Axies the Blighted

[Crucible of Shards he/him]

I was reading Axies's interlude because I've always enjoyed it and because I've always been suspicious of the beggar whose food city he accidentally crashes, and I noticed that Axies says two thing that may be of interest. When he first wakes up, his first thought is, "Blight it all," and later on he says, "...when you were very regularly robbed of everything you owned, it was blighted difficult to keep a proper notebook.”

Now knowing how Sanderson's characters use language, and in particular in-world obscenities, such as "storming" (which appears very frequently in the Stormlight Archives) and "rusting/Rust and Ruin" in MB era 2, I think there is a reasonable amount of likelihood that to Aimians the terms "blight" and "blighted" have special significance. I can't recall any other characters using the term in the same way, although I don't have Edgedancer handy to check on a certain someone's dialogue. 

This is could possibly be related to the scourin of Aimia in some way, or perhaps not. Perhaps it's just a personal quirk of Axies. Or perhaps it's related to the Curse of Kind he references. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy my thoughts.

Edited May 24, 2017 by Crucible of Shards
Typo

[Argent he/him]

That's a good catch, I think. My headcanon, developed just now, is that the scouring of Aimia was accomplished, or at least involved, some kind of a blight. 

Also if note is that 

Quote

“Yelignar, called Blightwind, was one that could speak like a man, though often his voice was accompanied by the wails of those he consumed.”
—The Unmade were obviously fabrications of folklore. Curiously, most were not considered individuals, but instead personifications of kinds of destruction. This quote is from Traxil, line 33, considered a primary source, though I doubt its authenticity.

It's interesting to consider that maybe an Unmade was involved in the scouring.

Searching through the books, the Ishikk interlude has him say that "Vun Makak has blighted me right good today", which (judging from the context) seems to be a part of a kind of traditional exchange between Purelakers where they tell each other how they have suffered today.

Finally, Words of Radiance features only a single mention of the word "blight", and it's in the Listener Song of Listing:

Quote

Dullform dread, with the mind most lost.
The lowest, and one not bright.
To find this form, one need banish the cost.
It finds you and brings you to blight.

—From the Listener Song of Listing, final stanza

I don't think this particular instance is of relevance, however.

Edited May 24, 2017 by Argent

[Mestiv he/him]

That's very interesting. Together with Argent's quote I believe that there is some connection between Aimia and this particular Unmade. I realy want to know more about Aimia 

[Crucible of Shards he/him]

Thanks for the additional insight, @Argent! An Unmade would make a lot of sense, especially since

Spoiler

Arclo was not in any danger from the Skybreakers in Edgedancer. Aimians seem to be quite difficult to dispatch.

 

[Radiant_Jaeger he/him]

25 minutes ago, Argent said:

That's a good catch, I think. My headcanon, developed just now, is that the scouring of Aimia was accomplished, or at least involved, some kind of a blight. 

Also if note is that 

It's interesting to consider that maybe an Unmade was involved in the scouring.

Searching through the books, the Ishikk interlude has him say that "Vun Makak has blighted me right good today", which (judging from the context) seems to be a part of a kind of traditional exchange between Purelakers where they tell each other how they have suffered today.

Finally, Words of Radiance features only a single mention of the word "blight", and it's in the Listener Song of Listing:

I don't think this particular instance is of relevance, however.

Perhaps Vun Malak and Yelignar are one and the same after all there IS a plague in the pure lake perhaps the same blight that afflicted the aimians?! 

[Yata he/him]

2 minutes ago, Radiant_Jaeger said:

Perhaps Vun Malak and Yelignar are one and the same after all there IS a plague in the pure lake perhaps the same blight that afflicted the aimians?! 

Purelake's "plague" is simply cold arrived on Roshar thanks to some worldhoppers.

[Weltall]

The first thing that popped into my mind when reading this is 'Blight huh? So when do the Trollocs show up?'. But that's a very interesting observation and now I'm even more interested in learning about the Scouring. It certainly fits the goals of Odium and the Unmade to turn everyone against one another, including getting humans to turn on the Aimians who used to be their allies.

1 hour ago, Radiant_Jaeger said:

Perhaps Vun Malak and Yelignar are one and the same

At this point, I'm half-jokingly assuming that every god and goddess or similar religious figure that we hear about and which we don't know has a more specific origin (ie, Shards, Heralds, Returned) is one of Bavadin's many identities. In fact... how do I know you aren't secretly Bavadin?

1 hour ago, Yata said:

Purelake's "plague" is simply cold arrived on Roshar thanks to some worldhoppers.

While this is true, maybe it was a really bad cold?

[Crucible of Shards he/him]

9 minutes ago, Weltall said:

While this is true, maybe it was a really bad cold?

Actually,

Weiry

Whether the plague on the Purelake has anything to do with the fact that the magic fish form symbiotic bonds with spren?

Brandon Sanderson

No. Worldhoppers brought a disease to Roshar that they didn't have before. It's the common cold. Rosharans' investiture makes it so they’re usually a healthy bunch so something like the cold is kind of frightening. "Its a plague of the sniffles”.

 

Although, you're right. Obviously Bavadin

[Radiant_Jaeger he/him]

1 hour ago, Yata said:

Purelake's "plague" is simply cold arrived on Roshar thanks to some worldhoppers.

What!? Seriously?! But Dalinar mentions it as one of the ominous things happening in the world at the end of WoR the common cold is that serious?

[Crucible of Shards he/him]

Yep, Brandon's explanation reveals that the plague is not as serious as Dalinar thinks. And speaking of Dalinar, it was really only hearsay of a plague. He didn't have any hard facts.

Edited May 24, 2017 by Crucible of Shards
accuracy

[Mestiv he/him]

19 minutes ago, Radiant_Jaeger said:

What!? Seriously?! But Dalinar mentions it as one of the ominous things happening in the world at the end of WoR the common cold is that serious?

Well, common diseases killed millions of Native Americans when  Europeans came with a visit (IIRC).  Here we have a smaller scale version of this. 

[Weltall]

@Mestiv Very true, although most of the 'Old World' diseases that were introduced were ones that were more likely to kill people infected by them, either on their own or due to complications. For example, influenza and smallpox. The common cold is a lot less dangerous and we still get it all the time because it can't be vaccinated against; it's annoying but very rarely anything more than that. It's having a bigger impact in the Purelake simply because they've never seen it before and that's worrying but on its own it's unlikely to cause lasting harm. Especially as Roshar generally seems to have a good knowledge of medicine. Now if the worldhoppers had accidentally passed on something nastier, that would be another matter...

Edited May 24, 2017 by Weltall

[Oversleep]

49 minutes ago, Mestiv said:

Well, common diseases killed millions of Native Americans when  Europeans came with a visit (IIRC).  Here we have a smaller scale version of this. 

I also used to think that scenario "unknown disease - relatively unharmful to the ones who brought it - wipes out the natives" but somebody explained to me that the WoB up there means they're all just having running nose and stuff. Nothing serious but since Roshar is so healthy they are frightened by something like that.

[The One Who Connects he/him]

1 hour ago, Radiant_Jaeger said:

But Dalinar mentions it as one of the ominous things happening in the world at the end of WoR. The common cold is that serious?

2 minutes ago, Oversleep said:

Nothing serious but since Roshar is so healthy they are frightened by something like that.

To add to what Oversleep said: People have been bedridden with the cold before on Earth. If 5-6 people all came down at once, you'd be worried regardless of the general health level, no?

[+Extesian he/him]

This is quite interesting @Crucible of Shards and @Argent. My one problem with it is timing. My head-canon for some time has been that Aimia was scoured quite a long time ago, I was thinking in the order of hundreds of years, because of this. 

Quote

Likely they’d heard of his kind. It hadn’t been that long since the scouring of his homeland. Just long ago enough for stories and legends to have crept into the general knowledge of most peoples.

Whereas we know (at least some of) the Unmade have only been active for years. 

Quote

GPMUSHU

Has the Thrill existed longer than the Death Rattles or have they both been occurring for about the same period of time?

BRANDON SANDERSON

The Thrill and the Death Rattles started around the same time, but the locations for the two fluctuate and have been since they appeared.

FOOTNOTE

This note is from the forums: (This is just a way of confirming that the Unmadehave been active for about the same amount of time. Both started around the time Gavilar started to explore the Shattered Plains according to Taravangian.)

Of course I could be completely wrong about Axies wording and maybe Aimia was only scoured in the last 15 years, before then Aimians kept to themselves and were forgotten but the scouring forced them to the continent where people are now starting to recognize them. But I feel when you use the word 'legends' that implies a longer time-frame.

And of course maybe there was an Unmade active long before the others. But that's my hesitation for this theory. Otherwise nice work though, there's some good connections there. 

[Radiant_Jaeger he/him]

1 hour ago, Mestiv said:

Well, common diseases killed millions of Native Americans when  Europeans came with a visit (IIRC).  Here we have a smaller scale version of this. 

@The One Who ConnectsOf course but usually plague includes some kind of bodily damage as well cists, sore

Definition is... (lol I know how ridiculous I'm being)

contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium, typically with the formation of buboes (see bubonic plague) and sometimes infection of the lungs

A typical plague is this. Also is there a WoB for that cold idea? If so Facepalm*

Edited May 24, 2017 by Radiant_Jaeger

[The One Who Connects he/him]

4 minutes ago, Radiant_Jaeger said:

A typical plague is this. Also is there a WoB for that cold idea? If so Facepalm*

The WoB regarding the Plague was posted earlier by Crucible

Quote

Weiry

Whether the plague on the Purelake has anything to do with the fact that the magic fish form symbiotic bonds with spren?

Brandon Sanderson

No. Worldhoppers brought a disease to Roshar that they didn't have before. It's the common cold. Rosharans' investiture makes it so they’re usually a healthy bunch so something like the cold is kind of frightening. "Its a plague of the sniffles”.

Additionally, consider that in the absence of valid examples(generally healthy bunch), the definition will be different.

[Radiant_Jaeger he/him]

Just now, The One Who Connects said:

The WoB regarding the Plague was posted earlier by Crucible

Additionally, consider that in the absence of valid examples(generally healthy bunch), the definition will be different.

Curses! My bad... also @Calderis ignore my question rofl.

Itd be cool if rotspren and painsprem could bond with the plague to make it much worse, well not good cool, but interesting.

[ZenBossanova]

If we find out that the Common Cold was what scoured Aimia..... 

I do like the idea that the Unmade destroyed Aimia, but that would either be back in the Last Desolation, or very recent. Very recent doesn't fit the evidence, but I am not sure that it was that ancient either. 

There was an interesting few lines in the last interlude that Brandon read. 

[Yata he/him]

3 hours ago, Extesian said:

 Whereas we know (at least some of) the Unmade have only been active for years. 

I always thought the Unmades as Active for centuries.

The Thrill is something built into Alethi's society not some late addiction.

 

[Argent he/him]

14 hours ago, Extesian said:

Whereas we know (at least some of) the Unmade have only been active for years. 

Which doesn't tell us much anyway, does it? The death rattles, caused by Moelach, definitely seem like a recent thing, but the Thrill - caused by Nergaoul - certainly can't be. Even with all the stigma surrounding discussing the Thrill with others, if it had been a recent thing I feel like a lot more characters would've remarked on it instead of simply accepting it as something that is. Plus, even if these two were recent, it doesn't necessarily mean that all of the Unmade became active all at the same time - it's even possible  that some were never imprisoned (if the speculation that Gavilar's black sphere holds one is correct) or never went dormant, and have been out and about since Aharietiam. 

 

[Fulminato he/him]

17 hours ago, Extesian said:

This is quite interesting @Crucible of Shards and @Argent. My one problem with it is timing. My head-canon for some time has been that Aimia was scoured quite a long time ago, I was thinking in the order of hundreds of years, because of this. 

Whereas we know (at least some of) the Unmade have only been active for years. 

Of course I could be completely wrong about Axies wording and maybe Aimia was only scoured in the last 15 years, before then Aimians kept to themselves and were forgotten but the scouring forced them to the continent where people are now starting to recognize them. But I feel when you use the word 'legends' that implies a longer time-frame.

And of course maybe there was an Unmade active long before the others. But that's my hesitation for this theory. Otherwise nice work though, there's some good connections there. 

the influence of one unmade cannot cover all roshar, moelach can have stroll the continent making hard for a scolar to 'spot' the prophetic word of the dying. and like a plus the vorin absolute taboo for any form of foretelling don't help for sure

Edited May 25, 2017 by Fulminato

[Vissy]

This is really interesting. The Aimian history has a very 40k feeling to me - even the names are quite Warhammer-ish! Blightwind, the Blighted, and so on.

[Argent he/him]

58 minutes ago, Rob Lucci said:

The Aimian history has a very 40k feeling to me - even the names are quite Warhammer-ish! Blightwind, the Blighted, and so on.

Keep in mind that the Blightwind is not necessarily an Aimian thing - it's just a possible connection.

[+Extesian he/him]

8 hours ago, Argent said:

Which doesn't tell us much anyway, does it? The death rattles, caused by Moelach, definitely seem like a recent thing, but the Thrill - caused by Nergaoul - certainly can't be. Even with all the stigma surrounding discussing the Thrill with others, if it had been a recent thing I feel like a lot more characters would've remarked on it instead of simply accepting it as something that is. Plus, even if these two were recent, it doesn't necessarily mean that all of the Unmade became active all at the same time - it's even possible  that some were never imprisoned (if the speculation that Gavilar's black sphere holds one is correct) or never went dormant, and have been out and about since Aharietiam. 

 

So @Argent, @Yata, I agree it would be weird if the Thrill was recent but how do you reconcile the WoB saying it started about the same time as the Death Rattles? Is Taravangian wrong and the Death Rattles are much older? Or is the WoB wrong? I actually think either answer is possible but for the Thrill to be old, it must be one of those two options, mustn't  it? I definitely agree that the Rattles could be older and just slipped under the radar, as i think you were implying @Fulminato.

And yeah either way another Unmade could have been active earlier, i did acknowledge that. I just pictured the Unmade becoming active around the same time everything was 'kicking off' but I agree that it would be strange for the Thrill to be recent yet so accepted. I'm just trying to reconcile that WoB.

Edited May 25, 2017 by Extesian