Sazed’s nature as a Eunuch was stabilized in my mind almost from the beginning of the formation of his character. With the Lord Ruler trying so hard to breed a perfect race of Terrisman servants, I felt that it would be important for him to castrate most of the Terrismen. In addition, I’ve never written a eunuch character before, and really wanted to see if I could deal with one in a good way.
I read up on what castration does to a man when it’s preformed before puberty. Often, apparently, the result is obesity. Another result is that the person grows taller than normal (for some reason) and their arms grow longer in proportion to their bodies than regular people. I didn’t make Sazed fat—I think that had been done too much for eunuchs—but I did give him the other physical characteristic.
He continues to grow more complex as a character as the book progresses. That’s one of the things I absolutely love doing—giving readers a side character that they think will only be secondary, then building his motivation and complexity until he becomes one of the most important figures in the story.
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