Lift
| Lift | |
|---|---|
| 200px by ERROR: page 'File: Liftpaint.jpg ' does not exist
| |
| Born | 1160 |
| Abilities | Edgedancer |
| Profession | Thief |
| Groups | Huqin's crew |
| Nationality | Reshi |
| Homeworld | Roshar |
“You’re my pet Voidbringer, and no lies are going to change that. I got you captured. No stealing souls, now. We ain’t here for souls. Just a little thievery, the type what never hurt nobody.”
Lift was a Reshi thief who worked in Azimir in Azir on Roshar.[1] She had Surgebinding abilities that corresponded with the Order of Edgedancers.
Appearance and Personality
“Someone has to care. Too few people care these days.”
—Lift[1]
Lift was twelve years old, and had long straight dark hair that she wore down to her waist.[1] Her skin was tan and she had the rounded features of the Reshi. Lift always kept a diamond mark in her pocket, which she considered lucky.
As would be expected from someone Lift's age, she often acted child-like.[1] For instance, although she was thirteen years old, she claimed to be ten because she believed that any number that she could not count to on her fingers was unlucky. Lift was often sarcastic and irreverent, which often annoyed her fellow Azish thieves. She also enjoyed mocking her spren, Wyndle, calling him a Voidbringer instead of a spren because she knew it annoyed him and not due to any sort of dislike she had for him. Lift also had little patience for Wyndle's extremely technical explanation of the Realmatic Theory behind her abilities. Despite her teasing, she truly did like Wyndle and was genuinely worried for him when she thought that Darkness was following her to try and kill Wyndle.
Lift had an interesting perspective on the morality of her thievery.[1] She did not think it wrong because it did not hurt anyone. Lift was also totally uninterested in stealing typical items such as gold, jewelry, spheres or anything traditionally of value. Lift liked to break into places and eat their food. She stole food for the challenge, rather than trying to gain any sort of wealth for herself.
For all her flaws, Lift had a good heart.[1] She saw much death in her life, but it still impacted her greatly when someone she knew died. For instance, when Gawx was mortally wounded, she cared enough to return and try to save him, despite the fact that she was risking capture and death to do so. Lift cared for other people because she thought that someone had to, which seems to be a temperament that was shared by other Edgedancers. Once, Lift tried to stop caring about others, possibly during her time in Rall Elorim, but she quit because it was worse than being dead.
History
Early Life
Despite Lift's race, she was not born in the Reshi Isles.[1] The only reason that she knew that she was Reshi was that her mother told her so. She never lived there or knew her people at all. Lift grew up in the city of Rall Elorim, the City of Shadows, in Iri. Lift had a tough childhood there. It appears she grew up on the streets there, learning to move through crowds with ease. It is possible that Lift learned her thieving skills in Rall Elorim. She eventually left Rall Elorim for unknown reasons, possibly due to her difficult life. It also seems likely that this was the time in her life when Lift attempted to stop caring.
Lift also visited the Valley to see the Nightwatcher and ask a boon of her.[1] It is unknown what Lift's request was, or what Lift's curse was, but it appears that her boon was that Nightwatcher altered her to exist partially in the Cognitive realm. Due to this incredible power bestowed upon Lift by their mother, the Ring decided that Wyndle should be sent to bond with her, so he could mold her while she was still young. This granted Lift her Surgebinding abilities.
Lift spent some time in Marabethia, where she was hunted by Darkness, because he believed that her Surgebinding could bring another Desolation to Roshar.[1] She fled Marabethia and went to the capital of Azir, Azimir. There, Lift fell in with a crew of thieves. The crew was made up of Tigzikk, who Lift called Tig, Huqin, his nephew Gawx, Maxin, and two unnamed brothers who were quick with knives. Tigzikk was the only one Lift knew well. An informant told him which night would be good for robbing the Bronze Palace, while the vizerate was busy choosing a new Prime Aquaisix, following the death of the last two at the hands of Szeth. Lift could have robbed the palace on her own, but she felt like she owed it to Tigzikk to help him, and she wanted to make sure that he would be safe.
Bronze Palace Heist
When the crew entered the grounds of Bronze Palace, Lift spotted Darkness in the streets near the palace and quickly climbed the wall to escape.[1] She used Wyndle to gain access to a room which the thieving crew began ransacking for clothes and shoes. Lift was supposed to keep watch in the room with Gawx, but she left in search of food, and he followed. They disagreed about where to go, she wanted to go to the Prime's quarters where she would find food, but Gawx wanted to go to the Vizers' quarters, which he thought would be mostly empty. They each went their separate ways.
Lift managed to successfully sneak into the Prime's quarters because of the commotion caused when Gawx was caught.[1] However, before she could eat much food, Darkness arrived, along with two associates, bearing forms that gave him the authority to arrest and execute her. Lift was briefly captured, and managed to escape, but during the process one of Darkness's men cut Gawx's throat. Despite the fact that she was safely away, Lift decided to return to try to heal Gawx from his wound.
Lift returned in time to save Gawx's life, performing Regrowth for the first time to heal him.[1] Darkness then captured her and dragged her away to kill her. However, the viziers thought that Gawx had healed himself, and believed that it was a sign from the Heralds that Gawx was to be their new Prime Aquasix. They thought it meant that he could survive future attacks from Szeth. Gawx hurriedly pardoned Lift for her crimes, and Darkness was forced to release her.
Attributes and Abilities
Thievery
Even without any sort of magical help, Lift was a skilled thief.[1] She could scale walls easily and was a skilled enough pickpocket that she could easily steal as many spheres as she liked without it being any sort of challenge. Her mastery of thievery is possibly what drove her to break into heavily guarded locations and steal something so unconventional as food.
Surgebinding
Lift had formed a Nahel bond with Wyndle, which granted her the ability to Surgebind, although Lift herself was not entirely certain whether she believed this.[1] As with all Surgebinders, Lift gained superhuman strength and speed when she held Stormlight, as well as the ability to heal quickly from non-mortal wounds. When Lift was invested with Stormlight, she referred to it as her, "Awesomeness". She was a member of the order of Radiants known as the Edgedancers. This gave her access to two Surges, Friction and Growth.
- Abrasion
Abrasion allowed her to change the friction of her body against her surroundings.[1] She can reduce the friction, and presumably increase it as well. She referred to this ability as her "Slickness". Lift used this ability often to make quick getaways. She would reduce friction on all parts of her body, except the soles of her feet and palms of her hands and would then kneel and propel herself swiftly forward using her palms. This also came in handy when Lift was escaping guards or someone else attempting to catch her. As Lift's body would be essentially frictionless, it was nearly impossible for them to get a grip on her and stop her. Lift called this ability, "Slickness".
- Progression
The Surge of Progression allowed for two different sorts of abilities.[1] The more basic of these two was simply called Growth. Lift could use Stormlight to increase the rate of growth of plants. When Lift used Growth, plant life that she illuminated would grow at an extremely accelerated rate, and she had some measure of control over the way that they would grow. She was less practiced at this ability, but she used it for things such as making vines grow to force a locked window open. It is unknown if this would allow Lift to enhance the Growth rate of animals or not.
The Surge of Progression also allowed Lift another power, known as Regrowth.[1] It allowed Lift to heal others from serious injuries that would otherwise be fatal. When Lift used Regrowth, she would breathe out cloud of Stormlight which would then flow into the injured person's mouth, healing them.
Old Magic
Lift's visit to the Nightwatcher left her with a rather unique trait, one that was not among the typical power set of the Edgedancers.[1] She existed partially in the Cognitive realm, which granted her some special abilities. The first was that she could touch spren, something that was supposed to be impossible, as they exist mostly in the Cognitive realm. This ability greatly helped Lift with her thievery, as Wyndle took the form of a vine. He could make handholds or increase the width of ledges for Lift by growing where she needed to go, but no one else would be able to see or touch him.
Lift's other power was even more impressive.[1] Most Surgebinders need to draw Stormlight from an external source in order to manipulate the Surges. Lift, however, could metabolize food directly into Stormlight. She could also convert the energy reserves in her own body into Stormlight. This ability was dangerous though, as she often risked malnutrition when she burned through all her excess energy storages. There was another issue with the fact that Lift could gain Stormlight from food. She did not learn how to drain Stormlight from external sources, so the amount of Stormlight she could use was limited by the amount of food she had eaten.
Quotes
“I’m pure. I’m a child and stuff. I’m so storming pure I practically belch rainbows.”
—Lift[1]
“What's the point of sneaking into a palace if not to get in trouble?”
—Lift[1]