Hey Allira - yeap, the Destroyer topic is in a couple of places :P
The main one is here:
That _??__ is the DestroyerRegarding the identity of Salamander...there's a lot of people who've come up with a similar conclusion since TSK (check the
Stone Key Spoilers thread), but I'm still not convinced entirely; it's highly plausible that Jakoby's sister is connected to Salamander (I've posted all this before so I'm copying and pasting here...). However:
p270:
...and I gaped to see a man emerge from the darkness. He was tall and lean and swathed in a hooded black cloak that made it impossible to tell if he was a warrior priest or an ordinary priest. But when he reached the two by the fire, he pushed the hood back and I saw that, instead of being shaven, his head was entirely covered in a loose black cloth similar to that worn by the nomadic Sadorians when they travelled across the blazing white heart of the desert land, only he also wore black bandages about his face, concealing all but fierce yellow eyes...It goes on for a bit...but here's the voice bit;
His voice was deep-toned and smooth, but the words were distinct despite being slightly muffled by the cloth over his face.If it is a woman, Salamander has well concealed it - Elspeth perceives him straight away as a male (build, perhaps?), the voice was 'distinct, despite being slightly muffled', etc.
Another thing;
p977:
'You think he came here in disguise?' I asked.
'I think if he came here, it would not be in any disguise, because what he wears the rest of the time is a disguise. I think he came as himself. As a Sadorian tribesman.'Daffyd's info has come from a woman who had been taken on Salamander's ship. She'd escaped, and she'd seen him getting stitches from a slave through a window. This is another direct sighting of Salamander when he's been described as a man.
The other thing is Daffyd suggests that Salamander returns to Sador, but as a Sadorian. I don't know if Jakoby's sister could return to Sador without being recognised, right? And surely, her turning up again would spark interest in where she'd been. Unless Daffyd's wrong, and she doesn't want to return to Sador at all.
So my conclusion from all this is that Salamander
is male,
on the two times we get an account of him. What I think it points to more clearly is that Salamander might be more than one person...a title that's passed along? Hence then fanatical 'mustn't be seen' nature - because Salamander can be any of a number of people at any time.
There's also:
p875
As we continued, I found myself remembering that when Salamander had first appears in the Land, there had sometimes been mention of a beautiful woman who spoke for him. Perhaps that had been the woman to whom the room belonged, in which case she might be more of an accomplice than merely an object of love or desire.Not sure which book this might have been mentioned in previously, but I do remember it being mentioned...possibly Ashling?
But I think its further evidence that the room could belong to an accomplice of Ariel's or Salamanders...such as Erin Druid. Or, there's another woman going around with them; because if Saresh is visibly disfigured, I doubt she'd be appearing in public and described as beautiful, as sad as it is...
That's probably enough out of me for a while anyway :P