A Terrisman in Bridge Four?

[Titan Arum]

I think I've discovered a potentially new Worldhopper on Roshar that has never been hypothesized before: Drehy. And I think he's a Terrisman! (Yes, somebody once before theorized that Sigzil was a Terrisman Worldhopper, but we know from WoB that's not possible.)

 

There are plenty of quotes throughout both Way of Kings and Words of Radiance that describe his appearance as tall, long-limbed, and lanky. He even has a faint accent. But first, let me provide book citations for what a Terrisman looks like, anything bolded is done for emphasis:

 

Alendi on Rashek's appearance in his journal:

Rashek is a tall man - of course, most of the Terrismen are tall

 

I know what you're thinking, height isn't enough to say Drehy is Terris, because not every tall person is going to be Terris. But would every tall person also be described as lanky and long-limbed too? Probably not. So lets find descriptions of Terrismen that show them as lanky and long-limbed. 

 

Vin on Sazed when he taps pewter, The Final Empire, Chapter 37:

Sazed smiled at her from a head sitting atop a beefy, muscular neck; then he easily snapped his bindings. He stood, a massive, inhumanly muscular man--so different from the lanky, quite scholar she had known.

 

Sazed's own description of his self when he's digging a grave, The Well of Ascension, Chapter 4:

he wasn't what one would call an athletic man. Tall and long-limbed, he had the build of a scholar, and still wore the colorful robes of a Terris steward. He also still kept his head shaved...

 

Sazed is tall, lanky, and long-limbed. He also has a shaved head. All of these characteristics are used to describe Drehy at one point or another in Way of Kings or Words of Radiance: 

 

Way of Kings, Chapter 49: "To Care"

"What do you mean?" Drehy asked. He was a lanky blond man, long-limbed and muscled. He spoke with a faint accent; he was from somewhere far to the west, called Rianal.

 

 

First, I'm not sure if Terrisman can be blonde and second we do not know what his skin color is. However, many western Rosharians do have darker complexions such as the Emulis, Makabaki, and Azish. Additionally, he has an accent, and I'd assume that many off-worlders would have an accent...unless they have an ear for language, which, for example, Demoux does not but Blunt/Baon does. 

 

Anyway, let's look at more descriptions of Drehy from other character's perspectives:

 

Kaladin observing the Bridge Four members as Rock shaves them, Words of Radiance, Chapter 2: "Bridge Four" 

The Horneater hummed to himself as he worked the razor over Drehy's balding head

Usually, when we see his hair mentioned it is blond and balding, but here we see Rock shaving his head. Not his chin. His head. The members of Bridge Four seem to regularly shave themselves to feel like their old selves. Or in Drehy's case, his Terris-self. This interpretation is obviously a stretch, but he is getting his head shaved here. 

 

Adolin observing Drehy after being told about additional scratched glyphs after a Highstorm, Words of Radiance, Chapter 50: "Uncut Gems"

"Sir!" said a lanky, long-armed man at the front of the bridgemen.

While we don't get his name directly in this scene, it's obviously Drehy, because nobody else has such a description on Bridge Four.

 

Shallan interacting with Drehy as they approach the central plateau of Stormseat, Words of Radiance, Chapter 80: "To Fight The Rain"

"Brightness," one of the birdgemen said...He was a tall, handsome man whose arms seemed entirely too long for his body.

Again, we don't get his name, but this has to be Drehy. No other member of Bridge Four has this description, and we know that on the march out to the Parshendi plateau that Drehy is guarding Adolin. So I assume Adolin sent him in this scene to get Shallan.

 

Okay, given all of the evidence from the books, I think it's highly likely that Drehy is a Terrisman Worldhopper. What do you all think?

Edited November 20, 2015 by Titan Arum

[Lord Ruler he/him]

I think this has potential, but nothing we can say will prove anything. He deffinatly (excuse my spelling) COULD be a Terrisman, but it is not definite.The other thing is we never quite learn about Dehrys past, so more possibilities. I think it would be worth while to scroll through and find a WoB to prove this in some way.

By the way, EXCELLENT research on this. I've never seen such an in- depth post before, and I've been around a while. Keep up the good work!!

[Charononus]

Sazed was long limbed and lanky according to the text because he was a eunuch.   Which is odd because I thought that the process made eunuchs pudgy but.......

[Titan Arum]

Sazed was long limbed and lanky according to the text because he was a eunuch.   Which is odd because I thought that the process made eunuchs pudgy but.......

 

Hmm. You are correct. There is a quote about his long-limbs being a result of castration.

Terrismen were tall by nature, and Sazed even more so: his arms and legs were a bit too long for his body, a medical condition brought on by his having been castrated as a very young boy.

 

But this doesn't mean that Drehy isn't a Terrisman. If I recall correctly, after the Great Catacendre, Harmony made the eunuch men into whole men again. Maybe their long-limbed genes were then passed down to their offspring?

 

Also, we know that Alloy of Law is set after the first SA series, but the Great Catacendre was 300 years prior to Alloy of Law. I wouldn't be surprised if Harmony sent one of these healed eunuch Terrismen to Roshar immediately after the Great Catacendre when he became aware of the Cosmere as a whole after ascending. Thus, Drehy could still be a Terrisman. 

Edited November 21, 2015 by Titan Arum

[natc]

If the body proportions come from being a eunuch, then there would not be any genes of them to pass down, period.

[Khyrindor he/him]

He just said that if he remembered correctly, Harmony made them into whole men again.

[Batemenace]

The proportions aren't genetic in origin, they're hormonal. The proportions wouldn't be passed down, even by a eunuch made whole again who still retained his lanky body type. 

[natc]

^That.

I'm pretty sure the cosmere operates on Mendelian heredity like Earth, not the Lamarck sort. Lopen will not sire one-armed Herdazian children. A Brute tapping lots of strength while impregnating their wife will not have the Hulk as their baby. Formerly castrated Terris will not pass down features stemming from the absence of certain hormones.

Edited November 21, 2015 by natc

[king of nowhere]

nothing forbids terrismen from being long-limbed genetically in addition to also being long-limbed as a result of castration. which would mean a terris eunuch would be very long-limbed indeed.

Edited November 21, 2015 by king of nowhere

[the winter system]

I just don't see how someone being long limbed, lanky, and foreign makes them a terrisman, even if it does pass long limbs down. 

[iBambam]

I think this theory does have potential, but one of your first quoted states where Kaladin thinks he's from. Is there more known about that area? From an interlude maybe?

[Titan Arum]

^That.

I'm pretty sure the cosmere operates on Mendelian heredity like Earth, not the Lamarck sort. Lopen will not sire one-armed Herdazian children. A Brute tapping lots of strength while impregnating their wife will not have the Hulk as their baby. Formerly castrated Terris will not pass down features stemming from the absence of certain hormones.

I never said that's how genetics works and I agree with you that you don't pass on a missing limb. Which by the way is not hormonal.

Do this Drehy could be

1) a eunuch still, who world hopped after the Great Catecandre

2) A healed eunuch that worldhopped. Since Harmony knew that most of the surviving male Terrismen were eunuchs, he healed them so that they could potentially mate and save the population from extinction.

3) A child of a healed eunuch who genetically was predisposed to longer limbs. Maybe when the eunuchs were healed, their physical characteristics that were originally hormonal were some how made genetic?

Anyway, I'm more inclined to believe the first two than the third.

To Winter Cloud: I understand that if it looks like and sounds like a duck it could still be a goose. However, I find it odd that multiple different people on Roshar comment about his long limbs. When Brandon does stuff like that I hesitate to say it's coincidence when there is a precedent for long limbs elsewhere in the Cosmere.

Edited November 21, 2015 by Titan Arum

[Batemenace]

nothing forbids terrismen from being long-limbed genetically in addition to also being long-limbed as a result of castration. which would mean a terris eunuch would be very long-limbed indeed.

I don't have the book in front of me, but I seem to recall in Shadows of Self that Wax thought the depictions of his "ancient" ancestors as lanky to be an artistic style, and thought it odd. Wax is of Terris blood, grew up with around Terris people, and apparently has never observed Terris people being especially long-limbed.

[Edgedancer he/him]

I never said that's how genetics works and I agree with you that you don't pass on a missing limb. Which by the way is not hormonal.

Do this Drehy could be

1) a eunuch still who world hopped after the Great Catecadre

2) A healed eunuch that workshopped. Since Harmony knew that most of the surviving male Terrismen were eunuchs, he healed them so that they could potentially mate and save the population from extinction.

3) A child of a healed eunuch who genetically was predisposed to longer limbs. Maybe when the eunuchs were healed, their physical characteristics that were originally hormonal were some how made genetic?

Anyway, I'm more inclined to believe the first two than the third.

To Cloud: I understand that if it looks like and sounds like a duck it could still be a goose. However, I find it odd that multiple different people on Roshar comment about his long limbs. When Brandon does stuff like that I hesitate to say it's coincidence when there is a precedent for long limbs elsewhere in the Cosmere.

We don't have the exact timeline but wouldn't it still have been 200~300 years since the Great Catecadre? It doesn't seem likely that an actuall Terrismen from that time would still be around on current Roshar.

[iBambam]

^ that's not necessarily true when it comes to world hopping. Brandon has said worldhopping does weird things to a person. It's very possible a terrisman sent by harmony could have been given an elongated lifespan

[Edgedancer he/him]

^ that's not necessarily true when it comes to world hopping. Brandon has said worldhopping does weird things to a person. It's very possible a terrisman sent by harmony could have been given an elongated lifespan

Right, still a random unnamed Terrismen being turned into some kind of unaging Splinter (or Atium compounder) by Sazed almost immediately after his ascension seems rather unlikely given that he just could have send a Kandra and be done with it.

[Batemenace]

Right, still a random unnamed Terrismen being turned into some kind of unaging Splinter (or Atium compounder) by Sazed almost immediately after his ascension seems rather unlikely given that he just could have send a Kandra and be done with it.

While i personally don't think Drehy is a terrisman, I think it's perfectly reasonable to assume a terrisman that travels away from Scadrial is operating outside of Sazed's bidding. Sazed seems more concerned about Scadrial than the cosmere at large, and he doesn't seem like one who would restrict travel off the planet if someone figured out how to do so.

 

 

Although Brandon has confirmed that there is a Kandra working somewhere in the cosmere, and that we've seen it off Scadrial.

Edited November 21, 2015 by Batemenace

[Titan Arum]

Edgedancer, well we do know that there is a Terriswoman world-hopper out there. And Demoux. And if the Terriswoman isn't Demoux's wife (though I think they're the same), Aslydin as well.

Also, Demoux is still alive somehow so aging can be affected somehow.

Edited November 21, 2015 by Titan Arum

[echaozh he/him]

^ that's not necessarily true when it comes to world hopping. Brandon has said worldhopping does weird things to a person. It's very possible a terrisman sent by harmony could have been given an elongated lifespan

 

He may also be a Feruchemist with temporal abilities.

[Edgedancer he/him]

Edgedancer, well we do know that there is a Terriswoman world-hopper out there. And Demoux. And if the Terriswoman isn't Demoux's wife (though I think they're the same), Aslydin as well.

Also, Demoux is still alive somehow so aging is it can be affected somehow.

Fair point.

 

Although, Demoux, the only one from Scadrial we know started his travels after the GC, is connected to the 17th Shard, which Drehy probably isn't, given how close he came to Hoid without noticing him. Meaning he's likely a free agent that figured this stuff out without them and still happened to come close to a future KR. Not sure where I'm going with that, just thought I'd throw it out here.

[king of nowhere]

by the way, do we know what kind of powers worldhoppers have? if one hid among the bridge crews, he must have a way to avoid arrows. healing won't do, getting a couple arrows in the chest and then walking back to camp will tend to blow your cover. also super reflexes are likely to blow your cover, although maybe in the middle of the battle your side really won't notice that one of many bridgemen is moving at super speed.

 

annyway, i remember a word of brandon where he said drehy is based on a firend of his. not sure how much we can deduce from it.

[Titan Arum]

annyway, i remember a word of brandon where he said drehy is based on a firend of his. not sure how much we can deduce from it.

All WoB with regards to Drehy are how he's based on a gay friend of his. I'm not sure how much we can deduce from that either, but Demoux is also based on a friend of his and is also a Worldhopper, for what that's worth.

 

Also, Peet, the bridgeman, is based on Peter. But I don't think he's a Worldhopper. 

[Haelbarde he/him]

I know people don't necessarily like the MAG as a source, but in the Wrought of Copper supplement, it notes that that Terrismen are unusually tall and lean, and that becoming eunuchs just accentuates that. So the Terris people do in fact have a genetic factor which makes them taller.

 

Now, regarding hair colour - there's basically nothing on Terris hair colour in that supplement, or any of the other MAG materials. The reference mentions blonde hair, but in the context, it's not clear if that's normal or not. I think the implication would be that blonde would be normal. If we look at Shadows of Self however, there are two female Terris who are listed as having blond hair (the obvious caveat being they aren't pure terris any more, given its a 2nd era story). Returning to the MAG, it does note that blonde hair was a feature of the Western Dominance (blonde being unheard of in the Central Dominance), and the Western Dominance neighbors the Terris Dominance. We know that Rashek had black hair, but then he would not have wished to have appeared obviously Terris to the nobles, so you couldn't necessarily put a lot of stock into that.

[Batemenace]

I know people don't necessarily like the MAG as a source, but in the Wrought of Copper supplement, it notes that that Terrismen are unusually tall and lean, and that becoming eunuchs just accentuates that. So the Terris people do in fact have a genetic factor which makes them taller.

 

 

To be fair, there are LOTS of tall  groups of people in the cosmere. By all accounts, non-eunuch Terrismen are proportioned normally, regardless of genetic predisposition to be tall or not. The reason Drehy was picked out by the OP to begin with was Drehy's "eunuch-like" proportions.  

[iBambam]

Right, still a random unnamed Terrismen being turned into some kind of unaging Splinter (or Atium compounder) by Sazed almost immediately after his ascension seems rather unlikely given that he just could have send a Kandra and be done with it.

Well I'll put my tin foil hat on here, who's to say that Drehy isn't a kandra disguised as a terrisman since they are obviously similar to a place on Roshar?