Biography:
The Perpetual Rose: [Warning – major spoilers] Rand, the protagonist of the novel, first emanates in 3618. He has no connection to the other branches and no memory, just a vague sense of déjà vu. He realizes that there are others nearby – several humans interrogating a girl. Something that one of them says provokes a short flashback to a memory of Tommy. The girl being interrogated provokes another memory, this time of Cillian. Rand tries to trigger more memories and ends up in a full branch immersion of Axel’s emanation on Nightside. Axel’s memories provide him with enough information to realize that he is on Shambhala, and that he must find Tara.
As the interrogators emerge, he recognizes them – Clive and Suzanna. This triggers another branchback – a memory belonging to Wynne. Rand remembers enough alchemy to fool the scanners on Tara’s ship and makes his way onboard. He overhears her talking to a potted tree, complaining about an attempted attack by a Tasean terrorist – the girl Rand saw being interrogated – which made it unsafe for Tara to be with the new tree, Ashvattha. Rand surmises that this is why she was not present when he emanated.
Rand confronts Tara, who gives him a mirror – now he knows his name. But neither of them understand why he has such fragmented memories. The sight of the potted tree prompts another memory of how Suibhne created it from a root cutting.
Tara seduces Rand and fills him in on some basic facts. She then allows him to read some of her journal entries, which also help him to better understand the situation. For the rest of the night, he continues to have various memories, his story serving as a framing narrative for the stories of Yggdrasil and Canopus.
Clive Rivers realizes that the security on the ship has been violated and surmises what happened. He goes to visit Tara. Rivers fills Rand in on part of the story, then asserts that Rand is the only one who can be trusted since he can’t be possessed by a SongLuminant. When Tara presses him on the issue, Clive says that she can’t be trusted either. Rand protests that he remembers nothing; Tara surmises that this is Ash’s way of not having to be truthful with her. Rand can’t reveal what he doesn’t know.
Rand is outraged that Ashtara doesn’t trust Tara. He continues to try to piece together the problem, and realizes that something terrible happened concerning Lorcan. He wonders if Lorcan went rogue or corrupted the other emanations, which is why Rand is cut off from them – a sort of quarantine.
In a random bit of conversation, Tara raises the subject of teleportation. Rand branches back to the memory of the negotiation with the Floatfish. He tells Tara that the emanations felt strongly that Ashtara wanted teleportation technology, but didn’t understand why since it cannot be used on anyone with Cu’endhari heritage.
Rand reveals that the reason Ash initially got involved with the war against the Denolin was to engineer a path for Humanity to enter the Combine of Sentients and for Tara to become nuncio. However, this fails to shock Tara – she feels it’s completely in character for Ash – and doesn’t believe that it’s the big secret which is being hidden from them.
Tara continues to assist Rand in remembering, but they are interrupted by Lieutenant Graysal, who wants Tara to continue with the interrogation of the Tasean terrorist. Rand reflects on what he knows, and is able to access a memory belonging to Sloane. There is a mention of an assassination attempt on Tara. Rand panics and tries to follow her to the interrogation. He eavesdrops on the procedure from a hiding place, but finds that his body is suddenly paralyzed. It’s a SongLuminant – but because Rand is alone in his head, the creature mistakes him for a newly-emanated Cu’enashti from the colonial grove. After he is released, Rand realizes that he is under cover – Ashtara is hiding his presence from the SongLuminants. This further encourages Rand to try to remember what is happening.
Rand continues to have branchbacks, among them is one concerning pollination. He fails to understand why the older emanations seem so reluctant to admit the natural attraction between branches. He wants to prompt more memories from Tara’s journal, but she has taken her datapad with her. He then gets the idea that Thoughtful 45 could access her files if Rand could communicate with the AI. Rand makes contact with Suzanna in order to borrow her datapad, which has a Thoughtful 45 app on it.
Rand reads a number of journal entries which trigger a series of memories. He is finally able to see a vision Lens had which has previously remained obscure because it filled Rand with terror. The vision is of Tara’s death in an explosion. Rand freaks out – why didn’t Ashtara warn him from the beginning? Paranoia grips him – what if Ash wants Tara to die? At that moment, Rand realizes that there is an explosive hidden on Tara’s hovercar. He chases after her, but there is no way that his human form will be able to reach her in time. Rand becomes the mothman long enough to get into range and use alchemy to disable the explosive. Then Rand emanates again, understanding that Ash does not have nefarious intents.
Rand confesses all that he has learned to Tara. To his shock, Tara laughs. She then reveals that she is not frightened because the events have already happened – she has already died! She shows him a journal entry which finally fills in the pieces about what happened on Nightside.
Rand is relieved, but frustrated – nothing is as it seemed, and he no longer has any idea of why he has gaps in his memory. He reads more of the journal until he doubles over with pain – six Volparnian men are attacking Ashvattha with axes. They are quickly subdued by Graysal, but they commit suicide with poison. Graysal doesn’t understand how they could’ve breached the security perimeter, but Rand suddenly understands that they must have been possessed by SongLuminants. Ashtara tells him to remember, and he suddenly branches back to a conversation between Neliit and Till. The Champions of the Skylight Spin – a SongLuminant military order – have been behind all the attacks. Ash has kept this knowledge confidential at the request of the Lords of the Inner Vent, another SongLuminant order.
Rand and Tara return to Ashvattha. The colonists are rioting, many of them possessed by SongLuminants. They are attacked by Suzanna and then Clive, who have also been possessed. However, Graysal does not attack, which prompts Rand to ask about his origins. Rand deduces that Graysal and Tara are immune to SongLuminant possession because they have Cu’endhari ancestors.
The solution becomes evident to Rand – because teleportation technology can’t be used on Cu’endhari, he alchemically synthesizes a teleport and sends everyone without Cu’endhari ancestry back to the colonial encampment. They are contained there by the remaining colonists, the ones who cannot be possessed. Rand uses his Thoughtful 45 app to contact the Combine of Sentients about the renewed breach of trust. Ash has been playing a game all along. Rand promises Tara that of all the emanations, he will never lie to her. Shortly thereafter, he is taken into the pleroma to meet the others, and Mickey emanates.
The Portable Grove: Rand is featured in Experiment 8, where the aim is to figure out what causes Tara to fall in love. Rand is the subject of the experiment, but he is told nothing but to escort Tara to the Gold Club. However, lacking a Gold Card, he is unable to enter. Bored, he and Tara decide to walk to his home on Ashvattha island through the tunnel. The tunnel has no light, but then Tara notices the nul-energy signature in Rand’s eyes, causing her to recognize the presence of Ash. The pair end up making out until Cillian comes to retrieve them with an emergency flashlight. Once they return to the Gold Club, they discover that Rand has earned his card. The scene ends in a foursome with Patrick and Whirljack.
After the ninth experiment, Ash manifests in his mothman form again. Tara finds herself disconcerted that he doesn’t have a face. Tara withdraws from Rand, feeling guilty that it is so much easier to love Ash in a handsome human form; Rand misinterprets her reaction and feels rejected. The mothman reappears to leave a message for Tara burnt into the varnish on the piano. Tara understands, and comforts Rand, who is exhausted from the mothman’s efforts. He tells Tara it is difficult for Ash to communicate directly, but that everything the emanations do is an attempt to reach her.
During the orgy at Suibhne’s, Rand becomes pollen partners with Patrick.
Correspondence Chart Entries from The Portable Grove
| Denotation | Rand del Shambhah’d (Hindi: tree of good scent; all Ashvattha emanations have the surname del Shambhah’d, Skarsian: of Shambhala.) |
| Numeration | 44th emanation of Ashtara, 1st branch of Ashvattha; 79 in the correspondence chart. |
| Age | 36 |
| Hotness | 8/10 |
| Vital Statistics | 1.69 meters tall, cock size 16.09 cm when erect. |
| Description | Beautiful sensuous lips, close cropped and well-trimmed beard. Hair is sandy, between blond and light brown, medium length. Wears jeans, sneakers, comfortable sweaters. |
| Skills | Detective, good at thinking on his feet in a crisis. Unfailingly loyal, incapable of lying to Tara. |
| Sexual Prowess and Kinks | Boringly normal. |
| Average Duration of Play | 11 minutes, 16 seconds. |
| Totem Tree | Picea sitchensis, the Sitka spruce. |
| Fixed Star | Tien Tsan, extremely honorable (ψ UMa), also called Tàizūn, the royals. |
| Color |  |
| Esoteric Symbol | The Minchiate trump La Fede, Faith or Fidelity |
| Function | Creative empowerment. |
| Official Title | First Auditor of Shambhala. |
| His Prophecy | Solve et coagula. |
| Dessert | Nau’gsh cheesecake |
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 | Rand was joined with Ishan when they encountered the Ashvattha entity and 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 | Fidelity, designated n’aashet n’aaverti. |
| Prime Number of Energy Resonance | 401 |
| From Self-Portraits Not-of-Me II: Baby Pictures by Driscoll Garrett |  |