Rithmatics: what do you want to know?

[ccstat]

Brandon is going to be the guest of honor at Boskone in mid February, and one of the planned events (in fact, the only one announced so far) is a discussion/Q&A about The Rithmatist. Looking over my personal list of questions, the Rithmatics section is really thin. That is mostly because of great answers received (especially during the Firefight tour), but also because it's been a while since I read it. I'm sure there are still things we want to know, so I'm opening up the floor for suggestions.

What are your personal questions? And as the list grows, which do you think are the highest priority, especially in light of the promise in the State of the Sanderson that The Aztlanian is coming up soon?

I'll share the final list with the other sharders attending, and we'll try to make sure the best questions make it into the discussion.

[manukos]

first of all : is a sequel coming and when

[WeiryWriter]

1 minute ago, harambe said:

first of all : is a sequel coming and when

From this year's State of the Sanderson:

Quote

The Rithmatist

A sequel to The Rithmatist is looking likely this year, depending on some factors (such as how long Stormlight revisions take.) This is the single most requested book I hear about, though that’s probably because people know that Stormlight is coming along very well already.

Some people do wonder why I’d do like The Apocalypse Guard before The Atzlanian (Rithmatist 2). It comes down to having two publishers. Stormlight, Rithmatist, and Wax and Wayne are all books for Tor. I need to give Delacorte some love too, and they’ve waited patiently all year for me to finish Stormlight. So they get the next major writing time slot.

I hear you, Rithmatist fans. We’ll get something to you before too much longer. My son Joel (who has a character in the book named for him) is getting old enough to read The Rithmatist, and so I intend to read it with him together, and then jump into the second book sometime soon.

Status: Soooooon.

 

[manukos]

kind of irrelevant but why is the rithmatist not a part of the cosmere?

Edited December 27, 2016 by harambe

[BlackYeti]

3 minutes ago, harambe said:

kind of irrelevant but why is the rithmatist not a part of the cosmere?

I believe that it's because Brandon doesn't want the Earth to be in the cosmere, not even a weird alternate version of it. He originally planned it to be cosmere, but then decided to make it it's own thing.

[A Budgie]

Let's see...some of this stuff may have been asked before, but I personally wouldn't mind knowing more about the history of the magic system and how it impacted lives when it first appeared (I really hope this isn't stuff that has been answered in the novel but I've forgotten). How long has this magic been around in their world, anyway? I seem to remember the world used spring-power to power a lot of their technology, even trains, because it was cheap when the chalklings could wind the springs up. What would technology be like if they didn't have these? Or would their world just be like ours?

[ccstat]

FYI, here are the questions currently on my list.

1. Draw a line of forbiddance on a loose tile, then throw a rock at the barrier. Does the tile move? (I.e. is the force transferred to the substrate? Does the line anchor the defense to a specific point in space or to a point on the material it is drawn on? And does the strength of the drawing surface impact the force your barriers can withstand?)
2. We've seen that defenses can be scaled up to immense size, such as the great circle at Nebrask. Would it likewise be possible to make an enormous chalkling?
3. If you leave a gap in your circle of warding, will that impact its overall integrity, or merely open a hole in your defenses? How much of the circle do you have to draw? (I sort of think we got an answer to this one already, but I couldn't find it.)

[Exalted]

I have a couple, although they may have been answered already:

1. Does the granting of powers via the Shadowblaze bear a resemblance to a Nahel bond? If so, how similar are they? (I suspect either a flat-out "no" or an RAFO)

2. Do they know about 5- and 8-point circles in-world and simply choose not to use them? Or have they never discovered them?

3. At what point does a Line of Forbiddance stop being a line and start being an oversized rectangle of chalk on the ground? (i.e. how high can you make a Line of Forbiddance extend into their air?)

[Yitzi2]

1. (It's possible the answer to this is known already, but I wasn't able to find it.)  If a circle has something at some valid bind points but not others (e.g. three of the four points of a four-pointer), does that weaken it?  If not, why is a two-pointer considered a separate type, given that those are two of the points of a four- or six-pointer?

2. If the Rithmatist had been cosmere-related, would it be a shardworld?  If so, which Shard(s) would be present there?

3. The height of a Line of Forbiddance is proportional to its width.  Does that mean that with a thin enough chalk "pencil" you can make LoFs you can reach over?  If so, would this be permitted in a duel?

[A Secret Corner]

On ‎3‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 0:29 PM, Yitzi2 said:

1. (It's possible the answer to this is known already, but I wasn't able to find it.)  If a circle has something at some valid bind points but not others (e.g. three of the four points of a four-pointer), does that weaken it?  If not, why is a two-pointer considered a separate type, given that those are two of the points of a four- or six-pointer?

2. If the Rithmatist had been cosmere-related, would it be a shardworld?  If so, which Shard(s) would be present there?

3. The height of a Line of Forbiddance is proportional to its width.  Does that mean that with a thin enough chalk "pencil" you can make LoFs you can reach over?  If so, would this be permitted in a duel?

Since this not the Sanderson memes thread, I will not post a meme of necromancy, necromancy anywhere. I however find these to be good questions. With the first one, I'm actually wondering what distinguishes all circles, for some reasons that you might see  if you think about it. for #2, the Rithmatist was originally planned to be Cosmere, but by decision of Brandon, he decided that it would not be Cosmere, for reasons laid out above. But here's some information related to this, not shard-related, truly, but important as I see it. According to Brandon's original plan for the Rithmatist (formerly The Scribbler,) the Shadowblazes and the Forgotten would have been creatures who lived completely and only in the spiritual realm. This is one of the reasons why they (as well as wild chalklings) are afraid and confused by man's perception of time, as in the spiritual realm, time and space are somewhat, irrelevant. ... cannot find relevant WoB anywhere...

anyways, Yes, (for #3.) The height of a Line of Forbiddance is based upon width. This is discussed in the book I believe, or at least mentioned. And you probably could make LoF's that you could reach over, but given that we don't see anything go over a LoF in the book when LoF's are probably less than 1 cm. thick, I think that this would be rather impractical...

But these were some good questions, and someone should probably ask them sometime. Sorry for cluttering this thread with what I know of this subject!

[ccstat]

While the event these questions were gathered for took place in February, this thread is still a good place to suggest more questions and discuss them. That event is actually where the spiritual-realm-entity WoB came from. Report is here. 

Regarding #1 we have theories but no WoB. The main proposals are: that bind points must be marked explicitly, or that the intent of the Rithmatist when drawing it sets the type of circle, and later changes (even if geometrically valid) can't alter the initial determination.

For #3 we know from the books that the thickness of a LoF influences not only the strength & height of the projected barrier, but also the ability of the line to resist chalking or LoV attacks. So even though it is likely possible to make tiny lines of Forbiddance, it is hard to imagine a situation where that would be useful -- certainly not in a duel.

 

Edited March 28, 2017 by ccstat

[A Secret Corner]

On ‎3‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 6:34 AM, ccstat said:

While the event these questions were gathered for took place in February, this thread is still a good place to suggest more questions and discuss them. That event is actually where the spiritual-realm-entity WoB came from. Report is here. 

Regarding #1 we have theories but no WoB. The main proposals are: that bind points must be marked explicitly, or that the intent of the Rithmatist when drawing it sets the type of circle, and later changes (even if geometrically valid) can't alter the initial determination.

For #3 we know from the books that the thickness of a LoF influences not only the strength & height of the projected barrier, but also the ability of the line to resist chalking or LoV attacks. So even though it is likely possible to make tiny lines of Forbiddance, it is hard to imagine a situation where that would be useful -- certainly not in a duel.

 

hm. Regarding number 3, I remember it being that the, perfection if you will, how close a LoF comes to being perfectly straight; how close it come to being a straight line (segment). Thanks for linking the relevant WoB's though!

Edited March 29, 2017 by Secrets

[ccstat]

Hmm, you may be right. The great circle at Nebrask is drawn very thick, which suggests to my mind that the thickness does something worthwhile beyond simple durability in the elements. I also had in mind that the chapter with the visit to the crime scene, where Fitch has the workmen with shovels break through the LoF, mentioned the thickness of the line mattering. However, looking up all the occurrences of "forbiddance" in the ebook doesn't turn up any reference to the thickness of the line mattering except one reference to how high the barrier becomes. There are three mentions that how well-drawn it is matters (not specifically how straight, but that may be assumed.) 

It still makes sense to me that the thickness would influence the ability of chalklings to get through it, since there is more line there to attack, but I guess I don't have a textual reference to support that assumption.

[A Secret Corner]

16 hours ago, ccstat said:

Hmm, you may be right. The great circle at Nebrask is drawn very thick, which suggests to my mind that the thickness does something worthwhile beyond simple durability in the elements. I also had in mind that the chapter with the visit to the crime scene, where Fitch has the workmen with shovels break through the LoF, mentioned the thickness of the line mattering. However, looking up all the occurrences of "forbiddance" in the ebook doesn't turn up any reference to the thickness of the line mattering except one reference to how high the barrier becomes. There are three mentions that how well-drawn it is matters (not specifically how straight, but that may be assumed.) 

It still makes sense to me that the thickness would influence the ability of chalklings to get through it, since there is more line there to attack, but I guess I don't have a textual reference to support that assumption.

How straight it is just part of what makes a line well drawn, which is why I mentioned it. It's the only way I can think of to classify a line as "well drawn". This however definitely deserves a re-read, or I'm just looking for an excuse to re-read The Rithmatist. Probably I just want an excuse.