Shards of Adonalsium
The Shards of Adonalsium are the sixteen fragments of divine power created when the godlike entity Adonalsium was shattered in the deep past of the Cosmere, Brandon Sanderson's shared fictional universe. Each Shard embodies a single primal intent or aspect of the original whole, and the person who holds a Shard's power, known as its Vessel, is gradually shaped by that intent.
Origin
In the cosmology of the Cosmere, Adonalsium was a being of immense creative power, responsible for the worlds and the order of the universe. At some point Adonalsium was deliberately killed and broken into sixteen pieces by a group of conspirators, each of whom took up one of the resulting Shards. The act is referred to as the Shattering.
Nature of a Shard
Each Shard expresses an intent, a single facet of divinity such as preservation, destruction, honor, or cultivation. A Shard's Vessel wields tremendous power but is also bound and slowly bent toward that intent over time. Shards can invest their power into worlds and peoples, giving rise to the various magic systems found across the Cosmere.
A Vessel can be killed, in which case the Shard's power may be taken up by another, or the Shard itself may be Splintered, broken into many lesser pieces, as occurred with Honor on Roshar.
Shards on Roshar
Three Shards are central to The Stormlight Archive:
- Honor — the intent of oaths and bonds, held by Tanavast; later splintered by Odium.
- Cultivation — the intent of growth and change, held by Koravellium Avast.
- Odium — the intent of hatred and passion, the principal antagonistic power of Roshar.