Leaderboard

WoR spoiler: Edgedancer(not really a spoiler): Congratulations to everyone who gets that beautiful reference. Also, I found this and I think it's pretty darn accurate.

About the residue. The harmonium reaction with water doesn't cause nuclear fission - it's entirely chemical in nature, and there's also a release of Investiture tied to subatomic particles that produces energy and makes the reaction more violent. Lerasium and atium aren't alkali metals, so there would need to be a nuclear reaction occurring to produce them from Harmonium. If it is just the electrons that are Invested (the nucleus itself might be too unstable if protons and neutrons had additional repulsion), then the transfer of an Invested electron from a harmonium atom to a hydrogen ion is probably the place to begin our search. The Investiture structure (not the atom itself) of harmonium could be destabilized, since it doesn't match an allowed configuration (harmonium, atium, or lerasium), and all that Investiture is released as energy, leaving behind a regular cesium ion. But, when we look at the electron that was transferred, it will be sitting there all alone as a Hydrogen radical. Let's assume that's an allowable Investiture structure. These radicals can interact with everything else in the reaction environment - cesium ions, water, hydroxide ions, you name it, and in most cases the resulting molecule wouldn't be legal for being Invested, and the additional energy of this final electron would be released through Investiture decay. But, when two radicals interact with one another, they would form a hydrogen molecule, H2, with two Invested electrons. If that's a legal conformation, then there would be small amounts produced in every reaction. (It wouldn't be every molecule of hydrogen produced in this reaction, it all depends on the specific reaction pathway that is used to produce H2. Radicals are extremely reactive, so most of them will probably interact with a water molecule before they encounter another radical.) So, from a chemistry point of view, putting cesium in water will get you cesium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. Nothing else is possible without a nuclear reaction. If the hydroxide isn't Invested, that only leaves the gas. If harmonium is unbalanced towards Ruin (as I suspect it to be), then the reaction with water would release small amounts of Ruinous Hydrogen, also known as Ruin's Mists. Oh, the humanity!

This is what I remember from my questions at the signing. Really can't wait to get the exact words, since I got some great answers.

Please tell me if this idea has been proposed before. WoB's: These three say to me that the Listeners have Odium-related forms and Cultivation-related forms. They have no Honor-related forms. Their other, less magical forms, like artform, dullform, workform, nimbleform, etc. probably predate shardic influence on the planet. They obviously couldn't survive on their own in slaveform. -Song of Secrets Stanza 17 So, Nightform basically predicts the future, something that Cultivation is said to be good at. Also, it whispers "As the gods did leave". If the gods are the unmade, it wouldn't make sense for nightform to give a new prophecy as Odium's influence is retreating. -Song of Secrets Final Stanza I'm assuming that the nightforms refers to the a group of Listeners in nightform. I originally thought that that meant that there were multiple nightforms, but this interpretation makes more sense to me. We know that Honor thinks that a champion might work against Odium because all the Shards are bound by rules. The last line probalby refers to this event, so I think that the future predictions are probably accurate, as Cultivations woud probably be. There's also the "but" inbetween when the song talks about the Unmade and the nightforms. To me, this suggests a contrast between nightform and the Unmade-influenced form And we have the similarity between "nightform" and "Nightwatcher" going for this theory. Most of the lines about the other forms of power speak about the danger of them. Examples: I copied these straight from coppermind so there is still that large blue box there. Sorry. The songs never mention the dangers of Nightform. It's odd. It occured to me that one of the objections to this theory might be the Vorin prohibiotions on predicting the future. But if Cultivation, Honor's girlfriend/wife is good at it, why would Honor's religion object to it? I think that this was probably caused by the Hierocracy, which I personally believe was influenced/caused by Odium. It seems to me like there are a lot of small hints that add up to a pretty clear conclusion. Maybe I'm missing something though. Thoughts?

That face you make when you say a pun. At least I make this face. I say a lot of puns, so this face is regularly made by me.

I just realized I've become a lurker. I'm totally caught up on every thread I follow, but I just don't have anything to say . . . Also, I made this and I already posted it on my art thread, but I'm super proud of it, so: Yay for my second digital portrait ever! (First one I didn't even know how SAI worked, so it doesn't count)

Night 15: Omens The others couldn’t see it, but Mr. Hoid could. The writing was on wall- err walls, you could say. Everywhere he looked, he saw what the future held for the town of Tyrian Falls and all he could see was more blood, more burning, and more destruction. It was most disconcerting when he started to see the futures of the people themselves painted over their regular faces like masks. As he passed the butcher, he saw that the man had the bulging eyes of someone that had been suffocated or strangled. The seamstress looked as if she had been beaten upside the head with a club. Even those few that looked like they might live had a cast around them that suggested, if not death later on, at the very least a lot of pain and misery. When surrounded by such foul omens all the time, perhaps it wasn’t as surprising as it was for the rest of the villagers what happened next. *** Those few that were left were startled out of their now daily routine of casting accusations and glares at each other by the sounds of someone shouting near the edge of town. They couldn’t make out what was being said though until they drew closer. They all seemed to arrive at the small, no taller than 2 meters at best, “wall” that surrounded Tyrian Falls around the same time. There, standing on top of the wall, was Mr. Hoid. He was facing out and shouting at the countryside. “What are you waiting for?!? Attack already! Come and satiate yourselves! Can’t you see that we are beaten? Can’t you end this misery? You will come and you will conquer! I have foreseen it! So why not now? Let us end this charade, once and for all. Don’t make us- make me wait any longer! End this already! Attack!” The villagers, realizing what he was doing, reached up to grab at him and pull him down. To taunt Koloss? Surely the man was insane! But on the off chance that they did heed his call…. Well, they decided not to take that chance. And so a hundred frantic hands raised up to yank Mr. Hoid down off the wall. They were in such a hurry that they didn’t realize how they were doing so until gravity took the situation away from them. The only part of Mr. Hoid that they could easily reach was his feet. So they grabbed him by the ankles and pulled. This definitely had the effect of getting Mr. Hoid’s legs off the wall, but the rest of his body fell straight down. His head cracked into the wall where his feet had been and everything was silent; on both sides of the wall. No one had the courage to peek over to see if the Koloss were close enough to have heard. Day 14 ends and Night 15 begins! You have 24 hours. Conquestor was lynched! They were a Village Smoker! PMs are no longer available! I repeat, you can NOT send anymore PMs! Votes: Conquestor (5)- Joe in the Bush, Wyrmhero, Araris, Wilson, Herowannabe Araris (2)- Jondesu, Stink Herowannabe (1)- I am Stick No Vote (2)- Conquestor, Wonko Player List

Cycle 4: You need to learn the Steps The Duo danced through the misty dawn, leaping from rooftop to street, to wall to garden. They ran, and climbed, and jumped and flew. Over shops and homes and kitchens, and armories, nothing stopped their movement. They moved alone, both unaware of their partner, dancing parallel to them in the mist. Both moved towards the same destination, and left from the same place. Both had the same purpose, and both knew of the foolishness of their task. Both were equally determined. The Duo knew this city like a mother her child. It’s every nook and cranny were open to them. Every alleyway was an arrow, pointing to five victims. Every building a boulder, poised to collapse. Every fountain a grave, promising a watery death. The first Victim was a Thief. A Man who lived to steal coins and bread. He was prowling the streets, breaking locks and windows to enter unoccupied homes when the first dancer found him. Pedro’s death was quick, and simple. He heard the sound of a door opening, and when he turned to check, saw only the bright shine of a knife opening his throat. The second Victim was an honorable man. A man who obeyed the law in all things. He saw, he judged, he proved, and he executed. Misbah a Khattar died far slower than the thief. He was abed, when he heard a growl from outside his window. But when he sought to scare the assumed dog off, he was torn from the safety of his house, and then torn limb from limb. The duo moved on, three more victims to kill. The third to die that night was a quiet man, who loved the mists and the wind. Khaladin Jamaicablessed people called him. He was not loved, but he was appreciated. People would toss him a coin when he was hungry, and he would help and entertain them when they were confused or bored. The first Dancer stopped, and gave him another coin. He thanked him, but the words died in his throat when the coin jumped from his throat to his chest, and then to the wall behind him. The fourth was Joseline Farouq, a happy man, who was excited to be of help. Anything and anyone that needed help had to only call his name, and he would run there to lend a hand, or a shoulder, or a back, or an ear. Humans and animals alike, Farouq helped. So when he heard the growl of a dog, he thought nothing of it, and sought the animal out. Barely half of him was ever found. The duo were stopped from killing their last victim. They circled the house, looking in vain for an opportunity to throw a knife, or to pull him out of the crowd, but they had no choice. Far too many people were already surrounding Soflo Rigorrio, screaming and rioting as they dragged him through the streets to the Hangman’s square. They watched in anger and sadness as their victim’s life was stolen from them by an angry mob. Both slipped away, into the dawning sun, neither aware of the other, neither aware of the third, who had watched them both. Ryth stood shoulder to shoulder with Regiie, both of them uncertainly watching King Penrod mutter to himself The king had gotten worse lately, staying up at all hours, ordering random men killed, and generally acting like a sick man. “Regiie! Ryth!” He was always snapping at them as well. “Come out onto the balcony, tell me what you see!” Ryth exchanged a glance with his partner, but obeyed. Both men walked out to the railing, flanking the king who was clutching at the railing like a falling man grasps a rope. “Your majesty? What are we looking for?” The King pointed down. “Someone’s under the balcony! I saw them climbing up the wall!” Another, far different look was exchanged. An assassin? It would not surprise Ryth if someone decided that Penrod was too unstable to keep his crown. “Your Majesty, please, return inside while we hunt the man.” “Pah.” He spat the word at them, but pivoted and stalked inside. As he slammed the door behind him, a great -CRACK- split the air. Both of the guards froze. There was another, softer crack. Both of them looked at each other. As the third crack sounded, and the balcony began to fall away from the building, they lunged for the doors. Ryth’s hand barely brushed the frame before gravity claimed him. He fell, screaming, into the mist. Darkness Ascendant was lynched! They were a Citizen Silverblade was killed! Votes: DA (5): Magestar, Bugsy, Elenion, Phatt, Silverblade Conquester (1): Lopen Bartimaeus (1): _stick_, Elenion (2: Alvron, DA Time until Cycle 5: To Survive the Silent Strets Player List:

Chapter 49 Annotations:

Someone in the back room: *says something* Formerly Pushy Coworker: Hark! A thing is happening! I must abandon Twi at the front desk, for no minor thing is permitted to happen in my absence!

Mistborn spoilers:

Question: What qualities would attract an inkspren? Answer: Inkspren don't like how variable humans are, it's a thing out of Honor, so a person who is willing to think about their life rather than reacting by instinct would work for them. The scholar is the perfect example but for instance a soldier who is very thoughtful and doesn't just rush into battle would work for them too.

Hi All, I've discovered Sanderson's work through WOT and a glowing recommendation of a friend who's a big cosmere fan. So far I've read Mistborn (the original trilogy) and both Stormlight books. During the Mistborn read, I used to bounce ideas and theories with friends but we didn't have a chance to do so for WOR, so here I am... To throw my ideas out there and see how much I manage to get right (from past experience it's not much)..

Ah, sorry, I didn't quite make myself clear. I was adding to Jondesu's vote - given that I've noticed before when you said things that were elim strategies enough that I nearly told you not to give stuff to the elims for free, I think his point holds merit, and makes me more suspicious of you than of Alv. Tintallë tried to walk on past Fifth, but her head was still reeling. She stopped, focusing on the wall beside her. It was just another bit of grey stone, here, undecorated and blank and still. She focused on it, blocking out all noise and distractions, imagining that she was stone. She heard someone approaching, but didn't bother to turn. "Tintall, I believe your name was?" she heard. "Tintallë," she corrected absently, not bothering to turn and look at the person addressing her, focusing on the wall. Breathing. Not fainting, preferably. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye. He kissed her hand, and she fell. Not in a romantic way. Jonly was... he was... oh, gods, Almighty above. If Tintallë could've closed her eyes in this not-quite-world, she would have. His soul was dark. That was the first thing. And not clean, sacred night. This was a darkness of eyes watching from the shadows, waiting for its prey to come nearer. This was a hard darkness, of blood and death and doing what was necessary rather than what was right. And... hatred. There was more hatred in his soul than Tintallë had known was possible. Almighty... And the darkness and the hatred mixed in horrible splendor. He hated everyone and everything, she saw, but there were a few images that stood out, though they made the darkness no less pervading, somehow. The image of a man with silver skin. A mysterious figure that nevertheless she somehow recognized, though she couldn't place from where. A woman, standing by a shining pool, glimmering brightly. And... a man in pack furs, standing near the woman from the third image. Jonly. She caught a glimpse, then, of what he had been: an honorable man, of ideals and wonder, who worshipped his goddess because he truly believed she deserved it, so much that he gave her the greatest gift in his world. And Tintallë saw when the woman cast him aside, and betrayed him, and left him for dead, and she wept at what his soul had become. A single word was written in blood in the darkness. Not dripping or messy or any such thing. Simple and elegant and horrifying. Monster.

Note to all those who say that we are a fandom: we are not a fandom, we are a cult. Edit: although the Peirs Anthony cult is a shade more creepy.

@Harakeke, listen to this. Ardents talking about Dawnchant. Relevant part starts around 19:00.

I wasn't a chemistry major, but I have a degree in electronics, so I've studied a good bit about metals (although I've studied more about their uses for electricity in comparison to their chemical structures). But if we're going down the path of assuming cesium was the element Brandon modeled Ettmetal after, then I can think of a few possible ways this might affect Scadrial in future eras. 1. Cesium can be used to convert various from of energy (such as heat and light) into electricity. Converting light into electricity is used with various fiber optic devices. While other elements can also be used for optics (in safer ways), this is one function cesium is capable of. 2. Cesium used to be tested as a type of fuel for spacecrafts. Could be a possible use for the metal as Scadrial develops into a space exploration society. 3. With the explosive natural of cesium, all I really know is that there's a super-oxide created when cesium burns in the air. Super-oxides are typically used to create the sources of oxygen used for astronauts, although I think other elements such as potassium and its super-oxide are more regularly used for the oxygen generators. When cesium reacts with water, you would get a different output since the element would be combining with H2O, and I'm not entirely sure what that ends up creating (besides an explosion lol). I'll take a wild guess and say we might end up seeing Ettmetal play into Scadrial as a fuel for space travel based on the chemical nature it's based off of. I'm just not that confident in being able to guess how everything with Ettmetal will play into the magic systems of Scadrial.

"I'm thinking that the so-called prophet is someone we should be looking at more closely," I said. Prophets. Anyone who claimed to see the future like that was a heretic. I'd seen enough charlatans trying to con decent people out of their money, but at least they never believed it themselves. People who said they could foretell the future and believed it of themselves were worse though. Honest criminality was understandable. But claiming to see The Lord Ruler's plans like that? Maybe even subvert them? That was a sin on a much greater spiritual level. But that's not a reason to suspect someone. I wouldn't let my dislike of his so-called visions colour the investigation. No, it was something else that caught my eye. A few days ago, we strung Carmichael up, Hoid was the one who started the dog-pile, commenting that it sounded like Carmichael was being all 'look at me, I'm still alive and it surprises me, I can't possibly be evil guys', with his commentary. Thing is, while I can understand why you might find it odd, he did exactly the same thing a few days ago with his comments on El's death. 'I have no idea why she was killed, when will they come for me, I can't possibly be evil'. Seems like he might've been fishing for a reason when it came to Carmichael. Plus he did the same when it came to our courier coming back into action. 'Poor evil guys, getting Tin like that, it can't possibly be me inconvenienced by this'. Not sure if he was a Mistborn or if he was just lamenting that his team was affected by this, but he certainly seemed to me to be acting odd.

Jude wasn't sure what he saw there, floating in the sky. He had just found his way to the inner-city area of Portland, with its horrible ruined pavements, brightly painted brick facades, and blood-soaked streets strewn with bits of... reptile flesh? The large, columned building floated stationary in the air above a large pit, occasionally firing off very excited-looking beams of color and sparkle. Shaking his head, he walked on, and instinctively reached in his duffel. Oh. Right. The cat had scampered off a mile or so back. Jude had searched and searched, to no avail. Shame. He quite liked that cat. Hope he's alright, Jude thought to himself, and walked on towards the giant, floating structure.

I just updated the OP with the links to the audio files and the Rithmatist Q&A transcript. I'm going to start on the Friday signing line transcription now. I had a few other questions answered that I'll paraphrase quickly.

Seeing the lovely woman in her arms squee with joy because of her made Shiny tingle with pride. She was shortly confused by all the names rattling out of Funtimes adorable and kiss enticing lips but that quickly changed when Funtimes started to work her wonders. Leaves turn into pancakes wasn’t something even Shiny had seen before. Thankfully, Shiny rolled up the pancake, so she could hold it with one hand and with the other hugged Funtimes around the waist to pull her closer. Funtimes enormous grin was just irresistibly cute, so Shiny couldn’t help herself but press a kiss on her cheek. “You’re just getting more wonderful by the second.” Kiss. “Thank you for the pancake, now to see if it’s as sweet as you are.” Kiss. Shiny took a bite out of the pancake and found it to be not only wonderfully sweet but also fluffy, as if Funtimes had taken an ideal pancake right out of her mind and made it real. “You’re right, these pancakes are great.” Kiss. “I love them almost as much as I do you.” Kiss. “Are these other pancake lovers you mentioned, as good at making pancakes as you are?” Kiss. “Or as colorful?” Kiss. “Or as fun?” Kiss. “Or as cuddly?” Kiss. “Or as welcoming.” Kiss. “Or as beautiful?” Kiss. “Or as nice?” Kiss. “Or as energetic?” Kiss. “Or as sweet?” Kiss. “Or as cute?” Kiss. “Because I love all of those things about you.” Kiss. “Just look at what kind of frenzy you worked me into.” Kiss. “I love you with every sparkle of my being.” Kiss. “And if anyone is good enough to be your friend, I’d love to meet them as well.” Kiss. “Even if they couldn’t hold a candle to how much I love you.” Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.

Not quite. 'The same thing that happened in oregon' works better, or perhaps 'the same thing as what happened in oregon.'

I've started a google doc for transcribing the Rithmatist Q&A audio. At the moment it has timestamps for all of the questions, and paraphrased answers, but nothing is verbatim yet. Help would be appreciated. (Audio files are linked in this post above) The first 20 minutes are fairly quiet, since I was sitting partway back in the room. If those portions are too difficult for you to hear, @Ironeyes's recording may be better as he was in the front row.

I can predict the future. Bummer.

Small Words of Radiance spoiler

Aww, thanks! OK, here is the gist of it. Harmonium's instability IS caused by some of the subatomic particles being of Ruin and some of Preservation. Harmonium is NOT an alloy, but rather a complete metal. Its particles are NOT composed of investiture, but have a "spiritual identity" that associates them with one of the shards. A portion of the energy that comprises the explosion when harmonium touches water is energy being pulled directly from the spiritual realm and the particles thus losing their spiritual association with one of the shards. Due to this, there is no such thing as Harmonium Oxide, although he did add a cryptic comment that there is "something else" left behind after the explosion which is "interesting" and will be important to Scadrial's future. At this point I figured I couldn't hold up the line much longer and started fishing for a RAFO card. So I asked about Harmonium's nuclear potential. But get this: He didn't RAFO it!! He said that harmonium can't actually create a nuclear explosion but it does something similar which will be "very important" to the cosmere in the future. He explained that this is because he essentially added a third state of matter, since investiture is analogous to energy and matter where one can be transformed into the others through the right processes. So harmonium can create an effect that is somehow similar to a nuclear explosion but instead of transforming matter into energy, it does something with investiture. He didn't elaborate after that. As soon as we get the recording transcript done we can analyze his exact words, but this is what I remember for now. Please ask for any clarifications since I'll probably remember in better detail if a specific question is asked.

You just gave me a mental image of a rosharan army advancing in a line equipped with mops, scrubbing the ground clean and shiny at its passage...

As I recall, there are a number of issues with that old font. This comes out to: rahy? be?ohl dea? stleng? be?ohl ?eaknes jo?lney be?ohl destina??h It should look more like: Edit: As long as I'm at it, here are all the Ideals:

Day 14: Not Again Senn felt that looming sense of deja vu that he’d been feeling ever since that first man had died with a warning on his lips. He watched as the entire town fell into chaos and couldn’t help thinking that it was all too familiar. Now, he was staring at pages upon pages of reports about what was happening in the village; all of it dismal. There was a lack of food and supplies. No preparations were being made to stop the coming horde. Buildings were being looted and burned. And it all felt like he had been through it all before. He could almost tell what the next page was going to say before even looking at it. Senn rubbed at his temples, trying to massage away this portending feeling he had. He felt so helpless at the moment. He knew that he should be down in the village trying to add some sense of stability and try to steer things away from this course, but it seemed as if this was fated to happen. If it wasn’t, his feelings of deja vu wouldn’t still be there, right? Eventually, he couldn’t take just sitting there anymore and so he began pacing. This triggered another episode of deja vu in him and it just made him more antsy. What were they to do? Was there anything they could do? Were they meant to just die here, again and again; never learning from the error in their ways? He paused in his pacing. Again? Where had that idea come from? He’d never been through something like this before…. Had he? Suddenly, he just knew that he’d find his inkwell would be dry. He didn’t know how he knew, but it would be true nonetheless. He had what seemed like a vision of him going to collect a new one and then returning to his study, only to be ambushed and killed. He shook himself back to reality. The vision had seemed so clear and so detailed, but it couldn’t possibly be true. He had noticed that it had been snowing out in the vision and there wasn’t even the hint of frost in the air yet in the season. Even so, it was with a shaky hand that he finally built up the resolve to reach out and check the inkwell. *slosh* Senn let out a breath that he didn’t ever realize he’d been holding. The inkwell was still easily half full. His sense of deja vu had been wrong. He mulled over that last bit in his mind for a moment. His sense of deja vu had been wrong. If it had been wrong here, then that meant it could be wrong in other areas too! Perhaps the town wasn’t fated to fall! Perhaps there was still hope! For the first time in weeks, Senn turned to look out the huge window that dominated one wall of his study and looked out at the town of Tyrian Falls with something bordering on optimistic resolve. He smiled. He didn’t notice the figure standing behind him in the reflection of the glass until he felt something tug at his throat and soon after the world went dark. The only thought that Senn could muster before dying was, Not again… Night 14 is over and Day 14 begins! You have 48 hours. Seonid was attacked! They were a Regular Villager! Good Luck! Player List

When you have a really good meme to share, but you forget it.

"Vin thrust the spear into the Lord Ruler's chest." And thus ended the Final Empire. I just finished yet another re-read of the first Mistborn book last night. (I like to read books on the worlds I am writing about) and I noticed something really cool that had escaped my notice before. As the Lord Ruler passed, three people stood over his corps in the light of the rising sun. Vin the Mistborn, Sazed the Terrisman Keeper, and Marsh the Inquisitor. Here we see the epitome and figureheads of the three metallic arts. These three are literally the most important people in the Final Empire until the end. They seem to stand in for the powers and investitures of Scadrial. I don't know if this was intentional, but it seemed incredibly symbolic that all three of the metallic arts and their wielders stood together as they rejected their false god. I cannot but feel a respect for the Lord Ruler. He was terrible. He was cruel. He was uncaring. Yet he fought for so long against something greater. Of all the villans in the Sanderson books, he was the one who most needed to fall, and yet the one who deserved the most respect. I find that I love this parting scene, and if I could draw this would certainly be a moment I would like to capture. The only thing I wish was different about the scene... it would be even better if a skaa and a nobleman were present, to represent the rest of the world for the passing of Rashek. This is one of the better endings to a Sanderson book. What other moments are your favorites in the Brandon Sanderson books? What times are crystal clear in your mind?

Anyone feel like Szeth at the end of WoR is alot like Altair at the start of Assassin's creed "Here, have this weird sword"

1. According to one interpretation of current WoB...yes...this may be possible. But, IMO, this would sort of undermine Marasi's entire story arc. If she could suddenly become an unstoppable killing-machine by using a simple gimmick (wrapping herself in aluminum foil) her being regulated to a support role would be sort of weird. Harry Potter hyperbole in spoilers: 2. Not technically impossible, but current WoB is that we haven't seen enough of the physics behind how allomancy and feruchemy work to be able to make educated guesses as to how he will implement FTL travel in Mistborn. IIRC, all he's been willing to say on the subject is that it would take a bizarre combination of highly specialized knowledge or an amazing coincidence for someone to be able to correctly predict how his FTL is going to function. Some more things to consider: I'm not sure if you would need to be fully shielded (meaning fully enclosed by aluminum) or specifically standing on the bubble's border at the time it was erected in order to achieve a useful effect. Pulsers' time-bubble size is limited and their "stability" (not sure if that's a good word or not but I'm going with it) seems to be restricted by whether or not their current surroundings can be reasonably treated as a reference frame. Midnight is a little too late for me to crack open the old orbital dynamics textbook to check more rigorously, but off the top of my head, the situation you're describing wouldn't make for a good reference frame, which would make it difficult for time-bubbles to be erected in a stable manner.

I'm no expert on Sel, but I do know that its Shards and magic are tied closely with the Cognitive Realm. Something to do with both the Shards being pressed into the Cognitive after being splintered and the teleportation displayed by Raoden at the end of Elantris. EDIT: This could tie closely with interstellar travel, as travel is supposedly easier in the Cognitive Realm

Everyone knows that oathbringer is going to be BIG, but this article puts it into perspective. http://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2017/02/brandon-sanderson-may-have-written.html?m=1

Sure! It only costs one copy of Dragonsteel.

As far as I know we have an exact definition of Vessel (with a capital V). That said I certainly don't think @skaa deserved a downvote for an honest (if slightly terse) contribution to a debate that is almost entirely opinion/speculation about a matter of terminology rather than real content. Tough crowd.

On the ambiguous inkspren wording: My impression when he gave the response was that the inkspren view human variability as not-of-Honor, which is why they don't like it. It is open to other interpretations, though.

These six-word stories are entertaining.

I agree. The way Shallan described what she saw behind the stormwall seemed like there is a connection specifically to the highstorms. My best guess is that they are members of the same spren class that Brandon said that Cusicesh belongs to, a step below spren like the Stormfather and Nightwatcher.

We could practically be twins, we both have glasses, and we have the same name!

Nope. The term Vessel is also used on Nalthis in the context of the Iridescent Tones to refer to the God King's wife, presumably for her ostensible role in bearing the next God King. So you see, just because a term was used in one context doesn't mean it can't be used in others. Anyway, I only mentioned the Returned because I was surprised nobody has brought them up as an example of beings that bear Splinters. I thought it would be nice to jog people's memories, because speculation is best done with all the relevant facts at hand. To be honest, Argent, I only remembered about Siri being called a Vessel when I saw your latest reply. If I had been able to bring it up earlier, perhaps we could have understood each other better. Sorry. Edit: To the downvoter, please state your disagreement and contribute to our discussion here.

Ah, a lady after my own heart This is interesting because it suggests spren of the same type have potentially drastically different personalities. I now imagine that not all honorspren are as playful (and, let's face it, as cool) as Syl - some might be a lot more righteous, for example. Interesting. I've theorized before that the powers of voidbinding, what I call the voids, are similar to the Surges, but twisted in a way. A different take, if you will. In this context, the Midnight Essences could be utilizing Illumination's counterpart from voidbinding, perhaps something to do with illusions and/or imitation. The Listeners' smokeform also sounds like a form of power that allows them to change their shape and blend in with humans. This connection is strengthened by the fact (and someone fact-check me on this) that the Essences "bleed" smoke when their surface is punctured. In fact, as I think about smoke, my thoughts drift towards obscurity and hiding - concepts very much related, but opposite, to illumination...

Don't worry. The con staff picked up the recording device. I'll get it from them tomorrow. Preliminary report from Day 1: Brandon started his signing almost an hour early, which was perfect for me because I had to leave shortly after getting my books signed. Hopefully I'll get more chances to interact with him tomorrow. I had fun talking to other fans in line and handed out about 150 business cards directing people to the 17th Shard. Probably 10% of those acted like they might join, so I'm hopeful that we'll get some new members and maybe induce some of the lurkers (I met quite a few) to make accounts. I also got to present Brandon with a copy of my Seusslight Archive fanfic. I'll post images over here later tonight. The signing line was recorded, and @yulerule was standing by the table to listen to all the questions being asked. If the recording is unclear, she may be able to clarify or add context. I got several questions answered. Wording is from memory, but should be pretty close. (book photo in spoiler) Q. What Radiant order would accept Allomancer Jak? A. [written] It would depend on the spren, but possibly. There are a few that would have liked him once... A. [verbal] There is some portent in that answer. Note: There are several ways you could interpret that, but I took it to mean that the spren who would be attracted to Jak were killed or estranged during the Recreance and would be unlikely (or unable) to bond with him now. (book photo in spoiler) Q. Do oathgates obey physical realm speed-of-light constraints? A. [written] Nope! Good question. A. [verbal] We are playing fast and loose with causality Q. Nalthis has 5-centric numerology. A. Okay... Q. Do regular humans count as the fifth type of biochromatic entity? A. I'm going to RAFO that for no good reason, but for lots of good reasons. Q. We know that recording things can lock spren and cognitive elements into certain states. Does the existence of the written Diagram have a Realmatic effect? A. [cautiously]The written Diagram does have a Realmatic effect. Q. Did Taravangian know that when he wrote it? A. Define "know." In the sense that a table knows it is a table, yes. Note: This response didn't make a ton of sense to me. Maybe the transcript will clarify things, but his hesitancy and body language made me think that my theory in this vein is mostly not correct, even if some pieces of it are.

It's kind of a common thing for me to accidentally hit the downvote button instead of the upvote button. I'm on a small touchscreen most of the time, so that's probably the cause. My question: if I downvote a post, and then quickly change and upvote it, does the person get a notification?

Day 12: Perchance to Dream Jack was having a horrible dream- if you could call it a dream. It seemed a bit too vivid for that. It felt more like it was a recollection from another time, where events similar to those taking place in Tyrian Falls… had happened? Were going to happen? In the end, it didn’t matter. They were similar enough in structure that he saw how it would all play out. He saw how the paranoia and the fear slowly sank their teeth into the villagers. He saw how it turn friend against friend and elevated petty differences into justifications for death. He saw as supplies were destroyed and reserves ruined, which made the villagers all the more frantic and fanatic in their search to purge the evil out from amongst them. If it wasn’t so horrifying, he could almost respect the way these forces of destruction systematically encouraged the people to do their work for them. And in his sleeping state, the recent events in Tyrian Falls mixed with those recollections and he dreamt about the gruesome deaths that had just recently happened in new and mortifying ways. Jack tossed and turned throughout the night. He wanted to wake up; to let this nightmare end. But he was not immune to the effects of what was happening in Tyrian Falls and his body was just too exhausted. Then he dreamt of a figure creeping into his room, cloaked in darkness and comfortable in the shadows. The figure stealthily made their way across the room; avoiding any of the squeaking boards that could have given them away. When they reached his bed, they pulled out a wicked looking dagger. When they raised it above their head, it glinted in the moonlight and it looked stained with the blood of those it had already killed. Now this dream felt incredibly weird to Jack. This didn’t feel like a recreation from an earlier time and it seemed embedded in his current reality. Some part of Jack’s instincts kicked in and he snapped awake. He awoke to the exact same scene he had just been dreaming about! And the dagger was already plunging towards his chest. Suddenly, before he could do so much as breath in to scream, he was yanked to the right with such force that he felt as if he had been slammed into by a Koloss’s fist. The dagger stabbed down and sank almost to the hilt into the bed where Jack had laid just a second before. The force was so strong, it carried him across the room and crashing out through the window; glass ripping at him as he barrelled through. Finally, he rolled to a stop in one of the huge piles of ash that hadn’t been cleaned up in the town recently. As Jack lay there, panting and trying to calm down, he could only think of one thought: Thank the gods I got a room on the first floor! Night 12 has ended and Day 12 begins! You have 48 hours. A Joe in the Bush was attacked, but they survived! Good luck! Player List

This is just painful to look at. Don't tell me someone actually gave you this for a homework? Wat. Metallic hydrogen? Oh man, this is awesome. We just made ourselves a little piece of Jupiter.

The wind wasn't the beginning, but it was A beginning.

CAUTION!! The following post contains blatant grammatical nitpicking. If you or those you love are prone to nitpick caused reactions such as bursts of anger, nausea, skin irritations, or death, please navigate away from this post. David does not use bad metaphors. In fact, if I recall, he does not use a single metaphor in the entire book. David uses bad similes. A simile is, of course a comparison using a word such as like or as (e.g., David eats like a pig) whereas a metaphor draws a direct connection to something else (e.g., David is a pig). This is not a criticism of you Mikanium. The characters in the book erroneously used the term 'metaphor' to classify David's (cleverness?). It may have even been intentional on Brandon's part (I hope). This concludes the grammatical nitpicking. If you have disregarded the caution at the head of this post, or have discovered an adverse reaction to nitpicking upon reading this post, please seek immediate medical attention as necessary.