User:Rasarr/Culti and Kora

{{character
|image=Cultivation by Shuravf.jpg
|abilities={{tag+|shard|Cultivation}}
|titles=[[Cultivation]], Mother of the World,{{book ref|sa2.5|15}} She Who Brings the Dews at Dawn{{file ref|Alethi Glyphs Page 2.jpg}}
|aliases=Koravari,{{file ref|Alethi Glyphs Page 2.jpg}} Slammer{{wob ref|9472}}
|species=Dragon<!--
-->|species-ref={{wob ref|14564}}
|world=Roshar
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
|books=[[The Stormlight Archive]]
}}
{{update|sa4}}

“All things must be cultivated.”

—Koravellium Avast

Koravellium Avast, also known as She Who Brings the Dews at Dawn and Koravari, is the original Vessel of the Shard Cultivation.

Appearance and Personality

by zoethatcher_art

For more images, see /Gallery.

“This woman extended into eternity. ”

—Dalinar

Prior to her Ascension, Koravellium was a dragon; however, she seems to prefer human form when interacting with others as a Shard. When speaking with Dalinar, she creates a "puppet" shaped like a dark-skinned woman with a matronly build. She wears a sweeping brown dress that seems to meld into the undergrowth, and has a voice described as sounding like tumbling stones.

She appears to be rather calculating and cautious, preferring to set things up from the background than taking action directly, likely thanks to having front-row view of what happens to Shards that do fight Odium head-on. She is deeply private and secretive, retreating from people and hiding her plans and thoughts from them. This leads to many thinking that she has given up on humanity at large, while in reality she is hiding and planning. When she does interact with people, she is rather curt and self-assured, leaving no room for discussion or doubts, though she can be considerate when need be.

She and Tanavast were once romantically involved, and she seems to feel similarly about Stormfather, likely due to his nature as Honor's Cognitive Shadow. She appears to greatly dislike Hoid, for unknown reasons. He, in turn, calls her Slammer, likewise for reasons unknown.

History

Little is known about Koravellium's history prior to the Shattering of Adonalsium. Like all other original Vessels, she came from Yolen. She and Tanavast were a couple, though the exact nature of their relationship is unknown. She was present at the Shattering and took up the Shard of Cultivation, then departed for the Rosharan system with Tanavast, now turned Honor.

For subsequent events, see Cultivation#History.

Trivia

• Cultivation's vessel went unnamed until Rhythm of War, where her name was revealed in one of the art pages. By contrast, both Rayse and Tanavast, the other two Vessels of Rosharan Shards, were named in The Way of Kings.
• Koravellium Avast shares the last five letters of her name with Tanavast. What this means, if anything, is unknown.
• When asked if Koravari or Koravellium Avast were shifted versions of Cultivation's original name, Brandon did not confirm.
• She is the only dragon on Roshar, and prefers to hide her true nature.

Notes

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Cultivation

{{shard info
|image=Koravellium Avast by Connor Chamberlain.jpg
|vessel=[[Koravellium Avast]]
|splinters=[[Spren]]
|status=Alive and whole{{wob ref|2785}}{{wob ref|1555}}
|perpendicularity=[[Cultivation's Perpendicularity]]
|magic=[[Surgebinding]]{{wob ref|1640}}, [[Old Magic]]
|residence=[[Roshar]]
|books=[[The Stormlight Archive]]
}}
{{update|sa4}}

“I control all things that can be grown, nurtured.
That includes the thorns.”

—Cultivation to Dalinar

Cultivation is one of the sixteen Shards of Adonalsium. Her Vessel is a dragon named Koravellium Avast, though Hoid has referred to her as Slammer. Cultivation resides on Roshar, having originally come there with Honor before Odium's arrival. Cultivation's Investiture is typically associated with the color green.

Intent

Cultivation's intent as a Shard appears to be related to transformation. According to Odium, all she wishes to see is change, regardless of where it leads. In her own view, on the other hand, she wishes to grow things and people, and prune them if need be, to shape them in a desired form, even if she accepts that there will always be a degree of uncertainty.

Associated Magics

by paintweaver

Surgebinding

For more information, see Surgebinding.

Surgebinding is a magic system derived from both Cultivation and Honor. To Surgebind, a person must bond a spren, which grants them the ability to inhale Stormlight and use it for various purposes, chief among them self-healing and manipulating Surges, the fundamental forces of Roshar. Some Surges are more inclined towards Cultivation, while others are closer to Honor. Additionally, some of the Radiant spren appear to be closer to Cultivation than others.

The spren capable of forming the Radiant bonds are likewise a mix of Cultivation and Honor's Investitures; as such, a Shardblade is a mix of her and his metals.

Old Magic

For more information, see Old Magic.

Old Magic is a magic "system" that appears to be usable only by Cultivation and Nightwatcher. It allows for granting another person a boon and a bane based on their request. The boons and banes can range from physical objects, such as money or swords, to mental alterations, such as making a person see upside-down for the rest of their life, or erasing memories. It even permits Realmatic changes, such as granting a new and unique way of acquiring Investiture.

There is more to Old Magic than just boons and banes; however, there is no person currently known to make use of that.

Lifelight

Cultivation has her own form of gaseous Investiture, Lifelight, that is comparable to the Scadrian mists, Stormlight, and Voidlight. When visiting the Nightwatcher, Dalinar sees Cultivation surrounded by green mist, which is likely Lifelight. It can both be captured in gems and serve as a power source much like the other two Lights. In fact, Lift's Investiture that she generates by transmuting consumed food is Lifelight and not Stormlight. The power that the Sibling uses, Towerlight, is a mixture of Lifelight and Stormlight.

Lifelight takes up the middle note on the Rosharan tritonic scale.

Other

Cultivation is capable of seeing the future, with Honor mentioning that she is much better at it than he ever was. While certainly one of the better users of future sight in the cosmere, she herself admits that she cannot truly predict everything.

She is capable of creating spren of herself, the chief example of this being the Nightwatcher. This being said, the Nightwatcher is not very humanlike, and so Cultivation keeps her in the Valley to hold court, and grants her the use of the Old Magic. Cultivationspren are also likely tied to Cultivation herself, as they refer to her as "Mother".

Something about her presence on Roshar, whether intentional or otherwise, makes it easier for animal life there to attain a degree of sentience, with both Ryshadium and santhidyn being far more intelligent than their peers for this reason.

Cultivation's Perpendicularity is located in the Horneater Peaks, and forms either one or all of the Horneater Oceans, the giant lakes at the top of the mountains. Until the True Desolation, where it was overtaken by the Fused, it was the main way for worldhoppers to travel to and from Roshar.

Cultivation appears to have the ability to kill or at least seriously wound Odium, as he refrained from killing the Stormfather out of fear of leaving himself exposed to her counterattack.

History

by mushimallo

Cultivation, Honor and Odium

For the history of the original Vessel, see Koravellium Avast#History.

Shattering and ancient Roshar

“I think there's only one [woman of my age] around these parts, and she and I never did get along. ”

—Hoid

The Shard of Cultivation was created during the Shattering, and was subsequently taken up by Koravellium Avast. She and Honor, with whom she was romantically involved, departed the site of the Shattering, Yolen, and ended up on Roshar. There, they became the gods of a local sentient species known as the singers. However, following Odium's arrival in the Rosharan system, the two Shards ended up siding with human newcomers instead.

Although Cultivation assisted Honor in fighting Odium, Honor still perished. Following his death, Cultivation withdrew in grief, and appeared to have lost all interest in aiding mankind any longer. This was not entirely correct, however -- rather than hiding, she was planning.

Era of Solitude

In the late Era of Solitude, Cultivation used the Old Magic at least thrice. She granted Taravangian fluctuating amounts of compassion and intelligence, ultimately grooming him to take up the Shard of Odium, which required compassion, and to master its Intent, which required the intelligence. She made it so that Lift's Surgebinding would be powered by Lifelight, rather than Stormlight, though Lift's curse and boon are not known. She also intervened when Dalinar Kholin came to see the Nightwatcher and beg for forgiveness. Instead of this, she made him forget his wife, which served as both a boon and a bane.

Unlike with all other boons and banes, Dalinar's memories gradually returned after the arrival of the Everstorm. This was deliberately engineered by Cultivation to give him time to come to terms with his past before Odium would try to use it to turn Dalinar into his champion.

Influence

by Heatherly

“Storming Mother of the World and Father of Storms above! ”

—Lift

Cultivation has been honored on Roshar for a long time, at least since the era of the Knights Radiant. In the present day, however, her worship is limited to the western part of the continent, where she is considered an embodiment of nature and nature spren. There, she is sometimes referred to as Mother of the World. Even in the east, people sometimes make references to Mother Cultivation, though typically as a joke. In Vorinism, belief in her and her cohorts, such as the Nightwatcher, is considered pagan superstition and usually dismissed.

Cultivation is also highly revered by cultivationspren. Though the precise relation between them and her is unclear, they often call her Mother or Blessed Mother, and only sometimes by her proper name. "Mother's vines" appears to be a particular curse related to Cultivation.

Trivia

• Cultivation always speaks in small-caps, similarly to the Stormfather. Honor, by contrast, spoke in normal font in the the visions he left for Bondsmiths.
• In Magic:The Gathering colors, Cultivation would be green.
• Cultivation has never really gotten along with Hoid.

Notes

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