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{{lifeform
|image=Parshendi
|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}}
==
[[File:Call to Adventure - Willshaper.png|thumb|right|200px|A femalen singer]]
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}}
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}}
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
====Dullform====
===Slaveform===
{{quote
|[[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
== 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}}
== History ==
=== The Dawnsingers ===
{{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}}
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}}
=== The Fused ===
{{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}}
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}}
=== 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}}
▲
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}}
}}
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}}
▲* [[Soother]]s can affect singer Rhythms and may dampen Odium's influence.{{wob ref|8424}}
== See Also ==
|