Biography:
The Portable Grove: Harsh is emanated at the beginning of the novel, specifically to take part in the first cross-pollination experiment with Beat and Wynne. He convinces Tara to participate, and during the subsequent seduction, she comments that he has the nicest ass of any of the emanations. He is able to synthesize a Cuban cigar from tissues, demonstrating that he is competent at alchemy. He assists Tara in gathering pollen from Wynne’s branch, and reacts rather overtly when his own branch is cross-pollinated. Tara notes that compared to Rand and Balin, Harsh has rather gaudy flowers. During the debriefing session inside of the pleroma, he ends up in a foursome with Tara, Wynne and Beat. He realizes that his confidence is ill-founded – Wynne is far more of a player than he could hope to be – and is humbled.
During this encounter, Beat becomes rather infatuated with him, and thus is the first to notice that Harsh is depressed, isolating himself in his chambers at the Ashvattha Palace. Beat attaches a comment to the CCPR survey asking Tara to intervene. It isn’t until the final experiment, when Tara enters the pleroma, that she is able to address this issue. Tara goes to Harsh’s chambers, which are described. Harsh says that he feels like the Ashvattha emanations are stranded, but Tarlach and Malachi realize that this is the point of the cross-pollination experiments, and convince Tara to participate in an orgy to facilitate inter-grove bonding. Harsh is assigned to the sin of tyranny, and he enacts a bondage scenario with Marius and Cüinn wherein he demonstrates his professional expertise as a gigolo.
Correspondence Chart Entries from The Portable Grove
| Denotation | Harsh del Shambhah’d (Hindi: joy, delight, also English: severe; all Ashvattha emanations have the surname del Shambhah’d, Skarsian: of Shambhala.) |
| Numeration | 46th emanation of Ashtara; 3rd branch of Ashvattha; 55 on the correspondence chart. |
| Apparent Age | 27 |
| Hotness | 9/10 |
| Vital Statistics | 1.78 meters tall, cock size 17.69 cm when erect. |
| Description | Pretty boy, he’d look younger if it weren’t for the goatee. Slicked back blond hair. Slim, lean muscles, nicest ass of any of the emanations. Wears the kind of too-sharp suit that a gangster would wear. |
| Skills | Gigolo. |
| Sexual Prowess and Kinks | Flawless technique. |
| Average Duration of Play | 18 minutes, 24 seconds. |
| Totem Tree | Liquidambar orientalis, the Turkish sweetgum. |
| Fixed Star | Chara, joy (β CVn). |
| Color |  |
| Esoteric Symbol | The Etruscan letter (t) |
| Function | Exegetic empowerment. |
| Official Title | Sublime Commander, Most Antient and Loyal Order of the Corset. |
| His Prophecy | Delight is a cruel master. |
| Dessert | Skarsian Delight (a generic term for any seed or nut-based confection, ie nougat, halva, barfi, pralines, marzipan and various nut-brittles. These candies were generally forbidden on Dolparessa, hence the name, as they could only be obtained upon Skarsia. |
Persistence of Weeds Addendum
| Branch Growth Characteristics | Ashvattha was synthesized fully grown by Ashtara to anchor the Shambhala colony’s Cu’enashti orchard. |
| Nul-history | The component aspects of the Ashvattha entity were singular sparks which responded to a call from Balin for heroes to undertake the most worthwhile endeavor in the universe. The Ashvattha entity was already sentient when it encountered Ashtara, who recruited it with the sight of Tara’s Destiny. |
| Proto-conscious Root Concept | Delight, designated Ecstasy. |
| Prime Number of Energy Resonance | 257 |
| From Self-Portraits Not-of-Me II: Baby Pictures by Driscoll Garrett |  |