Rysn's Interlude from Stormlight 2

[Green Fire]

Well... If this was George RR Martin, that blackness would have been the end. haha 

 

Thankfully for Rysn, Roshar has .8 gravity and thicker higher oxygen/ thicker air.  Although I hope it's her stylish outfit that slows her down enough to survive that. She was fricken high.  And with Vstim killing that beast, I do wonder if a certain Szeth-son-son-Vallano was in his service at the time.

[askthepaperclip]

Has anyone put together the full text of the Rysn interlude? As interesting as the writing process is, I'm hoping to avoid sitting through 4 hours of video...

[Ness]

Askthepaperclip, if you don't want to sit though that long I just mute the video, every time I catch up to him I jump 2-3mins ahead. Each video takes around 4mins-ish.

[askthepaperclip]

OK cool, I was worried about him jumping back and forth a lot, making it easy to miss something

[FlashWrogan]

I just drag the video along as fast I read. Most of the stuff you might miss is just changes and corrections he makes. I'm not particularly interested in the down and dirty details of his writing, so missing a few changes here and there doesn't matter to me . Additionally, it has been stated that a speed version of the entire writing process will be posted after all the segments are up.

[Windrunner]

I have to say, I did not expect this development. Rysn getting paralyzed from the waist down is pretty shocking to me. As well as the spren of the island slowing her fall. It must have some sort of sentience going on, bringing our count of sentient spren types up to two. I'm happy that Brandon had an explanation for why Rysn didn't die, because a fall from that height was pushing the bounds of plausibility. I am glad Vstim isn't actually as close to dying as he appears. As cliched as the "wise old mentor" may be, I do love this trope.

[Cheese Ninja]

I'm the same as you, I knew she was going to jump from his prenotes way back at the beginning, but I didn't really expect her to take serious damage, despite the laws of physics.

 

How many books do you think it will be until Surgebinding has returned to modern-day Roshar to the degree that someone random Radiant uses Regrowth to heal her?  I'm betting it won't be at least until the 5th book.  Unless she's going to be our window to how the Nightwatcher boon/curse works, but I expect that will be a Dalinar flashback instead.

[Kurkistan]

If there was to be a Regrowth-based solution, it would have to be done pretty quickly. Once her Cognitive aspect adapts to being paralyzed, that's all she wrote so far as magical healing goes.

[Windrunner]

But what's pretty quickly? Depending on what sort of person you are, I can see it as taking a long time to really accept the fact that you have a disability. Especially with Rysn's stubbornness. She seems like someone who would refuse to accept her fate.

[Yados]

Perhaps this is the instance that will illustrate where that distinction lies. 

[Morsk]

Rysn should have better odds than Sazed at being healed. Sazed grew up as a eunich and was never an adult, or even a child, in any other state. Rysn made it into adulthood being able to walk.

 

I wonder if "the Cognative aspect of Rysn's body" is Rysn's own mind, or if it's separate. In TES we saw a window that preferred to be stained-glass, even after being viewed for years, by everyone, as broken and poorly replaced. Can Rysn's body hold the same memory and preference, even if Rysn accepts her disability? Or for conscious beings, do these Cognative things just get merged into the person's own mind?

[Cheese Ninja]

Also, while that might be a limitation for Cosmere magical self-healing, healing guided by another doesn't seem to have the limitation. 

 

Susebron lived almost all of his life without his tongue, but a Divine Breath was able to not just restore his tongue, but also gave him the complete ability to speak as well, bypassing the whole "learning to talk" thing.

[Kurkistan]

^An excellent point. I think the case in Warbreaker is a bit more specific than simply being healed by another, though.

 

It seems that Divine Breath perfects beyond the merely self-described. I doubt LIghtsong saw himself as an Olympian god, yet he still took that form (as determined by the Form of a Returned, I've argued). His Divine Breath accessed something outside Lightsong himself in order to get at that "perfect" body. I would argue, then, that the "healing" done by means of Divine Breath has similar outside access, going straight to the question of "what is perfect human health?" rather than "what does this person's body usually look like?"

[Windrunner]

And, here we are.

 

The larkin have to be the dragonwasps, based on its description. There's so many questions here. How did one end up in the Reshi Isles? How did the Tai-na give one to Rysn? Why are corpses still so prized? What is the larkin's connection to the Radiants? This wait is going to kill me...

[askthepaperclip]

haha I thought of you Windrunner as soon as I saw the word "wings"!

 

Definitely curious why they would be so prized dead...maybe like the powders of eastern medicine? (ground rhino horn, etc) My guess is it has something to do with the wings, since those seem to be the rare thing about it.

 

Or maybe it can be used to create some exotic fabrial...

[Cheese Ninja]

And we're back to the Scouring of Aimia, once again.  Is anybody else wondering if Urithiru was in Aimia as well, you can't get much further west than Aimia?  Perhaps the Aimians are Honor's constructs, and the Parshendi are Odium's constructs?  From the chapter 35 epigraph:
 

“Though many wished Urithiru to be built in Alethela, it was obvious that it could not be. And so it was that we asked for it to be placed westward, in the place nearest to Honor.”

-Perhaps the oldest surviving original source mentioning the city, requoted in The Vavibrar, line 1804. What I wouldn’t give for a way to translate the Dawnchant.

[askthepaperclip]

Interestingly, I remembered (or have seen it misquoted so many times) as saying "closer to honor," which would support what you are saying; that Honor is somewhere in the west, so the further west you go the closer to Honor you are.

 

However, I don't read this as saying it needs to be as westward as possible, nor that Honor is just somewhere in the west. It seems to me that they knew exactly where Honor was, and built Urithiru there. Rather than being vaguely in "the west" it looks like the quote only says that Honor is west of Alethela, which could be as near by as Jah Keved or Kharbranth (maybe something to do with the unnatural formation of the Palanaeum?). Or even the Pure Lake?

 

Seeing as the KR served all of Roshar, and most of the fighting of the desolations seems to have happened in the east, it would make more sense that their HQ would be at least centrally located, to facilitate rapid response to VB threats.

[Cheese Ninja]

I would argue that "nearest" has less possible connatations than "closer".  "Closeness" has a number of possible meanings, some being metaphorical.  "Nearness" tends to get used a bit more geographical/directional sense.  If you say two people are 'near' each other, that tends to be comment on relative physical locations.  However, both are open to interpretation.

 

True, the KR served all of Roshar, but If they had a method of instant transportion, the location of Urithiru wouldn't really matter.  The Oathgates sound a bit like they could connect any two places.  Also, Aimia just seems important at this point.  I'd like to know if the Scouring happened in recent history, or centuries ago.  Axies said it wasn't long ago, but he also considers centuries to be an acceptable amount of time in which to catalogue spren.

 

Other fun things from that epigraph. "...obvious that it could not be." Why is it obvious? "a way to translate the Dawnchant" Thanks to Dalinar's visions, this is actually possible now.  I hope Navani gave Dalinar a list of words to recite in order during one of his visions, so that she have a solid starting word bank.

Edited April 22, 2013 by Cheese Ninja

[darkanimereal1]

And, here we are.

 

The larkin have to be the dragonwasps, based on its description. There's so many questions here. How did one end up in the Reshi Isles? How did the Tai-na give one to Rysn? Why are corpses still so prized? What is the larkin's connection to the Radiants? This wait is going to kill me...

 

It seemed to me like the larkin come from the greatshells themselves. The spirit of the Isle--the spren?--gave it to Rysn. That implies that they live within the greatshell. That also would explain why Vstim trades with them: they have access to the larkin once they die, since they come from within the isle itself.

 

Interestingly, I remembered (or have seen it misquoted so many times) as saying "closer to honor," which would support what you are saying; that Honor is somewhere in the west, so the further west you go the closer to Honor you are.

 

However, I don't read this as saying it needs to be as westward as possible, nor that Honor is just somewhere in the west. It seems to me that they knew exactly where Honor was, and built Urithiru there. Rather than being vaguely in "the west" it looks like the quote only says that Honor is west of Alethela, which could be as near by as Jah Keved or Kharbranth (maybe something to do with the unnatural formation of the Palanaeum?). Or even the Pure Lake?

 

Seeing as the KR served all of Roshar, and most of the fighting of the desolations seems to have happened in the east, it would make more sense that their HQ would be at least centrally located, to facilitate rapid response to VB threats.

 

This is a good point. I never really thought to distinguish the relativity of "West." However, I also think that Urithiru may have been built in the Cognitive Realm, in which case the question of "West" becomes rather interesting...

 

True, the KR served all of Roshar, but If they had a method of instant transportion, the location of Urithiru wouldn't really matter.  The Oathgates sound a bit like they could connect any two places.  Also, Aimia just seems important at this point.  I'd like to know if the Scouring happened in recent history, or centuries ago.  Axies said it wasn't long ago, but he also considers centuries to be an acceptable amount of time in which to catalogue spren.

 

Other fun things from that epigraph. "...obvious that it could not be." Why is it obvious? "a way to translate the Dawnchant" Thanks to Dalinar's visions, this is actually possible now.  I hope Navani gave Dalinar a list of words to recite in order during one of his visions, so that she have a solid starting word bank.

 

Another good point. If it were in the Cognitive Realm, "centrality" maybe have been less important.

[askthepaperclip]

I would argue that "nearest" has less possible connatations than "closer".  "Closeness" has a number of possible meanings, some being metaphorical.  "Nearness" tends to get used a bit more geographical/directional sense.  If you say two people are 'near' each other, that tends to be comment on relative physical locations.  However, both are open to interpretation.

My point was less about "close" vs "near", and more about "-er" vs "-est". "-er" is reletive, and doesn't imply knowledge of the location, whereas "-est" implies a definite location. Lots of places can be near-er to honor, but only one can be near-est.

 

This is a good point. I never really thought to distinguish the relativity of "West." However, I also think that Urithiru may have been built in the Cognitive Realm, in which case the question of "West" becomes rather interesting...

Very interesting theory...is it possible that there is a geographical location on Roshar where it is easiest to connect to the cognitive realm?

Edited April 24, 2013 by askthepaperclip

[darkanimereal1]

Very interesting theory...is it possible that there is a geographical location on Roshar where it is easiest to connect to the cognitive realm?

 

Well, we know for certain that the connection to Shadesmar depends on the amount of sentient life/thought that happens in a certain area:

 

WoB: There are many ways to enter Shadesmar. You'll see more of this in the future. One thing to keep in mind about Shadesmar is that space where things are thinking is expanded, while space where there is nothing to think is contracted. In other words, in an empty void, you get almost no Shadesmar. This makes distances as we think of them very different there.

 

That's from here:http://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/1a3fj0/discussion_of_the_week_shadesmar_truthspren/c8vet5f

 

So I feel like there is some kind of connection between the physical realm and Shadesmar.

[askthepaperclip]

Good info...the question then is, would you build Urithiru where there is a lot of thought, or little? Is the supposed inaccessibility of Urithiru referring to inaccessibility in the physical realm or the cognitive realm? If they figured out a way to build it in a "thin" area of the cognitive realm, then that would reinforce the inaccessibility aspect of the legend. 

[Phantom Monstrosity]

Calling it: Urithiru is on the moon.

[darkanimereal1]

Calling it: Urithiru is on the moon.

 

Dude, which one? xD

[Shardlet]

I honestly don't think he's a Herald. I think that sometimes we get too excited about people without accents. Couldn't even the Heralds have accents, just ones considered odd or archaic by those they met? Sometimes people just learn a language really well. This is the best trader on the Tai-Na, being able to speak to foreigners extremely well would be crucial in his line of work.

 

Most people don't realize that everyone has an accent except for the people who speak exactly the same way you do.  Shallan's perception of the lack of accent in the advisor means only they means they sound like a native speaker of the language they are speaking (I don't recall what the language is off-hand).  I would expect that if we were to judge whether someone was a Herald or not by the way they speak, then it would be described as a strange, unfamiliar, or unrecognizable accent.

 

Also:

Interestingly, I remembered (or have seen it misquoted so many times) as saying "closer to honor," which would support what you are saying; that Honor is somewhere in the west, so the further west you go the closer to Honor you are.

 

However, I don't read this as saying it needs to be as westward as possible, nor that Honor is just somewhere in the west. It seems to me that they knew exactly where Honor was, and built Urithiru there. Rather than being vaguely in "the west" it looks like the quote only says that Honor is west of Alethela, which could be as near by as Jah Keved or Kharbranth (maybe something to do with the unnatural formation of the Palanaeum?). Or even the Pure Lake?

 

Seeing as the KR served all of Roshar, and most of the fighting of the desolations seems to have happened in the east, it would make more sense that their HQ would be at least centrally located, to facilitate rapid response to VB threats.

 

Consider also that this may refer to elevation as well.  A typical Christian tradition is that Heaven (the dwelling place of God) is above us (altitude-wise) and is frequently depicted as being in the clouds.  Although this has little doctrinal grounding and appears to be depicted this way by convention, it is still a pervasive idea. 

 

It could very well be that a similar sentiment is/was present on Roshar and that the dwelling place of Honor is in the heavens.  Alethkar does not appear to be particularly mountainous.  Could Urithiru be located in a high mountain range which happens to be to the West of Alethkar, for example, the Horneater Peaks?

 

Note:  I am not putting forth a theory that Urithiru is/was in the Horneater mountains.  It was just an example.

Edited May 17, 2013 by Shardlet