[OB] Spheres and Voidlight

[ccstat]

Let's talk about spheres. (This post assumes you've read chapters 4 and 5 of the Oathbringer preview.)

From the chasm scene in WoR, we know that spheres recharge during highstorms, specifically at the moment when the Stormfather appears with his odd timelessness. But we just saw the Stormfather appear like that at the wedding, and he doesn't bring stormlight so it isn't him causing the recharge. The evidence points to sphere infusion being a specific effect of Honor's perpendicularity, which we have good reason to think travels with the highstorm.

In addition, we have confirmation now that the Everstorm doesn't charge spheres with either stormlight or voidlight. We can assume then that the Everstorm does not carry a perpendicularity with it. So now I have three questions:

1. If you took a sphere to/through Cultivation's perpendicularity in the Horneater peaks, would it infuse? If so, would it contain regular stormlight or a different flavor of investiture? i.e. Does Cultivation's investiture manifest as stormlight?
2. How confident are we that Gavilar's sphere contained investiture from Odium? The first Szeth interlude in WoK features a (very unreliable) tavern tale in which a similar sphere is stolen from the Nightwatcher. For the record, I still think it's 98% likely to be from Odium, but I want to float alternatives for discussion.
3. Where did Gavilar's "voidlight" come from? Until shown evidence otherwise, I'm going to believe that Rayse doesn't have a perpendicularity on Roshar. But then we need an avenue to get his investiture into a sphere.

Let's pull some hints together, getting us to my current theory:

• We've seen surgebinders infuse things (including gems) with the stormlight they held inside them.
• We've seen Lift get stormlight from a route other than inhaling. We also know from WoB that Honor powered the Heralds directly, without them needing to inhale stormlight.
• We've seen magically enhanced strength and speed from people feeling the Thrill (i.e. influenced by an Unmade), which mirrors some of the passive effects of holding stormlight. 

I propose that someone feeling the Thrill (or accessing another of the Unmade's powers) could learn to take that Odious investiture and infuse it into something else, and that is how Gavilar did it.

[Emerald101]

The Oathbringer prologue implied pretty heavily that Gavilar's black spheres contained "Parshendi gods" i.e. two of the unmade.

[Fulminato]

40 minutes ago, Emerald101 said:

The Oathbringer prologue implied pretty heavily that Gavilar's black spheres contained "Parshendi gods" i.e. two of the unmade.

gavilar spoke of ONE ancient, crucial, spren.i think hold in the gavilar's sphere is a more 'mundane' void spren.

[Calderis]

Meh. I don't think Gavilar's spheres held anything more than the Voidlight itself. Not an actual unmade. 

Gavilar was just trying to show them what was possible. He didn't have the means to make it happen in hand. 

I'm sure that that investiture comes from an unmade, as they are Odium's hands on Roshar. That light is "associated with" the Parshendi gods and forms of power. It doesn't mean that that is the Unmade or the key to a form itself. The Spren for Stormform wasn't anything like Gavilar's spheres, and it was a direct means of changing form. 

[+Extesian]

Nice, @ccstat. So basically you’re theory is that someone in the throes of the Thrill is infused with Odium’s investiture and it’s possible to actually fill a sphere (/gem inside sphere) with that investiture? I’m a little realmatically uncomfortable with the idea. Where does that investiture come from? I figure it would either have to be that Odium’s investiture leaks onto Roshar somehow, or that each time an Unmade does their thing, it is end-neutral – ie they are splinters that expend their own voidlight. I would have problems with the latter as it would mean that the Unmade get weakened by acting. The former would imply that there is a way to access Odium’s investiture on Roshar between Desolations, which I have my doubts about as I believe the thing that ushers in a Desolation is that a way is created for voidlight to get from Braize to Roshar.

However, they are my realmatic issues, you’re certainly right that the effects of the Thrill appear to mimic those of holding stormlight, though in a voidier way. It’s probably the best idea I’ve seen so far on explaining the sphere since I too am FIRMLY in the camp of believing it does not contain an Unmade (as there is more than one sphere). That said, if Gavilar could just fill those spheres while feeling the Thrill, I feel he could have made many, many more. But still, enough to hit tentative head-canon status for me

[jamskinner]

Maybe you need some type of voidspren in a gem before you can charge it with voidlight

Edited September 7, 2017 by jamskinner

[Yata]

Honestly I don't believe "Voidlight" to exist at all.

Gavilar's Sphere from his own words contains a Spren so in theory our only really clue about Voidlight is removed.
I am either deeply unsure about Stormlight's nature I still see it as "Adonalsium's Investiture" rather than Honor/Cultivation/H&C's Investiture also if it's spread now by a being deeply connected with Honor.

About the future Voidbinding I think it will use Stormlight too as the Stormlight seems to be not keyed to anything as everyone on Roshar both animal or vegetable are able to assimilate it a bit.

PS: If I forgot another reference or clue on Voidlight, please make me notice it.

[Runyan Firetree]

I agree with @Yata at least partially in so much as I think there's something else going on with the Void.

We know that Adonalsium held "the powers of creation" and that he was shattered by some sort of opposing force.  We already know that death/decay/destruction are derivatives of these powers of creation (Ruin, 'killing the weeds / pruning the garden' aspects of Cultivation) which leaves us with few other options for something that would be an opposite to 'the power of creation'.  The concepts of negation, nothingness, or the void could fit as an opposing force to creation.  Perhaps Odium's use of Voidbinding is just a continuation, mimicry, or hijacking of the same force the shardholders used to shatter Adonalsium.

[Calderis]

@runyan_ft it has been confirmed that the "force that opposed Adonalsium" was the Vessels that became there Shards. There is no Anti-Adonalsium.

Whatever is in the sphere is of an investiture of a Shard.