Can we talk about Shadowform?

[Sythrin]

Ok... These are new...
We have heard in the songs already about Shadowform but never saw them. It was I believe known its a form of power, but not entirely what exactly they do.
Well here we see. Appearently they were an experiment by Mishra. Bonding with shadowspren, these Regals loose their corporal forms and just become shadows that travel the surfaces. Except their gemhearts, which stay physicly manifested.
But it seems you can sharpen such a gemheart and insert them into you like Hemalurgic spike and the Regals take over your body and you become a complete new form of being. They are kinda half corporeal and can move between cracks, teleport into near shadows, can create shadowclaws and are hard to hit. 

SPOILER TO WIND AND TRUTH!

My main point is... If the spike inducing is something of hemalurgic nature... Than that adds a bit more to it. We already saw gems being used like hemalurgic spikes

Spoiler

with Moash

but now we know Spren can alter the nature of a hemalurgic spike perhaps. I guess as long as something akin to a soul is in the spike, it can be used that way?

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

1 hour ago, Sythrin said:

Ok... These are new...
We have heard in the songs already about Shadowform but never saw them. It was I believe known its a form of power, but not entirely what exactly they do.
Well here we see. Appearently they were an experiment by Mishra. Bonding with shadowspren, these Regals loose their corporal forms and just become shadows that travel the surfaces. Except their gemhearts, which stay physicly manifested.
But it seems you can sharpen such a gemheart and insert them into you like Hemalurgic spike and the Regals take over your body and you become a complete new form of being. They are kinda half corporeal and can move between cracks, teleport into near shadows, can create shadowclaws and are hard to hit. 

SPOILER TO WIND AND TRUTH!

My main point is... If the spike inducing is something of hemalurgic nature... Than that adds a bit more to it. We already saw gems being used like hemalurgic spikes

  Reveal hidden contents

with Moash

but now we know Spren can alter the nature of a hemalurgic spike perhaps. I guess as long as something akin to a soul is in the spike, it can be used that way?

I am guessing that investiture has to be in a spike (like with Metal Hemalurgy) and spren/souls work as investiture.

[Chaos he/him]

Hey there, Stonewalkers stuff needs to be in the Stonewalkers forum. Thanks!

[Sythrin]

1 minute ago, Chaos said:

Hey there, Stonewalkers stuff needs to be in the Stonewalkers forum. Thanks!

Oh sorry. There are so many forums here and I did not know.

[Jult]

1 hour ago, Qianweilian said:

Who was this again? I don't remember her from the world guide or the books.

He meant Mishram. As in Ba-Ado-Mishram.

Anyway, there's something very odd going on here that seems to be a step beyond the spikes that were inserted into Moash.

Here's the scene for anyone who doesn't have it open. Spoilers for Stonewalkers:

Spoiler

Quote

"His four followers raise glowing violet crystals and in swift unison, they pierce their own hearts. Their eyes shrivel, then their entire bodies, consumed in smoky shadows that spew from the gems.

Ylt’s acolytes warp and change, their limbs becoming sinuous and menacing as Ylt strides forward."

As Sythrin said, these aren't normal crystals with a spren inside like some kind of fabrial would use. These are gemhearts from Shadowform Singers who have been trapped in a weird limbo between the Physical and Cognitive realms. So, 'Shadowform Zealots' as they're called in the game are a bizarre mashup of Spren, Singer, and human. I don't know if we've seen Hemalurgy before that combines 3 entities like this.

I also don't know if it's possible to really emulate with other spren. As I'd guess that removing a Singer's gemheart would probably kill them in any other circumstance.

I'd suspect Moash's 'eyes' are not gemhearts.

There's quite a bit to unpack for the Hemalurgy scholars out there.

[lacrossedeamon]

I could also see some parallels to Yelig-nar, whatever is up with Baxil (honestly was hoping for him the show up in the RPG) and even some of the stuff Ishar was doing with spren and his fused humans.

[Jult]

I've been doing lots of reading on fabrials and Polestones the last few days and need to correct myself on some stuff I said above.

On 8/5/2025 at 3:20 PM, Jult said:

these aren't normal crystals with a spren inside like some kind of fabrial would use. These are gemhearts from Shadowform Singers

I guess I glossed over this during reading, but the vast majority of gemstones used on Roshar come from gemhearts. Mining on Roshar is super difficult because of the constant layers of crem coming down from highstorms. Some animals are farmed with the sole intention of harvesting their gemhearts. Still the crystals used to create Shadowform Zealots are very unique because they are gemhearts from a still technically 'alive' Singer.

On 8/5/2025 at 3:20 PM, Jult said:

I'd suspect Moash's 'eyes' are not gemhearts.

This is a pretty bad suspicion. Based on the above, Moash's 'eyes' are actually very likely gemhearts. But probably gemhearts from a dead animal rather than a living Singer. Which does feel more in line with Hemalurgy's typically bloody nature.