Difference between revisions of "Jaxlim"

The old songs recounted by Jaxlim include information about the Parshendi[[listener]]s that is not widely known. According to her songs, the Listenerslisteners, then known as the [[Last Legion]], were warriors who were sent to fight in a shattered nation. The people were not free, because the [[RegalRegals|Forms of Power]] had been forced upon them, bending them to the will of their gods. During a storm, the Last Legion decided to abandon the dark home and adopt a form that would allow them to escape the influence of the gods. They knew this form would cause them to lose most of their mental faculties, so they composed songs to try and preserve their history. They decided to spread out into small tribes to avoid conflict.{{book ref|wor|i|4}}

Jaxlim was a Keeper of Songs, possibly the most important job in the family. She was not required to have any other job but learn and pass the knowledge, but she always sought to keep busy. She said working her hands kept her body strong, while going over songs worked her mind. She had trained both her daughters the songs, but [[Eshonai]] had given up and so she focused on [[Venli]]. Jaxlim was the one taking to [[the Five]] the option of finding [[warform]] and spoke on behalf of her daughter to support the research.{{book ref|sa4|45}}

Shortly after the listeners[[listener]]s and the humans started to meet, her memory started to fail. At the beginning it was only forgetting some parts of the stanzas, something that had never happened before. In the beginning, only Venli really knew about it, and Jaxlim started to send people to her for reciting the songs.{{book ref|sa4|52}} It was in part her sickness what urged Venli to find and use warform. Because each form changed the mind somehow, they were hoping it would save her mother’s mind. On the other hand, Jaxlim seemed to be getting worse by the day, making her sickness obvious to everyone, and she agreed with Venli’s plan to try the new form.{{book ref|sa4|62}}

Jaxlim could be seen in her shack on the outskirts of [[Narak]] tending to her [[shalebark]] gardens. She appeared to be senile, as she did not always recognize her daughter and sometimes seemed to hallucinate. Eshonai said that she had not heard wise words from her mother in years. Jaxlim could sometimes remember some of the old songs. Eshonai asked her about the listeners leaving the "dark home", and her mother sang a song to a [[Singer#Rhythms|Rhythm of Remembrance]] that revealed tidbits of Parshendilistener history. She had saved some maps of the former kingdom of [[Natanatan]] that Eshonai made in her youth, and she gave them to Eshonai.{{book ref|wor|i|4}} Jaxlim was rounded up with the rest of the listeners who refused to adopt [[Singer#Forms_of_Power|Stormform]] when Eshonai began to take control of Narak. She escaped into the chasms with [[Thude]] and the rest of the dissenters.{{book ref|wor|i|11}}

After the [[Battle of Narak]], the listeners with whom Jaxlim had escaped did manage to survive with the help of a [[chasmfiend]]. When Venli returned to the remnants of the listeners, Jaxlim had lost all ability to recognize her daughter. However, Venli held out hope that a Radiant[[Nahel bond]] could still heal her mother's mental afflictions.{{book ref|row|115}}

Jaxlim spends many hours helping [[Venli]] to learn all the stanzas of the listeners' songs to perfection. Venli gets annoyed at being corrected, but does respect her mother. Jaxlim also supports her daughter in finding new forms and pushes her when she thinks she is too afraid of failure.{{book ref|sa4|45}} Jaxlim also suggests that Venli learn the human language.{{book ref|sa4|52}}

Venli is with her throughout all the progression of her sickness, and even wearing her new forms, it breaks her heart. She is there by her mother's side right until her transformation to stormform.{{book ref|sa4|73}} When they reunite, Venli feels joy and hope with the thought of her becoming a [[Radiant]] and healing her mind. It is this bond and selflessness that helps Venli reach her next Radiant Ideal.{{book ref|sa4|115}}

When young, Jaxlim teaches [[Eshonai]] the songs of the listeners[[listener]]s. The latter, however, is more interested in exploration and gives up on becoming a keeper of songs.{{book ref|sa4|45}} Before meeting the humans, Jaxlim doesn’t think much of Eshonai's work as scout, calling it silly and calling her unreliable and prone to fancy. After the discovery, however, she speaks of her daughter with praise and respect.{{book ref|sa4|57}}{{book ref|sa4|68}}