Paige: Happy Thursday, Cosmere Chickens! Hope you’re ready for some pulpit pounding and then a silent incursion into Iadon’s palace. Today we not only see Hrathen envying Dilaf’s passion, but we see Raoden make a powerful ally in Elantris as well as tweak the noses of some guards. Figuratively, of course.
So let’s get to it!
(Non-)Spoiler warning: This week’s article has no spoilers from other Cosmere works. Read on fearlessly, chickens!
Trigger warnings: Child abandonment, chronic pain.
Last time on Elantris: Food and Fellowship…
Sarene comes up with a fantastic plan to overturn the corrupt government, and manages to win over the nobles to her side. That plan? To free the slaves and actually pay them for their work, thereby increasing productivity and flipping the entire economy in a new direction.
Chapter Essentials
POV Character(s): Hrathen, Raoden
Discussion
Chapter 12
It seemed foolish to require an entire nation to learn a new language before allowing them to hear of Jaddeth’s empire. So, when forced to make the decision between profanity and infinite delay, Hrathen chose profanity. He had learned to speak Aonic and Duladen, and had even picked up a little JinDo. When he taught, he taught the people in their own tongue—though admittedly, it still bothered him to do so.
P: So Fjordell is a holy language and speaking Aonic or Duladen is profane. These people are so arrogant, it boggles my mind. Hrathen is afraid that speaking to the people in their own tongue will make them think they won’t have to learn Fjordell after they convert. Though I highly doubt all of the people watching the sermon will want to convert. They’re likely seeing the whole matter as a passing fancy and their attention will wander eventually.
It wasn’t that he lacked focus or dedication; he had simply given the same speeches so many times that they had become rote. He spoke almost unconsciously, raising and lowering his voice to the rhythm of the sermon, performing the ancient art that was a hybrid offspring of prayer and theater.
P: One could almost say that “rote” equals “dull and boring,” but the people listening seem to respond enthusiastically in all the right places.
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L: Well, rote and routine to him, but certainly not to the people who haven’t heard it all before. Give them a couple weeks and they’d likely stray… unless someone else should happen to take the pulpit and capture their attention!
He finished with a stunning admonition to serve in Jaddeth’s kingdom, to swear themselves as odiv or krondet to one of the priests in Kae, thereby becoming part of the chain that linked them directly to Lord Jaddeth.
P: It seems such a demanding religion, with followers needing to swear themselves to a priest. It feel so subservient, but I guess that’s what this religion is all about—only those closest to Jaddeth are respected.
However, a sudden sound stopped them. Hrathen looked up at the podium with surprise. The meeting was to have ended after his sermon, but someone thought differently. Dilaf had decided to speak.
L: Oh great.
P: I truly expected the crowd to continue leaving once Dilaf began to rant, but he held their attention, amazingly enough. Was that because he was that engaging or was it because he was just more interesting than Kae priests?
L: Well, passion is captivating.
Hrathen had no hatreds so severe that he wept, no loves so profound that he would risk everything in their name.
L: Part of me wonders if Brandon’s channeling a bit of himself into Hrathen here. He’s a remarkably level-headed person, and as any writer knows, there are parts of you that creep into your characters both intentionally and not.
P: Parts of you do creep into your characters, no matter how much you may try to avoid that. They’re all a part of the writer, though.
“However, you must remember your place, Arteth. You are my odiv; you do not act unless I specifically tell you. Is that understood?”
“Perfectly, my lord Hrathen.”
L: Uh huh. Sure. I’ll believe that when I see it.
P: Right? I think Dilaf got a little taste of power during his impromptu sermon, and no doubt he’ll preach again.
The lock clicked, and Hrathen pulled the top open with a firm hand. A small glowing ball sat patiently inside.
“You need me, my lord?” the seon asked in a soft, feminine voice.
“Be quiet!” Hrathen ordered. “You know you are not to speak.”
L: Ugh. How awful. Keeping the poor seon locked into a box, not treating it like the sapient being it is… Hrathen is such a fascinating character. One moment I respect him for his attempts to save people, and then the next he loses me again and makes me despise him.
P: Hrathen is such a well-written character that we can change the way we feel about him from one line to the next. With most characters I loathe, I loathe them no matter what they do. Hrathen does have some good moments, though. He just sees most everyone and everything as being beneath him.
Chapter 13
“Sule, I can’t read that,” Galladon protested, looking down at the book. “It’s written completely in Aons.”
“That’s what made me suspicious,” Raoden said.
“Can you read it?” Galladon asked.
“No,” Raoden said with a smile. “But I do have this.” He reached down and pulled out a similar coverless volume, its cover pages stained with Elantris grime. “A dictionary of the Aons.”
P: Raoden has found a book that can translate Aons and is going to try to translate a text written exclusively in Aons. To what end? To learn what happened to Elantris? The answer won’t lie there, Prince. Unless the book explains the first Aon to draw and why? I don’t rightly recall if that’s how Raoden solves their problem. Anyone?
L: It’s as good a place to start as any…
“All right, sule. I don’t envy you the task, however. Life would be much simpler if it hadn’t taken your people so long to invent an alphabet. Kolo?”
“The Aons were an alphabet,” Raoden said. “Just an incredibly complex one.”
L: Sounds similar to Chinese. I studied both Chinese and Japanese in college, and the written languages are beautiful and—just as Raoden says here—complex ones.
P: Incredibly complex. Is there art anywhere of a complete alphabet of Aons, I wonder? I feel like I should know whether or not there is but it’s escaping me at the moment.
L: There are quite a few of them on the Coppermind wiki!
According to Raoden’s orders, and equipped with a newly fashioned pair of leather gloves, Loren moved rocks and cleared away refuse, revealing the soft dirt underneath.
“What good is that going to do?” Galladon asked, following Raoden’s gaze out the window.
“You’ll see,” Raoden said with a secretive smile.
L: Still here dropping the hints. Raoden’s grand plan to feed everyone is slowly, slowly coming to fruition.
P: Oh, so slowly. I can’t imagine how long it will take to actually grow the corn and if he really could feed all of Elantris with it, but it’s a noble undertaking.
“Lord Spirit?” a hesitant voice asked.
…
“My lord…” the man began.
“Go on,” Raoden prodded.
“Well, Your Lordship, I’ve just heard some things, and I was wondering if I could join with you.”
Raoden smiled, rising and walking over to the man. “Certainly you may join us.”
P: And so Raoden’s collection of Elantrians grows. Kahar, as this man is called, was a cleaner, and at last Raoden has someone to set to cleaning the walls of the church he’s made his base of operations. Kahar has heard that Raoden can solve the problem of their constant hunger. Time will tell if Raoden’s plan of distraction and confidence can defeat that particular demon.
“What is it, Saolin?” Raoden asked, alarmed. The man was an experienced warrior, and was not easily unsettled.
“A group of armed men coming this way, my lord. I counted twelve of them, and they are carrying steel weapons.”
P: I mean, we knew it was bound to happen eventually. None of the warlords were going to suffer an upstart for long. We’ll soon find out why this one does.
L: I can’t even begin to imagine how terrifying weapons are in a society where you can’t heal from even the most minor of wounds.
“Karata,” Raoden said. Loren should have been hers the other day, but Raoden had stolen him. Apparently she had come to make a complaint. It had only been a matter of time.
P: Of the three other leaders in Elantris, Karata seems the least extreme or unhinged.
L: Especially once we learn what she’s really like.
There was a tense pause. Eventually Karata turned to one of her men.
“Destroy the building, chase them out, and break some bones.” She turned to leave.
“I can get you into Iadon’s palace,” Raoden said quietly.
Karata froze.
P: Looks like I spoke too soon. She’s certainly brutal. But it sounds as if Raoden knows how to get to her. Get her into the palace? To what purpose?
Galladon looked pained. “Sule, do we have to grow? Do you have to start another gang? Aren’t three warlords enough?”
Raoden stopped, looking up at the large Dula with concern. “Galladon, is that really what you think I am doing?”
“I don’t know, sule.”
“I have no wish for power, Galladon,” Raoden said flatly.
P: It’s kind of disappointing that Galladon jumps to this conclusion. What he’s learned of Raoden thus far should have shown him that his friend didn’t want to lord over Elantris. Though, to be fair, Raoden could be a little more forthcoming with his plans.
“What is this?” Karata asked suspiciously.
“Our exit,” Raoden said, peering over the low stone wall of Elantris’s only well. It was deep, but he could hear water moving in the darkness below.
“You expect us to swim out?”
“No,” Raoden said, tying Mareshe’s rope to a rusted iron rod jutting from the well’s side. “We’ll just let the current take us along. More like floating than swimming.”
P: Turns out it wasn’t quite like floating; Raoden had to maneuver himself through the tunnel to keep from bouncing along with the current. Crashing into walls, no matter how smooth they were, wouldn’t help minimize aches and pains.
L: Yeah, definitely not envying him all those bruises for the rest of eternity.
In one thing only was Iadon paranoid: sleeping. The king was terrified that assassins would somehow sneak in and murder him as he slumbered.
L: That seems prescient. I honestly don’t remember if this winds up happening or not…
P: Not exactly… but I’ll discuss it once we get there.
I won’t let her kill my father, he decided. No matter how poor a king he is, I won’t let her do that. “You have to answer something for me first.”
P: I’m not sure what he would have done had she tried to kill Iadon, but turns out she had zero interest in him and was after something much more important.
Karata stooped beside something that Raoden hadn’t noticed at first: a mattress on the floor, occupied by a small lump that could only have been a sleeping child, its features and gender hidden to Raoden in the darkness. Karata knelt beside the child for a quiet moment.
L: Oh… oh, man. This is just heartbreaking. To be separated from your own child this way… still alive, but thought dead, and unable to see them…
P: This stabs me right in my feels. To know that she just wanted to see her child. I have a new respect for Karata.
“That was my daughter,” Karata said. “I doubt anyone ever told her what happened to me. I just… wanted her to know.”
“You left her a note?”
“A note and a keepsake.” Karata’s voice was sad, though no tears could fall from her Elantrian eyes. “My necklace. I managed to sneak it past the priests a year ago. I wanted her to have it—I always intended to give it to her. They took me so quickly… I never said goodbye.”
L: This whole situation just gets worse and worse the more we learn about those who are affected by it.
P: Never getting to say goodbye, never getting any closure, knowing that your family either despises what you’ve become or thinks you dead… what a horrible weight to add to an already horrible existence.
“Yes,” Karata said. “Thank you. You have done me a great service this night, my prince.”
Raoden froze.
“Yes, I know you. I lived in the palace for years, with my husband, protecting your father and your family. I watched you from your childhood, Prince Raoden.”
L: Oops, haha. Well, the gig’s up now, Raoden.
P: Let’s just see if she’ll keep his secret, as he asks her to do!
“Seed corn?” Karata whispered.
“I’ve been collecting it from the newcomers,” Raoden said. “The rest of the offerings don’t interest me—only the corn. We can plant it, Karata. There aren’t that many people in Elantris; it wouldn’t be hard to feed them all. Goodness knows we have enough free time to work a garden or two.”
Karata’s eyes were wide. “No one’s ever tried that before,” she said, dumbfounded.
L: This is explained away in the next sentence, but I still find it incredibly hard to believe that no one has thought to try this, with how desperate they are.
P: I’ve often wondered this, but I suppose it comes down to being so downtrodden and hopeless. You have to have foresight to grow crops. And defeated people have little foresight.
They turned a corner and approached the broad gate to Elantris. A squat building sat beside it, light pouring from the windows. Several guards lounged inside, their brown-and-yellow Elantris City Guard uniforms bright in the lamplight. Raoden approached the building and tapped on a window with the back of his fist.
“Excuse me,” he said politely, “but would you mind opening the gates please?”
The guards, who had been playing a game of cards, threw back their chairs in alarm, shouting and cursing as they recognized his Elantrian features.
“Be quick about it,” Raoden said airily. “I’m getting tired.”
P: And so Raoden tweaks the noses of the guards by demanding to be let back into Elantris. He even quips that he’ll see about getting them a raise. I found this scene to be quite funny!
The children were happy. Though most slept, a few were awake, and they giggled and played with one another. They were all bald, of course, and they bore the marks of the Shaod. They didn’t seem to mind.
“So this is where they all go,” Raoden said, interested.
L: I’m relieved that they’re not just left to their own devices and torments.
P: So Karata is the gatherer and protector of Elantris’s children. She just gained in my esteem by leaps and bounds.
“The children unite us, keep us from giving in to the pain. The food we gather is for them. Somehow, we can endure the hunger a little better if we know it has come, in part, because we gave what we had to the children.”
L: Well, I just absolutely adore her now.
P: Right? Great character, Brandon!
Raoden nodded. Then after a moment he asked, “Why are you showing me this?”
Karata hesitated. “Because I want to join with you. I once served your father, despite what I thought of him. Now I will serve his son because of what I think of him. Will you accept my loyalty?”
“It would be an honor, Karata.”
P: And so Raoden collects an entire gang of Elantrians, and takes responsibility for its children. That’s a lot to take on, but if anyone is up for it, it’s our Raoden.
We’ll be leaving further speculation and discussion to you in the comments, and hope to join you there! Next week, we’ll be back with chapter 14.
Paige resides in New Mexico, of course. Between work and school and the SA5 beta read, she’s trying to work on book 3 of a YA/Crossover trilogy with just a hint of the supernatural. Read book 1 on her Patreon. Links to that and to her other writing are available in her profile.
Lyndsey is absolutely wiped out this week after a long weekend running a stage combat act at the Maine Renaissance Faire. If you enjoy queer protagonists, snarky humor, and don’t mind some salty language, check out book 1 of her fantasy series. Follow her on Facebook or TikTok!
I think he was talking about preaching in other languages as profane, not speaking them in general. Similar to using Latin in Catholic mass.
I believe Brandon has said that Hrathen reflects what Brandon might’ve become if his relationship with his faith had gone in a worse direction- Hrathen has refused to learn some lessons that Brandon has internalized.
Including, I imagine, some stuff about respecting other people’s faith and not trying to force your own to them
I don’t recall either, but the book does at least mention AonDor, i.e., the Elantrians’ magic system. So I’m willing to believe that he does gain some key insights from this text that allow him to fix the magic system.
Presumably it depends on the quality of the seeds. I just moved a couple months ago and now I’m going past a university test farm on my daily commute — they have some fields of corn that mature pretty fast, now (maybe 6 weeks?)! But for “traditional” corn it would be longer … “knee high by the fourth of july”, and all that, for a September-ish harvest.
Definitely! They would drastically shift the balance of “hurt the other person” vs “get hurt myself” that otherwise seems to discourage use of violence in Elantris.
I am also very happy to see the question of the children answered, and in this way!
And now, on to the “further speculation and discussion”!
There were a couple of mentions of the “power” of Dilaf’s words, e.g., “had more power over this audience than Hrathen ever had”, “power of Dilaf’s words wouldn’t last”. Consider this your obligatory pondering as to whether that “power” was just orational power or some kind of more … tangible power.
The depiction of Hrathen’s Seon gave me a lot of questions about Seons.
For example … if someone else had their Seon wandering around/investigating, would they be able to recognize the Investiture of another Seon nearby, even through materials? The box is described as being of finest steel (i.e., not aluminum), which in non-Mistborn worlds does not seem guaranteed to provide such a barrier. (I wondered a couple weeks ago about the Seon in a box in Rhythm of War andwhat that box might be made of. I guess the coppermind does say they cannot physically go through solid matter, so any container would contain them but it is not clear to me whether they are limited to what they see+hear or if they have other senses.
I also wonder about what kind of authentication you need to use a Seon to talk to someone. If Sarene just happened to ask Ashe, “give me Wyrm”, would that work? Can you ask a Seon to give you a list of who you could talk to? It would be pretty unfortunate for Shu-Dereth if someone could accidentally stumble on their use of Seons!
It also was not entirely clear to me if Hrathen’s Seon was bonded to him or unbound (or, I suppose, bonded to Wyrm) … there are hints in the text that it is bonded (and the coppermind lists Hrathen’s in the “bonds with humans” section), like the notion of them being “unfailingly obedient” or mention of “his seon”.
A small clue into how Seons are made…but the word “reproduction” is very interesting. They reproduce, rather than are created? But need an Elantrian involved in order for it to happen. Lots to ponder over, here, especially when combined with the immunity of unbonded Seons to the Reod but susceptibility to the Shaod when bonded.
This kind of structure feels like it also shows up in cults and pyramid schemes, and feels really unhealthy.
A big clue of some magical happenings that we’ll see more of later on … but I originally marked this quote for the “shiver in fear” part. Is it just the memory of what happened to him personally that gives fear? Would we expect him to start choking up if that sort of thing starts happening around him again? (IIRC, he doesn’t.)
What place would this be? At first I thought it was going to be the children’s nursery run by Karata but the timing is wrong for that. So the only other guess I have is Galladon’s dad’s office … which I guess would neuter my speculation from previous weeks of some magical explanation for it being clean+dry.
I also noted that Raoden did not shy away from exploiting (false) stereotypes and misconceptions about Elantrians when talking his way back into the city — “explain how you managed to kill an Elantrian outside of the gates” (but you can’t kill an Elantrian with a spear); “the Shaod is, after all, highly contagious” (not true). So, not exactly lawful-good behavior here…
@@.-@ – Odd to call maize “traditional” corn when “corn” is just a generic term for grain crops and customarily refers to the dominant grain crop of a region; maize is one of the most recent grain crops the term has been applied to.
Where I’m from, corn is wheat.
Muswell @5: I had never heard that usage of “corn” before, and a quick search on Merriam-Webster shows that your usage is specifically a British one. So in American “English”, kilobravo@4’s comment makes perfect sense.
“Corn” and “grain” both come from Latin granum by different routes, in fact.
Off-Topic
Has anyone else had problems with subscriptions? I haven’t received any subscription notifications for a year now and am curious if I’m the only one with this issue. Emailing the webmaster has had no response other than automated reply.
Muswell @5: it’s good to be reminded of the variations in language usage, thanks! Where I grew up, the vernacular was definitely that “corn”==”maize” (and in fact, the word “maize” was only rarely used), and we were pretty close to a lot of farmland growing maize, soya, and wheat. I guess bad_platypus and Carl have done the work already for me of looking up that this is an American/British English distinction rather than something more regional — today I learned!
In any case, my scare quotes around “traditional corn” was basically indicating laziness about specifying what I meant, which might be said more clearly as something like “standard commercial seed stock from 30 years ago” in terms of its growth properties, time to maturation, etc.
RogerPavelle @8: I only signed up for an account at the start of this reread, but subscriptions have been working pretty reliably for me since then. I have been known to refresh the page every day or two to check for new comments regardless, but I don’t remember cases where that found me comments that I didn’t get an email notification about.
@RogerPavelle, I have continued to receive subscription updates over that year. May I suggest the obvious? Check to be sure [email protected] is in your email whitelist. (I have no idea why actual current updates are coming from the beta test address.) You might also whitelist [email protected] and [email protected].
A really touching revelation about Karata. It was heart-warming to see the poor Reod kids being taken care of… though sadly it is a very temporary situation. She hasn’t been around for that long – just for a year or so and before that… shudder. And children playing are quite likely to get hurt too, IIRC it is even mentioned here that their relative well-being is temporary and they eventually become Hoed. I assume that they don’t grow in their current state, but would have as functioning Elantrians? I can’t imagine how they’d ever be able to overcome such massive trauma, even once restored.
A couple of questions: why do Korathi priests suck so much and how is it that “traditional ” Arelon has female guards that are so unremarkable that Raoden didn’t realize who Karata was? Not that we have seen any others, of course. Aren’t all women supposed to be wives and homemakers? Which, as I mentioned during the last installment also doesn’t make sense given Arelon’s history, but this combination makes even less.
As to the priests, they must have realized by now that Reod isn’t contagious, so why are they continuing with this atrocity?!
@11 Well, Karata isn’t a guard herself, she was the wife of one. and it is shown that the guards apparently have quarters that they share with their families, so she IS a homemaker and wife.
As to the priests, I think at this point it’s just the fear and superstition. we meet a priest later on who is shown to be a kind old man who had friends who were Elantrians. I always got the idea that when the Reod happened, and everyone went mobbing, the priests came up with the banishment in order to protect the remaining Elantrians from getting killed.Ten years later, it’s still doctrine, and no one bothered to change it, espeically with the king being the twat that he is, and the new nobility wanting to keep their power
Steven @12: I had gotten the same impression on first (re)read as well, but then I went to consult the actual source material:
which does seem to say that she herself (not just her husband) was protecting Iadon. So I’m not sure how that works, given the gender roles/assumptions thereof that we’ve discussed already.
Kilobravo @13 True, the only other thing i can think of is that she was using the royal “we” for some reason, maybe she thinks that because her husband is the guard, she is also doing her part to protect Raoden. I don’t know that’s all I got
Steven Hedge @12:
Regarding Karata, she also attacked that other guard, who turned out to have been her husband, very competently and only failed to overpower him, like she expected, due to the detrimental influence of Reod. So, yes, together with what she said it sure looked to me like she used to be a guard herself, not just a wife of one.
Regarding the Korathi priests – maybe they can’t stop people being thrown into Elantris, though they have to know by now that it is unnecessary and futile, but they don’t have to go about it in such inhumane manner – not allowing people to say their goodbyes or take their stuff with them. I can’t buy the head priest’s niceness, when he is ultimately responsible and Korathi are huge hypocrites who blithely accept all the awfulness going on
@15 I wasn’t aware you were for the priesthood to be more politically active. :D
Huh, I can’t post comments on the current week’s (chapter 14) post right now. Anyone else or just me?
[edit to update: I did get a small test comment posted eventually, and could edit it once to add the rest of my intended content, but then failed to updated it again to fix a typo. I guess there must be something about my post’s content that the system doesn’t like, but don’t have many real ideas about what.]
@2 Yup, my first thought was of the Latin/vernacular separation in the Catholic Mass. Mass has been in the vernacular since the 1960s, but there are still some bits of Latin used in certain prayers, and Latin is still used for any ‘universal’ or official documents. There are also communities that still follow the Latin rite. It’s very lovely (I kind of prefer it, myself, aesthetic wise and there is also some neat symbolism in the rite), but like any other preference, there are certain ‘factions’ that arise and it comes with all sorts of drama and some groups get really snooty about it (and also people who get equally snooty about NOT using it).
Anyway – this IS an area I relate to Hrathen and Brandon in that I am both a more ‘level headed’ type that isn’t really prone to those kinds of emotional feelings, and I also can see myself heading in a similar direction (I’d probably be one of the snooty Latin Mass types lol).
@@.-@ – interesting you mention pyramid schemes, because I also follow some anti-MLM groups and I know it’s a big thing specifically in Mormon communities. So I wonder if Brandon was drawing on that?
I still feel on reread that the concept of all pain being permanent is just not taken to its logical conclusion. Maybe I just have too vivid of an imagination, but if anything, I think Brandon massively undersells the absolute hell and torment it would be.
@10 Carl
Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to have worked (at least with the subscription set to notify after each comment). If you or anyone else still following this thread have any other ideas, please let me know.