Royal locks and being a drab

[MasterK-Bob]

My question is basically whether Brandon has made clear whether a royal loses the ability to change their hair color when they have no breath. I know Vivenna couldn't change her hair color during much of the time she was a drab, but she was having lots of other issues at the time. Does a royal need at least one breath to use whatever power they inherited, or do they retain that power to even as a drab, at least to some extent?

 

I searched arcanum and didn't find anything clear.

[Weltall]

This WoB says it's because Vivenna feels more in control of her life again that she's able to change her hair afterwards, without saying anything about Breath. Since the Royal Locks are essentially a fragmentary Divine Breath that's passed down through lineage without being a part of one's regular Breath reserves (ie, you can't give it away) I don't think there's any need to have Breath in order to use their power.

Edited January 24, 2020 by Weltall

[MasterK-Bob]

5 hours ago, Weltall said:

This WoB says it's because Vivenna feels more in control of her life again that she's able to change her hair afterwards, without saying anything about Breath. Since the Royal Locks are essentially a fragmentary Divine Breath that's passed down through lineage without being a part of one's regular Breath reserves (ie, you can't give it away) I don't think there's any need to have Breath in order to use their power.

Thanks for your answer Weltall. I agree that the implication is that she regained control of her powers when the world felt more in her control again, but that also corresponds with her getting back her breath. Without a more direct WOB, I'm not confident. I'm sure you can't give away the Royal locks like you can breath, but I'm not sure they work without a breath either.

[Quantus]

This isnt a deciding fact, but its worth noting that the Locks do have their own energy source independent of the royal's Breaths: the ability relies on actual caloric intake, and using it makes the royal proportionally hungrier (especially if actually creating new hair).