Rud Elalle, was a half human, half Tiste Liosan Soletaken Eleint and a son of the goddess Menandore and the Letherii slave, Udinaas. He was conceived when Menandore raped Udinaas in one of his visions.[1][2] Rud possessed his mother's remarkable yellow eyes, although they possessed a trusting innocence.[3][4] His mouth resembled his father's.[3]
'Rud' meant Found, in the Meckros trader tongue. For his first seven weeks, he grew up on a Meckros city under the care of two escaped Letherii Indebted, Araq Elalle and his wife. When the city was destroyed by the Crippled God, he was saved by Menandore who swore she had "worked hard on this beget, and that damned legless bastard wasn't going to ruin her plans". The goddess brought Rud and the destroyed city to the Refugium where she placed him in the care of the Bentract Imass until her return. He was growing at a preternatural rate and appeared much older than his true age.[5]
As an Eleint, he was described as, "seeming to blaze with some unquenchable fire beneath its gilt scales".[6]
He spoke the language of the Imass, the Meckros traders' language, and some Letherii.[7] He also spoke the language of the Eleint as well as those races whose tongues were children of the Imass'.[8]
In Midnight Tides[]
Feather Witch tried to force Udinaas to take her into his dream realm and they accidentally travelled to the Refugium where they met the Imass, Ulshun Pral, and the boy, Rud Elalle. The boy spoke the Meckros trader tongue and served as translator between the Letherii and the Imass.[9]
Rud was puzzled when the Imass asked the Letherii what dragons ate and whether Rud might eat them as he got older. When the boy described his upbringing and his encounter with Menandore, it became clear to Udinaas and Feather Witch that Udinaas was his father. Despite Feather Witch's protest, Udinaas returned home without telling the boy, seeing Rud as his seed and not his son.[10]
In Reaper's Gale[]
Ryadd as Dragon, Interpretation by Corporal Nobbs
Rud Elalle continued to age at a rapid rate and was already a young man by the time of Reaper's Gale. He stood half a hand taller than even his mother and his long, sun-bleached brown hair was left wild in the Bentract Imass fashion. His fiery amber eyes resembled his mother's although they were less fierce, perhaps tempered by the gift of his father's habitually downturned lips. The blazing joy within his eyes appeared at odds with a broad mouth that seemed as if it never expected to smile. The right side of his neck bore a long scar from an encounter with a dying boar and the bones of his left wrist were misaligned from a past break. Although the wrist displayed knotted protrusions bound in thick sinew, it was actually stronger than its opposite number--a gift of Menandore's blood that saw his body seem to armour itself after injury.[8] Rud's dress was that of the Bentract Imass. He wore leather deerskin shirt with thick, tough allish (caribou) leggings and ranag leather moccasins that nearly reached his knees. Over this he wore a deep brown cloak of ranag hide with amber-tipped fur.[8]
His mother visited him at least occasionally and bore affection towards her only son, although she failed to understand his protectiveness towards the Bentract. She thought them deluded illusions, while he argued they were still living beings.[11] The strength of his will as he matured surprised her and could make her flinch when directed at her.[11][12] She pressured him to speak Eleint rather than Imass and took delight in making him laugh.[11] He knew Udinaas was his birth father, but thought of Araq Elalle as the man who raised him.[8]
The Refugium was dying and the tribe's sole Bonecaster sacrificed her life in a failed attempt to save it. But her cries of anguish were heard by three Bentract T'lan Imass: Clan chief Hostille Rator and Bonecasters Gr'istanas Ish'Ilm and Til'Aras Benok. The three followed the calls into the Refugium and were astonished to find the living Imass led by a clan chief they had never heard of. They thought of usurping control of the tribe but were terrified of Rud Elalle.[13][14]
Rud and Menandore anticipated the arrival of Silchas Ruin, Sukul Ankhadu, and Sheltatha Lore to claim the Finnest of Scabandari Bloodeye hidden within the Refugium. Rud monitored the twelve Gates of Starvald Demelain for Ruin's approach and warned his mother that he would protect the Bentract even if it meant leaving her to defend herself alone against her sisters.[15] When Quick Ben, Trull Sengar, and Onrack T'emlava entered the Refugium as agents of Shadowthrone and Cotillion, Rud went to greet them and guide them back to the Bentract village. He served as translator between the trio and Ulshun Pral.[16]
In the end, Rud chose to lead the Imass into the hills before any of the Soletaken arrived, even as his mother claimed his doing so meant her death. She refused to let Ulshun Pral join him, knowing the clan chief secretly carried the Finnest, but the three visiting T'lan Imass joined the refugees.[17] After the clash between the three Soletaken sisters led to the deaths of Menandore and Sheltath Lore, Sukul Ankhadu pursued Rud and the Imass to slay them as one final act vengeance and betrayal against her sister. The three T'lan Imass stayed behind to cover the group's escape, to Rud's confusion. Hostille Rator had changed his mind about Rud, Ulshun Pral, and the Imass, finding their lives pleasing and the three T'lan Imass gave up their own lives to kill Sukul Ankhadu.[18]
After Ruin had claimed the Finnest and departed, Rud knew his mother was dead. He returned with the Imass feeling his sense of innocence was gone.[19] He found his father Udinaas, who had been one Ruin's travelling companions, and the pair's reunion was thick with emotion. Udinaas chose to stay with his son, who asked his father to teach him his greatest skill--how to survive.[20]
In Dust of Dreams[]
Silchas appeared in the Refugium and offered to help train Rud Elalle. Ruin explained to Udinaas that his son could easily destroy himself unless he learned to control his Eleint nature. Rud Elalle then left his father and the Imass to be taught by Silchas Ruin.[21]
Silchas Ruin explained to Rud that his true name was Ryadd Eleis, the Tiste Andii words for Hands of Fire.[22]
In The Crippled God[]
(Information needed)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Chapter 3, US SFBC p.102-104
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.486
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Midnight Tides Chapter 15, US SFBC p.482
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 20, US HC p.599
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Chapter 15, UK MMPB p.583-585
- ↑ Dust of Dreams, Chapter 2, UK HB p.422
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.481/483
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Reaper's Gale, Chapter 20, US HC p.591-592
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.476-482
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.482-486
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Reaper's Gale, Chapter 20, US HC p.592-594
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 12, US HC p.311-312
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 20, US HC p.601
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 21, US HC p.659
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 20, US HC p.592-593
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 20, US HC p.593-596
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 23, US HC p.717-718/729
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 23, US HC p.727-732
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 23, US HC p.740
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Epilogue, US HC p.825-826
- ↑ Dust of Dreams, Chapter 2
- ↑ Dust of Dreams, Chapter 13, UK HB p.422