Chicago 02/20/2015

[WeiryWriter]

Just wanted to bring this to everyone's attention, Brandon has a signing scheduled in the Chicago area next Friday (Feb 20):

 

Chicago, IL - Anderson’s Bookshop

Date: Fri, Feb 20, 2015

Time: 7:30–9:30 p.m.

Place: Anderson's Bookshop

Address:

123 West Jefferson Avenue

Naperville, IL 60540

Phone Number: (630) 355-2665

Event Type: Signing

Notes:

We’re not currently aware of a ticketing policy for this signing. If the event is not ticketed, Brandon will sign any book he wrote that you bring, but it’s best to show support for the store by buying your book here (ahead of time, if you want to read it before the signing).

 

(source)

[Kurkistan]

Well this is all rather sudden. I guess I could go...

[Mckeedee123]

Does anyone want questions to ask?

 

I've been wondering about the heavy, black stone that Sarene gave to Raoden at the end of Elantris...

[vineyarddawg]

Does anyone want questions to ask?

 

I've been wondering about the heavy, black stone that Sarene gave to Raoden at the end of Elantris...

 

Ooooo, good question!

[Argent]

Oh, my. That's a terribly inconvenient time for me. I will attend, but it's going to be an adventure...

[Moogle]

Does anyone want questions to ask?

 

I've been wondering about the heavy, black stone that Sarene gave to Raoden at the end of Elantris...

 

I've had a few recent ones, if you don't mind!

• Why can you use Allomancy with the mist if metal's molecular structure is what causes the effect?
• If a Herald died while bonded to a dead Shardblade, would they drop it or would they keep it for the next Desolation?
• Hemalurgic spikes are supposed to decay rapidly when out of a body, but Vin's earring was supposedly at near-full strength. How does that work?
• Would a Shardblade be able to cut the God King?
• If "Taln" held on to Jezrien's Honorblade, would he get sapphire eyes?
• How does Lift turn food into Stormlight? Is everything 'made' of Investiture in the cosmere?

If you find any of those interesting, I'd be interested in hearing the answers!

 

I also have a gigantic list of other questions, too:

Questions:

• If Taln held on to Jezrien’s Honorblade, would he get the sapphire eyes effect?

• Why can you use Allomancy with the mist if the metal's molecular structure is what matters?

• If a Herald died while bonded to a dead Shardblade, would they drop it or would they keep it for the next Desolation?

• Hemalurgic spikes are supposed to decay rapidly when out of a body, but Vin's earring was supposedly at near-full strength. How does that work?

• How far from Scadrial does an Allomancer have to travel physically before they can no longer draw on Preservation’s power to do Allomancy? Is there a limit?

• Would a Shardblade be able to cut the God King?

• Why does Elend have more powerful Pushes than Vin? Is he burning through metals faster, gaining more Investiture per unit of metal burned, or using the Investiture he gets more efficiently than Vin?

• Breath seems like it doesn’t run out like Stormlight. You Awaken something, and it lasts basically forever. But if you Lash something, the Lashing ends a short time later. Why does Stormlight run out and Breath not?

  • Note: this was asked, but we only got a paraphrased answer. Basically, the gist of it was that Breath was used up, but recovered. Getting an exact transcription of an answer to this question would be great.

• Is the Stormfather composed partly of Cultivation's Investiture?

• If you had a gemheart, would it be possible to capture the Stormfather in it like you can do with spren? Is he too Invested to fit in such a small object?

• What is Spiritual DNA? Could it be seen as a sort of journal of who you are, or maybe more of a web where you have a bunch of connections from you to other beings/places/concepts?

• Given that the AonDor's illusions apparently require a "full mental picture" of the thing you’re trying to create (by the Words of Radiance Ars Arcanum), it seems likely that Forgery similarly requires you to have a full mental picture of what you're trying to do when you carve a soulstamp. With this in mind, how can one decode a stamp like Frava's Forger was apparently planning on spending a few years doing? Or is there not much of a mental component to Forgery?

• If you used Stormlight to Awaken, would you drain color or create frost? (Note: RAFO’d before, but he may be willing to answer it this time around.)

• Does Surgebinding drain heat like Awakening drains color?

• Why did Kaladin use a hammer to break Szeth's shoulder rather than a Blade to kill him? (Note: nitpicky)

• Can Mistborn draw power from Preservation via burning a metal and just hold it to get a Stormlight-like effect, not filtering it through a metal to create an effect?

• What would a "transformative Cognitive entity", like Roshar’s spren, look like on Scadrial?

• If Ruin never Invested Scadrial, could fabrials be made on Roshar? (Note: is a question on whether fabrials are a use of Hemalurgy basically.)

• Hoid comes out of the “emerald pools” on the Horneater Peaks. Why did he choose that pool in particular rather than a different one?

  • (RAFO’d - ‘making assumptions’) Hoid went through Cultivation's Shardpool to get to Roshar as opposed to Honor's. Yet, he notes he never got along well with Cultivation. Why did he choose her Shardpool rather than Honor's?

• Could a Hemalurgic spike be soulstamped to grant a different power than the one it stole? Would this be limited to powers in the same “set”, like a spike granting Allomancy could be converted to granting a different Allomantic power, but not a Feruchemical one?

• Are there power-enhancing modifiers for soulstamps like there are for the AonDor? Can you use them to increase their power on a stamp enough to stamp Invested objects?

• Would a Returned who bonded an Honorblade have their eye color change when they summon it? Would a Herald? (Note: he’s said he has the answer in his notes, but didn’t know it offhand before.)

• Because the Seon bond is similar to a Nahel bond, it seems that Passing a Seon should require a wounded spirit on the part of the person who is going to receive the Seon. Is this true? How are Seons Passed?    

• Does Lift turn food directly into Stormlight, or does the food act like a gate for Stormlight to come through, like the metals in Allomancy? Is she just limited to food, or has she just not experimented enough?

• If a non-Windrunner Surgebinder summoned Jezrien's Honorblade, what color eyes would they get? A blend? Different colors for each eye? (Note: RAFO’d before.)

• Kaladin is out in a highstorm and his Stormlight reserves burst alight. Why does he not keep getting Invested until he explodes? Is it harder for the Stormlight to keep entering him, like trying to compress more and more stuff into a small box? Does he unconsciously keep himself in equilibrium by expelling Stormlight as the storm infuses him?

• Why are Shallan's eyes not a pale garnet like Kaladin's are a pale blue? Is it because she’s already a lighteyes?

• Why are there not ten different colors of light eyes on Roshar? Shouldn’t there be red eyes and pink eyes and ‘diamond’ eyes?

• Shallash, the Lightweaver’s Herald, has light violet eyes, but she says she doesn’t have a Shardblade. Is this related to her being a Herald?

• Would the screaming Eshonai hears go away if she unbonded her Shardblade?

• What color are Nalan’s/Darkness' eyes?

• Each world seems to have a material that Investiture 'sticks' easily to. Nalthis has life, Roshar has gems, Scadrial has metal. What word should we use for it?

• The Metallic Arts are from Preservation and Ruin. There's three magic systems there, but there's only one magic system from Devotion and Dominion. Does the number of magic systems on a planet have something to do with how well the Intents of the Shards on it 'mesh', or perhaps how much they conflict?

• Would a Parshman who received multiple Breaths become more ‘sentient’, like a listener bonded to a spren?

• Is the woman bordering the chart at the back of TWoK intended to represent Cultivation?

• Could a Hemalurgic spike steal one Surges? Or do you have to steal the spren bond?

• Can a spren be Hemalurgically spiked? Is this like how modern fabrials work?

• If two Mistborn of the same-strength had a Mistborn child, would the child be weaker Allomantically? How much weaker, mathematically?

• How would Hemalurgic decay affect a Shardblade stolen with Hemalurgy?

• Does Shardplate regrow by Soulcasting air to metal, does it covert Stormlight directly into Invested metal, or what’s going on there?

• What happens when you put multiple competing Soulstamps on one thing? Like a stamp that says a table was well-cared for and a stamp that says the table was neglected.   

• How does Hemalurgically stealing a spren bond work? Could the stolen spren break the bond because by using Hemalurgy you’re breaking one of the ideals that Surgebinders swear?

• Does having something stolen from you with a Hemalurgic spike have any serious implications for your afterlife?

• Were the children of original Mistborn noticeably weaker than the original Mistborn? Like, to the point where they could affect half as many people when Soothing? Mathematically, how does the power dropoff work over generations of Allomancers?

• Are the Mistings in Alloy of Law noticeably weaker than an equivalent Misting in Final Empire? Has the rate of power loss with each generation of Allomancers slowed?

• Will the power loss of Allomancers over generations ever result in such incredibly weak Mistings that they will be like Alendi, with incredibly weak abilities? How many years will it take?

• Is a child of two Allomancers the same strength as their parents (assuming their parents are equal strength)?               

• What difference does Allomantic strength make when using gold/electrum, if any?

• Were Preservation/Sazed limited to only swapping out Temporal metals?

• Does the Allomantic Table basically 'set' the types of new natural Mistings that can come about?

• Could Honor/Cultivation swap out Surges like Preservation did metals?

• Does Marsh have the ability to burn Allomantic gold?

• What state is the Investiture gained from burning metals in? Can it even be classified as gaseous/liquid/solid?                           

• Can you make a Hemalurgically charged spike from a plant?

• Can you Snap if you’re not on Scadrial?

Edited February 16, 2015 by Moogle

[Robot Aztec]

can you ask about waht the shadows form shadows for slilence would attack first?? 1] a returned from warbreaker 2] a noraml persaon 3] a drab?

also can nihtblood eat learsium? would it make into a mistblade? how would he eat metals then???

[Argent]

I am probably going to focus on Stormlight questions - it's kind of my thing. Maybe some general Cosmere ones. Preferably something that reveals overarching Cosmerological laws. I'll think about it and post a list within the next few days.

 

I do like the Lift question though.

[Aleksiel]

It would be great of someone asks Moogle's questions about eye color on Roshar - why there aren't ten different light eye colors and why aren't Shallan's pale garnet. Also may be why Kal's eyes sometimes change to pale blue or if Radiants permanently had pale eyes. 

 

I also want to add another question - did Kalak really break his bond with his Honorblade in the prelude of WoK? He just left it in the ground without doing anything special or even thinking about breaking the bond, so no intend either. 

[Blaze1616]

At recent signings Brandon has said he won't answer eye color questions, so I'm not sure how potent of an answer anyone will get. I'm guessing immediate RAFOs, but might as well try. I have a feeling SA3-5 will delve into the issue, so he's staying tight lipped.

[kari-no-sugata]

Here's a very simple question: When was the Recreance?

 

Could also ask: For the ordinary people of Roshar, did the Recreance have any significant short-term effects (cultural, economic, political)

[Argent]

Could also ask: For the ordinary people of Roshar, did the Recreance have any significant short-term effects (cultural, economic, political)

 

I imagine it did. You've got all those people, essentially drunk on power from the Shards they managed to keep, carving out chunks of the world to be their own. That kind of stuff causes chaos.

[Meg]

I also want to add another question - did Kalak really break his bond with his Honorblade in the prelude of WoK? He just left it in the ground without doing anything special or even thinking about breaking the bond, so no intend either.

Might I ask where it comes from that Kelek (and/or the other eight Heralds) broke their bond to their blades?

[Aleksiel]

Might I ask where it comes from that Kelek (and/or the other eight Heralds) broke their bond to their blades?

 

Well, why just leave them if the bonds stands, what's the point? Szeth was bonded to Jezrien's and unless two people can be bonded to the same Honorblade, Jezrien broke his bond. And we know one Herald went back for his Honorblade - why go if he could simply re-summon it?

Edited February 16, 2015 by Aleksiel

[Meg]

Well, why just leave them if the bonds stands, what's the point?

 

I admit that I don't have an idea, what the point would have been, but we know little about the Heralds.

 

Szeth was bonded to Jezrien's and unless two people can be bonded to the same Honorblade, Jezrien broke his bond.

 

I was sure you'd use this argument. I thought about it myself when reading your question. As far as I know, we don't know whether Honorblades can be bound with more than one person, though in my estimation this possibility seems unlikely. However, one person bonding more than one spren seems unlikely too, as well as people bonding more than one Honorblade, nonetheless both is possible.^{1 2}

 

 

And we know one Herald went back for his Honorblade - why go if he could simply re-summon it?

Darn, I always miss important details. Where did I miss this?

[Moogle]

At recent signings Brandon has said he won't answer eye color questions, so I'm not sure how potent of an answer anyone will get.

 

I'm not sure, but he may have restricted himself to only answering eye color questions at that one Q&A. I think it still may be worth asking one. (I may or may not have asked 3 eye color questions, so I suspect he was getting a bit annoyed. Oops. Interview is here.) He said:

Question

If a non-Windrunner Surgebinder (who had spoken all the Ideals of their Radiant Order) summoned Jezrien's Honorblade, what color eyes would they get? A blend? Different colors for each eye?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm going to RAFO eye color questions for the moment. We'll actually be dealing with some of these in the books. Maybe not the specific ones you ask, but the concepts in general.

(source)

 

Szeth was bonded to Jezrien's and unless two people can be bonded to the same Honorblade

 

Multiple people can bond one Shardblade:

Me: If Shai were to gain a Shardblade, then she gave it up, could she create an essence mark that represented the history where she still had the Blade? If she then applied the essence mark could she summon the Shardblade or a copy of it?

B: So, um, doing that sort of thing, like rewriting herself even to be an Allomancer., or something like this....this is possible, but, in order to gain the Investiture she wants to have, she will have to input that much in Investiture, which her current magic system is not capable of doing. Okay? Alright, so, rewrite so that I have a Shardblade would require some sort of hacking of her magic system, which is currently impossible to her in her current situation.

Me: So, if she had had a shardblade and gave it up, she could not rewrite herself to have that back without more input?

B: Um, she could....Yes, exactly. Now rewriting, yes, that would be a lot easier than just rewriting herself so that she had a Shardblade.

Me: That's what I was asking.

B: Yeah, but what you're asking about would be much easier and that probably is within her power, but what that would do is, yeah, that's totally within her power. It would create some weird implications where she's summoning it, and someone else summons it back from her, cause the Shardblade thinks it's held by two people.

Me: So it wouldn't be a copy, it would be the same blade.

B: Yes. Mmm hmm.

(source)

 

While this seems to be a very odd case and more of a hackery of the magic systems than something that could result "naturally", I wouldn't rule out multiple bonds on Honorblades. I do agree the Heralds in general probably broke theirs, though.

Edited February 16, 2015 by Moogle

[Aleksiel]

I admit that I don't have an idea, what the point would have been, but we know little about the Heralds.

 

Thus we can potentially learn of they meant to break the bonds with their Honorblades by asking if Kalak broke his in the prelude

 

 

 

 

I was sure you'd use this argument.   I thought about it myself when reading your question. As far as I know, we don't know whether Honorblades can be bound with more than one person, though in my estimation this possibility seems unlikely. However, one person bonding more than one spren seems unlikely too, as well as people bonding more than one Honorblade, nonetheless both is possible.^1 2

 

Sounds like a mess for a Shard to be bonded by two people, imagine both of them wanting to use it at the same time.... If you have two spren your intend may determine which one you summon, but sharing a bond with another person sounds troublesome. 

 

I see Shai can re-write herself to have a Shardblade she gave up, but I'm not sure that proves any two people could bond the same Shardblade. What Shai does isn't available to the average Rosharian.

 

 

 

 

Darn, I always miss important details.   Where did I miss this?

 

Unfortunately I can't find that WoB in theoryland or coppermind and I'm not good with finding WoB in other sources. However, I'm sure it exist and is part of the reasons some people believe Nale has his Honorblade and can surgebind, although it will be good to check the phrasing again to see if 'went back' was used.

 

edit: @Moogle Thank you! 

Edited February 16, 2015 by Aleksiel

[Moogle]

The WoB on the Blade is here, and takes the place of an image. It reads:
 

One Herald (other than Taln) kept his Honorblade (or, at least, took it back).

Edited February 16, 2015 by Moogle

[IAmTheBeard]

It's been asked before whether Shardplate material is made of crem. Brandon answered "no," but said that it was a good question. Could someone ask if the material Shardplate is made of is important? If the answer is "yes", then ask if it is the solid form of Investiture, like Atium/Lerasium, since it does one specific thing.

 

Other questions I have (related to Shards):

• Are Shardblades and Shardplate made from the same material?
• Can you Soulcast something into Shardplate material, even if it wouldn't continually reform?
• Is the stuff they put on Shardblades to make them safe for sparring the same material as Shardplate?

(Can you tell I have some theories about Shardblade/plate/stuff/etc. material?)

• Have we seen Shardblades form solid objects other than swords in the series before Kaladin/Syl did it when fighting against Szeth? (If "yes," maybe," etc., ask whether it was something akin to "shardrope.")
• Did people have half shards in the past? Like before the Recreance. (Or are the half shards we hear about truly a new invention?)
• If there are half shard fabrials that can block Shardblades, are there potentially half shard fabrials that cut like Shardblades?
• Do Shardblades use the Surge of Division? The Glyph for Division looks a lot like a Shardblade...
• Can Shardblades cut through fabrials? Does it matter how "powerful" or infused the fabrial is?

 

Obviously feel free to use whatever questions you'd like. 

[Argent]

• Can Shardblades cut through fabrials? Does it matter how "powerful" or infused the fabrial is?

 

Shallan did cut through her father's Soulcaster, didn't she? My memory of those events is a little foggy...

[Aleksiel]

No, it was Balat's sword that broke the Soulcaster when he dueled their father:

 

 

Shallan glanced over to see Jushu pulling something silvery from Father’s coat pocket. It was shrouded in a small black bag, mildly wet with blood, only pieces of it showing from where Balat’s sword had struck.

.....

Shallan stood, wiping bloodied hands on her dress, and took the Soulcaster from Jushu. The delicate metal was broken where the sword had struck it.

[Wetlander]

Question for Brandon: Is it possible, in "present day" Roshar, to be a Surgebinder without being on the Knights Radiant path - i.e. without the Ideals?

 

Alternatively, perhaps someone can tell me if this has been answered elsewhere or in another fashion. The reason I'm asking is that Taravangian seemed to think that Helaran was capable of training Shallan as a Surgebinder, but since his Blade was apparently a dead-spren (at least, he left his Blade and Plate behind when he died), it doesn't seem that he was a Knight Radiant. 

[skaa]

If I may still submit a question, I'd be grateful if somebody could ask this one:

 

The city of Kae is named after the Aon for "east". Are the Outer Cities around Elantris all named after the Aons for the cardinal directions? And if so, could you tell us their names?

 

Brandon might not remember all the names, but it would be nice to confirm that the other three Outer Cities are named after directional Aons as well.

 

I also placed a list of questions for Brandon in my signature in case anyone wants more stuff to ask.

Edited February 19, 2015 by skaa

[Argent]

Alright, I'll be going tomorrow. Let me address a few questions I find interesting or otherwise notable to me:

• [Mckeedee123] "I've been wondering about the heavy, black stone that Sarene gave to Raoden at the end of Elantris..."
  I do not think there is anything special about it. I may ask to confirm this if I run out of questions though
• [Moogle] "Why can you use Allomancy with the mist if metal's molecular structure is what causes the effect?"
  If I recall correctly, the molecular structure of the Allomantic metals acts as a gate to Preservation's power, it's not the power itself. So the mists can bypass the need for a gate and dump the power directly into your hands.
• [...] "If a Herald died while bonded to a dead Shardblade, would they drop it or would they keep it for the next Desolation?"
  I am not sure what you are trying to find out here. Unless you are just being curious, in which case the question is not too interesting to me.
• [...] "Hemalurgic spikes are supposed to decay rapidly when out of a body, but Vin's earring was supposedly at near-full strength. How does that work?"
  Vin wore her earring a lot, I imagine that helped. Plus, she didn't need much in term of extra bronze power, so even a mostly decayed spike would've been okay, I think.
• [...] "Would a Shardblade be able to cut the God King?"
  I could ask this, but this is too specific of a question to give us any interesting information. It could allow us to do some very rudimentary comparison between the amount of Investiture granted by about 50,000 Breaths and the amount of Investiture necessary for the construction of a Shardplate or Blade, but I don't think it would be useful.
• [...] "If "Taln" held on to Jezrien's Honorblade, would he get sapphire eyes?"
  I am very confident this would be a RAFO.
• [...] "How does Lift turn food into Stormlight? Is everything 'made' of Investiture in the cosmere?"
  I will probably ask this in some shape or form.
  [...] "Breath seems like it doesn’t run out like Stormlight. You Awaken something, and it lasts basically forever. But if you Lash something, the Lashing ends a short time later. Why does Stormlight run out and Breath not?"
  I might ask this.
  [...] "What is Spiritual DNA? Could it be seen as a sort of journal of who you are, or maybe more of a web where you have a bunch of connections from you to other beings/places/concepts?"
  I too want to find more about sDNA, but I am not sure if this is the best question to get us that information. I may end up asking something similar still.
• [...] "Does Surgebinding drain heat like Awakening drains color?"
  I like this. It sounds like RAFO bait, but I like it.
• [...] "Why did Kaladin use a hammer to break Szeth's shoulder rather than a Blade to kill him? (Note: nitpicky)"
  I've actually been wondering about the merits of a Shardhammer. Is there any reason to use one over a Shardblade? I may ask that instead.
• [...] "Are there power-enhancing modifiers for soulstamps like there are for the AonDor? Can you use them to increase their power on a stamp enough to stamp Invested objects?"
  I like this.
• [...] "Because the Seon bond is similar to a Nahel bond, it seems that Passing a Seon should require a wounded spirit on the part of the person who is going to receive the Seon. Is this true? How are Seons Passed?"
  I think you are making some assumptions here. One possible - even likely - solution to this could have something to do with magical abilities. Forming a Nahel bond does seem to require a fractured sDNA, or soul, or spiritual aspect, but it also results in the bonded entities melding a little bit - the spren gaining a little bit of "humanity" and the human gaining Surgebinding. With a Seon bond, neither side seems to gain anything, so the bond could be much weaker, much less demanding, and ultimately - much easier to form, not requiring a fractured soul.
• [...] "Why are Shallan's eyes not a pale garnet like Kaladin's are a pale blue? Is it because she’s already a lighteyes?"
  Have we actually seen Shallan's eyes, from another character's viewpoint, after she regains her ability to use Pattern as a Shardblade? 
• [...] "Each world seems to have a material that Investiture 'sticks' easily to. Nalthis has life, Roshar has gems, Scadrial has metal. What word should we use for it?"
  I like this. I may paraphrase it slightly, but I like it.
• [...] "Would a Parshman who received multiple Breaths become more ‘sentient’, like a listener bonded to a spren?"
  I could ask this.
• [...] "Is the woman bordering the chart at the back of TWoK intended to represent Cultivation?"
  This could get me a RAFO card, but I might ask it. I've been wondering about her.
• [...] "What difference does Allomantic strength make when using gold/electrum, if any?"
  I am curious about this.
• [Aleksiel] "I also want to add another question - did Kalak really break his bond with his Honorblade in the prelude of WoK? He just left it in the ground without doing anything special or even thinking about breaking the bond, so no intend either."
  I think he might answer this if the answer is affirmative.
• [kari-no-sugata] "When was the Recreance?"
  I would like to ask a broader timeline question, can you dig out some extra information for me?
• [IAmTheBeard] "Could someone ask if the material Shardplate is made of is important? If the answer is "yes", then ask if it is the solid form of Investiture, like Atium/Lerasium, since it does one specific thing."
  I don't think we'll get an answer to this. Not yet.
• [...] "Are Shardblades and Shardplate made from the same material?"
  I could, however, ask this. And throw in the bit about the Blade guards.
• [...] "Did people have half shards in the past? Like before the Recreance. (Or are the half shards we hear about truly a new invention?)"
  I think I'll ask this.
• [...] "If there are half shard fabrials that can block Shardblades, are there potentially half shard fabrials that cut like Shardblades?"
  I expect I would get a RAFO / "good question" if I asked this.
• [skaa] "The city of Kae is named after the Aon for "east". Are the Outer Cities around Elantris all named after the Aons for the cardinal directions? And if so, could you tell us their names?"
  I could probably ask this and get a response, seems innocent enough.
• [...] "How important is metal in fabrial science?"
  I think I know what you mean, but could you elaborate a little?

Those are the questions I found interesting in some way. There are more, but I've tried to generally stay away from RAFOs unless I have some comment to make about them. I'll go through (some) of the ultimate questions thread and choose a few extra questions so you guys can verify whether they've been answered when I wasn't looking. 

[Blaze1616]

[...] "Does Surgebinding drain heat like Awakening drains color?"

I like this. It sounds like RAFO bait, but I like it.

 

It probably sounds like RAFO bait becuase it's been RAFO'd in the past. Just a heads up.