I always figured the Consult doesn't recruit people because they rely so utterly on secrecy and deceit. They kill and replace people, they don't recruit them. Skinspies live longer, are harder to kill, more trustworthy and so on. They don't need more sorcerers right now, no matter how powerful they are. The only useful sorcerers in the world are the Mandate and they haven't even fought them in centuries or thereabouts.

I think the breeding of Ursranc is very telling. If they're bred to be more stable and controlling sranc that can use more complicated gear and use actual tactics, they're probably bred with humans in some suitably unpleasant way or just genetically altered to be useful as warriors or assistants. There must be some humans working with the Consult that aren't sorcerers and they've got to be fucking something. If they're Few, great, they can be taught some magic but I don't think they actively breed just for that. They rely on constructs and few of them seem magical. They rely on weapon races. They rely on sneaking and people not even realising they exist. Why would they need a crazy big army? Even a sorcerous one? Nobody is going to attack them until they see the Ordeal coming...and even then, it's a bit late to start a breeding program or recruit sorcerers because again, they're all pretty much Team Kellhus. If Kellhus is going to save their souls anyway, why do they need to believe the IF? What if Kellhus has his own IF that he shows to doubters?

I just don't believe the Consult have anything but some Nonmen (who will have plenty of sorcerers), Ursranc, a few human dudes (who are probably not very good at fighting) and a lot of weapon races like sranc, bashrag and wracu. Maybe they can very quickly churn out skinspies that are just designed for fighting but nothing else? They certainly seem content to send them out to die uselessly to convince Kellhus he's keeping good tabs on them. I think the Consult's forces will just be a few very old names of unspeakable power and a lot of chaff. I don't see any need in their recent history (couple of centuries, hell even couple of decades) that suggests they'd ever want/need lots of sorcerers in the first place.

If some of the Dunyain are the Few then surely some of them must have figured out it was a topos? I can't imagine being one on top of a topos is fun even if you're not a real sorcerer. If I recall correctly, Akka has a killer trip and sees the Onta for the first time when he's really young. Even a conditioned Dunyain must wonder what the hell that is. If they're all just removed then how could Big Moe and Kellhus become proper monks?

Connected to a Mansion? Maybe. Built on the ruins of one? Maybe. Those are good examples as to why the castle was built there in the first place and how the Dunyain found it. They also explain the Thousand Thousand Halls. But a topos because of either of these or because of the creepy shit Dunyain do? I doubt it. They'd get too weirded out by it, conditioning or not. The Few get bent out of shape by a topos no matter how much they don't want to believe magic exists.

My personal nerdanel, as I believe you call it here, is that the traveler's identity is largely irrelevant compared to his purpose.

I always loved my namesake and he's definitely my favourite character. I got to wondering though at some point...just what is Kosoter? The first theory I had was just that he was simply Palatine (I think?) Soter because he was a noble Veteran from the Holy War that definitely was on Team Kellhus. Then I wondered if he was one of Nascenti but they would all have powerful positions in the Ministrate and not be out killing sranc for a living. I've concluded that he was indeed just a fanatical warrior from the Unification Wars that became famous but the blasted and evil things Mimara sees in him with her Judging Eye speaks of something far darker and terrible than anything else. Achamian is clearly going to be pretty damned, certainly moreso than the Skin Eaters, whatever their histories. Surely Kosoter can't just be that much more of a dick than them as far as the gods are concerned? There had to be some other answers.

I think the scene that really did it for me was when he looked at all the fire and horror of Moria 2.0 and everyone else thought they'd come to the outer precincts of Hell. He dismissed it because "if it was Hell, I would remember". At first this simply sounded like some token badass comment but Kosoter doesn't just go around making badass comments. He isn't Cnaiür. Instead he makes a fairly cryptic comment about Hell and it dawned on me later that maybe he is telling the truth...or thereabouts. Maybe Kellhus did indeed make his own Inverse Fire and show it to a bunch of people to utterly condition them to his cause? That was the main reason I thought the traveler came to get Kosoter...to simply show him the IF and it's why he is so utterly dedicated to 'saving our souls' with the Princess. He's not just some local guide and guardian that they chose at random- there were other Veterans and they'd easily be convinced by enough gold, power or 'FOR THE EMPRAH' shtick. Kellhus could have found a way. Instead, he chose Kosoter, a man that has been going on slogs since they became a thing. Why? He must have enough wealth or influence to be somewhere else? It can't simply be devotion to Kellhus that led him to do what he did and what no other men really could do. Kellhus intended for Mimara to be kept safe for a reason. He had a plan for her and Achamian).

The total crackpot I've also been kicking around about it is the one off-reference to walking the Outside. If someone goes there, they might return possessed by a ciphrang. Kellhus went around with the heads of them so he's clearly done it and knows how from the Daimos he's been learning. I thought this a simple misdirection that you can't see Kellhus' POV not only because it'd give away everything but because he's now controlled by a ciphrang. A ciphrang is given a task by its master when it is forced into the world and it isn't released until it's done it's job. It will do ANYTHING to accomplish it. I think it's possible that Kosoter was taken away by the traveler and possessed by a ciphrang and that's why he simply stands there when he's taken Akka and Mimara to the library. He just sits there, waiting to die. Relieved, almost. Relieved of all his burdens and free to return to the Outside like a good little ciphrang. I definitely think that's a far out possibility but it's one I've been considering for a long time.

Still though, far more likely for me that the traveler is just a dude that came up to show Kosoter the IF and convince him to protect Mimara and Akka until they get to the library. He must have been convinced that she has the power to save their souls. With his task complete, he accepts his fate. With his reference to remembering Hell (actual Hell, not simply terrible conditions from the war) and how utterly evil he looked in the Judging Eye, there's no way he can just be a simple dude.

For the longest time I was the only Kosoter in World of Warcraft but there's a couple of other ones now. What main tank didn't used to kill people (or just yell at them) for screwing around in raids? Kosoter was always the most iconic fighter/tank character in the entire series. I always take up the name in every game now and always get a laugh when someone else has a Prince of Nothing name. There's quite a lot of us out there.

As for looting the nimil gear I think it could have come from anywhere in the New Empire. I don't think it's really significant beyond showing the vast power and glory of the Empire under Kellhus' totally not suspicious and definitely beneficent rule. Although surely extremely rare and expensive, I can't imagine Kellhus incapable of finding a few sets of it somewhere in the entire world. I also like the idea that Fake Serwë let the other skinspies go free. Would they have escaped before Kellhus killed them? I doubt it. He certainly could have captured and broken others because his resources would have at least been as good as Big Moe for doing it. Anything his dad could have done, Kellhus could have done anyway with or without those specific skinspies.

I think Cnaiür just died there in the mansion. I wondered if Kellhus would have come back to reclaim his body later for some sneaky reason. I also wonder if the Consult took it...I'm not entirely sure how skinspies work and what kind of contact they have to have with a person to imitate them. I guess it works like face-dancers because of so many Dune influences but who knows? Maybe they take Cnaiür alive (and almost-dead) and assume his identity through his memories. I toyed with the idea that they went back to the Steppe with a fake Cnaiür and wrecked the place but Kellhus would have surely put a stop to any such nonsense.

I just didn't want the story to end there for him. A second skinspy became Serwë in the blink of an eye so maybe they can just make as many Cnaiürs as they want? I think they definitely would at least try to because he knows so much about their big new enemy. I guess recently I've just wanted TUC to end with Cnaiür becoming the No-God and singing 'Let it Go' as he zips around the world blowing everything up. Not going to happen