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Identifying "Quiet" Worldhoppers


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So most of us already know about the big-time worldhoppers that we've already identified (Nazh, Mraize, Khriss, Demoux, Galladon and of course Hoid) but what about those small characters that just make us a little suspicious? I started thinking about this while rereading Words of Radiance and I found a lot of "quiet" characters that I think may be worldhoppers. Maybe we've already encountered these characters in other books, or maybe we haven't. Part of what got me started was the description of Zahel, who we know as Vasher from Warbreaker. Kaladin, when first encountering him, comments on his "Strange accent." Shallan says the same thing about Mraize when she meets him.

I started looking for others who seemed unusual for some reason or another, although I mainly noticed accents. Here are some that I've found so far:

  • Macob (Caravan owner Shallan saved): "She couldn't place his accent." - Chapter 21 Ashes
  • Tyn: "...and spoke Alethi without an accent." - Chapter 20 The Coldness of Clarity
  • Young darkeyed women Shallan impersonates: "...she doesn't have an accent." Chapter 52 Into the Sky
  • The carriage driver who took Wit's place:" He had an accent Kaladin didn't recognize." and "Kaladin didn't recognize him; he wasn't one of Adolin's regular servants." Chapter 55 The Rules of the Game

I'm not done reading through, and I will add more as I start rereading other books. If you guys can think of any others though let me know! Also let me know what you think of the idea and whether or not there might be something to it!

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1 minute ago, Oversleep said:

I have a suspicion that worldhoppers may not be able to attract spren but I have to reread to confirm or deny.

I suspect that isn't the case since off-worlders can supposedly bond spren. It's up to the spren in the end.

On the other hand, if it is the case, it could be part of the explanation for Shinovar not having spren.

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Just now, Djarskublar said:

I suspect that isn't the case since off-worlders can supposedly bond spren. It's up to the spren in the end.

Yeah, they could bond spren. But my suspicion is that spren could sense something being off with worldhoppers and just when worldhopper gets angry there won't be any angerspren.

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3 minutes ago, Oversleep said:

Yeah, they could bond spren. But my suspicion is that spren could sense something being off with worldhoppers and just when worldhopper gets angry there won't be any angerspren.

Yep, I understood you. I just meant that since they can bond, I don't think there is necessarily a reason spren would be scared off. Now, if they have some spikes, they almost certainly will, but that is a separate issue. I admit it could easily go either way.

@Obnoxiousspren I too noticed the girl Shallan impersonates. It is important to note that she would have access to Amaram's stuff too, so there is a reason for her to be there if she is someone interesting. She may be a worldhopper, but I doubt it. She may be a member of one of the societies though.

Based on what we now know about using Connection to speak a local language, I don't think people not having accents is a good reason to think they are a worldhopper. In fact, it could be taken as weak evidence against it. You have an accent when you tap Connection (does that accent maybe get weaker when you tap more?).

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40 minutes ago, Djarskublar said:

 

I too noticed the girl Shallan impersonates. It is important to note that she would have access to Amaram's stuff too, so there is a reason for her to be there if she is someone interesting. She may be a worldhopper, but I doubt it. She may be a member of one of the societies though.

Based on what we now know about using Connection to speak a local language, I don't think people not having accents is a good reason to think they are a worldhopper. In fact, it could be taken as weak evidence against it. You have an accent when you tap Connection (does that accent maybe get weaker when you tap more?).

True, except that we do have precedence to suggest that some worldhoppers have strange accents or no accents. Both Zahel and Mraize (which I mentioned before) are confirmed worldhoppers and they were described with "strange accents" in the book. So maybe some would not have accents but there are definitely others that do.

Edit: I'm going to look at Bands of Mourning and see if the Southern Scadrians have accents when tapping Connection, because I don't remember. (see second edit)

Edit#2: AHA! Found it. Bands of Mourning pg 311: (After putting on a new metalmind) ""How's that?" he (Allik) asked, looking back at them. Marasi blinked in shock. He'd said it in her language - strangely accented, true, but intelligible."

So using Connection to speak a local language is still marked with an accent in all the cases I can think of @Djarskublar.

Edited by Obnoxiousspren
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2 hours ago, john203 said:

@Obnoxiousspren, gj on the SLA, we also got confirmation that the nurse in warbreaker is a terriswoman, if you want to add her to the list.

There are actually some other WOBs that seem to contradict this, although the way that I read them I think you are right and she is the terriswoman. There are separate posts about her though so I'll leave her off the list for now.

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53 minutes ago, Obnoxiousspren said:

There are actually some other WOBs that seem to contradict this, although the way that I read them I think you are right and she is the terriswoman. There are separate posts about her though so I'll leave her off the list for now.

It's been confirmed that the Nurse is the Terriswoman.

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On 5/8/2017 at 11:19 PM, CosmereAvair said:

It was pretty fun to play MTG with him, I mean I never played the game before but it was nice to just hang out with him and other people at the convention. Sanderson even helped orchestrate the whole event which I thought was a very nice thing to do.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Also during that time he shared an answer about who the Terris woman is in war breaker, after someone guessed correctly in a signing in Poland. Apparently it is the nurse, don't remember exactly what she did in the book, but thought I should post about it anyway. Its always nice to get a confirmed world hopper. 

 

And here is the source

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Speech patterns seem like they would be a rather poor indicator of one being a worldhopper. People speaking another language often have an accent that can potentially go away through cultural immersion and practice. Heck, languages even have regional accents. It would take an incredibly well traveled person of a certain world like Jasnah or Kiin noticing a strange accent to personally make me think that a character is a worldhopper based upon accent alone.

 

However, apparently idioms and certain terms can slip through that can be decent indicators of worldhoppers. Vasher keeps using color-based metaphors from his home region in Nalthis despite them being nonsensical to Rosharans. Hoid/Wit has used the term "coin" on Roshar if I recall correctly and attempted to tell Kaladin a story based upon animals a typical Rosharan wouldn't recognize. That doesn't help with more nonvocal worldhoppers but it's a method to try and find some.

 

Also, the OP fails to mention Stick, the greatest of worldhoppers. :P

 

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Hmm just thought of this whilst reading this thread.

Could Vasher be bonded to a spren? Giving a potential reason for discarding Nightblood in case he consumed the spren.

That could be a reason why he can now absorb Stormlight. 

Converting it to Breath would be another issue he needed to figure out. But to absorb Stormlight you need spren bonding.

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24 minutes ago, Thanatos said:

Giving a potential reason for discarding Nightblood in case he consumed the Spren.

Brandon has described it more along the lines of "they got separated on Roshar," but I won't discount your idea altogether.

24 minutes ago, Thanatos said:

Converting it to Breath would be another issue he needed to figure out.

He doesn't need to figure this out. All he needs is Investiture to survive, and Stormlight is more plentiful than Breath. I'd consider Returned as similar to Nightblood, where food is food, regardless of what form it takes.

24 minutes ago, Thanatos said:

But to absorb Stormlight you need spren bonding.

Not technically true. Honorblades are the most notable exceptions to this rule, and Vasher is smart enough to find a workaround if one existed

Edited by The One Who Connects
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5 minutes ago, Thanatos said:

Pretty sure there's a WoB saying Vasher had to find a way to convert Stormlight to Breath. 

He can't have done, because that would undermine the "he tried and failed to awaken using Stormlight" WoB if he could just turn the Stormlight into Breath

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So Vasher can draw Stormlight to feed his need for one Breath a week (to keep his Cognitive Shadow stapled to bus body).

Quote

QUESTION

Can Vasher draw Breath from a highstorm?

BRANDON SANDERSON

I will answer that eventually... You know what, yes he can. Not Breath though, he can draw Investiture the way he needs

But he cannot convert it to Breath.

Quote

ZENBOSSANOVA

Can Vasher use Stormlight to Awaken things?

BRANDON SANDERSON

No, all it does is keep him alive. But he has tried and has not figured out how to awaken things.

And he got separated from Nightblood after coming to Roshar, which he did to feed his weekly Breath requirement. 

Quote

QUESTION

Then finally I asked if Vasher and Nightblood were separated before or after coming to Roshar (I kind of felt like this had probably been asked before but I couldn't find any info on it so I went ahead),

BRANDON SANDERSON

and after hesitating for a minute, he said that they were separated after.
Quote

BRANDON SANDERSON

The "how-did-Vasher-get-to-Roshar" thing will be explained. For now, we know that Vasher got tired of "sucking souls" and, through previous study with a group of scholars, knew how easy it was to get Investiture on Roshar (same way he knew what a Shardblade was so he could try to replicate it (and we all know how that turned out: Nightblood)). With this same group of scholars, he figured out how to get into the Cognitive realm.

 

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19 minutes ago, Obnoxiousspren said:

I think we are a little off topic....

Sorry, you're completely right, and I just had to point this out on my own separate thread.

I realised someone you missed  (unless I missed it). Iyatil. Mraize's babsk. She's from Silverlight and off Southern Scadrian descent. 

Quote

FEATHERWRITER

Is Iyatil from Southern Scadrial?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Iyatil (he pronounced it like yah-till) has heritage along those lines, but she is not

Quote

BRANDON SANDERSON

That’s… not as far off as people laughing think that it is. [More laughter] It’s not a space station, it’s not that futuristic, but there is a place in the Cosmere where a lot of worldhoppers have settled, is where Iyatil is from, even though her ethnicity is not from there.

(We now know this to be Silverlight

But I can't remember if she had a distinct accent? May be one worth checking. 

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57 minutes ago, Extesian said:

Sorry, you're completely right, and I just had to point this out on my own separate thread.

I realised someone you missed  (unless I missed it). Iyatil. Mraize's babsk. She's from Silverlight and off Southern Scadrian descent. 

But I can't remember if she had a distinct accent? May be one worth checking. 

I did check her to see if she had an accent but I couldn't find anything about it. I also didn't include her because she's been confirmed and I'm just looking at the "quiet" ones that don't really have huge roles.

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I think the Ardent in charge of the Soulcasters that Adolin visits in WoR is a kandra.  It's the perfect person to imitate for the sake of learning of other uses for Investiture, and Adolin specifically mentions that his behavior is somewhat odd.

 

I'd need someone else to find it for me, the Lady has it with her roughly a planet away.

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11 minutes ago, The Sovereign said:

Do you have a source for this? I know it was all but confirmed, but BS has been notoriously closed mouthed about this.

Here. Bottom of the post, after the Audio Recording Files

Quote

He said that someone in Poland had figured it out who the Terriswoman in Warbreaker was and I asked him if it was Lemex' nurse, and he nodded and smiled. He said he had no idea how anyone figured it out, which is interesting.

 

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