- Warning! BSR, WTNF & CoS Spoilers! -

FYI, the question "Is there even one teeny weeny chance that she might capitulate and write another CFT book?" has been asked so many times that it should be here on the FAQ, but because there's just a ton of threads from the Merentha listserv I'm putting the whole bloody thing on it's own Coldfire Sequel page.

Here are the FAQ's that I have so far:

• How is it that Tarrant can feed on Rakh, when faeborn aren't supposed to feed on Rakh?
• Gerald Tarrant had a medallion that he wore around his neck, Could you please either give me a description or a drawing of both?
• Is the person on the cover of COS Gerald or Andrys?
• What does "verdat" refer to.
• Just how *is* Tarrant pronounced?
• How is Iezu pronounced?
• Are Gerald Tarrant and Riven Forest the same person?
• Are there any maps of Erna available - anywhere?
• If BSR were made into a movie, who would play Gerald?

I have been pondering this special question for some time now and never managed to get a satisfying answer. It is said, repeatedly that Fae-born creatures can't feed at the Rakh, not from a native species of the planet. But Tarrant feed from that Rakh girl in BSR, and Calesta seems to feed on the sadistic deeds of Rakh. How is that possible? Or have I just gotten something wrong here?

Savvy reader, two brownies for her :-)

Tarrant isn't faeborn, he's human.

Calesta isn't faeborn, he's the offspring of humans and the Mother. That was one of the first clues that something odd was going on with the Iezu, that they did not follow the same rules as those that were truly "faeborn". There are others :-) - csfriedman@adelphia.net

Is the person on the cover of COS Gerald Tarrant or Andrys?

Gerald. Andrys never went to the volcano. Ms. Friedman's answer is more complete however :-D - neocount@merentha.org

Well, the mistake with the cover of COS is somewhat understandable, since the two men are nearly identical....that must have been from the chapter where Gerald lent Andrys his sword for the day. (Great artist feedback story, by the way: Michael turned in the painting for COS and the sword wasn't glowing. Betsy (CSF's editor) said, "You know, the sword gives off light." He said it would adversely affect the composition to have it glowing all-out like on the first cover, and did that wispy thing. So I was just finishing the book up at the time, and wrote in the wispy effect so it would match.) - csfriedman@adelphia.net

What does "verdat" refer to?

The reference isn't in BSR, but in WTNF. Check page 91 (hardcover), near the end of chapter 6.

"The goods are a gift of the city," the officer informed him. "A celebration of your arrival here against tremendous odds. His Eminence will permit nothing else," he said quickly, forestalling Rozca's argument. "Verdate."

verd = real(?) (real)
verda = really (more real)
verdate = absolutely (most real)

The original language was Spanish (same difference), with years of distortion altering words that were once of HIspanic Americal origin. The words you list are from "Verdad", meaning true. (The version "verd" should not appear in the text, if you found it its a typo) It has become used in the way we use "right?" "really", "okay", or -- emphaticallly -- "that is the unquestionable truth, and the end of discussion."

Each of the colony ships sent out from earth had a theme, or concept, guiding them. In Erna's case it was "Maximum racial diversity with minimum cultural conflict." Thus the choice of colonists all from advanced English-speaking cultures, of Judeo-Christian background with moderate to minimal religious commitment, and many other choices that affected the total blend. Fragment of immigrant languages remained, though the overall language was English. As the East was settled by a relatively small group of people, the culture as a whole reflects that group: darker in coloring on the average than in the West, and with fragments of language brought with them from Earth. Note that not only is the word Verda of Hispanic origin, but its use in sentences parallels that of "si?". In line with the observed development of language over time, ending consonants and bits of words have been lost or altered. - csfriedman@adelphia.net

Just how *is* Tarrant pronounced?

It is pronounced to rhyme with AIR-rant.

How is "Iezu" pronounced?

Some of my friends (and I at first) used "EE-ezu" or "EE-yezu". Now I say "Yezu," based on the fact that the indefinate article used is "a" not "an".

According to Ms. Friedman, it is pronounced as you think, and for the reason you believe.

Are Gerald Tarrant and Riven Forest the same person?

I don't believe that the new "Tarrant" is Riven Forest for two reasons: The Progenitor of the Iezu took something from Tarrant to "replace what was destroyed (Calesta). This is on page 349, third paragraph (hardbound). Riven is the "child" of Tarrant and the Progenitor. If anything, he (Riven) would be an Iezu, just like Karril. The true question is what aspect of Gerald did she take? The hunting aspect of him? This would fit in well with Riven's profession. Also, if Riven is Iezu, he can appear as any age he wants. - neocount@merentha.org

Riven Forrest is GT's son by the Iezu mother. His aspect is clearly that emotional domain connected with GT's Hunt, which did include a lost of his sadistic instincts, need to feed on humans, etc. Devoid of these characteristics, GT is now free to become something else...whether it is better remains to be seen. The term "dad" is not metaphoric at all, but quite literal. The giveaway here is that while GT the Hunter was interested solely in hunting humans, and particularly obsessed with hunting women, Forrest, as a Iezu, feeds on the hunt in all its aspects....as evidenced by the things in the new store he manages.

The enigmatic figure appearing in the last section is in fact the new GT, surviving according to the conditions he discusses with Damien. Since one of those conditions is that he utterly sacrifice his old identity, to the degree that even admitting to his own name will undo the sacrifice, these details must be discussed third person; but Damien recognizes enough of GT's mannerisms to know what has happened. - csfriedman@adelphia.net

Are there any maps of Erna available - anywhere?

A map is not an easy artistic task when one is committed to scientific accuracy, in a book where plate tectonic theory plays such a vital role...not only the continents themselves but the spaces between them, the shape of mountain ranges, and the unseen borders of the plates have to be right, as well as the implied geological history.. And it is a whole planet we're taking about....so I could probably draw one if I took off time from writing for a year or two. Not ready to do that yet. Sorry! - csfriedman@adelphia.net

I have the original that won the Map of Erna contest. It's posted at Jaggonath.

If BSR were made into a movie, who would play Mer Terrant?

The perfect Gerald Tarrant is, alas, now too old to look the part. I discovered him in the mid-80's when I chanced to turn on a medieval fantasy adventure that was so delightfully bad I could not change the channel. A friend had just walked in the house when the evil prince came onto the screen...young, sardonic, cold-hearted, ruthless, majestic, and intensely attractive, with exactly the edge of sarcasm I pictured Gerald Tarrant to have. "What"s on?" my friend asked me, to which I only could respond, with awe in my voice, "I found Gerald Tarrant."

His name is Duncan Regher [I'm told this should be spelled Regehr - ed.] and alas, his age is showing, but I had my fingers crossed for about ten years. You will see him in many things, most notably the STTNG episode where the doctor goes back to the Scotland-like planet and encounters the ghost that has been possessing her ancestors for centuries. - csfriedman@adelphia.net

Who would you like to see play the Hunter? or Damien? Mail in your ideas on If the Coldfire Trilogy were a movie, who would play...".

Gerald Tarrant had a medallion that he wore around his neck that he showed people for them to think he was a minion of the hunter and not him himself. And on the reverse side of that was the symbol of the Church that Damien belonged to. Could you please either give me a description or a drawing of both?

The symbol of the Church should be the planet Earth, but other than that, I don't have an answer on either one. Anybody out there got any ideas? If so, send email to neocount@merentha.org.