The Book of Dreams - The Seven Paladins

The Seven Paladins

These, the main protagonists of Treesong's Book of Dreams, are distinct in colour and personality, as follows:

• Immir, of no colour, is the most complete and rounded personality of the seven. He is the leader and heart and soul of the Seven.
• Jeha Rais the Black is the war general and strategist.
• Loris Hohenger the Red is the warrior, also a "lover" at least in a virile and macho sense; supposedly "ladies deny him at great risk to their dignity" but "look after him longingly" once he is done.
• Mewness the Green is the clever problem-solver, the one who finds a way of escape when all routes are blocked.
• Rhune Fader the Blue is gentle and merciful, though "alas" seldom heeded in battle council.
• Spangleway the Yellow is the merry jester and trickster, but an inventive and formidable enemy.
• Eia Panice the White is cold, ruthless and dreadful; his smile is seldom seen, and to be feared.

While in his employ (on pain of her father's death, though Treesong betrayed her) Alice observes Treesong expressing several of these personalities. Usually he is Immir, and she is profoundly glad that Hohenger never decided to have his way with her.

In times of great stress, Treesong is wont to manifest several or all of these personalities in rapid succession, holding converse with each other; as when Gersen shoots him, or both before and after his final interview with his nemeses. Treesong's comments on his Companion henchmen when at the school reunion suggest that he costumes them appropriately and has them act according to the character of one or another Paladin; for instance, when they are uniformed in white, they are known as "death dolls" and are plainly echoes of Eia Panice.

On reading the Book of Dreams, Gersen reflects that in the average boy such dreams would be unbearably grandiose, but by the measure of Treesong's actual achievements in life, they understated him.