The Mink is in Lifts interlude

[A Traveler]

I’m doing a reread of Rhythm of War, and just noticed that in Lifts interlude, when she’s talking about hiding in Urithiru’s air ducts and other places (pg 1055 in the ebook), that “Up here in the network of stone ventilation shafts, she found the occasional mink or other scavenger, but it was actually her domain”. One would expect a mouse or rat to be mentioned if Brandon was going to mention a non-shell based rodent, but he chooses mink. And I think he’s definitely trying to be sly about mentioning our favorite escape artist here. They could probably learn a lot from each other. 
 

No real point here, I just think it’s a cool reference that I didn’t pick up on in my first read through. 

[HSuperLee he/him]

Okay, you've now inspired the image of Lift becoming the Mink's apprentice, and thus learns how to just occasionally disappear while leaving dummies in her place. And I find that hilarious.

[+mdross81 he/him]

43 minutes ago, A Traveler said:

One would expect a mouse or rat to be mentioned if Brandon was going to mention a non-shell based rodent, but he chooses mink. And I think he’s definitely trying to be sly about mentioning our favorite escape artist here.

It's a fun idea, but I don't think so. Rosharans actually do seem to use "mink" in expressions where we would normally use some other small rodent. See, for example:

• WoR 17: "A man hunting game will return with a mink if there are no telms to be found," she said.
• WoR 20: A little like the mink wandering into the whitespine's den and asking when dinner is ... she thought
• OB 10: "You mink!" Adolin said
• OB 30: It remembered men - an innate understanding, much as newborn mink kits innately knew to fear the skyeel
• OB 39 (Jasnah sassing Kal): "I can get you some mink kits to cuddle while the adults plan."

BUT ... I'm really glad you made this post because in searching my ebooks for the word "mink" I noticed a few other conspicuous minks, and I'm starting to wonder if they are all somehow tied to Mraize.

Consider these - all of the times we see an actual mink:

• WoR 45 (Middlefest): She was surprised to see a mink slinking in the shadows; she'd expected all those in the area to have been trapped by now.
• WoK 3 (Shallan first arriving in Kharbranth): In a street of inland docks, a prowling mink skulked in the shadows, watching for morsels that might be dropped.
• WoR 54 (Veil's Lesson): Mraize passed his blowgun to the side. The short, masked girl was there, holding the cremling that Mraize had speared along with a dead mink, a blowgun dart in its neck. No, it's leg twitched. It was merely stunned. Some poison on the dart, then?"
• OB 28 (exploring Urithiru): Was that ... scraping he heard? A moment later, a mink slunk into the main tunnel from a shadowed crossroad, carrying a dead rat in its mouth. The tubular little animal twitched its snout toward him, then carried its prize away."
• OB 77 (Shallan and Adolin on a not-so-romantic stroll): As they walked, she had to step over a dead mink sticking half out of a broken tree trunk.
• RoW I-5 (Lift): this is the one you already quoted

Ok, now hear me out. This is probably too crazy to be right, but what if Mraize is using awakening (or some other means) to send these minks on spying missions of some sort?

In each instance where we see an actual mink they are around someone or something of interest to Mraize and the Ghostbloods: four of them crop up in Shallan chapters - that's a weird detail to pop up so many times around a single character right? And the other two are scuttling around Urithiru - which Mraize had been trying to find and surely would want to explore as soon as possible. Consider also that after we hear in Lift's interlude that she sometimes runs into Minks in the ventilation shafts, Mraize shows up to hunt her.

In support (1) we've seen something like this before with Vasher using an awakened squirrel in Warbreaker; (2) Mraize seems like he may have the life sense that holding Breaths gives - he's impossible to sneak up on, always knows when someone is there; and (3) we already know that the Ghostbloods have a Sleepless agent working with them, which, come to think of it, could actually be the trick here instead of awakening - CREMLING MINKS!

This is bonkers but totally my new head canon.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

3 hours ago, mdross81 said:

It's a fun idea, but I don't think so. Rosharans actually do seem to use "mink" in expressions where we would normally use some other small rodent. See, for example:

• WoR 17: "A man hunting game will return with a mink if there are no telms to be found," she said.
• WoR 20: A little like the mink wandering into the whitespine's den and asking when dinner is ... she thought
• OB 10: "You mink!" Adolin said
• OB 30: It remembered men - an innate understanding, much as newborn mink kits innately knew to fear the skyeel
• OB 39 (Jasnah sassing Kal): "I can get you some mink kits to cuddle while the adults plan."

BUT ... I'm really glad you made this post because in searching my ebooks for the word "mink" I noticed a few other conspicuous minks, and I'm starting to wonder if they are all somehow tied to Mraize.

Consider these - all of the times we see an actual mink:

• WoR 45 (Middlefest): She was surprised to see a mink slinking in the shadows; she'd expected all those in the area to have been trapped by now.
• WoK 3 (Shallan first arriving in Kharbranth): In a street of inland docks, a prowling mink skulked in the shadows, watching for morsels that might be dropped.
• WoR 54 (Veil's Lesson): Mraize passed his blowgun to the side. The short, masked girl was there, holding the cremling that Mraize had speared along with a dead mink, a blowgun dart in its neck. No, it's leg twitched. It was merely stunned. Some poison on the dart, then?"
• OB 28 (exploring Urithiru): Was that ... scraping he heard? A moment later, a mink slunk into the main tunnel from a shadowed crossroad, carrying a dead rat in its mouth. The tubular little animal twitched its snout toward him, then carried its prize away."
• OB 77 (Shallan and Adolin on a not-so-romantic stroll): As they walked, she had to step over a dead mink sticking half out of a broken tree trunk.
• RoW I-5 (Lift): this is the one you already quoted

Ok, now hear me out. This is probably too crazy to be right, but what if Mraize is using awakening (or some other means) to send these minks on spying missions of some sort?

In each instance where we see an actual mink they are around someone or something of interest to Mraize and the Ghostbloods: four of them crop up in Shallan chapters - that's a weird detail to pop up so many times around a single character right? And the other two are scuttling around Urithiru - which Mraize had been trying to find and surely would want to explore as soon as possible. Consider also that after we hear in Lift's interlude that she sometimes runs into Minks in the ventilation shafts, Mraize shows up to hunt her.

In support (1) we've seen something like this before with Vasher using an awakened squirrel in Warbreaker; (2) Mraize seems like he may have the life sense that holding Breaths gives - he's impossible to sneak up on, always knows when someone is there; and (3) we already know that the Ghostbloods have a Sleepless agent working with them, which, come to think of it, could actually be the trick here instead of awakening - CREMLING MINKS!

This is bonkers but totally my new head canon.

lol, Mraize's mink army, lol.

[+Invocation]

3 hours ago, HSuperLee said:

Okay, you've now inspired the image of Lift becoming the Mink's apprentice, and thus learns how to just occasionally disappear while leaving dummies in her place. And I find that hilarious.

Lift used Substitution. It's super effective! Opposing Voidbringer is confused.

[A Traveler]

@mdross81 yeah that’s a lot of random minks mentioned, so you’re probably right, just a coincidence. Ah well. It just FIT so well!! She’s sneaking around, sees the occasional *mink, obvs that’s THE Mink!! It was just so clever to not be a real reference!! I am sad now. As for the awakened minks, that’s a great theory for why he seems to know so much. Though if I recall, Vasher didn’t actually get any intelligence from the squirrel spying, he just used it as a distraction. I don’t think an awakened mink could tell him anything. A cremling mink just sounds glorious though. If it’s not a sneaky Mink sighting, then I want it to be a Sleepless mink. 

[A Traveler]

4 hours ago, HSuperLee said:

Okay, you've now inspired the image of Lift becoming the Mink's apprentice, and thus learns how to just occasionally disappear while leaving dummies in her place. And I find that hilarious.

This is EXACTLY what I was picturing!! Can you imagine how terrifying Lift would be with her native awesomeness AND some Mink training?!!! There would be nothing she couldn’t do, no pancake she couldn’t steal!!

[stonehand]

I'm pretty sure that for Rosharans mink refers in a general sense to any small, furry creature in the same way that any bird is referred to as a chicken.

[Procrastination she/her]

(I know this is a dead thread but I’m still going to post)

We do meet the Mink before RoW, but his name/title is never directly said. Remember the Shulin interlude in (I think) Oathbringer, where he’s captured by Herdazians?

It is interesting how often Rosharians use the word mink. I hadn’t noticed that.