Difference between revisions of "BioChromatic Breath"

'''BioChromatic Breath''', also known simply as '''Breath''', is the powercommon form of lifeinvestiture on [[Nalthis]]. Every living beingNalthian is born with one Breath, though a certainperson BioChromaticmay Investiturechoose to transfer that Breath to another person.{{book ref|wb|46prologue}} It is possible for children of Nalthian parents with Breath born away from Nalthis to have their own Breath.{{annotationwob ref|wb|4612603}} When a person dies, the Breath they were carrying returns to [[Endowment]].{{wob ref|date=2017-11-28|8658|Oathbringer London signing}} Humans are able to use their Breath to perform [[Awakening]] as well as gaining benefits from having moreone thanor onemore BreathBreaths.

The process causes some portion of the Awakener's stored Breath to exit his body and become Invested in the Awakened object. Depending on the object, it may require any where from one to one thousand (or more) Breaths. Furthermore, color is drained from nearby objects as fuel for the Awakening process. This can manifest, for example, as a red scarf being bleached grey. ThisThough the color drain is permanent, this magic is still considered end-neutral since the Breaths can be recovered from the Awakened object (in some cases), though the color drain is permanent.{{cite}}

While anyone can benefit from possessing a Breath, a non-Nalthian possessor would 'probably have to jump through some hoops to Awaken' with it.{{17swob ref|post|115245|text=Dayton Signing|date=2014-03-192877}}

The '''divine Breath''', a single powerful Breath that grants the powers of the first five Heightenings, is a [[Splinter]] of [[Endowment]].{{qawob ref|680|13|If a returned gives away his/her breath they die right?|date=2010-01-186724}} Giving away the divine Breath to another person will instantly heal that person, at the cost of the life of the Returned.{{annotationwob ref|wb|126724}}

Lifeless created from bones encased in stone have the advantage of being extremely resilient and not needing [[ichor-alcohol]]. It is also possible to make stone Lifeless by transforming a dead body to stone (e.g. via [[Soulcasting]]) before Awakening it.{{qawob ref|1068|122781}}

They are between the two extremes of inorganic objects and dead bodies. Therefore, these have the advantage of requiring less Breath( (still more than corpses, often over one hundred) to Awaken than inorganic objects while at the same time allowing for Breath recovery. They have the strength to easily strangle people. The more it resembled living beings, the easier it is to be awakenedAwakened, so a skilled awakenerAwakener would prepare human-shaped and organic clothes for awakeningAwakening purposes. When awakenedAwakened, it tends to mimic living things, forming muscle-like structures or shape of hand. theyThey are understandably the most common type of BioChromatic host entities created. However, other types of BioChromatc hosts are generally more powerful.

'''Type IV BioChromatic entities''' are sentient objects made by Awakening inorganic materials like metal and stone. This requires at least the [[Heightening#Ninth_Heightening|Ninth Heightening]]. [[Nightblood]], a sentient Awakened sword, is the only known object of this type. He was created by [[Shashara]] with the help of her husband [[Talaxin]], also known as Vasher, using a thousand Breaths and the Command "Destroy evil".

Nightblood is incapable of determining morality{{qawob ref|1038|233023}} and has a rigid way of thinking similar to a [[Spren]] on Roshar.{{qawob ref|608|167257}} The large number of Breaths he contains also grants him incredible destructive power. The threat of more weapons like Nightblood being created eventually caused Talaxin to kill Shashara to prevent the knowledge of this form of Awakening from becoming public.

Stone is presumed to be similarly difficult to Awaken. However, Lifeless can be made by enclosing bones in stone, making near -indestructible warriors. [[Talaxin]] used this technique to create the legendary [[Kalad's Phantoms]].

This is easily understood since BioChroma is the power of life, and seeks patterns of life.{{book ref|wb|46}}

''The amount of Breath required to Awaken something isn't necessarily indicative of its power once Awakened.''{{book ref|wb|46}}

If enough Breaths are collected, they can start to affect the personality of the person holding them. "Breaths do bring some things along with them,", but they are not "terribly individual" depending on their original owner.{{wob ref|date=2011-01-11|4631|Tor.com Q&A with Brandon Sanderson}} For example, [[Vahr]]'s resolve was strengthened because of the similar mindsets of those he collected his Breaths from, but the effect only manifested due to the large amount of Breaths he had.{{wob ref|date=2011-01-11|4633|Tor.com Q&A with Brandon Sanderson}} This "could be an issue in some of the things that will happen in the next book".{{wob ref|date=2011-01-11|4633|Tor.com Q&A with Brandon Sanderson}}

* Breath is specifically named BioChromatic Breath due to some of the [[Five Scholars]] having visited other more advanced worlds that had a more scientific approach to studyingthe study of Investiture.{{wob ref|date=2016-12-1|1804|Arcanum Unbounded Seattle signing}}