The Scar Trivia Quiz

Answer: Salkrikaltor Cray

Bellis spent the time waiting for the Terpsichoria to leave, learning the language. Her tutor was not a proper teacher; rather he was an elderly member of the Cray people, who told stories of his life.

Answer: Physically altered prisoners

Part of the punishment system of New Crobuzon included the re-making of those found guilty. This included, but was not limited to, adding additional limbs from differing species and replacement of body parts with mechanical alternatives.

Answer: A platform drilling rig had disappeared

Bellis was told before she went to translate that she was a conduit only and not part of the discussions. She was not told of the problems in advance and pieced the story together after the meeting.

New Crobuzon owned three drilling platforms in Salkrikaltor waters, so paid rent to have them there. The newest and largest of these had disappeared. The Crays of Salkrikaltor had no idea what had happened to the rig.

Answer: Armada

The Terpsichoria was thought to be invulnerable to attack by pirates due to her size and speed. Nevertheless, the pirates overcame all obstacles in a well considered assault. The Captain and First officer were slain and the rest of those on board were interviewed, to see how they would best be fitted into the society of Armada.

When the ship's company made rendezvous with Armada, some were sent to prison for readjustment and the rest were set free. Offers of work, based on the interviews while on the Terpsichoria, were made. Bellis accepted a position in the library that included her own apartment and a good salary.

Tortuga is an island and therefore does not float. Both Atlantis and the Titanic sank. My attempt at humour!

Answer: Shekel

Shekel had been the cabin boy on the Terpsichoria. He desperately wanted to learn, so that he could feel more at ease and to fit in with his more clever girlfriend. To that end, Bellis taught him to read in their mutual, original language and then in Salt, the common language. Shekel was fascinated to find that the same alphabet could be used in different ways and was always looking for new to him languages.

The book that Shekel took to Bellis was in a difficult and obscure language, High Kettai, which Bellis had written a book about. She took some time interpreting the book and discovering as much about it as she could before handing it over to the proper authorities. She came to realise that the book was only written about thirty years previously and not by the ancient originators of the language. Bellis was then taken as interpreter on the fact finding mission.

Answer: The females were killers and the males intellectuals

The Mosquito people were not physically capable of spoken language.

In a very bloody part of their ancient history, the females of the species had killed many people, before the race was returned to their island home. Due to the intellectual capabilities of the males, the race was allowed to survive, but confined to the island. Contact with other races was kept to a bare minimum and only being allowed access to the written High Kettai language was part of that.

The males and females did not live together. Once a female had her fill of blood, she would have some lucid times when she could communicate and presumably mate, although not all habits and customs of the race were discussed.

Answer: Avanc

The Avanc was the beast of legend from another world. There was proof that attempts had been made in the past to raise the beast, but until the book translated by Bellis was found, the method could only be guessed at.

The Avanc was only a means to another end, though.

Answer: Nobody remembers

The Lovers ruled well, but their obsession over capturing and then harnessing the avanc and using it to drag Armada to "The Scar" nearly split their world apart. In the end it just split The Lovers apart.

"The Scar" of the title refers to a rip in the surface of the world. It also refers to the scarification of the faces and bodies of The Lovers.

Answer: female

The Lovers had continued on their quest to find "The Scar" with great determination, but with gradually lessening support from the other rulers of Armada. Bellis was not the only one who worked against the quest. Eventually The Lovers were made to listen to the gainsayers. Just the female part of the pairing refused to give up on the quest and she set off alone.

Answer: She was to be returned to New Crobuzon

Bellis Coldwine was involved at every stage of this strange story, but was never party to every detail and that left her vulnerable to those who chose to use her. When she realised that her actions could cause danger to all on Armada, she confessed and her defence of not knowing the truth at the time of her actions was accepted. She was given the option of ten years in prison or a flogging. She was flogged.

Her only wish through the story was to return home. At the end, her wish was granted.