Dawnshards

[SecondPlace]

I was wondering how much we know about the Dawnshards? I know that they were somehow used to destroy Ashyn which means that they are incredibly powerful. I also have some theories on them, feel free to critique them. ( my theories assume that they are on Roshar, Honor mentions that the radiants will destroy Roshar with them, so it is safe to assume that they are on Roshar.)

- The Dawnshards may be kept at Aimia, this would explain why the sleepless guard Aimia, the cook even says that there is something dangerous enough to end the world on Aimia, and they could have also been the cause of the scouring of Aimia.

- a Dawnshard may have been responsible for the shattering of the shattered plains.

Does anyone have any theories about what the Dawnshards are and what they can do?

[Karger]

46 minutes ago, The_WindRunner said:

I was wondering how much we know about the Dawnshards?

Short answer is basically nothing. This is the from the coppermind.

Quote

During the Era of Solitude, no one seemed to know exactly what the Dawnshards were or what they looked like.^[1]

it can be found here https://coppermind.net/wiki/Dawnshard

46 minutes ago, The_WindRunner said:

Does anyone have any theories about what the Dawnshards are and what they can do?

Oh lots.  I will put up a few threads.  Spoiler for length.

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2020 by Karger

[Honorless]

Here's some more popular theories on the Dawnshards:

What the Dawnshards are, is a question that has been asked before. If you're interested here's some of them:

The last one is a link to a list that I made of the info we have on the Dawnshards to date

 

highlights: Adonalsium spren, what the Unmade were before they were unmade, fabrials, perfect gemstones, Ashynite plague, Cultivation magic, something to do with the Dawnsingers

Edited May 14, 2020 by R J
one link was posted twice, can't seem to remove it

[Frustration]

I had a thread like this not too long ago, so we know,

a Dawnshard was on Aimia at one point,

One is different from all the others,

one is known to bind all creatures mortal or voidish,

Honor thought that they could be useful against Odium.

[ScavellTane]

I don't see why the Stormfather could not have been originally part of the artificial storm that surrounds Aimia.

[Emerald_Mage]

Didn't see this above so sorry if I'm repeating something. I believe it is confirmed that a dawnshard is what gives Hoid his immortality.

[Honorless]

1 hour ago, Emerald_Mage said:

Didn't see this above so sorry if I'm repeating something. I believe it is confirmed that a dawnshard is what gives Hoid his immortality.

Dawnshard is a Rosharan/Ashynite thing. What gives Hoid his immortality is the remnant of an anti-Adonalsium weapon from Yolen.

Edited May 15, 2020 by R J

[SecondPlace]

I just read a theory about the Dawnshards being extremely powerful fabrials, one or more being designed specificity to terraform planets. This would explain why Shinovar is so different from the rest of Roshar, because after the singers gave it to the humans they used the Dawnshards to terraform it. This theory would also explain how they destroyed an entire planet. 

[+Child of Hodor]

That they were used on Ashyn before humans migrated to Roshar really throws me.

They seem like they are spren that turned into objects in the physical realm or were part of fabrials. All magic on Roshar involves spren in someway even the old magic is usually a spren modifying people. 

But these seem to have been on Ashyn before they were on Roshar and we don’t officially know anything about the magic there. 

Did they originate on Ashyn? Did they come from Roshar to Ashyn? Some humans seemed to know of Roshar if they fled there in hurry during the catastrophe that left their planet’s surface wrecked. Maybe some had visited Roshar before. 

The Eila Stele makes sound like the Dawnsingers had never encountered humans before the big migration. 

[Aminar]

12 minutes ago, Child of Hodor said:

That they were used on Ashyn before humans migrated to Roshar really throws me.

They seem like they are spren that turned into objects in the physical realm or were part of fabrials. All magic on Roshar involves spren in someway even the old magic is usually a spren modifying people. 

But these seem to have been on Ashyn before they were on Roshar and we don’t officially know anything about the magic there. 

Did they originate on Ashyn? Did they come from Roshar to Ashyn? Some humans seemed to know of Roshar if they fled there in hurry during the catastrophe that left their planet’s surface wrecked. Maybe some had visited Roshar before. 

The Eila Stele makes sound like the Dawnsingers had never encountered humans before the big migration. 

Don't we know that they used Surges on Ashyn and that caused the crisis that necessitated the flight to Roshar. 

[spaidapig]

13 hours ago, Aminar said:

Don't we know that they used Surges on Ashyn and that caused the crisis that necessitated the flight to Roshar. 

We know they destroyed the planet with their magic. But the term "Surges" is the word, that the Dawnsingers used for just Magic, so its like a synonym to them.

The exact means by which Ashyn was destroyed are unknown.

[Aminar]

1 hour ago, spaidapig said:

We know they destroyed the planet with their magic. But the term "Surges" is the word, that the Dawnsingers used for just Magic, so its like a synonym to them.

The exact means by which Ashyn was destroyed are unknown.

It's intimated that the Spren copied that magic. There's a lot of little things that suggest surge binding was similar on Ashyn and Roshar. The most significant of which is Kaladin's Gravitation acceleration versus that of the Listeners. Kaladin accelerates faster than they do, likely because they're using different gravitational constants from the two planets. The creation of the Honorblades in such a structured way(two surges per blade, with the surges progressing in a cyclical fashion around the group suggest that these were predetermined pairings the Heralds had an understanding of. Surges being defined as natural laws utilized by magic also intimates that they were a constant. I don't buy that they called all magic surgebinding. 

[KandraAllomancer]

16 hours ago, Aminar said:

Don't we know that they used Surges on Ashyn and that caused the crisis that necessitated the flight to Roshar. 

 

2 hours ago, spaidapig said:

We know they destroyed the planet with their magic. But the term "Surges" is the word, that the Dawnsingers used for just Magic, so its like a synonym to them.

The exact means by which Ashyn was destroyed are unknown.

We actually have a confirmation that the pre-cataclysm Ashyn magic was based on Surges:

Quote

Shardbound

Were the Surges used by humans, the ones that destroyed their previous home, the same as the ones that the Radiants are using.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, same basic principles. Magic system slightly different. Same basic principles.

Oathbringer London signing (Nov. 28, 2017)

 

[Frustration]

1 hour ago, Aminar said:

It's intimated that the Spren copied that magic. There's a lot of little things that suggest surge binding was similar on Ashyn and Roshar. The most significant of which is Kaladin's Gravitation acceleration versus that of the Listeners. Kaladin accelerates faster than they do, likely because they're using different gravitational constants from the two planets. 

Closer to a Braize/Roshar comparison

1 hour ago, Aminar said:

The creation of the Honorblades in such a structured way(two surges per blade, with the surges progressing in a cyclical fashion around the group suggest that these were predetermined pairings the Heralds had an understanding of. Surges being defined as natural laws utilized by magic also intimates that they were a constant. I don't buy that they called all magic surgebinding. 

Surges naturally come in those pairs.

[Chiberty]

4 hours ago, Aminar said:

The most significant of which is Kaladin's Gravitation acceleration versus that of the Listeners. Kaladin accelerates faster than they do, likely because they're using different gravitational constants from the two planets. 

Quote

Questioner

The Fused that wield, like--their Lashings can be a lot faster than Kaladin's are. Is it because it's based on a different planet than the Radiants?

Brandon Sanderson

Kaladin can go faster, but they are more-- they are faster over a large span. What's going on with the Fused is they have-- The way their Investiture works, it doesn't leak and they are able to use it for much longer periods of time. But they don't have access to the number of times that Kaladin can Lash himself directions and things like this, and the speed with which he can pick up speed. So in the short Kaladin is favored, in the long they're favored.

Orem signing (March 10, 2018)