Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.

Chapter 53 (Compassion)
Header icons: Jez and Vav. Protecting and Healing. That matches the title, at least.

Epigraph: Welp, this very nearly rules out a human author for the epigraphs. Not entirely, though, since the undertext isn’t necessarily written by the same author as the main text (as far as I remember it’s sometimes something akin to footnotes not intended to be read aloud, but sometimes also a note from someone performing a transcription, etc… I could be wrong on that, though). It’s important to note, though, that modern listeners didn’t have written language until… wait, what about the Dawnchant? Was that lost until returned by the Fused, or have I misinterpreted the bits from Venli’s flashbacks? Their oral tradition certainly sounds like a culture relying little or not at all on written words. Anyway, my point was going to be that the in-world Rhythm of War text could only have been written by a modern singer (most likely Venli, of course) but with the Dawnchant existing we can’t actually rule out prior generations. If the book is by Raboniel I’m going to feel disturbed.

Relayform? What can they do? Their position in the central scouting operation is certainly suggestive, plus the name.

That’s right, Venli. You bet Leshwi will want to know about Kaladin. 

What did Timbre do to block out all rhythms? Not just Odium’s but everything--that should be antithetical to the spren, shouldn’t it? Being a mixture of Honor and Cultivation, they… oh, wait. I forgot that the rhythms predated the shattering, as do the listeners. Hmm. Still, what did Timbre do to block it, and what other effects could that be used to produce?

Timbre, are you sure? You want to tell Leshwi about being Radiant? That seems foolish. In the extreme. I’m sure this is going to come back and bite Venli for not listening to you, but I’m with her on this one. In the moment, I would have said you were crazy, too. 

“You are merciful...do not reveal this Passion to others.” Yes, I knew there was a reason we liked you, Leshwi, and it’s not just the shipping.