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Moogle

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Moogle last won the day on March 14 2014

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  1. They're based on real world deities etc., to my knowledge. Nergaoul, for example, seems to be a name derived from the real-world Nergal. Perhaps Lovecraft was similarly inspired?
  2. I can't actually edit the article (I am but a lowly mod), but I've requested that this change be made. I think it's a bit confusing because special Spiritual connections that magic users have are probably made of Investiture. You burn lerasium, you get a connection to Preservation. I believe that making Allomancers in this regard costs Preservation power, thus why the mists made Mistings rather than full Mistborn. But these Spiritual connections don't give the benefits that being Invested does (mental effects, resistance to other Investitures, glowy, etc.). Still trying to fully grok the WoB. Not that the Set's masters are svrakiss necessarily, but this seems like a valid parallel. I was also thinking that the fact that the "svrakiss" inhabited a man described as looking like a homeless man/beggar linked up with mentally unstable people being vulnerable to influence ala Ruin.
  3. Hey there, and welcome to this edition of Around the Cosmere. In this post, we’ll go over highlights of this month’s new WoBs and shine on a spotlight on an interesting theory. If you haven’t read Mistborn: Secret History or Bands of Mourning, you should steer clear of the rest of this post! Spoilers for these books and the Cosmere in general abound. Odyssey Con We were lucky enough this month to get a large number of WoBs (Words of Brandon) from Odyssey Con. A huge thanks goes to Blightsong and Kurkistan for grabbing them for us. Here’s some of the highlights: Odium does not change writings on Roshar like Ruin did. (It’s “not really his thing”.) Dragons can take human form. I wonder if we’ve seen any... Shadows are cast the wrong way in Shadesmar (at least partly) because of how everyone is being drawn to the Great Beyond. It seems that it’s not only when you die that you start getting pulled. Aon Omi is "sort of" like a God Aon, as was theorized a while back. Careful of how you interpret this one, though, as it is “partially adopted”. The screams Szeth hears, as widely theorized, are sort of magical. Someone who did the things he did would not hear them in our world, but anyone who did the things he did in the Cosmere would. It has something to do with the Spiritual Realm. We’ll see a Windrunner other than Kaladin speak an Ideal in a future book. Mistborn aren’t really “Invested” when not burning metals, but they have Spiritual connections that others don’t have which make them passively resistant to things like Forgery and Soulcasting. We also see this in Secret History, where Allomancers aren’t immediately dragged to the Beyond. As a bonus, while burning metals an Allomancer is even more resistant. When people speak of Investiture being corrupted, it often (not necessarily always) just means another Shard’s Investiture has mixed with it. (For reference, this likely refers to the Unmade Sja-anat, who “corrupts” spren who then become thunderclasts.) The follow-up question, on whether this means Nightblood is composed of multiple types of Investiture, was side-stepped. Surgebinders don't have gemhearts. Perpendicularities (large concentrations of Investiture) puncture a hole between the Spiritual and the Physical which is what allows you to use Shardpools to go to the Cognitive. It was noted that Brandon used the word “puncture” almost as if they were spikes. Again, careful of interpreting this one too far: we know that Stormlight glows because it is like a lightbulb screwed into the Spiritual. It’s normal for Cognitive Shadows (and other beings) to get stuck to places due to how they exist through Investiture. This happened with Odium and the two shards on Roshar, Preservation to Ruin, and the Heralds. Elantris crumbled after the chasm because its soul changed to accommodate the Investiture flowing through it (like an Allomantic savant) and its soul was damaged when Investiture stopped flowing through it. Ryshadium evolved to have symbiotic bonds with spren, like much of the rest of Roshar’s wildlife. You can take a look at the full signing reports here. ComicCon FanX We were lucky to have another source of WoBs as well this month. Thanks to Doomquill and theravenchilde for their work here. We don’t have the full transcript yet, so keep an eye out for that! You can steal Surgebinding with Hemalurgy. (There’s been some discussion on whether a Hemalurgically stolen spren could break the bond, and this implies they couldn’t.) Quite a lot of crustaceans on Roshar can grow gemhearts. You can read the full report (and listen to the not-yet-transcribed recording) here. Featured Theory: Trell is Dominion The newest Mistborn books showcase the actions of foreign entities on Scadrial. Bleeder had a spike made of a god metal not related to Harmony, Miles speaks of a Trell, Suit ended up being blown up by something possessing a man, and Bloody Tan was influenced by something. Harmony all-but-tells Wax that he is keeping Scadrial safe from an outside force, which Wax sees as a red mist. Marasi resolves to look into who Trell is, and plenty of people have theorized on their identity here on 17th Shard. The original two big candidates were Odium and Autonomy (the Shard of White Sand). But an interesting alternative emerged: Dominion, or perhaps someone using Dominion’s power. The earliest one to propose the theory, as far as I know, was Tarion in this post. But there was a recent re-evaluation with evidence from Bands of Mourning by Dirigible here. Others have certainly discussed this in other threads; I apologize for not including them here. Some points of evidence for the theory: The agents of Dominion on Sel, the Skaze, are a part of the Fjordell Empire. To no one’s great surprise, pieces of Dominion sought to rule over Elantris and the surrounding area. Why not move on to Scadrial in the future? Brandon has stated “The full [Elantris] sequels will need to be finished before I can do the contemporary (1980s tech) Mistborn novels because of behind-the-scenes Cosmere bits.” The mysterious metal spikes that Paalm used have a very similar appearance to the soulstone that Shai uses (red spots). Not that they’re the same - one is a metal, the other a stone, but Dominion’s power may express itself differently on other worlds. Svrakiss, evil spirits which can control men, are part of the legends of Sel. Sound similar to anything that happened to Suit? The “Faceless Immortal” speaking to Suit at the end was very focused on hierarchy and serving, which is reminiscent of the structure of the Fjordell Empire. Dominion, or those using its power, are certainly an interesting candidate for “Trell”. If you’re interested in looking more in-depth on the arguments for/against, I urge you to check out the threads linked above. Random Fact Here’s this month’s interesting WoB: Could be interesting seeing a Dakhor monk with a Skazeblade fighting a Radiant, no?If you noticed anything wrong up above, please leave a comment letting us know. Have a good month, and happy theorizing!
  4. Q: Is the only reason that Yolen is not reachable, according to Khriss, because it doesn’t have any sentience on it thinking of it as a planet, so it doesn’t appear in the Cognitive? A: Ahh, no. Good question, but no. This was the best question in the signing, I think. Quite interesting that the answer is 'no'...
  5. Basic Lashing would not be visible if you had an Illumination fabrial to hide yourself. And as we see in the Ym interlude, Why was the door into the back room— where Ym slept— open? He usually left that closed. A shadow moved in the blackness back there. “If you’ve come for the spheres,” Ym said, trembling, “I have only the five chips here.” More rustling. The shadow separated itself from the darkness, resolving into a man with dark, Makabaki skin— all save for a pale crescent on his cheek. He wore black and silver, a uniform, but not one from any military that Ym recognized. Thick gloves, with stiff cuffs at the back. Compare to Shallan: Should she become an ardent? No. Something much simpler, something faster. Darkness. Her clothing turned black. Her skin, her hat, her hair— everything pure black. She scrambled back away from the door into the corner of the room, farthest from the slot of a window, stilling herself. With her illusion in place, the Lightweaving consumed the trails of Stormlight that would normally rise from her skin, further masking her presence. Ym doesn't notice Nalan (though his spren does), which to me suggests Nalan was cheating and using an Illumination fabrial to hide and keep himself silent as he entered the house. It could also be an Elsecalling fabrial, I suppose, but I feel relatively confident that Nalan has every Surge available to him.
  6. Nale has a Regrowth fabrial, most likely an Illumination fabrial (he hides in darkness almost exactly like Shallan did), and given how he seems to be everywhere at once, probably a Transportation fabrial. Gravity is extremely flashy, and his use of it is inefficient (assuming he has his Honorblade...), but maybe he doesn't use Transportation and just uses Illumination to hide his glow.
  7. It's directly in the new Elantris edition. It wasn't yet released in 2014.
  8. Yes. A lot more, in my opinion, but perhaps Argent would like to weigh in? Speaking of, I just got my first Twitter answer. The heavy implication here is that the Shard really can choose who can access their system - that, if Preservation wished, anyone could choose to burn metals. This relates to the Elantris AA which mentions something called a Shard's Decision. Very strange... (For future reference: I'm pretty sure people who do @BrandSanderson get answered more than those doing just #whatever. I'm going to do it for all my questions in the future.)
  9. If I were to re-phrase your question, Yata (also please quote me so I get an email letting me know you're asking a question), I'd ask something like: At some point during a use of Hemalurgy, is Ruin's Investiture involved? But even that's pretty vague and confusing. Personally, I didn't think your question was too hard to interpret - at least for Brandon.
  10. As people who asked multiple questions the last time Brandon did this got answers, I plan on asking three, sprinkled throughout the event: 1. #NOOKTalks Could someone bonded to a Seon and infused with the Dor use its Aon like Surgebinders use the Surges of spren? 2. #NOOKTalks Why can someone who isn't from Scadrial use Hemalurgy? Shouldn't they need Ruin's sDNA, like Allomancers need Preservation? (My #2 is very similar to Yata's - I hope at least one of us gets an answer.) Bands spoilers: Edit: You know, I'm going to guess that the answer to #2 is Connection, and while spiking someone you have a very strong Connection to Ruin briefly, and that's why it's sufficient. (Similarly, an Allomancer does NOT have any special Connection to Preservation when he burns metals, so he needs the sDNA.) It's sort of like attracting a spren, only Ruin. MAYBE I'M RIGHT.
  11. I agree the nicrosil is there for some purpose, and I agree it is what allows the use of the medallion. Your explanation is similar to the theory I gave in the second post of our conversation (which I edited in after you posted, sorry). For now, we're just in need of WoBs/new books. I don't think any theory can be compelling enough as things stand to give me strong confidence in anything. All I have is a strong feeling that nicrosil being able to be tapped by anyone is at odds with everything we know of Feruchemy, so I do not favor that theory. It could still be true, of course. A big issue is that Allik is not a reliable source of information, since he was just going to say yes to any theory Wax proposed about how things worked.
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