Kstled
| Kstled | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
| Profession | Soldier | ||||
| Nationality | Thaylen | ||||
| Homeworld | Roshar | ||||
| Universe | Cosmere | ||||
“The men dream terrible dreams full of premonitions, and their dread Passion creates omens. ”
—Kstled[1]
Kstled is a Thaylen soldier on Roshar. He serves as the man-at-arms of the Wandersail and leads the soldiers aboard the ship. He is the brother of Captain Drlwan.[2]
Appearance and PersonalityEdit
Kstled keeps his long Thaylen eyebrows sleekly tucked behind his ears.[2] He typically wears a shortsword at his waist.[3][4]
Kstled is Vorin, but (like many Thaylens) he still follows local traditions and superstitions. He believes in both negative and positive omens, and also cites the Passions. This causes conflict with Rysn and Drlwan, who disapprove of modern Thaylens putting stock into superstitions.[2][1][5]
Attributes and AbilitiesEdit
Kstled is very good at his job; he is courageous and trained in the use of several weapons.[6][4] He can take someone into custody very quickly and implies that he is capable of effective interrogation.[3] He is an experienced sailor and commands the trust and loyalty of his soldiers and the crew at large.[2][1][5]
HistoryEdit
Kstled was the man-at-arms of the Wandersail during the expedition to Akinah in 1174. Before the Wandersail began its journey, the ship's pet skyeel was found dead. Kstled interpreted that to be a bad omen, but was persuaded by Rysn that the presence of a Windrunner on the ship provided a counter-omen. He declined Rysn's offer to remain ashore after this discussion. He also agreed with Cord serving as the replacement for Nlan as the ship's cook.[2]
When Cord discovered that all the grain aboard the ship had been infested by worms, Kstled interpreted the event as an omen that the grain had been cursed by the Passions through 'dark Soulcasting'.[1] The crew later discovered a floating corpse of a santhid, which he also considered to be a bad omen. He argued with Rysn about whether touching the Santhid was a good thing or not.[5]
Kstled was a part of Rysn's plan to find the traitor on the ship. After she began to suspect Nikli of subterfuge, Rysn took steps to disprove his claims; she had Kstled thoroughly search Cord's room. When Nikli claimed to have found poison in the room the next day, Rysn knew it was lying and confronted it as the traitor. Kstled and two of his men subdued Nikli and put it into custody;[3] at the time, they did not know Nikli was a Sleepless and could not actually be held.[7]
Upon reaching Akinah, Kstled led a contingent of soldiers ashore to secure the beach.[8] When he found gemhearts on the beach, he was concerned that they could be cursed, but Rushu told him to gather them up anyway.[4]
When Lopen, Huio, and the crew were forced to fight against a large hordeling, Kstled led the retreat. He did not want to put the Wandersail in danger, so he retreated towards the ancient city on the island.[6] After the conflict ended, Kstled returned to the ship with Rushu and the other survivors. He and the rest of the crew presumably became quite rich due to the 'mountain' of gemstones they recovered on the island.[9]
RelationshipsEdit
RysnEdit
Despite Kstled's belief in bad omens, Rysn is often able to convince him to see the good side of bad events.[2][1][5] He eventually begins to trust Rysn and demonstrates this by referring to her using the proper title of Rebsk. Rysn trusts Kstled enough to make him part of her plan to find the traitor on the ship.[3]