Not another Dawnshard Chart (it is)

[i’m in the details]

Hello everyone!

Here is my take on the shards are split up by Dawnshard incorporating what we know from WaT.

I subscribe to the idea that there is a dicotomy to the Dawnshards. As such I am giving the two unknown ones these names: BALANCE (Change), DESTROY (Exist). I like balance more than Unity because I feel it covers more concepts, and I don't like Destroy. I think the DS represent Order and Chaos, and Existence and the Void.

Shards | Dawnshard (Primary) | Dawnshard (Secondary) | Reasoning

Preservation | Exist | Exist | God of Stasis, cannot create life without Change (Ruin)

Honor | Exist | Balance | God of Bonds, per WaT: doesn't really get humans b/c they change too much.

Endowment or Cultivation | Exist | Change | Life aspected changing.

Mercy | Exist | Destroy (Void) | The warring aspects could be why Sazed says Mercy is scary/unhinged

 

Ruin | Destroy (Void) | Destroy (Void) | God of entropy. Could be C - D, or D - C, but then who would go here?

Odium | Destroy (Void) | Change | Seems to like war, but is human aspected thus change

Valor | Destroy (Void) | Balance | War aspected word. But IDK

Autonomy | Destroy (Void) | Exist | Likes war. Multiple aspects to prevent true dealth. IDK

 

Whimsy | Change | Change | God of Chaos essentially. Change for the sake of change.

Cultivation or Endowment | Change | Exist | Changing something so that it can live. Pruning a tree. Cult could be C - D for the same reason.

Invention | Change | Balance | Idk Balance seems sciency.

Ambition | Change | Destroy (Void) | Bettering yourself at the cost of others IDK

 

Reason | Balance | Balance | God of Order. Control everything. Could see Dominion here.

Virtuosity | Balance | Change | Like the stones in Yumi, structured chaos, art

Devotion | Balance | Exist | Living a life of rules and what not. Devotion to an idea? IDK

Dominion | Balance | Destroy | Balance through force

 

Let me know what you all think!

Edited December 11, 2024 by i’m in the details

[Szeth Pancakes he/they]

I like this -- I'm just not quite sure how Balance and Void work as Intents. As concepts, they seem a bit less intuitive than Change and Exist. In addition, I'm not sure if Change is 1:1 with chaos, or if Balance is opposed to Change in the same way Void is opposed to Exist.

[i’m in the details]

22 minutes ago, Ookla the Pancake said:

I like this -- I'm just not quite sure how Balance and Void work as Intents. As concepts, they seem a bit less intuitive than Change and Exist. In addition, I'm not sure if Change is 1:1 with chaos, or if Balance is opposed to Change in the same way Void is opposed to Exist.

I agree that they are clunky. I am less sure about Void, because there is a part of me that thinks Ado's commands are inherently related to Existence. Maybe it is the case that there was a first Command i.e. EXIST. Then Ado is like this is boring, CHANGE. Oh now everything is in chaos so he commands BALANCE. Leaving the last one up to debate. I just don't see how we could have one Command be Change without a balancing command.

[QuantumHarmonix he/him]

I feel like they should somehow relate to the three realms. It feels to me like they need something for emotion or thought for the Cognitive and something like Connect for the Spiritual. 

[i’m in the details]

17 minutes ago, QuantumHarmonix said:

I feel like they should somehow relate to the three realms. It feels to me like they need something for emotion or thought for the Cognitive and something like Connect for the Spiritual. 

I like that. EXIST creates the spiritual realm. CHANGE creates the physical (matter and energy constantly in a cycle). SOMETHING (maybe THINK or FEEL) Cognitive. CONNECT/UNITY to bind them all together.

[QuantumHarmonix he/him]

I'd say that Change is universal to all realms. Exist is Physical and I think Connection is Spiritual. Leaving something like Think, Feel, or Understanding for the Cognitive. 

[hagmania]

44 minutes ago, QuantumHarmonix said:

I'd say that Change is universal to all realms. Exist is Physical and I think Connection is Spiritual. Leaving something like Think, Feel, or Understanding for the Cognitive. 

I like this take; you can change your body (Physical), change your mind (Cognitive) or change your heart (Spiritual).

[a Faceless Immortal he/him]

Personally I lean to Exist, Change, Think, Feel, but I haven't gone through and made sure you can describe all the shards this way.