Questioner
I'm concerned that that bloodthirsty sword is off on his own again.
Brandon Sanderson
He, ah, he is, he is in dangerous hands right now, let's just say that.
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I'm concerned that that bloodthirsty sword is off on his own again.
He, ah, he is, he is in dangerous hands right now, let's just say that.
Can Nightblood be considered a Splinter and does it function like a spren realmatically, are there distinct differences is what I'm asking.
Nightblood is kind of his own strange thing. He's an attempt to use one magic to replicate something in another. He's closest to a spren, but kind of like a...robot spren, for lack of better words to use.
When you say that Nightblood is "an attempt to use one magic to replicate something in another," do you mean life in general, or are you referring to a specific effect in a specific magic system?
There are those involved who knew that Shardblades existed before they tried the Nightblood experiment.
So does this mean Vasher had knowledge of Shardblades before creating Nightblood?
It means what I wrote, and nothing more at this point. :)
Dude. That's the most tantalizing RAFO I've seen in awhile. Have other Shards made Shardblades besides Honor?
:) RAFO
Is that why Vasher uses the word 'Investiture' instead of some personal term for it?
I could be wrong, but I think Vasher was the first one in any book I allowed to use cosmere-aware terms for speaking of things like the magics. (Investiture is one of these.)
If an Elantrian were to get a hold of Nightblood and draw it, how would Nightblood react to that-- What kind of power would be unleashed?
So Nightblood needs kinetic Investiture to feed upon. The Elantrian would have to be able to get a conduit to the Dor to feed Nightblood or Nightblood would just eat their soul.
So if they used AonDor to fuel Nightblood--
There are some types of AonDor that would work, and there are others that would not.
And would Nightblood just keep going until either the Aon was--
He would dissolve the Aon as he drew the power from it.
So it wouldn't just empty the Dor?
No, it would not empty the Dor.
Are we ever going to find out who brought Nightblood to Roshar?
Yes.
Would Nightblood appear in the Cognitive Realm?
Nightblood will have a manifestation in the Cognitive Realm.
…Would it appear as a sword, or because Nightblood appears to perceive itself as something else, would it appear as something else?
So, um, you will get a RAFO. *laughter* Because most things we're going to deal with we will have some scenes in the Cognitive Realm coming up, and you'll be better able to make guesses along these lines after you've read those.
Nightblood's sheath and Silence's dagger are silver... Does silver have more secrets to reveal to us? Does it have some Cosmere-sized significance?
Nightblood's sheath is indeed of cosmere-sized significance... but it may not be actual silver.
Could Nightblood theoretically be turned into a Hemalurgic spike?
The problem with that is that Nightblood is already invested, so it depends on your version of ' Hemalurgic spikes'. Piercing someone's body with Invested metal can have weird effects all through the Cosmere, but ripping off a piece of a person's soul using an un-Invested spike to Invest it and create one is different... we're talking about two different things, right. So there's the.... so what is a Hemalurgic spike? For instance if you've got a spike that's Invested and you stick it into a Kandra on Scadrial it will still work as an Invested Hemalurgic spike. Making a new Invested spike by ripping off a person's soul, that's a different process and a little more difficult to accomplish and requires some specialized knowledge.
Is Nightblood made of the same material as the sheath?
No. Good question.
Szeth refers to Nightblood as sword-nimi. What is the -nimi ending?
It is an honorific.
And why does he call it "sword", and not by its name?
It has not told him its name.
Would Kelsier be able to wield Nightblood?
In his current state? That'd be really dangerous.
I didn't say "should"! I said "would"! *laughs*
Briefly.
I assume I'm going to learn a lot more about this in Stormlight 3 but Nightblood, is he more dangerous or less dangerous now that he-- obviously he needs Investiture that is why *audio obscured* any Investiture?
I'd say more dangerous, a little bit easier to get the Stormlight.
I assumed I'd learn a lot more about him...
You will, and he's pretty dangerous, but he is also less dangerous because other people have Shardblades, if that makes sense.
If Nightblood was to be used by a Scadrian, would that person have to be an Investiture ferring?
No, you could be burning any metal, and Nightblood would co-opt it and feed off that.
Will we ever find out the when, how, and why Vasher and Nightblood moved to Roshar?
Yes, but I don't know when it will happen. I will get around to it.
Timeline-wise will Warbreaker 2 come before Stormlight Archive or is it after?
Before the end of the Stormlight?
So Warbreaker 2 would it take place before the start of...
Oh, before. Yeah, Warbreaker 2 chronologically is pre-Stormlight. Before Stormlight 1, yeah.
Pre-Stormlight. Okay.
I'm excited for that.
In fact, chronologically I think it's the exact book before Stormlight 1. I don't think there's anything in between there.
Will the book say why Nightblood's on [Roshar]...
It will at least hint at it. I mean the book is called Nightblood. If it doesn't I'll write a bridge novella to kind of do that.
Bridge the gap?
Bridge the gap. Because the story-- I'm not sure if I can work in everything. Because the story isn't about Nightblood leaving. It's about-- yeah.
Yeah, it's not about that. It's just kind of like a... how did that transition happen.
I mean, yeah. Vasher's cosmere-aware, and so the more you talk to him the more some of this stuff will come out.
If Szeth were to have drawn Nightblood immediately after he had consumed Rayse, would he still have drained Szeth's Stormlight? As it said he seemed like he had eaten as much as he could.
At that point, Nightblood had entered into essentially a food coma... Well, no, the food coma one came when he was drawing from the perpendicularity. I don't think he was in food coma mode at that point. I think that he could still have drawn more at that point, I'd have to go look at exactly what I wrote, if I'd put him into food coma mode or not. It is possible.
This is one of the things I wanted to answer with the book. A lot of people have been theorizing, could Nightblood eat an entire Shard? And indeed, Nightblood could not eat an entire Shard. That is not within his capability. In fact, one of the reasons that he leaks Investiture is: he's too stuffed full of it. There is more Investiture in the sword Nightblood than it can actually hold, it's supersaturated. And it leaks Investiture (that it's done some weird things to). But it is constantly hungry for more and constantly leaks it, but it definitely can get full for a time, and it could not eat an entire Shard.
I did see questions about that from people floating around, and it's something I'd been meaning to get to eventually. Nightblood is definitely relevant to things that are happening in the Cosmere, but it is not as simple as grabbing the sword, sticking it into a Shard, and defeating the Shard, unfortunately. Though, as you see in this book, there are reasons for a Shard to still be afraid of Nightblood. It didn't destroy Odium, but Rayse still really had a bad time.
How did Nightblood get from Warbreaker to Oathbringer.
He was carried.
How?
RAFO! He was carried by someone.
What book will you have to read to find out?
You will find out eventually. Nightblood, the sequel to Warbreaker will include some, Stormlight books will also include some.
Did Nightblood cause the Cognitive Anomaly?
*Hems and haws*
I'll give you a RAFO card.
If a Shard were to wield Nightblood more directly, like Odium's champion and Odium channeling his power through Nightblood, would we see a lot of world ending stuff from that?
That-- What you just described would work no differently from a Knight Radiant wielding Nightblood
Okay. And that would be scary powerful?
No. No, they'd feed off the Investiture and eventually would either run out or be drawing it so quickly that it would dissolve the person's soul.
So souls are made of Investiture?
Yes, in the cosmere, souls are. So you'd have a little while, but eventually the person would just die and get eaten.
Can you create a Shardblade with Breath?
Yes. That’s what Nightblood is.
Is [Nightblood] like, the Shardblades, kind of thing?
It is. So, what happened is: Vasher, who was involved in the creation of Nightblood, visited Roshar and came back with this knowledge, and they tried to create something.
So he based it off those?
Yes. And they got it kind of right.
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.
The Heralds, back before Honor died, were they directly powered by Honor?
Yes. You’ll find out more about that, but the Shardblades [pretty sure he means Honorblades here] were pieces of Honor’s soul that he gave them and direct access to his essence.
Like Vin and Elend?
Yeah, a little like that. That’s why Honorblades don’t work like Shardblades do, like Radiants do.
The second part of the question is, what would happen if they were directly powered by Honor and they were holding Nightblood?
RAFO
So at the end of [Oathbringer], how aware is Odium of what Nightblood is and can do?
Modestly.
Taking the sheath, that kind of thing?
He knows. I would say more than modestly, he is well aware.
Does a Herald using an Honorblade consume the same "dangerous" amounts of Stormlight?
Honorblades are less efficient; this doesn't change when a Herald uses them. (But they have other advantages.)
Are Honorblades closer in power to Nightblood than they are to Shardblades made from Spren?
Hard to say. They're all similar, but at the same time, very different. And in a way, Nightblood is what you might call a "Third Generation" blade.
Ah gotcha. And in this analogy, Honorblades would be 1st gen and Sprenblades would be 2nd gen?
Yes.
Could an Elantrian just write an Aon above Nightblood and then use it forever?
Use it forever? No.
Forever is pushing it.
No, no, I mean, Nightblood would destroy an Aon pretty quickly. It would pull power through it--
It would be like trying to put too much power through a small--
Yeah, it would just rip it up to shreds. You'd get a little use out of it. He would eat the very structure of it, if that makes any sense.
So, if another weapon were made in the same exact way as Nightblood and the two collided would the one with more Investiture win in that scenario?
RAFO. Yeah. Mmhmm. Yes.
In the Stormlight Archive we saw the sword from Warbreaker and we also know that the royal line can change more than just their hair, will that come into play?
They can! What’s that?
...will that come into play?
That will come into play, keep your eyes open.
Nightblood Origins
I've been wanting to do a book with a talking sword for some time. Sentient objects are a favorite theme of mine from fantasy books I've read, and I think you'll probably see more of them in future books from me.
The magic sword is its own archetype in fantasy, even if there haven't been any good magic sword books among the big fantasy novels of recent years. Perhaps that's because Saberhagen and Moorcock did such a good job with their books in the past. I'm not sure. (I don't count appearances of magic swords like Callandor in the Wheel of Time. I mean books with major parts played by swords.)
Anyway, that's a tangent, and I'm certain that half the people reading this can think of examples and exceptions to what I just said. Either way, this is a theme I wanted to tackle, and the magic system of this world lent me the opportunity.
Nightblood is another favorite character of the readers. I think his personality works the best out of any non-viewpoint character I've ever written. He doesn't get that much dialogue in the book, but it is so distinctive that it just works.
Is Nightblood a minor Shard?
Nightblood is one of the most heavily Invested things in the cosmere that is not a Shard.
What would happen if a Shardblade hit Nightblood?
Nightblood would act like a Shardblade, in that it would stop a Shardblade. It is significantly more Invested than a Shardblade, so it would have some ramifications beyond that.
Was Nightblood black before being awakened by Shashara?
No.
Can Nightblood attract spren?
Nightblood could theoretically attract spren. I don't think he really does yet, but I think this is theoretically possible.
In London I wanted to ask about Nightblood. The way he is Invested, is that a one-off-case kind of thing, or is it possible to do another of that level?
It was really bizarre, and I will explain it eventually and that will let you know why. It's theoretically possible to do almost anything so it's theoretically possible to do what he did but it'd be very hard.
Does Nightblood rip souls out of people, by chance?
Nightblood consumes Investiture, including the spark of life.
Can Nightblood damage or kill a Shard? Is he that powerful?
Nightblood is not powerful enough for-- *makes weird/hesitant ehhh sound*
Can it damage?
Damage? Yes. How damaging? Is a subject to discussion. Nightblood contains a lot of Investiture.
Can a sentient object be created on Roshar? By just-- In a way similar to how the Scholars created Nightblood?
Oh?
No?
No I wasn't saying no I was saying well that's kind of what the Shardblades are.
Kind of.
Mmhmm.
If it's possible for Nightblood to actually interact with a Shard, what would happen?
A Shard would try to stay very far away from Nightblood. Nightblood could not plausibly destroy an entire Shard but the Vessel could be in danger.
Could a typical Awakener give Breaths to Nightblood?
Yes.
Could it use those Breaths to Awaken?
No.
Can Hoid be killed by Nightblood?
RAFO.
Can Nightblood be Soothed or Rioted? Or influenced by Nergaoul or Ashertmarn, for that case?
RAFO!
Does Szeth ever get to figure out Nightblood's name, or does he just always call Nightblood, "Sword-nimi?"
That's a RAFO too!
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.
You said that every rational being in the Cosmere who knows about Nightblood is terrified of him. Does that include Vessels?
There are Vessels who are scared, yes. That does include Vessels. Terrified might be a strong term, but yes.
Nightblood is the most ridiculously over-invested thing in the Cosmere, second only to the Shards?
Yes.
Was this true from the moment of his creation, or did it grow in power over time.
Grew in power over time. Kind of answers a question that people have been wondering. But, yes.
What would happen if someone carried Nightblood unsheathed into a perpendicularity?
RAFO.
Now I just gotta know how [Nightblood] got there.
Yes, you do. There will be some hints in the next book.
Is the sword given to Szeth at the end of the book [Words of Radiance] related to Nightblood from Warbreaker?
It's the same sword.
It is?
Mmhmm.
As I understand it, Nightblood is most comparable to a Shardblade. However, unlike a Shardblade, Nightblood requires constant input of Investiture in order to realize his full destructive potential. Why is this?
Vasher kind of hacked in order to imitate another magic system. Shardblades are organic parts of the world they are on, but Nightblood is a bunch of souls stuffed into something. Nightblood is like a Frankenstein.
I was wondering when you first thought to put Nightblood in Words of Radiance?
Nightblood in Words of Radiance happened because... So I wrote the original draft of Way of Kings in 2002 and Vasher was Kaladin's swordmaster and I thought "This guy has a really interesting past, he's not natively from Roshar". So I went and wrote his backstory and that became the book Warbreaker. So he predates-- And then I came back and I re-wrote Way of Kings and I cut him out of it to save him for the later books. So when did I first think of it? Well 2003 probably? Was where that was happening.
Nightblood was our apartment's collective favorite character.
I have some other quote-unquote cons going on the fans so to speak that are going to be very cool when they happen.
Does Vasher have a different way of getting access to Stormlight than everyone else? Given that he has no spren, no honorblade and he isn't a squire?
Yes. He can use Stormlight to stay alive, but it doesn't let him Surgebind.
Could Szeth get access to this method?
Yes
And use it to fuel Nightblood?
Yes he could.
Can you tell me what that method is?
*smiles*