[OB] Dysian Aimians in Oathbringer

[SirWednesday Skaa]

So, Oathbringer has quite a few references to the Sleepless. The one that has stood out the most to me has to be from page 438, during Dalinar's vision of Aharietiam, we get:

Quote

One spot they passed had a whole heap of strange cremlings, burned and smoking. Who would have taken the time to pile up a thousand little crustaceans?

Now, this has multiple implications.

1. Tighter Aimian - Human relations than what we see in modern day. The Aimian actively opposed Odium's encroaching forces.

2. Something has occurred since Aharietiam that has caused the Sleepless to avoid open communication with humanity. Likely related to the disaster said to have scoured Aimia of most of it's people.

Thoughts?

Edited November 22, 2017 by SirWednesday

[Reborn radiant Hazekiller]

In the aimia interlude, the aimian also says "The secret here shouldn't come out, because it will lead to ends of worlds", paraphrased.

 

May be that secret is part of the reason too. 

[Hemalurgist Bridgeman]

 The dawnshards or whatever enabled humans to destroy their planet might be hidden there. Though why Odium wouldn't have started his attack there if this was the case I am not sure. Unless he was somehow convinced that they couldn't be there.

[asterion137 Arbiter]

Some Dysian also left a cremling in the warcamps near where Taln used to be.

[Canucck Pahn Kahl]

3 hours ago, SirWednesday said:

1. Tighter Aimian - Human relations than what we see in modern day. The Aimian actively opposed Odium's encroaching forces.

It's this. In Edgedancer Arclo says he remembers being an ally of the Radiants.

[Ari Stormwarden]

1 hour ago, Hemalurgist said:

 The dawnshards or whatever enabled humans to destroy their planet might be hidden there. Though why Odium wouldn't have started his attack there if this was the case I am not sure. Unless he was somehow convinced that they couldn't be there.

It could also simply be about making the best short-term decision, and that the Aimians are actually a more difficult group to attack than the human cities are, and/or Odium wants to recruit more collaborators from the human parts of Roshar before he goes after them, assuming there is actually anything worthwhile to plunder from them, like the Dawnshards.

[Willow High Prelan]

Now that we know what the Sleepless/Dysian Aimians are, all these cremlings are suddenly so much more suspicious. I tried to list every instance in the book where we see an actual physical cremling (that wasn't part of the food or a reference):

Chapter 10

Quote

He used a Lashing to leap over a snarl of rockbuds and vines, and startled a pack of cremlings as he landed, sending them scuttling away from a nearly clean mink skeleton. Probably the leavings of a larger predator.

Probably actual cremlings

Chapter 42

Quote

One spot had a whole heap of strange cremlings, burned and smoking. Who would have taken the time to pile up a thousand little crustaceans?

Definitely a Dysian Aimian, however, are they truly completely dead, or is this simply the part of their body that they send to the battlefield?

Chapter 50

Quote

As he was about to leave, Dalinar spotted something on the ground beside the bed. He knelt down, shooed away a cremling, and picked up a small object. It was a dart, green with yellow twine wrapped around it.

Suspicious.

I-4: Kaza

Quote

She awoke to a small cremling scuttling across the rocks near her. It had a strange shape, with large wings and a head that made it look like an axehound. Its carapace shimmered with dozens of colours.

This is the big sleepless chapter, but this particular cremling seems more like a larkin to me.

Quote

The cook began to hum. Pieces of her broke off. She crumbled to a pile of chittering little cremlings that moved out of her clothing, leaving it in a heap.

Also definitely a Dysian Aimian.

Chapter 77

Quote

Kaladin finished his drink, wishing it were one of Rock's concoctions instead, and flicked away an odd cremling that he spotted clinging to the side of the bench. It had a multitude of legs, and a bulbous body, with a strange tan pattern on its back.

Probably a Dysian Aimian. Maybe there was one in the city, and when he spotted Kalaladin and the others moving throughout Kholinar, they didn't have any spare cremlings, so they used one that normally forms their 'human body'? I don't know why the tan back would be mentioned otherwise.

I-13: Rysn

Quote

Chiri-Chiri herself was a small winged beast a little longer than Rysn's outstretched palm. The Reshi named her a larkin, and though she was the size of a large cremling, she had the snout, carapace, and build of a creature far more grand. An axehound, perhaps, with wings.

Yup, the cremling from interlude I-4 was probably a larkin as well. There's a WoB that Larkin and Lanceryns (a type of extinct greatshells) are related somehow. Also Larkins eat investiture and are apparently the creatures depicted on the surgebinding chart. So that'll be something interesting to look for in the later books.

 

Edited November 29, 2017 by Willow

[ccstat Savant]

6 minutes ago, Willow said:

This is the big sleepless chapter, but this particular cremling seems more like a larkin to me.

Good catch! I missed that while I was paying attention to the Dysian looming over Kaza.

[kmosiman Obligator]

Slightly off topic, but what do you think about origin of Aimians? Axies the Collector is a Siah Amian, but when he was asked if he was a Voidbringer or Herald, he said Voidbringer.

Is this an indication that the Aimians are from off world like humans or just a coincidence? He could have just as easily said that he was a Herald

[Willow High Prelan]

2 hours ago, kmosiman said:

Slightly off topic, but what do you think about origin of Aimians? Axies the Collector is a Siah Amian, but when he was asked if he was a Voidbringer or Herald, he said Voidbringer.

Is this an indication that the Aimians are from off world like humans or just a coincidence? He could have just as easily said that he was a Herald

Well, I think it's been said that Aimians were also a native species on Roshar, so, since by the time someone asks him this question the mantle of Voidbringer has passed from the humans to the Parshendi (one of the other native species), he might've sarcasticly gone with Voidbringer, as a 'native' of Roshar. Or he just figured it'd be less of a hassle this way, as humans for some reason decided that having a shadow that points the wrong way is a sign of a Voidbringer, and he does have that.

Edited November 22, 2017 by Willow

[kmosiman Obligator]

That definitely makes sense because of the whole crab/cremling/chull motif. It just seemed odd to me that Axies would still be studying the spren after so many years, but I guess we're still exploring our world and finding new things today. 

The origin of Soulcasters was intriguing. The Aimians we've seen seem to be aligned with Honor, but also seem to be more neutral than other parties.

From what we saw in Edgedancer, they can be a formidable force when threatened.

[KidWayne Ferring]

1 hour ago, kmosiman said:

The origin of Soulcasters was intriguing

Wait, where was this explained?

[kmosiman Obligator]

The Kaza interlude. She is going to Aimia to seek a cure for her condition. The rumor or legend is that the Soulcasters came from there.

This is probably true since all of the barrier spikes were Soulcast. 

[The Invested Beard Listener]

The Aimians are such a wildcard in this whole thing. Three books in and we have no real understanding of their true importance to the story. I'm guessing it's something very integral to the whole plot and will twist things in a way no one saw coming.

[Blacksmithki High Prelan]

4 minutes ago, The Invested Beard said:

The Aimians are such a wildcard in this whole thing. Three books in and we have no real understanding of their true importance to the story. I'm guessing it's something very integral to the whole plot and will twist things in a way no one saw coming.

I thought i saw a WoB that they were important to mistborn era 4 as well, i'll go look it up to edit it in in a sec, so they seem VERY important to not just be relevant to Roshar.

Questioner

Will there be a major part in the story for the Sleepless?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, but much later on.

Questioner

What means later on?

Brandon Sanderson

Well, they have a major role in the science fiction Mistborn trilogy, but that's pretty far off. So they will be very important very much later on.

 

Probably a better way to copy it in, but whatever.

Edited November 22, 2017 by Blacksmithki

[The Invested Beard Listener]

1 minute ago, Blacksmithki said:

I thought i saw a WoB that they were important to mistborn era 4 as well, i'll go look it up to edit it in in a sec, so they seem VERY important to not just be relevant to Roshar.

Yeah I've been convinced since finding out they were writing the blurbs on the back of the book that there's something potentially HUGE going on there.