On the Chasm Line

[BlackYeti]

For a long time now, I've been very confused about the correct placement of the Chasm line in the Aons. The main reason for this is due to my attempt to ratify this WoB with the text (and the map) from the 10th Anniversary edition of Elantris.

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DARNAM

Would you please draw Aon Aon with the chasm line, so we know where the calamity the chasm lines are?

BRANDON SANDERSON

I always imagined it right there. Um, and so if you finished it... but the strictures of the first book, I didn't quite know what I was doing yet, and I was trying to match a map that didn't quite match what I had in my head. I could do it so much better now. But, the problem is, it is kinda down here at the bottom of this, but where I described it....if you don't mind me putting in this... I described it right there in the book, and it needs to be up more.

After spending some time going over the relevant scene, and actually tracing Aon Rao over the map, I've come to the conclusion that the WoB has to be wrong.

The text states:

Quote

He stumbled toward a spot between Elantris and the ruins of Toa, the city on its southern side, feeling as much as seeing his way.
...
Raoden was still ahead of them, running in an unsteady gait pointed roughly toward the southern gate. 
“I don’t know,” Galladon said. Ahead, Raoden grabbed a long stick from the ground, then he started to run, dragging the length of wood behind him.
...
Raoden gritted his teeth, and finished his line in the dirt. Galladon’s large bulk crashed to the earth. Karata’s head knocked against the stone of the road leading from Elantris’s southern gate.

This clearly shows that the line is being drawn in a north-westerly direction, ending at the road leading southwards, just south of the southern gate. This is completely different from the WoB which appears to show it running north-easterly to the corner of Elantris' city wall. It does, however, match that which is depicted on the map.

Since I've been unable to find a correct depiction of the chasm line anywhere on the internet, I've taken the liberty of creating my own for both the base Aon Aon, and Aon Rao:

Note: in creating these I used @WeiryWriter's depiction of Aon Aon from the Coppermind since I found the dimensions were pretty much perfect. I didn't use his Aon Rao though since I found that the dimensions were a little off.

[WeiryWriter]

1 hour ago, BlackYeti said:

Note: in creating these I used @WeiryWriter's depiction of Aon Aon from the Coppermind since I found the dimensions were pretty much perfect. I didn't use his Aon Rao though since I found that the dimensions were a little off.

The Aon Aon should be practically exact as I literally traced the image from the 10th Anniversary edition when creating the current version of the vector. The Aon Rao is from several years prior and was based on the old versions of the Aons (I haven't gotten around to updating all of them yet). If you look closely the proportions for the Aons changed with the 10th Anniversary edition, originally Aon Aon was square-ish, but now it is slightly wider than it is tall. I think that the location of the chasm line also may have been changed in the updated Aon designs. If I remember correctly Raoden's drawing of the chasm line for the Elantris mega-Aon is one of the things that was changed in the text.

[Ripheus23]

I always thought it was underneath the lower circle so the symbol looked kind of like +, but IDK why I believe that.

[HeyLookItz]

I feel like since Aon Rao is made of two Aon Aons it would need two chasm lines.

Edit: although raoden does only draw one. I wonder why

Edited November 15, 2018 by HeyLookItz

[Veden Truthwatcher]

On 11/13/2018 at 6:16 AM, HeyLookItz said:

I feel like since Aon Rao is made of two Aon Aons it would need two chasm lines.

Edit: although raoden does only draw one. I wonder why

Iirc, Aon Aon is the basic form for all other Aons, which build off Aon Aon. So the upside down Aon Aon in Aon Rao doesn't need a Chasm line, only the base Aon needs it.

[BSharpLydian]

On 11/26/2018 at 10:18 PM, Veden Truthwatcher said:

Iirc, Aon Aon is the basic form for all other Aons, which build off Aon Aon. So the upside down Aon Aon in Aon Rao doesn't need a Chasm line, only the base Aon needs it.

Thanks, I’ve actually been wondering about this. When he draws the Aon in the library (the first one that works) he only draws one Chasm line. Now I know why!