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|children=[[Savrahalidem]]
|descendants=[[Gvori]], [[Karavaniga]], [[Ruli]], [[Taravangian's granddaughter|granddaughter]]
|abilities={{tag+|oldmagic}}, {{nosnippet|{{tag+|
|titles=King of [[Kharbranth]] <small>(former)</small>, King of [[Jah Keved]] <small>(former)</small>,{{book ref|sa2|i|12}} {{nosnippet|Odium}}
|aliases=Vargo
|groups={{tag|Diagram|link=Diagram (group)
|died=1175
|'residence=[[Kharbranth]] (palace), {{tag|Urithiru|cat=Residents of Urithiru}}<!-- renting a room & plotting everyone's demise -->
|world=Roshar
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
|
}}
{{update|sa4}}
{{quote
|I am the monster who will save this world.
|Taravangian to Szeth{{book ref|sa1|
}}
'''Taravangian''' is the king of [[Kharbranth]]{{book ref|sa1|3}} and [[Jah Keved]],{{book ref|ob|i|5}} and {{nosnippet|the current Vessel of the [[Shard]] [[Odium]].}} He is the leader of the secret society known as "the [[Diagram (group)|Diagram]]" which believes the truth and the path to human salvation lies in the set of predictions and instructions he laid out on the day he was a genius.
== Appearance and Personality ==
|Taravangian to Dalinar{{book ref|sa3|86}}
}}
=== Appearance ===
Taravangian is an aged man with a wispy white beard,{{book ref|sa1|3}} which he shaves during the [[True Desolation]].{{book ref|sa3|24}} He has pale grey eyes and an open, kindly face.{{book ref|sa1|3}} He is described as having a “liver-spotted head.”{{book ref|sa3|59}} He lives with perpetual aches in his body and other symptoms of old age. Before he Ascended as Vessel of Odium, he was in his 70s in Rosharan years.{{wob ref|11590}}
=== Personality ===
He is popular among many for providing free access to city hospitals funded by an admittance fee to the [[Palanaeum]],{{book ref|sa1|7}} and he is known to visit the hospitals on a weekly basis.{{book ref|sa1|48}} Ruling Kharbranth with the help of a council,{{book ref|sa3|12}} he has been quiet and humble for his entire life, leading many people to believe he is slow witted.{{book ref|sa3|16}} People who know him better know he had a keen intelligence until his "illness" 5 years before the [[Battle of Thaylen Field]].{{book ref|sa3|21}} The illness is a consequence of a visit to the [[Nightwatcher]] who granted him great intelligence and great compassion, but cursed him to never have them at the same time. As a result, he wakes up every morning with a fluctuation of both. On some days, he cries and has compassion for everyone around him, while unable to have intelligent conversations,{{book ref|sa3|107}} while on others he is brilliant, yet easily speaks of killing singing children.{{book ref|sa3|i|5}} ▼
▲He is popular among many for providing free access to city hospitals funded by an admittance fee to the [[Palanaeum]],{{book ref|sa1|7}} and he is known to visit the hospitals on a weekly basis.{{book ref|sa1|48}} Ruling Kharbranth with the help of a council,{{book ref|sa3|12}} he has been quiet and humble for his entire life, leading many people to believe he is slow witted.{{book ref|sa3|16}} People who know him better know he had a keen intelligence until his "illness" 5 years before the [[Battle of Thaylen Field]].{{book ref|sa3|21}} The illness is a consequence of a visit to the [[Nightwatcher]] who granted him great intelligence and great compassion, but cursed him to never have them at the same time. As a result,
Taravangian is a pragmatic man who considers it his duty to do whatever it takes to make a better world. When he poses a moral dilemma, asking what to do if three of four men are guilty of murder and one is unsure which is innocent, he says "To prevent murder to happen again … I must hang them and weep."{{book ref|sa3|28}} He believes religion fills gaps and brings a sense of comfort which prevents understanding. He trusts only the Diagram, which is the result of his raw intelligence.{{book ref|sa3|i|5}}▼
He is a very manipulative man, always putting up an act in public, especially when trying to gain information or prove his theories.{{book ref|sa1|5}}{{wob ref|8070}} One such act is him putting on a farce of reduced mental capacity due to a nuchal cord all his life, despite that said reduced capacity was never actually present.{{book ref|sa3|i|5}}
▲Taravangian is a pragmatic man who considers it his duty to do whatever it takes to make a better world.
He considers himself a sort of martyr, who bears responsibility and stains his soul so that others don't have to, even if it ruins him. This is what he feels is the responsibility of a king.{{book ref|sa3|86}}
But despite his willingness to sacrifice others, he refuses to let his family and his people be harmed if he could potentially stop it; trying to come to a compromise with Odium that let both survive.{{book ref|sa3|122}} However, on his least empathetic of days, he can often order deaths casually and without a single care, even if it provides no measurable benefit to society.{{book ref|sa3|i|5}}
He believes religion fills gaps and brings a sense of comfort which prevents understanding. He trusts only the Diagram, which is the result of his raw intelligence.{{book ref|sa3|i|5}}
On his most emotional of days, he can be completely incoherent to the extent he finds it difficult to think. During these days, he tends to despise himself for his own self-professed stupidity, enough to bring himself to tears.{{book ref|sa4|113}} He also tends to cry for the sake of others.{{book ref|sa3|107}}
He can be rather judgmental against other nations and cultures, such as considering the [[Marati]] to be little more than barbarians.{{book ref|sa3|24}}
== Attributes and Abilities ==
Every morning he takes an intelligence test that he devised for himself on intelligent days. The test takes the better part of an hour and is made up of mathematical problems. A trio of [[stormwarden]]s consult regarding his answers and decide his intelligence for the day. The stormwardens as well as [[Mrall]], his head bodyguard, also decide if he is fit to rule and what restrictions he will be subject to. He is restricted to his room on both his worst and best of days because during both he tends to make irrational regulations.
===Vessel of Odium===
{{quote
|In truth, it would be a combination of a Vessel’s craftiness and the power’s Intent that we should fear most.
|Harmony{{book ref|sa4|42}}
}}
Rayse is careful to visit Taravangian only on stupid days, but this does not prevent Taravangian from plotting and killing him, with some help from [[Sja-anat]], and using [[Nightblood]].
Upon taking up the Shard and becoming Odium, he shows some ability to control the Shard's destructive Intent, and he appears better at seeing the future than Rayse was.{{book ref|sa4|114}}
He converses with Cultivation and quietly resolves to fix the Cosmere, to save it from all its broken gods.{{book ref|sa4|114}}
== History ==
=== Background ===
When Taravangian was born, the surgeon said
He was childhood friends with [[Adrotagia]] and his nickname was Vargo.{{book ref|sa2|i|14}}
Taravangian met [[Battar]], a Herald posing as an [[ardent]] named Dova, who said that the True Desolation was close.
=== The Nightwatcher and the creation of the Diagram ===
Taravangian asked the [[Nightwatcher]] for "the capacity to save humankind." He was granted the boon of great intelligence and great compassion, but the curse of not having them at the same time. As a result, he wakes up every morning with a fluctuation of both. This was granted by [[Cultivation]] rather than the Nightwatcher.{{
On his day of greatest genius, "20 hours of lucid insanity", he covered every surface of his bedroom in hieroglyphics he invented that day. They offered a brutal path for humanity's survival, which he believed to be the Nightwatcher's attempt to save humankind.{{book ref|sa2|i|14}}
Eight days after the battle, on a day of below average intelligence, he received a vision from Odium, who took a tall form reminiscent of the [[Shin]] with a scepter in his hand. Taravangian tried to convince Odium that he only wanted to serve him and begs him to visit him another day, but Odium sees through him immediately and orders him not to prostrate himself. He then asked Taravangian why he would be inclined to speak with the king on a day of intelligence, thereby allowing him to negotiate from a position of power, declaring that such an event would never happen.
Taravangian then offered a deal to Odium, knowing the god couldn't afford to face Dalinar directly again for fear of losing a previously declared contest of champions. The agreement would trade his help by sharing the Diagram's information (though he could not read [[Renarin]]'s participation) and giving him the Honorblade in exchange for sparing the people of Kharbranth (the city itself, any humans born into it, and their spouses).{{book ref|sa3|
{{image|Szeth killing Taravangian by Nozomi.png|side=left|height=300px|Being killed by [[Szeth]]}}
[[Malata]] is a Veden bodyguard and [[Dustbringer]]. She works for him and follows his lead, however she had said that she "is not his" and they were there because her spren [[Spark]] suggested visiting [[Urithiru]] now that it has been rediscovered.{{book ref|sa3|27}}
===
Taravangian is fully aware of [[Odium]]'s power. On the day Taravangian created the Diagram, he drafted out plans to save humanity from Odium. But on the same day, he also anticipated his direct confrontation with Odium after the Battle of Thaylen Field, and wrote down instructions for the future and dumber version of Taravangian on that day to follow. He explained that after the contest of champions was agreed, Odium would need people to do his bidding lest he get pressed into a duel he may lose. Taravangian makes a deal with Odium, trading the help of the [[Diagram (group)|Diagram]] and the Honorblade in exchange for sparing the people of Kharbranth. Odium comments on his drive, saying, "Your passion does you credit".{{book ref|sa3|122}}
=== Taravangian's Grandchildren ===
Taravangian has three grandchildren who write to him. They are oblivious to the Diagram and his plans. The eldest is [[Gvori]], accepted at the school of storms, [[Karavaniga]], the middle accepted forwardship and little [[Ruli]]. He has another [[Taravangian's granddaughter|granddaughter]]
== Quotes ==
== Notes ==
{{holder
|title= King of<br>[[Kharbranth]]
|prev=Unknown
|this=
|next=[[Savrahalidem]]
}}
{{holder
|title=King of [[Jah Keved]]
|prev=[[Valam]]
|this=
|next=
}}
<div data-nosnippet>{{holder
|prev=[[Rayse]]
|this=
|next=''
}}</div>
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