Nightwatcher offered WHAT to Dalinar

[retrorocket1]

So I was rereading Oathbringer and i was surprised to see that the Night-watcher offered Night-blood. I am assuming I noticed it before and just forgot about it but it seems interesting that she would even mention it. Especially after offering skill which would seem degenerate with not being defeated.

Quote

Perhaps it is possessions you wish, she said. Spheres, gemstones. Shards. A Blade that bleeds darkness and cannot be defeated. I can give it to you.

[Karger he/him]

Yes.  The general consensus is that Dalinar is being offered Nightblood.

[Gilphon]

She sure did. Oddly specific, that. Her other offers are vague and general, but it's 'hey, do you want this specific cursed sword?' Like maybe somebody ditched it in the valley, hoping she could destroy it, and now she's trying to get rid of it by hawking it to everyone who drops by?

Edited September 18, 2019 by Gilphon

[retrorocket1]

8 minutes ago, Gilphon said:

She sure did. Oddly specific, that. Her other offers are vague and general, but it's 'hey, do you want this specific cursed sword?' Like maybe somebody ditched it in the valley, hoping she could destroy it, and now she's trying to get rid of it by hawking it to everyone who drops up?

hmm now i wonder if the way it went from vasher to nin is that vasher gave the sword to the Nightwatcher because of what it meant to him. Then maybe Nin went to the Nightwatcher in his madness and the nightwatcher offered him the sword which he took. Only issue I can see with this is Nin doesn't seem to have a curse?

 

[Karger he/him]

5 minutes ago, retrorocket1 said:

hmm now i wonder if the way it went from vasher to nin is that vasher gave the sword to the Nightwatcher because of what it meant to him. Then maybe Nin went to the Nightwatcher in his madness and the nightwatcher offered him the sword which he took. Only issue I can see with this is Nin doesn't seem to have a curse?

Perhaps she re gifted that specific curse to someone and Nale tracked them down and killed them.

[Gilphon]

I don't think it went directly from the Nightwatcher to Nale- he'd have little reason to want a more powerful weapon. More likely, whoever got it from the Nightwatcher caused enough of a disturbance to attract Nale's attention, since he's of course constantly on the look-out for crimes committing using supernatural means. 

[SkyRunner]

Seeing as Dalinar wasn’t bonded to a spren  yet, I’d wonder if he took nightblood, what investiture it would have fed off of. 

[+Invocation]

23 minutes ago, SkyRunner said:

Seeing as Dalinar wasn’t bonded to a spren  yet, I’d wonder if he took nightblood, what investiture it would have fed off of. 

His soul or the souls of his victims, same as ever. If he drew it in a highstorm, though, it would probably eat the ambient Investiture of the storm's passing.

[Dancer]

Just think at one point Nale had his Honor Blade, His shard blade, We all assume his Shard Plate (since he has sworn the 5th ideal) and Nightblood. Not to mention his Surgbinding, this man must have been the most OP person outside of the Shards in the Cosmere.  

[Quantus he/him]

2 hours ago, Dancer said:

Just think at one point Nale had his Honor Blade, His shard blade, We all assume his Shard Plate (since he has sworn the 5th ideal) and Nightblood. Not to mention his Surgbinding, this man must have been the most OP person outside of the Shards in the Cosmere.  

*coughcough* Hoid *cough* 

[Dancer]

9 minutes ago, Quantus said:

*coughcough* Hoid *cough* 

Unlike Hoid, Nale can and will freely use his power to harm anyone that crosses him (or anyone he sees braking the law).  

[Quantus he/him]

7 minutes ago, Dancer said:

Unlike Hoid, Nale can and will freely use his power to harm anyone that crosses him (or anyone he sees braking the law).  

True, but in a head-to-head conflict my money is still on the Wit.  

[+Invocation]

1 hour ago, Quantus said:

True, but in a head-to-head conflict my money is still on the Wit.  

Nightblood is one of the few things Hoid actively attempts to avoid, so I don't know if your money is in the right place my friend.

[Scion of the Mists]

16 hours ago, retrorocket1 said:

hmm now i wonder if the way it went from vasher to nin is that vasher gave the sword to the Nightwatcher because of what it meant to him. Then maybe Nin went to the Nightwatcher in his madness and the nightwatcher offered him the sword which he took. Only issue I can see with this is Nin doesn't seem to have a curse?

 

We know that there were multiple people between Vasher and Nale:

Quote

Questioner

How many hands has Nightblood passed through since he left Vasher?

Brandon Sanderson

Since he left Vasher? More than you'd expect. *later adds* It's been a while.

DragonCon 2019 (Aug. 29, 2019)

 

[Quantus he/him]

4 hours ago, Invocation said:

Nightblood is one of the few things Hoid actively attempts to avoid, so I don't know if your money is in the right place my friend.

Nah, I dont think so, thought admittedly I missed that we were looking at Nale in possession of Nightblood rather than the close of OB (which I defaulted to). 

Nightblood is the only thing that gives Nale any kind of chance, but Nale is still a very...linear thinker, compared to Hoid's cosmic ability to scheme, distract, and Lightweave.  Meanwhile, If you take him at his word Hoid is immune to Shardblades/Honorblades, and is collecting Investitures including Allomancy, Heightenings and now Surges.  Of all the non-shard entities in the Cosmere, Nightblood can potentially threaten him, and maybe a Dragon could (who knows?) but any individual Herald would not be enough, methinks.  That being said, Hoid's the kind of guy where if he find himself in a direct confrontation like that, he's already screwed way the frell up. 

[garlick]

I always wondered if she got nightblood granting zahel the ability to survive off stormlight. Boon he could draw stormlight to feed his need for breaths. Cost nightblood.

(I know she doesn't like "people not from roshar" but mayby getting nightblood she made an accpetion)

Edited September 18, 2019 by garlick

[+Invocation]

3 hours ago, garlick said:

I always wondered if she got nightblood granting zahel the ability to survive off stormlight. Boon he could draw stormlight to feed his need for breaths. Cost nightblood.

(I know she doesn't like "people not from roshar" but mayby getting nightblood she made an accpetion)

Nah, that's just something all Returned can do. Their Investiture-feeding isn't picky (see Nightblood), and Awakening in general is less picky than most magic systems are about the Investiture source.

Quote

Questioner

So assuming you have mentioned that it is technically possible to be able to use one magic system on another planet from a different one...

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

Is it possible to fuel that... Like, say could you fuel Awakening using Stormlight, or do you have to bring Breaths?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, you could!

Questioner

Okay.

Brandon Sanderson

Excellent question. Now it's-- there are tricks to making it happen on each world. Some are easier than others, but yes you can.

Questioner

So could that allow a loophole to maybe... convert from one form of power to another? Or like from Stormlight to Breath?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. In fact, that's part of why Vasher--

Questioner

Vasher. I wondered that.

Brandon Sanderson

--is on Roshar, is because it's a lot easier to get Stormlight than Breath.

Calamity release party (Feb. 16, 2016)

 

5 hours ago, Quantus said:

Nah, I dont think so, thought admittedly I missed that we were looking at Nale in possession of Nightblood rather than the close of OB (which I defaulted to). 

Nightblood is the only thing that gives Nale any kind of chance, but Nale is still a very...linear thinker, compared to Hoid's cosmic ability to scheme, distract, and Lightweave.  Meanwhile, If you take him at his word Hoid is immune to Shardblades/Honorblades, and is collecting Investitures including Allomancy, Heightenings and now Surges.  Of all the non-shard entities in the Cosmere, Nightblood can potentially threaten him, and maybe a Dragon could (who knows?) but any individual Herald would not be enough, methinks.  That being said, Hoid's the kind of guy where if he find himself in a direct confrontation like that, he's already screwed way the frell up. 

Hoid is immune to normal Shardblades because they don't have a lasting drain effect. He can heal the severing almost before it even happened, but if he got stabbed by Nightblood (and Nale seems to like stabbing for some reason, IIRC), that drain is going to keep going. Every bit of Investiture he has will get yanked, since I'm fairly sure he's far enough from Shard-level Investiture density to not sate Nightblood entirely and have anything left over. Even enough small nicks will cause him issues over time, and given that he wouldn't be able to fight back (Nale is technically human while he actually has a body, right?) it's only a matter of time before he gets stuck in a permanent fashion. Nale even knows him (albeit as Midius), and doubtless would recall that he's hard to kill and with Nightblood, that fight is over. 

Though I will agree that Szeth with Nightblood probably couldn't beat the wily old dude, I think Nale would manage it.

[garlick]

Im sure Brandon has said it takes some hacking to make things like vasher surviving off stormlight to work. He wasnt born with an ability to draw in stormlight. He might be able to survive off it....once he learned how to take it in. At least that's how I've always felt about it.

[Argent he/him]

I changed the title so it's not as spoilery as it was before; we don't want to spoil some innocent bystander. I hope you don't mind a little clickbait in there