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Cosmere: characters, places & organizations

A basic, browsable guide to Cosmere's registered characters, places and organizations, part of this project's knowledge-graph pilot. Coverage follows a fixed selection rule (viewpoint characters, each series' protagonists and antagonists, and recurring named roles) rather than an attempt at completeness.

Characters

• Dalinar Kholin principal (aka The Blackthorn)
• Hoid principal (aka Wit, Cephandrius)
• Illistandrista principal (aka Starling; Dragon (cosmere species))
• Kaladin Stormblessed principal (aka Stormblessed)
• Kelsier principal (aka The Survivor of Hathsin, Thaidakar)
• Nikaro principal (aka Painter)
• Odium principal (aka Rayse)
• Raoden principal
• Sarene principal
• Sazed principal (aka Harmony)
• Shallan Davar principal (aka Veil)
• Sigzil principal (aka Nomad, Zellion)
• Siri principal
• Sixth of the Dusk principal (aka Dusk)
• Tress principal (aka Glorf)
• Vin principal (aka The Heir of the Survivor; dead)
• Vivenna principal (aka Vahr)
• Waxillium Ladrian principal (aka Wax)
• Yumi principal
• Adolin Kholin major
• Cinder King major
• Denth major (aka VaraTreledees; dead)
• Elend Venture major (aka The Last Emperor; dead)
• Hrathen major (dead)
• Jasnah Kholin major
• Lightsong major (aka Stennimar; dead)
• Marasi Colms major
• Moash major (aka Vyre)
• Navani Kholin major
• Rashek major (aka The Lord Ruler; dead)
• Renarin Kholin major
• Riina major (aka The Sorceress)
• Ruin major (aka Ati; historical)
• Steris Harms major
• Sylphrena major (aka Syl; Spren)
• Szeth major (aka Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar)
• Vasher major (aka Zahel)
• Venli major (Singers)
• Wayne major
• Rlain supporting (aka Shen; Singers)

Places

• Canticle world
• Elantris city (in Sel)
• Elendel city (in Scadrial)
• First of the Sun world
• Kholinar city (in Roshar)
• Komashi world
• Lumar world
• Luthadel city (in Scadrial)
• Nalthis world
• Roshar world
• Scadrial world
• Sel world
• T'Telir city (in Nalthis)
• Threnody world
• Urithiru city (in Roshar)

Organizations

• Bridge Four military, order
• Court of Gods religion, government
• Ghostbloods order, business
• House Kholin noble_house
• House Ladrian noble_house
• Knights Radiant order
• Seventeenth Shard order
• The Set religion, other

Eras

• Before the Shattering
  Cosmere-wide prehistory before Adonalsium was Shattered into the 16 Shards of Power; no book-internal date system exists for it.
• After the Shattering
  The current age. Each Shardworld (Scadrial, Roshar, Sel, Nalthis, Threnody) keeps its own separate local calendar rather than a single Cosmere-wide one, so no unified year count is used here.

Events

• The Battle of Thaylen Field (Climax of Oathbringer (2017))
• The Catacendre (Climax of The Hero of Ages (2008))
• The Everstorm's arrival (Oathbringer (2017))
• The Recreance (Roughly 2,000 Rosharan years before the Stormlight Archive's main story)
• The Reod (Ten years before Elantris (2005)'s main events)
• The Shattering of Adonalsium (Roughly 10,000 years before the True Desolation, per Coppermind's Cosmere chronology)

Concepts

• Allomancy magic_system
  Scadrial's magic system: ingesting and 'burning' specific metals grants the burner one of several physical or mental powers (e.g. pewter for strength, tin for heightened senses).
• AonDor magic_system
  Sel's symbol-based magic system: drawing precise geometric figures called Aons in the air channels Investiture into a defined magical effect.
• Dragon (cosmere species) species
  A sapient shapeshifting species originating on the planet Yolen, able to take human as well as draconic form; Hoid's apprentice Starling is one.
• Feruchemy magic_system
  Scadrial's magic system for storing a personal attribute (strength, memory, warmth, etc.) in a metal object, to be drawn back out later.
• Hemalurgy magic_system
  Scadrial's darkest magic system: driving a metal spike through a person transfers a piece of their Investiture (and often a physical attribute) to whoever wears the spike afterward, at lethal cost to the original bearer.
• Investiture magic_system
  The underlying, setting-wide unit of divine power that every Cosmere magic system draws on; originally Adonalsium's own power, now divided among the 16 Shards.
• Shards of Adonalsium other
  The sixteen fragments of power and intent (Odium, Honor, Cultivation, Ruin, Preservation, Devotion, Dominion, Endowment, Autonomy, Ambition, Invention, Mercy, Valor, Whimsy, Virtuosity, Reason) that resulted when Adonalsium was Shattered; each is held by a Vessel, a person who took up that Shard's power and, with it, much of its intent.
• Singers species
  The native sapient species of Roshar, also called Listeners; they can bond spren to shift into specialized bodily forms, and some bond voidspren to become Regals serving Odium.
• Spren species
  Sentient fragments of Investiture native to Roshar's Cognitive Realm, ranging from mindless lesser spren to intelligent true spren; some form Nahel bonds with humans or singers, granting Surgebinding.
• Surgebinding magic_system
  Roshar's magic system: a Knight Radiant bonds a spren and swears a progression of oaths, gaining access to two of the setting's ten Surges (fundamental physical forces) and drawing Stormlight for power.
• Worldhoppers other
  Rare individuals capable of travelling between Shardworlds, most famously Hoid; several Cosmere organizations (the Seventeenth Shard, the Ghostbloods) exist specifically because Worldhoppers and cross-planet Investiture leakage are possible at all.

How they connect

• Adolin Kholin is a member of House Kholin
• Dalinar Kholin is the father of Adolin Kholin
• Dalinar Kholin is the leader of House Kholin
• Dalinar Kholin is a member of Knights Radiant
• Elend Venture is the spouse of Vin
• Ghostbloods is an enemy of The Set
• Hoid is the mentor of Illistandrista
• Hoid is an enemy of Seventeenth Shard
• Hoid is the mentor of Sigzil
• Hoid is an ally of Tress
• Jasnah Kholin is related to Dalinar Kholin
• Jasnah Kholin is a member of Knights Radiant
• Kaladin Stormblessed is the leader of Bridge Four
• Kaladin Stormblessed is an ally of Dalinar Kholin
• Kaladin Stormblessed is a member of Knights Radiant
• Kaladin Stormblessed is an enemy of Moash
• Kaladin Stormblessed is bonded with Sylphrena
• Kaladin Stormblessed is an enemy of Szeth
• Kelsier founded Ghostbloods
• Kelsier is the mentor of Vin
• Lightsong is a member of Court of Gods
• Marasi Colms is a half-sibling of Steris Harms
• Moash is a member of Bridge Four
• Navani Kholin is the spouse of Dalinar Kholin
• Navani Kholin is the mother of Jasnah Kholin
• Odium is an enemy of Dalinar Kholin
• Odium is an enemy of Kaladin Stormblessed
• Raoden is the ruler of Elantris
• Raoden is the spouse of Sarene
• Rashek is the ruler of Luthadel
• Rashek is an enemy of Vin
• Renarin Kholin is a sibling of Adolin Kholin
• Renarin Kholin is a member of Bridge Four
• Renarin Kholin is the child of Dalinar Kholin
• Renarin Kholin is a member of Knights Radiant
• Riina is an enemy of Tress
• Rlain is a member of Bridge Four
• Rlain is a member of Knights Radiant
• Ruin is an enemy of Sazed
• Ruin is an enemy of Vin
• Sazed is an ally of Kelsier
• Sazed is an ally of Vin
• Shallan Davar is a member of Knights Radiant
• Sigzil is a member of Bridge Four
• Sigzil is an enemy of Cinder King
• Sigzil is a member of Knights Radiant
• Sixth of the Dusk is an ally of Illistandrista
• Steris Harms is a member of House Ladrian
• Szeth is a member of Knights Radiant
• Vasher killed Denth
• Vasher is an ally of Hoid
• Venli is a member of Knights Radiant
• Vivenna is a sibling of Siri
• Waxillium Ladrian is the leader of House Ladrian
• Waxillium Ladrian is the spouse of Steris Harms
• Waxillium Ladrian is an ally of Wayne
• Yumi is the lover of Nikaro