Palladia

-- Contains some Secret History information-- On p660 of Hero of Ages, the first generation is discussing the clash between Ruin and Preservation, and notes that Preservation's Mind was basically destroyed: Just from a bit of consideration this brings up a few things: 1) It seems that "the shadow" is refering to the "sliver" that is left of Preservation's mind (referred to in the previous sentence). Shadow + Mind = Cognitive Shadow. I'm noting this link somewhat pedantically, because I think one could say that the second speaker wasn't referring to the Mind anymore, but I think that the juxtaposition makes my reading sensible. 2) If that's true, is the implication here that when a Vessel is sufficiently weakened, to the point that they must give up their Shard and become a Sliver, they would default to a cognitive shadow (I guess assuming they remain in the cognitive realm)? 3) Based on the nearby plot of HoA, I assume that the "image" being discussed is what eventually falls to earth as Leras's body. That would be the same "body" (cognitive shadow in the cognitive realm until it is destroyed at last) that Kelsier interacts with in Secret History, he himself being a cognitive shadow. If this is the case, does it imply that a cognitive shadow still retains connection to a physical body somehow? 4) If shades are cognitive shadows (implied in Secret History?), and shades are warded away by silver, and Vessel is a cognitive shadow (either always or just when it loses it's Shard), it could make sense that silver would be Allomantically inert, as it would have negative interactions with Preservation? How far afield have I gotten here? 5) How bad of a job have I done putting this in the right forum?

Right, so even if Hemalurgy doesn't work, if some other method of stealing Identity were used, what would be on a world's spiritual signature? Are the methods of Investiture granted by the Shard of that world part of the world's Identity?

Is it definitely the case that hemalurgy can only be used on animals/people? What would stealing an entire world's spiritual signature look like? Would it change the type of magic there For example, as a thought experiment: If a huge spaceship fired a hemalurgic spike through Roshar and into Scadrial, would it change Scadrial's spiritual signature?

Wow, this site is awesome. Thanks!

At the end of WOR, when Dalinar bonds with the Stormfather, he is told (WOR ch. 89) he must be a "Radiant with no Shards," and the Stormfather refers to the blade he has a "monstrosity." When he summons the Shardblade that he had bonded with in order to give it up, he hears screams. My problem with this is, wasn't that blade the blade that was found when Taln collapsed at the gate of Kholinar (procured by Bordin, and later left in a cave to ensnare Amaram)? Shouldn't that be an Honorblade? If so, it isn't a dead spren so it shouldn't scream when he touches it (the same way Szeth's blade doesn't scream when Kaladin holds it, see WOR ch. 87). It doesn't seem like it could be a different Shardblade that Taln got somewhere, because [speculation] when he got to Kholinar he had just manifested (he was wet, like Shardblades that are just summoned And then he collapsed and the blade didn't dissapear). So, I decided to reread the part (WOR ch. 76) where Dalinar summons the blade and explains to Amaram that he had bonded with it before having placed "the madman's Shardblade" in the cave. And wouldn't you know it: The description of the blade Dalinar has is "wider than most" and "cleaverlike." That is almost the exact opposite of the description of Taln's blade at the end of (WOK Epilogue), "long, narrow, and straight, shaped like an enormous spike." Dalinar is not a liar. He thinks he bonded with "the madman's Shardblade." But, he is wrong - the blade he bonded to was some other blade. The question is, what happened to Taln's Honorblade. 1) Dalinar didn't tell the full truth to Amaram, and Dalinar does know about the Honorblade, but it is somewhere else.... Dalinar bonded with some other blade and used it to trap Amaram after obtaining the Honorblade. This seems unlikely. 2) The Honorblade was switched at some point between Kholinar and the Shattered Plains. Likely suspects: Hoid (who traveled with Bordin and Taln for the first few days before bailing) or Bordin (the servant in charge of the transporting). It would indeed be problematic for Dalinar if Bordin was disloyal, because Dalinar considers him to be a faithful servant. Thoughts?

I guess this is obvious/implied but I don't think anyone said it straight out yet: This explains why there was a full Shardbearer riding against Amaram in what Kaladin assumed to be a border dispute. It was clearly a fight with much higher stakes. Also, the strongbox would glow because Shallan's shardblade would glow - this is part of a different theory: The Plate and Blades of surgebinders glow, just like in the past when the Knights Radiant would glow.