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Ishar

From The Archmaester's Archive
Ishar
Herald of the Almighty; Ishi; the Herald of Luck; Tezim
House / Order
Race / Culture Herald
Status Active (deranged)
Origin Tukar; Greater Roshar
Born
Died
Weapon
Fate Survived the Oathpact's end; descended into madness
Portrayed by
He was a priest, once. The founder of Vorinism, some say.

Ishar, also called Ishi and worshipped in Tukar as the god-priest Tezim, is one of the ten Heralds in Brandon Sanderson's The Stormlight Archive. Associated with the divine attributes of pious and guiding and the role of Priest, he is credited in tradition as a founder of religious order on Roshar, including the roots of Vorinism.

Role and legacy

Ishar is patron of the Bondsmiths, the rarest order of Knights Radiant, and in ancient times was deeply knowledgeable about the bonds, oaths, and spiritual mechanics that underpin Surgebinding. He is remembered as a lawgiver and the originator of much religious structure, and his influence shaped the spiritual life of many Rosharan peoples.

Madness

Like the other Heralds who abandoned the Oathpact after the Desolation called Aharietiam, Ishar suffered the long-term effects of their broken pact and ancient torment. Over the millennia his mind deteriorated. By the events of The Stormlight Archive, he rules in Tukar as the god-priest Tezim and wages a border war with neighboring Emul, while pursuing increasingly dangerous experiments with the bonds and powers of Roshar, having descended into a perilous form of madness.

See also