Difference between revisions of "Jasnah Kholin"

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{{character
|image=Jasnah Shuravf.jpg
|family=[[House Kholin]]
|ancestors=[[Dalinar's father]], [[Sadees]]
}}
 
'''Jasnah Kholin''' is the queen of [[Alethkar]] on [[Roshar]].{{book ref|sa3|122}} She is a [[Surgebinder]] and [[Elsecaller]], with access to the [[Surge|Surges]] of [[Transformation]] and [[Transportation]], sometimes called "Elsecalling."{{book ref|sa2|epilogue}} She is the sister of the late King [[Elhokar Kholin|Elhokar]], daughter of the late King [[Gavilar Kholin|Gavilar]] and [[Navani Kholin|Navani]], niece of Highprince [[Dalinar Kholin|Dalinar]], aunt of royal heir [[Gavinor]], and cousin to [[Adolin]] and [[Renarin]]. She is known widely as a brilliant scholar and for her denunciation of [[Vorinism]].{{book ref|sa1|3}} She is a member of the [[Veristitalian|Veristitalians]]s, an order of historians dedicated to reconstructing unbiased and factual accounts of the past in order to better understand the present.{{book ref|sa1|28}} She is training [[Shallan Davar]] as her [[ward]].{{book ref|sa1|8}}
 
== Appearance and Personality ==
[[File:{{image|Ivory Jasnah.png|thumb|side=right|width=250px|<center><small>by {{a|ToastSamurai}}</small></center> Jasnah and [[Ivory]] ]]}}
 
=== Appearance ===
{{for|/Gallery|more images}}
Jasnah is a reserved and statuesque woman. She is widely praised for her beauty, always graceful and dressed immaculately. She is tall and slender with a full chest. She has tan skin and deep black hair that, when unbound, reaches the middle of her back - though she usually puts it up in intricate braid(s)braids.{{book ref|sa3|39}} She has a squarish face and pale violet eyes with an [[Wikipedia: epicanthic fold|epicanthic fold]].{{book ref|sa1|5}}
 
=== Personality ===
 
== History ==
[[File: {{image|Young Jasnah and Navani by Audrey Hotte.jpg|thumb|side=right|x200px|<center><small>by {{a|Audrey Hotteheight=200px}}</small></center>]]
=== Early Life (1139—1167) ===
Jasnah Kholin was born in {{Rosharan date|1139}} to Gavilar and Navani Kholin. Her brother, Elhokar, was born eight years later in {{Rosharan date|1147}}.{{book ref|sa1|12}} She became a princess of Alethkar when Gavilar united the [[highprince]]s and became the king in {{Rosharan date|1163}}. At about ages twelve to thirteen, Jasnah suffered from a case of lunacy.{{book ref|sa3|49}} When Jasnah reflects on this period of time, she remembers a dark room and screaming her voice ragged. According to her, this was when she learned that people she loved could still hurt her.{{book ref|sa3|47}}
 
Jasnah transcribed Gavilar's account of his first meeting with the [[Parshendi]] in {{Rosharan date|1166}}.{{book ref|sa1|36}} She didn't know what to think of the changes in Gavilar around that time,{{book ref|sa1|15}} but felt connected to her father for the first time.{{book ref|sa1|45}} She was very interested in studying the Parshendi and the [[Shattered Plains]]. She suspected that the ruins in the Plains were extremely important, and that scholars had been searching for said ruins for a long time.{{book ref|sa2|prologue}}
 
Before Jasnah became famous as a heretic of Vorinism, her father wanted her to marry Amaram. Convinced that her plan to become a famous atheist would fail, Gavilar heartily disapproved of her denunciation of Vorinism, and wished her to return to the church and marry Amaram. Gavilar was sure that this was the only secure future for his daughter.{{book ref|sa2|prologue}} Jasnah refused the betrothal long before her father died, but Gavilar was still trying to convince her to take the offer of marriage on the night he was killed, and Amaram still pursued her for years after the fact. Jasnah continued rebuffing his advances whenever their paths crossed, and he was bitter toward her for years.{{book ref|sa2|37}}
=== The Research (1167—1173) ===
[[File: Jasnah by horizonproblems.jpg|thumb|left|x300px|<center><small>by {{a|horizonproblems}}</small></center>]]
 
{{image|Jasnah by horizonproblems.jpg|side=left|height=300px}}
 
=== The Research (1167—1173) ===
==== Parshendi Betrayal ====
In {{Rosharan date|1167}}, Jasnah attended the feast held in the [[Kholinar]] Palace after the signing of the Parshendi treaty. While walking to a meeting with an assassin named [[Liss]] with the intention of killing Elhokar's wife [[Aesudan Kholin|Aesudan]], she noticed her shadow pointing toward the light. She walked past Highprince [[Torol Sadeas|Sadeas]] and a [[Shinovar|Shin]] [[Szeth-son-son-Vallano|servant in white clothing]], and subsequently came across her father in quiet conference with [[Meridas Amaram]]. Once Amaram left, Jasnah asked Gavilar what he commanded Amaram, but Gavilar deflected the question and left hastily, leading her to wonder if he knew about her plans regarding Aesudan. Walking onward, Jasnah's shadow again acted oddly, and this time formed into a "man of midnight blackness [with] a certain reflective cast, as if he were made of oil."{{book ref|sa2|prologue}} He carried an unsheathed sword. In panic, Jasnah went into [[Shadesmar]] for the first time. There, the shadowy figure sheathed its sword, and Jasnah fell into the sea of glass beads. Before she drowned, Jasnah managed to find the glass bead corresponding to the Kholinar Palace, and using that as her guide, willed herself to rise to the surface, standing on a platform of glass beads. From there, she formed the corridor she'd stood in before leaving the [[Physical Realm]], and when the shadowy figure stepped onto her platform with its sword drawn, she formed a statue of [[Talenel|Talenelat'Elin]]. She confronted the figure, and it saluted and bowed, then left. When Jasnah returned to the Physical Realm, all the spheres lining the hallway walls were dun.{{book ref|sa2|prologue}}
 
==== Travels ====
After the death of her father, she started drawing parallels between the Parshendi and the [[Voidbringers]].{{book ref|sa1|74}} Eventually, she discovered her [[Surgebinding]] abilities, and started carrying a fake [[Jasnah's Soulcaster|fake Soulcaster]] [[fabrial]] to disguise she was a [[Surgebinder]].{{book ref|sa1|72}} At some point, she made her way to the warcamps in the Shattered Plains, but eventually her studies took her elsewhere.{{book ref|sa1|18}} She left a copy of her notes at an information center in Tashikk for safekeeping.{{book ref|sa3|47}}
 
In {{Rosharan date|1172}}, she received a letter from [[Shallan Davar]], asking for wardship. She replied to Shallan to meet her in [[Dumadari]] in two weeks' time, though she didn't really expect her to make it. She spent the next six months traveling from town to town, leaving notes for Shallan when she left so the young woman could follow her. She eventually reached [[Kharbranth]] in {{Rosharan date|1173}}.{{book ref|sa1|3}}
===Discovering a Potential Knight Radiant===
==== A New Ward ====
[[File:{{image|Jasnah Soulcasting.jpg|width=350px|thumb|side=right|<center><small>by {{a|Grant M. Hansen}}</small></center>Jasnah soulcasting street thugs]]}}
She found out King [[Taravangian]]'s [[Taravangian's granddaughter|granddaughter]] was trapped in one of the palace rooms after an highstorm caused a boulder to fall down from the walls, blocking the way in. Taravangian asked for Jasnah's help, to free his granddaughter by [[Soulcasting]] the stone. Jasnah accepted to help, in return for free admittance to the [[Palanaeum]]. Shallan Davar, a prospective ward, caught up with her at this point and Jasnah evaluated Shallan's knowledge. Once they reached the boulder that had trapped the king's granddaughter, Jasnah Soulcast the stone into smoke, causing the newly formed smoke to explode because of the difference in density of rock and smoke. After this, she informed Shallan that she wasn't good enough to become her ward. Jasnah left Shallan behind and went to the Palanaeum.{{book ref|sa1|5}} After she collected the books she wanted, she returned to the alcove she'd reserved, and found Shallan there. She was angry to be defied, and told Shallan, not in a kind way, to leave her alone. Shallan, in her embarrassment and disappointment, forgot the [[spheres]] she had used for illumination inside the alcove. Jasnah asked her to return and apologized to her for her rudeness. She found out that Shallan was self-taught and found it remarkable, promising if she filled the gaps in her knowledge, she would accept her as her ward. A few hours later, the servants informed her that Shallan was back and that she had her own alcove, intent on studying while in Kharbranth and applying for wardship again. Jasnah decided that if she could not get rid of Shallan, she might as well make use of her and accepted her as her ward.{{book ref|sa1|8}}
 
Shallan left for several hours, allegedly retrieving [[Tifandor]]'s biography of Gavilar. She returned with Kabsal, insistent on drawing his portrait. Jasnah, annoyed by the distraction, left the alcove. Jasnah later saw Shallan emerge agitated about another drawing error, headed toward her quarters. Jasnah, concerned for her ward, followed her. When she found Shallan on the ground, bleeding from a cut on her wrist, she assumed it was a suicide attempt and immediately called for help. Shallan was taken to one of Taravangian's hospitals.{{book ref|sa1|45}}
 
{{image|Jasnah Kholin by Lyraina.jpg|side=left|width=250px|Jasnah Kholin and her Soulcaster}}
==== The Theft of the Soulcaster ====
[[File:Jasnah Kholin by Lyraina.jpg|thumb|left|<center><small>by {{a|Lyraina|Lyraina}}</small></center>Jasnah Kholin and her Soulcaster]]Jasnah spent the next two days outside Shallan's hospital room. Once she was allowed inside the room, she apologized to Shallan, although she didn't prove to be very proficient at apologizing which Shallan attributed to Jasnah's ineptitude at making mistakes. Becoming serious again, Jasnah claimed she may have done the world a disservice and stolen from it one of the great scholars of the rising generation by overworking Shallan. She gave her an empty book, and called it ''The Book of Endless Pages'', and cautioned her to seek out the [[devotary|Devotary of Sincerity]] of whom the book was the guide. Kabsal joined them, and, as was typical in their interactions, Jasnah was cool and rude to him. He let it slip that Shallan was returning to her home and Jasnah, while initially surprised, agreed that it was the best for her. Kabsal revealed the strawberry jam and the bread she brought for Shallan. After being insisted by Shallan, Jasnah decided to eat some of it as well, but as her habit while accepting food from someone, she Soulcast the jam and the bread to purify them of any poisons. She was unsuccessful with the jam and the result was a rotten mush that was uneatable. Kabsal ate the jam anyway and tried to get Shallan to eat as well, though when she refused he tried to run out but collapsed before reaching the door. The same happened with Shallan a few seconds later. When Jasnah told her that she had to Soulcast her blood to get the poison out, Shallan revealed Jasnah's fake Soulcaster fabrial, apparently having stolen it. Jasnah healed her and Shallan fell unconscious.{{book ref|sa1|48}}
 
Furious and hurt at the apparent betrayal from her ward, Jasnah confronted Shallan when she woke up. She initially thought that Shallan had stolen her Soulcaster for one of the devotaries, but Shallan informed her that she had intended to use it for her own purposes; that [[Lin Davar|her father]] was dead and [[House Davar]] was bankrupt, and that she had become Jasnah's ward to steal the Soulcaster in the first place. Jasnah told Shallan that she would be leaving for home the next day on a ship she'd arranged and that Kabsal was dead. She also told her that he had been using Shallan to assassinate her the whole time because the bread he'd been bringing Shallan was poisoned with [[backbreaker powder]] and the jam contained the antidote. She left the room, leaving Shallan behind in tears.{{book ref|sa1|50}}
 
==== Battle of Thaylen Field (1174) ====
[[File: {{image|Jasnah vs Thrill.jpg|width=400px|thumb|side=right|<small><center>by {{a|Petar Penev}}</center></small> Jasnah fighting Thrill berserkers]]}}
At the beginning of the Battle of Thaylen Field, Jasnah made a plan to protect her uncle and evacuate Thaylen city. She seemed to have known it was coming beforehand, having worn flexible garb in preparation.{{book ref|sa3|115}} She tracked down Renarin and discovered that he had bonded with a corrupted spren, a feat previously believed to be impossible. Jasnah felt she had to kill her cousin, but found she could not do so, remembering how they bonded when they were younger over being outcasts in the Alethi court.{{book ref|sa3|118}} Renarin, having seen his death in his visions, realized from this that he could be wrong, leading he and Jasnah to reason that his father could prevail against Odium.{{book ref|sa3|116}}{{book ref|sa3|118}} Jasnah ran with Renarin to save Dalinar, but they didn't get there before Dalinar prevailed against [[Odium]] and opened [[Honor's Perpendicularity]]. Jasnah took part in the battle and showcased her skills as an Elsecaller. While fighting, Jasnah found it incredibly easy to Soulcast, as the Cognitive and Physical realms were much closer together as a result of Dalinar opening Honor's Perpendicularity, reportedly feeling as if she existed half in the cognitive realm and half in the physical realm.{{book ref|sa3|119}}{{book ref|sa3|120}}
When Shallan began to run low on Stormlight, Jasnah alerted [[Navani]] and [[Queen Fen]] to send troops to aid her and clear out the [[Fused]] from inside the city. She also came to extract Shallan when she ran out completely before she could be captured by the Parshendi.{{book ref|sa3|120}} Jasnah checked on her again after the battle, and Shallan finally decided to continue with her wardship until Jasnah deemed her a fit scholar.{{book ref|sa3|121}}
 
== Quotes ==
{{for|/Quotes|a list of quotes}}
{{dialogue
|Shallan|I have kept a journal since I was a child, in order to practice my writing skills.
|Jasnah|Congratulations. Should I need someone to write a treatise on their stuffed pony or give an account of an interesting pebble they discovered, I shall send for you.
|attr=Shallan and Jasnah{{book ref|sa1|5}}
}}
 
{{quote
|Ignorance is hardly unusual, Miss Davar. The longer I live, the more I come to realize that it is the natural state of the human mind. There are many who will strive to defend its sanctity and then expect you to be impressed with their efforts.
|Jasnah to Shallan{{book ref|sa1|5}}
}}
 
{{quote
|...a woman's mind is her most precious weapon. It must not be employed clumsily or prematurely. Much like the aforementioned knife to the back, a clever gibe is most effective when it is unanticipated.
|Jasnah to Shallan{{book ref|sa1|29}}
}}
 
{{quote
|Youthful immaturity is one of the [[cosmere]]’s great catalysts for change... To be young is about action. To be a scholar is about </em>informed<em> action.</em>
|Jasnah to Shallan{{book ref|sa1|29}}
}}
 
{{quote
|Too many scholars think of research as purely a cerebral pursuit. If we </em>do<em> nothing with the knowledge we gain, then we have wasted our study. Books can store information better than we can&mdash;what we do that books cannot is </em>interpret<em>. So if one is not going to draw conclusions, then one might as well just leave the information in the texts.</em>
|Jasnah to Shallan{{book ref|sa1|29}}
}}
 
{{quote
|I always forgive curiosity, Your Majesty. It strikes me as one of the most genuine of emotions.
|Jasnah to Taravangian{{book ref|sa1|29}}
}}
 
{{quote
|A true scholar must not close her mind on any topic, no matter how certain she may feel. Just because I have not yet found a convincing reason to join one of the devotaries does not mean I never will. Though each time I have a discussion like the one today, my convictions grow firmer.
|Jasnah to Shallan{{book ref|sa1|29}}
}}
 
{{quote
|When we are young, we want simple answers. There is no greater indication of youth, perhaps, than the desire for everything to be </em>as it should<em>. As it has ever been. The older we grow, the more we question. We begin to ask why. And yet, we still want the answers to be simple. We assume that the people around us&mdash;adults, leaders&mdash;will have those answers. Whatever they give often satisfies us. ... Indeed, it seems to me that aging, wisdom, and </em>wondering<em> are synonymous. The older we grow, the more likely we are to reject the simple answers. Unless someone gets in our way and demands they be accepted regardless.</em>
|Jasnah to Shallan{{book ref|sa1|36}}
}}
 
{{quote
|You will find wise men in any religion, Shallan, and good men in every nation. Those who </em>truly<em> seek wisdom are those who will acknowledge the virtue in their adversaries and who will learn from those who disabuse them of error. All others&mdash;heretic, Vorin, Ysperist, or Maakian&mdash;are equally closed-minded.</em>
|Jasnah to Shallan{{book ref|twok|48}}
}}
 
{{quote
|Let the Vorin believe as they wish&mdash;the wise among them will find goodness and solace in their faith; the fools would be fools no matter what they believed.
|Jasnah to Shallan{{book ref|twok|48}}
}}
 
{{quote
|Power is an illusion of perception...Some kinds of power are real -- power to command armies, power to soulcast. These come into play far less often than you would think.
|Jasnah to Shallan{{book ref|wor|1}}
}}
 
{{quote
|Most threats to a dynasty came from within.
|Jasnah Kholin{{book ref|ob|118}}
}}
 
== Trivia ==
}}
<references />
{{completepartial}}
{{Stormlight}}
[[Category: Viewpoint characters]]

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