abstract.
...Consider the paradox of Esmer. He Is Change,,a constant flip flop between his extremes. So, how does he get "resolved",,what kind of change can he go thru if he is constantly changing?,,,He finds a stability.
Perhaps in death,,perhaps in one of the extremes he vascilates between but not both,,or perhaps in an totally new evolutionary character. In any sense,,the paradox that he is,,has to be resolved.
...And Linden may be the catalyst for that. Esmer is demonstrated for us in Runes, but not changed. I doubt a blast from the stick would be enuf to shock him into stability. Perhaps a bit of micro-surgery with ring and stick on the ole frontal lobotomy..erase his memory...naaa,,i can't see Stave throwing the water fountain thru the arch of time...well.......................
...There is a respect and acknowledgement of radical random events that we have no control of ,intervening into our lives and inflicting pain. There is also as one has bannered in every post..the saying about saving the world with random acts of kindness. Older folks know of both. Younger are too busy living and full o0f knowledge that they will live forever. I suspect a younger SRD could not have created a Esmer Character. Perhaps bewteen his extremes he will finally find compassion. Linden has to get him there. In any case, Esmer is a key character and the One to keep an eye on. There is just too much unkown energy contained in him ....MEL

[Usivius]

(Bump, because it was the only thread on Esmer I could find)


I am half way through my second read of Runes, and I am struck by how pathetic a being Esmer is. Not in a writing stand point (he is a great character), but after all the whining on Runes about Linden and Anele, etc. I found it interesting that no one finds Esmer pathetic.

He constantly gives excuses that it is his nature that compells him to do things, like kill/beat the crap out of Haruchai. He uses this as an excuse for deplorable behaviour and lack of assistance.
Granted, he is a mix of two incredibly apposing races and influences, but, sheesh, show some balls guy....
(OK, I know... I'm in full rant here... )
The 'best' characters are those who go outside their nature to improve or better themselves. Yes, someone mentioned that it is quite possible that Esmer might provide the greatest charcter arc. Well, for his sake, I hope so.

[dlbpharmd]

To me, Esmer is like Amok in TIW. He cannot change the way he is. He exists based on a set of rules that he cannot disobey.

[Relayer]

Thanks for the bump, U.

2) When Linden asks Esmer why he didn't simply go back in time to fetch the Staff for her (given his power to traverse time), he responds that "The Elohim respect the Law of Time. It preserves the Earth. They have no wish to rouse the Worm of the World's End. To that extent, I am bound by their Wurd."

After saying that he is bound to respect the Law of Time, he time-travels back to the same time as Linden anyway. It doesn't seem that he was within the caesure. When Linden asks him "what are you doing here" he replies that he does have some of the freedoms of the Elohim. Paradox indeed! Or simply a liar.