Difference between revisions of "Odium"

|residence=[[Braize]], [[Roshar]]{{book ref|sa4|83}}

|It was the scream of a thousand warriors on the battlefield. It was the moment of most sensual touch and ecstasy. It was the sorrow of loss, the joy of victory. And it ''was'' hatred. A deep, pulsing hatred with a pressure to turn all things molten. It was the heat of a thousand suns, it was the bliss of every kiss, it was the lives of all men wrapped up in one, defined by everything they felt.

'''Odium''' is the [[Shard]] of [[Adonalsium]] {{nosnippet|originally held by [[Rayse]]}}, and currently held by [[Taravangian]].{{wobepigraph ref|7266sa1|19}}{{book ref|sa4|113}} Unlike most other Shards, which typically pick a single world and settle there, Odium has been traveling freely throughout the [[cosmere]] for a long time, deliberately refusing to [[Invest]] himself anywhere. He is responsible for the deaths of at least four Shards -- [[Ambition]], [[Devotion]], [[Dominion]], and [[Honor]].{{au ref|Roshar}}{{au ref|threnody}}{{epigraph ref|sa4|27}} In the present, he's confined to the planet [[Braize]], but his influence can be felt on the entire [[Rosharan system]].{{wob ref|9847}}{{book ref|sa4|83}} Odium’s [[Investiture]] is typically associated with “burning” gold or violet-black colors,{{book ref|sa3|57}} though it is also often red, the color that signifies corrupted Investiture.{{wob ref|13074}} His overall motif is red-gold, although gold is his "real" color.{{wob ref|13074}}

The Shard of Odium is even harder to control than [[Ruin]].{{wob ref|15172}} The word "odium" means being subjected to hatred and contempt as a result of a despicable act.{{url ref|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/odium|text=Definition of Odium|site=Merriam-Webster Dictionary}} However, interpretation of the Shard's intent is not as simple. [[Frost]] claims a straightforward definition: that it is God's own divine hatred.{{epigraph ref|sa2|71}} Rayse himself, however, claims that he's Passion, a Shard of emotions, in particular excessive emotions.{{book ref|sa3|57}}{{wob ref|15736}} Upon Ascension, Taravangian grappled with the vicious urge to destroy and burn.{{book ref|sa4|114}} Many of his [[splinter]]s, the [[Unmade]] compel people to give in to powerful sensations - [[Ashertmarn]] compels people to revel mindlessly, and [[Nergaoul]] inspires exultation in battle.{{book ref|sa3|84}}{{book ref|sa3|115}} On the other hand, the overwhelming amount of emotions inspired by Odium are hateful, among them the aforementioned [[Thrill]] and the [[Singer#Rhythms|Rhythms]] of Odium-derived [[singer]] forms.{{book ref|sa2|i|11}} Moreover, Odium's influence sometimes promotes apathy rather than passion, as his followers are encouraged to give up their pain and sense of guilt.{{book ref|sa3|78}}{{book ref|sa3|118}}

[[Rayse]] has a tendency towards self-deception, and apart from him, everyone understands Odium as being the Shard of hatred.{{wob ref|9507}} While it's possible for a Vessel to influence a Shard to an extent, Odium's declaration of being Passion should not be taken at face value.{{wob ref|12312}} It has been noted that while Odium claims to be Passion, that passions other than hatred, such as love, are absent from the emotions inspired in his followers.{{book ref|sa4|83}}

Apart from the issue of the Shard's nature, Rayse desired to become the sole god of the [[cosmere]].{{epigraph ref|sa4|33}}{{book ref|mb7|20}}{{wob ref|5489}} Whether this is due to the Vessel or the Shard is unknown.

Voidlight is the gaseous form of Odium's [[Investiture]], analogous to [[Honor]]'s [[Stormlight]].{{book ref|sa3|79}} Unlike Stormlight, however, Voidlight's applications are far more narrow. It can be utilized by the [[Fused]] to provide healing and fuel their use of [[Surge]]s, and it might have some relation to the forms of power used by the [[Regal]]s.{{book ref|sa3|54}}{{epigraph ref|sa3|80}} Voidlight can be made to fuse, or as described by Navani Kholin, emulsify, with Stormlight via the use of the Rhythm of War, binding them into a form of light called "Warlight" that has a dark blue-white appearance. It has applications in fabrial technology created via the process of corrupting spren and then trapping them within an appropriate gemstone housing, similar to normal fabrials.

Raysium is a [[God Metal]], a physical form of Odium's raw power. It is gold-white in color and its ability to conduct investitureInvestiture has many applications in fabrial technology.{{book ref|sa4|84}}

The [[Roshar]]an magic system associated with Odium is [[Voidbinding]].{{wob ref|1640}} Very little is known about it at the moment, including the specific powers it grants or the method of acquiring the ability to Voidbind. What is known is that there are ten levels to it, and that it involves something called the Voidbindings, which might be the name of individual powers, analogous to Surges.{{book ref|sa1|part=ars}} It's is highly likely that predicting the future is one of those powers.{{book ref|sa1|18}}

Despite his reservations about [[Invest]]ing into a planet, Odium has created numerous [[spren]] in the Rosharan system, known collectively as [[Voidspren]].{{book ref|sa2|81}} Some of them are intelligent, and capable of autonomous thought in the Physical Realm despite not being bonded to a living creature, in contrast to most spren of [[Honor]] or [[Cultivation]].{{book ref|sa3|17}}{{book ref|sa3|i|3}} Others are as mindless as ordinary emotion or nature spren. [[Singer]]s can bond the latter to become [[Regal]]s, taking the spren into their [[gemheart]]s to gain forms with supernatural abilities ranging from speaking all languages, to summoning lightning.{{book ref|sa2|81}}{{book ref|sa3|i|7}}

Fused are [[Cognitive Shadow]]s of singers bound to Odium. This grants them numerous benefits, chief among them the ability of resurrection by taking over the bodies of their living kinsmen. During the [[True Desolation]], this can occur when the [[Everstorm]] passes over singers who have been mentally primed to let something into their [[gemheart]]s.{{book ref|sa3|i|6}} How this bonding happened before the Everstorm existed is unknown. Odium is able to take away their immortality.{{book ref|sa3|118}}{{wob ref|15736}}

Odium was created at the [[Shattering]], when the creator god, [[Adonalsium]], was killed by sixteen people, splitting himit into sixteen [[Shards]].{{msh ref|3|2}} One of those killers was [[Rayse]], who chose for himself the Shard of Odium.{{epigraph ref|sa2|71}}

At some point after Ascending, Odium went after one of his fellow Shards, [[Ambition]], as he felt most threatened by her intent. However, before he could find her, he located two other Shards, [[Devotion]] and [[Dominion]], in the [[Selish system]].{{wob ref|1550}} Because they had settled together, Odium attacked them since he could argue that they were breaking the agreement the Vessels made about not being in the same system as another Shard.{{wob ref|8358}} Through means unknown, Odium killed and [[Splinter]]ed them both. To prevent their remaining power from gaining intelligence of its own, he then pulled them out of the [[Spiritual Realm]] and into the [[Cognitive Realm|Cognitive]], creating the [[Dor]] and causing [[Sel]]'s magic systems to become location-dependent.{{wob ref|1473}} He wasn't very experienced at the time, and his countermeasure failed as the Dor did, indeed, begin to gain a measure of sentience.{{au ref|Sel}}{{wob ref|9616}}

Next, Odium set out for [[Rosharan system]], seeking to kill either [[Honor]], [[Cultivation]], or both. According to the Eile[[Eila Stele]], he was brought by the humans from another world, and the singers considered him a human god. It can be assumed that Odium was crucial in the breakdown of the relations between the two species.{{wob ref|8808}}{{book ref|sa3|111}} Eventually, for unknown reasons, a swap occurred, whereupon singers came to worship Odium while humans began serving Honor and Cultivation. Both sides created their own immortal armies - Odium, the [[Fused]], and Honor, the [[Herald]]s.{{book ref|sa3|38}}

|TanavastHonor{{book ref|sa1|75}}

Honor fought Odium with assistance from Cultivation.,{{wob ref|2729}} Honor's particular nature asand the Shardtwo of binding allowedbound him to tie Odium to one of the system's planets, [[Braize]], and somehow also prevented him from acting directly against most individuals on Roshar.{{wobbook ref|8560sa3|38}}{{book ref|sa4|112}} Honor additionally crafted the [[Oathpact]], which would use the Heralds to imprison Odium's forces on Braize along with their master.{{book ref|sa3|38}} However, Odium was a much better fighter, and [[TanavastHonor]] was killed,{{wob ref|8560}}{{book ref|sa1|75}} though he inflicted a deep wound on Odium.{{book ref|sa4|114}}

Odium, though severely limited by Honor's actions, was nonetheless active. AsHe onealso ofkept hisa [[Unmade]],limited [[Nergaoul]],awareness wasof stillwhat free,was Odiumgoing senton him to [[Alethkar]] toall facilitateacross the [[Thrill]] among the Alethi. Over the centuriescosmere, theand battle-ragewas broughtaware aboutthat byRuin Nergaouland becamePreservation normal, and evenhad desirablecombined to thebecome AlethiHarmony men;in thisScadrian developedYear affinity{{date|1025|fe}}, allowedaround Odium309 toRosharan controlyears them usingbefore the ThrillTrue Desolation.{{bookwob ref|sa37320}}{{wob ref|1159869}}{{wob Moreover,ref|14998}} theThe Thrillidea allowedof Odiumsomeone totaking groomup atwo championShards whomat heonce, couldand laterfinding putharmony inbetween commandthem, ofterrified his armies and use to release himselfhim.{{wob Inref|4437}} theHe finaltherefore decadesbegan of the [[Era of Solitude]], suchformulating a potential champion appeared in the form of [[Dalinar Kholin]]. Odium focused on himplan to ensureeliminate hethis hadthreat asafter manybeing hooksfreed infrom himthe asRosharan possibleSystem.{{bookwob ref|sa3|1187319}}

{{image|Dalinar Perpendicularity.png|side=leftright|width=200px300px|Odium watching [[Dalinar]] opening [[Honor's Perpendicularity]]}}

|1="Wait!" Kaladin said. "Why is there so much war? Must we always fight?" He wasn’t sure why he asked. The questions simply came out.

ODIUM<span REIGNSstyle='font-variant: small-caps'>"Odium reigns"</span>, the voice said more softly.

|2=The [[Stormfather]] to [[Kaladin]]{{book ref|sa1|46}}

Throughout his existence, Odium has had profound effect on the [[cosmere]] and itsseveral variousof its [[ShardworldCosmere#Planets|planets]]s in particular. He has been called the most frightening and terrible of all Shards, and with a good reason.{{epigraph ref|sa1|19}} He has a wish to become the sole god in the Cosmere, and to that end, he has gone around the Cosmere Splintering, or attempting to Splinter, all other Shards.{{epigraph ref|sa4|33}}{{book ref|mb7|20}}{{wob ref|5489}}

On [[Sel]], Odium's influence is omnipresent — literally so, as the [[Dor]], created by him in the aftermath of his murder of [[Devotion]] and [[Dominion]] suffused the entirety of the planet's [[Cognitive Realm]], fuelling the variousits magic systems. The [[seon]]s and [[skaze]], theare [[splinter]]s of Devotion and Dominion respectively, also owe their existence to Odium's killing of their parent Shards.{{au ref|Sel}}

On [[Threnody]], Odium's battle with [[Ambition]] had vast ramifications for the entire system, though what exactly this entails is unclear. It's possible that the [[Evil]] that had taken over [[Homeland]], as well as the [[Shade]]s, is a side effect of the battle between the Shards.{{au ref|Threnody}} Harmony noted a scarwound on the [[Spiritual Realm]] itself where Ambition was Splintered.{{epigraph ref|sa4|27}}

* Odium might currently have an alliance -- or, at least, an understanding -- with [[Bavadin]], the holder[[Vessel]] of [[Autonomy]], although he was considering double-crossing her after dealing with Honor and Cultivation.{{wob ref|15137}} He's also allied with a cosmere power other than her.{{wob ref|2263}}