Difference between revisions of "Hoid"

|bonded=[[Design]],{{book ref|sa4|epilogue}} unnamed [[seon]]{{book ref|sa4|78}}

{{spoilers|mb7|tress}}

Hoid is neither the author of the [[Ars Arcanum|Ars Arcana]], nor of the back-of-book blurbs for ''[[The Stormlight Archive]]''.{{wob ref|1500}}{{wob ref|887}} He occasionally will show up somewhere, stand around for a while, realize Brandon Sandersonthere isn't writing a booknovel-worthy thereplot going on, and leave.{{wob ref|5821}}

Hoid has access to some manifestation of Investiture that allows him to manipulate the Spiritual attribute of [[Connection]]. The full extent of this ability is unknown, but its primary known use is to help Hoid speak the various languages of the worlds of the cosmere that he visits. The ability allows him to Connect to whatever land he is in, temporarily altering his Spiritual aspect to believe that he was raised in that place, allowing him to speak as a native.{{wob ref|3759}} While Hoid has learned naturally how to speak some foreign languages,{{wob ref|9012}} and is decent with languages, he desires to pass as a local oftentimes, which requires something beyond natural learning.{{wob ref|223}} Generally he makes use of the his Connection ability to communicate in foreign languages.{{wob ref|9012}} This ability is not without fault though, as when Hoid speaks naturally it will fill in local idioms and phrases on its own, but if Hoid is careless and focuses on a specific word or phrase the ability may fail and he will say the word verbatim in his own tongue{{wob ref|3759}} or it may be said in an odd way.{{wob ref|3583}} Hoid is an expert in using his Connection ability, but even he sometimes makes mistakes. This is the reason he occasionally slips up and may say words that confuse others,{{wob ref|8185}} such as "coin"{{book ref|sa2|epilogue}} and "bunny"{{book ref|sa2|59}} on Roshar. As Hoid has demonstrated the ability to fluently speak foreign languages before the knowledge of unsealed metalminds became widespread,{{book ref|elantris|58}} it is unlikely that he is making use of Feruchemical [[duralumin]] to manipulate Connection.

Hoid has also gained access to Allomancy,{{wob ref|4877}} by burning a bead of lerasium stolen from the Well of Ascension.{{msh ref|2|1}}{{wob ref|1515}}{{wob ref|12210}} This grants him power equivalent to that of the ancient Allomancers.{{epigraph ref|mb3|22}} It is uncertain how practiced he is with these powers, but he does make use of emotional Allomancy{{wob ref|6933}} on at least [[one occasion]].{{book ref|sa2|45}} He also has access to [[atium]].{{wob ref|465}} It is unknown whether or not Hoid has access to Feruchemy.{{wob ref|466}} However, he does have access to some unkeyed metalminds,{{wob ref|1571}} which would not be useful to him without Feruchemical abilities or unsealed metalminds. The particular attributes that are stored in these metalminds are unknown. Hoid does not make use of Hemalurgy, to gain access to the Metallic Arts or any other manifestation of Investiture, as he is concerned about opening himself up to the influence of Shards.{{wob ref|656}} He does, however, own many Hemalurgic spikes.{{wob ref|15271}}

As a Yolish man, Hoid was not himself born with any [[BioChromatic Breath]].{{wob ref|3212}} However at some point Hoid has gained access to enough BioChromatic Breath to bring him to at least the Second Heightening.{{book ref|sa4|epilogue}}{{book ref|sa2|59}} This means Hoid has at least two hundred Breaths, which grant him the ability to recognize unsupressed Breath auras and judge about how much breath another Awakener has, as well as perfect pitch.{{book ref|wb|epilogue}}{{book ref|sa4|epilogue}} That is not to say that Hoid may not have reached a higher Heightening, just that the second Heightening is his minimum power level.{{wob ref|4655}} Hoid's level of skill with [[Awakening]] is still unknown, as he has only made use of it on one known occasion, when he Awakened a doll, causing it to walk.{{book ref|sa3|epilogue}} This makes it difficult to ascertain his knowledge of Commands or complex Awakenings. Hoid's level of control over Investiture does allow him to suppress his Breath aura, making it difficult to noticebe noticed by others. However, there are various methods of detecting Investiture that could circumvent this suppression.{{wob ref|3437}} Hoid's perfect pitch does aid him in tuning instruments and making music.{{book ref|sa2|59}} Additionally, holding Breath has allowed Hoid to somehow outsource some of his memory to said Breath. After [[Odium]]'s destruction of some of these Breaths in order to wipe his short-term memory, his level of Breath was reduced to just under the Second Heightening, resulting in a loss of perfect pitch.{{book ref|sa4|epilogue}}

Hoid arrived on [[Scadrial]], likely through Ruin's Perpendicularityperpendicularity in the Pitspits of Hathsinhathshin. He took up the guise of an informant, pretending to have bad eyesight in order to make himself less threatening to people seeking information from him.{{book ref|mb1|19}} At some point he became known to both [[Dockson]] and [[Ashweather Cett]].{{book ref|mb1|19}}{{book ref|mb3| 27}} [[Kelsier]], pretending to be a nobleman, contacted Hoid, requesting information on House Renoux. Hoid (closed shop, smoking tobacco) met with Kelsier on the streets of Luthadel and told him that House Renoux was buying large amounts of weapons and armor from various noble houses and that Lord Renoux was considering a marriage between Valette and Elend Venture. He also claimed that Renoux was rumored to have some sort of leverage on Venture and that he knew [[Shan Elariel]] to be a [[Soother]]. At some point following this, he left Scadrial to attend to other business, again likely via the Pits.{{wob ref|1552}}

: Hoid was once friends with [[Rayse]],{{wob ref|2101}} but is now terrified of the Shard, and takes many precautions against him. However, he is not above taunting the Shard, as he feels him to be the most detestable person he has ever met, albeit preferably from a position of superiority. Prior to Rayse's death, Hoid had not met the Shard in person for more than a thousand years.{{book ref|sa4|epilogue}}{{epigraph ref|sa1|18}}