On the Tara'hek and other things. (Patreon)

I don't have anywhere else to post blog-style posts, so they're going here. For my supporters to see. If you're interested in an unhinged rambling with spoilers, please read on. Spoilers may be in regard to how things actually work, character motivations, and future abilities.

Let's start off with what the Tara'hek is:

• A ritual bond between a Marshling and a non-Marshling.
• Extremely powerful.
• Outside of the realm of other cores.
• An unremovable core that has many hidden effects (including removing the user's ability to experience romantic feelings.)

So, the first item. The Tara'hek is a bonding ritual. This isn't a ritual that anyone can perform. This is a ritual that takes place between two people destined to be together in a soul bond. Curious as to why Tresk is conveniently in Broken Tusk? Hmmm, very curious. That's a spoiler I won't talk about in this post, but there's a reason. While I'm on it, wonder why anything is the way it is in Broken Tusk? Answer is: there's a reason. Why is Miana the way she is? Reason. Why is Luras taking on the Leatherworker's core? Reason.

So, this will be the first rambling section of this post. I read a lot of litrpg, but I also read a lot of high fantasy. My favorite fantasy author is Steven Erickson. Erickson's Malazan series has been described as "impenetrable" because of its obscurity. Nothing is explained. The reader is expected to determine what the hell is going on based on context. Book 1 of Newt and Demon explains almost nothing. When compared to other novels in the genre that take a heaping spoonful of exposition to tell you exactly how the system works, I suppose this can be a bit of a problem. While I outright refuse to explain these things in text, I'll likely make more hints when I do my first edit pass.

Rant over. Why is the Tara'hek core extremely powerful? It doesn't consume a core slot, and it grants extremely overpowered abilities over time. Psychic connection with your core partner at all times? That's already pretty OP. You can see their health bar? Alright, not that OP. Teleport directly to your Tara'hek without any magical knowledge? OP. Share a core with your partner? Super OP. Shared dimensional storage over infinite distance? Super OP. That doesn't even consider that extra stat point you get every 5 levels.

Next, the Tara'hek is outside of core realms. This is a big spoiler, by the way. Cores belong to realms. A base core like [Fighter's Core] will belong to a general pool of cores that are mostly unaffiliated. But a [Barbarian's Core], [Berserker's Core], etc, belong to realms. Realms, domains, houses, whatever you want to call them they come with some amount of influence. What about the [Cleric of Glantheir Core]? Glantheir is a god of healing that is only mentioned as a curse in text. How much influence does Glantheir have over those who possess their core? A lot.

So, take that logical leap if you need to but here it is: the [Drogramath Alchemy Core] and the [Drogramath Herbalism Core] come with influence from the big potion man himself. How much influence does it come with? A lot. Narratively, this is why the Tara'hek core is so important. The Order of the Burning Eye is extremely important in preventing Drogramath's influence, but so is the Tara'hek core. The Tara'hek core isn't exactly outside the realm of cores, as much as it creates its own realm. A self-contained bubble of influence that the two core holders have.

The last item is the most obvious. Every core has a lot of hidden features not detailed by the system. The Tara'hek isn't an exception and has a lot of influence based on the personality of both core holders.

You might be wondering why we don't just explain all this in text. Well, I'm gonna. There was too much to fit into book 1 to just have massive info dumps about the way everything works. We're gonna figure it out as we go along, piece by piece. Book 2 is getting into the nuts and bolts of how everything works, including having Theo face some things he doesn't want to face.

Well, that's a wall of text. I just wanted to put my thoughts on the Tara'hek, and why its so important, somewhere. Hopefully this is the appropriate place for my rambling.