: However, isn't it more likely that Shiver and
: Soulblighter have a long history of hatred, than of
: love? I don't think Myrdred's crack about
: "strange bedfellows" would sting much if
: they really were together; you get over being
: embarrassed about having a boyfriend in junior high.
: (Granted, Shiver isn't the most mature and
: well-adjusted individual around.) And there wouldn't
: even be a point to calling her a "lowly camp
: follower." She'd know that's not true--she's
: Soulblighter's main squeeze! (And it's not just about
: sex, either--the guy loves her for her mind,
: dontchaknow!) I should also point out that
: "retribution" means "revenge," not
: "repentance." The Deceiver isn't atoning for
: anything, or trying to be good; he just wants to kick
: ass on all his old rivals. As for Shiver, she
: presumably wants revenge on the Light for her last
: defeat.
Yes, all this is good. Thanks for teh pointer about retribution.
: It seems to me the most likely scenario is
: that Soulblighter and Shiver were once rivals, but
: that when he resurrected her with Tramist's Mirror, he
: managed to gain her subservience through force, fear
: or her desire for revenge. Myrdred's taunts point out
: that she now finds herself working for an old enemy.
Yet another good idea. And your point above about Shiver, if she is Bonesplitter, being 'turned from the light', pretty much rules out the theory that she helped Damas discover his Evil Temple of Doom(tm).
: No one seems to have observed (maybe I just missed the
: post) that Soulblighter may very well be older than
: Balor.
Older than Balor as Balor, certainly. Older than Balor as Connacht? Well, nothing says he's not, but I doubt that he is.
: The journal writer implies that the Deceiver
: has been evil for over a millenium
Not neccesarily. It says he was an Avatara of the Wind Age, meaning he was around sometime in the 500-odd years between when Connacht arose and when he turned into Balor. But he wasn't evil then, not until Balor bent him to his will.
: and if Shiver is
: the Myrmidon queen she's been evil for--well, I don't
: actually remember if the flavor says how long ago the
: Myrmidons were seduced by the Dark Side(tm), but it
: was probably quite a while.
300 years previous to Myth:TFL, Balor subborned the Myrmidons.
: But neither the Deceiver
: nor Shiver (if she's Bonesplitter) is considered an
: "ancient evil," so the Watcher, Soulblighter
: and The Voiceless One must have been evil considerably
: longer--meaning before Connacht became Balor. Of
: course, we know that the Watcher was already annoying
: Connacht before he became Balor. But what about Damas?
: The sobriquet "Soulblighter" implies that
: he's known for, and skilled at, turning people to the
: Dark (as evinced by all those brigands and dark
: archers). I suspect that he was a Fallen Lord long
: before Connacht even arose; instead of being stupid
: and fighting Connacht directly like the Watcher did,
: he masked his evil (maybe he hadn't yet mutilated
: himself) and managed to become Connacht's lieutenant
: and advisor. Over the years he first got Connacht to
: acquire all the artifacts of power that he could, and
: then set about turning Connacht to the Dark.
[gong!]
Now *that* is an idea...
I presume you know my Head-theory, yes? The anti-Leveler? Where the Head has been around for six thousand years, making sure the Leveler is defeated on schedule every time, usually at his own expense? What if Soulblighter is the anti-anti-Leveler, befriending each hero and then turning them to the dark? Or what if Soulblighter *is* the Leveler? Don't you think it's odd that now, in the *seventh* cycle, Soulblighter would take actions which could possibly break the cycle, *and* Soulblighter dies in the process? And the Head seems to have dissapeared as well, after Myth:TFL.
To quote Bob, "I've got a bad feeling about this..."
: Meanwhile, Damas secretly recruited Shiver and her
: Myrmidons, the Deceiver and the Faceless Man. Only
: when Connacht gave himself over to evil and became
: Balor did Damas reveal his true nature and receive the
: name "Soulblighter" for his skill at
: seduction. This would explain why the younger Fallen
: Lords, Shiver and the Deceiver, both dislike
: Soulblighter. (At least, Shiver does in my scenario.)
: Though they're too far gone to return to the Light,
: they still remember what life was like before the
: "indesribable agonies of the Fallen" and
: hate the man who persuaded them to join the Dark in
: the first place.
That makes sense.
: One last, not-very-meaningful comment--could there be
: some connections between the Trow and the Myrmidons,
: and the Myrmidons and the Ghols? I'm just thinking
: about a Ghol/Myrmidon connection because Ghol names
: seem like simplified versions of Myrmidon names.
: Myrmidons have two-part noun-verb names like
: "Bonesplitter" and "Fleshtearer;"
: Ghols have one-part verbal names like
: "Splitter" and "Butcherer." I
: can't make any coherent theory out of this tidbit, but
: do the Ghols perhaps idolize and try to emulate the
: Myrmidons?
Someone else has pointed out that Zerks and Myrms have similar names; "Thrudnir Clasher of Shields" becomes "Shieldclasher", etc.
: The possible Trow/Myrmidon connection is historical, and
: its validity depends on exactly when the Myrmidons
: were zombified. I know it says they were made
: "immortal", but as far as I remember they
: behave in gameplay like any other undead creature,
: immune to gas and harmed by journeyman healing. There
: was an inconclusive argument on this a little while
: ago in this forum--if you can settle it, Forrest,
: please do.
I don't remember their game stats by heart, so I'll take your word for it. What I do remember is their story; they were a northern tribe, likely related to the zerks, who were subborned by Balor 300 years ago, leaving their kinfolk behind and thus becoming "the kithless". Their reward for serving Balor was immortality. Eternal life. But, not eternal youth. The are still alive, but their bodies are decaying, held together by bandages, like mummies. Most of their soft tissue has rotted away, and their jaws have fallen off, leaving them mute other than the groans and grunts made as they exhale. Their favored weapon is the gristhma blade, two curved steel blades capped on the end of a human femur.
Presumably they died when Balor did, as whatever magics holding them together were destroyed along with him. At least the Nine were right about that much.
: I posted a suggestion that they're
: considered immortal because their personalities
: survived the transition from life to undeath, whereas
: ordinary undead like Thrall and Wights are totally
: mindless, mentally dead. Anyway, if they weren't
: zombified much more than a millenium ago I think Damas
: and Bahl'al probably did it, but if the Myrmidons are
: older than that then it must have been the Trow, who
: had the Dream of Unlife before any of the current
: Fallen. (Even if the Myrmidons aren't undead, if the
: Trow had the Dream of Unlife they probably had the
: means to make Myrmidons too.) This would fit in with
: the Roman character of the Trow and the Greek name
: "Myrmidon;" as the Romans did to the Greeks,
: so the Trow conquered and enslaved the Myrmidons. Of
: course, this only makes sense if the Myrmidons were
: created much longer ago than they probably were, so
: think of this as a backup theory (I always carry a
: spare).
Unfortunately, this spare is flat :\
