Talk:Dessek

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As a non-Dutch speaker. It would be great if somebody else could give more details of the books featuring the Desseks

There's only one book in which the Desseks play a role, which is "Glazen Speren" mentioned in the main article. This book is an anthology of stories taking place in the fictional archipelago of Cotrahviné, an oasis of warm temperatures inhabited by a species of humanoids during the last Ice Age. Cotrahviné and its peculiar culture first appears in Tais Teng's earlier anthology, Cepheïde, but in this book there aren't any Desseks yet.

The culture of Cothrahviné is fairly complete, with its own mythology, extensive history and religion, none of which is described in much detail but always hinted at in the various stories. Magic works and gods exist in this world; its various inhabitants all consider themselves to be the only truly intelligent beings on the planet and they look down upon the proto-humans they use as "plough apes". The world itself is characterized by the rule of self-interest and ruthlessness; the wilderness remains untamed and inhabited by various types of highly intelligent monsters, while the civilized world is one of extreme poverty for the peasants and extreme decadence for the rulers, who are known as Sifarchs.

In this land every religious extreme has its fanatic followers, inspired by poverty and lack of prospects if not by outright insanity. Dessek the Harsh is different from the many other prophets of truth only in scale; he was "the most truth-loving and short-tempered of them all". His followers take his teachings very seriously, though, and they are more reasonable and decent than most of the characters in the book.

The Desseks start to roam the archipelago during the height of its wealth and power; in a matter of centuries they are an infamous and feared force on all the islands. Their great weakness, however, is that they are unable to unite and claim greater power, since the many different interpretations of the teachings of Dessek the Harsh and of the truth itself forbid these radical warriors to agree on anything. Orders, factions and splinter groups divide the Desseks and these many groups know no greater enemies than each other.

Only near the widely foreseen end of Cotrahviné's golden age do the Desseks finally join forces. This is because of the arrival of Lasdmi, who is said to have encountered the spirit of Dessek the Harsh and to have been selected as his chosen successor. Lasdmi's powers of persuasion allow him to gather an army of Desseks so vast that no earthly power can withstand them; they proceed to conquer the entire archipelago, forcing people to take the oath of Dessek or perish. Their campaign is finally brought to an end by the intervention of Magreb, a mysteriously omnipotent human being whose arrival marks the fall of Cothrahvinéan might and culture.

"Glazen Speren" ends fittingly with the heralding of the end of the Ice Age, along with which the archipelago of Cotrahviné would also fall according to all known songs and legends. The end of the Ice Age is accompanied by the mental awakening of the plough apes.Dessek 21:03, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

OK, any chance of getting that into the article somehow? User:sonofecthelion

I'm not sure if this is relevant to the topic of Desseks as such. It might merit its own article on Glazen Speren, but that's fairly useless until a translation of the book is made. If you think it could be incorporated without being too distracting and long-winded you could just copy and paste it.

Were you the one posting the question above, too? Dessek 23:18, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

OK, is any of the above good for the article, as I myself have ot read the book? Yes, it was me.User:sonofecthelion