The Name of the Wind

Kote becomes silent for a bit, then says he is not sure how to tell the next part of the story. Bast suggests that he start with what’s most important and then touch on other things. Kote responds sharply that it’s not so simple.

Kote asks Bast and Chronicler what the story is lacking, and Bast replies, “Women” (321). Not just any woman, Kote chides—the woman. He says, it’s too difficult, “trying to make you understand her with nothing more than words. You have never seen her, never heard hear voice. You cannot know” (321).

Final exams take place at the University. Kvothe knows he must do well on exams to receive an admission with the little money he possesses. He is lucky to get a late spot, which allows him more time to study with Wil and Sim, but Hemme and Brandeur have it out for him and ask deliberately challenging questions. Lorren seems disapproving as well. The masters have a loud discussion and decide on a tuition of three talents, or nine jots.

Cealdish moneychangers won’t lend him any money, and Kvothe will not borrow from a friend: “Pride is a foolish thing, but it is a powerful force” (324). He considers stealing, but knows if someone catches him, he may find himself jailed. He needs a gaelet, he thinks, a dangerous person who lends to desperate people. They are hard to find, but Kvothe has lived in the streets and he knows how. He visits some of the seedier taverns and a pawn shop and asks casual questions, and eventually learns he needs to go to Imre.

Kvothe goes to Imre, looking for a person named Devi in an area of town that reminds him of his time in Tarbean. He knows what he’s doing is dangerous. He knocks on the door to finds that Devi is a pixie-looking girl with strawberry-blond hair who used to be a member of the Arcanum. She loans him the money, but as collateral she asks for drops of his blood—which means, using sympathy, she can track down anyone to tries to renege on her loans. He balks at this, but she reminds him he was ready to do business with a thug: “My way is better. Simpler” (330).

As Kvothe paces the streets, thinking, he sees a lute in a pawn shop and wants it very badly. He bargains with the shopkeeper and gets it, but now he must go back and deal with Devi. He gives her three drops of blood, which she puts in a bottle and seals with adhesive. He heads back to the University with his tuition and the lute, which he has paid so dearly for: “I loved it like a child, like breathing, like my own right hand” (333).

At the beginning of the second term, Kvothe begins studying sygaldry—a set of tools for channeling forces, what he calls “sympathy made solid” (334). His attendant’s explanation helps readers to understand this is a complicated discipline, where other runes affect the use of 200 different runes in a delicate balancing act that must be utilized to get the result desired. Most students took a month of study before moving on; Kvothe masters it in seven days because he is driven, has no money, and “was lucky. Plain and simple” (335).

Kvothe has found a place to play his lute where he won’t bother his bunkmates—a closed-off courtyard. One night at sunset, he hears a noise. When he investigates, he finds a drainage grate large enough for a person. He also finds an apple when the sixth bell startles him into reaching out for stability. He passes his runes exam, and Manet apprentices him. Kvothe learns artificing quickly. However, he feels he is running out of time.

Kvothe’s friends point out that his difficult schedule is burning him out. Kvothe denies he’s taken on too much, but Wilem tells him, “Look in a mirror” (342).

In Advanced Sympathy, the students have been dueling, and undefeated Kvothe can sometimes make money by betting on himself—but the odds on him keep getting worse. This time, Fenton is his opponent, and Kvothe’s plans for tipping the odds toward himself are ruined by Fenton being allowed to pick his poison, his link, and the choice of source.

The duel’s object is to light your opponent’s candle without letting him do the same to your candle, which requires splitting the mind. With no source, they must draw on their body heat, which can be dangerous. This duel takes five minutes, which is a long time, but eventually Kvothe brings his opponent’s candle to life. He is also the first to realize that Fenton needs medical help. Dal says Fenton got “binder’s chills” by drawing too deeply upon his own blood. The master asks Kvothe to stay after class; Kvothe won’t admit he also got the shivers, but Dal has him warm himself at one of the braziers anyway.

Meanwhile, Kvothe’s friends get him banned from Kilvin’s workshop in order to reduce his workload. Kvothe promises to forgive them if they tell him about the Eolian.

The Eolian, Kvothe explains, is where the woman he has promised to talk about awaits: “If I seem to be caught in a slow circling of the subject, it is only appropriate, as she and I have always moved toward each other in slow circles” (350). At the Eolian, musicians can play for a cost, but they can also earn a small set of silver pipes—a sign of musical distinction that allows them to play in inns within 200 miles.

At this point, the reader meets Auri, who waits for Kvothe in the isolated courtyard where he practices. He thinks she must have been a student who went into hiding after she had “gone cracked” (353), before they could take her to Haven. He had finally been able to draw her out of hiding with food, after about three weeks of suspecting her presence. He names her Auri but thinks of her “as my little moon-fey” (353). They have an usual relationship, which involves the giving of gifts, the sharing of food, and a bit of poetry.

Auri tells Kvothe that she went out “on top of things” (355) and saw Master Elodin up there, listening to the wind. While he is trying to make sense of her words, she asks him to play.