2016-12-06 [Arcanum Unbounded] Herald Washington Library Center - Chicago, IL

[iceblade44]

Great questions & answers. can't wait for a more detailed summary but that would have to wait until you guys are more rested. Awesome reveals, heres a upvote.

[Argent]

58 minutes ago, ccstat said:

Thanks for the highlights, Argent. I always look forward to the Chicago signing reports.

I'm sad you ran out of questions. I saw your list yesterday and thought it looked a little thin, but I know you have experience with how much to expect out of these things so I decided not to PM you a backup list. Too bad.

And it was meant to be - the last few signings I've been able to only get a small number of questions because our presence as a community has grown. Some of the first signings I went to, I could stay with Brandon after and get pretty much all my questions answered. The Calamity one, it was 2-3 questions during the line and then another 2-3 (per person) after the entire event, so I was preparing for something like that, with a little bit of a buffer just in case. Not for a "we'll start here, then we'll go this way, and the back until you run of questions" type of thing.

[Vindicator]

6 hours ago, Argent said:

So, a more complete signing report will come later (I haven't even checked my audio, but there were better recorders, so I'll probably let their owners post the stuff), but I wanted to drop in and say that - as usual - the signing was a blast. We were a bit short on time (library was going to close 3 hours into the event), so many of us got only one or two questions in during the signing line... but then we also essentially replaced the general Q&A with Cosmere questions, so that helped. 

Oh, and Brandon also hung out with a lot of us for like an hour after the event, outside, in the freezing Chicago night, answering questions and RAFOing only rarely. Let me tell you, my friends, too much of a good thing is not a good thing. I was not prepared for this many questions. I still missed a lot of what you asked me to ask (I just didn't think to put so many questions on my printout, and I was holding my phone to record so I couldn't browse the forums), but we do have a lot of information about the Cosmere works. Not as much about specifics, mostly theory, but still a lot of stuff. For now, off the top of my head, I'll just drop a few:

• Reyse/Odium went after Ambition first because of the nature of Ambition's Shard, not because any grudge against its Vessel or anything. Odium was afraid that Ambition (being ambitious) could become a rival of his.
• Honor's perpendicularity is mobile (but RAFO on whether it's in the highstorms).
• The Arcanum Unbounded essays were written roughly at the same time, long before Sixth of the Dusk (but after all the other stories).
• In the Words of Radiance epilogue Hoid is talking to a cremling and a songbird (?) while he is waiting for Jasnah to show up; the cremling is part of a Dysian Aimian, and Hoid knows it. 100% credit to @Zmann966 for both recalling this event, and asking the question.
• Wax's Resonance is (kind of) his steel bubble. Brandon's answer was a little more complicated and convoluted, but that's the gist of it. Wayne's is a RAFO, as is Lift's / the Edgedancers'.
• Somebody asked if Hoid has any relatives, and got a non-RAFO answer, but because the question is a little more juicy (and potentially rep-worthy), I'll give them a chance to report it. It's not Cosmere-breaking type of stuff, but we all cherish Hoid WoBs

There is a ton more, I am not even remembering the most important reveals, but I am tired and a lot of the remaining stuff is more complicated, so I'll leave it to others and/or the audio.

I was right then, about Wax not having any special kind of Resonance and that his 'perk' was the steel bubble. Would have felt somewhat cheap had he gotten some other special ability.

[Yata]

4 minutes ago, Vindicator said:

I was right then, about Wax not having any special kind of Resonance and that his 'perk' was the steel bubble. Would have felt somewhat cheap had he gotten some other special ability.

Actually was my idea too, but I don't remember the reasons I discharged (probably some other Sharder with a good explaination)

[Pagerunner]

I also seem to recall the steel bubble being debunked as a perk, and I'm trying to figure out why. Looking back, a lot of people seem to remember a WoB that it was due to Wax's savantism, (like this guy, for example...) But I haven't been able to find the original source for it, so it's possible it's a rumor that got elevated to tribal knowledge. If anyone else wants to keep searching, that's the vein to do it in - if Brandon confirmed the steel bubble as an ability of a steel savant.

EDIT: Aha, I found it! Alloy of Law annotations, chapter 11.

Quote

For these books, I wanted to show people who had one or two powers, instead of sixteen, and show how specialization can achieve some incredible results. Because of that, I intentionally held back in the first trilogy in letting Vin do a few things. (Note how much better Zane was with minute steelpushes and ironpulls than she was.) Vin was incredibly skilled, but because she had so many powers to work with, she didn’t home in as much on any one of them. Things like Wax’s steel bubble are tricks I wanted to save for people like Wax. (He’s what we’d call in the Mistborn world a steel savant, so capable with his metal—and having burned it so long, for so many years—that he’s got an instinctive ability with it that lets him be very precice.)

 

Edited December 7, 2016 by Pagerunner

[WeiryWriter]

Yeah the steel bubble being a function of his being a savant is in the annotations:

Quote

Things like Wax’s steel bubble are tricks I wanted to save for people like Wax. (He’s what we’d call in the Mistborn world a steel savant, so capable with his metal—and having burned it so long, for so many years—that he’s got an instinctive ability with it that lets him be very precise.)

 

[Argent]

Yeah, and I brought this up, and Brandon did factor it into his explanation - I just either can't remember it well enough, or it didn't make enough sense to me at the time (and so I can't retell it well enough). I may also be misreporting what he actually said - Brandon didn't actually say "speed bubble", it may have been something like "bullet manipulation." 

Let's wait on the audio before we drop the final verdict on this one.

[Volratho]

I recorded all of the signing line questions as well as the small outside Q&A session. I have not looked at my recording as of this morning yet, but I will get it uploaded soon.

But as far as Wax's resonance, Brandon described that the two powers he has are starting to merge into one for Wax.

He said that Wax is starting to become a savant with his abilities, and that Savantism is not ability specific, but more of becoming more infused with investiture.

This is the same with the soulcasters on Roshar, them starting to turn stone like is a type of savantism, meaning they are becoming more and more infused with the investiture.

 

Again, I will have the audio up later today sometime.

I will also be getting my hands on the recordings that the library did for Brandon's speech, reading, and general Q&A.

The General Q&A I will put up as soon as I get it, but the other stuff Brandon has said I should run it past his people before releasing.

[ccstat]

Quote

Savantism is not ability specific, but more of becoming more infused with investiture.

Whaaat?! That is not at all how I was thinking of it.

Thanks for recording everything!

[Argent]

1 minute ago, ccstat said:

Whaaat?! That is not at all how I was thinking of it.

That sounds approximately like my own reaction to that

[ccstat]

Yeah, and on reflection I'm still not sure I entirely believe it. I mean, look at Spook.... I guess I'll wait to discuss this until we have an actual transcript, but it sounds like some further clarification may be required. (I'm sure you asked follow-ups last night, so maybe he already explained it. We'll see.)

[Djarskublar]

Great stuff guys! Can't wait for the outside Q&A audio! Maybe today I will finally figure out the Provo audio...

[Jofwu]

What special abilities did Spook have? He just had INSANELY enhanced senses. I always thought savantism was just a matter of having more strength and control of the normal powers.

I can see how Wax's bubble could be interpreted either way.

[Djarskublar]

No, this savantism thing makes sense. If they are more Invested, they can use their powers more, well, powerfully. This suggests that once you are a savant, you are one, and it will qualify you as one in any power. So TLR was a savant... in everything.

It's nice to confirm the Soulcasters Adolin sees are savants, or approaching savantism.

This sounds incredibly important. It means that if you use Allomancy medallions, you can gain savantism, and then apply your savanthood to other powers. Practice will still be a factor. You won't be able to gain savantism and then be amazing in some power you have never used before, but it will make it possible to gain savantism for powers that normally would be difficult or impossible to gain it with, like awakening or potion mastery.

[Khyrindor]

28 minutes ago, jofwu said:

What special abilities did Spook have? He just had INSANELY enhanced senses. I always thought savantism was just a matter of having more strength and control of the normal powers.

Spook kept his tin flared constantly, so he became a tin savant. Which is why he had the insanely enhanced senses. maybe the savantism is why he picked up pewter so fast. And I wonder what happened after Harmony healed him...

[Bromo_Sapien]

It could also explain how Spook became powerful enough to be worshipped as a near-deity so quickly. He wasn't a particularly important member of the Crew but becoming a powerful Mistborn and wandering the world will get you some recognition.

 

I wonder how savant Allomancers compare in strength to Lerasium Allomancers. Obviously TLR, being both, is inarguably the most powerful Allomancer of all time, but is Savant Mistborn Spook as powerful in terms of raw ability as, say, Elend? 

[emailanimal]

Joining others in thanking @Argent. These are awesome.

9 hours ago, Argent said:

 

• Honor's perpendicularity is mobile (but RAFO on whether it's in the highstorms).
•  

 

Well, I guess we know where Cultivation's perpindicularity(ies) is/are....

 

Quote

• In the Words of Radiance epilogue Hoid is talking to a cremling and a songbird (?) while he is waiting for Jasnah to show up; the cremling is part of a Dysian Aimian, and Hoid knows it. 100% credit to @Zmann966 for both recalling this event, and asking the question.

Wow. This is some really good insight there on the part of @Zmann966 . So, at least one Dysian Aimian knows where Jasnah is.

Also,  this is probably inevitable, but are we going to comb the books for every occurrence of a cremling now?

 

[emailanimal]

7 minutes ago, Bromo_Sapien said:

 

It could also explain how Spook became powerful enough to be worshipped as a near-deity so quickly. He wasn't a particularly important member of the Crew but becoming a powerful Mistborn and wandering the world will get you some recognition.

 

He is either the last remaining Mistborn, or close to being one, so that alone is enough. 

[Khyrindor]

1 minute ago, emailanimal said:

He is either the last remaining Mistborn, or close to being one, so that alone is enough. 

Spoiler

I'm quite certain Spook is now immortal. In BoM, a throwaway reference was made to him being over a hundred when he stepped down from rule, so I'm sure he's still around. Probably meddling with Kelsier, who is definitely a Mistborn, though probably using Hemalurgy. Also, don't forget Ironeyes.

 

[VirtuousTraveller]

6 minutes ago, emailanimal said:

Well, I guess we know where Cultivation's perpindicularity(ies) is/are....

Where?  The Origin?  The Horneater Peaks?  That Honor's perpendicularity is mobile makes it seem like the highstorm is most probable, unless the Origin moves beyond the sea somewhere.  I'm not sure this helps us with Cultivation?

[FirstSelector]

It does, because we know Hoid came through a Perpendicularity (and that Horneaters that don't come out of the pool went through the other way), which is also in the audio for this event.  Since it wasn't moving, I think we can safely assume it isn't Honor's, and I think it reasonable to assume it's not Odium's.

[Khyrindor]

1 minute ago, VirtuousTraveller said:

Where?  The Origin?  The Horneater Peaks?  That Honor's perpendicularity is mobile makes it seem like the highstorm is most probable, unless the Origin moves beyond the sea somewhere.  I'm not sure this helps us with Cultivation?

I asked Brandon a while ago about that Shardpool on the Horneater Peaks, assuming it was Honor's, and he told me not to make assumptions. Since it's obviously a Perpendicularity, it's almost certainly Cultivation's.

 

[Ted aka WinespringBrother]

16 minutes ago, emailanimal said:

Joining others in thanking @Argent. These are awesome.

 

Well, I guess we know where Cultivation's perpindicularity(ies) is/are....

 

Wow. This is some really good insight there on the part of @Zmann966 . So, at least one Dysian Aimian knows where Jasnah is.

Also,  this is probably inevitable, but are we going to comb the books for every occurrence of a cremling now?

 

Easy enough with Kindle

31 mentions of cremlings in The Way of Kings, but nothing stood out.

38 mentions of cremlings in Words of Radiance, and 3 instances seem noteworthy:

Mraize shoots a cremling with a dart at the meeting in the wilderness (pg 627).

Kaladin and Syl see a cremling when Kal is in prison (pg 767).

Teft throws a rock at a cremling while they are standing vigil for Kaladin to return (pg 840).

[FirstSelector]

I asked Brandon about the mist spirits in the alternate ending to WoA, and he confirmed that they are Shards.  I asked him to write the name of one of them in my book; he hesitated until I pointed out that it wasn't canon anymore.  So, now we know Endowment was there*.  The asterisk is from Brandon, and I assume it means both non-canon and that there is more unspecified weirdness to this scene.

[ccstat]

The cremling references are compiled here (WoK) and here (WoR) in the Edgedancer spoiler board. I am guessing that discussion helped prompt the question, though Zmann966 may have come up with it in his own.