Lift's Boon and Curse

[TheProphet19]

Basically, this is how I imagine the Life-Nightwatcher interaction went down.

I may be fuzzy on time details but the major point is what I believe her "curse" is.

 

Lift (age 10 Roshar years): Nightwatcher, give me something awesome!

 

Nightwatcher: You amuse me child. I give you Wyndle, and bring you into the cognitive realm. You will be able to touch Wyndle and turn food into stormlight. Probably some other stuff go ask Brandon.

 

Lift: Who?

 

Nightwatcher: AS I WAS SAYING. You will exist partial in the cognitive realm...you will exist as an idealized concept of yourself, but still with a physical form. This is your curse. You are as you are now, Lift, forever 10, and forever *cringe* awesome.

 

Half-joke half-serious, but really, is this why she seems so young at heart, and likes to ignore her age?

[Edgedancer]

Do you mean idealized concept of yourself literally or as a matter of speach.

Anyway this leads us to the theory that Lift doesn´t age, which would make sense, I suppose, afterall someone thinking she looks younger than she is (believing her that she is 10) and her saying she is always 10 would be perfectly normal foreshadowing for Brandon.

Also funny.

[shawnhargreaves]

This makes total sense to me.

 

We know Lift exists partly in the cognitive realm.   We know that where cognitive stuff is concerned, it's how people (and things) see themselves that matters.  And we know that Lift sees herself as being 10.

 

So, yeah...   Solid conclusion!

[TheProphet19]

Thanks guys! I thought it seemed obvious or too easy, but I really like the idea, so I'm glad ya'll do too!

 

And I meant the idealized concept bit as more a figure of speech; but since she exists partially in the cognitive realm, she is likely more static than a fully physical person. Her self-perceptions, and the perceptions of others, define her to an extent.

Edited April 20, 2014 by TheProphet19

[Arin]

Any guesses how long she has been 10?

[Gamma Fiend]

Um.... this many? *holds up 3 fingers*

Edit: That's in response to Arin's question for how many years Lift has been 10
 

“I ain’t,” she said. “Twelve’s an unlucky number.” She held up her hands. “I’m only this many.”

“...Ten?” Tigzikk asked.

“Is that how many that is? Sure, then. Ten.” She lowered her hands. “If I can’t count it on my fingers, it’s unlucky.” And she’d been that many for three years now. So there.

Edited April 20, 2014 by Gamma Fiend

[Arondell]

I just figured her curse was related to counting.  More specifically I'm guessing she can't count above ten because that is as high as she can count with her hands.  The other thieves thought she was older based on her physical appearance.

 

 

“She’s just a child!”

“She’s a youth. She’s at least twelve.”

 

Edited April 21, 2014 by Arondell

[Lumen]

I think it is pretty clear, Lift cannot use external stormlight.  She can only create her own.  I think that may be the curse.

[Dihatimus]

Probably some other stuff go ask Brandon.

 

Lift: Who?

 

 

Made me laugh. Thanks.

[TheProphet19]

You are welcome Dihatimus.

 

The lack of ability to absorb stormlight is possible, but it doesn't seem to fit with other curses we've seen. I think the issue with counting would make for an implausible but hysterical curse.

[Edgedancer]

I think it is pretty clear, Lift cannot use external stormlight.  She can only create her own.  I think that may be the curse.

Lift seems to have two boons, metabolizing Stormlight and being able to interact with Spren. It would make sense if she also has two curses, one of them being her incapability to use external Stormlight.

Before anyone says that the Nightwatcher only gives one curse and boon each. Just because she normally acts that way doesn´t mean she can´t give out sets.

[Moogle]

I think it is pretty clear, Lift cannot use external stormlight.  She can only create her own.  I think that may be the curse.

 

What makes this pretty clear? Lift is a thief who steals food. She's rarely, if ever, in tense situations, and she's never around tons of spheres normally. Kaladin didn't realize he could breathe in Stormlight for a truly ridiculous amount of time despite being next to spheres all day and constantly breathing heavily. Even when he realized he could take in Stormlight, he spent like hours staring at a sphere trying to figure out how to do it.

 

I also think that you could read the ending of Lift's interlude as her speaking the Second Ideal and drawing in Stormlight from the gems around her. Remember, she was completely tapped out (she had no food left to burn), and then she did a feat that required a LOT of Stormlight. Kaladin, when he speaks the Ideals, infuses himself with Stormlight. I think it's perfectly reasonable that Lift did the same.

[Arondell]

You are welcome Dihatimus.

 

 I think the issue with counting would make for an implausible but hysterical curse.

 

Since all the other curses seem to have been brain related it doesn't seem that all that implausible to me.

 

Known curses.

 

1. Av's father seeing everything upside down.

2. Av's brother has no feeling in hands.

3. Dalinar forgetting everything about his wife.

 

I see not being able to count above ten as the same kind of thing.  That and the issue being waved in our faces when the subject of Lift's age is brought up.  In every other way Lift seems fairly clever and intelligent given her lack of education and street upbringing.  Her apparent inability to count above ten kind of sticks out.

[Kasimir]

Moogle, on 22 Apr 2014 - 04:14 AM, said:

Kaladin didn't realize he could breathe in Stormlight for a truly ridiculous amount of time despite being next to spheres all day and constantly breathing heavily.

Thanks, Moogle, this was exactly how I needed to think of Kaladin...That made me laugh!

I'm not certain that her two boons don't end up being two aspects of one particular boon. Granted, the Nightwatcher might simply give them out in sets, but given the information we have so far, I think it's more reasonable to work with 'just one boon and just one curse'.

[cris34b]

Yeah, I agree with that. What we know is that spren are cognitive aspects of things brought out because of the latent investiture on the planet. We also know they cannot be touched.

 

Lift, however, can touch them. She lives partially in the cognitive realm, allowing her to do this. However, perhaps we're missing something.

 

Spren exist because of the strange investiture they have on Roshar. Perhaps Lift has to survive off of the same investiture? That may very well be her curse for all we know, though I think its just a way of Nightwatcher to not force Lift to die suddenly.

 

Lift is, in essence, a realy big, dynamic spren. The best Nahel bond we know of so far, since she is both her own spren and human, and then gets ANOTHER SPREN. Wyndle is the poor Voidbringer third wheel.

 

As for her curse, I don't think its the 10 thing. 10 is a holy number on Roshar, so it kind of makes sense, but I think its part of her boon.

 

I think her boon is her curse.

 

As a spren, she is defined how people view her. Someone calls her 10 and believes it, and suddenly, she's ten. Someone calls her awesome when they see her Surgebinding, and suddenly she thinks of herself as awesome. Its actually very lucky she didn't become the ruler of that kingdom herself, since if so many people viewed her, think of how crazy the perceptions would become.

[Fish]

In Edgedancer it says that she has notices she was getting taller so im thinking that instead of it being other peoples preceptions of Lift that affect how she exist, its her own perception of herself that determines how old she is.