Difference between revisions of "Warbreaker"

Warbreaker tells the story of two sister princesses, [[Vivenna]] the elder and [[Siri]] the younger, of the country of [[Idris]]. Vivenna was contracted through treaty to marry the God-King of rival nation [[Hallandren]] and is raised for this her entire life. For Insteadreasons of political expediency, Siri is sent, unprepared, to meetfulfill the treaty. Vivenna, feeling her life to be devoid of purpose with her sister married in her place, follows to Hallendren in hopes of saving Siri from her fate. Both sisters become involved in intrigues relating to an imminent war between their home nation of [[Idris]] and Hallendren and attempt to divert the war from happening in their own ways: Siri from the inside of the government and Vivenna from cooperation with the underground.

The book uses a system of magic which is heavily reliant on art. Magic users are known as Awakeners and their power comes from the number of BiChromaticBioChromatic [[Breath]]s they have stored. A breathBreath can be thought of as a soul, butor aas betterthe interpretationmanifestation is that it isof the 'sixth sense'. thatOnce werobbed allof seemthe to have. Without itbreath, a person knownis ascalled a drabDrab. hasDrabs afind harderit timedifficult perceivingto colors,perceive thecolor worldand seemsdo muted,not andexperience theythe don'tsixth havesense' anor abilitythe toodd perceivesensation ifresulting from someone is watching them (the feeling that someone has their eyes on youryou back)unobserved. WithThe largermore amountsBreaths ofa soulsperson amassedobtains, athe personmore gainsdramatic newtheir abilities become. EachThere stepare isten referredlevels toor as'Heightenings' aof this Heighteningmagic.

Any amount of BreathsBreath -allows Awakening : Withthe anyability amount of breaths a person canto, through specific commands, call inanimate objects to life by investing BreathsBreath in them and draining the color from another object, (Awakeners usually carry a few pieces of cloth carriedfor around by thethis awakenerpurpose). The closer the object's resemblesresemblance to a human already(anthropomorphic shape), the easier it is. to Sizeawaken. alsoObjects affectsof thea amountgreater ofsize Breathsrequire necessarymore Breath, as cando theobjects complexitydirected ofto thecarry out complicated commands. BreathsBreath can be regained from objects by the person who invested them with the command "Your Breath to mine."

The following is mostly from the Ars Arcanum of Warbreaker:

*First - 50 Breaths - Aura Recognition (The ability to determine how many breaths another person has)

*Second - 200 Breaths - Perfect Pitch (The ability to determine musical notes)

*Third - - 600 Breaths - Perfect Color Recognition (Similar to Perfect Pitch, but with the ability to determine the hues of colors)

*Fourth - 1,000 Breaths - Perfect Life Sense

*Fifth - - 2,000 Breaths - Agelessness (Also, immunity to toxins and most physical ailments though death is still possible from physical violence)

*Sixth - - 3,500 Breaths - Instinctive Awakening (Ability to use basic awakening commands without training or practice. Difficult commands become easier to practice and discover)

*Seventh - 5,000 Breaths - Breath Recognition (Similar to Aura recognition, but for objects that have been invested with breath)

*Eighth - 10,000 Breaths - Command Breaking (Ability to override commands of another awakener's awakened object)

*Ninth - - 20,000 Breaths - Greater Awakening (Ability to Awaken stone and steel, though it takes large amounts of breath and specialized commands)

*Tenth - 50,000 Breaths - Audible Command (Ability to awaken objects the awakener is not physically touching) , Color Distortion (Creates colors from a white object by bending the light around it), Perfect Invocation (Awakener is able to draw more color when awakening leaving objects white rather than grey)

Specialized forms of this magic that are pertinent to Warbreaker include the Lifeless and the Returned. The Lifeless are reanimated human bodies that require only one breathBreath to awakenAwaken. They are sustained with a specialized liquid called ichor alcohol. Lifeless feel little or no pain and are able to follow simple commands.

The Returned are the god beingsgods of the Halladren religion. They are people who are said to have died in such a heroic mannersmanner thatas theyto werebe given the choicechance to return to this world from the afterlife to accomplish something. They lose their memories during the return trip but are guided by their own inherent prophetic powers. The Returned must consume one Breath every two weeks or else they die. They each contain a single powerful Breath that alone allows them to reach Fifth Heightening,; granting them, among other things, Agelessnessagelessness. The Returned also may spend this one Breath once in their lives to perform a miracle and upon doing so, they die.