hoser he/him Posted October 30, 2013 Report Share Posted October 30, 2013 (edited) What do we know? Supra-national organization with at least one surgebinder, multiple Shardblades and at least one live larkin (therefore well connected and funded) They have paperwork from the "arbiters" for outlandish punishment They are able to get the Prime Minister equivalent to accept their intrusion and performance of the ridiculous punishment Purpose: avert Desolation by killing nahel-bond surgebinders Means: find minor infractions and use as an excuse to perform summary executions Range: seen in Alethkar, Iri and Azir Reputation: known to and accepted by Azish government, never mentioned in WoK Leadership: Darkness is the only leader we've seen, has minions, but operates alone sometimes Darkness refers to the Edgedancers as if he knew them, whichsuggests that he's effectively immortal if he is alive at all Lift sees him as dead Wyndle calls him an abomination Questions: Are they the reason Teft's family hid their activities?; Did they kill Teft's family's cell? Darkness can infuse, but has he shown any other surgebinding abilities? Does Nahel-bond surgebinding really bring on desolations? What is Darkness? Herald (Nalan?); zombie/lifeless/undead/lich lord; corrupted surgebinder, corrupted radiant, corrupted non-surgebinder What is the source of Darkness' abilities? Being a herald, magic sword, other magic item, Nahel bond? What is the deal with Darkness's scar? Is it related to his corruption? How do they gather their intelligence? How do they follow Lift? Are they associated with the Vorin church? The Ghostbloods? Are they wearing the local uniform? If they are local enforcement, how can they travel all over? How do they get the "arbiters" to accept them if they are not local enforcement? Intimidation? bribery? or do they forge the documents?; Wouldn't all these things be against the law? What's up w/these guys? What have I missed? What have I got wrong? edited: incorporate ideas from Gloom, agrooster, Windrunner, marianmi, Argent Edited October 31, 2013 by hoser 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloom he/him Posted October 30, 2013 Report Share Posted October 30, 2013 I would assume they are affiliated with the Vorin Church. The constables are still servants of the people. I could see the church selling the idea to the leaders of as many nations as they could. A means to track and prosecute criminals across borders and bring justice and retribution in the name of the Heralds. I'm sure they are mostly a legitimate organization that tracks and punishes real criminals. No one would tolerate it if most of your potential offenders were basically innocent people who were executed for minor infractions. Darkness may have special dispensation to seek those whom are considered most dangerous and remove them by whatever justification he can find. Who knows how far reaching the organization is, I would say larger than just the areas mentioned. I would imagine that the places they aren't welcome are far fewer than those they are, but that for the most part they are valued for their skills. Even in the palace their presence was mostly questioned because of the event taking place, not because their presence was that unusual. Most of the WoK took place away from civilization in military encampments. While the Princes may leave justice of the common folk to the constabulary, they are less likely to allow them jurisdiction over their troops on campaign. I could easily see them hunting Envisagers. They might even have managed to convince law makers that these people are dangerous heretics who dabble in dark sorceries and wish to revive the Knights Radiant. No government is going to want the Knights Radiant revived. Not if they are going to have magical powers and hundreds of Shardbearers to back them up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster he/him Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 They are extremely well connected and well funded as well. The Larkin is either very old (do we know a life span on these) and a leftover from the old days or it's been purchased. We know thanks to Rysn that they are extremely expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windrunner he/him Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 Was I the only one who assumed that Darkness was taken for a simple Azish constable and that everyone was surprised that he had a Shardblade? I don't think this is some sort of multi-national crime fighting organization. If it is, it's unlikely to be part of the Vorin church, considering both Iri and Azir are not Vorin. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marianmi Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 (edited) Windrunner, that's what I thought too... They go about posing as the land's constables, they do the paperwork etc, I don't think that locals are supposed to know they are above-the-law multi-kingdom surgebinder hunters. I wonder if Darkness's followers are all from Nalan's order. Edited October 31, 2013 by marianmi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent he/him Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 Wait, why are we assuming there is an entire organization now? Everything I've seen so far suggests that it's just Nalan Darkness and a few of his cronies. Similar to Shallash and her minions, actually. Just roaming the world, doing their thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloom he/him Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 I proposed that because it appears Darkness seems to require legal justification for his actions. He wears a uniform that Ym didn't seem to recognize, and he wears the same uniform regardless of the location as far as I can tell. I don't think his sense of justice would be satisfied if he was impersonating the law or dispensing vigilante justice. If you are looking for solid legal grounds upon which to punish someone, you have to have solid legal ground to stand upon or it's a farce. I know Darkness appears to have had his sense of justice skewed, but it seems like that would be all the more reason he would want to make sure everything was legally justifiable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dionysus Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 (edited) Was I the only one who assumed that Darkness was taken for a simple Azish constable and that everyone was surprised that he had a Shardblade? I don't think this is some sort of multi-national crime fighting organization. If it is, it's unlikely to be part of the Vorin church, considering both Iri and Azir are not Vorin. This was my assumption as well. The constables were just local peacekeepers. Darkness was able to be "badged" as a local law enforcement agent through his connections/magical powers/whatever. He is very law abiding, he just uses the letter of the law to find loopholes in the intent of the law, hence the execution of a petty thief. Edited October 31, 2013 by dionysus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardlet he/him Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 (edited) Am I the only one who pictures Darkness as looking like the dude from the Mummy (Ardeth Bay played by Oded Fehr) that is also working to prevent Imhotep from rising? Edited October 31, 2013 by Shardlet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Count he/him Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 Am I the only one who pictures Darkness as looking like the dude from the Mummy (Ardeth Bay played by Oded Fehr) that is also working to prevent Imhotep from rising? Wait.. I thought he was black (have I missed something?) I though he was described as Makabaki (which was black skinned). I imagined hum looking like Djimon Honsou. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardlet he/him Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 I'm not that keyed into the various racial differences on Roshar. I know Shin are the closest to caucasian and that the Alethi, and much of the rest of Roshar, have epicanthic folds on their eyes. But I haven't looked at it enough to get everyone straight in my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodfalcon he/him Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 I thought that he was working alone (plus friends) under some sort of "Well, I failed in the big picture, but I'll keep doing maintenance to keep future Desolations from coming" mindset. Assuming it is Nalan, he'd be Just/Confident enough to operate under the law of the country he is in. He clearly could have killed Lift and not had too hard a time running away, but his nature as "Just" won't allow him to. Documents like his could be obtained easily if you had friends in high places, and who doesn't want to be friends with a dude holding a SHARDBLADE? Sign me up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
askthepaperclip he/him Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 Yeah, Makabaki are described as dark skinned...which would make sense given her nickname for him. To quote Chappelle Show Rick James, "DARKNESS IS SPREADING!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent he/him Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 Makabaki people are dark of skin. Not pitch black (I believe this is reserved for the Aimians), but dark brown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoser he/him Posted October 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 I thought that he was working alone (plus friends) under some sort of "Well, I failed in the big picture, but I'll keep doing maintenance to keep future Desolations from coming" mindset. Assuming it is Nalan, he'd be Just/Confident enough to operate under the law of the country he is in. He clearly could have killed Lift and not had too hard a time running away, but his nature as "Just" won't allow him to. Documents like his could be obtained easily if you had friends in high places, and who doesn't want to be friends with a dude holding a SHARDBLADE? Sign me up... I guess I'll consider you to be voting for intimidation. Seems reasonable, except he goes off on his minion about following the law. Wouldn't any legal system have laws against threatening people, especially judges? After the first time you do it, doesn't somebody issue an APB on you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodfalcon he/him Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 Hahaha, half and half. There are morally corrupt people in the world that hold positions of power. A fallen Herald character could be warped enough (or Confident enough?) to think that the permissions received from such a high station are Just no matter what. There are plenty of motivations when you consider the subject might be a tad insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloom he/him Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 I think that if Darkness is working alone, or with just a small handful of people, that he would be extremely ineffective at his task. The continent of Roshar is a very large place, it's cities are large, and there are villages scattered across the land. If the Alethi are capable of fielding 100,000 veteran troops for more than five years at a remote location and still capable of maintaining control of their home country, it would mean that Alethkar alone holds several million people. The highest level of conscription in recorded history was in England during the hundred year war when up to fifteen percent of a nations population had been conscripted, it appears unlikely that the Alethi are conscripting more then eight percent. When Amaram was conscripting soldiers, he only took a handful of those with the potential to become soldiers. The English dragged off every able bodied man that wasn't under the direct protection of a noble that could be spared. This would mean that Roshars population is in excess of fifty million humans. By this logic, if Darkness has four associates, that would place them in the position of a ten million to one ration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marianmi Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 Yeah, Makabaki are described as dark skinned...which would make sense given her nickname for him. To quote Chappelle Show Rick James, "DARKNESS IS SPREADING!" Darkness is coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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