Immortal Bigshots

[Trusk'our he/him]

Nalthis has a fairly unique magic system, what with the fact that it's fairly simple to obtain and can literally stop natural causes of death.

So, does this mean Nalthis is the perfect place for ultra-rich immortal schemers to organically rise?

I mean, if you were super rich and could literally buy off death, wouldn't you?

And, with that agelessness, why wouldn't you be willing to wait a few decades to see more long-term plans come to fruition? Plans that mortals can't really compete with, since they have a very finite lifespan. 

Seems like Nalthis should have lots of these in the future, at least to me.

[Treamayne]

3 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

So, does this mean Nalthis is the perfect place for ultra-rich immortal schemers to organically rise?

It's not just Nalthis and the Fifth Heightening (via Breath). White Sand Spoilers:

Spoiler

Emperor Skathan of the Dynasty has somehow reached Agelessness on the Darkside of Taldain as well - though we do not yet know how that was achieved:

Quote

Baon: Duchess, when I was a young boy, Skathan looked like a man in his mid-twenties. He looked exactly the same when I left Iiaria. The histories say he is hundreds of years old, and I believe them.

Spoiler

 

But yes, One-percenter Mega-Corp rich worldhoppers will likely cause all kinds of problems in the future.

[Trusk'our he/him]

12 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

It's not just Nalthis and the Fifth Heightening (via Breath). White Sand Spoilers:

True, there are other Shardworlds with agelessness available, but none have a direct, commonly known method that you can just buy your way into.

[Isilel]

On 11/20/2024 at 4:47 PM, Trusk'our said:

Nalthis has a fairly unique magic system, what with the fact that it's fairly simple to obtain and can literally stop natural causes of death.

So, does this mean Nalthis is the perfect place for ultra-rich immortal schemers to organically rise?

 

Wouldn't it depend on whether an aura from normal Breaths can be suppressed as effectively as that from the Divine Breath? Otherwise, wouldn't it just make them targets for abduction and torture to make them surrender their hoard? Just storing these Breaths in objects wouldn't work for maintaining immortality.

Now, if this aura is much less perceptible to non-Nalthians, the schemers in question can just grab their Breaths and establish themselves on another world.

 

[Trusk'our he/him]

37 minutes ago, Isilel said:

Wouldn't it depend on whether an aura from normal Breaths can be suppressed as effectively as that from the Divine Breath? Otherwise, wouldn't it just make them targets for abduction and torture to make them surrender their hoard? Just storing these Breaths in objects wouldn't work for maintaining immortality.

Fair point. 

Counterpoint: lots of very competent and trigger-happy bodyguards. 

But in all seriousness, I don't know if that would be a significant issue. Sure, their Breath makes them a target, but having bodyguards would act as an equal deterrent.

[Duxredux he/him]

Yup, I second @Trusk'our. If they obtained sufficient Breath to be Immortal, either legitimately or otherwise, odds are they are wealthy or influencial enough to have a target painted on them anyway - and the resources to protect themselves.

Beyond that, they are Awakeners of at least the 5th Heightening with 2,000+ Breaths. They'll have perfect Lifesense and can Awaken objects to enhance or protect themselves. Depending on how long they live, they will have a supernatural amount of time to practice fighting and Awakening like Vasher - if they so choose. Sure, Vasher risked his Breath a lot more than most, but if they are the type to implement decade or century long schemes, they'll probably be pragmatic about self-preservation. If they don't want to fight themselves, then equipped bodyguards or Lifeless.

[alder24]

8 hours ago, Isilel said:

Wouldn't it depend on whether an aura from normal Breaths can be suppressed as effectively as that from the Divine Breath? Otherwise, wouldn't it just make them targets for abduction and torture to make them surrender their hoard? Just storing these Breaths in objects wouldn't work for maintaining immortality.

Regular Breaths can be suppressed like a Divine Breath, but this is a skill one has to learn and master:

Spoiler

mooglefrooglian

Why is Hoid’s color aura from his Breaths not noticed by anyone on Roshar? Are the characters just not used to noticing that sort of thing, or does he not have one?

Brandon Sanderson

There are a mixture of reasons. Not the least is Hoid's control over Investiture.

uchoo786

Would someone with Breath be able to notice his aura on Roshar? E.g. Vasher?

Brandon Sanderson

Various methods of detecting Investiture would still work, depending on how good a job Hoid is doing of suppressing his.

/r/books AMA 2015 (June 6, 2015)

 

Spoiler

Mark

It was said throughout the book that you cannot just give some of your breath, but must give all of it. Perhaps I'm simply forgetting part of the book where this changes, but wouldn't Vasher have to give his Returned breath along with his others?

Brandon Sanderson

The "You must give up all of your Breath, not some" line was mostly perpetuated by Denth, who is saying it to Vivenna to stop her from giving away her Breath to all the people she passes. It is a lie. Now, it's a lie that's commonly accepted by a lot of people. But it's still a lie—as we find out midway through the book, you can stick some of your Breath in an object and bring it to life, and then recover that Breath. So it's very easy to give some of your Breath to someone if you know the logical steps to take. Invest most of it into an object, give what you have to someone else, then pull back what you Invested. So it's flat-out proven in the novel that what Denth is telling her is wrong. Now, he could dance around that lie by pretending to be the ignorant mercenary—he's just perpetuating a falsehood that many people believe. But it is a lie. In fact, a lot of the things people believe about BioChromatic Breath isn't true.

One of the things I was trying with this book was to take a few steps back from MISTBORN, where so much was understood. I feel that the approach I took in MISTBORN is right for that book, and yet people have so much superstition regarding all sorts of science. I worry sometimes that there isn't enough superstition in my books, regarding magic as science. What people believed and what people knew and what people understood was so varied and confused throughout most of history, that I worry that I lack realism in that. Vasher brings up at several points in the book that they don't know a whole lot and that people perpetuate a lot of myths and stories and lies.

Vasher has learned to suppress his Returned Breath. When it's suppressed, it's as if it doesn't exist to him. He's Invested it into a place within himself, much like you can Invest your Breaths into a shirt, and when he gives away the rest of his Breaths, he doesn't give that one away. He could split off others of his Breaths if he wanted to—he's learned to do that, so that he could give a few Breaths and not all. It's just a matter of practicing as long as he has. But even people who aren't as practiced as him do it all the time when they Invest an object with not all of their Breath but just enough to bring it to life

Goodreads Fantasy Book Discussion Warbreaker Q&A (Jan. 18, 2010)