High Imperial

High Imperial
Related to	Spook
World of Origin	Scadrial

High Imperial is the official language of Spook.

It is the eastern slang that Spook spoke before the Final Ascension of Harmony.

“One thing about High Imperial, or Eastern Street Slang, is that it was devised by those who spoke it in order to be intentionally obtuse. So it was hard for people to understand. And so there are a lot of nonsense words thrown in the middle. But, it's also got reversed grammar. 'Wasing the wanting of doing the thing' is 'I wanted to do that.' But you can also throw random words in there. As long as those parts are in there, it'll make sense to those they're speaking to. 'I wanted to do this. Wasing the wanting of doing the thing.' You're putting everything into a gerund. You're starting with the verb and the tense. And you're turning everything into ridiculously bad gerunds. That's it in brief.”

—Brandon Sanderson on making sense of High Imperial

Quotes

“Wasing the where of needing”

—The message left on the aluminum pistol

“Ups in the where above the doing”

—Vin meets Spook

“Not of the yetting yet.
Wasing the place when I was young.”

—Spook's name is Lestibournes and he speaks in Eastern slang

“Someone's coming! Out the night with the calling!”

—On Sazeds arrival with Vin

“You're awaking!
Notting as the now. Kelsier wasing the hit with my name; changed it to Spook.”

—

“Wasing the Dox to come and be without the stay.
Weapons for the getting, giving the time to be.”

—Dockson arrives with the weapons for the rebellion

“"Nicing the not on the playing without.

Losing the stress on the nip. Notting without the needing of care. - Kelsier
Riding the rile of the rids to the right.
Wasing the was of brightness. Nip the having of wishing of this.
Ever wasing the doing of this. - Kelsier
Ever wasing the wish of having the have. Brighting the wish of wasing the not. - Ham

Wasing not of wasing is.”

— conversation between Spook, Kelsier, Dockson and Ham

“I'm not of the seeing. Uncle, you really the burn, right?”

—

“Keep Hasting. Elariel soldiers with the attacking tonight.

Wasing the want of this.

Wasing the Snap when I was five.”

—

“Wasing the where of calling out.”

—

“Wasing the where of what?
Lestibournes. Lefting I'm born. I've been abandoned”

—Spook

“Wasing." Was doing.

" 'Wasing the run of there' would mean 'I was running to that place.' "
"Wasing the how of wanting the doing." Beldre (reading Spook's writing)
"Wasing the how of wanting the doing.
But that's the best part, Beldre said. "It's gibberish on purpose, right?"

Spook remembered with fondness how his parents had responded to his adoption of the slang. It had been a kind of power, being able to say things that only his friends could understand. Of course, he'd started speaking in it so much that it had been hard to switch back.”

—Conversation between Beldre and Spook