Difference between revisions of "BioChromatic Breath"

'''BioChromatic Breath''', also known simply as '''Breath''', is the common form of investiture 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|46}}{{annotation ref|wb|46prologue}} It is possible for children of Nalthian parents with Breath born away from Nalthis to have their own Breath.{{wob ref|12603}} When a person dies, the Breath they were carrying returns to [[Endowment]].{{wob ref|8658}} Humans are able to use their Breath to perform [[Awakening]] as well as gaining benefits from having one or more Breaths.

[[Awakening]] is the process by which an Awakener uses histheir stored BioChromatic Breath to animate an object. To do so, hethey issuesissue a [[Command]] in histheir native tongue while visualizing the action hethey wantswant the object to complete. The Commands are the key part of Awakening, and the skill of an Awakener depends on histheir ability to use Commands correctly.

The process causes some portion of the Awakener's stored Breath to exit histheir 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. Though the color drain is permanent, this magic is still considered end-neutral since the Breaths can be recovered from the Awakened object (in somemost cases).{{citewob ref|3872}}{{book ref|wb|prologue}}

[[Vasher]] categorizes Biochromatic entities into four Types.{{book ref|wb|46}} At some point Vasher had to change the system. He refers to spren as Type One Invested entities and describes them as power that came alive on its own. He adds that what he used to consider Type I are now considered Type II. It's not clear if other adjustments are made to his system.{{book ref|sa4|15}}

The '''divine Breath''', a single powerful Breath that grants the powers of the first five Heightenings, is a [[Splinter]] of [[Endowment]].{{wob ref|6724}} Giving away the divine Breath to another person will instantly heal that person, at the cost of the life of the Returned.{{annotationwob ref|wb6724}} Divine Breaths cannot be transferred like normal Breaths as they immediately become kinetic Investiture when used.{{wob ref|1211165}}

'''Type II BioChromatic entities''' are Mindless Manifestations in a Deceased Host, or more commonly known as "Lifeless", and are non-sentient reanimated animal remains. They have a functioning brain, and are able to interpret old Commands and have new Commands given. These creatures are made via complex Commands that reanimate a dead person or animal. These Commands are guarded closely by those who know them.

The Lifeless can function for a long time if cared for and repaired. Lifeless can withstand otherwise mortal wounds, but too much damage will eventually cause the Lifeless to cease activity, which means that Lifeless bodies need to be maintained and repaired (e.g. by sewing its wounds shut) when needed, otherwise they are going to need a new breathBreath. One innovation in Lifeless maintenance is the use of [[ichor-alcohol]], a substance discovered by [[Yesteel]] that could act as blood for Lifeless and that greatly prolongs their viability.

The discovery of how to create Lifeless with just a single Breath eventually led to the Lifeless armies of the [[Manywar]]. One example of a single-Breath Lifeless Command is, ''"Awaken to my Breath, serve my needs, live at my Command and my word.''".

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 Awakened, so a skilled Awakener would prepare human-shaped and organic clothes for Awakening purposes. When Awakened, it tends to mimic living things, forming muscle-like structures or the shape of handhands. They 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 knownan objectexample of this type of entity. 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{{wob ref|3023}} and has a rigid way of thinking similar to a [[Sprenspren]] on Roshar.{{wob ref|7257}} 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]].

* 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|1804}}