[OB] Rial - worldhopper?

[FollowYourMuse]

Rial was a bit off, though we do know also many of the bridgemen do not have the same respect of authority. So the familiarity was not as off to me as the knowledge of the watch and the extra descriptions.

Searches for Rial in  TWoK and Wor  return The Vanrial’s, fabrial, Iriali, Sebarial, Abrial one of the Highprinces Tyn mentions to Shallan might be dead in Jah Keved.

[Frostlander]

This is the no-fun theory, but Rial is from Bridge 13, which is Dalinar's guard. They're mentioned as taking over for Bridge 4, who are off doing other things, and for the sake of the story, will probably be reunited with Kaladin later. Bridge 13 already got some development when they sagged with exhaustion after Stormfather finished the wedding. My guess is that if Kaladin gets to keep Bridge 4 as squires, Dalinar's bridgemen (whether they're squires or not) will start getting some character development.

[Subvisual Haze]

Much like how in an RPG a random NPC having an actual name lets you know that this person must be important, Brandon loves to use language quirks as red flags that someone has more going on than meets the eye.  Conversely, a new character unexpectedly speaking with a perfect local accent despite foreign looking features is also a clue that there are magical shenanigans at work.

[firstRainbowRose]

I personally saw him as an Elantrian. Ria is an Aon. And how was Galladon's accent discriped in book one, if at all?

[Kingsdaughter613]

Something that just occurred to me: the Central Dominance had a French Accent. Alethi is a Semitic tongue.

When I’ve heard native French speakers speak English there can be a drawl to it. (It has to do with different R sounds, and certain vowel mixes. The O in To can get slightly swallowed as well.) 

I looked up videos of French speakers speaking Hebrew. I couldn’t find one for Arabic. In the two videos: one woman had a very clear accent, though her speech is smoother than native Hebrew speakers (I loved it!); the other was a man with a much thicker accent. Both could be considered a drawl.

So a CD Scadrian would probably sound like he had a drawl if he spoke Alethi.

[Stormlightning]

7 hours ago, firstRainbowRose said:

I personally saw him as an Elantrian. Ria is an Aon. And how was Galladon's accent discriped in book one, if at all?

Galladon still had his accent from Elantris, with the words translated. He said things like "understand?" instead of "kolo?". I am pretty sure it's not him.

[Pixel_Kitsune]

On ‎10‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 0:10 AM, Pattern said:

Wayne also would have no problem imitating local accents. But still, timelines don't work, as AoL is placed between Stormlight 5 and 6. Timetravel (backwards) is not a thing in the Cosmere, is it?

My first reaction was Nazh. But he does not seem to play with stuff like coins or spheres. He did appear in Bridge Four to get a look at their tattoos though, so this could be some other worldhopper from Khriss's entourage, trying to get more information on what's going on there.

I may be glitching a WoB.  But are we really fully sure Wax and Wayne takes place after part 5?

All the WoB I've seen have said Mistborn Era 2 happens between SA 5 and 6.  But in his original outline Era 2 is the Modern day Misting Swat Team stuff.  Wax and Wayne kind of came out of nowhere.  Also Harmony's talk about the outer threat could be something applying before SA starts just as easily as later.

I'm probably wrong on this, but it always stood out that Era 2 could mean a few things.

[Pagerunner]

49 minutes ago, Pixel_Kitsune said:

I may be glitching a WoB.  But are we really fully sure Wax and Wayne takes place after part 5?

All the WoB I've seen have said Mistborn Era 2 happens between SA 5 and 6.  But in his original outline Era 2 is the Modern day Misting Swat Team stuff.  Wax and Wayne kind of came out of nowhere.  Also Harmony's talk about the outer threat could be something applying before SA starts just as easily as later.

I'm probably wrong on this, but it always stood out that Era 2 could mean a few things.

Yes, we are sure. This is a bit of an artifact of how Brandon changed his naming terminology, so you have to be careful to check dates whenever you look at WoBs on the subject. But Brandon hasn't said anything about the timeline of what is now Mistborn Era 3, even when he was calling it Mistborn Era 2; he's been consistent in saying it's the Wax & Wayne books happen after Stormlight 5.

[Lightflame]

He was mentioned as leathery-faced, so even if he doesn't have the exact same appearance, I figured he was the man Kaladin talked to on the first bridge run. My brother and I suspected that he was a Dysian Aimian.

[firstRainbowRose]

Stormlightning I wasn't saying it was him. I meant is the accent similar. But I don't think his accent is discibed, but his speech mannerisms.

[Subvisual Haze]

/necromancy

After reading this recent WOB confirming a hidden kandra female in Oathbringer

Quote

Questioner [PENDING REVIEW]

Have we seen the worldhopping kandra on-screen in Oathbringer?

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

Yes, I believe you have. Ahhhh, yes, she gets around. 

source

I feel like Rial is a strong candidate for the hidden kandra.  Maybe Melaan or Paalm on recon assignment shortly before the events of Wax/Wayne?  They're the only 2 female kandra we've met and neither would have difficulty disguising themselves as a man.

Something about Rial's lazy/casual attitude around authority, fake salutes, love of alcohol, and ability to quickly befriend others (Dalinar seems to enjoy having Rial around) reminds me vaguely of Melaan.  The unusual local accent might be a clue too.  Other characters that cheat and use magic to translate themselves always sound like they're speaking in perfect unaccented local language.  Melaan enjoys using accents though (she trades tips with Wayne about the topic), so I could see her adopting an obscure local dialect as part of her identity.

Paalm's a possibility too though.  Paalm doing offplanet espionage for Harmony before Wax/Wayne events would help explain how she encountered/was exposed to Trell's influence.

Rial is also in a perfect position for kandra espionage, acting as a personal bodyguard to the most powerful man on Roshar.  It makes sense that Harmony would want to scout the situation in Roshar after receiving the cryptic letter from Hoid.  A Bridgeman is a perfect kandra infiltration target too.  They tended to be quiet and didn't get to know one another during their Bridge running days.  A kandra assuming the place of one who died in a battle would raise minimal suspicion.

[Llarimar]

Ah!  You're right, @EddyJ (in your post below) - I was confusing the two of them.  It's been awhile since I read the book and their names are similar!  I think I'll just remove my original post since it's not really relevant to the discussion.  My bad!

Edited May 16, 2018 by Llarimar

[EddyJ]

@Llarimar I’m not completely sure, but I think you may be confusing Rial and Rlain. If I remember correctly Rial from Bridge 13 isn’t a parshman, while Rlain from Bridge 4 is. 

Edit: @Llarimar No worries! It happens to everyone haha.

Edited May 16, 2018 by EddyJ

[Stormlightning]

To run with @Subvisual Haze's theory, I think it's pretty reasonable it's MeLaan. Rial's attitude screams "Wayne", and although they haven't technically met at this point, they do hit it off really fast when they meet. Maybe it's because MeLaan's already got that inner Wayne thang going on.

Or Harmony doesn't mess around and Wayne has been a world-hopping kandra all this time XD

It'll be interesting to see where things go from here, since apparently Rial and his whole crew all became squires to Teft.

[+robardin]

I also immediately suspected Rial of being a non-native Rosharian from his demeanor and suspiciously casual attitude with Dalinar - plus the description:

Quote

"Is all well, Brightlord?" one asked, catching up quickly. He spoke with a slow drawl - a Koron accent, from near the Sunmaker Mountains in central Alethkar. ...

Dalinar eyed the man. Clean-shaven, he was a little pale for an Alethi and had dark brown hair. Dalinar vaguely thought the man had showed up among his guards several times during the last week or so. He liked to roll a sphere across his knuckles in what Dalinar found to be a distracting way.

"Where did you get this habit of questioning officers?"

"It isn't a habit if you only do it once, Brightlord."

"And you've only ever done it once?"

"Ta you?"

"To anyone."

"Well," Rial said, "those don't count, Brightlord. I'm a new man. Reborn in the bridge crews."

So, Rial stands out as somewhat physically different, has a noticeable accent that could be based on using a Connection-based language hack that just happens to sound like a regional accent familiar to Dalinar, has only "shown up among his guards" about a week ago, and describes himself - as if as an in-joke aside to himself - as "reborn in the bridge crews." Yeah, smells like a worldhopper.

That sphere (coin) rolling habit sounds familiar, too. Wayne doesn't fit the timeline, nor would I think Wayne is getting set up to be a worldhopper, but.. Is there someone else we can think of?

But only now did I realize something else:

He is, or was, in Bridge Thirteen. Which at the end of Oathbringer was described as "all having gone up as squires to Teft".

Unless he's skipped out already, Rial has Surges, at least when around Teft, and is on a path to bonding an honorspren himself!

[+robardin]

12 hours ago, Stormlightning said:

To run with @Subvisual Haze's theory, I think it's pretty reasonable it's MeLaan. Rial's attitude screams "Wayne", and although they haven't technically met at this point, they do hit it off really fast when they meet. Maybe it's because MeLaan's already got that inner Wayne thang going on.

Or Harmony doesn't mess around and Wayne has been a world-hopping kandra all this time XD

It'll be interesting to see where things go from here, since apparently Rial and his whole crew all became squires to Teft.

I missed your post when I wrote mine (left my browser session open overnight), LOL.

I was going to ponder what it would mean for there to be a worldhopper Radiant, but of course, now Hoid has apparently bonded a Cryptic, so, we'll find out soon enough what getting a spren off of Roshar would take or be like.

And Wayne-was-a-kandra-all-along cracks me up!