On the Nature of Nazh

[Coinshooter he/him]

So, it's a well-established fact that Nazh is a worldhopper. And for those of us who've read Words of Radiance, we know that he rescued Shallan's trunk - more particularly, some of her drawings - from the bottom of the sea. That brings up a question: how did he do that?

 

My brother, ChullRider, came up with a possible solution - could Nazh be a Feruchemist?

 

This would supply some answers: provided Nazh is a full-blown Feruchemist, not just a Ferring, Nazh would be able to store breath, allowing him to swim deeper, he could draw forth strength, allowing him to resist the water pressure, Feruchemically access some heat to offset the normally frigid waters in that part of Roshar (not to mention the cold that there would be at the bottom), and using his Copperminds would help him in his work with Khriss. Feruchemy provides everything he needs in order to complete those tasks.

 

But then that raises another question - how could Nazh have this investiture if he's not from Scadrial? Now here... here, things get far more speculative. So much so, in fact, that I'd be flabbergasted if ChullRider and I got this right.

 

Remember: Feruchemy is hereditary. So, Nazh would need to have at least one parent with Terris blood in them. Fortunately for us, we know that there's at least one Terriswoman that's been worldhopping, maybe two. But either way, if there is more than one worldhopping Terriswoman, one of them (Aslydin), is Demoux's wife (I assume that they got married because she is Demoux's love interest). So, they're very loyal to each other, and therefore, I imagine that they try to get with each other as often as possible.

 

Perhaps at one point, they ended up on Threnody, and then they decided to take a break, and then Nazrilof was born (like I said, wild speculation to support Nazh being a Feruchemist). Now, there isn't much proof for this, especially if Nazh isn't a Feruchemist. However, there are some similarities between Demoux and Nazrilof: Both of their names come from a real-life person that took one of Brandon's pictures. Both of them are worldhoppers. Demoux and Nazh were on Roshar at around the same time, and that could be because Demoux is being a good father and teaching him about the world(hopping). Additionally, Nazrilof doesn't sound too much like a Threnodian name - to me, it sounds more Scradrian. That would be a more familiar name to both Demoux and Aslydin. That could just be me, however.

 

TL;DR version: So basically, we think that Demoux, who married the Terriswoman, game birth to Nazh, who has feruchemical abilities, and because of how genetics work with feruchemy and allomancy, Nazh (only got cadmium feruchemy, maybe) or Nazh is a full Feruchemist. Because, Demoux and his wife are worldhoppers, this explains why Nazh is a man from Threnody. By his name thing I mean that his parents, not from Threnody, would have chosen a more familiar name to them. See, because Demoux appeared in WoK, it means that he somehow survived long enough to make it there. And Nazh, being younger, has absolutely no problem getting to AoL time and WoK time.

 

Like I said, there's a lot of speculation here, but it also makes some sense. Or at least, it did over the Facebook chat.

 

[ChullRider he/him]

 

 

TL;DR version: So basically, we think that Demoux, who married the Terriswoman, game birth to Nazh, who has feruchemical abilities, and because of how genetics work with feruchemy and allomancy, Nazh (only got cadmium feruchemy, maybe) or Nazh is a full Feruchemist. Because, Demoux and his wife are worldhoppers, this explains why Nazh is a man from Threnody. By his name thing I mean that his parents, not from Threnody, would have chosen a more familiar name to them. See, because Demoux appeared in WoK, it means that he somehow survived long enough to make it there. And Nazh, being younger, has absolutely no problem getting to AoL time and WoK time.

 

Like I said, there's a lot of speculation here, but it also makes some sense. Or at least, it did over the Facebook chat.

Yeah! I loved how this turned out, brother of mine! Digital high-five! I feel so proud. 

Also, you worded it way better than I could have....Although, most of that TL;DR version is what I wrote on the Facebook chat

 

Also, here's another part of our speculation:

Nazh doesn't appear until WoR, and during that time between HoA and WoR, it could be him being raised by Demoux and his wife, along with learning how to worldhop and how to use feruchemy.

Edited September 24, 2015 by ChullRider

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

Nazh is from Threnody.

 

 

Interview: Aug 4th, 2014

WOR-London

Sabrina Stormshard

Where is Nazh from?

Brandon Sanderson

Threnody!

 

Although, it could be possible that both Demoux and Aslydin went there for some reason. It could be possible but I can't remember when Shadows for Silence takes place Cosmere wise (or if Nazh is present) but it is highly likely {75% sure on this} he's a member of the 17th Shard. I have a rough idea of when Mistborn takes place in regards to SA but those are my own calculations.

 

It might be he has access to another magic system

Edited September 24, 2015 by ParadoxSpren

[Bort he/him]

Or, maybe he can access Shademar (not a difficult assumption to make since he is a Worldhopper).

 

Shadesmar has land where there is sea in the physical world, so finding the beads that represent Jasnah's trunks would be somewhat easier. What would happen if he moved those beads, then reverted back out of Shadesmar?

Edited September 24, 2015 by Bort

[Coinshooter he/him]

Or, maybe he can access Shademar (not a difficult assumption to make since he is a Worldhopper).

 

Shadesmar has land where there is sea in the physical world, so finding the beads that represent Jasnah's trunks would be somewhat easier. What would happen if he moved those beads, then reverted back out of Shadesmar?

I must admit, I hadn't considered that.

 

So, I think the following questions (mostly formulated to lower the risk of RAFO) should be answered to help us figure out if this wild speculation is true or not:

1) Have any worldhoppers had children away from their home planet?

2) Does Nazh have a form of investiture that we've seen before or one that we've never heard of yet?

3) Do Demoux and Aslydin have any children? (Pretty sure that'd get RAFO'd on the spot, but still an important question) If so, have we seen them before? (Again, probably going to be RAFO'd)

 

Luckily, I'll be at the Shadows of Self signing at BYU, so maybe I'll shoot off one of these... unless we can think of a more effective one.

[ChullRider he/him]

I must admit, I hadn't considered that.

 

So, I think the following questions (mostly formulated to lower the risk of RAFO) should be answered to help us figure out if this wild speculation is true or not:

1) Have any worldhoppers had children away from their home planet?

2) Does Nazh have a form of investiture that we've seen before or one that we've never heard of yet?

3) Do Demoux and Aslydin have any children? (Pretty sure that'd get RAFO'd on the spot, but still an important question) If so, have we seen them before? (Again, probably going to be RAFO'd)

 

Luckily, I'll be at the Shadows of Self signing at BYU, so maybe I'll shoot off one of these... unless we can think of a more effective one.

I think you should go with the third one. I feel like that's the one that would have the most relevant answers to our questions.