Mythwalker

Mythwalker is the ninth novel Brandon ever wrote, though it was unfinished. Elements of it were cannibalized for the Mistborn sequence, The Way of Kings, and Warbreaker, including the characters Vivenna and Siri, who became two of Warbreaker's main characters. It's sometimes referred to as Warbreaker Prime.
Brandon claims Mythwalker is the only book he has ever given up writing. All Brandon wrote of it has been posted online at his blog, along with commentary by Brandon's assistant, Peter Ahlstrom. According to Peter, Mythwalker and its magic system contributed to the creation of Sanderson's Second Law.
== Summary ==
Many centuries ago, an unknown peasant boy rose to prominence as a Hero against a villainous Dark One, the Demon King. After many trials, the Hero faced the Demon King in battle, and though the rules of the story suggested the Hero is sure to win, this time, something went very wrong.
In the present, the society is divided into three castes - the ruling Kkoloss, the peasant Eruntu and the Skaa. The Skaa are slaves, who were punished by the god Hess for siding with the Demon King and turned near-mindless. While the Skaa and the Eruntu toil on the dry, desolate mainland, the Kkoloss houses, led by Kings, compete with each other in military battles called Games for prestige and the favour of their ruler, the supernatural Emperor, on the verdant Holy Island, Shakall Hess.
Devin is an average Eruntu who seeks to become a Guard of house Sserin, but to do so, he must come at least fourth in an annual race organized by the Guards. Each man can attempt the race three years in a row. The first two years, Devin fails, and is instead sent to work in the orchards his village is famous for. Over time, he comes to appreciate the work, and grows unwilling to join the Guard. However, though he fails his third race, the Kkoloss in charge decides to take all of the boys, him included. As it turns out, all villages have been drafted like this, and, in a further break from the tradition, they don't swear the Oath that would give them the Sserin Kkell power, superhuman strength.
On the Holy Island, Prince Vevinn Vas Kkeris, son of the Kkeris King, contemplates his conflict with the Sserin. Despite Sserin being known as dangerous opponents, he has been winning for the past decade, which greatly worries him. However, before he can contemplate that, he's distracted by his beloved, free-spirited Siri, whose power makes others healthy as long as she touches them. Siri is a handmaid to Vvenna, her best friend, who's to marry the Emperor, the holy and elusive leader of the Kkoloss.
As soon as they reach the Holy Island, Devin's group is set out to march in secrecy. On their second day, they encounter a group of Skaa workers. The Sserin prince, Sarn, orders Devin to kill them and though he complies, his hesitance lands him in prison.
Devin's cellmates in prison are Skeer, a would-be revolutionary preaching for Eruntu to throw off the Kkoloss yoke, and Ix, a strange creature that makes a point of reasserting that he is, indeed, human, at every opportunity. The three of them witness the Sserin gathering and killing the entire house Kkeris, including Vevinn, in hopes of gaining their Kkell, Skill. However, it's Devin who suddenly finds himself able to learn new things in the blink of an eye. He picks the lock, frees the other prisoners and fights the Sserin Guards, and his little group flees. Out in the woods, they splinter, until only seven remain - Devin, Seer, Ix and four imprisoned Guards - Hine, Voko, Ralan and Meeve. Skeer promises to lead them to the Eruntu Rebellion, which ends up blamed for the slaughter.
Devin's group joins the Rebellion, which is actually a group of bandits led by Quin. Quin dislikes the newcomers almost immediately, and eventually sends them to kill the Sserin King. Devin changes the plan to kidnapping Vvenna. They break into the capital and succeed, though not without a fight that Siri witnesses. She queries Devin about his reasons for killing the Kkeris, and learns that the Rebellion wasn't responsible, but before she can inquire further, he flees. Sarn arrives and takes her away.
Sarn kills his father, becoming the Sseris king, and decides to make Siri pretend that she's Vvenna. She's forced to agreed and marries the Emperor, then is led into his chambers. She spends the night bowing in the Emperor's bedchamber as he observes, but he makes no move to consummate their marriage. The next morning, Siri gets books to read to familiarize herself with what Vvenna would know. 
Devin's group, now with Vvenna in tow, return to Quin's group. Quin and Devin confront each other and Devin kills Quin, then takes charge of the rebels. Shortly afterwards, Ralan reveals to him that he has two Kkell powers - Sserin Strength and Ddoven Repulsion, due to having deserted from Ddoven forces. Devin agrees to keep it a secret. Over the next two weeks, he reequips the rebels and begins sending out scouts. Voko is one of them, and informs him that Vvenna has been replaced.
Siri goes through a meeting with a group of archpriests. Most of them are only interested in her as a political tool; however, one has figured out she's not Vvenna. She decides she needs to learn better and sneaks a book into the bedroom, but to take it out and read it, she must remove her clothes, surprising the Emperor.
After a successful attack on a carriage, Devin receives a message from Sarn agreeing to a parlay. He and his group, accompanied by Vvenna, meet to figure out what to demand from him. They settle on asking that Sarn appeal to the Emperor to abolish the Games. However, the meeting goes poorly - Sarn betrays them from the start and tries to kill Vvenna. Though most rebels manage to escape, Hine dies, and Sarn figures out that Devin is the new Kkeris King.
Devin mourns Hine and declares that he intends to overthrow the entire church, including the Emperor. As his group considers their next actions, Ralan reveals that rather than an Eruntu with two powers, he's Kkoloss from house Ddoven who's been hiding out among the Sserin Guards. He promises that if the rebels can get to the mainland, he can find them allies among his kin.
== Magic system ==
The Mythwalker magic system is called the Kkell powers. Every Kkoloss bloodline has its own magic, different for men and women. A single bloodline has a limited sum total of power, meaning that as the family grows larger, the power becomes more spread out. By contrast, if there are few members of the family, they will become extremely powerful. However, the power doesn't spread evenly - the Kkoloss families are divided into Septs, and each Sept holds less Kkell power than the one above it. The Sept one belongs to appears to be based on the proximity to the King or Queen, the leaders - and, by extension, most powerful members - of the house. Should a powerful member of the family die, those of lower Septs will gain more power.
Kkell powers can be bestowed without a blood relation. An archpriest can adopt a person into another house, giving them access to a bloodline; should a King or Queen be adopted, their new house gains their Kkell power. Coversely, by rejecting Hess, a Kkoloss can rid themselves of the power. While they have no power of their own, the Eruntu can take a Kkell Oath, which grants them the power of the Kkoloss house they swore it to, at the cost of forbidding them from ever striking a member of said house. The power gained in this way cannot be discarded.
There are few limitations to the Kkell power: the user's Sept sets the maximum strength with which it can be used, and the power cannot be used while unconscious.
Known Kkell powers are:
* Male Sserin: Strength - grants its bearer superhuman strength; causes the wielders to become taller and more muscular
* Female Sserin: Weight - allows the bearer to become lighter or heavier
* Female Dass: Healing - heals all ailments, exhaustions and injuries of a person being touched, but the effects remain only as long as they maintain skin-to-skin contact
* Male Kkeris: Skill - allows the bearer to master any skill they observe in a short amount of time, with the time needed depending on the bearer's Sept
* Male Ddoven: Repulsion - lets the bearer push various objects away from themselves
* Female Ddoven: Attraction - lets the bearer pull various objects towards themselves
It's been speculated that the Emperor has some kind of Kkell power allowing him, and those who took his Kkell Oath, to manipulate the Kkell powers of others, as evidenced by the archpriests' abilities to change one's Sept and perform the adoptions.
== Reused elements ==
Mythwalker was heavily cannibalized by Brandon, with many of its elements reused in later, published works.
=== In Mistborn ===
* The evil entity being bound under the ruler's palace (the Demon King vs. Ruin),
* The theocracy oppressing the lower caste, 
* The names Skaa and Kkoloss (modified to Koloss), 
* The world being a ruined wasteland (albeit Final Empire-era Scadrial is far more desolate than Kkekimar),
* Vvenna's Kkell power of altering her weight (which became iron Feruchemy), and the Sserin power of gaining Strength (which became pewter Feruchemy). The Ddoven Repulsion power has some similarities to steel Allomancy, while the Ddoven Attraction power has some similarities to iron Allomancy.
* The protagonist having a ruling caste father and a low caste mother, and having supernatural power thanks to the former,
* A side character who pretends to be a member of the lower caste while belonging to the higher (Ralan vs. Breeze),
* A capital city where each noble family has a magnificent and unique palace to their name,
* Both the Kkoloss and the nobles are noticeably taller than the Eruntu and the Scadrial Skaa
=== In The Stormlight Archive ===
* The differences in eye color between social classes (Kkoloss have colorful eyes while Eruntu's are dun), 
* The army coming to a remote village to recruit, 
* The Kkoloss/lighteyes treating Eruntu/darkeyes like game pieces, 
* The protagonist bonding with unwilling teammates through cooking,
* Teft has elements of both Hein and Voko,
* The behavior and treatment of the Skaa here is similar to that of the Parshmen,
* A magic system where supernatural power is gained by taking Oaths,
* Siri's healing power is similar to Regrowth, although unlike Regrowth, the changes it brings don't last,
* The shadowlings look and function very similarly to the Midnight Essence,
* The Sept system of ranking nobility might've been turned into the Dahn system, albeit without Septs' supernatural connotations,
* Flying variants of typically aquatic animals (fish-like lills vs. eel-like Skyeels)
* The title of Mythwalker was used as one of Hoid's titles in Wind and Truth.
=== In Warbreaker ===
* Siri's plotline has been reworked into the main axis of Warbreaker, and the pacing of it was greatly improved,
* Vvenna became Vivenna, and her plot was changed to make her a more active character,
* The Emperor became Susebron, and other than the changes brought about by a different magic system, his personality apparently remained the same,
* The pattern of double consonants in names, although in Warbreaker it was altered to make it easier to read (ex. Vvenna vs. Vivenna),
* The dwelling place of the most powerful being physically separated from the rest of the world (the Holy Island vs. Court of Gods),
* The small seizures that Devin suffers whenever he acquires a new skill are the very similar to the seizures caused by suddenly acquiring a lot of Breath,
* The theocracy with highly politically-involved priests
=== In The Reckoners ===
* The way a weaker version of a Kkell Power can be gifted to Eruntu by the Kkoloss is similar to how Gifter Epics can grant a fraction of their power to non-Epics.
== Notes ==
Category:Unpublished