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A New Theory on Hemalurgy Realmatics [SH spoilers]


Djarskublar

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I have a new theory about what Hemalurgic decay is. The core piece of information that is relevant to my new theory is something @Argent got out of Brandon in the Stormlight update #6:

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.

And before I go into how I am interpreting that, some background on ideas that also contributed:

Time and Place don't really exist in the Spiritual Realm. At a guess, there is likely data about them there, but space-time isn't as relevant/existent.

Hemalurgy 'staples' soul chunks onto people to grant them abilities/traits.

Hemalurgic spikes 'decay' and slowly lose their powers if they aren't in contact with (flowing?) blood.

Now for some actual rhetoric! I always assumed that when someone died, their Investiture dissipated back into the Shard that it came from while their mind went on to the Beyond. I thought something similar was happening with Hemalurgy in that there was a chunk of soul that was ripped off the person and attached to someone else via the spike. When the spike wasn't in someone, the chunk of web decayed and the spike lost power. Now, though, I think that the spike is just hard wiring a Connection between the chunk of web that got ripped off and the person who has the spike. It is like adding a short to a circuit, sort of, anyway. When the spike isn't active and in blood, though, the power of Ruinous intent isn't maintaining the line, and the Connection between the spike and the web decays. The chunk of web probably decays at about the same rate that the web of a normal dead person does, which is apparently slowly, as evidenced by the WoB above.

With that in mind, this has definite implications for Kel's resurrection. He was brought back within a few years, since he went and helped out the SoScads only a few years after the Catacendre. This means that his spiritweb was still mostly intact, so they just had to Hemalurgically staple it back onto a physical form. It is probably stapling his mind, soul, and body back together all at once, or there are spikes for each Connection. Presumably, he functions similar to Kandra now, in that if the spikes are removed, he will cease to survive, but he could just get stapled back together... creepy.

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Like @Spoolofwhoolsaid Kel's mind is safe and his Soul too.

He need just Connections to the physical realm...this is something we already figured it monthis ago (Harmony himself explained it).
The problem is yet how to Spike a Shadow, there are already topics on this problems in Secret History subforum and almost all the problems go to "Could you spike a Shadow ?"

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4 hours ago, Spoolofwhool said:

Why would Kel's spiritweb have decayed? He was a cognitive shadow with his mind still present? The answer seems to be saying that the breakdown only starts after the mind goes to the Beyond. 

Well, I assumed that if you have died, your 3 aspects are separated. Not that your body is separated from your mind/soul combo. So his soul is separate from his mind at that point. Which means I assumed before this that he would have to rebuild his soul to reattach as well. That may have been a faulty assumption, but I think it would be supported by what happened in Emperor's Soul. His soul was separated from his mind when he died.

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11 minutes ago, Djarskublar said:

Well, I assumed that if you have died, your 3 aspects are separated. Not that your body is separated from your mind/soul combo. So his soul is separate from his mind at that point. Which means I assumed before this that he would have to rebuild his soul to reattach as well. That may have been a faulty assumption, but I think 

Emperor's Soul spoilers 

Spoiler

Based on the evidence, it seems more likely that both his cognitive and spiritual were separated from his physical. His mind then proceeded swiftly to the Beyond. In the meantime his body was repaired, functioning at this point only by the body's own cognitive and spiritual desire to exist. This was then overwritten by Shai.

 

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I can see two possible explanations for how it would work. The first is the assumption I have been working under, where you die and all three aspects are separated from each other. They begin to 'degrade' in their own ways, and the mind is swiftly sent to the Beyond. There was another thing Brandon said in the update that would be relevant to this point, that Investiture replaces/infuses the mind like petrified wood when exposed under whatever relevant criteria are present that he didn't make explicit, but I assume is just whatever process you use to make a Sliver. That is what a Sliver is. They can still go Beyond, but their mind is now made of Investiture that sticks around. Because they have a mind made of Investiture, they have a Connection to the SR and can stick around.

The other explanation you seem to ascribe to: that the mind and soul are Connected right up until the mind goes Beyond. I assume a full strength Connection for the duration of your stay in the CR for this, with the caveat of an alternative described below.

The process of moving Beyond could also be described as the deterioration of the Connection between you mind and soul, and once it is severed you are Beyond. That is similar to your apparent view, but does differ mechanically. That would make the Connection either a tether holding you in the Realms, or without the Connection to anything you can't be perceived, so you are effectively gone. That presents interpretations for both religious and atheistic people, which is good from Brandon's perspective.

It may just be an emotional attachment, but I like my original description best, and it definitely has the most interesting implications for other things, such as the 'placement' of Shardic power over time.

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