Difference between revisions of "Aesudan Kholin"

Aesudan married [[Elhokar Kholin]] some time before his ascension to the throne of [[Alethkar]]. Little of her life prior to that was known. As a princess of Alethkar, she attended the treaty signing feast with the [[Parshendi]] on the night that King [[Gavilar Kholin]] was assassinated by [[Szeth]].{{book ref|sa2|prologue}} On that same night, prior to the king's death, [[Jasnah Kholin]] met with [[Liss]], an assassin that she had hired as one of Aesudan's maids. For unknown reasons, Jasnah instructed Liss to observe Aesudan and report back on her actions, but not to assassinate her unless Jasnah ordered it. Ultimately Jasnah decided against that, but her reasoning remains unclear. Elhokar later stated that his sister had spoken out against his decision to marry Aesudan in the past, and that she'd claimed Aesudan was too power-hungry. Elhokar, however, just took it for strength.

When Elhokar ascended to the throne of Alethkar, he was immediately forced to leave [[Kholinar]] to fulfill the terms of the [[Vengeance Pact]] in what became known as the [[War of Reckoning]]. This left Aesudan ruling as regent on the throne of Alethkar.{{book ref|sa1|15}} The king's mother, [[Navani Kholin]], remained behind to advise Aesudan in her duties. However, Navani made the judgement that Aesudan is sufficiently skilled to rule on her own, and left her for the [[Shattered Plains]].{{book ref|sa1|22}}

However, either Navani made a crucial misjudgment or the [[Unmade]] corrupted Aesudan after Navani's departure, because Aesudan inadvertently began to turn the populace against herself.{{book ref|sa2|i|12}} She threw lavish feasts, reveling in excess, and allowed food sent in by starving farmers for the soldiers on the Shattered Plains to simply rot away. She also canceled the [[Beggar's Feast]]s. This was perhaps due in part to her sycophantic [[ardent]]s who simply told her that she was always on the right path. However, one of the ardents assigned to her retinue, a young woman named [[Pai]], refused to look past the queen's flaws and performed an act of civil disobedience. She went before the Common Throne of the [[People's Hall]] and inked the [[glyphs]] of the [[Ten fools|ten foolish attributes]] before the Throne, as well as a paragraph beside each glyph, explaining how Aesudan exemplified each of these traits, denouncing not only the queen but the government itself. Pai was executed, but [[Kholinar]] erupted in riots the next day.{{book ref|sa2|interlude|12}}

Following the summoning of the [[Everstorm]] and the rallying of a [[Voidbringer]] army, Kholinar was surrounded by [[Fused]] and [[Singerssingers]], who used spren[[Secretspren#Voidspren|secretpren]] to locate and punish any use of [[fabrial|fabrials]]s, preventing communication via [[spanreed]].{{book ref|sa3|69}} [[Elhokar]], [[Kaladin]], [[Adolin Kholin]] and [[Shallan Davar]], alongside their [[spren]], were sent by [[Dalinar Kholin]] to infiltrate the city and save Aesudan and [[Gavinor Kholin]]. They talked with Adolin's tailor [[Yokska]], who explained what happened in the city in the intervening time. Aesudan had the [[Palace Guard]] retreat into the palace and the City watch to barricade into their barracks. At some point during the riots, the queen send out proclamations declaring all parshmen to be Voidbringers and ordered their execution. When a group of [[lighteyes]], including [[Kaves Kholin]], went to the palace to challenge the queen, they never came back.{{book ref|sa3|62}}

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