What are the Heightenings? (#2)

[Trusk'our he/him]

I made a thread on this topic before (linked here: What are the Heightenings?) but it's been a while and I have a new opinion thanks to the wonderful discussion and more evidence (big thanks especially to @Immortal Platypus for pointing out Dawnshard's interactions with Heightenings, @Treamayne for the idea of Heightenings being related to a Shard's specific flavor of Investiture, and @Duxredux for insights on Cognitive Shadows interacting with heightenings and Breaths being related to Dawnshards.)

On Nalthis, we see that anyone holding enough Breath will begin to pick up new abilities, such as increased health, longevity, Lifesense, and can Command that Breath to Awaken things. They have upper thresholds for certain abilities and cannot increase them beyond a certain point.

For example, while an Awakener's Lifesense is maxed out at the 4th Heightening, allowing them to sense individual blades of grass. But the Sibling shows a far, far more potent version of Lifesense despite not having any of Endowment's Investiture, detecting even microorganisms.

Spoiler

"You realize," the tower said, "you are host to millions of life-forms. They exist in your gut, on your skin, all over you."

"What?" Lift said. "Oh!" Wyndle said. "I've heard of this. Germs, yes! Wisdom of the Heralds. People with very detailed and specific life sense can feel them, I'm told! Millions upon millions of tiny creatures living on the skin of humans."

"They particularly like the hair follicles," the tower said. "I can feel them on you, Lift."

Lift stared at her hands, aghast.

WaT, pg. 269

We can also see passive benefits when other types of Investiture are held. Radiants (and presumably Fused) get heightened strength, speed, stamina, and require less oxygen. Elantrians hyped up on Dor either from Elantris's artificial enhancement or from drinking/absorbing it have increased speed, strength, and intellect. Canticle-ites show a Heightening effect if they absorb a lot of Investiture from Cinderhearts (or possibly each other, since they can give it or take it upon touch) such as greatly increased strength, durability, and speed (and health, as Rebeke mentions in passing).  

Spoiler

"Prayer before first touching a loved one," she said. "Prayer of thanks before offering heat to one who has protected or served you. Prayer when with the dying, to take their heat before it fades away-"

He sat straighter in his chair.

"We only do it if someone is dying for certain!" she exclaimed. "And only for one who desperately needs the heat, to help them with a sickness or weakness!"

TSM, pg. 166

Dawnshards also exhibit Heightenings in their hosts, as do Dawnslivers, though it depends on the Dawnshard. Rysn showed Nalthian-like Investiture with increase color and pitch recognition and has a higher Lifesense, while Nomad has greatly increased strength (though only up to his threshold at 2,000 BEUs) and Connection manipulation (but only after exceeding 2,000 BEUs). 

It's also interesting to notice that nearly all Heightenings allow for an active expenditure of Investiture to regenerate except for Nalthian Awakening (we also haven't seen Rysn do this, who shares a lot with that specific type) and the natural Canticle-ites' Investiture. Though, these also have hard-wired powers on top of the extra Investiture, while each Breath mostly seems to be a package of free-floating Investiture bound by a Connection/Identity.

Another fun effect unique to Fused, possibly related to Heightening effects, is that they have methods to use Voidlight without expending it as long as there is enough to begin with.

Spoiler

JordanCon 2021 - Arcanum

Argent

I've been trying to figure out how the Fused and the Regals get their Voidlight. Heavenly Ones seem to be able to levitate indefinitely unless they heal, which presumably expends their Light. But then the Pursuer needs to go get spheres. And then there's the Song of Prayer, which I don't understand at all.

Brandon Sanderson

All of the Fused have an active and an inactive way to use their Voidlight. For some of them, one is way more dramatic than the other. So you should be watching for the different brands of Fused to each have that. If they don't use it actively, they get a passive effect. And if they do use it actively, it runs out. So watch for that with them.

They each only have one power, as opposed to Knights Radiant, but they have the staying power of consistency depending on what they are.

The Song of Prayer. Let's just say that Odium likes his Fused being reliant upon him. Does that make sense?

Argent

I think it does. My assumption has been that anyone can just sing the song and ask for Investiture.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, this is true, because most of the time he's not going to be paying direct attention, and it's just going to... yeah.

Nomad also shows us that there is almost certainly no Heightening effect granted by hardwired abilities and powers, since cannibalizing his Torment gives him Investiture to re-Invest his Heightened athleticism. 

Spoiler

I can feel the power of that sunheart growing, the knight says. I . . . I might be able to draw upon the Investiture you are putting into it. Why? I can't use the power of the canker on your soul.

Filtered and purified, maybe," he said, raising his staff. "Not really the time to ponder it."

This will give you a few hundred BEUs. Use them well.

TSM, pg. 274

This could explain why no noticeable passive effects exist for powerful Invested like Elend or Radiants, why TLR still needed Atium Compounding to stay youthful, or why Bondsmiths aren't really superhuman unless they actively are drawing in Light despite being bonded to very, very highly Invested Spren.

 

 

My end thought then, is that "Heightenings" are the standard effects created by holding any free Investiture. You don't need to give them an extra Command or have Intent for this, since that's already there as dictated by their Shard's Intent (and quite possibly the contents of your own Spiritweb if you already have a hardcoded power). They have upper thresholds for certain abilities, not always because they cannot grant more to that specific attribute, but because they're biased to fulfill certain effects first, then bleed over into other areas- for example, a Preservation aligned Heightening might be particularly good for longevity, while a Ruin aligned Heightening might take a lot more Investiture to gain that ability, if at all, despite the physics of the Cosmere allowing that use. Heightenings don't manifest as often for Invested because they only show up when not given another directive such as when tied up in the Spiritweb's attributes or existing as a power, and since many Shards' magic systems evolve based on what planet they're one, there often isn't an opportunity for raw, primal Heightenings to pop up (i.e. getting more Preservation aligned Investiture will typically make you an Allomancer, since that is what Scadrial's Realmatic interactions allow).

Spoiler

Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide - Arcanum

Kaimipono

Allomancy is fueled by Preservation's body? How exactly does that work? And how does that interact with atium—it's fueled by both gods' bodies?

Brandon Sanderson

The powers of Ruin and Preservation are Shards of Adonalsium, pieces of the power of creation itself. Allomancy, Hemalurgy, Feruchemy are manifestations of this power in mortal form, the ability to touch the powers of creation and use them. These metallic powers are how people's physical forms interpret the use of the Shard, though it's not the only possible way they could be interpreted or used. It's what the genetics and Realmatic interactions of Scadrial allow for, and has to do with the Spiritual, the Cognitive, and the Physical Realms.

Condensed 'essence' of these godly powers can act as super-fuel for Allomancy, Feruchemy, or really any of the powers. The form of that super fuel is important. In liquid form it's most potent, in gas form it's able to fuel Allomancy as if working as a metal. In physical form it is rigid and does one specific thing. In the case of atium, it allows sight into the future. In the case of concentrated Preservation, it gives one a permanent connection to the mists and the powers of creation. (I.e., it makes them an Allomancer.)

So when a person is burning metals, they aren't using Preservation's body as a fuel so to speak—though they are tapping into the powers of creation just slightly. When Vin burns the mists, however, she'd doing just that—using the essence of Preservation, the Shard of Adonalsium itself—to fuel Allomancy. Doing this, however, rips 'troughs' through her body. It's like forcing far too much pressure through a very small, fragile hose. That much power eventually vaporizes the corporeal host, which is acting as the block and forcing the power into a single type of conduit (Allomancy) and frees it to be more expansive.

In other words, I think Heightenings are a Cosmere-wide phenomenon related to holding raw, free-floating Investiture. Some systems like Awakening just branch off of it, like how other Shards' systems of Lightweaving, Microkinesis, or Hemalurgy do.

 

The one weird thing that seems to contradict this somewhat is Cognitive Shadows and Spren. Fused, Heralds, Yoki-hijo, and Radiant Spren don't really exhibit Heightenings despite being highly Invested, though Returned do with their Divine Breath. One plausible explanation could be that their Investiture, while substantial, is not free-floating but tied up in other functions like granting them Surgebinding (Fused and Truespren), binding Spirits (Yoki-hijo), or Heraldic abilities. It could also be that some of their control over spiritual attributes is a result of hardcoded Investiture (explored here: Cognitive Shadow Parallels).

Under this logic, Returned would still express Heightenings because their Divine Breath does not serve an extra function beyond stappling them to the PR. Like standard Breath, its extra boons are a passive result of holding Investiture with less direction.

[Immortal Platypus]

25 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

The one weird thing that seems to contradict this somewhat is Cognitive Shadows and Spren. Fused, Heralds, Yoki-hijo, and Radiant Spren don't really exhibit Heightenings despite being highly Invested, though Returned do with their Divine Breath. One plausible explanation could be that their Investiture, while substantial, is not free-floating but tied up in other functions like granting them Surgebinding (Fused and Truespren), binding Spirits (Yoki-hijo), or Heraldic abilities. It could also be that some of their control over spiritual attributes is a result of hardcoded Investiture (explored here: Cognitive Shadow Parallels).

Under this logic, Returned would still express Heightenings because their Divine Breath does not serve an extra function beyond stappling them to the PR. Like standard Breath, its extra boons are a passive result of holding Investiture with less direction.

I would guess that Heraldic abilities would still fit in this framework. Perhaps the Investiture is being stored and then released in a shorter, more powerful burst? Fused Investiture could be tied up in hard-coded things like Surgebinding like you mentioned, but my mind goes to their ability to use some powers without expending Voidlight (ex. the Heavenly Ones flight). That might be their natural Investiture getting used in a hard-coded manner. It's been too long since I read Yumi for me to comment too much on Yoki-hijo, but it seems like they might experience some Heightening-like effects. They seem to have an unnatural sense of how things would balance (to me, at least), and there's probably some other things like that. In addition, we might not see them in the book because much of Yumi's Investiture is tied up preserving her natural body when she's Nikaro's city. Radiant Spren do seem to have Agelessness (IIRC), and possibly other benefits I don't remember. 

[Treamayne]

4 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

The one weird thing that seems to contradict this somewhat is Cognitive Shadows and Spren. Fused, Heralds, Yoki-hijo, and Radiant Spren don't really exhibit Heightenings despite being highly Invested

One thing to keep in mind is that Returned and (likely) Yoki-Hijo are not just Cognitive Shadows, but Splinters. In Returned, the Divine Breath is a Splinter of Endownment, and the Heightening manifests from that, not from their status as a variety of Cognitive Shadow. 

Fused are not Splinters at all. Heralds are not Splinters (but wield one in the form of their Honorblade). 

YH we do not have a definitive answer on yet, but the implication based on evidence is that they were Splinters of Virtuosity before the Father Machine went active and killed everybody - the melding of the Splinter and the Cognitive Shadow allowed them to break free of Father Machine and manifest a (fake) Physical Realm body (I would suspect that the lack of Heightenings is because they are not inhabiting a real body like a Returned). Likewise, a Radiant Spren may be a Splinter, but also does not inhabit a true PR body.