Difference between revisions of "Pahn Kahl"
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== Culture == |
== Culture == |
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=== People and Language === |
=== People and Language === |
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| − | The Pahn |
+ | The Pahn Kahl are racially different from the dominantly Hallandren population.{{book ref|wb|55}} They have a different skin tone and facial features than the Hallandren. They are also shorter on average than the Hallandren as well. Pahn Kahl also have their own language.{{annotation ref|wb|chapter=15}} Its words are full of airy sounds. |
=== Role in Hallandren Society === |
=== Role in Hallandren Society === |
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Revision as of 11:23, 20 December 2016
| Pahn Kahl | |
|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Pahn Kahl |
| World | Nalthis |
“ But everyone knows the Pahn Kahl are practically Hallandren. ”
Pahn Kahl is a small territory underneath the control of Hallandren on Nalthis.[2] The Pahn Kahl form a distinct but often overlooked group within Hallandren with a separate culture and religion from the dominant people.[3] They were formerly an independent country, but were absorbed into Hallandren after their defeat in the Manywar.[4] Three centuries later, many of the Pahn Kahl still longed for independence from Hallandren.[5]
Geography
Pahn Kahl is located on the shores of the Bright Sea, an enclosed ocean within the continent.[6] Originally, only the Pahn Kahl inhabited the valley between two mountain ranges. The land has a perpetually warm climate, and is dominated by tropical jungles and sandy beaches. Delicious fruit grew plentifully, as well as the Tears of Edgli, a flower that can be used to create brilliant dyes. Gradually, other peoples came to the area and founded a second kingdom, gradually restricting Pahn Kahl's territory and autonomy. By the year 321,[7] all that remained of Pahn Kahl's territory is a small province in the south of Hallandren.[2]
![[7]](#cite_note-T-Telir.png-7){kind=link}
History
Early History
The earliest Pahn Kahl people lived in the jungles and on the shores of the Bright Sea.[6] They were the first people in that region of Nalthis, and they controlled the land,[5] although they had little in the way of a centralized government.[6] Instead, they were a loosely organized group of fishing villages. With the explorations of the people of Chedesh, the Pahn Kahl's homeland became better known. When Vo was Returned, the first in the history of Nalthis, a second kingdom was founded in the valley by Vo's shipmates. They named the kingdom Hanald and crowned Vo's wife queen.
Manywar and Subjugation
Years later, Pahn Kahl's neighbor Hanald gave control of its Lifeless army to a man named Kalad.[6] When a Returned had a vision of a coming war, the warmonger Kalad began an aggressive campaign to win the war by attacking first. Eventually Kalad seized control of the nation himself. The Pahn Kahl hold that this is the fault of rulers who worked hard to develop new Awakening techniques and Lifeless, but were surprised to realize they could be turned against them. Pahn Kahl likely joined the coalition of countries named the Pahn Unity, a group of kingdoms united in their desire to defeat Hanald.[8] The Pahn Unity was defeated, and the nation of Pahn Kahl subjugated beneath their control,[4] made into workers and slaves.[2] Eventually Kalad, then known as Peacegiver, came to regret the bloodshedTemplate:Annotation ref and ended the war,[9] allowing the kingdom of Idris to break away with the former royal family at its head.[6] Pahn Kahl survived the conflict, however it remained under the control of Hanald, newly renamed Hallandren, which was now under the rule of the Returned. As time passed, Pahn Kahl became heavily associated with the entire nation of Hallandren, with few outside of Pahn Kahl understanding or caring about the difference between the two.[3]
Failed Rebellions
“ You're from Pahn Kahl, yet everyone always just assumes that your people are Hallandren. The Pahn Kahl people were here first, in this land, but it was taken from you. Now you're just another province, part of the kingdom of your conquerors. ”
— Siri to Bluefingers[5]
Despite their defeat, the Pahn Kahl were not content to remain subjugated beneath the rule of Hallandren. Approximately three hundred years after the defeat of the Pahn Unity, around the year 321,[7] a Pahn Kahl man named Vahr began to foment rebellion among the Pahn Kahl dye workers[10] and dissidents.[11] He convinced many of them to give him their Breath and began to assemble an army.[11] Little to Vahr's knowledge, a second group of Pahn Kahl, led by the God King Susebron's steward, Haverseth, were also independently plotting a rebellion.[5] Haverseth, also known as Bluefingers, felt that Vahr's rebellion was drawing too much attention to the Pahn Kahl people and its other enemies.[11] Bluefingers leaked information about Vahr into the Court of the Gods resulting in the destruction of his rebellion and Vahr's capture.Template:Annotation ref
Bluefingers's rebellion was far more subtle. As Pahn Kahl did not have an army of his own, he did not have a method to break away from Hallandren with military strength.[5] Instead he wished to instigate a war between Hallandren and Idris, hoping that in the fighting Pahn Kahl could declare independence and break away.[12] Due to his power as a high-level position as steward, Bluefingers was in the perfect position to manipulate events,Template:Annotation ref and his actions were often overlooked or ignored because his race.Template:Annotation ref Bluefingers sneaked Pahn Kahl Awakeners into the Court through tunnelsTemplate:Annotation ref to begin Breaking the Lifeless in Hallandren's armies.Template:Annotation ref On the day of Bluefingers's coup, Pahn Kahl scribes dressed as priests, mercenaries, and broken Lifeless entered the God King's palace via the tunnels and took control of it.[2] Bluefingers managed to capture the God King and his wife, Sisirinah. He intended to make it appear as if Siri had been sacrificed on an altar,[4] and in an act of revenge Idrian assassins had killed the God King.[2] He also gained control of the rest of Hallandren's forty thousand Lifeless soldiers, by forcing the Returned gods Lightsong and Blushweaver to reveal their Commands.[13] After Commanding the Lifeless to march on Idris, Bluefingers intended to kill the two Returned and plant their corpses surrounded by Idrian bodies, making it appear that they too had been murdered by Idrian rebels after sending the Lifeless armies off to exact revenge.[2]
However, Lightsong thwarted this plan by healing the God King's maimed tongue with his divine Breath, allowing him to prevent Siri's death and defeat the Pahn Kahl rebels.[4] Peacegiver, who had been attempting to prevent this conflict on his own in the guise of Vasher gave Susebron control of his ancient army of Lifeless, Kalad's Phantoms.[12] Susebron used this army to defeat the Lifeless soldiers of Hallandren that were marching on Idris, preventing the war between the two kingdoms and quashing the Pahn Kahl rebellion.[10]
Culture
People and Language
The Pahn Kahl are racially different from the dominantly Hallandren population.[2] They have a different skin tone and facial features than the Hallandren. They are also shorter on average than the Hallandren as well. Pahn Kahl also have their own language.Template:Annotation ref Its words are full of airy sounds.
Role in Hallandren Society
Within the kingdom of Hallandren, the Pahn Kahl were often ignored,Template:Annotation ref and seen as second class citizens,[14] and typically as less trustworthy than the Hallandren.[15] On the other hand, many not familiar with the Pahn Kahl may struggle to differentiate the Pahn Kahl from the other Hallandren; oftentimes they are not seen as their own distinct people.[1] This confusion is a distinct annoyance to them. Many of the Pahn Kahl live a difficult life, working under harsh overseers in the dye fields.[14] Some of the Pahn Kahl have managed to work their way into high importance but low prestige jobs, such as stewards and servants for the priests and Returned in the Court of the Gods. This provides a far better life than working in the dye fields. This work is however unstable, anytime a new God King is chosen, all his workers lose their jobs.[14] In addition to this, Pahn Kahl servants have to work harder to gain jobs within the theocracy, and those jobs are often more difficult than the Hallandren servants.[14] They all required to wear brown robes[3][16] and are forbidden to speak to or touch the God King himself.[14] In fact they are not even permitted to be servants to the God King,[15] although they may be servants for his wife.[17] Pahn Kahl are also not permitted to serve as priests to the gods either.[3] The Pahn Kahl are often marginalized by the Hallandren, and are very frustrated with being ignored and subjugated by them.Template:Annotation ref This is especially infuriating to them, considering that the Pahn Kahl were the first people in the region.[5] These factors are a major reason for their rebellion,Template:Annotation ref along with a desire for revenge and freedom.[4] In the Pahn Kahl's pursuit of these goals, their anger has consumed them and they have lost a lot of their cultural identity.[18]
Religion
Those who follow the Pahn Kahl religion practice a form of nature worship.Template:Annotation ref Their pantheon contains five gods, none of which are Returned. The religion focuses on the storms of the Bright Sea, which are seen as a manifestation of their unity of these five gods. One of these gods is the Voice that calls the Returned,[18] the Shard Endowment,[19] although it is unknown how much they understand of Endowment's nature. The religion in other aspects is not all that different from the Iridescent Tones.[18]
In their theology, the Returned are men and women who denied the power of their gods in life and are therefore forbidden entrance into heaven.Template:Annotation ref However, they are not seen as sinners worthy of hell, so they Return for a second chance to find the true faith in life. Many of the Pahn Kahl do not mind the Returned, and accept the God King as monarch.[3] They simply see the Returned as misguided. Since they do not see them as divinities, the only thing the Pahn Kahl find extraordinary about the Returned is the strength of their BioChroma. Due to their desire for revenge, some of the Pahn Kahl understanding of their own religion has been lost.[18]
Many outsiders consider the Pahn Kahl religion to be simplistic, especially in contrast with the elaborate doctrine of the Iridescent Tones.[1] In fact, many people in Hallandren and beyond have no understanding of the religion or are not even aware that the Pahn Kahl have their own separate religion at all.[3][1][20]
Cuisine
Only one example of Pahn Kahl cuisine is currently known. Tinkfans are considered to be a delicacy.[15] They are even eaten by the Returned in the Court of the Gods. Tinkfans are traditionally consumed in small bites, with a small piece of bread eaten between each bite as a palate cleanser.
Notable People
- Vahr: A failed revolutionary who tried to lead the Pahn Kahl to freedom through force.[10]
- Tonk Fah: A mercenary working for Denth.[21]
- Haverseth: Also called Bluefingers, serves as steward to the God King while plotting his own rebellion.[3]
Trivia
- Brandon often adds an additional "h" to Pahn Kahl words in order to distinguish them and make them sound "airier".Template:Annotation ref
- One of Brandon's concerns is that he made the Pahn Kahl too forgettable to the reader as well, lessening the impact of their rebellion.Template:Annotation ref
- One of the things that would be explored further in Nightblood, the sequel to Warbreaker is the Pahn Kahl and their culture.[18]
Notes
- ↑ a b c d Warbreaker chapter 14#
- ↑ a b c d e f g Warbreaker chapter 55#
- ↑ a b c d e f g Warbreaker chapter 15#
- ↑ a b c d e Warbreaker chapter 57#
- ↑ a b c d e f Warbreaker chapter 54#
- ↑ a b c d e Warbreaker chapter 32#
- ↑ a b Map of T'Telir
- ↑ Warbreaker chapter 26#
- ↑ Warbreaker epilogue#
- ↑ a b c Warbreaker prologue#
- ↑ a b c Warbreaker chapter 1#
- ↑ a b Warbreaker chapter 58#
- ↑ Warbreaker chapter 53#
- ↑ a b c d e Warbreaker chapter 34#
- ↑ a b c Warbreaker chapter 36#
- ↑ Warbreaker chapter 24#
- ↑ Warbreaker chapter 48#
- ↑ a b c d e What do the Pahn Kahl believe in? All we seem to know is that they are similar to the Iridescent Tones. Any more info?
— Theoryland - 2010-01-18# - ↑ The only thing I'll confirm (and I don't think I've said this before) is that The Voice is, indeed, one of the Shards of Adonalsium. (Endowment is that Shard's true name, by the way.)
— Theoryland - 2009-07# - ↑ Warbreaker chapter 29#
- ↑ Warbreaker chapter 56#
