art...(spoilers all RotE books)

[Farseer]

I've always imagined the crest as more of a bony protrusion with small spines along the top, much like that of a dilaphosaurus', but much smaller and narrower:

[Image: DNCPn.jpg]

Yes, this is the kind of thing I was thinking of, too, but in a more tiara-like style. It appears that my negative feelings for certain characters have coloured how attentively I read them however ( !!) as I have just found this passage regarding Malta's crest, from SOD, Chapter Twenty, 'Prisoners':

The scar was far worse than she had imagined. It stood up, a double ridge of pale, rippling flesh that reached almost to her nose and disapeared in her hair. She had touched the lumpy cicatrix in disbelief...

From this, it is apparent that her crest is positioned much as it is on your dilaphosaurus, redchild.

But then again, who says every Elderling has to have identical crests?

So true! It appears that Elderlings often had many physical variations. More on than later though, in a different location...

EDIT: Oh, I also added a spoiler tag for RWC and LST.