(OB) Chemoarish and the Black Fisher

[Toaster Retribution]

We have decent information on every Unmade except for these two. So let´s speculate! Where are they? What can they do? 

Discuss!

[Argent]

The one theory I've had - and I don't think it was originally my own - is that Cusicesh is, in some way, Dai-gonarthis, the Black Fisher. Big spren, water theme, proximity to Aimia, and feeling of being drained after encountering it (something that fits nicely with Odium's theme of having people "give" him his feelings, but also with the Stormfather, so maybe it's just something natural to big spren) are all flimsy bits of evidence, but I am curious if they turn out to be of interest.

[dvoraen]

1 hour ago, Toaster Retribution said:

We have decent information on every Unmade except for these two. So let´s speculate! Where are they? What can they do? 

Discuss!

Yay speculate!

 

Chemoarish

Short version: I think she's like The Blob, or a "death cloud". She consumes physical matter; she's a direct version of Physical destruction.  I also think she's currently imprisoned in a perfect gem.

Being referred to as the Dustmother is what makes me think she's the more "direct destruction" type of Unmade, meaning it's really obvious what the signs of her presence are: odd forms of damage.  The interesting thing is that she's confused with the Nightwatcher, and we have multiple examples where people think the Nightwatcher is out to get you and curse you, and so on.  The fact that there is a bit of overlap in people's minds makes me wonder if Chemoarish can leave after-effects on anyone she consumes or partly consumes.  Perhaps transforming physical matter similar to Soulcasting, but instead you get mutations and other freaky things?

Random aside, but I wonder if Chemoarish is the reason for there not being a fortress in the Purelake anymore, to the point that there isn't even a hint of its presence.

 

Dai-gonarthis

I think Dai-gonarthis affects people similar to a dementor, which is to say one is forced to experience negative emotions or memories unceasingly.  I think people consumed by Dai-gonarthis are forced to relive and/or experience those emotions while this Unmade takes away everything until all that's left is an empty shell that searches for release through death.  That said, I don't think there's much to say here as to why Dai-gonarthis can cause forms of insanity as it feels like an Occam's Razor matter.  I also can't help but wonder if we've seen some of the effects of this Unmade on the world, but on a very subtle or small scale (see below for thoughts on why).  I've also been wondering if this Unmade has been nudging Kaladin's depression at times.  Sylphrena comments there's "something wrong" with him and she doesn't know what, which makes me think that there's more in play with regards to Kaladin's mood.

Another point is that I think Dai-gonarthis is imprisoned on Aimia, but imperfectly.  The scouring of Aimia possibly being caused by the Unmade is kind of surprising, but Hessi speculates that Dai-gonarthis is the reason for it.  This is the reason why I wonder if Dai-gonarthis is one of the sapient Unmade (alongside Sja-anat, Ba-Ado-Mishram and supposedly Yelig-nar).  If Dai-gonarthis is able to nudge select people to feel certain negative emotions, he(?) could have essentially conditioned people to react in negative ways to specific subjects.  This is how I see the scouring of Aimia taking place: over time people became distrustful, fearful and scared of the Aimians, with Dai-gonarthis's help, and eventually did something about it.  The Aimians realized what happened, and they were somehow able to use their peculiar abilities to "anchor" Dai-gonarthis there, limiting that Unmade's influence.  I say "peculiar abilities" because Soulcasters and possibly other "ancient" fabrials seem to have originated with the Aimians.  If they can make those devices, then they could very well have made a device that can imprison one of the Unmade.

[teknopathetic]

4 hours ago, dvoraen said:

Dai-gonarthis

Another point is that I think Dai-gonarthis is imprisoned on Aimia, but imperfectly.  The scouring of Aimia possibly being caused by the Unmade is kind of surprising, but Hessi speculates that Dai-gonarthis is the reason for it.  This is the reason why I wonder if Dai-gonarthis is one of the sapient Unmade (alongside Sja-anat, Ba-Ado-Mishram and supposedly Yelig-nar).  If Dai-gonarthis is able to nudge select people to feel certain negative emotions, he(?) could have essentially conditioned people to react in negative ways to specific subjects.  This is how I see the scouring of Aimia taking place: over time people became distrustful, fearful and scared of the Aimians, with Dai-gonarthis's help, and eventually did something about it.  The Aimians realized what happened, and they were somehow able to use their peculiar abilities to "anchor" Dai-gonarthis there, limiting that Unmade's influence.  I say "peculiar abilities" because Soulcasters and possibly other "ancient" fabrials seem to have originated with the Aimians.  If they can make those devices, then they could very well have made a device that can imprison one of the Unmade.

I also got the impression that Dai-gonarthis was the UnMade of genocide; the dust refers to the empty cities and to the decomposing bodies. 

Edited May 2, 2018 by teknopathetic

[Leuthie]

The Nightwatcher is one of these two.  Odium "unmade" something that was animated by Cultivation's Investiture.  What we see as the Nightwatcher in Dalinar's scene with her shows that Cultivation is helping Nightwatcher understand humanity through the wish granting.  This reeks of Cultivation reclaiming a lost soul.  The first of the "Remade", if you will.

Edited May 3, 2018 by Leuthie

[Toaster Retribution]

I like the idea of Dai-Gonarthis being some kind of sorrow-inducing dementor being. The Black Fisher is such a creepy-cool name, so I hope he’ll be as impressive as the name suggests. There was an idea in another thread that he was influencing Shallans family, which would be cool. That he is Cusicesh is also a nice idea. Cusicesh would also work well, considering that the Irali have joined Odium. He might be doing stuff down there to further that alliance.

Chemoarish... I like @dvoraens thoughts there. Personally, I’d say she is imprisoned somewhere. There has to be a reason for why we haven’t seen her. Her name suggests that she is mindless, and thus is unlikely to be manipulating the Irali.