Chasm Line - Spoilers if you haven't finished Elantris

[Display-Names-Are-Stupid]

Raoden draws the chasm line in the ground with a simple stick to restore Elantris, but how is it being maintained after? Have they come up with a more permanent solution? Is the line under guard? If someone snuck in and filled in his dirt line would the Reod re-occur? 

[Treamayne]

13 hours ago, Display-Names-Are-Stupid said:

Raoden draws the chasm line in the ground with a simple stick to restore Elantris, but how is it being maintained after? Have they come up with a more permanent solution? Is the line under guard? If someone snuck in and filled in his dirt line would the Reod re-occur? 

We don't know for sure, though he likely built a short wall (like the outer cities' border wall) to continue this function. However, not just anybody would be able to undo the Chasm line anyway, only an Elantrian with the intent to end or change an Aon would be able to affect it once it was completed (possibly another Manifestation of Dor - like Dilaf's could also do the same). WoBs:

Spoiler

Quote

Brandon Sanderson

The Spirit of Elantris (Part Two)

So, my only worry about the climax here is that it's a little hard to visualize. Because I never quite got the map to look like I wanted it too, it's hard to see what Raoden is doing in this chapter. Essentially, he adds the chasm line to the Aon Rao that Elantris and its outer cities form. Because Elantris was an Aon, it stopped working just like all of the other Aons did when the Reod occurred. I've established several times in the book that the medium an Elantrian draws in–whether it be mud, the air, or in this case dirt–doesn't matter. The form of the Aon is the important part. By putting a line in the proper place, Raoden creates a gate that allows the Dor to flow into Elantris and resume its intended purpose.

This is the scene that made me want to write this book. It, along with the one I talked about in the last chapter, formed a climax that I just itched and squirmed to write. (That's always a good sign, by the way.) The central visual image of this book is that of the silvery light exploding from the ground around Raoden, then running around the city. Storytelling-wise, this is the one scene I wish I could do cinematically rather than in text.

Elantris Annotations (April 28, 2006)

Elantris Ch 52:

Spoiler

Galladon still wore his mask. The Aon illusions were good as long as Raoden left them alone. Whether they were drawn in air or in mud, Aons could be destroyed only by another Elantrian. The books claimed that an Aon inscribed in dust would continue to function even if the pattern was scuffed or erased.

 

Hope that helps

Edited May 31 by Treamayne

[Display-Names-Are-Stupid]

Thank you! I'd forgotten that the line became part of the Aon on completion, I was thinking of it as a band-aid. 

The walls of Elantris and the surrounding cities are vertically upwards to make the Aon Rao, but because the chasm is a rift would it have to be a dent in the earth like Raodan's mark to work? Would a wall do the same as it's just completing the shape in its 2D form as seen from above? 

[Treamayne]

9 hours ago, Display-Names-Are-Stupid said:

Thank you! I'd forgotten that the line became part of the Aon on completion, I was thinking of it as a band-aid. 

The walls of Elantris and the surrounding cities are vertically upwards to make the Aon Rao, but because the chasm is a rift would it have to be a dent in the earth like Raodan's mark to work? Would a wall do the same as it's just completing the shape in its 2D form as seen from above? 

Unfortunately, we do not know for sure (and likely will not know until the sequels are released:

Spoiler

Brandon Sanderson

Part Four: Updates on Secondary Projects

Elantris

As I said, I’m getting ready to start into this series again! Expect more updates next year as I finalize my outlines for this and Ghostbloods. Elantris will soon become a Primary Project again.

State of the Sanderson 2023 (Dec. 19, 2023)

That said, I would imagine that it may work either way, and simply be more effective/efficient for whichever one would actually be "best."

Spoiler

Elantris Ch 49:

Spoiler

So Raoden practiced as they instructed, using his fifthfinger to draw small lines and his thumb to construct larger ones. He could also use tools—such as a stick or a quill—to draw the lines. Fingers were the convention, but form mattered far more than the utensils used. After all, the Elantrians had used AonDor to carve permanent symbols into rock and stone—and had even constructed them from wire, pieces of wood, and a host of other materials. Apparently it was difficult to create AonDor characters from physical materials, but the Aons still had their same effect, regardless of whether they were drawn in the air or smelted from steel.

His practice was futile. It didn’t matter how efficient his Aons were; none of them worked. He used his fingernails to draw some lines so delicate that they were nearly invisible; he drew others with three fingers side by side—exactly as instructed in his texts.

WoB:

Spoiler

linkhyrule5

Why is there only one Chasm line per Aon? Since each Aon is made up of repetitions of Aon Aon, shouldn't there be a Chasm line per repetition?

Brandon Sanderson

The Aons aren't JUST made up of repetitions of Aon Aon. There's a lot more to them than that. Some follow a repetition pattern, others do not. The only requirement is using the initial Aon once, then building from there. Because of this, I made the new requirement be only one use of the chasm line.

Aons can actually have multiple forms and still work. For example, if you drew the chasm line on each one of those Aons, they'd work fine. (Maybe even better, in some cases.) What is happening in the books is that the Aons are ALMOST functional, and the Dor is straining to come through them. The chasm line brings them the one step further they need to be functional. However, further tweaking could make them more efficient.

/r/fantasy AMA 2013 (April 17, 2013)

 

PS: Your Thread title is already a spoiler (by naming the Chasm Line) so I am not sure why you put a spoiler warning. . . 

Edited May 31 by Treamayne
SPAG/Clarity