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{{lifeform
|image=Parshendi Armyby Caio Santos.jpg
|world=Roshar
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
Singers predate humanity on Roshar.{{book ref|sa3|111}} Around the time of the [[Recreance]],{{epigraph ref|sa3|81}} many of the singers had their [[Connection]] and [[Identity]] stolen, pieces of their souls ripped away.{{book ref|sa3|17}} This made those singers docile and subservient, which humans called parshmen and used as slaves for millennia later.{{book ref|sa1|72}} With the advent of the [[Everstorm]], these singers were healed and restored.{{book ref|sa3|17}} Singers grow faster compared to humans but have slightly shorter lifespans.{{wob ref|13401}}
 
== GendersBiology and Appearance ==
[[File:Call to Adventure - Willshaper.png|thumb|right|200px|A femalen singer]]
The singers have four distinct genders, two that are recognised as similar to human male and female, and two neutered variants malen and femalen.{{wob ref|6621}} The majority of the [[#Forms|Forms]] are populated by the neutered genders, and their members are often asexual.{{wob ref|3400}}{{wob ref|3388}}
 
Singers are humanoid, but not entirely human-like. The most apparent sign of their alien nature is their skin; it's covered in marblings, swirls of various colors - red, black or white.{{book ref|sa2|i|1}} Most singers have two-colored skin; the marblings can appear in various way, both as delicate swirls and large, wind-swept patterns.{{book ref|sa3|i|7}}{{book ref|sa3|116}} There are singers whose skin has all three colors, but they are extremely rare.{{book ref|sa3|54}} Their hair are typically orange or red -- colors that don't seem to naturally occur for Rosharan humans.{{wob ref|5782}}{{book ref|sa3|109}}
There exists a group of singers identifying as a fifth, nonbinary gender.{{wob ref|11152}}
 
Other than their multicolored skin, singers have other features that differentiate them from humans. Their bodies have carapace growing over some parts of them; where and how much depends on what form the singer is currently in, but they typically cover the head and the arms.{{book ref|sa3|55}} In addition, their teeth are built differently than human ones; their molars allow them to chew threw shells, and their metabolism is geared towards metabolizing it, allowing them to make better use of the local fauna.{{wob ref|2778}} Also like many local species, singers possess [[gemheart]]s, though theirs are clouded white, and fused to their sternum.{{book ref|sa3|i|7}} Those gemhearts allow them to bond with [[spren]], letting them change their '''forms''', leading to a change in both appearance and some mental faculty.{{book ref|sa2|i|1}}
== Gemheart ==
 
Singers, like many Rosharan fauna, have [[gemheart]]s. Theirs are clouded white, and are fused to their sternum.{{wob ref|9353}} Like other animals with gemhearts, singers also bond with spren, with a bonded spren residing in the singer's gemheart.{{book ref|sa3|i|6}}
Despite those differences, singers are like humans in many [[Spiritual Realm|Spiritual]] aspects. Like humans, they can receives boons and curses from the [[Nightwatcher]].{{wob ref|1378}} They can also bond [[spren]] to attain [[Radiant]] powers, though most spren are unwilling to reach out for such a bond.{{book ref|sa3|120}}
 
=== Sexes and reproduction ===
Singers possess four distinct sexes; male and female, which are capable of reproduction, and their neutered variants, '''malen''' and '''femalen'''.{{book ref|sa2|i|1}} Singers' sex will change from between male and malen, or female and femalen, as they change forms; vast majority of forms is either malen or femalen, and only a few are capable of reproduction. As such, most singers are asexual vast majority of the time.{{wob ref|3400}}{{wob ref|3388}} Singers are usually of one of those four genders as well, though there exists a group identifying as a fifth, non-binary gender.{{wob ref|11152}}
 
Despite those differences, singers and humans are capable of cross-breeding, with [[Herdazian]]s and [[Unkalaki]] being notable example of human ethnicities with singer ancestry. Traits inherited by them include shell-chewing teeth, stone-like nails, and red hair, as well as higher number of asexual people in their societies.{{wob ref|3922}} It's unknown whether there are currently any people with human-singer ancestry who identify as singers.
 
== Forms ==
By staying out in a [[highstorm]] (or the [[Everstorm]]){{book ref|sa3|I-6}} with a [[spren]], singers are capable of bonding with said spren, which has the effect of changing their forms,{{wob ref|9897}} which alters their physical appearance and mental capabilities. When a singer changes forms, the spren used for the previous form is released.{{wob ref|136}} Singers can maintain their form indefinitely, without needing to resupply with a highstorm or [[Stormlight]].{{wob ref|11340}} [[Hemalurgy]] can be used to replicate the transformation of the forms.{{wob ref|3471}}
 
The [[listener]]s recounted many common forms in the [[Song of Listing]], which they only had access to only a small subset of. They also have songs which sung of dangerous forms of power in the [[Song of Secrets]] and the [[Song of Winds]].
 
=== Common Forms ===
These forms are mentioned in the listener [[Song of Listing]]. After the [[Recreance]] and before the [[True Desolation]], when the only singers who could think were the [[listener]]s, the listeners only discovered five forms: dullform, mateform, warform, workform, and nimbleform. When the [[Everstorm]] arrived and healed the other singers, singers held these forms and other common forms the listeners could not reproduce, such as artform and scholarform, and had a "dozen" options.{{book ref|sa3|I-|7}}
 
====Dullform====
 
===Slaveform===
{{quote
{{quote|slaveformSlaveform, the form with no spren, no soul, and no song. (...) It wasn't really a form at all, however, but the lack of any form.|[[Eshonai]] musing about slaveform{{book ref|sa2|I-1}}}}
|[[Eshonai]] musing about slaveform{{book ref|sa2|i|1}}
}}
 
There is also "slaveform," which is not a true form, but the lack of a bond with a spren or lack of a form. What mankind called for millennia '''parshmen''' are actually singers in slaveform. Slaveform did not exist until after the [[False Desolation]].{{wob ref|8400}}
They care about and are protective of their dead, usually objecting to anyone other than one of themselves tending to them.{{book ref|sa1|26}} This care for the dead presumably extended to corpses of other singers as well.{{book ref|sa1|55}} They also mated and formed nuclear families if humans didn't disrupt them. {{book ref|sa3|17}}
 
Slaveform singers lived among humans (notably the [[Alethkar]] but also in [[Jah Keved]] and [[Kharbranth]]{{book ref|sa1|3}}) and generally function as servants.{{book ref|sa1|prologue}} Barely of intelligence,{{book ref|sa1|55}} it is said that these people, if left in the woods, would stand around amiably until someone comes along to tell them what to do.{{book ref|sa1|28}}{{book ref|sa1|36}} Generally, a slaveform would take orders without any objection.{{book ref|sa1|3}} They could speak but rarely did so.{{book ref|sa1|7}} Humans bred singers who demonstrated they could successfully birth healthy children, splitting up families to do so.{{book ref|sa3|17}} Slaveform is described by Sah, a singer who had previously been trapped in the form, as "livingbeing in a fog...knowingdreamlike deepstate, invaguely youraware soul thatof something is profoundlybeing wrong...[but] not being able to say a, singleyet wordunable to stopname it."{{book ref|sa3|17}}
 
TheIn the past, a slaveform given [[Breath]] may become more cognizant, though that is now a moot point, as the passing of the [[Everstorm]] has healed all slaveformof singersthem by restoring their [[Connection]] and [[Identity,]]. andAs sosuch, this "form" no longer exists during the [[True Desolation]].{{wob ref|3643}}{{book ref|sa3|17}}
 
== Rhythms ==
 
The singers speak and sing to the rhythms; they carries the singers' emotions, as well as add meaning to their words. However, not all forms can attune the rhythms equally. Dullform can only hear them weakly; slaveform cannot hear them at all.{{book ref|sa3|55}} Additionally, those infused with the power of [[Odium]], mainly the [[Regal]]s and the [[Fused]], can only hear Odium's rhythms, also called the Rhythms of Power. Those rhythms, while similar to regular ones, are usually more violent and aggressive, and represent more twisted, angrier emotions -- for example, Ridicule replaces Amusement, and Command approximates Appreciation.{{book ref|sa3|i|3}}{{book ref|sa2|i|11}} They also feel and sound different than the ordinary rhythms.{{wob ref|1682}}
 
* [[Soother]]s can affect singer Rhythms and may dampen Odium's influence.{{wob ref|8424}}▼
 
== History ==
Singers predate humanity on [[Roshar]]{{book ref|sa3|111}} but both races existed prior to the Shattering.{{wob ref|3922}} After the [[Expulsion]], where mankind destroyed the [[Tranquiline Halls]], ancient singers were ordered by gods--perhaps [[Honor]] and [[Cultivation]]--to help the human refugees to Roshar.{{book ref|sa3|111}} These ancient singers were the Dawnsingers.
 
=== The Dawnsingers ===
At one point in their history, singers interbred with humans, creating the modern day [[Herdaz|Herdazians]] and [[Unkalaki]] (Horneaters).{{wob ref|5262}}
{{quote
|Our pity destroyed us.
|From the [[Eila Stele]]{{book ref|sa3|111}}
}}
 
Singers predate humanity's arrival on Roshar, having been created as part of the planet's natural ecosystem.{{wob ref|1723}} After the [[Expulsion]], where mankind destroyed their homeworld of [[Ashyn]], ancient singers were ordered by their gods to help the human refugees who arrived on their planet. These ancient singers were the Dawnsingers.{{book ref|sa3|111}} Initially, this seems to have gone rather peacably, with some singers and humans even intermingling, creating [[Herdazian]]s and the [[Unkalaki]].{{wob ref|5262}}
Humans used powers the singers were forbidden to touch, powers involving [[spren]] and [[Surge]]s, presumably some kind of [[Surgebinding]].{{cite}} However, humans also brought [[Odium]] with them, and the singers called these ancient humans the [[Voidbringer]]s. Humans were granted the lands of [[Shinovar]], but they expanded out eventually, and fought the singers. This original conflict was the [[First Desolation]], with humans on the side of Odium.
 
However, humanity's arrival also brought with it [[Odium]], and soon, conflict began. Humans, originally granted only the land of [[Shinovar]], sought to expand, causing conflict that would eventually come to be known as the [[First Desolation]]. During that time, singers came to call humans "Voidbringers", as they believed humanity deliberately brought Odium with them. In that conflict, [[spren]] eventually came to side with humans, leading to a feeling of deep betrayal on the part of the singers.{{book ref|sa3|111}} This being said, it seems as thoguh it was some sort of event that the singer partook in that had caused the spren to change their mind.{{wob ref|5653}}
According to the listener Song of Histories, after the singers felt [[spren]] betrayed them, the listeners turned to other gods (this song, however, could be warped to history). The exact timeline is not clear, but at some stage, there were souls of ancient singers, valiant soldiers at that time, had been granted great power from [[Odium]] to fight against humans.{{book ref|sa3|38}} The power from Odium made them into [[Cognitive Shadow]]s and allowed these ancient singers to be reborn in singer bodies, creating the [[Fused]].{{book ref|sa3|38}} The Fused came to rule the singers. The Fused ultimately despise humanity and want them wiped off Roshar, even if it required the destruction of Roshar.{{book ref|sa3|38}}
 
=== The Fused ===
To stop the Fused from being reborn, Honor chose ten humans to be the [[Herald]]s, and the Heralds would imprison the Fused on [[Braize]]. The Fused tortured the Heralds until one Herald relented, which allowed the Fused to Return to Roshar. When a Herald gave in, that started a Desolation. The Desolations continued for an unknown amount of time, nearly destroying humanity many times. Eventually, at the [[Last Desolation]], all Heralds except one, [[Taln]], abandoned their [[Oathpact]] and kept the Fused at bay for the next four and a half millennia.
{{for|Fused}}
[[File:The Fused by jurassicpencil.jpg|thumb|right|350px|<center><small>by {{a|jurassicpencil}}</small></center> A flying [[Fused]] ]]
 
At some point, [[Honor]] and [[Cultivation]] sided with humanity, while singers came to work with [[Odium]], who granted their most valiant warriors immortality and great power to fight against the human scourge. This power made them into [[Cognitive Shadow]]s, and allowed them to be reborn by possessing the bodies of other singers. Those immortal singers came to be known as the Fused.{{book ref|sa3|38}} They became both gods and rulers of singer-kind, and came to despise humanity, wanting them wiped off Roshar regardless of the collateral damage.{{book ref|sa3|38}}{{book ref|sa3|i|3}}
The singers, no longer the dominant species on Roshar, continued to fight humanity and the [[Knights Radiant]]. Around two thousand years after the Last Desolation, near the Recreance, there was the [[False Desolation]].{{book ref|sa3|56}} The [[Unmade]] [[Ba-Ado-Mishram]] Connected with the singers and provided them [[Regal|forms of power]] and [[Voidlight]], as Odium once did in the Desolations.{{epigraph ref|sa3|80}} The [[Knights Radiant]] sought to stop this threat by imprisoning Ba-Ado-Mishram. They succeeded but in doing so, stole part of singers souls, ripping out their [[Connection]] and [[Identity]].{{book ref|sa3|17}}{{epigraph ref|sa3|81}} These singers no longer had a form and were termed "slaveforms".▼
 
To combat them, Honor created the ten [[Herald]]s, who would imprison them on [[Braize]] until at least one of them broke, whereupon the Fused would return to Roshar and the a new [[Desolation]] would begin. The cycle continued for many centuries until finally, at the [[Aharietiam]], the Heralds decided to leave only the strongest among them, [[Taln]], to face the torture alone.{{book ref|sa3|38}}
Some singers who threw off the Fused and freed themselves, the [[listener]]s, were spared from this event, perhaps not Connecting with Ba-Ado-Mishram. The listeners became the only singers with their minds intact for millennia. They eventually formed the [[Parshendi]] nation around [[Narak]] before meeting with the [[Alethi]] and starting the [[War of Reckoning]].{{wob ref|5823}} The rest of the singers, however, were all essentially mindless, which the humans used as slave labor.
 
Not all singers, however, were on board with the plan to continuously battle humanity for Odium. One such group, the '''Last Legion''', abandoned the [[Regal]] forms granted to them by Odium and left for the [[Shattered Plains]], where they would eventually settle, far from the ongoing conflict. They would eventually dub themselves the '''[[listener]]s'''.{{book ref|sa2|i|4}}
Later, the listeners, manipulated by [[Voidspren]], entered stormform, one of the forms of power. In doing so, the listeners summoned a great storm at the [[Battle of Narak]]: the [[Everstorm]]. The Everstorm, full of Odium's power, passed through the world and restored the slaveform singers Connection and Identity, healed them.
 
=== The parsh ===
{{quote
|The parsh, as they are now called, continue their war with zeal, even without their masters from Damnation.
|From the [[Urithiru gem archive]]{{epigraph ref|sa3|77}}
}}
 
The singers, no longer the dominant species on Roshar, continued to fight humanity and the [[Knights Radiant]]. Over the centuries, they came to be known as the '''parsh''', though the meaning of the word is unclear.{{epigraph ref|sa3|77}}
 
▲TheAround singers,two nothousand longeryears after the dominantLast speciesDesolation, onnear Rosharthe Recreance, continuedanother toconflict fightbetween humanitythe andtwo species flared up. Dubbed the [[KnightsFalse RadiantDesolation]]., Aroundit twowas thousandnotable years afterfor the Lastparticipation Desolation,of near the Recreance[[Ba-Ado-Mishram]], thereone was theof [[FalseOdium]]'s Desolation[[Unmade]].{{book ref|sa3|56}} The [[Unmade]] [[Ba-Ado-Mishram]] Connected with the singers and provided them [[Regal|forms of power]] forms and [[Voidlight]], as Odium once did in the Desolations, allowing the singers to wage war at levels closer to those of the real Desolations.{{epigraph ref|sa3|80}} TheIn response, the [[Knights Radiant]] soughtimprisoned Ba-Ado-Misrham to stop this threat by imprisoning Ba-Ado-Mishram. They succeeded, but in doing so, stole part of singers' souls, ripping out their [[Connection]] and [[Identity]] and turning them into near-mindless husks.{{book ref|sa3|17}}{{epigraph ref|sa3|81}} These singers no longer had a form and were termed "slaveforms".
 
These singes without form -- "slaveforms" to listeners, and '''parshmen''' to humans -- would eventually become property of humans, turning into cheap, mindless labor that would be exploited for millennia to come.{{book ref|sa1|3}}{{book ref|sa2|i|1}} The only ones to have escape that fate were the listeners, likely thanks to having broken ties with Odium.{{book ref|sa2|i|4}}
 
=== The listeners ===
{{for|Listener}}
[[File:Parshendi Army.jpg|thumb|right|350px|<center><small>by {{a|Petar Penev}}</small></center> A [[listener]] army]]
 
The listeners would live on in the [[Shattered Plains]] for the next few hundred years, forming a number of groups settled in the craters around the western edge of the Plains. Eventually, they made contact with humans, and, thorugh diplomatic efforts, forged a treaty between the two species. However, on the night the treaty was to be signed, the listener [[Eshonai]] learned about human king [[Gavilar]]'s plans to return the "listener gods" -- the [[Fused]] -- to Roshar. Fearing the consequences, the listeners arranged for Gavilar to be assassinated.{{book ref|sa3|prologue}} As a result, they were forced to flee, abandoning even their homes for a more distant plateau of [[Narak]] right as humans arrived to exact their vengeance. Thus began the [[War of Reckoning]].{{book ref|sa2|i|4}}
 
After six years of constant warfare, the listeners, manipulated by the [[voidspren]], recovered the use of stormform, one of [[Regal]] forms. Spurred on by its mental state, they planned to summon the [[Everstorm]], which they've succeeded at during the [[Battle of Narak]].{{book ref|sa2|85}} As it passed over Roshar, the Everstorm restored all the Parshmen within, healing their [[Connection]] and [[Identity]].{{book ref|sa3|17}}
 
=== The new singers ===
{{quote
|Can't we simply enjoy being able to '''think'''? Being able to '''exist'''?
|[[Vldgen]]{{book ref|sa3|121}}
}}
 
TheseThe healednewly restored singers exemplifiedassumed traitsseemingly ofrandom theforms.{{book cultureref|sa3|i|7}} inTheir whichtemperaments, theyas hadwell livedas alltheir attitudes, became similar to those of the humans they spent their entire lives. Thearound -- the [[Azir|AzishAlethi]] singers submittedwere angry and warlike, the [[Azish]] aones complaintwished to negotiate with the government, whileand the [[Thaylenah|Thaylen]] singers stole the ships and sailed away.{{book ref|sa3|65}}Most Theseof singersthem, canhowever, rememberwere theirquickly livesswept beforeup by the were healed. [[SahFused]], awho singerhave whonow both [[Kaladin]]returned and [[Moash]]sought meet,to rememberscreate hisnew wifearmies takento fromconquer himRoshar and his anger at the eventwith.{{book ref|sa3|17}} These singers, though conscripted into Odium's forces, are generally reluctant to fight, though they hate their enslavement.{{cite65}}
 
To make those new singers more combat-ready, the Fused employed not only their natural anger at their former oppressors, but also hefty amounts of propaganda, most notably using the supposedly-last [[listener]], [[Venli]], as their mouthpiece.{{book ref|sa3|i|7}} However, many singers are still apprehensive about fighting humans, and some outright wish that peace was, in some form, an option.{{book ref|sa3|121}}
== Trivia ==
* Singers were not made by [[Honor]]{{wob ref|5636}}, [[Cultivation]]{{wob ref|5625}}, or [[Odium]]{{wob ref|5624}} but were created as part of [[Roshar]]'s ecosystem.{{wob ref|1723}}
* The singer gods are similar to the [[Herald]]s.{{wob ref|469}}
* The ten [[spren]] involved with the [[Knights Radiant]] don't accept bonds with singers because of some events in the past.{{wob ref|5653}}
* Slaveform given [[Breath]] may become more cognizant.{{wob ref|3643}}
* [[Hemalurgy]] can be used to replicate the transformation of the Forms.{{wob ref|3471}}
▲* [[Soother]]s can affect singer Rhythms and may dampen Odium's influence.{{wob ref|8424}}
* If a singer was able to access bronze Allomancy, they would find the pulses heard by a [[Seeker]] to be "somewhat familiar but a little odd".{{wob ref|11606}}
* Singers can receive boons/curses from the [[Nightwatcher]].{{wob ref|1378}}
 
== See Also ==
Rasarr
Keepers
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