Andat

Warning, spoilers ahead!

Andats are "abstract thoughts in human form" that poets bind and force to submit. The link between a man and an andat can be passed to other poets. Unable to disobey a direct order from their master, they constantly try to escape and go back to "formlessness".

Their appearance depends on the subconscious of the first poet that bound them.

Being ideas, they are immortals, and seemingly invincible and self sustainable (they don't need food, sleep, air...).

There are two types of andat, the definable and indefinable. Ones like Seedless and Stone-Made-Soft are definable and thus bindable. But those like Time and Freedom-From-Bondage are either too vast or their very nature defies being bound by a poet.

Andat are a reflection of their poets. In the andat you can see the poet that has bound them and vice versa.

History
The andat and their nature are meticulously documented by the poets in hopes that a binding will be discovered.

Stone-Made-Soft was bound many generations ago by Cehmai's many-times predecessor and is vital to Machi's mining industry. His binding is based on a game like go, and every time he is beaten, the binding is renewed. Luckily, part of the binding was making Stone Made Soft a terrible player. Its appearance is vaguely manlike but made of stone and hulking.

Seedless was bound by Heshai and is vital in Saraykeht's cotton trade. He is what Heshai sees as a perfect version of himself and this includes a loathing for the real Heshai that a perfect Heshai would have for his lesser version. Seedless was also given a keen intelligence, and paired together it is a deadly combination to aid in the goal all andat have, which is freedom. Its appearance is that of a beautiful man, perfectly graceful and impeccably dressed.

Other andat in other cities and times are mentioned. There is one in each of the six major cities of the Khaiem but none of the others are described. There is a historical andat who had love in her binding and fell in love with her poet. Water-Moving-Down could control the rain, rivers, and oceans.

Maati tries and fails to bind the andat Corrupting-the-Generative, or Sterile. Sterile looked like a female version of Seedless and had all of Maati's memories of Seedless. The explanation she gives for the price she exacts is that Maati is a man who never had his own child and so she takes away every one else's chance of children. She says that he was never meant to be a poet since he never truly passed the Dai-kvo's tests, and that the binding was made as a weapon and in fear.

The rogue poet managed to call Freedom-From-Bondage and have its ability exercised without attempting to permanently bind it, thus freeing all the andat of the khaiem in one instant. It took the appearance of a completely bald and hairless man.

The Binding
Binding an andat is complex and dangerous. The actual binding needs to encompass all that an andat is, describing its abilities and its nature. Should the binding fail, by not being specific enough or by being incorrect, the poet will pay whatever price the andat exacts, usually a gruesome death. Successfully binding an andat but having a faulty binding is equally dangerous, as evidenced by Heshai and Seedless. The nature Heshai gave to Seedless eventually allowed Seedless to escape. This deters poets from carelessly trying to bind the andat, and usually it will take years of deliberation and revision among the poets and the Dai-kvo before a binding is attempted.

Once the binding is finalized the poet must meditate a whole day and night beforehand. The binding occurs at dawn, a symbolic time. Symbols are drawn on the floor and various paraphernalia are used. However, the most important part is the binding itself, which sounds like one long poem that the poet must speak without mistake.

If the binding is successful the andat will be materialized in front of the poet and must follow his commands. If the binding is not successful the poet will have the price exacted from him and will probably be dead. Maati Vaupathi found a way to deflect the payment but he did not realize that this would leave the andat free to exact the payment from everyone else. This resulted in the women of the Khaiem and the Galtish men being rendered infertile.

List of andat mentioned in the series
The list only contains the ones that have been bound, or were attempted to be bound, and not "work in progress" names.


 * Clarity-of-Sight
 * Cooling
 * Corrupting-the-Generative = Sterile
 * Flatness
 * Freedom-From-Bondage (impossible to hold)
 * Moss-Hidden-from-Sunlight
 * Petals-Falling-Away
 * Removing-The-Part-That-Continues = Seedless, Sterile
 * Softness
 * Stone-Made-Soft
 * Thinking-in-Words
 * Three-Bound-As-One
 * Unwoven
 * Water-Moving-Down = Rain, Seaward
 * Wood-Upon-Water
 * Wounded