Dawnshard Quotes
"Nothing could compete with the experience of dangling from the rigging tens of feet in the air—fresh sea air in your face—while looking across an infinite plane of shimmering blue water."
"Pay her a little respect, and she would carry you anywhere you wished to go."
"The ship sank. I merely happened to be a resident thereon."
"Some people might have considered it boring work to select a new trade expedition. To Rysn, it was a thrilling chase."
"To everyone else, her actions seemed odd. She was a trademaster, with her own ship and crew. She could order servants to fetch her anything she needed."
"It wasn’t about what you could get from people, but what you could get for them that made a successful merchant."
"The way Chiri-Chiri flew... What would it be like to be so free? Unchained?"
"Everyone should use a 'the' in front of their name."
"If you remembered that from far away you all looked the same... well, that was important too."
"Lots of us people—Herdaz, Reshi, even Thaylenah to an extent—are small. But the whole world has been invaded, not only the big places. And a lot of small people make big numbers."
"And she did. Rysn was its master, though ownership of Thaylen merchant ships could be complex."
"Tradition. Stronger than Soulcast wood. If only they could find a way to build ships directly out of it, they’d fear no wind or wave."
"Your job is to handle trade negotiations. This voyage will include no such need. It is a survey mission. It could be dangerous, and as such, it would be wise if you remained safe at port."
"But usually others are uncomfortable—or condescending—around people like me, not outright hostile."
"Sometimes you accept deals you don’t want, because they’re better than the alternative."
"An imperfect solution for an imperfect world."
"I need to learn to work with this crew. They are made up of my babsk’s most trusted and accomplished sailors."
"Spend my life earning the trust of those around me."
"The sailors who served Vstim would have seen firsthand the type of person I was then."
"If you really want to feel like one of them, ask Flend—he’s the man on day shift in the eel’s nest—if he has ever seen a sailorspren."
"The thing that’s unseemly is how people treat us sometimes."
"They act so uncomfortable. They don’t want to look, and don’t want to bring it up, but it hovers about the conversation like a storming spren."
"He is dangerous. Good dangerous. I not wish to go. Too love of home, yes? But now that I see him, I cannot return."
"I like dangerous things. I did not know this."
"He will choose his choice. If he must go home, I will stay. And Gift will stay. We will do his work. We will see for him."
"Something feels wrong about this entire mission," Lopen said.
"You're merely bored, younger-cousin," Huio said.
"Things are just... off lately, you know?" Lopen said.
"Fortunately, you're usually around to explain. At length. With lots of adjectives."
"You'll pick it up eventually, older-cousin," Lopen said. "You're, sure, the smartest person in our family."
"Shouldn't the end of the storming world be more... dramatic?"
"His side were the good guys. The Radiants. Urithiru. All of it."
"I wish we could be doing things. This is taking too long."
"It's not cleverness on my part to consider them; more an instinct for self-preservation."
"I've always been me. That's the only thing I can really know—that I'm me."
"People change," Rushu said. "Your tastes change. Not the food."
"Because of the fall of the Radiants. Aimia had always been... different."
"A world? A frightening world," Cord said, narrowing her eyes. "He is a strange place. And I realized that I liked him."
"Being betrayed by someone you trust is painful beyond explanation," Rysn whispered.
"I don’t think he’s hiding Stormlight or Voidlight, but I can’t be certain."
"We’ve taken his assistant captive, just in case."
"Radiant the Lopen, would you and Huio fly our captives to the main island of Aimia?"
"Storms, did she need to suspect every member of her crew of being an enemy Lightweaver?"
"You hung on, tried to steer, and hoped to survive until the end."
"We’re here, Chiri-Chiri. Look. I’ve brought you home."
"People don’t leave money out casually. They do it to make you see it."
"If there had been something to spot, surely she would have noticed it already."
"What if by bringing her here, Rysn had unwittingly offered her freedom—and she’d taken it?"
"The best fabrications are mostly true, and having many witnesses corroborate what I say will help."
"Trust me, Nikli. Sometimes you need to accept what you've lost, then move forward. Then you can instead realize what you've gained."
"The most powerful forms of Surgebinding transcend traditional mortal understanding."
"It is the job of a trademaster to see a need, then fulfill it."
"You did well," she whispered. "As well as anyone in the songs, when dealing with dangerous gods. But you did not trick him."
"Hopefully this is better," Rysn whispered back.
"They listened. The others think this is a promising idea you propose, and appreciate the dual nature of the lies, layered to trick our enemies."
"I agree to these terms," Rysn said, "so long as you promise that none of my crew are to be harmed by your kind."
"I am no soldier," Cord said, her voice growing softer. "I am no warrior. I must train if I am to be of any use."
"What have I done?" What you needed to, another part of her thought. You have adapted. You have Remade yourself.
"I will never forget you," he said to the rocks. "Or the time we shared together."
"It was a brave thing you did," Lopen said to the rocks.
"Could you be less weird maybe?" Rushu asked. "For a day at least. To try it out? Experience the world the way the rest of us do?"
"Remind me never to cross Brightness Rysn," Lopen said. "I don’t know what those challenges are she passed, but I can’t believe it ended with us so rich. And so, well, alive."
"I didn’t even know I’d said it!" Lopen muttered.
"Storm me!" Lopen shouted, looking at the ceiling. "You did it again? I almost died out there, and you accept the Words now?"
"I just want people to be happy. That’s what I try to do. Make them smile."
"I’ve got to protect people, you know? Even from myself."
"I think," Rysn said, "I shall select the most boring, most mundane trade expedition I can find, Captain."