About Caerroil Wildwood.

[The Somberlain]

I never quite understood: is he an Unfettered? Or is a Forestal something different. And am I right in thinking that there's a Forestal for each of the original forests (except, I think, Morinmoss)?

Atiaran told Covenant that some of the Unfettered "follow Caerroil Wildood", but I wasn't quite sure if that meant that they served him, or if they followed his example and became Forestals.

[danlo]

If you have Caer as part of you name you are a Forestal. Wildwood was, most definately, a Forestal.

[Taiga Tzu]

Yes, there was a Forestal for each of the forests, including Morinmoss, that remained after the One Forest was destroyed. Caerroil Wildwood in Garroting Deep, myself in Grimmerdhore, and the others.

No, Caerroil Wildwood was not one of your Unfettered, although, like Caer-Caveral, he was born a human. (I was born a mountain lion.)

To say some Unfettered "followed" Wildwood is something of an exaggeration. By and large, he killed any human that entered the Deep. However, over the centuries, after years of proximity to the Deep, during which they consistently showed their respect for, and desire to help, the green, a few people were allowed to enter the fringes, and learn what the trees were willing to teach them. On a few occasions, Wildwood actually spoke to these individuals. Perhaps once to each in their lifetime. However, he did not teach them. I am unable to say whether or not these humans were Unfettered, as, through our eyes, the power levels of all but the most staggeringly powerful humans are, more or less, the same. Without actually asking, we cannot tell one of you from another. Wildwood never asked.

[The Somberlain]

Oh, I knew he was a Forestal. I was just unclear as to whether a Forestal was simply a "type" of Unfettered, or if it was something entirely different (since Caer-Caveral learned to become a Forestal, I thought that perhaps that's how it always worked).

I could have sworn that one of the remaining parts of the One Forest didn't have a Forestal for some reason. The one that Korik went through in Gilden-fire, I thought. Perhaps I remembered wrongly.

[Fist and Faith]

You remember correctly. Sort of. Caerroil Wildwood was the last living Forestal during the time of the 1st Chrons., which is when Korik, et al, went through Grimmerdhore.

And no, a Forestal is most definitely not a type of Unfettered. The Unfettered are

"...those from the Loresraat who find that they cannot work for the Land or the Lore of the Old Lords in the company of their fellows - Lords or Lorewardens, the followers of Sword or Staff. Those have some private vision which compels them to seek it in isolation. But their need for aloneness does not divide them from the people. They are given the Rites of Unfettering, and freed from all common demands, to quest after their own lore with the blessing of the Lords and the respect of all who love the Land."

The Forestals, otoh, were created by the One Forest, using the knowledge it had gained from the Appointed Elohim that became the Colossus of the Fall. The thing Atiaran said that you refer to is this:

"I have even heard it whispered that some Unfettered follow the legend of Caerroil Wildwood of Garroting Deep, and become Forestals. But that is a perilous thought, even when whispered."

Sounds like the kind of story people tell around campfires. But it couldn't have happened. The One Forest was broken up - basically dead - even before Berek came along. There were no Lords, no Lore, no Unfettered.

Of course, it's conceivable that, at some point in the future, Wildwood made other Forestals, as we would eventually see him do with Hile Troy. Taiga seems to be saying this kind of thing didn't happen through any congenial relationship between an Unfettered and Wildwood, but she didn't say Wildwood never forced such a thing. Hmmmmm........

[matrixman]

Taiga Tzu freaks me out--in a good way--whenever she appears out of the blue to communicate with us mortals. Hail, Forestal Taiga!

[variol son]

I always got the impression that Caer Caveral was the only forestal to have ever been originally human and that all the others; Caerroil Wildwood and his long-dead kin; were created by the trees using one of their own, thanks to the knowledge they gained from the Colossus of the Fall.

[Fist and Faith]

Taiga Tzu freaks me out--in a good way--whenever she appears out of the blue to communicate with us mortals. Hail, Forestal Taiga!

Ain't she somethin'?

vs, I wonder if the One Forest would have considered it poetic justice to turn a human who was cutting down trees into a Forestal. I also wonder if Forestals who were originally different creatures or plants would go about their business in different ways, each somehow doing things in ways that reflect its original species' nature. If that makes sense. Has any of this been asked in the GI?

[duchess of malfi]

As far as I know, no one has asked any questions like that in the GI. I hope someone (looks at Eric) asks something along those lines. The answer might be fascinating.

[dlbpharmd]

(aside to Fist - I posted 2 questions in the GI about the Haruchai, look for them. The questions were the ones that I asked you on the train ride from NYC to Beacon.)

[Cail]

OK, so maybe I'm way off, but I thought the original Forestals were all Elohim.

Am I that far off base?

[dlbpharmd]

Just a bit Cail - the Forestals were created with the knowledge that the Appointed gave to the One Forest - so they are a manifestation of the inherent Earthpower in the trees, not Earthpower incarnate as the Elohim are.

[Fist and Faith]

Yup. Sorry to say, you're waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off base!

Actually, we're never told what beings the One Forest used to make the Forestals. Assuming they weren't like Amok! However, there's no reason at all to think any were Elohim. They gave their Appointed, which became the Colossus, and I imagine they considered that to be their fair share, by a long shot!

[Fist and Faith]

Damn! You beat me by a minute, dlb!! However, you're assuming more than I think we can.

[dlbpharmd]

Oh yeah?!

[Fist and Faith]

Yeah!

We just aren't told much. Were the original Forestals made from other creatures, as Caer-Caveral was made from a human? Or were they made as you say, which sort of makes them Amok-like? Or were they trees? No way of knowing.

[dlbpharmd]

Harumph!

[Cail]

OK, but why wouldn't the Forestals be Elohim? Doesn't that sort of make sense?

[dlbpharmd]

I guess in my way of thinking (but not Fist, who I blow my nose at) the Forestals are similar to Elohim, yet since they were created from the knowledge and power of the One Forest they were not Elohim.

[I'm Murrin]

The Elohim taught the trees how to defend themselves; the trees used this knowledge to create Forestals. I don't think the Forestals were Elohim (the Collosus was).