Ghostbloods

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Ghostbloods
Ghostblood.svg
Universe Cosmere

The Ghostbloods are a secret organization found on many planets in the cosmere, formed for the purposes of protecting Scadrial from all threats.[1][2][3]

Members are required to get a tattoo of three overlapping diamonds somewhere on their bodies.[4][5][6] The symbol bears a resemblance to the three-petal shape of Marewill flowers.[7]

TenetsEdit

The Ghostbloods have three general tenets:[3]

  • Protecting Scadrial.
  • Sharing what they know with each other, but not with outsiders.
  • Trusting each other.

ObjectivesEdit

Scadrian GhostbloodsEdit

The Scadrian Ghostbloods are devoted to protecting Scadrial at any cost, and due to this came into conflict with the Set and Autonomy.[3][8]

Rosharan GhostbloodsEdit

Power, portable, easily contained, renewable. You hold the energy of a storm in your hand, Veil. That raw energy, plucked from the heart of the raging tempest. It is tamed—not only a safe source of light, but of power that those with … particular interests and abilities can access.

—Mraize to Shallan[9]

The Rosharan Ghostbloods seek power. They are seeking a way to get Stormlight (Investiture) offworld from Roshar through Shadesmar. They hunt Restares and the Sons of Honor as they fear they are close to discovering the secret of making this possible. Stormlight is free, portable, easy-to-access power.[9] To attain this goal, they need control of the Oathgates, which inspired their hunt for Urithiru.[10] They seek perfect gemstones that would allow the Stormlight to last long enough to get offworld, though there is a Connection problem.[9]

The Ghostbloods are obsessed with finding Ba-Ado-Mishram, who has the ability to bind minds of an entire people, though it is unclear the reason.[11] They are not interested in seeing Odium rule Roshar.[9] They seek to bond Sja-anat, as her ancient knowledge would be invaluable.[12]

They also seek to imprison Heralds in gemstones, in order to obtain information. Thaidakar seeks knowledge about an affliction he shares with the Heralds, in order to save himself.[13]

Their desire to find a way to carry Stormlight off-world, and to help Thaidakar learn how to leave Scadrial, likely ties into the Ghostblood's goal of protecting Scadrial.[3] The Scadrian Ghostbloods, however, seem to see them as running amok.[8]

ResourcesEdit

The Ghostbloods own a tenement building in Highprince Sebarial's warcamp on the Shattered Plains that has a basement. In it there was a display of trophies that Shallan saw, including several enormous gemhearts, a tusk was probably from a whitespine, an eye socket that looked like the structure of a santhid’s skull, a vial of pale sand,[14] a couple of thick hairpins, a lock of golden hair, a Yolish branch of a tree with writing on it,[15] a silver knife, an odd flower preserved in some kind of solution, and a chunk of pale pink crystal that looked like it might be some kind of gemstone.[16] There were also shells that Shallan vaguely recognized. There were no plaques describing any of these mementos.[17]

On Scadrial, they have a safehouse at house one eighty-seven, near Thirty-Third and Finete in the Knightbridge district of Bilming.[18] It is protected with Identity locks and contains maps, a seon, an armory, and three jars of purified Dor in a safe with an Awakened lock.[19] They also own a large estate in Elendel.[8]

StructureEdit

The Ghostbloods operate across multiple planets within the cosmere.[1] They operate within a strict hierarchy, as a group of hunters without structure would turn on each other too easily. They do not strike against their own.[3] They do not negotiate upward.[12] It is common for a master to spy on their pupils.[9] Ialai Sadeas warns Shallan that the Ghostbloods will watch her to ensure she doesn't rise high enough to learn secrets that could hurt them.[20]

Joining the Ghostbloods requires being brought in by a member of the organization, and the swearing of oaths to the Ghostbloods. It is tradition for the one who offers membership to become the mentor of the one they invited.[8]

Upon joining the Ghostbloods, they share everything they know and the member can influence decisions. The Ghostbloods do not keep secrets from fellow members, but in most cases members are also not allowed to share Ghostblood secrets with non-members.[3] Mraize warned Shallan that if she were to break ties with the group, she would be hunted. He and his babsk would not hunt her, but all they could do was discourage others.[9] Members are not to share secret information with anyone outside of the organization, doing so would result in the assassination of the offender, due to the danger it can pose to the organization.[3][8]

Thaidakar is not on Roshar and only comes as what they consider an avatar;[21][22] he does show up directly to the Scadrian Ghostbloods.[8] Thaidakar does affect the Rosharan Ghostbloods' actions, but they are a little removed from him on Roshar.[23]

Notable MembersEdit

  • Kelsier: Leader of the Ghostbloods, referred to as The Survivor by the inhabitants of Scadrial and as Thaidakar by the inhabitants of Roshar.[24][25]

Rosharan ChapterEdit

  • Iyatil: a high-ranking member, the pupil of Thaidakar, purports to be Mraize's master, a Worldhopper
  • Mraize: a high-ranking member, the student of Iyatil, a Worldhopper
  • Shallan Davar: under the alias of "Veil" (formerly)
  • Jin: a golden-haired man
  • Kabsal: a member of the Kharbranth Ardentia (deceased)
  • Lin Davar: Shallan's father (deceased)
  • Luesh: the Davar family's steward (deceased)
  • Unnamed Sleepless: used a pen-shaped cremling to spy on Wit[1]

Scadrian ChapterEdit

ActionsEdit

Attempted Murder of Jasnah KholinEdit

The Ghostbloods have made several attempts to murder Jasnah Kholin, and claims that she has had a number of their members assassinated as well. When Jasnah spent time in Kharbranth to study the Voidbringers, a Ghostblood agent named Kabsal infiltrated the local Ardentia in order to kill Jasnah. He used her young ward Shallan Davar to get close to Jasnah, which led to them forming a relationship. As Kabsal attempted to poison Jasnah with bread, he was inadvertently killed when he ate some of the poisoned bread and Jasnah Soulcast his antidote, mistakenly believing that to be the poison. Jasnah later found the Ghostblood tattoo on Kabsal's arm.

When Jasnah left Kharbranth, the Ghostbloods planted at least one operative aboard the ship Wind's Pleasure on the journey from Kharbranth to the Shattered Plains. That operative, along with other men Shallan did not recognize,[26] attempted to murder Jasnah. They thought they'd succeeded, but in reality, Jasnah had escaped to Shadesmar by Elsecalling.[27][28]

Jasnah assumes that she was targeted because of her Radiant oaths.[28]

Recruiting Shallan DavarEdit

A man identified with the Ghostbloods was financing Lin Davar in his bid to become Highprince of Veden, Jah Keved. After an unknown Veden Shardbearer attacked Amaram, Amaram speculated that Thaidakar and the Ghostbloods were behind the attack.[29] The unknown shardbearer turned out to be Helaran Davar, Shallan's brother.[30]

The Ghostbloods were sought out by Shallan Davar, who, under the disguise of Veil, wanted to investigate them. Shallan met with Mraize and Iyatil in a Ghostblood hideout located in Sebarial's warcamp, and managed to trick them into believing that she was sent there by Tyn. Mraize, unaware that Tyn was dead, ordered Shallan to tell Tyn to investigate the quarters of Meridas Amaram. Shallan successfully performed this task, and brought her findings to Mraize, which led to her accidentally revealing her photographic memory. Mraize then deduced that Tyn was dead, killed by Shallan, but commended her for it. He then told her that she could get a place among the Ghostbloods if she completed tasks for them. However, he also allowed other Ghostbloods to attempt to murder her if they wanted to. Shallan managed to avoid the attempts on her life, and carried out her next task, to investigate Taln's presence in the warcamp of Dalinar Kholin, to a satisfactory manner.

After the Battle of Narak, and the subsequent discovery of Urithiru, Mraize confronted Shallan, and revealed that he had figured out her real identity as Lin Davar's daughter, Jasnah Kholin's ward, and a Knight Radiant with the ability to Soulcast. Mraize reminded her of her family's debt to the Ghostbloods, and also revealed that Ghostblood agents had rescued her brothers from the civil war in Jah Keved, and would bring them safely to Urithiru. The Ghostblood operatives succeeded, and the Davar brothers arrived in Urithiru after the Battle of Thaylen Fields.

Shallan's identities debated their interest in joining the Ghostbloods. Veil was interested in joining, but refused to get the tattoo.[31] Shallan planned to break ties with the Ghostbloods.[10][9] Formless, an imagined fourth identity for Shallan where she hid her self doubt and selfish ambitions, wanted to join the Ghostbloods.[32]

Mraize offered Shallan full membership in the Ghostbloods in return for assassinating Restares, leader of the Sons of Honor.[13] Shallan did not go through with it and broke ties with the group. She threatened Mraize to leave Urithiru and warned him that she would be hunting for Ba-Ado-Mishram. Mraize warned her that she'd moved against the group in the most offensive of ways.[21]

This will not end well for you, Shallan. You make an enemy of the most powerful organization in all the cosmere.

—Mraize to Shallan[21]

Cleansing UrithiruEdit

Mraize asked Shallan to investigate the wrongness in Urithiru, which she was already sensing.[33] This led her to find, confront, and expel Re-Shephir.[34]

Pursuit of the Sons of HonorEdit

The Ghostbloods wished to keep an eye on the activities of House Sadeas, and Mraize was personally spying on them, acting as a guard to Ialai Sadeas in Urithiru.[9] They murdered Thanadal and Vamah. They struck at Ialai several times and ultimately succeeded when Shallan assassinated her with Blackbane, though Shallan claimed she did this for the good of Alethkar.[20][32]

Shallan and the Unseen Court searched Ialai's bed chambers and found a notebook containing many Ghostblood secrets, including a map of Shadesmar, a route through the Sea of Lost Lights, and Thaidakar's supposed offworld origins.[9]

Shallan hunted Restares to Lasting Integrity. Restares was an alias for the Herald Kalak. After an internal struggle, Shallan decided against killing him. She offered to share information about the Ghostbloods. He claimed to be close to getting offworld.[32]

Recruiting Sja-anatEdit

During her wedding, Shallan is instructed in a letter from Mraize to recruit Sja-anat into the Ghostbloods.[35] Mraize requested a bond between a Ghostblood and one of her "enlightened" spren. Shallan only arranged a meeting.[9] Sja-anat sent Tumi, who ended up bonding Rlain.[36]

Bringing other forms of Investiture to RosharEdit

The Ghostbloods have plans to commercialize Investiture on a much larger scale than what happened on Scadrial. In these efforts they bring sand from Taldain, Seons from Sel, and Aviars from First of the Sun to Roshar. They want to use the Oathgates to facilitate the trade of these items on Roshar, as they would not need to rely on perpendicularities. Mraize also mentions that perfect gemstones would be a good tool for carrying Stormlight off Roshar;[9] Jasnah has noted that there are nowhere near as many perfect gemstones in circulation as there should be, which leads Adolin to theorize that a group that is aware of their importance—like the Ghostbloods—has been secretly collecting them.[37] The honorspren of Lasting Integrity have collected several perfect gemstones over millennia,[38][39] though it is unclear how many they have compared to how many Jasnah thinks there should be.

Resistance against TrellEdit

The Ghostbloods on Scadrial worked in order to resist the oncoming threat of Trell.[2]

At 348 PC the Ghostbloods attempted to recruit Marasi Colms and sent Moonlight to deliver a message to her telling that the Ghostbloods were watching her and were impressed.[40][41]

Several days later the Ghostbloods contacted Kelsier via Seon in their hideout in Bilming informing him that the Set had developed a bomb to destroy Elendel.[19] After Kelsier informed the Ghostbloods that he wouldn't get to Bilming in time, TwinSoul, Moonlight and Marasi discovered and infiltrated the Set's underground caverns.[42] Since Moonlight and Marasi were discovered and confronted by Set soldiers after Marasi's attempt to save a group of people from execution, Moonlight used a soulstamp to rewrite her history and become an Elantrian so Marasi could escape.[43][44]. Ghostblood agents in Elendel were ordered to assist the local authorities with organising the evacuation, as they too would not reach Bilming in time.[19][45]

After Wax and Wayne stopped the bomb that the Set sent to Elendel, Marasi met with Kelsier and the Ghostbloods in Elendel and told them that she wouldn't join with them, because of their rule of keeping their information secret. After that TwinSoul supposedly went on a mission to track down Moonlight.[8]

TriviaEdit

  • The name of the Ghostbloods means something, and has roots in specific cosmere events.[46]
  • The Ghostbloods would actively recruit from the Seventeenth Shard, particularly from their field agents.[47]
  • They are not working together with the Seventeenth Shard.[48]
  • The Ghostbloods find Hoid intriguing.[49]
  • The Ghostbloods do not trust the Sleepless. They are worried about having their organization taken over.[50]
  • The third Mistborn series will be subtitled 'Ghostbloods'.[51]

NotesEdit

  1. a b c Rhythm of War chapter 64#
  2. a b The Lost Metal chapter 39#
  3. a b c d e f g The Lost Metal chapter 47#
  4. Words of Radiance chapter 64#
  5. The Lost Metal chapter 20#
  6. Shallan's Sketchbook - Shadesmar Spren
  7. The Lost Metal chapter 28#
  8. a b c d e f g h The Lost Metal epilogue 1#
  9. a b c d e f g h i j k Rhythm of War chapter 13#
  10. a b Rhythm of War chapter 9#
  11. Rhythm of War chapter 24#
  12. a b Rhythm of War chapter 30#
  13. a b Rhythm of War chapter 82#
  14. Emerald City Comic Con 2018
    Arcanum - 2018-03-01#
  15. Shadows of Self signing London UK
    Arcanum - 2015-10-19#
  16. Idaho Falls signing
    Arcanum - 2018-12-29#
  17. Words of Radiance chapter 43#
  18. The Lost Metal chapter 36#
  19. a b c d The Lost Metal chapter 40#
  20. a b Rhythm of War chapter 7#
  21. a b c Rhythm of War chapter 115#
  22. Shardcast Interview
    Arcanum - 2021-01-23#
  23. FanX 2021
    Arcanum - 2021-09-17#
  24. The Lost Metal chapter epilogue 1#
  25. Words of Radiance chapter 54#
  26. Words of Radiance chapter 7#
  27. Words of Radiance chapter 34#
  28. a b Oathbringer chapter 33#
  29. The Way of Kings chapter 51#
  30. 17th Shard Forum Q&A
    Arcanum - 2012-09-28#
  31. Rhythm of War chapter 20#
  32. a b c Rhythm of War chapter 93#
  33. Oathbringer chapter 22#
  34. Oathbringer chapter 30#
  35. Oathbringer chapter 122#
  36. Rhythm of War chapter 114#
  37. Rhythm of War chapter 29#
  38. Rhythm of War chapter 78#
  39. Rhythm of War chapter 87#
  40. The Lost Metal chapter 15#
  41. The Lost Metal chapter 8#
  42. The Lost Metal chapter 44#
  43. The Lost Metal chapter 50#
  44. The Lost Metal chapter 54#
  45. The Lost Metal chapter 70#
  46. Skyward Pre-Release AMA
    Arcanum - 2018-10-29#
  47. Skyward release party
    Arcanum - 2018-11-06#
  48. Paris signing
    Arcanum - 2016-10-22#
  49. Skyward Houston signing
    Arcanum - 2018-11-19#
  50. FanX Spring 2019
    Arcanum - 2019-04-19#
  51. Shardcast Interview
    Arcanum - 2023-07-30#
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