Shardcast: Heralds and Ashyn!? - Skyward Tour Words of Brandon #3

So people were asking questions about the Sleepless... in Seattle? 

59 minutes ago, Mason Wheeler said:

So people were asking questions about the Sleepless... in Seattle? 

:facepalm:

Woooo I've been waiting for my questions to be discussed. Felt has definitely been under the radar, but he struck my interest after Oathbringer. I remember Brandon saying that people within house Venture being involved in the interplanetary trade through the Pits, so Felt was the connection I wanted to ask about. I got the impression that he may have been a Worldhopper before Era 1, but not for very long. I think that him being "a little older" than most people would point to him being enhanced in some way, otherwise there would be no need to say he's older. I just don't think he's centuries old. As you guys pointed out, this probably isn't due to Scadrian magic. After Era 1 Felt knew where he could get connections, maybe Seventeenth Shard or others.

Also, about Shard Smiting, I feel like it wasn't really a Shard using something like a boulder or lightning bolt or that kind of thing to kill people, but literally just the person dropping dead. What was interesting to me was that it didn't seem to be inhibited by Shardic Intent (hush, Eric) but that really any Shard could smite people, barring other Shards or where they are. I would have figured Odium would have an easier time smiting people than Endowment.

1 hour ago, Khyrindor said:

What was interesting to me was that it didn't seem to be inhibited by Shardic Intent (hush, Eric) but that really any Shard could smite people, barring other Shards or where they are.

Hmm...seems as though smiting someone would be completely diametrically opposed to the Intent of Preservation. 

Just now, Czernobog said:

Hmm...seems as though smiting someone would be completely diametrically opposed to the Intent of Preservation. 

That's what I would think too. But the example Brandon used was that Endowment would smite people, and she's all about giving. I agree though, Preservation would be even less likely to do so. I guess, in Brandon's mind, it just has more to do with where the Shards are and if they have another Shard opposing their actions. I think Preservation could smite someone in the right circumstance, if it would prevent them destroying the world, for example.

I really enjoyed @Argent‘s ideas about what may have caused a first desolation so quickly. That was really fascinating. I was just wondering if we knew the people from Ashyn were the first people to come to Roshar? Don’t we know that humans on Roshar have come from different places at different times?

1 hour ago, Khyrindor said:

That's what I would think too. But the example Brandon used was that Endowment would smite people, and she's all about giving. I agree though, Preservation would be even less likely to do so. I guess, in Brandon's mind, it just has more to do with where the Shards are and if they have another Shard opposing their actions. I think Preservation could smite someone in the right circumstance, if it would prevent them destroying the world, for example.

Fair point.

1 hour ago, Philomath said:

I really enjoyed @Argent‘s ideas about what may have caused a first desolation so quickly. That was really fascinating. I was just wondering if we knew the people from Ashyn were the first people to come to Roshar? Don’t we know that humans on Roshar have come from different places at different times?

Exactly the same thoughts I had as Argent was walking through his idea. Particularly since the Shin remain so physically distinct to this day, and since the Stone Shamans of Shinovar seem to be the stewards in some sense of the Honorblades of the now-known-to-be-Ashynite Heralds, it may be the case that the first wave of humans to show up in Roshar actually adhered to the restrictions set by Honor and Cultivation, and didn't stray beyond the mountains. It seems reasonably plausible that a second or third wave of humans may have been responsible for the kickoff of the Desolations.

Hmm...since Hoid mentions a grudge against both Rayse and Bavadin (weakly implying they may share some aligned goals/purposes) wouldn't it be fun to learn that one of the waves of human arrival on Roshar post-Ashynites hailed from Taldain? Baseless speculation is fun, even absent a shred of evidence.

14 hours ago, Philomath said:

I really enjoyed @Argent‘s ideas about what may have caused a first desolation so quickly. That was really fascinating. I was just wondering if we knew the people from Ashyn were the first people to come to Roshar? Don’t we know that humans on Roshar have come from different places at different times?

I am really happy with that one  It felt right.

1 hour ago, Argent said:

I am really happy with that one  It felt right.

 

It really does make a lot of sense. It is a really good theory and does feel really right for the story. 

On 1/12/2019 at 10:51 AM, Argent said:

I am really happy with that one  It felt right.

 

It "Felt" right? 

Darnit, that man is everywhere...

53 minutes ago, Bliev said:

It "Felt" right? 

Darnit, that man is everywhere...

Banned.

13 hours ago, Argent said:

Banned.

You can't ban him, you're the one that made the pun!

I haven't finished yet, but I want to make the following comments before I forget them:

Firstly, the dragon discussion reminded me of two Terry Pratchett quotes:

"Anyway, what is a fantasy map but a space beyond which There Be Dragons? On the Discworld we know that There Be Dragons Everywhere. They might not all have scales and forked tongues, but they Be Here all right, grinning and jostling and trying to sell you souvenirs. ” -The Color of Magic

and

"This is where the dragons went. They lie… Not dead, not asleep. Not waiting, because waiting implies expectation. Possibly the word we’re looking for here is… …dormant. And although the space they occupy isn’t like normal space, nevertheless they are packed in tightly. Not a cubic inch there but is filled by a claw, a talon, a scale, the tip of a tail, so the effect is like one of those trick drawings and your eyeballs eventually realize that the space between each dragon is, in fact, another dragon. They could put you in mind of a can of sardines, if you thought sardines were huge and scaly and proud and arrogant. And presumably, somewhere, there’s the key." -Guards! Guards!: A Novel of Discworld (p. 1)

Also, listening to the discussion I realized that the Girl Who Looked Up is, in fact, Ash. Think about it, she is the namesake and patron herald of Shallan, so there is that nice literary connection, she feels guilty for the entire situation, and she would have been a baby when they got to Roshar, and therefore been one of the first kids to grow up with no memory of why they left and why they can't leave Shinovar (and therefore a group more likely to try to break out of the region).

EDIT: in response to Eric's math comments a little bit after the Great WoB:

On 1/16/2019 at 2:52 AM, Overlord Jebus said:

You can't ban him, you're the one that made the pun!

Right?!?! 

(I’m a her, though, just because it IS pedantic-cast after all. Lol)

On 1/11/2019 at 5:29 PM, Khyrindor said:

Woooo I've been waiting for my questions to be discussed. Felt has definitely been under the radar, but he struck my interest after Oathbringer. I remember Brandon saying that people within house Venture being involved in the interplanetary trade through the Pits, so Felt was the connection I wanted to ask about. I got the impression that he may have been a Worldhopper before Era 1, but not for very long. I think that him being "a little older" than most people would point to him being enhanced in some way, otherwise there would be no need to say he's older. I just don't think he's centuries old. As you guys pointed out, this probably isn't due to Scadrian magic. After Era 1 Felt knew where he could get connections, maybe Seventeenth Shard or others.

I thought I was the only one who noticed this - my Cosmere reading friends said I was crazy. 

On 1/20/2019 at 10:07 AM, Bliev said:

(I’m a her, though, just because it IS pedantic-cast after all. Lol)

Always go full pedantic here!