Returned Awakeners

[MyShame]

Has Brandon Sanderson ever mentioned if a Returned would need the same amount of breaths to reach higher than the 5th heightening? By default all Returned are 5th heightening (equivalent to 2000 breaths), so to reach the 6th (equivalent to 3500 breaths) would they need an additional 50 (the number of breaths needed to get to the 1st heightening), 1500, 3499, or somewhere in between? It is stated in the text that only Returned have reached the upper heightenings, is this because they need fewer to reach them or because they have more time to get there?

[Treamayne]

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13 hours ago, MyShame said:

Has Brandon Sanderson ever mentioned if a Returned would need the same amount of breaths to reach higher than the 5th heightening? By default all Returned are 5th heightening (equivalent to 2000 breaths), so to reach the 6th (equivalent to 3500 breaths) would they need an additional 50 (the number of breaths needed to get to the 1st heightening), 1500, 3499, or somewhere in between? It is stated in the text that only Returned have reached the upper heightenings, is this because they need fewer to reach them or because they have more time to get there?

It would be about 1500 - since heightenings aren't really about the numbers of breath - but about quantity of investiture.

Spoiler

Annotations to Ch 3:

Spoiler

Why a child? It doesn’t much matter, truthfully. An adult, or even someone elderly, could provide a Breath that would keep a god alive.

But the Breaths of those who are aged aren’t as vigorous as those of those who are young. If Lightsong was given one of those to feed on, he’d survive for another week—but he wouldn’t feel as vibrant or alive as he does after feeding on the Child’s Breath.

The people of Hallandren are faithful. Even if Lightsong himself doesn’t believe, they do, and they want to provide the best for him. Hence, they use children. Old enough to know what they are doing, yet young enough to give a powerful, vibrant Breath to their god.

Ars Arcanum:

Quote

Note Three: The numbers given in the table above are only estimates, as very little is known about the upper Heightenings. Indeed, even for the lower levels, fewer or more Breaths may be required to achieve a given Heightening, depending on circumstances and the strength of the Breath.

 

Note Four: Each additional Breath grants some things, no matter which Heightening an Awakener has achieved. The more breath one has, the more resistant to disease and aging a person is, the easier it is for them to distinguish colors, the more naturally they can learn to Awaken, and the stronger their life sense.

 

The Divine breath doesn't propel a returned to Fifth heightening because it is 2000 breaths - it propels to Fifth Heightening because each Divine Breath is a Sliver of Endowment and a huge amount investiture by itself - so much that it takes at least 2000 breaths to equal 1 Divine Breath. So, to hold enough investiture to reach the Sixth Heighteneing a Returned would need around 1500 normal breaths in addition to the Divine Breath.

The reason the Upper heightenings have mostly been experienced by Returned is because they need about 2000 less than a normal person to reach the same level of Investiture saturation. Special Projects, if you have not read them yet, may help clarify this some.

Edited October 15 by Treamayne
Clarity/SPAG

[alder24]

13 hours ago, MyShame said:

Has Brandon Sanderson ever mentioned if a Returned would need the same amount of breaths to reach higher than the 5th heightening? By default all Returned are 5th heightening (equivalent to 2000 breaths), so to reach the 6th (equivalent to 3500 breaths) would they need an additional 50 (the number of breaths needed to get to the 1st heightening), 1500, 3499, or somewhere in between? It is stated in the text that only Returned have reached the upper heightenings, is this because they need fewer to reach them or because they have more time to get there?

Adding to what @Treamayne said, an important factor to consider is if Returned is suppressing their Divine Breath like Vasher or Denth did. If they are, then they need to go from 0 to 3500 Breaths, but if they don't suppress it, then they already have 2000 Breath-worth of investiture in them, so they need only 1500 more.