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  1. Several days ago I mentioned somewhere (I did, didn't I?) that Brandon is maybe considering backpedaling on some savant... stuff. I felt that his original comment to me was unclear, so I reached out and asked for a bit of clarification. Here it is: The TL;DR of all of this is: Wax was intended to be a savant of the combination of Allomantic Steel and Feruchemical Iron. Originally, savantism was meant to come with a consequence, a danger to it (e.g. see Spook) Three three published Wax & Wayne books don't seem to explore that - Wax experiences no downsides to his savantism So it's possible that some stuff will change in the future - whether it is Wax's status as a savant, whether it is how savantism and/or resonances work, whether it is some slight retcon, nobody knows ('cause it might not even happen). So take all this as a word of warning that any discussion about how savants work might end up being wrong and/or incomplete, even if all the information in it is currently accurate.
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  2. Night 7: A Graphic Novel Billy sat down on a chair in the study and opened the book. It was ancient and had clearly seen better days, but that just made it all the more valuable. It was bound in leather and the titling on the front, though it could not be read, was engraved in metal. Once, it had probably been an incredibly important book for someone, judging from the wear from repeated use. But since then, it had just been gathering dust. He wiped the thin layer from the top, shivering a little at the touch of the covers. It felt wrong, for some reason. “What are you reading?” Aon asked, looking over at him. “A book,” Billy shrugged. “That book looks a bit familiar,” Aon said. “It was in the library, wasn't it?” “Where else would a book be?” “I looked back later and it'd gone missing,” Aon continued to muse, ignoring the response. “It was a bit odd, I thought to myself, because none of the others had up and left. Very suspicious.” “It's not suspicious, I took it,” Billy said. “It's interesting.” “Oh?” Aon peered over the top of the book. “I didn't think you would be able to read it.” “Well, I can,” Billy said with a huff. “Ish. It's slow, 'cause I have to keep looking back and seeing what is meant by things.” “So what is it then?” Aon asked. “What does it say?” “It's a book on Hemalurgy,” Billy said. “And what's Hemalurgy?” Aon asked, a little exasperated. “What does it mean, what does it do?” Billy shrugged. “Hema- means blood,” Aon muttered to herself. Some kind of method that used blood to Awaken things? Though to be honest, she'd expect anything at this stage. The objects they had found in the House had entirely thrown their understanding of the world off kilter, and this was just another example of that. She leaned over a little more, looking at the diagram on the page. What she saw was a rather surprisingly bloody image sketched on the paper, the artist painstakingly making the scene as graphic as possible with a simple pencil. She took a step back, shaken, and went to discuss it with the others. The next time they approached Billy, they had rope in hand. Billy/Darkness Ascendant was a Hemalurgist with a Book of Hemalurgy! The Book Bound in Human Skin Omen has been vanquished! Billy/Darkness Ascendant (5): Shara (Nyali), Khaos (little wilson), Arinian (Arinian), Sheon Idris (Seonid), Kresla (Elbereth) Bugsy/Bugsy6912 (1): Aralis (Araris Valerian) Nathan/Nathanvanduij (1): Bugsy (Bugsy6912) Locke/OrlokTsubodai (1): The Guy in the Red Uniform (Ecthelion III) Aon Deag/Aonar Faileas (1): Billy (Darkness Ascendant) Character List Kasther's Pocketwatch
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  3. QF20 C3 - Taking flight Tu was a bit confused as to why he even decided to come here. What was the point of the place if there were no cows to smuggle out of it? He’d checked. Thoroughly. But no cows, unless you counted the stuff in the cold room. Meant he was now dreadfully bored. He’d have to wait for people to either find the gold, or a way out. He supposed he could help, but that seemed too much effort. Instead he decided to take nap, and leave everyone to it. He didn’t hear everyone come to a bit of a standoff, before finally deciding to kill him, because at least the others were talking. Being asleep, he didn’t notice his own swift execution either. “Hah!” *Bonk*. “Hisssss” “Hehehehe!” *Bonk* “Here kitty kitty!” “MMMRRROOOAAWWW!” Apparently the staff could cast spells, but it was more fun poking Adarjmei with it. It had gotten quite the reaction the first time he’d done it. So Helchon had the thought, why not do it again? He found out the reason why not promptly. “Do not poke this cat! Adarjmei will catch you and claw out your eyes!” So Helchon found himself running frantically from an angry Khajiit. Running up and down stairs, through corridors, throwing out the occasional illusion spell when he had the concentration for it. His downfall, however, was not from being caught by said cat. Rather, because he was looking over his shoulder to see if Adarjmei had caught up yet, he didn’t see someone stick their foot out, causing him to stumble, and then push him while attaching something to his back, as he careened forward, smashing through the glass window in front of him, and falling from an upperstorey to entryway floor below, as the shattered glass rained down around him. As the floor rushed up to meet him, he wondered why he’d never gotten around to learning the levitation spell… When people finally made it back to the entrance, by some coincidence, the earth around the interior tree in the centre of the room had had a body sized ditch dug into it, and Helchon had managed to land in it perfectly. There was a piece of paper with a black handprint stuck to his back. Cloudjumper was lynched. He was a Guest. He had 250 gold, a Staff, a copy of ‘Guide to Skingrad’, and Huntsman Moccasins. Doc was killed. He was a Guest. He had 700 gold, a Mage’s Staff of Silence, and White Mage’s Shoes. @Assassin in Burgundy did not post and no longer has a free pass. @Darkness Ascendant has lost their free pass for not contributing to game discussion (what posts have been made could maybe be seen as RP, but I’m going to require more than that to offset not contributing to game discussion) Vote Tally Arinian(3): Nyali, JUQ, Kynedath JUQ(3): Kas, Elenion, Doc Kynedath(2): Arraenae, Arinian Cloudjumper(3): Sart, Joe, Alv Rae(1): Stink Lootcrate Burnt Spaghetti has taken the Glass Boots from the loot crate. Cycle ends in ~24 hours. Quick Links Player List
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  4. Cycle 4 – Pain to Paint Kjartan prowled the corridors, hunting for more evil. The Voice of Stendarr was silent again, but the Boot of Stendarr had a plan! The first piece of evil he had destroyed had been that sneaky painting. And then it had been the two cursed paintbrushes that he’d splintered into Oblivion. It had taken a while, but he made the connection! Paint! He needed to find paint! Or a painter! Or maybe a painted troll! He hoped it was the troll – they were habitually evil and fun to kill with Stendarr’s Toothpick. He handed some cheese to Mus, who was perched on his shoulder. “Found any evil yet, Mus?” Mus just continued nibbling on the cheese. “Sorry, Kjartan is trying. These trolls are being stealthy…” And then he saw it. Rounding the corner, he saw the painting. There it was, a painting of a painted troll, hung at the end of the wall. Kjartan moved careful towards it. Mus saw it too, and skittered into his armour, squeaking. This was it. This was the Ultimate Evil. With a roar, he charged, preparing to Destroy with Stendarr’s Toothpick. And burst straight through the still wet canvas, and out of the window it had obscured. The ground rushing up to him, he worried about Mus. With Stub-Tail having died just earlier, the Voice of Stendarr would need a new protector. His last thought however was that at least that evil painting had been shown who was boss. Alvron was lynched. He was a Guest. He had 61 gold, a Dagger, a copy of 'Macabre Manifest', Fur Boots, 4 Lockpicks, a Black Cowl, and 1 Bottle of Cheap Wine. Kasimir was killed. He was a Guest. He had 30 gold, a Silver-capped Staff, an Ebony Claymore, a copy of ‘On Oblivion’, a copy of ‘Bible of the Deep Ones’, a Leather Boot, all the cheese. Darkness Ascendant has lost the will to live. He was a Guest. He had 1 gold, and Sackcloth Sandals. Master Elodin has lost the will to live. He was a Guest. He had 150 gold, 17 Dragon’s Tongue Flowers, 5 Lavender Sprigs, 2 Nightshade Flowers, 3 Fly Amanita Caps, and Buckled Shoes. Kipper did not post and has lost their free pass. Vote Tally Stick(4): Sart, Arinian, JUQ, Assassin Elenion(3): Nyali, Magestar, Alvron Alvron(4): Kasimir, Stick, Elenion, Arraenae Loot Crate Elenion and Kynedath fight over the gold, but come to no agreement. The Only Joe in the Bush takes the Mage's Staff of Silence. Burnt takes the White Mage Shoes. Magestar takes the Staff. Cycle ends in ~23 hours. Quicklinks Player List
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  5. I wondered who was in charge of TLR's hemalurgy department. And then it hit me.
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  6. I'm seeing a bit of both of you talking past each other here. Nyali is saying that it makes no sense for an Eliminator to allow one of their own to be killed by a random coin-toss (well, RNG), so if JUQ and Arinian had been evil, (and since we already know cloudjumper is a Villager), the Eliminators would have preferred to force a lynch on someone rather than risking a 1/3 chance (epistemically, anyway) that a teammate would die. Sure, JUQ and Arinian could both be Eliminators, but that just stacks the risk even more heavily for the Eliminators: they would then have to run a 2/3rd risk of losing someone, which doesn't make sense on their risk calculus. I think Assassin (unfortunate name! ) is claiming that it would have been bad for them to have done so, because to do so would be to reveal themselves: generally, the Village frowns very hard on last minute votes, and that would have more or less guaranteed insta-suspicion. On the first level, both of you are correct: it could have been a case where Team Evil had to weigh the risks between tanking the 1/3rd chance, or tanking the suspicion sure to arise from a last-minute forced-lynch of a Villager. Except that Nyali's reasoning slightly misrepresents things: The first point of interest I'm going to focus on is the period before 6:25AM. (Everything is indexed to my time, but I've included the relevant posts in the links, so if you're curious what that converts to, just mouseover the 'hours' timestamp to see when they posted.) Why 6:25AM? Because at 6:25AM (my time), the M'Hael reminds everyone that a tied lynch will result in a randomly-chosen death. This could have been because of Magestar's question. Or this could be because the Eliminators asked, in their doc. (Hinting that they might have had reason, this time, to be concerned about a tie - as compared to in the previous cycle.) So: the state of the voting in the period just before 6:25AM is as follows: STINK (0): Alvron<1> Arinian (4): Kasimir <1>, Nyali, JUQ, Kynedath, Alvron<2> Stick (0): Arinian<1> Joe (0): Kasimir <2> JUQ (2): Kasimir <3>, Elenion Kynedath (3): Doctor, Magestar<1>, Arinian<2>, Arraenae, Arinian<4> Cloudjumper (2): Sart, Joe Arraenae (1): STINK, Arinian<3> I've italicised Alvron<2>, using his shift from STINK to Arinian as the beginning of the period of interest - right before Hael gets on to clarify stuff. What goes on in this period? At 5:52AM, Alv shifts his vote, as previously noted. His reason is that he thinks one of <STINK, Stick, Orlok> is evil, but they won't get lynched today, so he'll go for the lesser evil ( ) and thus Arinian. At 5:59AM, Arinian shifts his vote from Arraenae to Kynedath, chiefly because he doesn't want to die. And a minute later, at 6AM, Elenion puts a vote on JUQ. The state of play, thus, is that we would expect Arinian to be lynched. Kynedath is trailing at 3 votes to 4. Then: (and this is after Hael's clarification about the tie), at 10:58AM (my time), Doc swaps his vote to JUQ, reasoning he would prefer to force a tie because "I'm less certainty [sic] that kyne or arinian are Elims and I might as well force a tie. " So noted. We now know Doc is a Villager, so that at least doesn't help us too much. The rollover is, for context, about thirty-two minutes away. This, therefore, is the state of play at 10:58AM: STINK (0): Alvron<1> Arinian (4): Kasimir <1>, Nyali, JUQ, Kynedath, Alvron<2> Stick (0): Arinian<1> Joe (0): Kasimir <2> JUQ (3): Kasimir <3>, Elenion, Doctor<2> Kynedath (2): Doctor<1>, Magestar<1>, Arinian<2>, Arraenae, Arinian<4> Cloudjumper (2): Sart, Joe Arraenae (1): STINK, Arinian<3> Why does this matter? Because the final vote switch happened at 11:24AM. That's not the last second, but that's an extremely last minute switch from Arinian to cloudjumper, coming just six minutes before the rollover. Alv's reasoning appears to be along the lines of, "If Arinian is an Eliminator, then we would expect his teammates to make a fuss about the fact he's headed for a lynch. But there is no such fuss, therefore it seems that Arinian isn't an Eliminator." He removes his vote from Arinian and places it on cloudjumper, giving us a three-way tie between Arinian, JUQ, and cloudjumper. That's immediately strange: if Alv thinks that the lack of fuss surrounding Arinian's lynch indicates Arinian is likely innocent, then why go for a three-way tie? Why not place his vote on JUQ? After all, if he's happy to go for a tie, that means he's okay with a 1/3rd chance JUQ could be lynched. So why suddenly create one? I initially had more detailed analysis, but I just got massively chewed out by my supervisor, so I'm sorry to drop the ball, but I'm frankly not in the mood to analyse stuff, play, and generally be a fun person right about now. Suffice to say that I think one major caveat on the "Eliminators would save their teammates" narrative would be that they'd have to be on to see Alv's stunt. Not to mention it would depend on how they weighted the risk of being suspicious (for forcing a late lynch) as compared to simply allowing the dice to roll. Let's not forget that if they were suspicious and got lynched because of that last minute vote, it would automatically render whoever they tried to save suspicious. So I'm not really convinced by Nyali's reasoning that this means we shouldn't be as suspicious of Arinian and/or JUQ because they're more likely to be Villagers: Team Evil could simply feel that the consequences of saving a teammate would lead to worse consequences.
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  7. While Brandon was writing the SotS 2016, he got too into it, and secretly wrote SotS 2017 as well! #JustSandersonThings The three books he's said he's planning on writing between SA3 and SA4 are Wax & Wayne 4, Rithmatist 2, and Apocalypse Guard 1. Of those three, the only one I care about is W&W, since it's cosmere. I really hope Brandon doesn't push back the Elantris and Warbreaker sequels any farther. (Once upon a time, we were supposed to have gotten Elantris 2 in 2015, and be getting Elantris 3 after SA3.) He said back when he wrote Mistborn that he wanted to show fans he was able to finish a series. Unfortunately, the only series he's finished aside from Mistborn is Reckoners, and both Mistborn and Reckoners have sequel series' going. This might just be me personally, but I don't want to see Dark One or Aether of Night or Soulburner or anything like that until Brandon has actually completed several of his outstanding series, like Alcatraz (which he said in has last SotS was finished, but he was actually lying to us), Rithmatist, and of course Elantris (since he needs to do behind-the-scenes bits for Warbreaker 2). Maybe I'm a bit of a spoilsport, but I don't want to see any new projects slotted in before Stormlight 5. Stuff has been creeping backwards year after year (the 2-year gap between SA books stretching to 3 years is understandable, but I'm referring to how the expansion of the W&W era pushed other cosmere books back), and if Brandon is going to outline his 5-year to 10-year plans, it'd be worthwhile to not change it on a year-to-year basis.
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  8. Just took a look at the final word count of Oathbringer
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  9. So I've been reading through Words of Radiance and the Listener's songs really jumped out at me in this process. I wanted to do an analysis of them to see what clues we could comb from them as we enter the year of waiting for Oathbringer. First, some background on who the Parshendi are, from the words of Eshonai's mother: For some reason, the Listeners in the days of the Last Legion were slaves, forced into forms of power, but also forms that forced them to abandon their autonomy (not a reference to Autonomy). On one day of extreme courage, the Listeners decided to accept Dullform, abandoning their ability to think as individuals with power in exchange for freedom. To prevent a loss of their culture and history, they composed songs to remember. Here are the stanzas recorded in Words of Radiance (as chapter epigraphs): "They blame our people for the loss of that land. The city that once covered it did range the eastern strand. The power made known in the tomes of our clan our gods were not who shattered these plains." Possible Interpretation: The Knights Radiant blamed the Listeners for the destruction of the great city of Stormseat (now the Shattered Plains), but the Unmade did not shatter the Shattered Plains. So, if it wasn’t the Parshendi or Odium that messed up Natanatan, what did? Per a WoB, the Natan people were descendants of the Aimian people – what is Aimia really? Stormseat/the Shattered Plains is also listed as the place where the Parshendi became separated from their gods (i.e. the Unmade). While Eshonai's mother makes this sound like a choice the Last Legion made on their own, I wonder if perhaps they had some help in selecting a new form (i.e. moving to dullform) or if they abandoned a form entirely, submiting to slaveform, which is a lack of spren and not considered to be a form at all. "The betrayal of spren has brought us here. They gave their Surges to human heirs, but not to those who know them most dear, before us. ’Tis no surprise we turned away unto the gods we spent our days and to become their molding clay, they changed us." Possible Interpretation: The Rider of Storms was a powerful spren (maybe even an Unmade), and was responsible for bonding spren to the Listeners, but betrayed Odium/The Listeners by giving the Nahel bond (and surgebinding powers) to humans instead. This great spren’s betrayal was even worse with the eventually merging with the Cognitive Shadow of Tanavast. Spren were known to certain humans before they were known to the Listeners. Perhaps this refers to pre Honor/Cultivation humans on Roshar OR maybe even to the Heralds? The Heralds would have been very familiar with surges. "The spren betrayed us, it’s often felt. Our minds are too close to their realm that gives us our forms, but more is then demanded by the smartest spren, we can’t provide what the humans lend, though broth are we, their meat is men." Possible Interpretation: The realm that gives forms is the Cognitive Realm. The Listeners exist halfway in the Cognitive Realm and the Physical Realm, similar to how Lift’s half-way in, half-way out status grants her certain odd things (like the ability to physically touch her spren). As the Listeners have a song-based hive mind (very loose description), they Listeners seem similar to The Sleepless (Dysian Aimians)? As Aimians are an ancient race on Roshar, perhaps they and the Listeners share a common ancestor in their evolution? Who are “The smartest spren?” The Listeners cannot give something that humans give spren, so in return the Listeners sacrifice their autonomy in return for the powers they offer (which isn’t required of humans). Perhaps these spren are the Unmade again who demand more, which is the full submission of the Listeners. That the Unmade want the meat of men, it seems that the poor Listeners are caught in the middle as a tool to be used rather than the object of divine desire. "But it is not impossible to blend their Surges to ours in the end. It has been promised and it can come. Or do we understand the sum? We questioned not if they can have us then, but if we dare to have them again." The Listener’s surges can be blended with the surges of human surgebinders? It seems that human surgebinders aren’t the problem – it isn’t a question if they’ll accept the blending of the Listener’s surges (whatever this means) – but rather, will the Listeners desire to blend with the humans? Who promised that this blending can and will come? "Our gods were born splinters of a soul, of one who seeks to take control, destroys all lands that he beholds, with spite. They are his spren, his gift, his price. But the nightforms speak of future life, a challenged champion. A strife even he must requite." Possible Interpretation: We know that the Unmade are splinters of Odium and are therefore the gods of the Listeners. The Unmade are also the spren of Odium, but also are referred to as a gift – a gift with a price. Perhaps Odium through the Unmade gave the Listeners power (the gift), but it came at the price of their personal autonomy (the price). The strife even Odium must requite (i.e. respond to) is the challenge of a champion. Consider the Stormfather’s admonition to Dalinar: Therefore, Odium will either be defeated or find victory in this battle of champions, which will be shown (I assume) by the end of Stormlight 5. Whew! It's a lot to chew on, but what do we think? Do these interpretations sound reasonable? It makes me feel even more empathy for the Parshendi - if Gavilar was planning to bring back powers that could return the eyes of the Unmade to Listeners (which he may not have understood), I understand why they felt compelled to kill him. Slavery in a war that isn't really their beef (i.e. Odium using them as a tool, not because they're willing participants) is a horrible existence.
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  10. I do not like Christmas songs in a box, I do not like them with a fox. I do not like them here or there, I do not like them anywhere! I do not like Christmas songs, I do not like them, Twi-I-Am!
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  11. Well this is West Virginia, which is a completely different state. I quite like real Virginia. I found Tweets that look straight out of Night Vale:
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  12. So apparently there is a town in West Virginia (which I have always held to be the most dreary and terrible state) that has a population of five. And somehow, their website is cuter and more well-designed than my city's website.
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  14. Luckily, with Wax in particular, Brandon has a pretty easy "out" should he choose to continue this line of thought. (That of: Wax should be a savant with how much he's burning, but isn't) Harmony. We know Sazed has invested interest in Wax and Co, and that he's been keeping close tabs on Lord Ladrian in particular (See: Shadows of Self's entire plot, lol) It may feel like a cop-out to an author so smartly-written as Brandon, but if Harmony (or even just the nature of Harmony's spike Wax uses as part of his religion) wanted to "stem the tide" of damage Wax is doing to his soul, it very much could be used as the scapegoat for why Wax isn't as messed up as other Savants. After all, Allomancy itself requires a bit of "broken soul" and Harmony's earring technically is a hemalurgic construct bolting something onto Wax's soul too... It all sets up quite nicely for Harmony to influence and have a hand in the formation and degradation of Wax's spirit-web at the hands of savantism. It's also paralleled with his reparation of Spook at the end of HoA. Is it hand-wavium? Yeah a bit, but it has historical and fundamental merit and gives Brandon that breathing room he's looking for with savantism. Sidenote: Thanks for sharing! Good to see Brandon clarifiying (and that he's as human as the rest of us and gnaws on his characters back and forth as much as the rest of us writers!)
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  15. Alright, here goes: 1: When Wax saw Hoid on Scadrial disguised as a beggar, he was drinking perfume to get drunk. This is something that serious alcoholics do, and Hoid must be really miserable to do that. 2: Hoid beats the crap out of Kelsier in Secret History. He is incapable of harming living people, so that's out of the question for him. But, when he gets the chance to hurt a dead person, he does. Something is really hurting him enough to drive him to get sadistic pleasure out of Kelseir's pain. 3: Hoid disguises himself as Wit while on Roshar. When he does, he spends his time insulting everybody because he can. It's as if he can't physically harm the living, but he is trying to as much as possible. This one could be unrelated, but added to the first two it could mean something. Ideas?
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  16. I found Hoid. LOL. That must have been what started the event that Hoid referred to when he talked about spending "the better part of a year in a large stomach, being digested" back in WoR.
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  17. Hello to everyone in the Sanderson Cosmere! My name is Almira and I became a fan after reading the Wheel of Time books. I moved from WoT to Stormlight Archive. I have been hooked on Sanderson ever since! I saw an advertisement for the 17th shard in the jacket of a Mistborn book (Shadows of Self). Now here I am! A new member on the forum!
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  18. Doing the math, yes, there should be a missing lerasium bead out there. On the TImewaster's Guide, there's a Word of Peter where someone counted the number. They got nine for the founders of the Noble families (and totally not the Nine Rings...), one Elend used and one Rashek used. Peter said that count was correct plus 'at least one more' (which we know Hoid took from the Well) bringing us to twelve. Peter didn't explain at the time that Rashek didn't actually use that one bead so it seems that yes, at minimum 'Rashek's bead' is potentially out there somewhere. Now, I still suspect that The Lost Metal will focus in some way on atium since that's exactly how the metal is referred to in Era 2 Scadrial but the prospect of learning more about lerasium shouldn't be discounted as well. There's been enough teasing about the prospect of godmetal alloys with special note of lerasium alloys and we still don't have any clue what lerasium does on its own in Feruchemy or Hemalurgy, so we've almost got to find out eventually. Hopefully next book will give us something, though I wouldn't put it past Brandon to make us wait for Era 3 or even 4 if Metallic Arts-based FTL requires godmetal alloys.
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  19. A very good point, which has undoubtedly influenced why Brandon has let them sit for this long, since it doesn't detract from the experience of the book. But nonetheless, since finishing Wheel of Time in 2013, only one of the cosmere books he's published (Words of Radiance, Shadows of Self, Bands of Mourning, Arcanum Unbounded) was in the 'original' 36-book plan. If Brandon continues to add new cosmere books to the outline at this rate, that will have a big delaying effect on the big picture of Brandon's writing plans. Elantris sequels need to be done before Nightblood and Modern Mistborn, Modern Mistborn might still need to be done before Stormlight 6-10, Stormlight needs to be finished before Dragonsteel, Dragonsteel needs to be done before SciFi Mistborn... The cosmere Gantt chart has quite the potential for bottlenecks, and the Elantris sequels look to me like that's where it'll happen. (And, yes, I am actively working on putting together a cosmere publication Gantt chart based on Brandon's historical writing speed and his stated prerequisites, but I'll need another State of the Sanderson or three that have good month-by-month data, so I'm not confident at all in my dates.)
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  20. *blood sugar is low* me: I'll just take some glucose tablets; it'll go up in twenty minutes or so. I'll be fine. me to me: Remember those fancy dark chocolate cookies that called themselves "biscuits"? Eat them all.
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  21. Maybe he had cologne because he had just finished being digested. I don't know if anyone has presented the theory that the digestive track of a greatshell could be the mobile perpendicularity or not but I can't think of any other reason for Hoid to just jump down one's throat.
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  22. I am with Spoolofwhool here, It seems that more Stormlight is in a system and with more force it try to exit. Probably you can't go beyond a specific point where the Stormlight's leak is equal to your ability to absorb Stormlight.
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  23. I'm currently still doing a bit of reading, so I'll come back to this in a bit, but Joe's comment earlier struck me as being a bit odd, and I wanted to say something about it: I'm guessing 4-5 Eliminators for this game, going either by the 1/5th rule, or Meta's square-root rule. I'm going to work with the assumption there are 5, because it's better to overestimate when figuring out how much breathing room we have, as compared to underestimating. To make it clear, this therefore assumes we began this game with 18 Villagers (23-5). At this point, we've lost 4 Villagers, putting us 14 : 5. I want to say we have a decent amount of breathing room, because we have a buffer of about 8* people between us and the Eliminators. (I say 8 because I kind of disagree with Joe dismissing the ability of the Eliminators to put a quick hammer as a completely end-game strategy. It's all going to depend on the end-game dynamics. So. Here's a scenario that assumes we're 6 to the Eliminator 5. But the Village is not voting unanimously - our votes are scattered. The Eliminators put in a hammer, and now we're 5-5. They can effectively just tie us the next cycle, and go for the kill. Of course, this requires perfect activity from Eliminators and Villagers, which is unlikely. That could complicate things. Here's an example of how this could be complicated - say we're actually 6 - 5 or 7 - 5. But it's nearing the end of the cycle, and one or two inactives are likely to get killed by the filter. Cue quick hammer. So I really want to make two points about this: I think Joe is being too dismissive (by design?) - I think that as the game drags on, whichever of us is still around to see the late mid-game or the endgame has to be wary because the Village can't afford to be blindsided that way, if it should pass. We especially need to keep an eye on inactivity, and especially the sort that means someone is going to be filter-killed.) So essentially, I think two things affect our buffer: inactives getting filter-killed, and how close we are to the critical point when the Eliminators could, in theory, force-vote their way to victory. Still, it's fair to say that we have a bit of breathing room, at this point. (Proper analysis later, I promise.) More deaths. One of them was the nasty Altmer. Kjartan did not care. The Altmer was fond of talking. Why, Kjartan did not know. But you could never trust Altmer, they relied on magery, and surely that was a bare step away from necromancy and Daedra-worship! His hand was reaching to the hilt of his claymore, to give that stuck-up high elf a boot to the rear in Stendarr's name, when Mus squeaked urgently. "You are not saying--" Another squeak. Kjartan sighed heavily, squeezed the hilt of his sword, and let go. "Kjartan understands," he said, reluctantly, The Altmer would have to be given the Boot of Stendarr another time. There was more, urgent evil to be found and vanquished in this Manor! "We will go then, Mus." With surprising gentleness, he scooped up the well-fed mouse, and stalked away from the gathering, back into the corridors of the Manor. Let the others gabber on about the stabby stabby assassins in their midst. Kjartan and Mus stood ready to vanquish the forces of evil!
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  24. Maybe Bavadin is Brandon's favorite character because they're a strong, independent Vessel that doesn't need your restrictive, binary gender constructs.
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  25. Maybe you just haven't found the right project yet. I began this year dead-set on finishing at least the research and worldbuilding for the Spokaneverse by the end of December. November rolls around, I've done some research and even written a little, but it stalls every time I try to write more. And then Quiver convinces me I need to write about cowboy wizards, the worldbuilding comes together in two weeks, and I'm already 2,000 words in. I just needed to find the right project, the one that I was ready to write and that was ready for me to write it. Maybe that's it. Maybe all you need to do is find the right project. It's out there. And don't feel bad that you didn't get it done this year. 2016 was a raging dumpster fire for everyone and the sooner we forget about it the better.
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  26. While the guards searched through the rest of his clothes for information or weapons, Sazed tapped the crumby cookieminds tucked in his underwear waistband. They never think a eunuch has anything to hide in there, he thought. I'm not exactly glad for that, but at least it is proving useful now. These crumbs don't hold much, but... In a sudden burst, he drew upon several hours' worth of stored glibness from his oatmealcrumbs, and suaveness from the chocochipcrumbs. Together, they made him about as effective as a good Soother or Rioter would be in convincing people to trust him, in a way that was undetectable by any Seeker, or trained for by any obligator. But just as he began talking the two guards into giving him back all his clothes, rings, and books, to release him to return to his Mistress at the ball upstairs, a dark form loomed in the doorway. Oh, no, thought Sazed. A Steel Inquisitor! And he's eating... A macadamia nut cookie... This was not going to go well.
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  27. Only a sith deals in chocolate chips.
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  28. I'm with Argent on this one, I've been lurking around here since the site began and always thought it.....strange..... Amusingly enough though, this showed up on my Facebook today and I couldn't resist:
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  29. I went to my first signing ever on the Arcanum Unbounded tour, and when I went through the personalization line, Brandon and I had a nice conversation about the physical properties of ettmetal, otherwise known as harmonium, and how they were impacted by Realmatics. (Influenced in part, I assume, because when he was going through his opening talk, I fist-pumped when he said he was originally a chemistry major. He saw, and asked if I was a chemist, to which I replied I was a chemical engineer. So, I think he took the chance to share some details with someone who’d be able to fully comprehend them.) I’m still waiting to get the recording of the signing line, but I’ll paraphrase what I got out of it. Brandon said that it makes sense for ettmetal to be so volatile, because it has the power of both Shards in it, and the conflict associated with them. He also clarified that it’s not a nuclear reaction; it’s chemically reactive, it’s the properties of the electrons in Harmonium that make it so reactive. It’s like ‘super-cesium,’ reacting very quickly with water. I wasn't quite ready prepared to deal with the implications (I was there as a cosmere fan, not a scientist), but I've spent some time thinking it over, and I think I understand a little more exactly how the physics and the realmatics are interacting. I've come to several major conclusions, which are reliant on a college-level understanding of chemistry. If you’re not at that level, skip ahead to the next section, where I’ll try to build it up in layman’s terms. For those who feel knowledgeable, though: Overview of the Theory · I propose that the subatomic particles of harmonium (protons, electrons, and neutrons) are comprised of pure Investiture, but still functioning as normal subatomic particles. This Investiture would be still of each individual Shard, even though the atom as a whole would be of Harmony. · The reactivity of harmonium follows the trend of alkali metals, but would be enhanced due to an additional electron shielding factor that would come from the repulsion of Ruin particles and Preservation particles, lowering the ionization energy and increasing reaction rates. · The alkali-metal behavior of Harmonium would come from the imbalance between the two Shards, the extra piece of Ruin. It would follow the orbital structure of cesium (atomic number 55), with one electron in each filled orbital from each Shard. The single valence electron would be an extra Ruin electron. · I’d like to say that each harmonium atom (cesium-133, the only stable isotope) is a combination of a lerasium atom and an atium atom, which would make atium = nickel (28) and lerasium = cobalt (27). However, I can’t get the neutron math to add up. It’s possible that the nucleus looks different, that the stability of harmonium is different because of the competing Investiture in the nucleus. This gets into physics, not chemistry, so I’m not equipped to dig deeper into this idea. So, if you understand that, great. Head on down the page to my conclusions, to see what I’ve thought of as implications of this. If you didn’t (which I assume is the majority), let’s do a quick* chemistry lesson. (For those who have actually studied chemistry, be aware this explanation will be pop science. Like one of my professors used to say, all explanations of chemistry are lies, and we just learn slightly smaller lies the farther and farther we go.) Chemistry of Alkali Metals What are atoms? Elements (like copper, oxygen, or chlorine) are made of fundamental particles called "atoms." These atoms interact with one another, bonding together to form more complicated substances (from water to gasoline to medicinal compounds). Different atoms will behave in different ways, based on the number of subatomic particles they’re comprised of. All atoms have dense nucleus, made of protons and neutrons, surrounded by a cloud of electrons. The number of protons defines the element: any atom with one proton is hydrogen, any one with six protons is oxygen, any one with 55 protons is cesium. Chemical reactions are largely driven by the transfer of electrons from one atom or group of atoms to another. How do electrons behave? Electrons are attracted to the nucleus through the electromagnetic force, pulling together the negative charge of an electron and the positive charge of the protons. But electrons aren't like planets in a solar system, just floating wherever they feel like. When they surround a nucleus, they order themselves into levels, filling from the lowest level (closest to the nucleus) and going up. For chemical reactions, only electrons in the outermost level will be involved; anything in a lower level that has been completely filled will not react. In chemical reactions, atoms will trade or share electrons until every atom involved has a filled outermost shell (either by getting more electrons or getting rid of some of theirs), since a filled shell is the most thermodynamically stable. That's how the periodic table of elements is arranged; elements in a column all have the same number of electrons in their outermost level (called 'valence electrons'), so they will all behave in a similar fashion. If they have an almost-full shell, they will be very reactive, like chlorine and oxygen. If their shell is filled, they will be nonreactive, like helium. The reactive properties of ettmetal match the first column of the periodic table, the 'alkali metals.' They all have a single valence electron, and they want to get rid of it like none other, so they'll take any opportunity to do so. They are metals, but they will react very violently with water. Other alkali metals you may have heard of are sodium, lithium, potassium, which are not found in nature in their pure forms because of how reactive they are. How can we free up that electron? Pure alkali metals would like to pass off their single valence electron to another molecule or atom, which would be more thermodynamically stable with it. However, to get rid of this electron in the first place, there is some energy required to ‘knock it loose.’ It's sort of like trying to launch a rocket from earth; you need a bunch of energy to overcome gravity, but once you're out in space, you can go wherever you want. Unlike that rocket, though, there are many different forces acting on an electron. Each proton is pulling on that valence electron, trying to keep it there. But, believe it or not, as you take alkali metals with more protons, the total force on a valence electron electron goes down, and they get easier to remove. Why is this? Two reasons: first, the electron is farther away from the nucleus. But, more relevant to this discussion, the lower shells filled with electrons are also pushing the valence electron out. This concept is called "electron shielding.” Negative charges repulse other negative charges, so when there are a ton of electrons between the valence electron and the nucleus, they will cancel out some of the pull of the protons. Since the electrons in heavier alkali metals aren’t held as strongly, reactions happen faster, and release their energy much quicker. Harmonium reacts even quicker than cesium, the highest alkali metal that's not a pretend element (another of my old professor's fun sayings about transuranic elements). That means its electron is even easier to remove, and it reacts even faster. Realmatics of God Metals How does this play with Realmatics? Finally, we get back to what Brandon said about the opposite forces within the same atom. An atom with protons and electrons comprised of Ruin would behave like a normal atom; no unusual interactions. Same for an atom completely of Preservation. But mix and match, and Preservation electrons would push on the Ruin electrons, giving extra electron shielding. And the Preservation protons would also push on the Ruin electrons (partially countering their normal electromagnetic attraction), reducing the force holding them in. By making it easier to remove harmonium’s valence electron, the rate at which it reacts with other atoms will increase. Which is what we’ve seen. Why does Harmonium have 1 valence electron in the first place? Lastly, I think that harmonium needs to be an alkali metal and have that 1 extra valence electron because of the balance between Ruin and Preservation. In a filled electron shell, each electron has a pair. I think each electron pair contains one Preservation electron and 1 Ruin electron. But, here's the problem: there's extra Ruin. Some of Preservation is in mankind, so if he doesn't physically manifest this extra Ruin somewhere, he won't be in balance. So, he throws in an extra Ruin proton and Ruin electron; this very reactive valence electron. As long as he manifests enough harmonium, the extra Ruin is there in the environment. Brandon has referred to ettmetal as super-cesium. That could be interpreted as a magically stabilized francium (which isn't stable, and doesn't exist outside of a few moments in a laboratory), but I think he means it's a super-reactive cesiuim. Cesium has 55 protons and 55 electrons; harmonium would have 27 of Preservation and 28 of Ruin. The Invested protons, neutrons, and electrons change the atomic behavior of Harmonium, which is why it isn’t exactly cesium. In Conclusion So, I learned in my discussion with Brandon that 1) the pieces of Ruin and Preservation are distinct in harmonium and 2) the battle between them causes ettmetal to be highly reactive. I think I’ve identified the specific mechanism by which this happens. It does, however, carry some interesting implications that I’m still working out. Let me share some of them with you; feel free to comment. · If there’s a repulsion between electrons, there must also be one for protons and neutrons. This would make Harmonium’s nucleus more unstable. Although Brandon said it is not a nuclear reaction that we’ve seen, it may just require the proper catalyst, so I would not be surprised to see an ettmetal nuclear bomb at some point. · If harmonium is cesium made out of Investiture, then maybe it is a fusion (the scientific term, combining the nuclei) of a lerasium atom and an atium atom. That would mean that lerasium would have 27 Preservation protons, and behave like cobalt. Atium would have 28 Ruin protons, and behave like nickel. However, although the electrons add up, the neutrons will not. (The number of neutrons doesn’t affect how an atom behaves chemically, but it can make it radioactive, which will change it into a different element.) There’s only one stable isotope of cesium, and one of cobalt, and doing the math doesn’t yield one of nickel’s stable isotopes. It’s possible the stability of harmonium is different, because of the extra forces between Ruin’s and Preservation’s protons and neutrons, somehow requiring fewer neutrons for stability. But, this isn’t anything I’ve studied as a chemist; it’s in the realm of physicists. · Because there are individual elements of Ruin and Preservation, this doesn’t bode well for Harmony as a whole. Sure, on a macroscopic scale, there’s balance. But it could mean that, in each of his individual interactions with people, he might go back and forth between two extremes. It also makes me wonder how easily Harmony could Splinter back into two Shards (although we do know that at this point, if Sazed died, he would drop a single powerful Shard.) · Ettmetal reacts, which means its transferring part of itself to water. Once the electrons are gone, they ain’t coming back. Atium burns and regenerates; how would a harmonium oxide make its way back to continue the cycle? It seems like Investiture is lost to the environment when ettmetal reacts with water. · People have extra Preservation, but if ettmetal is Harmony’s way of sequestering his extra Ruin, then as it continues to react with water, the extra Ruin could end up transferring to the environment. Man vs Nature is a very big concept in sci-fi, so maybe it could come up in Mistborn Era 4, that the planet itself is of Ruin while its inhabitants are of Preservation. Just spitballing here. · How do other god metals work? If they’re elements made out of Investiture particles, then can Shardblades rust? Or maybe are they silver made out of Honor’s Investiture, which is why they won’t react? (Unfortunately, Element 10 is neon, which is not a metal.) But that wouldn’t give them the structural integrity they need (even if they don’t physically do the cutting, a pure silver sword would be deformed in a duel). Does each Shard make a different metal for its god metal, or could it make any metal it wanted? · Are all physical forms of Investiture (the mists, the liquid Shardpools, Stormlight) similarly constructed? Maybe the mists were composed of two Preservation hydrogens and one Preservation oxygen? Are Perpendicularities just Invested mercury? The reactivity of ettmetal shows that, at the very least, the solid form of one Shard’s power manifests below the atomic level; does every solid form of Investiture do so, as well? Uh… In Conclusion, Again Okay, I’m done for real this time. I know people have proposed similar things (like atium is Ruin’s electrum) based on allomantic behavior, and I didn’t like them at the time (the ideas and logic behind them, not the people), but the way Brandon spoke of Harmonium makes me think that approach was on the right track. However, it’s on a more fundamental level: the very protons and electrons are either of Ruin or Preservation, and when you combine the two, you get a very reactive metal. I’ve tried to completely explain the chemistry of the situation, but it does dive pretty deep at times. If you’d like to know more about that, please just let me know. I didn’t bring out any graphs to show exactly why electron shielding increases reaction rate, but I can if anyone’s interested. I will also try to get the actual transcript to post it. I’m confident in the broad strokes of my conversation with Brandon, that Harmonium is extra reactive because of the opposing Shards it’s made up of, but I do think that having his exact words would have preempted some objections that I’m sure are coming. I’m just not patient enough. 07/19/17 - Made slight changes to the text to (hopefully) clarify what is canon and what is supposition on my part. To emphasize, it is not confirmed that harmonium is unbalanced towards Ruin. What is canon is it behaves like an alkali metal. If my supposition is true, that each electron is either of Ruin or Preservation, then the idea of unbalanced harmonium naturally follows.
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  30. This is an interesting tidbit from Brandon's Chicago signing. We know that the Listeners/Parshendi are native to Roshar, but aren't sure about the other beings on the planet and whether or not they've always been on Roshar. This bit about the Irali appears to be new. So what do we know about them? The Iriali Have Been on Roshar for a Long Time Iri was one of the Silver Kingdoms on Roshar, so it's roots go deep into the history of the planet. They would have witnessed the Heralds themselves and experienced the desolations as a culture. The Iriali Have a Religion that Includes The Long Trail Ym gives us some interesting information about the Iriali people: So, we should not be surprised that the Iriali have not always been on Roshar. It seems that their people have been on three other worlds prior to arriving here, and that they expect to move on to two additional worlds before finally arriving back at oneness in the Seventh Land. I know others on the shard have discussed this story as a possible reference to the shattering of Adonalsium. Something Weird is Going On in Their Biggest City: Rall Elorim Rall Elorim is known as the City of Shadows and is a strange place. Folks here on the shard have speculated that the reference to shadows may mean that this place is where Cognitive Shadows of dead Knights Radiant or spren live. Since this is the largest city in this nation, I'd doubt it's entirely inhabited by Cognitive Shadows. Though, if we assume that the Iri migrated through the Cognitive Realm from Nalthis to Roshar (see bellow), it could be that the city is located in the Cognitive Realm. Kasitor: Home of Cusicesh the Protector An extremely large spren named Cusicesh who, at exactly 7:46am every day, rises out of the water of the bay and creates an illusion of waves around it. A translucent blue color, it measures over 100 feet tall - Axies refers to it as one of the largest spren he's ever seen. With four long arms and a strange face that rapidly shifts through male and female faces, it looks eastward toward the Origin. Those who gather to watch it appear frequently report feeling "drained" after seeing it. Some of the Iriali worship it, placing golden pedestals out to honor it. Questions Raised What other worlds were the Iriali on before? They have metallic, golden hair and paint themselves with colors and patterns. They also have strong chastity laws and discourage public nudity. Some of this sounds reminicent of Nalthis, where bright colors, the muted conservatism of Austre, and "the Royal Locks" are a part of cultures there. Since it seems that Vasher and Denth (if not others) of the Five Scholars travelled to Roshar in the past (and that Vasher is currently on the planet, as is Nightblood), there do seem to be connections here. Since the Expanse of the Densities has been speculated to refer to Nalthis, that Iri is right there on the Physical and Cognitive maps of Roshar, it makes sense that the Iri could have migrated from there. What similarities are there to the migration on Threnody? Are they the cultural ancestors (or decedents) of the Iriali? What is happening with the draining sensation that the people feel in the presence of Cusicesh? Is it a similar happening to a Larkin sucking out stormlight from a surgebinder? Do people on Roshar have innate Investiture that could be drained in this manner? Not anyone can be a vessel of stormlight, so what is it that Cusicesh is doing to them? Also, what is the symbolism of the faces that appear? Why does it appear on such a regular schedule? So other than the Listeners/Parshendi, what other peoples were native to Roshar?
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  31. I noticed something interesting in a SoS reread last night. At the end of chapter 7, Wax goes in to interrogate Rian, the spiked man who tried to shoot Winsting. Here's a rough quote: Two chapters later it is revealed that Rian was spiked by some unknown metal (likely trellium). In that same chapter, Wax hears a voice in his head while wearing his earring. In both cases, Wax assumes that the voice he hears is Paalm. But... does that really make sense? There's really no precedent for a person (including kandra) to talk to somebody via Hemalurgy. Isn't it much more likely that some other Shard is at work? "Someone else moves us lawman." Given the context revealed in BoM, doesn't it seem likely that Trell is at work here? In fact, I'd like to go even a step further. I'm reading this in the context of the new info released with AU, where we learned that (1) Bavadin is female (technically, at least) and (2) Autonomy is away from Taldain, meddling somewhere else. This context made the "she" stand out to me. What if "she"=Trell=Autonomy? I'm not super familiar with Era 2 Mistborn, so help me out if I'm missing something in all of this. Isn't Paalm's message and mission about "freeing" Scadrial from Harmony's control? How certain are we that Paalm is acting completely on her own here? She IS spiked by some unknown metal. Presumably trellium. Are we really sure that she wasn't (at least partially) under the influence of another Shard? A Shard who wants to divorce a planet from the control of Harmony? Remember: "Someone else moves us lawman."
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  32. Christmas songs with electric guitars are still christmas songs. I'm feeling really unfestive this year. On the upside I'm still planning to turn February* into Weirdoween** My birthday is in February, it has nothing to do with that I really dislike the holiday that takes place during said month and feel like ruining it for everyone with weirdness. **Name pending, suggestions welcome.
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  33. I think Awakening was "discovered" by a Returned who gave away their Breath to someone, healing them. Returned can see glimpses of the Spiritual Realm, and often "know" when it is time for them to fulfill their purpose. That, together with their Heightening, probably gave them the understanding of what they could do. Once people knew that was a thing, they would probably try it, even if they weren't Returned themselves. It would not produce the effect they wanted (healing), but it would do something. (And it wouldn't kill them, which is a plus.) Eventually they would try to use it to save a Returned (who would normally always die on the eighth day), and it would give that Returned another week to live. Eventually, enough people worshiped Returned to keep them continuously alive, which could potentially allow them to reach further Heightenings. That in turn would give them a better understanding of the power, and could lead them to discover other Commands. Once they did, the field was open.
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  34. We talking about the "the burdens of nine become mine. Why must I bear their madness. Oh, Almighty, release me..." ? From memory, exact wording not guaranteed. It makes sense to me. If the deathrattles are really glances into the Spiritual Realm.
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  35. You're probably thinking of Adamant, a series of sci-fi novellas that he's working on. He's written the first one (or most of it), but not for the cosmere; he's talked about trying to slide it in, tweak the story and some of the lines to take out earth references. Yeah, that's what I was trying to say. Stormlight is the big project, and when he's going to fit in another novel between Stormlight books, I hope he goes back to finishing series he already has going (like Wax & Wayne and Elantris), rather than jump into something new (like Dark One or Aether of Night). Not to exclude side projects to focus more on Stormlight (which he's said probably wouldn't save him any time, since he'd slow down without space to recharge), but to carry some of these side projects to completion.
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  36. I thought it was a little slow at the start, but once we got into the main part of the movie I was hooked. Especially once they started the mission at the end, I thought the last 45 minutes or so was absolutely incredible. Even though it was really sad, I thought having all the characters die was the right choice. It really sets it apart from a lot of other blockbuster movies coming out now, and makes A New Hope feel even more important. And even given the slow start, there were a lot of moments in the beginning that blew me away. Some really really incredible use of CGI here. I'm pretty sure Jimmy Smits in the movie is the first and only time they have acknowledged the existence of the prequels.
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  37. Urgh. Last thoughts before I sign off for the night to get a drink and be utterly miserable about screwing up again and getting yet another yelling at from my supervisor. [Guys, unless you think you're immortal, I'd recommend posting a list of your 'definitive suspicions' and reasoning - doesn't have to be fully done, but at least it gives people something/somewhere to go on, if they should so choose, in case you die by the next cycle.] So: At this point, I have no reason to really think so/it's mostly gut, but I'm wary of most of the people lurking around the edges. IMO, inactivity is an extremely unappealing strategy for the Eliminators this game because of the filter, so if you think the Eliminators are chiefly lurking and letting us kill ourselves and loling at our lynches, then you should be looking at the quiet people, or the people appearing to contribute/showing up every once in a while but not doing that much. (Even if you don't think they're all lurkers, it's worth considering that there might be at least one or two of them employing that strategy.) Assassin, for instance, popped up a few times this cycle, but didn't really say much. (And I'm not going to rehash that Wilson v. Elenion and co. issue in LG28, or trigger Kipper with 'oh how the hell do you determine 'much' ' anyway so I'm just going to articulate my standards.) People who say 'much' are people who tell us where they stand. We know who they're suspicious of and why. We know what their views are, which gives us data from which to work: are their views ones that help the Eliminators? Are they responsive to evidence? Are they showing a tendency to distort the events of past cycles? What do they gain from their particular perspectives? Etc. Some people who've said some things don't really map well onto this metric. Kipper left a promissary note about posting more, and I'm hoping someone will prod him this cycle or the next. I generally think JUQ has been hanging back a bit, but maybe that's me - it would be good to hear more too. Same for Assassin, and I think last cycle, Magestar [I'd consider him a borderline case] asked us to ask him why he thinks Alv is suspicious. Well, okay, I'll bite: why is Alv suspicious, in your view? I find Sart beginning to blend into the background for me, too, but he'd be yet another borderline case. I'd say the same of Burnt and Arinian: given my own RL thing making me not so keen to analyse, I can't blame her, but it's [=her reasons for her suspicions, even if they're in percentages] definitely worth flagging and pursuing over the next cycle. One might wonder about a similar issue for Arinian - lots of his voting appears to be reactionary, i.e. saving his life. Which is understandable, but then that leaves us at a definite blank for what/where his suspicions are. He's voted for Stick at points, but why? Who do you suspect, Arinian? Who are you beginning to trust, and what are your reasons? Similar issues for Orlok - he expressed suspicion of Alv, but that's just about it. It would generally help to hear more from him, but again, RL. Joe did do a long post, but same thing applies. I don't think this is an exhaustive or a conclusive list. And I'm wary of having people focus on a list because this is dangerous - it means I'm dictating the terms of the debate and I shouldn't be allowed to do that. Rather, I'd encourage people to think about who you think hasn't been forthcoming with their views and suspicions and to press them for it. It's understandable that suspicions can shift - and really, they should, with more evidence. But forcing people to nail down where they stand at this point in time is helpful for us, especially in terms of tracing out connections between players, even illogical ones. So. Enough with this cautionary pre-amble. My actual suspicions at the moment: Elenion (reasons suggested earlier, chiefly I'm having difficulty reconciling his willingness to go down on Ecth with his sudden caution and what seems like almost a way of attempting to shift the focus of the debate onto other people), and Alvron. Since I'm signing out and will probably miss rollover, I've decided to go with the person I'm most suspicious of, but I'd definitely like an answer from Elenion. I'm not sure what to make of the Nyali - Arraenae - JUQ - Straw quartet. There are things that don't make sense to me about the people in this set, but I'm not absolutely certain if it's enough to elevate them into actual suspicions. Of all of them, I think I would be the most concerned about JUQ or Nyali. Finally, since my desire to analyse has gone bye-bye with getting yelled at, I can safely say I'm just going to leave a big question mark on STINK >> See y'all on the other side. Edited to add: JUQ and Nyali reasons already mentioned; Arraenae is just because she seems to be pushing really hard against someone for Day 1 stuff. But I'll look more closely again. Straw - I've also mentioned in past cycles. 2nd Edit to Add: Elodin's another one I'd put in the 'needs to say more' category.
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  38. With tension and cohesion, I can see them being the bulwark group. Building walls, reinforcing defenses and the like. I see them being part Dwarven Defender, part FMA Alchemist, strengthening defenses around them and being the last ones to retreat. Conversely, on the attack, I see them undoing enemy defenses. But with the hinted ideal of "I will stand when others fall".. That feels more defensive to me. This is hinted at in the prologue of WoK, Which I'll Spoiler tag just to be safe: I feel the Stonewards are the war masters. They will be the unbreakable wave leading the charge on the front lines, and the un-pierceable shield on defense.
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  39. Another relatively simple out is the mechanics. Using Lestibournes as an example, he was burning tin non-stop. which pushed him over the edge into being a Savant. Wax burns a lot of steel, but is not constantly burning. He mostly burns it for combat, or flashy transportation. But he is not constantly fighting or flying through the cities. He may be approaching Savantism, but he is not yet burning steel all the time, night and day. He hasn't reached that addicted state we saw with Spook. His Iron though, that is a bit more problematic, as I think he mentioned that he is almost always running at 75-80% his normal weight.For that, he should have likely reached iron ferring savantism. But you could argue that he is dangerously close to the line with steel, but not quite over it yet.
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  40. i have waited , and waited and my pun-metalmind is full i will join as the antihero that this game deserves and bring down my fury on those who oppose me . i am, the PUNisher P.S. 1 thanks @STINK for calling me P.S. 2 i have just finished reading the rules and i think that i get it , but in case i have any questions where should i ask them? P.S. 3 put me in roshar if @Darkness Ascendant doesnt want to be alone P.S. 4 is joke-mind better than pun -metalmind as a term? ,PS5 doesnt come out until 2019 P.S. 6 you can put me just( punisher ),for fster typing
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  41. It was mentioned in writing excuses 9.23 (transcript). Here's what Brandon said about it:
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  42. Yes, sorry! Sometimes it takes me a few days to gather my thoughts. And then sometimes I do that, and only then think to poke through Theoryland, and find gems like this one that render about half of my ponderances moot: Source: http://www.theoryland.com/intvsresults.php?kw=chromium This is much clearer (and slightly more recent) than the WoB I got. It states pretty clearly that chromium, like aluminum, completely destroys the metals, at least enough to remove any possibility of metal poisoning. Which is what I really wanted to know, beyond the simple aesthetics of whether a piercing would disappear or just drain. Chromium mistings, then, would be very useful to Allomancers who had accidentally ingested an impure base metal or a bad alloy. It also would suggest that chromium savants could potentially obtain the ability to cleanse impurities from the body the way Aluminum savants only could theoretically. With aluminum, you zap all your metal reserves, including the aluminum itself. Chromium, however, works on others, which means that you're burning the metal at a normal rate rather than just losing it every time you use it. I would posit that the WoBs are probably more accurate than the story's PoV, for several possible reasons: 1) This is an adventure story in a broadsheet. We can recognize Nazh and posit that the basic events probably happened, but we don't actually know whether they happened exactly like that (though the dialogue sounds pretty in-character). We also do not know whether the misting actually wrote this, or if she has a ghostwriter who embellishes things up for the audience. 2a) How would your average chromium misting even know for sure whether the metals themselves are gone? Most of them are hitting Allomancers, who carry their reserves unseen. We don't really know if the power works on ferrings or their metalminds. In the scenario I put forward, the target was a Twinborn Compounder, so the Allomancy worked on both her internal reserves and pierced metalminds without bringing true Feruchemy into the equation. 2b) So to know for sure whether the metals disappear, our chromium misting would have to have tested it on someone with charged piercings. Possibly that target would have to be a Compounder, which would make it even harder to test the theory, though I will admit that we do not know for sure this is the case. My conclusion is that the WoB is accurate and the broadsheet story wrong on this subject. Feel free to disagree with me if you like; I believe the evidence above supports this theory, but it's not a 100% slam dunk. It is, however, solid enough that I feel confident that my fanfic WiP is using the correct mechanics. So either a ghostwriter decided to add their own spin to chromium, or the misting is simply taking what their power "feels" like and making assumptions based on that feeling.
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  43. Well, "Expanse of the Vibrance" makes a lot of sense for Nalthis with its colors. On the other hand, "Expanse of the Densities" makes no sense at all for Sel so I'm not sure that it matters. However, that tidbit does make me favor the portrait orientation over the landscape orientation. So, we are all on board with this now, right? Taldain (Expanse of the Broken Sky) Scadrial (Expanse of the Vapors) Sel (Expanse of the Densities) Nalthis (Expanse of the Vibrance)
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  44. I feel like I don't necessarily mind the high number of Kholins who are Radiants but I kind of would like Adolin to be an unpowered counterpart to the other two in order to add to their story. I do worry more that a bunch of the people we have already met will turn out to secretly be Radiants though. I suppose it makes some sense for some already introduced people to make that transition but I think I would prefer more new characters. Perhaps I simply worry that the Radiants may currently have a larger focus on Alethkar due to their membership at the moment.
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  45. After rereading that scene, I don't believe he was drinking the perfume in the first place. I lean towards he was wearing it for some other reason, and when Steris pointed it out, he pretended that he was drunk on it to give himself cover. Because what kind of beggar would wear perfume? He had to say he was drinking it, regardless of whether he was or not. After saying he was drinking it, he also seemed to pretend to be slightly drunk. I agree that it is unlikely he could get drunk in the first place, so this seems the most likely scenario.
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  46. The sky of the Cognitive Realm is so different from the Physical that I don't think the descriptions in Shadows could be of the Cognitive. If you recall, they mention a cluster of particularly bright stars. This cluster is mentioned on other worlds too, notably Scadrial, implying that they're relatively close to each other astrographically. If I recall correctly, there's a WoB out there somewhere that says that the Shades are the remnants of the power of a Shard that was destroyed (I think he RAFOed whether it was splintered or not - I need to get better at WoBhunting). Threnody is, after all, a word that means "a paean for the dead," and I think (there's that word again) there's a WoB out there confirming it was named in honor of the dead Shard Vessel (or Shard?). The people on Threnody talk about how "the evil" fell from the sky and destroyed "homeland." This could mean that when the Shard died, the investiture rained down upon the land, wrecking devastation, throwing technology back hundreds or thousands of years and leaving behind the Cognitive Shadows they call Shades. The Shades follow such specific rules, I can't help but think that they are manifestations of the Shard's intent, which was something that was against violence, blood, fire, and running, and when someone does one of those things near a Shade, it lashes out in a cruel mockery of its intent. Or, perhaps the intent had something to do with time, since the Shades age and tarnish anything they touch. So, Serenity? Time? Patience?
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  47. Humans existed before the Shattering of Adonalsium. We know this. Besides the existence of the original Shardholders that we know to have been human (Ati and Leras) and Hoid themselves, we know from Sazed's epigraphs in Hero of Ages that Preservation and Ruin created human life on Scadrial based on a form they had seen elsewhere. So, human life existed before Adonalsium was Shattered into Shards. This is established. But what about sapient races other than humans? Besides Adonalsium itself (most likely a singular being), every sapient species we have seen besides humans was either created from or by humans in some way (Kandra, Koloss, Elantrians, Nightblood), or are themselves splinters of a shard of Adonalsium (Seons, Skaze, Returned, most Spren), or splinters of Adonalsium directly (other Spren). Except on Roshar. The Listeners (or Parshendi if you prefer) are the first example we've seen of a sapient species that has no obvious connection to humanity or to a shard. Words of Radiance gives us much insight into the Listeners. I have transcribed a few choice bits: Words of Radiance, Interlude 5 (pages 395 and 396 in the hardcover edition). Listener Song of Secrets, 40th Stanza, epigraph of Chapter 28 of Words of Radiance (page 338 of the hardcover edition). Listener Song of Spren, 9th Stanza, epigraph of Chapter 32 of Words of Radiabce (page 368 of the hardcover edition) Listener Song of Secrets, Final Stanza, epigraph of Chapter 34 of Words of Radiance (page 385 of the hardcover edition) There's a common thread in all of the quotes I noted above- the idea of the Listeners having been betrayed by the Spren. On the surface, this idea makes no sense. The Spren have been identified by Jasnah and Shallan as being the product of human thought. So, if they were created by human thought, how could it be a betrayal for them to work with the humans? Many, if not all, of the Spren are splinters. We know, from the Word of Brandon, that many Spren are splinters of Honor or Cultivation, or some combination thereof (note). We also know that some are splinters of Adonalsium itself, directly, which he had left on Roshar intentionally (note). Humans are Children of Honor. Honor and Cultivation arrived on Roshar together. Odium arrived later. What evidence we have points to humans having been created by Honor, or by Honor and Cultivation. Honor and Cultivation are shards, so logically they cannot have existed prior to the Shattering. So, if there were no humans on Roshar prior to the Shattering, why did Adonalsium leave splinters of himself on that planet? I deduce that there was a sentient species already present on Roshar before the creation of humans- the Listeners. Either naturally evolved or, more likely, a creation of Adonalsium. Why do the Listeners see the Spren working with the humans as a betrayal? Because they, the original Spren, worked with the Listeners first. The humans came later, and some of the Spren, whether the older Adonalsium-based ones or the newer Honor/Cultivation based ones, chose to work with the humans instead. Why? Because Honor and Cultivation made the humans "meatier" for the Spren, as opposed to the brothy Listeners. So, when Odium came, and created Spren (or perhaps empowered existing Spren?) with his own splinters, in order to destroy, the Listeners turned to them as their gods. "Our gods were born splinters of a soul, of one who seeks to take control, destroys all the land that he beholds, with spite." Note that several passages confirm that the Listeners turned to their gods after this betrayal; I think this makes it abundantly clear that Odium did not, himself, create the Listeners (in case anyone wanted to argue for that). All that aside, we have this: The above quote is from the second letter in the epigraphs of Part 4 of Words of Radiance. It is, by my interpretation, a clear statement that Roshar (and possibly the other worlds in the Roshar System) were shaped directly by Adonalsium. All this seems indicative to me. I theorize that the Listeners were created by Adonalsium before the Shattering. This raises some interesting questions, if true. Why would Honor and Cultivation choose to create humans on a world that was already inhabited by sapient life? Were the Listeners changed by the arrival of the two shards? What was the relationship between humans and Listeners before the arrival of Odium? In any event, I am certainly interested in hearing thoughts on this theory, and on the questions it raises.
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  48. I think it has probably the most fantastic and haunting atmosphere of any story Brandon has written. I know with Emperor's Soul Brandon really has rocked the short fiction format, but Shadows for Silence is just so well written. Haunting and makes you want to learn much more about that planet.
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  49. I think I failed to clearly express what I meant with my master key analogy. I did not mean to say that because Hoid has Yolen DNA (according to my idea the master blueprint for all Shard-power created humans) that he naturally has the ability to use any shard-based magics. Rather, I meant that he has the capability of recieving any Shard-based investiture. Since each investiture is only capable of being used by humans of the associated shardworld (because of the need for compatible sDNA), Hoid's sDNA, being of the source-world DNA (WoB is humanity originated on Yolen) is likewise compatible with the sDNA of each of the shardworld sDNA giving him the capability of receiving an investiture without a (major) sDNA rewrite. I think the biggest flaw in this theory would be the case of Scadrial where, upon consumption and burning of Lerasium, a native Scadrian would have his/her sDNA rewritten to grant allomancy. In other words possesion of Scadrian sDNA does not equal allomantic ability. Perhaps the only case I can think of where the Sard-based ability would be universal to the general populous would be Nalthis where if one (having Nalthian sDNA) has sufficient Breaths, then they would have the ability to Awaken (although I may be inccorect on this, I only read Warbreaker once). That being said, there is a great deal of variety in the utility off-world and by offworld humans. For example, an allomancer would be able to have their full allomantic strength available to them regardless of the world they were on insofar as they had the metal needed to catalyze the ability. In contrast, an Elantrain's ability to access and use the Dor is geographically associated so an Elantrian would have a challenging time accessing the Dor effectively if far away from Elantris (such as was shown when Raoden was in Teod) much less off-Sel. This variety of versatility and limitations among the Shard-based abilities may well give some excuse to quandry of the above paragraph. To sum up (perhaps I should put a note saying read the last paragraph first), I doubt Hoid had any abilities (except for perhaps lightweaving) pre-shattering, but, because he has Yolen DNA (i.e., universal DNA, in the sense of a unverrsal remote), he has capability of receiving investiture of Shard-based abilities from any shardworld without an sDNA rewrite. Edit: edited text in italics.
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