Questions stuck in my brain

[CMac716]

So, I've recently been doing another read through of SA and a few things keep bothering me. Thought I'd put them out here and see if anyone else has thoughts on them. 

First, if Vorinism places so much religious significance on symmetry, why did the change the names of the Dawncities, and they don't call the Heralds their full name. Why not? Is there any significance to this and the state of both herald and those cities?

 

Second, what were the Fused digging for under the Palace in Kolinhar? Wouldn't make sense to try and find a cryptic by digging, they're stuck as a pattern on the surface, giving them more uneven surfaces would just make it easier to hide. 

 

Third, what's up with the screaming people hear? Not the Deadeye thing but like Szeth. Are they actually hearing the people they killed? Or is it just more of the mental health stuff the books focus on?

 

Last,  assuming the Fused were, well, fused to spren, why do they only get one surge each? Lesser spren? Why do spren bonds grant surges in the first place? On Ashyn it seems to be disease based, so what's the deal with their magic system changing when they moved. 

[Frustration]

10 hours ago, CMac716 said:

First, if Vorinism places so much religious significance on symmetry, why did the change the names of the Dawncities, and they don't call the Heralds their full name. Why not? Is there any significance to this and the state of both herald and those cities?

The Heralds names are symmetrical, they just have a tittle added on the end.

10 hours ago, CMac716 said:

Second, what were the Fused digging for under the Palace in Kolinhar? Wouldn't make sense to try and find a cryptic by digging, they're stuck as a pattern on the surface, giving them more uneven surfaces would just make it easier to hide. 

They can see cryptics moving, and they have sand to find them.

10 hours ago, CMac716 said:

Third, what's up with the screaming people hear? Not the Deadeye thing but like Szeth. Are they actually hearing the people they killed? Or is it just more of the mental health stuff the books focus on?

It's kind of the people they killed kind of not. They hurt themselves so badly by doing killing that they are hearing screams from the Spiritual Realm.

10 hours ago, CMac716 said:

Last,  assuming the Fused were, well, fused to spren, why do they only get one surge each? Lesser spren? Why do spren bonds grant surges in the first place? On Ashyn it seems to be disease based, so what's the deal with their magic system changing when they moved. 

The Fused are called that because the Fused's soul fuses to a singers body. They have surges as an inherent part of their nature.

[stonehand]

On 12/3/2022 at 6:29 AM, CMac716 said:

Last,  assuming the Fused were, well, fused to spren, why do they only get one surge each? Lesser spren? Why do spren bonds grant surges in the first place? On Ashyn it seems to be disease based, so what's the deal with their magic system changing when they moved. 

It only just occurred to me while reading this question that the derivation of the name "Fused" could possibly be that their cognitive shadows have been literally fused to that of a spren, with specific species of spren granting specific surges. Interesting. We know of at least one person who's cognitive shadow was combined with an existing spren, and I'm not sure who came first, the fused or the Stormfather(after melding with Tanavast's CS).

[Treamayne]

On 12/3/2022 at 7:29 AM, CMac716 said:

Second, what were the Fused digging for under the Palace in Kolinhar?

The Fused were not digging under Kholinar Palace (OB Ch 121)

Spoiler

He slammed his pick into a fallen pillar. Near the end of the battle for Kholinar, the thunderclast had knocked down a large portion of the palace’s eastern gallery. Now, human slaves worked to clear out the rubble. The others would often break down crying, or work with hunched shoulders.

Moash shook his head, enjoying the peaceful rhythm of pick on stone.

A Fused strode past, covered in carapace armor as brilliant and wicked as Shardplate. There were nine orders of them. Why not ten?

“Over there,” the Fused said through an interpreter. He pointed at a section of wall. “Break this down.”

Moash wiped his brow, frowning as other slaves began work there. Why break down that wall? Wouldn’t it be needed to rebuild this portion of the palace?

And evidently, it was to make room for thier own construction (RoW Ch 14)

Spoiler

The palace at Kholinar had undergone a dramatic transformation. To a new form, so to speak. Here, more than any other place in the city, Venli felt she could look into the past and see the history of her people.

Gone was the ornate, but boring human fortress. In its place stood a grand construction that used many of the original foundations and walls, but expanded upon them in a unique design. Instead of boxy lines, it contained grand arcs, with large ridges sweeping down from the sides like curved blades. These multiplied toward the top, the ridges rising to points.

The result was a curved conical shape, the peak resembling a crown. The architecture had a distinctly organic feel, enhanced by walls grown over with shalebark to give a rough, uneven texture. The palace vaguely resembled a plant: bulging at the base, with gentle blades sweeping up to the cap

On 12/3/2022 at 7:29 AM, CMac716 said:

Why do spren bonds grant surges in the first place? On Ashyn it seems to be disease based, so what's the deal with their magic system changing when they moved. 

We don't know that the human magic changed when they emigrated from Ashyn to Shinovar - it is just as likely that whatever happened on Ashyn changed the magic there after the refugees had left. It's also likely that whatever version of Surges they had on Ashyn were different from the ones now on Roshar, since we have no evidence of Spren on Ashyn either way (presense or absense). The destruction there could have been a different means of accessing surges; which would explain why allowing a Nahel bond to access surges on Roshar was considered a "natural limit on the power of surgebinders" and why "Unchained surges" (such as the honorblades) are so dangerous. 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2022 by Treamayne
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