Kaladin

Kaladin
by Exmakina
Family Parents Lirin, Hesina Siblings Tien
Born	1154
Abilities	Windrunner
Titles	Stormblessed
Profession	Soldier, Bridgeman
Groups	Bridge Four
Birthplace	Hearthstone
Nationality	Alethi
Homeworld	Roshar

Kaladin is a darkeyed man of second nahn from Alethkar on Roshar. He was trained as a surgeon by his father. He has been a soldier in Amaram's army, a slave and a bridgeman on Sadeas's warcamp.

Appearance and Personality

Kaladin concept art by Ben McSweeney

Kaladin is a fairly tall man. He is muscular and has multiple scars on his body. He has shoulder-length wavy black hair typical of an Alethi and dark brown eyes that appear faintly colored amber when he is holding Stormlight. His face is square and firm with strong lines and a proud chin. He prefers to be clean-shaven but during his slavery he grows a long, scraggly beard. He is branded on his forehead with a sas nahn glyphpair indicating his slavery and a shash glyph meaning dangerous.

His personality varies with the events of his life. As a child, he was enthusiastic and had a strong sense of justice and responsibility, wishing at various stages to become a soldier to protect his country and a surgeon to heal the people of his town. In Amaram's army, he became a strong and confident leader, leading his squad through the battles. He cared deeply for his men, bribing the armies surgeons to treat his men before all except the wounded lighteyes. After being sold into slavery, Kaladin became frequently withdrawn and depressed, as it seemed to him that he lost everyone who he tried to save. He maintained a rebellious streak, making frequent escape attempts and possibly planning to kill the leader of the slave caravan with a poisonous leaf he found. After joining Bridge Four Kaladin attempts to gain back his former confidence and leadership from his soldiering days, and trying to inspire the other bridgemen. However the continual setbacks they suffer still leave him sometimes depressed and pessimistic about their situation. Syl usually pull him out of these episodes, offering him hope for the future. By the time Bridge Four rescue Dalinar's army, Kaladin more or less regain his former leadership and confidence, bolstered further by his new Surgebinding abilities.

History

Early Life

Kaladin was born and raised in the town of Hearthstone in Sadeas's princedom. His parents are Lirin and Hesina, his brother is Tien. From an early age he was trained as a surgeon by his father. He was talented and learned quickly. His parents wanted him to train in Great Concourse of Kharbranth with the sponsorship of the local citylord Brightlord Wistiow for the promise Kaladin would return to Hearthstone after his training was done. He was friends with the citylord's daughter Laral Wistiow to whom Kaladin's parents wanted him to eventually marry. However, Brightlord Wistiow died and Lirin forged the document that would give the money set aside for Kaladin's training to them. Lirin was alone with Wistiow at the time so this couldn't be proven, which made Wistiow's replacement Brightlord Roshone an enemy to Lirin which led to Kaladin's family becoming destitute and eventually Tien being conscripted into service in Brightlord Amaram's army. Kaladin promised his father that he would protect Tien and bring him back home in four years, then enlisted in the army as well.

Amaram's Army

Despite Amaram's promise that Tien would work as a messenger boy, he was sent to battle after a few months where he was put in front of the advancing enemy to soften their attack. Kaladin tried to come to his help but he could only watch as his brother was killed by the enemy. In his depression, Kaladin started obsessively training with the spear. His drill sergeant was surprised with how fast Kaladin mastered the spear and soon he was known as one of the best spearman in Amaram's army. He was promoted to the rank of squadleader, earning the nickname Kaladin Stormblessed for the first time. Kaladin's squad always lost fewest men of any squad in the army, which was credited to Kaladin's luck and his bribing the army's surgeons.

In his final battle in the army, Kaladin killed a Shardbearer to save the life of the army's leader Amaram. The Shardbearer killed all but a few of Kaladin's men. Kaladin was disgusted with the thought of wearing the Shardplate and Shardblade that caused the death of so many of his men, so he tried to give the Shards to one of his subordinates. However, Amaram, on the advice of his advisors and Restares, laid claim to the weapon and armor for himself claiming it was for the greater good, then executed all witnesses and branded Kaladin a slave as what he called was a mercy.

Sometime during his time in the army, Kaladin attracted the honorspren Sylphrena who gave him the ability to Surgebind.

Slavery

As a slave, Kaladin made ten escape attempts, alone or with others. Sometimes he managed to escape but they always caught him again. After one of his escape attempts, he was branded with a shash glyph, meaning dangerous. He was eventually bought by a slaver named Tvlakv.

Tvlakv brings Kaladin to the Shattered Plains and sells him to Sadeas's warcamp. Kaladin tries to convince the lighteyed woman to make him a spearman but is sent to the Bridge Four to work as a bridgeman.

Bridge Four

During his time in Bridge Four, Kaladin grows more and more depressed. He stops caring about anything and Syl leaves Kaladin saying she will try to get back because she can't bear seeing Kaladin as he is. The last man from Kaladin's first bridge run dies, and between that and Syl leaving, Kaladin comes to the point of suicide. He goes to the Honor Chasm at night. Before he jumps down, Syl comes back with a leaf of blackbane, a deadly poison, hoping to make Kaladin feel better without understanding what she's bringing. She convinces Kaladin to try to protect the men of Bridge Four, saying there is nothing Kaladin can do to make their situation worse. Kaladin goes to the bridge sergeant Gaz, bullies and bribes him to become the bridgeleader and so Gaz stays out of his way. He goes back to the barracks and learns the name of every men in Bridge Four.

Next morning, Kaladin starts training for bridge runs. He tries to get others to practice as well, but is ridiculed for the effort, though soon Teft and Rock start training with him. Kaladin starts bringing back the wounded back at this point. Kaladin, Teft and Rock start collecting knobweed sap to use on the injured and to sell it so they can have money for supplies. Kaladin tells Rock to cook meals every night and soon every man in Bridge Four accept Kaladin as their leader and start training with him. This cuts down their losses in bridge runs but Kaladin doesn't feel it's enough. They start practicing carrying the bridge sideways so they can use it as a shield from the arrows. This, however, undermines the strategy of the army and causes it to lose a battle. As a punishment, Kaladin is strung up on the side of a building facing east during a highstorm to be judged by the Stormfather. During the highstorm he has a vision of an inhuman, smiling face of darkness that is as large as he can see. His Surgebinding abilities allow Kaladin to survive the highstorm but he is still severely injured. It takes him ten days to recover, which is found to be miraculous and people start calling him Stormblessed again. Lamaril is executed and his replacement's, Brightlord Matal, wife Brightness Hashal informs Kaladin that Bridge Four will always work in chasm duty from then on. Kaladin realizes that the bridgemen are bait to the Parshendi and knowing no matter how much they cut their losses it will never be enough, he proposes that they escape and starts training the Bridge Four as spearmen.

Riding the Storm

During a highstorm, Kaladin dreams he is the storm. In the dream, he follows the path of the highstorms, travelling from east to west. He rages forward just ahead of the stormwall, soaring above Roshar. He sees many places including a city that Sigzil later confirms as Sesemalex Dar. He also sees a Shin man that appears remarkably like Szeth-son-son-Vallano. Interestingly this man appears to see Kaladin as well. Once he reaches the western ocean, he hears a voice calling Kaladin Child of Tanavast. The face he sees when he was strung up in the highstorm appears again and is reveled to be the source of the voice. The face informs Kaladin that the Oathpact is broken and Odium reigns. Kaladin wakes up, finding himself surrounded by the men of Bridge Four trying to restrain him from walking out to the highstorm.

Later that day, Bridge Four gets a new member, Shen. Kaladin makes sure he is accepted by the rest of the men. While talking with Syl, he asks if she knows about Odium which makes Syl run away without looking back. Confused about what happened, Kaladin stumbles upon a prostitute being beaten by a lighteyes. Adolin Kholin and a few of his soldiers come and save her. Adolin tells Kaladin to deliver a message and calls him bridgeboy which makes Kaladin indignant. Syl returns with no explanation about what happened.

In one of the next bridge runs, Dunny dies. Kaladin is frustrated, and starts rescuing members of the other bridge crews. Teft talks about how when Kaladin runs point, Parshendi arrows always miss them. Kaladin remarks his behavior as strange. One week later, Bridge Four find an emerald broam along with a number of smaller denominations. Kaladin decides they can't get the emerald broam out of the chasm but they will find a way to recover the other spheres. They attach the sphere pouch to an arrow and Rock shoots it at under one of the permanent bridges to be recovered later. Teft fakes throwing a punch to Kaladin and Kaladin instinctively draws in Stormlight and uses Full Lashing in front of Teft and Lopen. Kaladin confronts Syl about it and asks how he can get rid of it. They argue and Syl runs away, her feelings hurt.

In the evening, Kaladin meets Hoid while walking around the warcamp. Hoid gives Kaladin a Trailman's flute and asks him to look after his apprentice, Sigzil, and that he is graduated to a full Worldsinger. He also tells Kaladin a story about Wandersail which makes Kaladin think about responsibility. Kaladin decides to use Surgebinding to help Bridge Four and that he is not cursed. He goes back to Teft and they start practicing how to use Surgebinding consciously. Teft also teaches Kaladin about the Immortal Words. They run into Brightness Hashal and his husband, Hashal informs them that Bridge Four will be on bridge duty every day from then on while doing chasm duty at nights. While doing chasm duty, Kaladin finds a Parshendi corpse and cuts his carapace armor. He uses Full Lashing and ties the armor to the permanent bridge they used before. The next chasm run, Kaladin wears the armor and runs ahead of the bridge crews wearing the Parshendi armor. Parshendi are angry because Kaladin disturbed the corpse of one of their kind and focus their all archers on Kaladin. He manages to dodge them with his abilities and bridge crews manage to set their bridges without casualty. Others volunteer to run with Kaladin and they decide that five men should run before the bridge crews every time. While they are resting, a group of Parshendi soldiers ambush Bridge Four but Dalinar Kholin rescue them. Kaladin tells Leyten to make a set of armor for every man in Bridge Four, not just those running in front.

Battle of the Tower

In the Battle of the Tower, Sadeas abandons Dalinar and his army in the Tower Plateau and escape taking all of his bridge crews. Kaladin tells Lamaril that they will follow behind the army with their own bridge claiming they are too tired. He thinks they can fool the army into thinking they were dead by falling further and further behind. When he and Bridge Four see Dalinar's army surrounded by the Parshendi, they decide they cannot leave all those people to die while there is something they can do about it. Bridge Four charges to the plateau to set their bridge. Kaladin uses Reverse Lashing to draw the volley of the Parshendi archers who are firing on Bridge Four. He isn't ready for this however, and it leaves him unable to even stand up. Rest of the Bridge Four carry Kaladin back and return the set the bridge. Kaladin has a flashback to when Tien was killed. Remembering gives him strength and Kaladin runs back to the fight. He takes the Second Ideal of the Windrunners and almost holds back dozens of Parshendi by himself, defending the bridge. Bridge Four joins him and they manage to hold the bridge until Dalinar's army arrive. Kaladin goes to get Dalinar out from his fight with Eshonai. In the end, Kaladin and the Bridge Four manage to save Dalinar and over twenty-six hundred of his men. Dalinar, in his gratitude, buy all the slaves in the bridge crews from Sadeas with his Shardblade and free them. Kaladin accepts becoming bodyguard with the rank of captain for Dalinar and training the former bridgemen for Dalinar's army.

Bodyguard

This page or section contains spoilers for [[Book shorthand incorrect|Book shorthand incorrect]]!

This information has the ability to potentially ruin elements of the plot for the reader. Proceed with caution if you have not read this book.

[[Category: Spoilers for Book shorthand incorrect]]

Kaladin promotes Moash, Skar, Teft, Sigzil and Rock to lieutenants, a rank which is the equivalent of sergeant in companies made solely of lighteyes, because he needs a rank between squadleader and captain to form command structure for a thousand men.

Attributes and Abilities

Surgery

Kaladin has been taught surgery by his father, Lirin, from an early age. As a youth, he helped his father save people in Hearthstone. Lirin thought Kaladin was very talented and wanted him to go to the Great Concourse of Kharbranth. After Kaladin joined the army, he used his skills as a surgeon to save his fellow soldiers and bridgemen.

Spearman

“I could have beaten him. I probably could have beaten all four of them. I’ve always been good with the spear. No, not good. Durk called me amazing. A natural born soldier, an artist with the spear.”

—Kaladin to Sylphrena

Kaladin is a master spearman. His skills with the spear are remarked by multiple people as very impressing. During his time in Amaram's army, he was reputed to be the best spearman in the entire army.

Surgebinding

Kaladin has a Nahel bond with the honorspren Sylphrena which gives him the ability to Surgebind. He has access to the Surges of Atmospheric Pressure and Gravity. As with all Surgebinders, he has superhuman speed, strength and healing when he holds Stormlight. He has so far demonstrated the ability to use Reverse Lashing and Full Lashing, but not Basic Lashing. Kaladin is in the process of becoming a Knight Radiant from the Order of Windrunners. He has currently taken the first and second Ideals of his Order.

Kaladin is currently immune to the Thrill although that does not mean he never felt it. This may be because of his Nahel bond.

Quotes

“Perhaps you should pray to the Almighty for guidance. I hear he has a fondness for slavers. Keeps a special room in Damnation just for you.”

—Kaladin to Tvlakv

“Authority doesn't come from a rank. [It comes] from the men who give it to you. That's the only way to get it.”

—Kaladin to Sylphrena

“I don’t know what I am either. A bridgeman? A surgeon? A soldier? A slave? Those are all just labels. Inside, I’m me. A very different me than I was a year ago, but I can’t worry about that, so I just keep moving and hope my feet take me where I need to go.”

—Kaladin to Sylphrena

“Men are unreliable in many things. But if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s their greed.”

—Kaladin to Sylphrena

“Death isn’t better. Oh, it’s easy to say that now. But when you stand on the ledge and look down into that dark, endless pit, you change your mind. Just like Hobber did. Just like I’ve done. I think you’ve seen it too.”

—Kaladin to Teft

“Tradition is the blind witness they use to condemn us, Teft. It’s the pretty box they use to wrap up their lies. It makes us serve them.”

—Kaladin about lighteyes

“Soon you’ll hardly be a spren at all. You’ll be a little translucent philosopher. We’ll have to send you off to a monastery to spend your time in deep, important thoughts.”

—Kaladin to Sylphrena

“Shen is one of us now. I don’t care what he was before. I don’t care what any of you were. We’re Bridge Four. So is he.”

—Kaladin to the men of Bridge Four

“Storm you! Look at that! Who cares for them? Not Sadeas. Not their fellow bridgemen. I doubt even the Heralds themselves spare a thought for these. I won’t stand there and watch while men die behind me. We have to be better than that! We can’t look away like the lighteyes, pretending we don’t see. This man is one of us. Just like Dunny was. The lighteyes talk about honor. They spout empty claims about their nobility. Well, I’ve only known one man in my life who was a true man of honor. He was a surgeon who would help anyone, even those who hated him. Especially those who hated him. Well, we’re going to show Gaz, and Sadeas, Hashal, and any other sodden fool who cares to watch, what he taught me. Now go to work and stop complaining!”

—Kaladin about members of other bridge crews

“I’ve been here before! What happened last time? I’ve learned! I won’t be a fool again! I owe you nothing, Kholin.”

—Kaladin yelling before helping Dalinar's army