Editing Rayse

<disable-google-snippet /> <!--this is required to stop spoilers appearing in google-->
{{character
|image=Odium captrosko.jpg
|died={{nosnippet|{{rosharan date|1175}}, killed by [[Taravangian]] using [[Nightblood]]}}{{book ref|sa4|113}}
|abilities={{tag+|Shard|Odium}}
|titles=[[Odium]], King of gods,{{book ref|sa3|prologue}} God{{book ref|sa3|56}}
|aliases=Nun Raylisi{{wob ref|12755}}, Rasan{{file ref|Alethi Glyphs Page 2.jpg}}
|world=Yolen
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
|first appeared=[[Oathbringer]]
}}
{{update|sa4}}
{{quote
|I know pain. I am the only god who does. The only one who cares.
|Rayse{{book ref|sa3|109}}
}}

{{nosnippet|'''Rayse''' was the first Vessel of the Shard [[Odium]].{{wob ref|7266}} He died at some point during {{Rosharan date|1175|4}}, slain by [[Taravangian]] with [[Nightblood]].{{book ref|sa4|113}}}}

== Appearance and Personality ==
{{image|Odium by Ralf Melevo.jpg|side=right|width=250px}}
=== Appearance ===
{{for|/Gallery|more images}}

While Odium’s true essence is too powerful to be seen, Rayse generally presents himself as an old man with a wide, furrowed face and bone-white hair sweeping back from his head, and thick mustaches with a hint of black in them blended into a short white beard. His skin and eyes look [[Shin]] (that is to say, he lacks epicanthic folds),{{wob ref|4079}} and he wears a golden crown in his powdery hair.{{book ref|sa3|56}} 

To the [[singers]], on the other hand, he appears as an ancient singer with gold and white marbled skin.{{book ref|sa3|115}} He carries a golden sceptre in both of these forms.

When [[Dalinar]] claims to have seen Odium, Rayse shows him an enormous, all-encompassing white-and-red flame emanating human emotion, chiefly hatred and anger.{{book ref|sa3|57}}

=== Personality ===
{{quote
|Rayse... was among the most loathsome, crafty, and dangerous individuals I had ever met.
|[[Hoid]]{{epigraph ref|sa1|18}}
}}

==== Mortal ====
Prior to Ascension, Rayse was already thought of as cunning, ambitious, and very dangerous.{{epigraph ref|sa1|18}} He was driven to kill Adonalsium to achieve his goals and desires.{{msh ref|3|2}}

His personality was such to lead him to pick up the Shard of Odium, indicating that his personality was aligned with hatred and strong emotions. He wished to become the type of person he came to be after holding the Shard.{{wob ref|5489}}{{epigraph ref|sa2|71}}

==== Vessel ====
He picked his Shard very deliberately, believing that it matches him perfectly, and desires nothing less than to be the sole god of the [[cosmere]].{{epigraph ref|sa2|71}}{{book ref|mb7|20}}{{wob ref|5489}} To this end, he seeks to destroy any other [[Shard]], primarily those capable of rivaling or threatening him.{{book ref|mb7|20}} To protect himself from a counterattack by other Shards, he picks the targets that he can claim have broken the rules that all the Vessels had previously agreed on.{{wob ref|8358}} This being said, he's not opposed to cooperating with his fellow Vessels if it suits him.{{wob ref|4298}}

He can be extremely cunning. He will often present himself as grandfatherly and friendly, a helping hand rather than a wicked overlord. He will carry this facade for a long time, even if whoever's talking to him is keenly aware of his real nature. He will praise his interlocutor effusively, attempting to present himself as a reasonable ally.{{book ref|sa3|57}}{{book ref|sa3|115}}{{book ref|sa3|118}} On the other hand, when things do not go his way, the facade drops, and he's quick to reassert a position of dominance, growing callous and threatening.{{book ref|sa3|122}}{{book ref|sa3|i|11}}{{book ref|sa4|112}} If it turns out the situation is beyond his ability to control, he'll flee to regroup and try another day.{{book ref|sa3|119}}

While careful and subtle, Rayse is also an arrogant man. He can be lonely with nobody to share his accomplishments and likes to show off and enjoys being worshipped.{{book ref|sa4|i|6}}{{book ref|sa4|99}} This can be seen when he pulls people into a vision, presenting himself as a powerful, dominating figure while this is not really necessary. Furthermore, he hates being questioned, leading to a struggle between his mind and the Shard he holds, for Odium craves questions and arguments.{{book ref|sa4|i|2}}

In addition, he strongly believes that Odium is the Shard of Passion, not hatred.{{book ref|sa4|31}}{{cite}} He sees passion and emotions as a very important aspect of the lives of men, seeing them as what defines a person.{{book ref|sa3|57}} He sees beauty in passion, and greatly respects those that led their passions consume them unrestrained. He even encourages this, inspiring them to give in to all of their strongest emotions. He also respects straightforwardness in one's emotions.{{book ref|sa3|57}}{{book ref|sa3|115}}{{book ref|sa4|i|6}} His respect for such things is enough that he would willingly barter with people he considers passionate enough, despite his megalomania.{{book ref|sa3|122}} He even respects the Knights Radiant for their honesty and willingness to do what they thought was best, despite their resistance against him.{{book ref|sa3|57}}

He is willing to grant people liberty from an oppressive master if it means that they would come to serve him, such as when he granted mind and freedom to slaveform singers, so that they could assist him and his Fused in their fight to claim Roshar and free him from the Rosharan system.{{cite}} He, however, is not a kind master to these peoples, using them as vessels to be possessed by his Fused.{{book ref|sa3|i|6}} He also strictly punishes disobedience in any form, and as mentioned previously, is angered by his orders or actions being questioned by those he deems inferior.{{book ref|sa4|i|2}}  

Following from his beliefs regarding passion and emotions, he believes a world without such things as not being worth living in.{{book ref|sa3|57}} He also believes himself the only Vessel to truly understand pain and emotion, and the only one to truly care about mankind.{{book ref|sa3|109}} Though despite his claims, he considers the lives of humans and singers of inherently lesser value than his own.{{book ref|sa4|112}}

While willing to compliment people for their accomplishments, such as complimenting [[Taravangian]] for the creation of the [[Diagram (literature) | Diagram]], he often tries to immediately upstage said accomplishments; this is likely motivated by his own megalomania and belief in the inferiority of mortals.{{book ref|sa3|122}}{{book ref|sa4|112}}

Furthermore, he is a traitorous individual, as he is willing to double-cross those that he works with, such as [[Autonomy]], if it means achieving his goals.{{wob ref|15137}} He also betrays his followers, as previously mentioned, seducing them with promises of new forms, only to allow them to be possessed by Fused.{{book ref|sa3|i|6}} However, he holds to his Oaths, as he is incapable of breaking them.{{book ref|sa3|16}}

His greatest desire is to escape the Rosharan system from which he is bound, so that he could continue his series of Splinterings around the cosmere, so that he could achieve his ''telos'' of becoming its sole ruler.{{epigraph ref|sa2|71}}{{book ref|mb7|20}}{{book ref|sa4|112}} He is willing to do whatever he can, or take however long is required, in order to achieve this goal. Spending around seven-thousand years in his endeavors.{{book ref|sa4|14}}{{book ref|sa4|76}} However, upon being forced into a corner by [[Dalinar Kholin]], he agreed to give up his wish for freedom, deigning to accept sole leadership over Roshar, and the freedom to send his soldiers across the cosmere in a greater war for control. Thus he was willing to give up his freedom, but not his lust for power and control. He was infuriated by his wishes not being granted in the Oath, but ultimately accepted as he felt he had no other choice.{{book ref|sa4|112}}

Moreover, he fears losing himself by taking up other Shards and thus becoming warped by them. Due to this, he attempts to Splinter Shards rather than absorbing them into himself.{{wob ref|4130}}{{wob ref|5489}}

== Abilities ==
Rayse is a Vessel of a [[Shard]], with all the abilities this entails, including the power to create a magic system by [[Invest]]ing into a world, and is functionally immortal.

Apart from the magic systems his Shard fuels, Rayse is capable of perceiving the future. How good he is at it is uncertain; while his abilities exceed that of [[Honor]] or [[Taravangian]]'s [[Diagram (literature)|Diagram]], he still has blind spots, mostly pertaining to other seers, and he can be wrong.{{book ref|sa3|122}}{{book ref|sa3|119}} He's also able to corrupt and subvert the [[Investiture]] of others, and force a connection to himself, though the latter requires a proper mental state in the recipient.{{book ref|sa3|84}}{{book ref|sa3|115}}

Unlike [[Ati]], Rayse is unable to use Odium to alter text documents.{{wob ref|2654}} This is because unlike [[Scadrial]], which was created partly with [[Ruin]]'s own power, Roshar was not suffused with Odium's [[Investiture]].{{wob ref|5293}}

Rayse knows how to kill and splinter other Shards without getting killed or splintered himself. It is unclear whether Odium has some unique skill or attribute enhancing his ability to do this or whether all Shards are capable of these actions, given the right motivation.

== History ==
Rayse had once been a human from the planet [[Yolen]].{{wob ref|4709}}{{wob ref|7939}} He participated in the [[Shattering]] of [[Adonalsium]] along with fifteen other people, and chose the Shard of Odium for himself.{{msh ref|3|2}}{{epigraph ref|sa2|71}} Afterwards, much like the other Shards, he departed the planet. While his Shard was interpreted as Odium from the very beginning, it's uncertain if the series of killings he would subsequently go on was his plan from the start.{{wob ref|12312}}

{{for|Odium#History|the subsequent events}}

== Relationships ==
=== Autonomy ===
He was working with [[Autonomy]] to an unclear extent. Had he not been captured in the Rosharan system, he would have double-crossed them, attacking and trying to Splinter them.{{wob ref|15137}}

{{image|I am Unity.jpg|side=right|width=250px|Dalinar facing off with Rayse}}

=== Dalinar ===
{{quote
|Don't blame yourself. I made you kill her, Dalinar. I caused all of this. Do you remember?
|Rayse to Dalinar{{book ref|sa3|118}}
}}
Rayse has been grooming [[Dalinar]] to be his champion from a young age. During the war of [[Alethi]] unification, Odium provided him with the [[Thrill]], and he claims to be the influence behind Dalinar's most gruesome atrocities, including the burning of the [[Rift]]. His goal is to make Dalinar feel such overwhelming guilt that he would give Rayse his pain, willingly joining his cause.{{book ref|sa3|118}} When [[Cultivation]] wiped Dalinar's memories, Rayse's plan became to return them all to Dalinar at once, for the greatest possible impact.{{book ref|sa3|121}}

By the time of the [[True Desolation]], Rayse is confident in his ability to pull Dalinar over to his side when the time comes. He puts on a warm and caring facade, acting as though he's Dalinar's friend while at the same time underscoring just how thoroughly ''his'' Dalinar is.{{book ref|sa3|57}}{{book ref|sa3|109}} Likewise, at the [[Battle of Thaylen Field]] he's similarly friendly as he offers Dalinar an out from his overwhelming feelings of guilt, even as Dalinar attempts to deny him.{{book ref|sa3|118}}

What Rayse doesn't expect is that Cultivation has arranged for Dalinar to recover his memories beforehand, giving him time to work through them and greatly dulling the impact Rayse's sudden influx of memories has on Dalinar.{{book ref|sa3|118}} This allows Dalinar to reject Rayse's offer. Rayse is first stunned, and then terrified as Dalinar not only defies him, but progresses on the path of a [[Bondsmith]] and summons [[Honor's Perpendicularity]]. He flees, fearing that if they met face to face again, Dalinar could push him into a contest in which Rayse's victory wouldn't be certain.{{book ref|sa3|119}}{{book ref|sa3|122}}

=== Hoid ===
{{quote
|Cephandrius. Ever the rat. No matter where I go, there he is, scratching in the wall. Burrowing into my strongholds. He could have been a god, yet he insists on living in the dirt.
|Rayse on Hoid{{book ref|sa4|112}}
}}
Rayse and [[Hoid]] were friends, once.{{wob ref|2101}} However, at some point the relationship between the two of them soured significantly, leaving Hoid with a deep grudge that would last for thousands of years.{{epigraph ref|sa1|23}} Hoid seems to have a long history of conspiring and working against Rayse, and they bear deep hatred towards each other.{{book ref|sa4|112}} Presently, Rayse is one of the few people in the cosmere Hoid is terrified of, and though he initially came to Roshar chasing after Rayse, he now wants to avoid him as best as he can.{{wob ref|7876}}{{book ref|sa1|57}}{{wob ref|12053}} Moreover, he's attempting to muster support among other Shards, as well as [[Frost]], to help deal with Odium. His efforts have not yielded much success.{{epigraph ref|sa4|22}}{{epigraph ref|sa4|24}}{{epigraph ref|sa4|25}}

Rayse seems to be aware of Hoid's presence on Roshar; at the very least, he knows that Hoid will attempt to stop him. However, he doesn't consider this to be a significant problem, believing that he can outsmart him.{{wob ref|10314}} This does not mean he ignores him, as Hoid ponders while sneaking around in an occupied Kholinar that if Rayse knew where he was, Rayse would not hesitate to level the city.{{book ref|sa3|epilogue}}

=== Taravangian ===
{{quote
| So honest, this version of you... I much prefer it, yes. There is a straightforwardness to your Passion.
| Rayse to Taravangian{{book ref|sa3|57}}
}}

He respects the straightforwardness of Taravangian's passion.{{book ref|sa3|57}}{{expand}}

Taravangian himself hates Rayse, enough so that he was led to murder the Vessel.{{book ref|sa4|113}}{{expand}}

=== Tanavast ===
{{quote
|Tell me you've never found yourself in conflict with someone you respect. Tell me you’ve never killed a man because you had to, even if—in a better world—he shouldn’t deserve it?
|Rayse on killing Tanavast{{book ref|sa3|57}}
}}

The relation between Rayse and [[Tanavast]] is difficult to determine, moreso for the fact that Rayse is the only source of information on it. On one hand, Rayse claims to sincerely respect him as a person, and claims that in a better world, Tanavast needn't have died. On the other hand, he also claims that Tanavast was heartless, caring for bonds and oaths more than the people behind them.{{book ref|sa3|57}} Tanavast's opinion of Rayse is unknown, but he was clearly wary, as he deliberately constructed their confrontation in a way that would allow him to bind Rayse to [[Braize]].{{wob ref|8560}}

== Trivia ==
* Rayse would get along well with [[Torol Sadeas]].{{wob ref|13933}}

== Notes ==
<div data-nosnippet>{{holder
|title= Vessel of<br />[[Odium]]
|prev=''None''
|this=
|next=[[Taravangian]]}}</div>
<references />
{{partial}}
{{Stormlight}}
{{cosmere}}
[[es:Rayse]]