Pregnant Returned?

[Cocoa]

So, we know that if a woman was taken by the Shaod and became an incomplete Elantrian, her child would also enter suspended animation, a pregnant woman taking up a Shard would have some effect on her unborn child, and while I can't find it right at the moment I could swear I saw somewhere that tapping a goldmind could also extend healing to an unborn child. So it seems that investiture in a pregnant mother will often if not always extend the effect in part to her unborn child. So with that in mind, if a pregnant Nalthian woman died, but her child survived, and then she Returned a few seconds later, what would happen to the kid? Would they just be healthy due to being carried the rest of their term by a mother with literally superhuman health, but otherwise normal? Would they have a much stronger than usual non-divine Breath, making them a sort of Returned demigod? Would we get something like the Idrian royal line, where they have 'a piece' of Returned in them, letting them shapeshift? What are your thoughts?

[Quantus]

If a Returned BECOMES Pregnant, we know they would give a fragment of a Divine Breath to their child and grant some some amount of Returned Power, low-grade shapeshifting via The Royal Locks in the known example.  I diont think we have any word on what would happen if the person was already Pregnant when they die and Returned.  I personally think it would manifest similarly to when a Returned gets pregnant where some aspect of the Returned's Divine Breath is Endowed onto the Child, especially if the bulk of the pregnancy happened after the Return; but if it happened immediately, like if the Returning itself triggered the birth, then there probably would be enough exposure to make the transfer.

If it was entirely incompatible I think Endowment would simply not let it happen, since she is choosing the Returned Personally.  I dont think she's the Smiting sort that would choose to kill a child, but she's apparently inconsistent.

[Hoid17th]

Wow you guys used a lot of capitalized Sanderson words. Just so you know, Quantus, Returned can't become pregnant, as far as I'm aware. That was a key point in Warbreaker, because Siri wouldn't become pregnant with the Susebron's child. Granted, considering I'm not in on all of the WOB, I might be wrong about this. I think you have very good ideas about what may happen if a pregnant women Returned, however. Maybe Nightblood might clear some of this up for us. Even though SA is very long and more detailed, I think Warbreaker might actually be my favorite Sanderson novel. 

[+Invocation]

31 minutes ago, Hoid17th said:

Wow you guys used a lot of capitalized Sanderson words. Just so you know, Quantus, Returned can't become pregnant, as far as I'm aware. That was a key point in Warbreaker, because Siri wouldn't become pregnant with the Susebron's child. Granted, considering I'm not in on all of the WOB, I might be wrong about this. I think you have very good ideas about what may happen if a pregnant women Returned, however. Maybe Nightblood might clear some of this up for us. Even though SA is very long and more detailed, I think Warbreaker might actually be my favorite Sanderson novel. 

It's possible for Returned to have kids.

Quote

Brandon Sanderson

Chapter Forty-Four

Siri and Susebron Talk about How the Next God King is Created

Siri's impulse here—that the next God King might not really be the son of the current one—is a good one. She's actually right, though there are a lot of other things in this conversation she's wrong about.

It is possible for a Returned to have a child. Vo, the First Returned, did it. The God King isn't special in that he can do it; any of the Returned could, but it requires some special knowledge that—I'm afraid—I'll have to keep secret until the sequel. Suffice it to say that the priests know how it is done.

The problem is, they aren't always able to get this to work. Sometimes, they have to do what Siri guessed—replace the God King with an infant Returned. Infant Returns happen very infrequently. It's more rare than an adult Returning, so there is something sound to the Hallandren reasoning that you have to do something heroic in order to Return. (That's not true, but it is more sound a doctrine than Siri thinks it is.)

The God King's priests take an infant Returning as a sign that it's time to change God Kings. At that point, they choose a wife for the God King and hope that she'll be able to conceive the next God King. They'd much, much rather that the God King be the literal child of the previous God King. (Susebron wasn't, however. And his mother was indeed his mother, a poor merchant's wife from far northern Hallandren.)

Now, an infant has indeed Returned. The priests see this as a major vindication of their faith, as they made the wedding contract with Idris twenty years ago and now, just when the marriage was to happen, an infant Returned. The problem is, now they've got to push Siri to get pregnant, because they're on a deadline. They don't want to have to replace the God King with this infant; they'd rather use his own child. Hence the push for her to have a child.

But if she doesn't, they'll go with plan B. Note that there's not, in fact, any danger to her either way, no matter what Bluefingers says. She and Susebron, following the change in power, would have been taken to one of the isles in the middle of the Inner Sea and kept in a lavish lifestyle as long as they lived.

Warbreaker Annotations (March 1, 2011)

[Quantus]

31 minutes ago, Hoid17th said:

Wow you guys used a lot of capitalized Sanderson words. Just so you know, Quantus, Returned can't become pregnant, as far as I'm aware. That was a key point in Warbreaker, because Siri wouldn't become pregnant with the Susebron's child. Granted, considering I'm not in on all of the WOB, I might be wrong about this. I think you have very good ideas about what may happen if a pregnant women Returned, however. Maybe Nightblood might clear some of this up for us. Even though SA is very long and more detailed, I think Warbreaker might actually be my favorite Sanderson novel. 

I overcapitalize everywhere, so Im probably worse than most.  But yes, there are a lot of "normal" words that have cosmere significance that gets them capitalized, like Identity, Returned, Connection, Light, Breath, Mist, Shard, Surge, etc etc 

 

[Hoid17th]

Apologies, just read the article "How could the Returned have children?", which was pretty helpful.