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|related=[[Adonalsium]], [[Investiture]]
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
}}▼
}}{{update}}
:''This page contains information for the Shards of Adonalsium. For information regarding the armaments used on Roshar, see [[Shardblade]] or [[Shardplate]].''
 
{{quote
| Sixteen people, together, ''killed'' [[Adonalsium]], ripping it apart and dividing its essence between them, becoming the first who Ascended.
| [[Khriss]] explaining to [[Kelsier]] what the Vessels are.{{msh ref|3|2}}
}}
 
The '''Shards of [[Adonalsium]]''', or '''Shards''' for short, are sixteen pieces of the power of creation itself.{{wob ref|6072}} They are each named after a specific actionactions or idealideals, often referred to as an "intent," which representsrepresent the Shard's primary purpose or motivation. A mind must control a Shard. When a person holds a Shard, they are imbued with its power, but they also become the Shard.{{wob ref|4466}} A person who has taken up the power of a Shard is the '''Vessel''' of that Shard.{{msh ref|5|2}}
 
There are sixteenThe Shards{{epigraph ref|TWoK|11}}, and they are the most powerful known entities in the [[cosmere]]. They are related to many, ifand notfor all, magic systems,intents and for practical purposes, theyserve areas cosmere's gods. AllMost, Shardsif startednot atall anmagic equalsystems powerare level.{{wobrelated ref|1081}}to them.
 
Ten of the original Shards have been named: [[Ambition]], [[Autonomy]], [[Cultivation]], [[Devotion]], [[Dominion]], [[Endowment]], [[Honor]], [[Odium]], [[Preservation]], and [[Ruin]].
 
== Introduction ==
[[File:Tanavast.jpg|thumb|right|250px|<center><small>by {{a|botanicaxu}}</small></center> [[Honor]] ]]
 
{{quote
| The Shards are not God, but they are ''pieces'' of God. Ruin, Preservation, Autonomy, Cultivation, Devotion...There are sixteen of them.▼
| Even now, I can barely grasp the scope of all this. The events surrounding the end of the world seem even larger than the Final Empire and the people within it.<br> 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.▼
| the [[Words of FoundingKhriss]]{{epigraphmsh ref|mb33|392}}, emphasis added
}}
 
=== Power ===
It is not known what [[Adonalsium]] is, whether it be a person or a great power. Since Shards have been called pieces of the power of creation,{{wob ref|6072}} it is theorized that Adonalsium is in fact the power of creation. Regardless of its nature, Adonalsium was [[Shattering|Shattered]] by the original sixteen Vessels, and thus the Shards of Adonalsium came into being. There's a total of sixteen Shards.
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 will become noticeably red.{{wob ref|8340}}
 
These Shards are named after their respective intent, which represents the driving force of the power{{annotation ref|mb3|chapter=58}}--an aspect of creation. However, after the Shattering, the Shards were left with no mind to control the power. For [[Realmatic]] reasons, a mind--Cognitive power--must be attached to the Spiritual power of the Shard. People, [[Rayse]] and [[Bavadin]] for example, take up these Shards.
 
When a person takes up a Shard, the extreme power vaporizes the body, allowing the person's mind to expand.{{wob ref|6072}} From then on, the person's consciousness feeds on the power of the Shard to remain alive{{annotation ref|mb3|chapter=58}}, but the Shard's intent is the driving force of the power. Over an immense time--centuries, perhaps millennia--a Vessel’s mind begins to change, slowly molding to the Shard's intent.{{wob ref|5485}}{{epigraph ref|sa1|18}}{{annotation ref|mb3|chapter=57}}{{wob ref|5527}}
 
{{quote
| Ati was once a kind and generous man, and you saw what became of him.
| [[The Letter]], about Ati, the Vessel of [[Ruin]]{{epigraph ref|sa1|18}}
▲}}
 
It is not clear who the original Vessels were, but they all originally were from [[Yolen]]. Together, the sixteen of them killed Adonalsium and divided the power between themselves, becoming the first to Ascend.{{msh ref|3|2}} Over time, the Vessels begin referring to themselves as their Shard's name (though they do remember their original selves).{{wob ref|7264}} They eventually scattered throughout the cosmere, taking residence on several different [[Shardworld|worlds]] and influencing events on their given planet. Ruin and Preservation made a pact to create life on Scadrial,{{epigraph ref|mb3|53}} and constructed humans in the form which they have seen before{{book ref|mb3|76}}--presumably on the planet where Adonalsium and these Vessels came from. Judging from humanity on other Shardworlds, the Shards on those worlds probably created humanity there, too. However, the worlds existed before the Shards arrived there{{wob ref|7262}} so there is a case to be made that humans already have been present before the Shards’ arrival in some cases. It is known that some shards may have helped transplant humanity to other worlds as well.{{book ref|sa3|113}}{{wob ref|8243}}
 
At least one of the vessels regrets taking up their power, though it is unknown which of them this refers to.{{wob ref|11900}}
 
Often, a Vessel's original name is mentioned in some form on their world. Atium is named after Ati, lerasium after Leras, and those condensed essences of their Shards' power. AonDor is derived from Aona, a Vessel on Sel. {{epigraph ref|sa1|22}} The [[Tears of Edgli]] is a valuable flower on [[Nalthis]], named after Edgli, vessel of [[Endowment]].
 
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 can also influence the world in other ways; examples of such influence are [[atium]] and [[lerasium]] on [[Scadrial]], the [[Tears of Edgli]] on [[Nalthis]], or the many [[spren]] or [[Roshar]].
It is possible for a Vessel to be separated from their Shard without dying{{wob ref|120}} or Splintering the Shard they held.{{wob ref|6587}} When a Vessel dies, the person's original body rematerializes and falls to the ground as a corpse.{{epigraph ref|mb3|56}}▼
 
=== Vessel ===
Two of the original Vessels were relatives.{{wob ref|1291}}
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}}
Ruin and Preservation were drawn together because they were such perfect opposites (though not all Shards have pairs like those ones do).{{wob ref|5518}} Direct confrontation between their two powers was excruciatingly painful, and they eventually destroyed each other and the power of both shards was taken up by Sazed, forming the new shard 'Harmony'. It is not clear whether if any two Shards collided, they would both die, or if this was simply an effect of Ruin and Preservation having such opposite intents.
 
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 implied that not all Shards are equal (though they started at an equal level).{{wob ref|1081}} Rayse is said to hold the most dangerous of the sixteen, Odium.{{epigraph ref|sa1|19}}{{book ref|TWoK|46}} It is unknown what makes Odium inherently so dangerous, whether it is due to the intent, or because Odium actually has more power than other Shards.
 
▲It is possible for a Vessel to be separated from their Shard without dying{{wob ref|120}} or Splintering the Shard they held.{{wob ref|6587120}} When a Vessel dies, the person's original body rematerializes and falls to the ground as a corpse.{{epigraphwob ref|mb3|566587}}
Odium was powerful enough to travel to Sel, kill Aona and Skai, and Splinter their power:
 
== History ==
:''For the histories of individual Shards, see their respective pages.''
{{quote
▲| Even now, I can barely grasp the scope of all this. The events surrounding the end of the world seem even larger than the Final Empire and the people within it.<br> 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.
| One need only look at the aftermath of his brief visit to Sel to see proof of what I say. In case you have turned a blind eye to that disaster, know that Aona and Skai are both dead, and that which they held has been Splintered. Presumably to prevent anyone from rising up to challenge Rayse.
| [[The LetterSazed]]{{epigraph ref|sa1mb3|2239}}
}}
 
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}}
It is unknown if Odium is special in his ability to Splinter a Shard, but regardless, the person who wrote [[the Letter]] is terrified of Odium's power.
 
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}}
Odium is not native on Roshar{{wob ref|6918}} and it's not known yet whether any Shard is native on its Shardworld.{{wob ref|9934}}
 
Originally, the Shards made a pact not to interfere with each other; however, only a few Shards kept to it.{{epigraph ref|sa3|39}} The pact was not, it seems, set in stone, as even the Shard of oathkeeping, [[Honor]], felt no qualms about travelling with [[Cultivation]].{{wob ref|10835}}
If Brandon were to do a novel where different magic systems collide as the focus of the book, he refers to it as a '''conflux''' book.{{wob ref|10125}}
 
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}}
The [[Seventeenth Shard]], however, is not a Shard of Adonalsium, but rather an organization of people who hop between worlds.{{wob ref|4439}}{{wob ref|4013}}
 
OneAt doesleast notone needof tothe beVessels ableregrets to use Investiture in order to taketaking up a Shard, butthough thewhich abilityone that would be doesis helpunknown.{{wob ref|406211900}}
 
== Known Shards ==
== Use of Investiture ==
{{quote
| I am convinced from my studies that [Scadrial] itself '''did not exist''' before its Shards, Ruin and Preservation, arrived in the system.
▲| The Shards are not God, but they are ''pieces'' of God. Ruin, Preservation, Autonomy, Cultivation, Devotion...There are sixteen of them
| [[Khriss]] talking about the origin of a shards power.{{mshau ref|3|2Scadrian}}
}}
 
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