hmmm

i think in a way- yeah

in other ways, no

mostly, i think, clive!dunk looks at lyonel and he sees someone who cid might have been, maybe, if everything had been different (if he'd been born noble, instead of swearing himself to a king. if he'd been born into a world not at war with itself, where there were no bearers and blights, no dominants, no ultima)

except if everything had been different, cid wouldn't have been cid

so cid and lyonel - they share the same sarcasm, the same irreverence towards royalty, the same strong heart hidden beneath everything, sure. but the differences are profound too, enough so that he rarely looks at lyonel and thinks of cid

ultima's thrall, ultima's puppet, ultima's illusion etc...

honestly clive!dunk knows very very little of his supposed half-brother considering he met the puppet all of once, spent most of that time (entirely justifiably) going off at his mother, and then by the time he's unprimed again dion oneshots olivier

okay sure it's sorta heavily implied that clive also sees dions memories of the throne room and it isn't just us-as-players seeing that but still that's a very short scene

he doens't know olivier enough to compare him to aerion really

but i do think that he'd look at aerion - an arrogant royal certain of his standing and the superiority of his bloodline, uncaring of the lower classes, grasping for power and uncaring who he has to step over to get it, willing to sacrifice family - well

no i don't think clive!dunk would see olivier in aerion

It was widely known, especially in the academic circles that Galahd had a very extensive oral tradition. None of the academics really believe the stories. Sure, they very likely might be based on true events, but it's widely known that stories get warped the more they're told. Things get added the storyteller might find interesting or exciting, things omitted if they're thought to be boring or non-essential.

But Falconis has learned enough about the Galahkari - their language and traditions - to know that that preconception is not true. (His professor isn't here to scold him for declaring an absolute without physical evidence, but maybe that was one of the problems between the Lucians and the Galahkari.)

Falconis learned about the Black Ships through turns of phrases the Galahkari use. Once he scrounges up the courage, he asks Epistéme about it, and to his surprise she actually gives him a comprehensive answer. She doesn't tell him the whole story with all the bells and whistles, but that's not important. The important part is that he's starting to see the picture all the puzzle pieces are forming and he's about to faint from the knowledge that he'll have to scedule an audience with the King.

Regis for his part is in equal parts bemused and excited when one of the undergrads he personally sponsored for this project asks him for an audience because he gained some knowledge that would explain why the Galahkari were always Like That when it comes to the Lucians. Even before the refugee debacle.

He sits the clearly nervous and excited kid down and proceeds to get a two hour long lecture about the Galahkari along with Clarus and Cor. About their language, its relation to Sol - how most Galahkari actually can speak Sol - and how that fact alone gives at least some creedence to their oral traditions. How the Galahkari argue old histories for fun, how holding grudges nigh on a national sport for them.

It's interesting, Regis thinks, informative, and will help him with strategies concerning the Galahkari going forward. And then the young man in front of them drops the one thing that can transform international and national relations between the two people.

The Balck Ships, as the Galahkari call them. The Conquerors Fleet. It had actually reached Galahd. It had reached Galahd and the Conqueror had tried to do what he had been named for. And he had lost an eye for it along with most of his ships. The Galahkari had lost many people along with their then leader. A man named Perses Ulric.

Things are starting to make a large amount of sense and neither Regis nor Calrus nor Cor like it. The implications of what actually happened. How does one pay reparations for something that happened nigh on 2000 years ago? Does one pay reparations for something that happened so long ago?

From a Lucian position the answer is clearly no. But for the Galahkari? The Galahkari who apparently know what their ancestors a few hundred years ago had for breakfast? Who argue about what happened on that one wedding that was five generations ago and make it sound like is was five years ago? Would they want reparations? An apology? Acknowledgement?

thanks!

“Everyone dies.” (And he looks so much older for a moment). “We all go to the underworld in the end. Hades isn’t trying to kill us, why would he? All he has to do is wait.”

They raise their brow, staring at the child. "Your fear of death is understandable, but you cannot take it out on everyone else."

"What?" The demigod blinks owlishly up at them.

Storytellers don't decide who gets to know what story. I mean, there were certainly some in history who thought they could do that, but that never ended too well.

A Storyteller is a Storyteller because they know every story there is on Galahd. It is why all fully fledged Storytellers are so old and why there's so much ceremony around the act of telling those stories. Otherwise they would be very hard to remember.

Storytellers are to remember and tell those stories and find the wisdom in them when someone comes to them to ask for advice. Those are the duties and pride of a Storyteller.

If someone were to ask any of the Galahkari about the story of the Black Ships the Galahkar who was asked can decide freely if they want to tell it.

It's not that there are explicit rules against telling outsiders about things like that. It's that one: their refusal to tell is a culturally ingrained defense mechanism and two: they often assume the Lucians know the stories that involve them. As in they have their own records of them. Most Galahkari don't really realise that no one outside of Galahd has the ability to know what their one ancestor had for breakfast on that specific day.

i am very much a ‘fuck canon apollo actually pays attention to his kids and sends them dreams if nothing else’ truther so yesss

and you got like. baby percy of an indeterminate age who also watched most of these kids die (plus they’re apollos kids) and is being just as clingy

UNIRONICALLY YES, DO THAT.

…No, actually, do NOT do that. Stormlight Archive books average 950 pages and Nightblood is only there very rarely, and I think not until book 3.