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The God King walks into a Rosharan bar... ...and every fabrial in the building breaks? Polestones are what largely define what kind of fabrial can be made to the extent that inspecting a polestone and the metals used in a fabrial allows an artifabrian to reverse engineer a fabrial. Awakening and draining color from a gemstone apparently works, so what happens if those colors are merely distorted? It doesn't have to be a permanent change, just enough for the spren to be released. Even if it doesn't, if it simply disrupts the fabrials that could still be pretty useful. The core question: Are spren held by the hue, value, or intensity of the color of the light, and which of these scales are altered by Biochromatic Auras? Do BioChromatic auras alter color enough to break Rosharan fabrials, particularly in the case of the 10th Heightening or Nightblood? Thoughts? Applications? Unusual rock/paper/scissor element here?

So will Susebron give Siri 2,000 Breaths so that she doesn't die from old age? Because it is possible to give only a few Breaths instead of all of them at once, and Susebron does love Siri a lot, so I feel like we'll be seeing them in later Cosmere books. Any thoughts?

I just had a question in my mind, how do Awakened objects see? Because the prologue of Warbreaker, with the little straw-doll moving around outside of Vasher's line of sight, proves that they have some ability to examine their surroundings. How do they do that? Then it came to me, Heightenings, Awakened Objects almost always possess enough Breath for at least the first Heightening which would give them access to Lifesense, so that's how Awakened Objects see the people around them. There's probably more to this though, considering that they can react to their non-living environment though that might be explained by the visualization of their Command. Though I'm guessing that Awakened Objects wouldn't get much use from Perfect Pitch or Perfect Colour Recognition, but I still think it's remarkable if this were true.

Would Perfect Pitch allow an Awakener to recognize the Pure Tone of a Shard which they had never heard before, and/or gain intuitive knowledge of the method of construction and effects of the Tone?

With being able to just sing in order to disrupt investiture, anyone think that the 2nd Heightening which grants perfect pitch to suddenly be a lot more powerful and relevant in the Cosmere as a whole?

I am mostly posting here to see thoughts on this, as I have been bothered by this for a while. I have been trying to find some sort of order in the levels of Heightening, or at least find an approximate formula to see if it follows any noticeable formula or such. Well checking the next numbers in the sequence after 10th using this https://alteredqualia.com/visualization/hn/sequence/, I have gotten 11th: 306,950 12th: 18,453,000 13th: 8,249,650 Showing that while this method works for 11th and 12th, it does not work at 13th and undergoes a massive drop. Which does not work with how Breaths and Heightening function. So we have to go another way. Well, knowing that the 8th has very, very little experimental data, and the data on it is likely wrong, we can look into it and say 8th: 7750 9th: 18750 10th: 56600 This, while not exact with the graph, does actually fit together with it all quite nicely. This also works with how the other levels are far more studied, so the approximations in the list are likely far more accurate. Though I know Heightening is basically just a made-up scale by people to give an estimation of when certain powers reach their peak, and does not actually exist, and furthermore, the values on the table are approximations. I just like doing math for fun. Additionally, just some math I did based on various factors, Susebron has at least 50,000 Breaths, in addition, he is given two to three Breaths a week from every God King over the course of 327 Years, likely numbering at 71,606 at the time of his ascension, and 75,428 by his marriage to Sisirinah. The formula would be 50000+78y, with y being the number of years. This assumes an average increase of 1.5 Breaths a day. Which is the average of gaining 1 or 2 breaths, as he uses one per week, thus to given two to three, means to increase by one or two.

From what I understand, perfect pitch allows the user to hit any note they wish with flawless accuracy, as long as they have the breaths for it (second heightening I think is 200? Could be wrong) My question, how does perfect pitch know what notes the user needs to hit? Like if there were 2 songs basically identical other than one note, how would the ability know which note to let them hit? I propose it is a sort of connection between the cognative intension and the song itself. I believe it's confirmed music spren exist so I don't think this is too far fetched Lemme know what you all think!

If an individual that already have perfect pitch got to the second heightening, will they have additional benefit and/or resonance? Also are there wobs of this nature? the other wob I've seen is the one saying that an individual would be well regarded in most of the Nalthian cultures.

Okay, me was having a thinky think about heightening when it hit me... there must be sixteen heightenings. A lot of the magic systems either relate to the cosmere as a whole or with their shard. Endowment's shard number is supposedly 5, which might explain with immortality comes at the fifth heightening and why some of the really advanced powers come at the tenth heightening, which is a factor of five, but there are clearly more than five heightenings, so what's the max? My theory is that it's either 16 because of cosmere significance, or fifteen because of the five significance. What do you think? (Also, I have no idea if someone else made this theory, if they did, sorry.)

So, as mentioned in Dawnshard, and later confirmed by Brandon, high levels of investiture give Heightenings as seen most prominently in Awakening, and now in being a Dawnshard. So Brandon confirmed that it is being very invested that gives Heightenings and it is NOT limited to holding a lot of Breaths. So we saw Rysn with perfect pitch and color suggesting she has at least the Third Heightening. I theorize that that will increase as she holds the Dawnshard for longer because agelessness is the Fifth and we see that with Hoid being a Dawnsliver but Rysn makes no mention of life sense which reaches its peak strength at the Fourth, so she probably only has the Third at this point. But anyways, to the main question I am curious about, what about later Heightenings that seem specific to Awakening? Specifically the Sixth, instinctive Awakening, the Eighth, Command breaking, Ninth, greater Awakening and audible Command, and Tenth, perfect invocation and mental commands. I am really curious how those translate to other systems of magic. Any thoughts, theories, provoking questions?

If you want 10th Heightening, just go on a killing spree. Use a Hemalurgic spike, store in blood between kills, and just gather enough breaths.

So as we know if someone gains 2000 breaths , they reach the fifth Heightening and stop aging , get increased resistance if not downright immunity to poisons and diseases. They basically become immortal. Yet we don't find any centuries old ppl apart from Vasher , VaraTreledees (Denth), Yesteel and Arsteel ( may he not rest in peace seeing as he's clod ), we don't really see any old people. And the aforementioned people were all Returned. I find this extremely strange. Tfh is not easy to get , but it's not really uncommon among nobility or the upper merchantile classes. Besides we are talking about functional immortality. I'm sure there are many ppl who won't hesitate to use unscrupulous , brutal methods to acquire the breaths. Yet so far it seems we have seen no such ppl. Why ? Are they present but keep a low profile. If that's the case , then wouldn't they remember the events of the Manywar and have learned a lot of stuff over the centuries. And I think breaths have been around for millennia , so that means there could be people older than the kandra. People who have had a long time to think and learn and practice. Ppl who could like the Ire or the Ghostbloods are Cosmere aware and might have agendas of thier own. Could the Terriswoman who was the Idrian spy be part of that organization ? Could they be one of the 10 secret societies on Roshar ? Is that how Vasher and Vivenna were able to find a way to Roshar ?

I have a question (admittedly kind of stupid) about how a Koloss's unique life cycle would be effected by Nathlis's magic system. 1. Heightenings increase a person's life span and health. A Koloss grow larger the older it gets until its health gives out. Would a Koloss with a high enough Heightening continue to grow until it hit the "square-cube law" or would magic override that? 2. If a Koloss happened to be selected by Empowerment to be Returbed, would it Koloss size, Returned size, or bigger than both?

Hello everyone! It has been far too long. Having just moved across several states, this has been the first Letter that I have been able to make since we settled back into our house. But now we should be back into the swing of things. Keep an eye out because I also have some new ideas for Brandon Sanderson content to come! I'm not going to say that there are any particular reasons why the topic of Heightenings might be good to review, but I feel it is good to take a moment and review this aspect of BioChromatic Breath. This is my first look at the Investiture of Nalthis, yet the impact that Breath has on the general Cosmere. Now, this is an introduction to the Heightenings, and won't dive into much theory. I do plan to follow up with a letter about Awakening which will have more conceptual notes. Once again, I hope to remind you all that this series is meant to be targeted for new readers wanting to learn more about the Cosmere rather than deep theories. There are other ways that I plan to share my thoughts and theories. But anyway, I hope you enjoy this latest episode and the beautiful art that others have shared with us: Here is the transcript if you want to see the written form: It is odd to walk through a home that is no longer yours. I have lost several homes up till now. Some were taken from me by ill luck, some by force, and some I fled from in terror. Thankfully today I am walking through the home I have sold off, along with all my holdings and trade ships. It still amazes me how much wealth one can build when he is for all intents and purposes, immortal. Nalthis is the home I never deserved. I washed up upon these shores as a vagabond, cast out from my ruination. I was lower than the beggars, and I knew it. But it was my nature to reach for stability and progress. I worked hard and employed all my varied skills to gain the upper hand on my fellows. It wasn’t long until I had become a supervisor for a small dye mill. It was there that I first tasted of Living Breath. On Nalthis, the stewardship of Endowment, the manifest investiture is known as Biochromatic Breath. When I first was brought to your employ, I was so caught up in the whirlwinds surrounding Roshar that I failed to dictate to you this most important of investment and Shardic intent. I do so know, knowing that my current existence would not have been possible without Breath. All people born on Nalthis is given a single Biochromatic Breath upon their birth. All living things in the Cosmere hold a small amount of investiture inside them, their life force or essence. On Nailthis they are gifted with something more. Alone this Breath is almost unnoticeable. If you were from another world and you walked the streets of T'Telir, the people would not appear to be different. But Breath is like people, one alone can only do so much, but with many together some amazing things can happen. By speaking the right words with the proper intent, the Breath can be endowed unto another. Although the value of a single Breath changes slightly over time, the rule of thumb is that the sale of a single Breath usually equates the value of a year’s salary for a lowly worker. This provides a free infusion of wealth that the poor can rely on during troubled times. The rich and mighty will often spend great fortunes to collect this Breath because of the metaphysical benefits that come along with A collection of Breath. These abilities are described in tiers of power called Heightenings. If one attains about Fifty Breaths you will enter the First Heightening. Besides extending your life about ten years, this gives the user the ability Aura Recognition. In other words, Firsts can discern the general amounts of Breath others carry and some insight into the health of that Breath. Most residents on Nalthis who desire Breath stop at the First Heightening. At around 200 breaths, Breath holders gain the ability to manifest Perfect Pitch spontaneously. This is the Second Heightening. The Third Heightening grants Perfect Color Recognition manifests with about 600 Breaths. This is a curious sensation that feels almost like perfect pitch for your eyes. Some may feel that this ability grants the Breath Holder the ability to see more colors than others, but this is not true. Instead, this allows for the stark distinction of color to be observed. I must admit, Color recognition and the understanding of hue and texture is intoxicating. At an approximate requirement of 1,000 Breaths, the Fourth Heightening is the beginning of the rare Heightenings achieved by everyday people. When one attains the Fourth Heightening, the wielder gains Perfect Life Sense. As one acquires more Breath they instinctually become more aware of the investiture held by the people. This life sense not only lets you feel the people around you but heightens your awareness of others who are observing you even if they are hidden or mixed in with the crowd. This has proved invaluable. With this ability, I find myself in control of most situations before they begin. The exception to this ability comes from Drabs. A Drab is someone who has given up all their Breath, and they are functionally undetectable via Life Sense. As I’ve grown more accustomed to this power, I find the undetectable nature of Drab to be disconcerting. It is here, at the Fith Heightening that one such as I have found the Cosmere shaking ability of Longevity. When you hold about 2,000 Breaths the body becomes functionally perfect. The body becomes immune to most toxins, (including alcohol) most physical ailments (such as disease, headaches, and organ failure) In fact after I attained the Fith Heightening, I no longer age and have become functionally immortal. Now, this is incredible, but by no means does this mean I’m free of danger. While natural causes of death are now eluded I can still fall to the sword like any other man or woman. With this lifestyle comes risks and I must be on my guard considering how often my information brokering I participate in. Thankfully I have been blessed with other talents that grant me far more advantages than mothers of the Fifth Heightening. I find I must pause here and relate to you briefly what inspired me to attain such lofty heights of Breath. I am ashamed to say that my hoarding of BioChromatic Breath was not fueled by a desire to live and experience the Breath and Depth of the Cosmere. I feel so now, but when I began my business on Nalthis it was out of a sense of desperation and addiction. My world had been shattered and it had left me adrift and broken. When I discovered this place I feverishly worked, attempting to drown my past in the frantic world of business and politics. Many government officials are expected to reach the First Heightening in order to access the nation’s civil functions regularly. I remember taking on those first Breaths, and the euphoria that came with it. Each Breath filled me up, making me feel alive in ways I had never felt before. I found myself driven to capture more Breath. Feverously I would claim more and more wealth, using my powers to gain information I should never have know and to take things I had no right to claim. I was worse than a back ally thief but performed my heists on the grand scale. And every bit of profit I made I poured feverously into getting more Breaths. For almost twenty years I gathered my riches in invested souls while building a fanatical empire. And before I knew, I was turning 40 and didn’t look a day over 25. Slowly my work had filled the gaps in my life and given me purpose. I settled down and began to focus on the dye mills and weapons forges that had built my fortune. And there I remained until your messenger arrived, and pulled me from my holdings. But I digress, just because this is where I stopped collecting Breath doesn’t mean There are not more Heightenings to learn about. At the amassed Fortune of 3,500 Breaths, the wielder gains Instinctive Awakening. Breath is not just about hoarding and collecting personal enhancements, but about giving a form of life to normally inanimate objects. By infusing Breath into something, usually something that had once been alive like cloth or corpses, you can give them a measure of automation. This Infusion of Investiture along with a clear command phrase spoken in your native language the object can be given temporary life shaped by the desires of the holder. This investing art is called Awakening, and it is a complex and virtually boundless. The difficulty faced by a wielder of Breath boils down to two things, amount of Breath available and the Commands that you know. The more complex the order of the larger the object in question, the more Breath it will take to animate the material. When an Awakener achieves the Sixth Heightening, they begin to have a natural mastery of Awakening, allowing them to instinctively understand and wield basic Awakening commands without training or practice. This also opens up the pathway for greater command research as this instinct provides a light along the path of discovery. As I write to you today, I find myself temporarily experiencing the Seventh Heightening. Although this is very temporary, I have allowed myself this temporary treat of seeing just how much color there is to observe at this level. I can confirm that the strange ability granted from holding over 5000 Breaths is Awakening Sense. At this level, the nature of Endowment’s Investiture becomes incredibly fine-tuned. Not only am I aware of the people around me, But I can feel the life of the objects that have been awakened. At this level, it is like seeing a ripple of heat encasing all things that hold Breath. Very few have ever held this level of power, and so even with the wealth, I have gathered over hundreds of years, the secrets of the last three known heightenings are based on historical accounts and basic realmic theory. At the Eight Heightening, which reportedly requires at least 10,000 Breaths, comes the ability to Break Commands. While I do not think it is possible to steal Breath from other Awakeners or the objects they infuse, It is possible to tear down their intent and potentially change the commands they are given. While this is possible without the eight heightening, it is so difficult it is rarely attempted. But at the 8th Heightening Awakeners can achieve this by instinct, although I hear it is still an exhausting process. Once we step beyond the Sixth Heightening we are stepping into a level of Awakening and Biochromatic Breath that is hardly observed. The few in history to have attained such levels rarely showed others what they could do, so some of this is guesswork. For instance, at the Ninth Heightening which is achievable at a staggering 20,000 breaths, comes the ability to perform Greater Awakening. Tales of this type of awakening mostly come from the myths and legends of the past. Tales of Stone warriors destroying armies, and of living metal that cuts through armor as if it didn’t exist. Regardless, the awakening of matter that never was alive takes an incredible amount of Breath to Awaken and is impossible to attempt until the Awakener archives this 9th Heightening. The Tenth Heightening is the Highest ranking of Biochromatic Breath that we have. There may be other heightening levels beyond, but if that is the case no one has ever discovered it. Once the threshold of 50,000 Breaths has been attained, all scientific and historical information becomes as useless as blind guesswork. At this point the color surrounding the Awakener cannot be contained and begins to bend the light via Light Distortion. Colors seem to bend inward, almost glowing of their own accord. And anything that appears white will give off a fractured rainbow of light similar to the effects of a prism. When someone uses Breath to Awaken, color is drained from nearby objects, acting as fuel to the investment. At the Tenth Heightening, this draining ability is enhanced to a Perfect Invocation which draws all the color out of an object, turning it white instead of the usual grey. Most impressively this Heightening comes with the ability to Awaken without having to give a verbal command. This Mental Command almost defies the rules of Awakening although it is apparently difficult to learn and master. There could be even more powers and instinctual abilities that come with the Tenth Heightening, but I am not aware of them. While this is a decent summary of the Heightenings, bear in mind, that the art of Awakening is difficult to define. For instance, it is entirely possible to reach a heightening at more or less than the listed amount. The strength of each breath is different from person to person and the small differences of each breath can influence exactly how much is needed to attain a different heightening. I feel there is still much-untapped potential to be discovered in this art. For now, I am content to hold the Seventh Heightening for a few more hours. This additional Breath has cost me everything I own. I will no longer hold a position here on Nalthis, although that may change in the future. It was obvious to me that once we made our way back here, that there was something far more precious to me than my holdings. I can’t wait to finally explain all of this to Kassar. After all, I did this for her sake. After she has been trained in the arts of Awakening, we will be moving forward. I wish this was only a mission of scholarship. Yet the actions of Odium have sealed fear into my very being. I cannot be content unless I can see what is going on. Until the next Letter Elsric

Just finished up Warbreaker (had a lot of fun reading it). There was a lot about the magic system that was left unexplained, which I feel was intentional on Brandon's part and I completely understand. However, I was a little bit confused about how Vasher, a Returned, is ever at heightenings below the fifth, when he himself says that all Returned start at the fifth heightening by virtue of their single divine breaths. For example, in the epilogue, he and Vivenna are said to both be at the Second Heightening. Any help would be appreciated!

We keep seeing WoBs about what happens when you become too invested. You ultimately ascend to become the vessel of the shard whose investiture you hold so much of. That much is established... But it makes me wonder... What happens if you get enough investiture to ascend... But the current vessel of the shard is still alive? Now, we have technically seen such an occurrence, when Vin ascended and took Preservation from Kelsier. On the other hand... In my estimation, Kelsier wasn't really holding the shard to full capacity. I do not think his example really counts at all. But it still raises questions. What happens? Would the current shardholder be killed? Just like that? That sounds like a surprisingly easy way to kill a shardholder. Or would perhaps the would-be ascendant be killed? For anyone here who has read the traveller's gate triology... I can't help but think of what happened to someone when they tried to become an incarnation of a territory when that territory already had a living incarnation in the real world. It wasn't pretty. No matter which way you cut it, this kind of ascension has some serious implications. And while Sanderson has said more than once that holding lots of investiture is a way to ascend, his silence on what happens to the existing shardholder sticks out to me as significant... I wonder if we will see such an ascension down the road.