Lirins hand

Ok, so we have two people on a ship, both of their names start with R....... where’s the pirate option??? (And make sure you squint with one eye when you say it) (or have a chicken on your shoulder) aRRrrrr, me maties!

It’s seemed pretty obvious to me ever since WoK that Lirin has his own PTSD issue, from before his sons were conscripted. For him, it has made him renounce all violence as evil. It reads as very reactionary because it is so dogmatic and extreme, not a lifestyle choice come up with over tea and biscuits that can be discussed. I think there is a lot more to his story than many here are giving him credit for. The lashing out at Kal killing someone in front of him in his surgery/sanctuary is just another hint. Is he living a flashback right there? Every parent has issues and his are significant but I think there are reasons we don’t know about yet. He is suffering as well, not just dealing out pain for Kal.

Got a real Guardians o/t Galaxy moment with Thaidakar’s reveal. “My boss, Thaidakar? But maybe you know him by his other name... Scar Lord!” YES! Yes, we do!! also, for all the Lirin haters, this book just reinforces to me he has his own version of PTSD, even from before Tien’s death.

There is one major every day item no other planet has iirc, that Scadrial can export to Shadesmar in TFE time. An essential item for any long term settlement in the cognitive: canned food. Everyone needs to eat and drink!

Answers I got last night (that I think are new): (paraphrased from memory) Written question: Is VenDell changing suits or is the suit changing colors? VenDell is changing suits. No Nalthis/breath connection after all. :-( -Are all the red-eyed characters influenced by the same shard? No, but the red is significant. (it has meaning in the cosmere) quick theory: Red indicates corrupted or co-opted investiture Unfortunately, that takes some strength away from the "all those red eyes are influenced by Odium" line of reasoning. -Szeth's name does actually refer to his grandfather, Vallano. I had a thought he'd been disowned/excommunicated and had his name tied to someone infamous from the past (so as to not tie his dishonor to his family). -Do humans predate the two shards' arrival on Roshar (I said two since Odium arrived later, he specifically mentioned all three) Humans were on Roshar before Honor, Cultivation, and Odium arrived. I meant to follow this up with an Ym's "Long Trail" history vs. Alethi "kicked out of the Tranquiline Halls" history question (were there multiple human migrations to Roshar?) but completely forgot since I hadn't written it down. :-( I am totally impressed with the experience, the crowd (most of whom seemed to stay), and Brandon (both as speaker and signing author - totally gracious and friendly even by the time I got to him at hour #3 or so). Definitely going again when he's back here and could probably be convinced to make a trip farther away if he's in Vancouver/Portland/Spokane. My daughter was also pretty stoked, especially since she got my books signed to her name. I'm thinking she's staking a claim. Awesome! and thanks for the picture (Karaokeang?), despite my best efforts I still looked like a deer caught in the headlights. :-)

Thanks Wetlander, will definitely try to get there early but going from downtown to eastside back to UDistrict. Lovely Seattle traffic. :-( How many questions are OK and how does the personalizing a book work? Do I need to have that written out before I get there? Was looking for some questions to ask; can't find if anyone has asked about VenDell's suit (changing suits or changing colors). So unless someone has already asked this... Another one is whether or not the red eyes are all symptomatic of the same Shard's influence. eb

I'll be there with my daughter, she's only read mistborn so far and promptly loaned my books out to one of her teachers. First timer, so how early do you need to show up? I probably can't make it much earlier than 7 (if at all) due to work/traffic.

I think the first and last highlights above are actually contradictory, not complimentary. Paradise mentality leads to complacency, there is no pressing need to focus on improving things.

I think that's the point that Harmony is making - strife/stress feeds ingenuity and creativity. comfort and ease do not feed as intense a need for improvements. you'll still have people that want to invent stuff due to innate creativity but that number is lower than a lot of people trying to make their lives easier (mechanization) or keep people alive (medicine) or beat "them" (war industry). Another thing, they all came out of an existing culture, things were only a blank slate on the planet's surface. The people (Skaa and Noble) did not come out of the caves without preconceptions and habits, cultural ideas of who does what (and how/why). You see that struggle with Marasi a bit but more with how quickly people fell back into their old patterns of life. I don't think the Set did all the economic enslavement in a vacuum, people seem to have been eager to get themselves there. I go along with the view that making things too easy makes people intellectually lazy. It doesn't stimulate creativity, it stifles it because....why? things are fine. iirc, most of the latest improvements (not ones from the books of founding) are coming not from the basin but from the outer edges. Far enough away to be out of the "comfort zone" but close enough to have access to materials. Or they start outside and come closer to make their ideas work (both Ranette and the Tarcsells). This sudden knowledge of another people, a "them" that is not just "Elendel people that ran away" (said with a dismissive sniff by the Basin folks), is a stressor, especially this idea of a whole new technology. That will spur people to innovate and get the government involved as well, "just in case". Whether via fear or curiousity, Southerners and Northerners meeting will spur advancement.

Did the Dakhor monks' strength diminish the farther they got from their monastery or Fjorden, though? Or Shuden's ChayShan? It seems to me like not everything is location based once it is established. And how can we be sure there were no soulstamps in Elantris? Would anyone there have known what to look for? It seems that only the Elantrian magic system is well known in the greater region. Even the Dakhor monks are more like boogie-men and rumors. Jindo is Elantris' neighbor and no-one seems to know what Shuden was doing had any magical components.

Do we have confirmation there is only one shard on Taldain? What if the contradictions are a second shard, perhaps the infamous "survive in hiding" shard. Could it be there were two shards on Taldain at this time but with Bavadin's intent taking over more and more, the second shard chose/was forced to leave? It feels like there is more than one big force at work here and the Nalt vs.Trell idea seems like it would fit. One shard large and in charge but a second hiding and surviving, acting where the other won't see it/catch it. Until something forces it's hand and it leaves for safer surroundings. The one bright eye (dayside) vs. the many myriad small eyes (darkside). Could also explain why there might be a different investment type between the white sand and skycolors.

Wasn't it intimated somewhere that the Terris people are not original Scadrians? Ruin and Preservation got together and created themselves a nice little planet** and people to populate it but I seem to remember that the Terris people came later or were at least not part of that first phase of creation. They seem to have always kept themselves separate from the rest of Scadrial, even pre-TLR. Although they were involved in the world, keeping everything at arm's distance. Or it was a theory - having trouble finding the thread now. **or terra-formed an existing planet.

Maybe not quite so intentional but more like her finding a loose thread and deciding to pull on it to see where it leads. Several planets later she looks up and goes, "hmmm, wonder if I could turn this into a full time job? If only I had someone to draw maps for me....."

I think there's been enough disillusionment in her travels that she really only has two reasons to go back to Darkside - to report on the sand masters and family. The rest of the court pretty much laughing behind your back at your naivety for how many years? and even being in collusion on the deception, would pretty much burn all the bridges she might have had with her home. She also seems to get the taste for travel more and more throughout the book, is continually trying to figure everything out (beyond just what she needs for her quest), and becomes more and more observant/aware of things around her (with Baon's guidance - intentional or just part of his personality?). I could totally see this being the origin story of a worldhopper.

Would bonding Adonalsium's cognitive shadow be considered "a strange thing" happening to him? It could explain some of the quotes that don't seem to align quite right and how/why he is gathering different investitures; but probably not the fact that he is not as cosmerically aware as Khriss.