The Wise Man's Fear VII (Spoilers and speculation)

[jumbles]

The last thread is locked so here is a new one.

Links to previous threads:

Thread 1

Thread 2

Thread 3

Thread 4

Thread 5

Thread 6: First Page | Last Page

[stumpzapper]

Hey everyone, first time poster. I’ve read most of this thread (I skipped IV completely and skimmed V but please don’t hold that against me). For my first post I thought I’d dive right in and advance a pet theory that a number of people have addressed at some point, but that I’d like to really pursue in more detail, namely that Denna’s patron is Cinder and not Bredon (wait wait! Before your eyes glaze over, hear me out!). I’ve put together some stuff that people have already mentioned in this thread, as well as some new stuff that either noticed by me or someone else. I’ve posted a lot of this on another forum I frequent so a lot of it is self-plagiarism.

First, why I don’t believe Bredon is Denna’s patron. Evidence for him as the patron basically it boils down to: he has white hair, he just started dancing, he has a cane, and he's kinda mysterious what with the possible pagan rituals. However, there are a number of problems with the Bredon-is-patron theory. First, Bredon says he just started dancing and Denna says her patron is an excellent dancer who is very graceful. Second, such corporal punishment is out of character for Bredon. If he were her patron, he might beat Denna once to prove a point (the way he humiliated Kvothe at Tak), but he's more inclined to use subtlety and elegance in his teaching methods because he considers the direct approach brutish and vulgar. More importantly, Bredon is out of town when Denna is meeting her patron in Severen: Bredon leaves while Kvothe is writing songs on behalf of the Maer and stays gone until sometime indeterminate time after Kvothe himself leaves to hunt the bandits. In the meantime, Denna and Kvothe frolic and flirt, Denna disappears for a short time and Kvothe loses his inspiration, she comes back, and then a day or two later she meets her patron at midnight in the city. Later Kvothe and Denna fight and he leaves town. So Bredon has been gone from Severen for nearly a span before Denna meets her patron in the city and gone for an unknown time afterwards (at least several days). So unless he's sneaking back in to the city just to meet with Denna he can't be her patron.

Alright, on to the main event. Cinder is Denna’s patron. Consider:

1) Denna’s patron has white hair and is graceful, as is Cinder. The Cthaeh also mentions that the Chandrian have lots of practice hiding their appearance from mortals, and the Cthaeh specifically states that Cinder can hide his black eyes.

2) Kvothe names Denna’s patron Master Ash; Kvothe has a preternatural tendency to correctly name things, often on accident (Auri, his horse One Sock, the girl named Nellie at the Trabean inn). In addition, right before Kvothe christens Denna's patron as 'Master Ash", he starts rattling off silly possible names for her patron that all start with 'F'. As they go they get progressively closer to 'Ferula' (Cinder's true name). Here's his list of names: Frederick the Flippant. Frank. Feran. Forue. Fordale.

3) The movement of Denna’s patron coincide with the movements of the Chandria: he’s present at the wedding party and he’s in Vintas while Cinder is controlling the bandits. During the Chandria attack at the wedding party he is the only survivor other than Denna even though he ran back to the farm to see what was going on (he could just as easily have run back to be a part of the attack).

4) Denna is now writing a song about how Lanre is actually a good guy as opposed to a villain, and earlier she’d asked Kvothe and company if there was a type of magic where writing a song about something could make it true (obviously songs can have power as the Chandria fear singers).

5) Denna’s patron likes to beat her and see how far he can get without driving her off; Haliax chastises Cinder in NotW for his love of petty cruelties.

6) And finally I want to thank a poster named Amish at my other forum for pointing this out, because I don’t feel right taking credit for it, but “ferule” is a real word which means a stick or cane used to punish children. Moreover, Foreveraloneguy at the same forum pointed out that ferula is a type of plant. When I looked it up on Wikipedia it turns out "the Romans called the hollow light rod made from this plant a ferula (compare also fasces, judicial birches). Such rods were used for walking sticks, splints, for stirring boiling liquids, and for corporal punishment." My italics. So “ferule” is almost certainly derived from “ferula” (and probably fascism from “fasces”, which is also cool). So Cinder’s true name, whether it’s Ferule or Ferula literally means walking stick or beating stick.

[thistlepong]

Hi, stumpzapper. Welcome aboard. Your use of Chandria rather than Chandrian made me curious and bold enough to ask the following. Did you read the book in English? This is in no way a comment on your language. The possibility of talking to folks who might be able to shed some light of which names are stable and which change is always an occasion for joy.

You probably did yourself a disservice skimming over IV and V. We've covered a fair number of your points. But I can absolutely understand how the volume of posts would wear down even the most obsessive.

The forum stumpzapper is referring to is here. I hadn't been back to note they were still at it.

[stumpzapper]

Hi, stumpzapper. Welcome aboard. Your use of Chandria rather than Chandrian made me curious and bold enough to ask the following. Did you read the book in English? This is in no way a comment on your language. The possibility of talking to folks who might be able to shed some light of which names are stable and which change is always an occasion for joy.

You probably did yourself a disservice skimming over IV and V. We've covered a fair number of your points. But I can absolutely understand how the volume of posts would wear down even the most obsessive.

The forum stumpzapper is referring to is here. I hadn't been back to note they were still at it.

You're just mad because you think Bredon is Denna's patron. :drunk: j/k Yes I realize that most of these points have been made before in this thread, but I think it's helpful sometimes to summarize all of the available information. I just think that taken together all of the information, particularly Cinder's true name meaning beating stick, indicates Cinder is Denna's patron. Even in thread VI I still saw discussion of it crop up here and there so it seemed like the issue had not yet been settled.

Oh yeah, I'm an English speaker, just sometimes sloppy when it comes to spelling.

[jumbles]

For my first post I thought I’d dive right in and advance a pet theory that a number of people have addressed at some point, but that I’d like to really pursue in more detail, namely that Denna’s patron is Cinder and not Bredon (wait wait! Before your eyes glaze over, hear me out!). I’ve put together some stuff that people have already mentioned in this thread, as well as some new stuff that either noticed by me or someone else.

Welcome to the conversation Stumpzapper!

You didn't mention the evidence that finally convinced me that her patron was Cinder instead of Bredon. This post by Tze is where I first saw it. The gist of it is that the day Denna first met her patron it was so cold that the bone tar canister in the Fishery froze and broke, which is what caused the fire.

[jurble]

Man, this Selitos was a tyrant thing is blowing my mind.

But, Halilax was able to corrupt the leaders of the other cities, right? Isn't his goal the end of everything?

Or did Lanre actually realize he was fighting on the wrong-side. Is it possible that Lanre killed his wife (because she would have been a bad guy too, just like Selitos)?

[thistlepong]

You're just mad because you think Bredon is Denna's patron.

I don't give it much thought. I liked Alveron for it, but there's no way he'd have been at the Mauthen Farm. Pressed, however, I probably would go with Bredon. Cinder relies too much on coincidental word meanings. Rothfuss denies he named folks with that kind of thing in mind. That shouldn't matter to the critic, but neither should external meanings, so it's a wash. I do enjoy watching folks dig for clues on that one.

[thistlepong]

But, Halilax was able to corrupt the leaders of the other cities, right?

Presumably.

Isn't his goal the end of everything?

According to a single source who was telling a story about Selitos. There's no evidence of the Seven actually acting toward this goal. Anyway, it's be weird if we had the answer to "what's their plan?" spoon fed to us 200 pages into the story.

Or did Lanre actually realize he was fighting on the wrong-side?

Selitos convinced Lanre to do this, and Lanre figured out he was being manipulated. His was the city that survived and he marched on MT.

[jurble]

So were Iax and the Shapers, not evil then?

[thistlepong]

Point to something evil Iax or a shaper did.

[jurble]

Stealin' the moon!

[jumbles]

Selitos convinced Lanre to do this, and Lanre figured out he was being manipulated. His was the city that survived and he marched on MT.

Ooh, I didn't realize you were suggesting that Lanre discovered the truth and saved his city. But I guess the timing works out for that pretty well even in Skarpi's story.

Point to something evil Iax or a shaper did.

Stealin' the moon!

I love the delivery of that answer. But Iax spoke to the Cthaeh before that, so that would be more the Cthaeh's doing than anyone elses I think.

Also, I found something else which may support Selitos = Cthaeh. In Denna's song in WMFc73, "Selitos' words were cruel and biting." In WMFc104, Felurian says that the Cthaeh "has not bit you," explaining that the things it says can drive men mad.

On that note, maybe the fact that Haliax can't go mad is an advantage for fighting the Cthaeh rather than a curse, since that would protect him from the Cthaeh's words.

Also, Denna found her story in a book, and written historical accounts don't lose their accuracy over time like oral accounts do (especially oral accounts given by someone who admits that they are a liar and whom Kvothe seems to have a lower opinion of now than he had before). This post provides some evidence of that (item #6), and actually, lower in that same post (item #18) I even said that for all we know the Cthaeh could be Amyr (though right after that I said that that would INCREDIBLY surprise me, I'm eating those words now!). I'll quote the post here:

6. It seems like everyone considers Skarpi's story to be 100% true. But after the first day of the story, Skarpi tells Kvothe that you "have to be a bit of a liar to tell a story the right way. Too much truth confuses the facts. Too much honesty makes you sound insincere." Also, when Chronicler mentions Skarpi, Kvothe calls him a rumormonger. To me this suggests that something happens in the third book to lower Kvothe's opinion of Skarpi and/or his stories.

18. Bast says that the Cthaeh perfectly sees every future. But how can anybody other than the Cthaeh know if this is true? If it was true, couldn't the Cthaeh have manipulated events so nobody knew it was evil? Bast also says that the Cthaeh is malicious. But if it had to choose between causing evil to the world or evil to the one who visited it, which would it choose? Could things turn out bad for the world but good for Kvothe (or the other way around)? Also, how can anyone other than the Cthaeh truly know what its intentions are? We can observe what happens after talking to the Cthaeh, but we cannot observe what didn't happen. Perhaps its agenda isn't to cause pain, but it doesn't care who gets hurt. Or perhaps its agenda is the greater good, but much evil must be done first (though I would be INCREDIBLY surprised if it turned out to be Amyr).

I'm really getting on board with this Cthaeh=Selitos idea. Thanks for it Thistlepong!

It seems odd though, that Felurian would be willing to talk about the Amyr, but is dead set against speaking about the Chandrian. At least if the Cthaeh/Selitos really is Amyr, but I suppose Skarpi could have been wrong about that, too. Or maybe even Felurian doesn't know that the Cthaeh is Selitos. Bast didn't seem to mind Kvothe talking about Selitos, but his reaction to the Cthaeh was huge. Or maybe the change from Selitos to Cthaeh was just so huge that talking about Selitos is nothing as opposed to the horribleness of talking about the Cthaeh.

On an unrelated note, I just noticed that Felurian calls Shapers "proud dreamers" (WMFc102). That brings to mind the Lackless rhymes. I guess dreaming could be Shaping, rather than just Naming.

[Aemon Blackfyre]

"Kvothe heard exactlyone story about Selitos and Myr Tariniel." Thistlepong (sorry don't know if i can quote from other posts)

Not exactly one story. He heard 1 story and part of another. The one of Tehlu and pals is post-betrayal and in it Selitos mention the Chandrian as big baddies again. Though the source is the same, Skarpi.

I like your theory though but it has too holes for my taste. About where was the war fought, i'm starting to think that Fae and Ruach were the same but Ruach lost their immortality and became man somehow. About Aleph and Selitos to me they were both namers until Selitos lost his mind in search of revenge and became a shaper IF naming/shaping is just about how you use it. Again i'm basing myself according to Skarpi's story.

P.S.: Ok assuming Lanre converted 6 of the seven cities but one the 7th (one city remembered the lethani !!) and saved it and then turned against Selitos (assuming he is/became the Ctaeth) one thing is certain: The Chandrian and Haliax are not good guys they'll kill everyone who knows about them and this we know cause Kvothe saw it and they fear the Amyr.

[jurble]

About Aleph and Selitos to me they were both namers until Selitos lost his mind in search of revenge and became a shaper IF naming/shaping is just about how you use it

I haven't seen any evidence of Selitos using shaping, when Aleph clearly does - turning humans into angels.

[TheValyrianDragonlord]

Selitos could be the Cthaeh but I doubt it. If he is the Cthaeh then we won't find that out in Kvothe's story. The only possible place for this revelation would be in the frame story. Why? Because Kvothe himself was largely ignorant of the true nature of the Cthaeh. He told Bast how he's faced things far worse. The Ctaeh for Kvothe was just one episode in his tale. If the Cthaeh really were Selitos and if it were freed by the opening of the Loeclos box, both Bast and Kvothe would have been aware of it in the present frame story.

I do agree that the Loeclos Box contains the shard that took out Selitos's eye. It's as good a guess as any. I actually think the opening of the Loeclos box (pretty sure it will be opened, chekhov's gun and all) will break Selitos's curse on Haliax.

[jumbles]

If he is the Cthaeh then we won't find that out in Kvothe's story. The only possible place for this revelation would be in the frame story. Why? Because Kvothe himself was largely ignorant of the true nature of the Cthaeh. He told Bast how he's faced things far worse.

Good point. If Selitos = Cthaeh, Kvothe probably doesn't yet know it. Though there may be a second trilogy, and it wouldn't surprise me if that revelation was saved for that trilogy.

If the Cthaeh really were Selitos and if it were freed by the opening of the Loeclos box, both Bast and Kvothe would have been aware of it in the present frame story.

Yeah, I don't think opening the Loeclos box realeases the Cthaeh, either. For one thing, when Bast and Kvothe speak of it in chapter 105, their words imply that it is still in its tree. The Sithe's job is (not was) to prevent contact with the Cthaeh, folk hope (not hoped) to get one of its Rhinna flowers, the Sithe still try to prevent its influence from spreading beyond the tree.

Hmm, also in WMFc105, Bast states that Lanre orchestrated the betrayal of Myr Tariniel, now I really am doubting that Selitos is the Cthaeh. Such a shame, it's a really cool idea.

[thistlepong]

Not exactly one story. He heard 1 story and part of another.

Okay, as a pedant I can appreciate that. As for any holes, you'll have to point them out before I can fill them. I'll try to explicate this a little more thoroughly and excise the lunatic fringe speculation.

Preamble:

I reject the binary good/evil applied to this text. Applying my own moral compass and addressing only direct events, the only evil character would be Kvothe. Applying only the descriptions from the text, no character ever describes another as evil. The word is used 14 times and never applied to an individual or group of note. According to countless interviews, recordings, and direct experience, the author does not believe in binary good/evil, perhaps not evil at all. Any reader that sees evil brings it with hir to the text.

History:

The contents of the Loeclos Box are a source of wild speculation. Some of this relies on textual clues. Some not so much.

One of the first, and up until last week the best, was that it contained a scraeling fragment. The scraeling limbs are like stone or pottery, which for some evoked the correct density. It's also demonstrated early on that even a fragment can attract more, which suggested something dangerous but potentially useful; worth locking away and keeping safe.

The second best guess is variously described as the name of the moon or a piece of the moon. It falls apart rather quickly. The stolen moon was pulled into Faen, so anything binding it would need to be there to keep it moving. And it was a powerful knower who moved it, not a sympathist.

Statement:

There is an exact match in the text for the contents of the Loeclos Box.

Selitos stooped to pick up a jagged shard of mountain glass*, pointed at one end.

“No. By the weight of it, perhaps something made of glass or stone.”

*Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock.

This is the only glass stone mentioned in the Chronicle.¹ It was used to by Selitos to cut out his own eye, the blood from which he used to curse Lanre.

He cast the stone at Lanre’s feet and said, “By the power of my own blood I bind you. By your own name let you be accursed.”

The description fits. The stone is incredibly significant. But what does it mean?

The Loeclos Box is made from rhinna wood, which we're deliberately clued in to when Kvothe lingers on the smell.

It was like smoke and spice and leather and lemon. (the rhinna tree)

What’s more, it seemed to be a spicewood. It smelled faintly of . . . something.A familiar smell I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I lowered my face to its surface and breathed in deeply through my nose, something almost like lemon. (the Loeclos Box)

The Cthaeh cannot leave the rhinna tree.

So, the shard is locked within the box and the Cthaeh is bound to the tree. We have only two conclusions. The Cthaeh is Selitos. Or the Cthaeh is Alaxel. Alaxel has been shown to be moving freely in the Mortal at the time of the narrative, therefore we're left with Selitos.

When one takes a look at the text with this in mind, there's a surprising amount of support which I'll urge y'all to consider. Before we

The Cthaeh can see the future. Selitos couldn't. Doesn't this invalidate your theory?

Here's some detail about Selitos. He's the star os Skarpi's story in "Lanre Turned:" "the story of man who lost his eye and gained a better sight."

Just by looking at a thing Selitos could see its hidden name and understand it. In those days there were many who could do such things, but Selitos was the most powerful namer of anyone alive in that age.

and

Such was the power of his sight that he could read the hearts of men like heavy-lettered books.

Before we even get into the story he's already as powerful as Tehlu & Pals become in the fragment related in "Tehlu's Watchful Eye." It's no wonder he refused whatever Aleph was slinging. So what's better sight than he had before?

You have beaten me once through guile, but never again. Now I see truer than before and my power is upon me.

So what's better sight than he had before? Well, the lay of the multiverse certainly applies. I don't necessarily take Bast's statement to be hard fact. Everything the Cthaeh told Kvothe could have been read from his heart and fed back to him, or it could have been divining his future. In any case it's an upgrade.

Kvothe asked the Cthaeh about the Amyr?

He did. And the Cthaeh spat a curse and demanded he ask about the Chandrian. I'll throw it back. Who benefits from the Cthaeh not answering that?

Iax Spoke to the Cthaeh before he stole the moon?

"The Boy Who Loved the Moon" (Hespe's story) almost certainly relates the events leading up to the Creation War. Jax appears to be analogous to Felurian's "shaper of the dark and changing eye" who is in turn named by Bast: Iax.

Iax and Selitos are contemporaries in "Lanre Turned," existing at the same time. And Selitos is probably the more accomplished of the two.

Selitos was the most powerful namer of anyone alive in that age.

but

Selitos knew that in all the world there were only three people who could match* his skill in names: Aleph, Iax, and Lyra.

(*match: to encounter successfully as an antagonist, to provide with a worthy competitor)

In "The Boy Who Loved the Moon, " Jax climbs high into the mountains and meets the hermit. Looking back, a few folks suspected this figure as the Cthaeh. Selitos also resided high in the mountains:

[Myr Tariniel] sat among the tall mountains of the world like a gem on the crown of a king.

Hespe's tale humbles its subject and gives it the feeling of a fairytale, but it's no leap at all to imagine Iax consulting the most powerful namer alive. A little manipulation or misunderstanding, the trademarks of the Cthaeh, and he steals the moon.

“That’s not what I actually said,” the old man murmured. But he did so in a resigned way. Skilled listener that he was, he knew he wasn’t being heard.

Lanre spoke to the Cthaeh before orchestrating the betrayal of Myr Tariniel?

Seven were poisoned against the empire and six of them betrayed the cities that trusted them. These seven cities were defended by stregth of arm, and thus by Lanre, to paraphrase Skarpi. One city was not betrayed. And Selitos was surprised. In fact, in Denna's version, "Selitos was a tyrant, an insane monster who tore out his own eye in fury at Lanre’s clever trickery." They agree on a point, Selitos was tricked. He did not see this coming. The sensible conclusions would be that Selitos convinced Lanre to do this. Lanre figured out he was being manipulated. His was the city that survived and he marched on MT.

How would the Fae people account for the most dangerous being in existence magically being imprisoned in a tree in the Fae world when it wasn't imprisoned for at least 2000 years before that? They surely had knowledge of the Cthaeh before it was imprisoned 3000 years ago (the approximate age of the Loeclos Box.)

Here's what Bast has to say about the alleged malice and disaster associated with the Cthaeh.

Iax spoke to the Cthaeh before he stole the moon, and that sparked the entire creation war. Lanre spoke to the Cthaeh before he orchestrated the betrayal of Myr Tariniel. The creation of the Nameless. The Scaendyne. They can all be traced back to the Cthaeh.

A couple things stand out. First, that's a pretty damning list of failures for the Sithe (even knowing the details of only two of them) if it's been there the whole time. Second, "can all be traced back to" suggests they had to do some detective work. So the Cthaeh existed. Then he was imprisoned. Then they figured out what he was. And then the Sithe were charged. He's become the most dangerous being in existence in Faen lore and the mark of a tragedy in their drama, like the Modegan Doctor or the Aturan Wizard.

If the Cthaeh really were Selitos and if it were freed by the opening of the Loeclos box, wouldn't both Bast and Kvothe would have been aware of it in the present frame story?

Not to be flip, but no; not necessarily. I take it we generally accept the box will be opened. Within the narrative it has to occur within the next 5 years or so and the repercussions would then need to ripple forward. Faen's a reasonably large and to all appearances sparsely populated realm and there's probably no one alive and sane who's gotten a good look at him for awhile. Selitos would bust out of there and get back to confounding the Seven. And the existing Amyr are a pretty secretive lot. Bast is a child. He knows what "every fae girl and boy knows." And that knowledge, in particular, keeps most Fae far away. Kvothe knows what he's responsible for, but maybe not all the details. To be honest, his reaction to Bast's tantrum in teh frame is ambiguous at best. Imagine him meeting Selitos at the end of WMF. He'd have been excited...

Please present any more concerns or questions and I'll do what I can to address them. Or become convinced this is rubbish. Who knows?

[thistlepong]

I haven't seen any evidence of Selitos using shaping, when Aleph clearly does - turning humans into angels.

After that, I need some lay pedantry.

Aleph transforms Ruach into /(angels)/.

Selitos forever changes Haliax's physical presentation, banishes him from his presence, and ensures his very name will be turned against him, and the same goes for all who follow him. That isn't just naming.

Iax yanks the moon from the Mortal world into his sandbox realm.

And Lyra pulls Lanre's /(soul)/ back from beyond the doors of death. Again, not just naming.

[jurble]

Selitos forever changes Haliax's physical presentation, banishes him from his presence, and ensures his very name will be turned against him, and the same goes for all who follow him. That isn't just naming.

Oh, right. Selitos' curse in that scene seems a lot like Kvothe's own oath to Denna. My question is, if the Edema Ruh are descendants of the Ruach, is it possible that Shaping isn't an ability like Naming, but rather some racial trait? Kvothe's oath cripples him unintentionally, not because of any secret Naming prowess, but because of some in-born racial ability. I mean, he does have eyes that change color like Iax, right? Perhaps that's indicative of something.

[Robert Hughes]

Hey guys

I signed up just do I could post on this forum. I've read literally hundreds of pages across the seven iyerations of the thread. I'd just like to toss in a thought or two and have any comments you have on it:

Firstly, Naming and Shaping. I don't think that these two things are in fact two things. I think they are two philosophies, but one action. Ferulian calls them knowers and shapers, but clarifies that the knowers did not /think/ in terms of mastery, but the shapers did. We already know that naming gives mastery over something, fela shaped her ring and C bound bast with iron. I leave Elodin off the list for a specific reason. This leaves me with the idea that naming and shaping are merely philosophical choices, but application of the same act.

This brings me to Elodin: wonderful, wonderful Elodin. By extension of what we know for a fact about elodin, we can gain some interesting insight. Elodin know the names of many many things, it is likely that he knows how to find the names of all things. I believe him to be a true namer - one who can look for and find what he needs. Why? Because he talks about how difficult and complex a persons name is, yet he was easily and quickly able to find at least a part of Kvothe's to still him when his loot was broken. He found a name that some had tried to hide from him. But why would this be important? Because it makes Elodin a very short philosophical step away from being a shaper. I think his knowledge, if not his person, is crucial. He knows about the door, he knows about the fae, he knows where the moon goes when it's not in the sky. He even appears to know how the Shaed was made, probably including the bit that we don't seem because Kvothe was sent away. Most importantly I believe, he knows what Kvothe is after. He searched him for his name, possibly on more than one occasion. We are told that to understand and use a name you must completely understand the thing you're looking at. Could leave an between Kvothe and Elodin. Also, Elodin someone how found Auri, and had the same interest in her well being that Kvothe does. Now we know that the name Auri is special, Elodin tells us that much. He is surprised at Kvothe for picking it, and tests him to see if he knows what it means, but stops short of telling Kvothe the truth. It is part, or indicative, of her long name. Elodin would know this, because he could search her for it.

Is it possible that the reason Elodin was locked in Haven (possible even voluntarily) is that when he awoke his sleeping mind and found himself to be a true namer and capable of being a shaper, drove him off the chart. The implicate power or responsibility being too much. If we take how much he knows about the fea, and ferulian it's possible he also knows the history of the namers and shapers - given he's a Master Namer it's almost certain. Just a thought.

Next random point :D Kvothe has obviously changed his true name. He has hidden part of it, or changed it or done something to it. This is foreshadowed by Elodin's horrified reaction when he mistakenly thinks Kvothe has confessed to 'repeatedly changing' his name. In actual fact he was referring to denna and spoken names. This tells us that Elodin obviously understands the tangible and perhaps disastrous effects changing your name (and possibly the name of anything) can have. Perhaps that is the difference between a namer and a shaper? A namer is content to understand and use stone, for instance, but a shaper decides to change the name. So perhaps a stone becomes more than a stone, it becomes the Ward in Kilvin collection? Or the stone that eats angular momentum. Perhaps this is the 'old magic' he refers to when he looks at the shaed (alluded to by how kilvin refers to the artefacts, but then doesn't really understand what he's saying.) If a true name represents us, then doesn't it stand to reason that someone who could change the true name of something, is therefore shaping it? Perhaps Kvothe learns this, or comes to understand it. Perhaps that is how he becomes Kote. A small aside, the attributes given to Kvothe's box seem awfully similar to those of the artefacts in kilvins possession. Doesn't that axe get turned away from the lid in a way as if it doesn't touch it? Like the barrier stones? Perhaps Kvothe shaped the box in a similar manner. Or perhaps it wasn't him who made it.

I also can't remember the name of the damned scary tree seer thing that bast was so afraid of. But small point of note: it tells him to stick near the Maer and he will lead Kvothe to their door. Also says that the maer is come close to one but doesn't know it. The simple answer isn't bredon or anyone else. It's His wife. The lockless door, may be the same door as the Amyr. She doesn't know what's in the box, but then given what we are trying to understand of the history of the Amyr, that would make perfect sense.

I have a few other mental ideas then I'll stop:)

Perhaps one of the rings in the poem about Kvothe represents himself, a ring for all the names you know after all. We know that he has changed his. I thought perhaps it was the blood ring, flowing. Representing a part of him, and I also tried to connect that to the blood that is required to open the lockelss door, just a thought. I also entertained the possibility that the nameless ring was his, because of the danger suggested by elodin in changing ones own name. Perhaps he hasn't just changed his name, perhaps he's lost it. I really doubt a part of his name is what he's hiding in that box. I'm not even convinced it's \his\ box.

I think Reshi means Master, or Teacher or some other such honorific. It's simple its clean, and works in every context.

There are somethings that have been introduced in a way that suggests they were setting up for later. So that we don't treat them as deus ex machina and RP for it later:

The artefacts in kilvins drawer, the power that bast has to trade injuries with someone, auri's name, and what does Elodin really know. I'm not exactly sure, but I'm almost certain Kvothe hasn't asked Elodin about any of the cool stuff, amyr chandrian lanre. Ironically, Elodin is probably the best person ask - think about it, its not hard to see why.

My mentalness is over. Thoughts appreciated, I am muchly tired!