What's up with them?

they're wicked awesome?

what function does the Master serve, that's what I wanna know. like, what would've happened to Jack, what would he have become, if he'd finished the ritual he'd started with Bod?

and what is the function of the brooch? is that just the symbol of power and the magnet for drawing someone in?

Mr. Bolger called the stone in the brooch a snakestone. Here's a smidge about snake stones at the bottom of the page.

ETA: Here's something hinting that the possessor has immense magical power.

that's interesting. I wonder what more in-depth historical research would turn up (as Druid =/= priest).

So what did happen to the Master? Where'd he go? When? Why'd he leave?

Poor lonely li'l sleer.

Interesting.

Well, the lore about "The Druid's Stone" explains the Sleer's physical construction. It was however, apparently something buried underneath that altar as well.

I'm guessing that the Master, whoever he was was a powerful Shaman that wove together the bodies of many willing sacrifices with the elemental magic of the land to create the Sleer as a spiritual construct -- to guard his power. It kind of reminds me of one of the Invunche creatures that the Southern American warlock Brujeria cult created in Alan Moore's Swamp Thing: A Murder of Crows. A creature of that kind.

Maybe the Master was a Druid or a Shaman -- at least a part of the Order that predated them. I suspect he was the first of Jacks of all Trades or Knaves to the precedent for their rituals.

And as ancient magic goes, fear is the best weapon you can ever harness.

I'm also personally thinking that altar was specifically created to deal with Nobody Owens when his time came. Interesting speculation at any rate.

huh. that is interesting.

I also find it interesting that Bod was able to use the Sleer's fear against it. irony's a bitch sometimes.

Or through encountering its fear, Bod mastered his own, seeing through it, and therefore reducing the Sleer's own influence on his mind. Even later, the Sleer's presence seems smaller to Bod when he enters -- that much less potent against someone who has faced their fear and destroyed its grip on him.

maybe. it's possible that Bod conquered his fear by realizing that the Sleer was afraid, but I got the impression that Bod conquered his fear when he realized that fear was the only weapon the Sleer had; as a citizen of the graveyard, he knew how to create fear and make another person feel it. why should he be afraid of a skill he himself possessed?

I think the remarkable thing he did was recognize that all things are afraid of something. even the Sleer, whose main power lay in creating fear to protect its treasure for the master. once he understood that fear wasn't just the Sleer's weapon, but its driving motivation, he used the Sleer's weapon against it. it was both psychologically insightful and a pragmatic recognition that it was the only weapon he had.

That's an interesting point, Apathy. I'm trying to think back on all of Bod's adventures, including the ones against the Jacks and he really doesn't show a lot of fear. I suppose it does make sense that considering what the dead were teaching him, not only would he know how to use fear as a weapon himself and know its weaknesses, but death itself also holds a different meaning for him than it would for anyone else. To Bod, it would just be a simple transitional state to spend more time with his buddies in the graveyard and be one of them.

And on the topic of the Sleer ... hm.

It was not afraid of Bod taking the items it was guarding, because it knew the brooch, goblet and knife would return. I do think I agree with the idea that it was afraid of the fact that its sole weapon was not affecting Bod at all.

Of course, the Sleer had one other motivation. It really wanted to have its Master back -- or barring that a Master. In a sense, that was one weapon it had that was not fear-based. It could do major damage to someone who claimed to be their Master by embracing that person. Perhaps that too, however, was out of fear -- fear of continuing to be left alone ... of never having its Master return.

Either way, Bod's dealing with the entity was very insightful and clever.

ETA: Here is what I wonder about ... just how aware was the Sleer of the current situation with the Jacks, or the purpose of the chamber. It does offer Bod advice -- namely, finding his true name.

I wonder if it had an ulterior purpose in giving him that once Bod rejected being or becoming its Master. Any thoughts?

quote:

Originally posted by Mythos:
Perhaps that too, however, was out of fear -- fear of continuing to be left alone ... of never having its Master return.

ah, yes, that's what I was trying to say! I think that's exactly the fear that was driving the Sleer. (I feel like Dr. Seuss.)

quote:

Originally posted by Mythos:
ETA: Here is what I wonder about ... just how aware was the Sleer of the current situation with the Jacks, or the purpose of the chamber. It does offer Bod advice -- namely, finding his true name.

I wonder if it had an ulterior purpose in giving him that once Bod rejected being or becoming its Master. Any thoughts?

I think it was unaware of the Jacks' situation, but fully aware of the chamber's function—it was just well past caring. it wanted a Master, and it wasn't about to let the Master wander off again.

I think it wanted Bod to find his name because names have power, and the person possessing a thing's name having power over that thing, etc. the Sleer sensed that Bod was lacking in identity a bit (and therefore at least eligible to be the Master, if he wanted to be), just like Jack Frost was lacking in identity when the Jacks were, um...disbanded, shall we say. Bod didn't want to be anyone else's Master, though, so he had to be Master of himself.

this all makes perfect intuitive sense in my head, but I don't think I'm articulating it well. bah!