Rayse
A figure from the letter-epigraph correspondence — described as loathsome, crafty, dangerous, and bearer of the most frightening of the Shards. SA:WoK:Ch 17
Known facts
- splintered-aona-skaiPer the letter epigraph correspondence, Rayse killed Aona and Skai and Splintered the Shards they held — presumably to prevent any challenger rising against him.SA:WoK:Ch 18
- dead-someone-else-holds-odiumWit declares in the tower meeting room that the enemy exploiting the contract loophole cannot be Rayse — it goes against his nature and against an explicit promise he had given, and a god cannot break that kind of promise without dire consequences. Wit also reads the rhythms of Roshar and confirms it. His old enemy is dead. Someone else has taken up the Shard of Odium — a stranger they cannot anticipate, and a genius enough to lay this trap in three days.SA:WaT:Ch 18
- killed-ambition-before-alaswhaBy the time Tanavast tracks him to Alaswha, Rayse has already killed Ambition — its Vessel Uli Da — and arrived with his power visibly ripped and fragmented from the fight. He demands Tanavast's gratitude for *eliminating a little competition*.SA:WaT:Ch 104
- rayse-killed-aona-and-skaiBefore Tanavast and Kor confront him on the mountaintop, Rayse kills Aona and Skai after killing Uli Da — drawing the two of them into conflict with one another, then finishing them off while they were weak. The deaths drive Tanavast to move directly against him.SA:WaT:Ch 113
- other-shards-refused-tanavast-because-of-fear-of-rayseTanavast's strongest peers — Leras of Preservation, Ati of Ruin, Edgli of Endowment, Bavadin, and Chan Ko Sar of Invention — each refuse to help him against Rayse. With Rayse caged on Roshar, they would rather see Roshar sacrificed than risk intervening and breaking his cage.SA:WaT:Ch 115
- honors-bond-tethered-rayse-to-roshar-even-after-tanavast-diedStanding over a dying Tanavast in the moonlit underbrush, Rayse prepares to launch himself off Roshar into the cosmere — and finds tethers holding him down. *You made a deal with the divine sense of honor and duty,* Tanavast laughs at him. *It will not let you go as easily as another might.* The Honor bond Rayse signed survives Tanavast's death; killing the vessel does not free the Shard itself from the agreement.SA:WaT:Ch 124
Events
- SA:WaT:Ch 104 Forms an avatar across from Tanavast in a golden-robed, perfected version of his mortal self — calls him *Tanner*, taunts him for honouring promises, and reveals that he has just killed Ambition (*Uli Da*).
- SA:WaT:Ch 107 Appears beside Tanavast tall as a mountain, hands clasped, surveys the dead and concedes only that *that did not go as planned* and *perhaps we went too far,* then vanishes — calling him *Tanner* and dismissing the deaths with *there are always more people.*
- SA:WaT:Ch 113 Met among the singers he has been turning to his cause, then on the mountaintop where he shows Tanavast and Kor the projected futures of a clash; accepts the binding covenant and walks away angry, his fury beginning to vibrate through the planet.
- SA:WaT:Ch 120 Appears on the Natanatan battlefield with his beard blowing in the wind, taunts Tanavast over the Braize prison and his own *boredom* with the Desolation cadence — and threatens to *order the children to slaughter* next time merely to see Tanavast's reaction. He provokes the direct clash, then sweeps off in fury, leaving behind a shadow he hopes will be useful.
- SA:WaT:Ch 122 Confronts Tanavast atop the familiar mountaintop where he had first formed, his power held far behind him and drawn toward Braize, and screams that he will *not be held here any longer.* When Tanavast refuses to fight, Rayse eventually accepts a contest of champions and a ban on direct confrontation in exchange for the removal of Mishram.
- SA:WaT:Ch 124 Drops out of the moonlight to stand over the fallen, dying Tanavast in the underbrush — *idiot, what an embarrassing mix you are* — discovers that the bonds Tanavast negotiated still tether him to Roshar even with his rival broken, and kills him anyway.
Backreferences
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 99
- factVessel
- summarySA:RoW:Epilogue
- factRayse
- factAona
- factSplintered
- factBavadin
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 14
- factHoid
- summarySA:WaT:I-2
- factTaravangian
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 18
- factRayse
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 20
- factThe Stormfather
- summarySA:WaT:I-6
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 91
- factTaravangian
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 100
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 104
- factNalan'Elin
- factRayse
- factTanavast
- factTanavast
- factMakibak
- factAlaswha
- factUli Da
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 107
- factJezrien
- factZoral
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 108
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 113
- factRoshar
- factRayse
- factKoravellium Avast
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 115
- factRayse
- factTanavast
- factKoravellium Avast
- factLeras
- factEdgli
- factChan Ko Sar
- factMedelantorius
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 120
- factBa-Ado-Mishram
- factAnti-Light
- factNatanatan
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 121
- factthe listeners
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 122
- factContest of Champions
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 124
- factThe Stormfather
- factThe Stormfather
- factRayse
- factAona
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 125
- factContest of Champions
- factTaravangian
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 126
- factDalinar Kholin
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 127
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 129
- factDalinar Kholin
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 130
- factGavinor Kholin
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 131
- factHoid
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 132
- summarySA:WaT:I-18
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 145