#paragon

– Paragon

I just read the part where Paragon's past is explained. How when he had lost his captain and his son and thus quickened, the first words he says when he reached land is the ones above.

And how the Mother first fainted and never ever went to visit him or say a word to him.

How the Paragon has been sobbing and calling for days.

How terrible of a scene it has been for a "fierce, bearded warrior with muscled arms and hairy chest" to "sobb like a frightened child and beg for his mother".

How no ship and no one could console him.

It got me thinking.

It is interesting that while liveships might not be children, they all need someone to hold their hands in their first moments.

Eventhough Vivacia has told Althea, "I am not your child", she had wanted Althea the first night she was quickened and was distressed she wasn't there. There was Wintrow and Vivacia bonded with him happily.

It reminded me of ducklings' imprinting instinct. Shortly after being hatched, ducklings will decide who their parent is -It is usually the first moving animal they see, whether a duck or human- and take on their characteristics.

But it is noteworthy to me that the first thing that Paragon calls this woman is "Mother".

I think perhaps the reason is that liveships are conscious even before their quickening. They can feel and understand their owner's connection to them and their position in the "family" dynamic.

Althea always talked to the unquickened Vivacia as one would to a close friend or sister. And after her quieckening, the ship never ever called her "mother". She did the exact opposite and told her straight that she wan't her child.

While Vivacia, being treated as a friend, was distressed about Althea's absence in her first night, she got over it and bonded with another family member.

But the Paragon...

It isn't as easy for a child to forget and get over his mother's disdain and disregard.

Perhaps it was little Kerr.

With a strict and ill tempered father, out in the vast sea, a boy would cherish all the company he could find. Perhaps he went on and on about his lovely mother and how he loved her and how she love him and how they loved their darling ship, that the liveship slowly became to think of this woman as his own mother.

After losing his brother and father, he finally made it home and...

I want a character who truly believes they are the best, most capable, most powerful being in the world and therefore must take responsibility for all this power.