|
Odium used Venli to tell the story of the listeners to the new singers, to inspire them and show them that the people who summoned the Everstorm are singers like them, not beings of legend. Instructed by Odium, she painted the listeners as an heroic group, sacrificing themselves to free the enslaved singers, to be the foundation myth of Odium's growing empire.{{book ref|sa3|i|7}} However, Odium also feared the listeners, as the people who had rebelled against him, so he stopped allowing Venli to answer questions and instructed her to tell her story in a specific way.{{book ref|sa3|i|12}}
== Politics ==
The composition of the Five has changed over time as more [[Singer#Common forms|forms]] are discovered. At first, the Five were all in [[dullform]], and later, after the discovery of [[workform]], the members of the council were all in workform. When [[nimbleform]] was discovered, the Council changed to being made up of one member of each form. The Council had pondered whether to add another representative for each newly discovered form, but the discovery of [[stormform]] and the subsequent [[Battle of Narak]] meant that there was never an opportunity to do so.{{book ref|sa2|i|4}}
=== Composition ===
{{for|:category: Council of Five|a full list of those in the group|Category: Council of Five}}
{| class='infobox sortable' align=center
! Form !! Name
|-
| Dullform || [[Zuln]]
|-
| Mateform || [[Abronai]]
|-
| Nimbleform || [[Chivi]]
|-
| Warform || [[Eshonai]]
|-
| Workform || [[Davim]]
|}
== Culture ==
<!-- TODO: Mention Jaxlim's position as a keeper of songs somewhere -->
=== Families ===
Prior to the [[War of Reckoning]], the listeners were organized in tribe-like families that would vie for control of the ten cities along the western border of the Shattered Plains. Some notable listener families include:
;;{{anchor|First-Rhythm}}First-Rhythm
The family of [[Eshonai]], [[Venli]], [[Thude]],{{book ref|sa4|57}} [[Bila]],{{book ref|sa4|57}} and likely also [[Rlain]].{{book ref|sa4|81}} They were thousands strong around the time Eshonai first met with King [[Gavilar]]'s expedition and boasted a noble heritage, though it had been many years since they had controlled one of the ten cities.{{book ref|sa4|45}}
;;{{anchor|Living-Songs}}Living-Songs
The second family approached by the First-Rhythm family after the discovery of warform in their attempt at unification of the listener tribes.{{book ref|sa4|68}}
;;{{anchor|Pure-Song}}Pure-Song
Known to have raided the Fourth-Movement family out in the wilderness, away from any city, in an attempt to steal their weapons. This action earned them the scorn of other families.{{book ref|sa4|45}}
;;{{anchor|Fourth-Movement}}Fourth-Movement
Once raided by the Pure-Song family in an attempt to seize their weapons.{{book ref|sa4|45}}
=== Songs ===
{{expand}}
In order to remember their history and important skills the listeners remembered them via songs, each to the beat of a different rhythm of Roshar. The known songs are as follows:
{{columns|
* [[Song of Histories]]
* [[Song of Listing]]
* [[Song of Making Paper]]
* [[Song of Mornings]]
* [[Song of Revision]]
* [[Song of Secrets]]
* [[Song of Spren]]
* [[Song of the Fallen]]
* [[Song of Wars]]
* [[Song of Winds]]
}}
=== Language ===
;;Terms in the listener language
* essai -- human-lover (literally "hairy"){{book ref|sa4|60}}
* narak -- exile
* neshua kadal -- Knight Radiant
* ulo mas vara -- monster of the chasms/chasmfiend
;;Listener Concepts translated into Alethi
* long sleep -- the long span spent in dullform
* lull -- the time the Alethi call "The Weeping"
* Rider of Storms -- the Stormfather
* stormpause -- the span between two highstorms
;;Phrases and Idioms
See [https://coppermind.net/wiki/User:King_of_Herdaz/Curses_and_Phrases#Singer.2F|Listener Curses and Phrases]
== Other ==
Malen listeners grew beards, which they thread through beads infused with [[Stormlight]].
The listeners learned how to capture spren in gemstones by watching humans, then working out the process for themselves. This allowed them to change forms much more reliably. Before capturing the spren they wanted for the form, there was a chance a listener would end up in a form they did not want.{{book ref|sa2|i|4}}
Gavilar believed the humans stole the parshmen's ability to transform by capturing "an ancient, ''crucial'' spren" in a gemstone.{{book ref|sa3|Prologue}} This belief is correct; the existence of slaveform is due to the capture of Ba-Ado-Mishram.{{book ref|sa3|17}}{{epigraph ref|sa3|81}}
The listener language is descended from the [[Dawnchant]] and is related to the [[Shin]] and [[Unkalaki]] languages.{{wob ref|3977}}
Listeners grow faster than humans, being able to sing the songs by age 3 and being considered an adult by age 10. {{book ref|sa4|83}}
== Notable Listeners ==
* [[Rlain]]
}}
==See Also==
* [[Singer]]s
* [[Fused]]
* [[Voidbringer]]s
== Notes ==
|