BioChromatic Breath
| BioChromatic Breath | |
|---|---|
| Related to | Awakening, Endowment |
| Type | Investiture |
| World of Origin | Nalthis |
| Universe | Cosmere |
BioChromatic Breath, also known simply as Breath, is the power of life on Nalthis. Every living being is born with a certain BioChromatic Investiture.[1]Template:Annotation ref When a person dies, the Breath they were carrying returns to Endowment.[2] Humans are able to use their Breath to perform Awakening as well as gaining benefits from having more than one Breath.
BioChroma and Awakening
Awakening is the process by which an Awakener uses his stored BioChromatic Breath to animate an object. To do so, he issues a Command in his native tongue while visualizing the action he wants the object to complete. The Commands are the key part of Awakening, and the skill of an Awakener depends on his ability to use Commands correctly.
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. This magic is considered end-neutral since the Breaths can be recovered from the Awakened object (in some cases), though the color drain is permanent.[citation needed]
While anyone can benefit from possessing a Breath, a non-Nalthian possessor would 'probably have to jump through some hoops to Awaken' with it.[3]
Types of BioChromatic entities
Vasher categorizes Biochromatic entities into four Types.[1]
Type I
Spontaneous Sentient BioChromatic Manifestations in a Deceased Host, also known as the Returned, are the only known natural BioChromatic entity. They retain sentience after being Returned (by Endowment) following death, and are endowed with a divine Breath. Returned are able to Awaken normally using any Breaths on top of their divine Breath,[4] but giving away the divine Breath results in death.
The divine Breath, a single powerful Breath that grants the powers of the first five Heightenings, is a Splinter of Endowment.[5] Giving away the divine Breath to another person will instantly heal that person, at the cost of the life of the Returned.Template:Annotation ref
Type II
Mindless Manifestations in a Deceased Host, also known as the Lifeless, are non-sentient reanimated human remains. They have a functioning brain, and are able to interpret old Commands and have new Commands given.
Type II entities are cheap to make (used to cost 50 breaths to make before the Manywar), even with awkward Commands. This is due to the Law of BioChromatic Parallelism. However, Breath sticks so firmly to the construct that it is impossible to remove afterwards. They are able to be Awakened using a single Breath using the right Command, the knowledge of which was a contributing factor to the Manywar. Ichor-alcohol can be used to replace the blood of the remains to make the Awakening process easier.
Type III
The process generally thought of as Awakening creates Type III entities, a BioChromatic manifestation in an organic host far removed from being alive. Examples include Awakened ropes, cloth, or skeletal remains.
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 shape of hand. they are understandably the most common type of BioChromatic host entities created. However, other types of BioChromatc hosts are generally more powerful.
Type IV
Type IV BioChromatic entities are sentient objects made by Awakening inorganic materials like metal and stone. This requires at least the 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, using a thousand Breaths and the Command "Destroy evil".
Nightblood is incapable of determining morality[6] and has a rigid way of thinking similar to a Spren on Roshar.[7] 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.
BioChromatic Laws
Law of BioChromatic Parallelism
The closer a host is to a living shape and form, the easier it is to Awaken.
This is easily understood since BioChroma is the power of life, and seeks patterns of life.
Law of Comparability
The amount of Breath required to Awaken something isn't necessarily indicative of its power once Awakened.
A good example is that a piece of cloth cut into a square and a piece of cloth cut into the shape of a man take very different amounts of Breath to Awaken, but will serve essentially the same function once Awakened.
Collecting Breath
In order to achieve the most interesting and extravagant Awakening, more than one Breath is required. Since each person is born with a single Breath, an Awakener must collect Breaths from other individuals. The method by which this is done is itself a type of Awakening, using the Command "My life to yours, my Breath become yours." The person imparting the Breaths must be in physical contact with the recipient.
As a person gains more Breaths, they are granted certain properties. These Heightenings, as they are known, are markers along a continuous scale of Breath. As a person gains more Breath, they are more resistant to disease (for example), but at approximately 2,000 Breaths this reaches a maximum and they are immune to most diseases.
The number of Breaths for each Heightening are approximate. Depending on the quality of Breath, it may take fewer Breaths to realize a Heightening. Furthermore, very little is known about the upper Heightenings (above the Sixth). Very few individuals amass such a store of Breath.
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.[8] 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.[9] This "could be an issue in some of the things that will happen in the next book".[9]
Heightenings
| Heightening number | Approximate number of Breaths to reach this Heightening | Effects of the Heightening |
|---|---|---|
| First Heightening | 50 | Aura Recognition |
| Second Heightening | 200 | Perfect Pitch |
| Third Heightening | 600 | Perfect Color Recognition |
| Fourth Heightening | 1,000 | Perfect Life Sense |
| Fifth Heightening | 2,000 | Agelessness |
| Sixth Heightening | 3,500 | Instinctive Awakening |
| Seventh Heightening | 5,000 | Invested Breath Recognition |
| Eighth Heightening | 10,000 | Command Breaking |
| Ninth Heightening | 20,000 | Greater Awakening Audible Command |
| Tenth Heightening | 50,000 | Color Distortion Perfect Invocation ??? |
Drab
A human without a single Breath is known as a Drab. Without Breath, colors lose their vibrancy and they are more prone to depression and sickness. The latter stems from the fact that Breath acts as a sort of magical booster for the immune system, and thus the body doesn't need to build up immunity.Template:Annotation refTemplate:Annotation ref Drabs also do not register on the life sense of someone who has reached the Fourth Heightening.[10] They also lack the instinctive feeling of most to know if someone is watching them. A drab is also incapable of Returning.[11]
Trivia
- 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 studying.[12]
Notes
- ↑ a b Warbreaker chapter 46#
- ↑ Oathbringer London signing
— Arcanum - 2017-11-28# - ↑ Dayton Signing
— 17th Shard forums - 2014-03-19# - ↑ Warbreaker chapter 55#
- ↑ If a returned gives away his/her breath they die right?
— Theoryland - 2010-01-18# - ↑ {{{3}}}
— Theoryland - {{{date}}}# - ↑ {{{3}}}
— Theoryland - {{{date}}}# - ↑ Tor.com Q&A with Brandon Sanderson
— Arcanum - 2011-01-10# - ↑ a b Tor.com Q&A with Brandon Sanderson
— Arcanum - 2011-01-10# - ↑ Warbreaker chapter 35#
- ↑ Drabs do not Return.
— Theoryland - 2011-11-08# - ↑ Arcanum Unbounded Seattle signing
— Arcanum - 2016-12-01#