Arsteel

Arsteel
by Jove
Siblings	Yesteel
Died	duel with Vasher
Abilities	Returned, Lifeless, Cognitive Shadow
Aliases	Clod
Profession	Scholar
Groups	Five Scholars, Denth's crew
Homeworld	Nalthis
Universe	Cosmere

Arsteel is the brother of Yesteel and one of the Five Scholars on Nalthis.

He is one of the greatest swordsmen of their time.

History

Arsteel joined Denth's crew in the hopes of bringing Denth around and orchestrating a reconciliation between him and Vasher. Jewels then joined the crew because she was in love with Arsteel.

Though he was the better swordsman, he was killed in a duel with Vasher several months before the events of the Pahn Kahl rebellion. Vasher defeated him by suddenly giving him a large quantity of Breath; the arrival of that Breath sent Arsteel into a brief moment of deep pleasure, which distracted him for long enough for Vasher to kill him. He was then made into a Lifeless named Clod by Denth and subsequently looked after by Jewels.

Abilities

Since Lifeless retain some of the skills they had in life, and Arsteel was one of the greatest duelists of his time, Sanderson has stated that "Clod is probably the greatest Lifeless swordfighter in existence right now in the entire world."

As a Lifeless, Arsteel cannot be detected through the innate Lifesense that all sentient beings with breath possess. This makes them well suited to stealth missions.

Relationships

Jewels

Jewels was in love with Arsteel, which is the primary reason she joined Denth’s team in the first place. She is still in love with him, despite his being a Lifeless, sleeps with him on occasion, and is a little bit unhinged emotionally and mentally because of his death.

Denth

Arsteel joined Denth's team because he wanted to try to redeem Denth; he felt that a reconciliation between Denth and Vasher was possible, and as a peacemaker, he thought he might be able to make it happen.

Quotes

“ Arsteel always got to be the mean one, ”

— Tonk Fah on Arsteel.

“ It shouldn't have happened. Arsteel was a brilliant duelist— almost as good as Denth. Vasher's never been able to beat either of them. ”

— Jewels on Arsteel's death.

“ Vasher didn't use the sword. There was no blackness to Arsteel's wounds. ”

— Jewels on Arsteel's death.

“ You never beat Arsteel. ”

— Denth to Vasher.

Trivia

• Brandon has said that the reason Vasher dueled and killed Arsteel might be covered in the Warbreaker sequel. It is known from annotations that Arsteel didn’t set out to duel Vasher intending to kill him, but rather wanted to subdue him and "talk some sense into him." Vasher misinterpreted Arsteel's motives, however, and ended up killing him.
• Jewels and Clod may return in the sequel, since they went to see if Yesteel could restore some of Arsteel's memory or personality to his Lifeless form.

Notes

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