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You called Nightblood a miscrea-- a misformed Shardblade.
A Shardblade created with a different magic system.
Is that an intentional creation or mimicry? Or--
Yes, that is intentional.
Intentional on the part of the person who made Nightblood…
Mmhmm.
This actually came out of a panel today. You'd originally said that Nightblood is way more powerful than a regular Shardblade, but at the time that question was asked of you we didn' know about live Shardblades, we only knew about dead Shardblades. So is that still true, now that we know we have at least two--
Oh he is more powerful than a regular Shardblade. *groaning and laughter* that is 100% still true.
How does Nightblood compare to a more living Blade?
More living Blade? Hehe, you’re asking the same--
No I'm asking a different question. *laughter*
Well, let's just RAFO that one.
Speaking of the Stormfather, would the Nightwatcher and the giant water spren be on the same level of spren as the Stormfather?
...The Nightwatcher, yes. Um... There are, I would say, a level below the Stormfather and the Nightwatcher who are also much-- a much bigger deal than something like one of the sapient spren, and that's what Cusicesh is.
So the Nightwatcher is a spren you'd say?
The Nightwatcher-- I mean, they call the Nightwatcher a spren. Everyone in the books thinks the Nightwatcher is a spren. That's what they would call-- that's what they would call, if they knew what Honor was, they would call Honor a spren. A spren is Investiture that is alive.
Nightblood?
So they would call Nightblood a spren. They would call-- That's the word for what all of these things are. They would probably've called Adonalsium a spren…
What would Hoid call one of those?
What would Hoid call the Nightwatcher? *laughter* What would Hoid call one of what?
Yeah what would Hoid call the Nightwatcher?
Um… *long pause/laughter*
If Hoid were to use a non-proper noun?
Unpleasant names. *laughter*
So was Vasher, or the lady that created-- that was part of the process creating Nightblood a worldhopper, then?
Vasher had been to Roshar before he created Nightblood, yes.
So what would happen if [Lift] ate Nightblood? *laughter*
Yeah, eating Nightblood would not be a smart idea for anyone. *laughter* Nightblood would eat you. In Soviet Russia, sword eats you? I don't know…
How does corrupted investiture work, like Nightblood?
Oh, Nightblood. Again, this is a definition of what somebody feels is a corruption. For instance, there are spren that people would feel are corrupted. But that's corruption where the mixing of different Shards has changed things, and I think a lot of times when people say corruption, what they're meaning is the mixing of Shards' powers.
So is there a mixing of Shards' powers happening with Nightblood?
*smirks* RAFO. That's the natural question, I'm glad you asked it.
Ok, uhhh, so something similar is happening with Gavilar's sphere, right?
*contemplative silence* RAFO.
Why does Nightblood need to eat Investiture?
So, Nightblood is... leaky, is how I would say it.
Does his sheath help with that somehow?
Yes.
If you were a Leecher, could you destroy a Shardblade?
I'm going to RAFO that for now, let's just say that it would be incredibly difficult if it were possible, and I'm not going to even say if it is. But that kind of power...
Let's just say they were burning duralumin as well.
Let's just say that the Investiture in a Shardblade is much greater than your average Allomancer, but... This type of thing is not unheard of in the Cosmere. The larkin, the Leechers, and Nightblood all have a similar sort of thing going on. Destroying a Shardblade would be really hard. And Investiture resists other forms of Investiture, so.
How does Vasher lose [Nightblood]?
I will eventually answer that, but I am not answering it yet.
I am not entirely sure… I don’t think his intentions… might not all be good…
Your instincts are good.
Nightblood. Is there a person-- like are we seeing the outpouring of a sword that can now think more than a sword or was there a person...
There was-- There were many people who went into that, because it was all the Breaths that were little pieces of people.
Okay, but there’s not one person more than another?
No. Nope, it attained sapience kind of through sheer weight of Investiture.
Could Nightblood receive a boon and a curse from the Nightwatcher?
... She could try. I have no idea how that would turn out. I think it would take them and nothing would happen, would be my guess.
Is there a correlation, at all, between Awakening steel, a blade, and the revival of spren every time a Shardblade is summoned? I mean, I know Invesiture is Investiture is Invesiture.
So revival of the spren so--
Similar.
Okay. So, are you talking about a live Shardblade or a dead one, or it doesn’t matter.
Like Nightblood.
Okay.
Awakening the steel, like that, Shardblades <are like Awakening metal> and stuff.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The big difference here is that in one you’re using a physical component, right, and Investing it. In another, a more pure Investiture is passing into the Physical Realm and taking on an embodiment, a shape. Does that make sense? And so, similar but different things. There is a correlation, but it’s not--yeah.
Are the Bands of Mourning...would they be like similarly invested as Nightblood?
Not quite to the extent of Nightblood. In fact not remotely close to the extent of Nightblood.
Can you create a Shardblade with Breath?
Yes. That’s what Nightblood is.
With Nightblood coming in [to Words of Radiance] does that produce a magic system from a different book or does that stay separate?
It will stay separate.
Is Nightblood a minor Shard?
Nightblood is one of the most heavily Invested things in the cosmere that is not a Shard.
Vasher/Zahel is a Returned, which means he needs Breath to live. But Breath doesn’t exist on Roshar. Does he use St--
He uses Stormlight. One of the reasons-- In fact one of the primary reasons he’s on Roshar is because Stormlight is so much easier to come by than Breath. And in fact researching about things like this is one of the reasons he discovered Roshar in the first place.
So it’s the same reason why Night-- the sword…
Nightblood.
Yes.
The exact mechanics of how Nightblood ended up there will be explored in a future book.
So is it possible to Awaken a Shardblade? That's the question-- that's my question for you.
Um... With the magic system of Awakening, you mean?
Yeah.
So, all forms of Investiture strongly resist other forms of Investiture.
Makes sense.
*brief interruption* Nightblood is essentially an Awakened... Trying to do that.
'Cause he shows up in Words of Radiance, right?
Yes. So, it-- let's just say it'd be very, very hard. Because it's like saying, "Can-- I want to turn on a lightbulb that's been turned on." Yes, you can... maybe... I don't know what that even means. It's already Invested. It's already Awakened.
Have we seen Shardblades on worlds besides Roshar?
Do you count Nightblood? Yes or no?
No.
If you don't count Nightblood then I don't believe you have.
Are you going to explain how Vasher gets to the Stormlight...
I will.
Is that gonna be Warbreaker 2?
Warbreaker 2 is where I'm looking to do it.
Okay, cool.
Yep. *pause* I will at least give hints.
Hoid has never drawn his sword on Roshar, which looks similar to Nightblood. Is Hoid's sword also Awakened?
That is a RAFO, I'm afraid!
So Nightblood is sentient, he can make choices, and now he is in Roshar. Could Nightblood bond a spren and become a Radiant?
Could Nightblood bond a spren-- *drowned out by laughter* That one's just a bit farfetched. *laughter* I rarely say anything is impossible but let's just say that one's pretty farfetched.
*referring to a personalization request* That is a R A F O, but you do earn a card for your RAFO... Now let me just say--
I'm not asking about Nightblood, I'm asking about the Shardblades.
Yeah-- Oh, OH. You're asking-- okay. You're not asking what other Shardblades made, but if somebody brought a Shardblade to another pl--
Like if Kaladin went to Nalthis.
Okay, his Shardblade would manifest exactly-- it would do exactly the same thing.
What would happen if a Leecher touched Nightblood?
*nervous laughter* If a Leecher touched Nightblood the Leecher would be dead. That would not end well.
For the Leecher.
For the Leecher.
Did it take a life to create Nightblood?
Did it take a life to create Nightblood. It did not. It just required a lot of Breath, which you could assume each one is a little piece of a life so maybe. Multiple lives in that way but no one actually had to die. Good question.
So Nightblood is basically a Shardblade from a different god-Shard--
Yes.
--is that how it works?
Mmhmm.
Are there going to be-- Are there Allomantic Shardblades?
Not yet... And the Nightblood experiment has been an interesting experiment.
Can a Returned gain a Nahel bond?
It is not outside the realm of possibility. Much more easy than Nightblood [gaining a Nahel bond]. Invested things resist other Investiture and so it depends on amounts of Investiture and it depends on a lot of factors. But that one's a mixing that could happen.
What can you tell us about Nightblood's sheath?
What can I tell you about Nightblood's sheath. That it's cool. *laughter* It's a little bit different. Good question. I can tell you it's made of an unusual material.
So just for clarification, once Nightblood consumes investiture, that investiture gets recycled? That's what I've always assumed. That it enters the cognitive/spiritual realm?
The investiture he consumes is not gone forever--it's not leaving the system, so to speak.
Tertiary Book Projects
Warbreaker
While some characters from Nalthis have made appearances in other books, I still don't have a specific timeframe for when I'll go back and write the second Warbreaker book. (Titled Nightblood for the time being.)
I know a lot of people really want this book, and I intend to do it, but I have to find time for the Elantris sequels first. So you're unlikely to see it until Elantris is finished. (Sorry.)
Status: On Hiatus
From a very recent signing, we have this new Word of Brandon...
chasmfriend's son: Is there a finite amount of Investiture?
Brandon: Yes.
chasmfriend's son: So is Nightblood consuming it?
Brandon: Yes. Very, very slowly.
This worries me somewhat because of the following observation.
Nightblood consumes Breath (and other Investiture, but let's limit ourselves to Breath for a second).
Every person on Nalthis is born with one Breath.
Populations tend to grow. Which means that under normal rules of demographics, population of Nalthis should keep increasing.
This in turn means that under normal circumstances the number of people with Breath on Nalthis should be growing.
I can see the following possible explanations to this:
Endowment can give Breath to many more people than are currently living on Nalthis. So, the exponential population growth has not yet reached the level at which Endowment's ability to award a Breath to each Nalthis-born human is seriously challenged. When it happens though, things will not go well.
There is some built-in mechanism controlling population growth on Nalthis, making certain that the population stays within the limits. Nightblood's consumption of Breath makes these limits smaller, and overall may lead to Endowment's inability to grant Breath to Nalthis-born, but not for a while (essentially, Endowment controls population trends at she sees fit).
Thoughts?
Just as a point you should understand, the amount of MATTER in the cosmere is finite too. As is the amount of energy.
Worrying that Endowment will run out of Breaths to give is a little like worrying that the amount of carbon on Earth will run out because people keep being born.
So just for clarification, once Nightblood consumes investiture, that investiture gets recycled? That's what I've always assumed. That it enters the cognitive/spiritual realm?
The investiture he consumes is not gone forever--it's not leaving the system, so to speak.
Hypothetically could Nightblood Splinter a Shard?
Uh, Splintering a Shard takes more power than Nightblood has.
So we know that Nightblood was created by people who had some knowledge of Shardblades.
Mmhmm.
But we also know that Nightblood consumes Breaths when it's used.
Yep.
So do Shardblades require that kind of energy? It doesn't seem like they--
No.
So why are they different?
Because they were made with different magic systems, by different people, and different styles.
I have a question about Nightblood. I think I heard that-- Something you said in a Q&A that it is related to a Shardblade, or was a Shardblade?
Yeah… So Nightblood. Vasher visited Roshar, saw Shardblades, came back and tried to make one. With what he knew of his magic. That's the short version of it. Kind of simplifies things, but yes.
What would happen if Nightblood cut into a Shardpool?
Um, well I'm going to RAFO that for sure.
Is there a finite amount of Investiture?
Yes.
So is Nightblood consuming it?
Yes. Very, very slowly.
Would you yourself be able to wield Nightblood?
Anybody can wield Nightblood for a short, short time.
For Brandon, any ETA for Nightblood? Would love to know more about how that thing ended up with Szeth.
I'm working on my State of the Sanderson blog post for this year, which will cover most of these things. But...don't hold your breath. That one's pretty low on the list, I'm afraid. I need to do the Elantris sequels first, as they're far more cosmere relevant.
I was thinking about how Shardblades are essentially invested swords. Now, the investiture' source does not necessarily have to come from Roshar, as we have seen with Nightblood, which is a sword invested with Endowment's investiture.
So I was wondering if, say, a feruchemist decided store a LOT of investiture into a large block of nicrosil and fashioned a sword out of it, or at least made part of the blade out of it, would this essentially act as a Shardblade?
RAFO! (Did you expect anything different on this one?) :)
My question was since Shardblades can sever your soul and turn it gray. In Warbreaker the priest who held Nightblood and lived his hands were gray. so does Nightblood consume your soul.
Yes since your soul is investiture.
Could Wax, Vin, or the Lord Ruler burn Nightblood?
Firstly, you're assuming Nightblood is not Allomantically inert, but if it was, it would be like trying to burn someone else's metalmind.
Regarding Vasher... what was his name before he Returned?
That is a RAFO, but just a minor one... Vasher's past is a factor in Nightblood the book, and so I'm staying away from all answers about that.
When might we expect a sequel to Warbreaker?
When might you expect a sequel to Warbreaker. Okay, let me go down the list. I have finished three books, alright? The finished books are: Bands of Mourning, which is the sequel to the one you-- many of you bought today; I have finished Calamity, the last book of The Reckoners; and I've finished, a while ago, the fifth book of the Alcatraz series, for the middle-grade series. Which I finished a while ago, but we had to wait for the contracts to run out before I could release it, it's a big complicated thing. So those are in the queue, and they are coming.
Now I am writing, right now, Stormlight 3. Yes working on that. It's actually-- Anytime I mention Stormlight people are contractually obligated to shout in my crowds. So I'm finishing that and my goal is to have it done by May or June. If it is done by May or June the publisher has said they will publish it Christmastime, so November/December next year. If I miss May or June then it gets pushed back to the Spring sometime. So just watch the progress bars on my website and you'll see-- you'll be able to gauge. It's slowed down a lot because of revisions and touring but they should pick back up as soon as I get home.
After that I'm going to write a book called The Apocalypse Guard, which is my follow-up to Steelheart. Not the same world but the same style, fast-paced, frantic action sort of things. In the US those are published as teen books, here they're published as adult books, I don't even know what they are but I want to have a follow-up for my teen publisher. Something that's similar. So we're going to do that, then I'm going to do Rithmatist 2, and then I will do finally the fourth Wax and Wayne book which will wrap up Era 2 of Mistborn. Then I will do Stormlight 4.
If the book, such as Warbreaker sequel, is not in that list it means it is coming post-Stormlight 4. So we've got a little ways to wait, but I will get around to doing them, I promise.
How much of Nightblood's personality and effects come from the Command he was given?
A moderate amount
Say you have a Feruchemist who pours Identity into a metalmind. Then subsequently loses that mind, and then is later Awakened? Would that mind retain the personality of--
*Everyone laughs, Scottish man says "it's 11 o'clock at night, give the man a break!"*
Okay, so they store Identity—which I haven't told you what it does--
Yep. We don't know.
And then you Awaken it, and then you want to know if it has the personality of the person?
Yeah, or if it's able to communicate in any way.
Um, if-- how much Awakened is it? Is it Nightblood-level Awakened? Or is it just regular Awakened?
Sure let's say Nightblood-level.
Nightblood-level. So it's-- so the Investiture has been granted sapience. And it's got Investiture from somebody else stuffed in it. I can foresee a scenario where that has an influence, but it's not going to be the personality of the person who stuffed it in. I can see some circumstances where they can-- where the Investiture of the object can make use of that in some way, but...
Oh boy, that was a weird one.
I was curious if Nightblood was the only one of its kind, or if Vasher and Shashara have made any others.
That's a RAFO. Good question. Very good question. There was a point in time when Nightblood was the only one of its kind, and it may have continued until now.
I am curious about, if sprens are pieces of the god power, and investiture is the power of the god, then can Nightblood consume spren?
He could theoretically -- yeah, he could totally consume spren. There's not even any “theoretically” to that.
3 inaudible RAFOs [58:08-58:10: "Does Nightblood <know that?> Vasher <is there? level?>"]
On Nalthis, can aluminum prevent somebody from Returning? So if you kill somebody with aluminum and leave the weapon in them?
I don't think that's going to be enough. I think that…
Different way then?
Yeah there are totally ways. I don’t think that that’s going to be enough. There's a difference between being inert and blocking Investiture, and actually sucking out Investiture. If you stuck Nightblood inside of a corpse; there are certain things… if you had a larkin or whatever sitting there that ingests the Investiture as it was coming in, that would prevent [Returning]. I think with aluminum you would just have somebody that comes alive with a wound, so maybe... But I think it would just heal around [the aluminum] and you'd just have a spike in you, kind of like Hemalurgy—but not like Hemalurgy. It's inert, but you know what I mean.
Which suggests you can't actually Awaken aluminum.
No. It's not going to hold a charge.
I assume you can't Forge it, either.
No. In fact the unForgable metal-
Ralkalest?
There's an unForgeable metal mentioned.
Could we call it aluminum if we wanted to?
Let's just say that aluminum through most cultures was considered a mythological metal, and when people could actually find some, they considered it more valuable than gold, in our culture. So just sayin'...
How did Nightblood get on Roshar?
RAFO.
