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|image=Seeking Forgiveness by Jordi Rapture.jpg
|species=Spren
|abilities=[[Nahel bond]], [[Bondsmith]] magic,{{book ref|sa3|111}}
|titles=Mother of the World
|world=Roshar
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
|first appeared=[[Oathbringer]]
}}
{{update|sa4}}
The '''Nightwatcher''' is a powerful [[spren]] on [[Roshar]]. She is a [[Splinter]] of [[Cultivation]] and grants boons and curses to mortals through the [[Old Magic]].{{book ref|sa3|114}} She is one of the three potential [[Bondsmith]] spren.{{book ref|sa4|46}}
The Nightwatcher would bless those who sought her out with one blessing of her choosing. In exchange for this blessing, she also bestows a single curse, although this curse very rarely has any obvious relation to the blessing that was gained.{{book ref|sa1|i|7}} Because of the Nightwatcher's ethereal nature and ties to a single location, the [[Valley]], she is considered by many to be a powerful [[spren]].{{book ref|sa2|3}}{{book ref|sa2|6}}{{book ref|sa2|24}}{{book ref|sa2|41}} It is surprisingly common for devoutly Vorin [[lighteyes]] go to the Nightwatcher at one point or another over the course of their lives.{{book ref|sa1|61}}
She does not always appear to those seeking her, having a tendency to avoid groups and likely
== Appearance and Personality ==
{{image|What is your boon by Dejan Delic.jpg|side=right|width=400px}}
The Nightwatcher manifests in the Physical Realm as dark green and vaguely person shaped. Described as crawling on the ground with too-long arms reaching out and pulling her along as she floats above the ground. She appears to leave a trail of her essence behind her, like a river of twisting vapor curling through the trees. The only part of her that has any detail is her smooth distinctly feminine face with silken black eyes. She seems to be able to create extra limbs like smaller hands to interact with people.{{book ref|sa3|114}} Cultivation made the Nightwatcher in such a way that she is not shaped by people's perception or belief of her, unlike most spren. This is why she behaves less human.{{book ref|sa4|i|5}}▼
{{for|/Gallery|more images}}
▲The Nightwatcher manifests in the Physical Realm as a dark green
She is sometimes mistakenly conflated with the [[Chemoarish]], an [[Unmade]].{{epigraph ref|sa3|108}}
== Origin ==
Called "child" by [[Cultivation]], it is likely that the Nightwatcher was created by [[Cultivation]] for a specific purpose from a different spren much like the [[Stormfather]] was by [[Honor]]. The Nightwatcher is implied to be one of three [[spren]] on [[Roshar]] that are [[Cognitive Shadow|shadows of a god]].{{book ref|sa3|111}}
The Nightwatcher was deliberately created by Cultivation to be un-Connected to humans and is unaffected by the way they think about her.{{book ref|sa4|i|5}} This was done so she could grow more organically.
==
=== Nahel Bond ===
{{for|Order of Bondsmiths#Sibling Bondsmith Abilities|3=Order of Bondsmiths}}
The Nightwatcher is one of the three great [[Bondsmith]] spren.{{book ref|sa3|64}}{{book ref|sa3|111}} Forming a [[Nahel bond]] with her grants one the power over the [[Surge]]s of [[Tension]] and [[Adhesion]].{{file ref|TWoK Front Endsheet.jpg|Surgebinding Chart}} While a Bondsmith can use Adhesion the way a [[Windrunner]] would,{{book ref|sa3|28}} they can also apply their powers in different manner, using them more in the [[Spiritual Realm|Spiritual]]. Using Spiritual Adhesion, a Bondsmith can form a [[Connection]] between themselves and another person, allowing them to speak their language.{{book ref|sa3|65}} They also seem capable of hearing the spiritual aspects of objects and using this to mend broken things back whole.{{book ref|sa3|59}} Each Bondsmith seems to make use of a different variety of Light to fuel their abilities, the Stormfather's Bondsmith uses Stormlight,{{book ref|sa3|119}} the Sibling's [[Towerlight]],{{book ref|sa4|111}} and presumably the Nightwatcher grants her Bondsmith [[Lifelight]].
=== Old Magic ===
{{for|Old Magic}}
{{image|Nightwatcher by EccoS.jpg|side=right|width=250px|Meeting a petitioner}}
Anyone is allowed to seek a single boon from the Nightwatcher. To do this, the supplicant must first travel to the [[Valley]] in the west, where the Nightwatcher resides. After finding the Nightwatcher, the supplicant may request a boon. There are no clear restrictions on what the Nightwatcher has the power to grant--like most things regarding the Old Magic, the few known facts are surrounded by a web of myths and legends. The precise phrasing of the request does not appear to make a difference, however, since the Nightwatcher bestows a boon that she feels the supplicant deserves. In most cases, the continued pain of the curse appears to outweigh the blessing of the boon, even if the supplicant receives the boon they desired. A notable exception was [[Av]]'s father, who received enough cloth to keep his family from starving during a famine. His curse, seeing the world upside down, apparently stopped troubling him after he acclimated to the situation.{{book ref|sa1|i|7}}
Contrary to popular belief, it is not possible to avoid the curse by carefully phrasing a request--or even to predict the curse that the Nightwatcher will bestow.{{book ref|sa1|i|7}} Interestingly, it does not appear that balance is carefully maintained through an individual blessing and curse--often, highly visible curses are the result of relatively minor boons. The curses can be quite thorough, however--in one case, a man lost all feeling in both of his hands until the day he died.{{book ref|sa1|i|7}} Whether these curses follow some cosmic justice, or are merely the result of a capricious spren, is unknown.
The curse, as well as the boon, is permanent. Through history many visitors have tried to get rid of their curse, but there are no known cases of success.{{book ref|sa3|24}}
;Dalinar Kholin
: [[Dalinar]] sought the Nightwatcher to end the pain he was feeling after accidentally causing the death of his wife, [[Evi Kholin]]. When he finally went to the Nightwatcher, he asks to be "forgiven", much to the confusion of the Nightwatcher. Eventually, [[Cultivation]] comes out and erases his memory of Evi. She describes it as "pruning" his memory, so he can grow and heal. She mentions that his memories will eventually return. He has no memory of killing her or anything involving her, although he is aware she existed. Additionally, when someone mentions her name, all that he hears is "[[Evi Kholin|''Shshshsh'']]". Dalinar keeps his request, boon, and curse very private, and very few people know of his visit to the Nightwatcher. Though Dalinar doesn't remember until just prior to the [[Battle of Thaylen Field]], his boon and curse were given to him by Cultivation, not the Nightwatcher. The memory came back gradually before Odium attempted to make Dalinar into his champion and failed.{{book ref|sa3|118}}
;Taravangian
: [[Taravangian]] claims to have asked the Nightwatcher for, "Capacity. Capacity to stop what was coming. The capacity to save humankind."{{book ref|wor|i|14}} As a result, Taravangian's level of intelligence varies from day to day. This enabled him to write the [[Diagram (literature)|Diagram]] on a day of particularly notable intelligence. He believes that his curse is a level of compassion inversely proportional to his intelligence; he feels little to no compassion on days of high intelligence, contrasted with days of low intelligence and great compassion "to feel pain for what he had done."{{book ref|wor|i|14}} On a day similar to the day he wrote the [[Diagram (literature)|Diagram]], he was cursed with low intelligence, but high emotion, which attracted one of the [[Shards]], [[Odium]], to him and Connected him to the Shard, allowing him to Ascend. As with Dalinar, Cultivation personally intervened when he asked for his boon.{{wob ref|13097}}
;Lift
: The precise wording of her request is unknown, but [[Lift]] believes that "she was supposed to stay the same, and the world was supposed to change around her."{{book ref|edgedancer|1}} Lift interprets this to mean that she shouldn't age, which does not appear to be the case. The boon and curse are unknown, but Lift's abilities to physically touch [[Wyndle]] and to digest food into [[Lifelight]] are apparently related to one or both of these.{{book ref|wor|i|9}} Wyndle supposes that she is partially stuck in the Cognitive Realm.{{book ref|edgedancer|4}}
;Av's father
: As his boon, Av's father received a heap of good cloth, which he sold to keep his family from starving during the lurnip famine.{{book ref|sa1|i|7}} As a curse, he sees the world upside down. He claims that his curse was worth it, and it just took some getting used to.
;Shubalai
: [[Shubalai]] visited and spoke with the Nightwatcher, recording their entire conversation for posterity.{{book ref|sa2|6}}
;Hoid
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