Order of Bondsmiths
| Order of Bondsmiths | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| |||
| Herald | Ishar | ||
| Spren | Unknown | ||
| Surges | Tension & Adhesion | ||
| Plate spren | Unknown | ||
| World of Origin | Roshar | ||
| Universe | Cosmere | ||
The Order of Bondsmiths was an order of the Knights Radiant on Roshar.[1]
The Bondsmiths were Surgebinders who used the Surges of Tension and Adhesion[2], and they absorbed Stormlight from gems.
They formed a Nahel Bond with unique spren, such as the Stormfather.
Adhesion gives the power known to Szeth as a "full lashing", but otherwise it is not known what powers the Bondsmiths had.[1]
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.
Historical
In the time before the Recreance the Bondsmiths commonly had no more than three members, making them the smallest of the Orders.[3]
Known Bondsmiths
- Melishi (Ancient Bondsmith)[4]
- Dalinar Kholin[5]
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 had an additional four ideals that were unique to each order.
The First Ideal
“Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination. ”
—The First Ideal of the Knights Radiant[6]
The Second Ideal
“I will unite instead of divide. I will bring men together. ”
—The Second Ideal of the Bondsmiths[5]
Powers
The Bondsmiths use the Surges of Tension and Adhesion.
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.
Tension
The Tension Surge can be manipulated by the Surgebinder to alter the stiffness of an object.[7]
Other abilities
- Spren and Shardblades
Each Bondsmith shares a Nahel bond with a unique spren, such as the Stormfather.[3][5] Based on Dalinar's experience, the Bondsmiths also do not have access to a Shardblade.
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.[4]
- "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. 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."
- 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 on the early Surgebinders.[8]
Notes
- ↑ a b {{{3}}}
— 17th Shard forums - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "17s-topic-4258" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ {{{3}}}
— 17th Shard forums - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "17s-topic-4323" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ a b c Words of Radiance chapter 44 epigraph#
- ↑ a b c Words of Radiance chapter 58 epigraph#
- ↑ a b c Words of Radiance chapter 89#
- ↑ The Way of Kings chapter 59#
- ↑ Words of Radiance Ars Arcanum#
- ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 42 epigraph#