When a Vessel dies, the person's original body materializes and falls to the ground as a corpse. A Shard without a Vessel will eventually gain sentience. If the Shard is taken up before the Vessel dies completely, splintering can be prevented if not, the power will become wild and dangerous. The actual death of a Vessel, however, can take up to hundreds of years. ДЄ Shard can be killed by Splintering it, breaking its power down further into smaller pieces, called splinters the easiest way to achieve that is by killing the mind. If the Vessel were to give up the Shard, the Shard's influence on their mind would fade over time. If a Vessel fights against their Shards intent, they can be left vulnerable. Over centuries, the Vessel's mind begins to change to fit the Shard's intent more perfectly. From then on, the Vessel and the Shard are intertwined the Vessel gets to set some general course of how the Shard's power is defined, and feeds off the Shard's power to remain alive, but the Shard's power is the driving force between the two. The act of becoming a Vessel is called Ascension, and causes the Vessel's body to vaporize and mind to expand. However, it is possible for Vessels to reproduce. Upon Ascension, a Vessel loses its connection to its former species - for example, a human who Ascended is no longer considered human. What becoming a Vessel requires above all is Connection to the Shard in question, whether forged artificially or driven by a natural inclination towards the Shard's intent. One doesn't need to be able to use Investiture in order to become a Vessel, but the ability does help. Currently, there is only one Shard held by a Dragon ( Cultivation). To function properly, a Shard requires a Vessel - a mind to control it, belonging to a sapient creature from the Physical Realm, such as a human. The Shard's Investiture can also manifest directly in the world in other ways examples of such manifestations are atium and lerasium on Scadrial, the Tears of Edgli on Nalthis, or the many spren of Roshar. Moreover, the presence of a Shard leads to the formation of a Perpendicularity, a well of the Shard's Investiture that pierces all three Realms, allowing for worldhopping. While a Shard doesn't have complete control over how the magic system functions or what it does, it can manipulate its mechanics to an extent. Investing in a world will produce numerous effects, most notably the creation of a magic system tied to the Shard. Each Shard has its own Investiture while a Shard can co-opt the Investiture of another Shard, that Investiture can become noticeably red.

Those fragments each began their existence with equal level of power however, over time many have diminished, whether through conflict or by the act of Investing a world - imbuing it with Investiture. Each Shard is a piece of the power of creation with a specific motivation, such as to destroy or to preserve.

Mindustry core shard