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The Shard of Valor


Krafl

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I know Sanderson already wrote the Reckoners, but Valor seems like a good shard for a superhero setting. It would be wildly out of place in the Cosmere, but maybe a fantasy spin would work. I'm picturing a setting where a character that does something heroic, like saving someone's life while risking their own, is invested by Valor so they can be even more heroic. While someone doing something like risking it all to take what they want will be invested by Valor so they can be a terrifying villain. Then those two groups clash in epic battles that they couldn't have had without the investiture, reaching new heights of valor.

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On 11/26/2020 at 1:16 AM, seriodor said:

I'm picturing a setting where a character that does something heroic, like saving someone's life while risking their own, is invested by Valor

Some part of my brain is telling me that there is a series/book on this sort of "magic" but I cant see to think of it. :mellow:

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24 minutes ago, bloodlust said:

Some part of my brain is telling me that there is a series/book on this sort of "magic" but I cant see to think of it. :mellow:

I was partially thinking of a Practical Guide to Evil when I was picturing the setting. The Samurai in Stray Cat Strut gain their abilities that way. I feel like I've read other stories with something like that in them.

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On 11/26/2020 at 1:16 AM, seriodor said:

I know Sanderson already wrote the Reckoners, but Valor seems like a good shard for a superhero setting. It would be wildly out of place in the Cosmere, but maybe a fantasy spin would work. I'm picturing a setting where a character that does something heroic, like saving someone's life while risking their own, is invested by Valor so they can be even more heroic. While someone doing something like risking it all to take what they want will be invested by Valor so they can be a terrifying villain. Then those two groups clash in epic battles that they couldn't have had without the investiture, reaching new heights of valor.

I want a cosmere take on superheroes desperately. 

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On 11/19/2020 at 9:25 AM, Honorless said:

Overcoming obstacles, facing adversities, perseverance.

Perhaps gauntlets or trials for the initiation? it doesn't need to be gladiatorial combat; it could be like the gate ter'angreal from Wheel of Time, or the trials for the Cartouches from Magic the Gathering (Amonkhet), or like Special Ops training in modern militaries.

 

On 11/25/2020 at 5:34 AM, Oltux72 said:

In my eyes valor is courageously taking a personal risk in the pursuit of an external goal.

I Agree with this, and that will likely be the main moral restriction on the magic system. I also had the thought that if combined with Cultivation, the two would make an interesting combination, since both seem about personal growth; perhaps the dual-shard Growth, Betterment, or Achievement?

 

On 11/19/2020 at 11:27 AM, Oltux72 said:

No Lightweavers under Valor, I suppose.

I agree; this doesn't seem the kind of shard to have Lightweavers, but it might be possible, since you could use it in combat for distractions and such.

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8 minutes ago, Honorless said:

"No Lightweavers under Valor"? The Shards Intent has to do with how you are initiated into the magic system not what you can do with it.

 

That's true, but it also has to do with maintenance of the connection allowing the magic; in Honor's case, at least, you can't break your oaths and keep your magic, so cowardice might be a similar "magic stopper" and Lightweaving could possibly be seen as cowardice.

Edit: yes, I realize it has nothing in common with the scadrian or nalthian systems, so it stands on weak feet. However, various shards are attuned to different uses; Ruin's system accelerates entropy, Endowment's endows things with life, Cultivation's helps things grow, etc. Neither system has a form of lightweaving that we know about, except the Returned having control over their appearance, so clearly certain investitures lack certain magic forms.

Edited by Light In the Darkness
Realization of a likely counterargument
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1 hour ago, Honorless said:

"No Lightweavers under Valor"? The Shards Intent has to do with how you are initiated into the magic system not what you can do with it.

 

Looking at the abilities Allomancy and Surgebinding grant this is true. Yet if I take a really hard look at stuff

  • the linkage between Ruin and Hemalurgy really fits
  • Endowment gives you immortality (thinking of Awakening as Endowment's genuine system is wrong - the Heightenings are)
  • the way Dakhor is fueled and Dominion really fit

I must say that there are links. The fit is by no means universal. But it seems to exist in many cases and is not limited to Initiation. Nor is the link with Initiation particularly universal. Sandmastery needs to be nurtured, yet it is the system of Autonomy.

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2 minutes ago, Honorless said:

I'd say Awakening fits Endowment just fine, giving Breaths to an object to breathe life into it

It does fit. But that is not the same thing as saying that it is the genuine system

  • you get the Heightenings without giving or learning commands
  • the benefits you get from fewer Breaths are not aimed at Awakening. They keep you alive.
  • The idea that the way Breaths are used for Awakening objects is primary may be false. You can heal with them, too.

So Awakening may be a small subset of what you can do with Breaths. But everybody who holds Breaths will get the benefits of the Heightenings. In fact, it is involuntary. As far as we know you cannot switch off the boost to your health, perfect pitch or your life sense.

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On 12/9/2020 at 2:55 AM, Oltux72 said:

Looking at the abilities Allomancy and Surgebinding grant this is true. Yet if I take a really hard look at stuff

  • the linkage between Ruin and Hemalurgy really fits
  • Endowment gives you immortality (thinking of Awakening as Endowment's genuine system is wrong - the Heightenings are)
  • the way Dakhor is fueled and Dominion really fit

I must say that there are links. The fit is by no means universal. But it seems to exist in many cases and is not limited to Initiation. Nor is the link with Initiation particularly universal. Sandmastery needs to be nurtured, yet it is the system of Autonomy.

Dakhor, like all forms of the Dor, is a mixture of Devotion and Dominion. It’s of both, not one.

Valor’s system was likely the Dark One’s initially.

Edited by Kingsdaughter613
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