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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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.
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