A prerequisite for enjoying and understanding this theory is that you have read several books that used to bring it together:
It would also help to have read "History of Tak", but it isn't strictly necessary.
Without careful inspection of each of these books, most of this theory will be confusing or worse, ruin the fun for you. Ideally, any reader considers themselves well versed in KKC lore and feel there are few if any doors left to open before book three is released. Put frankly, spoilers or fan fiction ahead. You decide which!
The theory is that Newarre is near Trebon and the Mauthen farm. The idea relies on several elements that will discuss individually, either here, or in other posts which I'll link to. The bulk of this theory is a piece of another titled Warren Widdershins Ways and Woes in which Auri gets the ingredients for a candle. To get those ingredients, she travels to the Mauthen farm and the Williams farm. The Williams are farmers who live in Newarre, which, as this theory claims, is just some miles across the stream from the Mauthen arm.
That post isn't written to highlight the locations however, it covers what she is doing at the Farms and doesn't try to prove that they are the Williams and Mauthens Farms.
I would like to hear your thoughts, the more specific the observation the better. e.g "but old cob prefers a wine from Vintas, that suggests they're in Vint!". That's something we can all think about and I might be able to address.
I'm going to break theory into several parts:
First, I cover the means by which she gets there in Ways to safe places. So either read that first or accept that she can cover the necessary distance in a relatively short amount of time. What were going to do here is cover similarities between the places Auri visit's in the SROST and the Williams Farm in Newarre (from TLT) followed by the Mauthen Farm.
This requires you to read the chapter "A quite uncommon pleasant place" in SROST. and pages 766 to 771 in TLT. Pulling direct references would become tiresome quickly for you as it would be nearly everything between those pages and you wouldn't have the narrative to help. That being said, I'll go ahead and do that in a section called "Covering the text"
For now, I'm just going to bullet point them.
Relationships between the Farm Auri's visit (SROST) and the Williams Farm (TLT):
In terms of a time frame, Auri visit's before Bast, which explains why the tall barn had fallen into disrepair. The barn Auri sees is stone on the bottom and wood on top, which is why later when Bast sees it, the roof had rotted away is and now gaping open.
Note, I have left out some of the symbolic evidence, the Warrens theory, that ties the location Auri visit's to the Williams Farm even further. We are also ignoring the narrative that would explain how and why because it would distract from the overwhelming physical evidence. There are around 10 plus similarities here. Ask your self how much discussion is had about other idea's which only a fraction of the connections? Rothfuss hide a lot of details in SROST that are easy to over look because of Auri's nature.
The Williams Farm is actually the second stop on Auri's trip. We started there because there is more evidence. Her first stop, I'll now try to convince you is the Mauthen farm. In order to get to get their Auri has to cross a stream:
Later still, Auri crossed a creek she’d never seen before and was surprised to find a tiny farmhouse tucked among the trees.
Which would likely be the same stream Denna and Kvothe stop at in NOTW:72:549
We wandered wordlessly away from our search, neither one of us wanting to admit that we were eager to give it up, both of us feeling in our bones how pointless it was. We followed the sound of running water down the hill until we pushed through a thick stand of pine trees and came upon a lovely, deep stream about twenty feet across.
Had they gone farther, they would have gotten to Newarre, but they didn't because of those damn... pegs.
I want to underline that I suspected the Mauthen Farm was the GraveYard were about to discuss before I saw this. I considered the graveyard could be the Haert or The Cthaeh's tree. But it isn't either, it's the Mauthen Farm. Discussed in part, in a chapter of the Name of the wind, called Waystone. But Pat's hint dropping in the chapters doesn't stop there, recall that the chapter in SROS that were discussing is called "A Quite Uncommon Pleasant Place". This refers to the second part of her Journey to Newarre. Which she found
Surprised by pleased. It was a seemly place.
Quite is often confused with Quiet. Another gentle nod from our author referencing Kote's silence.
But Let's continue on, and return to Mauthen Farm and compare it to the graveyard Auri visit's:
You should see Chapter seventy-two in NOTW and some of the following chapters for reference.
Here are the ways in which the Mauthen Farm is like the graveyard Auri visit's in chapter in SROST chapter "A Quite Uncommon Place":
This is less direct evidence than we got for the Williams Farm. Let's consider some speculative and metaphorical evidence before going on:
Those are some strong connections and some weaker ones. As it stands however, compared to other locations in the book, It's far more likely to be the Mauthen farm.
In what I can assume is Pat being awful clever, were given a couple of hints via wordplay that likely have been remarked upon but not with supporting evidence.
Less easily spotted is the double meaning to peg.
A peg is a bolt or pin that holds something in place or marks a location.
A head nod by Pat that this is an important location. Figuratively, peg is "A support; a reason; a pretext." Here the pegs serve as the reason Kvothe and Denna give up there hunt.
More noticeable is the use of the word "nowhere" to describe the location. However, it might have slipped your attention that it's mentioned exactly three times in our main series:
“But this is nowhere.” She looked around aimlessly. “This is the outside edge of nowhere....”
“At least now we know why he was hiding in the middle of nowhere with a crossbow and a lookout and all that,” Denna said. “A minor mystery solved.”
She makes up an excuse to wander around the middle of nowhere with you for a couple of days....”
Listen three times, Newarre is near Trebon.
It might be useful to have one or both maps of the Four Corners at hand. As misleading as they are at times, its better then nothing. You should head down to Worldbuilders and buy everything they have. I'll use the old map and old ways are best.
This section will cover hints we get from Kote's time line that suggest the location of Newarre.
Bast's room is likely full of little delights and mysteries I haven't picked apart. One thing we need to take note of here is the rings that rest on his shelves. TWMF::10
There were shelves filled with pictures, trinkets, and oddments. Locks of hair wrapped in ribbon. Whistles carved from wood. Dried flowers. Rings of horn and leather and woven grass. A handdipped candle with leaves pressed into the wax.
Rings of horn, leather and woven grass. Those particular kinds of rings however are conspicuously mentioned by another enigma half a world away. TMWF::446
“That’s true for the most part,” Bredon said. “But the giving of rings goes back quite a ways. The common folk were doing it long before it became a game for the gentry. And while Stapes may breathe the rarified air with the rest of us, his family is undeniably common.” Bredon set the white ring back onto the board and folded his hands over it. “Those rings were made of things ordinary folk might find easily at hand. A young lover might give a ring of new green grass to someone he was courting. A ring of leather promises service. And so on.” “And a ring of horn?” “A ring of horn shows enmity,” Bredon said. “Powerful and lasting enmity.”
Bredon conspicuously describes the same kinds rings Bast has in his possession:
It's worth considering here, in a post about the location of Newarre, because because were shown that ring giving is a Vintish tradition. Overall this implies Bast has a relationship with Vintas, the tradition of rings, it's history or Bredon himself. Bredon says the custom of ring giving goes way back? How far back? I think Skarpi tells us of one of the first examples of ring giving, if not the first. NOTW::198
They came to Aleph, and he touched them. He touched their hands and eyes and hearts. The last time he touched them there was pain, and wings tore from their backs that they might go where they wished. Wings of fire and shadow. Wings of iron and glass. Wings of stone and blood.
Time tends to warp stories, like a game of whispers played through the ages, but that isn't the case here as our story teller was likely around to see it himself, being on a first name with Tehlu and all. However, he gives us the wiggle room we need by implying he might have fudged some details. NOWT:192
“More or less. You have to be a bit of a liar to tell a story the right way. Too much truth confuses the facts. Too much honesty makes you sound insincere.”
So, considering we have meet anyone with wings of power, but plenty of people with rings of power. It's reasonable to assume ring goes way back, older then tree or stone. Enough that we might see some form of it everywhere. Indeed we see an example first hand at the University. TWMF::317
“Fela,” he said seriously. “I hereby promote you to the rank of Re’lar.” He held up the ring. “Your hand.” Almost shyly, Fela held out her hand. But Elodin shook his head. “Left hand,” he said firmly. “The right means something else entirely. None of you are anywhere near ready for that.” Fela held out her other hand, and Elodin slid the ring of stone easily onto her finger.
I also suspect the universities admissions process, of drawing random tiles from a bag, might share a historical lineage with the giving of rings and possible Tak. NOTW::413
I drew a tile out of the black velvet bag. It read “Hepten: Noon.” Five days from now, plenty of time to prepare.
Were told at least one of the types tiles is ivory. NOTW::74
I drew the ivory admissions tile out of my purse
Fela's tile was ivory too, and as their marked, I assume they are all Ivory.
Ivory is from tusks and teeth of animals, horn refers specifically to projections off the animal. There likely close enough to be interchangeable. If the admissions process traces its roots back to the same origins as ring giving, the implications are unsettling to say the least.
Coming full circle, we travel back across the world where Bredon teaches Kvothe a game nearly as subtle as naming called Tak. Where tiles are also drawn from black velvet bag as well, how delightful unnerving is that? TWMF::390
I play a longer, more subtle game.” He began to work the drawstring loose on the black velvet bag*.
Tak is a beautiful game, for some it's about mastery and wealth for others about courtly elegance. The materials, rules and names changing from place to place. True artist make a game of the game itself, using items of power, prestige layered with hidden meaning to up the anti. Indeed some games were played for the position of the board and materials itself. I would dearly love to see our Tak teacher, use his walking stick's wolf's head (as a capstone) to beat Kvothe in a game, it might improve his game a good deal to be humbled further.
TWMF:
“Of course,” I said graciously. “Please have a seat.” I gestured toward the new table by the window. “Such aplomb,” he chuckled, leaning his walking stick against the window sill. The sunlight caught on the polished silver handle wrought in the shape of a snarling wolf ’s head. Bredon was older.
I'm sure he wouldn't burn him to badly. Burn of course not referring to a physical mistreatment but a Tak term used to describe winning the game. HOT:
The gathered crowd were rapt withal To see the stranger burn.
The term used in a famous game played in Abbot's Ford. However, its bets to be to harsh as you always want your dancing partner to come back.
It's possible if you play enough games you might have get a chance many would dread and some envy, of playing Breon Mercer, who was said to be a "beast in the skin of man". History Of Tak (HOT):
It is said that Jezzered played with an emerald capstone carved in the shape of flower, until he lost it to Breon Mercer, to whom he later referred as "a beast in the skin of a man."
Yes, even the Fae and possible skin dancers of old enjoyed a good game once and a while. Bred... oh, I'm sorry the Breon, certainly traveled the world and became famous for it. HOT:
Breon Mercer, a charming rogue who traveled the world in high style, financed mainly by his winnings at Tak
Breon traveled the world and so did Tak, it's name and rules have changed through time and spread through out the world to fit the people and customs of the four corners. What was it called originally? I suspect that would be telling indeed. Before this turns into a lesson on Tak, which I'm not ready to gave, let's refocus.
Ring giving and Tak are ancient subtle games that rely on knowing the board, your opponents and mostly importantly yourself. Kvothe hasn't taken us to much of the world, but I suspect will see them played everywhere.
In short, trying to place Newarre based on Bast's rings is problematic as he isn't a stone and might have moved around and found them else where. It's possible his rings are more of a commentary on his relationship with another man, who plays like a beast when pushed. HOT:
It is with deference and respect that I offer my own suggestion, that this term refers to the infamous Breon Mercer, who traveled the world living by his wits and his winnings from Tak. Reportedly, Mercer was capable of playing the subtlest of courtly games, but when money was on the line, he was known to eschew the niceties of play, and destroy his opponents with astonishing tactical brutality.
Finally, they could be Kvothe's rings, after all Kvothe gave Bast his folly.
The interludes from Kvothe's story give us some hints about the current state of the world that Kote is living in. One of the strongest hints in terms of Newarre's location comes from the colors the soldiers that give Kote a beating near the end of TWMF:136:897
The door of the Waystone opened and a sudden gust of wind made the lamplight flicker. Two soldiers came in, hunched against the weather, their swords sticking out like tails behind them. Dark spatters of rain spotted the fabric of their blue and white tabards.
They wear blue and white, which strongly indicates they were or are in the Maer's service. TWMF:54:374
They wore the Maer’s colors but beneath their sapphire and ivory
I think it's unlikely Rothfuss would trick us so cheaply by having someone take his colors; it would also be very awkward politically. This doesn't necessarily mean Newarre is near Severen. This indicates Newarre is accessible to soldiers or deserters of the Maer's army.
When we leave Kote at the end of TMWF, we know there is a war going on. One that Kote doesn't approve of, which is evident when he tries to talk the smith's apprentice out of joining it. TMWF:2:371
“I know how this war started. I know the truth of it. Once you hear that, you won’t be nearly so eager to run off and die fighting in the middle of it.”
The war was gong on in Kvothe's time-frame as well, only it hadn't come to armies marching. A slow secret war where members of the Peerage seemed to be dropping off the board. Lets recap the Peerage here, though this topic likely needs its own space. Sim gives us a start. NOTW:43:309
“Actually he’s sixteenth in the peerage,” Sim said matter-of-factly “You’ve got the royal family, the prince regents, Maer Alveron, Duchess Samista, Aculeus and Meluan Lackless....” He trailed off under Manet’s glare.
with Barron Jackass a bit further down
We know the Maer is taking Meluan to wife, which greatly strengths his position. We also know that some people a bit further down this list between Baron Jakis and the thrown have meet with some tragic events we can assume are likely in part due to the Baron's power grab. The easiest to spot is the tragic loss of the Surthen family, who were lost at Sea. NOT::309
“His father ’s one of the most powerful men in Vintas,” Manet added, then turned to Simmon. “What is he, sixteenth in line to the throne?” “Thirteenth,” Simmon said sullenly. “The entire Surthen family was lost at sea two months ago. Ambrose won’t shut up about the fact that his father ’s barely a dozen steps from being king.”
An accident the Baron could likely arrange given turning your navy into pirates is just a matter of a wardrobe change and he controls the area around which they disappeared. TWMF:1:944
“In this and many other things, I aim to disappoint,” I said. “I was sure he’d done it,” Devi continued. “His father ’s barony is called the Pirate Isles. I was sure
The reason for highlighting this is because, as suggested earlier, there is a war brewing in the background and a war outright in Kote's timeframe. Power and likely land is changing hands. The Maer's reach might be far greater then our maps imply.
We have further implicit evidence that Newarre is far from the Maer's seat of power in Severen. For one, it wouldn't be terrible clever for Kvothe to hide near the people who are hunting him. Keep in mind we haven't established the Maer put the bounty on Kvothe's head. But we have some hints as to who did. NOTW:2:521
The innkeeper nodded. “Right. So if you were Kvothe, and terrible clever, as you say. And suddenly your head was worth a thousand royals and a duchy to whoever cut it off, what would you do?” The smith’s prentice shook his head and shrugged, plainly at a loss.
Royals are part of the official currency in Vintas.
A Gold Royal is the coin that the smiths apprentice is tempted by. TWMF::483
These days they hand you over a royal when you sign up. A whole gold royal.”
It's at the coin we see the bandits stealing from the Maer. TWMF:1:5:
At a rough count, there were over two hundred royals. While I’d never actually held one, I knew a single gold royal was worth eighty bits, almost as much as the Maer had given me to finance this entire trip
As well as the coin, carried by the solider who beat up Kote. TWMF::898
“Well that’s a difficulty,” the blonde soldier said with a bit of an embarrassed smile. “I’d dearly love a drink, but my friend and I just took the king’s coin.” He reached into his pocket and brought out a bright gold coin. “This is all the money I have on me. I don’t suppose you have enough to break a whole royal, would you?
Both the Maer and the King of Vintas use the Royal. But there is another hint from Kvothe in the reward offered to capture him. TWMF::521
And suddenly your head was worth a thousand royals and a duchy to whoever cut it off, what would you do?”
So who could offer a duchy? What culture even used duchies in the first place? We know that Sim's father is a duke and has a duchy. NOTW:290
“Sim’s father holds a duchy in Atur. Good land, but—”
Duke's have duches. Gibea was a Duke and Sim grew up not far from his lands. So its safe to say Atur.
This is all strong evidence that the current (kotes timeline) King of Vint is the one who put a bounty on Kvothes head. How would the King of Vint be offering a Duchy from Atur? Lets stow this idea for a moment and touch on one more piece of evidence were given early in the books, when Kote suggests the he thinks the mountains have slowed down the Scrael. NOTW::7
The innkeeper’s eyes were distant. “Scrael,” he said distractedly. “I’d thought the mountains—”
Again, this is hardly definitive as there are mountains everywhere. But it's worth keeping in mind. More helpful is that Kote suggests the Scrael had to travel far west. NOTW::228
The innkeeper frowned. “They can’t have made it this far west yet,” he said softly.
Severen and Vintas isn't far west compared to most of the rest of the four corners. If the Scrael are coming from the Eld, its very possible Kote is talking about The Six Sisters mountain range.
Time to take off your tin foil hats and put on your thinking caps.
If you were Kvothe, and terrible clever, would you settle in Modeg or Ceald, where you would stick out like a sore thumb? Would you settle in Vintas or Atur, either or both of which were controlled by the ruler who has put a bounty on your head? Where you name and description are likely being circulated?
The two soldier's are likely deserters. Or can you come up with a reason why there wandering around as only pair and beating up inn keepers. They don't seem overly worried about keeping there colors on, which would be extra foolish if they were in the strong hold of Vintish power. No, there not worried because there in the middle of nowhere.
If it's the current king of Vintas, that put the bounty out, why are the soldiers wearing the Maers colors? The obvious answer is that the King has brought the Maer into his service as is likely his right. But the soldiers claim to have just taken the Kings coin and they show the it off to prove it. This implies they just joined the kings ranks and they were clothed in the Maer's colors. So maybe the Maer is the new King of Vintas, but then how is the Maer offering an Aturn Dutchy? The answer is simple, there is a war, the Maer now controls Vintas, part of Atur and his reach extends into the Commonwealth.
The world is on fire, ancient wars are burning bright and somewhere near Trebon an inn keeper stares into the night sky and wanders what the winds will bring him next.
Early on in their meeting, Kvothe asks Chronicler about the Road to Tinuë. NOTW:
“Before we discuss the possibility that you’ve addled your wits with that crack to the head, tell me, how is the road to Tinuë?”
This is important to touch on, because if we assume he is talking about "The free City of Tinue" in Vintas, this again would imply Newarre is in Vintas. Chronicler is confused at first, but he recovers, remembering something, he replies more or less that's not going well.
“What?” Chronicler asked, irritated. “I wasn’t heading to Tinuë. I was ... oh. Well even aside from last night, the road’s been pretty rough. I was robbed off by Abbot’s Ford, and I’ve been on foot ever since.
Now, I have theories about that word that would leave you frothing at the mouth and tearing our your hair, but I'll contain myself and suggest that the question has little to do with the physical location of "Free city of Tinuë" as displayed on the map.
Wil remarks that the language of the commonwealth is rich with idioms, and that "How is the road to Tinuë" is one of the worst offenders. Idioms hide secrets in plan sight, and this one is no different. Tinue comes up in the background alot:
Jax passed through Tinuë, the Lackless once controlled it, Sceop was on his way to it and Denna says she has visited it. Tinkers suggest you try their limes. It once was a shining beacon of art during the reign of Verian. Once there was a vicious game of Taket played there between a brewer and a tanner played there. The book on Tak is called "The Road to Tinuë: A history of Tak".
A drunken Tinker might turn our map upside a couple times, let his eyes glaze over, and start wonder if the great stone road isn't a bridge of another sort. Lastly, Tinusa was one of the eight remaining cities in Skarpi's story. Was this the city that remembered the Lethani?
In short, Tinuë is a mystery and it's enough for our purposes here to say asking about it might mean more then referring to the city on our map. I suspect it's a code phrase to see if you understand the hidden turnings of the world. Maybe the Chronicler got it right. But it doubt it, for my part, I think Rike in his heart knows the way things are going. TLT:
“Rike.” Bast’s voice held none of the friendly, bantering tone he’d used with the town’s other children. “How’s the road to Tinuë?” “It’s a long damn way,” the boy said bitterly, not meeting Bast’s eye. “We live in the ass of nowhere.”
A long damn way indeed.
I purpose that Newarre is in the Commonwealth and it's near Trebon. This idea likely isn't new, but it has some issues that need to be resolves. So let us address some counter-arguments and preexisting works and see if anything blows a hole in this idea. Parts of my answers will be covered else where in this post but I want to respond to these concerns one at time so we don't overlook anything.
One of the more cited pieces on Newarre is this post in 2012 on tor. Where the author says it's conclusive and no one has challenged it. I'll be going through this piece by piece and adding commentary. the pattern will be:
quote from post
My commentary.
..
Newarre is most likely in western Vintas, probably on the southern border of the Eld.
The first piece of evidence we have is Kvothe's admission that the Scrael come from the east and his surprise that they’ve “made it this far west yet.” He “thought the mountains” presumably would have stopped them or slowed them down.
Looking at the map, we see that the only significant mountain ranges that could have held them back are the Stormwal mountains in the far east and possibly the Eastern Cealdish range. Mountains in the Commonwealth are on the western shore (and Newarre is clearly not a port community) and none in Yll appear to run north-south.
C12VT in Thread 1 pointed out this suggests a far western location, but I think that’s a slight overreaction. More likely is the idea that he’s decently west of a mountain range (or that the mountain range is westerly), rather than on the other side of the continent.
Someone suggests it's far western, which is good for my theory. I can't find the comment there referencing though.
This leaves us with three countries that border a sizable mountain range: Ceald, Modeg and Vintas.
Kvothe doesn't say the mountain range was sizable.
We can rule out Ceald because a) no one appears to be speaking Siaru (unless they all are and Kvothe isn’t mentioning it) and b) “grown Cealdish men don’t give away money. . . . They don’t even buy things if they can help it” (NotW, 223). This isn’t behavior we’ve noticed in Newarre. Also, I haven’t noticed any descriptions of the “ruddy complexion and dark hair and eyes” that characterizes a full-blooded Ceald (NotW, 226).
agreed
Here are the arguments for why it’s Vintas:
The smith’s prentice states that the “king’s coin” is not “a silver noble” but “a whole gold royal” (WMF, 18). The soldiers who attack Kvothe learns of his apparent wealth by asking to break a gold coin, a “whole royal.” (WMF, 891). This is confirmed to be Vintish coin when Kvothe discusses having “two gold royals, four silver nobles ” after being dismissed by the Maer (WMF, 927). We know that “beer is three shims and a private room costs copper,” but that doesn’t provide us with much as “shim” appears to be used generically to mean a small amount of money (NotW, 44).
Chronicler carries a “whole silver talent in a jar of ink,” but he travels extensively and, as he noted, it’s more a “luck piece” (NotW, 20-21).
I cover this in Coins and Colors
Next, Bast has on his shelf “[r]ings of horn and leather and woven grass” (WMF, 985). Coincidentally, those are the exact three examples used by Bredon to describe how the common folk (presumably of Vintas) use rings. (WMF, 444). […]
I cover this more in Rings and Wings.
Now why I believe Newarre is on the Southern edge of the Eld. This is going to be accomplished by a curious triangulation.
First, Kvothe, when he first meets Chronicler at the Inn, asks him, “How is the road to Tinue?” We know this is an idiomatic expression (NotW, 273), but Chronicler reaction is confusion, followed by “I wasn’t heading to Tinue.” This implies that they are currently somewhere close enough to Tinue for that expression to be literally askable.
I cover this in Roads and Codes.
Second, when Kvothe fakes having a bum knee in the beginning of NotW, he mentions that he got the “wound” “on my way through the Eld three summers ago. It’s what made me give up the good life on the road” (NotW, 29). Counterpoint: the farmer that gives Kvothe a ride to Tarbean mentions “this side of the Eld” as an idiomatic expression, so the giant forest is well known.
The eld is likely famous enough to be mentioned anywhere.
Third, when Abenthy is talking to Arliden and Netalia, he asks them what the village-folk are afraid of. In Vintas, they reply “Fae” and “Draugar,” neither of which we’ve seen mentioned by the villagers in Newarre. They are scared of demons, however, much like the people of Trebon. According to Arliden, people in Atur are scared in demons.
A point in favor of Trebon!
So we’re looking for somewhere that’s in Vintas, near Atur, Tinue and the Eld, which gives us a small jutting of land south of the Eld, bordering the Small Kingdoms, but quite close to the Aturan Empire. It also is fairly west of the Stormwal Mountains.
in an area controlled by Vintas, likely so. near atur, tinue and eld? i don't see why that would have to be.
The strongest evidence against it is concerning the currency. Which As i stated at the start of this theory could be explained by the King conquering lands around Trebon.
A friend made a good suggestion that we get a mapping from fears to areas from Ben
Ben poured from a clay jug into a leather mug and handed it to my mother. His breath fogged as he spoke. “How do they feel about demons off in Atur?” he asked. “Scared.” My father tapped his temple. “All that religion makes their brains soft.” “How about off in Vintas?” Ben asked. “Fair number of them are Tehlins. Do they feel the same way?” My mother shook her head. “They think it’s a little silly They like their demons metaphorical.” “What are they afraid of at night in Vintas then?” “The Fae,” my mother said. My father spoke at the same time. “Draugar.”
They are afraid of Demons in Newarre. Which would put them close to Atur. While not in Atur, Trebon and likely Newarre is close enough to it to pick up some echos of it. Especially since Atur controlled those lands in the past.
Another issue is that one of the soldiers colors are of the Maer's house.
There is supporting evidence. One is that the soldiers colors are of the maers house.
Ok. They don't mention the colors so lets go find them.
It's not at the start of the series when Chronicler is peacefully robbed.
Likely there referring to this near the end of NOTW:
The door of the Waystone opened and a sudden gust of wind made the lamplight flicker. Two soldiers came in, hunched against the weather, their swords sticking out like tails behind them. Dark spatters of rain spotted the fabric of their blue and white tabards.
blue and white
They wore the Maer ’s colors but beneath their sapphire and ivory
fair enough, they are wearing the Maer's colors. This likely means the are the Maer's men. This could mean Newarre is likely near or in land the Maer controls. Given there is something of a succession war going on in the background of the story.
The word nowhere appears 51 times across Srost, history of tak, notw, twmf.
It's mentioned 3-4 times directly relating to the location I suggest is Newaree. But refering to nowhere like its a locaiton happens here:
“At least now we know why he was hiding in the middle of nowhere with a crossbow and a lookout and all that,” Denna said. “A minor mystery solved.” Sim looked back and forth between us, plainly surprised he had to explain himself. “It’s obvious she has a thing for you,” he said, and began counting on his fingers. “She finds you at Anker’s. She comes to get you that night at Eolian when we’re drinking. She makes up an excuse to wander around the middle of nowhere with you for a couple of days....” “But this is nowhere.” She looked around aimlessly. “This is the outside edge of nowhere....” little town out in the middle of nowhere. Then I’d open an inn and do my best to disappear.” He
PM if you see others
Ah, you say, but what about Alleg? The black bearded Trouper turned bandit that kvothe left to die in the middle of nowhere.
With proper care it might be a full span of days before he died. Even alone in the middle of nowhere he could live for days with such a wound.
Well fine. If that's a counter argument, I'll claim Bast killed him in Newaree.
“Hell, you’re drunker than I am,” the bearded soldier guffawed. “That’s not what I meant when I said grab a piece of fire.” The blonde soldier rolled with laughter. Bast looked down at the two men. After a moment he began to laugh too. It was a terrible sound, jagged and joyless. It was no human laugh. “Hoy,” the bearded man interrupted sharply, his expression no longer amused. “What’s the matter with you?” It began to rain again, a gust of wind spattering heavy drops against Bast’s face. His eyes were dark and intent. There was another gust of wind that made the end of the branch flare a brilliant orange. The hot coal traced a glowing arc through the air as Bast began to point it back and forth between the two men, chanting: Barrel. Barley. Stone and stave. Wind and water. Misbehave. Bast finished with the burning branch pointing at the bearded man. His teeth were red in the firelight. His expression was nothing like a smile.
Yep that's right, I have the audacity to claim the taller of the two soliders that robbed Kote was Alleg. Crazy, I know. Lets be concise how it's possible sense i'm dealing with some far reaching possibilities.
In short, the villagers from Levinshir road out and found Alleg, wanting answers themselves, they brought him back. Gran, being worth twice the healer of any student in the Medica, was congealed into pressured into healing him. Either by the townsfolk or the Azzie (law). Fast forward, he somehow takes the kings coin, either because the king is emptying the prisons or what ever you like. He travels with the army then runs off.
This is pure fan-fiction of course, but there is the rub. They look the same. The solider has a black beard and kvothe comments on him rubbing its edge
“One is a bad number for an Edema on the road,” Alleg said persuasively, running a finger along the edge of his dark beard.
Meanwhile our soldier has:
He was bald on top, with a thick black beard that was flat as a spade
You might not care for this reliance empathizes on comparing adjectives, but I do and I think Pat does as well. In the end in it's my theory and story.
Alleg was branded on his chest and palm.
Pulling the broken circle from the fire again, I moved to Alleg and pressed it onto his palm.
The solider has a fist of knuckles and scar which might be caused by a branding.
He was taller than Kvothe, and his fists were broad knots of scar and knuckle.
Now of course, I would assume the scaring refers to the outside of the hand. But the fist does includes your entire hand, palm included. When the 10the anniversary TWMF comes out, i'm going to check if he still gets branded on the palm or is it changes to the back of his hand.
What's more, nothing about there descriptions contradicts. e.g. The solider was bald, Kote never mentions Allegs hair. Now, sense I'm throwing a hail-mary. Imagine the shock when Kote looks at the soliders hands and see a broken circle:
His eyes half-focused and dull with confusion, he looked down at his wrist and made the motion again, but his hands merely scrabbled uselessly at the soldier ’s scarred fist. The bearded soldier eyed the stupefied innkeeper with amused curiosity, then reached out and slapped him hard on the side of the head. “You’re almost a bit of a scrapper, boy,” he said. “You
What a sick joke. Especially if Kote himself has been branded and cut away in another way. It's enough to make you laugh up shattered glass.
Curled on the floor, Kvothe began to make a low, rhythmic sound. It was a dry, quiet noise that scratched around the edges of the room. Kvothe paused as he drew a painful breath. The bearded soldier frowned and kicked him again. “I asked you a question, cully . . .” The innkeeper made the same noise again, louder than before. Only then did it become obvious that he was laughing. Each low, broken chuckle sounded like he was coughing up a piece of shattered glass.
There might be some information in the History of Tak, which clarifies the location of Newaree. Specifically, there is mention of Abbot's Ford, where a historic game of tak is played:
In Abbot's Ford we lay our scene...
This is a place mentioned a couple times in the frame in relation to Chronicler's journey to Newarre:
“I am behind schedule,” Chronicler admitted. “My horse was stolen near Abbott’s Ford.” He glanced out the window at the darkening sky. “But I’m willing to lose some sleep. I’ll be off in the morning and out of your hair.”
The term Tak is relatively modern and in wide use around the four corners. Though variants still exist. It might be possible to narrow down where Abbott's ford down even further by examining the story and comparing the game to how tak is played in various places. My gut tells me that Abbott's ford might be related to Fordell, which is a land south of the university.
Abbott's ford gives two pieces of information. Firstly, a "ford" is shallow place in a river or stream one can cross. Given Chronicler walked, somehwere between 3 and 4 days, to where he meet Kote near Newaree and the fact their are streams & rivers everywhere, this wouldn't seem to be much help. The second piece of information "Abbot".
Abbot refers to a religious leader, the term is only ever used to in the books to refer to this ford. We know the Aturan's are rather religious. Any historical ties to Atur are a point in favor of Vint again. As those lands were once part of the Aturian empire.
in short, if the lighting tree is the tree on the Modegan pairs deck, and potential the "tall good" In Laniel Young again, this location very well might be in modern day vint. Another point in favor in vint!
So then, where is Newarre? If we're right, this is the easy part. First, we get to Trebon, then Mauthen farm and follow it towards the stream and assume it's some distance beyond that. Feel free to skip to the map a the bottom as this is mostly book-keeping. All of this is from NOTW chapters 70 onward.
Kvothe starts from dockside inn. Somewhere near the Omethi river and the University.
Then I walked over to the table where the two men sat talking. “Did you gentlemen come downriver by any chance?”
They looked up, obviously irritated by the interruption. Gentlemen had been a mistake, I should have said fellows, fellas. The bald one nodded.
“Did you come by way of Marrow?” I asked, picking a northern town at random.
“No,” the fat one said. “We’re down from Trebon.”
So Trebon, isn't on any official map, so we can't just hope there. Were told you can reach trebon by the Omethi river upstream of the university by a couple days:
“How far is it to Trebon?” I asked. “Upriver? A couple days.”
The road must wind a bit more than the river, as it's longer by road:
“I asked how far,” she snapped at him. “Is it longer than the riverway?”
“Damn sight longer. About twenty-five leagues by road. A hard road too, uphill.”
A league: 2-3.5 miles, that information doesn't seem to help much because no map has a scale to speak of. Nor likely could we trust one.
Kvothe tells the tinker, who he wouldn't lie to, that he did travel about 70 miles. We assume this leads him close to the Omethi, but which side. It's not clear. But i'm guessing east side, given there is more land there. On the way back he asks people if there are headed up Imre way, which could imply on Imre side.
From tinker meeting, Trebon is half mile to north and evesdown docks to the east.
The only way the docks could be to the east is if kvothe was on the west side of the Omethi OR if he rounded the bend. If he is on the east side of the Omethi then all his travels happend in the little tringle between the omethi and the great stone road. Given he chooses to not use the Great stone road, and my guess that the map is more accurate this close to the university. Im guessing he didn't make it to the bend and is on the west side.
Trebon is between a mining and a farming town. The farming town could be Newarre, but that doesn't help us place it as far as I can tell.
Mauthen farm is about a mile out, I'm guessing North.
They go to "borroill"
I looked out over the rolling hills, gold with autumn leaves and wheat fields, green with pasture and stands of pine and fir. Scattered throughout were the dark scars of bluffs and stone outcroppings. “There’s a lot of ground to cover....” I said.
the start behind a bluff and then travel into the woods. I don't see any hint at which direction so this doesn't help
We wandered wordlessly away from our search, neither one of us wanting to admit that we were eager to give it up, both of us feeling in our bones how pointless it was. We followed the sound of running water down the hill until we pushed through a thick stand of pine trees and came upon a lovely, deep stream about twenty feet across.
“But this is nowhere.” She looked around aimlessly. “This is the outside edge of nowhere....”
Finally, the end up heading back and towards the bluffs in the north. Im guessing this means there closer to the split between Ceald that has the mountain range. But again speculation. So will end up drawing a wide circle
On the map the Green is where It would likely have to be If the theory is correct. Red is where a more specific guess based on the text and what I think is more likely.
Auri visits a graveyard, which I suggest is really the Mauthen farm. As you gathered reading SROST, Auri views things quite differently then most people. She assigns meaning to things based on attributes she finds interesting, not just there physical appearance. e.g Rude pipes. This skews her perception and so we have to sometimes compare based on symbolism and how things feel. If you read my post on Alchemy and Fae magic, you might be able to find an in universe reason why she would have this outlook.
Notable, the evidence for the Muathen farm is thinner, I suspect I might be missing some meaning to ivy and the stone with letters worn away. I have
Auri found the place while picking pine cones. A small, forgotten graveyard, stones overgrown with ivy. Roses ran wild, climbing the remains of an ancient wrought iron fence. Arms close to her body, hands beneath her chin, Auri stepped into the graveyard. Her tiny feet were silent as she moved among the stones. The moon was out again, but she was lower now, and bashful. Auri smiled at her, glad for the company now that she was no longer On Top of Things and Haven was far gone behind. Here on the edge of the clearing the moon showed acorns scattered on the ground. Auri spent a few minutes picking up the ones with perfect hats and tucking them into her gathersack. She strolled between the stones, stopping at a broken one, the letters worn away with rain and age. She touched it with two fingers and moved on. She lifted up the ivy on a monument, then turned to see the laurel tree that loomed in the far corner of the yard. Its roots were all among the stones, its branches spread above. It was a lonely thing. All odd and out of place. Stepping close, her small feet fitting neatly in between the roots, Auri pressed her hand against the tree’s dark trunk. She breathed in deep the warm scent of its leaves. She slowly circled it and spied a dark gap down among the roots.
Nodding, Auri reached into her gathersack and brought out the bone that she had found the day before. She bent down and tucked it deep inside the dark and hollow space beneath the tree. She smiled with satisfaction.
Standing, she dusted off her knees and stretched. Then she began to pick the small blue laurel fruit and put them in her gathersack as well.
She explored the forest after that. She found a mushroom, which she ate. She found a leaf and breathed* on it...
One idea is that this could be the cite of Myr Tariniel. Which might also be the tower mentioned in old holly that is covered in vines. This idea won't feel compelling to you now, but we might be able to justify it later, so it's worth keeping in your back pocket.
Note because Kvothe never goes into the house, due largely to Denna, we don't see what i'm guessing is Auri's Monument.
Here are the references in the book beyond that:
NOTW:72:549
After five minutes I began to sense the futility of it. There was just too much forest. I could tell that Denna quickly came to the same conclusion. The storybook clues we hoped to find once again failed to show themselves. There were no torn scraps of cloth clinging to branches, no deep bootprints or abandoned campsites. We did find mushrooms, acorns, mosquitoes, and raccoon scat cleverly concealed by pine needles.
NOTW:73:559
“Man wants his daughter tae have a fine house wit a view, that’s all tae the good,” Schiem conceded. “But when ye’re diggen the foundation an’ yeh find bones an’ such, an’ yeh don’t stop ... that’s a whole new type of stupid.”
Schiem nodded, leaning forward. “An that weren’t the worst o’ it. He keeps diggen, an’ he hits stones. Then does he stop?” He sniffed. “He starts pullen ’em up, looken for more so he can use them for the house!”
I looked out over the rolling hills, gold with autumn leaves and wheat fields, green with pasture and stands of pine and fir. Scattered throughout were the dark scars of bluffs and stone outcroppings. “There’s a lot of ground to cover....” I said.
NOTW:71:234
The Tehlin church was the nicest building in town, three stories tall and made of quarried stone. Nothing odd about that, but bolted above the front doors, high above the ground, was one of the biggest iron wheels I’d ever seen.
Later still, Auri crossed a creek she’d never seen before and was surprised to find a tiny farmhouse tucked among the trees.
NOTW:72:
We wandered wordlessly away from our search, neither one of us wanting to admit that we were eager to give it up, both of us feeling in our bones how pointless it was. We followed the sound of running water down the hill until we pushed through a thick stand of pine trees and came upon a lovely, deep stream about twenty feet across.
You should make special note of the ways both Bast and Auri feel about things. e.g baying and bay
I'll leave Auri's as one whole piece and i'll chop up what Bast sees and highlight similarities.
Later still, Auri crossed a creek she’d never seen before and was surprised to find a tiny farmhouse tucked among the trees. Surprised but pleased. It was a seemly place. All stone, with slate upon its pointed roof. Auri made her way around the garden to the barn. There was a strange dog there, all gristle and bay. It massed half again as much as her, its shoulders coming nearly to her chest. It stepped out of the shadows when she came close to the barn. It was black, with a thick neck and scars all cross its face. One ear was ragged and chewed from some forgotten fight. It padded closer to her, massive head held low, moving suspiciously from side to side, eyeing her. Auri grinned and held out her hand. The dog snuffled at her, then licked her fingers before making a great gawp of a yawn and settling down to sleep. The barn was huge: stone below with painted wood above. The doors were closed and fastened with a fat iron paddock lock. But high above, the hayloft was thrown wide to greet the night. Auri climbed the ivy-knotted stone as quickly as a squirrel. She went slower up the second half, the barn-boards odd against her fingers and her feet. The barn was full of musk and sleep. Dark too, save for a few thin bands of moonlight slanting through the wooden walls. Auri opened Foxen’s tiny box, and his blue-green light welled out to fill the open space. An old horse nuzzled Auri’s neck as she walked by his stall. She smiled at him and took the time to brush his tail and mane. There was a pregnant nanny goat which bleated out a greeting. Auri scooped some grain into her trough. There was a cat, and they ignored each other. Auri spent some time there, looking over everything. The grindstone. The quern. The small, well-fitted churn. A bearskin stretched upon a rack to cure. It was a quite uncommon, pleasant place. Everything was tended to and loved. Nothing she could see was useless, lost, or wrong. Well, nearly nothing. Even the tightest ship lets slip a little water. A single turnip had gone tumbling from its bin to lie abandoned on the floor. Auri put it in her gathersack. There was a large stone sweatbox, too. It was stacked with slabs of ice, each thicker than a cinder brick and twice as long. Inside she found butchered meat and sweet cream butter. There was a lump of suet in a bowl, a sheet of honeycomb upon a tray. The suet was enraged. It was a storm of autumn apples, age, and anger. It wanted nothing more than to be on its way. She tucked it deep inside her bag. Oh. But the honeycomb. It was lovely. Not one bit stolen. The farmer loved the bees and did things in the proper way. It was full of silent bells and drowsy summer afternoon. Auri felt inside her pockets. Her fingers passed over the crystal and the small stone doll. The rock wasn’t proper for this place either. She reached inside her gathersack and felt around among the acorns she’d collected. For a long moment, it seemed like nothing she had brought would make a proper fit. But then her fingers found it and she knew. Carefully she brought out the length of fine white tatted lace. She folded it and left it near the churn. It was the careful work of many long and drowsy autumn days. It would find purpose in a place like this. Then Auri took the clean white cloth that had held the hollyberry earlier and rubbed it with some butter. Then she broke off a piece of sticky comb the size of her spread hand and wrapped it up as tidy as can be. She would have loved to have some butter too, as hers was full of knives. There were eleven squared-off pats of it lined up upon the sweatbox shelf. Full of clover and birdsong and, oddly, sullen hints of clay. Even so they were all lovely. Auri searched her gathersack and looked through all her pockets twice, but in the end she still came up alack. She closed the sweatbox tight. Then up the ladder to the open window of the loft. She put Foxen away, then made her slow way down the side of the barn, gathersack slung tight across her back. On the ground Auri brushed her floating hair out of her face, then kissed the hulking dog atop his sleeping head. She skipped around the corner of the barn and took a dozen steps before the prickle on her neck told her that she was being watched. She froze mid-step, gone still as stone. Touched by the wind, her hair moved of its own accord, slowly drifting to surround her face as gently as a puff of smoke. Moving nothing but her eyes, Auri saw her. Up on the second floor, in the blackness of an open window, Auri saw a pale face even smaller than her own. A little girl was watching her, eyes wide, a tiny hand against her mouth...
Bast visit is sometime after Auri's likely 5 plus years.
Both Auri and Bast see a Barn. Given several hard years have come to the Williams, its not surprising the barn has fallen in to disrepair:
The tall barn had fallen into disrepair and half the roof gaped open to the sky. Walking up the long path through the fields, Bast turned a corner and saw Rike’s house. It told a different story than the barn. It was small but tidy. The shingles needed some repair, but other than that, it looked well loved and tended-to.
Auri see a dog "all gristle and bay". A dog at the Williams farm bays at Bast. Auri sees goats,garden and honey all which the williams have as well:
There was a pen with a trio of goats on one side of the house, and a large welltended garden on the other. It was fenced thickly with lashed-together sticks, but Bast could see straight lines of flourishing greenery inside. Carrots. He still needed carrots. Craning his neck a bit, Bast saw several large, square boxes behind the house. He took a few more steps to the side and eyed them before he realized they were beehives. Just then there was a great storm of barking and two great black, floppyeared dogs came bounding from the house toward Bast, baying for all they were worth.
Likely, its Nettie's daughter with the serious dark eyes that spots Auri, only several years younger:
A little girl peeked out from around the woman’s faded blue skirt, nothing more than a pair of ** serious dark eyes**.
Auri sees the bearskin, with wouldn't be out of place given Jessom hunts:
“He (Jessom) traps and hunts for the most part these
Nettie has bee's and so her farm would have honey which Auir takes:
She (Nettie) looked a little puzzled at that until Bast nodded toward the wooden hives
Nettie makes candles which explains the suet Auri sees and takes:
.. “Oh,” she (Nettie) said, as if remembering a halfforgotten dream. “I used to do candles and honey.
Thanks for reading!
Here is are some bonus sections that are a bit rougher and more abstract. Those "lighting Tree and silence" are "not nowhere" and "nowhere at all", where we go down the rabbit whole. That's followed by some necessary book keeping: credits, citations and rights.
Later, Auri mentions to Kvothe that she saw a tree that looks like lighting in TWMF::195
“I was looking at the lightning,” she said, sniffling. Then, “I saw one that looked like a tree.” “What was in the lightning?” I asked softly. “Galvanic ionization,” she said. Then, after a pause, she added, “And river-ice. And the sway a cattail makes.”
I'll leave you to ponder the implications. We will return to this later in the Warrens series.
Pat is to clever by half. His best tricks are to set up at least three meanings to a phrase, comment or word. Newarre is no different. The careful observer will note it's similarity to "nowhere". But a madman will note it's similarity to new warren.
I'm not going to flush the meaning of that here, but I will suggest you ponder the word warren. It's use in the poem at the start of the post that should have lead you here: Warren Windershins Ways and Woes. I'll even link the passage in the book that mentions warrens. TMWF:73:494:
But Denna’s version was different. In her song, Lanre was painted in tragic tones, a hero wrongly used. Selitos’ words were cruel and biting, Myr Tariniel a warren that was better for the purifying fire. Lanre was no traitor, but a fallen hero.
I want to quickly Highlight two oddities that are intentional on the authors part but I can't assign meaning to:
Two visitors that fit the descriptions of Simmon and Wil visit the Inn.
Two young men, one sandy-haired, one dark, well dressed and well-spoken.
But that's not where it's stops, the sandy haired one recognizes kvothe when he heard him sing
“Kvothe the Bloodless.” The man pressed ahead with the dogged persistence of the inebriated. “You looked familiar, but I couldn’t finger it.” He smiled proudly and tapped a finger to his nose. “Then I heard you sing, and I knew it was you. I heard you in Imre once. Cried my eyes out afterward. I never heard anything like that before or since. Broke my heart.”
Simmon did cry his eyes out. But wait there is more
tapped a finger to his nose
Simmon to likes to tap his noes:
Simmon pressed on. “Yes. Some say that it’s the ghost of a student who got lost in the building and starved to death.” He tapped the side of his nose with a finger like an old gaffer telling a story. “They say he wanders the halls even to this day, never able to find his way outside.”
He even says "like an old gaffer" which cob is and he does in this rather ominous scene:
Old Cob tapped the side of his nose speculatively. “You know,” he said to the innkeeper. “You should bring in a singer or sommat on nights. Hell, even the Orrison boy can play a bit of his daddy’s fiddle. I bet he’d be glad to come in for the price of a couple drinks.” He looked around at the inn. “A
Little music is just what this place needs.” The innkeeper nodded. His expression was so easy and amiable it almost wasn’t an expression at all. “I expect you’re right,” Kote said. His voice was perfectly calm. It was a perfectly normal voice. It was colorless and clear as window glass. Old Cob opened his mouth, but before he could say anything else Bast rapped one knuckle hard on the bar.
But maybe noes tapping is a regional gesture?
Kvothe doesn't get along with the local priest:
“And you don’t get along with Abbe Leodin,” Bast said. “And I don’t get along with the local priest,” Kvothe admitted. “But you should make an
Whose last name is a just a quick 2 letter swap to "elodin".
Over all conclusions and tin foil guesses? Well, maybe Kvothe is trapped within his sleeping mind, maybe the whole world is. Maybe something has robbed Kvothe of his name and history, so that even his close friends only remember the story, and not the man they grew up with.
If you enjoyed this consider supporting Heifer International, either directly through worldbuilers.
A cause which Rothfuss, the orchestrator of all good and bad times had on Temerant, believes in. And you should also buy all the cool Worldbuilders KingKiller stuff, which really helps, um, build the world?
Special thanks to
citations are as follows: Book:Chapter:page
Its likely the pages are inconstant between books.
Note i'll be citing the books OH and TLT by just Book::Page leaving out the chapter sense each story is just one chapter itself
Bonus books, it would be proper to have them, but not strictly necessary:
SROST Chapters so I can use numbers:
