Tyn

Tyn
by Sheep
Died	Killed in self-defence by Shallan, Ishanah 1173
Profession	Con artist
Birthplace	Tu Bayla
Homeworld	Roshar
Universe	Cosmere

“War means desperation, and desperation is our mother’s milk, kid. ”

—Tyn to Shallan

Tyn is a con artist and an associate of the Ghostbloods. She is the head of the guards for Macob's caravan.

Appearance and Personality

Tyn is lighteyed and of medium height with a wiry build. Her hair is black and at least shoulder-length. She wears trousers and a long coat of good leather that looks almost like a dress, buckled at the waist. She covers her safehand with a tan glove and speaks Alethi without an accent.

Tyn eats the food she likes, whether it's men's or women’s food. She talks with confidence, relaxed and free. Shallan is often reminded of her when she sees people whose interactions are a subtle game of one-upping each other. Tyn enjoys acting above Shallan. She's smart and curious, and always wants to have the upper hand, which is why she investigates Shallan’s homeland, background, and even the history of her crew.

Tyn likes having an acolyte, someone to nurture, under her wing. Shallan suspects that is at least partly because Tyn likes having someone around to impress.

Attributes and Abilities

“The art of the con, of course. The grand act of pretending to be someone you aren't, then running off with the goods. ”

—Tyn

Tyn doesn’t have any magical abilities, nor any particular strength. She is generally resourceful and talented in ways that make her a good con artist. Her spanreed connection to the Ghostbloods gives her access to important information, like Shallan’s background and the news on Jah Keved.

History

Tyn was raised in Tu Bayla by parents who worked as interpreters.

by Marie Seeberger

Going along with Shallan's "Horneater princess" con

Macob’s caravan

Tyn’s team was assigned to kill Jasnah Kholin while the latter was on a ship to the Shattered Plains. As Shallan Soulcast the ship, the attackers didn’t survive, leaving Tyn stranded. Alone, Tyn found herself without spheres and subsequently came to Macob’s caravan to find a safe way into the Shattered Plains. She exaggerated her experience and became the head of the caravan's guards.

During their journey, the caravan was assaulted by bandits. Shallan's "soldiers" assisted them, helping them avoid complete loss. In return, Shallan asked for the caravan's company on their way to the Shattered Plains. Impressed, Tyn took Shallan as a con artist apprentice.

Throughout the trip to the Shattered Planes, Tyn taught Shallan many different things, from accents and passing for a lower class person or foreigner to sleight of hand and interrogating people. It was her "teaching" that caused Shallan’s first encounter with Kaladin to go so poorly when Shallan tried to bully him by pretending to be Horneater royalty.

Tyn’s death

When they were almost to the warcamps, Tyn invited Shallan to read spanreed messages together. There, not only did she provide information on her homeland, but she also confessed her intent of selling Shallan's deserters as bounty. Moreover, the spanreed wrote about Tyn's last job. Not only did it confirm that Tyn had been hired to kill Jasnah, but it also gave her information on Jasnah's ward -- Shallan herself. Realizing that she had been fooled, Tyn moved to kill Shallan. Though Tyn did manage to hit her hard, eventually Shallan summoned her Shardblade and killed her. Meanwhile, Pattern went to Shallan's deserters for help, asking them to go fetch her. When Tyn's soldiers resisted them, the deserters killed them.

Aftermath

After Tyn's death, Shallan took over the spanreed communication. Using Tyn's old spanreed letters, Pattern was able to crack the code so Shallan could continue the conversation, agreeing to a meeting with the Ghostbloods. Shallan also continued her training, and created the Veil persona based on Tyn. In the beginning, Veil used Tyn's clothing and eyedrops.

The Ghostbloods initially thought Tyn was either sick or using Veil to avoid confrontation. Eventually they figured out she had been killed by Shallan and offered the latter membership. Tyn was also responsible for Shallan not moving into the Kholin household in order to avoid indebting herself to them and for instilling the idea of playing "hard to get" with Adolin.

Relationships

Shallan

“If you’re going to fool people, you’ll need to learn how to act beneath them as well as above them. ”

—Tyn on becoming a con artist

During Shallan's time with Macob’s caravan, Tyn invites her to dinner, whereupon she confesses to having a spanreed connected to Tashikk, which she has used to inquire about Shallan; with the information she gathers, she decides Shallan is a fellow conwoman, and chooses to take her as an apprentice with the promise of the "goods" she thinks Shallan wants.

Shallan remembers killing Tyn at multiple points. She often compares confident people, like the bar patrons in the Breakaway, to Tyn. As Veil, she also uses many tricks and pieces of information that she has picked up from Tyn, including spreading a thin layer of powder on a surface to detect if it has been disturbed. Knowing that Tyn can pick locks, Veil is careful not to rely too fully on locks to keep anyone out of something she wants to keep safe.

Notes

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