How do the Parshendi Forms connect to the Surges/Divine Attributes?

[Lightflame]

Looking over the Parshendi epigraphs, it seems that some of the forms match up to the Divine Attributes. I wonder what the significance of this is?

 

We know eight of the normal forms:

 

- Warform ("Warform is worn for battle and reign, / Claimed by the gods, given to kill. / Unknown, unseen, but vital to gain. / It comes to those with the will.")

- Workform ("Workform worn for strength and care. / Whispering spren breathe at your ear. / Seek first this form, its mysteries to bear. / Found here is freedom from fear.")

- Mateform ("Mateform meek, for love to share, / Given to life, it brings us joy. / To find this form, one must care. / True empathy one must employ.")

- Nimbleform ("Nimbleform has a delicate touch. / Gave the gods this form to many, / Tho’ once defied, by the gods they were crushed. / This form craves precision and plenty.")

- Dullform ("Dullform dread, with the mind most lost. / The lowest, and one not bright. / To find this form, one need banish cost. / It finds you and brings you to blight.")

- Scholarform ("Scholarform shown for patience and thought. / Beware its ambitions innate. / Though study and diligence bring the reward, / Loss of innocence may be one’s fate.")

- Artform ("Artform applied for beauty and hue. / One yearns for the songs it creates. / Most misunderstood by the artist it’s true, / Come the spren to foundation’s fates.") ("Artform for colors beyond our ken; / For its grand songs we yearn. / We must attract creationspren; / These songs suffice ’til we learn.")

- Mediationform ("Mediationform made for peace, it’s said. / Form of teaching and consolation. / When used by the gods, it became instead / Form of lies and desolation.")

 

Here are the divine attributes, meanwhile. (With associated Heralds, because why not?)

 

- Protecting/Leading (Jezrien)

- Just/Confident (Nin)

- Brave/Obedient (Chan-a-rach)

- Loving/Healing (Vedel)

- Learned/Giving (Paliah)

- Creative/Honest (Ash)

- Wise/Careful (Battar)

- Resolute/Builder (Kalak)

- Dependable/Resourceful (Talenel)

- Pious/Guiding (Ishar)

 

Now, onto those divine attributes.

 

- Artform obviously matches up to Creative.

- Workform seems to match up with Resolute/Builder. Workform is all about building and doing labour with determination.

- Mediationform is Wise/Careful. You need to use wisdom to find peace.

- Mateform is Loving. It is associated with love, of course.

- Scholarform seems to be learned, because those that use it are knowledgeable.

 

I'm not sure where Nimbleform or Warform would fit, and I question whether Dullform even has a divine attribute.

 

Meanwhile, the Song of Spren talks about the Surges of humans becoming the powers of the Listeners.

 

 

The spren betrayed us, it’s often felt.

Our minds are too close to their realm

That gives us our forms, but more is then

Demanded by the smartest spren,

We can’t provide what the humans lend,

Though broth are we, their meat is men.

 

But it is not impossible to blend 

Their Surges to ours in the end.

It has been promised and it can come.

Or do we understand the sum?

We questioned not if they can have us then, 

But if we dare to have them again.

 

(Chapters 32 and 33)

 

The ten surges are Adhesion, Gravitation, Division, Abrasion, Progression, Illumination, Transformation, Transportation, Cohesion, and Tension.

 

We know four of the bad forms.

 

- Stormform ("Stormform is said to cause / A tempest of winds and showers, / Beware its powers, beware its powers. / Though its coming brings the gods their night, / It obliges a bloodred spren. / Beware its end, beware its end.")

- Smokeform ("Smokeform for hiding and slipping between men. / A form of power, like human Surges. / Bring it ’round again. / Though crafted of gods, / It was by Unmade hand. / Leaves its force to be but one of foe or friend.") ("Smokeform for hiding and slipping ’tween men. / A form of power—like Surges of spren. / Do we dare to wear this form again? It spies. / Crafted of gods, this form we fear. / By Unmade touch its curse to bear, / Formed from shadow—and death is near. It lies.")

- Decayform ("Decayform destroys the souls of dreams. / A form of gods to avoid, it seems. / Seek not its touch, nor beckon its screams, deny it. / Watch where you walk, your toes to tread. / O’er hill or rocky riverbed / Hold dear to fears that fill your head, defy it.")

- Nightform ("Nightform predicting what will be, / The form of shadows, mind to foresee. / As the gods did leave, the nightform whispered. / A new storm will come, someday to break. / A new storm a new world to make. / A new storm a new path to take, the nightform listens.")

 

- Smokeform sounds like Illumination, because it lets you hide and slip by men. I imagine this would let you cloak yourself with darkness. However, "slipping between men" could also be Transportation.

- Decayform sounds like Division, the surge of Destruction and Decay. Because it destroys stuff. It could also be related to the Dustbringers/Releasers, who had the power of Stuff Blowing Up.

- Nightform doesn't sound like a specific Surge, but rather like the Truthwatchers, the Radiant Order that predicts the future.

 

Stormform doesn't seem to be like a Surge or Radiant Order we've met, and unlike the other three, we only see its entry in the Song of Winds, not the Song of Secrets. Something different, perhaps? They're called the Voidbringers, and they start the Everstorm, so maybe it's their job to start up the power of the Voidbindings?

 

I may have screwed up on some of the divine attributes.

 

By the way, the Ars Arcanum mentions that there should be a power other than Surgebinding and Voidbinding, one with ten different versions. Surgebinding seems human exclusive, while the dark forms could very well be Voidbinding, and would thus be Parshendi exclusive. So, what would come about if those two powers mixed?

 

And what does all this stuff mean?

[+rhaiynebow]

I REALLY like this! I've posted previously that I believe strongly that our KR friends will end up with another bond somehow and I wasn't sure how that would happen. Maybe via bondsmith, OR my gut still tells me that the Parshendi are somehow involved. Which if that IS the case, then this could somewhat support both our theories. 

 

Say for example, you have Kal and Shallan (ignoring the spren conflict for now because ultimately I think that has to be resolved). If you look at their divine attributes, you have

 

Protecting/Leading and Creative/Honest

 

Now, I think they share two of those traits, and then each retain one that is unique to themselves and that excel at. In this case, Kal's specialty would be protecting and Shallan's would be creative.

 

They share Leading and Honest. I can see them forming some kind of bond with say an Artform Parshendi (there may be a better one to link them to that we don't know about yet) but for now, this is the best option. Obviously because of Shallan's ability and because Kal's skill with the spear can also be considered artful.

 

Edited to add...this might have something to do with Shardplate too since we know the Parshendi can grow armor/plate to protect themselves. Since we know spren can't attract one another (I think Syl said something about that) maybe the Parshendi form the tie that allows the "not intelligent spren" to come to the aid of the KR in the form of shardplate. In this example, that would be the creation spren and some sort of spren that would represent protecting via the Parshendi link. Again, this may not be the ultimate "right" form of Parshendi to link to these two, but it's the best I got with what we know currently. I'll try to put together some other examples too. It might help clarify what I'm trying to say

 

Oh, oh oh!!!!!! This could also explain how the KR can hear a call from someone regardless of where they are! I'm referring to the vision in TWoK where the healing KR says to Heb to call her if he needs her and not to worry, she'll hear him (even though she flew off to another part of the town). Because we know the Parshendi have the "group thought" type of communication ability. That HAS to play a part in this somehow!! Or am I getting way too excited for nothing LOL.

Edited March 14, 2014 by rhaiynebow

[PudgyNinja]

I doubt there is a one-to-one sort of matchup here.  Eshonai says that the old songs mention hundreds of forms.

 

There are probably as many forms are there are types of spren.

Edited March 14, 2014 by PudgyNinja

[+rhaiynebow]

Could be that only certain Parshendi forms allowed the bonding with the KR to happen. But I do see your point.

 

Also, after I posted about the whole "I'll hear you no matter where I am" thing, I realized that could also be because of the spren...transmitting info via the cognitive realm maybe?? I still like the Parshendi idea better personally though.

[RShara]

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of forms iirc.  They really seem to correspond to the type of spren that is attracted, which depends on the song/rhythm that is sung during the highstorm.