Pattern (The Stormlight Archive)

"I know that you have forgotten much of what once was. Those lies attracted me. But you cannot continue like this; you must admit the truth about me. About what I can do, and what we have done. Mmm... More, you must know yourself. And remember. You wish to help. You wish to prepare for the Everstorm, the spren of the unnatural one. You must become something. I did not come to you merely to teach you tricks of light."

- Pattern to Shallan

Summary
Pattern is a Cryptic Spren on Roshar, and the Spren bonded with Shallan Davar.

History
Little is known of his history before bonding with Shallan, except that he was a scholar who wished to study many things. Showing a particular interest in humans, in time this desire to study humans further led to leave Shadesmar and enter the Physical Realm, and, upon the decision of the other Cryptics who feared a coming Desolation, bonding Shallan sometime after 1167. However for a long period of time he would remain silent, unable to fully complete the bond and regain full cognitive capacity.

Way of Kings
He, along with other Cryptics, watched over Shallan in Kharbaranth, though remaining invisible to her. Though they would first be seen when Shallan was drawing an picture of Taravangian, in which she would unconsciously draw them in the image. This appearance would begin to make Shallan fall into paranoia.

Several weeks later, while Shallan puzzled over the Soulcaster alone in her room, Pattern spoke to her, attempting to obtain a new Truth. However she dismissed the voice, thinking that it was just somebody from the next room over.

The day before she was scheduled to return to her family's estate in Jah Keved, they once again appeared to her as she drew an image of Kabsal, causing her to flee the room. Pattern and his associates followed Shallan to her room within the guest quarters, and, having her cornered, led her to Soulcast for the first time, turning a goblet into blood, and cutting herself to try to hide what she did.

He stayed and watched while she stayed in the hospital while on suicide watch. Later, after she had been moved to a private room, where he was lurking. She called on him to help her transfer to the Cognitive Realm again, and confessed to him that she had killed her father. He accepted this Truth and transferred her as she requested.

Words of Radiance
It was in Tanatashah 1173 (1173.9.6.5) on the Wind's Pleasure that Pattern decided to fully reveal himself to Shallan for the first time, manifesting in the Physical Realm. He was kept secret by Shallan for a long period after this. Not knowing how others would react to him.

He was quite damaged by the transition to the Physical Realm, and did not display full cognitive capacity during this period.

During the attack on the Wind's Pleasure by the Ghostblood he pushed her to summon her as a Shardblade, though she refused his suggestions.

As the crew as being executed, she asked him for help to Soulcast the ship itself, although he was greatly confused by her, he still agreed to assist her in her endeavour. He helped her see into the Cognitive, and acted as a translator between Shallan and the object, claiming she was not yet ready to communicate with it directly. She managed to successfully turn it into water, dropping her and Pattern into the sea.

They both survived and made it inland to the Frostlands, cold and in danger of hypothermia, Shallan tried to Soulcast a stick into fire, and Pattern once again acted as a translator and intermediary. Despite their best efforts they failed to make a flame. Failing, they both had to walk further inland, and came across Tvlakv's campsite. He hid, remaining unseen, as they took her in and helped her survive in the cold. Later. Tvlakv agreed to drive the north towards the Shattered Plains. He hid within Jasnah's empty trunk in order to not alert their travelling companions.

When she came into the room with him, he asked her various questions about why she had decided to continue on to the Shattered Plains and try to seek Urithiru, curious about, and confused about, human reasoning. Her explanation as to why reminded him of why he sought her out and formed a bond with her. He talked about why he had been chosen to bond with her, and tried to get her to remember her past, though she quickly diverted the topic.

Shallan went through her damp and ruined drawings in the trunk and came across one of her drawings of the now dead Jasnah, and broke down in tears, to which Pattern tried to comfort her.

Several days later, Pattern was sent to spy on a conversation between the Tvlakv and one of his men, and reporting what he heard back to Shallan. Leading her to confront the slaver.

The highstorm came later that night. The storm agitated Pattern, who buzzed angrily and ranted in a foreign tongue, frightening the soldiers which were sheltering in her carriage. The next day, Pattern debated the meaning of 'truth' with Shallan, who found herself frustrated with the biases shown by past scholars. He disagreed with her that truth was universal, and instead posited it was based on individual experience.

When Shallan was attacked by Tyn, he attempted to intervene, impersonating Jasnah to try and distract her while Shallan escaped. However, when this failed Shallan summoned him as a Shardblade, and used him to kill Tyn.

Rhythm of War
During the journey to Lasting Integrity, he often used the Seon Cube in secret in order to communicate with Hoid, although each time he used it he left a small disturbance noticeable, which began to lead Shallan down a path of paranoia, believing a traitor to be in her mydst. Despite being well aware of her fears and her concerns, he kept the truth a secret.

Appearance
In the Physical Realm he takes the shape of a complex and constantly shifting geometric pattern slightly raised off a surface or object, these patterns are impossible to truly capture, and move according to an unknown principle. He can also manifest as a floating three-dimensional mass of twisting lines. These patterns are believed to have infinitely many permutations.

In the Cognitive Realm, his body is made up of glossy planes that casually fold and split into new angles as they move. He has hands with overly long fingers which appear bony, despite his lack of bones. The flesh appears as if carved from marble. His head is made up of the same fractal pattern of shifting lines. This is a type of physiology which cannot exist in the Physical Realm, as it goes against its laws.

Personality
is fascinated by concepts that mix truths and falsehoods, such as flattery, sarcasm, and even figures of speech like metaphors. He calls them lies, but not in an insulting or disparaging way, but rather as a form of compliment. For he has a fascination with lies and falsehoods. He often hums excitedly when he sees something that fascinates him.

Despite his love for lies, he is a terrible liar himself, and is in fact incredibly honest to the point of insensitivity.

He is happy to please Shallan as he greatly cares for her, and he would even agree to help her or do something even if he fails to see the logic behind her requests, such as when he helped her to Soulcast the Wind's Pleasure. He also knows when she isn't ready for something, and will step in to help her if he believes as such, such as when he helped to translate the thoughts of objects during her first few consciously down Soulcastings, believing she was not yet ready to speak with them directly.

His very peculiar and unnatural manner of speech and overly demeanor often leads people to feeling uncomfortable around him. He is sometimes described as being quite childish.

He rejects the idea of universal truth, and instead claims that truth is based on an individual's experiences.

He greatly fears Odium, to the point of only speaking his name when being forced to, and even then does so with great fear and reluctance. In his early days he was fearful in general, not just of Odium, but also displayed fear of Shallan, at multiple points fearing that she would kill him, even with little reason to believe that she would.

He would consider himself to be more of Cultivation than of Honor

Powers and Stats
Name: Pattern

Age: Unknown

Gender: Male

Classification: Cryptic, Spren

Powers and Abilities: Abstract Existence (As a Spren he is an idea made manifest and shaped by the collective perceptions of mankind, particularly representing the fundamental underlying mathematics by which natural phenomena occur, and truths which explain the fabric of existence  ), Power Bestowal (Through bonding with an individual, he can grant them the ability to Surgebind, gaining the Surges of Illumination and Transformation), Immortality (As a Spren he is capable of living for an extremely long time, far beyond the limits of mortal beings), Levitation, Self-Sustenance (Spren do not require food, drink, or even oxygen), Multilingualism (Can speak Alethi, and also speak the Cryptic Language, and can translate the information from the Cognitive Aspects of inanimate objects with ease), Limited Durability Negation and Soul Manipulation as a Shardblade, Shapeshifting (Can form into the shape of any weapon as a Shardblade, when not a Shardblade the patterns that make him up constantly shift and change, never remaining static), Language Decipherment (Type 3), Limited Invisibility (Is unable to been seen by most people unless he actively wishes himself to be seen. possibly Limited Dimensional Manipulation (Can change between a floating three-dimensional object to a two-dimensional pattern across an object)

Attack Potency: Unknown, Pattern has never been shown attacking anybody or anything, and serves a non-combative role. However when used as a Shardblade he has a great degree of cutting power even agianst non-living things, with living things, he ignores the durability of the flesh and is able to cause direct damage to the Spiritweb.

Durability: Unknown, his exact level of durability has not been shown, but he is normally incapable of being affected by Physical objects.

Speed: Unknown, however he is able to move across surfaces at decent rates, and was able to go to Adolin and warn him about what Shallan had found in a relatively short amount of time.

Intelligence: While he does not understand many things that are considered common sense to humans, and has trouble wrapping his head around irregularities, he is rather intelligent, acting as a scholar in Shadesmar before he bonded with Shallan, and also quickly learning whatever is taught to him. He also has an extremely high degree of pattern recognition. This allows him to be a master codebreaker, and allows him to quickly learn languages, and easily translate them. Even able to actively translate the ideas and thoughts of inanimate objects. His ability to make out truths and lies is far beyond that of a normal being, making him act as a sort of nigh-perfect lie detector. In the period after he began trying to bond, and before it was completed, he existed in a state where he was barely capable of thought.

Weaknesses: He is extremely vulnerable to Anti-Stormlight, and touching it can cause immense damage to him, or even completely destroy his soul, bringing about his death. He is unable to hide his presence from Alaii'iku, and will always be seen by them, even if he tries to hide his presence. Despite loving lies and being fascinated by them, he is borderline incapable of lying himself. As his physiology does not work in accordance with the Laws of the Physical Realm, his body cannot exist in it without collapsing in on itself. As a primarily Cognitive Being, he is normally incapable of interacting with the Physical Realm. If he moves too far away from Shallan, he would experience mental degredation. Along with this, if Shallan commits a grievous breaking of her Oaths, it would cause Pattern to effectively "die" and enter into a zombielike state known as a "Deadeye", this breaking causes him to lose much of his intelligence and consciousness, only retaining a small level of consciousness; this would also lock him into the form of a Shardblade in the Physical Realm

Nahel Bond
He is capable of forming, and has formed, a type of Spiritual bond known as a Nahel Bond, or simply Nahel, wherein he deeply connects with a person on a Spiritual level, it is a symbiotic relationship, granting a person the power of Surgebinding, and him the ability to manifest into the Physical Realm without losing his mind.

This Bond is deepened through uttering deep, personal truths about oneself by the bond holder, with the more powerful, impactful truths deepening the bond further. The deeper the Bond becomes the greater the Surgebinding ability granted to the one he is bonded with. Eventually gaining the ability to turn into a Shardblade, and even further granting his Surgebinder Shardplate.

He can help the person he is bonded to see into the Cognitive Realm.

Deadeye
If Shallan commits a grave betrayal of her Oaths, he can be greatly harmed by the nature of the connection. Becoming a being known as a Deadeye, as a Deadeye he would lose much of his cognitive ability, only retaining a small degree of consciousness.

Deadeye do not display the level of higher cognitive function to be capable of speech, and usually are not able to truly process their surroundings to the extent of most beings. However, they are capable of recognizing certain individuals, as displayed by Oathbringer and  Mayalaran, able to recognize their primary wielders and act differently with them.

As a Deadeye, they keep a Physical manifestation, it is however locked into the form of a Shardblade. If someone would attempt to summon him he would only screech in a very painful manner He would actively walk towards wherever the Blade is located in the Physical Realm, without care for the obstructions in the way.

Shallan has not broken her Oaths in such a way with him, it is however a possible risk.

Shardblade
As a Shardblade, he does not act as ordinary blades in that they do not cut living flesh, but rather effervesce and pass through it, leaving the flesh unharmed and instead cutting the Spiritweb itself. If the Blade cuts the core of a person's limb, the person feels a flash of incredible pain and then the limb turns gray and becomes limp and numb. If an internal organ is pierced by a Shardblade, it may be killed or cease to function. If the spine or head is cut, the eyes of the person blacken and burn out with a dark smoke rising from them.

When cutting through something not classified as alive, they still cut far better than any other sword, able to cut through any non-Invested material with relative ease. A cut from a Honorblade, or even a Shardblade for that matter, leave distinctive perfectly clean cuts.

As a Living Blade, he transforms according to Shallan's will, and can effectively take the form of any tool or weapon, so long as Shallan wills it.