Honorbearer

The Honorbearers are a group of warriors in Shinovar who wield the Honorblades. The position was created after the people of Shinovar were entrusted with the Honorblades following the Heralds abandonment of Taln. The number of members varies over time, but it begins with nine, one for each Honorblade other than Taln’s. Each Honorbearer is the leader of their own Monastery, and has acolytes and Stone Shamans beneath them. They are considered highly holy in Shin culture. The role is presumably no more following Stormfall and the reforming of the Oathpact.
== History ==
=== Formation ===
Four thousand years before the events of the Stormlight Archive, the Heralds abandoned the Oathpact, shifting the weight of all of Roshar onto Taln’s shoulders. Ashamed of abandoning their oaths, the nine remaining Heralds left their Honorblades in the ground of Shinovar and walked away from their roles as protectors.
The Heralds taught the Shin people that the Voidbringers would someday return, and that the Honorblades would be needed to fight them. With the Heralds’ guidance, the Shin took up the Honorblades as a sacred trust, naming them, and their role in keeping them, the Sacred Truth. They built ten monasteries, one for each Honorbearer. The monasteries became places for military training and defense, home to thousands of people. Each monastery had soldiers, trainers, Stone Shamans, and one Honorbearer leading them all. 
This system continued with little variation for four millennia, other than Ishar and Nale claiming their own Honorblades at times, and Szeth being sent away with Jezrien’s in 1164.
=== Ishar's Influence ===
Somewhere about a thousand years previous to the events of the Stormlight Archive, Ishar found Odium's Perpendicularity, known as the Well of Control, and took a fraction of it for himself. He used it to Connect himself to the land of Roshar, after the manner of Honor, Cultivation, and Odium themselves. This gave him immense power as a Sliver, but further contributed to his madness and corruption. It also corrupted the land of Shinovar itself. He eventually used his position to act as The Voice, speaking to the Honorbearers and corrupting the system over time to work for him. Thanks to his influence, the Honorbearers would not accept the Truth from Szeth, branding him Truthless and ignoring the signs of The End of All Things. 
The Honorbearers were an important piece of Ishar's plan to fight Odium. In addition to corrupting the Shin religion and attempting to creating a spren army, he planned to create human counterparts to the fused. The Honorbearers were his chosen subjects for this role, though Sivi, Willshaper Honorbearer of the time, rejected him. Like fused, the corrupted Honorbearers would return after death, stealing the body of another person. Additionally, their connection to him meant that Ishar could control them directly, though his control was not perfect.
=== Szeth's Quest ===
For his fourth of five Ideals, Szeth-son-Neturo swore to cleanse Shinovar of the blight overtaking it. On the first of the final ten days, he embarked on a pilgrimage, at Ishar’s command, going from monastery to monastery, defeating each and every Honorbearer. He defeated Rit and gained Taln’s blade, then took Kalak’s blade from Sivi’s rotted corpse. Next, he fought Pozen and the unnamed Edgedancer in Shadesmar. Szeth killed the Edgedancer with Nightblood, and Pozen killed himself with his own Honorblade. He out-thought Moss’s riddle, obtaining the Lightweaver blade, and Kaladin, with a warning from Syl, saved him from the Truthwatcher Honorbearer, hiding among the Lightweaver acolytes. He connected with Elid in the Dustbringer monastery, but Ishar summoned her, dissolving her body, before they could communicate much. Finally, at the Skybreaker monastery, Nale demanded that Szeth swear obedience to him. Szeth refused, and refused to fight Nale, at which point Nale attacked. Kaladin defended Szeth, and Nale agreed that Kaladin could fight as his champion. Kaladin used the tone of Roshar and his Sylflute to finally get through to Nale, winning the Skybreaker Honorblade and leaving only one monastery remaining - Ishar's own.
On the day of Stormfall, Szeth faced Ishar, who commanded that he fight the six corrupted Honorbearers who had reformed from their deaths. Initially, he refused to fight them, as his sister and father were both among them. However, as he was nearly dead and out of Stormlight, he noticed that he had counted wrong, double-counting the Bondsmiths, (his father and Ishar), and not noticing that the Edgedancer he'd killed with Nightblood had not returned. This led him to realize that Nightblood could kill the human fused permanently, and after swearing his fifth ideal, he used Nightblood to kill all six.
After this, Kaladin, Connected to Ishar, swore his fifth ideal and forcibly ejected Odium’s power’s corruption from Ishar’s soul. Finally able to agree, the two of them, together with Nale and the other Heralds, reformed the Oathpact, reclaiming their blades and removing the need for Honorbearers.
== Structure ==
=== Induction === 
To become an Honorbearer, one must be a highly skilled acolyte or Stone Shaman in an Honorbearer monastery. After being noticed and selected by the current Honorbearers, they must go on a two-part pilgrimage. For the first part of the pilgrimage, the inductee must train at each of the monasteries, learning each of the surges to mastery. This journey is successful once they can defeat the current bearer they hope to replace in a duel without powers. This fight is typically fought until a party yields, although it can be to the death if a party refuses to. To celebrate their success and formalize their place, they begin their second pilgrimage. Here they must prove to each of the other Honorbearers’ satisfaction that they are worthy. If the other Honorbearers deem the person unworthy, the blade is returned to its previous owner, or a suitable replacement if the previous owner has died. If they are deemed worthy, however, they are a full Honorbearer. It is a process which takes years. 
The only exception to this rule is the Bondsmith Honorbearer, who is elected by a vote. 
=== Hierarchy ===
Honorbearers are among the highest authorities in Shinovar, and are considered extremely holy. Between the nine of them, however, power fluctuates. Throughout most of the group’s existence, the Bondsmith had the highest authority and is known as the leader of their people, but in Szeth’s time, Pozen the Elsecaller is basically the most powerful of them. He seems to be essentially responsible for who gets chosen as future Honorbearers, and most of the other Honorbearers do as he commands. When one, such as Tuko-son-Tuko or Szeth, resists him, they are usually killed. Pozen and the Honorbearers who follow him obey The Voice - Ishar speaking into their minds - completely.
== Known Honorbearers ==
Honorbearer 	Order 	Corrupted by Ishar?
Szeth-son-Neturo 	Windrunner 	No
Sivi-daughter-Sivi 	Willshaper 	No
Elid-daughter-Zeenid 	Dustbringer 	Yes
Neturo-son-Vallano 	Bondsmith 	Yes
Moss-son-Farrier 	Lightweaver 	Yes
Pozen-son-Nash 	Elsecaller 	Yes
Rit-daughter-Clutio 	Stoneward 	Yes
Unknown older woman 	Truthwatcher	Yes
Unknown younger woman 	Edgedancer 	Yes
Gearil-daughter-Gearil	Dustbringer 	Unclear, but likely
Dulo-son-Tudla 	Edgedancer 	Unclear, but likely
Vambra-daughter-Skies 	Truthwatcher	Yes, but not made fused
Tuko-son-Tuko 	Windrunner 	No
== Notes ==
Category:Lifeforms