Nightwatcher

The Nightwatcher is a kind of super-spren, Cultivation's equivalent of the Stormfather and the Sibling, associated with the Old Magic. She gives, to those who seek her, one boon and one curse ... as she has been tasked to do so by Cultivation to better understand humans. She is also associated with the order of Knights Radiant known as Bondsmiths, and is one of the three spren that can make one.
Bargains with the Nightwatcher are permanent. Navani tells Dalinar that she's found three hundred cases into which she's looked for which the boon and curse both lasted until an individual's death.
In rare cases, Cultivation will step in if she is interested by a request. The boons and curses granted by Cultivation may be more complex, more powerful, or impermanent. There are only two known cases of this: Lift and Dalinar.
==Appearance==
She seeps from the darkness as a dark green mist, vaguely shaped like a person crawling. Too-long arms reach out, pulling her along as she floats above the ground. Her essence, like a tail, extends far behind her, weaving and disappearing. Indistinct and vaporous, she flows like a river or an eel. The only part of her with specific detail is her smooth, feminine face with silken black eyes. Tiny hands sprout from the misty sides of her head and reach out with a thousand cold - yet gentle - caresses, her arms becoming tentacles. Her voice is like the rustling of trees, a hundred overlapping whispers in the wind.BookCon 2018, New York, NY, 6/1/18
==Personality==
She is more fond of - or interested in - some people than others.Personality When Dalinar meets her, she offers him glory and prestige, amongst other things. When he simply desires to be forgiven, then realizes that such a thing is asking too much, and then later asks if he can even be forgiven, she becomes confused because his response is so different from the way she understands humans. She again offers more temporal pleasures - including Nightblood - which shows that she understands some humans, but not all.
==Characteristics==
According to Brandon, the Nightwatcher could offer boons and curses to non-natives of Roshar.JordanCon 2018, Atlanta, GA, 4/20/18
Also according to Brandon, it is possible for the Nightwatcher to change one's species.Book signing, Idaho Falls, ID, 7/21/18
The Nightwatcher is unlikely to force a spren to bond.Book signing, Idaho Falls, ID, 7/21/18
==Milieu==
Dalinar finds himself in a tiny clearing, bathed in starlight. She is a shadow that moves in the darkness beyond the trees therein, accompanied by the noise of twisting vines and blowing grass. With the vines and branches of the clearing seemingly pulling toward her, Cultivation tells Dalinar that she allows the Nightwatcher to hold court there because it helps her understand those like him.
==Visitors==
* Took - Took's greatest tale was of the time he had seen the Nightwatcher herself and stolen a sphere that glowed black at night.
* Dalinar - Dalinar's memories of his wife were excised from his mind following his visit to the Nightwatcher and he was no longer able to hear her name when it was spoken to him, nor perceive any sort of reference to her. As yet, it isn't known whether this is his boon or his curse. There was some speculation, mainly by Renarin, that Dalinar's visions are related to the Old Magic. While Dalinar acknowledged seeking the Nightwatcher after his wife's death, he pointedly refuses to discuss what boon he then asked for.
* Av's family - Several members of Av's family sought the Nightwatcher. One of his brothers lost all sensation in his hands after the visit; his boon is unknown. Av's father received a large quantity of valuable fabric, keeping his family alive through a lurnip famine. His curse was the inability to view the world normally, instead seeing things upside down for the rest of his life.
* Taravangian - His boon was one day of brilliance, when he studied that Odium would win. He received the curse of waking every morning with a random level of intelligence. Most mornings he awakens average, though he is subjected to tests to determine whether he'll be fit to rule or unfit, and therefore watched over until the following morning. He rarely wakes with exceptional brilliance, such as when he created the Diagram, or so idiotic that he can only sit in a corner and drool. His handlers, who administer the tests to determine whether he is fit to rule, have decided that both of these exceptional states leave him unfit to rule. As a genius, he attempted to pass a law requiring people of lesser intelligence to commit suicide: a de facto eugenics program. As an idiot, he may not even be able to communicate with others.Book signing, Manchester, UK, 11/23/11
* Lift - She visited Nightwatcher when she was 10 years old and asked to stay the same forever. However, perhaps instead she received a direct physical connection with Shadesmar, allowing her to physically interact with spren and metabolize food into Lifelight. Her curse is unknown at this time.
==Quotes==
==Notes==
*When Dalinar's first wife suggested to him that perhaps she should visit the Nightwatcher and ask for the blessing of intelligence, he told her not to speak of that place or that creature. That such was blasphemous.
The Nightwatcher calls Cultivation, Mother.
Felt told Dalinar that the Nightwatcher doesn't like to talk to foreigners.Starsight Release Party, Orem, UT, 11/26/19
==References==
Category:Spren
Category:Magical Creatures