Editing Bavadin

|world=Yolen

|first appeared=[[The Lost Metal]]

'''Bavadin''' is the original and current Vessel of the [[Shard]] [[Autonomy]].{{book ref|mb7|19}}{{wob ref|7266}}{{wob ref|7641}} She is the only Shard of [[Taldain]], where she's Invested in one of the local suns.{{wob ref|4021}}{{au ref|Taldain}}{{wob ref|6875}}

Bavadin has a habit of taking on multiple forms and appearances. She has several male and female personas, and will often present herself as different people to the same culture; although she is usually referred to with feminine pronouns, gender, as well as race and other qualities, are fluid where she is concerned.{{book ref|mb7|20}}{{wob ref|3974}} Bavadin seems fond of changing her appearance, and she does so daily.{{wob ref|5721}} Even her original species is unclear; she is not a dragon, but it's unknown whether she's human or [[Sho Del]].{{wob ref|15149}}{{wob ref|9676}} In artwork, she is sometimes depicted as a feminine figure with long, vividly red hair; it is unclear, however, if this is an accurate depiction of her, let alone her "true" appearance, if she even has one.{{map ref|Dayside}}{{file ref|Autonomy Playing Card.png}}{{wob ref|3979}}

Bavadin is a strong believer in strength through struggle; to her, only those who can overcome great adversity can be truly worthy, while those who cannot keep up do not deserve to survive in her world. She admires tenacity and individualism, and appreciates people who are bold and willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.{{book ref|mb7|19}} She does not care for those who try to fake their drive and passion, however, preferring those truly dedicated to their causes rather than those who try to appease her. While she typically acts through her avatars, she will occasionally talk directly with those who truly impress her.{{book ref|mb7|55}} In person, she is haughty and self-assured, goading her opponents into acting against her and wanting them to present strong opposition; at the same time, she does not like being denied her goals.{{book ref|mb7|55}}{{book ref|mb7|74}} She is, however, strategic; she knows when to withdraw and regroup, and has back-up plans in case of failure.{{book ref|mb7|74}}{{book ref|mb7|69}}

Bavadin's main area of expertise is the creation of avatars, sapient, semi-autonomous entities wielding a portion of her power.{{book ref|mb7|19}} Through her avatars, Bavadin can take on a myriad appearances, often multiple at once; she is a keen actress, assuming dozens of made up-personas. Her primary focus on using those avatars is creating and maintaining religions. There are entire pantheons of gods where every deity is actually Bavadin in a different disguise.{{book ref|mb7|20}}{{wob ref|3974}}

Aside from her avatars, Bavadin seems to have some measure of skill in combating other Shards. She successfully manages to infiltrate and Invest [[Scadrial]] without [[Harmony]] being able to act on it until it is too late. When acting directly, Bavadin knows how to bind another Shard, blinding them and effectively restricting their access to future-sight.{{book ref|mb7|19}} She can do so without endangering herself; like all Shards, Bavadin is unwilling to use her full power and thus expose herself to retaliation, preferring to act through intermediaries instead.{{book ref|mb7|66}}

Through her propensity for creating avatars and faiths focused on those avatars, Bavadin has gathered no small amount of religious influence throughout the cosmere. She has been known to leverage it for her own purposes at times -- such as manifesting her [[Sand Lord]] persona to [[Elorin]] to facilitate the destruction of the [[Sand mastery|sand masters]].{{book ref|ws|18|review=yes}}

When religious or subtle methods prove insufficient, Bavadin controls a more brutal group known as the [[men of gold and red]]. Those inhuman, advanced warriors serve as Bavadin's army of destroyers, to be brought through by [[Cognitive Realm]] and lay waste to a land when other methods have failed.{{book ref|mb7|60}} However, the men of gold and red are apparently difficult to control once let loose; it's unclear how well Bavadin can command them once she gives the order to attack.{{book ref|mb7|50}}

Once [[Telsin Ladrian]] takes over the Set, Bavadin seems to respect her drive and desire to survive. She makes her Autonomy's avatar, granting her the title of Trell, and gives her time to enact her own plan to take over the planet before she unleashes the men of gold and red on it.{{book ref|mb7|66}} However, Bavadin finds Telsin somewhat more tedious and lacking in the individualism; she considers her attempts to display it fake and manufactured for Bavadin.{{book ref|mb7|55}} Once Telsin's plan begins to unravel, Bavadin abandons her altogether, no longer interested in anything Telsin may want to say or do.{{book ref|mb7|69}}

* Among the original Vessels, [[Brandon]] is very fond of Bavadin.{{wob ref|6874}} Part of the reason he regretted moving on from ''[[White Sand]]'' is that he couldn't properly introduce Bavadin in-story just then.{{wob ref|3974}} He has since introduced Bavadin in [[The Lost Metal]].

* Bavadin appears to be genderfluid by various Word of Brandons, with Brandon even going as far as to saying her gender changes depending on the day,{{wob ref|5721}} telling fans to not "get too hung up on gender... where Bavadin is concerned";{{wob ref|3974}} and [[Shai]], when describing Autonomy, said "He, she, they, it varies".{{book ref|mb7|20}} Brandon has also previously not corrected fans referring to Bavadin with he/him pronouns, and used the same terminology for them.{{wob ref|6875}}

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