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I only recently noticed I hadn't updated my favourite Story-theory yet with the new Dawnshard/RoW Knowledge, so here goes. TL; DR: Kelsier will try to reforge and become Ambition. Collecting enough of Ambitions Investiture will enable him to ascend to Shardhood. So, RoW answered atleast some of my thoughts about what Kel would get up to. It also fed into my theory, so it's time to dig that up again. First, the arguments that still hold: (New Arguments at the bottom) - He tasted Ascension with Preservation. And now that he knows that's a thing that is possible, it seems like a worthy goal to keep himself busy with. - Hoid seems to be interested in keeping the Shards from gaining too much power and keeping them seperated. Kelsier hates him. Would be fun to have them square off in that kind of way, especially with Hoid as the MC of Mistborn Era 4 You might ask: But why specifically Ambition? - At the end of Secret History, Vin asks Kelsier an important question about his motivation. We're lead to believe that Kelsier will look inside himself and realize that she was right and his vendetta against the Lord Ruler was more about himself than the Skaa or Scadrial. From RoW, we can gather that he probably accepted that and doubled down on it - see Thaidakar. We saw that Preservations Intent and Kelsier's personality were too different. Of all the shards we know, Ambition would fit him really well. He's insanely ambitious, going so far as to think up a way to overthrow an - as far as he knew - immortal Emperor. He punched multiple gods. And he created a multiple-world-spanning secret Organisation. If that isn't ambitious, I don't know what is. - Additionally, according to my Understanding, Ambition is one of the, if not the, least limiting Intents. With all we've read about Ruin corrupting Ati, Odium and Honor and Preservation etc limiting their Vessels, Ambition is... not really like that. I'm sure there some zany stuff there, but I doubt becoming Ambition would hinder Kelsiers Megalomania, if anything it would further increase it. And it wouldn't bind him to anything stupid like Oaths or whatever, which he definitely wouldn't want. But there's more hints towards my theory. - Foreshadowing (pun intended). When Kelsier encountered the Ire, they mentioned Threnody Shades. As Kelsier is a Cognitive Shadow, their Alerter Fabrial picked up on him. I believe that this might be more than fanservice for those of us who read Shadows for Silence. Threnody is the one planet we know where Investiture from Ambition "landed" in large chunks. It's already connected to Cognitive Shadows, and the names of the planets in the Threnodite system are all the names of Songs of Mourning - and Kelsier is dead ( also as in "The Bands of Mourning", which Kelsier used) - Threnody and Sel are the only other two planets that Kelsier canonically knew as of the end of secret history. Putting himself in opposition of the Ire, it wouldn't be too far fetched that he would have investigated what it is that these very knowledgable people are trying to contain that they confused him with. Not a far stretch imho. It seems that on Roshar, the Ghostbloods already have plan and directive, so I assume Kelsier already has had some kind of plan by the time they set up on Roshar. - Ambition was splintered, but unlike Dominion and Devotion. While we know that Odium stuffed those two in the Cognitive Realm to make sure they wouldn't be picked up again, as far as we know he didn't know how to do that yet when he finished off Ambition outside the Threnodite system. So while Ambition is probably spread out in dead chunks of Investiture, someone ambitious enough with a lot of time could try to collect those. - Additionally, Edgli (Endowment) seemed to think that Ambitions last Vessel would've been trouble, and seems glad that she's gone. From different WoB's we know that Sazed's ascension has caused quite a stir, so Kelsier could definitely take up the troublemaking mantle of Uli Da very well. Alright, time for the new arguments and thoughts: Two things are majorly important: - The Ghostbloods are looking for ways to transport Investiture. Ba-Ado-Mishram, Gems, Stormlight... Aside from trying to find a way for their Master to actually move beyond Scadrial, they are looking for ways to transport Investiture. Sure, Money and Power are good motivators, but I think there's a second reason for that: Moving Chunks of Ambition. What would this do for them? Well... Douglas What about a lerasium savant? Or would that require so much lerasium that the person attempting it would ascend to become a new Shardholder? Brandon Sanderson Basically, this is what Ascension is. 17th Shard Forum Q&A (Sept. 27, 2012) I imagine the Plan to go something like this: Step 1: Find a way to store most of the big chunks of Ambition's Investiture. I assume it's not all in the form of Shades, so imagine Gems and whatever stuffed full of Investiture - if necessary, Step 2: Convert it into a Form Thaidakar can use. If Raboniel and Navani can figure out Light physics, I'm sure people in Silverlight or other Scholars somewhere are able to do so too. I'd be surprised if the Ghostbloods didn't have some smart Cosmere Scientists on their Payroll. Convert all that Investiture into solid form: a metal. Uli Dum/Ambitium - Step 3: Kelsier burns massive amounts of Ambitium or an Ambitium/Lerasium Alloy, preferrably physically close to Threnody, somewhere in the system. Once he has burnt enough of it, Kelsier ascends to Ambition. The Investiture that hasn't been collected hopefully realigns itself to its new Vessel, and Kel is a Shard now. Aside from those reasons, just think of how absolutely fitting this would be for Kelsiers Story, both in-universe and Meta, for us readers. Kelsier, the Survivor, survives the most deadly place on Scadrial, the pits of Hathsin, under the rule of an "immortal god-emperor", spiting said Emperor. He goes on to challenge that Emperor, and while dying in the Process, deifies himself as The Survivor, sparking both the Revolt that finally took down the Lord Ruler and a Religion around himself. He Survives Death, and goes on to help out at the other very deadly part of Scadrial, the South, and also kinda becomes the god of the people there after helping them survive. Notice a pattern? What better than to do this a third time? The Survivor, a kinda-ghost kinda-god, focusses his attention on the deadliest planet in the known universe, Threnody. If any one people in the Cosmere is doing more surviving than the South Scadrians, it's definitely the people on Threnody. (Try to tell me Kelsier wouldn't like Silence Montane.) After the disaster of Ruin and Preservation and the prophecy, Scadrial needed a god like Harmony to rest and stabilize under. Threnodys woes aren't over, however. What they need is a fighter god, someone able to take on the Evil. Someone who embodies the Will to Survive that Threnodians need, and the Ambition to pull through with it, to take up a fight this hopeless. a ghost-god that's already fought one immortal evil fits into Threnody well, and it would fit so well into Kelsiers story to do his shtick a third time: Help people survive and become their god. Only this time, it would actually be true, and he'd ascend to Shardhood.

I looked at the "canonical" MtG colors of the Shards, and tried to fill in the gaps while keeping the color-pie balanced and symmetrical. I propose that one of the unknown shards is Mystery. Obviously, I don't think that Sanderson actually designed the Cosmere with a symmetrical color-pie in mind, but hey, check out the results: Looks pretty neat. 1. The Canonical Shard Colors: This imposes some constraints: 2. The New Rhythm of War Shards: In Rhythm of War, we learn of the Shards Invention, Mercy, Valor, and Whimsy. Whimsy is Blue/Red. It just feels right. Mercy has shades of White, Green, and maybe Black. We're told that "Mercy worries [Harmony]", which makes me think of mercy killings. And hey, there actually is a MtG card called "Mercy Killing". It's White/Green, so let's go with that. Valor feels White and/or Red. Valor means Courage and Boldness. It's about taking action, which is very Red-mana. And it's about heroic self-sacrifice, which is very White-mana. Ideally, I'd assign Valor to White/Red, but it's not possible to have White/Red Valor and Blue/Red Whimsy without unbalancing things, and I feel more strongly about the Whimsy Connection. It can't be Mono-White because I already have Mercy taking up the empty White slot. So Valor is Mono-Red. Finally, we have Invention, which is firmly within Blue's slice of the color pie. The act of invention can be all sorts of colors depending on what that invention is being used for. But Invention for it's own sake? That's Mono-Blue. 3. The Two Unknown Shards: Based on the Choices above, we need a Blue/Black Shard, and one more Mono-Blue Shard to complete the set. Blue/Black is the color pair of Cautious Scheming, Shrewdness, and Ruthless Rationality. Sanderson has mentioned that there is a shard which "just wants to hide and survive", and Blue/Black seems like an excellent fit for that pattern of behavior. There is a popular fan-theory-shard that this 'Survival Shard' has an intent that is something like Prudence, which seems to fit Blue/Black well. Another fitting Intent for this shard might be Perfection. Mono-Blue can be taken many different ways. It's the color of formalized learning and systematic perfection. It's the color of illusions and trickery. And it's the color of the cold dark depths of the sea. Remember that the shards of Adonalsium are fragments of the divine. And the incomprehensibility of the divine to mortal minds is an important part of many people's faith. A Shard of Mystery thus seems like a good Mono-Blue option, representing the ineffability of God, but separated from the virtues which make it worth pursuing understanding nonetheless. One of the shards, which explicitly isn't the Survival Shard, isn't on a planet. Whimsy seems like it could fit that description, flitting about from place to place. But a Mono-Blue Mystery Shard also could have thematic ties to the dark depths of space. Such a Shard might also be called Transcendence. 4. Bonus Material Here, I relax the constraints to allow some of the canonically mono-color Shards to be dual-colored. That way, I can match up one Shard with each mono-color and with each color-pair: And here are some templates if you want to make an MtG Shard diagram yourself:

Through use of forgery it is shown that one can take different paths in their past for different results to become different versions that could have been Since it has become apparent Hoid had an opportunity to become a shard at some point could forging his soul turn him into one?

Well, it's been a while since I've made a topic. So this topic is suggesting what Shard/shard intent best fits certain characters. For instance, I would suggest Preservation would be a good fit for Kaladin with his need to protect people. What Shards fits can you think off? Note that this is currently not in the RoW thread, so be careful there, however, if people want to, you can ask for a mod to move it there.

Three facts that we know: 1) Tanavast and Koravellium were romantically involved (https://wob.coppermind.net/entry/2786) 2) There are probably descendants of the original Vessels still alive today (https://wob.coppermind.net/entry/6383) 3) The Stormfather calls pretty much everyone a Child of Honor, but calls Kaladin a Child of Tanavast (https://wob.coppermind.net/entry/12688) Could it be that Kaladin Stormblessed is a living descendant of Tanavast, the original Vessel of Honor?

So I recently finished Secret History; apart from RoW I am up to date with everything. I loved Secret History and wanted to share my Theory about Kelsier's future. I think Kelsier will try to reform Ambition. Here's my thoughts and arguments. TL;DR: I think once he knows how to leave Scadrial, it's possible that Kelsier will try to collect the chunks of Ambition and reform the shard, becoming its new Vessel. Of all the shards, Ambition fits him the best, and he would fit the Shard well too. Additionally, the one system we know of that's somewhat associated with Ambition is Threnody. SH mentions a similarity between Kelsier and the Shades of Threnody, one of three planets that Kelsier definitely knows of. The Threnodite Systems close connection to death offers itself for stories including a ghost. Not Long Enough; Want To Read: - Kelsier is beginning to become Cosmere aware and he will try to learn more and more. - He tasted Ascension with Preservation. And now that he knows that's a thing that is possible, it seems like a worthy goal to keep himself busy with. - Hoid seems to be interested in keeping the Shards from gaining too much power and keeping them seperated. Kelsier hates him. Would be fun to have them square off in that kind of way, especially with Hoid as the MC of Mistborn Era 4 Why specifically Ambition? - At the end of Secret History, Vin asks Kelsier an important question about his motivation. We're lead to believe that Kelsier will look inside himself and realize that she was right and his vendetta against the Lord Ruler was more about himself than the Skaa or Scadrial. However, I believe that unlike what you might expect in other books, Kelsier will accept this and go all in on it rather than backing down. That's who he is. A megalomaniac, a madman. Scadrial was just lucky that he was on the side of the Skaa. We saw that Preservations Intent and Kelsier's personality were too different. Of all the shards we know, Ambition would fit him really well. He's insanely ambitious, going so far as to think up a way to overthrow an - as far as he knew - immortal Emperor. He punched multiple gods. If that isn't ambitious, I don't know what is. But there's more hints towards my theory. - Foreshadowing (pun intended). When Kelsier encountered the Ire, they mentioned Threnody Shades. As Kelsier is a Cognitive Shadow, their Alerter Fabrial picked up on him. I believe that this might be more than fanservice for those of us who read Shadows for Silence. Threnody is the one planet we know where Investiture from Ambition "landed" in large chunks. It's already connected to Cognitive Shadows, and the names of the planets in the Threnodite system are all the names of Songs of Mourning - and Kelsier is dead ( also as in "The Bands of Mourning", which Kelsier used) - Threnody and Sel are the only other two planets that Kelsier canonically knows of so far. Putting himself in opposition of the Ire, it wouldn't be too far fetched that he would want to investigate what it is that these very knowledgable people are trying to contain that they confused him with. Not a far stretch imho. - Ambition was splintered before Dominion and Devotion. While we know that Odium stuffed those two in the Cognitive Realm to make sure they wouldn't be picked up again, as far as we know he didn't know how to do that yet when he finished off Ambition outside the Threnodite system. So while Ambition is probably spread out in dead chunks of Investiture, someone ambitious enough with a lot of time could try to collect those. - Additionally, Edgli (Endowment) seemed to think that Ambitions last Vessel would've been trouble, and seems glad that she's gone. From different WoB's we know that Sazed's ascension has caused quite a stir, so Kelsier could definitely take up the troublemaking mantle of Uli Da very well. That's what I have so far.

When Kelsier picked up Preservation, he was unable to fully control its power because Ruin was holding him in check, but also because he had his Connection to the physical realm severed when he died. When Taravangian killed Rayse and took up Odium, why did he have full access to the Shards power? Szeth had just killed his body with Nightblood, which severed his Connection. He was in the same boat as Kelsier, but he got full power? Theories, support, discussion, or criticism are all welcome.

I am curious what people think about these concepts. Note the third answer could mean Justice/Judgement is the combination of multiple shards or that Brandon disagrees with the reasoning given in the first answer.

What timezone does the Shard run off of? At what point do things reset, and when does a new day officially start on the Shard? There isn't an important reason for me wanting to know this, I am just curious. I have seen a few questions in the past answered and part of the answer was related to timezone. Also, I have been really close to getting the most reputation for a few days now. I am always ahead when I go to sleep, but in the morning there is always someone who passed me by just a few reputations, so I want to know when the count stops adding to me on one day and starts adding to another.

(I'm new to this, so there are spoilers for the whole Cosmere up to ROW - not sure if I need to put that here, but hopefully it's just a amateur mistake) So, given the list of shards that we know of, we are missing two in the Cosmere. I'm sure we will find out the identity of the other two, but I'd like to put forth a shard that should be there: Logic Sure, it's not the sexy type of emotion, but I think it's one that should exist and may be the one that Wit (or someone else, feel free to correct me b/c I can't remember fully who said it) was referring to. Who better to inhabit this shard than Jasnah herself. Who better to keep around as maybe a mitigating factor in the future of the cosmere or someone who brings the shards back together again (which I think is the end goal of the Cosmere, but that's just spitballing by me). I also think this is one of Wit's many goals is to reform shards with people across the Cosmere he trusts. I think he didn't trust some of the vessels in the past, so he's looking to stack the shards with people who he can rely on like Sazed. Also, If Wit is going to be a main character in Misborn Era 4 (which I believe will be the Cosmere era) , he may have a goal of uniting adonalsium and reuniting with his long lost love? I mean if you can snag Wit, you've got to be extraordinary and Jasnah fits the bill.

Guys! I have discovered the answer! I now know why Autonomy is so determined to make all the worlds develop on their own! She doesn't want their germs! Think about it. She doesn't leave her world, she makes avatars for that, to prevent her from getting the germs. She doesn't let other people in to prevent germs from other worlds for contaminating hers. She, as far as we know, doesn't interact with anyone, probably afraid of getting the germs. We see a pattern here? And so, her end goal is to prevent anyone from leaving shard worlds and keeping the germs away from her.

I'll cut to the chase: Dalinar is Honor. Rather, Dalinar is the future vessel of Honor. Hear me out... "Unite them" This has been Dalinar's driving motto from the beginning. "Unite" who? The highprinces? The Radiants? The people of Roshar? I don't have a copy of the books in front of me, but here is my logic: We know that all spren are splinters of investiture that gained sentience. Some other spren have gained sapience as well. Radiant spren, for example. We know that all the 'original' Honorspren, except for Syl, where killed in the recreance. We know that Odium "killed" Honors vessel, Tanavast, splintering the shard. Tanavast knew he was going to die and prepared. He 'super-invested' the stormfather. He gave the stormfather the visions and the ability to manipulate them. He probably did other things too that we don't know about yet or that I am forgetting. The driving impetus was for the stormfather to find someone worthy to give the visions to and impart the drive to "unite them". Dalinar exhibits power and abilities that the stormfather doesn't know of. ** Dalinar somehow has the ability to accept the oaths of rising Radiants. ** Unless we are missing something about bondsmith abilities, this shouldn't be possible. Only the Radiant spren or their 'parent' can accept the 'Words'. Dalinar is still a Radiant, albeit of the most powerful order. Thus, in terms of the overarching hierarchy, Dalinar is still at the same level as any other radiant in terms of advancing in ideals. Yet he was still able to accept Kaladin's oath. It is said many times in all the books that "Honor live on in the hearts of men". Which explains why there are still Honorspren. Since Honor lives in the hearts of men, and humans must have been heavily invested before Tanavasts death, then the 'new' Honorspren are formed formed through the Honor of humans and their investiture. My theory, then, is that while Odium may have killed Tanavast, Tanavast splintered the shard of Honor, heavily investing the stormfather and also investing humans. As such, the "Unite them" impetus is referring to Honor's splinters. As in, unite the splinters of Honor back into the shard and take it up as the vessel. Dalinar is on the journey to become the vessel of Honor. Other predictions: Kaladin is a dawnshard. He became such through Syl, who was given the shard to pass on to a worthy individual. Syl, the Ancient Daughter and only surviving Honorspren from when Honor was still 'alive'. No other theory *really* fits with Kaladin's abilities throughout the books and meshes with other well researched theories. Adolin will 'awaken' Maya and they will bond... thus setting the precedent for waking all the deadeyes, if given the chance. That is all, for now

Could there be a third shard on scadrial? Because allomancy is of preservation and hemalurgy is of Ruin. Feruchemy is supposed to be a "mix". Could there be a hidden shard or at least a shard that was on scadrial for a short time?

Okay, when I read Mistborn: Secret History and that scene where Kelsier punches Ati in the face, my immediate reaction was, "That's a dick move. You don't know what he's like." It was made clear that Ati was corrupted by the Intent of the Shard of Ruin to make him do all those things when he was a Vessel. So when he dies, is he back to normal? Was he back to the nice guy he was before, and does he remember everything he did, why he did it, and what sort of mental trauma can that do to a person? Also, he was ascended, so he could have stayed yet went into the Beyond. Why? Why not say anything to the people you terrorized? There are so many questions that the scene gives me about Ati. And did something similar happen to other Shards, like Honor and Autonomy, or does splintering them do something different? Why don't Shards stay and try to come back to the physical realm more? Or just stay in the cognitive realm and give advice? I have so many questions!

How many shards? Originally there were 16. Some were splintered so that nobody held their power, but the Investiture that was unique to each shard remained. On Scadrial, Ruin and Preservation were each a shard. They died and were taken up by Sazed, becoming Harmony. Does that mean there are now 15 shards?

Rock giveaway Oathbringer to Dalinar, but Amaram had 3 shard's did he keep 2 shard's for he's son?

In the coppermind, I found this: Some men, as they age, grow wiser. I am not one of those, for wisdom and I have always been at cross-purposes, and I have yet to learn the tongue in which she speaks. ” —Hoid implying the existence of another Shard Any ideas on what this shard is or it's Intent could be? (kind of the same thing)

Hi everyone, I'm new and excited to get started! So Hoid is not a shard, that's always made me think, what can he do. Hoid has an assortment of powers but I have a feeling we don't know of them all, for example Hoid is both a mistborn and a light weaver but when Yasna threatened him with a shard blade he said that he doubted it could kill him, but from what I know with only the powers he has, a shard blade would still be very deadly. So from what Hoid implied he is much more powerful then we know, so that raises a question what are those powers and also where would Hoid fall on the power scale, he would come up higher then a radiant and an allomancers for sure but would he be higher lower or equal to a shard? Could Hoid be more or just as powerful as Adonalsium?

I have recently come across this particular WOB: This, I find kind of interesting, especially "no matter how small that investiture." I can see how if someone were to somehow hold Stormlight for a very long time, they might change to be more driven, to act more, as Stormlight does. Or maybe having a crazy ton of Breaths like Susebron would make one more... willing to endow? Is there a word for that? Maybe that's kind of why he's so nice. And now a word on innate investiture. We know that nearly all humans in the cosmere have what is called innate Investiture. Now I'm pretty sure that the process for changing one's personality is very slow, and the amount of innate investiture so small, that I doubt it is really going to make much of a difference when comparing a normal human from Roshar to one from Scadrial, or Nalthis, etc. But as a race, maybe they lean ever so slightly towards the intent of the investiture they are invested with? Scadrians are more ruinous or preservation, Nalthians are more, endowment-y. I guess what I'm kind of wondering is what you guys think of that. Has anyone seen what might be differences in the nature of humanity between different Shardworlds? What do you think? The last thing I'd also like to bring up is Hoid. Because we know Hoid is acquiring bits of Investiture, with breaths and Surgebinding and his being Mistborn now. Sometimes I feel like he's a little bit of a different person across books and before I just guessed it was him playing different roles. Though, maybe this explains part of it. Anyways. Thoughts?

I've only read a couple books (tWoK is the only SA book I've read thus far) so I'm a little early still, but can someone help me understand why Honor's magic system is still intact if he is dead? Like, what happens when a shard is shattered? Does it still sort of function but is unable to be picked up? I'm okay with a couple spoilers theory-wise, but if you are unable to answer this question without giving plot spoilers just say so, I can just read and find out like everyone else Thanks.

One theme of the Cosmere is that Shards, while holding enough power to put planets together, are bound by rules in such a way that lesser feats are forbidden. A Shard cannot simply speak into a person's mind. Ruin, a Shard that embodies decay, cannot simply make Scadrial wilt in a blink, even with no mind controlling Preservation. Preservation cannot simply stop fueling an allomancer. No Shard can stop gravity. The list goes on. They can do these things if they follow the appropiate constraints, however. Ruin can introduce thoughts into someone, but only if there is an opening through an hemalurgic spike or a broken mind. He could have destroyed Scadrial if part of its power had not been sequestered into atium. Preservation can't prevent an allomancer from drawing power from metal, but it can stop the mists from fueling someone tainted by Ruin. Gravity, as other natural laws, cannot be removed even by a Shard, but they can actively expend power in order to work against gravity so that the net effect is zero. While I can't come up with better examples for this premise, we have book references and wobs relating to the rules Shards must follow. From the Almighty in Way of Kings: From the Stormfather in Oathbringer: And this Wob clarifying that Shards are still bound by the natural laws: With this in mind, my question is: can Shards project themselves in the Physical Realm on demand, or do certain constraints need to be met? I tried to think about the moments when a Shard has shown themselves in the PR, and that I can recall they have always followed these rules: The location they project themselves into has to be particularly Invested/Connected with their own power. When they are projecting themselves, every individual has the same view of the projection. That is, they can't show a different view of themselves to different individuals at the same time. If both A and B can see C, they both see the same thing. IF they choose not to be seen by everyone, they can be seen only by individuals they have a Connection to, but they can't selectively not show themselves to a subset of those. The third rule is not a hard one. If it is followed, I believe the projection is less tangible than otherwise - it becomes just a vision, with no direct power over the PR at all. All of this is perhaps biased because the examples I draw are from Stormlight and Mistborn, in which all Shards are in different states of being bound/restrained, but it seems to me this would be a rational limitation on the way Shards can expose themselves in the PR. From Era 1, the projections we have seen are of Ruin and Preservation. Because of the nature of the planet, both P&R immediately comply with (1). Ruin has only shown himself to people with hemalurgic spikes in them (3). As seen in Chapter 58 of HoA, both Quellion and Spook see Ruin as Kelsier, and both have the same experience of him (2): Similarly, when Leras shows himself as the mistspirit, both Elend and Vin see the same thing as it slashes Elend. I think Leras' apparitions are a case of a general projection not satisfying (3): anyone at all could have seen it, that is why the mistspirit itself can affect the PR directly (draw in the ash, stab Elend), like a (lowercase) avatar. From Era 2, in Chapter 7 of Shadows of Self, Harmony can only be seen by Wax once he puts his hemalurgic earring in (3), not before, not after. No other observer so I can't say anything about (2). In Stormlight, we see a Shard in the Physical when Dalinar visits the Old Magic. I think Cultivation's body in the Valley is much like the mistspirit, fully physical not satisfying rule (3). It still happens in the Valley of all places, Cultivation's domain so to speak, satisfying (1), and with no other observer besides the Nightwatcher so I can't say anything about (2). In any case, no rules are explicitly broken. Then, we have Odium projecting himself at Thaylenah. He only shows himself under the Everstorm, because of rule (1). Venli, Amaram, Dalinar and the Fused all see the Odium say/do the same things (2). But not everyone sees Odium here, only those with some Connection to him (3), as neither Szeth nor Navani can see him. The Fused see him because they are of him, Dalinar because Odium has been influencing him through the Thrill for decades, Amaram because he made a pact with him. Finally, the other appareance of a Shard that I can think of is the Sand God in WS3, which happens over sand invested by Autonomy (1), and nothing else can be said about the rest of the rules. I would like to see additional thoughts to this idea, because I have not looked much into the particular examples and am wondering if there is an instance where these rules are not met. Particularly because I assume Avatars would be bound by them as well, so this could potentially help rule out certain people being Avatars if they don't meet this criterion.

So, at the end of HoA, Vin Ascends to face Ruin and kills Ati (Ruin's Vessel), dying in the process. Now, when Vin "threw her power" against Ruin they "collided and repelled each other", which resulted in the death of both Vessels. Notably, we know that neither Preservation nor Ruin were Splintered during this process, as Sazed Ascended shortly thereafter. That being said, what (cosmerologically speaking) happened when Vin "threw herself" against Ati? How can you kill a Vessel without Splintering them? Are all Shards opposed in such a way that mere "physical contact" damages their Vessels?

I highly recommend the November 2019 Autonomy Shardcast. @Chaos, @thegatorgirl00, @Argent, and @Overlord Jebus do a great job going over the Autonomy essentials with relevant text and WoBs. Their Trell analysis alone is worth the listen. The Shardcasters, though, offer no unifying principle to explain Bavadin/Autonomy’s many oddities. My “Comprehensive Magic Theory” proposes such a principle: fractals. Fractals are progressively smaller-scaled versions of the same pattern, all of which make one whole. Avatars seem smaller-scaled versions of Autonomy, and I speculate Autonomy’s magic (Sand Mastery and Aviar) relies on Splinters that are still smaller-scaled Autonomy versions. All remain “one whole,” since (a recent WoB suggests) Autonomy controls their Avatars through an inter-Connected mind. Don’t hang up yet...Let me explain. Background: Shard “Primal Forces” My theory posits Shards magically differ only in how they give access to their Investiture, not in what their Investiture can do. Ruin’s magic users access Investiture through some act of entropy; Preservation’s through some act of stasis; and Honor’s through a voluntary bond between people. Brandon alternately calls these different means of access to Investiture “primal forces,” “fundamental laws,” and “something...natural.” Shards are “primal forces attached to certain aspects of personality...[a] cultural component, I would say, that is trying to represent something that is also natural.” Brandon cites his fascination with fractals. I think he wants a “personality aspect/cultural component” to represent a fractal primal force. Fractals are too common in nature for him to ignore. I believe Brandon settled on “Autonomy” as the “charged term” for a Shard that gives access to Investiture through fractals. What Are Fractals Mandelbrot (of @Extesian's Mandelbrot Set icon) coined the term “fractal” in 1975: "a fractal is a geometric shape that can be separated into parts, each of which is a reduced-scale version of the whole." Here’s another description: The main points: Smaller-scaled fractals show the same pattern as the whole. Fractals can infinitely self-replicate that pattern. Smaller-scaled fractals remain part of the larger whole (the most important point, IMO). Why I Associate Fractals with Autonomy Brandon himself asks: If you get rid of the charged term “autonomy” – the sense of freedom, self-reliance, etc. – I think you’re left with a primal force that focuses on fractal self-containedness. Each fractal bears the same pattern as the others but is its own autonomous unit. The ongoing looped process that creates fractals ensures each fractal will continue to make more, smaller-scaled autonomous fractals of the same pattern. What Are Avatars Fractal creation seems to me exactly what Autonomy does when they create Avatars, smaller-scaled versions of themselves that remain part of the whole. Brandon describes the “standard” Avatar – a smaller, less-powerful-than-a-Shard combination of mind and Investiture: Questions: (1) What are the non-standard types of Avatars; and (2) how do Avatars differ from other large forms of sapient Investiture like Roshar’s great spren? Two recent WoBs give some insight: Answers: These WoBs say, 1. Avatars can spawn spontaneously without Bavadin consciously creating them. 2. Bavadin is always aware of their Avatars including spontaneously spawned ones. 3. Bavadin personally directs the Avatars that lack self-awareness. I speculate these non-self-aware Avatars are the non-standard ones. These Avatar characteristics match the fractal behavior I describe above. Avatars spawn spontaneously because fractals can infinitely self-replicate their pattern. Bavadin is always aware of their Avatars because all fractals are part of the larger whole. Maybe other living Shards spontaneously Splinter and maybe they retain some awareness of their Splinters, but the extent of their attention is unclear. Odium does not seem aware of Sja-anat’s treachery, for example. Item 3 in particular may be unique to Autonomy. I don’t recall another Shard whose Vessel personally directs large independent chunks of its Investiture. The only known large Investiture chunks are Roshar’s great spren and the nascent Mother Sel (AU, “The Selish System,” Kindle pp. 18). Yet the Stormfather, Nightwatcher, and Sibling each have their own mind and personality; and Mother Sel seems to be forming her own mind. In contrast to Autonomy’s control of their Avatars, Cultivation encourages the Nightwatcher to grow her own abilities, as befits that Shard. Hypothesis: Maybe Avatars differ from other sapient Investiture chunks because Avatars remain subject to Autonomy’s control – just like fractals are smaller-scaled versions of the whole. Bavadin writes to Hoid as “us” and “we.” I suspect Autonomy at some level controls even the self-directing Avatars that have their own personality. We know Autonomy creates pantheons where they are every god of every gender – smaller versions of Bavadin. This would explain why Brandon says, “The being called Patji still exists, and is a Shard of Adonalsium.” Since Autonomy maintains their control of Patji, a smaller-scaled version of themselves, Patji IS a Shard, part of Autonomy. How Fractals Fit Autonomy’s Magic Honor is not the only Shard that bonds, Ruin isn’t the only Shard that destroys, and Autonomy is not the only Shard that creates fractals (Pattern, anyone?). But IMO each of them ARE the only Shards that give access to their Investiture through bonding, entropy, and fractals respectively. Avatar Creation Autonomy creates standard Avatars by first finding a “gathering” of their “assigned Investiture.” Brandon says, “in the cosmere matter, energy, and Investiture are one thing” and all share the mark of the Shard’s “spin,” its primal force/fundamental law/something natural. This maintains the 16-Shard balance when Investiture converts into matter or energy and back again. I believe Autonomy searches for sources of Physical Realm fractals large enough to sustain an Avatar. Autonomy’s only known Avatar is Patji on First of the Sun. Bavadin mentions “Obrodai” and its nascent Avatar in their letter to Hoid, but that may just be their name for First of the Sun. Roshar also holds a “gathering of [Autonomy’s assigned] Investiture” that does not (yet?) appear to be an Avatar. First of the Sun/Obrodai and Roshar are ocean planets with little land. In their letter, Bavadin seems to enjoy oceans: "But we stand in the sea, pleased with our domains....” (OB Chapter 48 Epigraph.) Adonalsium built the Rosharan continent from Roshar’s ocean floor using the Julia set, a fractal geometry equation. I suggest Roshar’s many fractals (including its gemstones/gemhearts) form Autonomy’s “gathering” of assigned Investiture. IMO, the Patji pantheon (and the Obrodai Avatar if different from Patji) are also land masses built from the oceans on fractal geometry principles. I speculate Autonomy Connects each Avatar to Bavadin’s mind to retain control of the whole. Autonomy programs the Avatar as they choose. Standard Avatars may have a separate personality. Bavadin’s letter to Hoid describes Obrodai’s Avatar: “She is young yet, and – as a precaution – she has been instilled with an intense and overpowering dislike of you." (OB Chapter 50 Epigraph.) Through this inter-Connected mind, the Shard remains a whole comprised of many smaller-scaled versions of themselves. Sand Mastery Sand ribbons are my only evidence Sand Master innate Investiture is a fractal. More powerful Sand Masters can simultaneously control more ribbons. Younger or weaker magic users can only manipulate a single ribbon. This suggests each sand ribbon has a separate source, a separate Autonomy fractal the Sand Master directs. Through training, more powerful Sand Masters may strengthen whatever in their character, talent, and skill Initiated them into Sand Mastery. Those strengthened conditions may cause the fractal to self-replicate. I speculate each new fractal allows the Master to direct a new ribbon. Aviar My analysis here is equally speculative, but I do have support. Brandon says the Aviar-human bond I believe the language I bolded highlights fractal characteristics. Brandon says he chose fractals for the Rosharan continent’s shape because “I like the blend of structure and spontaneity they can sometimes exhibit.” Fractals can spontaneously self-replicate to shift a bond. Fractal flexibility allows them to take any shape in any medium, as earth’s natural features show. The Invested entity is the Aviar’s human bond-mate. Aviar are “an intermediary” because unlike spren the magic isn’t really the Aviar’s. They acquire it by eating Invested worms, fulfilling the role of “the person that’s bonding the spren.” How does the human become an “Invested entity”? My guess is Aviar Initiation is like Sand Mastery’s. Patji’s trappers must prevail against the planet’s most dangerous predators and hazards. Bavadin tells Hoid: “If you wish more, seek these waters in person and overcome the tests we have created. Only in this will you earn our respect.” (OB Chapter 51 Epigraph.) I speculate when trappers “overcome” their tests, Patji rewards them by Splintering off a new fractal into their sDNA to bond an Aviar with. Aviar magic, like Sand Mastery, relies on a Cognitive bond between lifeforms. Water forges and maintains the Sand Master’s bond with Invested microflora (AU, “The Taldain System,” Kindle pp. 369-370); and I believe it maintains all Patji’s Cognitive bonds. Dusk thinks, “Nobody knew why beasts like the shadows only lived here, in the waters near the Pantheon.” (SotD, Kindle Loc 49.) We know the answer is Patji’s Eye, whose Investiture-laced water flows into the sea. These sea predators “did not hunt by smell or sight, but by sensing the minds of prey.” (SotD, Kindle Loc 20.) On Patji Dusk observes, “the beasts that hunted minds on the island were not as large or as strong of psyche as the shadows of the ocean.” (SotD, Kindle Loc 100.) Dusk describes the “dense humidity of Patji’s jungle.” (SotD, Kindle Loc 784.) I speculate land predators catch their prey’s thoughts through the moisture-laden air. Humidity is a weaker water bridge than oceans, which seem to conduct thoughts better. The weaker bridge IMO comparatively weakens the land predators. Conclusion Every Shard IMO accesses Investiture through a different “primal force/fundamental law/something natural.” Avatars, Sand Mastery, and Aviar make fractals my best guess for Autonomy’s primal force (for now). Regards! C. Predictions:

At the moment this is just a rough draft based on an idea I had brewing in my head for a while, I do however plan to expand upon it fully. Enjoy! ————————— Inquiry is the concept of divine curiousity, of expanding boundaries, and asking questions. No matter how stupid. Inquiry is always about asking the next question, of research in progress. The idea that there’s a limited amount of knowledge in the universe is anathema to it. As is ignorance. It’s current Vessel is not the original, as it’s intent drives its users to give up the power to explore the Beyond. This has happened several times, as the users change the Endless Library changes somewhat in shape and organization. It is unique in that the Shardworld it arrived on was already a developing minor Shardworld in it’s own right. The world had its own fully fledged magic system based around computing information to affect the Physical realm, i.e: Use investiture to make heat transfer from one location to another by writing out mystical mathematical equations. That while, rigorous and time consuming, required relatively little investiture to activate. This system however is bounded to it’s Shardworld, Breven. Inquiry’s magic system functions via research into the “Endless” tomes. A mystical library located partially in the cognitive realm. Each book in the library is essentially a procedurally generated question, often times relevant to the user, which requires research to answer. The books will never ask the user a question they know. Upon answering the question sufficiently, the book will reset and prompt another question that’s more advanced. Answering the questions grants the reader a progressively more advanced ability to peer into the spiritual realm, however they also become invested withInquiry to the point where they may become incapable of leaving the library and losing the ability to directly answer questions. The reader may also ask the books any question they wish, the books will then (if able) tell the user how to go about answering it. Though they will never give the user an outright answer, it may provide sources, locations, or ideas to trigger the user’s imagination. This form of Savanthood is called librarianhood someone who has ‘rented’ (borrowing a tome from the library) is known as a Inquirer. A visitor may ‘rent’ a book from the library for a certain period of time. This process requires vigorous investigation by the keepers of the Endless Tomes. Should the Inquirer be approved, they will have a book that can be called to the hand from any location. It is ‘endless’ but doesn’t increase in weight as it’s filled out. The user can communicate with it to open to any page they wish and record notes with a thought. Lastly, they can ask questions of the book as if it were in the library. A rented book can record any other book simply by opening the Endless Tome and pressing its pages against another book. The contents can then be read at the users whim.