12,379
edits
(→Vulnerabilities: added link) |
m (Text replacement - "}} {{spoiler|sa4}}" to "}}") |
||
(16 intermediate revisions by 9 users not shown) | |||
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
}}
{{update|sa4}}
{{quote
|I am a god. [...] A little piece of one. Very, very little.
A Shard may also Splinter another Shard, tearing off one or many chunks of its power, typically for the purpose of diminishing it. This is a process that transcends the [[Realmatic Theory|three realms]]{{wob ref|7967}} and if a Shard is completely destroyed in this way it is said to be '''Splintered'''. Most commonly, a Splintering may happen as one titanic event that kills the [[Shard#Vessel|Vessel]] and disperses its power.{{msh ref|3|2}} Less frequently, a Vessel may be killed and then their Shard subsequently Splintered.{{msh ref|6|4}} The Splintering of a Shard may also have serious consequences in the [[Physical Realm]]. The power of a Splintered Shard may ravage a planet uncontrollably if its Investiture is not contained.{{au ref|sel}} There may be other physical effects of a Splintering, such as the formation of an asteroid belt in the system.{{wob ref|13213}} The process of Splintering is somewhat similar to the process by which [[Preservation]] stole a piece of [[Ruin]]'s body to hide from him.{{wob ref|2804}}
A Splintered Shard cannot have a Vessel while it remains in such a state, but its Splinters may be reconstituted into a full Shard via an unknown process,{{wob ref|1070}} although it will not restore the original Vessel.{{wob ref|5993}} This is not known to have occurred yet in the cosmere.{{wob ref|5147}} If a Splinter's parent Shard is itself completely Splintered, there may be some impact on any extant Splinters.{{wob ref|13381}} Whether or not a Shard can Splinter another Shard is dependent upon the amount of raw Investiture that said Shard is able to make use of at the time,{{wob ref|9540}} as well as its ability to leverage said power, and its knowledge of the Splintering process.{{msh ref|3|2}}{{wob ref|9616}} There are more and less efficient ways to Splinter a Shard, and it may grow easier with practice.{{wob ref|9563}}{{wob ref|9616}} Even a successful Splintering is taxing on the Shard performing it and may require some recovery by the Shard afterward.{{wob ref|9881}} In some cases, whether or not a Shard is Splintered may be somewhat vague.{{wob ref|5072}} A Shard left on its own without a Vessel may also Splinter of its own accord, although that is not the only possibility.{{wob ref|1877}}
== Vulnerabilities ==
{{image|Adolin_and_Maya.jpg|width=200px|side=right|[[Mayalaran]], a damaged Splinter, and [[Adolin]]}}
As Splinters are fragments of energy and energy is conserved in the cosmere,{{wob ref|6984}} they ultimately cannot be reduced to true nothingness.{{book ref|sa2|75}} They may be damaged sufficiently to destroy their minds, if they are self-aware in the first place. It seems one source of vulnerability of a Splinter is in any bonds it may have formed with other beings. One of the primary examples of this are the [[deadeye]]s of the [[Knights Radiant]] who break their oaths. These spren are effectively immortal, as their essence cannot be destroyed,{{book ref|sa2|75}} but they suffer physical disfigurement in the Cognitive Realm and are reduced in function.{{book ref|sa3|89}} When they are drawn as a [[Shardblade|Blade]], they experience a state of agony.{{book ref|sa2|87}} The severing of the [[Nahel bond]] rips out a portion of their soul, which is not easily replaceable.{{wob ref|6053}} However, to the astonishment of many spren, deadeye cultivationspren Mayalaran showed significant and ongoing [[Deadeye#Resurrection|rehabilitation]] during her time with Adolin Kholin.{{book ref|sa4|94}}
A bond between a human and a seon, another type of Splinter, can also be a vulnerability for the seon. Following the [[Reod]] in the ten years before the restoration of [[Elantris (city)|Elantris]], seons were in danger if their master was taken by the [[Shaod]]. The incorrect [[Aon]] acting on the human would disrupt their bonded seon as well, causing gaps to appear in their Aon, as well as a loss of any apparent sentience.{{book ref|elantris|16}} These damaged seons were known to stay close to their former masters that still lived, but apart from this they were seemingly totally unaware. Their minds were returned to them when Raoden repaired the [[Aon#Rao|Aon Rao]] in Elantris.{{book ref|thoe}}
Other vulnerabilities of Splinters appear to exist, but are less well understood. It seems apparent that if their [[Spiritweb]] is directly damaged by something like a Shardblade they may be killed,{{book ref|sa3|84}} or if their Investiture is consumed and fully corrupted by something like [[Nightblood]],{{wob ref|2681}} as is the case with the Fused.{{wob ref|10440}} Even if it is not fatal, corruption of any sort by a foreign type of Investiture can cause serious changes to a Splinter, as is the case with [[Glys]], a corrupted [[Spren#True Spren|true spren]].{{book ref|sa3|117}} Another possible vulnerability of Splinters is their ability to be trapped, perhaps most particularly those Splinters that lack a substantial physical aspect.
Due to their connection to their parent Shard, Splinters often struggle to leave the location where they were created or the system that their parent Shard inhabits.{{wob ref|8757}} However, some Splinters can be even further trapped under certain conditions, such as spren inside of [[Polestone|gemstones]].{{book ref|sa3|33}} It is uncertain if all Splinters may be similarly trapped under the correct conditions.
== Abilities ==
The abilities of a Splinter depend heavily on the conditions of their formation and the purpose or lack thereof that they were created with, although Splinters may learn to behave in ways other than was originally intended.{{book ref|sa2|87}} As previously mentioned, many Splinters may become self-aware or were self-aware from the moment of their creation,{{wob ref|6538}} but some do not and it is not a requirement to be a Splinter.{{wob ref|2904}} Splinters may
Ultimately, the full extent of abilities a Splinter may
== Known Splinters ==
|Spren are . . . power . . . shattered power. Power given thought by the perceptions of men. Honor, Cultivation, and . . . and another. Fragments broken off.
|Syl on spren{{book ref|sa2|24}}}}
Splinters are perhaps most populous in the [[Rosharan system]], residing in the form of spren and Cognitive Shadows on at least two of the planets there.{{au ref|roshar}} On [[Roshar]], Splinters most commonly take the form of spren, comprised often of some mixture between the Investiture of both [[Honor]] and [[Cultivation]].{{wob ref|13604}} The Shard Honor has actually been Splintered entirely.{{wob ref|9810}} While these two Shards are most common on Roshar, self-aware Splinters left by Adonalsium remain on the planet.{{wob ref|10563}} Spren are more properly known as transformative cognitive entities,{{book ref|sa3|part=ars}} concepts from the Cognitive Realm that have gained power and sentience as people have personified them.{{book ref|sa2|1}} Notably powerful Splinters range in power from the true spren capable of forming [[Nahel bond]]s, such as the [[honorspren]],{{wob ref|3017}} to massive spren of larger importance such as the [[Stormfather]]{{wob ref|5991}} and the [[Nightwatcher]].{{wob ref|9207}} Certain objects created directly by the local Shards, including the [[Honorblade]]s, may also be Splinters.{{wob ref|6539}} While the flashiest bonds may belong to [[Surgebinding|Surgebinders]], the Splinters of this world form symbiotic relationships with many species of creatures,{{au ref|roshar}} including the [[Ryshadium]]{{wob ref|10499}} and the [[Tai-na]].{{book ref|sa2|i|3}} Splinters are also made use of in devices known as [[fabrial]]s, which require trapping a Splinter in order to create some sort of Invested device with a specific power.{{book ref|sa3|33}} The ten Cognitive Shadows known as [[Herald]]s could be considered Splinters as well, most likely created from Honor's Investiture.
Splinters of Odium are also present on that world, such as the [[Unmade]],{{wob ref|1672}} and other [[Voidspren]].{{book ref|sa2|3}} The Cognitive Shadows of ancient long-dead [[singer]]s, known as the [[Fused]], are also considered to be Splinters.{{epigraph ref|sa2|34}} Historically, these Splinters have been confined by the [[Oathpact]] to [[Braize]], a planet inhabited solely{{au ref|drominad}} by an entire ecosystem of self-aware Splinters,{{au ref|roshar}} except during [[Desolation]]s.{{book ref|sa3|38}} However, following the [[True Desolation]] and the appearance of the [[Everstorm]] on Roshar, they are present on both Braize and Roshar. It is unknown if any Splinters are present on [[Ashyn]], the third inhabited planet in the Rosharan system.{{au ref|roshar}} Splinters in this system are particularly vulnerable to the Unmade [[Sja-anat]], who is capable of corrupting Splinters with Odium's Investiture.{{book ref|sa3|97}}
|[[Khriss]]'s notes on Sel{{au ref|sel}}
}}
In the distant past, both Shards native to Sel, Devotion and Dominion were Splintered by Odium.{{epigraph ref|sa1|22}}{{au ref|sel}} As a result the beings known as seons and skaze were formed from their Splinters; although their exact origin and manner of creation is something that is currently uncertain. The seons are considered to be Splinters of Devotion,{{wob ref|5991}} and more specifically it may be the [[Aon]]s at the heart of the seons that are the actual Splinters.{{wob ref|4679}}
One uncertainty on Sel is the exact nature of the Dor. While the skaze and seons represent a small portion of the Splinters of Dominion and Devotion,{{wob ref|3184}} the vast majority of their power is contained within Shadesmar as the [[Dor]].{{au ref|sel}} While it is known to be composed of the combined Investiture of Splintered Shards,{{au ref|sel}} it is still uncertain whether the Dor itself is made up of discrete Splinters or just a generalized mix of Investiture.
|Khriss on Ruin killing Preservation
}}
During the time of the [[Final Empire]], both Ruin and Preservation had no Splinters of themselves on [[Scadrial]].{{wob ref|4541}} This signifies that their [[Metallic Arts#The God Metals|
=== Elsewhere in the Cosmere ===
; Footnotes
<references group=fn />
{{
{{cosmere}}
[[category: Shards|*]]
|