Offworld Drabs

[MasterK-Bob]

Based on WOBs, we know people not from Nalthis are not Drabs, but if someone not from Nalthis gets one breath and then gives it away, does this still hold true? Is the breath less intertwined with their soul than a Nalthian and this they have about a Nalthian level of soul, or just slightly less, even without a breath, or would having gotten a breath open them up to becoming a drab? I suspect the answer to that is know but I wanted to check to see if everyone agreed.

[Honorless]

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NutiketAiel (paraphrased)

If a native of Sel or another Shardworld traveled to Nalthis, would they be a drab?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

No, they would not be a drab.

NutiketAiel (paraphrased)

If such a person died on Nalthis, could they Return?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

No, they cannot Return.

NutiketAiel (paraphrased)

If such a person received breath, could they use BioChroma?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes

A Memory of Light Dayton Signing (Jan. 10, 2013)

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Questioner

And is that true of a Drab as well? Does the body affect--

Brandon Sanderson

The Drab is going to have less.

Questioner

So they just have less Investiture, but they still have some natural Investiture?

Brandon Sanderson

They do still have some. They've lost their Breath but that isn't the entirety of the Investiture inside of them.

Nalthians have a little bit of extra innate Investiture as Breath, without it they would have a little bit less than the average person in the Cosmere has.

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Questioner

In the last panel we talked a lot about people from different planets using magic systems on other planets, one of the things I've been thinking about, we've been thinking about, talking about Breath, and people being born with Breath, is that something specific to Nalthis or do, technically, other people on other planets have a Breath as well?

Brandon Sanderson

Good question and that is a Nalthian thing. Now, everyone in the cosmere to an extent has Investiture, the Nalthian Breath is part what everyone has and then a little extra, plus the ability to share it around. So a person who gives up their Breath on Nalthis is actually going below what a normal person has. But a normal person on Nalthis has more than somebody-- So if you were for instance to pick a world like Sixth of the Dusk, where there's not a Shard in residence, and you compared them to a Nalthian, Nalthian has an Investiture advantage over them. When they've given up their Breath, they have an Investiture disadvantage.

Bystander

So we're not Drabs?

Brandon Sanderson

So we're not Drabs. That's exactly it. We're not Drabs.

JordanCon 2016 (April 23, 2016)

 

A non-Nalthian with Breath would have that normal level of innate Investiture + Breath, if they gave it away then they'll still have the normal level of innate Investiture, so they'll not be drabs.

[Raven Wilder]

Now, if a Drab from Nalthis got Investiture from another source (say, by bonding a spren or eating some lerasium) would they still be a Drab?

[Honorless]

On 12/5/2020 at 10:52 AM, Raven Wilder said:

Now, if a Drab from Nalthis got Investiture from another source (say, by bonding a spren or eating some lerasium) would they still be a Drab?

I don't think so, as long as they have the normal level of Investiture, they'll not be Drabs, it shouldn't have to be BioChromatic Breath.

Quote

They (the Returned) have learned to suppress their divine Breath. This allows them to hide, but they must be careful never to give away all of their Breath. Denth has been a Drab before—he's not completely lying—but never for longer than a few days. And his divine Breath is always there, suppressed. So he doesn't know what it's like to be a true Drab, which is why in this chapter he says he doesn't think it changes you that much. He's never felt it.

Warbreaker Annotations (Oct. 26, 2010)

Denth has apparently never experienced being a true Drab as he had a Divine Breath.

And being a Drab is terrible:

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Brandon Sanderson

Vivenna's Thoughts on Being a Drab

A lot of what happened to Vivenna—how she saw the world and how she acted—was influenced by being a Drab. As I've said before, the Hallandren aren't right when they say losing your Breath does nothing to you. Most Drabs struggle with depression, and the fact that they're almost always sick doesn't help either.

And so, Vivenna's time on the streets was artificially made more dreary and terrible than it truly was. Being a Drab, being sick, the shock of being betrayed—these things combined to give you the person you saw in the previous two chapters. It's a way to cut a corner. I wanted Vivenna to feel like she'd been on the streets for months, but for it only to have been a few weeks.

She is able to make her hair change colors again. This is a representation of the fact that she has started to pull out of the nightmare. She's slightly in control of her world again, and the roughest time for her has passed. There's also a clue in that hair, one that Vasher mentions. Because of it, and her heritage, and something very mysterious in the past, every member of the royal line has a fraction of a divine Returned Breath in them. That makes it much easier for them to learn to Awaken than a normal person.

Warbreaker Annotations (Feb. 22, 2011)

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Brandon Sanderson

Vivenna at the Safe House

Vivenna is right about what happens to a person when they lose their Breath. It is a part of your soul, and without one, you are more prone to depression, you get sick much more easily, and you're generally more irritable.

I included this mention here because I'm betting that most people who read the book side with Denth and assume he's right when he talks about these things. But don't be too judgmental about the Idrians—yes, they're biased, but the Hallandren are too in a lot of ways. It's not as simple as one side always being right and the other wrong. In this case, the Idrian teachings are correct, and most Hallandren are looking for justifications when they say that giving up one's Breath isn't all that damaging to them.

Warbreaker Annotations (Oct. 26, 2010)

so I hope that the Nalthians discover off-world travel soon and get off their deceptively colourful planet with a human exploitation encouraging Investiture system 

[MGershone]

On 10/25/2020 at 9:08 AM, Honorless said:

Brandon Sanderson

They do still have some. They've lost their Breath but that isn't the entirety of the Investiture inside of them.

That's a weird way to put it. They've lost their breath? Does that mean everyone in the Cosmere used to have a full breath, but that's no longer the case? Maybe when Adonalsium was whole, the extra investiture Endowment grants went to everyone, since Adonalsium was everywhere.

Edited April 1, 2021 by MGershone
typo

[Weltall]

20 minutes ago, MGershone said:

That's a weird way to put it. They've lost their breath?

You're reading too much into that, 'lost' just means they had a Breath but no longer do. Because, y'know, they've given it away.

Quote

Does that mean everyone in the Cosmere used to have a full breath, but that's no longer the case? Maybe when Adonalsium was whole, the extra investiture Endowment grants went to everyone, since Adonalsium was everywhere.

Nope, because Brandon specifically calls out Hoid as not having had Breath until he went and obtained some and he's been around since before the Shattering.

[Bejarden]

I woudnt...base a theory on that.  Brandon was probably answering hundreds of questions and wasn’t paying to much attention.

The man had a breath then he lost it. That’s it.

[Honorless]

32 minutes ago, MGershone said:

That's a weird way to put it. They've lost their breath? Does that mean everyone in the Cosmere used to have a full breath, but that's no longer the case? Maybe when Adonalsium was whole, the extra investiture Endowment grants went to everyone, since Adonalsium was everywhere.

As far as we know, no, that's not the case, and being born with a BioChromatic Breath is a thing for Nalthians only. Maybe in the future when the various cultures of the Cosmere mix, people born outside of Nalthis would be born with Breaths. Also note that non-Nalthians can receive Breath, as we see with Hoid. 

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Questioner

The nature of humans on different worlds, like people from Warbreaker have a Breath, people from Scadrial, do they have a Breath as well?

Brandon Sanderson

They do not.

Questioner

That's specific to the Endowment Shard?

Brandon Sanderson

Yup.

Questioner

I've read that Hoid does have a Breath. Was he born with a Breath or--

Brandon Sanderson

Hoid was not born on Taldain-- err Nalthis, on Nalthis. So no, he did not start with one. But the magic was much different when he started. He was before the Shattering of Adonalsium so things are weird regarding him.

Holiday signing (Dec. 12, 2015)

Quote

NutiketAiel (paraphrased)

If a native of Sel or another Shardworld traveled to Nalthis, would they be a drab?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

No, they would not be a drab.

NutiketAiel (paraphrased)

If such a person died on Nalthis, could they Return?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

No, they cannot Return.

NutiketAiel (paraphrased)

If such a person received breath, could they use Awakening?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes

A Memory of Light Dayton Signing (Jan. 10, 2013)

Other Cosmere peoples have innate Investiture too, something they call spark-of-life. But that isn't Breath.

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Questioner

On all the cosmere worlds, it seem as if-- do all the humans have what you call innate Investiture?

Brandon Sanderson

Let's see...

*thinks*

I believe that they all do. I don't think that you've seen anyone without innate Investiture yet.

Questioner

Because when they don't have Breath anymore, they would get Drabs, and those don't have innate Investiture?

Brandon Sanderson

They don't have innate Investiture. And on Scadrial they have the pieces of Ruin and Preservation in them. And they do have it on Roshar.

Questioner

Which Shard is that?

Brandon Sanderson

You'll have to read and find out. *gives card*

So yes, I don't think you've seen any worlds where they don't.

Words of Radiance San Francisco signing (March 6, 2014)

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Questioner

In the last panel we talked a lot about people from different planets using magic systems on other planets, one of the things I've been thinking about, we've been thinking about, talking about Breath, and people being born with Breath, is that something specific to Nalthis or do, technically, other people on other planets have a Breath as well?

Brandon Sanderson

Good question and that is a Nalthian thing. Now, everyone in the cosmere to an extent has Investiture, the Nalthian Breath is part what everyone has and then a little extra, plus the ability to share it around. So a person who gives up their Breath on Nalthis is actually going below what a normal person has. But a normal person on Nalthis has more than somebody-- So if you were for instance to pick a world like Sixth of the Dusk, where there's not a Shard in residence, and you compared them to a Nalthian, Nalthian has an Investiture advantage over them. When they've given up their Breath, they have an Investiture disadvantage.

Bystander

So we're not Drabs?

Brandon Sanderson

So we're not Drabs. That's exactly it. We're not Drabs.

JordanCon 2016 (April 23, 2016)

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by Honorless

[MGershone]

2 hours ago, Weltall said:

You're reading too much into that, 'lost' just means they had a Breath but no longer do. Because, y'know, they've given it away.

Nope, because Brandon specifically calls out Hoid as not having had Breath until he went and obtained some and he's been around since before the Shattering.

...OK. But I would like to point out that with Brandon Sanderson, there is no such thing as reading too much into things!

(Maybe there is. But I have yet to see it)

[+Oltux72]

Let us introduce the Nalthian Unit of Investiture: NUI

Standard Normal Nalthians: 1.5 NUI
Standard Offworlders: 1.0 NUI
Standard Drabs: 0.5 NUI

That is basically what this boils down to. Normal people are at some point between Drabs and Nalthians. Details are still undetermined.

[vonnegut]

Has it ever been asked if being born with breath on Nalthis is genetic or location-based?

Like, if a pair of Terrispeople visited Nalthis, and had a baby on Nalthis, and their baby was a Ferring because of the genetics, would that baby also have a Breath just from being born there?  Do second-generation Nalthians get Breath?  

[Weltall]

On 4/23/2021 at 7:13 PM, vonnegut said:

Has it ever been asked if being born with breath on Nalthis is genetic or location-based?

It has. Specific questions about people traveling to Nalthis and having children there have been met with RAFO's on whether the children would be born with Breath but based on how Brandon answered the reverse question, it seems safe to assume that it would take a couple generations before the immigrants would start being born with Breath.

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JoyBlu

In order to have a Breath, do you have to be native to Nalthis?

Brandon Sanderson

Not to be given Breaths, but people who are not native to Nalthis are not born with that Investiture.

JoyBlu

So, you have to be born on that planet?

Brandon Sanderson

There are exceptions. Most of the time.

JoyBlu

If both your parents were Nalthians, and they moved off planet, and they had a child that was born on a different planet—

Brandon Sanderson

It is possible for that child to have a Breath, but it would not continue too long. But yes, that child would probably have a Breath, depending...

Joyblu

If both of his parents had Breaths.

Brandon Sanderson

Mmmhmm.

Orem Signing (March 16, 2019)

 

[+Invocation]

21 hours ago, Weltall said:

It has. Specific questions about people traveling to Nalthis and having children there have been met with RAFO's on whether the children would be born with Breath but based on how Brandon answered the reverse question, it seems safe to assume that it would take a couple generations before the immigrants would start being born with Breath.

Bets on that being something of a perception issue? Seeing yourself as from Nalthis or not from Nalthis making which side of the line you fall on and when.