What drew Dusk to Cakoban's Island?

[EdgedancerJacob he/him]

One mechanics question I don't think the book answered is why Dusk was drawn specifically to Cakoban's island. At the end of Part 2, he seemingly is drawn to the Knell, but when we see him in Book 3, he's pulling up to this island. Is this because it was the only island nearby?

[lacrossedeamon]

Yeah he can feel how the Knell interacts with islands in shadesmar. This was just the closest or at least interacted the strongest with the Current.

[EdgedancerJacob he/him]

9 minutes ago, lacrossedeamon said:

This was just the closest or at least interacted the strongest with the Current.

Cool, this is what I assumed -- thanks for confirming!

[Treamayne]

On 7/15/2025 at 3:04 PM, EdgedancerJacob said:

One mechanics question I don't think the book answered is why Dusk was drawn specifically to Cakoban's island. At the end of Part 2, he seemingly is drawn to the Knell, but when we see him in Book 3, he's pulling up to this island. Is this because it was the only island nearby?

On 7/15/2025 at 3:17 PM, lacrossedeamon said:

Yeah he can feel how the Knell interacts with islands in shadesmar. This was just the closest or at least interacted the strongest with the Current.

More specifically, it was explained in Ch 33:

Spoiler

He could feel them, physically, pushing against him, like…

Like waves.

He rummaged through his things, pulling out his notepad and charcoal. He sketched, not a picture, but the pattern of waves striking him. Just as they flowed between islands in specific ways, interacting, pushing against one another. He was reminded of the old string maps, which showed the interactions of waves around the Pantheon. An island would interrupt normal ocean swells, as would underwater ridges and chasms.

Just as he had been able to dip his hand into the water and get a sense of where he was—reading the whispers made by the ocean’s very heartbeat—could he read these waves?

Both birds moved to his shoulders, Rokke flying, Sak climbing up his clothing, using her beak for purchase. One on each shoulder, they watched his frantic motions, loops, and arcs, waveforms mashing together. To many people, it would look like a mash-up of bizarre scribbles. To him, it became a map.

For he could sense something interrupting the thrums.

Just as islands interrupted waves in the ocean, something interrupted these pulses. He’d have to travel more to make a complete map, but he could feel what wasn’t there. All because of years spent with his fingers in the water, learning to speak the language of the ocean. The abyss might not have the type of water he was used to, but it spoke the same language.

Hope that helps.