Zahel's "Vacation"

[Galavantes]

Warbreaker spoilers here:

When I first read this I thought he meant the weeping was his vacation, since he gets to lay around without having to train punk light-eyes kids.
Now I'm thinking his vacation might be his entire stint on Roshar. You know, on a planet where he isn't a figure out of legend and doesn't have to consume people's souls just to live another week. Seems like it would be a nice break to me.

Edited March 8, 2014 by Galavantes

[Aleksiel]

Why wouldn't he

 need a Breath a week

 on Roshar?

 

edit: adding spoiler tag, I think you need to do the same.

Edited March 8, 2014 by Aleksiel

[Galavantes]

Still Spoiling warbreaker:

He can consume stormlight instead. Not sure where that is said, maybe Kurk can link it?

Edited March 8, 2014 by Galavantes

[Kurkistan]

This whole thread is Warbreaker Spoilers, in case anyone didn't get that.

 

While I'm amused that you think me all-knowing as well as all-linking, I am in fact limited. I'm happy to help people find links, but it helps if you guys can send me PM's or something instead of assuming I read every post in every thread. I'm missing quite a bit of content these days with the sheer volume that's being pushed through.
 
Vasher consuming stormlight is not, to my knowledge, explicitly confirmed. It's just fairly obvious in that he has to be able to.
 
Nightblood can be fueled by stormlight: we both have WoB on this and know it as a matter of deduction because otherwise he wouldn't have been given to Szeth; and NIghtblood feeds on Breath. That same WoB tells us that everything can fuel everything, essentially, and in this case we know for sure that stormlight can be a substitute for Breath-eating entities. Vasher's a Returned who has to eat a Breath every 7 days to stay alive, and he's been on Roshar (at least on and off) for years. The simple conclusion is that he's been substituting some Stormlight into his diet.
 
Now, to counter, we do have this:
 

Kaladin: “Have you ever had to choose between two equally distasteful choices?”
Zahel: “Every day I choose to keep breathing."

 

(Incidentally, I like how in that chapter Kaladin essentially acknowledges that he has a habit of seeking out the nearest worldhopper for sage advice when he needs a kick in the pants )

 

The exchange is likely a reference to the "distasteful choice" of eating Breath, and, since its in the present tense, could indicate that Vasher is still using Breath. I doubt it, though, as the reserve he'd need to stay alive without any readily-accessible sources would be astounding, and I doubt he can casually worldhop back to Nalthis and grab some more every other Tuesday like he's getting milk.

Edited March 8, 2014 by Kurkistan

[Galavantes]

Sorry Kurk that was mainly a joke referring to another thread where I mentioned that you are always linking content

Also in my defense, you DID read this thread.

[Argent]

(Incidentally, I like how in that chapter Kaladin essentially acknowledges that he has a habit of seeking out the nearest worldhopper for sage advice when he needs a kick in the pants )

 

This seems like a theme, doesn't it?

[Aleksiel]

Everyone Kal asks for advice from now on is a worldhopper suspect 

[Vortaan]

This whole thread is Warbreaker Spoilers, in case anyone didn't get that.

 

While I'm amused that you think me all-knowing as well as all-linking, I am in fact limited. I'm happy to help people find links, but it helps if you guys can send me PM's or something instead of assuming I read every post in every thread. I'm missing quite a bit of content these days with the sheer volume that's being pushed through.

 

Vasher consuming stormlight is not, to my knowledge, explicitly confirmed. It's just fairly obvious in that he has to be able to.

 

Nightblood can be fueled by stormlight: we both have WoB on this and know it as a matter of deduction because otherwise he wouldn't have been given to Szeth; and NIghtblood feeds on Breath. That same WoB tells us that everything can fuel everything, essentially, and in this case we know for sure that stormlight can be a substitute for Breath-eating entities. Vasher's a Returned who has to eat a Breath every 7 days to stay alive, and he's been on Roshar (at least on and off) for years. The simple conclusion is that he's been substituting some Stormlight into his diet.

 

Now, to counter, we do have this:

 

 

(Incidentally, I like how in that chapter Kaladin essentially acknowledges that he has a habit of seeking out the nearest worldhopper for sage advice when he needs a kick in the pants )

 

The exchange is likely a reference to the "distasteful choice" of eating Breath, and, since its in the present tense, could indicate that Vasher is still using Breath. I doubt it, though, as the reserve he'd need to stay alive without any readily-accessible sources would be astounding, and I doubt he can casually worldhop back to Nalthis and grab some more every other Tuesday like he's getting milk.

 

I don't know that I agree here. Let's assume he's been on Roshar for maybe 30 years. Long enough to establish himself as a swordmaster, train Adolin around age 6, and show up at the Shattered Plains at the right time. So... 1560 or so Breaths, plus a few spares. That's probably around 5th Heightening, and we've seen Vasher with that much Breath before. Also, you're assuming that at some point he doesn't take back the Breath he gave the God Kings. Point being, it's certainly possible... I'm actually going to go 50/50 on whether he's using Breath or Stormlight. Maybe a mixture?

[cris34b]

My only question is how the heck does he survive during The Weeping? Can he inhale Stormlight like he does Breath? Like a Surgebinder out of spheres? If that is the case, he must have like a gemheart or some such huge gemstone for mid-weeping survival.

[AyeJay]

Does anyone know for sure when this happens in relation to Warbreaker and Nightblood? I've seen two different timelines. 

[Arcanist Lupus]

Do Returned use a Breath every 7 days, or every week?

[Bremen]

Do Returned use a Breath every 7 days, or every week?

What if you believe a week last 1000 days?

[Kurkistan]

I doubt that'd help. While a lot of things can be hand-waved by perception, the Returned requirement for Breath looks to be one of energy: if they don't eat Breath, they don't have any juice. See: Lightsong growing weaker as feeding time approaches. That's not the kind of thing you can shake off by saying a week is shorter or longer.

[Kurkistan]

I don't know that I agree here. Let's assume he's been on Roshar for maybe 30 years. Long enough to establish himself as a swordmaster, train Adolin around age 6, and show up at the Shattered Plains at the right time. So... 1560 or so Breaths, plus a few spares. That's probably around 5th Heightening, and we've seen Vasher with that much Breath before. Also, you're assuming that at some point he doesn't take back the Breath he gave the God Kings. Point being, it's certainly possible... I'm actually going to go 50/50 on whether he's using Breath or Stormlight. Maybe a mixture?

 

(Double post, but this is new info).

 

New WoB just came in. Brandon essentially says that Vasher eats Stormlight.

[arbron]

Brandon essentially says that Vasher eats Stormlight.

 

During the same reply Brandon said that Zahel had been on the planet for a very long time, probably a lot longer then most of the people who currently know him assume.

[Releaser]

That same WoB tells us that everything can fuel everything, essentially, and in this case we know for sure that stormlight can be a substitute for Breath-eating entities. 

So does that mean a Knight Radiant with stormlight can consume allomantic metals and get the powers of that misting?

[Kurkistan]

No, I doubt it does. For one, the metals aren't actually the source of the allomantic powers. For another, the expression of Allomancy is tied into the makeup of the allomancer in question.

[Releaser]

No, I doubt it does. For one, the metals aren't actually the source of the allomantic powers. For another, the expression of Allomancy is tied into the makeup of the allomancer in question.

 

I wonder what investing Stormlight and / or Breaths into an already Metallically charged Hemalurgic spike would do. 

[Seerow]

So does that mean a Knight Radiant with stormlight can consume allomantic metals and get the powers of that misting?

 

No. But I do seem to remember reading something about all metals in Scadrial being Invested. So it may be possible a Knight Radiant could consume an allomantic metal from Scadrial and gain Stormlight from it.

[PorridgeBrick]

I don't think that would work either. Remember, the investiture you get from Allomancy has already been filtered into a specific action, while Stormlight is pretty much untyped Investiture. They might get Stormlight out if they infused some Stormlight into it prior a la Compounding, but I doubt there'd be any other major interactions.

[happyman]

Given that Lift can substitute calories for Stormlight (or possibly convert food energy into raw investiture), I wouldn't bet against anything being possible in the Cosmere.

[cris34b]

Also, I want to think about this. Brandon said Zahel has been there for a long time right? The Returned are immortal so long as they get breath. Zahel lives on a world, now, where he gets a giant investiture-dumping storm once a week, and his body is built to automatically absorb that. As long as he is there, he is essentially immortal.... Not to mention if his body is built to absorb stormlight, does he get it's healing powers? Can he use it for awakening? Remember how Adolin thought Szeth had brought that blanket to life? I'm seeing a foreshadowing here. WHAT ELSE CAN HE DO WITH STORMLIGHT!?

 

Hmm, does he have perfect stormlight retention, being, you know, an immortal shapeshifter? Never mind, scratch that, the Returned lose one breath a week... not perfect, but probably damnation good stormlight retention. I bet he can absorb stormlight and use it to last though the whole Weeping. 

Edited March 9, 2014 by cris34b

[Argent]

Well, in all fairness, I think Adolin was just surprised that Szeth could Lash inanimate objects  as well - he had already seen the Assassin in White throw himself and other people around, but not objects, I think.

 

Still, it's very very likely that Zahel / Vasher will be able to Awaken using Stormlight. Which is potentially scary powerful. 

[taveren]

anyone else wonder if he has that aura still or maybe it doesn't show on rosher we know he has at least 1000 since he can sense people comeing

[skaa]

So does that mean a Knight Radiant with stormlight can consume allomantic metals and get the powers of that misting?

 

The Knight Radiant will need to have a specific Innate Investiture to do that. If he was able to have his Spiritweb modified (perhaps by the Nightwatcher) in such a way as to mimic the Innate Investiture of Allomancers, then yes, he'll be an Allomancer as well as a Surgebinder.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Lift could get Stormlight from swallowing un-Invested metals, but not the Allomantic power (since that comes from Allomantic Innate Investiture). Not sure what would happen if she swallowed a metalmind, a bead of atium, or a Hemalurgic spike, though, since all those things are already Invested objects in themselves.

 

It's possible that Vasher's Innate Investiture already allows him to Inhale Stormlight directly. If not, then he might have asked a Shard (or a powerful Splinter, maybe even the Nightwatcher) for help.

Edited March 9, 2014 by skaa