Spinner16

THIS IS SO COOL

This is absolutely incredible! I love being part of this community.

When Argent read through all of those consecutive Epigraphs they all fit into one thing in my head, The Scouring of Aimia.

Part 1

On 3/22/2019 at 10:06 PM, thegatorgirl00 said:

  Quote

A man stood on a cliffside and watched his homeland fall into dust. The waters surged beneath, so far beneath. And he heard a child crying. They were his own tears.

— Collected on Tanatesev 1171, 30 seconds pre-death, by the Silent Gatherers. Subject was a cobbler of some renown.

When this was read one line caught my attention. "The waters surged beneath, so far beneath." Immediately I thought about the undersea caverns underneath Aimia. Aimia fits the description of a homeland being destroyed, and where else on Roshar do "waters surge beneath". I can't fit in the idea of the homeland falling into dust, but the relation to undersea caverns fits too well to ignore.

Part 2

"Light grows so distant. The storm never stops. I am broken, and all around me have died. I weep for the end of all things. He has won. Oh, he has beaten us." - Chapter 56 Epigraph

I really like the idea of multiple Death Rattles showing multiple perspectives, and The Scouring would be a notable enough event to warrant Moelach's "attention".  However, it is too easy to draw false connections between Death Rattles when you want them to all fit perfectly. I tried to avoid linking to many, but the line "The storm never stops" got me thinking. I did a brief Internet search on the word "scouring". The third definition is as follows: "(of water or a watercourse) make (a channel or pool) by flowing forcefully over something and removing soil or rock.". That's pretty interesting isn't it? It fits with the word choice of Scouring, which implies that there wasn't simply mindless destruction. The word Scouring always implies that an abrasive substance is used to wash something clean. Why did In-World Scholars/Brandon choose that word? I think that it is because the effects of a "storm that never stops" would be adequately described as a scouring.

Part 3

Let's take these first two ideas and run with them. Let's imagine this sequence of events.

A) An endless highstorm swept through Aimia, a nation unused to facing the brutal storms.

2) Untold death and destruction were caused, warranting the name "Scouring".

C) Where did people go to shelter? The underground caverns. I make the assumption that Pre-Scouring, these caverns were not underwater, and made a sensible location to shelter.

So imagine this. Imagine thousands migrating into deep caves to avoid the brutal storms above. Unfortunately, there is no shelter to be had here. As the epigraph states, "the water surged beneath, so far beneath". Imagine torrential amounts of water pouring into caverns filled with civilians. This brings us to the final epigraph that I want to tie in. I imagine this Death Rattle comes as a vision of people trapped in a cave, water, up to their knees and rising steadily. A few dozen men, women, and children shivering, realizing their air is running out. And so they begin to kill each other, desperately trying to maximize oxygen in this ever-shrinking cavern. In my mind, the first to go are the "suckling children", held up by their mothers in the cave. The refugees are trying to by themselves time, and they want solely able bodied people using the precious air. Maybe there were rocks to move or monsters to fight. But just think about how well this image fits with the line "And with it gain us further breath to draw" In what other context does that line make sense?

Part 4

Summary: Aimia was Scoured by a juiced up highstorm, causing citizens to flee underground and face a slow death as the caves filled with water.

Feel free to add to my theory, or tear it to shreds. This is my first big post as a member of the 17th shard, and I just want to get my take on these epigraphs out there in the open.

If they're gonna make this a TV show it has to be soon. Morgan Freeman NEEDS to play Tobias.

It really bothers me how brass stores heat and electrum stores determination, where it should be switched. The feruchemical table would line up so nicely otherwise and this error makes it feel sloppy.