False Desolation
“A legend. Considered pseudohistorical. Dovcanti wrote an epic about it somewhere around fifteen hundred years ago. The claim is that some Voidbringers survived Aharietiam, and there were many clashes with them afterward. It’s considered unreliable, but that’s because many later ardents insist that no Voidbringers could have survived. I’m inclined to assume this is a clash with parshmen before they were somehow deprived of their ability to change forms.”
—Jasnah on the False Desolation.[1]
The False Desolation is an event considered pseudohistorical by Vorinism.[1] It is likely what the Knights Radiant were fighting in at the time of the Recreance, according to Jasnah Kholin.[1]
Background
It is unclear when the False Desolation began, but when Dalinar Kholin showed Jasnah and Navani Kholin a vision of the Recreance, Jasnah suspected the Radiants fought in the False Desolation.[1] If this is correct, then False Desolation occurred around then, about two thousand years from the present day, or two thousand five hundred years after Aharietiam, the Last Desolation.
Ba-Ado-Mishram and a New Desolation
“Something must be done about the remnants of Odium’s forces. The parsh, as they are now called, continue their war with zeal, even without their masters from Damnation.”
—Drawer 30-20, first emerald[2]
Previous Desolations were marked from Heralds giving into the torture in Damnation, Returning to Roshar, and then the Fused--leaders of the Voidbringers--Returning as well, entering bodies of the singers.[3] However, the False Desolation occurred well after the Last Desolation, where the Heralds abandoned the Oathpact. Thus, there were no Fused in this "Desolation." It's unclear how fighting between humans and singers progressed since Last Desolation, but it's likely the two species warred.
The False Desolation started in earnest when Ba-Ado-Mishram, one of the nine Unmade and sometimes referred to as a "highprincess" of the Voidbringers and sometimes their commander,[4] Connected with the singers.[5] This allowed Ba-Ado-Mishram to provide forms of power to singers, and gave them access to Voidlight. It is unclear how Ba-Ado-Mishram performed this feat, or why she could not do so sometime earlier between the Last Desolation and then. The Radiants were confused as to Ba-Ado-Mishram's new Connection with the singers,[5] which might suggest this was a new development in her abilities, and not an ability she could perform before. It also seems that she managed to Connect with the vast majority of singers, all except those who would become the listeners.
This period of fighting was particularly intense at this time.[6] At some point, the singers pressed towards Feverstone Keep, but the Radiants did not why the area interested the singers so much.[7]
The Strike Team
“Ba-Ado-Mishram has somehow Connected with the parsh people, as Odium once did. She provides Voidlight and facilitates forms of power. Our strike team is going to imprison her.”
—Drawer 30-20, fourth emerald[5]
The Radiants eventually sought an edge in the conflict. Scholar Radiants teamed up to come up with a plan to stop the Voidbringers.[8]
They theorized that an Unmade could, perhaps, be imprisoned like a regular spren.[9] (It is unclear if this happened before or after Re-Shephir's imprisonment in Urithiru by a Lightweaver.[10]) The Radiants came up with a plan: they would imprison Ba-Ado-Mishram, stop the singers' transformations, and remove their Voidlight.[8]
The plan required a special prison--likely a perfect gemstone--as well as Melishi,[9] the only Bondsmith of the generation.[11][12] The Radiants did not know what exactly Ba-Ado-Mishram's imprisonment would do to the singers. They were certain that it would prevent them from using forms of power, but they didn't know what else could happen. Melishi sought to destroy the Voidbringers[11] and was confident the plan would succeed, but Naze-daughter-Kuzodo warned of unintended side effects.[13] The Radiants believed this would end the war the Heralds promised them.[14]
It's clear this strike team succeeded in imprisoning Ba-Ado-Mishram, as she was no longer seen in the modern day, unlike most other Unmade.[15]
Aftermath and Legacy
“We are uncertain the effects this will have on the parsh. At the very least, it should deny them forms of power. Melishi is confident, but Naze-daughter-Kuzodo warns of unintended side effects.”
—Drawer 30-20, fifth emerald[13]
See also: Day of Recreance
The costs to Ba-Ado-Mishram's imprisonment were higher than any Radiant could have expected. There were indeed side effects to their action, as Naze-daughter-Kuzodo warned. Since Ba-Ado-Mishram was Connected to the vast majority of singers, her imprisonment ripped out Connection and Identity from the singers' souls.[16] This meant that these singers were essentially labotomized, unable to think and unable to act. The singers had no form, and would later be termed as "slaveforms".
Fighting occurred near Feverstone Keep, and since that is the site of many Windrunners abandoning their oaths,[1] it is possible this is another reason for the Recreance. It could have been the final thing that made the Radiants feel they were on the wrong side. The Recreance certainly happened at the same time or directly after Ba-Ado-Mishram's imprisonment, which by itself caused massive chaos in human societies. Shardblades were picked up at will, without the safeguards of the Nahel bond to prevent such utter destruction.
Because of this massive chaos, ordinary humans likely had no idea of the true reason for the singers' enslavement. It, as well as the singers being considered "Voidbringers" and "the enemy" in the eyes of the Radiants, faded into obscurity, and humans considered the parsh to just always be these creatures who could not think. The singers ended up acting as slave labor for humans for two thousand years.
When the singers would eventually be healed in the Everstorm, they are furious at humanity for this act of enslavement. For the common singer, this was a rallying cry that made them fight humanity in the True Desolation.
In modern times, the False Desolation was considered pseudohistorical but Jasnah Kholin knew of the event.[1]
See Also
Notes
- ↑ a b c d e f Oathbringer chapter 56#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 77 epigraph#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 38#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 106 epigraph#
- ↑ a b c Oathbringer chapter 80 epigraph#
- ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 41 epigraph#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 84 epigraph#
- ↑ a b Oathbringer chapter 78 epigraph#
- ↑ a b Oathbringer chapter 79 epigraph#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 30#
- ↑ a b Words of Radiance chapter 58 epigraph#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 67 epigraph#
- ↑ a b Oathbringer chapter 81 epigraph#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 82 epigraph#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 107 epigraph#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 17#