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|universe=[[Cosmere]]
|books=[[The Stormlight Archive]]
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{{quote
| Re-Shephir, the Midnight Mother, giving birth to abominations with her essence so dark, so terrible, so consuming. She is here! She watches me die!
| [[Death
}}
'''Re-Shephir''' is a [[Roshar]]an [[Unmade]], one of nine [[Splinter]]s of [[Odium]].{{epigraph ref|sa3|109}} She is commonly referred to by the title of the '''Midnight Mother''' for her ability to create monsters.{{epigraph ref|sa1|58}}
== Appearance and Personality ==
Re-Shephir is an oily-black entity capable of taking various different forms, including humanoid, beastly and some that do not mimic living beings.{{book ref|sa3|25}}{{book ref|sa3|29}} She's not entirely cognizant, instead being driven by instinct. Humanity fascinates her; she strives to understand it, although she is mostly drawn to people's violence and pain.{{book ref|sa3|30}} As an expression of this fascination, she recreates acts of murder and assault down to the smallest detail, and shapes her creations after what she observes.{{book ref|sa3|9}}{{book ref|sa3|25}} She is fearful of [[Lightweaver]]s, having been imprisoned by one in the past. When assaulted directly, she stands her ground and attempts to defend her nest, but flees when it becomes clear that she cannot win.{{book ref|sa3|30}}
<gallery caption="Images of Re-Shephir">
Midnight Mother 2.jpg | Confronting Re-Shephir by [[Coppermind: Artists/Petar Penev|Petar Penev]]
</gallery>
== History ==
Re-Shephir was created sometime during the [[Heraldic Epochs]], or perhaps before then, by [[Odium]]. Though originally, her sole purpose was to sow chaos and unrest among humans with her creations, the [[Midnight Essence]], she eventually came to be intrigued by mankind, and began to mimic them.{{book ref|sa3|30}} Though it's uncertain whether she remained active between the [[Desolation]]s, her Midnight Essence remained as a constant threat.{{book ref|sa3|19}} Along with several other [[Unmade]], she was believed to have been destroyed in the [[Aharietiam]].{{epigraph ref|sa3|109}}
Unfortunately, that was not the case. At some point before the [[Recreance]], she infiltrated [[Urithiru]], and was subsequently captured and imprisoned by an unknown [[Lightweaver]].{{book ref|sa3|30}} Her appearance caused the inhabitants of the tower considerable distress, as the appearance of an Unmade within the most sacred structure of Roshar cast doubts upon its security.{{epigraph ref|sa3|73}} After Urithiru was abandoned, Re-Shephir eventually broke out; however, rather than depart, she chose to remain within the city, and took up residence in one of the chambers near the [[Urithiru gem archive]], coiling around a column of gemstones.{{book ref|sa3|29}}
[[Shallan Davar]] detected her presence within days of entering the tower, albeit she registered it only as a sense of unease that twisted her perception of Urithiru.{{book ref|sa3|22}} Re-Shephir, on the other hand, became active mere days after the [[Alethkar|Alethi]] arrived. Her first confirmed action was killing [[Vedekar Perel]] in a way that mimicked the murder of [[Torol Sadeas]]{{book ref|sa3|9}} Later, she injured [[Rock]] in the same way that Shallan had previously wounded another [[Unkalaki]], Ur. However, moments before the latter incident she'd accidentally revealed her presence to Shallan when she came out of the shadows to observe her play of [[The Girl Who Looked Up]], mingling with Shallan's illusory audience but not escaping quickly enough when they were dispelled.{{book ref|sa3|25}}
[[Bridge Four]], accompanied and led by Shallan and [[Adolin Kholin]], managed to track her down to her nest. There, she defended herself by summoning [[Midnight Essence]] in the forms of her attackers.{{book ref|sa3|29}} During the ensuing confrontation, Shallan managed to make direct contact with Re-Shephir. The [[Unmade]] initially attempted to displace the Lightweaver's bond with [[Pattern]] with herself; failing that, she was in turn attacked by Shallan and fled through an underground passage that led out of the tower.{{book ref|sa3|30}} The sensation of wrongness that had permeated Urithiru before evaporated after her departure.{{book ref|sa3|33}}
Re-Shephir's current whereabouts are unknown.
== Abilities ==
[[FILE:Midnight Mother 2.jpg|thumb|300px|left|<small> by [[Coppermind: Artists/Petar Penev|Petar Penev]]</small> Re-Shephir and the [[Midnight Essence]] ]]
Re-Shephir is capable of shapeshifting, including altering her size. She appears to have very little limitations in what form she takes, and can squeeze through tiny gaps that no human could fit through; however, all her forms have the characteristic uniform, oily-black colour.{{book ref|sa3|25}}{{book ref|sa3|29}} She seems unable to mimic natural sounds; the only noises she's heard making are alien-sounding screeches.{{book ref|sa3|30}}
She can create creatures called [[Midnight Essence]] that look much like her. The Midnight Essence can take various form, both humanoid and beastly, but don't appear to share their mother's shapeshifting skill. Apart from the colour and texture, Re-Shephir can make Midnight Essence resemble specific people she has seen.{{book ref|sa3|29}} It's unclear whether Re-Shephir can command the Midnight Essence directly; however, her creations are universally hostile to humans and devoted to defending her, and can operate autonomously.{{book ref|sa3|29}}{{book ref|sa1|19}}
It's possible that Re-Shephir is capable of forming a [[Nahel bond]] with humans. She seems to have the capability to destroy a [[Knight Radiant]]'s [[spren]] bond and replace it with herself; however, whether that would function in the same manner as a proper Nahel bond, or even function at all, is uncertain.{{book ref|sa3|30}}
== Trivia ==
* As with all [[Unmade]], Re-Shephir's name was derived from real-life mythology. In her case, the inspiration was most likely [[wikipedia: Resheph|Resheph]], an ancient Caanite deity associated with plague.{{url ref|url=https://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/62476-ob-unmade-name-linguistic-origins/|text=Unmade Name Linguistic Origins|site=17th Shard}}
== Notes ==
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