Shalash

Shalash
Drawing by Isaac Stewart
Biographical information
Race	Herald
Gender	Female
Status	Alive
Abilities	Surgebinding
Social Information
Aliases	Ash, Shalash'Elin, Pom, The Artist
Title(s)	Herald Of Beauty
Family	Jezrien (father)
Occupation	Herald of the Almighty
Appears in	The Way of Kings (mentioned), Words of Radiance (mentioned), Oathbringer

Shalash - called Ash amongst her fellows and Shalash'Elin in modern Vorin Alethkar - is one of the ten Heralds of the Almighty, and the daughter of Jezrien. She is associated with the number Shash, the essence Blood, and the divine attributes Creativity and Honesty. She is the patron Herald of the order of Knights Radiant known as Lightweavers.

Prior to his assassination of King Gavilar, Szeth passes by statues of the Heralds within the palace in Kholinar, but the image of Shalash is conspicuously missing.  In Words of Radiance, Lift notices a painting with one of the Herald's faces scratched out in the Bronze Palace in Azir. (This is related to Baxil's later experience with his cousin, Av, and his "mistress", who destroys specific art pieces.)

According to Ulim, Shalash was present during King Gavilar's assassination, along with Kelek and Nalan.^{[citation needed]} However, she is never seen there by a narrator and her activities then were unknown.

Ash appears at the Battle of Thaylen Field with Taln. Although Taln becomes lucid right before the battle, he and Ash do not participate. Readers later learn that Taln reverted back to his catatonic, mumbling self during the battle.^{[citation needed]}

As Jezrien, King of Heralds, is killed by Moash, Ash and Taln feel his death.

Prior to the True Desolation, she was traveling the world destroying any depiction of herself she could find. Currently, she's likely in Urithiru.

Shalash
Endpaper for Oathbringer by Dan dos Santos

Appearance

According to Brandon, Shalash would be seen as Azish.

She has dark skin and long black hair. Her eyes are a faint violet, so faint as to be almost white, and lack epicanthic folds. She is also described as being tall and lean, as well as exceptionally beautiful.

In recent years, she tends to wear practical clothing over anything particularly feminine. She carries around a thin-bladed sword, though it's not a Shardblade.

Notes

Shalash also known as Ash
Fan art by Petar Penev[1]

• Brandon confirmed that Shalash appears in The Way of Kings.

• When asked outright whether Baxil's mistress is, in fact, Shalash, Brandon replied, RAFO.

• Brandon has since confirmed that Shalash is indeed the mistress.

• Pom is actually Shalash.

• After listening to something Nightblood had to say, Szeth determines that "Shashara" (from Warbreaker, who created the Awakened sword alongside her then husband, Vasher), sounds like Shalash, the eastern name for the Herald "Shush-daughter-God," the Shin name her. Brandon, however, has indicated that this isn't significant.

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