KKC Theory Wiki

Different Kinds of Waystones Lead to Different Places Beyond the Mortal World

plausible mechanism · popularity 74 · 1 source thread

Standing stones, laystones, and stacked greystone gates may each lead to different destinations like the Fae or Myr Tariniel.

About: Waystone Inn

Also involves: The Fae, Myr Tariniel, Arliden, Kvothe, Felurian, Faeriniel

The theory§

The greystones scattered across the four corners take several distinct physical forms, and this theory holds that each form is a different sort of door with a different destination beyond the mortal world. Arliden's fragment of poem names them in turn: a standing stone beside an old road leads 'ever deeper into Fae,' a laystone lies flat in hill or dell, and a greystone 'leads to something something ell.' From this the reasoning distinguishes single standing stones, flat laystones, and the stacked arch or gate formed by two uprights beneath a capstone, proposing that the standing and stacked stones open into Fae while others lead elsewhere, perhaps to Myr Tariniel. The likeliest reading of the unfinished line is Faeriniel, the place where all roads meet, which fits the poem's own promise of going deeper into Fae and the recurring image of a ring of greystones. The gate-form in particular is associated with a genuine border: the three-stone arch near Trebon stands beside an ancient hill fort, which Kvothe takes for the remnant of a long-vanished frontier.

Evidence§

  • “I’ve heard them called standing stones, but I’ve seen a lot of them that weren’t standing, just lying on their sides.”
    OP's starting observation: waystones come in distinct physical forms, standing and lying. — u/ForTehlusSake
  • Standing stone by old road is the way To lead you ever deeper into Fae. Laystone as you lay in hill or dell Greystone leads to something something ‘ell’.
    Arliden's poem distinguishes stone types and ties each to a different destination. — u/ForTehlusSake
  • So, waystones that are standing (standing stones) lead to the Fae. … it appears that different stones lead to different places.
    OP's core claim: each stone form is a door to a different place. — u/ForTehlusSake
  • Standing Stones = stones standing up Laystones = stones that are laying flat Waystones = 2 standing stones with a laystone on top, forming an arch.
    OP refines the taxonomy, adding the stacked-arch gate form. — u/ForTehlusSake
  • I think the stones that lead to the Fae are the ones that are stacked to form a gate. IIRC Kvothe leaves Felurian via a greystone gate … there's a defensive structure set up right next to it … Kvothe comments that maybe once there was a border there
    CounterCounter-refinement: the gate form, beside an ancient border, is what opens to Fae. — u/WhiskingWhiskey
  • this was before the fae. . . I will not speak of that one, though he is shut behind doors of stone. … Waystones-greystones-standing stones are the only "doors" that make sense here.
    Supports stones as literal doors between worlds via Felurian's account. — u/taborlyn13
  • The "Myr Tariniel" theory seems to make sense, but for the fact that Arliden's entire life was given over to old stories and the names that went with them. Is this something he would have been likely to forget?
    CounterCounter: doubts the line ends in Myr Tariniel since Arliden wouldn't forget such names. — u/taborlyn13
  • I'm pretty confident that "leads to something something ell" refers to Faeriniel, the place where all roads meet (which I'm guessing is a major point of connection between Fae and the mortal realm).
    Refines the unfinished line to Faeriniel, a key Fae-mortal connection point. — u/AbacusWizard
  • The poem says they lead you "deeper into Fae", so my guess has always been "Faerinial" for an ending. Particularly in light of the one story we have of Faerinial including a goodly number of graystones.
    Independently backs Faeriniel reading, citing greystones in its lone story. — u/_jericho

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier correct: grounded in Arliden's poem

Contributors§

Source threads§