what have I got in my pocket?

Less 3 Talents Talented individuals This is a study of the University admissions process. It is a follow up piece on to the chapter Big brother and should not be read without that primer for admissions tucked away somewhere in your head already. First up, Chancellor Herma asks Kvothe what he thinks he already knows and the list is extensive, Ben has taught his student well. He claims to know the first ninety sympathetic bindings which are necessary to answer Elxa Dal’s questions. He can double distill, perform titration, calcify sublimate and precipitate solution…which tells us he knows quite a lot about chemistry, which is master Mandrag’s bailwick. He also adds History (Lorren) argument (Hemme) grammar (Herma) medicine (Arwyll) and geometry (Brandeur). But he mentions nothing about artifice and nothing at all about naming, meaning that Kilvin and Elodin cannot expect him to answer questions about their own personal area of expertise. Kilvin notices this and thus realises that it woul...

Big Brother Deeper and Deeper The University is Old. Elodin tells us of it being built on the site of a previous university, and even hints at a university before then. This site has always been a seat of learning, maybe even as far back as the days of Lady Lyra of Belen who once learnt the name of the wind and walked these streets like a tiny god. Belen is where Teccam has built the current university around the four plate door and the archives are the walls that keep this secret hidden. the archives themselves were built by the university’s secret amyr members , probably by using the name of stone since naming is the basis of all power and this is an edifice to their prowess. It is the most impressive building in the world, Caluptena excepted…perhaps. We hear nothing of it’s construction but it has a purpose and it is perfect at it’s job. No windows, Only one door* it is a fortress to the preservation of knowledge and none are allowed in who’s names aren’t in the book. Dangerous thin...

The Unseen University Cthaeh tells Kvothe the masters at the university may have some answers about matters Chandrian and Amyr which is as good as a statement of fact that they do. At least one master is suspect. I don’t think Lorren is Selitos, no, But he fits the bill as one of the Amyr. Librarians know more than they let on. If Selitos has any connection to the University then it would be to it’s most original and oldest part. If he still lives then he has disguised himself and is hiding somewhere… Just like Kote is doing right now in newarre… To answer the question of what Selitos might be calling himself now, I suggest we look at another character who hides behind another name. His exact words when pressed on the subject are ‘That would be telling, I suspect.’ which I like to read as telling being meaningful and suspect meaning not to be trusted. We seek answers, so we shall go to where Kvothe went in search of answers. We need to go to the heart of the archives and see another se...

Ivare Enim Euge The Amyr We know that the Amyr are not human, none of them ever were, and Bast tells us that there are no such things as demons, only ‘my kind,’ Only mortals and fae. In The Lightning Tree Bast also tells us a secret… ‘The fae folk look nearly like we do, but nor exactly. Most have something that makes them different. Their Eyes, their Ears, the colour of their hair or skin. Sometimes they are taller than normal, or shorter, or stronger, or more beautiful.’ Lorren is exceptionally tall and as unblinking as a pillar of marble, (although Kvothe manages to make him do this twice!) he certainly has something suspicious about him. He has long hands, long fingers and a long face. Ten Gold marks if you can make him laugh, Manet calls him ‘Old Lore!’ When Kvothe asks a scriv for a book on the chandrian, one is provided quickly (well found that scriv!) but finding information on the Order Amyr takes the scriv much longer, why? Probably because there isn’t any as we are to discov...

String2 ~ Selitos. Selitos. So if Skarpi is still alive today, and Haliax is still around too then where is Selitos? Wondering about the true age of Selitos uncovers some evidence to suggest that Selitos may have already been Lord of Myr Tariniel for more years than is at first assumed, he may well have been a factor in it’s beginnings and been a player in the long war since day one. Skarpi is vague about the length of the creation war yet all the indications are that it was many, many years. If the unknown reason for which Chael shaped Saicere was to be carried in the creation war, a not unreasonable assumption, then thirty of it’s holders had died before the war’s defining battle. Lord Selitos had been a key player in the war with the enemy for at least as long as Lanre, indeed at their meeting, Lanre repeatedly calls him ‘old friend’ which may be a more telling description than at first glance. Selitos curses Lanre ‘and all who follow him’ with his own blood, a doom to last ‘until t...