dragonshadowbob Posted July 30, 2016 Report Share Posted July 30, 2016 Random question, how do Parshmen breed? I know regular Parshendi change into mate form in order to breed, but I think someone would notice if a Parshman snuck away and returned looking completely different. Another question, are all Parshmen just Parshendi in dull form? I know in the book it was said the dull form is used to spy on the humans so I assumed that all Parshmen were just Parshendi in dull form. I guess that they could just be a separate tribe of Parshendi that was found and enslaved, it was said that once the only forms known were dull form and mate form. What do you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeiryWriter Posted July 30, 2016 Report Share Posted July 30, 2016 No parshmen are not all dullform, they have no form (though they are sometimes referred to as "slaveform"). The thing to keep in mind is that the forms are specializations, mateform is not the only form that can breed, it's just the best at it, in the same way that a workform could swing a sword but warform is better at combat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonshadowbob Posted July 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2016 Ok, just got out my book and you are right, it is called slaveform, sorry. Also, while the forms are probably more specializations like you said, there are some things that different forms can't do. This is sort of shown when Words of Radiance says "warform did not intrinsically make one more disciplined. Unfortunately, it did hamper one's artistic skill." on page 165 and when it says "But each had it's quirks. A worker had difficulty committing violence..." on the same page. While the word difficulty does imply that you are right, I think that the quote "Most couples, in order to have a child, would enter the form and sequester themselves away for a year-then would be out of the form as soon after the child's birth as possible." favors my point. it says that in order to have a child, they would enter the form and then be out of the form as soon as possible. If any other form could have a child, why would most couples enter it? They obviously despise mate form, so if there was another way, I feel like it wouldn't say that most couples enter the form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RYANHOME Posted July 31, 2016 Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 I think it's a preference some choose to stay in mateform. I think eshonia has a inner dialogue about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oversleep Posted July 31, 2016 Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 (edited) I think it's just far easier to mate in mateform than in other forms (duh). I mean, all of forms carry some changes to the mindset and none of them are particularly romantically oriented; so they change into mateform and after they're done they return to their favourite/expected forms. And one more thing: parshmen and dullform are not the same thing (although similar). Parshmen is the absence of the form (sometimes called slaveform, to align with the naming); dullform is a form. Edited July 31, 2016 by Oversleep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormgate Posted July 31, 2016 Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 Perhaps mateform is also naturally more fertile. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonshadowbob Posted July 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 Yeah, after reading a bit I agree about the whole slaveform over dullform and I'm willing to concede about your point about natural fertility and a different mindset focused on mating. I think that we just need a WoB on this, we just don't have enough information. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeiryWriter Posted July 31, 2016 Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 My apologies I thought I mentioned this in my first post, but we do have WoB (I just didn't have it accessible at the moment): Quote [Reddit - May 19, 2015] uchoo786 I was actually wondering about how Parshmen would reproduce if they are only in slaveform? I thought one had to be in mateform in order to reproduce? Brandon Sanderson For the first, mateform is not the only form capable of producing--any more than warform is the only one capable of swinging a sword. The forms are specializations. It's also important to note that most listener forms are asexual in nature (which really isn't that conducive to making babies) mateform and "slaveform" are exceptions to that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonshadowbob Posted July 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 Ah, sorry then. Thanks for providing an answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Script Posted July 31, 2016 Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 Quote Question on Twitter Q: @PeterAhlstrom Does female Listeners have periods? If yes, Do all forms have it, or just mateform? A: If they do, it's just mateform. (Maybe slaveform too.) Hope this is helpful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zea mays Posted July 31, 2016 Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 I hope somewhere in Oathbringer we get more information about the parshmen's general, er biology, or life-cycle. Sooo many questions. Do the Alethi breed them? Where are the little parsh-babies and parsh-children? What is their life span? Do they age at the same rate as humans? Do they lactate? There was apparently some hybridization between Parshendi and other Roshar peoples in the past (There's a WOB somewhere), so presumable they can't be too different. Maybe there was a 'nearly human' form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeakoftheDeval Posted November 1, 2016 Report Share Posted November 1, 2016 In one of the listener songs the said that smokeform was used for mingling with humans. Would this be the hybridization form? Herdazians have parshendi ancestry and grey fingernails- are they descended from Smokeform? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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