[OB] Part Four Epigraphs

[Pattern]

My research into the Unmade has convinced me that these things were not simply "spirits of the void" or "nine shadows who moved in the night." They were each a specific kind of spren, endowed with vast powers.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 3

I have done my best to separate fact from fiction, but the two blend like mixing paint when the Voidbringers are involved. Each of the Unmade has a dozen names, and the powers ascribed to them range from the fanciful to the terrifying.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 4

I should point out that although many personalities and motives are ascribed to them, I'm convinced that the Unmade were still spren. As such, they were as much manifestations of concepts or divine forces as they were individuals.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 7

The most important point I wish to make is that the Unmade are still among us. I realize this will be contentious, as much of the lore surrounding them is intertwined with theology. However, it is clear to me that some of their effects are common in the world -- and we simply treat them as we would the manifestations of other spren.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 12

Taxil mentions Yelig-nar, named Blightwind, in an oft-cited quote. Though Jasnah Kholin has famously called its accuracy into question, I believe it.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 26

Yelig-nar had great powers, perhaps the powers of all Surges compounded into one. He could transform any Voidbringer into an extremely dangerous enemy. Curiously, three legends I found mention swallowing a gemstone to engage the process.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 27

Yelig-nar is said to consume souls, but I can't find a specific explanation. I'm uncertain this lore is correct.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 51

Of the Unmade, Sja-anat was most feared by the Radiants. They spoke extensively of her ability to corrupt spren, though only "lesser" spren -- whatever that means.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 89

Lore suggested leaving a city if the spren there start acting strangely. Curiously, Sja-anat was often regarded as an individual, when others -- like Moelach or Ashertmarn -- were seen as forces.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 90

Nergaoul was known for driving forces into a battle rage, lending them great ferocity. Curiously, he did this to both sides of a conflict, Voidbringer and human. This seems common of the less self-aware spren.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 121

I am convinced that Nergaoul is still active on Roshar. The accounts of the Alethi "Thrill" of battle align too well with ancient records -- including the visions of red mist and dying creatures.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 140

Moelach is very similar to Nergaoul, though instead of inspiring a battle rage, he supposedly granted visions of the future. In this, lore and theology align. Seeing the future originates with the Unmade, and is from the enemy.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 143

Moelach was said to grant visions of the future at different times -- but most commonly at the transition point between realms. When a soul was nearing the Tranquiline Halls.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 144

Many cultures speak of the so-called Death Rattles that sometimes overtake people as they die. Tradition ascribes them to the Almighty, but I find too many to be seemingly prophetic. This will be my most contentious assertion I am sure, but I think these are the effects of Moelach persisting in our current times. Proof is easy to provide: the effect is regionalized, and tends to move across Roshar. This is the roving of the Unmade.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 170

Ashertmarn, the Heart of the Revel, is the final of the three great mindless Unmade. His gift to men is not prophecy or battle focus, but a lust for indulgence. Indeed, the great debauchery recorded from the court of Bayala in 480 -- which led to dynastic collapse -- might be attributable to the influence of Ashertmarn.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 203

I find Bo-Ado-Mishram to be the most interesting of the Unmade. She is said to have been keen of mind, a highprincess among the enemy forces, their commander during some of the Desolations. I do not know how this relates to the ancient god of the enemy, named Odium.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 224

There is very little information about Bo-Ado-Mishram in more modern times. I can only assume she, unlike many of them, returned to Damnation or was destroyed during Aharietiam.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 226

Chemoarish, the Dustmother, has some of the most varied lore surrounding her. The wealth of it makes sorting lies from truths extremely difficult. I do believe she is not the Nightwatcher, contrary to what some stories claim.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 231

Re-Shephir, the Midnight Mother, is another Unmade who appears to have been destroyed at Aharietiam.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 250

The Midnight Mother created monsters of shadow and oil, dark imitations of creatures she saw or consumed. Their description matches no spren I can find in modern literature.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 252

It will not take a careful reader to ascertain I have listed only eight of the Unmade here. Lore is confident there were nine, an unholy number, asymmetrical and often associated with the enemy.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 266

I am certain there are nine Unmade. There are many legends and names that I could have misinterpreted, conflating two Unmade into one. In the next section, I will discuss my theories on this.

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 266

If I'm correct and my research true, then the question remains. Who is the ninth Unmade? Is it truly Dai-Gonarthis? If so, could their actions have actually caused the complete destruction of Aimia?

- From Hessi's Mythica, page 307

Edited November 14, 2017 by Pattern
Typos

[Pagerunner]

So, we saw five of these on-screen in Oathbringer (Re-Shephir, Ashertmarn, Sja-anaat, Yelig-Nar, Nergaoul), and we know where Moelach is in the Horneater Peaks. That means, if Cusicesh (the big spren Axies observes) is indeed an Unmade, he is one of the ones we didn't see; but both of those are described as females, Chemoarish and Ba-Ado-Mishram. I don't think that either of them could be Cusicesh, although I know I've seen a theory that he is the Black Fisher Dai-gonarthis.

I also don't think Dai-gonarthis is an Unmade, as speculated here. One of the thunderclasts, the one who destroyed the wall in Thaylen City, was named Kai-garnis, and if I'm reading the text right thunderclasts are ancient singers who have twisted their souls so they inhabit stone instead of people. If the destruction of Aimia was accomplished by Dai-gonarthis, then maybe he was a thunderclast who stuck around?

All that goes to say, the ninth Unmade might actually be Cusicesh, whether or not Dai-gonarthis is an Unmade or not.

[Argent]

1 hour ago, Pagerunner said:

I also don't think Dai-gonarthis is an Unmade, as speculated here. One of the thunderclasts, the one who destroyed the wall in Thaylen City, was named Kai-garnis, and if I'm reading the text right thunderclasts are ancient singers who have twisted their souls so they inhabit stone instead of people. If the destruction of Aimia was accomplished by Dai-gonarthis, then maybe he was a thunderclast who stuck around?

All that goes to say, the ninth Unmade might actually be Cusicesh, whether or not Dai-gonarthis is an Unmade or not.

The connection between Kai-garnis and Dai-gonarthis is one of the things I've been meaning to think about, and this is a good reasoning. I just wonder if it was a thunderclast, or some other incarnation of Kai-garnis. 

[dvoraen]

On 11/15/2017 at 8:50 PM, Argent said:

The connection between Kai-garnis and Dai-gonarthis is one of the things I've been meaning to think about, and this is a good reasoning. I just wonder if it was a thunderclast, or some other incarnation of Kai-garnis. 

Honestly, I think this is and isn't a red herring, because by this logic the provided names of the other Unmade could be just as suspect and/or incorrect if any other Fused are revealed to have comparable names, and we know that reasoning will break down for Yelig-nar at the minimum (since Odium himself uses that name).  I mean, I could argue that Re-Shephir and the listener word neshua have similar roots as well, except we know that they're likely not the same in meaning at all.

The other thought that kind of leans me away from believing this, is that the scouring of Aimia seems to be a pretty well-known and recorded event, and likely in living memory.  I can't see how a thunderclast would escape everyone's notice if there was a mass hunt for lanceryn gemhearts.

That said, I had a different thought come to mind that could explain this: suppose the Dawnsingers were the ones who named the Unmade and their names for them are what survived to be in common use?

Edited November 17, 2017 by dvoraen

[Lightflame]

I don't see any reason for a mystery about who the ninth Unmade is if it really is just Dai-Gonarthis without any sort of twist.

I think I'll go along with the Cusicesh being the last one, because I remember it doing some weird things, and it just sounds right to me. So Cusicesh being Dai-Gonarthis makes the most sense.

Edited November 17, 2017 by Lightflame

[Willow]

I think Dai-gonarthis (the Black Fisher) is the ninth Unmade, and I believe that a supporting argument for him being an Unmade can be found in drunk-Dalinar's conversation with drunk-Jezrien (Ahu) on page 853 of the hardcover.

"Which one got to you, little child?" Ahu asked. "The Black Fisher? The Spawning Mother, the Faceless? Moelach is close. I can hear his wheezing, his scratching, his scraping at a time like a rat breaking through walls."

Being a Herald, I'm assuming Jezrien's pretty knowledgeable on who the Unmade are. While I'm not sure which Unmade the Faceless is, the Spawning Mother is probably Re-Shephir, and Moelach is mentioned by name. It seems unlikely that he's naming two members of the Unmade as well as two different beings with dramatic titles who also belong to Odium.

Edited November 17, 2017 by Willow

[Subvisual Haze]

1 hour ago, Willow said:

I think Dai-gonarthis (the Black Fisher) is the ninth Unmade, and I believe that a supporting argument for him being an Unmade can be found in drunk-Dalinar's conversation with drunk-Jezrien (Ahu) on page 853 of the hardcover.

"Which one got to you, little child?" Ahu asked. "The Black Fisher? The Spawning Mother, the Faceless? Moelach is close. I can hear his wheezing, his scratching, his scraping at a time like a rat breaking through walls."

Being a Herald, I'm assuming Jezrien's pretty knowledgeable on who the Unmade are. While I'm not sure which Unmade the Faceless is, the Spawning Mother is probably Re-Shephir, and Moelach is mentioned by name. It seems unlikely that he's naming two members of the Unmade as well as two different beings with dramatic titles who also belong to Odium.

If we assume the loopy drunk demigod is transcribed for us with proper punctuation (which in the real world wouldn't work, but we get to take some liberties when reading a book) I take:

Quote

"The Black Fisher? The Spawning Mother, the Faceless? Moelach is close.

to indicate that The Spawning Mother and The Faceless are two names for the same spren.  Otherwise they either they should be combined with The Black Fisher into one listed sentence or each name individually given its own sentence and question mark. 

I think it corresponds to to Sja Anat as she spawns new spren and refers to one as her child when speaking to Shallan (Re-Shepir in contrast just creates temporary illusions/constructs from what we've seen), and her image is of a solid black shadow with 2 white eyes (faceless).

[DiamondMind]

On 11/17/2017 at 11:03 AM, Willow said:

I think Dai-gonarthis (the Black Fisher) is the ninth Unmade, and I believe that a supporting argument for him being an Unmade can be found in drunk-Dalinar's conversation with drunk-Jezrien (Ahu) on page 853 of the hardcover.

I agree, this seems like pretty conclusive proof that the Black Fischer, Dai-gonarthis, is the last Unmade. Otherwise Jezrien wouldn't have mentioned it there.

I have a theory that each unmade is connected to an order, so I'm going to copy-paste it here with additional oathbringer information:

Spoiler

Since Shallan describes the Midnight Mother as a twisted creation spren, it seems worthwhile to find spren and Radiant analogues for the other Unmade as well..

Re-Shephir, the Midnight Mother, is of course connected to creationspren and the Lightweavers. She copies true things to create lies, where Lightweavers find truth among lies.

Yelig-nar, Blightwind, seems to be linked to the Skybreakers as it is contained in a smokestone. I previously thought it would be the Windrunners, especially since it collects souls, but the smokestone seems too significant.

Moelach is the Unmade most powerful in regard to precognition, so the Truthwatchers. It does creepily seem to imply that its purpose it to give untruths and so mislead, which doesn't bode well for Taravangian.

Sja-Anat corrupts spren and perhaps other things as well. Maybe related to cultivationspren, which seek to grow things and realize their potential, and so the Edgedancers. This would also put her in opposition to Edgedancers oaths of finding those ignored/forgotten and presumably helping them.

Nergaoul creates the Thrill. which drives people berserk and corrupts their reason. Ashertmarn, Heart of the Revel, causes debauchery, which seems like a similar excess but in a different direction. I would tentatively put Stonewards as opposite Nergaoul because of their prowess in battle, and so Elsecallers, paragons of logic, as opposite Ashermarn. However, Dalinar is the one who captured Nergaoul, and it's possible only the order closest to the Unmade can capture it.

Bo-Ado-Mishram is the commander of the singer armies and has formed a Connection with them in the absence of Odium, allowing her to provide them with Voidlight and forms of power. She seems like a good fit to be opposite to the Windrunners.'

Chemoarish, the Dustmother, seems obvious to be opposite the Dustbringers, even though we know nothing about her.

Dai-gonarthis, the Black Fischer, we have next to know information on. It "consumes sorrow" might have caused the Scouring of Aimia. The only orders left are the Willshapers and the Bondsmiths, but there's no information to differentiate. 

And a summation of what we know: 

Unmade	Nickname	Associated KR Order	Powers
Yelig-nar	Blight Wind	Skybreakers	Grants all Surges, consumes souls?
Sja-anat	Taker of Secrets	Edgedancers	Corrupts/”Elevates” spren
Nergaoul		Stonewards or Bondsmiths	Causes the Thrill
Moelach		Truthwatchers	Causes the Death Rattles
Dai-gonarthis	Black Fisher	?	Caused scouring of Aimia? "Consumes sorrow?"
Re-Shephir	Midnight Mother	Lightweavers	Creates imitation lifeforms
Ashertmarn	Heart of the Revel	Elsecallers	Causes debauchery and loss of control
Bo-Ado-Mishram		Windrunners	Commander of the singers, allows access to forms and voidlight without Odium
Chemoarish	Dustmother	Dustbringers	?

 

Edited November 18, 2017 by DiamondMind

[Hemalurgic Headshot]

The bit on  Dai-gonarthis being part of the Scouring of Aimia is intriguing. Because it implies that Aimia had something special that the Unmade was there to destroy, there had to be a reason, something of note. There was an Oathgate there... what else?

[ScavellTane]

8 hours ago, Hemalurgic_Headshot said:

The bit on  Dai-gonarthis being part of the Scouring of Aimia is intriguing. Because it implies that Aimia had something special that the Unmade was there to destroy, there had to be a reason, something of note. There was an Oathgate there... what else?

The Larkin, stormlight-eating-winged-cremling.

Could the Unmade be early experiments of bonding by Odium? Some of the Fused are mad and some are not, sort of like the Unmade.

[Dahak]

16 hours ago, Hemalurgic_Headshot said:

The bit on  Dai-gonarthis being part of the Scouring of Aimia is intriguing. Because it implies that Aimia had something special that the Unmade was there to destroy, there had to be a reason, something of note. There was an Oathgate there... what else?

According to Kaza. It's where Soulcasters came from.

[Ryder]

Thanks for collecting all of these! I’ve got a few random thoughts I haven’t seen others mention about the Unmade and I’d love to hear what other people think.  

I’m definitely curious about Sja-Anat and her nickname as Taker of Secrets. The other Unmade we’ve seen on screen seem to have fitting nicknames. Ashertmarn looks like a giant gross heart and sits at the middle of a whirling maelstrom of debauchery. Yelig-nar is surrounded by some sort of black smog. Re-Shephir creates midnight essence monsters. Sja-Anat doesn’t really do any secret taking in OB though that I can tell. Also, she’s mentioned as being the Unmade the radiants were most afraid of, but why would that be? My theory is that maybe her corrupted spren act as spies for Odium.  Spren are everywhere, and the only advice for dealing with Sja-Anat is to leave town.  Otherwise she doesn’t really seem to do much. Her spren are creepy and gross, but they don’t really seem to be doing anything in Kholinar.

On the subject of Yelig-nar, I wonder if the person manifesting him gets access to the resonances as well as all the surges? Aesudan calls the guards her knights, but perhaps she gets an Odium version of the Windrunner squire resonance and all of the guards are some form of corrupted squires. I don’t think they ever use voidlight or access surges themselves though so I’m not sure.  I only say that because Aesudan seems to think the weird guards are a result of Yelig-nar but I don’t see how any of the normal surges would cause them to be... whatever they are. 

[ParadoxicalZen]

Where they first learned how to bind Spren, and we know perfect cut gems can even hold an Unmade. Maybe the Aimians were the only ones to be able to make perfect cut gems? hmm

[Argent]

44 minutes ago, Ryder said:

I’m definitely curious about Sja-Anat and her nickname as Taker of Secrets.

I believe @Blightsong has a short theory about this specifically, the essence of which is that Sja-anat may be able to extract information not only from the spren she corrupts, but also from the minds of the dying.

[The One Who Connects]

53 minutes ago, Ryder said:

On the subject of Yelig-nar, I wonder if the person manifesting him gets access to the resonances as well as all the surges?

Depends on where Brandon decides to draw the line. We know Mistborn don't get Resonances because they have too many powers, which messes with the synergies between them.

Quote

Brandon: I've worked under the premise that if you hold too many of the powers, like a Mistborn, the result is a loss of these little quirks. The mechanics of it are interesting, but I'll leave you to theorize on that sort of thing.
source

We know you get a Resonance with 2 powers, but that 16 powers is too many. However, it's up in the air for 3-15 powers, and that's a big gap.

There's also the "chord argument" that Calderis brought up before:

Quote

Because of the idea of resonance, I like to think of it in terms of musical chords. 

It may go as high as 5 or 6, but you get a 1 resonance for whatever mixture you have. So a third power would change your resonance, and not add to it. It's one of my planned questions for November actually. 

If Calderis is right, then the Resonance from all 10 Surges would not be the same as given by just two of them.

54 minutes ago, Ryder said:

I’m definitely curious about Sja-Anat and her nickname as Taker of Secrets.

Here's the thread that Argent mentioned: