Awakening
The Hallandren art of pouring BioChromatic Breath into an inanimate object to make it move at a spoken Command. Three things are required: enough Breath, accessible colour to drain, and a clear Command spoken in the Awakener's native tongue — any stutter or mispronunciation invalidates the act. The closer the object's shape is to a human's, and the more recently it was alive, the fewer Breaths it takes; metal is nearly impossible. Awakened objects can be commanded back to dormancy and their Breath recovered. STD:WB:Prologue
Known facts
- organic-focus-cheaperAwakening is cheaper when the focus is closer to human shape and to once-living matter. Vasher burns half his fifty Breaths animating a three-inch straw man with one of his own eyebrow hairs glued to it, and the rest on a cloak cut to the shape of a person — using his own hair as the focus.STD:WB:Prologue
- cloak-lifts-wearerCan be used on a long cloak so that — Commanded — the cloth stiffens and rises like a stilted hand, lifting its wearer overhead above a crowd; on release the Awakener simply recalls the Breath back into himself and the cloak drops slack.STD:WB:Ch 14
- lifeless-creation-is-permanentCreating a Lifeless is a permanent act: the Breath used to animate a corpse can never be recovered. Animation drains the body's residual colour as well as the Awakener's Breath, leaving the creature grey. The animating Command is locked by a security phrase spoken twice — the first opening, the second sealing — after which the creature retains the orders it was given and can no longer be re-commanded by its maker.STD:WB:Ch 21
- cannot-drain-living-fleshAwakening pulls colour from objects — boards, cloth, furniture — but cannot draw it from a living person. So Lightsong knows immediately when he sees Lolan's grey hand that what happened to him was not ordinary Awakening.STD:WB:Ch 26
- command-must-be-imagined-not-only-spokenDenth teaches Vivenna the first rule of Awakening: the Command must be formed clearly in the Awakener's mind, not merely spoken aloud. The Breath becomes part of whatever it animates, and a vague intention produces a vague — sometimes grotesquely literal — result. Holding more Breath when learning makes the discipline easier, because the Awakener and the Breath are more of one piece.STD:WB:Ch 33
- a-rope-can-be-Commanded-untieA length of rope binding a person's wrists can be Awakened with a single Command — *untie* — and will unravel itself, draining colour from the surrounding wood in a circular pattern around the contact points. The Awakener does not need to focus intently; relaxing and letting the Command rise the way an unconscious gesture rises works better than concentrating.STD:WB:Ch 35
- extract-breath-from-object-your-breath-to-mineVasher tells Vivenna the Command to recall Breath she had invested in an object: *your Breath to mine*. She places her hand on the shawl, speaks the words, and pulls back her Breath in a single shock that knocks her out of her chair and cures the lingering tramaria in one heartbeat.STD:WB:Ch 43
- command-complexity-determines-breath-costPractising with a rope, Vivenna discovers that Awakening cost scales with Command complexity: *hold things* drains a small amount of Breath but is so vague that the rope tries to grip her own hand; *hold that branch* drains more and obeys cleanly; conditional Commands like *hold when thrown* drain more still but let the object wait for its trigger. Vasher formalises this as the difference between two-word Commands and the harder-to-learn many-word Commands, of which *protect me* and *fetch something* are deceptively short examples.STD:WB:Ch 45
- cannot-draw-color-from-living-hostTrying to use the bark of a living tree as her colour source, Vivenna finds the Awakening silently bleeds her own tunic grey instead. A discarded stick, by contrast, works. Living things cannot give up their colour to an Awakener; only matter that is no longer alive can.STD:WB:Ch 45
- abstract-commands-possible-with-experienceWatching Vasher build three little men out of straw and thread and Command them *find tunnels*, Vivenna realises he routinely uses Awakening Commands far more abstract than he had implied were possible. Experience and the ability to fix a clear mental image of the Command's intent matter more than the words; the simple-Command rules he had taught her are a starting point, not a ceiling.STD:WB:Ch 48
- cannot-awaken-metalTrying to spring the child's cage, Vivenna Awakens a thread Commanded to unlock the lock and gets nothing — the Breath will not stick to the metal at all. Only matter that was once alive can be Awakened. She solves it instead by Commanding the thread *twist things* and feeding it into the keyhole.STD:WB:Ch 48
- ninth-heightening-required-for-stone-or-steelAwakening stone or steel is not merely difficult but barred to anyone below the Ninth Heightening — the threshold Vasher reaches for on the rooftop in remembering how Nightblood was made. Below the Ninth even the right Command and Breath count are insufficient.STD:WB:Ch 50
- bones-in-stone-shellBones encased in stone can be made Lifeless without ichor-alcohol, using the stone as a body the bones drive — a much stronger soldier than flesh, virtually impervious to weapons. Vasher used the technique to make the thousand D'Denir of T'Telir.STD:WB:Ch 58
Backreferences
- factAwakener
- factThe Iridescent Tones
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 5
- factVasher
- factHeightenings
- factJewels
- factClod
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 20
- factThe God King
- factSusebron
- factSusebron
- factVasher
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 22
- factLifeless
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 23
- factLightsong
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 26
- factNightblood
- factAwakening
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 28
- factVivenna
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 29
- factReturned
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 31
- factVivenna
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 32
- factThe Five Scholars
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 33
- factAwakening
- factVivenna
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 35
- factAwakening
- factVivenna
- factAwakening
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 45
- factAwakening
- factAwakening
- factAustrinism
- factType Three BioChromatic Entity
- factLaw of BioChromatic Parallelism
- factLaw of Comparability
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 48
- factAwakening
- factAwakening
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 50
- factVasher
- factNightblood
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 52
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 54
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 55
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 57
- factReturned
- factSusebron
- factSusebron
- summarySTD:WB:Ch 58
- summarySTD:WB:Epilogue
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 69