Honorblades and Identity

[Staterus]

As honorblades can be used by anyone and give power to anyone, can we assume that honorblades work like the bands of mourning do, in the sense that anyone can use them because there is identity signature on them? If the answer is confirmed please post it. If not please post theories.

[Spoolofwhool]

I wouldn't assume anything of that nature. Honorblades spiritually bond to the holder, which is already a huge difference from the item you referenced, so we can't really draw comparisons.

[+hwiles]

Since being bonded to an honorblade doesn't permanently alter your identity to make you a surgebinder, and because it represents a type of passive, or static, Investiture, I'm inclined to believe there isn't an Identity component; at least, not a similar Identity component to the one used by the Bands. Recall, you have to tap and slowly drain the Bands to make them work. The Bands themselves are just a lump of metal someone dumped Investiture in, whereas honorblades appear to have literally been made by a shard out of pure Investiture.

Quasi-permanent static forms of Investiture can grant a user powers through manipulation of their spirit web, but in a way that I would argue is fundamentally different from how the Bands operate. (See: forgery and hemalurgy) so there may be an Identity component to how honorblade work, but it's probably very dissimilar to that used by the Bands.