Order of Willshapers
| Order of Willshapers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| |||
| Herald | Kalak | ||
| Spren | Lightspren | ||
| Surges | Transportation & Cohesion | ||
| Plate spren | Unknown | ||
| World | Roshar | ||
| Universe | Cosmere | ||
| Featured In | The Stormlight Archive | ||
The Order of Willshapers is an order of the Knights Radiant on Roshar. They form Nahel bonds with Lightspren, also known as Reachers.[1]
The Willshapers are Surgebinders who use the Surges of Transportation and Cohesion, and they are associated with the amethyst polestone.
Philosophy[edit]
Willshapers generally subscribe to a philosophy that all people should be free to make their own choices.[2] They focus on personal fulfillment, radical self-expression, and freeing those who are captive.[3] The order is said to be most varied, save for a general love of adventure, novelty, or oddity.[4][5] They tend to attract builders, craftsmen, and other artisans.[2]
Ideals of the Willshapers[edit]
The Ideals of the Knights Radiant, also known as the Immortal Words, are a set of rules by which the Radiants live. The First Ideal is shared by all of the orders, and is used as a motto for the Knights Radiant as a whole. Each of the orders then have an additional four Ideals that are unique to that order.[6] The Ideals of the Order of Willshapers all focus on individual freedom and liberty; the Willshapers champion self-expression and freedom of choice for all.[2]
The First Ideal[edit]
“Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination. ”
—The First Ideal of the Knights Radiant[6]
The Second Ideal[edit]
“I will seek freedom for those in bondage. ”
Abilities[edit]
The Willshapers use the Surges of Transportation and Cohesion. Like most Knights Radiant, the Willshapers have squires.[7]
Transportation[edit]
Transportation allows the transfer of one's physical body into and out of the Cognitive Realm,[8] a process sometimes known as Elsecalling.[9] It works by creating a miniature perpendicularity that the Willshaper can go through.[10] It is significantly easier to enter the Cognitive Realm using Elsecalling than it is to leave it.[11] Willshapers are able to use this ability to worldhop.[12] Willshapers are also capable of looking into Shadesmar without fully Elsecalling.
Cohesion[edit]
Cohesion allows them to alter the shape of solid objects in a way called Stoneshaping. This surge allows a Willshaper to make stone more malleable, like clay, or even a liquid, according to the Willshaper's desires [7]. The Willshaper can then reshape the stone according to their desires. This surge also connects the Willshaper to the spren of the stone in a deep, fundamental way, though the full extent of this is not yet known.[7][13]
Regals[edit]
When a Willshaper is also a Regal, additional abilities arise. Though there is a voidspren within the singer's gemheart, the lightspren keeps it trapped. This allows the Radiant to retain their form's abilities and switch between red and normal eyes at will, letting them blend in with Odium's forces.[14] Regal Willshapers are able to use both Stormlight and Voidlight to fuel their Surgebinding.[15][16] These Willshapers are also highly resistant to suppression fabrials that stop Radiants from Surgebinding.[7]
History[edit]
Little is currently known about the Willshapers of old. Though the order tended to attract builders, craftsmen and other artisans, their membership tended to be varied in profession.[2] They were also varied in personality, but generally enjoyed discovering new, unusual and strange things; they were also considered capricious and unreliable, making them somewhat frustrating to interact with.[4]
Where the Windrunners were the protectors and the Stonewards the soldiers, the Willshapers were the liberators, both freeing those who were physically captive and aiding those who espoused new and radical ideas. They tasked themselves with building and supporting societies; they aided those who resisted tyranny and oppression. They were also literal builders -- in times of peace, they would use theirs powers to aid in constructing buildings and infrastructure, as well as training those who lived there; in times of war, they would fortify towns; and after the battle was over they, like their patron Herald, would travel to teach people of crafts such as bronzeworking or sanitation.[2]
Much like the Elsecallers, they were considered to have an affinity for Shadesmar, suggesting that they might've also interacted with the spren nations on regular basis.[17]
In the modern times, no human Willshapers have presented themselves so far; Venli appears to be the only person to have bonded a Reacher.[14]
Notable Willshapers[edit]
Quotes[edit]
“And now, if there was an uncut gem among the Radiants, it was the Willshapers; for though enterprising, they were erratic, and Invia wrote of them, "capricious, frustrating, unreliable," as taking it for granted that others would agree; this may have been an intolerant view, as Invia often expressed, for this order was said to be most varied, inconsistent in temperament save for a general love of adventure, novelty, or oddity. ”
Trivia[edit]
- The Willshapers were one of the first orders Brandon developed while building magic systems.[18]
- The Willshapers would "probably be okay" with Adolin killing Sadeas.[19]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ JordanCon 2018
— Arcanum - 2018-04-22# - ↑ a b c d e The Ten Orders of Knights Radiant
— Arcanum - 2020-06-09# - ↑ a b Rhythm of War chapter 60#
- ↑ a b c Words of Radiance chapter 50 epigraph#
- ↑ FanX 2021
— Arcanum - 2021-09-16# - ↑ a b The Way of Kings chapter 59#
- ↑ a b c d Rhythm of War chapter 67#
- ↑ Boskone 54
— Arcanum - 2017-02-17# - ↑ JordanCon 2021
— Arcanum - 2021-07-17# - ↑ Arcanum Unbounded Chicago signing
— Arcanum - 2016-12-06# - ↑ Oathbringer chapter 33#
- ↑ Minicon 2015
— Arcanum - 2015-04-02# - ↑ Rhythm of War Ars Arcanum#
- ↑ a b Oathbringer chapter 120#
- ↑ Rhythm of War chapter 11#
- ↑ Rhythm of War chapter 109#
- ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 53 epigraph#
- ↑ Oathbringer London signing
— Arcanum - 2017-11-28# - ↑ Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing
— Arcanum - 2014-03-21#