Hi, I'm new here, so I don't know if a post on this subject has been written yet...

So, I will start with the Tunneler in "Ember Rising". We gather from that book that the first tunneler was one of the first rabbits to be carried off by birds of prey and dropped in Akolan. Well, in "The Black Star of Kingston", we witness the actual moment wherein rabbits first encounter birds of prey at the battle of Ayman lake. We are also told that many rabbits are carried off. If you think about it, these were the first rabbits ever to be carried off (presumably to Akolan), and one of them must have been the first Tunneler! Now, we know that, somehow, the first Tunneler had a pickaxe. Well, the first Tunneler was carried off from a ship full of mining supplies. So, the Battle of Ayman lake gives us the origin of the Tunneler's pickaxe!

When I got to meet S. D. Smith on a Zoom meeting (along with, I am sure, several of you here), he talked about how his origins as living in contact with coal mines as being the major inspiration for "The Black Star of Kingston". However, the deeper you look into the relationship of this book with the major story of the mending, you find a whole stash of subtle details that masterfully roll into more obvious details of the story a century down the line. Magnificent! 😃