Editing Hashal

|spouse=[[Avarak Matal]]

|merge-family=y

|groups={{tag+|army|Sadeas}}

|nation=Alethkar

|world=Roshar

|universe=[[Cosmere]]

|first appeared=[[The Way of Kings]]

Brightness '''Hashal''' is a [[lighteyes|lighteyed]] woman in the [[Sadeas princedom|Sadeas]] warcamp on the [[Shattered Plains]] of [[Roshar]]. She is married to [[Avarak Matal]], an officer in the Sadeas army, and she personally takes an active role in the oversight of the Sadeas [[bridge crew]]s.{{book ref|sa1|43}}

==Appearance and Personality==

She has pale blue eyes.{{book ref|sa1|43}} She styles her dark hair in a complex weave decorated with infused gemstones{{book ref|sa1|6}} and she wears ruby-red nail polish.{{book ref|sa1|59}} She wears heavily embellished silk [[havah]]s in colors such as deep red and violet.{{book ref|sa1|6}}{{book ref|sa1|43}} Her freehand is "delicate" and her general appearance is that of someone important.{{book ref|sa1|6}}

Hashal is imperious, vindictive, and ruthless. She flaunts her wealth and influence, and is transported through the warcamps by palanquin.{{book ref|sa1|43}}{{book ref|sa1|59}} She is highly elitist, and regards [[darkeyes|darkeyed]] people and even lighteyes of a lower [[dahn]] as beneath her, if not subhuman.{{book ref|sa1|43}} She places no value on the lives of bridgemen and will never change her mind about them.{{book ref|sa1|59}}

==Attributes and Abilities==

She has a smooth, aristocratic [[Kholinar]] accent, implying that she hails from the Alethi capital.{{book ref|sa1|6}}{{book ref|sa1|43}} She is able to write in [[women's script]].{{book ref|sa1|6}} She and her husband are of a high dahn, perhaps the fourth or fifth,{{book ref|sa1|6}} and are close associates of Highprince Sadeas.{{book ref|sa1|43}}

==History==

===Purchase of Kaladin===

{{quote

|I can see what I am purchasing, slaver. I will inspect them myself.

|Hashal, to Tvlakv{{book ref|sa1|6}}

}}

Hashal lived on the [[Shattered Plains]] with her husband during the [[War of Reckoning]]. She met with [[Tvlakv]] seeking to buy some slaves from him for timber production. She intimidated Tvlakv, and quickly bargained his price down. As she inspected the slaves, manhandling some of them, she was intrigued by [[Kaladin]]'s physique and his ''shash'' glyph. Kaladin offered to serve as a soldier, but Tvlakv immediately identified him as a deserter. Kaladin lashed out at him, startling Hashal. Hashal bought a number of the slaves, assigning some to forest duty but taking Kaladin and nine others that he was thought to have "corrupted" to [[Lamaril]] and [[Gaz]] to serve as [[bridgemen]], instructing the officers that Kaladin should be given "special treatment".{{book ref|sa1|6}}

===Leading the Bridge Crews===

{{quote

|My husband does not intend to run the bridge crews with his predecessor's laxness. My husband is a well-respected and honored associate of Highprince Sadeas himself, not some near-darkeyed mongrel like Lamaril.

|Hashal{{book ref|sa1|43}}

}}

{{image|Hashal by Dragontrill.jpg|side=left|width=350px|Riding a palanquin carried by [[parshmen]] while her [[Avarak Matal|husband]], [[Kaladin]], and [[Gaz]] watch.}}

Lamaril was executed after the disastrous first battle with Bridge Four's side carry,{{book ref|sa1|34}} and Avarak Matal requested to become the captain of the Sadeas bridgecrews, a move presumably initiated by Hashal.{{book ref|sa1|43}} Hashal disparaged Lamaril and immediately took over scheduling and crew assignments so that she could target Kaladin and Bridge Four with punitive actions.{{book ref|sa1|43}}{{book ref|sa1|46}} She discontinued the policy of assigning crews to different types of work duty, instead assigning Bridge Four to permanent chasm duty.{{book ref|sa1|43}} Even though she knew that Bridge Four was severely undermanned, she stopped assigning them new members, only giving them the parshman later known as [[Shen]] as an "experiment".{{book ref|sa1|46}}{{book ref|sa1|57}} She started forcing Bridge Four to perform scavenging on the same days as bridge runs.{{book ref|sa1|55}} After Gaz deserted his post, Hashal personally began giving Kaladin and the other bridgeleaders their schedule each morning.{{book ref|sa2|57}}{{book ref|sa2|59}} She pointedly ignored any questions concerning Gaz's whereabouts.{{book ref|sa2|59}} Since Bridge Four had still not broken, she started making them take part in every bridge run{{book ref|sa1|59}} and increased their scavenging quota to add more stress, barely allowing them to sleep.{{book ref|sa1|62}}

{{sidequote

|Your team is just too good. It must be used. You'll start full-time bridge duty tomorrow. Consider it an ... honor."

|Hashal, to Kaladin{{book ref|sa1|59}}

|side=right|size=250px

}}

Kaladin realized that Hashal would not be swayed by logic or reason, as her only goal was to kill off Bridge Four.{{book ref|sa1|55}} The men of Bridge Four believed that she had been ordered to treat them so harshly by [[Torol Sadeas]] so that he could rid himself of Kaladin, who had attracted a large amount of attention for surviving outside in a [[highstorm]]. Kaladin's frustration with Hashal contributed to one of his early experiences breathing in [[Stormlight]].{{book ref|sa1|59}} Bridge Four continued to survive despite Hashal and Avarak's efforts to undermine them. This presented Hashal with a quandary, as the crew was earning the couple accolades from Sadeas (including a promotion for Matal), preventing her from removing Kaladin as their leader.{{book ref|sa1|62}}{{book ref|sa1|63}} Hashal took credit for the innovation of using [[singer]] carapace as armor; Kaladin was able to deceive her regarding its rarity, reducing the crew's scavenging quotas. She ignored any questions about the armor's origin.{{book ref|sa1|63}}

After the [[Battle of the Tower]], when Bridge Four saved [[Dalinar Kholin]] and some of his men despite Sadeas's betrayal, Kaladin suspected that Matal would be held responsible and executed, just as Lamaril had been before him.{{book ref|sa1|69}} However, the fate of Matal and Hashal is not known.

==Relationships==

===Avarak Matal===

Although [[Avarak Matal|Avarak]] is the captain of the bridge crews by title, he is a figurehead. He usually remains silent while Hashal speaks for him, except on the battlefield where women are not present.{{book ref|sa1|59}}{{book ref|sa1|64}} Hashal and her subordinates make token references to her husband's wishes,{{book ref|sa1|46}}{{book ref|sa1|43}} but Hashal is clearly in charge of scheduling, discipline, and other regulations.{{book ref|sa1|62}} Hashal seems to be more ambitious than Avarak, but he is a willing participant in her schemes,{{book ref|sa1|62}} and also comes to hate Kaladin and Bridge Four.{{book ref|sa1|67}} Although lighteyed Alethi women typically take their husband's last name, it is not clear if Hashal has done so.

== Notes ==

<references />

{{complete|[[User:Big Smooth|Big Smooth]] ([[User talk:Big Smooth|talk]]) 16:46, 7 April 2021 (UTC)}}