The Name of The Wind - Plot

Plot

The story begins in the backwater town of Newarre, introducing the innkeeper Kote and his assistant Bast. The Inn is sparsely used, and widespread troubles from an ongoing war have further reduced travelers passing through the small town. It is revealed that Kote is actually the legendary hero Kvothe in hiding. Kvothe has a reputation as an unequaled swordfighter, magician and musician, who among other things is rumored to have killed a king and is somehow responsible for the war. His assistant and student Bast is a prince from the mystical Fae, magical creatures of great beauty but vulnerable to iron. Kvothe saves Chronicler, a travelling scribe, from spider-like creatures called Scrael. Chronicler recognizes him as Kvothe and asks to record his story. Kvothe initially refuses but eventually gives in, to tell the truth about the events that made him a legend. He tells Chronicler that this will take three days (corresponding to the planned trilogy of novels).

Kvothe begins his story with his childhood amongst the Edema Ruh, a troupe of travelling performers. Kvothe is extremely intelligent and a talented musician, particularly with a lute. The troupe picks up an arcanist by the name of Abenthy, a graduate of the University, who begins to train Kvothe in matters of science and "sympathy", a form of magic which allows the user to link two objects together and cause changes in the bound object by manipulating the other (a system drawing equally from modern thermodynamics, quantum entanglement and voodoo dolls). Abenthy also knows true names, thus giving him power over those things he knows the true name of. Kvothe witnesses Abenthy calling the wind to fend off suspicious townspeople and henceforth vows to discover the titular "Name of the Wind."

Meanwhile, Kvothe's father Arliden is composing a song about the "Chandrian," a mythical force of evil and corruption. This leads the Chandrian to find and kill the troupe; Kvothe survives by having been out in the woods at the time. Heavily traumatized, he spends three years in the city of Tarbean as a street urchin. After a storyteller named Skarpi tells Kvothe a tale of the Chandrian and their enemies, the Amyr, he makes his way to the University to continue his education and gather further information on the subject. On the road to the University Kvothe meets Denna, a beautiful and talented young woman with whom he immediately is infatuated. Kvothe is accepted at the university despite his lack of tuition funds and performs admirably as a student, but also faces difficulties due to continuous money problems and rivalries with the wealthy student Ambrose and the arrogant Master Hemme.

Kvothe's research about the Chandrian is marred by taking a candle inside the University's famous Archives, resulting in a sustained banishment from the Archives by the Master Archivist. Kvothe buys a lute despite his poverty, and performs at a famous musical tavern called the Eolian in the hopes of earning some much-needed money, which he does. At the Eolian, he earns talent pipes that designate him as a master musician, and also meets Denna again, with whom he develops a romantic but unassuming friendship. Kvothe is careful not to chase Denna away, who has many suitors and often disappears for weeks at a time, but seems to return his feelings.

When Kvothe hears reports of blue fire and murder at a rural wedding, he realizes that it could be the work of the Chandrian, and rides to a small town called Trebon in his attempt to find proof that the Chandrian do exist. After an unexpected reunion with Denna, who was meeting with her mysterious patron, the two set out to find out what happened at the wedding. They meet a local farmer who reported strange sightings of blue fire, and later that night they encounter a massive fire-breathing herbivorous draccus. The draccus is later discovered to be addicted to denner trees (the trees have a resin that can be made into highly addictive drugs) and goes on a rampage through the town of Trebon, nearly burning down the whole town before Kvothe manages to kill it with a clever use of sympathy. Upon returning to the University, Ambrose taunts Kvothe, taking and breaking Kvothe's lute. Kvothe subconsciously breaks Ambrose's arm by roaring out the name of the wind. Because of this feat, Master Namer Elodin accepts Kvothe as an advanced student and attempts to teach him the power of naming.

In the inn, the first day ends when a mercenary possessed by a demon arrives at the inn and attacks the patrons. Kvothe attempts to use sympathy to light the man on fire, but fails. After the man is killed by a patron, and Chronicler goes to bed, Bast breaks into Chronicler's room and urges him to focus Kvothe on the more heroic aspects of his story. Chronicler refuses, wanting Kvothe's story as true and objective as possible, but Bast threatens him. Bast explains to Chronicler that he lured him to the inn because he wanted to shake Kvothe out of his monotonous life, that Kvothe's simple life is killing him and that Bast hopes that some good will come from the Chronicler helping Kvothe remember his days of glory.