A Question about Radiants and Using Stormlight

[Trusk'our he/him]

Can a Radiant only use Stormlight held within their body to fuel their surges, or can they use stormlight that is near them, but not currently held within them? If they can only use stormlight within their bodies, how did Jasnah use her Soulcasting abilities in WoK without glowing?

[NameIess]

54 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

Can a Radiant only use Stormlight held within their body to fuel their surges, or can they use stormlight that is near them, but not currently held within them? If they can only use stormlight within their bodies, how did Jasnah use her Soulcasting abilities in WoK without glowing?

She either could use soulcasting from gemstones like Shallan was able to link lightweaving to gems, or she just used the stormlight quickly enough that she never glowed.

[Dunkum he/him]

if it was bright enough and she pulled in little enough stormlight, the glow wouldn't necessarily have been noticeable. i don't recall enough of the specifics of the scene to say.

Edited January 19, 2022 by Dunkum
typos

[Trusk'our he/him]

1 hour ago, Dunkum said:

i it was right enough and sh pulled in little enough stormlight, the glow wouldn't necessarily have been noticeable. i don't recall enough of the specifics of the scene to say.

Yeah, I suppose that makes sense. I was also thinking about when Jasnah used Soulcasting to fill a large hole in the final battle of OB, and how much Stormlight that would have taken. Also, since radiants have a limited amount of Stormlight that they can hold at once, they wouldn't be able to achieve HUGE effects with Surgebinding, even if they had had enough infused gemstones nearby or an open Perpendicularity. I suppose that it could be a limitation similar to Allomancy, actually.

[+ShardlessVessel]

Shallan demonstrated the ability* to suppress the glow of Stormlight so it isn't as noticeable. Perhaps Jasnah has also figured that out? She has been keeping secrets about her powers since the first book.

*Oathbringer chapter 21, according to the Coppermind; I'm fairly sure that I remember her having done it in WOR, but I couldn't find it.

[Frustration]

9 hours ago, ShardlessVessel said:

*Oathbringer chapter 21, according to the Coppermind; I'm fairly sure that I remember her having done it in WOR, but I couldn't find it.

She's in camp sebarial and messing around with illusions, I think it's pretty soon after she get's there.

I don't have a copy so I can't check

[+ShardlessVessel]

8 hours ago, Frustration said:

She's in camp sebarial and messing around with illusions, I think it's pretty soon after she get's there.

I don't have a copy so I can't check

That's exactly what I remember as well, but I looked through those chapters several times and couldn't find it, lol.

I'll have another look.

[+ShardlessVessel]

I just skimmed every Shallan chapter past her arrival at Sebarial's camp in WOR, and it seems my memory tricked me. Here's the passage, from Chapter 60:

Quote

"I'm not glowing," Shallan said. "I'm holding a lot of Stormlight, but I'm not glowing."

"Mmm . . ." Pattern said. "Large illusion transforms the Surge into another. Feeds off your Stormlight."

She nodded. The Stormlight she held fed the illusion, drawing the excess from her that would normally float above her skin.

She does consciously suppress the glow later on, but in this case she was essentially plugging the Light directly into the illusion. This is an alternative explanation for what Jasnah did (which I am aware was already mentioned on this thread): she simply drew in the exact amount of Stormlight needed at the same time that she Soulcast, leaving none to Invest her body.