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Difference between revisions of "Herald"
Added a noted in the resurrection section that more thoroughly explained the properties of the raysium dagger and why a Herald can be killed using one --> Cognitive Shadows are a form of Investiture that is (sometimes semi) self-aware and raysium conducts Investiture easily, allowing it to be trapped in the gemstone. Connected for clarity and better understanding.
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(Added a noted in the resurrection section that more thoroughly explained the properties of the raysium dagger and why a Herald can be killed using one --> Cognitive Shadows are a form of Investiture that is (sometimes semi) self-aware and raysium conducts Investiture easily, allowing it to be trapped in the gemstone. Connected for clarity and better understanding.) |
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The Heralds are [[Cognitive Shadow]]s capable of repeatedly returning back to life and have become so heavily Invested they are no longer human.{{wob ref|4024}}{{wob ref|8468}} While alive, they do not age, allowing them to live for millennia.{{book ref|sa3|117}} Upon death, they are transported to [[Braize]], where they are tortured until one of them breaks. When that happens, they are returned back to life on [[Roshar]].{{book ref|sa3|38}} This process isn't well-understood, though one thing that is certain about it is that unlike the [[Fused]], the Heralds do not hijack human bodies to resurrect.{{wob ref|12029}} Unlike similar resurrected entities, like the [[Nalthis|Nalthian]] [[Returned]], the Heralds don't have to consume [[Investiture]] in order to remain alive.{{wob ref|10581}}
This ability to resurrect makes the Heralds essentially immortal. It was not until seven thousand years after the Oathpact that singers figured out they can be trapped in gemstones, much like spren can. The method involves stabbing them with a specially constructed [[raysium]] dagger.{{book ref|sa3|121}} The dagger would trap the Herald's soul into the gemstone at its hilt. Heralds are similar to spren, in that they are essentially Investiture that is self-aware; this is due to their nature as resurrected Cognitive Shadows - despite the fact that Heralds were, at one point, normal humans. As the properties of raysium conduct Investiture, the pure Investiture that is a Cognitive Shadow is easily drawn into the raysium dagger. The trapped Herald's bond to the Oathpact would be severed, causing the soul to disintegrate back to a normal soul, then go on to the [[Beyond]], permanently killing the Herald.{{epigraph ref|sa4|92}}
On the other hand, their nature as cognitive shadows ties the Heralds to Roshar -- while they can travel between Roshar and Braize, they cannot leave the greater [[Rosharan system]].{{wob ref|1537}}
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