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

[Slick Mongoose]

So she could have been a different person in Eolian.

Manet

[Nisheeth]

Manet

Indeed. :laugh:

[Tears of Lys]

I think Denna may well be on her way to becoming a shaper. Early on in WMF she's told there's a type of magic that involves writing things down and they become true. (back in the Eolian when she stops by the table where Kvothe, Will, and Sim sit, and picks their brains about magic and how it works.)

She fiddles with her hair, tying it into knots, it's been suggested before that these are Yllish knots. If so, Yllish knots are writing too. Maybe she's doing her Arcane homework. :P

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

I suspect Bast and the other Fae are shapers. Look at the magic Bast throws around after Kvothe tells his story about the Ctheah.

[Cold Pie]

I think Denna may well be on her way to becoming a shaper. Early on in WMF she's told there's a type of magic that involves writing things down and they become true. (back in the Eolian when she stops by the table where Kvothe, Will, and Sim sit, and picks their brains about magic and how it works.)

She fiddles with her hair, tying it into knots, it's been suggested before that these are Yllish knots. If so, Yllish knots are writing too. Maybe she's doing her Arcane homework. :P

I got an idea just now when I read you post.

It isn't ordinary Yllish.

It's either something comepletely else, or something more advanced. A sort of "magic Yllish".

WMF page 962 chapter 147

I took a breath before reaching out to lightly touch a narrow intricate braid, half-hidden in her hari. "Your braid," I clarified. "It almost says lovely."

Her mouth made a perfect "o" of surprise, nad one hand went self-consciously to her hair. "you can read it?" she said her voice incredulous, her expression slightly horrified. "Merciful Tehlu, is it anything you don't know?"

"I've been learning Yllish," I said. "Or trying to. It's got six strands instead of four, but it's almost like a story knot, isn't it?"

"Almost?" she said. "It's a damn sight more than almost"

They talk some about Yllish, and then Denna makes the comment "You're supposed to read them with your fingers, not by looking at them", and Kvothe replies: "I've mostly had to learn by looking at pictures in books".

Judging from my own experience with braids (which is exteremly small) it is harder doing a braid with six strands rather than doing one with four. Denna is doing something more complicated than training at ordinary Yllish. She's, as Tears of Lys put it "doing her arcane homework".

Perhaps Kvothe only understands it because he's such a natural at naming (and/or shaping), and think's it's Yllish just because it's a knot that he understands (because he's been studying Yllish). As Denna says, Yllish knots aren't supposed to be seen (as did by Kvothe when she has her cough-fit in Tarbean), Kvothe waves her comment away by saying that he has learnt it by seeing from books, bur probably he has just "named" her knot. That would explain her extreme disbelief at the fact that he could read her braid. He wasn't supposed to be able to do that, even if he could read Yllish! I'm not in the mood to write out the whole page, but Denna continues to be (by Kvothe) inexplainably "irritated" for a little while after the exchange.

Were would Denna go to learn Yllish anyway? Her only option is Master Ash (Cinder), but even that would be hard since I don't think that they spend enough time together for her to learn it directly from him, and I have a hard time believing he would be able to give her books(?) written in Yllish since it's so incredibly rare. It almost make more since that she's learning from own natural "ability", probably with help from Cinder as a mentor.

Another interesting thing is when Denna braids in something along the lines of "Don't speak to me", after Kvothe makes his awkward "Love me" comment in the end of the 158th chapter.

I might be thick but even I can read a sign that is obvious. I closed my mouth, biting off the next think I'd been about to say.

Isn't this a bit out of character for Kvothe? He never shuts his mouth when someone tell him to. It is almost as if she wrote something down and it became true. This theory is a little problem though:

(in direct continuation with the previous quote) Then Denna saw me eyeing her hair and pulled her hands away self-consciously without tying off the braid. Her hair quickly spun free to fall loose around her shoulders. She brought her hands in front of her and twisted one of her rings nervously.

"Hold a moment", I said.

The question here is how the supposed magic braids work. Kvothe did bite off the next thing he was about to say, but after a moment he started talking again. The question here is if the braid dissolved when her hair "spun free", beacuse it is after that Kvothe begins to talk again. But even if it didn't the fact still remains that he stopped talking, the question is if that was because of the message, or if it was some sort of spell that kept him from talking to her for five secounds. Probably the former, but the exchange is still interesting.

[Tears of Lys]

Maybe Yllish developed as a mundane form of magic brading!

@Ser Scott, I can't recall offhand, but I think Bast is primarily a glamourer and a... grammarian?? a practioner of grammarie, which, TBH, I really don't understand. The glamour Bast is able to conjure up makes things seem. Like he can hide his cloven hooves so he blends in. He seems talented in other ways too, if he's able to dispatch the two ex-soldiers who beat the hell out of Kvothe at the end of WMF.

[thistlepong]

Thank you, dambros!

Also, I just noticed that the wording, "she and I have always" suggests that she is still alive (and moving toward him in slow circles).

Nice catch. :bowdown:

Could Laurian/Netalia have Faen blood if Kvothe got his eyes from his mum?

...

Has anyone tried to link the Lackless family with Faen origins?

...

Could the Lackless family be descendants of the Faen guardians of the Loeclos box?

Folks have mentioned that Kvothe might have Faen blood 'cause of the eyes a few times, but were swatted down. The theory makes more sense if one of his parents had a connection. Before now, that speculation mostly centered on Arliden, since he's pretty much a cipher. Since Kvothe got his eyes from Laurian, she seems like the better candidate.

The best link off the top of my head for them having any Faen connection is the box they have made of rhinna wood. That doesn't mean there were Fae guardians before them, though.

Cold Pie, I haven't seen any well developed Denna Lackless theories. They're mostly met with the "not tally" quote and the "my mother was a noble before..." quote and that's the end of it. But you're right, she's described immediately as almost a lady and clearly better able to move in those circles than Kvothe. It's a pretty strong case, but it involves a lot of quotes and the derision of fellow speculators.

I suspect Bast and the other Fae are shapers. Look at the magic Bast throws around after Kvothe tells his story about the Ctheah.

That's almost certainly glamourie, Ser Scot. There are no lasting effects from it; just a fancy light show. And earlier, he implies his grammarie is weak. Stong enough to keep the holly crown living and effective for awhile, but that's about it. Who knows, though? He might be pretty awesome in Faen.

[Cold Pie]

Maybe Yllish developed as a mundane form of magic brading!

Interesting. Some speculation: It started out as the braiding language Denna are practicing, but knowledge got lost over the years. Only old beings (as Cinder) still remembers it. Yllish "copied" it, but ended up as being a ineffective form of writing, and eventually died out.

Cold Pie, I haven't seen any well developed Denna Lackless theories. They're mostly met with the "not tally" quote and the "my mother was a noble before..." quote and that's the end of it. But you're right, she's described immediately as almost a lady and clearly better able to move in those circles than Kvothe. It's a pretty strong case, but it involves a lot of quotes and the derision of fellow speculators.

So it's discarded because it's a classic fantasy troupe. That could be the case, but it could also be the other way around: PR use the trope in order to deconstruct it. I mean at first glance the whole series sounds like a trope, "orphan boy evolves into a hero" and all that.. However, it wouldn't surprise me if PR never reveals her background. Some characters are just meant to remain "mystic".

[jumbles]

Nice catch. :bowdown:

Thanks. I wonder what other clues there are concerning her survival or death. Because by itself I don't think what I found is very compelling evidence.

Cold Pie, I haven't seen any well developed Denna Lackless theories. They're mostly met with the "not tally" quote and the "my mother was a noble before..." quote and that's the end of it. But you're right, she's described immediately as almost a lady and clearly better able to move in those circles than Kvothe. It's a pretty strong case, but it involves a lot of quotes and the derision of fellow speculators.

Before I saw the "Not tally a lot less" evidence on here, I was very convinced that Denna was Netalia Lackless. I noticed the physical similarities. She also had talent performing (singing, instrumental, and acting). She knew The Lay of Sir Savien Traliard and Daeonica (the former being a very difficult song and the latter being a play that not many folk knew according to Kote in NotWc8). She always felt the need to travel rather than stay put. She has dreams that make it hard to sleep (Lady Lackless is said to be dreaming in one of the Lackless rhymes). She could read and write (she had to learn somewhere). She also had a mysterious past.

But I do think that Kvothe's noble mother and "Not tally a lot less" make Laurian much more likely to be Netalia Lackless. Though I wouldn't be surprised if Denna is from one of the other Loeclos offshoots.

[thistlepong]

See, jumbles, I was just the opposite. For whatever reason his first meeting with Meluan evoked Laurian for me, even though there's nothing to suggest they're similar. And as soon as I saw the name Netalia, I did a search for tally to reread the poem. Over time my conviction attenuated. The differences between Meluan and Laurian became more obvious while the similarities between her and Denna bore out.

Denna makes a lot of sense structurally. She doesn't need to be the lost Lackless to have an important role in the story. But if she is pieces just fall into place around it.

However, for some reason the noble blood of either character becoming a big issue in the final book seems unlikely. I bet it'll be resolved with a background detail like Netalia's green eyes or Meluan talking about her younger sister.

[JezDynamite]

I've always liked the theory that Master Bredon = Aculeus Lackless, daddy to Meluan.....

(Large section cut out).

Actually, if we posit that Master Bredon is in fact Kvothe's maternal grandfather Aculeus Lackless, I'm wondering if perhaps the Maer and "Bredon" know exactly who Kvothe is (the son of Netalia Lackless), have known this all along, and think Kvothe knows about this and in fact is being driven by this....

(Large section cut out).

Basically, imagine that the Maer and "Bredon" are engaged in an intricate game of chess with Kvothe. Except neither of them realize that Kvothe has no idea they're "supposed" to be playing chess, and Kvothe is actually playing Twister, so the Maer, Bredon, and even Meluan simply don't understand how or why Kvothe keeps kicking them in the face.

This is brilliant! I love your above theory (of which I shortened a bit, purely to save space on the page).

Would Meluan giving Kvothe a wooden ring still fit in with your theory?

Would she say such awful things about Kvothe's family (the Ruh) if she knew his background (also knowing that he'd saved her husband's life and was instrumental in her marrying the Maer)?

Could your theory work if Meluan is oblivious to Kvothe's identity, while Bredon/Aculeus and the Maer know?

-------------------------------

On a side note (which may not be as relevant because of tze's above post),I've been playing around with the list of items that Gaston de Foix put together in Post 321 in the WMF IV spoiler thread

( ), and it got me thinking about future encounters with the Maer, Stapes, Meluan and the Loeclos box.

The Maer seems to be Kvothe's best way to get access to more information on the Amyr. I can imagine Kvothe contacting the Maer (via Stapes' bone ring), while on the way to the Tahl, after being expelled from the uni. He tries to find out more about the Amyr or receive the Maer's backing. I think the Loeclos box will somehow land in his hands again while he's there.

The box doesn't seem to be one of Kvothe's major concerns, it's purely a mystery, not a compulsion like the Amyr. Hence, it lands in his hands rather than him actively seeking it out.

I believe Meluan will "Never" let Kvothe get anywhere near the Loeclos box again, due to the strength of her hatred of him (the wood ring). Meluan would have to die first (or be kidnapped) and only then the Maer and/or Aculeus would be willing to ask Kvothe for his help. (a) The box would go to Kvothe via inheritance (Aculeus would need to die as well); or (B) Aculeus/Bredon would need to be willing to show the box to Kvothe; or © in Aculeus' absence, the Maer could turn to Kvothe for his advice about the box without the Maer relinquishing ownership of the box.

My point is, do you think Meluan would have to die (or kidnapped/coma) for Kvothe to touch the Loeclos box again?

Edit: just thinking, an alternative could be: the Loeclos could be stolen and the Maer secretly asks Kvothe to retrieve it, and as a reward offers to help track down the Amyr.

[AverageGuy]

Meluan talking about her younger sister.

The Lackless heir ran away with the Ruh troop, which would make Meluan the younger sister barring weird family circumstances Kvothe should've found out about while researching her.

Also, Denna saw Meluan in the garden, and I can't reconcile her reaction with seeing a long-lost sister.

These two items can be explained away, but I'm not enamored of the possible explanations.

[thistlepong]

The Lackless heir ran away with the Ruh troop, which would make Meluan the younger sister barring weird family circumstances Kvothe should've found out about while researching her.

Also, Denna saw Meluan in the garden, and I can't reconcile her reaction with seeing a long-lost sister.

These two items can be explained away, but I'm not enamored of the possible explanations.

Oh, you misunderstand me. And you truncate my sentence in order to do so. But soft!

However, for some reason the noble blood of either character becoming a big issue in the final book seems unlikely. I bet it'll be resolved with a background detail like Netalia's green eyes or Meluan talking about her younger sister.

Arise, fair background detail and kill the envious controversy! See, we'll catch some detail like one of those two, resolving the issue. It won't make up a huge part of the plot of the book...

In addition, your first quibble is bollocks. One of the Lackless heirs ran away with traveling performers of unstated ethnicity leaving Meluan the only heir to the Lackless lands. Your second, however, is valid.

[bradd]

Cold Pie - On where Denna learnt Yllish... WMFc43 has one of the letters from Denna to Kvothe after she skipped town (the one with the weird capitalizations) and in it she mentions "I have gone abroad looking for greener pasture. ... Yll is lovely." Funnily enough she also says "I have spent some time afloat as well, and learned all manner of sailor's knots, and how to spit properly."

Now for speculation :)

Two things - first up, why is she in Yll? When Denna sings her song of Lanre to Kvothe, he asks her why she picked that story. She replies with "I found a version of it in an old book when I was doing genealogical research for my patron." If Lyra is Lady Lackless, then maybe the family she was looking into was the Lackless family? This might explain why she found the story of the betrayal of MT in a genealogy book. So the next question - was the trip to Yll a part of this research? In a similar vein, the scriv who travels around collecting books for Loren in NotW - he first speaks to Kvothe in Yllish. After Kvothe doesn't reply though, he immediately picks him for a Ruh (based on the red hair). Again - is this a link between Yll and the Ruh? One of the wild speculations from a few pages back was maybe there is a link between the Lackless family, the Ruh and the Yllish. Not even close to a proof by any stretch, but something to think about. If there is a connection, it brings a whole new meaning to some of the history surrounding Yll (like the Aturan forces nearly destroying Yll).

Second speculation - with regards to "writing" magic... does it have to be only Yllish knots? When Denna initially describes it to Kvothe, she doesn't make any mention of Yllish. I've always looked at it as shaping - Denna doesn't know the Name of "hair", but she can make it look "lovely" with a word - and I can't see any reason that would limit it to Yllish only? So, for example, you could take one sword (ie Caesura) and use "written shaping" to change it into another sword (eg Folly)? I imagine it would be more complex than just writing on the object, but it might work? Using Yllish would make sense though, because say you create a wooden box that you don't want anyone to be able to open, it would be a bit obvious if the words "unopenable" or whatever appeared on it... so in that vein, getting back to the original idea - the capitalisation in Denna's letter. A few people suggested that it may be a cipher. But what if it's a form of written shaping? She could be doing her "arcane homework" or just trying it out - maybe it means "ensure delivery" or something?

[Nisheeth]

Grammarie is described as "The art of Making things Be".

Also, here is another quote:

Bast held the circle of holly out again, smiling shyly. “So this is for you. I’ve brought what grammarie I

have to bear on it. So it will stay green and living longer than you’d think. I gathered the holly in the proper

way and shaped it with my own hands.

Maybe Grammarie is shaping?

[tze]

Would Meluan giving Kvothe a wooden ring still fit in with your theory?

Absolutely. Two points:

1) Meluan seems furious with Kvothe, to a degree that seems (to me) to be incredibly disproportionate to what he's actually done (been a Ruh, helped the freakishly rich and powerful Maer court her, etc.). The whole thing, to me, sounds like she's pissed off about something else, something she thinks Kvothe knows about but of course readers know he doesn't.

2) There are actually plenty of reasons to doubt that the wooden ring really meant what Bredon said it meant. First, when Bredon was telling Kvothe about Stapes's bone ring, he stated that a ring of horn meant enmity. Later on, when someone wants to express enmity to Kvothe, that person sends . . . a completely different type of ring, one that had never been mentioned before. Chekhov's gun seems to have been pretty blatantly ignored here, which pings my radar. Second, there's Bredon's given justification for why a ring of wood is bad: he said it was once used to summon servants, and was meant as a snub against those who were nobility, but then certain groups of servants eventually became offended by it because it was considered a snub when sent to those who expressly weren't servants of the nobility? I think this could easily be read as Bredon not wanting to tell Kvothe the real meaning of the ring, and just making up a story on the fly, because the whole thing pings my bullshit radar. And third, there's this little scene from TNOTW between Kvothe and Auri:

"I brought you a ring." It was made of warm, smooth wood. "What does it do?" I asked. "It keeps secrets," she said.

Auri gave Kvothe a wooden ring, and Auri, who strikes me as once having been a member of the nobility (Princess Ariel?), and who by the way unambiguously adores Kvothe, is nothing if not scrupuously proper.

All of these things, to me, point to the ring of wood not necessarily meaning what Bredon told Kvothe it meant (when coming from Meluan, a member of the nobility). And that leads to the question of why would Bredon lie? What was Meluan trying to convey to Kvothe that Bredon didn't want him to know about, or at the very least, didn't want to come right out and tell him? Bredon says to Kvothe that Meluan "might as well have written [the accompanying letter] in blood", a phrase which of course Kvothe interprets a certain way, but given the apparent Kvothe/Lackless blood connection, might be a veiled hint as to the true meaning of the wooden ring. Wood = tree. Family tree? I'm wondering if perhaps a wooden ring is used by family members to summon one another, Auri gave a wooden ring to Kvothe to symbolize that she thought of him as family, and Meluan sent him a wooden ring to tell him that she knew he was her nephew (and the accompanying letter to convey that "oh nephew, I am PISSED at you!"). The Maer and at least one other noble wanted their rings back---Kvothe took that the way Bredon told him to take it, but I wonder if perhaps the reason that, say, Lord Praevek wanted his (iron) ring back was because he wanted to make sure he didn't come across as saying he considered Meluan Lackless/Alveron's relative "beneath" him socially? Remember, all of this ring-based information is coming from Master "Chessmaster/Takmaster" Bredon. Kvothe takes it as gospel, but I don't think readers should, at least, not until we learn "Bredon's" true identity and true intentions.

Would she say such awful things about Kvothe's family (the Ruh) if she knew his background (also knowing that he'd saved her husband's life and was instrumental in her marrying the Maer)?

It's difficult to say 100% without knowing exactly what she knows and when she knows it (did the Maer tell her about the poisoning attempt? Does she know Kvothe is her nephew? Did she know either of these things at the Loechlos box meeting, or was she told either of them, or both, afterward? Does she know any of this at all?). We don't know exactly what she thinks happened to Netalia. All we know is that she is pissed at the Ruh, and when she finds out Kvothe considers himself Ruh, she freaks out to a pretty insane degree. I think her actions are consistent with someone who knows Kvothe is her nephew and believes he's betraying his mother's memory, but there can easily be other interpretations.

Could your theory work if Meluan is oblivious to Kvothe's identity, while Bredon/Aculeus and the Maer know?

Yup. As thislepong noted, this is a flexible theory---the only really "set in stone" part is Aculeus Lackless = Bredon. Who knows what, and when they knew it, can only be sussed out from context clues, because Kvothe isn't in on everyone else's motivations/knowledge base, and frankly, is so obsessed with his Chandrian/Amyr quest that he doesn't expressly pick up on things that I think he might otherwise easily see.

[williamjm]

1) Meluan seems furious with Kvothe, to a degree that seems (to me) to be incredibly disproportionate to what he's actually done (been a Ruh, helped the freakishly rich and powerful Maer court her, etc.). The whole thing, to me, sounds like she's pissed off about something else, something she thinks Kvothe knows about but of course readers know he doesn't.

Meluan's reactions to the Ruh do seem consistently disproportionate, in her first meeting with Kvothe at the banquet she seems to become furious after a passing mention of them in conversation.

Auri gave Kvothe a wooden ring, and Auri, who strikes me as once having been a member of the nobility (Princess Ariel?), and who by the way unambiguously adores Kvothe, is nothing if not scrupuously proper.

Even if she does have a noble background, we don't know where she would be from, rings don't have the same significance in most of the world.

[bradd]

tze - nice catch on the ring, you've got me convinced!

[Cold Pie]

Tze,

I think your take on the ring is right. It's entierly plausible that it means something else than we're told. Although the connection with wood = family is too far-fetched, you can make the same conclusion from blood, bone, earth etc. I think that we should take Auris words more literate: "It keeps secrets". What Meluan tells Kvothe is this; don't go around spreading our secrets (Loeclos box), if you do we will *random threat*. That's why her letter is so angry as well, to put wight behind the threat. Why Bredon don't tell Kvothe about the true purpose of the ring would make more sense with this theory as well: He want's to keep this a secret to Kvothe, because the best way to make sure a secret spreads is to let the bearer of it know that it shouldn't be told. Say that it's a taboo instead, which is exactly what Bredon does: he tells Kvothe not to show the ring and not to talk about the ring. He names another reason than the true one though. Kvothe on the other hand, simply doesn't care about (what he believes) is a stigma, so he goes around showing it to everyone, which is something you just don't do. If you know a secret you don't go showcasing it to everyone that you know it, which would explain the court members strange reactions to it.

That is my take on the wooden ring.

[two_by_two]

stumpzapper - Best upper bound for Tarbolin is Felurian not knowing his name. Could be she was lying, could be she just hadn't heard of him but some time around or after the Creation War makes sense. :)

thistle - There is absolutely no evidence at all to support your idea that the Tarbolin legend came into existence 500-1000 years prior. At best, it's speculation and it's based on flawed logic. There is specific and deliberate evidence in the text that contradicts this. A few pages back you threw out the same argument for why the hermit in Hespe's story couldn't be Teccam. I'll adress both here.

Your argument seems to be based on the idea that a story can only exist for a certain amount of time before it's completely changed around or stops being told. Likewise, your argument with Teccam was that Kvothe was studying the Theophany and using Teccam's theories when the oldest books in the library dated 2000 years. Great. Ever used Pythagoras' theorem? I'm pretty sure that the formula we use today is the exact same one they were using back then - so there's a 2500 year old theory that's held up. Ever read the Iliad and/or the Odyssey? There's a 3000+ year old story that's held up. Ever read the bible? There's a 2000+ year old story that's held up. Are the current versions word for word literal translations on what was originally written? Probably not, but I don't think any is taking the words of the old stories in the text to be literal.

There's also direct contradictions in the text. Shehyn tells the story of the Chandrian betraying their cities and then names. She then tells Kvothe that the tradition is, once this story has been told, he cannot ask questions and must not mention the story again for 1000 days. So this story has been told once every 3 years or so for the last 5000 years and we're expected to believe that whoever hears the story remembers all seven names perfectly after hearing them only once? The crazy thing about it is that it completely holds up - we have an eyewitness account of Kvothe hearing Haliax name Cinder as Ferula. So on the face of it, it looks like that's exactly what's happened - some way or another, that story has been passed down over 5000 years after only being spoken of once every three or so years. You'd have to imagine the stories of Tarbolin get more coverage than that right?

Ditto for King Syphus. Acquainting him with Cyphus the Chandrian is a completely logical step. So if this story was created 500-1000 years ago, the inventor just happened to pick the name of someone who lived 5000 years ago and was likely a King/Noble/Protector? That's a pretty big coincidence. And if it is based on Cyphus, but the Chandrian version of Cyphus in some event 1000 years prior, then where did they get the idea of him being a King from? Lucky guess? Around the Creation War, we have an era where all kinds of wonderful magic was present (just ask Felurian). That magic was lost over the years to become the weaker version that's in the current day story. So what's more likely - that the Tarbolin stories talk about someone who lived in the age of powerful magicians, or that it was invented a thousand years before based on some one off who just happened to be born with similar powers to the magicians from thousands of years beforehand?

If you're stating that the 500-1000 year time period you've put on Tarbolin's stories is speculation then sure, maybe. But if you're arguing that the stories must derive from 500-1000 years beforehand and that any speculation that doesn't tie in with your timeline is "ignoring bits in the fun of speculation" then I completely disagree.

jumbles/dambros - Grey and silent... is that conjuring up images of a Tehlin monk who's taken a vow of silence to anyone else? :)

Admittedly, the Bible has changed due to translation upon translation upon mistranslation. Also, I think telling a story fewer times and not letting it spread would be a much safer way to ensure that it does not get changed. Recall if you will Kvothe's story about Felurian. By the time he gets back to the University, it's completely different - there's numerous versions, none of which adhere to the facts. If a story is told less often, it stays truer to the original, especially if it is stressed that this is a very important story.

Tze,

I think your take on the ring is right. It's entierly plausible that it means something else than we're told. Although the connection with wood = family is too far-fetched, you can make the same conclusion from blood, bone, earth etc. I think that we should take Auris words more literate: "It keeps secrets". What Meluan tells Kvothe is this; don't go around spreading our secrets (Loeclos box), if you do we will *random threat*. That's why her letter is so angry as well, to put wight behind the threat. Why Bredon don't tell Kvothe about the true purpose of the ring would make more sense with this theory as well: He want's to keep this a secret to Kvothe, because the best way to make sure a secret spreads is to let the bearer of it know that it shouldn't be told. Say that it's a taboo instead, which is exactly what Bredon does: he tells Kvothe not to show the ring and not to talk about the ring. He names another reason than the true one though. Kvothe on the other hand, simply doesn't care about (what he believes) is a stigma, so he goes around showing it to everyone, which is something you just don't do. If you know a secret you don't go showcasing it to everyone that you know it, which would explain the court members strange reactions to it.

That is my take on the wooden ring.

Very nice. It should be noted that we are only given a sort of generic she sent me an incredibly angry letter, without any direct quotes (excluding the word excrescence, meaning "a distinct outgrowth, especially one that is the result of disease"), so we cannot draw any conclusions from that, sadly. Also, Bredon asks upon seeing the wooden ring if Meluan sent it to Kvothe as a summons. He then almost immediately contradicts himself, claiming that they "aren't used at all anymore," and that she considers Kvothe not "worth recognizing as a human being." Hardly someone you send a summons to.