Radiant Fabrials

[Elder]

In Rhythm of War, Navani makes a discovery that’s fairly easy to overlook in the face of her other accomplishments in the book.  It begins with her contemplation of Soulcasters:

Quote

Soulcasters manifested as small unresponsive spren, hovering with their eyes closed. So the Soulcasters did have a captured spren. A Radiant spren, judging by their shape. Intelligent, rather than the more animal-like spren captured to power normal fabrials.

• Brandon Sanderson, Rhythm of War, 2020, pg 132

Soulcasters are the same sort of Spren as the Radiants.  The creation of such is known to the fused, and they have used it to make their dampening Fabrials:

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“We inspected the suppression fabrial in Shadesmar, as you asked,” Rushu said. “Your theory is correct, it manifests a spren in Shadesmar as Soulcasters do. But on this side, there is no sign of that spren in the gemstones.” “What’s the problem, then?” Navani asked. “My theory is correct.” “Brightness, the spren that runs the suppression device … has been corrupted, very similar to…” “To Renarin’s spren,” Navani said. “Indeed. The spren refused to talk to us, but didn’t seem as insensate as the ones in Soulcasters. This reinforces your theory that ancient fabrials—things like the pumps, the Oathgates, and the Soulcasters—somehow imprisoned their spren in the Cognitive Realm. When we pressed it, the spren closed its eyes pointedly. It seems to be working with the enemy deliberately….”

• Sanderson, Rhythm of War, 2020, pg 260

Though they clearly have some limitations, and in stating them, Raboniel unwittingly informs Navani of their nature:

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“In the past, my kind found it difficult to persuade spren to manifest themselves in the Physical Realm as devices. It seems Voidspren are not as naturally … self-sacrificing as those of Honor or Cultivation.” Navani blinked as the implications of that sank in. Suddenly a dozen loose threads in her mind tied together, forming a tapestry. An explanation. That was why the fabrials of the tower—the pumps, the climbing mechanisms—didn’t have gemstones with captive spren. Storms … that was the answer to Soulcasting devices. Awespren burst around her in a ring of blue smoke. Soulcasters didn’t hold spren because they were spren. Manifesting in the Physical Realm like Shardblades. Spren became metal on this side. Somehow the ancient spren had been coaxed into manifesting as Soulcasters instead of Blades?

• Sanderson, Rhythm of War, pg 593

Add to this the nature of The Sibling as an enormous fabrial and we can quite obviously conclude that Radiant Spren can become Fabrials.  This leaves me with some questions:

1.  Is it just Soulcasters?  Or could certain Radiant Spren become other kinds of Fabrials?  The Sibling is clearly far more than a Soulcaster, but being a Bondsmith Spren makes them a unique case.  The Enlightened Spren acting as a Dampener for the fused would indicate that one can indeed become something else.  I think there’s also a healing fabrial in one of Dalinar’s visions.  What ever happened to those?
1.a. What kind of Spren is dampening?  Is this a kind of Enlightened Surge like Renarin’s access to Fortune?  
1.b. Could we get others?  A Gravitation surge jetpack?  An Illumination Projector?  An Adhesion…… welder?  Glue Gun? An Abrasion Lubricator ? what kind of possibilities might there be?

2.  Under what circumstances does a Radiant Spren become a fabrial?  Evidently they do it voluntarily.  
2.a. Is it a function of the 5th ideal?  This obviously wouldn’t apply to the Sibling, but again, they’re special.  Who knows about enlightened dampener Spren.
3.b. Is it a “I can’t get a knight to bond me, so I’ll do it on my own.” Kinda deal?  This kinda works in my mind. In theory, perhaps it’s a radiant Spren manifesting so far into the material realm that they lose all cognitive function (soulcasters are seen as inanimate objects in the Material Realm and as unconscious in the Cognitive, though clearly not deadeyes).  
 

What are your thoughts?

[alder24]

15 hours ago, Elder said:

In Rhythm of War, Navani makes a discovery that’s fairly easy to overlook in the face of her other accomplishments in the book.  It begins with her contemplation of Soulcasters:

That was very important discovery.

15 hours ago, Elder said:

1.  Is it just Soulcasters?  Or could certain Radiant Spren become other kinds of Fabrials?  The Sibling is clearly far more than a Soulcaster, but being a Bondsmith Spren makes them a unique case.  The Enlightened Spren acting as a Dampener for the fused would indicate that one can indeed become something else.  I think there’s also a healing fabrial in one of Dalinar’s visions.  What ever happened to those?

Likely all Radiant sprens can become a fabrial. Nale has a Progression fabrial (he resurrected Szeth with it), that heals, so it likely is a Truthwatcher's spren or Cultivationspren. Oathgates are using Surge of Transportation, but they don't look like Willshaper's spren or Inksprens (one is black so maybe weird manifestation of Inkspren) - this might mean that you can replace Radiant spren with some new, different, sapient spren.

15 hours ago, Elder said:

1.a. What kind of Spren is dampening?  Is this a kind of Enlightened Surge like Renarin’s access to Fortune?  

No idea, we only know it's Enlightened, we don't know if it's even Radiant spren or some lesser spren. No Radiant Surge has the ability to suppress other Surges.

15 hours ago, Elder said:

1.b. Could we get others?  A Gravitation surge jetpack?  An Illumination Projector?  An Adhesion…… welder?  Glue Gun? An Abrasion Lubricator ? what kind of possibilities might there be?

All Surges, and everything they do.

15 hours ago, Elder said:

2.  Under what circumstances does a Radiant Spren become a fabrial?  Evidently they do it voluntarily.  

No idea. They likely asked unbound spren to manifest as a Fabrial and they agreed.

15 hours ago, Elder said:

2.a. Is it a function of the 5th ideal?  This obviously wouldn’t apply to the Sibling, but again, they’re special.  Who knows about enlightened dampener Spren.

Not likely. Radiant's would be left without a weapon, spren and a bond.

[Elder]

9 hours ago, alder24 said:

That was very important discovery.

Likely all Radiant sprens can become a fabrial. Nale has a Progression fabrial (he resurrected Szeth with it), that heals, so it likely is a Truthwatcher's spren or Cultivationspren. Oathgates are using Surge of Transportation, but they don't look like Willshaper's spren or Inksprens (one is black so maybe weird manifestation of Inkspren) - this might mean that you can replace Radiant spren with some new, different, sapient spren.

No idea, we only know it's Enlightened, we don't know if it's even Radiant spren or some lesser spren. No Radiant Surge has the ability to suppress other Surges.

All Surges, and everything they do.

No idea. They likely asked unbound spren to manifest as a Fabrial and they agreed.

Not likely. Radiant's would be left without a weapon, spren and a bond.

On that last note, I’m wondering if they’re still bonded when they become Fabrials, they could have the means of changing back. A way for a high level Radiant to (temporarily) delegate power.

[alder24]

2 minutes ago, Elder said:

A way for a high level Radiant to (temporarily) delegate power.

They kind of have? Kaladin and his way of using lesser Windspren on OB and RoW. Maybe this will be increased even further.

[Frustration]

Fabrials can replicate all surgebinding, other than Bondsmith stuff

Spoiler

kvancleeff21

What was the fabrial used by Nale to completely revive Szeth at the end of Words of Radiance? That seems like an immensely powerful fabrial, and I don’t think it has been mentioned since.

Brandon Sanderson

During the last days of the heights of the Knights Radiant, they were figuring out how to replicate most Radiant abilities with fabrials. This is where... the Oathgates as a guide for that sort of thing. So you're just seeing a fabrial that can replicate what an Edgedancer does, or a Truthwatcher. There were fabrials created that could do this for all ten Surges. Okay, nine of the ten Surges. Bondsmithing is its own weird thing, as usual. So yes, it's a very valuable fabrial to have, and that is why you haven't seen much more of it because it is in the hands of the Skybreakers, and we aren't spending a lot of time with the Skybreakers. But yeah, it is a thing they have. And there are fabrials that can replicate the other eight as well. You've seen several of them in the books already.

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/482/#e15347

 

 

 

And a small shameless self promotion, but I think I figured out how most of it works.

https://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/112750-fabrials-polestones-surgebinding-and-at-long-last-an-explanation-on-body-focuses/

[Elder]

Possible sad but poetic ending for Shallan:  when she hits her final ideal and/or revives Testament, she can only sustain one radiant bond and Pattern ends up as a Soul Caster.

That, however is based on multiple assumptions that may or may not be valid.

[Frustration]

13 hours ago, Elder said:

Possible sad but poetic ending for Shallan:  when she hits her final ideal and/or revives Testament, she can only sustain one radiant bond and Pattern ends up as a Soul Caster.

That, however is based on multiple assumptions that may or may not be valid.

They are not.

Spoiler

Questioner

Could a Radiant ever belong to multiple Orders?

Brandon Sanderson

This is theoretically possible, but it was not done in the past. It’s just not a thing that you did. It was not kosher. But it is theoretically possible.

You’d have to find spren that had volition, and you would have to convince multiple demigods to be okay with this.

The fact that you can be a Knight Radiant and you could pick up one of the Honorblades and have access to those Surges… I mean, there’s an easier way to do it, in that case. (If you consider getting a hold of one of the Honorblades to be easy.)

But it is theoretically possible to have something like that happen.

Waterstones RoW Release Event (Nov. 18, 2020)