Radiant Spren - Ofer Nave

# Games > Cosmere > Stormlight > Character > Radiant Spren *from Chapter 5 — p.123-207 (also: [[Radiant Paths]])* ## Spren | Type/Order/Refs | Appearance + Culture + Names | Bonding + Roleplaying | | :---------------------------------------------------------------: | 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| | **ashspren** *Dustbringers* `p.134-138` | **Appearance:** Within the Cognitive Realm, ashspren are humanoids with ashen-white skin. Their hair appears as thin strands of ash or smoke that billow easily in the wind or stream behind them as they move. When their skin stretches or meets resistance, it briefly collapses into dust particles that blow away, revealing the bone beneath, then their flesh reforms. Ashspren often take advantage of this to direct a scornful gesture toward humans: they use their thumb to flick away their lower lip and expose their teeth in a sneer. Ashspren appear in the Physical Realm as a branching network of faintly glowing electrical scorches. They can’t alter their appearance, but as an ashspren moves across a surface or within an object, their branches “grow” along it, creating an illusion that they’re burning toward their destination. After they pass, the trail of cracks disappears without causing harm. **Culture:** Scholars know little about ashspren culture, though many ashspren sail the bead oceans of Shadesmar or cohabitate with other spren within the cities of the Cognitive Realm. Their shroud of mystery may be due to the near-universal hostility that these spren feel toward humans, especially Radiants, for killing ashspren. This ancient animosity drives some to form a Nahel bond with a person who is likely to join Odium’s forces and oppose the modern Radiants, but most simply choose to avoid people and Voidbringers alike. **Names:** Many ashspren names reference phenomena related to fire, such as Blaze, Charcoal, Cinder, Ember, Flare, Inferno, Pyre, Sear, Scorch, and Smoke. | **Bonding:** In the days of the ancient Knights Radiant, ashspren typically sought bonds with people who shared their fascination with learning how things work. They especially preferred those with a propensity for breaking things to examine their internal workings. As a result, most Dustbringers were recruited from tinkerers, craftspeople, and reverse-engineers. In the modern era, most ashspren still haven’t forgiven humans for the Recreance, and many are more inclined to bond with a maladjusted or angry person who could likely be convinced to work against the modern Radiants. However, there may still be individual ashspren more inclined to the ancient ways, looking for scholars (especially engineers and artifabrians), crafters, and foolhardy (but brave) soldiers who try to mitigate the destruction of war and protect the lives and property of innocents. **Perceivability:** An ashspren can make themself visible and audible to whomever they wish; otherwise, ashspren in the Physical Realm are generally invisible and inaudible to physical entities who don’t have a specific ability to perceive spren. **Physical Interaction:** Ashspren are nearly incorporeal in the Physical Realm. They can’t pass through objects, but they can press themselves completely flat against surfaces, enabling them to pass through almost any gap that’s at least a handspan long, even if its width is razor-thin. | | | | | | **cryptic aka liespren** *Lightweavers* `p.158-163` | **Appearance:** Each Cryptic has a unique, three-dimensional pattern of ever-shifting fractal patterns around a central point. Most physical beings find it extremely difficult to comprehend the totality of this complex movement, yet can easily recognize the fractal of a Cryptic they’ve met before. Within the Cognitive Realm, this fractal is the Cryptic’s head. It floats atop a tall, willowy body ensconced in dark glassy robes with no folds or creases, only sharp angles. The Cryptic’s robe is part of their essence, and its planes and angles shift as the spren moves. Their hands appear chiseled from obsidian or pure white marble, yet their elongated, bony fingers move as fluidly as skin and muscle. In the Physical Realm, a Cryptic’s fractal is their entire body, and it vibrates when they speak or hum. They can press themself into surfaces to hide, but their fractal remains slightly raised. As a result, they are easily spotted unless they actively slow their fractal’s shifting and hide on a heavily patterned surface. **Culture:** Cryptics are generally fascinated with “lies,” including sarcasm, jokes, fiction, and anything else that isn’t the literal truth. When someone speaks a particularly good “lie,” Cryptics gather around them to appreciatively hum “mmmm.” But ironically, Cryptics are quite inept at constructing “lies” of their own, and they typically speak in a highly literal manner. The vast majority of Cryptics live in one of the largest cities in Shadesmar; its name is an incomprehensibly massive number that Cryptics can recite with ease, but others can't hope to commit to memory. Because of this, most people just refer to it as Number City. Other Radiant spren distrust Cryptics, thinking their mannerisms strange, pushy, and judgemental. However, most Cryptics are content to passively learn and listen, so they aren’t overly bothered by others’ opinions. This Cryptic tendency toward inaction doesn’t mean they don’t care about action; rather, they’re fond of planning at length, then analyzing that plan extensively until it can be refined no further. Once they make a decision, they singularly commit to it. Cryptics don’t represent untruths, but rather the underlying mathematics and patterns that comprise Roshar and the greater cosmere. As a result, the Cryptic language is incredibly complex. They primarily speak in raw data using a variety of rapid clicking sounds and jagged tones in various frequencies. Because Cryptics are so adept at code-breaking and analyzing patterns, they can also speak many other languages of Roshar. Cryptics consider "liespren" somewhat pejorative and reductive. **Names:** When a Cryptic’s complex name is translated to another language, its meaning can almost always be approximated as “Pattern.” When interacting with other cultures, Cryptics take unique names inspired by art or mathematics, such as Algorithm, Cipher, Collage, Factorial, Integral, Radial, Symbol, Template, Tessellation, and Variable. | **Bonding:** Though some spren still generally distrust Cryptics, many others trust Cryptic logic and decision-making so completely that when the Cryptics were some of the first spren to begin bonding humans again in the modern era, the cultivationspren and several other spren cultures quickly followed suit. Most Cryptics are quite supportive of their fellows forming Nahel bonds, even though they believe (due to the Recreance) that bonding a human is a death sentence. They’ve decided the risks are worth what they can gain from becoming Knights Radiant again. Unlike many spren, a Cryptic who seeks to bond a human often doesn’t do so alone. Instead, these Cryptics travel with a group of others to assess the prospective Lightweaver, offer moral support, and study the properties of a budding bond as it forms. They tend to look for bonding qualifications such as aptitude with falsehoods, sarcasm, and humor (which Cryptics themselves tend to lack). They also appreciate artists and other creatives who create well-constructed “lies,” including fictional and imaginative works of art. **Language Deciphering:** A Cryptic’s language-learning abilities far surpass those of other spren. After your Cryptic spends 10 minutes listening to a spoken language or 1 hour deciphering a written one, they become permanently able to use the spren Translation ability with that language, even if it isn’t Rosharan. **Perceivability:** Unlike many Radiant spren, Cryptics are visible and audible to other characters, so any spren interaction has the chance of revealing their (and likely your) position. However, Cryptics are exceptionally adept at mimicking sounds and voices, which can be used to generate distractions and deceive others. This mimicry can be used to embellish Lightweavings, as the Cryptic can perfectly recreate the sounds of what they’re mimicking. **Physical Interaction:** Cryptics are nearly incorporeal in the Physical Realm. They can’t pass through objects, but they can press themselves nearly flat against surfaces, enabling them to pass through gaps that are at least half an inch wide. | | | | | | **cultivationspren** *Edgedancers* `p.142-146` | **Appearance:** In the Cognitive Realm, cultivationspren take a humanoid form, one of tightly interwoven vines that imitate musculature. In some cases, these vines have a subtle texture reminiscent of rough cloth, but cultivationspren don’t form clothing as part of their essence. Their eyes and teeth are translucent crystal; their hands are also crystalline, though with the flexibility and mobility of flesh. On the crown of their heads and throughout their vine-like hair, most cultivationspren sport additional crystal growths. While in the Physical Realm, a cultivationspren appears as a small network of vines speckled with smooth quartz. They “grow” rapidly in the direction of their movement, their trail turning crystalline then dissipating into dust. When conversing, they often curl and contort their form to resemble a face, though they needn’t do so to speak. **Culture:** Unlike many other sapient spren, cultivationspren don’t have their own nation or cities within Shadesmar. Instead, they live among other spren cultures, often working as gardeners. This “gardening” generally involves manifesting objects from soul beads and artfully arranging them to create elaborate structural installations. Many cultivationspren specialize their gardening around a particular type of object, such as tables, chairs, or doors. Most cultivationspren also adorn themselves in the fashions of the Physical Realm, though sometimes worn differently than in the clothing’s culture of origin. Despite having no geographic cultural center, cultivationspren are led by a government council known as the Ring. In the modern era, the Ring selects people they believe would be worthy Edgedancers and sends particular cultivationspren to bond them. **Names:** The names of cultivationspren are often inspired by natural phenomena, especially plant life, though others use ancient naming conventions long-forgotten to Roshar’s physical denizens. Fitting names include Althaine, Floriana, Glykis, Hedera, Hortus, Phyllium, Pollene, Typh, Verdo, and Vlanala. | **Bonding:** While other spren usually regard Nahel bonds and the return of the Radiants with some degree of caution or even hostility, most cultivationspren seem outright excited. Some cultivationspren don’t choose their bond partners individually. Instead, the Ring determines these assignments, preferring people with deep empathy or who foster other life (such as caretakers, farmers, and doctors). The Ring also prioritizes those people they believe are favored by the Blessed Mother, Cultivation, who all cultivationspren revere. **Perceivability:** A cultivationspren can make themself visible and audible to whomever they wish; otherwise, cultivationspren in the Physical Realm are generally invisible and inaudible to physical entities who don’t have a specific ability to perceive spren. However, when cultivationspren move, their crystalline vines are temporarily visible before collapsing to dust, making stealthy movement difficult. **Physical Interaction:** Cultivationspren are nearly incorporeal in the Physical Realm. They can’t pass through objects, but they’re made of thin vines, enabling them to pass through gaps with a diameter of 1 inch. | | | | | | **highspren** *Skybreakers* `p.166-171` | **Appearance:** In the Cognitive Realm, highspren have a humanoid shape — but that form appears as a void in reality through which stars can be seen. This starscape doesn’t move with the spren; instead, their movement seems to pan across a night sky. Each highspren’s form seems to outline clothing and hair, which move as if a physical wind were blowing on their form. And despite appearing to be holes in the universe, their bodies are fully solid and can be touched. When viewed straight on, highspren don’t have discernible facial features; most people can recognize individuals only by their silhouette and voice, though highspren can recognize each other with no difficulty. Within the Physical Realm, highspren usually appear as black slits in the air, which they can expand to reveal their starfield. They tend to be not much larger than a foot in any dimension, and the air seems to warp around them as they move. **Culture:** Highspren inhabit isolated settlements in Shadesmar. They don’t tend to live in close proximity to other spren, who see them as fanatical, righteous, and strict. Honorspren particularly dislike highspren. Highspren culture idealizes obedience, order, and following the law; many highspren have an encyclopedic knowledge of legal codes from societies in both the Cognitive and Physical Realms. Because of Nale’s own dedication to the exact letter of law, many highspren seem to worship him, or have at least pledged their allegiance. Many highspren are reluctant to share their names with non-highspren. Highspren names are numbers. Unlike Cryptics, who often have complex equations as their names, highspren names tend to be straightforward numbers like 13294, 0–11, or 3405. | **Bonding:** Historically, highspren looked for prospective Radiants with a strong, unflinching moral code — even if it’s a criminal code — or someone who believes in the importance of societies having rules that govern behavior. This could be an empathetic soul who tries to change systems from within to better serve the weak, a stout defender of the public that believes in protecting the innocent, a moral warrior who wishes to punish the guilty, or any other individual who believes in true justice. In the modern era, however, the majority of highspren will bond only to an aspirant presented to them by Nale. Even then, the hopeful must first pass trials and tests proctored by existing Skybreaker masters. Promising candidates tend to be disciplined individuals zealous about peacekeeping, obedience, and the rule of law. Nale’s faction of highspren don’t form a bond until their Skybreaker speaks the Second Ideal; if you want to play a current or former member of Nale’s Skybreakers, see the “GM Tip: Skybreakers and Canon” sidebar in the “Highspren Bond Talents” section. **Perceivability:** A highspren can make themself visible and audible to whomever they wish; otherwise, highspren in the Physical Realm are generally invisible and inaudible to anyone (including other spren) without a specific ability to perceive spren. Unlike other spren, highspren can become invisible even to their bonded Skybreaker. They can also read their Radiant’s thoughts while within spren bond range, allowing for completely silent communication between the two. **Physical Interaction:** Highspren are nearly incorporeal in the Physical Realm, but they don’t have the ability to pass through objects. They lack malleable forms but are mostly two-dimensional; as a result, they can't shrink down, but can pass through very thin openings. | | | | | | **honorspren** *Windrunners* `p.200-204` | **Appearance:** In the Cognitive Realm, honorspren are roughly the same size as humans, but their white-blue forms glow faintly without shedding light. Their features are reminiscent of the Alethi (albeit in blue and white), and they usually appear to be wearing either military-like uniforms or flowing robes. This clothing also glows, as it’s part of their essence, and they have a limited ability to alter it with a bit of concentration and Stormlight. In the Physical Realm, honorspren are partially translucent and still glow a faint white-blue, but they’re typically no taller than a single handspan. Like their windspren cousins, their forms are extremely malleable; honorspren can resemble flying ribbons, clouds, fire, and just about anything they can imagine. A light breeze always appears to be caressing their form, billowing their hair and clothing (or whatever lightweight materials appear in their current form). To Radiants or the people they may wish to bond, an honorspren typically displays a miniature version of their Shadesmar appearance, though some honorspren can appear at full size. As a Windrunner swears the higher Ideals, their bonded honorspren gains greater abilities to customize their appearance in the Physical Realm; they can become more opaque, and by the Third Ideal, they can even appear in different colors. **Culture:** In Shadesmar, honorspren society shares much in common with the humans of Alethkar — warlike with a tradition of hierarchy, military excellence, and going on grand hunts to track and slay massive beasts. Unlike the Alethi, however, honorspren have a history of isolationism. As direct Splinters of the deceased Shard Honor, they consider oaths and other promises to be sacred, and they devotedly follow Honor’s edicts and what they believe would be his continued interests. After Honor’s death to Odium, many honorspren considered the Stormfather to be Honor’s heir. Most honorspren now worship the Stormfather in Honor’s place and have become attuned to highstorms; this has given the honorspren excellent internal clocks, and they can sense the approach of a highstorm several days before it arrives. Honorspren tend more toward emotion than logic, and they care far less about legality than what they believe to be moral and right. This leads them to passionately and stubbornly follow their own sense of right and wrong, even if their viewpoints differ from fellow honorspren. Honorspren society still values obedience, hierarchy, and order, but honorspren pride themselves on being flexible (at least more so than highspren) when they feel a cause is important enough. **Names:** Many of the newer generations of honorspren are named in reference to the wind and storms in the Stormfather’s honor, though older generations share naming conventions with the ancient nobility. Honor spren names include Aeolan, Faenidor, Flurriana, Galin, Hamistral, Sirocco, Squalti, Tempestiora, Wutheran, and Zephyrna. | **Bonding:** The honorspren still remember how many of their number were killed in the Recreance, and they’re generally reluctant to subject themselves to the Nahel bond again. However, when one does look to bond a human or singer, they generally seek warriors and leaders who have a strong sense of hierarchy and who do right by the people under their command. Honorspren are often inclined to bond with passionate individuals who have an inherent need to protect the helpless, who have integrity beyond reproach, who are exceptional weapon masters, or who honor promises at all costs. **Perceivability:** An honorspren can make themself visible and audible to whomever they wish; otherwise, honorspren in the Physical Realm are generally invisible and inaudible to physical entities who don’t have a specific ability to perceive spren. However, you can always see and hear your bonded spren, even in pitch darkness or gale-force winds. Your spren glows faintly, but they can’t illuminate their surroundings. **Physical Interaction:** Honorspren are mostly insubstantial in the Physical Realm, and at first, they have very little ability to affect their surroundings. They can’t pass through objects, but their malleable form enables them to pass through tight spaces like keyholes and closed storm shutters. Honorspren can interact with lightweight objects using their Push Object ability. **▷ Push Object (Costs 2 FP):** Your honorspren slowly pushes an unattended, unsecured object that weighs no more than 0.1 pounds (but they aren’t strong enough to carry it). This movement must begin and end in your spren bond range. If your spren is trying to do so undetected, the GM might ask you to make a Stealth test against a DC they set. **Speak Third Ideal:** Can push objects that weigh up to 1 pound. | | | | | | **inkspren** *Elsecallers* `p.150-154` | **Appearance:** In the Cognitive Realm, inkspren have similar features to humans, though more angular, resembling an incomplete statue rather than a living person. Their forms are deep black, much like marble thinly coated in shimmering oil, and their forms include black clothing or armor (which is part of their essence). In the Physical Realm, unlike other Radiant spren, inkspren look exactly the same as they do in the Cognitive Realm, though they have the ability to change their size at will — from as large as a humanoid to smaller than a grain of sand. **Culture:** Inkspren are known for their unemotional logic and distinct manner of speech. They sometimes use verbs in unusual ways, commonly using “is” (and other forms of “to be”) to create efficient sentences — and in the process, they often omit other parts of speech and leave much implied. For example, instead of saying “there is a spren present,” they might say “a spren is.” Similarly, instead of “this is untrue,” an inkspren might say “this thing is not.” Inkspren are similarly minimalist with their body language, moving precisely as much as needed to express their point, and no more. Due to their extreme distrust of and hostility toward humans since the Recreance, very little is known about inkspren culture, such as whether they have their own nation within Shadesmar. Even in the ancient days, inkspren were known for their general aversion to risk; after the mass spren casualties of the Recreance, the vast majority of remaining inkspren viewed the Nahel bond as a death sentence for any spren who forms one. Since a bonded spren now dies if their Radiant forsakes their Ideals, modern inkspren believe a bond is far too unsafe, since both humans and singers have too irrational of natures and change opinions too easily. Some rumors tell of rare cases where inkspren killed Radiants traveling through Shadesmar, believing that this murder would save the bonded spren’s life. However, inkspren are too cautious to act on their emotions or make spur-of-the-moment decisions, so if such murders indeed occurred, they were meticulously planned. **Names:** Best described as humanoids made of black yet iridescent oil, inkspren naming conventions often evoke colors and liquids, such as Drip, Ebony, Fluid, Graphite, Indigo, Obsidian, Pigment, Sepia, Solute, and Viscosity. | **Bonding:** Despite the overall censure of sapient physical entities ininkspren culture, a small contingent of inkspren actively seek bonds and wish to aid in the fight against Odium. When searching for a prospective bond partner, these inkspren value logic, caution, and honoring promises. They respect people who objectively consider future actions, and they distrust those who act on instinct or emotion. While such analytical qualities are common among scholars and religious adherents, they can be found in nearly any profession; for example, a thoughtful soldier who stops to assess a situation before rushing into melee would appeal to an inkspren. **Perceivability:** Unlike many Radiant spren, inkspren are visible and audible to other characters, so any spren interaction has the chance of revealing their (and likely your) position. However, inkspren can become almost imperceptibly small in the Physical Realm, and their coloring makes them exceptional at blending into shadows, so there’s little chance of them being spotted if they don’t wish to be. **Physical Interaction:** Inkspren are nearly incorporeal in the Physical Realm. They can’t pass through objects, but they can change their size to pass through even the smallest gaps. | | | | | | **lightspren** *Willshapers* `p.192-196` | **Appearance:** In the Cognitive Realm, Reachers look much like humans cast in bronze. Though statue-like, their body moves as smoothly and easily as would flesh and hair. Each lightspren’s bronze skin has a unique pattern of grooves. The pupils of their eyes are the only gaps in their body’s exterior; these small holes dilate much like those of humans. Reachers can’t change their appearance, and they typically don clothing of human make, though they don’t often wear it the way the culture of origin would. Within the Physical Realm, lightspren are balls of light, warm and silky to the touch. Both their temperature and brightness fluctuate with their mood, from subtle while relaxed to bright and feverish in moments of high emotion. As they move, a comet-like tail follows behind, then quickly catches up when they stop. **Culture:** Reachers are characterized by their love of travel and adventure, as well as their seeming taciturnity. While they can speak humanoid languages, lightspren have a greater alignment to the rhythms of Roshar than other spren, and they prefer to communicate via rhythmic pulses. Anyone can understand this form of speech with enough exposure, but it’s especially intuitive to singers, who are also attuned to the rhythms. Reachers are ubiquitous among Shadesmar’s cities and bead sea vessels, and many work as sailors, dock-workers, guides, currency exchangers, and merchants (including offworld imports). They are known for generally being helpful and polite. The floor and decks on which Reachers work are typically strewn with sound-conducting copper lines. The lightspren walk on these lines with bare feet, allowing near-instantaneous vibrational communication with each other. **Names:** Because of their rhythmic form of communication, when lightspren deal with humans or other spren, many use names inspired by music, such as Aria, Beat, Cadence, Chime, Hymn, Lyric, Pitch, Tempo, Trill, and Vibrato. | **Bonding:** When a Reacher seeks a prospective Radiant, they first look for kindness and empathy. Does the person have the patience and understanding to meet others where they are and facilitate communication despite barriers. Lightspren also appreciate people who seek freedom for themselves and others. They have no tolerance for and refuse to bond bullies or anyone who has willingly oppressed others. For a human to bond a lightspren, the human must demonstrate a commitment to freedom and a rejection of slavery in all its forms. **Perceivability:** Unlike many Radiant spren, lightspren are visible and audible to other characters, so any spren interaction has the chance of revealing their (and likely your) position. However, lightspren can move exceptionally fast through the air, and they can read their Radiant’s thoughts within spren bond range, significantly reducing the risk of detection. **Physical Interaction:** Lightspren are mostly insubstantial in the Physical Realm, but they have more substance than most spren. Lightspren can’t pass through objects — and they can even interact with lightweight objects using their Push Object ability, despite not having hands or the ability to change their form. **▷ Push Object (Costs 2 FP):** Your lightspren slowly pushes an unattended, unsecured object that weighs no more than 0.1 pounds (but they aren’t strong enough to carry it). This movement must begin and end in your spren bond range. If your spren is trying to do so undetected, the GM might ask you to make a Stealth test against a DC they set. **▷ Rhythmic Communication (Costs 1 FP)**: You’ve taught yourself to interpret your lightspren’s pulses. While within spren bond range, you can have your spren send you a silent message up to 25 words long. Additionally, after you’ve known an ally for at least 5 days, you can teach them to interpret your spren’s pulses, and the spren can communicate with them in the same way (but the ally can’t respond silently). | | | | | | **mistspren** *Truthwatchers* `p.182-189` | **Appearance:** Mistspren appear in the Cognitive Realm as a mass of mist; though they can shape this as they please, they generally prefer a humanoid shape. Atop the mist floats a translucent crystal mask shaped like a human face, which looks like solid porcelain until it catches the light. A mistspren’s mask is part of their essence, but it’s the only part they can’t shape to their will, and it doesn’t move even when they speak. Despite a mistspren’s diaphanous appearance, their body is completely solid, and most mistspren wear clothing from the Physical Realm that suits their occupation. In the Physical Realm, mistspren look like shimmers of light refracted through a prism onto a surface, and each mistspren’s pattern is unique. These lights can even appear floating midair and without a light source. When mistspren hold still, plant-like structures of light begin to grow atop them, then retract once the mistspren begins to move. Though a mistspren can alter the shape of their light shimmer, they’re each still recognizable by the shape of the plant-like light that grows from them. *Enlightened Mistspren:* In Shadesmar, the mist of an Enlightened mistspren’s body is a deep ruby red, and their face mask is absent, leaving in its place a swirling red void. In the Physical Realm, they look like red crystalline structures that “drip” light upward. **Culture:** Mistspren are known for their highly curious natures and zest for novelty and adventure. They’re greatly interested in learning how other people think and looking at things from new and different perspectives. They love adventure, and combined with their hard working and generally uncomplaining nature, this leads many mistspren to be crewmembers on the ships that sail the bead oceans of Shadesmar (particularly on honorspren vessels). **Names:** Lovers of nature and beauty, and closer to Cultivation than to Honor, many mistspren have descriptive, poetic names such as Adrift-in-Shade, Constant-despite-Shifting, Flowing-and-Shapeless, Hopeful-in-Measure, Temperance-through-Strife, Truth-without-Bounds, and Weeping-though-Joyful. *Enlightened Mistspren:* Mistspren who have been Enlightened seem to take on new and simpler names such as Bryn, Goli, Kyhe, Mele, Qima, Ruka, and Vlor. | **Bonding:** Most mistspren seem to view the prospect of bonding a Radiant with general indifference. However, Enlightened mistspren (described in the next section) all seem to be actively seeking a Nahel bond. Enlightened or not, when a mistspren seeks a bond, they tend to look for people with unique or interesting perspectives about the world, especially social outsiders. They’re also attracted to people who spend a lot of time in their own heads and who aren’t afraid to look at things in different ways, such as philosophers, scientists, and scholars. **Perceivability:** A mistspren can make themself visible and audible to whomever they wish; otherwise, mistspren in the Physical Realm are generally invisible and inaudible to physical entities who don’t have a specific ability to perceive spren. If your mistspren is Enlightened, you can hold silent telepathic conversations with them while they’re in your spren bond range. If your mistspren isn’t Enlightened, you must speak aloud to them (until you reach the Third Ideal and manifest them as a Radiant Shardblade). **Physical Interaction:** Mistspren are nearly incorporeal in the Physical Realm. They can’t pass through objects, but they can easily flow through even the smallest gaps. Additionally, Enlightened mistspren can hide within the body of non-sapient characters and remain within them. If they do so with a cremling, the mistspren gains some control of it; however, at the GM’s discretion, you may need to spend some FP for the cremling to perform complex tasks or act against its instincts. | | | | | | **peakspren** *Stonewards* `p.174-178` | **Appearance:** In the Cognitive Realm, peakspren are broad-shouldered and tall, their height generally surpassing seven feet. Each peakspren appears to be made of a single rock, but across individuals, the colors and textures of that stone have enormous variety. Some peakspren are as smooth as polished marble, while others are rough and porous as basalt. Each peakspren’s form is crossed by a unique network of fissures, which often resemble glyphs or other symbols. Their eyes, mouths, nostrils, ear canals, and fissures give off a soft, molten glow, though their skin is only slightly warm to the touch. Like their appearance suggests, peakspren move heavily, and their movements and voices both sound like grinding stone. They can’t change shape and their clothing isn’t part of their essence, so they typically import Unkalaki garments and wear them the way the Unkalaki do. While in the Physical Realm, peakspren appear as miniature versions of themselves, only about a hand-length tall. However, in the Physical Realm, they don’t necessarily have fissures or facial features, nor do they glow with molten light, making them look like a humanoid figurine carved from rock. **Culture:** Peakspren culture has many parallels to the Unkalaki of the Horneater Peaks, from the builds of their bodies and their preferred fashions to their speech patterns and mannerisms. Like the Unkalaki, peakspren tend to be pacifistic (though they remain non-judgmental if their bonded Radiant disagrees). Peakspren avoid violence unless absolutely necessary, and they place a much higher value on providing and caring for family than they do on martial prowess. Peakspren culture isn’t centralized, and several different tribes live throughout Shadesmar. Unlike the monolithic tendencies of other spren cultures, peakspren tribes have great variety in their opinions and cultural values — and there’s quite a bit of rivalry between them. Some tribes find joy in the Radiants’ return, while others remain bitter about the Recreance and hold nothing but scorn for the new knights and the spren who bonded them; meanwhile, other tribes have every possible opinion in between. **Names:** Unsurprisingly, peakspren naming conventions are similar to those of the Unkalaki. Such names include Autu, Hinlan’ai, Kun’ai’lam, Ku’tah’no, Lun’ha’ua, Na’mi’ahu, Nua’lan, Tik’he’aku, Toam’ul, and Una’tanu. | **Bonding:** When a peakspren seeks a prospective Radiant to bond, they tend to value jovial and helpful individuals. Most greatly enjoy conversation and friendly competition, so they often look for gregarious or athletic people, especially if the person enjoys being part of a close-knit group. **Perceivability:** Unlike many Radiant spren, peakspren are visible and audible to other characters, so any spren interaction has the chance of revealing their (and likely your) position. However, peakspren blend in well with rocky environments, and they can hide within stone (see “Physical Interaction” below), making them extremely difficult to detect. **Physical Interaction:** Peakspren are nearly incorporeal in the Physical Realm. They can’t pass through most materials, but they can move through and occupy stone and other earthen materials as if in thin air. While within stone, their sight, hearing, and ability to speak audibly aren’t limited. When a peakspren leaves their rocky hiding place, they appear to be breaking out of the rock. The stone quickly melds back together and becomes whole, leaving no trace of the peakspren’s passage. | ## Spren Actions You can spend the indicated FP and actions to allow your spren to use the following abilities: | Action | Activation | Description | | :--------------------: | :------------: | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Covert Scouting** | ★ 2 FP | Over several minutes, your spren stealthily scouts an area within your spren bond range, then reports back on what they observed. To glean certain information from this report, the GM might require you to make an Awareness skill test against a DC they set. | | **Oath Encouragement** | ▷\|↻ 2 FP | When you face hardship, your spren encourages you to find the best in yourself and live up to your Ideals. You gain an advantage on your next test to face self-doubt, fear, or anything else that stems from your obstacle. | | **Sudden Warning** | ★ 3 FP | When you’re imperiled, your spren can alert you to imminent danger (no action required). At the GM’s discretion, this can allow you to ignore the effects of the Surprised condition or otherwise react to a threat you didn’t detect. | | **Test Assistance** | ▷ \| ↻ 1 FP | adv → test *(spren-specific domains)* | | **Translation** | ▶▶ 2 FP | For the next minute, your spren helps you communicate by translating spoken and signed Rosharan languages (including Rosharan Shadesmar). During this time, characters who know at least one Rosharan language can understand you, and you can understand any Rosharan language you don’t normally know. Alternatively, you can use this ability to have your spren read aloud one page of text that’s written in a Rosharan language you can’t read. | | Spren | Test Assistance | | :--------------: | :--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | ashspren | Setting traps, dismantling objects, Crafting tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with. | | cryptic | Figuring out patterns (including ciphers and codes), picking locks, Deduction tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with. **Speak Third Ideal:** Becomes much better at detecting falsehoods, and you can use this Test Assistance ability to gain an advantage on a test to determine whether a character within your spren bond range is lying. | | cultivationspren | Finding common ground or similarly understanding someone you don’t share a culture or language with (though they must still speak at least one language), Insight tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with. | | highspren | Investigating crimes and determining guilt or innocent, Intimidation tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with. | | honorspren | Keeping track of time, predicting highstorms, Leadership tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with. | | inkspren | Deduction, Discipline, and Stealth tests, along with Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with. | | lightspren | Tests related to travel and fair trade, Survival tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with. | | mistspren | Approaching and engaging in new experiences, understanding others’ perspectives, Persuasion tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with. | | peakspren | Supporting or coordinating individuals (especially unruly ones), Athletics tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with. |