BloodyLullabies

Apparently, the preferred theory is that the Chosen used the One Power to magically learn to speak the Common Tongue fluently soon after their awakening from the Bore.

What a lame shortcut.

Imagine instead that they actually had to learn it the regular way. While it is commonly agreed that the Chosen are all relatively intelligent and educated, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re good at learning new languages (not everyone is, no matter how smart).

I like to believe that Asmodean is one extreme, and Demandred the other.

Despite his strength in the Power, Asmodean is usually considered the weakest of the Chosen; he’s cowardly and sort of useless. But I like to think that he had the easiest time learning the Common Tongue – finally something other than music that he was good at, but which he used mainly to write new songs that the uncouth peasants of the Third Age could understand, since no one remembers the great classics he composed during the Age of Legends.

Demandred, on the other hand… By all accounts, he was the second most acclaimed man in the Age of Legends. We all know that he felt quite, um, bitter about that “second” part, but that still means he was the second most accomplished man in the world at that time, and therefore likely talented and capable in many fields. But I want to believe that he had enormous trouble learning new languages, including the Common Tongue. I want to believe that he mixed up words and struggled with pronunciations, all of which had to be so alien to him (let’s face it, the two Tongues have virtually nothing in common). I want to believe that he spoke in an accent so thick that his cover was in danger of being blown – which is why he eventually gave up and moved to Shara because he knew that isleh was closer to the Old Tongue, so he wouldn’t risk being outed as one of the Chosen.

Similarly, I like to think that Semirhage moved to Seanchan for that same reason. Imagine her, so cold and calculated and poised (like Demandred), but growing more and more frustrated with that new, barbarian language and eventually just deciding to move to the one place where the Old Tongue is still in use (sort of).

Posted chapter 22 of The Trials of Asmodean yesterday, and I am bored so I made this. Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23106091/chapters/55281928

Mazrim Taim: Henry Ian Cusick