End of the hiatus, Dragonsteel summary part 1

Yeah, so I have depression, and things are hard to get done and do when you have depression, I guess? Anyway, I haven't posted in like over a month but whatever. I used to post every week and had a goal to post every week, but sometimes it was every two weeks. Anyway, it's not like I'm held to a strict schedule or am accountable to anyone or anything. I mean, even Eric, who used to post daily, never said he would. Except to himself, I guess? And now he's doing it weekly now, if that? Alex never set up nay sort of expectations, and Ryan's is like, once a year? Anyway, I too never told anyone how often I'd post, but it was about once a week. I digress.

My grandmother Perazzo passed away, and Heather, Joy, Henry and I headed down for her funeral on Monday May 14. I was a pallbearer.

Then my brother Ryan got married on the 17, and so we got to drive again all the way to Southern California and then all the way back.

And then my sister Hannah is going to get married, but on the day before Heather graduates so we can't go to her wedding.

I'm in my last class for my Master's, and all that is left after that is taking a test and doing student teaching. Yay! So far I have gotten an A in every single class so far.

I checked out Brandon Sanderson's Honor's Thesis from the BYU library, which is a novel he write called Dragonsteel. I'm done reading it but I noticed that its plot summary isn't included anywhere on the forums of wiki, and so I thought that I'd finally contribute to society and add it, figuring that it takes about two months to get a copy of it from the library and there's only a couple of copies. I figured I'd do under others what I'd want somebody to do for me, and if I was a big Sanderson fan I'd want to know what happens in Dragonsteel, but when I looked there wasn't anything. When I do put it up it will be on this page.

It's 53 chapters with three interludes, and here's what I have written so far (it's taking a lot longer than I thought it would):

Chapter 1

Eleven year old Jerick is content living his life in the small village of Farastham, but his lumberjack father Rin has bigger plans for him. Rin is well liked and respected by everyone in their village. A school starts in the village, and Rin, knowing Jerick to be incredibly inquisitive and intuitive, signs him up to go once a week.

The teacher of the school, Torell, comes from the capital of Yolen, Lakdon.  Jerick, through eavesdropping, learns that he has no desires to be there teaching peasants, but sees it as punishment from the king. During classes one of the rules is to not ask questions, but this is something Jerick can’t help, and whenever he does so Torell slaps him with his thin reed. When asked when they will learn reading, Torell scoffs and says that if they would bring in their own scrolls he would teach them after class, knowing full well no peasant had any scrolls.

On his way home from school one day with his father, Jerick and Rin hear screams of horror. Running over, they see a crowd surrounding a bone-white six-legged beast of some kind with pure black eyes. Rin informs Jerick that it is Fain, a creature of evil that are all monsters. The Sho Del are a race of creatures that live south that are also Fain, and down near their border where the Dragonsteel wells are located is a war known as The Eternal War.

After school a different day Rin asks Torell when Jerick can start reading. Torell says that a book costs a crin to buy. Rin then pulls out a silver crin, worth ten years of his savings, to buy the book for Jerick so that he can learn to read.

Chapter 2

In a history lesson, the boys relearn how Oreon the White created the world and all good things, and how his brother Xeth the black, out of jealousy, created the Sho Del and other Fain creatures. Their lesson is interrupted by the priest, Wat. After class Torell starts teaching Jerick how to read.

At home, Jerick receives his caste mark as a present. Everyone 12 and older receives a castemark, which is a symbol of which caste a person is in. Jerick’s says lumberjack on one side but Rin left it blank on the other.

A visitor comes to town, a man dressed in outrageously colored clothes. He has white hair and a hawk-like face. Toreel moans, “Not him!” when he sees him. The visitor announces that in three months the king would be visiting the town for a business deal with cattle dealers. Later the visitor, Cephandrious Maxtori, tells Torell that the King made a bet with house Lord Kalord Stafen that a peasant can be educated to be like a nobleman at that the king would also be checking in on the school’s progress. Cephandrious tells Jerick to just call him Topaz, and shows him a large Topaz ring he has on.

Later that night Topaz convinces Jerick to sneak into Torell’s house to steal some food. After stealing some, Topaz gives it all to Jerick, asking him to give it to those that need it most. He also encourages Jerick to learn as much as he can, and then runs off.

In a later lesson, Torell continues to teach Jerick how to read from the book he bought, which is about the three realms of existence, the spiritual, the cognitive, and the physical. Torell explains that the cognitive realm is associated with the Sho Del.

Chapter 3

Jerick is becoming very proficient at reading. The cattlemen arrive. One of them is of the  Ke’Chan ethnicity, who are a race of people with darker skin. Another one gives Jerick chills, although he doesn’t know why. The day for the King’s arrival arrives. The King, King Rodis, is given a tour by the Foreman and Rin. He is the first fat person Jerick has seen in his entire life. Afterwards they go to the school, where Kalord Stafen asks the boys of the school questions, but none of them get the right answers. Jerick knew the answers to all the questions but his own, which was exceptionally hard. Jerick makes a fool of Kalord, and Kalord hits him, but is then restrained by the King.

Later at the cattle yard, Jerick and his parents are there. Jerick sees the cattleman that gave him chills, and fells a coldness form him. Jerick throws a rock at him, which causes the man to drop his disguise momentarily, revealing it to actually be a Sho Del assassin, with bone-white skin and eyes of pure black. The Sho Del shouts, and Jerick can see the sound waves somehow. The shout leads the cattle to stampede, but Rin is able to drag the King to safety. The Sho Del shoots an arrow, killing Jerick’s mother, and then grapples with Rin with a knife as Rin stops him from reaching the King. Jerick sees the knife coming towards his father and yells “Get out of the way!”

The next scene is of Jerick sitting by himself on the dirt, his parents dead under white cloths next to him. The King comes up and snaps Jerick out of his self-imposed stupor, and asks him if he wants to help the King win his bet by going to the capitol and learning there. Jerick says he’d have to go ask his parents first and if the King has seen them. Disturbed, the King says he’s already talked with them and they’re fine with it, and that he’s never met a better man than his father.

Chapter 4

During their trip back to the capitol on a ship, Jerick is amazed by how small his village really was as he sees big villages and sees the world through a new paradigm. On deck, Topaz insults Kalord about his wife leaving him, and Kalord comes inches from backhanding his face. Topaz is a Jesk, and it is illegal to strike him. Kalord’s wife left him because he was abusive.

Jerick eavesdrops on the King and Topaz in their cabin. The king mentions that Jerick claimed he could see the force of the water against the ship, to which Topaz is stunned silent for a moment. When they begin to mention what happened to his parents, Jerick pulls away, convincing himself that it was rude to eavesdrop in the first place.

They arrive at Lakdon and see the crowd waiting for them. Jerick spots the princess, Courteth, and is smitten by her, for which Topaz shakes his head in disapproval.

Chapter 5

Ryalla is the slave servant girl of Courteth. Courteth treats her poorly, and is seen to be cunning and manipulative. Ryalla is forced by Courteth to knell longer than anyone else near the docks, by punishment of Courteth who claimed Ryalla made them late. Topaz and Ryalla ride back to the castle in the same carriage as Jerick, and Ryalla is shocked as to how naive Jerick is to what she takes for common knowledge. Topaz asks Ryalla if Courteth is still giving her grief. Topaz is not fooled by Courteth at all, and is Ryalla’s friend. Along the way they pass the Temple dedicated to Slonis, goddess of mystery and childbirth.

At the stables, Topaz meets up with his friend, Bat’Chor, a Ke’Chan man. Ryalla leads Jerick into the castle, and learns that Jerick has never heard of slaves before. When Ryalla mentions that both of her parents were dead, Jerick freezes in the hallway midstep, his eyes dead and glassy. A moment later he’s back to normal and acts as though nothing had happened, to Ryalla’s unease.

Chapter 6

Jerick is dressed up and presented before the Queen and Prince Yoharn. He is given three rooms and a variety of clothes options, which he considers wasteful. He seems unsure of how to treat and address servants.

Later that day is a feast, and Topaz chats with Jerick before it begins, giving him advice and telling him to be wary of Martis, who is Kalord’s son. Martis does indeed sit by Jerick, and makes fun of his peasant lineage and the way he talks. The King asks Topaz for their entertainment, and Topaz stands up to tell a story.

Chapter 7

As Topaz tells the story, he juggles several balls in a very skilled and seemingly impossible way. Topaz tells the story of the creation of the world, how Oreon the White created man to be immortal and able to do magic. Xeth the Black was jealous and had Slonis help him to create the Sho Del. Xeth then tried to corrupt thousands of men, but only found one, who betrayed mankind to Xeth. Xeth destroyed them and Oreon mourned for ten thousand years before creating man again, only this time mortal and unable to do magic. The only one that remained from the old race was the betrayer, who lives among them still and whose name has been lost.

After the story ends, Jerick and everyone else discuss how Topaz got the story wrong. Martis plays a prank on Jerick, and he realizes that nobles and peasants are the same. Jerick challenges Martis, making the King’s bet a personal one.

Later that night Topaz comes to Jerick’s window, explaining how he needs a place to lie low as Kalord is after him again. When Jerick confronts him about getting the creation legend wrong, Topaz simply explains that he told the version that used to be, and that Topaz is worried about something evil coming and wants the people to prepare for it. At night, Jerick looks over at Topaz several times, but Topaz’s eyes are always open and staring at the ceiling.

Chapter 8

In the morning, Jerick is awoken by Frost, his new tutor, and Topaz’s friend. Frost and Jerick discuss how legends, languages, and everything changes, and the only eternal things are truth and Dragonsteel. Jerick wonders if Dragonsteel is actually real, and Frost tells him to ask the King to look at his castemark, which is presumably made of Dragonsteel. They begin their tutoring session.

Walking to his first class lesson, Jerick runs into the King speaking with Dorm, captain of the royal guard. Jerick asks to see the King’s castemark, and he shows him. It seems to be made of very fragile thin wire, but when it is tried to be bent turns out to be indestructible. For a moment to Jerick’s eyes it suddenly appears to burst with light and power.

The lessons are to be held in the library. The king introduces Jerick to his fellow classmates, Martin and Yoharn, and to their teachers, Scholars Vendavious and Teniclese, and a Horwatcher named Scatherem. Horwatchers are mistrusted in that society, and Jerick is alarmed and interested to hear this. He will be teaching about Realmatic theory and give demonstations on the nature of magic. The king tells Kalord that their bet begins here and will end in four years when the boys will take the tests.

Chapter 9

Ryalla hides from Courteth on the balcony, daydreaming about not being a slave. Courtheth passes her spot several times without seeing her. Topaz, sitting outside on a thin ledge, sees her and they converse. Topaz leaves and Courteth punishes Ryalla for hiding, even though Ryalla claims she was in plain sight the whole time. Ryalla gets Courteth ready to go, and they leave for the libabry.

At the library Courteth manipulates her father into letting her take school lessons with the boys, even though she doesn’t want to learn but just be admired by Martis and Jerick, who are enraptured by her. The lesson begins, and even though questions are not aloud, Jerick asks them anyway, eventually coming to the conclusion that the teachers see questions as an aid to thinking, not a replacement for it, and thus punish those who ask questions to get them to see how valuable they are. Ryalla bemoans her and Jerick’s status in life and hopes that one day it will change.

Interlude One

Topaz flips into Frost’s room from the window, and they have a conversation in which Topaz accuses Frost of being more than just human, to which Frost denies. Topaz bums food of Frost, explaining that Kalord tried to have Topaz poisoned the other night. Topaz says there’s more to Jerick, but Frist reminds him that humans can’t do magic. Topaz causes a candle to burst into flame just by looking at it, to which Frost just snorts and says he hardly calls Topaz human anymore. Topaz thinks that whatever he, Topaz, is, Jerick is one too. He goes on to say that Ryalla also might be one, as she could bend light around her so much that even Topaz almost didn’t notice her. Frost grew troubled at that. Topaz says that something is coming, and has to leave with Bat’Chor to find out what it is and prepare for it.

End of Book One

Chapter 10

In Tzendor, Topaz uses makeup to disguise Bat’Chor and himself. As they go out in disguise, they remark on how even the peasants are better off than before, due to the new emperor Aronack. As they approach the Temple of Hsaw, they mix with other pilgrims who are visiting it for religious purposes. Topaz’s knowledge of when these pilgrims arrived causes Bat’Chor to once again wonder is Topaz needs to sleep.

They enter the building and Bat’Chor is amazed by its architecture. Topaz and Bat’Chor get their own small private room to stay in, and discuss architecture. Three hours later, the pilgrimage director calls them and their pilgrimage group out of their rooms to see the object they’ve traveled so long to see.