This is part of Warrens series and directly follows The Waystone Brothers, but you can skip back two theories to A Crown of Broken Glass for the more critical material.
We're going to pick up following our little ray of sunshine, Auri. We have felt her pain, saw her shame, as well as the shadow she casts. Now will watch her tend to the proper way of things by setting a pipe to rights, and wonder at the mantle she bears.
We came for fantasy yet the unknown still makes us uncomfortable. Are mind frames problems based on our past and so were biased to overlook relationships that contradict our expectations. Kvothe sees Auri as a young girl, vulnerable and in need of help and it's through that lens we add our own projections. But in the Underthing we learn Auri has her own journey beyond what Kvothe could imagine. She tends to the proper way of things and takes a toll on her. Her nature is as inexplicable as the sun at night, her vision a broken kaleidoscope, the actions she takes cause light and darkness to dance across all of everything.
We pick up by following Auri to Tenance. Before heading there, we need to consider the reason for the journey, this will be challenging because Auri often takes action based on events that are hard to find meaning in. In this case, she is spurred into action by a Nightjar striking black iron.
The Nightjar ends up striking black iron three times. Auri assumes the first strike was to catch a snail, but striking three times means something else entirely. And while Auri thinks the meaning of this is rather apparent, we're left to watch what comes next and make our own assessment. After the warning, she races down Tenance.
Then she turned and sprinted off. First to Mantle, where she washed her face and hands and feet. She took a handkerchief out of her cedar box and pelted down through Rubric and Downings to Borough. ~SROST:95
Rubric runs under a lot of the other parts of the Underthing, so it's not helpful in getting a sense of where we are or can get to. The following two locations are where we need to draw upon our Alar and create a second sympathetic binding. Downings is a location in Tarbean.
Part of Tarbean’s ... There was Downings ~NOTW:151
This theory will require you to believe Auri is also somehow passing near by (under) Tarbean, this lets us believe that Auri is somehow traveling quickly around the four corners, which is necessary for her to arrive at Borough, which I'll be shortly building an argument for being Borrow hill.
Checking the history of the word Borough, the Proto Germanic meaning is "hill fort". This is what Kvothe thinks the buried building at the Mauthen farm was. From Borough Auri reaches Tenance. Auri remarks that this is a "between place", indicating that it transitions to the world above. But also that it "wasn't for her" indicating she didn't or hadn't used it, though she may be lying to herself. She notes boots coming from the other door (not the entrance she used). These would be from the Mauthens as they enter the Underthing.
Then Auri notes another set of footprints coming from the Underthing and leaving to go back upstairs to the newly built farmhouse. All together, the implication upsets Auri's considerable and for good reasons which will touch on shortly. She walks in the footprints around Tenance and takes a bottle and brush, which she will put to good use.
Then leaves to go fix a "black Iron Pipe" in the maze that is Rubric. Auri compares the sound of the hissing pipes to snakes and is worried the misbehaving pipe might affect the Masters and invite instigation. She waits, knowing things have to dry before she can apply materials to seal it. We get the titular line of the book, indicating this and the surrounding moments are essential. Auri proceeds to use components, some of which would be found at the Alchemy complex a further indicator of her abilities in the arts. She then heads back to Tenance and briefly worries she sees new bootprints, but no, just shadow and her own breath-catching fear. She returns the bottle and brush to Tenance. Immediately following this, she has a panic attack which we covered in Blood Beneath, it's likely something in her journey here caused it.
We have seen that the Underthing reaches places in the four corners just as we suggested parts of it are linked to the Fae in Shadows on the Wal. We have also discussed how she visited the Mauthen Farm another way via the Waystones in Ways to safe places. In A Crown of Broken Glass , I hinted that the Underthing a very interesting relationship with both the Fae and mortal realm. But let's leave that ambiguous for now so we can focus on the present mystery. The best way to approach it is to consider why Auri would connect the intruders in the underthings to a broken pipe, it's undeniable she thinks they are related.
I'll lead with a concise bold statement and work backwards to give it weight. The intruding Mauthens released something from the Underthing. Let's leave this something/creature nameless, it might very well be just that. Just as it lacks a name, I believe it also lacks a body, and so must look for one to inhabit. A skindancer, maybe the Skindancer. Before we build a case for how this could happen I would like to draw attention to what I consider to be a subtle hint in the story that the farmers were killed by other danced farmers. Denna says it was a lot of knife and sword work:
“They weren’t really torn apart,” Denna said. “From what I heard in town, it was a lot of knife and sword work.” ~ NOTW:544
But that could also be scythes:
I hadn’t seen anyone wearing so much as a belt knife since I’d been in town. The closest thing had been farmers with sickles and scythes in the fields. I looked back at the sagging farmhouse, sure that I was missing something.... ~ NOTW:544
While any incident as horrible as a murdered wedding party would leave the townsfolk tight lipped, I think they would be double so if the evidence suggested everyone had turned on everyone else, which is what the aftermath of a skindancer might look like.
The Mauthens entered the Underthing through Tenance, so close to the dancers lair (or prison), and possible took other actions to ease it's passage, which will cover soon. The footsteps in Tenance back to outisde, indicative of them leaving the Underthing now infected/danced. In Trapis story, the being he calls Tehlu binds Encansis, and while that story is likely a misleading simplification, we know something was bound in black Iron, and so it would be freed from it. Here in the Underthing, we have broken black iron and a release, which Auri must tend to immediately and she feels is directly related to the events at Tenance, which I claim to be Mauthen hill. Additionally, as discussed in Bitter Brew the more hallow a person, the more susceptible they are to being filled/danced. I think it's plausible the Mauthens wealth came from growing, refining and selling Denner Resin. I suspect some combination of the Mauthens moral and physical transgressions, speaking words that were found on artifacts (vase, etc..), the proximity to waystones, and another dance of the skins (sex) could lead to the dancer being released. A horrifying thought is that the Skindancer entered the world in place of the conceived child. While unsettling, this could be a third shared event between the Troupe massacre and the Mauthen farm. Recall that Kvothe's mother sent him away under a thinly veiled context to get some private time with Arliden in order to make some music:
“I think it’s nice,” my mother said, walking around from the back of the wagon. “Gives us the chance for something hot,” she gave my father a significant look, “to eat. It gets frustrating making do with whatever you can grab at the end of the day A body wants more.” ~ NOTW:117
And by making music, I mean having sex. But you will have to forgive me for not being as subtle as Cinder:
“Someone’s parents,” he said, “have been singing entirely the wrong sort of songs.” ~ NOTW:121
Yes, I feel quite strongly that Cinder was making a none to clever double entendre. The Passion for music being akin to romance is such a strong theme in the book Rothfuss all but writes the words on the cover.
“It’s not like that,” I protested. “She was the one who sang my harmony last night. She had a lovely voice and I was hoping to find her so we could do a little singing.”
“I think I know the tune you’re talking about.” He gave me a broad, knowing smile. ~NOTW:420
The Adem mercenaries, graceful and deadly like Cinder, even find music more taboo than sex. Vashet, apparently without Arlidens sensibilities, calls Kvothe a whore for his public musical performances, is it hard to imagine that "singing the wrong songs" is about sex? Haliax could have been punishing the hint rather than the cruelty, or both. Kvothe isn't their to see what happened with his Troupe. The Chandrian are certainly not Kvothe's Troupe being danced, baring extreme (un enjoyable) misdirection. Denna's Patron wanted a count and description of the entire party, which would be necessary for containment of the Dancer.
The Troupe being danced is possible, but it relies on both the Chandrian, The Cthaeh and Kote going out of their way to make it hard to see. Starting with the Chandrian, if they had killed Kvothe's danced troupe then they all but incriminate themselves by their presence, manor and through their exchange. The same goes for the Cthaeh, whose exchange with Kvothe leaves a sliver of wiggle room to suggest any number of things, including this theory.
This might leave the Chandrian as anti-heroes, tirelessly preventing destruction with no hope of sympathy, jaded. Displaying the worst sort of Gallows humor to Kvothe, knowing they could never explain. Or at best, black humor actors, who realize that the truth is more horrible then a lie and so take the blame and play their roles, least a young boy learn the truth, that his troupe turned upon themselves, pulled like marionettes by some horrible nameless god. I find it no coincidence that the word doll is used to describe both Kvothe's dead troupe and those at the Mauthen farm:
Let us pass over my return to the camp just as the sun was beginning to set. The sight of bodies strewn about like broken dolls. The smell of blood and burning hair. How I wandered aimlessly about, too disoriented for proper panic, numb with shock and dread. ~ NOTW:118
“... all blue fire. Every one of them dead, thrown around like rag dolls and the house falling to pieces around them. I was glad to see the end of the place. I can tell you that.” ~ NOTW:507
“Not much,” I admitted, thinking back to what the bargeman had said. “A bunch of people were killed at a wedding. Everyone dead, torn apart like rag dolls. Blue fire.” ~ NOTW:544
Kvothe thought the Chandrian were fairy stories before he saw them, he was too quick to dismiss the villagers fear of shamble-men, who are depicted with men's hallow clothes filled with straw, sleepless and clumsy. Just like the skindancer that comes looking.
The place Auri visits,Tenance, has a name you won't find in your dictionary. Tenace is a combination of two high cards (e.g Queen & King or Queen & Ja...). Penance is to seek forgiveness. Tenanacy is holdings of lands by lease, the holder is known as a Tenant, e.g a Tenant Farmer. ten can indicate to hold. The prefix "ten-" is to stretch, which you might think this theory is doing. But it's also a means string. The suffix '-ance' can mean performance, and a string performance is just what you would need to set farmers feet to dancing. Something Denna's patron is good at.
You might call this madness, or at best, a cheap twist. But maybe we just weren't paying as close attention as we thought. We came to the story imagining we were the players, that the rules would be fit a familiar narrative. That in time, things would become clear. But pieces don't get taught the rules, they get moved around the board like stones, never knowing whats at stake.
Plow the earth, take your share
feel the soil, breath the air
The sun tells you when to wake
The moon when to sleep
their beat a drum that moves your feet
Mentioned as a place in history of Tak:
Additional penalty rules vary from place to place, and usually involve multiplying the piece value based on different special victories. The most common alternative rules are found in Downings, the Tarway, and Middletown. ~ HOT
A traveler from Middletown visiting the house of a man from Downings would play by the Downings rules. Of course, this is of little help to those of us who play outside of Tarbean, so I always advise players to agree on any variant rules before the first stone is played ~ HOT
The rule variant found in Downings is "Double the Line"
Downings: "Double the Line." If the winning road is a straight line, the loser pays double the winner's piece count. For example, if a player wins with a straight line and has 7 pieces remaining, her opponent pays the usual 10 coins for the board (as mentioned above), plus 14 for the remaining pieces (7 coins doubled). ~ HOT
It's a location in Tarbean, mentioned in NOTW:
Part of Tarbean’s vastness is the fact that it is divided into a thousand small pieces, each with its own personality. There was Downings, Drover Court, the Wash, Middletown, Tallows, Tunning, Dockside, the Tarway, Seamling Lane.... You could live your whole life in Tarbean and never know all its parts. ~NOTW:151
Auri mentions it to Kvothe:
“The wind has been bringing leaves into the Underthing lately,” Auri said conversationally toward the end of the meal. “Through the grates and tunnels. They settle in the Downings, so things are all a-rustle there.” ~NOTW:651
Auri takes Kvothe there
Every night i went exploring underground with Auri. I saw many interesting things, some of which may bear mentioning later, but for now suffice to say that she showed me all the vast and varied corners of the Underthing. She took me to Downings, Vaults, the Woods, Delving, Crick-let, Tenners, Candlebear.... ~NOTW:671
Given the obscure (or outlandish) claims as to the nature of the magic in play, i'm not troubled by the idea that he explored the underthing without understanding its potential double nature.
Mantle -> Rubric -> Downings*1 (Tarbean) -> Borough (Borrow hill):
First to Mantle, where she washed her face and hands and feet. She took a handkerchief out of her cedar box and pelted down through Rubric and Downings to Borough. Breathing hard, she finally stood before the unassuming wooden door that led to Tenance. ~SROST:46
I walked closer to the farmhouse. “Besides, you don’t use stones to build barrows. Even if you did, you wouldn’t use quarried, finished stone like this. This was brought from a long ways off.” I ran a hand over the smooth grey stones of the wall. “Because someone wanted to build something that would last. Something solid.” I turned back to face Denna. “I think there’s an old hill fort buried here.” ~ NOTW:562
Black Iron is likely the most important combination in the entire series. Beyond being the metal of the Underthing's pipes, the stairs to reach the Tweleve and I suspect a lot more. Here is a list of Things composed of "black Iron":
Kote drew back the cloth and looked underneath. The wood was a dark charcoal color with a black grain, heavy as a sheet of iron. Three dark pegs were set above a word chiseled into the wood. ~ NOTW:22
All night he worked, and when the first light of the tenth morning touched him, Tehlu struck the wheel one final time and it was finished. Wrought all of black iron, the wheel stood taller than a man. It had six spokes, each thicker than a hammer’s haft, and its rim was a handspan across. It weighed as much as forty men, and was cold to the touch. The sound of its name was terrible, and none could speak it. ~ NOTW:170
Lanre was always where the fight was thickest, where he was needed most. His sword never left his hand or rested in its sheath. At the very end of things, covered in blood amid a field of corpses, Lanre stood alone against a terrible foe. It was a great beast with scales of black iron, whose breath was a darkness that smothered men. Lanre fought the beast and killed it. Lanre brought victory to his side, but he bought it with his life. ~ NOTW:185
In the midst of these rumors, Lanre arrived in Myr Tariniel. He came alone, wearing his silver sword and haubergeon of black iron scales. His armor fit him closely as a second skin of shadow. He had wrought it from the carcass of the beast he had killed at Drossen Tor. ~ NOTW:186
Myr Tariniel was burned and butchered, the less that is said of it the better. The white walls were charred black and the fountains ran with blood. For a night and a day Selitos stood helpless beside Lanre and could do nothing more than watch and listen to the screams of the dying, the ring of iron, the crack of breaking stone. ~ NOTW:187
The tinker held out a pin in his other hand. He held it about a handspan away then let go. Instead of falling, the pin snapped to the side and clung to the smooth blob of black iron. ~ NOTW:525
I nodded absently as I turned it over in my hands. I’d always wanted to see a drawstone, ever since I was a child. I pulled the pin away, feeling the strange attraction it had to smooth black metal. I marveled. A piece of star-iron in my hand. “How much do you figure it’s worth?” I asked. ~ NOTW:525
At first the Underthing was exactly what I had expected. Tunnels and pipes. Pipes for sewage, water, steam, and coal gas. Great black pig-iron pipes a man could crawl through, small, bright brass pipes no bigger around than your thumb. There was a vast network of stone tunnels, branching and connecting at odd angles. If there were any rhyme or reason to the place, it was lost on me. ~ NOTW:652
We made our way down three spiral staircases made of black wrought iron to reach the Grey Twelve. It was like standing in the bottom of a canyon. Looking up I could see faint moonlight filtering in through drain grates far overhead. The mother owl was gone, but Auri showed me the nest. ~ NOTW:652
And Jax brought out the black iron box, closing the lid and catching her name inside. ~ TWMF:596
This pipe leak sounds like snakes
be in Rubric after all, Auri heard a sound like angry snakes and rain. If not back. There was no sound of snakes. The spray had stopped, but the entire tunnel ~SROST:49
The girl asks Skarpi for a story about sand snakes:
“I want to hear about the dry lands over the Stormwal,” one of the younger girls complained. “About the sand snakes that come out of the ground like sharks. And the dry men who hide under the dunes and drink your blood instead of water. And—” She was cuffed quickly into silence from a dozen different directions by the children surrounding her. ~NOWT:183
Bast compares the Skindanced mercenary as a snake:
“All snakes bite, Reshi. I don’t need their names to know they’re dangerous. I recognized it as being from the Mael. That was enough.” ~NOTW:670
The Adem are compared to snakes:
fast as snakes. ~ TWMF:523
but their compared to a lot of animals, notable sparrows. And this might be a more a reference to them hunting snakes then being them. Finally, Felurian threatens kvothe with a whip made of them
here with a lash of brambles and snakes. I will drive you before me, bloody and weeping... ~ TWMF:656
In conclusion, it's interesting that the Adem are snaking and over the Stormwal like the little girl asks about. Drinking "blood" instead of water might be a mutated version of wine before water a reference to the Adem's and the Ruh's shared history. Felurian is rather Ademic, her art just as deadly and given her with just as many names for it.
Auri uses "Naptha"
It clung and stuck and spread. It was full of green grass and leaping and... sulphonium? Naphtha? ~SROST:52
Which we find at the alchemy complex
The alchemy complex produced its own marvels that I was only dimly aware of, as well as raw materials like naphtha, sulfurjack, and twicelime. ~TWMF:30
Further solidifying that she is an alchemist.
There are a couple hints in the narration that indirectly imply the Mauthen farm could have been danced. For one, the means of violence used at the wedding party massacre were those the wedding party occupants had themselves. Denna says it was a lot of knife and sword work:
“They weren’t really torn apart,” Denna said. “From what I heard in town, it was a lot of knife and sword work.” ~NOWT:544
But that could also be scythes.
I hadn’t seen anyone wearing so much as a belt knife since I’d been in town. The closest thing had been farmers with sickles and scythes in the fields. I looked back at the sagging farmhouse, sure that I was missing something.... ~NOWT:544
I think a veteran would likely be able to tell the difference between a sword and knife work and scythes, but were getting the story second hand from farmers who might not have wanted to look to closely.
While were down a rabbit hole, we might want to mention that men fall before Denna like a sickle blade:
“You’d remember,” Deoch said. “But no, I don’t think she lives in town. I see her off and on. She travels, always here and gone again.” He rubbed the back of his head and gave me a worried smile. “I don’t know where you might be able to find her. Careful boy, that one will steal your heart. Men fall for her like wheat before a sickle blade.” ~ NOWT:420
And finally Felurians hair is like a scythe:
Her hair swayed, a dark scythe swinging ~ TWMF:647
find meaning in this madness if you like.
What's more, I don't think this is the first wedding party to be ruined by a dancer. Sim mentions an incident:
“Mandrag lectures about it in every alchemy class he teaches. I’ve heard the story a dozen times by now. It’s his favorite example of how alchemy can be abused. An alchemist used it to ruin the lives of several government officials in Atur about fifty years ago. He only got caught because a countess ran amok in the middle of a wedding, killed a dozen folk and—” ~TWMF:72
A plum will cause you to lose your inhibitions, it wouldn't let a countess kill a dozen folk, unless she was somehow the only one trained and armed. If anything, the plum would inhibit the kind of calm collective planning such a massive effort would need.
Even moving quickly, it took an hour to find the proper place. Rubric’s round brick tunnels ran the length and breadth of Underthing, miles and miles of passages, twisting up and down and doubling back, taking the pipes where they needed to go. Just as she was fearing she might never find it, just when she’d begun to fear it might not be in Rubric after all, Auri heard a sound like angry snakes and rain ~48
off into the sprawling maze of Rubric. It was barely a minute’s work to find a ~ 25
This was not a key for Black Door. No. Auri hurried through Rubric, turning left ~ 25
walls. Running lightly on her toes, Auri danced through Rubric, ducking pipes. ~36
etc....
She heard a hush of feather in the air. Wings beat hard, then stopped. Looking up, Auri saw the shape of a nightjar outlined against the dull grey circle of light entering the grate high above. The bird struck something hard against the pipe, then ate it. A snail, she guessed. There was no need to guess the type of pipe though. The ting of it let Auri know it was iron, black and twice the thicken of her thumb. The nightjar tapped the pipe again, then dipped down to the pool to drink. After it drank, the bird winged quickly back to its previous perch. Back to the pipe. Back to stand in the center of the dim grey light. It tapped a third and final time. Auri’s gut went cold. She sat up straight and eyed the bird intently. It stared back at her for a long moment, then flew away, having done what it had come to do. She looked after it numbly, the chill in her gut making a slow knot. She couldn’t ask for things to be more clear than that. Her pulse began to hammer at her then, her palms all sudden sweat. ~SROST:45
The Nightjar is quite the fascinating bird, but I'll stick to it's potential plot connections. The European nightjar also goes by the name "goat sucker" which was born from the myth that they stole milk from goats, when really they just were hunting insects. If myth is more true then fact, then such a bird we be troublesome to our goat herding Ademic friends. Cinder, who has goat eyes, might want to keep his distance as well.
Hespe's story about Jax tells us his magical flute plays a sound like a will's widow.
Jax set the wood down carefully, then picked up the flute. “Is this special too?” He put it to his lips and blew a simple trill like a Will’s Widow. Hespe smiled teasingly, lifted a familiar wooden whistle to her lips, and blew: Ta-ta DEE. Ta-ta DEE. ~TWMF:594
Now i'm sorry to have to tell here on earth it's a "chuck-will's-widow", a name given due to the sound. True to the story Will's Widow is another name for nightjar:
Now everyone knows the Will’s Widow is also called a nightjar. So it isn’t out when the sun is shining. Despite this, a dozen nightjars flew down and landed all around Jax, looking at him curiously and blinking in the bright sunlight. ~TWMF:594
In Hespe's story, I assume the magic flute tricked the bird into thinking it was night time or mimicked the sound of a mate. Could this be the magic that makes people (and apparently birds) believe things they hear that Denna hints at? And while it's dark underground, the bird defiantly doesn't live there and so why it would be active during the day (is it day?) is a bit of a mystery. Regardless, Auri and Jax both seem to find a way to be around a nightjar.
Always on the lookout for vague connections, we should note that their is a Pennant winged nightjar. The word pennant is used to describe the two pennant feathers that grow during mating season:
In KKC their is a pennant pole. Pennant meaning (among other things) "rope for hoisting", if your tracking nautical terms, because Auri mentions quite a few, this relationship might be worth considering. The word Pennant itself is often confused with Penitent, which means to be sorry for some offense. If the mix up or relationship of these words is being leaned on in the narrative i'm hard pressed to see it.
The chapter is called roads to safe places which is what older kvothe tells us Greystones are
“It’s a greystone,” I said, giving it a friendly pat. “They mark old roads. If anything, we’re safer being next to it. Greystones mark safe places. Everyone knows that.” ~ TWMF:272
After his Troupe's massacre, kvothe sleeps and dreams of waystones and were told there is power in waystones:
“Why do we stop at the waystones?”
“Tradition mostly. But some people say they marked old roads—” My father’s voice changed and became Ben’s voice, “—safe roads. Sometimes roads to safe places, sometimes safe roads leading into danger.” Ben held one hand out to it, as if feeling the warmth of a fire. “But there is a power in them. Only a fool would deny that.”
Then Ben was no longer there, and there was not one standing stone, but many. More than I had ever seen in one place before. They formed a double circle around me. One stone was set across the top of two others, forming a huge arch with thick shadow underneath. I reached out to touch it.... ~ NOTW:131
We have yet to see a double circle of greystones, but we have seen a triple stone forming a door:
The only thing on the top of the hill was a handful of greystones. Three of the massive stones were stacked together to form a huge arch, like a massive doorway. The other two lay on their sides, as if lounging in the thick grass. I found their presence comforting, like the unexpected company of old friends. ~ NOTW:564
If Kvothe's dream shows us a real current location, it can't be the one near the Mauthen farm. Though maybe it's a dream from the past, the stones could have fallen and been buried, or moved. Though nothing comes of such speculation. We do get a picture of this double circle on the pairs decks:
After he wakes from his dreams he finds a greystone, and while it says he "wandered deep", I suspect it was less then a mile or so from his Troupe's camp.
There was also a great rectangular stone lying on its side near the pool. A few days earlier I would have recognized it as a greystone. Now I saw it as an efficient windbreak, something to put my back against as I slept. ~NOTW:132
Beyond the presence of the Denner tree's I think we get a whiff of foul business much sooner:
Eventually we came to another stream crossing the road. Not much more than a foot deep at the most. The water had a sharp, foul smell that let me know there was a tannery upstream, or a refinery. ~NOTW:522
A possible hint at an upstream facility for refining the waxy substance Kvothe and Denna find into the material sold on the street? Someone was growing and possible refining the Denner in the area, and even an outside racket would need people local in the area to support it. To protect the land and not raise too much suspicion or at least mask it if authorities were called in. Our pig farmer dislikes the Mauthen's for building on a graveyard, but it's possible he doesn't voice all his suspicions.
The Cthaeh can't or won't lie, but it doesn't really need to in order to lead us astray:
“Since you ask so sweetly, Cinder is the one you want. Remember him? White hair? Dark eyes? Did things to your mother, you know. Terrible. She held up well though. Laurian was always a trouper, if you’ll pardon the expression. Much better than your father, with all his begging and blubbering.” ~ TWMF:683
"Did things" is intentional vague. "Terrible" could refer to the outcome, not cinders involvement.
This Reddit post tries to discuss if the Chandrian might not have been responsible for the Troupe massacre. This one tries to convince us they certainly did. They both end up not being terrible concise, but the later is better. I'll only address a couple points that would seem to present a challenge to our Skin Dancer theory.
The Cthaeh loves Kvothe's open ended questions and I think it would go against it's nature to both hurt Kvothe now and potential mislead him, causing even more pain.
“Why?” I managed to croak. “Why?” the Cthaeh echoed. “What a good question. I know so many whys. Why did they do such nasty things to your poor family? Why, because they wanted to, and because they could, and because they had a reason. “Why did they leave you alive? Why, because they were sloppy, and because you were lucky, and because something scared them away.” ~ NOTW:683
It's easy to fit the Chandrian as They, and still have a skindancer. "Sloppy" now referring to their normal protocol of killing anyone potential infected. If the skindancer is a they (why not?) then it would be sloppy for not seeking Kvothe (or did it? que spooooky sounds...). This leaves the Chandrian as jaded, cruel war veterans with the worst kind of gallows humor, built up as a kind of self defense mechanism. If you haven't been around death and diseases this might seem grotesque, and it is, but it's also cathartic.
I believe "Did things to your mother. Terrible." is rather open ended, because it is. Using the hypothetical context to make it less so works both ways, which is why it's a discussion point. e.g In a version where Laurian was danced, Cinder could have tried to save her, it failed. Terrible. This would require some award winning acting by Cinder of course, as he is cruel to Kvothe. But for a heatbeat consider that's what might have happened, after all, which would be more merciful in this situation. A lie, monsters you will never meet again killed your parents? Or the Truth, that they turned on each other, that your Mother killed your father.
I'm being intentional vague here because often times deep magic is just that and trying to explain how it works ruins the whole thing, possible litterly in this universe. Suspension of disbelief being necessary for the sympathetic bindings. That being said, I want to comment that I realize the physical oddness in passing from the Tarbean to Barrow Hill, if were starting from the university. However it's natural if were starting from the eld, and in the Fae.
Are feared in the commonwealth around Autumn (near winter).
“You’re both right, depending on which part of the country you’re in,” Ben said. “And here in the Commonwealth people laugh up their sleeves at both ideas.” He gestured at the surrounding trees. “But here they’re careful come autumn-time for fear of drawing the attention of shamble-men.” ~ NOTW:88
Arliden thought them important enough to research:
For months it was stories about Lanre. Then he started gathering old faerie stories too, legends about bogies and shamble-men. Then he began to ask questions about the Chandrian.... ~ NOTW:83
Kvothe depicts them as hollowed eyed and greyfaced from too little sleep:
exhausted at best. At worst they wandered the University like shamble-men, hollow-eyed and greyfaced from too little sleep, too much drink, or both. ~ TWMF:25
Just like the skindanced mercenary:
His eyes were dark and sunken, as if he hadn’t slept in days. ~NOTW:660
how they also thought moved and acted drunk:
Shep laughed, shaking his head. “Naw. He’s drunk. My uncle used to talk like that.” He nudged Graham with an elbow. “You remember my Uncle Tam? God, I’ve never known a man who drank like that.” ~ NOTW:661
And while his eyes are never specifically described as hallow, they are described as glassy (see through/hazy) and come into sharp focus when he is cut:
The mercenary’s head tilted to the side. He held up his hand, examining it. A slow trickle of dark blood made its way down his thumb, where it gathered and swelled for a moment before dripping onto the floor. The mercenary drew a deep breath through his nose, and his glassy sunken eyes came into sudden, sharp focus. ~ NOTW:663
I think this is strong evidence that the shamble-men are danced-men. It's possible Kote did try to light it on fire:
“About the bottle. About the sympathy he tried to do.” “So he was trying to light that thing on fire? Why didn’t it work? What’s—” ~ NOTW:671
Which is part of the ritual of dealing with shamble men:
There was a tall bonfire in the middle of town, and smaller ones outside the houses where people would be giving cider to the weary workers. They would drink and throw their shamble-men into the fires. Dummies made of wheat sheaves, of barley shocks, of straw, of chaff. ~NOWT:609
Like expressing the difference between a mothers love and a romantic interest, it's hard to speak plainly on magics and mysteries that have shape but no solid foundation. Will we consult Marlock’s Compendium of Fae Phenomenon? Even in our myths we hope to connect the lines, box them in, make them more like us. What mysteries might be playing in daylight, so twisted is our nature, that we have lost the power of sight? Next will ride the winds, dance among the tree's and learn how lye lies to us.
Thanks to u/playtheboard for ideas, support and editing suggestions!
A nonet is a musical composition for nine voices or instruments. The letters nonet appears nine times altogether in NOTW and TWMF (and in on other book) all as part of nonetheless.
nine and less a man
