Difference between revisions of "Fabrial"

|universe=[[Cosmere]]

|books=[[The Stormlight Archive]]

A '''fabrial''' is a [[Stormlight]]-powered mechanical device from [[Roshar]] that uses [[spren]] captured in gemstones to perform a particular supernatural task. The magical properties of modern fabrials can usually be activated by anyone who knows how to use them.{{book ref|sa2|86}} A person who creates or designs fabrials is called an '''artifabrian'''.{{book ref|sa1|part=ars}} The term "fabrial" is often used colloquially to refer to the entire device. Artifabrians, however, call that a "machine", and use the word fabrial to refer specifically to a gem with a captured spren.

{{file ref|Navani1.jpg|text=Navani's Notebook: One}}

== History ==

During the [[Heraldic Epochs]], the [[Knights Radiant]] knew how to create [[Surge]] fabrials, including [[Soulcaster]]s, healing fabrials, and [[Oathgate]]s. Their knowledge of non-Surge fabrials, which the modern fabrial science concerns itself with, was far less advanced than that of the current scholars.{{book ref|sa3|96}} Some principles, however, were known even then: among others, the lifts in [[Urithiru]] were created with conjoining fabrials.{{book ref|sa3|24}} With the fall of the Radiants, knowledge of most fabrials was lost, with Soulcasters as the major exception. Over time, the stories of Radiant fabrials became vastly exaggerated, with many people believing that they were far more numerous, and much more advanced, than what modern science has created.{{book ref|sa3|96}}

 

While the fabrials were known for centuries, it was only recently that the pace of fabrial inventions picked up, with creations such as the heating fabrials and [[spanreed]]s being only a few decades old at most. Most research occurs in the eastern nations of [[Alethkar]] and [[Jah Keved]], with [[Navani Kholin]] as a particularly important patron. [[Half-shard]]s, an important breakthrough in fabrial research that attempts to mimic [[Shardplate]], were only perfected in 1173, at the tail end of the [[Era of Solitude]].{{book ref|sa1|22}}

 

Once trapped in a gem, spren respond to stimuli in consistent and predictable ways. The metal frame surrounding the gem creates the stimuli the spren react to - pressing metal against a flamespren in a ruby increases and decreases heat.{{book ref|sa3|33}} Multiple fabrial gems can be placed inside a single wire frame, which lets them work together to create more complex results. The [[emotion bracelet]], for example, has ten gems, with patterns in which they light up corresponding to different emotions.{{file ref|Navani2.jpg|text=Navani's Notebook: Two}}

 

How the ancient [[Surge]] fabrials were created is unclear, but it is likely a different method. Their functioning is also different: for example, [[Soulcaster]]s require a request for aid, which is unnecessary in modern fabrials.{{book ref|sa3|i|4}} However, they still do involve spren being bound to gemstones in some way - two large spren can be seen guarding and controlling the [[Oathgates]] in [[Shadesmar]].{{book ref|sa3|116}} So long as the gemstones are preserved and the spren are not compromised, any Surge fabrial can be recreated to operate just as it used to.{{book ref|sa3|117}} Any [[Surge]] can be replicated by fabrial science.{{wob ref|3013}} However, in the present day, fabrials that use Surges are extremely rare, and most of them date back to the era of the [[Knights Radiant]].{{cite}}

 

In contrast to [[Surgebinding]] or [[Old Magic]], most fabrials can be operated by anyone, as long as they know how to do so (the only exception being the [[Oathgate]]s, which require a Radiant to activate, although that might be a security measure rather than a crucial design element).{{book ref|sa2|86}} Some, like heatrials, are even capable of functioning without human input.{{book ref|sa2|4}} The self-contained nature of fabrials sets them apart from most manifestations of [[Investiture]] in the [[cosmere]], wherein the magic is accessed and directed by the user (often with specific requirements or limitations).{{wob ref|10311}}{{wob ref|3488}}{{wob ref|6247}}

 

== Types ==

 

==== Attractor ====

 

==== Stabilizer ====