Nalthis in the Cosmere: Breath & Awakening Explained

Nalthis connects to the broader Cosmere through three main elements: Vasher and Vivenna (now living on Roshar as Zahel and Azure), Nightblood (the god-killing sword created through Awakening), and BioChromatic Breath (one of the most portable forms of Investiture). The planet is governed by Endowment, whose Intent allows her to grant Breath to every person born on Nalthis. This unique magic system and the powerful worldhoppers it creates make Nalthis key to understanding cross-world connections in Brandon Sanderson’s shared universe.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this article:

• The Shard and nations of Nalthis
• History of the Manywar conflict
• How Awakening and Breath work
• The ten Heightening levels explained
• Nalthian influence across the Cosmere

What is Nalthis?

System and Shard

Nalthis is a planet in the Nalthian system, home to the Shard Endowment and her vessel Edgli. Unlike some Cosmere worlds with multiple Shards competing for influence, Endowment stands alone here. This singular divine presence shapes everything about the planet’s magic and culture.

The system includes a single moon called Rrendos. The planet itself experiences active plate tectonics, unlike the crem-based geology of Roshar. This makes Nalthis geologically similar to Earth, with earthquakes occurring frequently in certain regions.

Endowment’s Intent manifests in her ability to bestow gifts—most notably BioChromatic Breath. Every human born on Nalthis receives one Breath at birth. This makes the planet’s magic system accessible to everyone, though mastering it requires dedication and resources.

Key Nations

Hallandren dominates the political landscape. Built around the capital city of T’Telir on an inland sea, Hallandren controls at least a third of the coastline. The nation’s wealth comes from the Tears of Edgli—flowers that grow only near the city and produce highly valued dyes.

Idris exists in the mountains to the north. The Idrian royal family fled here after losing control of Hallandren during the Manywar. Despite Hallandren viewing Idris as a rebellious province, Idris functions as an independent nation with its own trade routes and political allies.

Other nations include Gys, Hudres, Tedradel, and Xaka. The world also contains dozens of smaller kingdoms. One unnamed country has developed Awakened machines—a sign that magical technology continues advancing beyond what the Five Scholars created.

The Pahn Kahl people deserve special mention. They were once an independent nation before Hallandren absorbed them.

Most Hallandren citizens believe Pahn Kahl culture has disappeared entirely, but the people secretly maintain their identity and customs. They now occupy the lowest social positions in Hallandren society.

Known Geography and Ecology

Hallandren’s jungle is a unique biome on Nalthis. The region hosts panthers, parrots, monkeys, and crocodiles. Investiture seeps into the environment here, speeding up plant growth much like the Elendel Basin on Scadrial.

The Tears of Edgli grow exclusively in T’Telir because Endowment’s perpendicularity is located nearby. These flowers leak Investiture into the surrounding area. The flowers produce dyes that form the backbone of Hallandren’s economy.

Mountains separate Hallandren from Idris to the north. These mountains contain the world’s only known copper mines—copper is necessary for storing Commands in Awakening. More nations exist beyond these northern mountains.

South of Hallandren lies the traditional Pahn Kahl homeland. Elephants and zebras come from “the south,” though whether this means southern Hallandren or regions beyond remains unclear.

The Bright Sea contains abundant marine life, including mussels, fish, and tentacled creatures. Hallandren cuisine features wines, sweet potatoes, figs, nuts, and garlic, though some ingredients may be imported rather than locally grown.

The History of Nalthis

Early History and the First Returned

The ancient empire of Chedesh dominated early Nalthian history. Cheden sailors explored the world, eventually reaching what would become Hallandren. They discovered the Pahn Kahl people living there but dismissed them as not constituting a “true” nation.

During this exploration, a Cheden named Vo became the first person to die and Return. He declared the Five Visions—prophecies that would shape Nalthian religion for centuries. Vo died again one week later, but not before his wife became pregnant. She founded the kingdom of Hanald and established the Idrian royal line.

Hanald’s discovery of the Tears of Edgli transformed the region’s fortunes. Their monopoly on these valuable dyes made them an economic powerhouse. For 400 years, no one on Nalthis practiced Awakening. The art itself is a recent discovery in the planet’s history.

Austrism emerged as the dominant religion, followed by the Idrian royal family. Separately, the Cult of the Returned formed to worship those who came back from death. They believed each Returned had a divine mission from Austre.

The Five Scholars and the Manywar

Three hundred years after Vo’s death, five Returned revolutionized Nalthian society. Talaxin (once called Warbreaker the Peaceful), Shashara (Glorysinger), Arsteel, Yesteel, and VaraTreledees became known as the Five Scholars.

These individuals didn’t just study Awakening—they became worldhoppers, traveling to other Cosmere planets. Their discoveries about Investiture made them recognized scholars even in places like Silverlight.

The Scholars made several breakthroughs:

• Reducing Lifeless creation costs from fifty Breaths to one
• Developing ichor-alcohol to strengthen Lifeless
• Creating Nightblood, an attempt to replicate Shardblades using Awakening

When Shashara publicly revealed these military secrets, tensions between nations exploded. A Returned had a vision of coming war and told Talaxin.

The Idrian monarchy refused to launch preemptive strikes against their neighbors, so Talaxin rebelled and took power as Kalad the Usurper.

Kalad the Usurper and Nightblood

Kalad struck first against the kingdoms of Kuth and Huth to the north. In response, multiple nations formed the Pahn Unity coalition. The Five Scholars split, taking different sides in the conflict.

The Manywar became the deadliest conflict in Nalthian history. Lifeless armies clashed across continents. Awakening techniques that had been theoretical became weapons of mass destruction.

Kalad created his famous Phantoms—highly advanced Lifeless soldiers hidden in plain sight. Meanwhile, he and Shashara visited Roshar and witnessed Shardblades in action. They attempted to recreate these god-killing weapons through Awakening.

The result was Nightblood—a sentient sword that consumes Breath and destroys both physical and Spiritual aspects of anything it cuts. Shashara first wielded it at the Battle of Twilight Falls, which ended the Manywar.

The weapon’s power horrified Kalad. When Shashara refused to keep the secret, Kalad killed her to prevent that knowledge from spreading. He couldn’t risk another Nightblood existing in the world.

After this, Kalad became known as Peacegiver. He negotiated an end to the war, though his Phantoms provided considerable leverage during those negotiations. The kingdoms of Kuth and Huth were already destroyed by this point.

Peacegiver founded modern Hallandren and established the God King system, granting political power to a line of Returned. He dispersed his Phantoms throughout T’Telir as statues called the D’Denir Celabrin—hiding them in plain sight for future need.

The Pahn Kahl Rebellion

The Idrian royal family refused to return to Hallandren. They went north into the mountains and founded Idris. Austrism rejected Awakening as an abomination and dismissed the worship of Returned as paganism.

Over three centuries, Hallandren prospered but grew corrupt. The Pahn Kahl people suffered increasing oppression. Most Hallandren citizens assumed Pahn Kahl culture had died out entirely.

A Pahn Kahl servant named Bluefingers began planning a rebellion. His strategy involved provoking a war between Hallandren and Idris, then using the chaos to elevate Pahn Kahl’s position in society.

When another Pahn Kahl named Vahr started his own rebellion too early, Bluefingers betrayed him to Hallandren authorities. Vasher (who is secretly Kalad/Peacegiver) convinced Vahr to give him his Breaths before killing him.

King Dedelin of Idris had promised to send his daughter Vivenna to marry the God King once she came of age. The treaty would legitimize the God King’s authority and prevent war. But at the last moment, he sent his younger daughter Siri instead.

Bluefingers had planned to use Siri to incite rebellion, but when his mercenary Denth (who is secretly VaraTreledees from the Five Scholars) captured Vivenna, plans changed. Bluefingers decided to simply kill Siri and blame Idris.

Denth manipulated Vivenna into thinking she was preventing war while making the situation worse. She eventually discovered the deception and escaped. Vasher rescued her, and together they tried stopping the conflict.

The rebellion reached its climax when Bluefingers’s forces made their move:

• They killed several Returned
• They captured God King Susebron
• They seized control of the Lifeless Commands
• They ordered the entire Lifeless army to attack Idris

The Returned Lightsong sacrificed his divine Breath to restore Susebron’s tongue. With his full power restored, Susebron defeated the rebels and captured Bluefingers.

Vasher revealed his true identity as Peacegiver and gave Susebron control of the D’Denir Celabrin. The Phantoms marched north and stopped the Lifeless army before it could slaughter Idrian civilians.

After these events, Vasher and Vivenna traveled north to stop Yesteel, who was attempting to rebuild the kingdoms of Kuth and Huth.

Endowment and Investiture

The Shard Endowment

Endowment’s Intent centers on giving gifts. Her vessel Edgli directly created humans on Nalthis rather than allowing them to evolve naturally. The planet is young enough that no fossils have formed.

Endowment grants one Breath to every person born on the planet. This is a fundamental gift of Investiture that defines Nalthian existence. Unlike Preservation’s gift on Scadrial (which most people can’t access), everyone on Nalthis possesses usable magic.

The Shard also Returns certain people shortly after death. These individuals receive a divine Breath worth roughly 2,000 normal Breaths. They come back with no memory of their previous life but with a sense of purpose.

Returned must consume one Breath per week to survive. Most take Breaths from willing worshippers. If a Returned goes a week without consuming a Breath, they die permanently.

Endowment maintains a perpendicularity on Nalthis—a location where the Spiritual Realm can be accessed directly. This perpendicularity sits in a cavernous region somewhere in Hallandren. The Tears of Edgli grow near it because of leaking Investiture.

Some Nalthians know about the perpendicularity and want to use it for interplanetary commerce. Other Cosmere-aware peoples consider them foolish for this ambition, though trading Breaths is generally looked down upon across the Cosmere.

Awakening and BioChromatic Breath

Awakening allows you to animate objects or corpses by giving them Breath and Commands. The process requires four things:

1. Breath (the power source)
2. Color (consumed during Awakening)
3. A Command (instructions for the object)
4. Organic material (the target must be or contain something that was once alive)

You can Awaken rope, cloth, wood, or corpses. Metal and stone normally resist Awakening, though sufficient power can overcome this limitation.

Commands vary in complexity. Simple commands like “Hold things” for rope require less skill. Advanced commands demand precision, visualization, and understanding. Your Intent matters as much as the words themselves.

Lifeless are Awakened corpses that once required fifty Breaths to create. Shashara’s breakthrough reduced this to one Breath. Adding ichor-alcohol during creation makes Lifeless stronger and more durable. Lifeless follow their Commands indefinitely and don’t decay.

Creating Awakened steel or stone requires the ninth Heightening—20,000 Breaths. At this level, you can also Awaken using only your voice instead of physical touch.

Color gets drained from nearby objects during Awakening, turning them gray. At the tenth Heightening, you drain color to pure white instead, and the Awakener’s own BioChroma creates rainbow effects on white surfaces.

The Ten Heightenings

Each Heightening grants specific abilities and requires an increasing number of Breaths:

First Heightening (50 Breaths): You can see the Breath aura of others, letting you count how many Breaths someone holds.

Second Heightening (200 Breaths): Perfect pitch. You can identify any musical note precisely.

Third Heightening (600 Breaths): Perfect color recognition. You distinguish even slight shade differences that normal people can’t perceive.

Fourth Heightening (1,000 Breaths): Perfect life sense. You detect nearby people even if you can’t see or hear them.

Fifth Heightening (2,000 Breaths): Agelessness begins. You stop aging, become resistant to disease and toxins, and achieve functional immortality. Returned naturally possess this level.

Sixth Heightening (3,500 Breaths): Instinctive Awakening. You automatically know Commands for basic Awakening and find advanced Commands easier to learn.

Seventh Heightening (5,000 Breaths): You see the aura of Awakened objects, detecting whether something has been Invested with Breath.

Eighth Heightening (10,000 Breaths): You can break Commands placed by other Awakeners, overpowering anyone with fewer Breaths.

Ninth Heightening (20,000 Breaths): Greater Awakening and audible Commands. You can Awaken steel and stone. You no longer need to touch objects—your voice alone suffices.

Tenth Heightening (50,000 Breaths): Full mastery. You gain color distortion (rainbows appear on white surfaces near you), perfect invocation (draining color to white instead of gray), and mental Commands (Awakening through thought alone). More abilities exist but remain undocumented.

The Returned

The Returned are people who died but were sent back by Endowment. They appear young and physically perfect, regardless of their age or condition at death. They possess no memories of their former life.

Each Returned receives a divine Breath equal to roughly 2,000 normal Breaths. This grants them the fifth Heightening—agelessness and enhanced senses. But they must consume one Breath per week or die.

Most Returned don’t know why they came back. Some received visions about future events they’re meant to prevent or enable. Others returned with no clear understanding of their purpose.

In Hallandren, Returned are worshiped as gods. They live in the Court of Gods and receive Breath donations from willing followers. The Iridescent Tones (formerly the Cult of the Returned) manage the Court and maintain the theological framework.

The God King is a special category. Each God King inherits the accumulated Breaths of previous God Kings plus Peacegiver’s gift. By the time of the Pahn Kahl rebellion, God King Susebron held tens of thousands of Breaths.

Returned can sacrifice their divine Breath to perform one final act of healing or transformation. Lightsong used his divine Breath to restore Susebron’s tongue, which priests had cut out to prevent him from Awakening.

Nalthis’s Role in the Cosmere

The Nalthian Perpendicularity

Endowment’s perpendicularity sits in a cavernous location within Hallandren. The exact site remains secret, but the Tears of Edgli grow near it due to Investiture leakage.

Unlike some perpendicularities that move (like Cultivation’s), Nalthis’s appears stationary. This makes it potentially useful for establishing permanent trade routes between planets.

Some Nalthians know about the perpendicularity and understand its connection to other worlds. They view it as a commercial opportunity—a way to trade with other Cosmere planets. Other worldhoppers consider this attitude naive or foolish.

The perpendicularity allows travel between the Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual Realms. Worldhoppers use it to access the Cognitive Realm and travel to other planets. This has made Nalthis a modest hub for interplanetary activity, though nothing like Silverlight.

Nalthian Worldhoppers

Vasher (Kalad/Peacegiver) and Vivenna (now called Azure) both left Nalthis. Vasher lives on Roshar as the swordmaster Zahel, teaching dueling at the Kholin warcamp. Vivenna became Azure, a Shardbearer who helped Adolin and Shallan escape Shadesmar.

Both carry Nightblood, the sentient Awakened sword. On Roshar, Nightblood proved capable of killing Fused and even destroying a thunderclast—feats that shocked those who witnessed them.

Denth’s remaining crew went north to find Yesteel after their leader’s death. Yesteel continues his attempts to rebuild the ancient kingdoms of Kuth and Huth. Vasher and Vivenna followed to stop him.

The Five Scholars were among the earliest Cosmere scholars. Their research into Investiture and their travels to other worlds established them as foundational figures in cross-planetary magical theory. Scholars at Silverlight recognize their contributions.

Nalthian worldhoppers must maintain their Breath supply. Unlike Stormlight or other forms of Investiture that can be acquired locally, Breath must either be brought along or obtained from other people. This makes extended trips challenging.

The Spread of Awakened Technology

Awakened circuitry has appeared on other planets, including Lumar. This technology responds to the user’s Connection, allowing it to predict text input and perform computational functions.

This development shows Nalthian magical technology has advanced far beyond what existed during the Manywar. Creating responsive Awakened systems requires sophisticated understanding of Commands, Intent, and Connection.

Trading Breaths across the Cosmere is generally frowned upon. Other cultures view the practice as distasteful, though the specific reasons vary. Some may consider it similar to selling pieces of your soul.

Nalthis’s magical portability makes it uniquely influential. Unlike Stormlight (which requires either gemstones or proximity to Roshar’s highstorms) or Scadrial’s metals (which require specific alloys), Breath travels with you. An Awakener can function anywhere in the Cosmere.

This portability explains why Nalthian magic appears in unexpected places. A worldhopper with sufficient Breaths can practice Awakening on any planet with organic materials and color. The magic system’s accessibility and transportability make it one of the most versatile forms of Investiture in the Cosmere.