Difference between revisions of "Shard"
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{{quote
| The Shards are not God, but they are ''pieces'' of God. Ruin, Preservation, Autonomy, Cultivation, Devotion...There are sixteen of them.▼
| [[Khriss]]{{msh ref|3|2}}
}}
[[File:Tanavast.jpg|thumb|right|250px|<center><small>by {{a|botanicaxu}}</small></center> [[Honor]] ]]
{{quote
| Ruin and Preservation inhabited power and energy in the same way a person inhabits flesh and blood.▼
▲| The Shards are not God, but they are ''pieces'' of God. Ruin, Preservation, Autonomy, Cultivation, Devotion...There are sixteen of them.
| [[
}}
To function properly, a Shard requires a '''Vessel''' -- a mind to control it, belonging to a sapient creature from the [[Physical Realm]], such as a human.{{wob ref|310}} One doesn't need to be able to use Investiture in order to become a Vessel, but the ability does help.{{wob ref|4062}} What becoming a Vessel requires above all is [[Connection]] to the Shard in question, whether forged artificially or driven by a natural inclination towards the Shard's intent.{{msh ref|5|2}}
The act of becoming a Vessel is called '''Ascension''', and causes the Vessel's body to vaporize, allowing their mind to expand.{{wob ref|6072}} From then on, the Vessel and the Shard are intertwined; the Vessel gets to set some general course of how the Shard's power is defined, and feeds off the Shard's power to remain alive, but the Shard's power is the driving force between the two. Over centuries, the Vessel's mind begins to change to fit the Shard's intent more perfectly.{{annotation ref|mb3|chapter=58}}{{wob ref|5485}}{{epigraph ref|sa1|18}} If the Vessel were to give up the Shard, the Shard's influence on their mind would fade over time.{{wob ref|3009}}
A Shard can be killed by Splintering it, breaking its power down further into smaller pieces, called [[splinter]]s; the easiest way to achieve that is by killing the mind.{{msh ref|3|2}} The actual death of a Vessel, however, can take up to hundreds of years.{{wob ref|8144}} If the Shard is taken up before the Vessel dies completely, splintering can be prevented;{{msh ref|3|2}} if not, the power will become wild and dangerous.{{au ref|Selish}} When a Vessel dies, the person's original body rematerializes and falls to the ground as a corpse.{{epigraph ref|mb3|56}}
}}
It is unknown what precisely [[Adonalsium]] was, though it has been referred to numerous times as the power of creation, suggesting it to be the progenitor god of the [[cosmere]]. At some point in the distant past, on the planet of [[Yolen]], sixteen people conspired to kill it, and succeeded in an event known as the [[Shattering of Adonalsium]].{{msh ref|3|2}} Some of those people were romantically involved; others were related to each other.{{wob ref|1291}}{{wob ref|2786}} All of them were mortal at some point.{{wob ref|13341}}
Following the Shattering, the power that comprised Adonalsium broke into sixteen pieces, each polarized to one particular aspect of it, such as [[Ruin]] or [[Endowment]]. Those pieces, each equal in power, became known as the Shards. The sixteen killers of Adonalsium each took up one of the Shards, Ascending and becoming the first Vessels.{{msh ref|3|2}} Following their Ascension, each of the Vessels departed Yolen. Some settled on various planets, henceforth dubbed [[Shardworld]]s; others set no roots.{{wob ref|4441}}
Over the millennia, several Shards have passed away, one way or another. The most common cause of death for them were actions of one specific Shard, [[Odium]], who went on a killing spree, splintering [[Ambition]], [[Devotion]], [[Dominion]] and [[Honor]] before eventually being trapped in the [[Rosharan system]] by the remnants of the latter.{{au ref|Rosharan}} [[Preservation]] passed hands several times before being merged with [[Ruin]] into [[Harmony]];{{wob ref|6486}} by contrast, [[Autonomy]] spread, creating avatars to inhabit numerous Shardworlds, including [[Obrodai]] and [[First of the Sun]].{{wob ref|11432}}
At least one of the Vessels regrets taking up a Shard, though which one that would be is unknown.{{wob ref|11900}} There are living descendants of some of them still alive.{{wob ref|13341}}
== Known Shards ==
|-
| [[Devotion]]
| [[Aona]] <small>(deceased)</small>
| [[Sel]]
| ''[[Elantris]]''
|-
| [[Dominion]]
| [[Skai]] <small>(deceased)</small>
| [[Sel]]
| ''[[Elantris]]''
|-
| [[Preservation]]
| [[
| [[Scadrial]]
| ''[[Mistborn (series)]]''
|-
| [[Ruin]]
| [[
| [[Scadrial]]
| ''[[Mistborn (series)]]''
|-
| [[Honor]]
| [[Tanavast]] <small>(deceased)</small>
| [[Roshar]]
| ''[[The Stormlight Archive]]''
|-
| [[Ambition]]
| [[Uli Da]] <small>(deceased)</small>
| [[Threnody]]
| ''[[Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell]]''
}}
There remain six Shards that have not been named, nor referred to
What is known is that there exists a Shard with intent similar to Wisdom, that once sought to hide and survive, but has over time realized that this isn't the most desirable course of action.{{wob ref|12684}}{{wob ref|13231}} [[Hoid]] and this Shard seem to be antagonistic towards each other, though this appears to be a common thread in his relations with all Vessels.{{book ref|sa3|68}}{{wob ref|13239}}
There exists a Shard that wishes only to hide and survive.{{wob ref|2788}} It's possible that this refers to "wisdom". There's also at least one
When asked about what Vessel he would become, Brandon suggested Ingenuity, implying that it might be another Shard.{{wob ref|10288}}{{wob ref|3299}} Likewise, Prudence was suggested to be a very Shardic name.{{wob ref|13231}} However,
== Powers and Abilities ==
}}
Shards possess incredible power -- a single Shard can easily move entire planets and alter people down to genetic level.{{epigraph ref|mb3|4}} They exist in all three Realms, but unlike other living beings, the vast majority of their power is concentrated in the [[Cognitive Realm|Cognitive]] and [[Spiritual Realm|Spiritual]]. Time matters little to
As [[Investiture]] never truly goes away, a Shard has access to a functionally-endless supply of it; however, there is a finite amount that a Vessel can command at any one time. This also means that while all Investiture in the cosmere is assigned to one Shard or another, a Shard cannot truly command all of it at once.{{wob ref|8605}} As such, while powerful, Shards are neither omniscient, nor omnipresent or omnipotent.
Shards can use their power to create complex '''constructs''', capable of continuing their function past the Shard's death. Examples of such constructs are the snapping mists of [[Preservation]],{{wob ref|4445}} and the vision journal of [[Honor]].{{book ref|sa1|75}} Shards can also create sapient beings out of their power -- this is most commonly seen on [[Roshar]], with its overabundance of [[spren]]. Many of them, like [[Stormfather]], [[Nightwatcher]] and [[honorspren]], were created by local Shards.{{book ref|sa3|108}}{{book ref|sa3|114}}
Shards can also create '''avatars''', personas that can act independently of them.{{wob ref|13220}} Avatars can be of any gender, race and species, regardless of the original Vessel creating them, and can be formed at a considerable distance from the main body of the Shard, with many different avatars able to exist on a single [[Shardworld]].{{wob ref|3974}}{{wob ref|9385}}{{wob ref|3974}} Though a Shard can create them directly, avatars can also
Avatars are, in a way, considered to be Shards in their own right.{{wob ref|8606}} Known ones include [[Patji (being)|Patji]] and the [[Sand Lord]], both of [[Autonomy]].{{wob ref|8902}}{{wob ref|5876}} It is difficult, but possible for someone to become a Vessel of an avatar.{{wob ref|13323}}
Shardic power is also directly related to sentience and sapience. Close presence of a particular Shard, such as [[Cultivation]], can lead to surrounding beings developing higher levels of sapience.{{wob ref|2792}} Shardic power can also grant sentience directly -- [[Scadrian]]s are sapient due to Preservation's power within them, and [[Nightblood]]'s sapience is partially derived from his large quantity of [[Breath]]s. [[Splinter]]s can also become sapient.{{wob ref|1799}} Even the raw power of a Shard, if left alone and without a Vessel, will eventually begin to form a rudimentary mind.{{au ref|Selish}}
==== Magic Generation ====
When a Shard Invests a world, it will begin to fuel the local magic system. Each Shard can do this differently, though much of the system is dictated by the planet itself. Because of this connection to the magic, a Shard is able to directly interact with its users and provide
While not all magic systems in the cosmere are directly tied to a Shard, Shardic presence greatly influences the shape a magic system takes. On a [[Shardworld]], magic forms as a result of the interactions between Shard's power, [[Realmatic]]s, the world's natural inclinations and, in some places, even genetics.{{wob ref|6072}} For this reason, the exact function magic performs will not always be related to the Shard's nature -- for example, [[Surgebinding]], despite being powered by [[Honor]], is capable of manipulating [[Division]], separating things. However, how the magic is ''obtained'' is, in fact, tied to the Shard.{{wob ref|4032}} [[Hemalurgy]] demands that a person be destroyed, in line with the intent of Ruin, while Surgebinding demands forging bonds.
==== Futuresight ====
}}
Shards can perceive the future, although it can be difficult for them. Some are better at it than others, with [[Cultivation]] and [[Preservation]] in particular being noted as particularly excelling.{{book ref|sa1|75}}{{wob ref|5309}} Like all seers, Shards utilize [[Fortune]] to see ahead; and, like all seers, they can be wrong about both what they see and how they interpret it.{{book ref|sa3|122}} Shardic power can also be utilized by others to perceive the future like they do: examples of this are [[atium]], as well as the visions of the [[Returned]].{{wob ref|4645}}
{{theory}}▼
It has been speculated that the Shard's intent is tied to its proficiency in futuresight. Preservation, as a Shard dedicated to keeping things existing, and Cultivation, a Shard dedicated to growing something in a desired form, would hold a natural interest in predicting what the future will hold. As such, they would be particularly excellent at seeing it. By contrast, a Shard like Ruin, which is interested only in destroying things, and Honor, about holding to one's oaths no matter what, would not have "seeing ahead" as part of their nature.
== Forms and Subdivisions ==
[[File:Cultivation and the Nightwatcher 1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|<center><small>by {{a|Kyle Pearson}}</small></center> [[Cultivation]] with her daughter-[[spren]], [[Nightwatcher]] ]]
{{quote
| I'm still a [[spren]]. I’m a little piece of God.
▲| Ruin and Preservation inhabited power and energy in the same way a person inhabits flesh and blood.
| [[
}}
As a gas, the Shardic power can take on a number of different functions. Examples of Investiture in gaseous forms include [[Breath]], [[Stormlight]], and Preservation's mists. All can serve as fuel for magic. In both [[Awakening]] and [[Surgebinding]], gaseous Investiture is, in fact, the primary source of magic, but even in systems that use other substances, like [[Allomancy]], gaseous Investiture can serve the same purpose.{{wob ref|6072}}
===
{{for|Sliver}}
A Sliver is a person who has held the power of a Shard, and then released it.{{wob ref|4540}} This "stretches" a person's [[spiritweb]], noticeably altering them. There is some grey area as to how much power one needs to have to be considered a Sliver; however, a person who directly handled Shardic power is the most straightforward example. The [[Lord Ruler]] and [[Kelsier]] would both be considered Slivers, while [[Elantrian]]s and [[Returned]] would not.{{wob ref|4499}}
===
{{for|Splinter}}
Splinter is a fragment of a Shard's power, similar to how a Shard is a fragment of Adonalsium's power. Unlike Slivers of [[Cognitive Shadow]]s, Splinters don't generally have a Physical component.{{wob ref|4541}} They often have a mind of their own, separate and distinct from that of their parent Shard.{{wob ref|10089}} They can form in two distinct ways: either by the Shard being splintered (killed), or by the Shard directly splitting off splinters of itself.{{wob ref|4129}}{{book ref|sa3|108}}
Splinters can be comprised of the
▲{{theory}}
== See Also ==
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