User:WeiryWriter/Sprendex/Article

{!{Magical Entities |magic=Surgebinding, Fabrials |appearance=varies |world=Roshar |books=The Stormlight Archive }}

“ Spren appear when something changes—when fear appears, or when it begins to rain. They are the heart of change, and therefore the heart of all things.”

— Hesina to Kaladin

Spren are a type of magical entity that live on the planet Roshar. They are a combination of the powers of the Shards Honor and Cultivation. Some are more of Honor; others, Cultivation; the rest are a mixture of the two. Spren act as "release valve" for uncontrolled shardic energy, like the Seons and Skaze of Sel.

Physiology

While spren are often invisible, they are said to be ever present and will appear around the phenomenon they are named for. Some spren are easier to find than others, however even the most common will, at times, fail to appear. The exception is in Shinovar, where no spren appear.

Symbiotic Relationships

Some types of spren live in symbiotic relationships with various other creatures extant on Roshar. Perhaps the best known examples of this are Greatshells. There is a type of spren that lives in their bodies which contribute to their ability to grow to such large sizes.

The Parshendi also form symbiotic bonds with spren to enter different "Forms." Parshmen are Parshendi lacking a bond with a spren, and so have no Form.

Each Order of the Knights Radiant bonded with a different type of spren.{!{cite}}

{!{theory}}

It is also possible that the magic fish of the Purelake and the Ryshadium breed of horses get their unique traits from bonds with spren.

Known Subtypes

Alespren

“ Test successful. Have noted spren who appear only when one is severely intoxicated. Appear as small brown bubbles clinging to objects nearby. Further testing may be needed to prove they were more than a drunken hallucination.”

— Axies the Collector

A rare type of spren that appear only in Iri. They appear occasionally to people who are under the influence of alcohol. They appear as "small brown bubbles" that cling to objects close to the observer. They were given the name "alespren" by Axies the Collector, a scholar who studies spren, after considering the name "intoxicationspren". The locals refer to them as sudspren.

Axies theorized their existence but was only able to observe them once, leading him to doubt their existence. As there are other stories of people seeing them, their existence is likely.

Angerspren

“ Vamah was watching them stand there, and his expression was as thunderous as a highstorm, angerspren boiling up from the ground around him like small pools of bubbling blood.”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Fifteen

A common type of spren that appear around people experiencing anger. They, generally, have the appearance of pools of boiling blood bubbling up from the ground around the feet of the angry individual.

Among the Parshendi, angerspren have the appearance of bolts of lightning that radiate out from the feet of the angry individual.

Anticipationspren

“ A few anticipationspren—like red streamers, growing from the ground and whipping in the wind—began to sprout from the rock and wave among the soldiers.”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Six

A common type of spren that appear around people looking forward to something. They appear as red streamers that grow out from the ground and blow in the wind. They often appear around soldiers directly before a battle.

Bindspren

“ He thought he could faintly make out tiny spren, dark blue and shaped like little splashes of ink, clustering around the place where the rock met the wall.”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Fifty-Seven

Spren that appear around objects bound with a Full Lashing. They are appear as small splashes of dark blue ink. Their relationship to the Lashings is not fully understood. Kaladin believes they are what hold the objects together. While Sylphrena disagrees saying they could be attracted to the Full Lashing Kaladin had created.

Coldspren

A type of spren mentioned in Navani's notebook. They can be captured in gems of a certain cut and used in fabrial machines.

Creationspren

“ Her drawing gathered about a half-dozen of them, pulling them by her act of creation just as a bright fire would draw flamespren.”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Seven

An uncommon type of spren that appear around creative acts such as painting or drawing. They are of medium-size, about finger-length, and glow with a silvery light. They take the form of objects they have recently seen exactly but move them in odd ways, such as a table that rolls like a wheel.

When drawing, the more skilled one is, the more likely creationspren are to appear.

Cryptics

Main Article: Cryptics

A type of spren connected to Shadesmar and innate Soulcasting ability. They have the appearance of figures in robes that hang "too stiffly" as if they were "made of glass" and instead of heads they have a floating symbol full of "impossible angles and geometries." To date they do not appear to have manifested directly in the Physical Realm, appearing only in mirror reflections and the drawings of Shallan Davar.

Cusicesh

Main Article: Cusicesh

Deathspren

“ Only the dying could see deathspren. You saw them, then died. Only the very, very lucky few survived after that. Deathspren knew when the end was close.”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Thirty-Eight

A type of spren that appears only to people near death. Very few people survive after seeing deathspren. They have the appearance of many-legged fist-sized creatures. They are black with glowing red eyes that leave trails of light. They whisper with voices like paper being torn. Deathspren seem to be repelled by water.

Decayspren

“ I didn't know men got this old. You sure he's not decayspren wearing a man's skin?”

— Sylphrena to Kaladin

A type of spren referenced by Sylphrena. Very little is known about them, such as how they are different from rotspren.

Exhaustionspren

A type of spren that appear around exhausted people. Their physical appearance has not been described, but they appear among the Kholin forces following the Battle of the Tower.

Fearspren

“ Fearspren—wiggling and violet—sprang up through the wood and wriggled in the air.”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Six

A common type of spren that appear around people experiencing fear. They have the appearance of small, violet globs that crawl up from out of the ground and gather around the feet of the fearful. They seem to be attracted to the highest concentration of fear in an area, people experiencing less fear will fail to attract fearspren.

Flamespren

“ Tiny flamespren danced around [the torches], like insects made solely of congealed light.”

— The Way of Kings: Prologue

A common type of spren that appear around fire. They appear as tiny insects made of congealed light. They will often dance around flames, constantly changing in size, shape, and luminosity like the flames themselves.

The Ardent Geranid was studying flamespren when she discovered that if she measured them in someway the spren seemed to be "stuck" by that measurement.

Gloryspren

“ Below, his men cheered, sending up calls that rose above the Parshendi war chant. Gloryspren sprouted around him.”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Sixty-Five

A type of spren that appears around people experience pride in their accomplishments. They appear as golden orbs of translucent light.

Gravityspren

A type of spren mentioned in Navani's notebook. They can be captured in gems of a certain cut and used in fabrial machines. Possibly another name for groundspren.

Greatshell Spren

A type of spren that has a symbiotic realtionship with greatshells, they, in part, enable them to grow to such large sizes. They look like tiny tongues of smoke, such as those from snuffed candles. They only appear leaving a greatshell's corpse after it has been killed.

The Tai-na of the Reshi Sea have an extraordinary variant of spren, referred to as the "soul" of the greatshell by the Reshi, that allow them to grow to truly gargantuan sizes. These "souls" will sometimes show themselves to people and do such things as slowing a person's fall.

Groundspren

A type of spren to which Rosharans attribute the pull of gravity.

Heatspren

A type of spren mentioned in Navani's notebook. They can be captured in gems of a certain cut and used in fabrial machines.

Honorspren

Main Article: Honorspren

Hungerspren

“ As he spoke, he attracted a few hungerspren. They looked like brown flies that flitted around the man's head, almost too small to see.”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Two

A type of spren that appears around people experiencing extreme hunger. They appear as tiny brown flies that flit around the hungry person.

Laughterspren

“ A few laughterspren—minnow-like silver spirits that darted through the air in circular patterns—began to zip about them.”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Fourteen

A type of spren that appears in the presence of laughter. They have the appearance of small, silver minnows that dart in circular motions around those who are laughing.

Lifespren

“ A few lifespren—tiny, glowing green specks—floated around the shalebark mounds. Some danced amid the rifts in the bark, others in the air like dust motes zigzagging up, only to fall again.”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Thirty-Nine

A common type of spren that appears around plant-life, particularly just after highstorms. They look like "motes of glowing green dust or swarms of tiny translucent insects."

Logicspren

“ There were said to be logicspren—in the form of tiny stormclouds—who were attracted to great arguments...”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Seven

A rare type of spren that appear around great arguments. They take the appearance of tiny stormclouds.

Luckspren

A type of spren that flies around Skyeels. They are referred to as "luckspren" by sailors, but it may not be their true name.

Musicspren

“ Musicspren zipped through the air around [the drummers], the tiny spirits taking the form of spinning translucent ribbons.”

— The Way of Kings: Prologue

A type of spren that appear around musical performances. They have the appearance of "spinning, translucent ribbons." A single, pure note is enough to draw at least one musicspren, if only for a short time.

Painspren

“ Painspren swarmed the ground, like small orange hands or bits of sinew, reaching up from the ground amid the blood of the fallen.”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Forty-Seven

A common type of spren that appear around those experiencing pain. They have the appearance of sinewy, orange hands. They crawl out of the ground and swarm the pained, latching on to the wounded areas.

Passionspren

“ Passionspren, like tiny flakes of crystalline snow, floated down in the air around them.”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Sixty-One

A type of spren that appears around those experiencing romantic passion. They look like small flakes of snow.

Rainspren

“ [Rainspren] were said to be the souls of raindrops...”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Forty-Four

A type of spren that appears most often during the Weeping. The have the appearance of glowing, ankle-height, blue candles that, despite seeming to melt, never grow shorter. They have a single eye at the top of their body. They often stand in puddles.

Riverspren

“ [The Purelake] was filled with tiny fish, colorful cremlings, and eel-like riverspren.”

— The Way of Kings: Interlude One

A common type of spren that appear in bodies of water such as rivers or the Purelake. They are often described as being "eel-like." They are among the larger varieties of spren and have the ability to mimic faces and expressions as well as voices, often choosing to torment people while doing so.

Rotspren

“ Rest… and keep that wound clean. We don't want to attract any rotspren. Let me know if you see any. They are small and red, like tiny insects.”

— Kaladin

A common type of spren that appear around infected tissue and rotting corpses. They have the appearance of tiny red, translucent insects that gather around infected wounds.

Unlike most spren, which most Rosharans believe are only attracted to their namesake, rotspren are said to be the cause of sickness and infection. They are seen to be repelled by water and antiseptics such as Lister's Oil, Knobweed Sap, and [[other thing.

Starspren

“ It was the time between moons, and so he was lit mostly by the firelight; there was a spray of stars in the sky above. Several of those moved about, the tiny pinpricks of light chasing after one another, zipping around like distant, glowing insects.”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Forty

A rare type of spren that appear at night amongst the stars. They appear as small points of light that chase one another like insects.

Windspren

“ Windspren were devious spirits who had a penchant for staying where they weren't wanted…”

— The Way of Kings: Chapter Two

A common type of spren that appear in the presence of wind. As one of the larger types of spren, windspren are able to change their appearance at will, though they often appear as "ribbons of light without form."

The leading edge of a highstorm is home to "thousands upon thousands" of windspren. Windspren are also a common sight at the tail of a highstorm "chasing after... the highstorm's last gusts."

Windspren are closely related to honorspren, such as Sylphrena. This perhaps evidenced by their ability to "stick things together" although that could be restricted to unbonded honorspren.

Possible Spren

Captivityspren

“It appears I'll have another chance to search for captivityspren.”

— Axies the Collector

A type of spren theorized to exist by Axies to appear around people in captivity. Despite being imprisoned numerous times he has never observed him leading him to doubt their existence.

Dawnsingers

According to the Ardent Kabsal, the Dawnsingers were "kindly spren sent by the Almighty" to care for mankind after being expelled from the Tranquiline Halls.

Nightspren

A type of spren believed to exist by more traditional, rural followers of Vorinism. Those with more eductation believe they are simply fabrications of the Knights Radiant to support their dominance.

Nightwatcher

Most Rosharans believe the Nightwatcher to be a very powerful type of spren.

Voidbringers

During the Era of Solitude on Roshar, most people living in cities believed the Voidbringers were a type of evil spren. This is perhaps a reference to Thunderclasts which seem to be created from corrupted spren bonding with stone.

External Links

• The Complete Spren Catalogue
• The Spren Theory of Disease

Notes

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