Klade

Klade
Died	Ishi 1167
Groups	Council of Five
Species	Singer
Residence	Narak
Nationality	Listener
Homeworld	Roshar
Universe	Cosmere

“ Where is their music? ”

— Klade, on parshmen

Klade is a listener and former member of the Council of Five in Narak on Roshar.

Appearance and Personality

Klade wears typical listener clothing, including a cloth wrap, sash, sleeveless shirt, and vest. Like his colleagues in the Five, he usually wears workform. His age is unknown, but he is considered an elder, and his personality is generally reserved. He displays curiosity about human society on several occasions.

History

It is unclear when exactly Klade became a member of the Council of Five, but he seemed to be in a leadership position when the listeners first encountered the humans in 1166. He was one of the listeners that traveled with Gavilar Kholin and his team after Eshonai encountered an Alethi expedition into the Shattered Plains. Klade and Eshonai were among the first listeners to interact with the humans and learn their language, and they served as guides for Gavilar. Eshonai intentionally withheld information about their society, and was annoyed that Klade revealed tidbits such as the existence of ten cities along the border of the Plains. Before long, Klade had a good grasp of the Alethi language, and he seemed to be quite familiar with Gavilar; they would ask each other questions about their respective cultures. Klade was confused by the Alethi parshmen, as he had not previously encountered slaveform.

“It is not a form of power. It is within our rights to claim it.”

—Klade, on warform

Months after the humans departed, Klade and the rest of the Five had a meeting with Venli where she demonstrated her ability to trap spren in polestones. Klade took a pragmatic view of Venli's research, acknowledging that the ability to switch into mateform or warform could be quite useful. He advised Gangnah, the leader of the Five, on what this would mean for their society and their relationship with the humans. The listeners ultimately began to interact regularly with the humans, allowing them to hunt gemhearts, visiting their cities, and eventually agreeing to sign a treaty; Klade became known to other Alethi such as Jasnah.

Assassination of Gavilar

In late 1167, Klade decided to see if it would be possible to buy a slave in Kholinar. Upon arriving, he claimed that a voice that spoke to the rhythms led him to Szeth. The voice was presumably Ulim, who had been directed by Nale to find Szeth with the goal of eliminating Gavilar. Klade and Venli pressured Szeth until he confessed his abilities, and Klade provided Szeth with traditional flowing white robes that would earn him the nickname "Assassin in White".

On the night of the feast to celebrate the treaty between the Alethi and the listeners, Eshonai had a discussion with Gavilar in which he revealed his plans to bring back the ancient listener gods. He also gave her a sphere of Voidlight. Eshonai immediately took this information to Klade and the Five; after a brief debate, they decided that their recent acquisition of an assassin was a sign of what to do. Although they knew it would lead to war, the Five (and Eshonai) voted to have Szeth kill Gavilar. The councilmembers were visibly nervous after the feast began.

Klade, Gangnah, and Varnali remained in Kholinar palace in the wake of Szeth's assassination of Gavilar. They informed Jasnah that they were behind Gavilar's death, but would offer no explanation other than the fact that they had to stop Gavilar from doing something dangerous. Their surrender allowed other listeners to evacuate the area; they took Szeth's Oathstone and discarded it. After further fruitless interrogation, Klade and his colleagues were hanged for their crime.

Notes

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Big Smooth (talk) 23:11, 26 August 2021 (UTC)