Fifth of Daybreak

First of all, I want to say that the things I wrote for each person isn't necessarily how I see things, or how they are, but rather, how the characters might perceive future events from their perspective. I agree with a good portion of what Maxal says. We seem to be on the same wavelength here, which I'm glad of. After the Dalinar/Sadeas' murder thread, I'm happier debating with Maxal rather than against (not saying I didn't have a ton of fun in that thread, just happy to have a strong debater on my side! ) Well, possibly, but they've got a lot going against them, and if they decide to wait until after the threat is past to resolve their issues, I think they'll be in more trouble. It's hard to trust the person next to you completely when you've got deep seated issues with them. It breaks concentration and causes all sorts of problems to rise to the surface. Sure, you might try and put those aside and work together, but your patience for that person's mistakes will be shortened incredibly, which will then cause a bigger rift to form. If they don't deal with these issues, I see it tearing them apart and making it easy for the Parshendi. Plus, one of their members is part of one of conspiracies/secret societies. Shallan is now involved with the people who tried to assassinate Jasnah on multiple occasions, she has a history of deceiving Jasnah, and the most nearly successful attempt on Jasnah's life occurred on a boat Shallan spent a considerable amount of time on, and that she suggested they book passage on for their trip. Jasnah is in an intelligent woman, if she finds even a whiff of a trace of Shallan working with the Ghostbloods, she'll put all these pieces together and form a logical conclusion, even if it's the wrong one, and Jasnah has had Ghostbloods killed before... Adolin's cover up of Sadea's death seems very flimsy to me. First off, only one eye is gouged out, and there's a knife sticking out of it. Not Lhiss's style at all. Then, he was the last person seen with Sadeas before the murder, and that knife sticking in his eye is Adolin's side knife, which I'm assuming is pretty spiffy, considering he's the heir to a princedom. He's going to be missing his cuff for a good while during the time he's establishing his alibi, which is also pretty weak. He went off somewhere and "pretended to be there the whole time." If Adolin doesn't get discovered, then it's even easier to get away with murder in Alethi society than it is in my hometown. (We have one of the highest unsolved murder rates in the country-fun fact.) Also, define too much speculation...that's kind of what every theory is..pure speculation. I was reaching a little for the Renarin Shallan, but as far as too much speculation, I don't see that as possible. That may be, but I think she might see it as direspectful to her father. Difference of opinion on that point. I really think you're understating the reaction towards her assassins though. Assuedan is family. She's Kholin. Elhokar definitely is not portrayed as level headed, he's headstrong, emotional, and quick to anger; I highly doubt he'd quickly overlook attempts to kill his wife, no matter how incompetant or unfaithful she is. In fact, I think he'd be twice as quick to react, because it reflects badly on him. Not to mention his paranoia concerning assassins already. With the attempts on his life that have already happened, he might even go as far as to place the blame for those on Jasnah as well. He already suspected Dalinar of it, so is it that big of a jump to to your sister who was considering assassinating your wife? As for the heresy, that's more of a public relations issue than an internal one. I wasn't trying to imply that the other KR would have problems with it. Half of them are Kholins, and already used to it. But the KR have a terrible reputation with the greater Alethkar, and including a heretic in them could be catastrophic, especially if it causes the Ardentia to publicly denounce them. I still see that as highly unlikely, Dalinar loved his brother. Szeth killed Gavilar. That's a huge point of contention. But even if they just accept him, this is an even large public relations nightmare. The new Knights Radiant have been assassinating rulers across the world. The new leader of the Knights Radiant even had his brother assassinated in order to seize power. This could unite the whole world behind Taravangian against the Knights Radiant. "Ten people, with Shardblades alight, standing before a wall of black and white and red." -Collected: Jasachev, 1173, 12 seconds pre-death. Subject: one of our own ardents, overheard during his last moments. WoK chapter 9. Seems likely to me they will all meet and fight together. I'll give you that time is a pressing issue, but really that just compounds the problems I've illustrated. The need to be united, according to Dalinar's vision, and the lack of time to resolve this issues is a part of that issues. The Ghostbloods I've already addressed in Shallan, but I don't think the Sons of Honor will have much sway over and of the new KR.

This might help. Quote

Those situations aren't all that different either from the suicidal significant other though. The outside influences to honor are still there, whether from family or from society. A certain morality is being placed on Kaladin, one that he doesn't entirely agree with, but has to follow to protect Syl. People change over time, and Kaladin's decision about Elhokar probably woulnd't have changed in time if it wasn't for the loss of Syl. Regardless of where the inspiration of it comes from. Kaladin also wasn't raised with those values ingrained to him as much as they could've been, and they certainly aren't ingrained into the society as much as in feudal Asia (Alethi like to backstab way too much for honor to be that prevalent in society.)

I've been following along in the discussion, and it's been a very intriguing and well justified debate on both sides, but there's one point that's been universally made that I don't accept or agreement, that of Lirin's guilt. Here's the quote from WoK Everyone has been naming him a robber like he walked in a stole the spheres, but that's not the case. Unless the Alethi have very modern laws about being a sound mental state for signing official paperwork, what he did was not illegal. Unethical maybe, but I wouldn't even argue it was immoral. Here's another snippet from that chapter: A recurring theme I've noticed in defending Roshone is "he did nothing illegal, it was about seeking revenge." How does that make Lirin more culpable than Roshone? Lirin did nothing illegal as well. In fact, I find Lirin's actions completely justified. Lirin obviously had the respect of Wisitow, and for good reason. Lirin was a surgeon who did not charge for his work. Lirin who provided for a whole town, and expected the citylord to provide for his family. Laral was all but engaged to Kaladin, and then, through a cruel twist of fate, she has to marry not even Rillar, but Roshone, because of Roshone's greed. Yes not illegal, but still it seems like Lirin is getting demonized way more than Roshone, and Roshone is basically forcing himself on a girl half if not a third his age. Lirin is not a thief, at worst, he falsified documents, but it sounds to me like Wisitow did, in fact, sign those documents himself. If Lirin was a criminal, then Roshone would've been able to win an inquest, but he wasn't. He was a man who was watching all his years of dedication to his hometown crumble away, despite being the best man among them. He saw a way to secure his future for his family, so they wouldn't have to suffer for his seflessness. I also saw quite a few references to Lirin's selfishness. If that was the case, he would've charged for his work. In fact, I would've charged Roshone an incredibly large amount of spheres for the work on him after the hunt. But Lirin is not selfish. He knew he their deal wasn't going to be honored, so he took steps to protect himself and his family. The spheres obviously were not even that important. They had been in the surgery for years on the permanent loan, and without them, Laral still had a dowry large enough that Roshone wouldn't let her go, so why would it even be an issue, other than to satisfy Roshone's greed? He used to own silver shops in Kholinar, is cousin's with Amaram, and had the favor of the king's son, he obviously wasn't hurting for the spheres. Lirin, in my opinion, is one of the best men in the books. Roshone....is not. Let's look at some of the in world philosophies, just as Shallan did with Jasnah. Philosophy of Starkness-All we know is it says kill or be killed. Well, in this instance, take the spheres or lose the chance for your family. Lirin is exonerated. This is about the only philosophy that could justify Roshone's actions, but nothing that Lirin does endangers Roshone. It's not a kill or be killed scenario. It's just greed. It holds his actions up flimsily at best. Philosophy of Purpose-Actions are not evil, intent is evil. Lirin intended to secure his family's future. This also clears Lirin. Roshone's intent is much less than pure. Philosphy of Ideals- Removing evil is ultimately moral. Well, this one is harder to apply without information, but I would say evil would be an agreement not being honored. If that's not good enough, those spheres would've ended up in Roshone's hands, and Roshone is definitely evil. Beyond all that, Lirin is taking the spheres to send his son to become a surgeon. Injury and sickness is not directly evil, but close enough for my interpretation of the philosophy. Lirin is still not in the wrong. Roshone is definitely not attempting to remove evil. Tien isn't evil, and Lirin is not evil. The Philosophy of Aspiration-Objective must be weighed against methods. The steps are irrelevant if the goal is worthy. Lirin's goal is noble and serves his family, and every person that Kaladin could've helped by becoming a surgeon. The steps weren't that reprehensible. Lirin still maintains his virtue. What's the objective for Roshone? Starve out a family, and take away their future to fatten his purse and to get revenge for an imagined slight against his house. Roshone is a vile person. I guess I just don't understand where all the contempt for Lirin is coming from. He did nothing at all against the law and his actions are justified in my opinion. So why all the negativity pointed at Lirin? Edit: Philosophies taken from Chapter 39 Burned into Her.

I think that maybe certain words shouldn't be shortened in certain ways. Upvote for the laugh.

You can't fire me! I stick.

Ah if only the votes had gone the other way! But the idea was fun and it deserved at least a cameo!

The world is trying to come to an end...The Everstorm has arrived, and is transforming the world's Parshmen into Stormform Voidbringers. Taravangian seeks to unite the world under his own rule, and it appears he believes the new Knights Radiant to be an obstacle to that path. The Ghostbloods have already attempted assassination against one of them, and seeks to corrupt another. The Sons of Honor have taken the man who refers to himself as Taln, and will soon be a part of Urithiru. Riots in Kholinar, a plague in the Purelake, the Skybreakers executing proto radiants. There's certainly a lot of problems that the new Knights Radiant have to reconcile, but what is the biggest challenge facing them? I believe it to be themselves. The Knights Radiant, as they are forming now, may shatter before they can become a cohesive unit. Internal politics and squabbling could be their undoing long before they need to face any of those challenges. Let's take a brief look at each Radiant to see what problems we can expect in the next book. The Windrunner-Kaladin At the end of WoR, Kaladin seems to have a much tighter grip on his own problems, but that isn't to say that he lacks for conflict. First, Kaladin is heading back to Hearthstone, which could stir up feelings about Roshone, who is one of the only sources of unresolved feelings for Kaladin. Assuming that he maintains his self-control, and doesn't decide Roshone would function better as a punching bag, It could still cause problems-with Dalinar. During the prison visit, it is revealed that Dalinar is the reason that Roshone came to Hearthstone. It wouldn't take much of a leap to place all the blame at Dalinar's feet. The reason Kaladin isn't a surgeon. The reason Tien was conscripted and died. The reason Kaladin ended up killing Helaran. The reason Amaram killed Kaladin's men. The reason that Amaram is still alive and plotting. The reason Kaladin became a slave. The list goes on. Notable quote: "Though it seems that such mercy often ends up serving the cousins of powerful lighteyes, and rarely someone lowly." The Lightweaver-Shallan Shallan is something of a Wild Card for the new Knights Radiant. Unlike Kaladin and Dalinar, she has no official position in the Alethi government, nor will she accept one IMO. So at the end of the book, Shallan is left with a choice of how to handle the Ghostbloods, who is going to deliver her brothers to her safely, and is owed a debt by her family. She also got quite a bit chummy with Iyatil. How is Jasnah going to react when she returns and discovers that Shallan is involved with the Ghostbloods. Will Jasnah even stop to listen if Shallan is only doing it to infiltrate them and learn what they know? Will Jasnah even care? This is an organization that has sent assassins after her, and Shallan has already deceived Jasnah once. Then there's her budding friendship with Kaladin. Shallan is going to find out that Kaladin killed Helaran. Kaladin even notices the amount of anger in her voice in the midst of a Highstorm. He then continues to hide the truth from her. That will certainly form a schism between the two. Notable quote: "Let Shallan Davar be a Radiant, conformist and noble. Let Veil come to us." . . ."And let her find truth." The Bondsmith-Dalinar Dalinar is going to have his hands full dealing with the aftermath of Adolin's actions, which will be quite a problem in itself, along with Kaladin's problem with him, but what about Dalinar's problems with Kaladin? Kaladin conspired to kill the king, Dalinar's nephew. He never came forward with the information, and then gave one of his co-conspirators s full set of Shards that was given to him by the Kholin family. Those Shards then leave Kholinar's control when Moash defects to Taravangian. Kaladin is mouthy, disrespectful, ruined their chance to take Sadeas out in a legal fashion, which makes him indirectly responsible for Adolin's actions. Also, how is Jasnah going to respond when she finds out Dalinar is dating her mother? It's hinted that Jasnah was closer to Gavilar than she was to Navani, and while she's close to Dalinar as well, it could form a rift between Navani and Jasnah, which in turn would hurt their relationship. Once they both get over the whole "you're supposed to be dead" thing. Add in the fact that his bonded spren directly forbid Syl to bond to Kaladin, along with the fact the Stormfather harbors a deep hatrid for humanity. Notable quote- "I gave you a position no darkeyes has ever held in this army. I let you into conferences with the king, and I listened when you spoke. Do not make me regret those decisions soldier." The Truthwatcher-Renarin I think Renarin's troubles all will stem from Adolin. Firstly, there is Adolin's actions with Sadeas. Renarin will most likely hold Dalinar and Elhokar directly responsible for whatever happens to Adolin. After everything Sadeas has done to their family, I think Renarin, as has been demonstrated by their relationship, will stand directly by Adolin. If Adolin is executed, Renarin will never forgive them. If Adolin is exiled, Renarin will go with him. Whatever rift forms between Dalinar and Adolin because of Sadea's death, it will also form between Dalinar and Renarin. Then there's Shallan-Adolin's girlfriend. She doesn't seem to be very fond of Renarin, and mistreats him during the final battle. If that kind of treatment of Renarin continues, it will form a rift between Adolin and Shallan as well, which will distance her from the Kholin family. Notable quote- "Someone shut him up." Shallan snapped. "Gag him if you have to." The Elsecaller-Jasnah First of all, there's the whole 'presumed dead' thing. Awkward. But the real problems that Jasnah is going to have is when her family finds out about her assassins. Dalinar surely will not approve of that sort of behavior, and how will Elhokar react when he finds out that the target Jasnah was considering having assassinated is his wife? There's also the matter of her heresy? The fact that Jasnah is a heretic will not endear the world to the new Knights Radiant, especially considering their already tarnished reputation. This could distance the ardentia from the Knights Radiant, which would provide a huge blow to public opinion. Notable quote- "An odd night, Brightness, to be engaging in treason." The Skybreaker-Szeth-Son-Naturo-Son-Vallano Do I even need to go into this one? How will Dalinar react when he finds out one of his new Radiants is the man who killed his brother, and tried to kill him? Kaladin will probably have the "stab first ask questions later" mentality. For that matter, will Szeth even be joining the other Radiants? It seems unlikely that Nalan would continue to kill Surgebinders with the Desloation already started, but who's to know for sure? If he does join, and Dalinar and the other do reconcile his past, this is probably the most devastating public relations event that could happen to the Radiants. The famous Assassin in White a member of the Radiants. The accusations wouldn't be far behind. They use their powers to destabilize nations. Dalinar killed his brother to seize control through the puppet of his nephew. And that's just being mild with rumor. Notable quote- "But I'm not here for him, Highprince," ... "I'm here for you." The Edgedancer-Lift Lift probably is the least tumultuous of the bunch, but getting her alliance is also going to be the most difficult. Lift probably won't even care to join them, given the hints we have about the temperament of the Edgedancers. So besides having to worry about finding her, they'll have to convince her to join them as well. Sounds starvin' difficult to me. Notable quote- "It is unfortunate they were always so concerned with small-minded things, while ignoring those of greater import. It appears you share their temperament. You have become one of them."

This point applies to a good number of societies. "Innocent until proven guilty." If Sadeas had confessed to abandoning Dalinar on purpose in front of other Highprinces, there's no way he could get away with it. There's no defense for "yeah, I did it, but I thought it would be better for everyone. The fact that Kaladin owns the Shards by the tradition of killing the bearer. He killed the bearer, those are Kaldin's shards. No arguing about it. But it did happen because Amaram confesses it happened. False, as soon as Kaladin killed the Shardbearer, he became a Lighteyes of the 4th Dahn. Amaram ignored that fact. Amaram never had a claim to the Shards. He never had the authority to 'give' Shards. He can't 'take them back' because they were never his in the first place. The shards were not a gift from Amaram to Kaladin. The shards became Kaladin's as soon as he killed the bearer. That's how the tradition works. The lighteyes shouldn't have anything to do with it. Amaram had power and abused it. He disagreed, had no legal recourse, and so he had to murder, enslave, and conspire to hide the deeds he did. It doesn't matter if the Lighteyes think Kaladin was out of place, they had nothing to do with it. It was Kaladin's blade. The passage shows that the Blade was not discarded, it was given. Sadeas never confessed to abondoning Dalinar, Amaram confessed to murder and false enslavement. There's no proof in the Sadeas case, and a full confession in the Amaram, those comparisons are incongruous. Amaram can be held accountable because he had to murder and steal and he confessed to doing it.

Kaladin dictated exactly what was to be done with the Shards after they became his. Heck, Adolin locked himself and his newly acquires shards in a prison cell, but Kaladin isn't allowed to choose where the Shards he undoubtedly won go? This isn't like he walked away ignoring everyone and leaving the Shards there. He had his hand an inch from the Blade, which I would say indicates his ownership of them, whether or not he touched them, and then clearly states that he gives them to Coreb. He doesn't renounce them, he dictates what's done with his property. We have different inheritance laws then here. There's a ton of services for finding out if you've got unclaimed inheritance just lying around. I really don't think the Child Support analogy is that different though. As for the Gift Giver analogy you're using, I think it's off base as well. First, Kaladin didn't reject it right off, he gave it to Coreb right off. Second, Amaram didn't give the gift. Amaram is absoultely not involved in what should happen to those shards. The tradition exists entirely outside of the army command structure. But even if that was the case, as soon as you give a gift, it's given. Yes, it's rude to immediately give it away, but there's nothing you can do about it, because the gift is no longer yours. As soon as you try to take that gift back from whomever it was given to, that's theft. Everything that Kaladin does exists independantly of how improper or rude it is. It may be rude and improper, but it doesn't change the fact that Amaram murdered and stole to get those Shards. It doesn't matter how people perceive it, it does not, absolutely does not change the crimes that Amaram committed. If he goes to trial there's no avoiding that. Now he might be able to pull together enough alliances before the trial to ensure he never stands trial for it, but public opinion shouldn't change the outcome of the trial.

"I swear Dalinar, a quick surgery will fix that shoulder no problem. Never mind how big the scalpel is."

Sorry, but I disagree with you 100%. When a Shardbearer is killed, there's no formal ceremony where the Shards go to the Commanding Officer first to be awarded to the man who killed the bearer, it just belongs to the soldier. Amaram had no claim whatsoever. In fact, if that were the case, Amaram is doubly wrong, because then the shards should go above him either to Sadeas or to the king, since you're implying if it's refused it needs to go where it's useful. The situation kind of mirror's one my girlfriend was in a couple years ago. Her Biological father owed a lot child support. A few years ago, her mom died. Now like any decent human being, she didn't worry about going to file paperwork on it to put her claim on the child support because she was grieving for her mother. Neither did her brother or her step dad. Not too long later, she gets summoned into court for a child support hearing. Her biological father was passing a motion to dismiss the debt because the mom had died, and no one else had claimed the money. She had shown up to make her claim of course, but before the judge even asked for it, he put a stop to that line of thinking. I can't remember exactly what it was he said, but it really seems to mirror this situation for me. It was something along he lines of: "Just because no one stepped up and has said "I want the money" does not give you any claim to it. These are your children that you're supposed to be supporting. Even if they don't press the claim, you'll pay back the money, and it will go to [some state fund that helps children I think.]" Her dad has no claim on that money. My girlfriend could walk in there and say "I don't want this, I want it to go towards cancer research instead in honor of my mom," and there's nothing that her Dad could say about it, even if he were to pull an Amaram, in the eyes of the law, he has no claim whatsoever to that money, and Amaram similarly had no claim on the shards. Legality of Ownership just is, it doesn't need anyone's consent, other than to transfer that ownership. That consent was made to Coreb, not to Amaram. It shouldn't matter if Kaladin had picked up the sword and handed it to Coreb, or if he had had it packed in nice neat boxes to present to Coreb in a surprise party three months later. There's no fine print that says you have to pick up the sword to claim it. If you inherit the dog, and just say "I don't want it," you're still going to get charged with animal abuse if you don't feed it, no matter how many times you tell the court "I didn't pet the dog, I didn't want it, it's not mine."

He didn't have to take the Shards to own them. He killed the Shardbearer, he owns the Shards. Because Kal didn't pick them up, or take them right there does not give Amaram any right to it either way.

Haha I laughed when I wrote it! I tried to be really quirky with this one. A couple meta jokes, from the thread and otherwise. I gave the boulder trick to the Thunderclast because of how close of a poll it was when I wrote it, 8-7. I figured that would be the deciding factor. If it had been 25 Phantoms standing on the cliff hurling giant boulders, it would have been a different fight entirely, so I tried to reflect how close of a poll it really was in the battle, showing that it was only the one major blow that had saved the Thunderclast.

In the Adolin situation, yes, I agree entirely. Kal had no right to give them away. But in the battle, Amaram had no rights whatsoever over that Shardblade. Amaram should've been dead. If he wanted the blade, he should have killed Kaladin, as that's the only legal recourse to take someone's blade, but he couldn't do that outside of an official duel for the blade. For all intents and purposes, Kaladin became a Lighteyes of very high rank, probably as important as Amaram. I'm not sure what Dahn specifically it would make him, a cursory search couldn't find the passage. So Amaram did not do those things to a darkeyes. He branded a lighteyes of a high dahn as a slave, stole his property, and killed his men. Kaladin would have been granted his squad for his new chunk of land, and he can appoint whomever he wants as a champion with his shards.

We're not even sure that this is the first time a Shard has been stolen from a Darkeyes. I don't know about any of the rest of you, but I found one of the stories of a Shardbearer dying to be very fishy. I don't remember where it is to find the exact quote, but the story of the lighteye archer who killed the bearer at fifty paces seems to be incredibly fishy to me. How does one archer fire a perfect shot in between a mass of bodies all swarming one person, at the exact moment his breastplate explodes? If it was a legitimate kill, he would have needed to at that moment, because with everyone there competing already for a kill, with spears at the ready for thrusting. Easier instead to kill the survivors with a Shardblade and claim the archer killed him.

Almighty! Hilarity???? Are you freaking kidding me? That's the stuff of Nightmares.

Nightblood is closer to an Honorblade than he is to a Shardblade. Kaladin was able to carry Jezrien's blade with on problems. Other than the nausea that he would undoubtedly feel, there should be no problems.

Even humans have trace metal in them, so I think Inquisitor vs Weeping Angels would be a little anti-climatic, as the Inquistors never blink. They might even still 'see' when they're sleeping. As for the Dalek...what do we have in the Sanderson arsenal that could come close to being able to hold a candle, at least until that third Mistborn Trilogy when we have a supertech powered Mistborn.

I'm surprised I glossed over that part of the OP, considering that was my question for Brandon when I went to the Chicago signing. But that doesn't necessarily kill the theory. Is his goal is to stop surgebinding, this could still work. Brandon said it would a be a traumatic event for the Spren, so it stands to reason that the Spren who lost their bonded in such a way would not be as willing to find another bonding partner, especially if Nalan kills their bonded more than once. Also, what I like about this most is it fits in with everyone pointing to him being 'crazy.' Well, what if it's just his boss that's crazy? He doesn't have to be correct about the cause for the Desolations, he just has to think he is. Especially considering the Stormfather is somehow related to Tanavast: The Heralds were linked to Tanavast, and so they could have transferred some of that loyalty over to what remains of Tanavast. Now we have a couple of different reasons for why the Stormfather would tell Nalan "Spring forth and divide!" The Stormfather does not fully understand the causality of Desolations but thinks this to be the case. The Stormfather does understand causality, and this is the case. The Stormfather is using Nalan to get revenge on humans for killing spren. The Stormfather told Nalan that in order to protect 'his children.' Killing a bonded doesn't kill the spren, so it's a way for him to bring them back into the fold. The Stormfather knows that this will not help prevent the Desolations, but doesn't want to prevent them. He is using Nalan then to try and undermine the Human's ability to resist Desolation and extinction. Probably a few more possibilities, but I'd say these are the most likely. We know that the Stormfather isn't exactly a fan of humans. He also doesn't seem to include Humans as allies. Look at some of the things he says: This implies that he wanted to disobey. While he does classify Odium as 'the enemy' if he considered humans allies, the 'you' should be 'we' instead. Again, forced to do so against his wishes. Seems he doesn't really approve of the term. Again, not we. That's really why I absolutely love this theory. It combines the two major opinions on Nalan at the same time: he's acting in what he believes to be the best interests for humanity, but he's also somewhat corrupt (in his faith in the Stormfather, who seems to have some screws loose.)

I haven't decided yet, but I'm open to suggestions. I think two sessions from now Rancor vs Chasmfiend, so something in between. After that I'll probably finish out the story arch since seems to be declining rapidly.

Also, highly unlikely he was a Ghostblood. Gavilar mentions Thaidakar as someone who would try to assassinate him, and later in WoK Amaram links Thaidakar with the Ghostbloods.

I think he's there mostly because of how easy it is to get investiture. I personally think Ivis is Vivenna. What better disguise for someone who's hair changes color than to join a religion that requires you to be bald? Combine that with the fact that she's a weapon's master who appears to be friends with Zahel and you've got yourself a princess.