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{{character
|image=Szeth Nale
|abilities={{tag+|Cognitive Shadow}}, {{tag+|skybreaker}}, {{tag+|Shardbearer}}
|titles={{tag+|herald}}, Herald of Justice, Patron of the [[Order of Skybreakers|Skybreakers]]
}}
'''Nale''', also known as '''Nalan''', '''Nin''', or '''Nakku''', is one of the ten [[Herald]]s of [[The Almighty]] on [[Roshar]]. In
== Appearance and Personality ==
}}
Nale is dark-skinned, and often described as looking [[Makabak]]i, or more specifically [[Azish]]. The most noticeable aspect of his appearance is a crescent-shaped birthmark on his right cheek. He's typically dressed in a uniform of an Azish constable -- a black coat with a double row of silver buttons and a stiff silver collar poking up from beneath, as well as gloves with long collars of their own.{{book ref|sa2|i|9}}{{book ref|sa2|88}} His eyes are mentioned as looking glassy, unfeeling and cold.{{book ref|sa2|i|9}}{{book ref|sa2.5|8}} [[Vorin]] artwork seems to typically portray him as bald, though it's uncertain whether he actually is.{{file ref|Nale.jpg|Nale chapter capstone}}{{file ref|Relief.jpg|Nale relief}}
Nale is obsessed with order and law, and will go to extreme lengths to ensure he doesn't break any laws of the land he's in. This is because he's lost his own sense of justice and morality, and as such, he believes that the only way for him to act correctly is to obey a code of conduct created by others.{{book ref|sa3|121}} He is, however, capable of bending the rules to his advantage, such as by appointing himself a lawman to enable him to kill, or pressuring local authorities to change the law.{{book ref|sa2|i|9}}{{book ref|sa2.5|16}}
Nale was born on [[Ashyn]], either before or during the great calamity that befell it, forcing the human population to leave. Like most others who would eventually become [[Herald]]s, he travelled to [[Roshar]] to settle there.{{wob ref|11945}} Sometime afterwards, when the [[Desolation]]s began, Nale joined the [[Oathpact]], becoming a Herald of the [[Almighty]].{{book ref|sa1|prelude}}
When the [[Surgebinder]]s began first appearing, Nale was initially reluctant to take them under his patronage, even though the nascent [[Skybreakers]] named him their master. Following some sort of the disturbance in the toparchy of [[Revv]], however, he agreed to do so, becoming the last Herald to formally accept his [[Knights Radiant]].{{epigraph ref|sa2|
Like all other Heralds besides [[Taln]], Nale eventually grew too exhausted to keep participating in the Oathpact. He and the others left their [[Honorblade]]s behind and abandoned the Oathpact in an event later known as [[Aharietiam]].{{book ref|sa1|prelude}} Unlike the others, however, Nale eventually recovered his Blade. He also ended up bonding a [[highspren]] and joining his own Radiant Order, becoming the only Herald to have done so.{{book ref|sa3|106}}{{wob ref|12600}}
=== Era of Solitude ===
[[File:Hug the Darkness.png|thumb|right|200px|<center><small>by {{a|LittleGreyDragon}}</small></center> [[Lift]] hugging Nale in the [[Everstorm
At some point, either before or after the [[Recreance]], Nale began working to prevent another Desolation from happening. At some point, likely following the advice of [[Ishar]], he came to understand it as eliminating every nascent [[Surgebinder]] other than the prospective Skybreakers, whose bonds he had the capacity to permit and deny.{{book ref|sa3|106}} By the time of the reunification of [[Alethkar]], he was still doing it, forming a methodology that agreed with his own sentiments: he would track down Surgebinder who have committed some kind of a crime, no matter how minor, and execute them under the pretense of punishment.{{book ref|sa2|i|2}}
== Attributes and Abilities ==
[[File:Herald Glyph Nalan.svg|thumb|right|150px|
; Surgebinding
It is confirmed by [[Lift]] that he is still capable of using his Surgebinding abilities, which she refers to as him "also being awesome".{{book ref|sa2|I|9}} As the patron of the [[Order of Skybreakers]] Nale has access to the [[Surge]]s of [[surgebinding#gravitation|Gravitation]] and [[surgebinding#division|Division]], but chooses not to use his abilities blatantly in the presence of others, likely in order to keep a low profile.{{book ref|sa2|i|9}}{{book ref|sa2.5|19}}
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