Difference between revisions of "Chasmfiend"

'''Chasmfiends''' (Listener: ''Ulo mas vara'', lit. ''Beast of the Chasms''){{book ref|sa1|45}} are enormous [[greatshell]]s native to the chasms of the [[Shattered Plains]] on [[Roshar]].{{book ref|sa1|12}}

Chasmfiends are the largest known land animals on [[Roshar]]: at least twenty feet wide, six times the height of an adult man at their peak, and over twice as long.{{book ref|sa2|72}}{{file ref|name="journal"Chasmfiend.jpeg|Shallan's Sketchbook - Chasmfiend}} They are long and narrow, with a flattened, split tail reminescent of that of a crayfish.{{file ref|name=journalChasmfiend.jpeg|Shallan's Sketchbook - Chasmfiend}} Like most of Rosharan fauna, they're crustaceans, with a carapace exoskeleton covering their entire body. Said carapace is dark violet (though it's possible that other colors can also occur), and extremely durable, being able to withstand even a hail of arrows.{{book ref|sa1|13}} It covers the beast's back in a series of interlocking, upside-down-V-shaped plates with horn-like protrusions growing on the edges.{{file ref|name=journalChasmfiend.jpeg|Shallan's Sketchbook - Chasmfiend}} Beneath it, the chasmfiend's blood and gore is purple, and smells of mold.{{book ref|sa1|13}} The meat is edible for both humans and native fauna.{{book ref|sa1|15}}

The chasmfiend's head is triangular, narrowing down to a point like an arrowhead.{{book ref|sa2|70}} Inside the long jaw, it has a circular mouth, surrounded by several rings of teeth. There are several types of teeth present, from sharp fangs and flat molars to small mandibles that shove the food further down the throat.{{book ref|sa1|15}} Flanking the mouth is a pair of smaller foreclaws, which the chasmfiend can use to manipulate objects and pick up food.{{file ref|name=journalChasmfiend.jpeg|Shallan's Sketchbook - Chasmfiend}} Chasmfiend are capable of vocalizing; they make roars that sounds like four bellowing trumpets playing at the same time. The eyes, set above the jaw, are glassy and green.{{book ref|sa2|70}} Nostrils are located at the very end of the maw, while the ears are bare holes slightly behind the eyes.{{ref|name=journal}}

The mandras leave the chamsfiend's body in the hours immediately after its death. They look somewhat unlike themselves as they return to [[Shadesmar]], being often mistaken for tongues of smoke.{{book ref|sa1|1315}}

Very little is known about the chasmfiends' youth, and we have not yet seen them, primarily seeing the second and third phases of life{{wob ref|124}}. It's highly likely that they don't live on the [[Shattered Plains]] for most of their life, but rather migrate there when the time comes for them to breed.{{book ref|sa2|49}} Once there, they set up a nest, and continue hunting and scavenging across the chasms.{{book ref|sa1|12}} Eventually, prompted by some unknown instinct, they climb up to one of the plateaus and pupate, forming an immobile, rock-colored '''chrysalis''' around themselves. This pupation typically happens during the night, with the chrysalis already formed come daytime. From then, the chrysalis awaits a [[highstorm]]; what happens once that occurs in unclear, as it is then that people typically harvest them.{{book ref|sa2|49}}

Though rarely, adult chasmfiends are also hunted, mostly when one wanders into a territory claimed by one of the [[highprince]]s. First, the chasmfiend is lured to climb up onto the plateau by stringing out hog carcasses and pouring hog blood into the chasms, to let the beast smell it. Once the chasmfiend emerges, which can take up to several hours, a flock of wild hogs is let loose for it to pursue. Archers equipped with [[grandbow]]s -- the only bow type capable of harming the chasmfiend -- then pepper the creature with arrows to weaken it. Eventually, [[Shardbearer]]s approach the beast and cut off its legs with their Blades.{{book ref|sa1|12}} Once toppled, the chasmfiend is set up for a killing stroke, delivered with a Blade thorughthrough the spine. The gemheart can then be harvested from the downed beast.{{book ref|sa1|13}}

{{image|ChasmfiendHistorical oldGreatshell.jpg|An ancient depiction of a [[Voidbringer]], based on a chasmfiend|side=right|width=300px}}

Prior to and during the [[War of Reckoning]], it was a common belief among the [[Alethi]] that the [[listener]]s considered the chasmfiends their gods.{{book ref|sa1|13}} This was ana assumptionmisinterpretation made by early explorers based on linguistic barriers, and one that was never thoroughly investigated; as such, near the end of the war, people like [[Shallan]] came to doubt it.{{book ref|sa2|54}} In fact, even prior to his death, [[Gavilar Kholin]] was aware that the listeners did not, in fact, worship the chasmfiends; however, with the assassination and the subsequent conflict, there was never the time for that to become common knowledge, and so the misconception persisted.{{book ref|sa3|prologue}}

* The inspiration for chasmfiends was a [https://wob.coppermind.net/media/sources/255/Ben%20McSweeney's%20landscape%20concept%20art%20for%20The%20Way%20of%20Kings%2C%20November%202008.jpg concept sketch] that [[Ben McSweeney]] created when Brandon was brainstorming Roshar with him. The sketch contained a picture of a crustacean hiding in a narrow passage based on a coral; the creature eventually became the chasmfiend. That same sketch led to the [[Shattered Plains]] -- originally part of ''[[Dragonsteel Prime]]'' -- to be moved to Roshar.{{wob ref|8580}}

* The chasmfiend is Brandon's favouritefavorite fictional creature from his own works.{{wob ref|8529}}