Order of Bondsmiths
| Order of Bondsmiths | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| |||
| Herald | Ishar | ||
| Spren | Nightwatcher, Stormfather, Sibling | ||
| Surges | Tension & Adhesion | ||
| Plate spren | Unknown | ||
| World of Origin | Roshar | ||
| Universe | Cosmere | ||
The Order of Bondsmiths is an order of the Knights Radiant on Roshar.[1]
The Bondsmiths are Surgebinders who use the Surges of Tension and Adhesion.[2] Adhesion gives the power known to Szeth as a "full lashing."[2] They form a Nahel Bond with one of three unique spren: the Stormfather, the Nightwatcher[3], and (presumably) the Sibling.[3] The exact nature of the Nahel Bond that Bondsmiths share with their specific spren is unclear; it may or may not be similar to other orders of the Knights Radiant.
Ideals of the Bondsmiths
The Ideals of the Knights Radiant, also known as the Immortal Words, are a set of rules by which the Radiant lived. The First Ideal, identical for all orders of the Radiants, is used as their motto. Each of the Radiant Orders then has an additional four ideals that are unique to each order. The main focus of their oaths seems to be leading by example.
The First Ideal
“ Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination. ”
— The First Ideal of the Knights Radiant[4]
The Second Ideal
“ I will unite instead of divide. I will bring men together. ”
— The Second Ideal of the Bondsmiths, as sworn by Dalinar Kholin[5]
The Third Ideal
“ I will take responsibility for what I have done. If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man. ”
— The Third Ideal of the Bondsmiths, as sworn by Dalinar Kholin[6]
The main focus of this oath is about becoming a better person over time.[7]
Abilities
“"No Radiant is capable of more than you. Yours is the power of Connection, of joining men and worlds, minds and souls. Your Surges are the greatest of all, though they will be impotent if you seek to wield them for mere battle. " ”
The Bondsmiths have access to Tension, the Surge of Soft Axial Interconnection, and Adhesion, the Surge of Pressure and Vacuum.
Adhesion
- Full Lashing
Using the Full Lashing, a Surgebinder can pool Stormlight into an area. All objects that subsequently touch this area will be bonded to the object, sticking them there and hindering their movement. The bond ends when the Stormlight runs out.
- Spiritual Adhesion
Using the Surge of Adhesion to manipulate spiritual, rather than purely physical forces, a Bondsmith can touch another person and forge a spiritual connection between them. This allows the Bondsmith to temporarily speak whatever languages this other person can speak. Whether the Surgebinder must remain physically close to this other person for the ability to be continually used or if it can transfer any other skill or knowledge is unknown. The power bears a great similarity to other applications of Connection such as duralumin Feruchemy on Scadrial.
Tension
The Tension Surge can be manipulated by the Surgebinder to alter the stiffness of an object.[2]
Other abilities
- Spren and Shardblades
Each Bondsmith shares a Nahel bond with one of three unique spren: the Stormfather, the Nightwatcher[8], and an unnamed third who slumbers.[1][5][8] Bondsmiths typically do not have access to a Shardblade,[9] although it is possible to 'force' their bonded spren into a shape of power that allows them to activate Oathgates.[10]
- Connection and lightweaving
Bondsmiths are able to boost other Radiants' powers. The boost given is different for each Order.[11] For example, allowing a Lightweaver to create a three-dimensional projection of Roshar.[12]
- "Healing" inanimate objects
Bondsmiths may be able to feel and hear the cognitive aspects of certain broken objects around them. With some combination of physical effort, Tension and Adhesion, they can fix them. It has been suggested that this ability may have similarities to Progression-based healing - it is easier for users of Progression to heal those who are recently wounded, and it gets harder as the "soul" becomes accustomed to the wound. [13]
History
In the time before the Recreance the Bondsmiths commonly had no more than three members, making them the smallest of the Orders.[1] However, this is not a constant and there has been a time where there was only one Bondsmith, and never more than three.
Known Bondsmiths
- Melishi (Ancient Bondsmith)[14]
- Dalinar Kholin[5] (bonded to the Stormfather)
Quotes
“ But as for the Bondsmiths, they had members only three, which number was not uncommon for them; nor did they seek to increase this by great bounds, for during the times of Madasa, only one of their order was in continual accompaniment of Urithiru and its thrones. Their spren was understood to be specific, and to persuade them to grow to the magnitude of the other orders was seen as seditious. ”
“ So Melishi retired to his tent, and resolved to destroy the Voidbringers upon the next day, but that night did present a different stratagem, related to the unique abilities of the Bondsmiths; and being hurried, he could make no specific account of his process; it was related to the very nature of the Heralds and their divine duties, an attribute the Bondsmiths alone could address. ”
Theories and Speculation
- Creation of the Parshmen
It is possible that a Bondsmith, Melishi, was responsible for turning the Voidbringers into Parshmen.[14]
- "Godspren"
It has been theorized that the Bondsmith spren may be "godspren" -- in other words, the cognitive representation of the people of Roshar's gods. This might explain why Bondsmiths are said to have bound such "specific" spren, and also why there is only three Bondsmiths at any given time. Presumably, this would be due to that fact that there would only be as many powerful "godspren" at any given time as there were heavily worshipped gods on Roshar. Honor (i.e. The Almighty) and Cultivation are two obvious candidates for having "godspren." Indeed, The Stormfather is already confirmed to be the "godspren" of Honor.[citation needed] Who the other worshipped god could be on Roshar is unclear at this point, though one candidate is the Nightwatcher. Because there were three gods influencing Roshar, Honor, Cultivation, and Odium, the third may be an Odiumspren, though this is not confirmed. Alternatively, it may be a spren that represents the balance between Honor and Cultivation and their interactions with Roshar, as Feruchemy as a magic system is derived not from Preservation or Ruin, but rather the interactions of both with Scadrial itself. It should be noted that "pious" is the primary divine attribute of Ishar, the Herald of the Order of Bondsmiths. This would seem to fit with the idea of Bondsmiths sharing a Nahel bond with "godspren." Counting weakly against this theory is the description of expanding their ranks as "seditious"; if godspren were understood to be synonymous with the Bondsmith's spren, a more appropriate word would be "sacrilegious".
- Binding people
Given Dalinar's role in uniting the Knights Radiant, it is possible that the Bondsmiths have a magical means to unite people. The text suggests that this applies to oaths and the bonds between people. Ishar, the Heraldic patron of the Bondsmiths, is said to have been the one who originally forced organization in the early Surgebinders.[15]
Notes
- ↑ a b c d Words of Radiance chapter 44 epigraph#
- ↑ a b c Words of Radiance Ars Arcanum#
- ↑ a b c Oathbringer chapter 64#
- ↑ The Way of Kings chapter 59#
- ↑ a b c Words of Radiance chapter 89#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 119#
- ↑ ICon 2019
— Arcanum - 2019-10-16# - ↑ a b Oathbringer chapter 111#
- ↑ Leipzig Book Fair
— Arcanum - 2017-03-24# - ↑ Oathbringer chapter 100#
- ↑ Skyward Pre-Release AMA
— Arcanum - 2018-10-19# - ↑ Oathbringer chapter 8#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 59#
- ↑ a b c Words of Radiance chapter 58 epigraph#
- ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 42 epigraph#