Rlain
| Rlain | |
|---|---|
 by ktep
| |
| Groups | Bridge Four |
| Species | Singer |
| Homeworld | Roshar |
Rlain (nicknamed Shen) is a Parshendi and member of Bridge Four.[1]
Appearance and Personality
Appearance: Rlain, as Shen in Dullform, has the classic Parshendi skin of red and black marbled patterns. He looks like many of the other parshmen. He had the Bridge 4 / freedom tattoo placed upon his forehead. [2] Rlain in Warform he has an orange-red skullplate and armored carapace at the chest, thights, and outer arms. He remained as tall as an Alethi but more muscular in body type. Rlain’s Bridge Four tattoo remained on his forehead, but now it blends into his skullplate. [3]
Personality: Shen remains quite for much of Way of Kings. He asks “Am I really Bridge Four?” and “Where is my spear?” of Kaladin. He states “A salave I am, then” after Kaladin says the Lighteyes would object to a parshmen with a spear. [4] This shows more intelligence than the pharsmen display. He shows flashes of pride after being granted a spear and apologizes to Kaldain when he leaves. Later when he returns to the Alethi, he is mournful of the loss of his people. [3]
History
About four years before the Everstorm he was tasked with becoming dullform to disguise himself as a parshman and infiltrate the warcamps. He travelled between warcamps for three years[3] before becoming part of Bridge Four.[citation needed]
Rlain is placed in Bridge Four as an experiment by Hashal, to see if parshmen could be trusted to run bridges. The members of Kaladin's crew violently distrusted the parshman, wanting to place him up at the front of the bridge to be hit with an arrow instead of a human bridgeman, but Kaladin refused, giving the parshman the name "Shen" and insisting that he was to be treated as a member of the crew.[1] Rlain was upset by the crew's scavenging from dead Parshendi, and even more upset when Kaladin used Parshendi carapace as armour during a bridge run, to the point where he ended up being left behind on subsequent runs. He was retrieved from Sadeas warcamp and brought with the rest of the bridgemen to Kholin warcamp following Sadeas' betrayal and Bridge Four's rescue of Dalinar.
Rlain confronted Kaladin over not being given a spear like the other former bridgemen[4], and was given one after Dalinar permitted it as an experiment.[5], Rlain accompanied Adolin when he met with Eshonai to try to arrange a truce, and later that day, he left the Warcamps to rejoin the Parshendi. Rlain went back to Narak, and gained warform. He eventually defected from the Parshendi, realizing that the change in Eshonai had corrupted his people. Bridge Four accepted him back, and he helped in the strategy of attacking the Stormform Parshendi.[6]