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

Chapter 67 (Song of Stones)
Icons: Double Kak–we’re getting Willshaper shenanigans! Yay! Can I hope for power training for Venli?

Epigraph: Who are you addressing? This is getting disturbing. Who is trying to prove intent with this?

Am I being unreasonable to expect the escaped listeners to show up again? It’s been close to two years since the Everstorm was summoned, and you’d think that at least Odium and/or the Stormfather would have found them at some point in that period. They escaped and we never saw the bodies, which by fiction standards means they absolutely have to turn up again in a surprise for everyone. Except, as Venli just reminded me, they escaped into the chasms in the middle of the clash of two storms. They were largely the infirm and incapable, including Jaxlim. We wouldn’t expect to find their bodies after that. Is there really no Lost Legion of listeners?

Wait, now she’s calling the spren she freed way back then Ulim, which is a name I recognize. So where did the name El come from? I don’t want to check the coppermind because there are doubtless spoilers for the flashback material I haven’t reached yet. If I’ve been calling that spren the wrong name for however many chapters, I’m going to feel pretty dumb.

I’m glad Venli is still watching for Sleepless, even if she doesn’t know that’s what she’s guarding against.

I’m also glad that Venli is testing both Stormlight and Voidlight. I don’t know if both will work for her, but I’m expecting so and I’m eager to see the differences in action.

Hm, one main difference right away: Stormlight infuses the whole body, while Voidlight lingers in the gemheart. That is bizarre to me, especially since both appear to be equally well contained in faceted gems.

Ooo, the Song of Prayer lets them conjure voidlight to fill spheres? Sounds like Odium is taking a direct hand in supplying his followers.

Voidlight acting on the passions is an obvious effect in retrospect, but that’s a physical/emotional divide that I didn’t really expect. Both are delivered through massive storms, and Honor is intent-focuses enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if it had an equal focus on emotions as on actions… though now that it’s been shown I can certainly come up with arguments about Honor being about performance of appropriate actions, not simply internal decisions. 

This rock she’s talking to is much more loquacious than anything else our soulcasters etc. have spoken with. It’s almost certainly due to her listener nature, but she’s getting a very understandable conversation here.

This song of the stones is cool, Venli, but if you accidentally do cymatics to the corridor you are in, it’s going to draw some attention.

A new swear for the list! It’s been a while. This one is by Venli:

Quote

“Oh storms. Oh rhythms ancient and new.”

This intricate diorama that the hallway is performing for Venli is far more than I expected from her first attempt at actual surgebinding. I want to analyze the Dawnsinger stuff, but I keep getting distracted wondering how the Sibling relates to the tower they occupy, whether something like this would normally require their permission, etc.

I do love that the stones are nostalgic for pre-humanity Roshar, and are eager to be shaped and reshaped. I wonder if she’d have gotten the same response anywhere else, or if the stone of Urithiru is somehow special in that regard.

That seems to cover the shaper part of willshaper. I’m guessing Venli’s affinity for the elsecalling side of things is lesser, and won’t show up for some time.

Oh, these aren’t cousin spren, these are more Reachers, come to find Venli’s squires. This could get awkward for sure, especially since it doesn’t seem that the spren of the order known for going walkabout are likely to wait for instructions on when and how to bond.