Difference between revisions of "Hrathen's seon"

|booksfirst appeared=[[Elantris (book)|Elantris]]

Hrathen's [[seon]] is described as having a similar size and appearance to other seons - —a small floating, glowing sphere.{{book ref|Elantris|12}} Her [[Aon]], and therefore her name, are not known. She is patient and obedient.{{book ref|Elantris|12}} Her voice is soft, melancholy, and feminine.{{book ref|Elantris|12}}{{book ref|Elantris|36}} She is the only seon introduced so far that is referred to as female.

Hrathen was [[Fjordell]], and like other followers of [[Shu-Dereth]] he viewed [[Aonic]] magic as "heathen".{{book ref|Elantris|12}} Many people in Fjordell did not even believe that seons existexisted.{{book ref|Elantris|12}} Hrathen always believed that they are real, but he had several misconceptions about them, including an assumption that they were created by [[Elantrian]]s.{{book ref|Elantris|12}} Hrathen ascended the ranks of the Derethi church and became one of twenty gyorns, high priests that directly served [[Wyrn (title)|Wyrn]] [[Wulfden the Fourth]].{{book ref|Elantris|5}} He was shocked to learn that Wyrn and the other gyorns each had a seon that they used for communication, and had to be convinced by Wyrn over a period of several years that their use by the Derethi was justified.{{book ref|Elantris|12}} It is not known how the Derethi church originally obtained the seons.

The seon was given to Hrathen and he kept her in a steel box with an elaborate locking system; he also kept the box itself well hidden.{{book ref|Elantris|12}} Hrathen believed that the church would be embarrassed if common people knew that it used the magic that it condemned.{{book ref|Elantris|12}} Seons cannot pass through solid matter{{wob ref|7816}} so Hrathen's seon was imprisoned, although she made no effort to escape when the box was opened.{{book ref|Elantris|12}} She remained unfailingly obedient, but Hrathen still felt disgust and distrust towards all seons, more so than other gyorns.{{book ref|Elantris|12}} Hrathen's seon was generally forbidden to speak, and Hrathen sometimes left the box unopened for months.{{book ref|Elantris|12}} Their relationship was completely different from the loving connections seen between Aonic characters and their seons (such as [[Raoden]]'s with [[Ien]]){{book ref|Elantris|16}} and Hrathen's thoughts and actions were incongruous with what is known about the usual nature of the human-seon bond.{{annotationwob ref|Elantris|chapter=16|link=annotation-elantris-chapter-161965}}{{wob ref|10049}}

* This seon could be featured in a potential ''Elantris'' sequel, possibly even as a viewpoint character, after bonding with [[Adien]].{{wob ref|1950}}