Difference between revisions of "Shard"
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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}}
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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 ==
|-
| [[Preservation]]
| [[Sazed]] <small>(formerly [[Leras]], [[Kelsier]], and [[Vin]])</small>
| [[Scadrial]]
| ''[[Mistborn (series)]]''
}}
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}}
}}
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}}
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