Vasher

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Vasher
Family
Spouse Shashara
Abilities Returned, Awakener, Worldhopping
Aliases Zahel
Profession Five Scholars
Nationality Idrian
Homeworld Nalthis

Vasher, Kalad, Strifelover, Peacegiver the Blessed, Talaxin, Zahel, or Warbreaker the Peaceful is a Returned on Nalthis.

He helped create the awakened sword Nightblood and was one of the Five Scholars.

History

Return

Vasher was born on Nalthis[1], but nothing is known about his natural life. Upon being returned, the Cult of the Returned named him "Warbreaker the Peaceful."

Five Scholars

Vasher was a member of the Five Scholars. He worked with Shashara to create Nightblood, among other things.

He married Shashara shortly before he slew her with Nightblood. He killed her in order to prevent the knowledge of its creation from being disseminated.

Fighting broke out when Arsteel attempted to disarm Vasher so as to talk sense into him. Arsteel, however, was slain by Vasher in their duel for at first unknown reasons. As Arsteel was the superior swordsman, Vasher was forced to use a trick to win the fight. When, during the events of Warbreaker, he fought Denth, we learned how he defeated Arsteel: He passed on a small quantity of Breaths to Arsteel, and slew the other Scholar when the shock of receiving Breath stunned him. Vasher used the same tactic to kill Denth.

The Manywar

Vasher, then known as Kalad, started an aggressive war between his kingdom, Hallandren, and the kingdoms of Kuth and Huth. The exact details are unknown, although it was hinted that Vasher was the first to strike. He believed war was unavoidable and decided to attack before the others did instead of trying for peace. The war ended when Vasher, having seen the death caused by the war, used his own creations, Kalad's Phantoms, to take control of Hallandren.

Historians were confused by his sudden change of heart. This led to the Hallandren calling Vasher Peacegiver. Eventually this led to the belief that they were separate people.

Peacegiver's Treasure

At the end of the Manywar, Vasher gave his store of Breaths (approximately fifty thousand) to the priests of Hallandren. It was passed down from God King to God King, all of whom had their tongues removed so that they wouldn't use the Breath.

Vasher in Hallandren

At the beginning of Warbreaker, Vasher used a trick to get himself imprisoned in the God King's palace. He escaped his cell and killed Vahr, in exchange for Vahr's Breath.[2] He later on rescued Vivenna and taught her to awaken. He helped Vivenna undo her work of trying to get the Idrians to start a war. Later on he broke into the God King's palace and got trapped by Denth. He killed Denth and told the God King how to use Vasher's army to stop the army of Lifeless which the Pahn Kahl had sent to attack Idris.

He then sets off to confront Yesteel who was attempting to restore Huth and Kuth.[3]

Vasher on Roshar

A depiction of Zahel by User: Botanicaxu.

Vasher worldhops to Roshar, where he is known as Zahel.[4] He is a reclusive warrior ardent who teaches the Kholin princes and Kaladin how to sword fight. He uses exclamations and phrases involving colors, which generally confuses the Rosharans.

Powers & Abilities

Returned

Vasher was one of the first Returned, he has a Divine Breath however over the years has developed abilities unique from other Returned. He is capable of altering his appearance, including altering his height as well as removing the Returned natural glow. Because he possess a Divine Breath he automatically has the Fifth Heightening. In addition he also has extended life and agelessness. It is speculated that other sources of investiture other than breathes can sustain Vasher.

Awakening

Vasher is one of the greatest awakeners to ever live. Having been alive for as long as he has, as well as dedicating large amounts of his life to study and experimentation, Vasher has extensive knowledge of awakening. Vasher can issue highly advanced commands to aid in combat, mobility, or espionage. He often does this using the minimum amount of breathes required, as he knows exactly how much is needed. Vasher has also developed innovations in the application of breaths. He created Kalad's Phantoms, a near unstoppable army of lifeless stone soldiers. He also is the only living person to know how to create sentient inanimate objects, having created Nightblood, an extremely powerful sword.

Swordsmanship

Vasher is a prolific swordsman. Though he has admitted that he is not the best swordsman, his ingenuity in combat gives him an edge. He also is open to using "cheap tricks" in combat, such as when he transferred breathes to stun his opponent. A clear indicator of his sword fighting prowess is that on Roshar he is a highly sought after Alethi blade master. Having directly trained both of the Kholin children and Kaladin in the use and defense against shardblades. His familiarity to using shardblades most likely stems from Nightblood having similar abilities to shardblades.

Notes

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