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Addressing a criticism

In the first post I ever made on this blog I stated that I could teach the fundamentals of sympathy better than Master Hemme could ever dream to. I've been called out several times on this, saying I may be smart but Hemme has been teaching sympathy longer than I've been alive. I will now prove you all wrong by teaching the fundamentals of sympathy right now. New students: You're welcome.

However, a word of warning: Sympathy is dangerous. If you draw too much heat from your blood, you can catch what is known as binder's chills and you can die. If you try to move two much heat at one time and the overload is put into your body, you can die. I once tried to make a gust of wind binding the air in my lungs to the air outside, and I almost suffocated. If you only learn one thing from this blog, learn this: Sympathy is dangerous, and carelessness can get you killed.

Okay, onto the basics.

Sympathy is, basically, binding two things together through sheer force of will. It's easy to comprehend with physical objects; if you bind two twigs and lift one, the other lifts with it, if you light one on fire, the other gets hot, etc. The specifics of how this is done cannot be taught through text, but the essence of it can. There are four fundamental aspects of Sympathy that everyone should know off the top their head and in their sleep. They are:

1. The Law of Correspondance -- "Similarity enhances sympathy."
   What this basically means is, the more alike two things are, the more efficient the sympathetic link is. If you take the branch of a tree and break it in two, those two pieces of wood are very similar; they are roughly the same size, they are the same material, they even came from the same source. If you bind them, you will get a very strong link, say, 80% efficiency. On the other hand, if you take a piece of twine and a large iron ingot and try to bind them, you will get a truly terrible link. No part of the twine is even remotely similar to the ingot; the ingot is bigger, sturdier, heavier, and made of completely different material. You'd be lucky to get 5% efficiency.
2. The Principle of Consanguinity -- "A part can represent the whole."
   This is harder to understand than the law of correspondance but easier to explain. Basically, if I take a branch off a tree, and heat the branch, I can transfer that heat to the tree through a second binding. This is the same principle behind a mommet. A lock of your hair, or a drop of your blood, is used to represent you, which is then used to cause bodily hard to the target. Do not do this.
3. The Law of Conservation -- "Energy cannot be created nor destroyed."
   Remember earlier when I mentioned inefficient bonds? Now if you're a clever student, you've no doubt asked: What happens to all the energy that isn't transfered? Simply put, it is released into the air. Consider this: if you bind an iron drab to an iron drab and lift one, theoretically it would weigh the same as two iron drabs (although realistically you wouldn't have a perfect bond and it would weigh more). If you bind the twine to the iron ingot, a combined weight of about one tenth stone, and you try to lift it, it would probably feel like you were lifting about 10 stone of iron. The same waste in energy applies to all forms of energy, be it heat, light, or sound. The important thing to understand is that when you "lose" energy it's not gone, it's going into the air. This is also why sympathy is dangerous; if an inefficient heat transfer goes awry, the heat might not go into the air. It might go into you. There was an incident recently where a student tried to force open a door using sympathy and ripped his arm off because of the overflow of energy.
   
   Be careful.
4. The Alar -- "The riding-crop belief."
   This is the single most important aspect of sympathy. This is the force of will involved in binding two things. If you take Master Hemme's class he'll no doubt have you memorize all sorts of different Alars, and when you get started doing sympathy you'll ritualistically chant them under your breath every time you do even a simple binding, but that is all formality. The only truly important aspect of the Alar is the belief. To light a candle, all you must do is believe extremely hard that the candle is already lit. (I say that lightly but it's actually incredibly difficult and takes years of practice.)

And there you have it, the basics of sympathy. That's approximately 5 span of Hemme's classes, right there on the paper. Have fun wasting your time trying to impress him as you wonder desperately why he hasn't actually done any sympathy in class.

--Kvothe

This is a mommet. Don't make these, they are dangerous and can kill people and are highly illegal. 

Where I came from, part 1

A lot of people have been wondering where I'm from, and where I learned all my sympathy from (because it sure wasn't from Master Hemme, I'll tell you that much). A smaller number of people have also been wondering why I know all my sympathy, and furthermore why I'm at The University. This is a much more interesting question, because it only takes a sentence to explain "I learned sympathy from an arcanist named Abenthy."

So, Why is Kvothe the Bloodless enrolled at the University?

Abenthy taught me more than just simple sympathy. Sure, he taught me some critical thinking, some chemistry, some history, and more than a few dirty jokes. Most of all he taught me to love learning. But none of that is why I came to the university. No, Abenthy convinced me to come to the University completely by accident.

Abenthy knew the name of the wind.

I'm sure you've all heard the stories of Taborlin the Great, who knew the name of all things. He is in a room with no door, he speaks the name of stone, the wall parts into two. He walks off a cliff, speaks the name of the wind, the wind catches him and he floats safely to the ground. This is widely regarded as storybook magic, but as any self respecting student at this institution should know, naming is very real. (Why do you think we have a Master Namer? Although I'll be the first to admit, I doubt Elodin actually knows how to tie his shoes let alone the true names of anything. That man is completely insane.) Obviously it's exaggerated in the stories, but it is a very real thing. What happened was this:
Our troupe had just arrived in a small city. We were preparing to perform, and I, having no role in the upcoming performance, was wandering around the city near our caravan. It was then that I spotted what I assumed to be a tinker. I began to approach his cart when the captain of the watch began to harass the man and asked him to leave. It turned out he was an Arcanist, and he was making the townspeople nervous. Abenthy (although I didn't know him as such) was politely telling the captain he was merely selling goods when the captain began to get rough with him. And then, out of nowhere, it happened: Abenthy shouted something into the air and conjured up a small whirlwind which struck the captain to the ground. He wasn't hurt, but he was scared, and they left Abenthy alone after that.

I didn't need any convincing one way or the other. I knew at that moment that I wanted that kind of power. Abenthy joined our troupe that night and began teaching me sympathy on the road, and that's where my education began.

Alright that's all I'm writing right now. I'll finish this particular narative at a later date.

--Kvothe

Have you seen this girl?

I met this girl a while ago on a caravan, her name was Denna. We had some good conversations, and shared a few moments. Then we parted for what I thought would be for good. Then the other night we met again, and under very strange circumstances; She sang with me at the Eolian and helped me win my pipes. (For the uninitiated, "pipes" are just a badge that means I get free admission and can play there; no small feat, I assure you. Ambrose has been trying for years, haha).

I don't know why but I felt a really strong connection with her. It felt kind of like... You know in the winter a lake will freeze over? And you walk out onto the ice and the close to the middle you get the thinner the ice gets, and eventually it starts cracking under your feet. You look down and you see cracks expanding from the point you stepped on too hard and you know if you move even barely the whole ice could shatter under your feet.

I didn't feel like I was standing on thin ice. I felt like the ice itself.

But then she left and I can't seem to find her for the life of me. Has anyone seen her?

I did not provoke Ambrose Jackis

I'm starting this blog because rumors are flying all around the University about how I insulted the Jackis family name, and how I'm a thieving Ruh bastard, and how if you turn your back for a second your purse will be emptied and your women will be kidnapped.
Obviously if you've met me you know this is just an egregious lie. So allow me to address this lie, and all the other ridiculous rumors circulating about me, one by one:

1. I provoked Ambrose Jackis
   Okay this one is debatable, but I don't think I did anything to warrant the reaction he gave. Basically I walked into the Archives and saw Ambrose "serenading" this poor scriv, Fela, practically holding her in place. So I told him off, insulted his poetic meter, that kind of thing. Fela seemed pretty thankful and if you were there you would know that Ambrose was being a total jackass. So how does he thank me? He gets me banned from the Archives.
   But sure, I'm the one who instigated our rivalry.
   
2. I assaulted Master Hemme
   I did not assault him, he was never even in danger. If anything I gave him a minor burn on his big toe. Besides, he was asking for it! My first day at the University I asked him what it would take to get out of his basic sympathy class, and he said "Demonstrate your knowledge of the sympathetic arts." Then the next day he asks if I would like to teach the class in his stead. I'm sure he meant it as sardonically as possible but to be quite honest, I could teach that class and do a hell of a better job than he could. So naturally I say of course. Does Hemme back out? No, he invites me onto the podium to attempt to teach the class. Then, to top it all off, I asked for a strand of his hair, as I made a wax dummy of him, and he gave it to me. You do not have to be a skilled sympathist to know this is a bad idea. So I make a mommet out of him, put the mommet's foot in the candle, bind the candle to the furnace to increase the heat output, and give him at most a mild burn, and probably just some uncomfortable heatrash. But of course they take me in for disciplinary action and he claims I blistered him all over the leg, but he's somehow unable to show us the blisters. Of course you know the rest, but in case you've been living in a cave and haven't heard the news, I was given 5 lashes for "unbecoming conduct," but apparently my display was impressive so I was admitted to the Arcanum as well.
   
3. I did not bleed or cry when I was whipped
   This one's true, I neither bled nor cried when they gave me my lashes, hence the name, "Kvothe the Bloodless." I can hear your cries even now, "But Kvothe! How did you not bleed! I have to know!" Well that would ruin the mystery, wouldn't it?
   But then again, you're reading this blog for answers, so let me give you a hint: The reason I didn't bleed can be bought at any apothecary. I'll you to figure out the rest.
   
4. I'm half demon
   Well, this one has served as an explanation as to why I didn't cry out when I was whipped, and of course demons don't bleed. I've heard this rumor in many forms, anywhere from I'm a demon possessing a mortal body, to I ate a demon heart to gain its powers. As fun as it might be to tell you I'm a demon, no, I'm not a demon. Demons don't exist. They're faerie tales for superstitious farmers and housewives.
   
5. I'm a Ruh bastard
   Well, yes and no. I am Edema Ruh, I was born on the road, and I've been a trouper all my life. But I'm not a "Ruh bastard." No group of people have ever been so hated as the Edema Ruh, so allow me to clear up some stereotypes: We do not steal and kidnap when we perform in your towns, we are not highwaymen, we are not demonspawn. The Ruh are just people, and I'm one of them.

Okay, that's all for now but I'm sure other rumors will crop up. I'll address them as they happen.
--Kvothe the Bloodness