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{{magic
|image=Shattering_by_Connor_Chamberlain.jpg
|world=Yolen
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
|books=[[The Stormlight Archive]], [[The Sunlit Man]]
|The most powerful forms of Surgebinding transcend traditional mortal understanding. All their greatest applications require Intent and a Command. Demands on a level no person could ever manage alone. To make such Commands, one must have the reasoning—the breadth of understanding—of a deity
|[[Nikliasorm]]{{book ref|dawnshard|19}}}}
At their core, Dawnshards are nothing more than Commands of enormous power,{{book ref|dawnshard|19}} but on their own they seem to be nearly useless.{{wob ref|14333}} As all applications of Investiture require a Command and Intent, these Dawnshards cannot be used without a person that has access to Investiture trying to carry out some task.{{book ref|dawnshard|19}} The mechanics here are unclear, but as Commands made by someone with the understanding of a deity, Dawnshards allow a person to make use of the most powerful forms of magic. It is unclear what, if any, influence the specific Command of each Dawnshard has on what
That being said, Dawnshards do confer a certain amount of Investiture on the person that holds them.{{wob ref|14328}} Each Dawnshard grants both distinct abilities{{wob ref|15961}} and shared [[Heightening|Heightening-like]] attributes,{{wob ref|14339}} such as an increased depth in color and sound perception.{{book ref|dawnshard|epilogue}} These Heightening-like effects can be achieved using any Dawnshard and are granted because they are great concentrations of Investiture, and not from having any specific connection to [[Endowment]].{{wob ref|14328}} In the same way Savants are changed by power over time, the person that is a Dawnshard is also increasingly changed by its power,{{wob ref|14346}} although it is not certain if these changes depend on which Dawnshard is possessed. This change is progressive (but starts quickly){{wob ref|15596}} and is sometimes compared to a canker or scar tissue, gradually coating a person's soul and changing, conferring abilities and restrictions, and potentially pushing the person to act in accordance with the Dawnshard's Intent.{{book ref|tsm|21}} With the right knowledge and equipment, this process can be reversed{{book ref|tsm|36}} and potentially the Connection might be severed altogether.{{book ref|tsm|21}}
It is uncertain whether the specific Commands of Dawnshards have any bearing over the Intents of the Shards that they created,{{wob ref|14322}} or how they may have been changed by the [[Shattering]].{{wob ref|10439}}
=== Surgebinders ===
When a Surgebinder is also a Dawnshard, potential risks emerge as the Dawnshard can use the spren's substance to fuel the Radiant's abilities.{{book ref|tsm|20}}{{book ref|tsm|21}} This can among other things cause the spren to lose their body in the Cognitive Realm, leaving them as a fragment of themselves.{{book ref|tsm|28}} The Spren can also lose their mind.{{book ref|tsm|epilogue}}
Depending on how much the Dawnshard consumes the pair may lose many of their abilities, including Surgebinding and the Radiant being able to communicate with their mind.{{book ref|tsm|30}} Even after the Radiant has given up the Dawnshard, they can still use the spren as fuel for their abilities.{{book ref|tsm|45}} The Radiant can use their Shardblade to absorb Investiture, assuming the blade wasn’t consumed, fueling their Dawnshard abilities.{{book ref|tsm|4}} The absorbed Investiture can also be used to increase the size and durability of their Shardblade.{{book ref|tsm|39}} The spren also has some influences over the newly gained abilities, being able to activate some of the Dawnshard's abilities without the knowledge of their Radiant.{{book ref|tsm|6}}{{book ref|tsm|10}}
== Mythology ==
|And so, the Dawnshards. The four primal Commands that created all things. And then eventually, they were used to undo Adonalsium itself. . . .
|Nikliasorm{{book ref|dawnshard|19}}}}
The Dawnshards pre-dated the Shattering{{book ref|dawnshard|19}}{{wob ref|15933}} and were used as part of a weapon that split Adonalsium into the sixteen Shards.{{book ref|tsm|21}} Following the Shattering something happened so as to make the Dawnshards lose their original form.{{wob ref|10439}} Hoid himself was once a Dawnshard at some point in the distant past,{{wob ref|14300}} holding the Dawnshard diametrically opposed to harm and violence.{{book ref|tsm|21}}{{wob ref|14592}} It is uncertain when he became a Dawnshard, but his time holding it changed his [[spiritweb]] in a similar manner to [[Savant|Savantism]]. These changes meant that long-term Hoid found himself unable to inflict harm on himself or any others, as well as unable to eat any sort of meat. His Dawnshard is in some way connected to the [[First Gem]],{{wob ref|14355}} his eponymous topaz.▼
▲The Dawnshards pre-dated the Shattering
Humans in the [[Rosharan system]] used the Dawnshards to destroy their former homeworld of [[Ashyn]], before fleeing to Roshar for survival.{{book ref|sa3|113}}{{wob ref|8243}} It is uncertain how they managed to obtain the Dawnshards or who is responsible for this action, but they were utilized in conjunction with some type of Surgebinding to use powerful versions of the ordinary Surges.{{wob ref|14434}} It is unknown which Dawnshards were present on Ashyn or what happened to them following the fall of the planet.▼
The Dawnshards were used as part of a weapon that split Adonalsium into the sixteen Shards around ten-thousand years before the [[True Desolation]].{{book ref|tsm|21}} Following the Shattering something happened so as to make the Dawnshards lose their original form.{{wob ref|10439}}
▲
=== Roshar's Shadowdays ===
=== Sigzil ===
{{quote
|Sigzil's thoughts on the Dawnshard{{book ref|tsm|45
}}
At some point, the [[Knights Radiant|Radiant]] [[Sigzil]] was asked to pick up a Dawnshard by Hoid.{{book ref|tsm|20}} This Dawnshard was the one Hoid had once carried, which is diametrically opposed to the concept of harm.{{book ref|tsm|21}} This Dawnshard had a similar effect to Sigzil as it had on Hoid, preventing him from aging and granting him the ability to Skip. It also gave him the restrictions he would come to call his Torment, a progressively more restrictive inability to intentionally cause injury to another. Sigzil only held it briefly,{{
After giving up the Dawnshard (potentially to Hoid once again){{book ref|tsm|10}} Sigzil believed he would be of no interest to those hunting the Dawnshard.{{book ref|tsm|28}} When he was approached by the Night Brigade, he believed he would be let go if he explained the situation to them.{{book ref|tsm|28}} They instead intended to kill him and use his soul to hunt the Dawnshard themselves. Sigzil instead chose to flee using his ability to Skip, keeping the Night Brigade off the trail of the Dawnshard for as long as he can stay ahead of them.{{book ref|tsm|10}}
=== Hoid's Dawnshard ===
There is also a Dawnshard that was long in the possession of Hoid with an Intent that is diametrically opposed to violence and harm.{{book ref|tsm|21}} One of the side effects of having held this Dawnshard is an ability to feed on Investiture to heal oneself.{{book ref|tsm|34}} Holding this Dawnshard can also cause that person
Another side effect of this Dawnshard is what Sigzil terms the Torment, the inability to intentionally do harm or violence to another.{{book ref|tsm|1}} This manifests in both Hoid and Sigzil to differing degrees. Sigzil for instance is able to do harm when it is in line with his oaths{{book ref|tsm|1}} or when he has managed to lessen the Torment using his [[sunheart]].{{book ref|tsm|36}} Sigzil also experiences this as a freezing up in combat.{{book ref|tsm|1}} Hoid is unable to cause harm, consider hurting anyone at all, or even consume meat without extreme incapacitating nausea.{{wob ref|2010}}{{wob ref|15596}} He is however capable of causing pain to a [[Cognitive
This Dawnshard also Connects the person who has held it to the cosmere as a whole.{{book ref|tsm|21}} This means that those that are changed by the Dawnshard are capable of Skipping, transporting themselves from one planet to another in the cosmere, using up great amounts of Investiture in the process.{{book ref|tsm|1}} While this is something Sigzil can do, it is unclear if Hoid will ever learn to Skip, it has not been something he has generally been able to do.{{wob ref|15620}} This ability started from a certain event.{{wob ref|16235}}
=== Other Dawnshards ===
There are two other Dawnshards in existence that are essentially unknown, but at least one of the four Dawnshards is different from all of the rest.{{wob ref|4824}} It is unclear what this difference is though, and whether it refers to one of the known or unknown Dawnshards.
== Trivia ==
* In June 2022, Brandon said that at least one person, other than Rysn, who "is currently" a Dawnshard has appeared;{{wob ref|15719}} it is unclear which Dawnshard this person has. Though this statement was made after the sample chapters for ''[[The Sunlit Man]]'' had been released, given the surprise nature of the secret projects, it likely does not refer to Sigzil.
== Notes ==
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{{Stormlight}}
{{cosmere}}
[[Category: Objects and Materials]]
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