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  1. In case you haven't seen it on Facebook yet, I created a lego version of the shattered plains, specifically the Battle of the Tower: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10203527555737570.1073741830.1474667500&type=1&l=d7de9ddc50 I'd like to thank 17th Sharders Windrunner, Natans, hoser, eveorjoy, deddinty, and Inkthinker for the forum discussion of appropriate colors a few months back. I need something else to do now that that's done, so I'm open to suggestions.
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  2. Hey, finally had to make an account to share this. So I just got back from a signing with Sanderson. He's been teasing us with this secret hidden in the map of Roshar for a while, so I asked him if I was correct in thinking that Roshar looked like a spiral galaxy. He told me I was on to something that no one had asked before, so we have something here. I followed that up with a slight question about this potentially being due to people being able to manipulate gravity on Roshar (thinking of black holes in galaxy centers), but he said that wasn't correct, but my earlier point still was. That was all I got from Sanderson. I got to thinking about the Horneater pool (shardpool?) that we've been theorizing Hoid used to come to this world. What if Roshar serves as a hub world of sorts, with physical locations (like that pool) serving as links to certain planets that align to that location in the galaxy? It's tentative, but it's the route I'm thinking.
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  3. Aimian shadows point toward the light. Possible explanation incoming... In the Physical, shadows are areas where the amount of light hitting a surface is less than the surrounding surface due to occlusion by a physical body. So a shadow is actually an absence of light. However, we perceive a shadow as being a thing. This perception on Roshar leads to the existence of the Idea of Shadow in the Cognitive realm. The Idea of Shadow needs light to exist so it is drawn toward light IN the Cognitive realm. Aimians are presumed to be both Physical and Cognitive entities (where humans are Physical only). With all that in mind, I speculate that when one sees an Aimian, one sees their Idea of Shadow instead of their shadow. This Idea is drawn toward the local light source (like Jasnah's shadow was drawn toward Stormlight in the prologue). Therefore, we perceive their shadow as going in the wrong direction.
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  4. We (meaning me, Darkanimereal1, and my brother), got a recording of this particular section, and another person's question about love triangles, but I'll let Dark1 post the love triangle, since that's kinda her thing lol. These aren't the perfect answers, just what I wrote down or remember. After Dark1 transcribes it, we'll have the exact wordings. Q: 2b. You mentioned that human can’t bond Honorblades, but Nalan tells Szeth that his bond with his Honorblade has been broken. Can you clear this up? A: Humans CAN bond Honorblades. There's a crucial difference between Honorblades and Shardblades. When you drop an Honorblade, it does not disappear, even if it has been bonded. A Shardblade will disappear when dropped. Q: 3. What caused a desolation to end? Was it just the defeat of Odium's forces? A: The Heralds will cause another Desolation to start if they don't leave Roshar to be tortured within a time limit. Q: 5. Which map contains the easter egg? A: (I put these in that thread). Q: 11. How much Stormlight would equal 1 Breath? A: He has it written down, but doesn't know off the top of his head. Doesn't know if he'd say, even if he did remember. Q: 12. Are all the heralds aware that Taln is back? A: If that person actually IS Taln. I'm not saying he's not, but he may not be who you would think he is. Q: 13. How many parties were there to the original Oathpact? A: 11. The Heralds and Honor. They thought that by walking away from their oaths, that it would break the Oathpact. They're going to find out that it's not quite as broken as they had previously thought (meaning the Heralds). There are more tidbits, but that will have to wait for the transcription, which is way better than my shoddy memory.
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  5. Alright, what the hell. Since I have my iPod on me I went ahead and wrote out the questions we asked him one on one. There were a few interesting answers from the Q&A, but I’ll have to type those up later (the video I got of those is much longer--I think it was 25 minutes?). The one with our specific questions was only six minutes long, so a lot faster to write up. I’ll definitely upload the videos/audio. Is there a good website to do that with? They’re specifically videos taken on my iPod. I suppose I could always YouTube it if that’s the best route. [Note, I was so dumb and didn’t record the exact answers for these first two, so this is paraphrasing.] Me: So, the Purelake in Shadesmar is mountainous. Does this in any way have to do with the fact that the Purelake is so shallow? Brandon: No. I haven’t yet discussed the nature of the relationship between Shadesmar and the Physical world. Me: So, when Dalinar has his vision in what he assumes in the Purelake, he sees an obsidian fortress. Is that fortress in any way related to the fact that the Purelake in Shadesmar is mountainous? Brandon: No. Someone in line before us: Please don’t tell me you’re going to do a love triangle between Adolin, Kaladin, and Shallan. Brandon: [he phrased this very carefully] I’m not a fan of the traditional love triangle. However, I am fond of conflict in relationships. [Alright, these are from my recording, so word for word.] Me: The weepings--Shallan and Kaladin react very differently to them. Brandon: They do. M: It just seems to me that the Weepings feel very close to Cultivation. Brandon: The primary thing you’re noticing -- and I’m not going to say there’s not any magical influence -- but the primary thing you’re noticing is that Kaladin has season defective disorder and Shallan likes the rain. That’s the primary thing you’re noticing. I like the rain--my wife hates it. My wife gets depressed when it rains and I love when it rains. Me: Did Taravangian go to see the Nightwatcher before or after Gavilar’s assassination? Brandon: Um, oh man. I’m going to have to look at my timeline. I believe it’s before, but I can’t guarantee I’m right, because these things are all happening around the same time. Me: Because he says that Gavilar confided in him the night of. Brandon: Ooooh, you’re right. Nope, it’s after. It is after. You can send that question to Peter so we can confirm it. There might be something I’m forgetting about Taravangian. Luke: What caused a Desolation to end? Was it just the defeat of Odium’s forces? Because the Desolations start when the Heralds break under torture. Brandon: Because the Heralds can no longer be in existence. There is a certain period of time that they can be there, and after that, if they’re there, they will start a new one. So the Heralds do need to leave for a Desolation to end Me: Oh. So they’ve got a time limit. Brandon: They do. Otherwise the Desolation will start again. What they discovered is not all of them have to. As long as one remains, the Desolation will not start again. Luke: So, by the nine leaving, did that actually break the Oathpact for them? Did it change the cycle of Desolations? Brandon: They have not completely broken the Oathpact, despite what they may think. Luke: How much stormlight equals one breath? Do you have an actual ratio? Brandon: I have a ratio. It’s not on me. Me: Okay, that’s a Peter question again. Brandon: Yeah, well, I may not answer it even then. Luke: Are the Heralds actually aware that Taln is back? Brandon: Are the Heralds aware that Taln is back? Uh, you’re implying that this person actually is Taln. [The smile on Brandon’s face at this moment was the best, most excruciatingly awful smile ever. And we thought Peter was a tease.] Which is not guaranteed. It’s not guaranteed. However, the return of the Voidbringers does indeed indicate to them, in their mind, that he would have returned. Me: So they assume because the Voidbringers are returning-- Brandon: Because the Voidbringers are returning, would be a clue to them that Taln has returned.
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  6. Greetings, friend. You may have noticed that many of the illustrations in the Stormlight Archives contain strange markings. I have determined that these markings are writing, and I have undertaken to decipher their messages. Crazy? Perhaps. But these markings are not simply decorative. They contain information about the Cosmere, hidden in plain sight. In The Way of Kings, we are introduced to the Alethi script. This is the writing system used by female scribes and scholars in Alethkar, understand? It shows up in the labels of Navani’s Notebook: Since the novel was first published in English, the labels were also “translated” into English, but Alethi letters were used to preserve the feel of the original diagrams. Each symbol stands for one letter – however Alethi has some letters that are not found in English (Th, Sh, Ch), and English has some letters that are not found in Alethi (C, Q, X, W). In Words of Radiance, we learn more about the languages of Roshar. Alethi script reappears, with greater variety. Navani’s Notebook again provides straightforward diagram labels directly transliterated from English into Alethi: (Translation credit goes to cris34b: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6418-navanis-notebook-page-406-translation/?hl=navani) Shallan’s sketchbook provides more cryptic text, friend. First spotted and translated by jcoop513, the text here is hidden, and is written phonetically so that each letter is an approximation of how it sounds when spoken aloud. Based on the context, this is most likely a page of Jasnah's notes that Shallan appropriated to use as sketchpaper. Note that the transliteration of Jasnah's writing is very different from that of Navani's. Read aloud, the passage would be thus: Translation efforts are ongoing at http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6619-shallans-drawing-page-354-alethi-script-translation-spoilers/. KalynaAnne traced over the partially-obscured letters by hand and was able to reconstruct several missing words: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6487-thaylen-and-alethi-glyph-translation-glyph-key-revised-418/?p=233114 Alethi is not the only language spoken on Roshar. That would be crazy. The Map of the Southern Frostlands introduces us to the written language used in Thaylenah: As with Alethi script, the Thaylen in this illustration is simply transliterated English, and can be deciphered using the following key: Thaylen people are renown for smashing their consonants together when they speak, and this is reflected in their writing. Written Thaylen has no vowels and is written vertically, understand? Both the Alethi and Thaylen pages include numerals. Just as many different nations on Earth employ Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) is quite possible that all Vorin peoples (indeed perhaps most inhabitants of Roshar!) use the same numerals, even if their written languages differ. The numbers are written as follows: And now we come to glyphs, friend. Glyphs are written in syllables, with each syllable corresponding to a certain subcomponent of the glyph. Glyphs can be written three ways: a “standard” blocky form with syllables somewhat similar to Thaylen consonants, a “radial” form in which the glyph is warped to form a circular shape, and a “calligraphic” form in which the glyph can be warped into any shape. Often, the shape of a calligraphic glyph is reminiscent of the word it contains. Extra lines that do not represent syllables can be added to enhance the effect. For instance, a bookseller might advertise the name of his shop with a glyph shaped to resemble a book, understand? Many men in Alethkar are illiterate, relying on their wives or sisters to read documents to them aloud, but most can recognize certain important glyphs based on their shape alone. Alethi glyphs are not simply transliterations of English, but represent words in the Alethi language. The esteemed jofwu has compiled images of all known glyphs in another thread. Edit: The next bit is obsolete, as of Oathbringer. See p.519 for a key directly from the Calligrapher's Guild, courtesy of Nazh. My efforts to decipher the Alethi glyphs are ongoing, friend, but I present here what I speculate thus far: Please refer to the further pages in this thread for the latest developments in the 17th Shard's ongoing efforts to decipher these glyphs. Original first post, for posterity:
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  7. Okay first post! I kinda got obsessed with trying to find stuff on the map soooo here goes. I tried a couple things like tracing out the latitude lines, overlaying the two maps we have and other stuff but what i ended up doing that seemed to make sense to me was - trace out the lines from the compass thingy, - flip the image horizontally and trace them again - flip vertically and trace again - flip horizontally and trace. I noticed two points of convergence of the lines. Image 1- where I believe Urithiru to be situated near Babatharnam as posited by Falconite on the stormblessed forums 2 - the Emerald pools in the Horneater peaks
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  8. Here's what I got for you guys last night. The wording on these isn't exact, but this is exactly what he conveyed to me. Q: Which map holds the Easter Egg? A: The main map of Roshar. Q: From which book? A: Either book, it's the main one that will go in each copy. It's VERY hard and it won't change a whole lot. Q: Does it have anything to do with the compass? A: Not the compass.
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  9. Before WoR I didn't think much of Adolin Kholin. I liked him, but I also like white bread. He seemed spoiled, mouthy, and arrogant. His one redeeming quality was that he proved to be very perceptive. During my rereads of TWoKs, before I read WoR, I tended to skip his POV. WoR completely changed my opinion of Adolin. He is now my third favorite character. He showed so many interesting layers in WoR and went in a direction I never would have expected. I think WoR also contained foreshadowing to his eventual induction into the Knights Radiant. First the indirect hints. Dalinar sees a Radiant in a vision with armor that looks like Adolin's. Yes, that Radiant was a girl, but the armor changes to fit the wearer. Then there is the fact that a Ryshadium, Sureblood (I will miss that horse), bonded with Adolin. Why is that important? The Ryshadium were the steeds of the Knights Radiant. The Ryshadium do not just bond with anyone. Currently the only other Ryshadium we know of is Gallant who is bonded with Dalinar, a Radiant. Did Gallant sense Dalinar's potential? If he did, perhaps Sureblood sensed Adolin's as well. Also there are clues in Adolin's personality the suggest he is a proto-radiant. His perceptiveness. He always knows when someone is hiding something. I recognized it in Sadeas, Kaladin, and Amaram. He didn't notice this in Shallan, but her talent is lies and love may have blinded him. Still, he is perhaps the most perceptive character in both books. It was the one attribute I admired in Adolin in book one. Why does this matter? Proto-Radiants seem to have a natural talent for the attributes of their order. Kaladin believed you could kill to protect long before he lost Tien. Dalinar united Alethkar and made it a kingdom. He did it in a dishonorable way, but he still did it. Shallan is very talented in lies and truth and has been so her whole life. Szeth destroyed himself to uphold the laws of his people. I don't know what order upholds perceptiveness. His talent may only be a part of his order's main attributes. The fact that this talent is so pronounced in both books suggests something. He is also very brave and obedient to his father, even though he is mouthy. Those attributes do fit the Dustbringers, which was the order of the knight wearing Adolin's armor in Dalinar's vision. But I think I might be reading to much into that. Still all of this would not have convinced me that Adolin was a proto-radiant. Adolin wasn't broken enough... or at least he wasn't until he killed Sadeas. That scene was shocking and wonderful. I loved it because of what it could mean of Adolin's character. The act is not as important as what it did to Adolin. Whether you agree with what Adolin did or not, it horrified Adolin. You can feel Adolin's anguish in those words. The golden boy broke in a fit of rage. This allows for the nahel bond. This was the moment I believed Adolin could be a Radiant, as long as he doesn't let this moment destroy him. Whether he becomes a Radiant or not, I think Adolin is going to be a very interesting character to read about in the next few books.
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  10. QuizUp is a new social trivia game released for Android and iOS. It's actually a pretty fun game and they have a lot of categories including The Dresden Files and A Song of Ice and Fire. But no Brandon! I thought to myself, "Surely the cosmere novels would make a great trivia category!" Luckily, it seems that they accept user suggestion for categories, but they have a voting system to determine the most popular categories. I created a suggestion for Brandon's cosmere novels here: http://suggestions.quizup.com/forums/242990-topic-suggestions/suggestions/5661218-cosmere-novels-from-brandon-sanderson Help vote it up to the top so we can challenge each other with cosmere trivia for bragging rights!
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  11. The signing tonight was tons of fun, and I was super pumped to meet Brandon Sanderson ! I also figured, why not share the tiny nugget he shared with me instead of hoarding it and sitting on it for all eternity, so I made an account and here I am. And he also gave me this as a sweet custom dedication: So it's official, I'm a dead Mistborn Hooray!
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  12. Meta looked down at his broken arm and time seemed to slow down. "This mustn't register on an emotional level," he thought to himself. "First, take deep breaths to help keep the body from going into shock. Next, find something to wrap the arm in. Find a sling so the arm can hang relaxed, taking the pressure off of the muscles. Finally, calmly locate the town doctor and have him reset the bone and apply a cast." Meta could see himself mentally preparing each step. He looked dignified and suave as he tackled each task with the grace and intelligence of one that knew what he was about. Then time caught back up with him and it was time to put his plan into motion. He took a deep breath and... "OWWWW!!!!!" He screamed as he ran around the room, flailing his broken arm around wildly, which coincidentally made it hurt even worse. "AHHHHH!!! OW! OW! OW!!!!" He actually did manage to grab some cloth, purely by accident, but instead of wrapping it around his arm and making a sling, he stuffed it in his mouth and bit down as hard as he could. Even muffled, he still kept screaming, tears leaking down his face. Finally, he ran for the door. He tried to open the door with his broken arm and only managed to bang it against the door, releasing another wave of agony. His knees gave out and thumped to the floor. When he did manage to get the door open, he crawled in the direction he thought it was to Selvar's residence.... He was going the wrong way.
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  13. You could even have a situation where every main character thinks they've won by the end of book 10 - and then the epilogue cuts away to Hoid. He isn't making witty comments. He's staring at the stars as the sun rises, and, one by one, the coming light makes them seem to disappear. "Old friend," he says,"You are free, and the Cosmere will never be the same."
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  14. Are you saying that If so, well, it wouldn't be TOO surprising. They'd both be broken by the same things--endless unrelenting pain...
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  15. Well Threnody is a real word after all. Its a song or poem of mourning composed as a memorial to a dead person. Very fitting for the world in question - its kinda like the cosmere equivalent of naming a planet 'Earth'.
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  16. this is what i picture in my head about that. can we make a bet? i say 2 weeks until we became insane searching this holy grial.
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  17. Finished drawing of Jasnah. I hope you all enjoy it! Check out the larger image here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/WoK-Character-Concepts/15065047

    © Elizabeth Kunkle 2014

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  18. Guys! I figured it out! It's a map! It shows where everything is for reference to locations!! And stuff. (Yeah, Peter said we wouldn't guess it. So I guessed what we haven't guessed. Mwahahahaha! )
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  19. So, the question that I ended up asking (during the book signing portion - there's no way he would have answered earlier) was: Can the Heralds surgebind without their Blades and, if not, do they have the same restrictions that others would. He almost didn't answer the question (I could tell a part of him really didn't want to answer), but then said "You've been waiting such a long time." (I was one of the first ones there) His answer (slightly paraphrased, since I didn't think to record it because I didn't expect an answer): The Heralds, without their Blades, are incapable of the powers that we are familiar with. That does not mean that they don't have special powers of their own. I did, however, manage to record the general Q&A section and the Reading (which was from an unpublished work). I'll see about uploading those to the Events page.
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  20. So, I'm generally... underwhelmed by the 'I love love triangles' angle. It's a weak excuse, folks, and lazy. It's like saying that you'll never try up fish meals in a restaurant because you hward it's a food that usually tastes disgusting because it's not done well. Can't knock it until you tried it, people; and I have a better opinion of Brandon's writing than that. If anything, he never lets romance interfere with the plot, so it will never be a major story point anyway - those are called soap operas, and it's a whole other kind of storytelling. And then, is character development and conflict, with amazing growt potential.. how can you not *look forward* to it? Bring it on, love triangle or square or dodecagon, as long as it has interesting people in it.
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  21. Brandon recently said at a signing that he doesn't like traditional love triangles, but he does like conflict in relationships. Given this statement and the hints in WoR, I think that Shallan's relationship with Adolin will end and then she will hook up with Kaladin. Traditional love triangles involve a lot of angst in wondering which one to pick. I don't think that'll be a big factor.
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  22. I know I'm not a commoner on this board and I have not contributed much to these theory discussions, but I assure you I have likely spent more time listening to the audiobooks for both WoK and WoR than is healthy. I bring that up because I never got the impression that Taln was anyone but who he said he was. The reason I assume he is who he says is, Taln is "The Herald of War". Which matters because, during a vision of Dalinar's it's made clear that Alethela is both the former kingdom that turned into Alethkar and it's the kingdom that maintains Roshar's knowledge of war. So, Taln being from there would only make sense. There are so many things that are unanswerable in relation to Taln that I find it hard to speculate on his identity thus far. As far as the differences in dialect that are described. Who's to say the powers that his blade gives him may be something that relates to his ability to understand language (not as it's primary power but maybe a side effect. Like the SkyBreaker's ability to intuitively understand the law and justice, his is the understanding of certain things which happen to encompass language.) We know hardly anything about Stonewards or the two adjacent orders. So it's not impossible that he can speak with the trees like a Lorax. That in turn tell him which accent is appropriate for that situation. Also, language is a very peculiar thing. Years can cause utter deviations to certain words and leave others completely unchanged. The phrasing and syllabic retention is not enough for me to think he's anyone other than who he claims to be. One thing I keep thinking is, that in this story's contemporary setting, every single person who sees Szeth is going batsh*t crazy when they see what he can do. Even Kaladin who can perform two out of the three tricks, is still left jaw agape when he witnesses the one he doesn't know about. So, for someone to see Shallan, watch her not only morph into someone else, but then reach and grab her out of the illusion as if he'd seen it a thousand times before and knew exactly what was going on, means he is at worst a fellow radiant at best the Herald he claims to be.
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  23. Looking at the write-up it looks like Vinizzi and Dane are Emotional Allomancers? Unless there is more than one person that is a Soother since we already kinda killed the Connector. Also the Seeker can seek me, but you won't be able to tell the difference than between me being either an actual villager or a Smoked character, unless you guys are confident that you know all of the Smokers and that they aren't Smoking me. I'm not saying that I'm Spiked, rather that the Seeker might find it more beneficial to Seek someone else. Going forward my plan is that Mabi will not vote, unless situations prove dire for my character, or my character role. I'm hoping that in saying this it makes it so that neither side has incentive to kill me, since I will still be active and reading these posts and posting from time to time. It could be that my logic is flawed that this makes you lot want to kill me anyways. Mabi was still emotionally confused. Somehow after still having three votes against her at the beginning of the speech afterwards she found that all the votes had changed to other targets. She felt relief that it was not her time to be lynched, although she did feel survivor's guilt that Mac, such a strong and standup young stud had died in her stead. She slowly eased back more into the bench that she was sitting in, thinking about the events of the past couple days. First Cyrus had died. Despite her and the other villager's efforts he had fled safety and had been ambushed. Then the someone else had killed Dryrii (The Coinshot) that same night to the detriment of the villagers. During the following day had been the first time that Mabi had been voted for. By her count it should have been either herself or Erendi that would have been lynched. Something had happened then where the crowed led by Meta that had hung Erendi instead of her. To their surprise upon looking at his dead body they had found a huge metal spike impaled through his chest, something that Meta and several others referred to as the Spiked. It seems that the Spiked were the traitors responsible for Cyrus' death. That night Mabi had spent living life to the fullest. As serendipity had it nothing of importance had happened. (Someone was Lurched and saved by that lurch. Raubber took damage, but did not die making him either a Thug or a very very fortunate Bloodmaker.) The next day the villagers were ecstatic that no one had died, and Mabi herself had been in good spirits. She missed that young caravan work hand, and hoped that he'd come back soon. Still the events of the following day had led to the death of Asp yet another Spiked with the powers of a Mistborn. She recalled that one of the three people that had voted for her on the first day. For reference those three were Asp, Xaneth, and Clan. She had been injured in Asp's death throes and had passed out for a while. Waking up the following morning to find that both Bartson and Forage had been killed. She'd been told that both of them had powers. She mourned the loss of the two men, who had provided her shelter from time to time over the years. Perhaps in pain at losing two men, or something else. Mabi had voted against Xaneth, reasoning that as Asp had voted against her perhaps the others that had voted against her were also guilty. When Xaneth had been killed and someone someone announced to them that he was a Connector, she was grief stricken. She resolved not to cast a vote against another person again, save to save her own life. That night there was another killing, and Arst's body was found with a spike in it. Three of the Spiked were dead. This last and more emotionally trying day Mabi watched as votes and suspicions were cast, several of them falling on her. But ultimately they had killed the young stud Mac who proved to be innocent. She snapped out of her reverie, and got out the bench, trying to get indoors for the coming night. Bartson's was empty, and she felt that she need some time alone to sort out her emotions.
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  24. In the runup to the release of WoR some of us elected to commit to positions relevant to the Stormlight Archive Realm. With the release of WoR, some of these issues have been settled and others may have arisen. Here is the post-WoR update. Please let me know if you disagree with the assessments herein. From the Stormlight Archive forum: SETTLED: No (I claim that Kaladin's ability to heal shard severed limbs and the ability to infuse on the part of their followers settles this one). Surgebinders will have no more than 3 powers, and specifically windrunners will only be able to infuse and perform the 3 lashings as defined in the Ars Arcanum of tWoK. Wrong: cem?, Natans, Mailliw73, marianmi, Gloom. Right: hoser, Argent?, Aether, Moogle Windrunnners have a "Force Push" ability. Yes: Aether, Mailliw73. No: Natans, marianmi, Chrono The Stonewards have a communication ability (I believe the female knight exercises it in the Starfalls vision, but I don't know if that will ever be confirmed). Yes: hoser No: Moogle, Natans, Mailliw73, Kurkistan There are 10 different types of spren that give the ability to Surgebind and they are all Splinters. Yes: cem, hoser, Natans, Mailliw73, Kurkistan, marianmi, Chrono, Gloom Stormriding: is a side-effect of either being a Surgebinder or a Radiant (therefore available to all surgebinders). Yes: cem. No: Natans, Mailliw73, marianmi, hoser, Chrono, Gloom. Riding the storm is the Windrunner special ability. No other Radiant order will be able to do it. Yes: Scott, Natans, marianmi, hoser, Chrono, Gloom. No: Mailliw73 SETTLED: Yes. Szeth is in possession of an Honorblade. Right: Aether, Bloodfalcon, Natans, marianmi, Gloom. Wrong: MadRand, hoser, Mailliw73, Kurkistan, dyring SETTLED: No. Shardblades are corrupted (Wrong: marianmi) by Odium. Wrong: Mailliw73. Right: MadRand, Natans, dyring. SETTLED: Yes.Shallan's brother (Nan Heleran?) was the Shardbearer who attacked Amaram back in Alethkar. Right: Moogle, Natans, Mailliw73, Kurkistan, dyring, marianmi. SETTLED: No. Dalinar will be a Stoneward. We will see his spren in WoR. Wrong: Scott, Natans, Mailliw73. Right: marianmi. SETTLED: Yes. Kaladin will wield a Shardspear in WoR. Right: Scott, Natans, Mailliw73, Gloom. Wrong: marianmi Baxil's mistress is Shallash. Yes: Moogle, Natans, Mailliw73, Kurkistan, marianmi, Chrono, Gloom The two Surge-charts were created by Honor and Cultivation and establish the magic system. Yes: Bloodfalcon, Natans, Mailliw73, Gloom No: Kurkistan, marianmi The Order images on Cultivation's Surge-chart (woman, big gem, lightning) are images of spren. Yes: Bloodfalcon, Natans, Mailliw73 No: marianmi The Order images on Honor's Surge-chart (Radiants) are images of Honorblades. Yes: Bloodfalcon, marianmi, Gloom No: Voidbringers will have the inverse characteristics of the Heralds. Yes: Natans No: Mailliw73, marianmi, Gloom The Tranquiline Halls and Damnation are both based off of real places in the Physical Realm. More specifically, they are other planets in the Roshar System. Yes: Gloom, Natans, Mailliw73. No: marianmi SETTLED: No. There are no spren created (without having previously existed in another form) by Odium. Wrong: Gloom, Mailliw73, marianmi, Chrono, Gloom. No: . The Radiants had a plan when they Recreanted that included saving information for their resurrection with the Vanrial. Yes: hoser, Natans. No: marianmi, Gloom SETTLED: Yes. Urithiru is located on the main continental land mass of Roshar to the west of Alethela in the physical realm. Right: hoser, Natans, dyring. Wrong: marianmi SETTLED: Yes. Szeth gets his windrunner abilities from his Shardblade. Right: hoser, Natans, Kurkistan, marianmi, Gloom. Wrong: Mailliw73. The parshendi killed Gavilar because "The evil sphere of doom" was a corrupted spren that could create a "voidbringer parshendi form". Yes: Natans. No: marianmi, Aether, Gloom. SETTLED: No. Shallarin (Shallan-Renarin shipping) will happen in WoR. Wrong: Mailliw73. Right: marianmi The Ten Fools will have the inverse characteristics of the Heralds. Yes: Mailliw73. No: marianmi Syl is no ordinary honorspren. She is qualitatively different from other Honorspren in addition to her unique personality. Yes: bartbug. No: Kurkistan, Mailliw73, Aether, Gloom. Kaladin's father, Lirin, will end up working for Taravangian. Yes: Gamma Fiend. No: Mailliw73, Chrono, Aether, Gloom. Kaladin will wield a Shardspear in book 5. Yes: marianmi, Mailliw73, Gloom. SETTLED: Yes. By book 5. Right: Aether. SETTLED: No. Renarin will become a Skybreaker. Wrong: Mailliw73. Right: Aether, Gloom. If Adolin becomes a KR, he will be a Dustbringer. Yes: Mailliw73. No: Aether. No more than half of the POV characters will become Radiants before the end of the series. Yes: Kurkistan, Mailliw73. No: Gloom. SETTLED: Yes. Gaz will resurface alive. Right: Fistsofrage, Mailliw73, Aether. No: . SETTLED: Yes. Bondsmiths are Order 10. Right: Moogle (+eat hat). No: . There is never going to be a real sex scene. Yes: Galladon, Mailliw73, Gloom. No: . Over 85% of all the theories in this thread will be wrong. Yes: Gamma Fiend. No: hoser, Mailliw73, Gloom, Aether. The gems built into pre-Recreance Shardplate were there since before the Recreance. Yes: hoser, Gloom. No: . SETTLED: No. Moash is a bastard son of a lighteye or he is a darkeye born of two lighteyes. Wrong: Natans, Mailliw73. Right: Gloom. By writing The Way of Kings, Nohadon altered how bonding Spren (Nahel Spren) select their human partners - much in the same way Geranid and Ashir were able to "lock" Flamespren to a certain measurement by writing down its values. Yes: Aether, Mailliw73. No: . From the Steelhunt forum: SETTLED: Yes. Darkness=Nalan. Right: Mailliw73, marianmi, Bloodfalcon, Ethrien, Gloom, ADIMORTIS, kraefzke. Wrong: jasonpenguin, Meg. Jezrien is incapacitated (drooling) or the "Have you seen me?" guy in the prelude. Yes: Mailliw73, marianmi, Bloodfalcon. No: hoser, stormfather, jasonpenguin, ADIMORTIS, Meg. SETTLED: No. Szeth kills the Azish primes after his conversation w/Mr. T at the end of tWoK. Wrong: hoser, Bloodfalcon, jasonpenguin. Right: stormfather, marianmi, Ethrien, Gloom, ADIMORTIS. One or more of the Heralds had a role in the Knights Radiant disbanding (Fistsof rage, please delete the post proposing this from the Stormlight Archive forum. I think it is an excellent claim, but spoilerific). Yes: Fistsofrage, Gloom, jasonpenguin, Bloodfalcon, kraefzke. No: ADIMORTIS. Kokerlii's (thought-detection-blocking bird) power works nearly identically to Allomantic copper, though perhaps on a different power-level. Yes: Kurkistan, ADIMORTIS No: jasonpenguin. Once an item is SETTLED, no more names will be added to that item. I will compile results later.
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  25. We know that Elhokar sees spren. In WoK chapter 58, Elhokar says, "They watch me. Always. Waiting. I see their faces in mirrors. Symbols, twisted, inhuman…”. I had assumed that Elhokar's potential ability to become a Radiant had simply been shelved for Book 2 as a plot point. However when re-reading Words of Radiance, I realised that if Elhokar is a Lightweaver like Shallan, then the only way he would progress would be to speak deep truths about himself. If you read the confrontation between Kaladin and Elhokar at the end of Words of Radiance therefore from Elhokar's perspective, he has finally spoken words that might well open the path to his becoming a Lightweaver in the future and might now have unblocked the path to becoming a Radiant himself. Am i on to something?
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  26. Night 5 It seemed as though everyone wanted to make up with the lack of voting the day before by arguing over who to kill all day long. Mac sat in his house, listening to everyone argue in the streets. He heard his name a couple times and understood that this day would probably be his last. He held the stone medallion he had purchased from forage. After hearing Meta denounce Forage's goods, and the death of forage himself, Mac realized that the medalion didn't have any magical properties, but he couldn't bring himself to throw it away. It was really the only thing of any value he'd ever owned. The door crashed in and the villagers came for him. As a hand reached for him, Mac instincively grabbed for the wrist to protect himself. There was a snap and a scream. Mac looked up, realizing he had accidently snapped Meta's arm bones. The arm hung at a horribly unnatural angle. "I'm sorry!" Mac said "I keep forgeting how stong I am" No one seemed to be listening to him. The villagers murmured among themselves. Mac heard the words "monster," "voilent' and "killer" multiple times. Everyone leaped for him at once and dragged him off to hang him. The medallion fell from Mac's hand as they dragged him through the street. He struggled, trying to pick it back up, but he was dragged passed it by the villagers and hung. ----------------------------------------- Mac was a regular villager the votes: mac(4)-clan, meta, selvar wark(0)-vizzini, dane vizzini(2)- maw, wark meta(0)-mac clan(1)- alon
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  28. This theory is a simple one. Unlike the other orders of Knights Radiant, the Skybreakers never abandoned their oaths and disbanded. They have remained active, albeit covertly, under the control of Nalan. Firstly, I want to present evidence that one of the orders of Radiants never disbanded, at least entirely. This epigraph makes it quite apparent to me that one of the orders of Radiants stuck around for quite some time. Nalan offers Szeth a place in their ranks, and Helaran was apparently attempting to join them. It seems evident to me that for whatever reason, the Skybreakers refused to abandon their Blades and their oaths to stick around. As one final piece of evidence, I'd like to look at the spren. First, I'll establish the type of spren the Skybreakers were bonded to. Given Nalan's penchant for laws and one of the divine attributes of the Skybreakers being "just" this makes me fairly certain that the highspren belong to the Skybreakers. Now, lets look at who Jasnah goes to see for information while she is in Shadesmar. Why would she go to see the highspren? While I'm sure that they are knowledgeable, would not the spren of other orders be better? Why not see the spren of the Willshapers or the Elsecallers, her own spren? They are associated with knowledge and wisdom, surely they would be better equipped? But here, Pattern provides a clue. The answer is clear. She went to the highspren because they are the only spren who survived the Recreance because the Skybreakers did not abandon their oaths. They are the only ones who were alive during the Desolations.
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  29. Reference to Adolin being a Radiant, this quote from page 1023 stuck out to me: "The monster could command inanimate objects! Adolin sliced through the tarp and then jumped forward to swing for the assassin. He found nothing to fight. DUCK. He threw himself to the ground as something passed over his head...." Certainly not definitive but I think its worth noting. When I read this passage I read it as an outside command not from him, Also an interesting point is that he is in direct contact with his shardbalde during this passage. He also happens to be engaging in an act that is consistent with at least the first ideal of the kr. Could it be that the voice was from a spren. Im inclined to believe so. Thoughts?
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  30. The entirety of the KR is a little weird. We know they have unusually good access to the cognitive realm. We know they made a map of Shadesmar with the expanses listed. We have WoB that the expanses are different planets. We know the KR used Shadesmar as transportation. Yet somehow, there is absolutely no mention of world hopping by the Knights Radiant. No stories about other planets, no divulged notes from the in-book texts showing the knowledge of worldhopping. In addition, mythos like 'Roshars are refugees' or other things like that do not include the idea of another world. Jasnah never mentions anything that might imply other worlds, and nor does Super Taravanigan - indeed, despite being incredibly smart and well read and able to guess so many things, it's possibly implied that he suspects worldhopping for the first time (but possibly unrelated). It's fishy. Really fishy. Is it possible that travel between worlds in the Cognitive Realm requires something more complex than simply access to Shadesmar? Something complex enough that people familiar with the Cognitive Realm do not even understand the nature of the expanses?
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  31. I originally posted these on http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6605-words-of-brandon-compiled/page-7. These are from the Lexington signing at Joseph Beth, 3/18/2014. Some of these may be repeats Q: Is it true that humans can bond to multiple spren? A: They can theoretically bond to multiple spren. Q: So, is shardplate created as a result of a spren bond? A: RAFO. Q: (Brandon mentioned changing Kaladin's plot so that he chose the "hard" path) What was the hard path? A: Kaladin initially accepted the shardblade and plate in the first book, and the rest of the book was about him fighting with them. Really boring. Q: Are highstorms a meteorological or magical phenomenon? A: Both. Q: Did the mistress from the interlude in book 1 destroy the Shalash statue on the night of Gavilar's death? A: Yes, and also all the other ones that we've seen, including the one in Shallan's vision in Words of Radiance. Q: Is the mistress Shalash? A: RAFO. Q: How many oaths can a Radiant swear? A: There is an upper-limit/threshold to the number of oaths a Radiant may make. By the end of WoR, Shallan was a step higher than Kaladin. Not completely sure on this one: He said that at one point Shallan may have said all the oaths for her order (or may have been capable of saying all of the oaths by the end of the book) but has since regressed due to "memory loss/repression." Regarding Dalinar: He said that Dalinar has had a bond with the Stormfather "for a while." He also only said one oath at the top of the Urithiru tower, not two. Dalinar conveyed a single idea in that particular oath. Brandon also clarified that the oaths, with the exception of the first ideal, are not restricted to specific words. Rather, a specific idea must be conveyed for the oath to be accepted.
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  32. Gee, Peter, try not to be too helpful all the time...
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  33. The one and only. Larger image here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/Bridge-Four/15439515

    © Elizabeth Kunkle 2014

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  34. Ever since we discovered that the small circles on the rear endsheet of The Way of Kings (what I call the Voidbringing chart) are symmetric around their centers, I've been looking for things to help me figure out how Voidbringing works - because it felt clear to me that there should be strong parallels with what we see on the front endsheet (the Surgebinding chart). The two are far too similar, so I believe they must be opposite in many ways. I think I finally have an elegant solution. But before I present it to you, a quick primer. Surges and Surgebinders We now know a lot about what the Surgebinding chart illustrates. There are ten Heralds around the borders. Each Herald corresponds to a big circle, enclosing a glyph - an Order of the Knights Radiant. Each big circle is connected to two small circles - the primal Surges members of that Order have access to. We now know the names of all the Heralds, all the Orders, and all the Surges, so there is no point talking about them, you can find the information elsewhere. I will provide only a list of all the Orders and Surges for quick reference. Voids and Voidbringers The most important part of my theory lies here. At this point it's pretty reasonable to say that the Voidbringers are the Parshendi. Or, more specifically, the creatures of destruction remembered by the people of Roshar are the Listeners when they embrace certain forms. In other words - and this is a part of my claim - when we saw Eshonai take on stormform, we only saw one type of Voidbringers, the same way Kaladin is one type of the Knights Radiant. Windrunners are an Order of the Radiants; stormforms are a... something... of the Voidbringers. If this is true, then there are nine other types of Voidbringers we are yet to see - one for each big circle on the rear endsheet. Eshonai represents one... let's call them Voidorders (we really need some words other than "void"...) of the Voidbringers, but unlike the Knights Radiant, she has the option to switch her Voidorder. She can go out during a highstorm, discard her stormform, and embrace decayform, nightform, or smokeform, for example. So far those are the only voidforms we have seen, I believe, but my gut tells me there should be a total of ten of those. So far so good. Now, let's tackle the small circles on the Voidbringing chart. Just like the big ones stand for Voidorders and are the opposite of the Radiants' Orders, the small ones are probably the powers, the Voids, each Voidorder has access to. These Voids would have to be something similar to the Surges, but can't be the same - but like much else, they can be their opposites. In fact, the way the Voids' glyphs are written supports this even further. Those glyphs are not just some asymmetric shapes, they are the Surges' glyphs, broken in half, and then put back together with one of the halves inverted, made its opposite. Considering how much emphasis is put on symmetry in Roshar, this looks like a pretty powerful symbol of not asymmetry, but of anti-symmetry instead. We've taken the Surges, something divine (as represented by their symmetry) and natural, and have turned them into an anathema. Still with me? Good. I won't speculate on what the Voids might be, though I suspect they will somehow end up mirroring the Surges. Instead, I will look at the different voidforms and make the claim that they stand opposite of the Radiants' Orders. Stormform, with its control over the winds (and lightning), sounds like the more hateful counterpart of the Windrunners. Nightform shares some of the future-telling capabilities Renarin, as a Truthwatcher, exhibits. Smokeform, "for hiding and slipping 'tween men," seems very similar to what Shallan can do with her Lightweaving. Decayform... will have to be put on hold for now. The Listener Song of Secrets is not very clear on what this form does, but it's possible that it opposes the Edgedancers ("watch where you walk, your toes to tread") or the Willshapers ("destroys the souls of dreams"). The Edgedancers are a good candidate because of Nale's remark about member of that Order gracefully running along ropes, but the Willshapers' name is more appropriate for the good counterpart of something that destroys the souls of dreams. Whatever that means. The colors on the two endsheets' big glyphs also match, so we could treat that as a piece of extra evidence that we are thinking along the right lines. So there you have it, folks. Voidbringing. I wish I could figure something out about the Voids, because they feel like I should be able to see them... but I can't. Not fully, at least. If Stormform is the counterpart to the Windrunners, then its powers should be somewhat similar. And in a way they are - we see Eshonai & co. call a highstorm (which involves strong winds, which are created by - among other things - difference in pressure; so there's a different form of Adhesion) and throw lightning around (which could be the Voidbringers' answer to gravity - Windrunners get Gravitation, Stormforms get Electromagnetism). The other Voidorders' Voids kind of sound similar, yet opposite, to their respective Orders' Surges, but we haven't seen enough for me to come to a conclusion. Is Smokeform (anti-Progression & anti-Transformation) the form creating illusions, blinding enemies, and summoning darkness? And even if it is, how would the Transformation Void even work? This is not to say that I don't like those anti-Surges, but we really need more information for a more conclusive theory. TL;DR The forms of power the Parshendi received from their gods are what transforms them from Listeners to Voidbringers. Each form (stormform, smokeform, etc.) opposes one Order of the Knights Radiant; Stormform, for example, seems to share the same abilities theme as the Windrunners. The powers those anti-Orders, Voidorders as I call them, also seem opposite to the Surges, but we don't have enough evidence. The term "Voidbringer" is about as descriptive as the term "Knight Radiant" - both are used to denote only one type of the entire category (all Windrunners are Radiants, but not all Radiants are Windrunners; all Stormforms are Voidbringers, but not all Voidbringers are Stormforms). I keep wanting to rename this thread to something more descriptive, but everything I come up with sounds like the name of a research paper. Voids, Voidbringing, and Voidbringers: The Nature of Odium's Investiture and its Applications to and by the Listeners...
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  35. I've been thinking a lot about the Unmade and their nature, given at how consistently they've been hinted at. They're assumed to have quite the connection with Odium / Rayse, and that makes me think they'll be a major factor in the lead up and eventual conflict between the Knights Radiant and the Voidbringers ... in some fashion or another. With that having been said, I wanted to document a few of the facts we have about the Unmade, as well as some theories or logical assumptions about each of the presumed Unmade. Oh, I'm also of the opinion that each of the Unmade either corresponds to one of the orders of Knights Radiant, or one of the Heralds, as symmetry is WAY TOO IMPORTANT on Roshar. As such, for many of the Unmade, I've got an educated guess as to where they might fall on the old double-eye diagram. I'd say this is pure theory at this point, so feel free to disregard as you see fit. General Unmade Knowledge We have some record / reference from Taravingian (an awesome source of Unmade factoids) that one of the Unmade is an "ancient, evil spren", I believe. A current theory that I subscribe to is that the Unmade are, for lack of a better term, powerful Odiumspren. I'm not sure if these spren need to bond to a person (listener or human) to be a "fully powered" Unmade, but it stands to reason that they may. I also believe that we have some recent Word of Brandon that there aren't necessarily ten Unmade. That would throw a monkeywrench into my Unmade-tie-to-KR-orders theory, but hey, that's okay. Yelig-nar (aka Blightwind) Yelig-nar is the only absolutely, positively, confirmed Unmade at this time. I mean if you can't trust Nohadon, who can you trust? Abilities: Yelig-nar apparently has the ability to kill, somewhat directly. It is the Unmade that is most personified, having broken into Nohadon's chancery (sounds like personification) and killed his wordsmen. Yelig-nar is also reportedly able to speak, though he "consumed" people and their wails accompanied him. Yikes. Association: As we'll discuss in some of the later sections of Unmade, Yelig-nar appears to be the most personified of the Unmade we currently know of, as well as one of them with the most direction and personal agency. So, given that and his nickname of "Blightwind", I'd say he's a good candidate to correspond to the Windrunners or Jezerien. Yelig-nar may not necessarily be the leader of the Unmade (if they have one), but it appears to be one of the more combat-focused Unmade at this time. Given what little we know about the Radiants still, this certainly could allow it to match up with the Radiants we know the most about. Moelach Thanks to Taravingian and his Diagram, we can say with almost complete certainty that Moelach is also an Unmade. Epigraphs 81 and 82 in Words of Radiance are two back-to-back paragraphs. While 81 talks about the nature of the Unmade, 82 talks specifically about one of them: Moelach. It's fair to say he's an Unmade. Abilities: Given what Taravingian has said, it appears that Moelach is responsible for the Death Rattles, which appear to be both precognitive and past-cognitive (wordsmith!) visions that take place at the moment before death. Interestingly, this doesn't necessarily appear to be a *bad* thing for the Radiants, etc. Where the abilities of many of the other Unmade (or projected Unmade) seem to be "evil" or "harmful" ... this one, not so much. It leads me to think that there's something else going on here that we're not aware of yet, or an additional ability. Also, Moelach is referred to as one of the Unmade with the most powerful precognitive abilities, which are shared by nearly all Unmade / Voidbringers. Interesting. Association: Welp, the precognition / visions aspect of this pretty clearly draws a line between Moelach and the Truthwatchers or Pailiah. We don't know much about the Truthwatchers (or anyone, really), but this seems to be a pretty seamless fit. Both focus very, very strongly on visions of the future. Nergaoul Again, due to Taravingian's meddling exposition, we learn of a potential Unmade. Nergaoul is referred to in the context of the Alethi Thrill, and that finding where the Thrill is strongest might help pinpoint Nergaoul. With that in mind, the way the Thrill can be seen as similar to the Death Rattles, and even the similarities in name composition between Nergaoul and Moelach (compounded vowels), we're not crazy to consider this another of the Unmade. Abilities: Nergaoul appears be responsible for, or at least have some connection to, the Thrill. The Thrill appears to be a feeling of battle-lust, or a drive to kill. WHAT A JERK. That pretty heavily smacks of Odium, and those whom we most closely align to Honor (Dalinar, Kaladin, etc.) seem to reject the Thrill, while Eshonai seems to embrace it with her stormform. Association: The first thing that came to me is how the Thrill seems to be the innate opposite of the dispassionate judgement of "Darkness". I'm inclined to place Nergaoul as linked to the Skybreakers or Nalan. Where the killing / judgement handed out by the Skybreakers appears to be logical, lawful, and in the best cases, just ... the Thrill's killing is wanton, indiscriminate, and furious. No thanks. Re-Shephir (aka the Midnight Mother) Watch, as we move from the realm of informed speculation to the realm of slightly-less-informed speculation. Re-Shephir is mentioned briefly in Epigraph 58 of WoK as the Midnight Mother ... but the Death Rattles have shared information (we think) about the Unmade in the past. Between that and the naming similarities between Yelig-nar, I think we have another Unmade here. Abilities: Re-Shephir's abilities are an open question still. The epigraph mentions giving birth to abominations, using her "essence", so it seems fairly logical to assume that Re-Shephir is responsible for creating the Midnight Essence. These strange, monstrous creatures are some that Dalinar fought during his visions of the past, and appear to be core enemies of the earlier Knights Radiant. Association: My first inclination is that the Midnight Mother's ability to create, albeit in a relatively non-creative fashion (the Midnight Essence appear to be roughly all the same), and create something totally black (as in, without light), makes me think of the Lightweavers or Shallash. Though, to be fair, a void-spun Progression surge might make sense here too. Again, knowing precious little about the Unmade, the Radiants, basically everything, this is only an informed guess. Dai-gonarthis (aka the Black Fisher) Again, we're using hints to assume that Dai-gonarthis is an Unmade, nothing more. It's name sounds like that of Yelig-nar and Re-Shephir. It is referred to in the Death Rattles, much like Re-Shephir. And that's all we've really got. Abilities: Oh, we know so very little. Something about holding sorrow and consuming it. Someone asking to "let me hurt, let me weep". Dai-gonarthis may do something to the emotions of a person, suppressing them, feeding off of them, something. It's all wild speculation, really. Association: Seriously, I've got nothing here. We simply don't know enough. I'm not convinced it holds any association with a few of the orders we seem to know the most about ... I'd be surprised if it's associated with the Windrunners, Lightweavers, Truthwatchers, or Edgedancers. But who really knows. If I had to hazard a rough guess, it may be associated with the Willshapers or Kalak. And that's mostly because the Willshapers order name seems to indicate something to do with an emotion / thought. Also, I don't know a thing about them either. So that matches up nice. Sja-anat Sja-anat is referenced in another of Dalinar's visions, mentioned by a soldier and a Radiant prior to the Thunderclast battle at the Purelake. Like Dai-gonarthis and Re-Shephir, this name has the unique dashes, and appears to be involved with Odium. Hence, it's a reasonable guess that we've got another of the Unmade here. Abilities: We don't know much about Sja-anat, Here's what we know: "Once Sja-anat touches a spren, it acts strange." The spren spotted by Dalinar had red eyes, and was referred to as "Sja-anat's spy". Ostensibly, this means that Sja-anat has the ability to change a spren by "touch", perhaps corrupting it. On a side note, the Thunderclast that appeared didn't have any direct reference to Sja-anat, it was more of a guardian, so I'm not taking it to mean anything directly associated to Sja-anat ... yet. Association: When we talk about changing things by touch, we're talking about Soulcasting, right? So perhaps Sja-anat associates to the Elsecallers or Battar. This actually makes a lot of sense ... the Elsecallers were the foremost intermediaries between man and spren, so changing spren through touch sounds very, very close to something a voidish relation to an Elsecaller might do. So that leaves us with, at this time, five six presumed Unmade. There are hints at others that may be possible, but not mentioned yet by name. For example, is Venli influenced by one of the Unmade? Are Thunderclasts associated with the Unmade? How about Gavilar's sphere? Is the "black piper" an Unmade as well? But as for right now, I think this is about all that we know about the specific Unmade. (Edited to add Sja-anat.) (Later edited to add general info.)
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  36. I was thinking that the story of Fleet was actually about Honor versus Odium. Fleet represents Honor and the storm represents Odium Odium killed Honor, but Honor's death appears to have stopped him (based on the letters epigraph about Odium being contained) The interesting thing to note is that this happened at Shinovar, which is where we know the Honor blades are being kept. After dying, Fleet's soul rises up and roams around the world. This is eerily similar to the Stormfather. Anyone else see the coincidence? Maybe this story was not about Kaladin as Wit says it is, or maybe Kaladin is destined to do something similar to what Honor did to keep Odium contained. Not really a theory, but just something that crossed my mind
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  37. Allow me to explain. I believe we have it WOB, that when a shard is invested on a planet - they cannot leave. At least, not without leaving a large portion of their strength behind. Therfore, I hypothesis, that the Oathpact - or whatever it is that binds Odium, will be totally shattered by the end of the SA. The SA will not end with Odium's defeat - but with his release. If the KR destroy the Voidbringers, and break Odium's power on Roshar, he will no longer be bound to Roshar - and will be free to continue his rampage across the cosmere. The pattern of the Heralds - Winning a great battle - then being tortured and hurt - before starting the cycle again, in order to protect Roshar, is therefore a direct reflection of Roshar's role in the cosmere. The Planet is constantly ravaged by Odiums power every desolation - even when they win the battles - essentially being tortured, over and over in order to protect the Cosmere. Hoid is trying to defeat Odium directly - without unlocking his power, by keeping him occupied and invested. The only way to defeat him, would be to splinter him. So therefore, I speculate that Hoid's plan is to reform Honor - and use its power to splinter Odium, before it cna be released. I wonder if Honor could be "Resurrected" with the heralds and KR, though it would be very different than before. Not Tanavast - a new shardbearer would need to take its power. I know this is slim, and is more mindless speculation then any real theory. Its just guesswork, and extrapolation. Wild conjecture. Have fun.
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  38. No worries Swimmingly. Cryptic, interesting idea, but there are a LOT of cities (22?). Just eyeballing it, I don't think that will come up with anything decipherable.
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  39. Now, that Accent thing is a good catch! I was wondering the same thing when I read it, but then completely forgot! Perhaps Epilogue-Taln was real and the whole person was swapped, not just the Blades? Though whoever did it would have to find a replacement with Herlad-like abilities and a severe personality disorder (or somehow bestow those abilities and knowledge on an excellent actor or something...)
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  40. Okay... Marabethia looks like a bridge over the purelake and reshi sea, now if anyone can actually find 'the bridge to terabithia' we might be able to find an offramp to Roshar. Anyone seen the 'Alien' movies? Sigourney Weaver? All of the mountains in former Natanatan down to and including the shattered plains make up the head of said Aliens. With the shattered plains making up the teeth. Alethkar and Shinovar actually make all their money by hoarding the world's water supply. You see, the map clearly shows that they own ALL of the rivers on Roshar. I quite nearly drove myself insane over this stuff more than two years ago, and of course here I am about to get sucked back in...
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  41. I had a lot of fun with my brother. I ended up asking not very good questions though when I got up to him at the signing. Q:"How do Bondsmiths use the Dawnshards?" really should have just been "Are Bondsmith's abilities related to the Dawnshards?" A:RAFO Q:"Do the Aimians predate humanity like the Parshendi do?" (I'm not sure if I included "on Roshar" or not.) A:"You're assuming that the Parshendi predate humanity." The next guy in line also had a Aimian question, I dragged my feet a little to try and hear Brandon's answer. Basic stuff about the 2 types of Aimians, both of which have extended control of their own biology, both of which more or less refugees. He also said that they have Cosmere significance, which sounded new to me. I'm not sure whether the refugees thing means from Aimia or from elsewhere. Also: It might have been in one of the other signing threads, but Brandon did say he was planning to use Lift as the main character of the one of the back 5 of the Stormlight Archive books.
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  42. I fear that even fifty Lashings might not be able to Lift it up past the first Heightening–you'd most likely need to Return with a whole Legion of bridgemen to span that chasm.
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  43. I didn't get a HUGE amount out of my time in line. My ears turned red and I stumbled on the English language and I really wish I had recorded his precise answers. The following is paraphrased: Q: Could you make a Spike from a Lifeless? A: "Oooo interesting!" He said their soul is so drained there wouldn't be much left, so you could only get the barest hint. Q: But you COULD technically get a charge A: Yes, but it would be very weak. Q: I asked him to clarify a past WoB we went 'round and around on in the past. Basically, what happens when non-Nalthians come to Nalthis. A: they cannot use their own soul to Awaken but could do so with obtained Breath. Q: So anyone could start Awakening once they received Breaths (this is what it sounded like he was saying so I put it to him simply) A: You would probably have to jump through some hoops to Awaken (talks about systems needing rigged up to work on different planets), but anyone can benefit from a Breath. Essentially said "it's not that easy!" Very cool. Glad I went. Wish I had formulated better what i wanted clarified for my second question.
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  44. its a little moment compared to some of the others, and is subverted with the next sentence, but in The Hidden Blade (chapter 76), when Dalinar drags Amaram over to where Kaladin is sitting with Bridge Four. I just imagine Kaladin fighting to keep his spine straight, to not slump onto Lopen shoulder, to not let the pain show, as he prepares for Dalinar to hammer "untrusted" into the "I am a weak/horrible/useless/unwanted person who killed Syl." mental deathspiral he was trying to stave off by seeing his men before they left. (His men, incidently, were not being terribly helpful in this regard.)
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  45. I find it hilarious how ironic most of your comments are. Such as, "I like Tyn, thank you Brandon for the Jasnah replacement." And, "I hate how all of the characters keep dying. No one else will die! Except Sadeas, Sadeas can go die."
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  46. @moogle I think we're interpreting journey before destination differently. The way I see it: pick destination->pick right* journey->follow said journey even though you may fail. The important bit being picking the right* journey and following it. It does not mean you do things regardless of consequence. Regarding Teft: "There are always several ways to achieve a goal. Failure is preferable to winning through unjust means. Protecting ten innocents is not worth killing one." Keeping in mind the above, let's look at Dalinar. He let's both and and Amaram get away with murder. He doesn't punish Elhokar for the Roshone incident and tries to hush it up. The Roshone incident happened years ago. When Gavilar was still alive. This was before the visions and before he started reading WoK. Do I think what he did was wrong? Yes. Do I think he has changed? Most definitely. He let Amaram get away with it. Someone already put a quote saying Dalinar couldn't have held a Shardbearer hostage. So that's not relevant anymore. He let Sadeas get away. First, we need to establish what is journey and what is destination in this scenario. Being Sadeas to justice is the destination. How Dalinar goes about doing that is the journey. So let's look at the paths available to Dalinar right after the betrayal: the court (or the Alethi equivalent) or war. Taking Sadeas to court right after the betrayal would have done nothing. Sadeas's actions were perfectly acceptable by Alethi standards. Inciting civil war by attacking Sadeas may have gotten Dalinar his justice but at the cost of the death of a few thousand men. So the destination has no right* journey. So discard that destination until a right* journey becomes available. And that's exactly what Dalinar did. *whatever right means.
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  47. Apart from a spirit of the wind communicating the dying screams of a dead companion in the form of a magical sword to it's owner, who is bonded to it in such a way that he can zombify it from mist and use it to cut people's souls?
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  48. Reya is somebody female and important.
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