Difference between revisions of "Devotion's Perpendicularity"

|books=[[Elantris (book)|Elantris]]

'''Devotion's Perpendicularity''', also called '''The Lake''' or '''The Pool''', is a [[perpendicularity]] that can be found near [[Elantris (city)|Elantris]] on [[Sel]].

The modern day Elantrians do not fully understand the nature of the perpendicularity or its power.{{wob ref|4179}} It is thought that the pool can be used to end life, however, it is not clear whether this is actually the case.{{wob ref|3587}} Although it is hypothesized that prior to the [[Reod]], Elantrian'sElantrians visited the perpendicularity to die, it is not known whether this is what was preached in the Elantrian religion.{{book ref|elantris|25}} There are those who have entered the pool, with others believing they sought death, who have survived.{{wob ref|8649}} When entering the pool, people hear a voice offering them release and contentment;{{book ref|elantris|61}} as perpendicularities pierce the three realms, this message may be an echo of [[Devotion]]'s prior wishes filtered through from the [[Spiritual Realm]]. One must intentionally chosechoose to accept this offer to proceed.{{book ref|elantris|61}}

At some point, the perpendiciularityperpendicularity was included in the Elantrian religion, and the secret rooms beneath the meetinghouse, as well as the tunnel to the mountain, built, to provide direct access to the pool from inside the city.{{book ref|elantris|25}}

[[Raoden]], [[Karata]], and [[Galladon]] discovered the perpendicularity after a [[Hoed]], who had been [[Riino|an Elantrian]] prior to the city's collapse, requested to be taken to an unknown location. The trio were led to a meeting housed in the southwest corner of the city, in which they found a hidden passage to an underground shrine and library. Taking the Hoed through the passage in the library the trio found themselves on the mountains near the city not far from the perpendicularity. When they placed the man into the pool, his pain seemingly decreased and he disappeared, leading the trio to think the pool was a way for Elantrian's to die.{{book ref|Elantris|25}} Although they gave a simplified version of the trip to [[Saolin]] and [[Mareshe]], they kept most of what they had discovered at the perpendicularity a secret in order to prevent mass suicide among the Elantris population.{{book ref|elantris|28}}

After Raoden turned Hoed, Galladon and KataraKarata took him to the perpendicularity to end his life, as they had previously promised to do, and then end their own. As Galladon moved to place Raoden in the pool, the man returned to consciousness, shocking Galladon who accidentally dropped him into the liquid.{{book ref|elantris|60}} In the pool, Raoden heard a voice offering him peace and to take away his pain. Raoden refused, rejecting the offer of the pool before pulling himself from the pool and returning to Elantris.{{book ref|elantris|61}}

When Brandon first wrote Elantris, the perpendicularity, had been included as a plot device to get Raoden on the mountain so he could see the connection between the city and [[Aon]]s.{{wob ref|2211}} Although he knew the pool would be a concentration of power,{{wob ref|3328}} he did not know how it fit in with the magic system included in the book{{wob ref|2216}} nor the wider cosmere.{{wob ref|8521}} By the time Brandon began to write [[Mistborn (series)|Mistborn]], he had a stronger grasp to the role perpendicularities played within the universe.{{wob ref|1802}}