What is Investiture and how does it work?

[Surgebinder1234 he/him]

This is a short explanation of Investiture. It gives a overview on it's origin, workings and manifestations. I am thinking of doing more papers in the future.

What is investiture and how does it work?

For all those that are familiar with Brandon Sanderson’s works, you should know what the cosmere is. You probably have seen references to investiture, a kind of magic in the cosmere. Well today, I am going to explain what it is and how it works. First of all, I will explain the origin of investiture. At the dawn of the cosmere, an all-powerful being called Adonalsium created the universe, or the cosmere. Adonalsium is the source of investiture for many magics of the cosmere, It encompasses all of the universe, imbuing objects and people alike. 

Realmatic Theory

To really understand investiture, you need to know about the realmatic theory. There are three realms, the physical, cognitive and spiritual. The physical realm is the one that people can touch and feel. The cognitive is where our minds reside and the spiritual realm is where our spirits webs are. Investiture is mostly in the spiritual realm, but it is in all of the realms. Investiture manifests in the physical realm in three forms, solids, liquids and gasses All solid forms are metallic, such as Atium.

Laws of Investiture

 “The First Law, known as Khriss's Second Law, states that Investiture cannot be created or destroyed, only changed in form. The Second Law stands as is, this refers to the fact that, in simple terms, energy flows from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration” (“Investiture - The Coppermind - 17th Shard'') This shows that Investiture, like energy and matter, cannot be created or destroyed.  An example of the second law is, a highly invested being leaks out investiture because they have a high concentration of it, which causes it to go outwards to a thing or place that has a low concentration of investiture. There are two other laws of investiture, but are not known.

 

Manifestations of Investiture

To access the power of investiture, a person would have to have a Connection to a source of power from the spiritual realm. Many invested arts rely on using a key, such as metals, Commands or Aons. There are also other ways to access investiture, like through the body’s processes or a Shard. Every person is invested with one to three BEU’s of Investiture. A BEU is a measurement of Investiture that stands for breath equivalent unit. Investiture can manifest as a natural force, such as the highstorms on Roshar. Shards of Adonalsiumcan invest investiture into a natural force. Highstorms on Roshar are heavily invested with Honor, a shard. The reason why it is still invested, even though Honor “died” is because a shard cannot truly die, it can only be splintered. Which is why the highstorms are still invested. Another manifestation of Investiture is on Sel. The Dor is a force of Investiture that is made from the splinters of Devotion and Dominion, another way investiture is used even though the shards are splintered. The Dor is trapped in the cognitive realm, yet it still manifests in the physical realm. “At this point, the bulk of the Investiture that made up the powers of Dominion and Devotion is trapped on the Cognitive Realm. Collectively, these powers—which have a polarized relationship—are called the Dor. Forced together as they are, trapped and bursting to escape, they power the various forms of magic on Sel, which are multitude” (“Dor - The Coppermind - 17th Shard''). This shows that investiture can manifest in countless ways. The possibilities are endless with investiture.

[EdgedancerJacob he/him]

Do we know if aethers are Invested, or are they their own thing? 

[Willshaper-32]

I found this pretty helpful, so thanks!

[Argenti he/him]

On 5/16/2024 at 1:24 PM, EdgedancerJacob said:

Do we know if aethers are Invested, or are they their own thing? 

Aethers, Aetherbound and spores are all Invested; the only question is if they're invested from Ado, or from somewhere else. 
 

 

On 5/14/2024 at 7:33 PM, Surgebinder1234 said:

To really understand investiture, you need to know about the realmatic theory. There are three realms, the physical, cognitive and spiritual. The physical realm is the one that people can touch and feel. The cognitive is where our minds reside and the spiritual realm is where our spirits webs are. Investiture is mostly in the spiritual realm, but it is in all of the realms. Investiture manifests in the physical realm in three forms, solids, liquids and gasses All solid forms are metallic, such as Atium.

 

Also, if you want to explain the spirtual realm, you have to touch on the "oneness" where everyplace, and every time are one. Kinda.
 

On 5/14/2024 at 7:33 PM, Surgebinder1234 said:

Many invested arts rely on using a key, such as metals, Commands or Aons. There are also other ways to access investiture, like through the body’s processes or a Shard.

This sentence I take some issue with this. As it's commonly understood, all magic (save the aethers) is powered by a shard. Whether it's consciously or unconsciously, all investiture and invested arts were reassigned to one or more shards during or after the shattering. Most, if not all, Invested arts require three things: Intent, or the will to activate a facet of your Art. it's often conscious, but if nothing else, your body wants to Survive and will activate the art regardless of whether you are aware of it. Secondly, you must have a Command. This is what Aons, Metals, and the spoken Commands of awakening are, and this filters a broad intent into a specific move. Finally, most magic needs Initiation, which is the spark that sets the fire; some magic systems are harder than others (Elantris), and others are very easy (Awakening). This forges the connection between you and whatever powers you.

Edited May 24 by Argenti

[CtrlAltDepressed]

1 hour ago, Argenti said:

Aethers, Aetherbound and spores are all Invested; the only question is if they're invested from Ado, or from somewhere else. 

This is where it gets tricky for me. 

 

Brandon wont say for certain wether the Aethers are of Adonalsium or not. 

 

However, he has stated on multiple occasions that all investiture is from Adonalsium. 

 

He has also stated on multiple occasions that aethers are invested. 

 

How does this mean something other than the aethers being of Adonalsium? Seems like if you are NOT asking specifically if aethers are of Ado that he will confirm that they definitely are of Ado since they are investiture and all investiture is of Ado. 

[Argenti he/him]

55 minutes ago, CtrlAltDepressed said:

This is where it gets tricky for me. 

 

Brandon wont say for certain wether the Aethers are of Adonalsium or not. 

 

However, he has stated on multiple occasions that all investiture is from Adonalsium. 

 

He has also stated on multiple occasions that aethers are invested. 

 

How does this mean something other than the aethers being of Adonalsium? Seems like if you are NOT asking specifically if aethers are of Ado that he will confirm that they definitely are of Ado since they are investiture and all investiture is of Ado. 

The question I meant is, where they made by ado, or do they precede, or appear at the same time as it?