Who/What is Thanasmia? [Discuss]

[Yumiya]

We get one mention of Thanasmia in TotES.

Quote

“He sailed the Midnight Sea, Miss Tress,” he said. “Beneath Thanasmia’s own moon. The Sorceress took him.”

Who or what is Thanasmia? There is no other mention of a moon belonging to a named individual. At best, individual moons are referred to by their spore. Emerald Moon, Verdant Moon. Crimson Moon. Midnight Moon. Sometimes they are even referred to by an attribute. Moon of Veils. Moon of Mercy. Moon of Menace. Moon of Justice. Moon of Meanings.  (Wonder if those align with specific seas...)

I see a couple of options. 

1. It is simply the name of the moon, like Sel has a moon named Oem.
2. It is the name of the Aether on the Midnight Moon, abscribed by the people of Lumar or adopted by the Aether itself.
3. It is the name of the individual who created Lumar.

I personally like the last one. Lumar feels manmade, created. Not natural or even shard made. It seems likely then that the creator of the planet would have a part of the inhabitant's mythos. Of all the cultures we have seen so far, the name itself feels Rosharan to me. So I think Thanasmia is a Rosharan worldhopper/refugee who created Lumar, potentially with use/information from the Moon Scepter (as there is other Sellish influence on the planet). 

I would love to hear everyone's theories and reasoning. 

[lacrossedeamon]

If 3 were correct then all the moons would be "Thanasmia's own moon" which kinda renders the phrase useless. It's an odd way to phrase it if it is 1, so I assume it is 2 or something close to that.

[+Bzhydack]

We know people from Lumar worship Moons. But because antrpomorphisation is in our nature, is possible that they have personifications for all Moons, and Thanasmia is simply name of this personification of Midnight Moon. But maybe indeed this is name of Midnigth Aether himself (herself?). Roseite Aether have name too, its Silajana.

[+Oltux72]

On 9.1.2023 at 3:23 AM, Yumiya said:

We get one mention of Thanasmia in TotES.

Who or what is Thanasmia? There is no other mention of a moon belonging to a named individual. At best, individual moons are referred to by their spore. Emerald Moon, Verdant Moon. Crimson Moon. Midnight Moon. Sometimes they are even referred to by an attribute. Moon of Veils. Moon of Mercy. Moon of Menace. Moon of Justice. Moon of Meanings.  (Wonder if those align with specific seas...)

I see a couple of options. 

1. It is simply the name of the moon, like Sel has a moon named Oem.

Then he would have just said "under Thanasmia itself"

 

[Philomath]

I have two ideas.
1- Maybe that is the Lumar name for the sorceress. Hoid obviously knows her as Riina, but she could have picked something else for this planet or the people named her or something in stories. 
2- It is the name of a Lumarian boogeyman/woman. It would make sense that things associated with the midnight sea/moon would become creepy bedtime stories or something like that. 

[Lidolas]

I was thinking #2.  We know three aether names.  This might be a fourth.

 

Quote

Suna and Vishwadhar may be two other primal aethers, they are referenced along with Silajana by TwinSoul.

https://coppermind.net/wiki/Aether

[Leuthie]

Thanasmia is the name of the Midnight primal Aether that's on the moon spitting out Midnight spores. The other Aethers have names, and we know a couple of them, one from the mouth of an Aetherbound. There's no reason to think this name didn't come from someone bound to the Midnight Aether and spread to be widely known.

[GeoMantrix]

I'd guess Thanasmia is an avatar of Autonomy.  My entire reasoning is a bit circular, but as far as SP1 goes, the characteristics of Crow as the only spore eater we know is why I think this.  

SP3 spoilers

Spoiler

But I have this tenuous theory about Lumar being how Canticle was terraformed.  

I also wonder about whether the moons are made of bone spores, which Ann says are either white or black, or white and black at the same time.  This could be Taldain sand, which is Autonomy's seat.  

Edited October 23, 2023 by GeoMantrix

[Treamayne]

1 hour ago, GeoMantrix said:

SP3 spoilers

Would that not be SP4 spoilers?

[Underwater_Worldhopper]

I dont think Thanasmia is the name of the Primal Midnight Aether, but most just because the name doesn't sound very indian subcontinent-y, which we know the Aether Homeworld is based on, whereas Silajana, Suna, and Vishwadhar all are Indian-sounding.

My first impression when I read that passage was that Thanasmia is a mythological or historical figure on Lumar, maybe someone who sailed the Midnight Sea successfully before, perhaps even the only person to have done so. We have real world examples of places being named after the people who discovered them or first/most famouly achieved something there, and that's what I assumed this was supposed to be on my readthrough.

It could still be the Prime Midnight Aether, or at least the mother strain on the Midnight moon derived from the Prime Midnight Aether, but I find it unlikely.

Edited October 24, 2023 by Underwater_Worldhopper