Small, random questions about RotE that still bother you (spoilers all RotE books)

[Farseer]

^ still to trawl through old posts re the beautiful woman and crone, as well as take some extra time to think but just a quick question for the day:

Was there a reason why there were not enough heads to match bodies when Kettricken found the remains of Verity's party far up in the Mountains in AQ? Was this just a simple device for RH to disallow verification of numbers to the reader; did it mean that animals found their way into the remains after the attack; that the attackers bore away trophies from their kills OR was there something more? Or nothing?

EDIT: Tsk, see!! I told you it always happens to me! I put another 'up arrow' to refer to the previous post and here I am again, at the top of the next page!

[mcfee]

Hey! Been having a quick browse through this forum to see if anyone has any ideas on my random question that bothers me but I haven't seen it mentioned...although in all honestly I haven't read through every single page to forgive me if i've missed it!
What I've been trying to figure out on my re-read through the books is the large presence Fitz and Dutiful feel on the beach when they get stranded on The Other's Island. Dutiful feels it as a male presence and Fitz as a female almost mothering figure. It appears again when Fitz is travelling from the Glacier Island in the Outislands back to Buck through the Skill Pillar for the last time. Fitz seemed to think it took on the figure that each person wanted - Fitz missing/wanting a mother figure, and Dutiful not having his father. To me it seems as if the Skill comes from this being or something? And also seems bigger (and nicer lol) than a dragon? I don't know why but it almost came across as Gods or Stars maybe? I know that sounds random lol

Anyway if anyone has any ideas or if there is some clue that I've missed I would love to hear them

[Farseer]

Welcome to thePlenty forums, McFee!

We have had this discussion a few times but I am hard-pressed to find most of the posts myself as they are likely to be all over the place...not that we have come up with an accurate answer yet!

To begin with, take a look at post #4 in the Mythical Creatures thread, and any following discussion. We 'weave in and out' within the thread but I know I raised it again at least at post #55. Actually, I have something else to add there now that I think of it!

Great to have you here with us, McFee.

---

Oh! As for stars, take a look at post #3 here in the 'The Skill and The Wit' thread, where I started a discussion on them. It also kind of flows over to the 'The Circle of Magic' thread but there are links in the thread for you to follow.

I don't think your theories on gods and stars sound random at all!

Maybe even a glimpse at post #13 onward in the What does the name "Farseer" really mean? thread would help to get you thinking even more...or otherwise place you in a tighter tangle. The latter is what has happened to me!

[KeyIsland]

Okay So I just finished the three Liveship books and still feel like there should be another book to clear up all of the characters "Happy Endings"! ( Sorry about all the names spelt wrong even though i read all the books I still don't know how to spell them! )
But okay I have a few questions still.

1. At the end of Ship of destiny the last conversation that malta and Reyn had, Does that mean they slept together?

2. Is Wintrow the Pirate King? Or is he just the Pirate captain of Vivicia?

3. What the heck is Kennits wizardwood charm all about!? Like.. The charm was in love with Etta? and he wanted to keep Wintrow and Etta alive but at the end it never told us the exact reason for its motivation!

4. Why did Bolt want Kennit and Etta to have a kid?

5. When do we get to find out what was all in Kennits mansion on Key Island!

6.! So if the Fool is amber and vice versa and we expect that the Liveship series is in between assassins and the Golden fool Series, but why is she amber and then gold? Because You would think that Gold would come before Amber!

7. I think it was in Mad Ship Athea was about to be raped by one of the men and when she talked about him she said that he was brashens rapist?! When did we find out about that! or was I reading it wrong

And overall I just wished Wintrow would have had a killer ending where everyone would be so surprised that he had become a pirate from where he was in the beginning of the book but no one really was in awe of him, in fact I found that Selden was more glorified then Wintrow was!

Sorry For all the questions but I was pretty bent out of shape when I finished the book and would like to hear your answers!

['thul]

well, the story isnt finished just because the liveship trilogy is done. There's the tawny man and the rain wild chronicles series that follow it, from the latter two books are still unpublished.

so answers:
1.

Spoiler

Yes, they sleep together. But as of several years later, they have not had a child that survived.

2. Not sure, yes and no. Kennit's child is the heir, but is obviously too young to rule. Wintrow could be construed as the regent until the child grows up.

3. Its a wild card, not too much is known about it. It could essentially be a draconian form of Kennit, with such aspects enhanced.

4. Who knows? maybe Bolt wanted a child to raise, having been denied regular reproduction?

5. It would appear it was not so much his mansion as it is his father's. Thus the project isnt so important to him, let alone to his successors.

6. amber is a paler color than gold.

[mcfee]

Welcome to thePlenty forums, McFee!

We have had this discussion a few times but I am hard-pressed to find most of the posts myself as they are likely to be all over the place...not that we have come up with an accurate answer yet!

To begin with, take a look at post #4 in the Mythical Creatures thread, and any following discussion. We 'weave in and out' within the thread but I know I raised it again at least at post #55. Actually, I have something else to add there now that I think of it!

Great to have you here with us, McFee.

---

Oh! As for stars, take a look at post #3 here in the 'The Skill and The Wit' thread, where I started a discussion on them. It also kind of flows over to the 'The Circle of Magic' thread but there are links in the thread for you to follow.

I don't think your theories on gods and stars sound random at all!

Maybe even a glimpse at post #13 onward in the What does the name "Farseer" really mean? thread would help to get you thinking even more...or otherwise place you in a tighter tangle. The latter is what has happened to me!

Thanks for the welcome You have definitely give me plenty to think about and read over - great!! I will get milling through and see what ideas bounce off each other as I go. I had no idea so many people love the books!! I only know one or two other people who have read them, so reading comments from so many other people gives great angles I've never noticed before, so this website was a great wee find. Good skills to whoever put it together

Thanks again for giving the newby some directions

[fool-ish]

I don't know if this has been talked about before (time gets in the way of post-trawling, alas) but when Amber is re-carving Paragon's face, there is a moment when she is running her hands around it glove-less and hence the skill imprint is 'active' as it were. So, now I'm wondering if the skill from Amber's hand has had any effect on Paragon? Would he have felt or known about fool's torture and death and would he have any awareness at all of Fitz? Or is wizardwood impervious to the skill? Though Tintaglia making her presence felt in Fitz's 'skill dreams' with Nettle says to me that dragons aren't impervious so perhaps their cocoon material isn't either? Gah! I'd hate to think of Paragon being tormented so..obsessed, over-emotional fool that I am.

[Nuytsia]

Okay So I just finished the three Liveship books and still feel like there should be another book to clear up all of the characters "Happy Endings"! ( Sorry about all the names spelt wrong even though i read all the books I still don't know how to spell them! )
But okay I have a few questions still.

1. At the end of Ship of destiny the last conversation that malta and Reyn had, Does that mean they slept together?

2. Is Wintrow the Pirate King? Or is he just the Pirate captain of Vivicia?

3. What the heck is Kennits wizardwood charm all about!? Like.. The charm was in love with Etta? and he wanted to keep Wintrow and Etta alive but at the end it never told us the exact reason for its motivation!

4. Why did Bolt want Kennit and Etta to have a kid?

5. When do we get to find out what was all in Kennits mansion on Key Island!

6.! So if the Fool is amber and vice versa and we expect that the Liveship series is in between assassins and the Golden fool Series, but why is she amber and then gold? Because You would think that Gold would come before Amber!

7. I think it was in Mad Ship Athea was about to be raped by one of the men and when she talked about him she said that he was brashens rapist?! When did we find out about that! or was I reading it wrong

And overall I just wished Wintrow would have had a killer ending where everyone would be so surprised that he had become a pirate from where he was in the beginning of the book but no one really was in awe of him, in fact I found that Selden was more glorified then Wintrow was!

Sorry For all the questions but I was pretty bent out of shape when I finished the book and would like to hear your answers!

Wow I wasn't bent out of shape until after I read the Tawny Man trilogy!

I haven't progressed far enough in my LST re-read to comment on some of your questions, but:

3. I'm also intrigued as to why the charm is so miffed at the way Kennit treats Etta. Maybe it's just a nice guy? But seriously, I don't know!

6. I'm not sure whether Amber or Gold is definitely darker, but I did notice that when Amber changes on board Paragon Althea describes her as looking 'tanned' and 'tawny'. That definitely seems darker than Gold to me! I think it's just a slight error personally, but I'd be open to explanations!
That reminds me, has anyone done a list of the times the Fool changes colour and what has prompted each one?

7. From memory what she means by 'Brashen's rapist' is that Brashen mentioned one of the crew he had obtained was a rapist. (So he's one of Brashen's crew who is also a rapist). She doesn't mean he was a man that had raped Brashen.

Re Wintrow's ending, I wished he could have gone back to being a priest
But I'm sure he's not your run of the mill pirate captain...!

I don't know if this has been talked about before (time gets in the way of post-trawling, alas) but when Amber is re-carving Paragon's face, there is a moment when she is running her hands around it glove-less and hence the skill imprint is 'active' as it were. So, now I'm wondering if the skill from Amber's hand has had any effect on Paragon? Would he have felt or known about fool's torture and death and would he have any awareness at all of Fitz? Or is wizardwood impervious to the skill? Though Tintaglia making her presence felt in Fitz's 'skill dreams' with Nettle says to me that dragons aren't impervious so perhaps their cocoon material isn't either? Gah! I'd hate to think of Paragon being tormented so..obsessed, over-emotional fool that I am.

I'm not sure what specific effect the Skill touched fingers would have had on Paragon, if any. It may be akin to the fact that dragons seem to be able to actually drink the liquid Skill itself (that got on her hands) without any ill effects (as Tintaglia implies when she visits Kelsingra), so maybe it would have a lesser effect on Paragon than on a human.
I do know that (before the face carving) Paragon says something like Amber is the only one that can stop him knowing her thoughts? (that seems a bit wrong, err it was something LIKE that). Anyway, it indicated that there were memories she purposely withheld from him, and I suspect this would continue to be the case after she touched him with Skill fingers. I'm sure she would spare him knowing her worst memories.

[fool-ish]

I like to think she would spare him that too. It was the glove-less thing really, as it's a rare occurrence for them to be taken off which made me think she was using her 'skilled' hand for some purpose when carving.

[Nuytsia]

Coincidentally I just read in SoM the bit where Althea is going over to Vivacia from Paragon in the boat and she recalls Amber sitting on Paragon's railing near the figurehead and speaking some prophetic words then getting off, dusting her hands on her pants and putting her gloves back on.
So it seems as if she may touch the (wizardwood part?) ship without gloves regularly before the carving?