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== History ==
{{image|Taln by Elisgardor.jpg|side=left|width=200px}}
=== Early Life ===
Talenel was born on Ashyn over 7000 years before the True Desolation,{{book ref|sa4|14}}{{book ref|sa4|76}}{{wob ref|11945}} and was a soldier and bodyguard.{{wob ref|11400}}
At some point during his life, Ashyn was scoured by uncontrolled Surgebinding, leaving most of the planet uninhabitable, and forcing him, along with much of the Ashynite population, to flee to Roshar.{{wob ref|9464}}{{wob ref|14434}}{{book ref|sa3|115}}{{au ref|Roshar}} Where they were accepted by the Singers and given the land that would come to be Shinovar.{{book ref|sa3|115}}
He was not initially intended to number among the Heralds and he was the only Herald who was not a king, scholar, or general.{{book ref|sa3|117}}{{wob ref|11400}}
=== Herald of the Almighty ===
Not much is known about Taln's life before he became a Herald, but he was not initially intended to number among them and he was the only Herald who was not a king, scholar, or general; serving as a soldier and bodyguard.{{book ref|sa3|117}}{{wob ref|11400}} As Herald, he and the others fought in a series of Desolations against the [[Voidbringer]]s and [[Odium]] in defense of mankind.{{book ref|sa1|45}} During each Desolation, Taln trained soldiers to fight the Voidbringers.{{book ref|sa2|i|7}} After each Desolation, Taln and the others returned to [[Braize]], where they were tortured.{{book ref|sa1|part=prelude}} Each time, if Taln himself was killed during the fighting, he automatically returned to Braize. After several Desolations, the [[Knights Radiant]] were founded by [[Surgebinding|Surgebinders]] with [[Ishar]]'s help{{epigraph ref|sa2|42}} and Taln became patron of the [[Order of Stonewards]], who shared access to the same Surges he possessed.{{epigraph ref|sa2|37}} It is possible that Hoid met Taln at some point during this time, as Hoid seems familiar with the man.{{book ref|sa1|epilogue}}
=== Aharietiam ===
After severalaround centuriesthree-thousand years of Desolations,{{book ref|sa4|111}} during [[Aharietiam]], also known as the Last Desolation, Talenel chose to attempt to hold a passage by a northern waterway, a near impossible task.{{book ref|sa1|part=prelude}} While he managed to defend it successfully, he was killed in the fighting and returned to Damnation. However, Taln was the only Herald to die in this Desolation. All of the other surviving Heralds, wearied by millennia of torture, chose to abandon the [[Oathpact]], leaving only Taln bound to it. Ishar believed that as long as one Herald remained bound to the Oathpact, this could end the cycle of Desolations. Taln alone remained bound to the Oathpact and returned to Damnation to be tortured.
=== Return to Kholinar ===
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