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Writer’s Cramp is the blog and site for B. Jenne’ Hall, writer, genius, and pathological optimist. She’s written her first book, is working on her second, and she’s trying to get published. Which from all accounts seems to be as approximately attainable as the gift of flight, but who doesn’t love a challenge?

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Symbolism of Numbers

Numbers have an important symbolism in Bailach, each representing multiple concepts. There are ten numbers with particular importance. Can you name them all, and their examples in the story?

 

(scroll down to see the answers; warning: spoilers!! massive, book-destroying spoilers!! don’t scroll unless you’ve already read it or are absolutely sure you will never read it)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

One — represents unity, strength, destiny, loneliness, love, permanence, wholeness, the first, the last, independence

  • The One, obviously
  • The Path
  • Bailach
  • Eternity
  • All Seasons’ Day, the day of all seasons and none
  • The Hunter (death, son of Eternity)

 2

Two – represents opposites, conflict, balance, equality, rivalry, duality

  • free will vs. destiny
  • Twin auras [become One]
  • The Matashara and the Cahala
  • Light and Dark
  • Order and Chaos
  • Sa’aradin and Sa’aranel
  • Grant and Tatiana
  • Lucius and Eishen
  • Rion and Harak (brothers)
  • Tenga and Tustin (twins)
  • Twin hounds of the Hunter, Peace and Judgment
  • Tracker and the Slayer
  • Knowledge & Wisdom (represented by two curved parallel lines, cut by a line called Truth, on the Sophi pendant)
  • Sun and Moon
  • Corin Morningstar and her lover, the Sun
  • Jia and Prax (constellation – twin sisters turned into stars)

3

Three – loyalty, trust, betrayal (split loyalties), precision (“triangulation”), logic, reason, family (mother, father, child), time

  • Tatiana, Grant, and Lucius
  • Ballard, Tenga, and Tustin
  • Lucius, Albion, and Oc’stavin (love triangle)
  • Grant, Ames, and Brud
  • Paetric, Eliesse, and Tatiana
  • Mata, Luxu, and Oshi (Birth, Life, Death)
  • Three months of each season
  • Eternity = Past, Present, and Future (represented by three dots on the Sophi pendant)
  • Three Peaks of Qovar (used as part of the sigils of the Ra’maratiena family)

4

Four – stability, foundation, inevitability, constancy, integrity, home, endurance

  • Lucius, Eishen, Grant, and Tatiana (in the beginning)
  • Four seasons of the year
  • Four points of the compass (North, South, East, West)
  • Four Elements of the Matrix
  • The Ghûl-Anham, the Four Riders (who are also named the ruler of the four points of the compass, as Ballard relates to Grant during a conversation at Agrostis:

“They were Mallaichte once, and Matasha before that, like Sa’aranel.  They are more properly known as the Ghûl-anham, the Soulless.  Pláigh, Ruler of the East, bringer of Pestilence, he rides a green demon-creature.  Sickly green, the color of disease.  The scholars who believe the Ghûl-anham still ride in Bailach cite the Pitari plague as evidence that the Green Rider rides free.  Gorta, Ruler of the West, bringer of Famine, his beast is gray, and its feet are said to salt the earth wherever it steps.  Cogadh, Ruler of the South, he is the bringer of War.  His steed is red, the color of blood spilled, and the stories say the battle-ax he wields slays armies.  And the most powerful, Bás, bringer of Death.  The Black Rider.”

  • Elements are represented by the diamond shape on the Sophi pendant
  • Four Seasons of choices in Chapter 39, as well as the four lessons:

But first, the tests, that this is the path you will walk.  1Autumn, the season of twilight, the remembrance of what came before.  2Winter, the dying of all things, the release of what is.  3Spring, the season of rebirth, the agony of what becomes.  4Summer, the season of full bloom, the acceptance of what must be.

To walk the path is to 1learn the path, 2understand the path, 3know the path, 4choose the path.  1To resist, 2to force, 3to doubt, 4to hesitate – these lead us away from the path and we are lost.

5

Five – emotion, perception, experience, memory, tension, discord, freedom, wildness, hedonism

  • Five Senses
  • Senses are represented by the five-pointed star on the Sophi Pendant
  • Five members of the Ra’maratiena family
  • Five members of the Aristada family

9

Nine – wisdom, knowledge, thoughtfulness, forecasting, intellect

  • Nine aspects of an Aura, i.e. the Five Senses and the Four Elements
  • Council of Nine that rules Vil ia Osten (there is one Councilor for each of the five Senses and four Elements)

10

Ten – perfection, invincibility, revolution, immortality

  • Shining Ones
  • The Highest of the Audhagán

20

Twenty – community, compromise, commitment, resurrection, cooperation

  • Twenty Talents of the Matrix
  • Convocation of Twenty (Qovar ruling body)
  • Twenty that sacrificed themselves to become the Shining Ones
  • Twenty Aurans needed for resurrecting Eishen (one Auran with each Talent)