Spren Hion?

[Edgedancer74 he/him]

So I finished Yumi and while I was reading I noticed that the spirits seem to be similar to spren. This left me wondering if bound spren could be turned into something similar to hion lines. 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Edgedancer74

[Treamayne]

6 hours ago, Edgedancer74 said:

So I finished Yumi and while I was reading I noticed that the spirits seem to be similar to spren. This left me wondering if bound spren could be turned into something similar to hion lines. 

I would say "possible, not probable" - at least in the "two streams of polarized energy" version. WoB:

Spoiler

Cheyenne Sedai

We only know the people of Komashi as having Investiture from Virtuosity, why does their Investiture seem to be split into the two streams of power known as hion? Is this something unique to Virtuosity as a Shard, or just how it happens to manifest on Komashi?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. This will be a theme you will see wherever Virtuosity is involved. So yeah. hmmmmm interesting. This will be a theme. There is a sub theme to this in the Cosmere. The Push and Pull. The opposites should be echoing through the magic systems. It is more expressed in Virtuosity than the others but do keep in mind that the Yin Yang sort of thing is there in the Cosmere as well in the general magic system, but more pronounced with Virtuosity, shall we say.

Shardcast Interview (July 30, 2023)

So, the fact that the Spirits always become a two-part fabrial in Yumi's sections and become two energy streams as Hion in Painter's world seems tied to Virtuosity. We already know Spren become a single Fabrial (such as Soulcasters - the ancient version of a fabrial), not a duality. So, if they could manifest directly as power I doubt it would be two lines unless you did something like how Spren are divided in Modern Fabrial - and I'm still not sure that would work. That said, they don't need to become lines of power on a world with Lights - whereas Komashi needed Hion to have a power source for technological advancement.

[i’m in the details]

On 11/29/2023 at 5:01 AM, Treamayne said:

I would say "possible, not probable" - at least in the "two streams of polarized energy" version. WoB:

  Reveal hidden contents

Cheyenne Sedai

We only know the people of Komashi as having Investiture from Virtuosity, why does their Investiture seem to be split into the two streams of power known as hion? Is this something unique to Virtuosity as a Shard, or just how it happens to manifest on Komashi?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. This will be a theme you will see wherever Virtuosity is involved. So yeah. hmmmmm interesting. This will be a theme. There is a sub theme to this in the Cosmere. The Push and Pull. The opposites should be echoing through the magic systems. It is more expressed in Virtuosity than the others but do keep in mind that the Yin Yang sort of thing is there in the Cosmere as well in the general magic system, but more pronounced with Virtuosity, shall we say.

Shardcast Interview (July 30, 2023)

So, the fact that the Spirits always become a two-part fabrial in Yumi's sections and become two energy streams as Hion in Painter's world seems tied to Virtuosity. We already know Spren become a single Fabrial (such as Soulcasters - the ancient version of a fabrial), not a duality. So, if they could manifest directly as power I doubt it would be two lines unless you did something like how Spren are divided in Modern Fabrial - and I'm still not sure that would work. That said, they don't need to become lines of power on a world with Lights - whereas Komashi needed Hion to have a power source for technological advancement.

It is worth noting that the transportation fabrials known as the Oathgates use two spren rather than one. They are also black and white which is reminiscent of the yin yang symbol. I'm certain this isn't the exact same thing as hion related fabrials, but we may be seeing this push and pull dynamic at work. Perhaps one spren is good at pulling things to itself with transportation, and the other is good at pushing things away. We may have even seen this already with the fact that Jasnah has no issue entering shadesmar but needs something extra to return. It would be interesting if Willshapers use their transportation differently than Jasnah.