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→Future Sight: Odium says that access to the Spiritual Realm is different from Fortune, and nowhere is it stated that Shards use Fortune or even that all seers do.
Niser Resin (talk | contribs) m (→Future Sight: Odium says that access to the Spiritual Realm is different from Fortune, and nowhere is it stated that Shards use Fortune or even that all seers do.) |
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:''This page contains information for the Shards of Adonalsium. For information regarding the armaments used on Roshar, see [[Shardblade]] or [[Shardplate]].''
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]].{{wob ref|9507}} 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}}
Originally, the Shards made an agreement not to interfere with each other,{{epigraph ref|sa3|39}} but they did not make a formal oath{{wob ref|13144}} and many of the Shards chose not to keep to the agreement.{{epigraph ref|sa3|39}} Additionally, [[Honor]] felt he did not break the agreement by traveling with [[Cultivation]],{{wob ref|10835}} suggesting the wording of the agreement may not have been as precise as Shards like Endowment thought.
== Known Shards ==
There are sixteen original Shards, with fifteen Shards (including Harmony) currently known. Two of the original Shards are currently unknown.
{| class='infobox sortable' align=center
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| [[Valor]]
| ''Unknown
| ''Unknown''
| ''Unknown''
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 from their power -- this is most commonly seen on [[Roshar]], with its overabundance of [[spren]]. Many of them, like the [[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
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}}
}}
Shards can perceive the future, although it can be difficult for them. Some are better at it than others, with [[Cultivation]] and [[Preservation]]
Both [[Preservation]] and [[Honor]] describe seeing the future as not one set path, but a tangled web of linked possibilities, as well as the circumstances necessary to bring them about, with some being more likely than others. As a result, predicting the future is not a
It is theorized that a Shard's intent may be tied to its proficiency with future sight. 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 which may make them more proficient with this ability. By contrast, a Shard like Ruin, which is interested only in destroying things, and Honor, about holding to one's oaths, would not have "seeing ahead" as part of their nature.
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