ItsAllAboutDragons

I hope God Emperor Brandon (may he live forever) has the Scadrians develop spaceflight through semi-real physics. Like, liquid oxygen boosters to break the atmosphere then one big speed bubble around the ship to bugger relativity (they keep using conventional rockets to achieve near-light within the bubble related to FTL outside). In my Imagination Land, the first spaceflight will be a horrible failure because the distance of the steel push to the planet is too far or too hard for any allomancer to maintain. In their pride, the most prominent allomantically gifted try in spite of the obvious lack of anchor points. They drift helplessly in the moonless sky, their slow deaths witnessed at a distance by millions. Many lives lost, many theoretical allomanticians pilloried. Children are taught of this as a fundamental example of hubris, with the dwindling allomancer population being an easy target for ridicule. Their fall from grace leads to the rise of the non-allomantic sciences. There's pointless fighting over it and it's very tragic. Years later, some enlightened dude or dudette has the crazy idea to Harmonize the old and new disciplines, saving a sick Sazed with a power boost and ushering in a new age of wonder. That, or they let their god die (because Trell is less of a nerd or something) and harvest his corpse for oodles of raw medallion materials after killing off the remaining natural allomancers. The Scadrians then arrive on Roshar and are instantly killed by the crazy bug people who are totally gonna win the war

Is there any indication that the Shards outside of Scadrial have a connection to metals? I've always assumed that the metallic system was unique to the Mistborn world, much like spren are unique to Roshar and breaths are unique to Nalthis. I also feel like aluminum is more inert than an opposing power, but there's that pesky idea that things which are already invested are harder to affect with investiture. It's also Cosmere wide, which suggests Adonalsium. So, I guess I'm saying that I see the OP's point but I can't stomach the assumption that the Scadrian godmetals reflect a universal mechanic.

Yes, it's clear as day. Hoid was inspired by Quantum Leap. He leaps from planet to planet, solving the local problems, each time hoping that the next leap will bring him home.

This thread makes me wish the The Liar of Partinel samples were still available. I read it so long ago that my memories of fain life have gone all white and fuzzy. I can also never unlearn of Kaladin the Paladin. On topic: I think Hoid may not have an original name. Even if he did, I don't think it's significant because Hoid is more about being true to his essence than being labeled. Liar plot details: So, in a sense, taking the name Hoid was symbolic of taking the responsibility/role/title of his master. The other names I can remember follow suit as being types of titles. Cephandrius Maxtori is "a long term identity." Identity is more descriptive of a person's role than a name would be, so my tinfoil belief is that this was some sort of descriptive title in a crazy space language. Cephal is a Latin root for head/skull/brain, Darius is a Persian name meaning possessor or king, and max implies biggest. Smush those together, change some letters, cross your eyes, make a bunch of assumptions about God Emperor Sanderson's intentions, and it's OBVIOUSLY a bragging title about being smart and not a proper name. Speaking of which: Roamer, Dust, Wit, and Drifter are descriptions of attributes or roles that he possesses. He drifts and roams like dust in the wind, protected only by his razor wit. That leaves Topaz. All I can say for that is that it feels more like a title than a name. Gems are often attached to power in the Cosmere, so maybe he was known for his awesome magic topaz so people started calling him Topaz. I feel like there's a WoB out there actually saying it was because he wore a Topaz. Lunu'anaki doesn't count. Rock just called him that once. So, these are all titles/attributes/roles. Not names. For all we know, Midius was a title bestowed by his master, Sith style. For all we know, Hoid was originally some nameless orphan nicknamed Stabby Pip who was adopted by a crazy wizard because he was a good liar. All in all, from his conversations with Shallan, it seems he's more into the idea that what's inside a person (their *ahem* intent) is far more important to that person's identity than the label on that person. So, if we ever learn his original name, my bet is that it won't matter. In fact, that'll probably be the point.