Herald

The Heralds are servants of the Almighty worshiped in Vorinism. They were once considered deities by the people during the Heraldic Epochs, and are still revered in Vorin Kingdoms. Bound by the Oathpact, they would come from Damnation to fight the Desolations and then return for millennia of torture until the next Desolation. They founded the orders of the Knights Radiant to protect mankind against the Voidbringers.
==Origin==
Most of the Heralds were born on Ashyn prior to humanity's migration to Roshar. The possible exception to this is Shalash, who might've been born after the move.Book signing, Denver, CO, 11/15/18 In later legend and lore, Ashyn became known as the Tranquiline Halls, both their home and their heaven, from whence they'd supposedly been driven by the Voidbringers.Origin
==Characteristics==
There are ten Heralds; five male and five female. Each represents an Ideal and is associated with one of the ten essences, numbers, gemstones, body focuses, Soulcasting properties, primary and secondary divine attributes, and orders of Knights Radiant.Ars Arcanum
The Heralds carried Honorblades, which were much like modern Shardblades, but far more powerful.
The Heralds are tied to the system by the magic that permeates them. They cannot leave their world.Book signing, Chicago, IL, 12/6/16
They are champions of Honor similarly to the way that Tanavast encouraged Dalinar to force Odium to choose a champion.JordanCon 2018, Atlanta, GA, 4/20/18
The Heralds had access to raw levels of power that no Radiant could obtain.BookCon 2018, New York, NY, 6/1/18
When they came over from Ashyn, the Heralds were younger than they were when they became Heralds.Starsight Release Party, Orem, UT, 11/26/19
Investiture extends the lives of the Heralds. They’ve died many times, and there are some who would call them Cognitive Shadows.Book signing, Chicago, IoL, 12/6/16 They are not Shards, like Honor. In local religions, they're more like saints than gods.
It is possible for Heralds to procreate and have children.YouTube Spoiler Stream 1, 12/17/20The Dusty Wheel Show, 6/17/21
==History==
Eventually, following a victory in yet another Desolation and weighed down by the prospect of millennia of torture, nine Heralds chose to abandon their self-appointed burden, hoping that Talenel'Elin might be enough to uphold the Oathpact. They told the people that mankind had finally won; thus, the event was known for the past 4,500 years as the Last Desolation, or Aharietiam in Vorinism.
===Appearances===
It is not known what became of all nine Heralds who abandoned the Oathpact. However, Jezrien is first seen in the Prelude to The Way of Kings. Then, he is seen in the Prologue to The Way of Kings.
Nale was present in Kholinar during King Gavilar's assassination, accompanied by Kalak. Taln and Shalash were both seen in the epilogue of The Way of Kings.Book signing, London, UK, 11/19/11
Later, Nale found the budding Surgebinder Ym in an unknown city on Roshar. After a brief chase, Nale caught and killed him.
Taln first appears in Words of Radiance as a madman; he had been brought into Dalinar's warcamp. Much later, in an attempt to remove Taln from the temple complex, Amaram is attacked by Iyatil with her blow darts and Taln intercepts them. He stands tall, then enters Amaram's coach.
Brandon has confirmed that Shalash appeared in The Way of Kings,Shalash in TWoK and that she was indeed Baxil's mistress.Book signing, Orem, UT, 12/6/16
Ishar was the first Herald to recognize the importance of Surgebinders and began organizing them into their respective orders.
Shallan sucked in Stormlight in Taln's presence in an attempt to recreate an Illusion and he referred to her as one of "Ishar's Knights."
Later still for Nale, he pursues Lift, but eventually abandons her when shown by her that the Everstorm had come, despite his efforts.
Jezrien is eventually killed by Moash in the Kholinar palace gardens with a knife at the behest of the Fused.
==Names & Attributes==
# 	Number	Herald 	Primary/Sec Divine Attribute	Primary/Sec Divine Attribute	Image
1 	Jes 	Jezrien 	Protecting 	Leading 	King image
2 	Nan 	Nalan (Nale) 	Just 	Confident 	Hooded man
3 	Chach 	Chanarach (Chana)	Brave 	Obedient 	Woman with something akin to a helmet
4 	Vev 	Vedel 	Loving 	Healing 	Hooded woman
5 	Palah 	Paliah (Pali) 	Learned 	Giving 	Woman with hair going all directions
6 	Shash 	Shalash (Ash) 	Creative 	Honest 	Woman with large jewel on forehead
7 	Betab 	Battar 	Wise 	Careful 	Woman with band around head, over hair
8 	Kak 	Kalak (Kelek) 	Resolute 	Builder 	Man with uncovered hair, long bangs
9 	Tanat 	Talenel (Taln) 	Dependable 	Resourceful 	Helmed man
10	Ishi 	Ishar 	Pious 	Guiding 	Old man with long beard
According to Brandon, the Heralds do not have any innate powers.Salt Lake City ComicCon 2014, Salt Lake City, UT, 9/4/14
==Present Day==
In the present day, the Heralds are apparently going mad. In the Prologue of Words of Radiance, Jasnah overhears Nale and Kalak speaking with one another:
[[File:P K MV N C KO.jpg|thumb|center|600px|Heralds Pailiah and Kelek by Magali Villeneuve, (i.e., front endpapers for Rhythm of War) and Heralds Nalan and Chanaranach by Karla Ortiz (i.e., rear endpapers for Rhythm of War)]]
==Notes==
There is an extensive article at tor.com by beta reader Alice Arneson on what readers know of the Heralds thus far here.
Like his fellow Heralds, Nale is slowly going mad. He realizes this after his confrontation with Lift has concluded.
Ethid acknowledges to Jasnah and Jochi via spanreed that there is something wrong with the man she thinks is Nalan. She doesn't think that the Heralds will be a resource to the people of Azir, which Jasnah confirms, indicating that the Heralds are broken.
Brandon has said that he wants the Heralds' "madnesses" to be magical diseases. With the contrast of something like Kaladin's depression, which he's trying to treat very real-world. He's trying to treat them as these things that couldn't exist in our world. They're fantastical mental diseases, like there are fantastic physical diseases in Elantris. So, he made them thematic, and part of the reason for that is people's perception of them and their mental state reacting against that. And that is a theme among all of the Heralds.San Diego Comic-Con@Home 2020, 7/23/20
Additionally, Brandon has said that the Heralds' madness is related to the madness of the Fused.Rhythm of War Preview Q&As, 7/28/20 The Stormfather mentions that each time one of the Fused is reborn, their mind is further damaged. It is similar with each Herald. Too many rebirths, possibly compounded by the fact that they not only often died each Desolation, but were tortured until the next one.Rhythm of War Preview Q&As, 7/28/20
(There are some hints in Rhythm of War at how Hoid has avoided a similar fate.)Rhythm of War Preview Q&As, 7/28/20
Note that the torture - and the many rebirths - are a big part of this. But their age is also a factor.Rhythm of War Preview Q&As, 7/28/20
Again according to Brandon, the things that the Heralds have and are going through, Hoid hasn't gone through. Some of the sort of degradation of what's happening with their souls is unique ... not wholly unique, but individual to the experiences they're having.YouTube Livestream 29, 2/1/21
==Speculation==
Following is a list of things which could be reasons why certain Heraldic images get chosen. Further, at Tor, re-reads of TWoK, WoR and Ob contain dedicated "Heraldic Symbolism" subsections for each chapter which detail such things. Within, the re-readers speculate as to why specific Herald(s) were chosen.
* Herald themselves (mentioned, talked about, or actually has an appearance).
* Some object associated with a Herald (example: a specific Herald's Honorblade.
* Member of order (ex: Kaladin=Windrunners=Jezrien), Characters portraying divine attribute behavior (example: Loving and Healing).
* Characters portraying the inverse of divine attribute behavior (example: Hating and Destroying).
*Herald of <concept> - things associated with that concept. Known examples: 1) Shalash: Herald of Beauty 2) Nalan: Herald of Justice 3) Jezrien: Herald of Kings 4) Taln: Herald of War 5) Ishar: Herald of Luck.
* Roles associated with a Herald. Known Examples: 1) Chana: Guards 2) Taln: Soldiers/war 3) Ishar: Ardents/religion 4) Vedel: Physicians.
* Essences: Essence, body focus, soulcasting properties ... (this one is a stretch as I never really could pinpoint this well enough).
*Jester/Masked face: This can be tied to chapters with Wit in them or tied to concepts related to him, the biggest one (I think) being storytelling.
Note: The "Four Lifetimes" chapter's Heraldic symbolism in Oathbringer, shows the different roles/lives Kaladin has filled: Surgeon (Vedel), Soldier (Taln), Guard (Chana), and Leader/Windrunner (Jezrien).
==Theory==
So, every Herald has some madness related to his or her divine attributes.
Nale, Herald of Justice, is following the law by the letter. Not the spirit, but what is written down.
Ash, Herald of Beauty, who should be Creative, is destroying artwork depicting her.
Kalak, whose order is the adventurous Willshapers is rather paranoid now.
Jezrien, who should be a leader, is getting drunk and speaking gibberish on Gavilar's "Last Supper". (This person is described as having a long black and grey beard, so he could also be Ishar.)
==Q&A with Brandon==
Q. Did Ishar deceive Nalan on purpose or was he just wrong - he had wrong information?
A. All the Heralds are insane.Book signing, Hoboken, NJ, 12/3/16
... It manifests in different ways. Do not trust anything any Herald says. Ever.
... Nale trusts Ishar too much.
Q. Okay, but so did he do it on purpose, or ... ?
A. Um ... So "on purpose" is a difficult thing when you're referring to someone with the psychology that Ishar has.
Q. Did he know what it was - that it was a lie?
A. ... I'll RAFO that until I get to him, but the answer is kind of a yes and a no. So, there is part of him that knows and there is part of him that doesn't want to believe it. And yet the things he's been doing lately in Roshar are done because he knows what's coming.Book signing, Hoboken, NJ, 12/3/16
Q. Now that we have canon art of Ishar, Shalash, Jezrien, and Vedel, what Rosharan nationalities would you say they resemble the most?
A. Jezrien and Vedel would be seen as Alethi, most likely. Shalash would be seen as Azish, while Ishar would be seen as Shin, probably.
Q. Wait, but if Ishar looks like he’s from Shinovar, how did the Tukari accept him as the God-Priest?
A. That's a RAFO - but is a question you're supposed to be asking.Skyward Pre-Release AMA, 10/4/18
==References==
 
Category:Organizations