Other Characters

**ServalSpirit** · August 29th, 2008, 07:30 AM

Hmm, I think Sharma quite possibly had black skin before he became the Nameless, and then he was only able to take evil, twisted forms that are monstruous for the eye to behold, or something like that, according to Cadvan.

Also, I think he was a king (probably born into the royal family) before he became evil. At the begining of the Gift/ Naming (when they are walking after leaving Gilman's Cot) Cadvan tells Maerad that there arose a king in the south who feared to die like ordinary men and sought instead endless life. He envied the powers of the Light and desired them for his own. And then, masking his intent, he approached the Bards of Afinil and asked for tutelage, and, harboring no suspicion in their hearts, gladly they gave it to him.

Soooooo, this brings up another point. Was he alreadya Bard when he became king? There were only Maninaë, and maybe one or two others who were both, but I can't think how he got the Gift if he wasn't a Bard. Or did he not have the Gift?? He must have to have been accepted and taught in Afinil........

**Ashe** · August 29th, 2008, 08:40 AM

I don't think Sharma had black skin. Remember Orona and Til-naga? They had lighter skin (like Baladhians, I think), and they were Bards of Dén Raven. He was a Bard, though. Otherwise, how is he meant to have cast off his Name? And how could he summon the Shika?

Incidentally, I think it mentions somewhere that Maninaë's Gift wasn't actually very strong...

**ServalSpirit** · August 29th, 2008, 08:59 AM

Yes, he must have been a Bard, but why didn't he go to a school before? Cadvan said once that any kings who were Bards had to (or usually did) renounce their Gift, but there's also the whole thing about Mirka, and people with the Gift who did not learn their Name. It said they went mad, or something, if they didn't access their full powers, so how exactly does that work? How did Sharma and Maninaë avoid going mad before they decided to become Bards?

And I think you're right about Orona and Til-Naga.

I forgot that Den Raven Bards had lighter skin like Baladhians.

**Ashe** · August 29th, 2008, 09:08 AM

I think it depends on how you control your Gift. The Pilani have ways of doing that, and so do the Bards. Look at Sirkana- she's not mad! Maninaë was probably taught by the Bards, and Sharma was too, and I think going mad depends how long you don't control your Gift- Sharma and Maninaë must've been in their twenties or thirties when they were taught. As for Mirka, she went insane due to extreme grief at the murder of her family.

**ServalSpirit** · August 29th, 2008, 09:14 AM

Was it really just because of grief?

It didn't have anything at all to do with her having the Gift?

**Ashe** · August 29th, 2008, 09:22 AM

It said that "Her Gift turned on her", so I think that her grief made her lose control of her Gift, and she slowly went insane.

**ServalSpirit** · August 29th, 2008, 12:17 PM

It's possible. But on page 264 of the Riddle, American edition, it says, "Mirka had said the same thing, but Mirka fitted much better the usual idea of the unSchooled Bard: a tragic figure, whose Gift, left to itself, had turned against her, or had never developed in the way it should." So I think that is why she was half-mad, although grief certainly helped.

So, I still don't quite understand how Maninaë might have renounced his Gift. He was, until a time, unable to develop it, because then he would not have been able to be King, so did he learn in secret? Or just happen to be crowned VERY young? (He would probably have had to have been in his teens)

Hmm, I wonder if Maerad would have gone mad if she hadn't been found by Cadvan? She still didn't have the Speech, so it would have been a while before she did, but... interesting thought! Maybe someone could write a fic about that.

**Bree** · August 29th, 2008, 12:43 PM

Yes, he must have been a Bard, but why didn't he go to a school before?

Was this not in the time before the Schools existed, and there was only Afinil? Or maybe he wanted to be taught in Afinil, because it was the centre of learning, and he wanted nothing less.

**anirandom** · July 25th, 2009, 12:47 PM

I remember Silvia and Malgorn said that it was an accident but did they ever elaborate on it?

Also did Maerad ever had children??

**Sirkana** · July 26th, 2009, 05:27 AM

It was a horse-riding accident, I believe.

I'm not sure if Maerad had children, I seem to remember that the apppendices leave it open.

**cottonbutterfly** · August 16th, 2009, 07:28 PM

I wonder what kind of children they would be. Very strong Bards, Bards at all?

I love Mirka and Silvia! For no reason, really. Except for maybe Silvia is just a mother like type and Mirka healed Maerad!