49. Soul of Discovery

Nine years before the present timeline, the listeners' explorer Eshonai encounters King Gavilar and his human expedition for the first time. When Gavilar discovers an ancient listener blade and learns of the listeners' forgotten cities and songs about the Knights Radiant, his interest shifts from casual exploration to intense strategic curiosity. He gifts the listeners modern weapons in exchange for their promise to occupy one of the ancient cities.

The chapter opens with Eshonai recounting her first contact with humans who emerged from the forest. Initially kept at a distance by the Five (listener leadership), Eshonai pursues learning the human language through intensive evening study sessions using their brilliantly-cut gemstones as light. Once communication improves, the humans request a tour of the Shattered Plains. Eshonai guides them across an ancient listener bridge spanning a chasm, where she observes windspren with a human woman—a surgeon's assistant—who notes that Eshonai perceives spren differently than humans do, seeing their closer-to-reality forms rather than anthropomorphized versions from human folklore. King Gavilar arrives on the plateau with his brother. While initially dismissive of the listeners, Gavilar becomes intensely focused when Eshonai produces an ancient hunting knife salvaged from ruins at the center of the Plains. The group encounters a massive chasmfiend—a powerful greatshell that ignores them—which frightens most of the humans though not the king. During the return journey, Gavilar interrogates Eshonai about the listeners' ancient cities and their songs, particularly pressing her on stories of the Knights Radiant (Radiants). Before departing days later, Gavilar gifts the listeners crates of modern steel weapons and makes a specific request: he wants Eshonai's people to occupy one of the ancient edge-cities so he can meet with the keepers of songs upon his return.