Nightblood

[EvangelionMech he/him]

Since the magic systems of Nalthis and Roshar are different, would Nightblood still consume the wielder's "breath"?

[The Sovereign]

Relevant WoB:

 

Quote

 

Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

WoR Signing Report - Leinton (Paraphrased)

Leinton

Does Nightblood possibly rip souls out of people?

Brandon Sanderson

Nightblood consumes Investiture, including the spark of life.

Tags

nightblood, investiture,

 

 

Quote

 

Interview: Mar 22nd, 2014

WoR Signing Report - Argent (Verbatim)

Question

Will Nightblood drain Stormlight?

Brandon Sanderson

Nightblood will drain any Investiture, so yes.

Tags

nightblood,

 

 

[Yata he/him]

18 minutes ago, Tanmay Shrivastava said:

Since the magic systems of Nalthis and Roshar are different, would Nightblood still consume the wielder's "breath"?

Nightblood may feed of every kind of Kinetic Investiture. This mean Breath, Stormlight, Mist, Feruchemical Charge, Allomantic power, Dor,... (I have some problem to remember more).... and of course the soul of someone he wields it.

[The One Who Connects he/him]

3 hours ago, Oversleep said:

So if somebody with access to Investiture (like Elantrian/Allomancer/maybe Feruchemist/Surgebinder) were to wield it, they could do it safely as long as they don't run out of Investiture.

So.. would giving it to an Elantrian slowly drain the Dor? That seems like a massive problem, or proof that it could drain/kill the investiture of a Shard

[PantsForSquares he/him]

1 minute ago, Spoolofwhool said:

Tapping a nicrosil metalmind wouldn't matter any more than any other metalmind. They're all invested objects and tapping them draws the investiture into the person, causing a change on the physical, cognitive or spiritual level. 

I was actually curious if Nightblood would just drain the stored Investiture, without any need for tapping on the part of the Ferring in question.

[Oversleep]

12 hours ago, Tanmay Shrivastava said:

Since the magic systems of Nalthis and Roshar are different, would Nightblood still consume the wielder's "breath"?

Nightblood doesn't run on Breaths, strictly - it runs on Investiture. It just happens that the only Investiture on Nalthis is Breaths. So if somebody with access to Investiture (like Elantrian/Allomancer/maybe Feruchemist/Surgebinder) were to wield it, they could do it safely as long as they don't run out of Investiture.

[Spoolofwhool]

1 hour ago, Oversleep said:

Nightblood doesn't run on Breaths, strictly - it runs on Investiture. It just happens that the only Investiture on Nalthis is Breaths. So if somebody with access to Investiture (like Elantrian/Allomancer/maybe Feruchemist/Surgebinder) were to wield it, they could do it safely as long as they don't run out of Investiture.

Nightblood can consume the kinetic investiture of a feruchemical charge as you tap it.

[PantsForSquares he/him]

1 hour ago, Spoolofwhool said:

Nightblood can consume the kinetic investiture of a feruchemical charge as you tap it.

We need to leave Nightblood in the hands of a Nicrosil Ferring one day, just to see what happens. Bonus points if they're a Nicrosil Compounder.

But here's the thing: People on Roshar don't have Breath, or even an analogue to it. Stormlight can be collected, but only Surgebinders have shown the capability to store Stormlight without the aid of gems. Nightblood would run on the Stormlight stored in the person, then presumably start absorbing it nearby infused gems, and finally drain the "spark of life."

[PantsForSquares he/him]

2 minutes ago, The One Who Connects said:

So.. would giving it to an Elantrian slowly drain the Dor? That seems like a massive problem, or proof that it could drain/kill the investiture of a Shard

It would eventually drain the Dor, but that's only a problem if Nightblood was left unsheathed 24/7 (or whatever the equivalent is on Sel). Regardless, it would be like trying to drain all the Stormlight in Roshar by following the highstorm around the planet, but considerably more difficult. Remember, the Dor lacks the same "release valves" that Rosharan Investiture has, and so, there's probably a lot more of it pent up, waiting to be spent.

[Spoolofwhool]

13 minutes ago, PantsForSquares said:

We need to leave Nightblood in the hands of a Nicrosil Ferring one day, just to see what happens. Bonus points if they're a Nicrosil Compounder.

But here's the thing: People on Roshar don't have Breath, or even an analogue to it. Stormlight can be collected, but only Surgebinders have shown the capability to store Stormlight without the aid of gems. Nightblood would run on the Stormlight stored in the person, then presumably start absorbing it nearby infused gems, and finally drain the "spark of life."

Tapping a nicrosil metalmind wouldn't matter any more than any other metalmind. They're all invested objects and tapping them draws the investiture into the person, causing a change on the physical, cognitive or spiritual level. 

[RYANHOME he/him]

6 minutes ago, The One Who Connects said:

So.. would giving it to an Elantrian slowly drain the Dor? That seems like a massive problem, or proof that it could drain/kill the investiture of a Shard

That is a very good question. 

[Spoolofwhool]

12 minutes ago, PantsForSquares said:

It would eventually drain the Dor, but that's only a problem if Nightblood was left unsheathed 24/7 (or whatever the equivalent is on Sel). Regardless, it would be like trying to drain all the Stormlight in Roshar by following the highstorm around the planet, but considerably more difficult. Remember, the Dor lacks the same "release valves" that Rosharan Investiture has, and so, there's probably a lot more of it pent up, waiting to be spent.

Dor would reaccumulate eventually in any case, so it doesn't matter how much power it pulls, and it probably accumulates faster than Nightblood consumes unless it's unsheathed for a very long time. Also, I doubt that it can tap the passive connection Elantrians have. It would probably need the full connection caused by a completed AonDor to only drain the power which would go to powering the Aon's effect, nullifying the effect.

7 minutes ago, PantsForSquares said:

I was actually curious if Nightblood would just drain the stored Investiture, without any need for tapping on the part of the Ferring in question.

It still wouldn't matter whether it's a nicrosil metalmind. Also, I think there's a WoB that it consumes a tapped charge. While that doesn't mean it can't, I think Nightblood would be unable to, anymore than it can use breath in nearby objects.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Spoolofwhool

[PantsForSquares he/him]

1 minute ago, Spoolofwhool said:

Dor would reaccumulate eventually in any case, so it doesn't matter how much power it pulls, and it probably accumulates faster than Nightblood consumes unless it's unsheathed for a very long time. Also, I doubt that it can tap the passive connection Elantrians have. It would probably need the full connection caused by a completed AonDor to only drain the power which would go to the powering the Aon's effect, nullifying the effect.

In that case, an Elantrian might not be able to use Nightblood, but someone using ChayShan might, especially if the style has a form for swordsmanship. It might not be as strong as using Nightblood on Roshar or even Nalthis, but it's quite possibly doable on Sel.

2 minutes ago, Spoolofwhool said:

It still wouldn't matter whether it's a nicrosil metalmind. Also, I think there's a WoB that it consumes a tapped charge. While that doesn't mean it can't, I think Nightblood would be unable to, anymore than it can use breath in nearby objects.

Then I suppose that using anything but a copper metalmind with Nightblood is just as effective, then.

[Spoolofwhool]

Just now, PantsForSquares said:

In that case, an Elantrian might not be able to use Nightblood, but someone using ChayShan might, especially if the style has a form for swordsmanship. It might not be as strong as using Nightblood on Roshar or even Nalthis, but it's quite possibly doable on Sel.

Then I suppose that using anything but a copper metalmind with Nightblood is just as effective, then.

Just store useless memories and put them to good use by tapping them while using Nightblood.

[Oversleep]

42 minutes ago, Spoolofwhool said:

Dor would reaccumulate eventually in any case, so it doesn't matter how much power it pulls, and it probably accumulates faster than Nightblood consumes unless it's unsheathed for a very long time.

It wouldn't reaccumulate, because Nightblood reduces the amount of usable Investiture in the cosmere. I imagine there's a cycle of Investiture in cosmere (that would explain how power used up in magic gets back to the Shard) but Nightblood is one thing that breaks that cycle by destroying Investiture (corrupting it or whatever, as energy cannot be destroyed).

[Spoolofwhool]

4 minutes ago, Oversleep said:

It wouldn't reaccumulate, because Nightblood reduces the amount of usable Investiture in the cosmere. I imagine there's a cycle of Investiture in cosmere (that would explain how power used up in magic gets back to the Shard) but Nightblood is one thing that breaks that cycle by destroying Investiture (corrupting it or whatever, as energy cannot be destroyed).

Brandon said that investiture cannot be destroyed. I think if there were exceptions to that, he would've mentioned that instead of just flatly saying it cannot be.

Quote

3. Investiture can not be created or destroyed. It follows it's own version of the laws of Thermodynamics.

The WoB in entirety.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Spoolofwhool

[Argel he/him]

Nightblood reduces the amount of investiture in the Cosmere. That could be the amount usable, or the WoB below could supersede the one Spoolofwhool quoted.

 

Quote

 

INTERVIEW: Dec 12th, 2015

Barnes & Noble Orem

QUESTION

So, is Nightblood reducing the amount of Investiture in the cosmere?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Yes. At a very slow rate, but yes.

 

Source: http://www.theoryland.com/intvsresults.php?kwt=%27investiture%27

 

[Jondesu he/him]

2 hours ago, PantsForSquares said:

We need to leave Nightblood in the hands of a Nicrosil Ferring one day, just to see what happens. Bonus points if they're a Nicrosil Compounder.

But here's the thing: People on Roshar don't have Breath, or even an analogue to it. Stormlight can be collected, but only Surgebinders have shown the capability to store Stormlight without the aid of gems. Nightblood would run on the Stormlight stored in the person, then presumably start absorbing it nearby infused gems, and finally drain the "spark of life."

Quick note, Nightblood doesn't seem to be able to draw Investiture from anywhere other than his wielder (and possibly his victims), so drawing from nearby gems wouldn't be a direct process.  The Surgebinder could draw in the Stormlight as Nightblood eats their own, providing more Investiture within themselves to be eaten, but Nightblood won't drain those gems otherwise.

jW

[Nashan’Elin he/him]

56 minutes ago, Jondesu said:

Quick note, Nightblood doesn't seem to be able to draw Investiture from anywhere other than his wielder (and possibly his victims), so drawing from nearby gems wouldn't be a direct process.  The Surgebinder could draw in the Stormlight as Nightblood eats their own, providing more Investiture within themselves to be eaten, but Nightblood won't drain those gems otherwise.

jW

I seem to remember a quote from somewhere (probably Theoryland) about how Nightblood, if he was thrown into the mists, would attempt to consume them, but they would pull away. This seems to indicate he can draw in Investiture from around him.

[PantsForSquares he/him]

7 hours ago, Argel said:

Nightblood reduces the amount of investiture in the Cosmere. That could be the amount usable, or the WoB below could supersede the one Spoolofwhool quoted.

Source: http://www.theoryland.com/intvsresults.php?kwt=%27investiture%27

That almost makes it sound like Nightblood is the Cosmere's equivalence to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. That Investiture has to go somewhere, but it's not like other forms of Investiture, where it still remains usable after being absorbed by Nightblood.

Good job, Shashara, you kicked off the Investiture Death of the Cosmere.

[Darkness Ascendant he/him]

Can nightblood be considered end-negative? 

[Argel he/him]

3 hours ago, PantsForSquares said:

Good job, Shashara, you kicked off the Investiture Death of the Cosmere.

Which explains why Vasher killed her to keep the method of creating Nightblood a secret. No wonder he's always in a bad mood.

2 hours ago, Darkness Ascendant said:

Can nightblood be considered end-negative?

Well, Nightblood does leak some Investiture when drawn, but he will take in more Investiture than he leaks if he can. I suppose a question worth asking is what happens if he is unsheathed with no obvious investiture to draw on (e.g. left on the stones of shinovar). 

[PantsForSquares he/him]

3 minutes ago, Argel said:

Which explains why Vasher killed her to keep the method of creating Nightblood a secret. No wonder he's always in a bad mood.

That... actually explains a lot. I thought it was because he didn't want others to have Awakened steel, but it makes sense for Vasher to be aware of the danger that something like Nightblood poses in the long (long, long, long) term

[Darkness Ascendant he/him]

What if night bloody actually transformed investiture into some other form of energy, I was thinking......wait for it... Expenditure?

haha autocorrect

[PantsForSquares he/him]

While we're on the topic of Nightblood, has anyone else wondered what the sheath is made from?

I'm willing to bet it's aluminum, but I can't find any WoB to verify this.

[Spoolofwhool]

14 hours ago, PantsForSquares said:

That... actually explains a lot. I thought it was because he didn't want others to have Awakened steel, but it makes sense for Vasher to be aware of the danger that something like Nightblood poses in the long (long, long, long) term

Nightblood isn't awakened steel. Anyone with the ninth heightening can awaken Steel as a Type III Biochromatic entity, in other words, a non-sentient awakened object. In Warbreaker, it was said that he killed Shashara so that the knowledge to create Type IV entitires, sentient awakened objects, wouldn't spread. It's possible he knows that Nightblood is reducing the overall system of investiture. Hard to say really, but I'd be willing to believe he can, especially since he contains a splinter which is a part of Endowment and for the most part, Nightblood is removing Endowment's investiture from the system currently.

57 minutes ago, PantsForSquares said:

While we're on the topic of Nightblood, has anyone else wondered what the sheath is made from?

I'm willing to bet it's aluminum, but I can't find any WoB to verify this.

Don't think there's a WoB on the matter. It's likely either aluminium or an alloy of it, or just heavily invested.