theory Fabrials: evidence of a new Shard?

[Yezrien]

Hemalurgy. It's a totally decentralized magic system. You can use it anywhere in the cosmere, as long as you know how. It doesn't require special spiritual genetics, a splinter-bond, or any kind of magical initiation. Just common things, like metal and savagery. It's even theoretically possible that, with a little hint from a worldhopper, a civilization could discover hemalurgy, study it in depth, and implement it on a huge scale, without ever realizing that they're harnessing the power of a Shard on a distant planet that they've never heard of.

So here's my question. Are there other magic systems like that? And, if so, have we seen them? Is it possible that we've witnessed the magic of an unknown shard, and mistaken it for the work of a local shard, or a basic law of the cosmere?

(Wouldn't hemalurgy look like that, if you used it without knowing of Ruin?)

A few months ago I posted my theory about the remaining unnamed Shards of Adonalsium. Based on the logic of that theory, I proposed the existence of a shard called Artifice. Artifice is a counterpart to Cultivation, sharing her interest in progress and creation, but approaching it through more direct mechanical means. Artifice is a creator who makes no effort to disguise creation as evolution. Artifice is a god of creativity, ingenuity, and invention.

(Ingenuity, of course, is a not-quite-canon Shard, much discussed on a recent Shardcast. It sounds like Ingenuity is a creativity-oriented Shard that has a definite place in the cosmere, but Brandon can't canonize it because he isn't happy with the name. Well, Brandon, how about Artifice? That's a cool name.)

I theorized that Artifice's magic system would be a crafting system.

That reminded me of this WoB:

Quote

FirstSelector [PENDING REVIEW]

So, do you have a name, like an in-world name for a large magical construction, like the things that picks Elantrians?

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

That was why I invented the term "fabrial." It will become widespread eventually, as the term for meaning, kind of, magic-type devices in the cosmere. That's not what you call it right now, but you can start calling them all fabrials.

FirstSelector [PENDING REVIEW]

But what about something that isn't, like-- I always imagined that Aona left, like, a device, a magical device running--

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

I will have to RAFO that.

source

Based on the tone of that conversation, I'm guessing the thing that picks Elantrians isn't really a fabrial. I'm inclined to think it's an Avatar, or something like that. But that's not important. Look at the part that I underlined.

So fabrials are a cosmere-wide phenomenon, with big implications for the later cosmere. (not unlike hemalurgy.) And clearly the standard spren-and-gemstone device that we've seen on Roshar is not the only kind of device that you could call a fabrial.

Brandon has also confirmed that the construction of fabrials is a magic system in its own right, distinct from the others on Roshar:

Quote

Questioner

How many magic systems are in The Stormlight Archive, and how many of them haven't been seen?

Brandon Sanderson

I would say the only major one you haven’t seen is Voidbinding, it depends on how you count them.  I count fabrials as one, Surgebinding as one, and Voidbinding as one.  And then the Old Magic is kind of its own weird thing.

source

But we have little or no reason to believe that fabrial science is connected to any of the local shards. It may not even be native to Roshar. Combine this with its apparent universality, and I propose that the construction of fabrials is actually a non-localized magic system, like hemalurgy, connected to a currently unrevealed shard. And I think this points to the existence of a creative, mechanically-oriented shard, like my theoretical Artifice/Ingenuity.

This fabrial magic system would manifest differently on different Shardworlds, using local Foci and interacting with local manifestations of investiture (magic systems). On Roshar, fabrials use spren, just like surgebinding does. On Scadrial it would work differently.

I believe the many magical devices we saw in Bands of Mourning are the Scadrian manifestation of the fabrial system. The undeniable parallel is that both southern Scadrian and Rosharan artifabrians can create a mechanical device which mimics the abilities of a local magic-user. The south Scadrian airship lowers its mass, like a feruchemist. Their allomantic grenades can use allomancy, just like humans do. And on Roshar, we see fabrials that can heal like an Edgedancer, soulcast like a Lightweaver, and teleport like an Elsecaller.

The construction of these Scadrian fabrials could be seen as very similar to the Rosharan variant. The power source is a reservoir of raw investiture fuel: a stormlight-infused gemstone, or an ettmetal battery. The other key component, which I'll call the Effect Generator, is another piece of investiture, comparable to innate investiture in humans, which determines the magical effect. In Rosharan fabrials the Effect Generator is a spren. In Scadrian ones it is most likely either a nicrosilmind or a hemalurgic spike, or something similar produced by the mysterious Excisor device.

The third component, which connects the Effect Generator to the power source, is a metal apparatus, which I'm sure we'll find hidden inside most south Scadrian devices. This seems to reflect a basic rule of this magic system, or perhaps of the cosmere in general: an inanimate object can only use magic if it's metallic.

Further speculations:

Spoiler

The futuristic devices in Sixth of the Dusk are probably a more sophisticated application of this same magic system.

In Elantris we see metal plates inscribed with Aons. Plates with Aon Ashe give off light, and plates with Aon Tia are teleport pads, like miniature oathgates. I believe these devices are a hack of the fabrial system. The metal plates are analogous to the metal used in fabrials, and the Aon carved into them (by an Elantrian, with Intent) is the Effect Generator. But they don't require a built-in power source because they draw power from the Dor. In other words, Selish fabrials don't need batteries because you can just plug them in to the local power grid.

What I'm saying is that it's no coincidence that those plates are made of metal. I propose that if an Elantrian carves an Aon in a tree, that's no different from drawing one in the air. It'll create an effect, but soon it will fade. To make it permanent -- to turn the inanimate object into an independent magic user -- it has to be metal, just like a fabrial. Even the Elantris Rao itself, I believe, will lose its potency soon after the events of Elantris, fading just like a drawn-in-the-air Aon. Raoden's next big discovery will be this: the real Rao is a metallic one, built into the foundations of Elantris's city wall. His extra line will not be permanent until he buries a metal rod there.

 

Thoughts?

[Calderis]

This is well constructed, and I can concede the plausibility of it holding to the assumptions you've put forward, even if I disagree. 

Here are my issues. 

50 minutes ago, Belzedar said:

So fabrials are a cosmere-wide phenomenon, with big implications for the later cosmere. (not unlike hemalurgy.) And clearly the standard spren-and-gemstone device that we've seen on Roshar is not the only kind of device that you could call a fabrial.

I interpret this far differently than you do. I take this to mean that the word fabrial will become synonymous with "magical device." so the medallions of Scadrial would become known as fabrials. Not that the Fabrial-Tech of Roshar becomes Cosmere wide. 

My interpretation may be incorrect, and we'll see eventually in either case. 

My bigger issue, and this one also is based on my speculation. 

53 minutes ago, Belzedar said:

But we have little or no reason to believe that fabrial science is connected to any of the local shards.

I think Fabrials are directly tied to Cultivation. Instead of thinking of them as a device think in terms of animal use in agriculture. A spren is harnessed and put to work. 

[Fatikis]

Like Calderis said. I think it is plausible, but I think there are deeper cosmere mechanics here.

Here is how I interpret the function. Gems can contain loose investiture in the cosmere. Hoid was called topaz based on a gem he wore.  He is also called the bearer of the first gem. I think this implies gems are cosmere significant and not Rosharian. I posit that gems everywhere have the ability to soak investiture. 

So you take a spren and shove it in a gem. You've now contained a cognitive entity representing some fundamental. Lets just say a flamespren. So you feed the spren investiture which it uses to survive, and the spren changes it into another form. Converting investiture into heat. The concept then applies to all fabrials.

The use of fabrials on Roshar is only because of the abundance of spren. I think it would be possible to use elsewhere also. Trick a cognitive entity into a gemstone using something it loves. Feed it investiture. Something happens. In Roshar it would be a lot easier to tell what happens with a specific spren as you have an idea what they relate to. 

Edited July 1, 2018 by Fatikis

[MountainKing]

I wouldn't considered fabrials a magic system in the same sense as allomancy or oath making/swearing(surgebinding)*, because fabrials are like computers, they use the natural laws of the universe to get a specific effect. Fabrials could have been created pre shattering they just weren't created (that we know of). Allomancy and oath making/swearing* are what happens when a shard or shards start to interfere with the universe and can only be used or created post shattering

Your idea on hermalurgy  is fascinating. There is a chance that Yolish lightweaving is/was similar to hermalurgy where you don't need to be on the planet is was originally founded on to use it and that a another group of people could rediscover it.

Medallions are not fabrials. Medallions specifically use f-nicrosil minds and excisors (they could relate back to hermalurgy or Kelsier's god metal) to basically allow a user to use a feruchemical ability by either attaching something to their spirit web(like hermalurgy), create a weak Connection between the medallion and the user in the spiritual realm, or a completely different method that we don't know of.

*I used oath making instead a surgebinding, because technically surgebinding is a passive magic system, that existed pre shattering, because it is a user interacting with their environment. It just so happens that their environment is sentient.** The actually magic system associated with Cultivation and Honor is the oath making/swearing. Oath swearing improves a nahel bond by fusing the spiritwebs of the user and the a part of the environment together. Allowing for new, unseen abilities to appear that originally weren't there when the nahel bond first appear, i.e. shardplate, shardblade, and a higher efficiency of using stormlight. 

**Of course it could be argued that it's not a passive system because Adonalsium directly created the spren, but you can form nahel bonds with other cognitive entities, i.e. cognitive shadows, and cognitive shadows are naturally occurring.