Back to Blog
Tariq pyre6/26/2023 ![]() He later says he only expected the Reader to leave because he thought they already knew that they have no chance of liberation. Volfred acquiesces and lets them continue to guide the Rites. When he finally meets the Nightwings in Wakingwood, he attempts to relieve the Reader of their duties, but Hedwyn stands up for them. He is first presented as a mysterious figure: the Lone Minstrel's client, Hedwyn's informant, and leader of the Nightwings. Since then, he hatched a long-term Plan to recruit like-minded individuals who might stand together to usher in a new age for the Commonwealth. In the Downside, he was taken in by the Nightwings, who sought someone with his experience. ![]() Eventually he, too, was found, and cast down. When his underground press was at last discovered, it was publicly destroyed. By night, he operated a small but illegal stamping-press of his own design, which he used to disseminate provocative ideas concerning how a truly peaceful Commonwealth might look. I don’t know.He is a long-standing exile of the Nightwings who seeks more than his own freedom.īy day, he was an unassuming history professor. ![]() Maybe she represents the Scribes as a whole, or the Beyonders (because she looks kind of like Sandra, and because the Book suggests that the power of the Beyonders is being used to sustain the Rites somehow). There is one pretty big hole in this theory, and that’s that I’m not sure how Celeste fits into it. The Savages, who are represented by Khaylmer, are cast out of the Commonwealth for acting strangely - or in the words of the Commonwealth, for being “moon-touched.” Whether or not Tariq is Khaylmer, he quite obviously represents the moon. This may all seem fairly tenuous (and it is), but there’s one other thing. The Nightwings, therefore, are not the triumvirate of the Scribes - they are Khaylmer Rope-Caller’s triumvirate, and he remains in the form of Tariq to guide them. This is strikingly similar to the acknowledged role that Khaylmer played in bringing the Eight Scribes together in the first place. The Scribes created the Nightwings as a common, unifying enemy for the other triumvirates to face, and in doing so cement their bonds as a team and earn their rehabilitation. With each other Triumvirate founded by a Scribe, the Nightwings are the odd one out. The “odd one out” in each case is Khaylmer, with his star representing the arena that’s used only in exceptional circumstances and his “race” being the Savages, who don’t have their own mask and are cast out for being different. Nine arenas, nine races, nine members of the Nightwings. However, is this true? The number nine appears throughout the game, and each time, it represents the eight scribes, plus Khaylmer Rope-Caller. The Nightwings are the ninth Triumvirate, and it’s said that they represent the Scribes as a whole. The function Tariq serves is to guide the Nightwings and ensure that they are present to face the worthy triumvirate at the Liberation Rite. This simply opens up the possibility, though - why Tariq?įirst, there’s the Nightwings. It’s possible that the account given in the Book is incomplete, or that only some of the Scribes know about this. It’s possible that, much like the Beyonders, he was pressed into service in the Rites in penitence for his betrayal. ![]() Though the Scribes tell us that Khaylmer was killed, they never found his body, and the account of the battle with the Tattered Mantle leaves it ambiguous whether the battle ended with the death of the Mantle, Khaylmer, or both. Several pieces of evidence suggest to me that our singing companion is, in fact, Khaylmer Rope-Caller. This got me thinking, and I realized that, though the Book itself might not say anything directly, the structure of the Rites and the Triumvirates might give us a clue as to who Tariq is. Sorry if this has been discussed before or if this too tinfoil hat, but the fact that Tariq/The Lone Minstrel’s identity is left up in the air kind of bothered me, especially because he says during one of his first interactions with you that reading the Book will reveal “something of his nature.”
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |