What exactly is splintering

[Mage he/him]

I know that Odium has splintered many shards across the cosmere including Ambition, Devotion, Dominion, and Honor. What is the difference between what he did here and what Ruin did to Preservation. Or are they the same? Could someone pull a Sazed and take up any of these shards?

Also, I know that the returned breathes are considered "splinters" of Endowment. Is this in any way related to splintering or is it just a coincidence.

Thanks!

[Shard of Reading he/him]

To my understanding what odium did is break the shard's power. That then killed the holder of the shard.

What ruin did was kill Leras not Preservation which is why vin was able to pick up the shard of presevation.

I think what endownment did was purposley splinter him/herself. I don't know why or how but that is what I think happened.

[Mage he/him]

Okay. Thanks. That makes sense. Odium kills the shard and the vessel, but Ruin just killed the vessel.

[Frustration]

16 minutes ago, Shard of Reading said:

I think what endownment did was purposley splinter him/herself. I don't know why or how but that is what I think happened.

That would be a herself and yes it was intentionally breaking a piece off of Endowment, most shards do it, another major example would be the unmade.

[Honorless he/him]

Splinters are basically chunks of a Shard's Investiture.

When Odium Splinters a Shard, he does it so that it would be very difficult for someone to become the next Vessel of the Shard with its power so diffuse

Ruin killed Leras, Preservation's Vessel in a long and confusing manner. (Preservation sacrificed his Cognitive aspect to build the Well of Ascension, so the Vessel was more like a Cognitive Shadow or something)

Shards often do Splinter off parts of their power, like Honor & Cultivation did with their spren and Endowment does with the Returned 

[Karger he/him]

Khriss said that splintering is like decapitation where as what Ruin did to Preservation was more like strangulation.  In the first case the processes happens quickly and is permanent.  In the second case the body still works but has become brain dead.  Also in the second case a new consciousness could take control of the body.