Invocation

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. 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.

"Are we there to look for them" Malu asked, "or what's left of them?"

Good choices, every one.

Welcome to the Shard! What all have you read so far, and who's your favorite character?

Stuff happened and Hoid was there.

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.

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.

The air vent on the ceiling began leaking shadows and at the very edge of audibility came the sound of a crackling fire. The grating fell in, followed by a figure in a very deep blue cloak, hood perched and face shrouded in darkness, trailing shadows. A rumbling voice came from deep within the hood as he sat. "I am here. You may truly begin now."

Malu threw his hood up as he returned to Roshar, breathing in the post-highstorm air. It was a feeling he'd missed for far too long, but there wasn't time to enjoy it fully yet. He had work to do, and the sun would be setting before too long, and there wasn't time enough to waste. Hours later, he stumbled from the valley's hold into darkness, scratched and breathing heavily, mopping sweat from his forehead with the cuff of his cloak. "Katki, what do you think she meant?" The spren shone on the edge of his vision. "I have no idea. Guess we'll find out soon enough, though. An hour after sunrise here, yes?" "That's what she said. I don't think the Nightwatcher would lie about this of all things. Other things, sure, but not this. I wonder how it'll affect you." "Affect me?" Katki asked, worried. "I don't think it will...will it?" "Let's find out. An hour after sunrise here. We'll stay here for a time to explore the details. But for now, I need to sleep," he said, settling into a bedroll with the Nightwatcher's warning couplet running through his head: One into two / but two can never be one. "What does it mean indeed," he muttered, drifting off.

>:) You're in good company here.

That or a test of loyalty of some sort, probably. Or potentially Dalinar just couldn't think of something to do with him in the meantime.

I stand by my choices.

They were either looking for Nightblood or another Awakened bit of metal, probably. That's the only real explanation I can think of, given that she has to know that due to Nicrosil being new-ish to Scadrial, there'd be no chance for it to have coalesced into sentience yet, or the long-standing Aon light engravings would have also done that and would have really been a better bet to look for. I never disputed it was possible, just that it would take a really long time and a whole lot of Investiture.

Cultivation, maybe, if you're not opposed to that. If she was a male cat, I'd almost say Vasher. Maybe Vivenna or Siri. Or Marasi. Could name this one Leras. Vaguely mist-colored, after all. Could also be a Kelsier. Wayne could be good. (No idea why this one gives me a Mistborn vibe).

I know. Soulcast from Air. Literally raining from the sky on top of you.

If you specified you wanted them to materialize in front of you but didn't specific a timeframe, have fun. They'll probably be raining from the sky.

That was not about Scadrian magic, though. That was Kriss and Nazh looking for Nightblood. They even signed it with "Ask for K or N."

Theoretically? Yes. Practically? No. That's a process of a very long time (we're talking thousands of years here) and even atium compounding can only get you so far before you get too stretched to make up the difference. There was a thread on this a while back, but I can't find it now.

Alright I updated the backstory.

Theoretically, yes, he could have healed it with Stormlight, but he didn't even know the spren was real. Dude's mental state was three ways to Hades. Between the fever dreams, the flashbacks, the robbery, the hallucinations, and the confusing surroundings, dude had no idea what was real and what wasn't. Would breaking the Oath take that long if the person is not actively trying to hold on? Kaladin was doing his utmost to hold on to Syl and that probably would have dragged the process out. Zerameth thought his spren and the flashes of Radiant memory he got occasionally were hallucinations and delusions of grandeur, so he was more or less actively abandoning the shreds of the bond. He refused to acknowledge the spren and if it tried to get him to do something, he would do the exact opposite. It told him to go surround himself with gemstones and so he found the darkest room he could and huddled there. He was out of it.

Welcome to the Shard! What's your favorite magic system?

Welcome to the Shard! Who's your favorite character?

Hello Dave! Welcome to the Shard! So what all Sanderson books have you read so far?

The amnesia resulting from severe head trauma caused him to inadvertently break an Oath.

He said something like 400k words is his goal.