Awakening
| Awakening | |
|---|---|
| Related to | Endowment |
| Type | End-Neutral[1] |
| World of Origin | Nalthis |
Awakening is the art of combining color, BioChromatic Breath ("Breath"), and an Awakening Command in order to animate an object, resulting in one of four types of BioChromatic entities. On Nalthis, each person is born with one Breath. Since Awakening often requires multiple Breaths, Awakeners must gather Breath from other people.
The process of Awakening begins when an Awakener releases some of their stored Breath into an object through the use of a Command. While doing so, the Awakener must also be in physical contact with a source of color (e.g. a piece of dyed cloth). If the Command is valid and is correctly visualized in the Awakener's mind, then color is drained from the color source and the target object becomes Awakened. It then proceeds to carry out the Command.
Color as fuel
Awakening an object has the additional cost of draining the color of nearby objects. There must be a source of color to Awaken. An effective way to prevent an Awakener from using his art is removing all but grey or white objects in his vicinity. Black, although not commonly considered a color, is very effective as a source of fuel for Awakening. The dyes made from the tropical flower called the Tears of Edgli are very potent.
In most cases, the color of living things cannot be used for Awakening. This is because the living soul interferes with the Awakening process. The color of things taken from living things, on the other hand, may be used.[2] An Awakener can, for example, use spilled blood as a color source.
Awakening Commands
The Commands used in Awakening are crucial to its success or failure. They must be clearly stated and properly visualized. Generally Commands are simple, concrete ideas expressed in phrases of two words or less, usually consisting of a specific verb and a general subject (e.g. "Grab things"). While more complex Commands can be used, the more complex the Command the more difficult the visualization of the Command becomes. Advanced Commands tend to be jealously guarded by Awakeners.
In Awakening, the exact wording of the Command is important. An Awakener could, for example, give a piece of rope the Command "Hold things" so it will wrap itself around objects, but this will likely result in the rope simply wrapping itself around the Awakener's hand. The Command "Hold things when thrown" is more useful and only slightly more complex.
Basic Commands
The first and most important Command is the one that allows any human being to give their Breath to another human being: "My life to yours, my Breath become yours."
This movement of Breath is not technically part of the art of Awakening, but it is a vocal Command that moves Breath, and is the foundation for Awakening. This Command transfers all of a person's Breath at once no matter how many there are. An Awakener can also use this Command to store all of their Breath in an object to be retrieved later.
An Awakener when done with an Awakened object, can retrieve the Breath used by touching the object and speaking the Command "Your Breath to mine."
Note that only the Awakener who Awakened the object can retrieve Breath from it. This Command does not work on anything that the Breath has stuck to too strongly (e.g. corpses).
Simple Commands
Simple Commands are composed of a verb and a subject. These Commands do not take a lot of effort to visualize what you wish to have done. Examples in Warbreaker include:
- "Grab things" "Hold things" (used most often on ropes)
- "Protect me" (both Vivenna and Vasher are seen using this Command on their cloaks)
- "Attack and grab Denth!" (while this contains two commands, one can easily see the visualization for both being rather the same, so this is probably a simple Command. On the other hand, Vivenna is of the royal line and so Awakening is said to come easier to her; this Command may have been more complex than it seems)
Advanced Commands
Advanced Commands are often times whole phrases and require the Awakener to visualize the action that they wish the object to take. The more precise the Command the greater the need for that mental aspect to be clear in their mind.
- "Upon call, become my fingers and grip that which I must"
- "Become as my legs and give them strength"
- "Fight for me, as if you were me"
Other Commands may be simple sounding but require a greater degree of mental control such as "Fetch keys" or "Find tunnels". Both of these Commands appear simple, but the visualizations required are actually quite complex.
There are places that use Awakened objects as a source of energy and industry.[3]
BioChromatic hosts
An Awakened object acts as a host for the BioChromatic Breath used to Awaken it. Some types of objects more readily accept Breaths than others, making them easier to Awaken. Receptivity to depends on the object's shape, its history, and the material it is made of. Generally, Awakening inorganic objects made of metal or stone is very difficult, requiring extremely large amounts of Breath. Organic objects, especially those shaped like living things, are much easier to Awaken.
On the other hand, closer proximity to a living form makes it harder to retrieve Breaths from an Awakened host. For example, one generally can no longer recover the Breaths one used on a corpse.
In between the two extremes of inorganic objects and dead bodies, there are also organic objects that are far removed from having been alive, things like organic textiles (e.g. cloth, rope, etc.). These have the advantage of requiring less Breath to Awaken than inorganic objects while at the same time allowing for Breath recovery. Such objects are called Type III BioChromatic entities, and are understandably the most common type of BioChromatic host entities created. However, other types of objects can also be Awakened.
Dead bodies
When a Nalthian dies, there is a small chance that his corpse will spontaneously Awaken as a sentient host called a Returned, also known as a Type I BioChromatic entity. The Breath hosted by a Returned comes directly from the Shard Endowment through a process that is not yet clear.
Most of the time, however, dead bodies only Awaken during the process of creating non-sentient Lifeless, or Type II BioChromatic entities. These creatures are made via complex Commands that reanimate a dead person or animal. These Commands are guarded closely by those who know them.
Once a Lifeless is created, it will obey any instructions given to it that are followed by a pre-determined Command Phrase. Human Lifeless are able to understand more abstract instructions than animal Lifeless. However, the skill of the Awakener who Awakens the Lifeless also affects its ability. Any Lifeless will retain a level of skill that it had in life. For example, a soldier Lifeless created from the body of a farmer is not as good as a soldier Lifeless created from that of a soldier.
Breaths used to Awaken Lifeless cannot be recovered. This Breath will keep the Lifeless functioning for a long time, even when it receives minor wounds. Too much damage will eventually cause the Lifeless to cease activity, which means that Lifeless bodies need to be maintained and repaired (e.g. by sewing its wounds) when needed. One innovation in Lifeless maintenance is the use of ichor-alcohol, a substance discovered by Yesteel that could act as blood for Lifeless and that greatly prolongs their viability.
Lifeless created from bones and covered in metal or stone are extremely powerful as they do not break down and do not need ichor-alcohol. It is possible to take a dead body that has been turned to stone and animate it without the need to preserve the bones.[4]
Awaken to my Breath, serve my needs, live at my Command and my word.
This is one possible Command to create Lifeless, and it uses only one Breath. The ability to create Lifeless with just a single Breath is a discovery that eventually led to the Lifeless armies of the Manywar.
Metal and stone
Type IV BioChromatic entities are sentient objects made by Awakening inorganic materials like metal and stone. This requires at least the Ninth Heightening. Nightblood, a sentient Awakened sword, is the only known object of this type. He was created by Shashara with the help of her husband Talaxin, using a thousand Breaths and the Command "Destroy evil".
Nightblood is incapable of determining morality[5] and has a rigid way of thinking similar to a Spren on Roshar.[6] The large number of Breaths he contains also grants him incredible destructive power. The threat of more weapons like Nightblood being created eventually caused Talaxin to kill Shashara to prevent the knowledge of this form of Awakening from becoming public.
Notes
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