[Maiablackwolf]

Post-Singing speculation thread. Because we were starting a discussion in another thread and it seemed about time to make this one.

The current conversation was about Nim and Maerad and whether they might have been friends (or even more!) under different circumstances.

One thing I'd have loved to see is how much of the Gift Nim really has. Maerad noted that he had at least something, because he was an unnaturally good navigator. Does it mean that he has a propensity for music too? Can he learn the Speech faster than other normal people (normal people did learn it once in a while; remember Har-Ytan), and might he live a tad longer? I think Maerad might get the chance to find out again if she ever meets him under different circumstances. Especially if he came to Annar! It'd be so cute! :D

[PellinorFanatic]

I don't love the idea of NxM as much as MxC but it still has its cuteness!!! :D I never really thought of Nim coming back to visit Maerad, but now I really want to know what happens!! xD

[Maiablackwolf]

Well, he'd almost certainly be a part of the making of any peace treaty, since he has ties to Maerad. I think that once things got a bit better, he might be more willing to leave his grandmother and sister for a while; for some reason I picture the Jussack culture growing a little gentler by necessity after a treaty with the Pilanel, which means he might be more comfortable letting them fend for themselves, at least for a little while. Just because it'd be adorable to see him discover that world beyond, just like he and Maerad were talking about, even though they thought it was something that'd never come true.

[Eyes of Wolf]

Considering, I think Nim is incredibly lucky he met Maerad. This way, he's likely to see places and have freedom and do everything he wanted to.

I'm pretty sure that they would have made contact. Maerad would definitely have remembered his kindness to her; after all, she did give him her Pellinor brooch. So they would have been friends, definitely.

[Maiablackwolf]

Exactly. Aww, I just invisioned them meeting again, and he returns the brooch, saying something about it being hers and too valuable to have been given away... so cute!

I wonder, would the Jussacks be more accepting of Maerad because she indirectly brought about Amusk's downfall? They did fear him, despite the fact that he was sort of their leader. Then again, they kind of worshipped Arkan, or at least it was implied; after the Treesong was released, his presence would probably have left the area for the most part, which could leave them feeling a bit lost. That might be good (they admired him because they feared him) or bad (they admired him because they liked him). I think it's fear, though. Remember Gima (that was her name, right?).

[The Singer]

How would've Arkan's presence left after the Release? It was just mutually and universally agreed and thought that the Elidhu never contacted humans again but still lived as they used to?

[Maiablackwolf]

Perhaps you're right; I haven't read The Singing since I bought it, and only now am I rereading, but I've only just gotten to the part in which Cadvan and Maerad leave Innail for the second time. I was under the impression that the Elidhu sort of faded into the earth, so that they kind of became part of it; remember what Hem (or was it Maerad?) thought about Elidhu being sort of like places; Arkan was his mountain and the surrounding area, Nyanar was the Glandugir Hills, and (I find it hard to remember this) perhaps Ardina was Rachida? As opposed to taking on forms such as a human body (all of them but the Landrost, so far as we know) or a stag (Nyanar) or a wolf (Ardina). And I did say 'for the most part', so that he'd still be there, just... not so much a 'he' as a part of the mountains and snow. In effect, I think we're saying almost exactly the same thing. :p

[Eyes of Wolf]

I don't remember anything about what happened to the Elidhu after the Singing. O.O Maybe my memory is failing, or something. ;) But it seems to me, independently of the book evidence, which I shall have to read again, that they would have still existed, just more as spirits than as real "beings" with powers.

The Jussacks probably feared Arkan more than liked him, but even a harsh master is a master, and he was their defining purpose, so I imagine they would have welcomed being given a new set of tasks to do and settling into a new way of life without fighting the Pilanel.

[Maiablackwolf]

Hmmmm. While I do agree they'd probably have enjoyed the freedom, I also suspect that could possibly lead to more raids on the Pilanel; we see Dharin's disgust for the Jussacks, and even Nim, who is so kind to Maerad, hates the Pilanel vehemently. It's obviously something that was nurtured in both of them from a young age...

The exact sentence used: "a truce was brokered between the Pilanel and the Jussacks in the north-- an effort led, it seems, by Maerad herself."

To me this suggests "I won't steal your stuff if you don't steal mine" as opposed to "let's be best friends!!" ;) Maybe not welcomed the Pilanel, but I agree about a different lifestyle.

Still, I can't see them suddenly becoming harmless farmers... :rolleyes: Well, except Nim.

[The Singer]

Wow... From Elidhu to Jussack farmers?!?!?

Elidhu are quite like the Greek Gods, and I think it said many times in the Appendices too. The only difference maybe the intensity and quality of the emotions of Elidhu. Like, the Greek Gods interact often, and they are also shown as having common emotions like jealousy, something which seems lacking in the Elidhu.
So my analysis is that when the society of Edil-Amarandh was destroyed by meteorites, something changed the balance of the Earth, and because of this cosmic influence and also because of Earth's affected features (magnetic energy, core etc.) it affected the livestyle of the immortal Elidhu. They banished themselves into their elements. Finally, after countless millenia, when humans appeared again, their lifestyle was so different that the Elidhu found themselves interacting with humans as Gods. So under Pellinorite categories, we can say that Elidhu are nothing but the Gods we worship today.

Howzzat?