Editing Vivenna's Blade

{{character
|abilities=Cuts through any substance
|world=Roshar
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
|books=[[The Stormlight Archive]]
}}
{{theory}}
{{uncanonical}}

'''Vivenna's Blade''' is an [[Investiture|Invested]] weapon possibly crafted via [[Awakening]]{{wob ref|8970}} carried by [[Vivenna]] in her guise as Azure on [[Roshar]].{{book ref|sa3|93}} While the origins and full powers of the Blade are still unknown, it displays an ability similar to Shardblades to cut through any substance with ease.{{book ref|sa3|81}} Vivenna made great use of her Blade defending the city of Kholinar against the Voidbringers{{book ref|sa3|83}} and aiding several members of the [[Knights Radiant]] in their escape from Shadesmar.{{book ref|sa3|110}}

== Appearance and Personality ==
Little is known of Vivenna's Blade's personality, if it even has one that resembles an object like Nightblood. It seems likely that it has some level of intelligence, as it is able to investigate its wielder,{{book ref|sa3|108}} but it is unknown whether the Blade is truly self-aware. It is known that Vivenna at least views the Blade as female, although the gender identity of such constructs may be subject to interpretation by the wielder.{{wob ref|3372}}

Despite having an otherworldly look to it,{{book ref|sa3|70}} the Blade is not instantly identifiable as a Shardblade or something similar.{{book ref|sa3|83}} This is likely due to a difference in origins, as the Blade does not have a spren like Radiant Shardblades do.{{book ref|sa3|93}} Its appearance actually differs from that of a typical Shardblade in several ways. Her Blade is small for a Shardblade,{{book ref|sa3|89}} is much shorter {{book ref|sa3|83}} and thin as well.{{book ref|sa3|89}} The Blade is also bare of any gemstones attached to the crossguard or pommel. The Blade has a silver glistening basket hilt.{{book ref|sa3|70}}

== Abilities ==
{{quote
|There's no spren here for my Blade because it's flawed. I can't summon or dismiss it, like you can yours. She's a handy weapon, but a pale copy of what you carry.
|Vivenna on her Blade{{book ref|sa3|93}}
}}
Like many Shardblades, Vivenna's Blade has the ability to cut easily through any non-living substance nearly effortlessly.{{book ref|sa3|81}} Unlike Rosharan Shardblades, when Vivenna's Shardblade kills a human it does not cause their eyes to burn out, rather their entire body turns a strange ashen gray color.{{book ref|sa3|83}}

Her Blade is also not able to be summoned or dismissed at will.{{book ref|sa3|93}} Upon someone drawing Vivenna's Blade for the first time, they will feel a tingling sensation as the Blade investigates them.{{book ref|sa3|108}} As the weapon needs to be drawn to before investigating someone, it is possible that her sheath, like Nightblood's, is made of aluminum.{{wob ref|8162}} If the sheath is constructed of aluminum, it is likely that Vivenna's Blade is also blocked by aluminum. It is unknown if other parallels with Nightblood hold true, such as the type of Command Vivenna's Blade was given{{book ref|wb|51}} or if it requires a source of Investiture to be safely drawn.{{wob ref|7886}}

== History ==
=== Early History ===
The origin of Vivenna's Blade is as of yet unknown, but some things may be inferred about it. Due to the fact that it leaves corpses drained of color{{book ref|sa3|83}} and is known to share some similarities with Nightblood,{{wob ref|8970}} it seems likely that this Blade is an Invested weapon crafted on Nalthis by [[Awakening]] the Blade to form a [[BioChromatic_Breath#Type_IV|Type Four BioChromatic entity]].{{wob ref|7474}} It also seems likely that this Blade was Awakened via a different process or a different Command than Nightblood, due to the apparent dissimilarities between the two weapons.{{wob ref|8970}} As only Yesteel{{wob ref|7357}} and Vasher{{book ref|wb|51}} have knowledge of the  process that creates Type 4 BioChromatic entities, it seems likely that one or both may have had a hand in the creation of Vivenna's Blade.

Vivenna seems to associate her past failures and burdens she has let down with the Blade for reasons unknown,{{book ref|sa3|101}} so it is possible it played a role in some event in Vivenna's past that she regrets. If the Blade was truly crafted by Awakening on Nalthis, it was likely brought through Shadesmar to Roshar by Vivenna some time in or around early 1173.{{book ref|sa3|89}}

=== Siege of Kholinar ===
{{quote
|He fought like a Voidbringer. I was there. We were almost overwhelmed, then Azure joined us, holding aloft a gleaming Shardblade. He rallied our numbers, inspired even the wounded to keep fighting. Storms. Felt like we had spren at our backs, holding us up, helping us fight.
|A member of the Wall Guard on Azure{{book ref|sa3|70}}
}}
Vivenna had possession of her Blade by the time she arrived in [[Kholinar]] before the Voidbringer siege truly began. After the Wall Guard lost their previous commander in the riots, she used her Blade to defend the wall against the Cult of Moments, which tried to seize the wall in the chaos.{{book ref|sa3|70}} She took up the name Highmarshall Azure, keeping her identity as a woman largely a secret from the city at large, as it would be odd for a woman to be a military commander or hold a Shardblade. As the Voidbringer siege began, Vivenna used her Blade to keep the Fused at bay, as they feared her Blade.{{book ref|sa3|79}} Vivenna also made use of the Blade to carve out chunks of stone in a secret room beneath the windblades. She did this to provide her Soulcasters with sufficient raw materials to make enough grain to feed the city under siege.{{book ref|sa3|81}}

After meeting Kaladin and agreeing to use a portion of the Wall Guard to liberate the palace,{{book ref|sa3|82}} Vivenna helped lead the attack by using her Blade.{{book ref|sa3|83}} After being overwhelmed by the singer armies, Vivenna brought her Blade with her to Shadesmar when Shallan engaged the corrupted Oathgate near the palace.{{book ref|sa3|89}}

=== Travels Through Shadesmar ===
Vivenna kept her Blade on her through their travels to Celebrant,{{book ref|sa3|93}} but it was confiscated by the honorspren when Vivenna and her companions escaped Celebrant on their ship, the [[Honor's Path]].{{book ref|sa3|102}} During the journey, Vivenna told the first mate Borea that she knew of a way to make Blades without the enslavement of a spren and offered to prove it to her.{{book ref|sa3|108}} Borea brought Vivenna's Blade on deck and drew it like instructed, allowing the Blade to investigate Borea. She returned the Blade to Vivenna and offered to exchange passage to [[Lasting Integrity]] and information on a possible sighting of Nightblood in exchange for knowledge of how Vivenna's Blade had been forged. When Vivenna's companions left the Honor's Path to travel to Thaylen City, she and her Blade remained behind to fight off the pursuing Fused with the honorspren crew.{{book ref|sa3|110}}

== Trivia ==
* Vivenna's Blade has its own name, which Brandon intended to put into Oathbringer, but he was toying with several different names and was not satisfied with any of them, so he left it out.{{wob ref|8668}}
* Vivenna's Blade is sometimes jokingly called, out-of-universe, "Asterisk", as a reference to a [[Arcanum|Word of Brandon]] where he answered a question about its name with "Yes. Asterisk." "Asterisk" here means that there's more to it that he's not saying, but the phrasing made it seem as though that was the full answer, leading to the joke.{{wob ref|10829}}
*As it is a heavily Invested magical weapon, Vivenna's Blade is likely technically a Shardblade even if its Investiture comes from a different source.{{wob ref|4878}}
* [[Nightblood]] and Vivenna's Blade meeting in combat would have awful consequences; however, Nightblood is more powerful.{{wob ref|13306}}

== Notes ==
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{{complete|[[User:Windrunner|Windrunner]] ([[User talk:Windrunner|talk]]) 19:19, 3 September 2018 (MST)}}
{{Stormlight}}
[[category: Shardblades]]
[[category: possessive articles]]