Benkinsky they/them Posted June 14, 2024 Posted June 14, 2024 Sja-Anat is fascinating to me. We know so little about her, the mechanics of Enlightening. From what we know, she used to only corrupt lesser spren, and now she can corrupt Radiant Spren too. Maybe a consent issue, maybe a Honor-being-alive-issue, something like that. Either way, that got me thinking of two questions I'd like to hear some thoughts on. 1: Sja-Anat's goal is a home for her and her children where they can be safe. First issue: Investiture tied to Roshar. There's other people working on that, so no wonder the Ghostbloods want to get into contact with her. Maybe it'll be that she has to stay in the Rosharan system, but what if Odium manages to leave? Can she stay behind, chill on Roshar? Or Braize, even, once that's empty? And, more interestingly: 2: Let's say for the sake of fun speculation, that Sja-Anat is able to leave Roshar. And go elsewhere, to find a new home. And let's say, for the same sake of fun speculation, that she does not just go to some empty moon with sapient life and becomes their god, but instead goes somewhere where there are not spren, but other splinters. A quick list of Splinters we know of: Spren (Roshar) Returned/Divine Breaths (Endowment) [Kind of a special case, probably. Cognitive Shadow - but not, Sprenlike - but not] Seon (Devotion/The Dor) Skaze (Dominion/The Dor) Spirits/Hijo (Virtuosity) I'd like to speculate what Sja-Anat could create together with these Cousins of Spren if she could Enlighten them. Of course, Enlightening might just be a fancy way to say Corrupt-With-Odiums-Investiture but we've seen Glys, and the Nahel Bond is an ability of Honor and Cultivation that Enlightened Radiant Spren still retain, but now it gives crazy Odium-style abilities too. So... What do you think an Enlightened Seon might be like? An Enlightened Skaze? An Enlightened Spirit? "To a seon, there is no above or beneath. There are only those we love. And we serve those we love." Seon are super Devotion-coded. No surprise. I imagine if Sja-Anat Enlightened one, they might become more independent in their thoughts, somewhat like how Skaze seem to be. Maybe more in line with what their Aon identifies, maybe not necessarily a "anti-" version of their Devotion or their Aon but more a more emotional, extended version. Seon have communication abilities, those might work through connection, and can already bond, although those bonds don't give abilities in the same way that a Nahel bond does. Still, while we might not see Sja-Anat travel to Sel (there's the whole dangerous cognitive realm and she exists halfway in taht the whole time), we have seen Seon on Roshar. It's possible we'll see Sja-Anat touch one of them. Maybe even Ala, the Seon now with Shallan. I think an Enlightened Seon would be super exciting, and maybe somewhere between a Radiant and a Lesser Enlightened Spren. Because before the Enlightening, it certainly is sapient in a way that lesser spren aren't, but it has less will of its own seemingly. Maybe similar to Dullform or Slaveform Parshmen taking forms of power, Enlightening would change the behaviour of a Seon quite drastically by expanding their mental capacities and making them more independent. Man. Imagine an Enlightened Seon-blade. Or a mix of Voidbinding and something to do with the Aon in the Seon in question. (Example: Ala means Beauty, Handsomeness. We've seen Illusion magic from Shallan (who has Ala!!) and Beauty happen with Divine Breath Returned, possibly Splinters too. I could imagine that a Bond to an Enlightened Seon Ala might give either the Seon or the bonded person the ability to change their appearance in some ways). Enlightened Skaze. Skaze are already "evil Seons", they have a range of emotions Seon don't display, they use sarcasm, have their own goals, etc. Do we want to see splinters of Dominion mixed with Odium's investiture? Might be a yikes. We have barely seen what Skaze are capable of, so its hard to speculate what Enlightening them would do to those abilities. Shame. Though honestly, with how multifaceted Sja-Anat is, Enlightening a Skaze might actually make it more chill, less arrogant/pushy/dominant. This is all just speculation though. Enlightened Hijo? Been a bit since I read YNP. They have a whole bunch of abilities once they are called/bound, so I'm certain Enlightened Hijo would have even more funky abilities. If we knew more about what Voidbinding is and what Sja-Anat would do with the Radiant Spren of other orders... ah man. This is an are that I hope other people have cool ideas for! 6
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