Order of Lightweavers
| Order of Lightweavers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| |||
| Herald | Shalash | ||
| Spren | Cryptic | ||
| Surges | Illumination & Transformation | ||
| Plate spren | Unknown | ||
| World of Origin | Roshar | ||
| Universe | Cosmere | ||
The Order of Lightweavers is an order of the Knights Radiant on Roshar.[1]
The Lightweavers were Surgebinders who used the Surges of Illumination and Transformation, commonly called Lightweaving and Soulcasting. They formed a Nahel Bond with Cryptics.
Historical
Many members of this order before the Recreance were interested in the arts so there were many writers, artists, musicians, painters, sculptors among their numbers.
The Lightweavers provided spiritual sustenance even for the other orders.
Known Lightweavers
- Shallan Davar (bonded to Pattern)
- Hoid
- Vathah (squire, possibly)
Ideals of the Lightweavers
The Ideals of the Knights Radiant, also known as the Immortal Words, are a set of rules by which the Radiants lived. The First Ideal, identical for all orders of the Radiants, is used as their motto. Typically, each of the Radiant Orders then has an additional four ideals that are unique to each order.
“Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination. ”
—The First Ideal of the Knights Radiant[2]
Additional Ideals
Unlike the other Orders, the Lightweavers only have the First Ideal. After that speaking truths is required and these truths are unique to each Surgebinder.[3]
Truths Spoken
“I’m a murderer. I killed my father.”
— A truth as spoken by Shallan[4]
Powers
The Lightweavers use the Surges of Illumination and Transformation.
The Lightweavers also have the ability to enter Shadesmar, yet they do not possess the surge of transportation. Exactly how this works has not yet been revealed.
It was also noted by the author of the in-universe book "Words of Radiance" that the members of this order had strange and varied mnemonic abilities. Shallan also possesses these abilities.
Soulcasting
The Soulcaster enters (or partially enters) the cognitive realm to convince the sentience of an object to change materials, transforming it into something else if successful. Some transformations are more basic than others, with more complicated transformations requiring a more skilled Surgebinder.
Lightweaving
Lightweaving deals in illusions. It involves the manipulating waves of sound or light and has a strong spiritual component requiring a certain measure of Connection and a full mental picture of the desired illusion. It may also be possible for Lightweavers to combine their illusions with Soulcasting in order to give their mirages a certain amount of substance, as Shallan manages to create an illusory army that is capable of offering actual, if limited, resistance toward their foes.
Quotes
“Yet, were the orders not disheartened by so great a defeat, for the Lightweavers provided spiritual sustenance; they were enticed by those glorious creations to venture on a second assault. ”
“These Lightweavers, by no coincidence, included many who pursued the arts; namely: writers, artists, musicians, painters, sculptors. Considering the order's general temperament, the tales of their strange and varied mnemonic abilities may have been embellished. ”
“As to the other orders that were inferior in this visiting of the far realm of spren, the Elsecallers were prodigiously benevolent, allowing others as auxiliary to their visits and interactions; though they did never relinquish their place as prime liaisons with the great ones of the spren; and the Lightweavers and Willshapers both also had an affinity to the same, though neither were true masters of that realm. ”
“Malchin was stymied, for though he was inferior to none in the arts of war, he was not suitable for the Lightweavers; he wished for his oaths to be elementary and straightforward, and yet their spren were liberal, as to our comprehension, in definitions pertaining to this matter; the process included speaking truths as an approach to a threshold of self-awareness that Malchin could never attain. ”