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[Secret History Spoilers] Cognitive Realms Appearence in Different Shardworlds


lookingglass

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Stormlight Spoilers

 

So heres my question, if the theory is that water is solid in the cognitive realm because lack of sapient thought, then what would pure lake look like? I know i read somewhere that it might be a giant shardpool, but my point is more, you have a large body of water, that is not deep, and it is inhabited by a population. So is it like a thin sheet of glass with pockets of beads? or because it might be a shardpool, it is not subject to either, it just glows?

Edited by Pathfinder
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It's been a while since I read the SA. Are the beads that make up everything in the cognitive realm actually made of glass, or do they just appear that way? If we are following the idea that "essence" of a shardworld's investure = appearance of cognitive realm, they could definitely be solid diamond spheres, rather than glass. That would seem to fit, given the Mists on Scadrial, Colors(?) on Nalthis, etc.

To push that train of thought a little farther, the glowing liquid the Ire members drink could be Sel's manifestation of this substance. It glows because Sel has a lot more free investure floating around since the splintering of Devotion and Dominion.

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I'm going to give a nod to Skaa's "Each Shardworld has an Essence" theory [1] here and guess that the cognitive realm of each of the Cosmere's ShardWorlds is represented by its essence.

Furthermore we know (or can reasonably discern) from WoBs & the Shadesmar map in The Way of Kings that...

• The Expanse of the Vapors connects Roshar to Scadrial

• The Expanse of the Densities (most likely) connects Roshar to Nalthis [2]

○ If you accept the essence theory density and smoke work pretty well together.

• The Expanse of the Broken Sky (most likely) connects Roshar to Sel [3]

○ Brandon's hint in response to, "Why it is hard to get to Shadesmar on Sel?" was "Has to do with the name of that expanse." In my mind "broken sky" presents a much better obstacle than "Vibrance" or "Density."

• The Expanse of the Vibrance... I have no idea where this leads (this is the expanse on the Shadesmar map that was covered up by the word "Shadesmar" [4]).

○ One guess - based on Secret History - is Threnody

○ My best guess - based on the knowledge that Hoid is from Yolen and that planet's native magic system is lightweaving - is Yolen.

So, Sel's cognitive realm would most likely take the form of stones, Nalthis' cognitive realm would most likely take the form of smoke, and Roshar's cognitive realm appears as spheres because it's essence is crystal (spheres being a refined form of crystal to differentiate it from Sel's stone). However, I fully admit that this falls apart when applied to Scadrial. You'd expect coins, chunks of ore/metal, or some other sort of metallic object but mist makes its own kind of sense.

Thanks for referencing my old theory! I will need to revise it as soon as we are allowed to post Secret History stuff in the regular forums, because I have changed my mind slightly about it.

As you said, the mists in the Scadrian Cognitive Realm contradicts the Scadrial=Foil part of my theory, even though the fact that metals do glow there does support it. I now think that a Shardworld's nature is more properly viewed as a combination of two Essences, not just one. In the case of Scadrial, these Essences would be Foil (for metal) and Vapor (for mist).

Why two Essences?

As I posited in my L-Theory, the Cognitive Realm is the space between the Spiritual and the Physical Realms. Leras confirms this in Secret History:

 

"It's not the world of the dead. It's the world of the mind. Men--all things, truly--are like a ray of light. The floor is the Physical Realm, where the light pools. The sun is the Spiritual Realm, where it begins. This Realm, the Cognitive Realm, is the space between where that beam stretches."

It's reasonable to assume that since the Physical and Spiritual aspects of objects pass through the Cognitive Realm, both the Physical and the Spiritual aspects are visible there to some extent. I theorize that the Physical and the Spiritual Realms for each Shardworld are each attuned to an Essence, and that this becomes more apparent when going to that Shardworld's Cognitive Realm.


Theory details spoilered for length:

Physical aspects

Let's take an example. According to my theory above, the Physical aspects of things appear to be made of mist on the Scadrian Cognitive Realms because the Scadrian Physical Realm is attuned to Vapor. This is why objects with no or very little presence in the Physical Realm (e.g. disembodied souls, people travelling in the Cognitive Realm, etc.) don't look mist-y in the Cognitive. On Roshar, Physical aspects appear as glass beads because Rosharan Physical Realm is attuned to Lucentia.

So for each region of the Cognitive Realm, I believe that Physical aspects (at least, those that have an Identity) appear in the form of a particular Essence.

Here's a speculative list of Essences for each Shardworld's Physical aspect:

  • Scadrial: Vapor (mists) - Matches Scadrial's designation as the Expanse of the Vapors. The Cognitive "land" also has plants that emit mists.

     

  • Roshar: Lucentia (glass, crystal). Also fits the crystalline trees grown on Shadesmar land.

     

  • Nalthis: Tallow (oil) - Many plant-based compounds used for dyes come in the form of oils (e.g. aniline). I'm guessing that the Nalthian Cognitive Realm contains a sea of figures made of oil, similar in appearance to Jasnah's spren Ivory. There might be iridescent trees on the land.

     

  • Sel: Zephyr (wind) - I got this idea from the fact that Selish Cognitive Realm is supposed to be "full of pressure". I imagine it to be full of "Identity winds", each object existing as a discrete air stream within an eternal wind storm. The land contains "solidified wind" (the jagged glassy sculptures that Kelsier sees in Secret History).

Interestingly enough, even though Shards can manifest as solid, liquid, or gas on the Physical Realm, part of their power seems to naturally gravitate towards their Shardworld's Physical Essence. On Scadrial, the Shards' power often manifests as mist. On Roshar, Stormlight readily resides within crystalline gemstones. On Nalthis, part of Edgli's power exists within the natural oils of the Hallandren flowers bearing her name. On Sel, the Dor resides mostly in the Cognitive Realm, powering the Invested winds there.


Spiritual aspects

The Spiritual aspects of things, on the other hand, appear to manifest less apparently on the Cognitive Realm than Physical aspects. While objects with the Spark of Life (animate objects) show their Spiritual aspects quite clearly as bright light (the glowing shapes on Scadrial, the bright flames on Roshar), most inanimate objects appear dark, especially when they're not Invested (as we've seen in WoK, a Shadesmar bead flares while being Soulcast, but most Shadesmar beads are dark). This may be because Spiritual power (i.e. Investiture, which includes the Spark of Life) is the only part of the Spiritual Realm that is visible in the Cognitive Realm, which is why Invested things glow.

There is an exception, though. It appears that some non-Invested inanimate objects do appear brightly on the Cognitive Realm, at least on Scadrial. I am of course referring to metallic objects. Somehow, it is easier for Scadrian Investiture to travel from the Spiritual Realm to the Physical Realm via metal than via anything else. I believe it's because the spirit of Scadrial is attuned to Foil, just as its body is attuned to Vapor. This, I think, is why metal is the Focus of the Metallic Arts.

Now, we know that the Spiritual Realm does not care about physical location, so it stands to reason that anyone Connected to the spirit of Scadrial (e.g. native Scadrians) should be able to perceive metal as Foci of Investiture even on other planets. This, I think, is why Metalborn Worldhoppers can use their Arts outside of Scadrial.

Here's a speculative list of Essences for each Shardworld's Spiritual aspect:

  • Scadrial: Foil (metal) - Metals glow in the Scadrian Cognitive Realm.

     

  • Roshar: Zephyr (air) - I think the Cognitive Identity of the Rosharan atmosphere is mostly concentrated in a single gigantic entity that is so attuned to the Spiritual Realm that Spiritual power naturally leaks out every time it passes by, possibly illuminating Shadesmar temporarily as it does. I am of course referring to the Stormfather, father of windspren and honorspren, and binder of Oaths.

     

  • Nalthis: Vapor (exhaled breaths) - Like the Scadrian Cognitive Realm, I think the Nalthian Cognitive Realm also has mists (in the form of BioChromatic Breath), except these mists glow in bright colors and they arise from living things and Awakened objects in the oily, iridescent Nalthian Cognitive Realm.

     

  • Sel: Talus (rigid forms, land) - My guess is that living things appear as glowing skeletal forms existing solidly among the winds of the Selish Cognitive Realm. Each region of land is represented by a gigantic glowing form (possibly a Splinter) dominating its own area in the Cognitive Realm. The Invested winds of the Dor blow from these regional Land Forms, mixing with the Cognitive wind and Investing any derivative Forms that might appear. This dependence on winds blowing from Cognitive Forms is why Selish Investiture is normally region-locked.

 

TL;DR: Scadrial is Physically Vapor and Spiritually Foil. Roshar is Physically Lucentia and Spiritually Zephyr. Nalthis is Physically Tallow and Spiritually Vapor. Sel is Physically Zephyr and Spiritually Talus.

I will probably delve deeper into some of these things in series-specific threads in the future, but it's nice to be able to post these tentative ideas here while we're waiting for the other forums to be open for Secret History discussion.

Edited by skaa
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