Shuden
A young JinDo baron whose family settled in Arelon a century ago and grew wealthy running his house's JinDo caravan business across the kingdom. Soft-spoken, traditionally devout in Shu-Keseg, and the man who reframes the lords' "girl" as a princess who would have been their queen — earning Sarene her seat at the table. EL:EL:Ch 11
Known facts
- opposes-iadons-rule-on-shu-keseg-groundsShuden holds Iadon's wealth-as-rank system to be a violation of the heart of Shu-Keseg — the reason a quiet, devout JinDo baron is willing to be seen at a treasonous table.EL:EL:Ch 11
- jindo-shu-keseg-not-korathiShuden is a JinDo follower of Shu-Keseg — the parent religion both Shu-Korath and Shu-Dereth descend from — not a Korathi convert, as Sarene had assumed from his having grown up in Arelon. He notes that JinDo is now officially Derethi, a fiction his people permit because pretending to convert costs them less than fighting Fjorden would.EL:EL:Ch 14
- chayshan-glowSteps out of his ChayShan forms at the Elantris pyre and breaks a Dakhor monk's chest with one strike and snaps another's reinforced neck with a slap to the face — eyes closed the whole time. Lukel and others see a faint glow trailing his hands in the gate shadow. The form does something more than exercise.EL:EL:Ch 61
Events
- EL:EL:Ch 11 Says little, then publicly reframes the table's "girl" as Arelon's all-but-queen — and is the first to sign onto Sarene's plan, giving Roial an exit from his own pride.
- EL:EL:Ch 14 Escorts Sarene to the ball, explains Iadon's habit of running an inner party for the inner circle, and quietly identifies Waren as a man whose pious conversion is convenience, not faith.
- EL:EL:Ch 17 Performs an unannounced ChayShan in the back of the room and stops every woman's practice cold.
- EL:EL:Ch 20 Argues the cost discipline of the merchant's view, points out that extravagance can mask collapse rather than wealth, and is the first lord at the meeting to volunteer to follow Sarene into Elantris — a step that shames the rest into agreement.
- EL:EL:Ch 22 Identified at the cart by Galladon from his caravan-route reputation through Duladel.
- EL:EL:Ch 23 Accompanies Sarene into the university and takes down Karata's long supply list on paper and charcoal.
- EL:EL:Ch 23 Reads the "tyrants" more sympathetically than Sarene does, suggests they may be as oppressed as anyone else in the city, and works the line of supplicants alongside her.
- EL:EL:Ch 25 Has brought Torena at Sarene's request and stays at her elbow, gently coaxing her up to the food line.
- EL:EL:Ch 26 Attends as he always does, today letting Torena teach him basic thrusts and laughing openly when he fumbles the blade.
- EL:EL:Ch 29 Arrives at the door with eager news: the Shaod took someone unexpected the previous night.
- EL:EL:Ch 32 Dances with Torena in open infatuation, all of his usual woman-shy stoicism gone.
- EL:EL:Ch 35 Shuden is the one who frames the Sarene–Roial match as both legitimating and money-solving.
- EL:EL:Ch 38 Mild dissent from Lukel: Shuden would not rule out a real miracle, since religious exclusivism is a Korathi and Derethi addition to Shu-Keseg.
- EL:EL:Ch 38 Confirms Sarene's read of the Patriarch and wonders aloud how such a man was elected.
- EL:EL:Ch 38 Concedes that the company had underestimated Iadon's craft.
- EL:EL:Ch 39 Looks ready to bolt after the priests and demand Sarene's release.
- EL:EL:Ch 47 Joins the council after riding with Torena; asks for a night's meditation before committing to action against Telrii.
- EL:EL:Ch 53 Argues for reaching the Duladen resistance, then stands between Sarene and the soldiers when Telrii orders her killed.
- EL:EL:Ch 56 Sits morose on the stone roof, Sarene holding his hand — a future father-in-law turned traitor, Torena missing, and his best friend Eondel now on the pyre.
- EL:EL:Ch 56 Kneels with Lukel at the front of the crowd — the gesture that pulls the rest of the nobility down.
- EL:EL:Ch 58 Holds Torena in the kitchen — she has been recovered and is quietly weeping in his arms.
- EL:EL:Ch 60 Eyes closed at the back of the captive crowd, working through the slow opening forms of ChayShan — preparing to fight a hopeless fight rather than be slaughtered standing.
- EL:EL:Ch 61 Drives a fist through one chanting monk's chest and snaps another's neck with a slap, eyes closed in ChayShan — falls when a club finds his head and the form breaks.
- EL:EL:Epilogue Speaks with Raoden and Lukel at the head of the crowd as Sarene approaches the row of barrows.
Backreferences
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 11
- factSarene
- factShuden
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 14
- factRoial
- factShuden
- factTorena
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 17
- factChayShan
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 20
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 22
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 23
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 25
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 26
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 29
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 32
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 35
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 38
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 39
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 44
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 47
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 50
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 53
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 56
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 58
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 60
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 61
- factChayShan
- summaryEL:EL:Ch 63
- factRaoden