Difference between revisions of "Shard"

| 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}}

| Ruin and Preservation inhabited power and energy in the same way a person inhabits flesh and blood.

| [[Sazed]]{{epigraph ref|mb3|14}}

Each Shard is a piece of the power of creation with a specific motivation, such as to destroy or to preserve. Those fragments each began their existence with equal level of power; however, over time many have diminished, whether through conflict or by the act of Investing a world -- imbuing it with [[Investiture]]. Each Shard has its own Investiture; while a Shard can co-opt the Investiture of another Shard, that Investiture willcan become noticeably red.{{wob ref|8340}}

Investing in a world will produce numerous effects, most notably the creation of a magic system tied to the Shard. While a Shard doesn't have complete control over how the magic system functions or what it does, it can manipulate its mechanics to an extent.{{wob ref|6072}}{{wob ref|4242}} Moreover, the presence of a Shard leads to the formation of a [[Perpendicularity]], a well of the Shard's Investiture that pierces all three [[Realmatic Theory|Realm]]s, allowing for the existence of [[worldhopping]].{{book ref|sa3|119}} The Shard 's investiture can also influencemanifest directly in the world in other ways; examples of such influencemanifestations are [[atium]] and [[lerasium]] on [[Scadrial]], the [[Tears of Edgli]] on [[Nalthis]], or the many [[spren]] of [[Roshar]].

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.{{annotationwob ref|mb3|chapter=587965}}{{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}}

It is possible for a Vessel to be separated from their Shard without dying or Splintering the Shard they held.{{wob ref|120}}{{wob ref|6587}} If this happens, then after the Vessel's death, it is able to resist the pull into the [[Beyond]].{{msh ref|6|8}}

| 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.

| [[Sazed]]{{epigraph ref|mb3|39}}

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,{{wob ref|13482}} 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}} At this time they all had an equal amount of power.{{wob ref|13482}}

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}}

| [[Sazed]] <small>(formerly [[Leras]], [[Kelsier]], and [[Vin]])</small>

| Some men, as they age, grow wiser. I am not one of those, for wisdom and I have always been at cross-purposes, and I have yet to learn the tongue in which she speaks.

| [[Hoid]] implying the existence of another Shard{{book ref|sa3|68}}

There remain six Shards that have not been named, nor referred to explicitelyexplicitly in text. Very little is known about them.

| The power of ancient Adonalsium permeates him. And controls him. [[Odium]] is a force like pressure, gravitation, or the movement of time. These things cannot break their own rules. Nor can he.

| [[Stormfather]]{{book ref|sa3|16}}

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 themShards, and they can bend and stretch as they wish it.{{epigraph ref|mb3|17}}

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 fromform without a conscious decision on the Shard's part, though the Shard is still aware of what is happening.{{wob ref|13220}} When created directly, however, they can be instilled with specific traits.{{epigraph ref|sa3|50}}

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}}

| It's as if the future is a shattering window. The further you look, the more pieces that window breaks into. The near future can be anticipated, but the distant future… I can only guess.

| [[Honor]]{{book ref|sa1|75}}

| I'm still a [[spren]]. I’m a little piece of God.

| [[Syl]]{{book ref|sa3|91}}