Tsa
| Tsa | |
|---|---|
| Titles | Queen |
| Skills | Architect |
| Religion | Worships Nomon |
| Era | Heraldic Epochs |
| Nationality | Natan |
| Homeworld | Roshar |
| Universe | Cosmere |
Queen Tsa was a ruler of the Silver Kingdom Natanatan on Roshar prior to its fall. In addition to being queen, she was an architect and designed great towers in one of her cities.[1]
Appearance and Personality[edit]
Tsa is pious and extremely devoted to Nomon, whom the people of Natanatan believed was represented by the moon Nomon.[1] She is also quite clever, as she was able to deceive Mishim.[1] She is also an extremely skilled architect, as her people were unable to find a flaw in the design of any of her towers.[1]
History[edit]
In Mythology[edit]
A folk tale about Queen Tsa and "the cleverest of the three moons," Mishim, is used to explain why the people of Natan have blue skin.[1] In the story, Mishim first tries to convince the queen to swap places with her by enticing her with descriptions of the marvelous sights of the heavens. Tsa turns down all of Mishim's advances, however, by telling her that such sights are not for mortals. Finally, however, Mishim convinces Tsa to trade places with her by telling the queen that one of her towers has a flaw that is only visible from above. Mishim warns that this swap will be dangerous, as they must conceal it from the moon Nomon, and Tsa promises to pretend to be Mishim and to look only on her towers.[1]
Mishim spends her night among mortals partying and is so caught up in the festivities that she does not remember that she has to return to the sky until the sun had already risen and Tsa, as the moon, had already set. As a result, she has to spend the next day on Roshar, during which she fears her siblings will discover what she has done and comes to understand the emotion of anxiety. Yet when Salas and then Nomon rise, neither call out to chastise her. At last, when Tsa rises, Mishim calls out to her to ask what had happened. Tsa replies that the other moons realized what had happened as soon as the two had swapped places and that they had welcomed her with feasts and songs, which makes Mishim jealous, as her siblings had never interacted with her like that before. Tsa then remarks that she might stay as the moon rather than return to Roshar, which prompts Mishim to understand the emotion of loss. Mishim attempts to argue that Tsa must return, because, by looking at the constellations and listening to the starspren, she has broken her promise to look only on the towers. Tsa replies that her promise is not broken, for Nomon himself gave her permission to do so, but eventually relents and agrees to return to Roshar.[1]
As Mishim sets that night, however, she is confused, as she hears a song she has never heard before, which she describes as "a song of laughter [and] of beauty."[1] A few months later, when she is passing over Tsa's city, Mishim understands this song as she sees Tsa holding a baby boy with faintly blue skin and realizes that she was tricked. Tsa wanted to spend a night in the heavens so that she could have a child by Nomon, whom the people of Natan held in high regard.[1]
Modern Day[edit]
Sigzil attempts to use the story to explain to Kaladin why he feels responsible for addressing the religious differences in Bridge Four, but fails to tell it properly and only ends up confusing Kaladin more.[2]
During the Siege of Kholinar, Shallan sees Hoid in a market telling the folk tale about Tsa and Mishim. According to Hoid, the story also explains why the "still crafty" Mishim has never tried to leave her place in the heavens since then.[1] Hoid creates smoke figures while telling the story, which Shallan thinks "can't be natural."[1] After telling the story, Hoid appears exhausted and ignores all requests for another story.