Galladon

Galladon
by Jan Sidoryk
Family Parents Father
Abilities	Elantrian, Worldhopper
Aliases	Dendo, Grump
Groups	Seventeenth Shard
Residence	Elantris
Ethnicity	Dula
Homeworld	Sel
Universe	Cosmere
First Appeared	Elantris

“There was something innately likable about the Dula. Something Raoden found indefinably appealing, even if it was covered by a grime of pessimism as thick as the slime on the ground. ”

—Raoden

Galladon is an Elantrian on Sel. He is originally a farmer from Duladel. His father was also an Elantrian and most of Galladon's knowledge of Elantris comes from spending time with his father in the city when he was a child. He is instrumental in creating the New Elantris settlement and fixing AonDor. He later joins the Seventeenth Shard and is seen on Roshar.

Appearance and Personality

“You optimists just can't understand that a depressed person doesn’t want you to try and cheer them up. It makes us sick. ”

—Galladon to Raoden

Galladon has a tall and firm frame by Selish standards, wide hands and keen eyes. He is bald, and has been since his thirties.

During the Reod he has dark grey skin, covered in dark splotches and wrinkles.

After the Shaod is completed, he gains dark metallic silver skin. He is still bald.

Off-World the visible signs of the Shaod are reduced, so Galladon appears much like a typical Duladen man. He appears rather short and stocky in comparison to the standard Rosharan.

Galladon is a pragmatic, often pessimistic man.

Attributes and Abilities

Galladon is a skilled farmer and takes joy in farming. When the Shaod took Galladon, his transformation was initially incomplete, leaving his body unable to heal. After Elantris was restored his transformation was completed. Now his body heals quickly. As an Elantrian, Galladon is a practitioner of AonDor. Whether or not he has found out how to adapt AonDor for use on other planets in the cosmere is currently unknown. He is also a worldhopper, and is likely skilled in this regard as he was able to survive the Selish Cognitive Realm. He can appear off-world looking like a typical Duladen man, not like either an Elantrian with glowing skin nor one withered and weakened like some other Elantrian worldhoppers. Due to his young appearance, Galladon is making use of an unknown technique that slows his aging drastically.

History

Early Life

Galladon's father became an Elantrian while Galladon was still very young. Although at that time Elantrians were not required to move to Elantris, it was standard practice for them to live in Elantris to avoid persecution. Galladon lived with his mother and father in Elantris for several years, until his mother died. Following her death, Galladon's father became more and more withdrawn, until he finally died as a result of a heart condition. It was medically treatable, but he chose to let his life end rather than continue without his wife.

After his mother's death, Galladon returned to Duladel to become a farmer, with his father's blessing.

Farm life

Galladon was determined to adapt to normal life upon leaving Elantris. Following his father's footsteps, Galladon took up farming, initially farming grain. He built his house with his own hands. After several years, he switched to orchards, preferring a crop that did not require planting every year. He continued his tradition of scholarship, reading during the off-season. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, Galladon never really fit in with his neighbors, and so was able to leave his life with relatively few regrets when the Shaod took him.

Elantrian

A few months after he was taken by the Shaod, Galladon met Raoden while he was running away from five other Elantrians on the latter's first day in Elantris. He started introducing Raoden to the realities of Elantris, telling him they were already dead, that their bodies no longer healed, and that the pain eventually drove every Elantrian mad. Raoden offered some of the food he was given to Galladon in exchange for educating and guiding him for thirty days. Galladon reluctantly agreed. He started teaching Raoden by showing him how the gangs in Elantris worked and how to keep his body from harm as much as possible. He also talked of the Hoed and showed Raoden the market section, the university, and the palace of Elantris where the three gangs made their homes. He told Raoden that when a seon's master was taken by the Shaod, the seon was driven mad. After that, he took them to his father's workroom and introduced Raoden to AonDor by drawing Aon Deo in the air. They started discussing AonDor.

They saw the Derethi gyorn Hrathen preaching on the walls of Elantris. Later, they went to the gates and, despite Galladon's protests, Raoden rescued a man named Mareshe from the gangs and recruited him. They ran from Shaor's men to a building with an unstable staircase. The staircase collapsed, and Raoden threw the newcomer's food to the men below in the hopes that the men would leave. They learned that Mareshe was a jeweler, but Raoden asked him to make shoes. Mareshe agreed, and they start the foundation of New Elantris. This, however, made the gangs think Raoden was starting his own gang.

They continued recruiting and selected a Korathi church as their base. They moved Galladon's father's books to this base, though it took an hour for Raoden to convince Galladon to do so. Soon the Elantrians started coming to New Elantris by themselves and asking to join. Then Karata showed up with her gang, planning to end Raoden's new faction before it could become a threat. Raoden, however, managed to convince her to leave them be.

Galladon eventually learned there had been a rebellion in his homeland which resulted in the republic collapsing and that Shu-Dereth was the state religion in Duladel. He was deeply shaken by the news. Raoden showed Galladon bags of seed corn and asked how he would judge the quality of the seeds. Galladon found them satisfactory, and soon he planted the corn in one of the gardens and started growing food.

Galladon was instrumental in Raoden's efforts to establish order in New Elantris. He explained the concept of the Dor to Raoden. He was also the one who taught the other Elantrians how to draw AonDor. He played a large part in the battle for Teod, organizing and leading the Elantrians who came to Teod's rescue.

Appearance on Roshar

Galladon appeared on Roshar around the time of the True Desolation as a member of the Seventeenth Shard. Purelake fisherman Ishikk, who believed that Galladon had given him a false name, called him Grump. How he was able to move between worlds is unknown. He was described as being dark-skinned, like the Makabaki of Roshar. Unlike the Makabaki, he had thick limbs and a completely bald head; this was very similar to how he was described before the Shaod. Much like in his home world, he continued to refer to others as "friend", and frequently followed statements with the interrogative "Understand?". Galladon said these in the local language rather than his native Duladel language. At one point, he said a phrase in his native language, repeating the word kayana, meaning "crazy". Galladon's true motives on Roshar are unknown, but he and his two companions, Demoux and Baon, hired Ishikk to look for Hoid. Ishikk was paid with a pouch of spheres even though he wasn't able to locate Hoid in the five months since the trio hired him. Two years later, the group had given up on finding Hoid and left Roshar.

Relationships

Raoden

Galladon first meets Raoden after Raoden was thrown into Elantris. Galladon accepted a bribe of dried meat to accompany Raoden for thirty days, and although his companionship began as a bought thing, he quickly began to support Raoden’s quest to unite Elantris and change the mindsets of those within it. Galladon saved Raoden’s life several times in Elantris, and came to his rescue in Teod, proving the extent of their friendship.

Trivia

• In early drafts of Elantris, his name was Galarion.

Notes

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