Shallan Davar

Shallan Davar
by Exmakina
House Davar Spouse Adolin Kholin married Nanishah 1174 Parents Lin Davar, mother Siblings Helaran, Balat, Wikim, Jushu
Born	1156
Abilities	Surgebinder (Illumination/Transformation) Shardbearer
Aliases	Veil, Radiant
Profession	Scholar
Religion	Vorinism (Devotary of Purity)
Groups	Knights Radiant (Lightweavers) Ghostbloods
Residence	Urithiru
Nationality	Veden
Homeworld	Roshar

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“ I seek the truth. Wherever it may be, whomever may hold it. That's who I am. ”

— Shallan to Iyatil

Shallan Davar (Alethi pronunciation: [ʃə·ˈlan dəˈvar] sha-LAN da-VAR), also known as Veil and Radiant, is a lighteyed Lightweaver of the Knights Radiant from Jah Keved. Shallan is an emerging scholar whose greatest achievement is the discovery of the legendary city Urithiru. She is also renowned for her extraordinary talent of accurately reproducing even fleeting scenes with photographic accuracy. This ability, however, is affected by the presence of the Unmade.

Hailing from a mid-level noble house in Jah Keved, Shallan lived a sheltered life on her father's estate until the age of seventeen, when she left to seek an apprenticeship under Princess Jasnah Kholin as a scholar. While acting as an apprentice to Jasnah Kholin, she became the causal betrothed of Jasnah's cousin, Prince Adolin Kholin, who she later married following the Battle of Thaylen Field.. She also learns of and shares in Jasnah's quest to stop the mysterious and calamitous Voidbringers.

Ever since childhood, Shallan has shared a bond with the Cryptic Pattern, allowing her to manifest Pattern as a Shardblade. Years later, this bond also allowed her to access her powers as a Surgebinder. Eventually, during the Battle of Narak, her bond with Pattern allowed her to become the first Lightweaver to be revealed as a Knight Radiant since the Recreance.

Appearance and Personality

Shallan is a slim, pale-skinned young woman in her late teens with auburn-red hair that reaches past the middle of her back and blue eyes. There are freckles on her cheeks and nose, although they aren't very noticeable.

As a child, Shallan was considered shy, quiet, and delicate, although she has always had a quick wit, and often uttered the first retort that came to mind.. Her brother, Balat, considered her incapable of handling herself and the family's affairs, having never lived away from the family estates. Indeed, Shallan was initially naive and inexperienced, with little concept of money; for example, while trying to remain inconspicuous, she overpayed for some street food by two hundred fifty times. However, when she left the family estates behind, she quickly opened up and gained confidence.

Shallan's Mental Health

Shallan, Veil, and Radiant together by Maddi

Shallan closely resembles someone with dissociative identity disorder (DID) as observed by her struggle to maintain a singular personality. While she initially developed her separate personalities such as Veil and Radiant to fit the various roles she was assigned to, Shallan began to use them as crutches. She repeatedly mentioned that these separate personalities had not experienced the hardships Shallan had dealt with, so she was able to conveniently use her Lightweaving abilities as an escape from her past. While she was able to maneuver through different social situations with these personalities, Shallan soon found that it was becoming increasingly difficult to separate her personas from her original personality. She began to experience blackouts and even failed to differentiate between her three personalities until her allies intervened as seen in the Battle of Thaylen Field. In addition to this, Shallan, is sometimes not in full control of her other personalities as they tend to peak out without her knowing. This is especially common with her first persona, Veil.

Veil

After arriving at the Shattered Plains and encountering the Ghostbloods, Shallan took on the identity of Veil in order to infiltrate the Ghostbloods. She changed her appearance by using her Lightweaving abilities to craft a new appearance for Veil. As Veil, Shallan appears as a slightly older darkeyed woman. Although Veil has the same height and build as Shallan, Veil has long, dark hair and an angular face with a scar across the chin.. Veil's personality is daring and bold, being an accomplished con-artist and spy. She’s willing to scam other people but still needs people to be around. She often drinks and will sometimes drink Horneater lager which is supposedly the strongest drink in all of Roshar. She rarely shows signs of being drunk. Veil prefers her men to be hard and rugged, showing interest in men like Kaladin while expressing disinterest in Adolin. Following Shallan's marriage with Adolin, however, Veil has become fond of the prince and even became drinking buddies with him.

Radiant

After arriving in Urithriu, Shallan developed a third personality, Radiant in order to better assume her role as a Knight Radiant. Due to the similar mannerisms, she is likely based on Jasnah Kholin. Appearance-wise, Radiant looks mostly like Shallan, but with a bigger bust.

Radiant learned how to wield her Shardblade with Adolin, and is a capable surgebinder like Shallan. She does not care at all about how other people think of her, and easily dismisses people as stupid. Like Veil, she also thinks a relationship with Kaladin would be appropriate, commenting that a relationship between two Radiants would be suitable.

• Images of Shallan
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  Shallan summoning Pattern by User: Sheep

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  Portrait sketch by User: Sheep

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  Wearing boots by User: Sheep

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  With Cryptic by User: Sheep

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  Summoning Shardblade by User: Sheep

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  Killing with Shardblade by User: Sheep

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  Shallan wearing havah by User: Sheep

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  Shallan and company fighting Re-Sephir by not_safe_for_worf

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  A full body drawing of Shallan Davar by User: Exmakina

• Images of Veil
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  Shallan as Veil by User: Sheep

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  Veil in Tyn's clothes by User: Sheep

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  Veil and Shallan by User: Sheep

History

Shallan in the Shattered Plains by Michael Whelan

Early life (1156–1173)

Childhood

Shallan was born into the Davar household to Lin and her mother in 1156. Shallan is the youngest of five children, with four older brothers: Helaran, Balat, Wikim, and Jushu. The Davar household is a mid-level noble family, with the patriarch Lin holding the fourth dahn, while Shallan herself is of the fifth dahn. The Davar family's estates are in Jah Keved, in Highprince Valam's territory.

As a child, Shallan had a happy life with her parents and four brothers; she recalled a point when her father rarely becameangry.

Murder attempt

By 1167, when Shallan was eleven years old, she began bonding to Pattern, her spren, and manifested herSurgebinding abilities. Her mother and an unknown associate (a Skybreaker acolyte) realized what was happening and attempted to kill Shallan. While they had Shallan cornered in a room, her father burst in and attempted to save Shallan, but her mother's associate restrained him. Shallan summoned Pattern as a Shardblade and, in self-defense, killed both her mother and her associate.

Shallan's father protected her by allowing the world to believe that he killed Shallan's mother and her lover. He also took Pattern away from the young girl and locked him away in his strongbox, although unknown to him, Pattern simply vanished the instant he closed the door. Meanwhile, Shallan repressed the memory of these events, only remembering that she was in the room with her father and two corpses, forgetting that she ever had a Shardblade or that she killed her mother.

Life after her mother's death

“Now go to sleep in chasms deep, with darkness all around you…Though rock and dread may be your bed, so sleep my baby dear. Now comes the storm, but you’ll be warm, the wind will rock your basket…The crystals fine will grow sublime, so sleep my baby dear. And with a song, it won’t be long, you’ll sleep my baby dear”

—Shallan's lullaby sung by her father following her mother's death

After her mother's death, Shallan didn't speak for five months despite the comfort given to her by her elder brothers, namely Jushu. Instead of drawing as she normally did, all she drew was the scene from the room where her mother and her associate died. Meanwhile, her father becomes violent and easily-enraged, verbally and physically abusing the members of the household.

Five months later, Helaran informs Shallan and Lin that he must leave as he has issues to attend to. Lin protested and during the confrontation, Helaran summoned a Shardblade and threatened their father with it. Shallan spoke for the first time in months, stopping the violence and asking Helaran to stay. Helaran is unable to stay, but he promised to return and check on Shallan.

A year later, around 1168, Shallan began to speak normally again, although the Davar family was quickly deteriorating. Helaran visited sporadically and briefly, bringing Shallan drawing materials while avoiding their father. Her father was still in a constant state of anger; her brother Balat was increasingly destructive, setting fire in the servants' building; Jushu settled into a state of despair, choosing to get drunk and gamble away his money and jewels; and Wikim often fell into brief periods of despair as he was often the target of his father's abuse.

Around 1169, their father threw a feast for the Tavinar family, a nearby lighteyed family. During the feast, while Lin was announcing that he was to be married to Malise Gevelmar, he was interrupted by Redin, the bastard son of Highprince Valam. Under orders from Valam, Redin had come to investigate the rumors of Shallan's mother's death, but Redin didn't have enough evidence to proceed against Lin for murder and was forced to leave.

Half a year later, the entire Davar family was at the Middlefest Fair. During the fair, Shallan attempted to bring happiness to her brothers, setting up Balat on a date with Eylita Tavinar, giving Wikim complicated highstorm equations to work on, and preparing a list of duels to show Jushu. It was during this festival that Shallan first met Hoid, who is conversing with her father as he bore a message from Helaran. Hoid was shocked at discovering Shallan, realizing that she was a Surgebinder. Hoid sought out Shallan afterwards and questioned her about her powers. Shallan deflected the questions and Hoid told Shallan a story about finding happiness even in the most adverse conditions. Hoid left after confirming that Shallan has not yet mastered her powers.

Shallan finally took action when Lin seemed bent on killing her brother Balat. She gave him poisoned wine and then strangled him with a necklace he had given her. It was only after his demise that Shallan and her brothers could attempt to come together as a family once more, banding together to cover up the truth of his death while also working to save the House from the many debts their father accrued.

Jasnah Kholin's Ward (1173)

Arrival in Kharbranth

Shallan in the Palanaeum by Alex Allen

Following the death of her father, Shallan traveled aboard Wind's Pleasure, a ship owned by Tozbek, in order to save her family from a life filled with misery and debt by forging connections will powerful allies in Alethkar. She arrived in Kharbranth, where she hoped to become the ward of Jasnah Kholin, a notorious scholar and sister to the current king of Alethkar. While Shallan hoped to learn more about the world and the field of logic whilst under the tutelage of Jasnah, she also had another goal in mind. Shallan spent several months chasing Jasnah across many cities in order to steal Jasnah's Soulcaster, a fabrial capable of transforming objects from one material to another, as she also believed that this tool would be the key to saving her destitute family. Once she finally caught up to Jasnah in Kharbranth, Shallan attempted to convince Jasnah to take her as her ward, but she failed twice before she finally succeeded on the third attempt.

The first attempt was when she failed to impress Jasnah due to her lack of talent in the field of logic and, notably, history. Despite Shallan's attempt to convince her that her artistic talent would surely impress her, Jasnah quickly turned her down. Shallan later attempted to convince Jasnah once more but waits in the scholar's reading alcove due to Jasnah currently being in a meeting. She wrote a logical letter arguing for wardship which managed to impress Jasnah but she is still rebuffed by the scholar. Dejected and tired from constantly attempting to persuade the heretical scholar, Shallan makes her way back to Wind's Pleasure to return to her hometown before she is convinced by Yalb, a sailor on Wind's Pleasure, to try once more. When she returns, Jasnah discovers Shallan's drawings she made while waiting in her reading alcove and is impressed by her artistry and passion from drawing even during her free time which she considered to be, in a way, a pursut of scholarship. Jasnah accepts Shallan as her ward and allows her to be her research assistant when she is not busy.

Stealing the Soulcaster

After spending more time with Jasnah, Shallan found that she was enjoying her wardship with Jasnah but it was also becoming increasingly harder for to steal her Soulcaster. She later received word from her family in Jah Keved via spanreed that the servant in their household who knew how to field the fabrial had died in their sleep and men were also visiting the house to ask about the whereabouts of their secretly deceased father and the Soulcaster they came to collect. Pressured by the news, Shallan came to the conclusion that she must steal the fabrial soon but was still uneasy about plan. While out for a stoll, Shallan witnessed Jasnah Soulcast four street thugs by turning ones essence into fire, another into pure quartz, and even two into smoke as they attempted to flee the scholar. After the ordeal, Shallan finally mustered the courage to steal the Soulcaster as she felt Jasnah did not deserve such a tool.

Shallan was eventually able to steal Jasnah's Soulcaster, but hesitated to use it due to not knowing hot to use the fabrial. After receiving advice from Kabsal, an ardent seemingly infatuated with Shallan, she attempted to use the soulcaster after its theft only to find that it does not work. Later, when Kabsal requested that she draw a picture of them together, she found herself plagued with strange shadows that seemed to follow her everywhere she went. When she attempted to flee them, she returned to her room where she found herself plunged into Shadesmar, a dark world filled with strange spheres containing items in the physical world, and accidentally Soulcasted a goblet into blood. Out of fear of being discovered by Jasnah, she cuts herself to make it look like an attempt at suicide to which Jasnah later blames herself for.

Discovering her Surgebindings

When Kabsal later visited Shallan at the hospital, he accidentally poisoned both Shallan and himself during an attempt to assassinate Jasnah for the Ghostbloods by failing to eat the strawberry jam laced with an antidote meant to counteract the poison in the bread they had eaten. In order to save Shallan's life, Jashan soulcasted Shallan's blood to draw the blood our of her body. Shallan attempted to inform Jasnah that the Soulcaster she currently possessed was the broken one Shallan had switched Jasnah's for but initially failed to realize that the scholar did not actually need one as she was a secretly Surgebinder. When Shallan awakened, Jasnah was furious at her deceit and relieved Shallan from her position as her ward after revealing the Kabsal had died due to his failed assassination attempt and that the fabrial Shallan stole from her was fake.

Numb from her experience, Shallan remained in her bed until she realized that Jasnah had eaten the bread without taking the jam that should have counteracted the poison she consumed, so she have also died like Kabsal did. She came to conclusion that Jasnah Soulcasted the jam, removing the antidote that should have cured both Shallan and Kabsal, while also removing the poison in her own bread she ate, all without a functional Soulcaster. Shallan then left her hospital bed and visited Jasnah where she revealed that she now knew that Jasnah can Soulcast without a fabrial and she could do it as well. Because Jasnah was initially doubtful of her claim, Shallan decided to prove this by returning to Shadesmar. She makes a deal with the mysterious shadow figure for passage into the world in exchange for a truth: that she killed her father. Jasnah also teleport ed there and saved Shallan from drowning in the spheres in the strange world . Shallan apologized to JAsnah for lying to the scholar and stealing her Soulcaster, and promised not do so again in exchange for teaching her how to Soulcast and sharing her reasearch into the Voidbringers.

Jasnah revealed that they are both members of the Knights Radiant and the Voidbringers may be real. In addition to this, Shallan realized that her father also might have been a member of the same organization that Kabsal belonged to. After this realization and the revelation that the Parshendi and Parshmen were Voidbringers, she and Jasnah set off for the Shattered Plains to attain more information.

The Shattered Plains (1173)

Learning about the Knights Radiant

Jasnah and Shallan took passage on Wind's Pleasure, to travel to the Shattered Plains. While sketching Shadesmar after her brief delving into the strange world, she noticed a pattern on her skethpad which began to move. When she was startled by its sudden movement, the pattern quickly disappeared. Several days into the journey, Shallan spied a santhid - an elusive and ancient dweller of the ocean - moving alongside the ship. She wanted to observe the santhid underwater in order to sketch it, but was dissuaded from the dangerous task by Captain Tozbek. Jasnah soon joined her, and detecting her ward's innattention to her reading, explained the nature of Shadesmar and spren to her. Shallan mentioned the patterns of lines she has been noticing. While conversing, Shallan revealed Jasnah also detailed the measures she has taken to help House Davar: sending money to Shallan's brothers, communicating with her mother about the broken Soulcaster, and setting up a causal betrothal with Adolin Kholin. Finally, Jasnah gave Shallan words of advice on power and how even its illusion can be enough to create authority. Taking these words to heart, Shallan commanded the captain to help her go overboard in order to observe and take a Memory of the santhid.

While trying to recreate the strange pattern she glimpsed earlier on her sketchpad, the image suddenly moved and drifted to the floor of her room. Startled by the movement, Shallan attempted to find Jasnah, who conveniently showed up just as she opened the door of her room. When she explained what she observed, Jasnah informed her that this was her spren, a Cryptic-type specifically; and Shallan even managed to catch a glimpse of Jasnah's own spren, Ivory. Jasnah shared that these type of spren had not been seen in centuries, making Shallan the first one to interact with one in a while. As they continued to converse, Jasnah began to explain the nature of the Knights Radiant and the Orders making up the organization. She explained that Shallan was a part of the Order of Lightweavers while she belonged to the Order of Elsecallers, a similar yet different order.

Later, Shallan continued to observe her spren, which she named Pattern for the complex geometric shapes that made up the spren. While trying to connect with her spren, Shallan learned the spren was able to connect complex thoughts and was fond of lies. Shallan eventually asked of its earliest memories and a brief scenery of Jah Keved appeared in response, indicating that the spren has been with Shallan prior to this. After being horrified by the memories being recalled in response to the image of her home, the scenery quickly faded away. After a brief respite, Shallan headed to her deck where she discovered the spheres she held in her pouch had become dim. Curious, she asked Jasnah about the reason for this, and the scholar explained that this was due to her unconsciously Lightweaving the scene she witnessed with Pattern. While on the topic, Jasnah requested that Shallan focused more on learning about her Illumination Surge rather than Transformation as Soulcasting could be dangerous when used incorrectly. Jasnah also shared her fears over the inevitable Desolation. She revealed that when the heralds eventually returned to train the Radiants, the parshmen will reveal themselves to be the Voidbringers and upset the economy that had been established across Roshar by the enslavement of the people. Jasnah also revealed that she believed that the rediscovery of Urithiru, the ancient city in the Shattered Plains and the base for the Knights Radiant, would aid them in their battle agaist the Voidbringers. Before Shallan headed to bed, Jasnah gifted Shallan with Words of Radiance, a book containing more information on the Order of Lightweavers.

Shipwrecked

While asleep, Shallan was awoken by the sound of screaming and the smell of smoke in her cabin. As she rushes out of her room, Shallan realized that their ship was being attacked and she witnessed Jasnah get stabbed in the chest by the attackers. Using Lightweaving, she created an indistinct human form, which the attacking men chased. She then entered Jasnah's cabin and observed a large amount of blood on the floor, but no body. Due to this, she assumed that the men removed Jasnah's corpse. She then heard sounds above and Pattern told her that the ship's crew were being executed. Out of desperation Shallan attempted to Soulcast the hull of the ship. With a huge amount of stormlight and the help of Pattern, she reached into Shadesmar and Soulcasted the Wind's Pleasure into water to escape.

Arriving on a shore with no sign of any surving members of the ship, Shallan is rendered helpless as she had nobody to aid her but Pattern. He guided her to a safe spot where she was able to secure Jasnah's waterproof trunk containing her books and notes. After waiting for any more survivors, Shallan attempted to build a fire but failed. She then attempted to Soulcast a Stick into fire with Pattern easing her into Shadesmar but to no avail. Tired and injured, Shallan wandered the unfamiliar area until Pattern notified her that there are people who may be able to help her. She encountered two men led by a slaver named Tvlakv. Adhering to Jasnah's advice, she assumed a confident and haughty attitude in order to assert her dominance over the slavers and prevent them from enslaving her as well. While in the company of the slavers, Shallan learned how to take in stormlight and heal herself as well as cast minor illusions to change her appearance. Pattern attempted to make Shallan aware that she is Knight Radiant, something Shallan adamantly refused. While accompanying the slavers' caravan, they observed a pillar of smoke and began to make their way towards it at Shallan's command.

Journey to the Shattered Plains

Shallan traveling to the Shattered Plains by Antti Hakosaari

When they arrived at the source of the smoke, Shallan and the slavers encountered Tyn and Vathah, the leader of a group of deserters, fleeing from a battle between a group of bandits. After using stormlight to make herself appear more noble, Shallan convinced the deserters to fight, and they eventually win the battle but not without losing a few deserters and Bluth, one of Tvlakv's mercenaries that Shallan had become fond of. She later freed the parshmen that had been enslaved and offered them a job as servants.

Shallan quickly became a prominent figure among the deserters and even befriended a few of them, including Gaz and Red, as they respected her and were grateful for the words of encouragement she gave to them prior to their battle. Shallan promised to grant them a pardon for their desertion, but they doubted she would hold her word. After receiving a summons from Tyn, the con artist concluded that Shallan was lying about her identity and offered to teach her how to be a con artist like herself, something Shallan believed will be useful to her in the future. While accompanying the deserters, they encountered Kaladin and his group of bridgemen, who demand who they are. Tyn quickly proclaimed that Shallan was a Horneater Princess, forcing Shallan to assume the role and test her skills as a potential con artist. Shallan succeeded in tricking the bridgemen to let them pass and even forced Kaladin to remove his boots as compensation for insulting him.

As Tyn continued to teach Shallan the skills needed to be a con artist, she gave advice to Shallan on how to approach Adolin, believing their marriage arrangement to be a love scam, and tells Shallan that she would like to introduce her to her associates. When Tyn is reading a spanreed from her associates, she discovered that Shallan is truly who she claimed she was and demanded to know if Jasnah is really dead from the shipwreck, revealing herself to be connected to Jasnah's assassins. Shallan is quickly attacked by Tyn, but Pattern distracted the con artist long enough to conjure an illusion to catch her by surprise and summon her Shardblade to kill Tyn. When Vathah, Gaz, and the other deserters enter the tent, Shallan revealed her Sharblade and assumed command of the group, telling them to search through Tyn's belongings. While reading the message written from the spanreed, Shallan realizes that Tyn's associates were actually the Ghostbloods and they ask if Tyn is ready for another job which Shallan readily accepts, under the pretense that she is Tyn.

Shallan retrieved clothing and spheres from Tyn belongings while Vathah and the deserters burn Tyn and her boydguards' bodies and their remaining belongings. They finally arrive to the Shattered Plains where they encounter Kaladin who is acting as the bodyguard of Elhokar, the Alethi king. When Shallan attempts to announce her identity and betrothal to Alodin, Kaladin brings up her previous lie where she claimed to be a Horneater princesss, which Shallan argues she said to remain anonymous. Shallan quickly provided the documents including Jasnah's handwriting and requested for its authenticity to be analyzed by Navani Kholin, Jasnah's mother. Kaladin soon returned and summoned Shallan to enter the palace where Elhokar is in a conference with his uncle, Dalinar Kholin.

Arrival at the Shattered Plains

Entering the palace, Shallan would meet Dalinar and Navani Kholin, the latter whom almost immediately disapproved of the girl. Shallan retold the moments leading to Jasnah's death, leaving out the fact that she Soulcasted Wind's Pleasure. Navani berated Shallan when she told them that she set fire to ship in order to prevent the assassins from killing her and escaping. Dalinar defended Shallan's actions and Navani quickly apologized before leaving the room. Shallan then gave Dalinar a quick recount of her journey to the Shattered Plains and informed him of Jasnah's proposal to marry Adolin to the young girl. Adolin comes to meet Shallan, and the two exchange awkward introductions. When Shallan first laid her eyes Adolin, she was almost immediately attracted to the young prince. Seeing that the two were interested in one another, Dalinar agreed to the betrothal but postponed their marriage for a later date.

Several highprinces enter the room, interrupting their discussion, and they begin to resume their meeting. When the highprinces became of Shallan's appearance, they begin to argue with one another to gain intel from the Veden noble. Not wanting to be used by the highprinces, Shallan lies by saying that she had already accepted the invitation to stay with Turinad Sebarial, one of the Alethi highprinces. Despite knowing that she lied, Sebarial played along with her deception, knowing that it would upset the other highprinces. Before she left the palace, Shallan obtained writ of pardon as she promised for the deserters, something they are grateful for.{{book ref|wor|38} For the duration of her stay in the Shattered Plains, Shallan would live in Highprince Sebarial's warcamp along with his mistress Palona.

Infiltration of the Ghostbloods

While staying in Sebarial's warcamp, Shallan taught Pattern more about the human language and how to better communicate. As she was teaching the spren, she later received a message from the Ghostbloods informing her that Tyn would be expected to attend a meeting with her employers later that evening. Shallan informs them that she (Tyn) is sick and that the con artist would send her apprentice in her place. Shallan used her Lightweaving abilities to conjure a disguise as the darkeyed apprentice named Veil who would come in Tyn's place. Dressed in Tyn's clothing, Bluth's hat, and the Lightweaving she placed overherself, Shallan made her way to the requested area to meet the Ghostbloods.

Shallan, disguised as Veil, arrived at the tenement building where she would meet the Ghostbloods. She met a man known as Mraize, who initially doubted her identity. When she successfully convinced the assassin that she was truly who she said, she met five other Ghostbloods including a masked woman, later known as Iyatil. Mraize infromed Shallan that her next target would be Meridas Amaram and she would need to scavenge for new information in his manor. As Shallan left the meetingplace, Pattern informed her that she was being tailed by the masked woman. Shallan successfully lost her by using her Lighweaving abilities to conjure a wall to hide her. After her stormlight dissipated, Shallan ditched her disguise and stealthily returned to Sebarial's warcamp.

Date with Her Betrothed

Shallan spent more time with Adolin in order to grow closer to the prince. Despite his charismatic personality, Shallan was not too quick to fawn over Adolin. She was able to impress him by rebuffing his charms and even ignore him as seen when she ran away to draw pictures of Shardplate and Shardblades rather than fawn over him and spend her time idly talking with him. Later, Shallan and Pattern began to study maps of Roshar and discovered that they contradicted the supposed location of where the mystical city, Urithiru, should have been found. Confused by what this may mean, Shallan decided to take a break from her research by going on a date with Adolin. She arrived at the open-air-winehouse, the place where the date would be held, and the two conversed and grew closer to one another. While initially hoping to forge a relationship with House Kholin, Shallan drifted away from her original goal and eventually asked the prince about the likelihood of removing the parshmen from the slave system established in Roshar. Adolin revealed this was unlikely, much to Shallan's disappointment. As they enjoyed fine wine, a highstorm appeared which Adolin informed Shallan would be a viewing pleasure for the visitors. As their date concluded, Shallan began to think of how she would infiltrate Amaram's manor.

Working for the Ghostbloods

Shallan decided to complete the job given to her by the Ghostbloods and infiltrated Amaram's warcamp by disguising herself as a messenger boy. Once past the checkpoint, Shallan changed into a maid disguise and entered his house. To her surprise, she found Amaram was still in his house, so she told him that a messenenger boy was waiting for him outside his house to draw him away. When she succeeded, she used Pattern to unlock his private room, and used her Memory to copy a compilation of detailed maps and predictions for future highstorms. Using Pattern's unique ability to decipher codes by patterns, she discovered that Amaram hoped to figure out how to return the Voidbringers. Shallan came to the conclusion that Jasnah, the Ghostbloods, and Amaram were all searching for similar answers. Feeling that she had obtained the information, Shallan disguised herself as Amaram and exited the private room, using Pattern to impersonate his voice.

Returning to her disguise as the messenger boy, Shallan encountered Amaram and informed the general that Shallan Davar wanted to meet with him to draw his Shardblade. As Amaram summoned his Shardblade, Shallan realized that he wielded the same Shardblade that her older brother, Helaran, owned. When she asked how he obtained the weapon, he lied and told her that he got it after killing a Veden man that attempted to assassinate him. Shallan then came to the conclusion that Amaram was the one responsible for killing her brother. She then left, realizing that Helaran was somehow involved with the Ghostbloods and Amaram.

She later met with the Ghostbloods in the Unclaimed Hills after receiving a message from them via spanreed. Once there, she met with Mraize, who quickly discovered that she was a scholar after Shallan accidentally revealed too much information about herself and shared her artistic abilities. Maize then determined that Shallan had killed Tyn. Despite this, he acknowledged that she had done well in succeeding in the mission assigned to her and fooling them; however, he warned her that Ghostbloods are protective of one another. Before Shallan left, he informed her that she would be assigned another mission in the future. Wary of the assassin, Shallan used her Lightweaving abilities to conjure a rock she could hide under and used Pattern to pretend that she had entered her carriage. While hiding, she overheard the assassin instructing someone to send her sketches to someone named Thaidakar. On her way home, she discovered the carriage she was meant to be in burned along with all the parshmen and the driver dead, greatly upsetting Shallan.

A Plan for Adolin

When Adolin and Kaldin, the latter serving as the former's bodyguard, later arrived to meet with Shallan at Sebarial's warcamp, she was excited to see that Wit was their carriage driver. Shallan revealed that she had encountered Wit as as a child while attending the Middlefest Fair. As Wit disappeared, Shallan and Adolin decided to go visit the local menagerie. Despite being in the company of the stony-faced bodyguard, Shallan found that she enjoyed flirting with Adolin. As Adolin informed her of his plann to retrieve more Shardplates and Shardblades by winning in bouts with Shardbearers, Shallan aided him by telling him that he could earn more fights with the Shardbearers if he won in a spectacular fashion. Shallan explained that if Adolin were able to win spectularly in his next duel, he would be granted the King's Boon, allowing him to challenge a duel with Sadeas.

On the day of Adolin's duel against Jakamav, Abrobadar, Relis, and Elit, Shallan painted a glyphward for him and watched from the stands. As Adolin's brother, Renarin, jumped into the arena, Shallan sent Pattern to distract Abrobadar, and she watched as Kaladin also joined the fight. She later congratulated the prince when he won the duel.

Joining the Ghostbloods

After completing her mission for the Ghostbloods, Shallan received a message from Mraize congratulating her and is told that she will receive a tattoo symbolizing her entrance into the organization.

Connecting with Kaladin

“The sensation—it’s not sorrow, but something deeper—of being broken. Of being crushed so often, and so hatefully, that emotion becomes something you can only wish for. If only you could cry, because then you’d feel something. Instead, you feel nothing. Just . . . haze and smoke inside. Like you’re already dead.”

—Shallan to Kaladin while stuck in the chasm

As Shallan was drawing local fauna and the bridges being placed on the field, she and Kaladin fell into a chasm due to the work of one of Sadeas' men. While stuck in the chasm, Shallan began to warm up to Kaladin and realized that the two of them shared a few things in common such as both being broken. After revealing her Shardblade to Kaladin, they began to suspect one another of being Radiants.

Discovery of Urithiru

As the Parshendi arrived to battle the Alethi, Shallan was asked to leave with the other civilians. Shallan proclaimed that the Oathgates were real and Jasnah believed in them as well. Initially reluctant, Dalinar ordered a group of soldiers to accompany Shallan while she looks for the Oathgates as they may be needed should things worsen. After realizing that the Oathgate was a large fabrial, Shallan revealed herself to be a Knight Radiant and asked for them to give her their stormlight-infused spheres. Shallan discovered the long forgotten city known as Urithiru after consuming a large amount of stormlight and using her shardblade to open the Oathgate, making her the first person to use in centuries.

When Shallan returned to her room, she received a letter form the Ghostbloods informing her that they were aware of her true identity and her association with the Knight Radiant. They tell her that she would now be working for them despite Shallan's duty as a Knight Radiant. She later meets with Mraize, who informs her that she would be acting as the broken soulcaster they still needed from her family. When Shallan threatens the assassin, he informs her that she will need their assistance if she wanted to protect her family and learn more about the Knight Radiant and their organization. Shallan decides that she will work as both a Radiant and a member of the Ghostbloods.

Shallan, Kaladin, Dalinar, and Renarin, all reveal themselves to be the first new Knight Radiants in centuries. Now that the Knight Radiant had been reformed, she was tasked by Dalinar to save as many as people as they could before the impending Desolation.

Urithiru

Shallan the Radiant

Shallan's surrealist sketch of Urithiru--by Isaac Stewart

After reforming the Knight Radiant, Dalinar asked Shallan and Renarin to learn as much about their newfound powers as they could; however, Shallan had a lot more on her mind than just her new role as a Knight Radiant. Following her confrontation with her past, Shallan struggled to keep her mind from from wandering to the murder of her parents, so she attempted to focus on drawing rather than murder she had committed. As she practiced drawing Urithiru, she found that her drawing was more of a surrealistic interpretation of the tower city rather than a realistic one. Noticing her frustration, Pattern assured Shallan that it was okay for her to hate them for killing her parents; however, Shallan assured Pattern that she did not blame the spren but rather the way her life spiraled out of control and eventually led to her killing her parents. As the conversation between her and Pattern lulled, a scout arrived to inform her that she had been requested to attend a meeting with Dalinar and his family also in attendance. While making their way to the meeting, the scout asked Shallan about what it meant to be a Knight Radiant and carry a Shardblade. Despite being a Lightweaver, she pretended to be an Elsecaller when in public in order to hide the fact that she could create illusions. Shallan assured the scout that she would still be able to maintain her femininity whilst acting as a Radiant, seemingly disappointing the scout.

When Shallan arrived to the meeting, Dalinar hoped to glean some sort of information from her in order to understand more about the political world. Unfortunately, Shallan was unable to share the information Dalinar was hoping for, disappointing the highprince]. While the meeting went on, Shallan constructed a three-dimensional projection of Roshar out of stormlight with the aid of Dalinar's own abilities. As the attendees at the meeting marveled at her creation, Lyn returned to inform them that there had been a murder. When they arrive at the scene of the crime, the victim appeared to be Vedekar Perel, and they discover that the murder was an exact copy of the murder of Highprince Sadeas. When Adolin is assigned to search for the perpetrator, Shallan noticed that he had been acting strange and Pattern hummed in response to Adolin's strange behavior.

Afterwards, Shallan began to practice her Illumination abilities in her room. She learned to better control her creations and could now cause them to move without the aid of Pattern. As she was practicing, Adolin arrived and they began to flirt with one another and eventually kissed until Pattern interrupted them.

While Adolin and Shallan continued to build their relationship, Adolin urged Shallan to learn use a Shardblade in order to better defend herself. Shallan, however, could not bring herself to use the blade due to her past experience with the weapon, so she created a new personality, one she named Brightness Radiant, to take on while using the Shardblade. Noticing Shallan's discomfort with the blade, Pattern advised Shallan to sever the bond and kill him, so she could forge a bond with a new spren and have fresh start. Shallan, however, quickly squashed the idea and focused on her training. As she continued practicing with the Sharblade, Shallan noticed the similarities between Adolin and herself as they were both passionate about what they loved. As time passed, Shallan began to feel that she could be herself around Adolin and even briefly allowed herself to slip through her disguise as Radiant so she could enjoy her time with the prince.

Veil's Investigation

Later, Shallan, disguised as Veil, decided she would head to the Breakaway, the marketplace established in Urithiru following the Battle of Narak, in order to search for any clues on the recent murders to aid Adolin in his investigation. As she made her way to the markets, Pattern expressed his fondness for Adolin. While he initially disliked Adolin because he carried a Shardblade that was essentially the dead corpse of a spren, he came to understand that humans in the Physical Realm kill and destroy in order to survive. As the conversation began to lull, Shallan brought up the previous conversation Pattern initiated about her supposed hatred for him. Pattern, again, urged Shallan to sever their bond and kill him, so she would no longer have to deal with the discomfort she felt when wielding him as a Shardblade. Before the spren could finish, she quickly expressed her need for the spren and begged Pattern not to leave her, telling the him that she also hated herself but she did not want him to go. Seemingly pleased with Shallan's response, Pattern dropped the conversation and hummed to himself.

“There was a simple relief for Shallan’s pain. There was an easy way to hide. Veil hadn’t suffered as Shallan had—and she was tough enough to handle that sort of thing anyway. Becoming her was like setting down a terrible burden.”

—Shallan while changing into Veil.

As Veil arrived to the Breakway, she began eavesdropping on conversations between the people there in order to pick up on any information on the murders. After failing to learn anything relevant to her mission, she entered a bar set up in a large battle tent in hopes of learning more there. Noticing that Veil lacked the experience she posited herself to have, Shallan hoped to increase her credibility as a darkeyed con artist while visiting the markeplace. While Shallan primarily visited the marketplace in order to gain more information on the recent murders, she also used Veil to become more knowledgeable about the darkeye society established in the tower city. As Shallan ignorantly ordered hard wine in the bar, Jor, a bouncer attracted to her, made his way to her and began flirting with Veil. Observing that she was becoming increasingly drunk, Jor offered to escort her out of the bar and call a palanquin to return to her room before it got too late. Picking up on the opportunity to learn more about the murders, Shallan asked what were the "dangerous places" she should look out for, so she did not get harmed. As he informed her that someone had been stabbed the previous night at All's Alley, Shallan collapsed on the floor and unconsciously sucked in stormlight to ease the pain she felt. She quiqly discovered that she was no longer drunk. Shocking the bouncer and barkeep, Shallan calmly drank another cup of wine and began to make her way to the location Jor informed her of.

Noticing that she had let Veil slip while she was drunk, Shallan berated herself for dropping the disguise and letting herself feel the pain of her past she was hoping to avoid. As Pattern attempted to remind her that Veil was just a disguise, Shallan shared her fear that she may have killed her brothers and fabricated the memories she had with Balat as she conversed with him over spanreed. Worrried over Shallan's mental stability, Pattern reassured her that her brothers were still alive and questioned if she could still differentiate between her lies. Assuming her Veil personality in order to hide from Pattern's questions, Shallan assured Pattern that she could still tell. Pattern, however, noticed that Shallan was still lying and expressed his confusion over the reason she chose to assume her Veil persona. Veil simply replied by saying that she needed to go deeper with her disguise, making Pattern even more anxious over the deliberate lies Shallan continued to place over herself.

As Veil interned the All's Alley, she ordered and drank Horneater white, the strongest drink they had, impressing the others at the bar. Hoping to prevent Veil from becoming too drunk, the barkeep attempted to stop her from drinking any more of the alcohol, but Veil stopped him and used that opportunity to ask about the murders, using the excuse that she was searching for the murderer that killed her little sister in the Alethi warcamps. Refusing to share any information on the murder, he directed Veil to a group of thugs that might have the answers she was searching for. In order to learn more information on the murder, Veil stabbed one of the thugs in the hand for pushing her out of his chair and threatened them by revealing her association with the Ghostbloods. While interrogating them, Betha, one of the thugs, revealed that a man named Ned had strangled his wife to death. Believing she had reached a dead end, Veil began to make her way out of the bar. Before she left, she overheard Betha mention another murder that occurred in the markets while conversing with Ur, the thug Veil had just stabbed. As she returned to the thugs, Betha quickly informed Veil that a barmaid had also died a similar way, but Ned vehemently denied any connection to the second murder before Ur killed him for supposedly killing the barsmaid. Realizing that this was likely a double murder, Veil was satisfied with the new information and left the tavern.

A New Job

Shallan's drawing of the spren in the slot by Ben McSweeney

The next morning, Shallan, still ill from the heavy drinking she did as Veil, woke to sound of Adolin knocking on her door. After enjoying some light banter with the prince, she sucked in stormlight from a sphere he offered her to clear the hangover she suffered from. As she began to dress herself for the day, Adolin informed her that he would be meeting meeting with Ialai Sadeas, the widow of Torol Sadeas, in order to discuss any clues she might have on her late husband's murder. Disturbed by Ialai, Adolin requested that Shallan accompany him to his meeting with woman. When Adolin requested that she bring her own soldiers to accomapany them meeting instead of his, Shallan shared that she did not think she had any real use for the former deserters, and she did not find them necessary to follow them. After he explained to Shallan that her soldiers would feel honored by being put to use, Shallan relented and promised to find more tasks to assign to her guards.

When they arrived at Sades' section of Urithiru, Shallan found that Mraize was also there, acting as one of Ialai's soldiers. Despite being surprised by his presence there, Shallan and Mraize both pretended not to know each other. When Ialai dismissed Shallan to fetch tea, she and the assassin discussed Veil's actions with the thugs in the Breakaway and the whereabouts of her family. While he did not reveal any important information on her family, he informed her that she must remove the "darkness" that is supposedly plaguing the city and that he would share some information on her now-deceased brother, Helaran, in exchange. Frustrated by Mraize's teasing of her brother's name, Shallan returned to the proper rooms where Ialai revealed that she had assigned Amaram to investigate Sadeas' murder on his own due to her distrust of the Kholin family. After the revelation, she and Adolin returned to the hallway and discussed their dislike for the woman. As they began to leave Sadeas' residence, a guard informed them that the highstorms have returned.

While exploring the city of Urithiru, Shallan discovered a long-abandoned theater and put on a play for Pattern using images from her sketchbook to conjure people to act it out. Recalling a play she had seen as a child, Shallan told the story known as The Girl Who Looked Up, a Rosharan folk tale about a girl curious about an ancient wall surrounding her village to the protect the people from "bad things". As Shallan began to recall memories about her family and consumed too much stormlight for her illusions, she dropped the images she used to act out the play. While all of her illusions dispersed, she noticed a dark figure leave the theater. Startled by the presence of the intruder, Shallan transformed herself into Radiant chased after it. As she reached a dark chamber, she used her Lightweaving abilities to create various versions of herself to illuminate the room. After they vanished, she found a dark form writhing and squeezing into a small slot leading into the marketplace. Believing it to be some kind of spren, Shallan transformed into Veil and chased it into the market where she discovered that Rock, a member of Bridge Four, had been stabbed in the hand by a strange man. Veil quickly realized that Rock was a Horneater just like Ur, the thug she had stabbed while visiting All's Alley. After learning that there at been no new murder, Veil came to the conclusion that whatever was copying the murders was also copying all the violence occurring in the city. As she was about to leave the market, Ishnah, one of the thugs she previously encountered, requested to join the Ghostbloods in order to learn more about the current events going on in Roshar, but Shallan refused.

Encounter with Re-Sephir

As Shallan attended another meeting led by Dalinar, she drew an image of the spren she encountered while in the theater. Pattern informed her that this was not a typical spren like he is but it was, instead, a spren of Odium. Bored by the political conversation, Shallan drew an image of Sadeas and discovered that his appearance was similar to that of Brightlord Perel, confirming her belief that the murderer was copying any violent acts performed in Urithiru. While idly flipping through her drawings of the recent murder victims, Malata, the Dustbringer accompanying Taravangian, attempted to make small talk with the Lightweaver, but Shallan found the conversation unpleasant due to her indifferent attitude and overfamiliarity when conversing with her. As she began to plan her next move in her search for the murderer, the room quieted as Ialai Sadeas and Meridas Amaram entered. While initially shocked by their sudden appearance, Dalinar attempted to invite Ialai to attend the meeting, but she quickly rejected his invitation and announced Amaram's delegation as regent and heir to the title of House Sadeas. After Adolin insulted the highprince, Dalinar asked his son to leave the room and Shallan quickly followed. When she caught up with the young prince, he expressed his displeasure by Ialai's announcement, and Shallan unexpectedly shared her belief that Amaram may have killed Helaran. As she explained that the highprince possessed her brother's former Shardblade, Adolin reluctantly shared that Amaram obtained the Shardblade after Kaladin killed a Shardbearer. Shocked by the news, Shallan tucked her thoughts away, and tried to move the conversation to another topic while they made their ways to the bottom floors of the tower. While Adolin went to visit the stables, Shallan returned to her room and absentmindedly flipped through her sketchbooks to keep her mind busy. While flipping through the sketchbook, she found strange images she could not recall drawing. Disturbed by the drawings, she shut her sketchbook and quickly left her room. Later, she arrived in the common room of the barracks and informed her soldiers the she had a new job for them.

Shallan confronting Re-Sephir in Urithiru by Petar Penev

Shallan used her guards to try and search for any more clues about the recent murder. While disguised as Veil, Shallan waited and found a man that was hung similarly to another man that died the same way. As Shallan chased after the murderer, she sent Pattern to bring Adolin whom returned with Bridge Four. As they entered a room containing a pit, they descended into the hole, discovering a room covered with murals depicting all ten heralds and the Almighty. Renarin found a large black mass, and they discovered that the murders have been the result of the Unmade, Re-Shephir.

With Adolin and Bridge Four's help, Shallan attacked the Unmade. While the Unmade created dark copies of themselves, she conjured copies of people she drew using her Lightweaving abilities, seemingly hurting the creature. As they distracted the Unmade, Shallan connected with Re-Sephir, and learned that it was interested in humans and attracted to violence. She somehow attacked the Unmade using stormlight and learned that it was scared of being trapped again by another Lightweaver as it was in the past. As Shallan realized that the Unmade was learning about her just as she was with the creature, she began to back down out of fear despite convincing herself that she would continue to fight off the Unmade. As Re-Sephir was forced out of the pit and fled, Shallan told the rest of the group not to follow. Following the encounter with the Unmade, Shallan began to sympathize for the creature, noting that it killed simply to mimic human behavior and possibly better connect with them. While Shallan continued to recover from her fight with the Unmade, Adolin barged into her room to inform her that Jasnah had returned.

Jasnah's Return

After Jasnah comes back and Shallan realized that she was technically still her ward, Shallan begins to dislike her wardsbip. As Shallan was forced to become a scribe for Jasnah during the meetings held by Dalinar, she began to scheme for ways to get out of it. Dressed as Veil, she metIshnah, who she discovered was once a spy, and began to learn from her in exchange for promising to see if she would be worthy to join the Ghostbloods. . While training, Vathah and the others are revealed be potential squires under Shallan. As Isnah teaches her how to observe her surroundings, Shallan realized she was late for her meeting and ran to the meeting, begrudgingly continuing her duties as a scribe. When Renarin is being taunted by Janala, Shallan stood up for him, which he greatly appreciated. The two got closer and she realized her way out of Urithiru after Renarin tells her that she should stand up to Jasnah more or just not be around her anymore. She managed to convince Elhokar to let her go and help him take back Kholinar after offering herself and her spies to accompany the king, telling him that they are not Dalinar's subjects and they could make their own decisions. .

Siege of Kholinar

When Shallan began to doubt her actions taken to provide for the poor citizens in Kholinar, Wit arrived and comforted her. While talking, they discussed the meaning of power, eventually giving Shallan the advice she needed to infiltrate the Cult of Moments. After this, he left her with the bill for the food he ate, much to her displeasure.

In order to avoid being attacked by the deranged cultists, Shallan utilized the Oathgate to telport Azure, Adolin, Kaladin, and herself along with their sprens. When they awakened, they found themselves in Shadesmar, which Azure grunted about due to her dislike for the strange realm.

Journey through Shadesmar

While in Shadesmar, they found themselves accompanied by their now fully-sized sprens as well as Maya, the dead spren tied to Adolin's Shardblade.

Battle of Thaylen Field and Aftermath

As they return to Kholinar, Shallan and her friends arrive on the battle occurring at Thaylen City, and she aids the army by summoning illusions of all the people she drew in her sketchbook to attract the Voidbringers. During her period of switching between Shallan, Veil and Radiant, Shallan has an identity crisis that borders on dissociate identity disorder, unable to determine which version of her is really herself. As she began to run out of stormlight, Jasnah arrived to support Shallan for duration of the battle.

Following the battle, Shallan opened up about her struggles with her mental disorder to Adolin which accepts. In return, Adolin shares his responsibility for the murder of Highprince Sadeas. While initially shocked, Shallan comforts Adolin and convinces him to share his secret with his father. Following this conversation, the two marry with Veil and Radiant by her side.

Attributes and Abilities

Surgebinding

Because of her Nahel bond with spren Pattern, Shallan possesses the ability to Surgebind. She has access to the surges Illumination and Transformation. As with all Surgebinders, she has superhuman speed, strength, and healing when she holds Stormlight. She has demonstrated her ability to Soulcast multiple times, though the full scope of her abilities remain yet to be seen. She is in the process of becoming a Knight Radiant.

Transformation

The Surge of Transformation allows Shallan to use Soulcasting. She discovered that she could soulcast without the need of a fabrial after visiting Shadesmar and changing a goblet into blood. She then learned that the soulcaster she had been determined to steal was a nonfunctional fake, and that Jasnah could also soulcast without one. She used this ability to sink Wind's Pleasure by turning the ship into water during an assassination attempt on Jasnah by the Ghostbloods. While stranded in Shadesmar with Kaladin, Adolin, Azure, and their sprens, Shallan showed the ability to influence the Cognitive Realm as seen when she used the spheres found in the world to create structures such as bridges and walls.

Illumination

In Words of Radiance, Shallan discovered the ability to project incoporeal images into existence. At the behest of Jasnah, Shallan focused on this surge rather than Transformation. Due to a lack of practice and experience, however, she could initially only create the images after sketching them first, and she was unable make them move. She later discovered that she could use Pattern to project sounds and move her images when they were in the them. After trial and error, Shallan learned that the range of the images she creates are limited to their proximity to a source of Investiture. As the user moves away from an image it will begin to blur and then dissolve when its connection is broken, increased focus on the part of a user can increase the range but not greatly.

After practicing her abilities, Shallan learned how to make her illusions move without the aid of her spren. She was also shown to use Illumination without drawing her images beforehand as seen when she conjured images from a play she watched as a child and, later, an army to fight the Odium's forces. In addition to this, Shallan learned how to produce sounds without the aid of Pattern as seen when she was able to alter her voce whilst disguised as Veil. During the Battle of Kholinar, Shallan was capable of making more solid illusions. While the reason for this is unknown, Jasnah commented that Shallan's projections appeared to have some substance to them as if it had more stormlight than usual while Shallan briefly wondered if she mixed her Soulcasting abilities with this Surge.

When combining her Illumination abilities with Dalinar's own abilities, Shallan was shown to be able to construct a visual map of Roshar entirely out of stormlight even though she had not visited the entire continent.

Memory

Like most Knight Radiant, Shallan possesses a resonance. She has the ability to deliberately memorize a scene (usually involving blinking) after which she can paint or draw that scene with remarkable accuracy. Shallan's ability to memorize scenes and reproduce them accurately seems similar to the ability of a Feruchemist to store memories in a coppermind, in that both talents involve the removal of a memory from the mind and its replacement in another medium - in Shallan's case, a sketch rather than a coppermind. This ability is affected by the presence of the Unmade.

Artistry

She had a passion for learning and also a great talent for drawing. She was never without her sketchbooks and charcoal, so she might draw whatever caught her interest. Shallan frequently drew and made notes on the world around her, in order to promote her Calling of natural history. With the use of her Memory, Shallan can make complete duplicates of images she has retained in her mind and accurately reproduce those images on paper. Even when not utilizing her Memory, Shallan has shown to be still be skilled at drawing. Many have commented on her skill and even sought out a picture of themselves for her to draw.

Swordsmanship

Shallan has begun training as a Knight Radiant with Adolin as her teacher. Due to her aversion to her Shardblade, she developed Radiant in order to comfortably wield the weapon. While not an expert, she has shown to be quite capable while under the control of Radiant.

Relationships

House Davar

Shallan grew up as the only daughter in the minor noble family. After first manifesting her Surgebinding abilities, her mother and her lover attempted to kill her, forcing to Shallan to fatally wound her mother out of self-defense. While her brothers were unaware of the Shallan's part in the death of her mother, her father was aware that his daughter killed her. Shallan's father, Lin Davar, took responsibility for the murder of Shallan's mother, showing that he did care for her daughter. After dealing with public scrutiny and the slow decline of his family, Lin Davar became an abusive father and would often beat his sons and servants, even blaming Shallan for his actions. Fed up with her father's abuse, Shallan and her brothers arranged his death and eventually successfully murdered their own father.

While Shallan had a poor relationship with her parents, she seemed to have a close relationship with all four of her brothers. Out of all of them, she seemed to be closest to her eldest sibling, Helaran. Helaran was shown to constantly bring gifts for Shallan and even visited the house despite his poor relationship with his father. When she was informed of her brother's visits, Shallan would often look forward to his company and the gifts he would bring for her. After learning about the death of Helaran at the hands of Kaladin, Shallan became extremely depressed and even briefly resented the dark-eyed soldier, later revealed to be Kaladin, responsible for his death. While not as close with her other brother, Balat, Shallan deeply cares for him and was shown to often communicate with him despite his disturbing fixation with killing small animals. Shallan was shown to be the only one to care for her other brother, Jushu, when he suffered from his gambling addiction, even going as far as to sell her Soulcasted necklace and convince her brothers to give up their daggers to pay off his debt. While this did not pay all of his debt, Shallan convinced the debt collectors to let him go by sharing that he comforted her when her mother died. After this, the two siblings became much closer to one another. Wikim, the twin brother of Jushu, was often the target of their father's abuse and Shallan would often comfort him during his periods of depression. She was shown to be able to cheer him up by gifting him with sheets of mathematics. Despite not being to close with Wikim, Shallan still cares for her brother.

Despite her miserable childhood, Shallan had maintained a amicable personality until she was forced to confront her past. It is likely that the confrontation of her past experiences with her family, namely her parents, has forced her to create multiple personalities to deal with the emotional trauma she dealt with as a child.

Pattern

Pattern, a Cryptic-type spren, is Shallan's steadfast companion, and perhaps her only friend since childhood, although she herself did not know this for many years. Shallan and Pattern have shared a bond ever since Shallan was a young child. When Shallan's mother attempts to kill her, Pattern manifested himself as a Shardblade, allowing Shallan to defend herself. However, Shallan represses this memory and didn't remember this incident or even Pattern until years later. When faced with pressing situations, Shallan would briefly contemplate on whether she should call on Pattern as a Shardblade.

Eventually, Shallan comes to meet Pattern again, who initially is unable to talk and has a weak connection to the physical world. As their bond solidified and Shallan spoke more Truths to Pattern, Pattern grew in intelligence and developed the ability to affect the Physical Realm. In addition to this, Pattern is now capable of becoming a fully formed Shardblade which Shallan uses against enemies such as Tyn.

When Shallan realized that Pattern was the Shardblade she used to kill her mother, she initially expressed her anger and even disgust towards the spren. After reflecting on the situation, Shallan dropped all hostility towards the spren. Despite Shallan's reassurance that she no longer bears any ill-will towards Pattern, the spren is adamant about his belief that Shallan wants to kill him as an act of revenge.

Jasnah Kholin

Jasnah Kholin is Shallan's tutor. Initially reluctant to take on Shallan as a ward, she eventually gave in after Shallan's persistence. Although Shallan initially became Jasnah's ward as a ruse in order to steal Jasnah's Soulcaster, Shallan eventually enjoyed learning from Jasnah and even came to respects her greatly. During her time with Jasnah, her Surgebinding abilities manifested for the first time. Jasnah, who herself has Surgebinding abilities and is a nascent member of the Knights Radiant, helped Shallan to develop her own powers. Recognizing her potential, Jasnah also arranged a causal betrothal for Shallan to her cousin, Adolin Kholin. When Shallan believed that Jasnah died during the shipwreck of Wind's Pleasure, Shallan was clearly distraught by her apparent death.

When Jasnah resurfaced and eventually made her way to Urithiru, Shallan was relieved to know that the scholar was not dead. Jasnah expected that Shallan would continue her duties as a ward; however, Shallan did not really want to return to her old role. While attending meetings of the Knights Radiant, Shallan expressed her frustrations with the scholar and even displayed her annoyance when around Jasnah. Despite this, Shallan and Jasnah still remain on good terms. Shallan even proposed the idea that Jasnah should be crowned queen of Alethkar following the death of the former king, Elhokar.

Kaladin

Shallan and Kaladin are the first two publicly-revelealed Knights Radiant in centuries. They initially had a strained relationship. During their first meeting, Shallan was convinced by Tyn to lie to Kaladin, leading to her humiliating Kaladin and taking his new boots. During their later meetings, Shallan believed that she was being treated unfairly by Kaladin, who was holding a grudge against her for events beyond her control. This clash of personalities is reflected in their respective spren, as the Cryptics and honorspren (to which Kaladin's spren Syl belongs) are involved in a complex spren conflict.

Later, when stranded in the chasms of the Shattered Plains, they grew to respect and admire one another. They reveal some of their personal history and deep secrets to each other, including the fact that Shallan has a Shardblade. Due to this time, they both suspect each other of being a Knight Radiant. While Shallan and Kaladin both showed some romantic interest in one another towards the end of the second book, both of their feelings for one another seemed to have dissipated by the end of the third book. After learning that Kaladin killed her eldest brother, Helaran, Shallan has mixed-feelings towards him.

Adolin Kholin

Adolin Kholin was causally betrothed to Shallan after Jasnah proposed marriage between the two adolescents to secure the stability Shallan needed for her family. She accepted the offer, hoping to use his power to save her family. They meet on the Shattered Plains and Shallan is immediately smitten by his looks. As they spent more and more time with one another, Shallan was able to become comfortable around Adolin, sharing her true self with him. After Shallan revealed herself to be a Knight Radiant, he teaches her how to fight with a Shardblade. The two have shown a profound amount of trust for one another as seen when they both exchange their deepest, darkest secrets with one another. While Shallan was initially hesitant to share her mental disorder with Adolin, she later opened up to the prince in order to grow closer to him. Shallan revealed to Adolin that she struggles with her identities due to her dark childhood, and Adolin shared his part in the murder of Highprince Torol Sadeas in return. At the end of Oathbringer, their betrothal is finalized and they are married by the Vorin church.

Wit

Shallan first met Wit as a child while attending the Middlefest Fair when he comforted her after she became distraught while thinking about the state of her family and the seemingly dark dealings her father was involved in. Since then, Shallan is shown to think highly of the court jester and seems to be the few people able to tolerate him in Roshar. She was even excited to see him again when they encountered one another in the Shattered Plains as seen when she affectionately hugged him much to the surprise of Adolin and Kaladin.

When Shallan began to doubt herself while in Kholinar, Wit comforted her despite his assurance that he is not the kind man she believes him to be. Despite this, Shallan still confided in the man and clearly thinks of him as a friend. She even opens up about her struggle with her mental disorder, and the former court jester advises her to take control and make her other personalities serve her rather than fear them and let them control her.

Trivia

• Shallan did not exist in The Way of Kings Prime.
• Shallan has been confirmed to be bisexual.
• Shallan is the first person to interact with a Cryptic in centuries.
• Shallan is also the first person to utilize an Oathgate in centuries.
• Shallan is one of the first Knight Radiant belonging to the Order of Lightweavers in centuries.

See Also

• Shallan's sketchbook

Notes

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