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I made a thing. It was originally a prom dress from the late 80s, and I cut it up and beaded it and stuff. The idea of a Mistdress actually came from KChan. It's kinda hard to tell, but the skirt is actually tassels. :{D There are more pictures on my tumblr.

Alrighty, here we go! First up, for Leo-nard, we have the astrological sign of Nard: I'm fond of the next one. Breath goes better, Mentos Breath and full of Life! Mentos... the BreathTaker! And lastly, DeLights Full. You're female, so you get a manly crate.

Renarin gets some love (or, er, disdain from Elhokar) in the newly released teaser from Way of Kings Prime. http://brandonsanderson.com/want-to-join-bridge-four-the-altered-perceptions-anthology-final-week-drive/ There's a bit more of Elhokar being mean to poor Renarin in the chapters that will be in the Altered Perception anthology. I'm sure that will go over well around these parts.

There’s more that I want to do with this theory and try to integrate frequencies and waves from music with the information here (I have quite the notebook on it so far). I believe that music is fundamental to the Cosmere. Hoid seems to back this up when talking with Kaladin. Rhythms in the Cosmere There seems to be a rhythm to the entire Cosmere that has an effect on all the things within it, how the magic work and particularly how the Cognitive realm works. A rhythm, at its most fundamental level, is a series of occurrences that have occur with a frequency. In this case, I’ll refer to it as a series of pulses that occur in a wave (much like how sound works). It’s my contention that the Cognitive realm is host to the rhythms that we see occurring in the Cosmere. When it comes to waves, they need a host medium that transports them. In physics, when we look at gravitational waves, the medium through which is moves is space-time. Sound that we hear is a wave that moves the air particles around us. So, the rhythm waves would need a medium. I think we have them in the ocean of “glass beads” that are in Shadesmar. When Jasnah was hearing the Parshendi drums during the night of Gavilar’s assassination, she commented on how the drums sounded. This would explain a lot about the Listeners/Parshendi. They appear to have a deeper connection the Cognitive Realm than most other species. They are constantly are attuning to different rhythms (Resolve, Appreciation, etc) and these rhythms help them communicate and stay in sync. In the case of the drumming, each drummer was probably playing a different Rhythm, giving it a polyrhythmic sound. This is basically how Samba beats work in Brazilian music. With syncopated beats, they all eventually line back up at some point. The Rhythms seems to do the same thing during highstorms. These rhythms are then universal and are heard in the listener’s head. So the rhythms come from the cognitive realm, but from whence do they originate? We get this quote from Brandon: The beats can plausibly be attained to the Shards and their power being used. This extends to the powers given through Investiture being used (Allomancy, Surgebinding, etc). This is what the Listeners hear, as well as Vin when she was first trying to push through the coppercloud. The Listeners are also very similar to Pattern with the emotions that they attune to. Pattern is constantly buzzing and vibrating in different ways that appear to correlate to emotions. He is likely attuning to the same rhythms that the Listeners do, given that they both have strong connections to the Cognitive realm. I’d love to get feedback on this. Thoughts? Am I just retreading old ground here? I looked around and couldn’t find much on this, but that’s not to say this hasn’t been discussed. Edit: Grammar

What would Hoid do if he had his own Shard? My personal theory is that he would create his own magic system based off of himself, called Scourgebinding. Instead of bonding with spren to gain powers, Scourgebinding involves bonding with articles of clothing. Thus, the Tights Radiant were born. (Hoid can be a very cruel person when he’s not trying to stop violent Shards.) Thievery: The Scourge of Skillful Kleptomania. Those with this scourge impulsively and expertly pickpocket anyone they meet. Bafflement: The Scourge of Utter Stupefaction. Those who use this scourge gain the ability to make all people nearby gawk at them in complete confusion. Annoyance: The Scourge of Obsessive Irritation. Those who have this scourge gain the ability to make all around them groan in pain, as they receive an eternal headache. Insanity: The Scourge of Incoherent Blather. Those with this scourge have the uncanny ability to cause others around them to back away in fear. Stalking: The Scourge of Alarming Pursuit. Those with this scourge become ultimate ninjas, capable of walking right behind people without being noticed, and instinctively knowing the location at which someone lives. Disguise: The Scourge of Surreptitious Sneakiness. Those who have earned this scourge have the ability to instantaneously grow any kind of mustache. Insufferable Conceit: The Scourge of Willful Snobbery. Those with this scourge have the ability to cause everyone they meet to instantly lose their respect for them. Insult: The Scourge of Offensive Heckling. Those with this scourge are granted the ability to break friendships, end relationships, and start battles in the most hilarious and ironic ways possible. Humor: The Scourge of Friendly Mocking. Those using this scourge can make all around them giggle stupidly, laugh obnoxiously, or chuckle incoherently. Wandering: The Scourge of Aimless Striding. Those with this scourge have the honorable ability to take the longest possible path to reach a destination, and to invariably get lost in the most straightforward places. First Ideal of the Tights Radiant: Novelty before Redundancy, Alias before truth, Goofiness before fashion. Windstunner: The Tights Radiant Order of Thievery and Bafflement. Windstunners were an order known for their underhanded methods of robbery. They would often act like total buffoons, attracting attention and causing complete confusion. Suddenly, they would strike down upon their foes, pickpocketing them and running away and laughing maniacally before their victims were able to come to their senses. The Windstunners also taught their own squires about the art of deceit. In truth, the Windstunners only recruited squires so that they could be pickpocketed. Windstunners are bonded to Beltspren. Second Ideal of the Windstunners: I will confound those who cannot confound themselves. Third Ideal of the Windstunners: I will confound even those I hate, so long as it is humorous. Sighbreaker: The Tights Radiant Order of Bafflement and Annoyance. The Sighbreakers were one of the most despicable orders of the Tights Radiant. They had numerous verbal spars with the Windstunners, because they believed that the Windstunners were using the Scourge of Thievery immoral. During these verbal battles, the Windstunners would often stealthily pickpocket the Sighbreakers. The Sighbreakers were named for the sighs of agony that come from anyone within audible range their Annoying drivel. Sighbreakers are bonded to Hatspren. Second Ideal of the Sighbreakers: I will put obnoxiousness before all else. Cussbringer: The Tights Radiant Order of Annoyance and Insanity. Cussbringers were a reckless order, often hanging at the edge of sanity (and cliffs). They were a particularly vicious order because of their combined use of the Scourge of Annoyance and Insanity. Whereas the Sighbreakers would eventually feel remorse for those they Annoyed, the Cussbringers were Insane; they would never shut up. The term “Cussbringers” was coined quickly, and the other orders, particularly those with the Scourge of Insult, would line up and systematically shout curses at unruly Cussbringers. Cussbringers are bonded with Sockspren. Hedgedancer: The Tights Radiant Order of Insanity and Stalking. The Hedgedancers were one of the most disconcerting orders, often found sneaking on top of hedges or atop roofs. As they had the Scourge of Stalking, they were impulsively compelled to follow and spy on those they felt were suspicious. Of the two orders with Scourge of Stalking, the Hedgedancers were by far the least sneaky and the clumsiest. They would try to attract as much attention to themselves as possible, but their Stalking ability also caused them to become impossible to see by those they were Stalking. Hedgedancers tended to find the highest places possible to Stalk their victims. Once they found their victim’s house, they would enter and their Insane Scourge would take over, forcing them to juggle fruits or stand on one foot or do other impractical things. The Hedgedancers are bonded to Glovespren. Second Ideal of the Hedgedancers: I will stalk those who think they have been forgotten. Truthstalker: The Tights Radiant Order of Stalking and Disguise. The Truthstalkers were the ultimate masters of ninja-ness. They could impersonate anyone and Stalk anyone they wished. The other orders used them as spies, informants, and pranksters. The Truthstalkers themselves wished to find out the truth behind human behavior. But after centuries of fruitless searching and Stalking, they realized that there are no truths behind human behavior; humans are completely irrational. Truthstalkers are bonded to Jacketspren. Fightweaver: The Tights Radiant Order of Disguise and Insufferable Conceit. The Fightweavers were a sly, conniving order who would spark fights and wars. With the Scourge of Disguise, they would imitate a random person nearby, and with the Scourge of Insufferable Conceit, they would provoke anger and jealousy into anyone who heard their words. Then, the Fightweaver would use Disguise to return to their normal self, and the mob would attack the person whom the Fightweaver was imitating. Due to their underhanded techniques, they were not well-liked by the other orders. The Fightweavers did not have any Ideals other than the First Ideal. Instead, their power grew as they started conflicts. Fightweavers are bonded with Scarfspren. Blame-Someone-Elsecaller: The Tights Radiant Order of Insufferable Conceit and Insult. The Blame-Someone-Elsecallers were known for accusing others for their crimes. They were the most provocative order of the Tights Radiant, shouting out Insults while simultaneously praising their own magnificence. The Blame-Someone-Elsecallers were often not successful in their attempts to blame others, so they hired Truthstalkers and Fightweavers to Disguise themselves as distractions. The Blame-Someone-Elsecallers are bonded to Vestspren. Witshaper: The Tights Radiant Order of Insult and Humor. The Witshapers were called the most holy of the orders, and they often had visions with the great and mighty Hoid. Through him, they learned the wittiest Insults and puns to torture their victims with. Speaking with a Witshaper was a great honor, as much as it was horrible and agonizing. The Witshapers instigated wars, baffled linguists, and tortured passers-by with their sleight of tongue. To keep up their reputation, they brought tall, foldable stools wherever they traveled. Once they reached a place they felt was important, they set down their stool and sat atop it, shouting down Insults at whomever was unfortunate enough to pass by. Witshapers are bonded to Cloakspren. Phonyward: The Tights Radiant Order of Humor and Wandering. The Phonywards were Wandering travelers who spread warmth and joy throughout the world. They used their Humor and made witty jokes to anyone they saw. They were constantly Wandering, and were a rather superfluous order since nobody could ever locate them unless they were not looking for them in the first place. The reason that the created such witty puns and Wandered constantly was that they were actually a very insecure order, and would search all their life for a place to fit in. They used their jokes and puns to cover up their insecurities, which is why they were known as the Phonywards. They are bonded to the reclusive Sandalspren. Bondbreaker The Tights Radiant Order of Wandering and Thievery. The Bondbreakers were an order of only three, because Hoid would never be so cruel to let more of them run rampant in the world. Actually, yes he would. But, in any event, there were only three Bondbreakers at any one time. It was up to the Bondbreakers to instigate rivalries and wars between the orders of the Tights Radiant. They Wandered about, finding other Tights Radiant members, and used Thievery to stealthily steal from them. The victims blamed the other orders, and wars broke out between orders. But the Bondbreakers’ work was never finished. Bondbreakers are bonded with Trouserspren. Second Ideal of the Bondbreakers: I will divide instead of unite. I will break men apart. …And meanwhile, Hoid will be sitting back in his Shardic castle, laughing at the foolish things the petty mortals attempt to do with this magic system.

With Wit, he lost a battle of wits, and so, epithetically berift, he used with thrift his manly fists.

Got bored, so I made some parody/joke profile pics for members of the site! These are all in good fun, so don't sue me. PorridgeBrick Swimming-lee Kurkistan Skaa ChaOS Arrrr-gent Awesomeness Summoned TheOnlyJoe Kobold King The Greypilgrim TheOnlyJoe's consolation Mailliw73 Ashiok Xanas the 18th Shard Leonardus BreathTaker Delightful Leftinch Baine Aether Quiver (Animated) Random Fractal Of course I made one for myself, too. Because if you can't laugh at yourself you'll be the only one not laughing. T_T

Ok. So in one of my classes we've had to write poetry, and one of the poems required is an ode. I had no idea what to do for mine so I wrote one about FeatherWriter(please don't hate me after this). It's bad, because I am a horrible poet. This is the rough draft. *ahem* Here goes. *winces* Ode to Feather There is a beautiful writer Her name is Feather Her prose can make ones day brighter It does not matter if she’s describing the weather Or Renarin, brave and true She loves him to death And if you listen to her so will you She’d argue to her dying breath That he(and Loki) are the best In one way the featherblades are like Szeth Steadfast in our quest That is, to guard Our Lady, Feather Comments, concerns criticisms and hate-mail all welcome. *sigh* I'm so, so sorry.

For the most part, I can see what you're going for now. I'm still not sold on basically only one role standing in the way and the Gyorn probably won't survive, but the Odiv has a pretty good chance of it then. That will be interesting when that happens. They've all been working together to find the Gyorn and then they have to turn on each other to find the Odiv! Thing is, it could be a quick game if the Priest happens to die early, which is entirely luck based. If one of the other roles couldn't be converted as well, then the Gyorn has a better chance of surviving simply because the Converts will have to decide between three possible candidates in the late game and then you have a back up role which can stop the Shu-Dereth from getting an easy win due to an unlucky lynch early. Everything else looks amazing and I've already called dibs amongst the other mods to make sure I get to play in it! (Sorry Wilson and Gamma!) If I see anything else or I come up with a scenario where a role might unbalance things, I'll let you know.

*Turns to the Featherblades and begins to speak* Featherblades, Feathertips, and assorted Feathermancers (plus one Featherfarmer) I may not be one of you, nor may I have any desire to join your ranks, but today we have met a great foe. The name we know him by is Shroom. He has insulted your Lady Feather multiple times across many places in the great expanse known as the internet. He has insulted her bravery, her loyalty and her followers. He has insulted here in her very own thread. WILL YOU STAND FOR THIS?!?! Even now his forces grow. He has amassed followers with promises of kiwifruits, and others who flock to him simply to oppose Feather, but he is no true leader. His followers require bribes and the others join him in fear of Feather, and the Featherblades! You loyal followers are the bane of people such as he. He and his followers are cowards, and they deserve to be smitten by your righteous wrath. All we simply need to do is march outside this throne room and vanquish the forces of evil. With Featherspears, Featherblades, and assorted fungicides we shall destroy this enemy. Every minute we wait is another minute these enemies draw breath. I may not be one of you, nor do I share your same sentiments about Feather all the time, but in this case she must be defended, and I will not back down. I cannot guarantee you victory, nor can I guarantee that you will have glory, but I promise you that this thread, will be a thread to remember. FOR VICTORY AND HONOR!! *Summons a blue Shardshield, and a tan Shardblade, then proceeds to march outside of the throne room*

I've always found the idea of incredibly mundane people worshipped as deities to be hilarious, so that might be a subtle humor that's suitable. Examples include the town drunk, a dirty old man, an old crone that still fancies herself a looker, a thief, etc. Another thing to note is that honestly, the Greek Gods were incredibly immature. For goodness sakes, the Trojan War was started because two goddesses were offended that one dude didn't choose their gift! They acted suspiciously like bratty six year old kids with ADHD (which is why I found the Percy Jackson series to be so painfully accurate and humorous). Also, if you're going for a specific character, I'd like mine to be an extremely voluptuous and seductive woman... whose domain is purity, chastity, and virtue. And if a man dares to think dirty thoughts about her, she'd hit them over the head with something. A whip, I don't know. I think that'd be pretty funny!

Quick cover up her safe hand! I'm sorry but I'm going to have to report you. That is a little too racy for this forum

When he sneezes, a highstorm starts.

*Descends from the ceiling in a shower of mist and a theatric ball gown and elaborate mask* ATTENTION RENARIN THREAD. I HAVE BEEN SUMMONED. BY VIRTUE OF YOUR DISCUSSION HERE MY RENARIN SENSES HAVE DETECTED THAT I AM NEEDED ...and by that I mean "I was over in a cosmere chat and someone informed me I was being summoned and then gave me a link to this thread." BUT REGARDLESS. THE SUMMONING HAS HAPPENED. I AM HERE TO BESTOW MY PRESENCE UPON THIS THREAD AND SHOWER EVERYONE IN RENARIN-TARGETED AFFECTION. *dusts self off* Alright, let's get down to business. First of all, lwd24era. You are amazing and you might be my favorite newbie on this site. You appreciated Renarin on your own? Enough to start a thread about appreciating him? And you're okay with Kalarin? Hello, if I ever decide to take over the world or something I will give you Australia probably. See, as people have *cough* 'warned' you, I'm kind of a very vocal Renarin supporter. In that I tend to write lots of essays defending him and fanfics about him and he's kind of my favorite character from anyone ever and people who say bad things about him in my presence tend to just kind of... disappear. Over the years the fact that I never ever ever shut up about him means that some other people have realized how amazing he is too. But normally I have to like, go through step-by-stup of why he's so great. You though? Figured it out all on your own? On a first readthrough? Dang. You trumped even me! (Renarin, darling I am sorry that I ignored you on my first readthrough I am so sorry I messed it up I got distracted by the Kaladin and did not appreciate you enough.) Now then... *glances up at thread* it appears that my reputation has preceeded me. It has preceeded me to the point that this thread went from "appreciating Renarin" to "Feather-watch" which is absolutely attrocious how dare all of you he is amazing and I am lame everyone should be appreciating Renarin like all the time why are people talking about me when they could be talking about Renarin this is a travesty I will fix this so much. SO. ON TO ACTUAL RENARIN APPRECIATION. The Renarin tag on Adonalsium has fanart, fanfic, and essays about him which you should check out! (If you're wondering who has the "renarinkholin" tumblr, it is me. It is so me. I own that tumblr and it is mine and I am never letting it go.) As for my actual contributions to Renarin appreciations well. They are numerous, wordy, and usually pretty long. You see, there's sometimes people on here who do not appreciate Renarin the way they should. And when that happens, I have to sit them down and explain them things. Because it is my ever-held theory that people who do not appreciate Renarin are people who haven't been paying enough attention. If you find yourself with an abundance of time and want to read some aggressive Renarin appreciation, I can pick out a few of my favorites: Why Renarin is did WAY MORE THAN 'NOTHING' in Words of Radiance (WoR Spoilers) Why Renarin is an incredibly strong character (Wor Spoilers) Why Renarin is not going to be evil (Spoiler Free!) I tried to find some others that I'd written that were spoiler free, but I can't remember any off the top of my head besides that one. It's been too long... Sorry! As for the rest of you... It's funny. I've been sitting here typing this up for the past hour or so. Ever since Lurthemir mentioned that I was online... (Which I will admit, was a little freaky that as soon as I check the thread someone updates that they're watching where I am on the site. Not gonna lie.) And then Lisa jumped in to reassure that I wasn't angry (because I've been writing this up while chatting with her in FNCC) and then strangely, Lurthemir thought I was gone. Hmmm. Don't know why. I've been sitting here typing on this page. Watching the new posts upload. Thinking that they're safe from me. No one is ever safe from the Fandom Monster. Not when Renarin is involved. How can you hope to outrun me, when I'm already here?

I never formally introduced myself. So here goes: He wrestled a chasmfiend... naked. He hunts the Ghostbloods. His Investiture has been known to affect Shards on other worlds, if only slightly. He doesn't need to introduce himself in the first person. He is the Most Interesting Man in the Cosmere.

I raised this question in another thread, but thought it deserved a broader audience: Why haven't we seen any Herald spren? The Heralds are as much an idea as Honor or Cultivation. Even though the Heralds are human, one would think that through the Vorin religion they've become idealized and should have become personified by the spren. If the Stormfather and the Nightwatcher, so-called "Godspren" (at least in this Forum), personify Honor and Cultivation (at least in part), why aren't there spren personifying each of the Heralds? Or maybe there are...Can "maybe-Taln" actually be a Taln-spren that's found a human warrior to bond with? That might explain "Taln's" confusion - his spren just hasn't adjusted to the Physical Realm yet. The human host might have lost his own memories, perhaps in a western Roshar battle, since there seems to be an ongoing war there.So all he's got is his spren trying to figure "Taln"-things out on his own. I don't know whether the host's abnormally quick reflexes are natural to him or spren/Stormlight-enhanced, and I assume he would have had his own shardblade, since it's clearly neither an Honorblade or a spren-blade. Or maybe it IS Taln who's been bonded by his own spren? Not really pushing the Taln-spren idea - it requires a lot of twisting of what we know to shoehorn it into something plausible - but it does seem odd that we haven't encountered a Herald spren. Thoughts?

Welcome back to Monster Melee, also known as "The Ballad of Roshone's Revenge." In this thread, we discuss battles between various monsters, and then I, using your suggestions and input, write a battle scene with the results voted on by the 17th shard. The battle is staged between Hearthstone's own Roshone and his eternal enemy (yes, I know that could mean anyone who has met him) the Whitespine This week, we have a very special installment. The Rise of the Trolloss! If you've been tuning in weekly, you remember the major events from last week. If you haven't, you really should get caught up before reading this week's story portion. So for this week, I'm going to be running things a bit differently. The match up this week is an army of skeletals (size TBD) against the insanely scary Trolloss! Since we're dealing with a creature of our own devising, we'll have to have an extensive debate to decide on exactly how uber powerful this thing is. As such, I won't be opening the polls until a good sized debate has ensued. So, as a group, we need to discuss the capabilities of the Trolloss, and come up with a number for the Skeletal Army that could actually pose a fighting chance against this great beast. Once the voting dust has settled, I'll start writing up a battle scene using the mechanics we discuss in the fight. Skeletals:http://coppermind.net/wiki/Skeletal These things are puny! We're going to need a lot of them to even put up any sort of fight. There's not much information on them in the coppermind unfortunately, but they'll be perfect for an epic showdown with the Trolloss. Trolloss: As we discuss, I'll try to add everything we decide on here. Needless to say though, this is one major baddie. A few things to keep in mind: If you join the discussion late, try to read all the posts, that way you don't miss out on any battle parameters that have already been suggested. I'm very open to any ideas! I started this thread intending to just have battle scenes each week, but suggestions from 17th Sharders have inspired this thread into its large scale state its in now. The more we debate, and the more ideas you submit, the more material I'll have to pull from for the battle, throw those ideas out there! Finally, enjoy yourself! I've been having a blast creating this thread with you guys, and I hope you're having as much fun reading and participating. Let's have some fun! Edit: I'm posting the battle scene here, as well as in the post later in the forum, for ease of reading in the future.

Hi everyone, New to the site and have a question. I've done some looking around and can't seem to find anything regarding this. It seems like a fairly obvious question that nobody is asking but it's very possible that I've missed the an obvious answer or it's already being discussed somewhere. If so I apologize in advance. We all know that Szeth is given a sword that is potentially Nightblood from WarBreaker. I don't think there's any argument there. However, when Nin brings Szeth back from the dead, he tells him that he he is perfect for the order of Skybreakers. This is confusing to me on a number of levels. As far as we know there are only two ways to become a surgebinder; bond with a spren or be in possession of an honor blade. Szeth has no spren and is now without an honor blade. So, my question is how can he become a Skybreaker? Does he have a spren that he/we are unaware of? Any clarification / theories are much appreciated!

As the man in charge of feeding the Feathertroops, I must learn how to make these "Scadrian waffles"

Tion had stayed up all night. He wouldn't let them come after him while he slept. If he were to die, he would try to take one of them with him. Luckily for him, it seemed that these Ghostbloods had other targets in mind for the evening. When he finally went outside and heard that Pailian was dead, he smiled with true delight. Perhaps I've scared them off, he thought. Their time will come, but at least for now, I have no problems with them killing off commoners who try to rise above their station. He was so happy, he had his servants set up his breakfast outside in front of his palace. As he was eating, that strange Shin fellow with his penchant for stuff animals, Jain, walked by. Tion eyed him and a little of his mood soured. "There is another who needs to learn his place," he mumbled before going back to his breakfast. That's a touch break for us, losing an Emotional Bracelet. Hopefully, he had a heir and that was the item they got. Yes, I'd rather the Ghostbloods didn't have possibly two reversers, but we really need that Emotional Bracelet! Jain, you've been highly inconsistent most of the game so far. First you claim to have a Painrial and then last night, you're looking for protection from the person who actually has the Painrial. Also, if you really have one, then I don't see why they'd go after Sphinx and let you continue to live. I also think that you're confusion about the kills and the different rules is a front. If I'm wrong; I'm sorry, but for now, my vote is for you.

or Gold to see exactly where you dropped it

HOLD UP. SHROOM YOU GET YOUR GROOS NASTY KERJISH FACE OUT OF MY FANCLUB THIS INSTANT BEFORE I SMITE YOU. YOU USCK AND I AHTE YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE AWFUL AND MY SWORN RIVAL FOREVER. JUST SHUDDUM AND STOP LEAKING STUPIDITY EVERYWHERE LIKE A BROKEN MORON FAUCET, YOU WORTHLESS FUNGUS. ...the only problem is that nobody on 17S knows about our eternal rivalry because you never freaking post over here and you only ever get on tumblr and the cosmere chats you ksjkleksjlkjkslj;eiowhsdflkjeslkerk. *coughs* Featherblades, allow me to introduce Shroom. Also known as RenegadeShroom, also known as InsurrectionistFungus. He is my kismesis which basically means we hate each other with the passion of a thousand suns and we also have our own dumb language that consists of both of us ironically using each other's typos. It's a very complicated sort of mutual rivalry that consists of a lot of dumb insults and lots and lots of capslock. I do have copious amounts of evidence showing how horribly lame and completely worthless he is though over on tumblr of course. Now that introductions are out of the way. SHROOM GET OUT OF HERE. YOU MADE A BIG MISTAKE. COMING INTO MY THREAD. THE FEATHERBLADES WILL DESTROY YOU. AND IT WILL BE AMUSING TO WATCH.

Wow, reading all the different names was really interesting! Also, Renarin good at tactics but not so great at execution, that sounds a lot like him, darling. Elhokar seems more impulsive and petty in this little section, while those are still attributes of his, the final draft has tempered it down a lot, and I appreciate that. Meridas is Amaram's first name in SA right now, isn't it? That's interesting to consider as well. I have to say, as a writer, I really have to appreciate Brandon releasing early draft stuff like this. I know writers like artists are often really protective and not proud of their early work and don't like people reading it, but honestly, it's very inspiring to see these kinds of drafts. Are they rougher and less polished? Absolutely. And yet, the idea that Brandon has improved so much in his writing style and pacing and characterization and everything gives people like me hope that if we just keep practicing, we can improve too.

*sits back and watches* Well this is amusing to say the least. Also, I tend to check my updated threads and then open tabs to all of them as a sort of checklist of things I need to read and respond to. So it often shows me as currently on like 17 pages at once. I AM EVERYWHERE. HOW CAN YOU HOPE TO OUTRUN ME WHEN I AM ALREADY HERE?

Wow. Brandon Sanderson's so awesome, even his crazily devoted fans have crazily devoted fans.

Taravangian tells Szeth that one of the seven honorblades the Shin have in their keeping is missing, and suggests that it might allow progression, explaining Kaladin's ability to heal. Taravangian is lying. There is absolutely no evidence that he has received any such reports, because if he had, he would probably be a tad more concerned about them. If he had, Adrotagia would not compliment him on his ability to deflect Szeth the way she does. If he had, he would not be so adamant about Szeth avoiding Kaladin (there are two reasons for this, he doesn't want Szeth to discover the truth, and he doesn't want to put Kaladin in a position where his bond can deepen). So the Shin still have seven honorblades. Szeth/Kaladin has one. Taln has one (even if we don't know where it actually is right now). According to WoB, one herald kept his honorblade. Most people think that this person was Nalan, although this hasn't been a hundred percent confirmed. That means that all the honorblades are accounted for, with the exception that we don't know exactly what is going on with Taln's honorblade. We can be confident that the Herald with the honorblade is not one of the progression honorblades, because both of those are held by female heralds. It's also very likely that this herald "kept" his blade by taking it almost immediately after abandoning it. Nalan used some sort of progression soulcaster/fabrialthing to heal Szeth. He pretty much says so, and you can see it as he is putting it away. This is correct.

You are a mean mean person

Sell. I bet he's waiting for the Third Mistborn Trilogy for his time in the spotlight. And I may I ammend Caleb the Geek's proposal? Brandon Sanderson will create a world covered in sentient fuzzy creatures, but they will possess such detailed worldbuilding, intricate magic systems, and Cosmere-aware religion that not a single Sharder will think anything of it. I mean, come on. Syl is basically an awesome version of Tinker Bell.

Haha! Incidentally, I attended a free Filipino martial arts lesson a couple of weeks ago. The female instructor taught me some basic knife-fighting exercises. The whole time I pretended I was holding an obsidian dagger instead of a wooden practice knife, and that the instructor was Vin. Anyway, the Philippines is generally considered part of Southeast Asia (like Malaysia and Singapore), not Oceania. Moving it to the Asia category would be very much appreciated! Alright! I'll send her a PM later: "Hey! Aether wants to nibble at your toes. Please tell him where you live."

He is able to insert an object into a USB correctly...on the first try.

I don't know. Feather is unpredictable. She might praise you, be sincerely flattered, be creeped out a little, rant at/about you, or all of them at once.As for the Featherblades, they probably will make an anthem out of it.

Interesting, very interesting. Here are my initial thoughts. I think the Elantrians are horribly overpowered.The rules for exploring Elantris that you hid in that post would make it far too easy for them. ^I wonder if anyone will fall for that. I find it interesting that the converts are working against the one who converted them But as a game mechanic it could be fun. Reminds me of cultists in Munchkin Cthulhu in some ways actually. So if the Gyorn or Odiv tries to convert the Shu-Korath Priest they will get a pm saying they failed? Or they just won't appear on the list of converts. Dula, yay Cupid! Ahem, do the lovers get a shared victory with the Gyorn and Odiv priest if everyone is converted? As their only victory condition is to "survive". So the King/Queen is a revealed role from the start? Pirate will be interesting. Though thematically it is odd that your hostage doesn't know they are one. I am guessing you are thinking of Vivenna/Denth. I like the debtor. It should make things more interesting. Oooh, the Hoed rules look challenging and fun.

Do ask her to stop by. And tell her I won't bite, only ever so slightly nibble at her toes.

I do not dislike him. I reserve my dislike for other characters. I do not feel strongly for him and I did not enjoy his plot line in WoR. I do have trouble connecting with him as a character. I understand very well why he does the things he does, but I still cannot connect with him, not in the way I connect with other characters. I just do not feel for him. As I have stated before, he may still grow on me. In other books, there has been characters I hated that turned out being favorites and other I loved I turned out hating, so nothing is lost. Your parallel is interesting. I have never saw it this way. I have always considered bravery must be shown after one has analyzed every single possibility and yet decides to take the jump. It is true however real life heroism happen in different ways. Thank you.

He gave Adonalsium "The Talk".

MUhahahahahahahahahaha!!! I mean... ahem... I am Ruin...

Wearing all white, the assassin tonight I must be sure that I'm seen The king of Alethkar must die And he will, by me The storm is swirling as the light is brought inside. Couldn't keep it in, my Honor won't try. As I come in, I'll let them see. Be the truthless I'll always have to be. Reveal, don't feel, but let them know And now they know! Let it go, let it go Can't hold it back anymore Let them know, let them know Full lash and slam the door. Here I am, and you may try But the storm rages on Understand, you're gonna die.

THEORY IN BRIEF I believe the Surges keep Odium captive in the Rosharian planetary system. As part of his long-term plan, Odium causes the listeners to create the Everstorm. The Everstorm will block the Highstorms’ reinvestment of Stormlight on Roshar. Without that reinvestment, the Surges will not be able to renew themselves. Roshar will break apart, and Odium will be free to leave the Roshar system. While the Everstorm circles, the human and other survivors will find themselves besieged in Urithiru surrounded by the Voidbringer hosts. Urithiru’s Stormlight resources will be severely depleted. To restore them, Kaladin will break free of the siege, travel to the Origin, and bring back to Urithiru substantial new Stormlight reserves. Urithiru will then be capable of fighting the Voidbringers and holding out far longer than Odium expects. Odium, fearing he may lose this war, will be forced to accept the challenge of a duel of champions. Kaladin will defeat Odium’s champion, reestablishing Odium’s captivity. “TANAVAST’S DESIGN” OF ODIUM’S CAPTIVITY The Rosharian System Imprisons Odium The writer of the “second letter” claims Odium cannot leave the Rosharian system: “Rayse is captive. He cannot leave the system he now inhabits. His destructive potential is, therefore, inhibited.” (Epigraph to WoR Chapter 69.) The writer is unsure “[w]hether this was Tanavast’s design or not…” (Epigraph to WoR Chapter 70.) The Surges Form the Prison The WoR Ars Arcanum author believes the ten Surges – “thought to be the fundamental forces by which [Roshar] operates – are more accurately a representation of the ten basic abilities offered to the Heralds, and then the Knights Radiant, by their bonds.” (WoR Hardcover, p. 1084.) The in-world Words of Radiance author describes the Surges as “the bonds that drive Roshar itself.” (WoR Epigraph to Chapter 38, emphasis added.) If the Surges do not accurately describe the “fundamental forces” of Roshar, then Honor must have had some other reason for placing them on Roshar. Whether by design or not, the result of their creation was to imprison Odium in the Rosharian system. Evidence The best proof that the Surges imprison Odium is the action he takes to escape his captivity. That is the Everstorm. Honor fears the Everstorm will cause Roshar to fall into dust. (WoK Paperback, pp. 1244-45.). That is the expected result when the “bonds that drive Roshar itself” – that literally hold the planet together – are stripped away. Odium has no other reason to destroy Roshar. If he simply wanted to splinter Cultivation, he does not need to destroy Roshar to do so. He did not destroy Sel when he splintered Devotion and Dominion there and he did not previously destroy Roshar when he splintered Honor. The destruction of Roshar is simply the by-product of the elimination of the Surges. That is why I conclude that the Surges are the instruments of Odium’s captivity. ODIUM’S PLAN TO FREE HIMSELF Stormlight Reinvests Roshar’s Magic, Including the Surges Odium’s plan is to interrupt the cycle of magical reinvestment on Roshar, causing the Surges to fail. WoB (somewhere) states that magical investiture is generally a renewable resource. On Roshar, Stormlight is the means of that renewal. Kaladin describes Stormlight as “the Surges reduced to some primal form.” (WoR Hardcover, p. 469.) WoB analogizes Stormlight to the mist in Mistborn, It is the gaseous state of Honor’s (and Cultivation’s?) investiture on Roshar. Two Elements to Odium’s Plan Odium’s plan has two broad elements. The first is to soak up existing Stormlight through the creation of a horde of Voidbringers. Voidbringers, according to Szeth, can “hold [stormlight] in perfectly” (WoK Paperback, p. 13). The second element is to block the Highstorms’ reinvestment of Stormlight. The Everstorm accomplishes both elements. The Everstorm will gain strength with each of its revolutions around Roshar. Its next pass will convert the Parshmen into Stormform listeners. During future passes, these new listeners will add their song to what the Shattered Plains listeners started, increasing the size and scope of the Everstorm. In his dream Kaladin sees the Everstorm as “so enormous as to make the continent – the world itself – into nothing by comparison“ – much bigger than when the Everstorm began on the Shattered Plains. (WoR Hardback, p. 369, emphasis in original.) Because the Everstorm moves in the opposite direction from the Highstorms, as it grows in force it will first prevent the Highstorms from reaching the Rosharian continent. Eventually the Everstorm may prevent Highstorms from forming at all, blowing them away at their birth. WoB states Highstorms were initially a meteorological event, but at some point became magical as well, presumably through the addition of Stormlight. We don’t know how Stormlight gets added to the Highstorms, although it’s a safe guess that that occurs at the Origin. Regardless, it seems reasonable to assume that a catastrophic storm multiples larger than a Highstorm should be able to kill a Highstorm in its cradle. The Diagram’s Prediction Taravangian’s Diagram seems to agree that the Everstorm is Odium’s path to freedom: "destroy [the listeners] outright before [one of them] obtains their power. ​It will form a bridge." (Epigraph to WoR Chapter 89, reformatted and emphasis added.) I interpret this statement to mean the Everstorm (created by the listeners’ “power”) is the bridge by which Odium will escape the Rosharian system. Odium’s Plan to Destroy Surgebinders Part of Odium’s plan has been to thwart or destroy those who might oppose him – Surgebinders: the Heralds and the KR. Odium has used several tactics to implement this stratagem: First, he influenced nine of the Heralds to abandon the Oathpact (as many in this Forum have speculated). Second, I believe Odium caused the Recreance (whatever its apparent immediate cause) to break up the KR and eliminate them. Third, he influenced Nale to kill fledging surgebinders (as many in this Forum have speculated) so the KR could not reestablish itself. Fourth, he caused the listeners to create the Everstorm. If the Everstorm can eliminate Stormlight, neither the Heralds nor the KR will be able to surgebind, When Odium first set upon his plan, he was dealing only with the Heralds, inefficient users of Stormlight through their Honorblades. The spren, perhaps in anticipation of the Everstorm, created the Nahel bond with humans, a much more efficient means of using Stormlight and, hence, the Surges. This flaw in Odium’s plan enables the KR to hold out longer than Odium expects during the Siege of Urithiru. Odium’s Plan Began Many Millenia Ago Odium has been planning for the Everstorm a long time. The Stormfather tells Dalinar that the Everstorm is “a new thing, but old of design.” (WoR Hardcover, p. 1070.) The Desolations began as a war by one of Roshar’s native populations, the listeners, to repel the human invaders of Roshar. WoB states there were no Desolations before humans came to Roshar. The humans won these wars, evicting the listeners from more and more territory. Hatred of humans led some of the listeners to become “unmade” by Odium into his creatures. These listener “gods” introduced the forms of power. Through these forms, Odium began to wield influence among the listeners. Further losses to humans over the millennia led the Lost Legion to abandon their gods. Before the final battle of the Last Desolation, Melishi the Bondsmith developed his plan to enslave listeners by stripping them of their spren rather than destroying them (or so many suspect). I believe Odium influenced Melishi to adopt this plan so that Odium would have potential Stormform listeners available to him when the time came. There has been no Desolation for the past four millennia because Odium realized he didn’t need to cause one – that humankind itself was capable of sufficient hatred without external influence. Thus, Honor tells Dalinar that “[Odium]’s realized that you, given time, will become your own enemies. That he doesn’t need to fight you. Not if he can make you forget, make you turn against one another…” (WoK Paperback, p. 1246, emphasis in original.) Human forgetfulness has made them ignore Parshmen until the time comes for Odium to use them. Recent Events Gavilar came into contact with descendants of the Lost Legion a year or two before SA began. We can assume he found the black stone that he gave to Szeth at about the same time, since that is when Gavilar “changed” (according to several characters). WoB states that the light in that stone is not Stormlight and heavily implies it is a form of Odium’s investiture. Part of Gavilar’s changed behavior was to become more religious. He also joined/founded the Sons of Honor, with Amaram. Their goal was to bring back the Voidbringers so the Heralds would return. I believe Odium influenced Gavilar in these respects. I also believe Odium influenced Gavilar to share his plan with the visiting listeners, anticipating the listeners would assassinate Gavilar and start the War of Vengeance. (Perhaps it will turn out that Amaram suggested to Gavilar that he do this.) The war reduced the listeners to a state where they were willing to embrace the Everstorm. Odium influenced Venli to re-discover Stormform rather than the forms of peace, as Eshonai expected. We know the rest... HOW ODIUM WILL BE DEFEATED It begins with the re-founding of the KR and their re-occupation of Urithiru. I believe Honor’s plea to Dalinar to “unite them” has multiple levels: unite the KR, unite all humankind, and unite all of Roshar’s peoples, ancient and nouveau. Honor binds, hatred divides – a strong theme of SA. All will join in the war, including some of the Heralds, eventually finding their way to Urithiru. Honor says to Dalinar: “The sun approaches the horizon. The Everstorm comes. The True Desolation. The Night of Sorrows. You must prepare. Build of your people a fortress of strength and peace, a wall to resist the winds.” (WoK Paperback, p. 1242.) Urithiru is shaped with the eastward side flat and the westward side curved to withstand the Everstorm – “a wall to resist the winds.” Honor calls the Everstorm the “Night of Sorrows” because of the extended period of darkness the Everstorm will bring. Members of the New KR Not coincidentally, the KR we currently know or anticipate includes members of different countries and races: at least four from Alethkar (Dalinar, Kaladin, Renarin and Jasnah), one from Jah Keved (Shallan), one from the Reshi Isles (Lift), and one (probably) from Shinovar (Szeth). To these, I believe we can add the following characters (and maybe some others we haven’t met yet): Eshonai. Her fall into the chasms will find Eshonai reunited with her mother and the listeners who escaped Eshonai’s coup. Here her comet spren will finally chase away the stormspren and bond with her, making her a Willshaper – the first listener KR. (It’s hard to imagine her having a book otherwise…) Rysn. Whether or not Rysn (from Thaylenah) ends up a KR, she will be crucial nonetheless because of her Larkin. If she does become a KR, she will be a Releaser/Dustbringer because she is both astonishingly brave (foolhardy?) and obedient (to a fault). She already has had two Interludes… Ym. Since Ym (from Iri) had the Surge of Progression, I’m not convinced he’s dead. If Jasnah, without that Surge, could survive a stab through the heart, I think someone with that Surge should be able to survive as well. Though he was “killed” with a shardblade, so was Szeth, whom Nale resurrected with a Progression fabrial. Ym might have saved himself with his own Progression Surge. Probably a Truthwatcher. Zahel. As a Returned with Divine Breath and access to the Spiritual Realm, Zahel is an ideal candidate for a Bondsmith. By the time he reaches Urithiru, he may have recovered Nightblood. Nightblood will be ecstatic fighting the Voidbringers – so much evil investiture to consume, so little time…I’ll make a prediction here: Nightblood will be the means of destroying Odium, consuming every last bit of his Shard. I suspect that won’t be in SA though. Axies. I’m not sure whether Axies the Collector will be a KR, but if so, I believe he will also be a Bondsmith. Either way, his knowledge of spren will be enormously valuable to the anti-Odium faction: He will find a way to reverse the effects of Odium’s influence on the listeners who adopted the forms of power. Kaladin/Fleet Will Seek New Stormlight Reserves By the time we reach the last book in the series, the Everstorm survivors will be making their last stand at Urithiru, surrounded by the Voidbringer host. The Everstorm will have caused the near divestiture of all of Roshar’s Stormlight by interfering with the Highstorms. Urithiru’s Stormlight reserves will be almost gone, incapacitating the KR. Things will be looking bad for our heroes… In desperation, Kaladin will use the remaining Stormlight reserves to seek out the Origin. The KR will launch a sortie to distract the Voidbringers. Because Kaladin is Fleet, he will race out of Urithiru and make his escape. But where is the Origin? The Origin Is on One of Roshar’s Moons! I believe Kaladin will find Stormlight on one of Roshar’s moons. Here is a WoB on point: Q: “Do the moons relate to the Highstorms at all?” A: “The moons...at all? Sure! You'll love this. The star's age, at Roshar – Earth astronomers would say that is a star which could not have planets with life on them orbiting it.” I interpret Brandon’s oblique, but pertinent, answer in context to mean that the Stormlight that invests the Highstorms and brings life to Roshar comes from one of the moons. He tells us that Roshar should not have life on it, yet it does. He’s tells us in another WoB that “Stormlight makes plants grow” (written into a fan’s book). And his answer here comes in response to a question about the relationship between Roshar’s moons and Highstorms. Here’s another relevant WoB: Q: “If [a Windrunner had] enough heating fabrials and enough Stormlight, how high up could [he] go?” A: “He could theoretically break orbit if he has Stormlight for air, and he could manipulate gravity. They have actually figured how long it would take to make it to the various moons.” I don’t believe the Sanderson Crew did that calculation just for fun. It has to be relevant to the story line. Peter has said that the moons come very close to Roshar during the night: “Roshar's moons are much much closer than our moon. Their elliptical orbits bring them closer to Roshar's surface during the night…” (For an excellent discussion of the astronomy of the Rosharian moons, check out this thread.) It should take Kaladin about two hours to reach the moon that is the Origin (though it is still unclear which one it is). The Larkin Stores the Stormlight Kaladin will take Rysn’s Larkin with him to the moon, where it will store enormous amounts of Stormlight to bring back. Will this increase the Larkin’s size, perhaps turning it into some kind of Greatshell? Will it be able to fly back itself? Will Rysn give it a name…? (Personally, I like Lex Larkin.) Kaladin may suffer significant damage from his potential over-exposure to the Origin’s Stormlight, perhaps crystallizing him like one of Dalinar’s soulcasters. Syl warned him of Stormlight over-exposure in WoR. I suspect that the Larkin will protect Kaladin by absorbing the excess Stormlight from him. The Duel of Champions With the new Stormlight reserves, the Siege of Urithiru will hold out long enough to persuade Odium to agree to a battle of champions: “Vex Odium, convince him that he can lose, and appoint a champion…” (WoR, p. 76.) Kaladin will go up against something representing Odium, and Kaladin will defeat it. (It wouldn’t be much of a story otherwise…) The good guys win, and hatred is again put back in the bottle Some intriguing questions and observations: As a Son of Honor (a real one, not like Gavilar and Amaram), Kaladin will not cheat during the duel. But his opponent will, perhaps with help from other Voidbringers. Will Kaladin be restricted only to the Windrunner Surges? Will his trip to the Origin change him in any way, allowing him access to other powers or Surges? Can he be given the non-Jezrien Honorblades for other Surges, even if he only uses Syl as his shard-weapon? Will he have enough Stormlight to use them all? The End. Thanks for reading!

You... just made me choke on my coffee actually. I just. Okay, friend. I am going to attempt to not be rude about this, but you insult Renarin, you bring the Featherstorm upon yourself. So, sit down. Imma 'splain you a thing. Aleksiel, Swimmngly, and Shadewolf brought up the main points, but just. Renarin. Easily one of the strongest characters in this book. And no, I'm not talking about physical strength necessarily, but his strength of will. The amount of stress and pressure that he goes through is astonishing and his ability to remain functional in the face of the kind of overwhelming opposition he is facing is nothing short of phenomenal. Renarin's ASD, which means already, life is going to be quite a bit more difficult for him than it would be for normal people. There's going to be situations and everyday experiences that might not be stressful to a neurotypical person, but that are going to have an added layer of stress and difficulty for him. So that's there all day, every day. And because of this, the people around him often think he's weird or "creepy" so he's got a level of insecurity about himself that compounds on top of this. Now then, this book, we've got... he starts seeing the future. You know, that thing that Vorinism expressly forbids as a thing of the Voidbringers. I'm pretty sure he's not fully in control of himself when he starts drawing thos glyphs everywhere, so now he thinks he's cursed by the Almighty with blasphemous powers and losing control of himself during highstorms and writing which... yes they're glyphs, but on top of the the future sight, I'm pretty sure he's feeling pretty horrified by what he is doing and what's happening to him. Theeeeen he gets a Shardblade. That is screaming in agony the entire time he touches it. Kaladin touched a Shardblade for what... a few seconds? And the opponent whose blade he touched ran screaming and babbling from the arena after that, sounding like a crazy person because hearing that scream broke him. Not so Renarin. No, Renarin is stronger than that. He takes his blade with a grimace. A single freaking grimace. And then he has to hold it for five days in order to bond it. Yeah. And then keep bringing it out to train with it. And try to use it in battle on a plateau run. Excuse you, Kaladin, you are awesome but you don't even compare to what Renarin goes through with that Blade. And on top of that he doesn't know why. HE THINKS HE'S GOING CRAZY. HE THINKS IT'S JUST HIM THE WHOLE TIME. And how about that duel huh? I'm just gonna quote my response in the other thread because I pretty much said it all there. Darling. Like... I don't even have words for what he went through. There's a reason I sobbed in the last chapter of the book. For minutes on end. Because RENARIN KHOLIN IS AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER AND DANGIT SOMEONE NEEDS TO APPRECIATE HOW AMAZING HE IS AND THE THINGS HE HAS GONE THROUGH. I WILL DO IT. I WILL APPRECIATE RENARIN. AND I WILL TYPE LONG RAMBLY ESSAY LIKE THINGS WITH TOO MUCH CAPS LOCK AT THOSE WHO DO NOT. Renarin. Freaking. Kholin. *drops mic* (Edit. Added quotes.)

Brandon could just add a women or two to make things even or kill Elhokar Besides I believe Adolin has much more room for character development than Elhokar. Elhokar and/or Renarin have the potential to become great people. Elhokar could learn to be a real king and Renarin could learn to be a good KR. They can only improve or go evil in the case of Elhokar Adolin however is one that has been successful, but is forced on a downward path as the world is changing but not him. He had it all and he will have to deal with losing it all. He could rise up to the occasion or fail pathetically or become someone else entirely. Between all stories, he currently has the one I am most interested in reading. All characters we have met so far have been broken some time in the past, not Adolin. With him, we get to see it happen, live. We get to see him reach the bottom as the story unfold, not as flashbacks. With flashbacks, we already know what has happened, we know how the story ends, not with Adolin, we just don't know. His death would be extremely painful for me as a reader and I am sure I am not the only one there. But of course, this is just my personal opinion. I agree however that Dalinar may very well die, but I have been expecting this since the beginning so it won't leave me to traumatize unless Brandon kills him off ridiculously early such as in next book.

No, No, hate leads to suffering... and a faint aftertaste of pickles.

Okay, now you're just being ridiculous.

I thought I had already established that I make my Waffles with hate, not colour recognition! Should work with other waffle making techniques, though.

Pre-Sanderson Books: Oh look, an inconsistency in the books. Oh well, no Author's perfect. Post-Sanderson Books: Oh Look! An inconsistency in the Books! There must be a Massive plot twist coming!

Also, remember that we almost have no information on the planet of Sixth of the Dusk. For all we know, there might be a Shard there. On Threnody, on the other hand (the planet of Silence), we have confirmation that there are no Shards.

Well, Brandon put in that part about Adolin sensing the Thrill in Eshonai on purpose. You are right-- it could very well be to reveal something about Stormform to us. But it is just as likely that Adolin wasn't feeling the Thrill when Eshonai was. I don't think that Radiants and their squires don't feel the Thrill. I think that it was a very important part of Dalinar's story arc in WoK that he stopped feeling/was disgusted by the Thrill, and I find it interesting that in the same general time period that Dalinar officially bonds with the Stormfather and we start seeing real evidence of Windrunner squires we also see Adolin experiencing something so reminiscent of Dalinar's previous experience.

Welcome, Griff, since I haven't seen any of you posts yet! To answer your questions, I think people got so excited about Vasher and Nightblood because 1. We love cosmere crossovers, and they were pretty much the two most blatant crossovers we've yet seen, 2. People genuinely like Vasher and Nightblood as characters. I personally thought they had a cool dynamic, and 3. Because it will he fascinating to see how both of them interact with Roshar and its Investiture. We get really excited about the ways different types of Investiture function and interact, how they are similar and different. Vasher invites some cool speculation about the similarities between Stormlight and Breath. Nightblood is even more fascinating, particularly given some WoBs we have that he is the same thing as a Shardblade. That means that his Cognitive aspect is similar to that of spren and... I think you get the point. About Renarin. First of all, he has actually always had a lot of attention from readers (FeatherWriter always comes to mind when he is mentioned, but he has long been a fan favorite in general). Second, when it is closely considered, Renarin is actually a great, logical choice for a Radiant. His life situation has certainly left him broken to an extent, which is definitely a large part of Radiantness. There has been some speculation/attention given to the relation between Radiants and mental illness, given that Kaladin has Seasonal Affective Disorder and suicidal thoughts, Shallan is self-delusional, there's been some speculation Dalinar has mild bipolar disorder. Renarin's autism makes him fit in with them. The reasons he is a Radiant, a Truthwatcher in particular, will without doubt become clearer with the next books, but overall I wouldn't call his being a Radiant surprising, neither logically or for his being a minor character. Edit:

Take an upvote from me. A "cracked soul" is necessary for bonding with a spren, but I don't think that is what attracts the spren in the first place. Some pretty serious virtue is also needed. People who are "merely" broken won't attract spren in the first place. People who have the right virtue but without cracks will attract spren, but then not be able to bond it. Not sure I'd go so far as to call the magnitude of brokenness irrelevant, though. So far we only have detailed backstory for Kaladin and Shallan, both of whom are seriously mangled! That might not be necessary, but it seems quite likely that it is.

I am not entirely certain that it would have to be invested for that specific purpose at all. As long as it is invested strongly enough, even if it's entire "purpose" is just to sing beautifully when prompted, or something, it should still provide resistance to a Shardblade. In my understanding, it is the amount of investiture that makes the difference, not the direct purpose of the investment (though a invested object made specifically for this might prove more effective at it).

Well this isn't frightening at all...