User:Zoey The Edgedancer/Cosmere Cosmology

"All things exist in three Realms, Gaotona. Physical, Cognitive, Spiritual. The Physical is what we feel, what is before us. The Cognitive is how an object is viewed and how it views itself. The Spiritual Realm contains an object’s soul—its essence—as well as the ways it is connected to the things and people around it."

- -—Shai discussing the application of Realmatic Theory to Forgery with Gaotona

The Cosmere is a universe which contains various shared underlying mechanics and a consistent cosmological structure which permeates throughout all of the magical systems and the ways of the world.

Cosmology
The Cosmology of The Cosmere is made up of Three Realms which interweave and interwork with each other to create what is perceived as reality, taking a large amount of inspiration from Plato's Theory of Forms, Spinoza, Jungian Metaphysics and Shintoism.

Physical Realm
The Physical Realm is the world as we experience it, and which, while influenced by the Cognitive and Spiritual Realms, primarily operates in accordance to the laws of physics.

It is made up of various star systems within a small star cluster. It is unknown if anything exists beyond it.

Known Systems within it are


 * The Selish System
 * Donne
 * Sel
 * Ky
 * Ralen
 * The Scadrian System
 * Scadrial
 * Aagal Nod
 * Aagal Uch
 * The Nalthian System
 * Nalthis
 * Farkeeper the Bright
 * Nightstar the Hidden
 * The Rosharan System
 * Ashyn
 * Roshar
 * Braize
 * Jes
 * Nan
 * Chach
 * Vev
 * Palah
 * Shash
 * Betab
 * Kak
 * Tanat
 * Ishi
 * The Threnodite system
 * Monody
 * Elegy
 * Threnody
 * Purity
 * The Drominad System
 * First of the Sun
 * Second of the Sun
 * Third of the Sun
 * Fourth of the Sun
 * Fifth of the Sun
 * Sixth of the Sun
 * Seventh of the Sun
 * The Taldain System
 * Taldain

Known planets of unknown system are:


 * Yolen
 * Vax
 * Obrodai
 * Lor
 * Unknown Aether Planet
 * Unnamed Whimsy Shardworld

The Veil
There is a currently unnamed veil which separates the Physical and Cognitive Realms, this is known to be the place where various Unmade, such as Sja-Anat, are trapped within.

Cognitive Realm
"All things have three components: the soul, the body, and the mind. That place you saw, Shadesmar, is what we call the Cognitive Realm—the place of the mind."

- --Jasnah explaining Shadesmar to Shallan

The Cognitive Realm is the world of the Mind, where the perceptions of sapient beings become the primary law governing it; as even non-living things can have a Cognitive aspect in the cosmere, the Cognitive Realm is also a place where the thoughts and feelings of non-living things can be known. These Cognitive Aspects are what is interacted with in Transformation and Surgebinding.

This is where Spren exist in their truest forms, and sapient spren form entire societies.

The exact way that the Cognitive Realm manifests depends on the collective beliefs and perceptions of the people on the planet of the corresponding Subastral. For instance, the Subastral of Scadrial is coated in and constructed of a mist, while the Rosharan Subastral has oceans of small beads which represent the souls and minds of objects in the Physical Realm.

Investiture, including that within souls, glows visibly within the Cognitive Realm. For instance, the souls of living beings, most notable sapient beings, take on the form of flames in the Rosharan Subastral.

Spren
Spren, also known as Transformative Cognitive Entities are self-aware pieces of Investiture existing primarily in the Cognitive Realm.

Relation to Memory
Memories are not just stored within one's physical brain, but are also stored within the Cognitive Aspect of a being. It is due to this that beings, when magically regenerating, are capable of gaining back their memories despite what one would assume would destroy the electrical signals going through their brain, so long as their Cognitive Aspect is still attached to their body.

It is largely through this that Cognitive Shadows are capable of keeping their memories despite the complete loss of their physical body.

Cognitive Shadows
"And if you let a man die with too Invested a soul—or Invest him right as he’s dying—he’ll leave behind a shadow you can nail back onto a body."

- —Zahel’s description of a Cognitive Shadow

Cognitive Shadows, also known as Type Two Invested Entities are spirits that has not yet moved into the Beyond, or more simply also persist after separation from the Physical Aspect, usually due to being Invested right as they die, essentially having the Investiture replace that which leaves them and create a copy of the Soul. , this is compared to being like a "fossil of a soul", or a "memory of a man"

Cognitive Shadows can be, through various methods, nailed back into a physical body. This has been seen in various situations, such as the manner in which the Cognitive Shadow of a Returned is stapled back to their body by the Divine Breath of Endowment ; Fused and Heralds are also both Cognitive Shadows with Physical Bodies, the manner of the Heralds is still unknown, but the Fused are known to be able to do so by possessing the bodies of Singers; it is also seen with Kelsier, who managed to return to his Physical body. While Shades do not return to their Physical body, they are known to be capable of interacting with the Physical Realm.

A Cognitive Shadow can be permanently killed by the use of a raysium dagger touching a gem of Anti-Investiture of the type of Investiture associated with the Cognitive Shadow.

It is of debate between Arcanists whether or not the Cognitive Shadow can be considered to truly be the same person as the original. With it being a similar question as to that posed by the Ship of Theseus thought experiment.

Distortion
Space and distance are distorted based upon the perspective of peoples and the cognitive signature of areas, this causes the vast space between planets to be greatly compressed, making separate planets lay right next to each other, with oceans acting as their borders. This distortion makes it possible to go into the Cognitive Realm in order to quickly go between planets in a reasonable timeframe.

Due to the spatial distortions and the flat nature of the Cognitive Realm, it does not map one to one with the Physical Realm. It notably has horizontal and vertical distortions alike when compared to the Physical Realm. Another source of distortion is due to the fact that it is projecting a spherical surface, that is a 2-D Surface embeded into and bending through 3-D Space, into a flat plane. This is always a source of distortion, and it is the reason why maps can never accurately depict the surface of a planet. The exact projection that the Cognitive Realm uses is currently unknown.

Cognitive Anomaly
The Cognitive Anomaly is an unknown anomaly existing in the Nalthian System, represented by a planet sized cloud existing at the L5 Lagrangian Point relative to Nalthis. The exact nature of it is currently unknown.

Apparently silver chains, originating from Threnody, exist which one can use to anchor themselves through the Cognitive Anomaly.

Subastrals
Subastrals are the Cognitive Reflections of planets, often having a very unique geology and features depending on the collective perception and subconscious of the inhabitants of a given planet.

Rosharan Subastral = Non-living things on Roshar's Physical Realm appear as dark glass beads in Shadesmar, while living things appear as flames. Bodies of water in Roshar's Physical Realm appear as dark obsidian land in Shadesmar, while Physical land appears as a dynamic sea of glass beads.

Spren
"Spren are . . . power . . . shattered power. Power given thought by the perceptions of men. Honor, Cultivation, and . . . and another. Fragments broken off."

- —Syl on spren

Spren permeate all of the Rosharan Subastral, making up an entirely ecosystem and various civilizations.

Lesser Spren

 * 1) Agonyspren
 * 2) Alespren
 * 3) Angerspren
 * 4) Anguishspren
 * 5) Anticipationspren
 * 6) Anxietyspren
 * 7) Awespren
 * 8) Bindspren
 * 9) Captivityspren
 * 10) Coldspren
 * 11) Concentrationspren
 * 12) Creationspren
 * 13) Deathspren
 * 14) Decayspren
 * 15) Exhaustionspren
 * 16) Fearspren
 * 17) Fermentationspren
 * 18) Flamespren
 * 19) Gloomspren
 * 20) Gloryspren
 * 21) Gravitationspren
 * 22) Gravityspren
 * 23) Greatshell Spren
 * 24) Groundspren
 * 25) Heatspren
 * 26) Hungerspren
 * 27) Joyspren
 * 28) Laughterspren
 * 29) Lifespren
 * 30) Logicspren
 * 31) Luckspren
 * 32) Musicspren
 * 33) Painspren
 * 34) Passionspren
 * 35) Persuasionspren
 * 36) Plaguespren
 * 37) Rainspren
 * 38) Rainbowspren
 * 39) Riverspren
 * 40) Rotspren
 * 41) Sailorspren
 * 42) Shamespren
 * 43) Shockspren
 * 44) Snowspren
 * 45) Starspren
 * 46) Stormspren
 * 47) Stormstriders
 * 48) Wavespren
 * 49) Windspren

True Spren

 * 1) Ashspren
 * 2) Cryptics
 * 3) Cultivationspren
 * 4) Highspren
 * 5) Honorspren
 * 6) Inkspren
 * 7) Keenspren
 * 8) Lightspren
 * 9) Mistspren
 * 10) Oathgate Spren
 * 11) Peakspren

Scadrian Subastral =

On this region, Physical things appear shrouded in mist. Living things, as well as metallic objects, appear to glow.

Physical land appears misty and fluid, while bodies of water on the Physical Realm appear as solid, dark, smoky stone where mist-emitting plants grow. It is easy to sink through the ground in this when one isn't a Cognitive Shadow, Shard, or soul of the dead; leading many having to resort to using a boat of sorts in order to get across it without sinking.

It is possible to take the Cognitive aspect of something on Scadrial's Cognitive Realm and carry it around as a ball of mist, and then later on command it to manifest fully.

Selish Subastral = The Selish Subastral is notably dangerous, due to the fact that Odium, upon killing the Vessels and Splintering the Shards of Devotion and Dominion, forced them into the Cognitive Realm, creating an area of extremely dense and dangerous Investiture that makes it nearly impossible to move through it, anyone who moves through it without the proper methods will be ripped apart by it. This mass of spiritual energy is known as the Dor. . This Investiture manifests as a large storm-like, highly pressurized form made of a substance similar to plasma.

This nature of being in the Cognitive Realm, where time and space exist, instead of the Spiritual Realm, which lacks such dimensionality, is what brought about the geographically linked Invested Arts present on Sel. This also led to Intent and perception having a far larger role in magics derived from the Dor than from any other known system, to the extent that language itself directly shapes it as it is pulled through the Cognitive Realm and put to work.

Spiritual Realm
"He thrust his right hand to the other side, touching something vast, something that wasn’t a place—it was all places in one."

- Dalinar grabbing the Spiritual Realm to create Honor's Perpendicularity

The Spiritual Realm is a place beyond time and space, where all dimensions are compressed into a singular point, with time and location alike becoming irrelevant. Commonly referred to as not being able to even be considered a place.. This is where the essence of all beings and objects exists. This is where Connection and Identity are made apparent.

Looking into the Spiritual Realm can allow one to see into the future. Though the further into the future one looks the less apparent the true future becomes.

Shards exist primarily in this Realm, with most of their power and self concentrated within it.

Spiritweb
The Spiritweb is the network of Connections and Investiture which make up the soul of a creature, place, or object. Due to being in the Spiritual Realm these lack a definite size or shape, instead having their borders and divisions defined by Identity.

Spiritual DNA
Spiritual DNA is an aspect of ones Spiritweb which is passed down from parent to child like normal DNA. Various methods of utilizing Investiture is written into ones Spiritual DNA, making it so that some Invested Arts can only be used due to a genetic relation. Such Arts include Allomancy and Feruchemy.

Connection
Connection is a Spiritual attribute that represents spiritual connections and relationships between different entities - living being, locations, items and so forth. This is not any sort of substance, and is not comprised of anything, but is simply a force or concept.

Various Invested Arts have the ability to manipulate Connection. Notably Feruchemical Duralumin, Spiritual Adhesion, The Powers of Envoyform Regals.

Connection also has relevance in various Invested Arts, such as how it is needed to have strong Connection to a language, usually needing to be the native tongue of the practitioner, in order for given Commands to work.

Connection, alongside Identity, is an extremely significant factor in various Bonds, such as Nahel Bonds, Bonds with Seons or Skaze, and with Aviar. Due to how relevant such factors are to the Bond would have an effect upon it. Connection is also required in order to be able to pick up and become the Vessel of a specific Shard.

Manipulating Connection can have myriad different effects. For instance it can give one the ability to speak and understand a language fluently without having to learn it, this being done through either Connecting to an individual and gaining the ability to understand their native language, or by connecting to the languages engraved into a portion of a Subastral via the collective unconscious of those in the area.

Connection is not as simple as simply a binary on/off state, but is rather a force measured by magnitude.

Identity
Identity is the trait which defines a being as being themselves and not anything else. It defines the borders of their Spiritweb. In essence it is akin to the haecceity or hypokeimenon of a being or substance.

Identity is what locks various forms of magic to an individual, such as how a Metalmind can typically only be used by the one who created it, due to it being locked by their Identity. This also ties into how the Breaths Invested into an Awakened Object can only be retrieved by the one who Invested it in the first place, due to the BioChromatic Breath used being Keyed to their Identity.

Identity is able to be stored and tapped inside Feruchemical Aluminium, which can lead to various unique circumstances and interactions with other systems. Most notably, through the temporary Blanking of ones Identity, being able to create Unkeyed Investiture, which can be used by anyone, regardless of their Identity. This has been seen most often being used for the purposes of creating Unkeyed Metalminds, capable of being used by any Feruchemist with the relevant Feruchemical ability; but it is also stated to be able to do the same in regards to making BioChromatic Entities whose Breath can be taken away by anyone, regardless of their Identity.

Fortune
Fortune is a Spiritual Attribute which is closely linked to visions of the future, and of luck. It is overall one of the less understood aspects of the Cosmere as of current.

Chromium Ferrings are capable of Storing and Tapping Fortune, this is said to be able to manipulate the luck of the Ferring, with them becoming unlucky the more the store, and lucky the more they tap. While the Terris who discovered this are still studying into it and don't fully understand it, it can be assumed to be on the right track as the Ire, a very Cosmere-aware organization, refer to it in regards to coincidences.

The Beyond
The Beyond is a mysterious Realm which souls are pulled into after death, it is not fully understood about what lies within it. Even Shards having difficulty truly understanding it, much less touching it.

It it described as a dark point that defies geometry, between nothingness and eternity, pointing away from oneself no matter where on looks.

Shards
"The Shards are not God, but they are pieces of God. Ruin, Preservation, Autonomy, Cultivation, Devotion...There are sixteen of them."

- Khriss

The Shards are sixteen pieces of the power of creation, each splintered from a greater and more fundamental being known as Adonalsium. They are each named after a specific characteristic or ideal that represents the Shard's primary purpose or motivation, and each also has a sapient being known as a Vessel which takes up and wields the power.

They are complex and incomprehensible beings that do not function in the same way that mankind often thinks of reality and psychology. And they are so vast in comparison to any other being that they are seen as infinite and incomprehensible to them.

Known Shards

 * Devotion
 * Dominion
 * Preservation
 * Ruin
 * Odium
 * Cultivation
 * Honor
 * Endowment
 * Autonomy
 * Ambition
 * Invention
 * Mercy
 * Valour
 * Whimsy
 * Survival Shard


 * Harmony

Perpendicularities
"At these points, Physical matter, Cognitive thought, and Spiritual essence become one--and a being can slide between Realms."

- From Khriss's essay on the Drominad system

A Perpendicularity is a stable junction between the Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual Realms, formed by the extreme concentration of Investiture brought about by a Shard spending an extended amount of time in one place. These typically take form as a pool of pure Investiture.

A Shard can control where and how their Perpendicularity manifests.

These can be used to travel between the Physical and Cognitive Realms, thus are commonly used by Worldhoppers in order to assist in their travels.

Intent
"The power of ancient Adonalsium permeates him. And controls him. Odium is a force like pressure, gravitation, or the movement of time. These things cannot break their own rules. Nor can he."

- Stormfather

All Shards possess a driving aspect and motivation known as an Intent. This drives the actions and thoughts of a Shard and its Vessel, and the Vessel will have extreme difficulty going against their Intent, making it nearly impossible, and causing great harm to them when they do act against it, perhaps even killing them as it did when Vin, holding Preservation, attacked Ruin.

Investiture
Shards have an extremely immense amount of Investiture stored within them, all of the Investiture in the universe is associated with one of the Sixteen Shards. The amount in question is so great that it is said to be infinite, however, this is not truly infinite.

It is, however, inexhaustible. As all Investiture, when used, is either turned into physical energy, or is returned back into the Spiritual Realm and back to the Shards. Therefore, all Investiture they use, or that is used by others, will eventually return back to them.

Splinters
"I am a god. [...] A little piece of one. Very, very little."

- —Syl to Kaladin

A Splinter is the term for a specific type of fragment of Investiture that is ultimately derived from Adonalsium. These Splinters can be composed of a single Shard's power or the Investiture of multiple Shards. Notable Splinters include Divine Breaths, Spren, Unmade, The Stormfather, The Nightwatcher, and many more.

While many Splinters are Self-Aware to some extent, not all possess self-awareness, as displayed by how Divine Breaths lack self-awareness but are still referred to as Splinters. This is furthered by Khriss specifically describing Seons, Skaze, and Spren as "self-aware Splinters", showing even further that Splinters need not be self-aware.

Splintering
Splintering is the process of completely breaking apart a Shard into Splinters, completely decentralizing it, and ultimately leading to the idea of it as a singular thing fading away. In a sense, this is a lesser version of the Shattering which broke apart Adonalsium, but applies to the smaller Shards, rather then of Adonalsium.

The event of a Splintering is known by those who saw it to be a "singular, fantastic event"

Shards known to have been Splintered include Devotion, Dominion, Honor, and Ambition.

Known Splinters

 * Spren (Honor, Cultivation, Odium)
 * The Stormfather (Honor)
 * The Nightwatcher (Cultivation)
 * The Sibling (Honor, Cultivation)
 * The Unmade (Odium)
 * Seons (Devotion)
 * Skaze (Dominion)
 * Divine Breaths (Endowment)

Slivers
A Sliver is a human intelligence who has held all of or a very large portion of the power of a Shard and has since released it, this is usually used to apply to former Vessels of a Shard, though it does not necessarily require it.

The known requirements of being a Sliver are:


 * 1) Slivers must be sapient beings.
 * 2) A human must hold a large portion of a Shard, this also includes those who simply take in a large amount of Investiture, are Investiture in essence is Shard; a single bead of lerasium is not enough, nor does any known normal Invested Individual count. While using the Well of Ascension seems to make one a Sliver, touching the Well of Ascension but not holding and using its power might not.
 * 3) Slivers must have used up that power or released it. Those currently holding the power are not known as Slivers.

Investiture
Investiture is a form of magical energy which permeates the Cosmere, and it is the energy source used for the various forms of magic across the Cosmere. It transcends and interpenetrates all Three Realms. It can exist in many forms, and be converted into various other forms of physical energy. Ultimately working as one of the fundamental forces of the Reality, interworking with physical fundamental forces.

Large concentrations of Investiture curve space and time, and draws the Three Realms together, this can lead to the formation of Perpendicularities if the concentration becomes great enough.

It cannot be created or destroyed, and the use of Investiture simply redistributes the energy elsewhere, and/or a different form.

Types of Investiture
Investiture has two different ways in which they could be classified. Either by the manner in which operates and how it is used, which I will refer to as the Forms of Investiture; by the physical form in which they take, which I will refer to as States of Investiture; and by the exact type of Investiture it is, defined by specific idiosyncrasies and the Shard in which it is associated with, which I will refer to as a Type or Manifestation of Investiture.

Forms of Investiture =

Innate Investiture is Investiture which inherently exists within beings in an unused form. This is that which exists within an individual without them having to take it in from an external source.

Kinetic Investiture is used in terms of Investiture which is currently expressed and used, this takes on certain effects when used, shaped by Intent, and the laws of the system through which the Investiture is being used.

Static Investiture is Investiture which is stored and is not expressed, such as Stormlight contained within a sphere. This is known to not be able to Invest surrounding objects, just as Taldain Sand, without being made into a different form, particularly Kenetic Investiture.

States of Investiture =

Investiture can come in four different physical states, as far as we are currently aware, these being Solid, Liquid, Gas, and Plasma.

Solid Investiture
Solid Investiture always takes on the form of metal, known as a God Metal, this is due to fundamental laws of the Cosmere. As these are physical forms of pure Investiture, they do not directly overlap with any specific chemical metal, although, given quotes, they do seem to have a proper atomic structure, and share various traits with other metals and metal groups.

God Metals can also form into alloys with other metals, which can alter their effects. Known Alloys are a Atium-Gold Alloy known as Malatium, and a Atium-Electrum Alloy used during the time of the Final Empire, known as simply Atium.

This does have a melting point, though it is not known what would happen when a God Metal is melted down.

The name for these metals usually uses the name of the Shard Holder of the Shard that the Investiture is tied to as a root, with -ium added as a suffix.


 * Atium
 * Lerasium
 * Harmonium/Ettmetal/Sazedium
 * Trellium
 * Tanavastium
 * Raysium

It is known that the Dor has a God Metal form of itself, however the name of it is not known.

Liquid Investiture
Liquid Investiture is primarily found at Perpendicularities. It is an incredibly dense and potent form of Investiture.

This has so far only been seen in regards to Perpendicularities, formed by the intense Spiritual Pressure and high levels of Investiture of a Shard.

Gaseous Investiture
Gaseous Investiture is a common form of Investiture which is notable easy to take in and use for various Invested Arts.

This sort of Investiture can be seen with:


 * Preservation's Mists
 * BioChromatic Breath
 * Stormlight
 * Lifelight
 * Voidlight
 * Towerlight
 * Warlight

Plasma Investiture
Plasma Investiture is a very violent and dangerous form of Investiture.

This is only known to apply to one type of Investiture, that being the Dor. Created when Devotion and Dominion were forced out of the Spiritual Realm and into the Cognitive Realm by Odium. They take the form of a dangerous, large source of mindless, uncontrolled power.

Types of Investiture =


 * Dor
 * Preservation's Mists
 * BioChromatic Breath
 * Stormlight
 * Lifelight
 * Voidlight
 * Towerlight
 * Warlight
 * Aether

It is possible to shift Investiture into different forms, although the methods can be complicated and are unknown to most.

Fusion of Investitures
Much like it is possible to fuse two different Shards together into a new Shard, is possible to combine different types of Invetsiture into each other to create a new form of Investiture. To create such a thing one must combine the two Investitures inside a condensed container, such as a gemstone, and have it vibrate to the Tone and Rhythm borne from the harmony of two different Pure Tones, corresponding to the Shards related to the Investiture in which they wish to combine.

Such Hybrid Investitures has traits similar to both, but ultimately acts like an entirely different substance.

This has been seen with Towerlight (Honor + Cultivation) and Warlight (Honor + Odium).

Conservation
Investiture, despite being a seemingly miraculous source of energy defying what we know about the world, still follows the First Law of Thermodynamics, in that it cannot be created or destroyed, but can only have its form changes. Be this shifting it into matter or physical energy. Even in cases which give the appearance of destruction, such as when an Investiture and its Anti-Investiture meet, it is not actually being destroyed, just having its form changed.

Investment
Investiture can be used in order to fill up an object for various reasons, this prosses is known by various names in different systems, but the generalized term if known as Investment, and the object is referred to as Invested.

Only a certain amount of Investiture can be held within a certain material or volume, and filling it with too much makes it take on a form like a supersaturated solution. Those in this form tend to resist having more Investiture put into them, and also have a tendency to leak the Investiture contained within them as a result of being overly saturated. . On top of this, there is a limit to which one can take in Investiture, and at some point they would reach this.

When one becomes Invested by an extremely large amount of Investiture, it can fundamentally change their nature, in essence making them no longer human. This is the same concept that brings about the concept of Slivers.

Interactions with Aluminium
Aluminium, also known as Ralkalest or the unForgable Metal, and many of its alloys are Investiture-Inert, and it cannot be effected by Investiture.

Aluminum has been confirmed to have strange effects to all magic systems, is magically inert, and will act as an Investiture sink.

It is known that a aluminium container can help to prevent Investiture from leaking.

As stated before, this does not just apply to pure aluminium, but also to various alloys of it. For instance, the alloy used by the Vanishers is a aluminium-scandium alloy (99% Aluminium, < 1% Scandium), displays the same Investiture-Inert properties.

Relation to Identity
Investiture is related to Identity in various ways, most notably in how ones Innate Investiture is keyed to their own Identity.

The effects of this can be observed in various different systems; such as the manner in which one cannot draw out the stored attributes in a Metalmind not Keyed to their own Identity, due to how it is keyed to the Identity of the person who stored the attribute within it. This is also reflected in the manner in which one cannot draw Breaths from a BioChromatic Entity that they themselves did not Awaken, due to the Breaths Invested into an Awakened Object being Keyed to the Identity of the Awakener who gave said Breaths.

Relation to Sentience
Investiture has the capacity of developing sentience, or even sapience. This can be seen in various examples, such as in Nightblood, a BioChromatic Construct granted sentience by the BioChromatic Breaths (That is to say, Investiture) infused into them ; this can also be seen reflected in the manifestation of Spren, Seons, and Skaze.

The reason for its ability to grant sentience is connected to various aspects of the metaphysics, and the nature of Investiture itself. It is also partially tied to the fact that pre-Shattering Adonalsium had a Intent of bringing sentience to its universe, and, as stated before, all Investiture contains an engrained Intent in it. This makes any level of Investiture in a being tend to give them sentience, it is even able to give inanimate objects with very little Investiture a limited degree of sentience and self-perception.

Corruption of Investiture
Investiture can be corrupted or Co-opted by another Shard, or by a form of Invested Art, the presence of corruption if usually observable through an Investiture being tainted red. Corruption in this case is defined as an outside influence is changing the Spiritual nature of the soul.

This can be seen in how when one places a Essence Mark upon a being, it would leak a red smoke-like substance, as it is corrupting the subject's innate Investiture, and fighting against the corruption. It can also be seen with how various Spren, when corrupted by Sja-Anat, become red in some way.


 * Angerspren resemble bubbling pools of tar. Upon popping, the bubbles burn red, like embers.
 * Exhuastionspren look like small red whirlwinds
 * Oathgate Spren have their shape and size distorted, and colours change, one is pitch-black and the other is red.
 * Windspren are described as "...trailing red light."
 * Truthspren appear as a crystalline structure dripping a red glow upwards, the crystal itself is also red

Regals, who are corrupted by Odium, have red eyes that they can be recognized by; along with this, Stormform Regals generate and weaponize red lightning. Various Voidspren, like Ulim, are also described as being red. When Nex-Im leave their body, as a ribbon of red light similar to a spren.

The red colouring of Trell also appears to be due to corruption of some form.

Anti-Investiture
Much like how Matter has Anti-Matter which stands as its opposite and explodes upon making contact with its positive form, with the effect becoming more destructive and explosive when combined under pressure. Such Anti-Investiture is not naturally occurring and must be created with other methods, it was merely a theory by various Arcanists throughout the history of the Cosmere, until they were experimentally proven to exist by Navani Kholin in Rosharan Year 1175.

Navani Kholin discovered how to make an Anti-Investiture for Voidlight, the Investiture of Odium, by placing it in a vacuum chamber and introducing it to the opposite frequency tone, that is where the maxima of the two waves are 180 degrees out of phase, of its natural Pure Tone, it would become keyed to it and change in nature. Becoming something directly opposite of it in various matters, but also nearly identical in others. This does not solely need this process, as with all things, but also requires the proper Intent to create the Anti-Investiture. Due to the nature of how a Tone and its Anti-Tone are related, they are essentially the same in terms of physics, but have more Identity and Intent infused into them in order to bring forth the desired effect, it is deeper than merely being the result of the physical waves.

This does not truly destroy the Investiture, falling in line with how it cannot be created or destroyed but only change form, the combination of Investiture and Anti-Investiture only changes all of the Investiture into physical energy. This transformation, when done under pressure, as is the case when stored in a gemstone, leads to a more intense explosion of energy.

This is able to effect the soul in such a way as to destroy it past the point of repair or reincarnation, as it has been shown to be able to permanently kill Fused, making them not go to Braize, but rather instantly be shoved into the Beyond.

Invested Arts
Invested Art is a term used to refer to any form of Magic which uses Investiture for the enacting of specific phenomena. Most Invested Arts manifest under the manipulation and influence of a Shard, though this is not necessarily required.

All Invested Works operate under a shared Unified System.

Relation to Intent
As mentioned earlier, Intent has a significant role in the use of Invested Arts.

Resistance from Investiture
Investiture resists other Investiture, and therefore Invested Arts, therefore, it is hard for Invested Arts to effect Invested Objects. Therefore, for instance, Metalminds would be far harder to Push or Pull with Allomancy than ordinary metals; this is also how Shardplate and other Shardblades resist the Physical and Spiritual cutting power of Shardblades. Highly Invested objects do not just resist that which directly tries to touch them, but rather it forms a type of Interference envelope.

This can further be seen in the manner in which Invested objects are far harder to Awaken, and highly Invested Awakened objects, such as Nightblood, are very hard to Break the Commands of, in more straightforward terms, the required strength, or wealth of Breaths/Investiture, in order to break a Command is proportional to the level of Investiture in an Awakened Object.

Categories of Invested Arts
Invested Arts are divided up into categories depending on their precise nature, these being End-Positive, End-Neutral, and End-Negative, based upon the source of the Investiture, and how it is used.

End-Positive
End-Positive is the most common category an Invested Art falls into, where the user draws in energy from an external source.

This includes Allomancy, AonDor and all Selish Arts, and Surgebinding. In all such cases, the practitioner take in Investiture from an external source and use it to fuel their Art.

End-Neutral
End-Neutral Arts are where power is neither gained nor lost, but only transferred. A practitioner manipulates power that already exists or power that comes from themselves.

This includes Feruchemy, and Awakening. Surgebinding is argued by some scholars to be an End-Neutral system.

End-Negative
The rarest form of Invested Art, in this case, some power is lost. This is not to say that it is simply used up, for all most systems in some way use up the Investiture they take in; End-Negative is explicitly defined by those in which it is used up without having an effect.

Hemalurgy is the only known form of End-Negative Invested Arts, although there are other systems that are End-Negative This is seen in how, as the Spike is outside of a body, it undergoes the Law of Hemalurgic Decay, losing Investiture.

Known Systems
Invested Arts are seperated by scholars into multiple different systems, although there is vagueness in where on system begins, and another begins, and one could argue for multiple different divisions.

For instance, Surgebinding could fairly be considered as ten separate systems, but could also be argued, and most often is, as a singular system with smaller subdivisions. Even the entire system is often to just be considered part of a larger system known as the Metallic Arts. The various systems on Elantris can also be argued to be a singular system, all coming from the same power source and using incredibly similar methods.


 * Selish Systems
 * AonDor
 * Bloodsealing
 * ChayShan
 * Dakhor
 * Forgery


 * Scadrian Systems
 * Allomancy
 * Feruchemy
 * Hemalurgy


 * Nalthian Systems
 * Awakening


 * Rosharan Systems
 * Surgebinding
 * Voidbinding
 * Fabrials
 * Old Magic


 * Taldain System
 * Sand Mastery
 * Unnamed Tattoo-Based System


 * Vax System
 * Unknown


 * Arts of Unknown Planets
 * Aether


 * Yolish Systems
 * Yolish Lightweaving
 * Microkinesis