Curate, connect, and discover
The other night in FNCC I brought up the question of what would happen if someone drew a chasmfiend chalkling. Things snowballed from there and dm-mo, ElderDragonMystic and I got carried away. As a result, our friends from across the Cosmere are gathering to compete in games derived from one of Sanderson’s non-Cosmere magic systems.
Welcome to the 2015 Cross Cosmere Rithmatics Olympiad! Teams are gathering from across the Cosmere to compete in an exciting assortment of rithmatic events! The games will be kicking off soon and we here at the Cosmere Chronicle will follow the action when they do, but in the mean time let’s introduce the teams.
Roshar is fielding three teams this year.
The first is their traditional team from the Alethkar Academy of Rithmatics. This team’s roster is formed of brothers Adolin and Renarin Kholin, their cousin Elhokar Kholin, and Shallan Davar, a young woman who hails from Jah Keved. As expected, these four all have solid groundings in classical rithmatics and should be a force to reckon with. Rumor has it that there is some dissension in the group though and that they don’t always work particularly well as a team. It will be interesting to watch them and see how this plays out
The other two teams are a ragtag bunch known only as Bridge 4 that are not associated with the Alethkar Academy. This motley crew appears to bring together students from nearly all regions of Roshar and has divided itself into a Division 1 and a Division 2 team. The senior team consists of Kaladin “Stormblessed”, Moash, Teft and Sigzil. The junior team is comprised of Lopen, Rysn, Tien, Lift and Syl and coached by Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamor “Rock” of the Unkalaki. We know very little about the rithmatic background of any of these competitors, but if what we have seen in the practice fields is any indication, they could shake things up - they appear to be bringing a style unlike anything we have seen before.
Scadrial is fielding two teams, one each for Division 1 and Division 2.
Scadrial’s senior team should look familiar to anyone who follows Intra-Cosmere Rithmatics. It is, as expected, comprised of husband and wife team Elend and Vin Venture as well as The Survivors, Kelsier and Spook. In case you don’t usually follow ICR, Scadrial rithmatics is known for working in pairs and they should help make the pairs dueling exciting to watch. The Ventures work seamlessly together while Kelsier and Spook always seem to be able to recover no matter what mess of a situation they find themselves in.
Oddly enough, Scadrial’s division 2 team has an odd number of competitors: the established duo Wax Ladrian and Wayne and newcomer Marasi Colms. We caught Marasi to ask her how it is working in rithmatics on Scadrial without a partner. She informed us very matter of factly that she simply hasn’t found the right partner yet, but that there was no way she was going to let that cause her to miss the opportunity to come to the games this year. Based on the rest of our conversation, we expect her to hold her own in the theory competition.
Sel is also fielding a team for each division.
To form its senior team, Sel held a local preliminary competition where it ended up choosing a pair each from two very different parts of the planet. It is comprised of Sarene, Hrathen, Shai and Gaotona. It will be interesting to see how the four members blend their styles for the team portions of the games, but they all seem quite focused and determined to win. One thing is certain - we can always expect precision from Sel rithmatics.
Sel’s division 2 team is possibly the most unusual team - its captain, Raoden, isn’t actually a Rithmatist! When we found Raoden to ask about this, he calmly reminded us that one doesn’t have to be a Rithmatist to be a scholar of rithmatic theory. His team is rounded out by a particularly laid back young man named Galladon and an enthusiastic but clearly intelligent girl named Kaise who is, we believe, this year’s youngest competitor.
Political unrest on Nalthis has disrupted its rithmatics program, so it has only sent one team this year. Veteran Vasher is back and should be a powerhouse in any event he competes in, though rumors suggest that he may only be here for theory this year. The team seems to be held together by the lovely princesses of Idris, Vivenna and Sisirinah. It is rounded out by Siri’s quiet husband Susebron. Keep an eye on Nalthis if you are interested in chalklings. No one is quite sure how they do it, but in the past we have seen chalklings from the Nalthiean competitors that seem almost sentient.
We here at the Cosmere Chronicle look forward to sharing the Cross Cosmere Rithmatics Olympiad with you in the coming days. We will bring you the results from the events, analysis of different rithmatic styles, and stories from around Olympic Village.