Joining Damien & co - why?

[carmentalis.livejournal.com]

I'm currently rereading Black Sun Rising - a lot of fun, especially all those little remarks and comments which are so incredibly ironic when you know what's going to happen afterwards. Many books are better when they're read a second (or third, or fourth) time, and to me the Coldfire trilogy is no exception there.


Anyway, I'm at the beginning of the journey into the rakhlands for now, and there is something that makes me wonder. Why is Tarrant accompanying the others? He isn't happy about it at all, Damien isn't happy about it, and Senzei doesn't like it either. It's only Ciani who is really in favour of it, and while she certainly enjoys having an Adept around, she doesn't need him. Tarrant fixed his little slip already and so he has also repaired the broken promise that he won't harm Ciani. He never said that he would do anything more.

They have a common enemy, of course. But I can't see the benefit for Tarrant in travelling with the others. He'd be faster by far on his own, he'd be independent - something he must be accustomed to after all the years of not having to consider anyone but himself - and he'd not have to watch his back around his travelling companions in addition to everything else. It's not like in CoS, where he is glad that Damien is coming along for that last trip. They all don't know each other yet, and especially Damien seems to be irritating the hell out of him at first.


So, why did he come along? Plain curiosity? A need to bicker with a cleric again? Something else entirely?

And, by the way, if you want to discuss something, point out your favorite quote, post a fic... go ahead! Nobody here is going to bite. I promise.

Comments

[spoke.livejournal.com]

I can think of a few reasons?

1. Because he's guilt tripping and ticked off at himself. Sure, he fixed it - but he can't erase the fact that it happened, so he has to do the next best thing and make sure no one can ever hurt her again (at least in the same way that first the Dark Ones and now he has done)

Not that he would ever admit to the guilt part. >.>

2. He screwed up, but it wasn't entirely his fault. Therefore, the being(s) responsible for this? Have to die. That includes Hesseth, because her working at Morgot triggered it. I have this suspicion that he meant to kill her on thier way through the rakhlands, too - it just didn't work out that way.

3. He wants to know what in the world could remove a person's adeptitude, because that could be dangerous to him. Which he possibly couldn't learn without having Ciani along, as a lab-rat/locator of the one who had her memories.

I suspect the events planned out in Tarrant's head went something like. 'Go to rakhlands. Pass through, finding and killing That Woman on the way. Torment annoying priest. Find lair or citadel of annoyingly clever and potentially dangerous demons. Kill them all. Torment annoying priest. Ascertain that all is, in fact, well with the Lady Ciani, and whether my prescence will be required further. Torment annoying priest with the knowledge that he won't live long enough to figure out how to kill me. Ditch them.

Back in the Forest before next summer.'

None of this included losing incredibly valuable maps and supplies in an earthquake - a sign in itself that either he wasn't taking the dangers of this trip seriously, or that it's been waaay too long since he did serious traveling. Or being forced to travel with That Woman. Nevermind the fact that Damien, while annoying, is also a lot tougher and smarter than Gerald originally gives him credit for.

[carmentalis.livejournal.com]

1. I like that one. And of course he'd never admit it. *g*

2. Vengeance is a motivation for him, yes... but would it be strong enough to send him after someone who is beyond a barrier which is potentially deadly to him? I'm not sure whether pride or survival are more important. And Hesseth... I think he'd have loved to kill her along the way, but he couldn't do it for the same reason Damien couldn't do anything to harm him. They were working together, so it would have been unethical and really bad morals under the circumstances.

3. Ciani as a lab rat that has to be monitored... interesting point.

I do love your take on his plans. *grin* And I agree that Tarrant doesn't seem to have a lot of recent experience in traveling in dangerous regions. But he's fairly risk-averse, so I guess his little trips never took him to dangerous places unless it was absolutely necessary.

[merentha.livejournal.com]

I think Tarrant's weird rules of survival demands that he fixes all of Ciani's lost memories. Another reason is survival. The fae is very weak in the rakhlands. With no firm understanding of the land, he would be vulnerable alone, especially in daylight. Though he may loath companionship, if survival demands it he could always feed on the priest again. In fact, he has been feeding on the fears of his companions, albeit subtly, throughout the entire journey. He has admitted so much himself.

[carmentalis.livejournal.com]

So since he is partly to blame for the memory loss - even though he fixed that - he now feels responsible for the rest as well because he made it more difficult for her?

The daylight vulnerability is one of the things which puzzle me. It would make sense for Tarrant to travel with company if he trusted them enough to watch over his hiding place. But he doesn't, and he leaves them every morning. So he's not really benefitting from their protection during the day, and during the night he doesn't need it.

As for food... that does make sense to me. We know he can live on not-fresh blood, but it's probably far nicer to have his own little herd of moving rations along.