Difference between revisions of "Old Magic"

[[Taravangian]] claims to have asked the Nightwatcher for, "Capacity. Capacity to stop what was coming. The capacity to save humankind."{{book ref|wor|i|14}} Cultivation personally intervened when he asked for his boon.{{wob ref|13097}} As a result, Taravangian's level of intelligence varies from day to day. This enabled him to write the [[Diagram (literature)|Diagram]] on a day of particularly notable intelligence. He believes that his curse is a level of compassion inversely proportional to his intelligence; he feels little to no compassion on days of high intelligence, contrasted with days of low intelligence and great compassion "to feel pain for what he had done."{{book ref|wor|i|14}} Some days he is as dull-minded as a [[Parshman]] and brought easily to tears as he realizes decisions he makes may bring death to innocents, while on others he is more intelligent and able-minded than the greatest scholar but regards everything he is ordering done with cold logic and an eye for the bigger picture of Roshar.{{book ref|sa2|i|14}} The change in intelligence and compassion will still happen even if Taravangian is awake and conscious in the middle of the night.{{wob ref|11390}}