Popular Post Argent Posted January 30, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted January 30, 2017 I've been putting off going over these, but Brandon has answered a few questions in his most recent Oathbringer status update on Reddit, and I feel we should have them in here. I am more than a little busy, however, so no pretty formatting (though if a mod wanted to edit my post and add pretty formatting, I consent). Nothing groundbreaking in here, but there are some minor worldbuilding trivia elements. I've also chosen to not list questions that got an outright RAFO, though there were a few of those. Quote Q: Warbreaker question: does the gradual appearance of Returned across Nalthis follow the spread of trade routes from Hallandren? A: No, it doesn't. But good question. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/5p4ydj/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_6/dcow0ho/?context=3 Quote Q: So, now that I have the chance to selfishly ask a question, how would a Desolation look like on another Shardworld? Would it look different or just more or less similar? A: The term "Desolation" isn't really a cosmere-wide term. It's a Rosharan word for a specific type of event that happens there--and so I have on context for what it would mean on other worlds. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/5p4ydj/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_6/dcow2fw/?context=3 Quote Q: Kind of an off-topic question but - did the Elantrians know that the Aons were geomancy? Or did they know and just went insane too fast to get the details of whatever geographical catastrophe had just disturbed their lines? A: They knew. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/5p4ydj/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_6/dcow3ec/?context=3 Quote Q: Quick question if you're still answering: You've said that Returned count as Cognitive shadows "stapled" back into their bodies, and that the Heralds are at least similar. Would I be right in assuming that Elantrians could be considered as Cognitive Shadows as well, or am I barking up the wrong tree? A: Elantrians are something different. They don't actually "die" to be created. Recognize that the term cognitive shadow is an in-cosmere theory, which I'm not going to comment on as the creator of the setting. The theory is this: Investiture seeks sapience. It looks for someone to control it or, in some instances, spontaneously adopts personality. A mind (cognitive aspect of a person) can become infused with Investiture. This acts a little like minerals with petrified wood, replacing the mind and personality with investiture. When the actual person dies, this investiture imprint remains behind. A copy of the soul, but not the actual soul. Others disagree with this, and think the soul itself persists. Still others reject the theory in its entirety. Q: ... Kandra are almost literally stapled to their bodies with Hemalurgy - would they count as such, to the in-setting scholars? A: No, they wouldn't. They are beings who have had their souls twisted by Hemalurgy--the soul never left, it's just been messed up. Someone else who has a soul stapled to a body with Hemalurgy would count though. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/5p4ydj/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_6/dcp1rxn/?context=3 Quote Q: I'm probably too late to this party to get a question in, but just in case... The Resonances for Edgedancers and Bloodmaker/Slider pairings--are they basically the same thing? It's maybe mostly linguistic for Edgedancers and more like Invested method acting for the Wayne types, but if I'm reading things correctly, it seems that they're very closely related. After all, Progression and Bloodmaking are quite similar. Abrasion and speed bubbles have a more tenuous link, but they do call bendalloy boys "Sliders," after all (no disrespect to bendalloy girls, but I couldn't pass up the alliteration). A: The connections are more because the magics are all inter-related, and based on fundamental rules, and less because I was trying for any specific connection. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/5p4ydj/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_6/dcpgsyg/?context=3 Quote Q: Kalad and Kalak, Shashara and shalash...a lot of names on Nalthis and Roshar seem related....pure coincidence? A: There is a lot of crossover between the planets. But not every connection people make is an intentional one. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/5p4ydj/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_6/dcx98qx/?context=3 Quote Q: If I might bother you since you've answered a few Realmatic questions... Do Idrians Return with a "purpose" they can reasonably complete in a week? From the book and annotations, purposes that we saw tended to be long-term goals. Does Endowment realize this, and only send back Idrians with tasks that can reasonably be accomplished in their shorter lifespans? A: This is somewhat RAFO territory. (Sorry.) Q: On a related note will we ever find out what Vasher's purpose was? A: Yes. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/5p4ydj/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_6/dcxbabx/?context=3 Quote Q: Thank you for your amazingly thorough updates! I have a question, if you're still around to answer. Do you have the "end state" of the Cosmere in your mind? Do you know where, thirty years or so from now, where the main characters will be once all major Cosmere series are finished? Or do you plan on having them end at all? Thank you for your time, if you ever make it to Virginia, my wife and I will be first in line! A: Yes, I have a plan--but remember, we'll be dealing with a lot of new characters by then. The goal is not to take everyone you're reading about now, and have them appear in the final books. Some will persist, but my end game is more focused on events. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/5p4ydj/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_6/dcx9ac9/?context=3 Quote Q: Something I've been wondering since BoM: when a kandra loses its spikes temporarily and its memories degrade, is that happening because of the spikes decaying, or is something biological actually happening to where it has stored its memories? A: It's biological. Good question! https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/5p4ydj/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_6/dcthael/?context=3 Quote Q: A question: how would an albino with red eyes be regarded on Roshar? Do they even exist there? A: They would be deeply mistrusted. (Unfortunately.) Q: Just because rosharians are racist, or is it a cultural carryover from fear of the Voidbringers? A [by Peter]: Probably both. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/5p4ydj/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_6/dcthauv/?context=3 Quote Q: Hey mr sanderson , an intresting question for you : When we all finish reading book 10 in maybe 30 years from now, how much hidden secrets will we be able to discover from re reading books 1 and 2? A: There will certainly be a lot of these--but at the same time, the way I plan and execute foreshadowing, I feel that most of them should have been figured out before Book Ten. I don't want to be obtuse just to be obtuse. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/5p4ydj/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_6/dcthirq/?context=3 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Extesian Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 (edited) On 31/01/2017 at 5:29 AM, Argent said: Q: Quick question if you're still answering: You've said that Returned count as Cognitive shadows "stapled" back into their bodies, and that the Heralds are at least similar. Would I be right in assuming that Elantrians could be considered as Cognitive Shadows as well, or am I barking up the wrong tree? A: Elantrians are something different. They don't actually "die" to be created. Recognize that the term cognitive shadow is an in-cosmere theory, which I'm not going to comment on as the creator of the setting. The theory is this: Investiture seeks sapience. It looks for someone to control it or, in some instances, spontaneously adopts personality. A mind (cognitive aspect of a person) can become infused with Investiture. This acts a little like minerals with petrified wood, replacing the mind and personality with investiture. When the actual person dies, this investiture imprint remains behind. A copy of the soul, but not the actual soul. Others disagree with this, and think the soul itself persists. Still others reject the theory in its entirety. Q: ... Kandra are almost literally stapled to their bodies with Hemalurgy - would they count as such, to the in-setting scholars? A: No, they wouldn't. They are beings who have had their souls twisted by Hemalurgy--the soul never left, it's just been messed up. Someone else who has a soul stapled to a body with Hemalurgy would count though https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/5p4ydj/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_6/dcp1rxn/?context=3 This is the one that really interests me. Firstly the fact that Cognitive Shadows are simply an in-world theory that some disagree with or at least think that the soul itself remains. There's been a lot of shard discussion on the definition of CS and it's interesting that the information we have may be objectively wrong, even when it's WoB. Also that someone who has had a soul stapled to their body would count as a CS. Would this just mean someone like (BoM/SH spoiler) Spoiler Kelsier, who presumably (maybe I'm wrong) will have been resurrected on the Physical realm by hemalurgy? In which case he'd be both a sliver and a CS. Or would it also even include normal hemalurgy, with those using it effectively having a CS of the spiking victim(s) within them? Edited February 5, 2017 by Extesian 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagerunner Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 1 hour ago, Extesian said: This is the one that really interests me. Firstly the fact that Cognitive Shadows are simply an in-world theory that some disagree with or at least think that the soul itself remains. There's been a lot of shard discussion on the definition of CS and it's interesting that the information we have may be objectively wrong, even when it's WoB. Yeah, I immediately saw dissonance between Khriss's explanations of Cognitive Shadows and the Kelsier points of view we've seen. It's not the WoBs that are wrong, it's whether or not in-universe sources are completely accurate. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Extesian Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 11 minutes ago, Pagerunner said: Yeah, I immediately saw dissonance between Khriss's explanations of Cognitive Shadows and the Kelsier points of view we've seen. It's not the WoBs that are wrong, it's whether or not in-universe sources are completely accurate. Perhaps the questions we should be asking now are around what certain people/institutions think about cognitive shadows (Silverlight universities, 17th Shard, Khriss herself, Vasher, Hoid etc). I'm not sure if it's purely an academic question but it could be useful in knowing the personality behind a supposed CS. A copy may act differently to the original. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yata Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 There are some new answers (for some strange reasons mine are the only one skipped ) anyway: Quote Q: Since this thread seems still active, I have a question: I recently saw on TV some info about some incredibly violent physical events in our universe, namely a collision between two black holes or a star quake on a Magnetar or Neutron Star. Is a shard holder sufficiently independent of the physical realm to be immune to even such mega-violent events, or would even one of them have a tough time shrugging it off? A: Ruin and Preservation were, together, able to form a planet--so I'd say they could shrug that sort of thing off, depending on circumstances. There are others, but are Argent's questions...therefore I will leave the honor to him 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vissy Posted February 6, 2017 Report Share Posted February 6, 2017 @Argent your turn to post your questions! Maybe they skipped your questions because they were too good @Yata 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted February 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2017 Heh. I just clarified a few things I had been wondering about. Don't hold your breaths The last question is, perhaps, the most interesting one. Quote Q: When you say that the Returned are cognitive shadows, are they shadows of the people they were pre-death? In other words, is Lightsong Llarimar's cognitive shadow stapled to his body with a Divine Breath? A: Yes, they are. (The evidence in the books is Lightsong obtaining some of the memories his pre-death soul had.) Quote Q: We've seen cognitive shadows in the Cognitive Realm (e.g. Kelsier), and in the Physical (Returned, Shades, Heralds (kind of, sort of)). Is it alright to refer to shadows both with and without a body as "cognitive shadows"? A: Yes. The shadow is the spirit, though, so there is some distinction. Quote Q: Is death in the Cosmere a two-stage process? It seems to me like (under normal circumstances) the body dies first, sending the mind fully in the Cognitive Realm; the soul, presumably, remains in the Spiritual for the entire process. I am a little unclear on what happens after that though - what is it that passes into the Beyond, just the mind? Does the soul / spiritual aspect / Spiritweb just kind of... break down in the Spiritual Realm, turn into free investiture? A: Yes. It's a two stage process, and most of what you said is correct. The odd thing is, though, that the spiritweb doesn't completely break down (just like your body doesn't immediately break down.) Even after a long time, there's a record of that spirit web in the spiritual realm. What I really want to get an answer on is a pet theory of mine I asked in a follow-up post. But we'll see if it gets anything (I did dream that he RAFO'd me on it, so there's that...). 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Extesian Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 9 hours ago, Argent said: Heh. I just clarified a few things I had been wondering about. Don't hold your breaths The last question is, perhaps, the most interesting one. What I really want to get an answer on is a pet theory of mine I asked in a follow-up post. But we'll see if it gets anything (I did dream that he RAFO'd me on it, so there's that...). Hope you don't mind me copying in said pet theory @Argent, futuresight has interested me for a while. Quote In fact, this segues into a small theory I've had for a while, one which I would love to see your comments on. Ever since Secret History, I've suspected that the way Shards (or anyone) peer into the future is by looking into the Spiritual Realm (where time is immaterial), seeing everyone's and everything's Connections, and kind of... making very educated guesses about how those Connections might develop in the future. And so, I suspected, the reason some Shards are better at this than others has little to do with the mandate of the Shard, and mostly to do with the Vessel's mind, their ability to see and interpret the data. Is this accurate, or are there missing pieces? The scenes in the books indicate a lot about connections in the Spiritual relating to future sight, but the main (old) WoB I could find indicates something...different? Quote INTERVIEW: Sep, 2012 Cosmere Q&A - 17th Shard (Verbatim) JAMESW You said that Preservation created the Terris Prophecies. Why couldn't ruin see into the future and counter Preservation's plan? Is it because Ruin's intent has him focusing more on the present than the future, while Preservation (wanting to preserve forever) looks more into the future for that goal. BRANDON SANDERSON Looking into the future was not something Ruin was good at doing. That ability is confined to certain shards, and not others Not at all decisive but the word confined sounds to me like it depends on the Shard's intent. If it were the Vessel's ability it would be a sliding scale but confined (for a verbatim WoB) indicates it's an in or out prospect. That is balanced though by the idea that Ruin was just "not good" at it, rather than unable. But I'm leaning towards certain intents, like Cultivation (who we know is good at it) and Preservation being able to because their intent is about the future, while Ruin and Odium as intents are about the present. I suspect future-sight relates to certain intents but that the intent iisn't enough, the Vessel still needs to be insightful enough to read the connections properly. I should add that the questions raised by @Kurkistan and others about the idea of the spiritweb corpse are very intriguing, but I'll let them raise them here if they wish. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccstat Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 5 hours ago, Extesian said: I'm leaning towards certain intents, like Cultivation (who we know is good at it) and Preservation being able to because their intent is about the future, while Ruin and Odium as intents are about the present. I hope we're not derailing the thread from WoB reporting, since this future-sight business hasn't even gotten a response this round. I just want to counter this with the idea that intent has nothing to do with it. In the first place, your characterization of Ruin as focused on the present and Preservation on the future seems very suspect to me. While some intents, like Ambition, clearly have a bias toward future vs. present, most seem neutral to me. Trying to assign them to one over the other feels like shoehorning things to fit the theory. If anything, I would say you have it backwards: the intent of Ruin is all about decay, entropy, and change; Preservation is about stasis, concentrating on keeping things as they are now. The quote "that ability is confined to certain shards, and not others," suggests to me that various powers were split unevenly between the pieces when Adonalsium shattered, future sight being one of those. Another thing that split unevenly was, obviously, the intents. But I don't think it follows that those different features are intrinsically linked. It makes more sense to me that they assorted independently--or at least incidental to each other with only minor interaction. In my personal theory, intent is an emergent property of the combined "flavor" of the investiture making up the shard. Following that model, it would mean that IF future-sight as an ability has an inherent flavor (doubtful, in my mind) then the causality would go the other direction, with the ability contributing to the intents, rather than intents determining ability. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Extesian Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 30 minutes ago, ccstat said: I hope we're not derailing the thread from WoB reporting, since this future-sight business hasn't even gotten a response this round. I just want to counter this with the idea that intent has nothing to do with it. In the first place, your characterization of Ruin as focused on the present and Preservation on the future seems very suspect to me. While some intents, like Ambition, clearly have a bias toward future vs. present, most seem neutral to me. Trying to assign them to one over the other feels like shoehorning things to fit the theory. If anything, I would say you have it backwards: the intent of Ruin is all about decay, entropy, and change; Preservation is about stasis, concentrating on keeping things as they are now. The quote "that ability is confined to certain shards, and not others," suggests to me that various powers were split unevenly between the pieces when Adonalsium shattered, future sight being one of those. Another thing that split unevenly was, obviously, the intents. But I don't think it follows that those different features are intrinsically linked. It makes more sense to me that they assorted independently--or at least incidental to each other with only minor interaction. In my personal theory, intent is an emergent property of the combined "flavor" of the investiture making up the shard. Following that model, it would mean that IF future-sight as an ability has an inherent flavor (doubtful, in my mind) then the causality would go the other direction, with the ability contributing to the intents, rather than intents determining ability. Yes I quite like this. My stuff on different Shards was pure speculation and I should have distinguished it from things we know. But my main point was that I suspect it is more the Shard than the Vessel that determines future sight (with the Vessel still needing to be sufficiently intuitive to interpret connections). That's where the 'confined' wording was leading. But I like your 'flavors' interpretation of why it's confined to certain Shards. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The One Who Connects Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 14 hours ago, Extesian said: But I'm leaning towards certain intents, like Cultivation (who we know is good at it) and Preservation being able to because their intent is about the future, while Ruin and Odium as intents are about the present. I still feel that Odium would have future sight ability, maybe not on par with Preservation, but far better than Ruin. It's all about "what's in a name?" Ruin wants destruction. He doesn't care what, he doesn't care about how, etc.. He wants to break things and he wants to break at the first possible opportunity.. Odium is hatred. Hatred is a breeding ground for learning patience. Rage wants to destroy, Hate waits for the best moment to destroy. He's willing to wait for millennia, biding his time until he finds the perfect opportunity for his victory. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yata Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 Another Wob on our favorite Evil destroyer: https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/5p4ydj/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_6/ddgn19c/?context=3 Quote Q: What does Nightblood do if he gets fully drawn and runs out of breath and people to eat? Does he start vaporizing the ground and start boring a hole to the center of the planet? A: No, he won't. (Good question though.) I'm not sure I want to get into the mechanics of why not, yet. It WAS one of the first things we talked about with Nightblood, though. Q: Not to go into mechanics, then, does Nightblood just 'go to sleep' when his job's done? That would explain how Vasher is confident he'll be able to get Nightblood back, even if the person he tosses Nightblood to ends up fully drawing the blade. A: He doesn't sleep, but if he draws in enough, he'll start to sound drunk or drowsy (depending on your interpretation.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted February 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2017 A couple of extra WoBs: Quote Q: I am space nerd with a love of fantasy, so; Why is scadrial prime example planet to invent space travel. Is its allomancy/ferruchemy/hemalurgy combination more suitable for that kind of technology or do they have other incentives to invent space travel other than regular technology development? Is it related to the intervention of unknown metal/shard/beings we saw? A: There are a bunch of reasons. The most technologically advanced of the planets (Taldain) is extremely isolationist because of its Shard, while Harmony is very interested in the progress of his people. Scadrial has an advanced understanding of metallurgy, and for many years was quietly open to visitors from across the cosmere. In the modern era, that has enhanced. It's a much safer place to visit than, say, Sel, Threnody, or First of the Sun. There are other reasons, too, which we'll get into as the world progresses. Having some prominent cosmere-aware people pulling strings behind the scenes is a big help. If you know other worlds are out there, and are populated, then you're more likely to push toward space travel. Quote Q: I have a philosophy question that could actually be answered in cosmere: Ship of Theseus in cosmere. If I went and replaced every part of the ship, would it still - Cognitively - be the same thing? What if I replaced everything and made a second ship out of the parts from the first one? What could somebody watching all of that from Shadesmar tell me? A: You're right, part of the design of the cosmere (which has some deep roots in classical philosophy) was an attempt to answer the Ship of Theseus question. In the cosmere, part of the Cognitive--and even spiritual--aspect of a thing (particularly if it isn't sentient) is delineated by the way that thinking beings define it. Per the old joke about the axe, if you replace your axe head and think of the new axe as "Your Axe," then the cognitive and spiritual aspects of that thing will grow to reflect that. If you replaced every part of your ship, and gave the sailors time to sail it, thinking of it as the same ship--it would become the same ship. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Extesian Posted February 12, 2017 Report Share Posted February 12, 2017 On 11/02/2017 at 5:10 AM, Argent said: A couple of extra WoBs: I love the confirmation of Taldain being the most technologically advanced, which I think everyone suspected but I don't think we'd has WoB on? Makes me wonder again if Taldain's the post-industrial revolution planet that the Nalthis scholars visited and how long it's been isolated for. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herald Posted March 1, 2017 Report Share Posted March 1, 2017 (edited) A couple of WoBs. Sources: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/5t9nyy/iamonce_againa_novelist_named_brandon_sanderson/deb8vb0/?context=3 and https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/5t9nyy/iamonce_againa_novelist_named_brandon_sanderson/dec8edk/?context=3 Quote Q: Would Mistborn with mixed Threnodian blood be able to burn silver? What would happen? A: No, blood line would not change which metals are allomantically viable and which were not. Quote Q: Would the metal an Allomancer burns if he was charging Nightblood with investiture effect the relative power of Nightblood, say if you are buying Duralumin or Atium Nightblood would be more powerful than if you were burning Bronze or Zinc? A: Excellent question, actually! Nightblood, as I've written him now and as I intend to keep him, feeds of the investiture--but isn't really strengthened by it. Meaning, it doesn't matter to him what the food is, it's all just food to him. Edited March 1, 2017 by Herald Formatting 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herald Posted March 9, 2017 Report Share Posted March 9, 2017 WoB on languages and naming in Roshar (probably mentioned elsewhere before) Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/5t9nyy/iamonce_againa_novelist_named_brandon_sanderson/ddlc64q/ Quote Q. What is the origin of the name Kaladin? My wife and I recently had our first child and that's what we named him. Just curious if there's any story behind the name. A. I use Arabic in some of the creation of Alethi names, and Kaled (or Khaled) was the root I started playing with to come up with a new name for Kaladin, as I didn't like the one I'd used in 2002. I'd already designed Kalak after this, the Herald, and wanted a common name version of this. When I arrived at Kaladin, it sounded right to me--likely because of the similarity to Paladin, as others noted below. Q. So if Kaladin's name is derived from Khaled, is it fair to assume that the Alethi language sounds similar to Arabic? A. Alethi has some Hebrew to it too. I used Semitic language roots for the Dawnchant, which had a huge influence on Rosharan languages. While there are a few oddballs rules, and some linguistics that stand on their own, both major language groups on Roshar (the Azish family and the Vorin family) would probably sound very Arabic to you. For example, the Alethi Kh is a voiceless velar fricative. The Azish kk or q sound is a voiceless uvular, sometimes stop, sometimes an affricate. Sometimes a uvular ejective. No, I can't make those sounds on demand. Peter can, though. It's helpful to have a linguist on my team. Shin is its own language, as is Iriali. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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