Difference between revisions of "Shard"

{{magic

|related=[[Adonalsium]], [[Investiture]]

|universe=[[Cosmere]]

:''This page contains information for the Shards of Adonalsium. For information regarding the armaments used on Roshar, see [[Shardblade]] or [[Shardplate]].''

{{quote

| Sixteen people, together, ''killed'' [[Adonalsium]], ripping it apart and dividing its essence between them, becoming the first who Ascended.

| [[Khriss]] explaining to [[Kelsier]] what the Vessels are.{{msh ref|3|2}}

}}

The '''Shards of [[Adonalsium]]''', or '''Shards''' for short, are pieces of the power of creation itself.{{wob ref|6072}} They are named after a specific action or ideal, often referred to as an "intent," which represents the Shard's primary purpose or motivation. A mind must control a Shard. When a person holds a Shard, they are imbued with its power, but they also become the Shard.{{wob ref|4466}} A person who has taken up the power of a Shard is the '''Vessel''' of that Shard.{{msh ref|5|2}}

 

 

== Introduction ==

{{quote

| Even now, I can barely grasp the scope of all this. The events surrounding the end of the world seem even larger than the Final Empire and the people within it.<br> I have delved and searched, and have only been able to come up with a single name: '''Adonalsium'''. Who, or what, it was, I do not yet know.

 

Shards are a vast amount of Spiritual energy, and have enormous capabilities, so much power that they have effectively turned the Vessels holding them into gods. Things like moving a planet is easy for them to accomplish.{{epigraph ref|mb3|4}} They exist on a higher level than the Physical Realm, and have expanded Cognitive aspects and perceptions. Time seems to matter little to Shards. Minutes can pass like hours.{{epigraph ref|mb3|17}}

=== Movement ===

Shards are capable of moving themselves to various parts of their world instantaneously (or near instantly).{{book ref|mb3|76}} They can will themselves to other Shardworlds, as noted from Odium's journey to Sel{{epigraph ref|sa1|21}} and Brandon implying that [[Sazed]] could travel to another world, but chooses not to.{{wob ref|5526}} The [[Lord Ruler]] was also capable of moving around worlds when he took up the power at the [[Well of Ascension]], but he also didn't. However, when a Shard invests its power in a world, it is bound to it and will have difficulty leaving the planet or system.{{wob ref|9852}} For example, Ruin and Preservation couldn't leave [[Scadrial]] for they had had a large hand in the creation of the planet and every thing on Scadrial contains some of the Shards' power.{{cite}} In the [[Letters#The Second Letter|Second Letter]], Odium is implied to be trapped in his current system.

 

=== Communication ===

Some shards have the ability to touch the minds of people. This ability has many restrictions and much may depend on the intent of each shard.

[[Ruin]] can whisper into the minds of humans, especially spiked humans to whom he could manifest and speak to directly. Preservation can see into the minds of humans and even influence them a small amount, like causing them to leave an earring off. However, that influence is very weak and easily be overcome by a person's own will.{{cite}}

There are further subdivisions of Shards: Slivers and Splinters.

 

A Sliver is a human intelligence who has held the power and released it.{{wob ref|4540}} There is a certain threshold of power where one would be considered a Sliver of Adonalsium. Every person on [[Scadrial]] has a bit of the power of Preservation, but they are not technically Slivers. Though there is some grey area in what it means to be a Sliver, individuals who have directly held the power of a Shard are usually termed Slivers.{{wob ref|4499}}

 

The [[Lord Ruler]] held a bit of Preservation at the [[Well of Ascension]] and let it go. This altered him, and that residue of a Shard inside him was what scholars would term a Sliver. After Vin gave up [[Preservation]], she was considered a Sliver, as was Kelsier by the end of the [[Mistborn trilogy]]. Elantrians are not slivers.{{wob ref|4499}}

 

It is unknown what the exact definition of a Splinter is, but the term seems to refer to a specific kind of fragment of a Shard's power. Unlike Slivers, a Splinter has never been human.{{wob ref|4541}} Lerasium and atium, despite being condensed essences of their Shards, are not Splinters. One distinguishing factor of a Splinter is that they often have an intent, separate from their Shards'. {{wob ref|10089}}

 

 

== Relationship with Magic Systems ==

{{quote

| The powers of Ruin and Preservation are Shards of Adonalsium, pieces of the power of creation itself. Allomancy, Hemalurgy, Feruchemy are manifestations of this power in mortal form, the ability to touch the powers of creation and use them. These metallic powers are how people's physical forms interpret the use of the Shard, though it's not the only possible way they could be interpreted or used. It's what the genetics and Realmatic interactions of Scadrial allow for, and has to do with the Spiritual, the Cognitive, and the Physical Realms.