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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Parshendi (WoK spoilers)
« on: January 14, 2011, 10:12:03 PM »
I'm a fan of the theory as well, but wasn't the almighty already gone from Roshar at the start of the story?
"Magic is what makes fantasy fantastic," someone says, "you can't apply rules to them or else it loses wonder!" I respond, "Sure, but if you want to write them you will certainly want to know how they work." Writing is all about execution, and I find applying some basic laws of physics to magic systems make them more understandable and realistic. Here, I'm going to outline my basic method for developing a magic system.
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We do know Syl does not like Shardblades on some fundamental level. I figure that must play into this somehow, though I can't pin down the bridge my brain is trying to make yet.
I'm wondering if being Truthless could be a Shin cultural issue more than a spren/Herald/Oath breaking type thing.
In the Rysn chapter, Vstim mentions that he acquired Szeth by way of Thresh/the farmer. Vstim tells Rysn that the farmer's warriors are "the lowliest men like slaves" and they are "traded between houses by way of little stones that signify ownership". He says, "any man who picks up a weapon must join them and be treated the same." In another chapter, it was mentioned that the Shin gave Szeth the Shardblade and sent him out into the world.
Maybe Szeth was the farmer's slave and aspired to a higher social status, or maybe he picked up a weapon under some circumstance and refused to be treated like the other warriors? This could also fit if he was high born and picked up a weapon, but refused to be treated like a slave. In refusing a weapon, he was punished with carrying the Shardblade.
I don't know. I even looked up the word truthless to see if that would yield any clues. I found the following meanings: devoid of truth, dishonest; spurious (of illegitimate birth - maybe there's something here?); corresponding to something without having its genuine qualities; falsified or erroneously attributed; deceitful nature or quality.
I'm probably way off, but maybe being Truthless means something along these lines.