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Aftermath: Peace Talks The death of Rif sparked a short, swift struggle among the survivors on the plateau. Petyr lunged for the last member of the fanatic cult that had dedicated itself to the destruction of the peace talks, but Kreshela's Shardblade swung up to interpose between them. Only Anya's last-second dive between them saved Petyr's eyes from flashing to smoke. As Petyr and Kreshela began to match blades against each other, Dalinar strode in, his massive Shardplate fully intact, and forcibly pushed the two of them apart. "Stop it! Stop this!" His booming voice echoed across the plateau. For a brief moment, everything stood still. Then, almost reluctantly, Petyr and Kreshela dismissed their blades. The skirmish sputtered out, as Alethi ambassadors and Parshendi scholarforms dropped their improvised weapons. Eshonai walked forward, and Dalinar stepped aside. Behind him, the body of the last Son of Honor cooled, slain in the fighting despite Kreshela's protection. Eshonai's voice thrummed to the Rhythm of Resolve. "Are there any else that oppose peace?" The silence was deafening. Dalinar stood next to her. "Then shall we proceed with the negotiations?" ------------------------------------- TBD (A Joe in the Bush) was lynched. He was a Son of Honor Ambassador! Anya (Daniyah) was attacked and killed. She was a Parshendi Warform! Petyr and Cranium (Alvron) was attacked but survived. Vote Count: A Joe in the Bush (6): Sami, Sart, Elbereth, Daniyah, Frozen Mint, Alvron Alvron (3): _Stick_, A Joe in the Bush, Drake Marshall The game is over! The Alethi and Parshendi have won! Thank you everyone for playing, and this time you can actually look forward to a retrospective from me. Alethi Player List: Straw @Straw Alethi Guardsman Stick @_Stick_ Alethi Ambassador Samar @Sami Alethi Guardsman Unnamed Character 4 @Sart Alethi Ambassador Kreshela @Elbereth Alethi Highprince Parshendi Player List: Kyner @Drake Marshall Parshendi Warform Mint @Frozen Mint Parshendi Scholarform Petyr and Cranium @Alvron Parshendi Scholarform Shardbearer The Dead Plato Anderson (Elenion). Voidbringer Decayform Arbol (Roadwalker). Voidbringer Decayform Locke (OrlokTsubodai). Alethi Artifabrian Aredor (asterion137). Alethi Artifabrian Raaman (Hemalurgic Headshot). Alethi Guardsman Zephyras (Megasif) Ghostblood Ambassador Kintas (Jondesu) Ghostblood Parshendi Warform Unnamed Character 5 (Crimsn-Wolf) Ghostblood Shardbearer (Plate) Unnamed Character 1 (BrightnessRadiant) Son of Honor Highprince Max Mercury (The Flash) Alethi Shardbearer (Plate) Ethelinar (StrikerEZ) Son of Honor Shardbearer (Blade) Corinoc (cloudjumper). Voidbringer Stormform Rif (Yitzi2) Son of Honor Guardsman Anya (Daniyah) Parshendi Warform TBD (A Joe in the Bush) Son of Honor Ambassador Doc Links: Dead Doc Parshendi Doc Voidbringer Doc Sons of Honor Doc Ghostbloods Doc

Y'all can call me Belle or Bellebon <3 I'm a 21 college student who's been reading Sanderson books since my senior year of high after my brother gave me the Mistborn box set. Needless to say I spent a lot of time reading them instead of studying haha. I'm not a huge theorist (mostly because I'm not aware of all the details out there and so I hesitate) but I love hearing about them! I'm also super into history and love learning about different fun facts!

This is not canon. Obviously fanfic.

Chapter 7: The Wings of Angels “Skai's Remnant was found Guilty of Assault with a Deadly Weapon against Mr. Red Facemask! He has been fined one essence mark, to be given to the plaintiff,” said the judge. Skai’s Remnant chuckled. Then he laughed harder and harder until his booming laughter filled the courtroom. “Very well!” he said, “and how about I pay the fine right now.” He opened the box containing the spare Essence Marks and tossed one to Facemask’s ghost. “You’re going to have a hard time proving that murder charge, Mr. Tekiel,” Skai’s Remnant said smugly, “considering your client isn’t actually dead.” The judge slammed his gavel down. “Court is now adjourned for the night!” - Requiem slipped the bracelet onto his wrist. The outer layer melted into light which shot down his arm to his back, where a pair of gigantic wings sprouted. Around him, the other adventurers got wings of their own of all different sizes and types. Requiem tested his own; they felt so natural, as if he had had them all his life. He lifted himself a few inches off the ground. After allowing everyone a few seconds of experimentation, Skai’s Remnant spoke. “Because of the delay, we’ll need to travel as fast as our wings can carry us if we want to rendezvous with our friend at the Valley. It’s quite the distance, but I think you’ll find—“ he flapped his wings and hovered “—these aren’t just for decoration.” TO BE CONTINUED after I get more sleep. The main setting of this cycle will be in midair, flying westward from the Peaks. This is a Day cycle lasting 48 hours. Mr, Red Facemask (Alvron) has come back to the Physical Realm! Requiem (Drake Marshall) has died and returned to the Cognitive Realm! Here is his autopsy report: And here is his will:

It is sad that those who have the timerity to invoke "wit" in their comments display so little of it themselves. But that is typical of this thread, where unoriginal commenters bumble about like broken Seons, desperately trying to imitate a fictional character whose (equally fictional) boots they are unworthy to lick and whose lowest jokes they must look up to in awe. Indeed, the intellectual prowess on display here is so poor that a Koloss would not long endure it, choosing instead to return to the scintillating conversation of his fellows. Vasher's lifeless squirrel could come up with better insults than you cretins. And you cannot even stay on topic. Toastlonformers (awakened or otherwise) have no place in this most serious trading of insults. Several windspren of my acquaintance have expressed to me their shock that anything could long survive with so short an attention span. However you should not fear, my poor mad Seons. Video Nihil, Audio Nihil, Scio Nihil (or for those of you without a proper education, I'm totally a super genius) and I shall elevate the discourse of this thread out of the repetitive pile of chull dung into which it has fallen. Quidem, omnes insultus mei sunt novi. Cur quaeritis?

my upvotes are my social standing...

A few thoughts: First, remember that the Stormfather tells Kaladin that humans fight all the time because "Odium reigns." (The Way of Kings, hardcover, p.648. First edition, August 2010.) Second, there is a WoB from some years ago that I remember but cannot find again where some question had been asked regarding a Shard's name that we hadn't learned yet, and the answer was essentially that he is very careful and deliberate with the name of the Shard (Preservation and not Life, Odium and not Hate, etc.) and that at times the name that he has imagined for them changes somewhat. So, we know that Odium is the one that reigns, because of in-text using that specific word. But what is the difference between Rule and Reign? That seems to be the root question. A quick Google search gives us a few useful differences. In particular I find the sentence "Reign is also used to indicate something that is predominant or prevalent as in the reign of terror or panic reigned" to be fascinating and mostly appropriate. This seems particularly appropriate given a contrast between what life would be like when Odium reigns vs. Honor; hatred and hostility towards people that are different seems to be closer to the standard nature of people on Roshar, with those that are tolerant being the exceptions. We can see this direct contrast referred to frequently by people who mock Dalinar's adherence to the Codes, especially from Sadeas. Those people who view the Codes as something written after the fact so that the people seemed honorable, rather than a way of life. So this all means, to me, that at one point in time 3 Shards ruled over the planets in the Roshar system, but ever since Odium Splintered Honor and caused Cultivation to retreat into listlessness and passivity, Odium reigns supreme. If the question is more about why Odium is referred to as the Broken One, there's a few options. Again, looking at the definition and synonyms for the word. From dictionary.com, definitions 4 (not working properly; out of order) and 7 (fragmentary or incomplete) or 8 (infringed or violated) seem interesting. Of course, many of these seem to imply that they could be referring to Honor instead. The problem with that is that Honor is dead; the Stormfather watched him die, and then fled. Coming as it does in Words of Radiance, where there are already supposedly dead people returning to life, I really hope this is not another case of "no body, no death" and that Honor is just hiding out somewhere alive, but divested of the vast majority of his power. (Of course, that is an unrelated tangent, since someone without power by definition cannot reign.) End rambling wall of text.

@Fatling Ok, first off, the disclaimer: I'm not a computer science major or anything like that. I'm just a guy who likes tech. When it comes to choosing Linux vs Mac vs Windows for privacy, neither of them will protect you from applications keeping their own records of your activity. But as for OSs, Linux is your best bet. Both Mac and Windows are put out by corporations, so each collects user statistics so that they can tell what features are being used, etc. Because Linux is open source, there's no corporation storing your data in aggregate. If you're talking browsers, it depends on how hardcore you love security. If you're looking for a standard browser that's less info-gathery than the others, I'd recommend Firefox, because Chrome is run by Google, an info-gatherer. However, if you really want to go hardcore secure use Tor. Tor gets a bad rap as the browser used to access the dark web, but if you're looking for ultimate security there's a reason why those trying to hide from the law use Tor. Triple-encryption, packets bounced around the web, no browsing history, the works. It's slower than the other browsers, but exponentially more secure. So what a VPN does is it encrypts your packets between routers. There are a few uses for VPNs, but one of the biggest is keeping your ISP out of the loop. Internet Service Providers make a lot of money compiling and selling your internet habits, but if you use a VPN all they get is a worthless string of logs of you connecting to the VPN server. However, most good VPNs do have a cost associated with them. In short: if you're looking for a way to tighten your security a little bit, use Firefox and set up a VPN. This keeps Google, Microsoft, Apple, and your ISP mostly in the dark about your browsing habits, without too much change on your part. If you want to go a step above that, though, you're going to want to look into Tor, because I don't know enough about it to tell you if it will fit all of your needs.

Lazar walked up to where Damond was in the line, and gave him a questioning look. In response, Damond simply said "Lazar, ignore the fact that I know your name already, would you like to be in a relationship with me?" And lo, Lazar did indeed want to be in a relationship with Damond. And so it was. ------------------------------------------------------------ Lazar is signing up for the game, and is in a relationship with @Magestar Which obviously Mage would do.

Then it looks like we'll need a vote tally with the things in red text... Guilty (2) - Len, Len Stink (1) - Ecth Yitzi (1) - Ecth

It was raining. A heavy rain that almost drowned out the thunder that cracked throughout the night. Ratel worked long into the night and dawn was mere minutes away. He had had to call in several flavors to acquire the body before him but if it worked then it would be worth the price. It would be worth any price. After checking everything was in place, Ratel removed the Heart of the Divine from its protective case. Taking a quick sip of whiskey from Heatherlocke's flask, Ratel carefully shaved off a sliver of Heart and, with trembling hands, inserted the sliver just under the skin of the body above it’s own heart. Replacing the Heart and locking it away Ratel next took out a Gold Spike, and with three quick blows, drove it through the sliver and into the bodies heart. A great clap of lightning lit up the sky quickly followed by a booming peal of thunder. The body’s hand twitched once. Ratel held his breath. It twitched again and a third time. It wasn’t long until more parts were twitching. After what seemed like an eternity, Mr, Red Facemask sat up. His eyes slowly coming into focus. “It’s alive. ALIVE!!!!”

The Physical Realm 1. Lucky Duke (Cloudjumper) - handy with a barrel 2. Vulture Sam (asterion137) - a card hustler 3. BrightnessRadiant as Herself - very confused worldhopper 4. Liz Allan (Sami) - terribly confused Marvel fanatic 5. Ister Mo (Manukos) - likes camping 6. Tautali Laust (Megasif) - valiant Radiant on a journey of self-discovery 7. Dr. C (Clanky) - Rickrolling mad scientist 8. Locke Tekiel (OrlokTsubodai) - I feel like this guy's died before 9. Silver Feather (Roadwalker) - deep in thought 10. An Innocent Man (A Joe in the Bush) - definitely harmless 11. Daniyah as Herself - first blackout game! 12. Aralis (Araris Valerian) - former head-thumper back from the dead 13. Mr, Red Facemask (Alvron) - likes to use commas The Cognitive Realm 1. Jaspian (StrikerEZ) - talks to a stick was Karata 2. Requiem (Drake Marshall) - Kyner from the future was The Doctor 3. Aran (Aonar Faileas) - the hunter was King Eventeo The Spiritual Realm 1. ppil (STINK) - had some beef with Phil 2. Alvron (Straw) - was a very confusing guy 3. Eobard Thawne (The Flash) - was NOT an evil speedster 4. The Wanderer (Yitzi2) - was definitely not Hoid

We have some exciting news to announce. So far in order to obtain some unpublished works of Brandon's, you'd have to email him through his site, and his assistants would distribute them. Well now you won't need to wait for that, because we will be in charge of distributing Aether of Night! All you have to do is post in this topic (you'll need a 17th Shard account, but that's it), and our staff will PM you the document. You do not need to post an email address here; we will send it to you through this website. Once we do this, we'll remove your post here. We'll be using this topic as a to-do list for requests. Ideally since we have lots of staff members, we will get this out to you soon, within a week or two. We hope you're excited about this, so many of you will be able to get this text in a much more obvious way now! You will receive a .docx file, and if you need to convert it into a .pdf or .epub, there are many converters to do that for you. (We are not distributing the old prose version of White Sand; that is distributed in Brandon's newsletters.) Thank you Dragonsteel for letting 17S do this! Edit as of 2024: This is still going! We've gone through over 300 pages of replies distributing. It's just that we remove posts here once we send them out.

There was a post on r/Cosmere recently by Pillar_of_S4lt. You can find it here. Essentially, they were asking about this death rattle from WoK. My question is a little different from theirs. From what I understand, the general consensus is that the last part of that death rattle is referring to Odium. But why? Why does he have that name? "Broken" gives the impression that he is shattered, but he is unshattered, and has invested far less into a world than most other shards. Is it his going around killing other shards that makes him "broken"? I doubt this because he is simply following his intent, like the other shards are. Has he gone mad, and that is why he is broken? I doubt this, since he seems to be executing a (so far) successful plot to shatter the other Rosharian shards. (I guess one could still be "mad" and intelligent and cunning.) Is this perhaps not a reference to Odium, but to the holder, Rayse? Could Rayse have been broken in some way before taking up the shard? Is that part of why Hoid wrote what he did about him in the letter? I would love to get some input from the Sanderson Savants as to how he fits this description. As for the post by Pillar_of_S4lt, I do think the wording of this death rattle is interesting. it gives the impression that there was some event that happened that separated the first half from the second half. I think the most likely explanation is that the "event" is Odium gaining dominance in Roshar. I believe this is a future event, since Cultivation is still unshattered, which would make this death rattle a prophecy like many of the others. Perhaps that is how book 5 ends, with Odium shattering Cultivation, and the desolation being successful. Books 6-10 would be humanity trying to clean up the mess and win the day. However, what if the arrival of Odium was the "event"? We know that Cultivation and Honor arrived at Roshar long before Odium did. What if there was a third shard who went with them, and together the 3 of them "ruled". This begs the question, where is that shard now? Maybe it up and left when Odium arrived, out of fear. Perhaps it left little bits of investiture on Roshar, such as the fish of the purelake (I haven't seen anything yet to explain how the fish work, and whether or not they are a manifestation of either Honor or Cultivation. If there is a WoB out there I haven't found yet, someone please let me know). I don't have the exact words with me, but in Arcanum Unbounded, Khriss alludes to the idea that there may be more going on in Roshar than meets the eye, some deeper system of magic. Do we know what that is? Could that be a third shard at work, or the leftover bits of one that left? Overall, I find the theory of a third original shard on Roshar to be a bit of a stretch, but I haven't found anything that outright disproves it. Thoughts, anyone?

Aonar Faileas has died and passed to the Cognitive Realm! Here is his autopsy report: And here is his will:

When you wake up and there's only two notifications and you wonder if the 17th Shard has been seeing someone else. Then you realize you're happy to share and wonder about whether your father would be disappointed in you.

According to HoA chapter 81 epigraph: Ruin made the mists stronger.

@Sart @Stick The three of us can actually control the lynch. I'm moving Drake's vote to Alvron. If you guys feel like helping me out, I'd appreciate it. If not, no hard feelings. Good Game everyone.

You are offended when the following happens: someone recommends you read King's Dark Tower series; you politely thank them for the recommend and counter with Sanderson. They respond, "I've never heard of him." They have also never heard of Scott Lynch or Patrick Rothfuss. Yes, that really did happen today.

ADOLIN!!!! Look, I get why people think he's interesting, and he is a great guy (especially when he killed Sadeas). However, I just don't get the same vibe of crazily-developed-character from him as from others. Sure, he's interesting, but nowhere near as interesting as most other characters, especially for all the hype he gets.

Total number of requests is around 2200-2225. As of yesterday we dealt with 1050 of them. Then Brandon tweeted. RIP. It's going to be a bit slower from here on out. I really exhausted myself yesterday doing these. If you are new, welcome! Sorry on the delay on sending this out As far as new members, this week we've had 1800 new registrations, making our previous peak of September 2011 (when we had a giveaway) which had 645 registrations look trivial by comparison.

Last Tuesday I had to rush my cat to the vet because a blood test came back with kidney failure. She was at the Vet for 48 hours on an IV to flush her kidneys and an antibiotic to clean out infection and give her a chance to recover. She has been home for a week and we've been giving here multiple pills and liquid medications to stave off infection, and to bind to the naturally occurring toxins in her blood so they bypass the kidneys. They did a blood test again yesterday and she's gotten worse. Tomorrow I have to put my cat down. For the past week, I've gone over everything in my house, trying to determine what she could have ingested that would have caused permanent damage to her kidneys, and literally the only thing in the house capable of doing it is ibuprofen. My wife refuses to take pain medication of any kind because of her history, so I'm now left with the knowledge that at some point, I must have dropped a pill, and my cat ate it. She's an indoor cat, we have no plants toxic to cats. There's nothing... So I'm sitting here petting a 5 year old cat that should have years left and she is going to die because I dropped a pill. It's not fair. This shouldn't be happening.

Heres my library. I have more books, but they are boxed away in the garage. I'm also planning on rearranging a lot of this at some point. Sorry for any sideways pictures, they uploaded that way. My leatherbounds, a handful of books from Fencon and my Big Finish audios: Mostly my YA and fantasy stuff along with a couple DVD box sets: More of my fantasy sets along with my Stephen King books, my Doctor Who DVDs and Doctor Who books My entire DVD/blu-ray library Now for some close ups My leather bound classics and modern classics. I plan on rainbow sorting these at some point, but for now just enjoy this color madness! Some older books and self published books I bought at Fencon My Big Finish audios ranging from Doctor Who to Frankenstein to Oz. If you haven't listened to anything from these guys you should, they are excellent at turning very visual shows into audio to the point the Fifth Doctor actually has to face off against the Weepibg Angels in one adventure. Just some nice hardbacks plus a great book from Dragonmount's founder My Harry Potter books Just some random books ranging from Disney Parks stuff to the Weird US books to a couple King's and Heroes of Olympus More hardbacks. The books to the right of the Walt Disney book is my mom's books. The start of putting my YA books on one shelf. I wish that the Twisted Tales were coordinated instead of changing at book 3. My Sanderson books plus some comics. I rarely double dip but I made an exception for Elantris. My system here is this is going by publishing order instead of by series. That copy of Calamity is a signed copy I got last year at Barnes & Noble on Black Friday because they had a sale going on for signed books and just couldn't pass this one up. I'm trying to get all the MCU comic tie-ins but dang are these things pricey! Also, Go Go Power Rangers! Unread books just waiting to be read after I read my Sanderson copies, though I will read the Holmes and Five Nights books in October. The Beast is an Animal is probably the only book I've ever bought just because of the cover which is gorgeous. I wasn't planning on getting any of Game of Thrones, I know that's not the name of the series, until Winds of Winter at least had a date but I picked it up to get a head start on getting them. No Rothfuss because dude, finish book 3, I don't want to read the two currently out and wait to read the ending! A mix of YA and adult. Simple and shiny Hunger Games is great. damnation J. K., you sure have a potty mouth when Potter isn't around. Jim Butcher makes an appearance along with Sword of Truth. Haven't read SOT yet. I loved the Alexa Codex book and plan on getting the rest along with Dresden. Divergent, eh, not the greatest story ever. Am debating if I should pick up the rest just to read more of Four. More King and WOT. Funny that I have Thinner right next to WOT XD Rest of WOT, King and LOTR. Confession time, I haven't fully read LOTR. I started it a few years back but the traveling from the Shire to Bree bored me. I do plan on trying again in the future. That book on the very end is one I got for Christmas a couple years back and will never read. It's a parody of LOTR and my mom saw me looking at it and assumed I was interested just because I picked it up and read the synopsis to see what the heck it was. A lot more YA. You can tell I like the Percy Jackson books and Kingdom Keepers. More King! You can guess who I was super into a few years back. I do have Eragon and Eldest but they are packed away in the garage. I'm basically a mad man with a few books Really, I'm a mad man Did I forget to mention I was a mad man... Hello there Mr Pratchett! A shelf I'm starting for my Shout! Factory purchases. There's the Big Bad Beetleborgs, Super Sentai's Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger (bloody fun kids show from Japan that became the adaptation for Power Rangers), the two old Power Rangers movies so that I can put them with the sets once I get all four (only have two at the moment) and the first film of Digimon Adventure tri. Hope you enjoyed this tour tour of my shelves and my silly words.

nb: Theorizing will follow, but the thing I hope will be useful is the list and summaries of several dozen WoBs and canon sources on the Rosharan system, the Oathpact, the Heralds, the Rosharan system Shards and planets, and the Desolations. Scroll to the end if you need them. WHAT'S UP WITH ROSHAR?!? Introduction So I started this endless post to test the idea that the Heralds are from Braize, and I ended up looking at the Desolations, the Oathpact, the Heralds and Odium’s Braize habitation. I ended up with quite a collection of canon and WoB material on the Heralds, Braize, Odium, the Oathpact and the Desolations which are probably worth sharing. I want to say first of all, this has become far more, and far less than a theory. I think a lot of what I suggest is so tenuous that it's probably at best a collection of unusal ideas of the history of th eRosharan system and the realmatic aspects of the Oathpact and desolations. Not a theory. It's pretty unpolished because, well, I've spent enough time on this! I actually thought about not posting anything, because I don't like wild speculation, but it would seem a waste to not do anything with the WoBs. So think of this as...a story. Rather than the expected expectations for Rosharan history, future and realms, it's my piece of fan worldbuilding that I've tried to keep realistic, against what we know. Not likely, but realistic. An important thing to note here is I created the WoB catalog first, then wrote the theory. So if I've made any clear claims casually in the theory, they should be based on the WoBs I've summarised below. If not, call me out on it. But don't call me out on it until you've checked the WoBs I am also spoilering every WoB for length reasons, and I am doing the same with some tangents in the theory. There are no Oathbringer spoilers here. But there are of course vast spoilers for Stormlight Archive. There actually aren't too many spoilers for the other books though, more the Cosmere in general. So, here goes, with quite literally an explanation of my thought processes and structured as such. What causes a Desolation All I wanted to do was answer why the Heralds go to Braize to be tortured, and why a Desolation starts when they break? So what causes a Desolation, I asked mysef? The Heralds (all 10) being ‘in existence’, presumably on Roshar or at least in the Physical Realm. Then who has abandoned Roshar? Who is so important that the time where 10 angelic beings of power come to help you out is regarded as the time of abandonment? God. Surely? But why and how? So what causes a Desolation? And at this stage, I’m only dealing with normal Desolations, not the Final Desolation, which is happening differently to the previous ones. 1) All 10 Heralds being on Roshar? 9 were around for 4000 years and no Desolation. But previous Desolations happened so often that it seems likely they started as soon as one Herald ‘broke’. So I believe a Desolation is caused when no members of the Oathpact remain in Damnation (assuming that is where the Heralds go for their torture). I believe the Oathpact is realmatically powerful enough to enable just a single Herald in Damnation to hold back a Desolation. 2) Even at the end of a Desolation, if the Heralds do not go back, if they remain too long, ‘another’ Desolation starts. Again, this must mean the Heralds who are still part of the Oathpact. So the Heralds have a time limit for being on Roshar. 3) We have been told something else that could cause a Desolation (though it’s from the mouth of a mad Herald, via another mad Herald) – If humans discover the ‘greater power of the Oaths’ without Honor their to regulate the Oaths, there is a smallchance that what comes next would allow Voidbringers to again jump between worlds, causing a Desolation. Obviously Nale is wrong about the Desolation, it has in fact begun, but even through madness he must be realmatically aware for this theory to make sense. So, whatever a Desolation truly is, we know it involves Voidbringers jumping between worlds, either before or concurrently. And we know it’s caused (traditionally) by any member of the Oathpact being on Roshar/no member of the Oathpact being in Damnation. How do Voidbringers get to Roshar? First thought would be that the Oathpact involves the Heralds staying on Braize to trap Odium there, that Taln has been maintaining Odium’s prison for 4000 years. But two problems with that – why would the breaking of just one Herald in the past change this when there are nine left to maintain the prison, and we know from WoB that Odium being trapped is ‘not a direct result of the Oathpact, but the Oathpact was part of it’. But the Oathpact could be an all or nothing deal, and that WoB leaves room to move. But how does that actually let Voidbringers jump to Roshar? One option is that when a Herald breaks and returns to Roshar from Braize, this creates some kind of realmic 'pathway' from Braize to Roshar, either for the Herald to be transported there or for the Herald/Honorblade to be powered with investiture, but through which Voidbringers can follow, probably in the cognitive realm. But does it add up? If this pathway enables Voidbringers to come to Roshar, why would the Heralds not just all kill themselves immediately, shutting the pathway? Firstly, their Oaths I assume. But they broke their Oaths to break the cycle of Desolations, so I don’t think that can be it. I think once the pathway is opened by a Herald Returning, it stays open for a certain amount of time, before naturally closing unlessthe Heralds fail to go back to Braize in time – in which case the pathway forms again. Or it closes quite quickly but not before a whole army of voidbringers come. But then what makes it reopen if the Heralds stay too long? The Heralds that broke the Oathpact remained on Roshar, but this did not cause a Desolation to start again. This means that only members of the Oathpact are relevant, only someone still bound to the Oathpact being on Roshar can form this pathway. We’re assuming Taln has prevented this pathway from forming for 4000 years by holding strong, but that any time he finally broke (and I’m assuming this means his will was broken) he would have been sent to Roshar and the pathway would have formed. Does it fit with the idea that the greater power of the Oaths could lead to something that enables the Voidbringers to jump? Each Oath brings the spren more into the Physical Realm, and seems to give the surgebinder greater access to kinetic investiture. I think this is basically because the person and spren intertwine their spiritwebs more and more, which gives the surgebinder greater innate investiture, stronger Connection to Honor/Cultivation/Both. If Nale is right (and assuming I’m not missing steps in between – a big assumption) this indicates that either the increased Connection to the Shards, or the increased use of kinetic investiture (or both), creates a pathway, a means for the Voidbringers to jump. But how does the use of investiture on Roshar form such a pathway?I think it must be in the Cognitive Realm. Spren seem to be desperate for it there, I think that by having thousands of people bonded to spren, blurring the lines between the Realms, pulling in so much investitiure and giving it to the spren, it's dramatically weakening the walls between the Realms, and that's where the Odiumspren break through to Roshar. So, a pathway through the Cognitive Realm. But...why from Braize? Possible Realmatics of a pathway from Braize to Roshar So (deep breath), what is the common link between the Heralds (who are parties to the Oathpact with Honor, who are a type of Cognitive Shadow, who have a piece of Honor’s soul in the form of Honorblades) returning to Roshar, and Nahel-bonded surgebinders gaining greater and greater access to the investiture of Honor/Cultivation/both? I believe it’s a flow of investiture from Braize to Roshar to fuel the Heralds’ existence in the Physical Realm (much like a Nalthis Returned needs to consume investiture to keep their body stapled to their Cognitive Shadow), or more likely to fuel the surgebinding performed by surgebinders with the ‘greater power of the Oaths’ unregulated by Honor. I think Honor used to restrict the system to fewer Oaths than is possible, but later Oaths open up incredible access to investiture (and this is also the reason Ishar forced the original surgebinders to have organization thrust upon them and become orders of Radiant). Basically I see the later Oaths as spren enabling Radiants to become like Heralds, mimicking the system by which Honor made the Oathpact But why, why would greater use of investiture in Roshar cause investiture to flow from Braize?If not from Braize, basically, why would open up the possibility of Voidbringers going from Braiaze to Roshar? Because (and you’ll all shout at me now, coz here’s where the theorizing becomes speculation), maybe, Honor is still invested in Braize. Not exclusively, but there is still a significant portion of the Shard's investiture there. We know there are Shards whose shardpools are not on a planet they currently inhabit. Vorin mythology involves the Voidbringers invading the Tranquiline Halls, kicking out God and men. Is Braize the Tranquiline Halls, Damnation and Odium's Prison? What of the Oathpact? I think Honor and Cultivation originally set up on Braize – that Braize is both the Tranquiline Halls and Damnation. When Odium invaded, I think they both bolted for Roshar but they left a trap first. They forced Odium to invest in Braize and then did something additional to prevent him from divesting. I don’t like the idea, because it feels derivative from Mistborn, but I think that Honor splintered off part of his investiture and left it on Braize to counteract Odium (similar to Preservation’s trap). Of course that wouldn’t be enough to trap Odium, the entire power of Preservation couldn’t do that, and Honor needed to be intact to setup a new world on Roshar. So he coopted 10 people to shore up things, to reinforce the prison. He made the Oathpact with the Heralds. The condition for the Heralds was that they last as long as possible in Damnation, binding Odium there using the binding power of Honor’s investiture (using, perhaps, the Dawnshards?). Odium tortures them in an attempt to make them return to Roshar. When one does, perhaps the link between the Heralds and Honor’s investiture on Braize creates this pathway which, once open, allows Voidbringers through (at which point the other Heralds leave for Roshar immediately). The Heralds’ proving day then was to prove they could not be broken like an ordinary person. In exchange, Honor gave them immortality by infusing their spiritweb with investiture via the Honorblades, making them Cognitive Shadows – but they would automatically be rebirthed on Braize to keep their end of the bargain - to keep Odium contained while they can, to fight Voidbringers when they can't, until Braize can be retaken. But when they return to Roshar, how is Odium kept imprisoned? Honor takes the place of the Heralds. Honor returns to Braize to keep Odium trapped, or pulls a lot of his investiture away to Braize. Either way, this is why it’s called a Desolation. Desolate is latin for ‘abandoned’. Since Honor leaves during this time, or at least withdraws enough of his investiture, Roshar has been abandoned or feels like it has been. And this is why there is a flow of investiture from Braize, because Honor actually moves there (yes I know Shards can’t move around easily but I’m assuming things are different within a solar system, for the same reason Odium can affect Roshar and Ashyn, even though he’s on Braize). But Roshar has an investiture cycle, an ecosystem that rapidly recycles investiture. So perhaps, when Honor is on Braize, the investiture cycle returns investiture to him on Braize. To keep Roshar operating properly (as it is so dependent on this system), and to enable the Heralds and surgebinders to do their thing, there needs to be enough investiture. Because all expended investiture is returned to Honor on Braize during this time, after a certain number of years, after a certain amount of investiture has been withdrawn from Roshar, Honor is forced to open up the pathway again, send investiture back to Roshar, unless he is relieved by the Heralds. Cultivation? Part of the trap? But what about Cultivation, you ask. What’s her role? Why does Hoid call her ‘Slammer’? Why does Brandon say that Odium has a full-intact, fully-alive, very powerful Shard opposing him? I think Cultivation has basically walled-off Roshar from Braize in the Cognitive Realm. Not completely, Odium can still affect it. But mostly. I think Cultivation is called Slammer not because she keeps Odium trapped on Braize, but because she keeps Odium out of Roshar – she’s built a prison that keeps the bad things out, rather than the bad things in. When a Herald breaks and goes back to Roshar, she must make a hole in that wall to allow the Heralds to return and to allow Honor to take their places. The Voidbringers force this open and follow, but before too long Cultivation seals the hole. The Desolation consists of humanity fighting the Voidbringers who managed to get through in time. If the Heralds then stay too long, because (theorizing) they’re like Returned and need investiture to stay in their bodies, and to fuel their surgebinding, this forces Honor to remain on Braize, feeding investiture to Roshar, and if it happens for long enough it weakens Honor enough that Odium can force out of his prison a bit and restart the pathway, despite Cultivation’s efforts. It’s basically a finely balanced system of keeping Odium trapped through a combination of Honor, the Heralds (wielding Honor’s bonding power) and Cultivation shielding the Cognitive Realm. This is why the normal Desolations were time-limited. The Heralds together would bind Odium. One would crack from the torture, return to Roshar and break the cumulative bond, weakening the prison. The others return because it’s all or none. Honor takes their place to keep Odium trapped. He can’t do so entirely, but Cultivation shores up things from the Rosharan end. If the Heralds stay too long, too much investiture is drained, Honor must open up the pathway to send more back, and the Voidbringers again follow this – new Desolation. Edit - I've decided to split this into three posts because it's super long!

But Alv! I wanted to kill you! I'm sad now... Congrats to all involved. I've only begun reading the docs, but I'm sure I will have comments later. Currently my only one is clarification to the Sons, since I only explained it to Yitzi - I never actually agreed to protect Striker. I didn't in any way break my agreement. I didn't respond at all, in fact. If I'd actually said that I was going to protect him I would never have backed out. Also, the Voidbringer doc is entertaining. Thank you for continuing to talk to yourself, Cloud. It provided excellent context.

As Chaos mentioned in that thread, the Aether of Night manuscript request thread has seen a lot of traffic, especially since Tor and Brandon both posted about it. At this moment there are about 1100 requests there, and I have watched that number go up and down by hundreds at a time as the staff heroically process those one after another. So first, a big thanks to all the admins who are dedicating even more time than usual to helping out the rest of us. Maybe in a week or two we can get an informal count from someone about how many requests there were. Second, thousands of those requests are coming from new members of the site, who made accounts just for this. While some of those may not stick around, I am excited to see that others are joining in on our many discussions! In the four days since the announcement about Aether of Night's availability, more than 40 new members have posted in the Introduce Yourself section, at least four times as many as the week prior. While I don't frequent that subforum, I appreciate the members who volunteer themselves as our informal welcoming committee. They might by happy to get some additional help in showcasing our amazing community for the newest members. Hopefully we can convince them to stick around!

Huh, I'd totally forgotten that. Thanks. Edit: @Idealistic I now really want someone to ask Brandon about that epigraph. I searched all through the annotations and there's nothing on the mist that isn't about the mist sickness. And then searching WoBs I found this. http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=1012#11 So the only mention anywhere of Ruin effecting the mists is from that Epigraph. The Epigraph is from a particularly reliable source though. I want an answer now...

When you relize the true reason your parents leave a jar of coins on the kitchen counter... Or when you are visiting the coast, and you look out of the window of the hotel, and see fog, start grinning as wide as can be, then stop because the fog isn't thick enough to be mist. Then you start grinning again because it's probably the closest you'll get. My grandma and sister were asking me what I was grinning about, and I said, you'd have to read some books to understand. Then my sister said, it's Brandon Sanderson isn't it? PRESERVATION!!!!!!

As long as we all agree on the interpretation, then it works for me too. As for main protagonist, I think it comes down to which character we find the most interesting. In your example, you find Kylo Ren to be more interesting than Luke, hence you feel Luke is over-rated. I would say this is akin to demanding a change of focus into the story. It would be the same as myself saying I find Adolin more interesting than Kaladin (and I do), hence Kaladin is over-rated, the story would be more to my tastes if the focus was more centered on Adolin. I don't know if this goes into the over-rated character or not or if it is fair to say it. I am unsure it is a matter of opinion, it is just rather odd to me, so I think I will have to ponder on it some more. I knew someone would eventually say Adolin. I called it out on page 1 I would however argue Adolin doesn't get the crazy developed vibe as other characters because he doesn't have enough page time. The Adolin fans have been advocating ever since the release of WoR that Adolin ought to get a bigger story arc in order to get this development. This being said, I do agree the hype over Adolin has been a tad overdone. It goes with the fact he currently stands as one of the least predictable character and many see him as the breath of fresh air after having read Kaladin for two books. In shorts, Adolin is different than Kaladin who is basically your generic fantasy hero, but yeah, his popularity far exceeds his importance within the story both present and future. Why would I kill you? I said I expected people to say Adolin. He is over-rated when it comes to his importance to the story just as I feel Jasnah is over-rated for hers. People want Adolin to get character development and his own story arc: many of us just feel him eventually becoming a Radiant would make the best story arc for him. The alternatives just aren't as interesting and, besides, it is kind of odd if the whole family is chosen, except Adolin. The author will have to come up with a strong rational to justify it because we know sprens will choose all members of a family if they can. So why not him? It needs to be explained, at some point. Religious themes typically don't get to me as much as other themes. I see them as a requirement as all fantasy have them, but I don't particularly enjoy them. I prefer books which are religion free, but they are practically nonexistent within fantasy. Brandon, at least, isn't preachy, which I appreciate.

I know, right? I love characters like Shallan because of her creativity and the fact I draw a lot as well, but other people see her as less interesting: it's interesting too see why!

The courtroom was mostly silent; everyone waited with baited breath for the results to come in. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the courtroom door opened. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the voting results are in," Elenion said as he walked up to the stand, "The decisions of the jury will now be read to the court." Skai's Remnant was found Guilty of Assault with a Deadly Weapon against Mr. Red Facemask! He has been fined one essence mark, to be given to the plaintiff. Phil has been found Guilty of Impersonation of a Public Official! He has been sentenced to public service as a Silverlight errand boy for one year! Requiem (Drake Marshall) has been found Not Guilty of Slander against Mr. Red Facemask! This charge has been appealed by the prosecutor Mr. Tekiel. The charges of Murder against Skai's Remnant and Libel against Ecthelion III will be held today!

Heh, nice Hums to Amusement

Stop tempting me to start blathering Charlie the Unicorn quotes all over the house! I still have too much cold-crud in my sinuses and throat for that to be at all comfortable.

Because stormlight is sparse, Kaladin and his closest bridge 4 buddies (minus teft perhaps, who will sub in as head of the guard) will travel to hearthstone on foot/horse/boat. The journey will take up parts 1 and 2 of the book and will explore Roshar further. Perhaps the Horneater peaks? The crew of the Wind's Pleasure will be back and may transport Kaladin to Hearthstone or Shalan somewhere. Oathbringer turns out to be the name of a book, just like the previous two SA titles. The book is either a history of the sword or of the person or thing that the sword was named after. Helaran reappears, at least in passing, but is not reunited with Shalan. Kaladin's next oath, should it be spoken this book, will be to trust the counsel of those he leads, and the result will be that they gain/increase the capacity to surgebind as squires Moash gets a few more chapters as pov, at least in interludes. He rises in the ranks of the Diagram and is seduced by the doctrines at first but eventually flees to warn bridge 4, hoping to redeem himself. Kaladin teaches Elokar to be a leader. Elokar changes all our minds about him. Dalinar starts to feel threatened and realizes he doesn't actually want to yield power back to Elokar, competent or not.

All will be forgiven, as long as you return the amulet to the banana king.

What interests me is the lack of conflict in the phrase "Three of sixteen ruled" It allows for a peaceful coexistence, which Odium is... not compatible with for an extended period of time. Interesting theory.

The powers of speaking to minds and hearing thoughts are firmly split between Ruin and Preservation. This is true even in Era two. It's why Harmony could hear Wax, but wax could not hear or see Harmony unless he was wearing his (hemalurgic) earring.

Hey, welcome to the Shard, @wvine! I've run out of upvotes for today, but have a free spiked delicious cookie! DISCLAIMER: Side effects include, but are not limited to, hearing voices, gaining supernatural powers, having the sudden urge to kill everyone, and completely losing control over your mind and body. The Dark Alley™ claims no liability for any damage done to/by the eater of this cookie. Hey, Words of Radiance is one of my favorites too. My other favorites are HoA and Warbreaker. Which Cosmere magic system would you like to have powers from if you could? Also I only get books from the library too. I really want to start collecting the Cosmere books though.

Hey, welcome to the Shard, @Momph! Have an upvote and a free spiked delicious cookie! DISCLAIMER: Side effects include, but are not limited to, hearing voices, gaining supernatural powers, having the sudden urge to kill everyone, and completely losing control over your mind and body. The Dark Alley™ claims no liability for any damage done to/by the eater of this cookie. Yeah, lots of people read the Malazan series here. I haven't read about it, but I've heard about it. Anyway, which Cosmere book is your favorite?

Yeah, that helped push the idea of how the Mirror Realm behaves, but the idea existed long before that movie was even announced for production.

Hm, kind of reminds me of Doctor Strange. Cool!

I do this every time I see the word 'radiant', When you are late, and wish you could tap steel. Or need to be awake and wish for Bronze.

When every time you read or hear "flare", you expect the next word to be the name of a metal.

Heh, the other day I was reading an article about MRI machines. And it mentioned the dangers of metal implants, and I was imagining your pacemaker dramatically flying across the room... and then it talked about causing problems by just moving an inch. And I remember thinking, that's right, it's harder to Pull metal when it's in your body- wait, what did I just say?

When you leave a marble out in a thunderstorm to see if it sucks in stormlight.

Today was a relatively quiet day in the Restaurant at the End of the Cosmere. Most of the usual people were here, nursing their drinks, talking in quiet tones. They were all worldhoppers, of course. Drawn from all the corners of the Cosmere: Sel, Scadrial, Roshar, Nalthis, Taldain and Threnody. Rosharan heat fabrials warmed the restaurant, while the walls had been tastefully decorated by a native of Nalthis with the Fifth Heightening, so it looked aesthetically pleasing from almost any angle. The floors were plain tile, and at a corner was a Scadrialian machine that played music, operated by a sleepy Scadrilian armed with a bandolier of medallions. The machine only played Scadrilian music, which often annoyed the Nalthis worldhoppers with the second Heightening, but it was tolerated. There was a shining pool outside the entrance, which many worldhoppers used to get here from the Physical Realm. The bartender was always there, greeting newcomers, catching up on news, serving drinks. Only very few of the patrons knew who he truly was, and they weren’t telling. (Yes of course Khriss knows). A sign on the wall stated the rules of the Restaurant. Brawling of any kind is prohibited, either with Awakened Objects, Allomancy, Feruchemy, Hemalurgy, Surgebinding, AonDor, Soulforging, Sand Mastery or plain physical brawling No interplanetary warmongering Be nice to each other. No Hoid. At one table, some of the Seventeenth Shard were grumbling over their drinks about their long drawn-out and futile search for that impossible, thrice-cursed Hoid. They had been joined by a new member, Wan ShaiLu from Sel, whom Galladon had apparently recruited when she showed up in Elantris. She was cursing his name very creatively indeed. They had just come from Roshar, intending to go to Nalthis next. (The King’s Wit was probably laughing very hard indeed all the way in Roshar.) Kelsier sat in a far corner, (Without Marsh today, thankfully) nursing his metal-sprinkled ale. (You had to specify which world’s ale you were ordering, or you might end up with Selish Connection drinks, which made you want to draw for hours, or Rosharan Horneater Ale, which could melt cups.) Being a Cognitive Shadow rather than a physical being inside the Cognitive Realm, he didn’t actually need to drink, but he liked to keep up the pretense. Besides, he liked having Demoux worship him whenever he walked in, which often caused Seventeenth Shard meetings to be delayed. Mostly he sat, absorbing the gossip from all around the Cosmere, always grinning at people at seeming like he was formulating some dark, deep plot. At another end, Khriss was scribbling down her latest thoughts on life, the universe, and everything. Alternately, she could be writing her next Ars Arcana, having just visited Sel. Kenton half dozed beside her. Nazh was doodling Aons on a piece of parchment, thankful for the break. There had been a particularly hasty escape when Nazh had tried to study a naked Dakhor monk at Khriss’ request. She owed him a drink for that one. And there were the Kandra, of course. Mysterious group, they tended to keep to themselves when they visited the restaurant. They never stayed long, only coming in for a short drink before going to whatever Shardworld Harmony was currently showing an interest in. They tended to switch back to their natural forms inside the restaurant, which freaked people out, of course. That’s probably why no one knew their names yet despite them having frequented the bar for years. Vasher had dropped in for another visit in between his trips from Nalthis to Roshar. As per usual, he had a large pile of empty mugs beside him and was currently holding another pint of ale. Vivenna sat beside him, primly reading a book. Blessedly, Nightblood was nowhere to be seen. Iyatil was back, taking Mraize for another spot of Worldhopping. They had just visited Scadrial, and apparently were due for a visit to Threnody, seeing as how Mraize had been bartering for silver knives at the restuarant’s small merchandise stall. Silver was always in good stock in the restaurant, seeing as how nobody wanted their drinks interrupted by a bunch of red-eyed cognitive shadows. The restaurant filled with a quiet, content hum. News flashed relatively quickly through the Worldhopper community. A plot on Scadrial, Harmony facing a red mist. Kandra quietly inquiring after ‘Trell’. Roshar was a dangerous place to be in, currently, due to the Everstorm coming. Business as usual in Sel and Nalthis. On another note, Joshin and Mi’chelle were settling in nicely at Scadrial. Congratulations all around. The bell rang hesitantly, and a ragged figure entered. Her dress was tattered, and hemmed at the knees. She had a glove made of the same material as her dress on her left hand. She was tall, regal, although looking much the worse for wear. She had violet eyes and was currently holding a rather large Shardblade. Rosharian. She blinked, taking in the scene before her. The other worldhoppers barely spared her a glance before returning to their respective conversations. The bartender smiled and waved her over to an empty table. Jasnah Kholin blinked again. “I’m at a bar,” she stated in her flattest voice, “In the middle of the Shadesmar.” Only Vivenna stood to welcome her, shooting an exasperated glance at an inebriated Vasher. “Hello, stranger. You would best leave your weapon outside. Welcome to the Restaurant at the End of the Cosmere!”

When you have both the ebook, physical, and audio book and consistently check his website for updates.