Nale (The Stormlight Archive)

"Without the law, there is nothing. It is all we have, the only sure thing in this world."

- Nale

Summary
Nale, also known as Nalan, Nin-son-God, or Nakku, is one of the ten Heralds of The Almighty on Roshar. He's the Herald of Justice and the patron of the Order of Skybreakers, as well as a Skybreaker himself.

He fought in countless Desolations over the millennia, protecting mankind from the Voidbringers, and returning to Braize to be tortured by Fused in order to uphold the Oathpact. Over the Millenia he broke and after nearly 5,000 Years during the Aharietiam, where he, along with the rest of the Heralds barring Talenel, whom they abandoned, spread across Roshar and abandoned their duties.

At some point into his hiding he began to work to prevent another Desolation from returning. Believing that he had to eliminate all nascent Surgebinders, barring Skybreakers, in order to prevent the Desolation, he would track down Surgebinders who had committed some kind of a crime, no matter how minor, and execute them under the pretense of punishment.

He would eventually come to work to some extent with Gavilar Kholin, and was present at his assassination.

After the coming of the True Desolation, he would choose to join the Singers, as they were the original inhabitants of Roshar. Turning against humanity in the name of justice.

Personality
Nale is obsessed with law and order, and will go to extreme lengths to ensure he doesn't break any laws of the land he's in. This is due to the fact that he feels he lost his own sense of justice, therefore believes that the only way for him to act correctly is to obey a code of conduct created by others. This does not mean he is willing to bend the rules to his advantage, looking for loopholes or other such ways to take advantage of it; such as by getting himself appointed as a lawman to enable him to kill, or pressuring local authorities to change the law.

He is completely devoid of mercy in his administration of justice, and will execute the maximum penalty available to him without a shred of compassion or leniency, regardless of who his victim is. He would even punish his own followers, even to the point of executing them if he deems it just.

He greatly respects those who share his blind obedience, and targets such people to recruit as Skybreakers. He understands that people are fallible, but enacts his punishments regardless. He is far more strict against those that are within his order than he is against those outside of it.

He also greatly respects Ishar, and would follow whatever order he gives. Due to feeling that he is incredibly wise.

He however seems to have some problems correctly perceiving the passage of time, expressing surprise that food he'd left behind decades prior had gone bad.

Powers and Stats
Name: Nale, Nalan, Nin, Nin-son-God, Darkness, Nakku, The Illuminator, The Judge, Herald of Justice

Age: Around 8,000 Years Old

Gender: Male

Classification: Herald of the Almighty, Shardbearer, Cognitive Shadow

Powers and Abilities: Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Limited Durability Negation and Soul Manipulation via his Honorblade, Regeneration via his Honorblade, Weapon Mastery with his Honorblade, Gravity Manipulation and Flight via the Surge of Gravitation, Limited Molecular Manipulation via Surge of Divison, Immortality, Resurrection, Resistance to Poison Manipulation via his Honorblade and Stormlight, Multilingualism

Speed: He can move and react incredibly fast, even capable of reacting to and moving to catch a arrow released mere feet away.

Intelligence: He is incredibly intelligent, with millennia worth of knowledge and a very deep understanding of politics, both in the terms of political theory, and in the political systems of all nations around Roshar. He also was able to, after each Desolation, work to teach humanity politics and rebuild the fall governments from around the world. He also has a great understanding of how he could look into and find loopholes in political systems, or other ways to take advantage of them to his benefit. He also has an ability to quickly learn languages, at least being fluent in Azish, Tashikki, Alethi, and Dawnchant.

Herald =

Honorblade
He received from Honor a special form of Shardblade known as an Honorblade. This is made directly from the essence of Honor himself and by using them they draw upon his power.

They do 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.

Stormlight
Using Stormlight he is able to enhance his physical strength, speed, and reaction speed.

While holding Stormlight one is not required to breath, and can survive for relatively long periods holding their breath.

While enhancing himself with Stormlight, he was able to respond to and grab an arrow released only a few feet from his head.

Surgebinding
From his Honorblade, he gains the power of Surgebinding, capable of using the Surges of Gravitation and Division. However, unlike most Heralds, he is also of the Order that he is the Patron of, having made a bond with a Highspren and reached the Fifth Ideal. Granting him a Shardblade alongside his pre-existant Honorblade.

Unlike most Knights Radiant, they receive power directly from Honor through the blade, therefore do not need to collect Stormlight. Due to this they also have access to raw power far beyond that of any normal Radiant.

Surge of Gravitation


The Surge of Gravitation can be change the direction and strength of an object's gravitational attraction.

Basic Lashing
This ability alters an object's or being's spiritual gravitational bond to the planet below, instead temporarily linking it to a different object or direction. This allows one to run up walls, or send objects or people flying off into the air. As this only effects the gravitational pull, all objects are pulled at the same velocity regardless of mass.

Using this they could also employ partial lashings in order to change their effective weight.

Using a Basic Lashing can allow one to fly at great velocities.

Surge of Division


The Surge of Division can be manipulated to have power over destruction and decay. Using the Surge of Division, the Surgebinder can touch an object and cause it to burn, turn to dust, or decay in other ways. The Surgebinder can exercise significant control, such as to burn a pattern into a piece of wood.

This effects the bonds between molecules and atoms, but does not effect the atoms themselves.

Immortality
The Heralds, Jezrien included, have a very potent form of Immortality. They do not age, allowing them to survive for millennia, and when attacked they are far more difficult to kill than an ordinary human, able to heal from significant wounds that would be fatal to most beings. This Immortality is further supported by the regeneration granted to them by Stormlight, which can heal them from most wounds, regenerate the soul by grafting on new pieces onto damaged parts of their Spiritweb, and heal them from most poisions, including alcohol  This can even regenerate entire limbs given enough time.

Even if killed, they would return to Braize and resurrect.

Lawman
"The law cannot be moral, but you can be moral as you create laws. Ever must you protect the weakest, those most likely to be taken advantage of."

- Nale

Nale is extremely well-versed in Rosharan law and legal systems. Able to seamlessly operate in various nations across Roshar and use the Laws to his advantage.

During ancient times he served to teach mankind how to create fair and just legal codes, and various laws that he created are still in effect on Roshar, such as the Right of Travel.

Multilingualism
He has shown to be able to speak various languages, including Alethi, Azish, Tashikk, and far more. He has helped humanity throughout the millennia, therefore is likely able to speak far more languages dead and alive.

Post-Aharietiam = Unlike most Heralds, he reobtained his Honorblade after the Aharietiam, regaining all of his abilities.

However, he shows great ability fulling discerning the flow of time, expressing surprise at food he left behind years ago going bad.

He has access to a Larkin that he uses to drain people of Investiture.