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Caer took a deep breath, accepting the bracer from Kane, ignoring that he was alive and how he'd gotten to Caer. It was time to make a speech. One that would be heard all over the Alleyverse. As Caer stepped to the edge of the skyscraper, he took one last glance at the city beneath him, and one last glance at the orange horizon, not a cloud in sight. In the distance, he could barley make out a flaming figure rushing forward. He had limited time. So with Mace, Devaan and Kane at his side, Caer tapped his Aon card, enhancing his voice to a booming call, and signalled to Li TaiRu down below, who projected his voice to every ruby in the Alleyverse via his sparking technique. Everyone could hear him. Everyone could hear his words. Better make them good, then. Tapping determination, he began. "Men and women of the Alleyverse!" Caer called, surprised by the intensity of his own voice. When had he, a simple twinborn, become so confident? It seemed like ages since he had first stepped into the Alleyverse, just a youth. Times had changed, and Caer had too. Some would he developed as a person. Shaking his head of the distracting thoughts, Caer continued. "As you know, our city is under heavy attack from the things we're now calling Abominations, creatures of unimaginable viciousness and powerful. These things are not human, and if we lose this war, they'll spread to the whole of the Alleyverse, if they haven't already. Men and women, Homeless from all over, the time has come to UNITE! "No longer shall we be leashed by the common squabbles of infighting, no longer shall we kill each other like animals! For there is a greater threat, and if we don't cast aside our differences, we'll lose. Not to the war, not even to the Abominations. No, men and women, if we still let each other be murdered in cold blood without reconsideration, we'll have lost to ourselves. "Now is not the time for TUBA. Now is not the time for the Ghostbloods. Now is not even the time for the Liebrary, Sticknaughts, Canton of Combat or the Black Crusade or any other guild! For we are not defined by our organisation! We are defined by being human! And being United!" Caer took a break. But there was more, a deeper aspect to his speech. It kept pulling at him. And finally, Caer let out his true side. At last. "You know, I remember when I first stepped onto the stone ground of the Alleyverse. It was a truly marvellous feeling of unity. And I fought, I'm sure, and I joined guilds, and soon enough, I became my own person, my own little part of the bigger puzzle. For we were not meant to be separated. "And then I got amnesia. I was plagued by thoughts of inferiority, I didn't think I could match up to the previous Rashan, and all of the friends he made. I didn't know what to do, I felt helpless! And now I understand! It was never that I couldn't live up to the previous Rashan that bothered me. It was that I didn't have his friends, I didn't have his enemies, I didn't have his mentors, or students or anything else! I was alone! Alone. "Men and women, you should all remember when you first walked upon this land. You were apart of the Alleyverse, not one of its guilds! You were United! Not divided! And this is just a reminder! You are one of us, a part of the greater community. It doesn't matter whether you're a DA acolyte or a Ghostblood council member. "When Mac died, it was a shock to all of us. I saw it. I saw you all unite, for one moment, to share the pain between you all. And that, men and women, that was the spark of humanity that will win this war. For I can say my words, but I am one person, and I am powerless without you all. "So, I ask, to each and every one of you, to cast aside the childish differences you've put on yourself! For it doesn't matter whether a person is a TUBA member or a Liebrarian, all it matters is that they're your ally! They'll fight with you to the end, and you will too, and that's the only way we'll ever win! "And even if people die, then so what? We'll rebuild together, we'll fight together, we'll die together! Even if we have to rebuild this world from ashes and embers, we'll do it together! United as ever! And no matter how many monsters, or how many hemalurgic creations there are, as long there are allies, there is teamwork. And with that, WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE! "Yes, the rumours are true. Yes, I peered into the Worldspike itself. And I saw everything there was. I saw Beyond, I saw both good and bad. I saw all the outcomes of this war, and let me tell you, not all of them are great. But I'll tell you one thing I saw. I saw that where there was teamwork, there was triumph. And we will triumph! "Survivors have holed up in shelters, and are awaiting protection from the monstrosities outside. Think of them! Of you wont unite for yourselves, at least keep in mind the children who you'll save because you worked together. There's one last thing I need to address, though. "Elkanah, when I saw the spiritual realm, I saw an event of power. The Alleystorm, as you will call it. It will bring great aid to our cause, but the Abominations grow stronger by day! So I've thought of something, and hopefully it will help. "I'm going to Riot the emotions of every Abomination in the Alleyverse, sending them in a fury after me. I know it's dangerous, and I know it'll probably end up in my death, but when I'm the bait, the Abominations won't bother anyone else. You'll be free to make the Alleystorm, Elkanah, and any other survivors will have the chance to escape. "Men and women, when I saw the Worldspike, I saw UNITY. So let us join hands with one another, to pool our resources. No man can win this battle alone, and the day our forces kill the last of the Abominations, that is the day WE'll KNOW WE'VE SUCCEEDED! "Let us unite, for United, we stand! And we'll stand for centuries, men and women! "We'll stand for centuries."

"I'll take that as you doing well." Rashan said, trying to keep his balance after that tremendous scream. Remembering Max and Mara, he smiled fondly. The tears had still not stopped. "Me too, actually," he said, responding to the Pheonix, a blazing symbol of power. His end. It was beautiful, in a way. "Me too." Then he was gone, wiped away in a flash of heat and fury, obliterated from the Alleyverse. He was gone. Max and Mara stumbled through the crowded confines of this strange building, big people everywhere walking. They had to find the person called Devaan. Collectively, they carried the big sword the funny man had given them, as well as a note. Finally, they fixed eyes on a praying man, wearing a metal leg brace. Someone had called him Devaan before. Calling his name, the man turned towards the children, before resting eyes on the sword. He kept staring at the sword for a while, before the kids gave him the note the funny man had given them and said it was from Rashan Caer. The man who'd saved them. The note had a tear stain in the bottom right corner. The note read: Dear Devaan, my old friend, It seems the time has come where we must let go of the old, to cultivate the new. I know you told me that if I was going to die, to bring down the Pheonix down with me. Unfortunately, this is not the case. But believe me when I say this: I did something better. Instead of killing something, like I have killed so many of these monsters, I have brought something new. Something that will grow. The children you see in front of you (and presumably the ones who delivered this note to you) are named Max and Mara, I do not know their last names, nor do I know where their parents are. For all itents and purposes, these two were orphans, and I couldn't just let them die, Devaan. I know you'll hate me for sacrificing myself like this, but it had to be done. The kids have no parents or guardians I could find. I would raise them myself, but as you can see, I'm a bit dead. I'd like you to raise them. If it helps, consider them my successors, in a way. I died to give them life. Ever since I duelled you, I knew you'd make a great leader, and maybe even a father figure for some. You simply seemed like the best option. Now, I'm standing here, writing this note, in front of the children, in a crater. Your Sethramir certainly had quite the punch! I gave it to the kids so they could hand the sword back to you, leaving it next to my corpse would be a waste. Anyway, I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of things, I'm not an Archivist, but I will say this: take care of them for me, Devaan. Take care of them for me. - Your good friend, even in death, Rashan

In tWoK it was mainly the way that it seemed to rise up and was spoken of as an external force. Dalinar's nausea and rejection of it, and the fact that Kaladin never felt it despite the fights he was in. After WoR though, it was tied to one of the Unmade. From Taravangian's Interlude.

Soaring over the wreckage of the skyscraper, the Phoenix kept her eyes to the ground, moving constantly to find her enemy. Even now she could still feel a faint pull on her minds, though whether this was a supernatural ability or her own emotions was unclear. A few times she spotted him amid a horde of her kindred, but as soon as his figure appeared it was gone, leaving only destruction behind him. A few of her kindred were holding themselves together, either through healing or sheer hardiness and determination. But when she looked at them, she saw the wounds created by the enemy, an unsightly, horrible reminder that he yet lived. She sent a scorching wind through the alley, igniting it and destroying the bodies both the living and dead of what remained there. She launched herself skyward again, old hunting instincts kicking back in as she sought her quarry. She needed height to see, to spot some kind of track. More and more of her kindred gathered in the area, other creatures with strange, alien powers came too but they were no kindred of hers, they were something else entirely. Finally, she saw him. The hated one. In a place where creatures gathered thickest, a whirling tempest of wind, blade and power. She dove. The combined force of weight, enhanced speed and light-enhanced gravity accelerated her to tremendous speeds as she slammed into the ground like a falling star. Wings ablaze with fire, eyes ablaze with hatred she faced him. Lowering her head to the ground to see him better, she watched the enemy speak in one of the human tongues. Asking her something. She ignored it, this was life, not a time for talking. This was a time for screaming, for roaring victory or pain, for rending with talon or searing with flame. This was a time for the enemy to die. She sucked in the cold air of the alley, felt it warm, turning to fire within her lungs, and unleashed it in a tremendous screech that shattered windows and shook buildings. The storm within her calmed for a moment as she collected herself, not releasing her hatred, merely holding onto it temporarily. The eye of the storm. You will die well. She thought to the enemy, both eyes fixed on his, giving him one last moment before she unleashed a furnace of flame and fury.

Would you rather questions are a straight and awesome way to start a conversation in a fun, formal and interesting way. And it quite easy way to get into any continuing conversations by just asking “why” after a would you rather question. You’ll might be get some interesting answers and you will learn a lot after this. You will also learn a lot about the person you are asking to in a quite simple way.

I'm not sure if this has been stated or even noticed, but I was thinking about glyphs on Roshar, and I noticed that Adonalsium could possibly be related to the glyph Adoda, meaning light. (the reason this is in the OB spoiler board is because the first I had heard about the glyph Adoda was the naming of Adolin) Because I was thinking of Glyphpairs, I thought that Adonalsium might be a Glyphpair, or even a triplet of glyphs (not sure what the word would be for that) with -ium at the end. really, this is just a thought, but if anyone wants to add or tear down this idea, feel free.(but personally, I'd rather be of Cultivation than of Ruin.) sorry if this seems a bit scattered, but whenever i went back to change something in a sentence, it would highlight letters instead of just having that little black bar, so I couldn't add words without carving holes in the sentence, if someone knows why this is happening or how to fix it, please help. sorry if this seems a bit scattered, but whenever i went back to change something in a sentence, it would highlight letters instead of just having that little black bar, so I couldn't add words without carving holes in the sentencelike thisone knows why this is happening or how to fix it, please help.

This keeps happening to you, doesn't it? (They're talking about a different Cal, don't worry about it. ...Though if you look around you and see a bunch of binary code and programming language floating in midair and various other computery-sci-fi-esque surroundings, it probably means that you are indeed a Shadow in the Digital Realm, so feel free to worry about that instead.) Roshar and Scadrial. Check the ardentia or the Alethi royal family for the former, and the king of Luthadel or The Assembly for the latter (or The Roughs, if you prefer lawyers with a more punchy-punchy, stabby-stabby approach to law). You know you're a Sanderfan when the best lawyers you know of are from the Cosmere. And they're not even lawyers in canon, really.

Thanks so much for the warm welcome, everyone! Sounds like the consensus is to start with Warbreaker, so I'll do that before moving into Mistborn. By then I figure I'll have enough background so Arcanum Unbounded doesn't give me spoilers. Muchas gracias!

Stand firm. Stand still. Make the creator proud. Wally the wall hummed to himself. He was pretty sure no one could hear him, but he didn't care. I am a wall. Being a wall is fun. Wally held up the roof. Unlike his lesser cousins, he was a load bearing wall. He was proud of that. Stand firm. Stand still. Wally watched with curiosity as the People moved about in front of him. They were very fast, and had appendages for wiggling. That looks like fun. I wish I could wiggle. But I am a wall. Being a wall is fun. One of Them attracted the attention of some others. They began to hug. Come this way! Feel how strong my bricks are! To Wally's delight, the People did come his way. The dog-pile slammed into him, then bounced off. I have been useful. Woot. Being a wall is fun. ****** Mace was having a strange dream. In it, he was being licked by axehounds. They kept bouncing up and down on him, playfully smashing their fists into his armour... Mace awoke with a jolt. All around him, Crusaders were pommeling him. "Twosixfiveone," he grunted. "But you've got to rearrange the numerals-" exhausted, he fell asleep again. @BringerofShadows here's a updated compilation of my summaries.

The building bucked as a crowd of tens of thousands of Abominations charged right at it. Right at him. Bringing out the Aon Tia card he had taken from Devaan's deck before, he held it in front of him. It would take him right to Devaan's base, it was preprogrammed that way. He could tap it, and save himself. As he hovered his thumb over the card, ready to press, he saw something. Wait, that's not right. There it was, a couple blocks ahead. Was that... yes, it was. Two children, they couldn't be over 8, lay hugging each other as the monsters rushed by, distracted by Rashan's antics. But they wouldn't last long, and so the children were in serious danger. So little, so pure, no one deserved to die, least of all them. As he saw the kids, crying their hearts out, Rashan knew what he had to do. Good idea, a soft male voice inside of him said. Sethramir. Devaan had told him that if he was true enough, the sword would unlock its full capabilities. Twisting its hilt, Rashan turned the sword into a spear, one that could control the wind, or so Devaan had said. It'll be hard getting to those children, though. There can't be less than at least a hundred Abominations between you and them. And not the easy-to-kill type. "But I have to try." Very well, Sethramir said. Very well. At that moment, something clicked inside of Rashan. Resolve. Taking a running start, Rashan leaped off of the collapsing skyscraper, grabbing ahold of a Sentry and driving it into the ground, relying on stormlight to heal him. So, there he was. Rashan Caer, Twinborn, Truthwatcher, prophet. He had to save those children. He had to, more than he had to do anything else in his life. As a Kolassal charged at him, Rashan concentrated. See, understand, eliminate, use. His mantra for using Spiritual Sight. See all that you can, then understand what you've seen. Eliminate all of the unessecary details, and then use what you have left. This time, Rashan concentrated on the Kolossal. He saw a flurry of images come off it, and then he understood he was seeing all of its futures, every movement it could possibly make. He eliminated all of the unessecary information, he only wanted to see its future in a short time. Then, as he was left with a shadow of what the beast would do next, Rashan dodged. He could recreate atium sight. Storms, he could see atium shadows! He tried to hold back his grin as this time, the first time in the whole war, he charged at the enemy, yelling.

I got on Google, and found the molecular structure of an actual compound of cadmium, and did that.

Do we have any idea what the First Gem is? I tried looking on the Coppermind and couldn't find anything substantial. This question specifically arises from the second of the Oathbringer Letters, where the author of the letter (Presumed to be Autonomy/Patji) addresses the receiver (Hoid) as "Bearer of the First Gem." If we then look at The Second Letter from Words of Radiance, we see that the author (Presumed to be Frost) asks the receiver (Hoid) whether he has "given up on the gemstone, now that it is dead?" I think it seems safe to say that both are referring to the same Gem. We also know that Hoid is known as Topaz, due to "the large gem stone he wore a long time ago." All of these seem to indicate that Hoid is carrying a gemstone, one that is known by those who were involved in the shattering of Adonalsium, and that it is important enough that once can address Hoid (who has many remarkable feats) simply by the fact that he is the bearer of this gem. The Gem is most likely as old as the shattering, or older. The Gem is either a topaz or of similar color and clarity, (I currently lean towards the latter) and is currently "dead." What constitutes the Gem being alive is unclear, although I would propose that the Gem is magical in nature, and so the gem's "death" is, at the very least, that the gem's magic is no longer active. It seems that Hoid is rather attached to the Gem, as he continues to carry it with him across worlds and through millennia, even though it is now dead. Not only is Hoid actively carrying the gem, but he seems to be actively trying to restore or use the gem, even though it is dead and individuals as knowledgeable as Frost believe that it is a lost cause. In fact, Frost's statement to Hoid that he should give up on the gemstone now that it is dead seems reminiscent to me of their interaction in The Traveler, where Frost tells Hoid, "You will not find a way to restore what you have lost...it is impossible." Hoid then responds to this stating that "You don't know that, the old rules no longer hold" and following up with "This isn't...just about the dead." This interaction, much like their discussion in the Words of Radiance letter, revolves around Hoid having something that is "dead" and Hoid not giving up on it. If we are to make this connection (which, admittedly, seems tenuous at best) we can then surmise that the gem's death is more than just a loss of power, and that the gem had some form of sentience or sapience, (as evidenced by the way Hoid responds to Frost) and Hoid is indeed actively trying to restore the gem to life. Lastly, I would propose that the First Gem was instrumental in the shattering of Adonalsium. Admittedly, this has no real evidence other than the fact that the other individuals involved in the shattering seem aware of the gem, and seem to have a measure of respect for the gem. I would however believe that from a writer's standpoint, referencing the first gem as an item from before the shattering does not seem to hold thematic weight unless it has an impact on the storyline from that time. I've looked a bit for references to the First Gem and haven't found anything more substantial than vague references. I'm hoping someone more knowledgeable will be able to fill me in.

No, sorry, I should have worded that better. I read WoK, WoR and Edgedancer prior to Oathbringer. I should have said I have not read any of the Cosmere books outside of the Stormlight Archive.

I've been a largely absent Sharder but I will always keep up with my WoBs. So for my 2000th post here are my favorite WoBs since my 1000th post, around one year ago. Loosely categorized, for your reading pleasure. Spoilered for ridiculous length. FULL Cosmere spoilers, obviously. Shards, the Realms and Investiture Magic systems In-world history, peoples and events Characters

I did it. #retrospectivetruth Though now I've abandoned my non-Sharding discipline I find myself unable to crawl back in my hole. Boy I've missed it. Guess I'll be active again until my personal life suffers sufficiently

You cannot see it but Izzy is scowling at both of you! She doesn't have a sense of humour. Like at all. Izzy feels that with people trying to kill us, we would be better off looking for them and not making jokes. I have no idea how I'm going to pull off a serious character but Izzy demands it. Wish me luck.

Brandon proves yet again to have thought of everything! The answer is right in the text of Oathbringer courtesy of Lift: Crazyface

when your little cousin, who is only four years old asks you to tell a story, and you immediately want to tell her the story "The Girl Who Looked Up." when you are using cosmere swears and end up creating a sentence that starts "Who in the name of You do you think you are..." and realize you just swore three times in six words...

Welcome to the Shard! And yeah, Warbreaker is a good starting point if you want a shorter standalone read, the original Mistborn trilogy if you want to jump right into the deep end. Or if you want a good primer on how the three Realms work and a shorter and more 'personal' story you can also try The Emperor's Soul.

Recently I received a comment on my Oathbringer Lore video that started me down this particular rabbit hole. “I don’t get why Odium doesn’t take the power of the shards he kills.” (VREODe) Initially, this seemed easy to answer. Odium already has a purpose and intent that goes so well in line with the Vessel’s own intent and incorporating other shards would only muddle that intent further. But as I thought about the implications I realized that there is something that I was overlooking about the nature of Odium and the potential union that we might have overlooked. The power and intent of Ambition. [Credit to Botanica Xu who created Grandpa Odium, please follow the link and follow her on Tumbler] First let’s review why Odium would willingly pass up the power of a shattered shard. Harmony is the perfect example of the danger combining shards poses. While Harmony likely wields the greatest collective power in the Cosmere at the moment, he is also the most severely limited. In his letter to Hoid he expresses the growing struggles he has in acting upon the greater Cosmere due to the need to maintain the balance between two opposing shards. This seems to restrict him far more than the single shards ever were. His immense power might destroy him if he is not careful. It's easy to see that such a conflicting nature would be incredibly unappealing to a shard like Odium. He obviously has plans and intent to destroy or at least subdue the other powers of the Cosmere for his own ends. Perhaps he is just paranoid that he will fall like Adonalsium and seeks to eliminate any potential threats who have the investiture or knowledge to destroy him. In fact, the nature of events on Scadrial, where mortals ascend and destroy an established shard, likely haunt his dreams. This would explain Odium’s apparent terror when Dalinar created a perpendicularity. At that moment Dalinar became a sliver of something Odium thought destroyed and he fled. It seems clear to me that Odium fears to lose his power, and that fear motivates his actions. But what does this have to do with the death of Ambition? Brandon has said that the moment the shards scattered across the stars, Odium was targeting Ambition. Likely he foresaw Ambition as the most likely to challenge his rule and thus needed to be eliminated. Ambition wasn’t the first shard to fall, but eventually, Odium took her out. There are scraps of power left behind from that encounter, so we know the fight was figuratively bloody. After the downfall and splintering of Dominion and Devotion Odium left quite a mess of their investiture and the effects of his decision to lock the investiture in the Cognitive Realm has resulted in some unintended consequences. Perhaps he has refined his ability to kill shards since then, and he had another opportunity with Ambition. It is likely then to assume that the shattering of Ambition was far cleaner, and perhaps it will be difficult to determine what exactly happened until the events of that fight are canonized. But as I answered this question some small thoughts that had been floating around in my mind came back to me. Core questions that I couldn’t shake off. How was Odium able to fight and kill two shards that were united? Would the power of Ambition resonate with a man like Rayse who already had so much natural ambition? Has it ever been stated officially that Odium is just one shard? Devotion and Dominion were likely pitted against each other allowing Odium to bring them down due to their opposing natures. But Honor and Cultivation are not so opposed. The nature of their relationship was likely complicated but it didn’t seem as openly hostel as other pairings thus far. It seems odd that another equal albeit aggressive shard could sweep in and kill Honor. In fact, it seems to me that Honor and Cultivation sought to trap Odium to prevent his future rampaging. So, what happened? How did one defeat two? I think Odium secretly holds more than his share of power. What reason does he have to abandon the power of a defeated shard that matches his own intent so well? In physics, there are some curious effects that we can observe in the nature of sound waves. If you have two sound waves that have the same amplitude but inverted phase (antiphase), they will cancel each other out leaving a strange silence behind. This is observably similar to the nature of Ruin and Preservation, two similar yet opposing forces that cancel each other out. However, if you have two wavelengths of equal strength that are in phase they amplify into one more powerful wave. This is likely a parallel that can be drawn between two different shards. If opposed they cancel each other out. If in phase they can amplify. Based on the observed Cosmere, I doubt that Odium completely took all of Ambition’s power, it seems there were large splinters left behind at least on one world. But I sincerely doubt Odium would leave behind the power that would only bolster his intent and nature. It would explain why he has become such a danger to the Cosmere that Hoid seeks to gather the other shards against him. Remember Odium destroyed Honor and seeks to destroy Cultivation so he can break free of the Rosharian system. The other shards might only be safe currently because Odium has been trapped on Roshar for so long. Naturally, there is little support for this theory, and I’m likely wrong about this. Perhaps Odium would be too paranoid of corrupting his own power base to incorporate even a portion of another shard. Yet there are some observations that I can make that imply that I might be right about this. For instance, it is interesting that on Threnody the fragment of ambition seems to create cognitive shadows of the deceased that can act of their own accord, something that seems prevalent in the forces of Odium and the fused. Is it hard to believe that the power to infuse the remains of the dead into service is a power that Odium acquired rather than developed? To me, it seems far too likely to be a coincidence and the temptation of Ambition’s power far too great to be ignored.

all hail the Words of Brandon, may they be so.

Heyo. I'm sorry but 1,000,000 dollars ain't enough to erase one series! I would choose the first one. Okay I've got one for you: Would you rather be a Mistborn or a Windrunner?

Elsecallers can turn one object in the Physical realm into something else, by convincing it to change in the Cognitive realm. I believe for this purpose you need to be able to communicate with the spren directly and understand each other. Soulcaster can change one object into a specific thing. Let`s say turn anything into smoke. The structure of the fabrial consists of: a trapped spren of specific type, specific gem, stormlight and metal casing. We know how all of the components work, except the spren. Here comes my theory. Since the elsecaller is able to convince the specific spren to change form in PR, the same process must be used with the fabrials. I believe the spren is used as a translator or more likely as an example. The Soulcaster can’t directly communicate with spren, he uses the trapped spren as an example of what he wants. I believe the interaction is very crude, like pointing a finger to an object and trying to convince the one you speak with, to take the form of that object. No words, no civil communicating, just intimidation. You use the trapped spren as an example of what form the other object has to take and what would happen if he doesn`t comply. Since the fabrial only has one type of spren trapped in it. You can only point to that same spren every time you soulcast for instance. Threatening the object in front of you to change in to this particular spren you already trapped. That's the reason why soulcasting fabrials can change everything into only one thing (ex: smoke, oil, etc) Where the Elsecaller can turn everything into anything by using the benefit of mutual understanding. So it`s all a matter of communication and understanding. While the Elsecaller can communicate freely with all types of spren. The fabrial user can only point to what he wants and his only type of communication is intimidation. Elsecallers convince, while normal humans only threaten other spren, by using one of their kind as an example.

Wow thank you everyone for your contributions! You've given me lots of names! I haven't picked one yet and I won't need a name for a few weeks yet but these are better than what I had come up with! And to further the inspiration... the chosen one will be one of these four

Because he's trying to persuade the humans, while he already has control of the Singers. He offhandedly tossed Yelig-nar to Amaram, and was...not nice to Taravangian. He's a master manipulator. He knows when to use the stick and when to use the lure. I personally think that the Listeners will return, and a good number of Singers will become Listeners, and ally with the humans, under Venli's leadership. And they'll teach the Singers not to be open to the Fused, leaving them with no bodies to inhabit (eventually), and possibly find a way to get rid of them for good.

This may be a stupid question, but why do we think it's common knowledge which Spren were associated with which Radient Orders? The average person probably knew about the 10 orders, but did they necessarily know there were specific Spren that bonded different types of Knight? It seems the typical Vorin on the street knew that the Radients: 1) Used to be good 2) Had Shards 3) Went bad Assuming Taravingian is speaking as if he didn't have any special knowledge, I don't think he could say "Yes, the half-shards use Bindspren (for example), which of course were the Spren that a Stoneward would bond. So this particular type of Spren may have in another time formed a Nahel bond with that particular kind of Knight Radient." So either he's speaking much more knowledgeably than would fit with his cover story, or I grossly misjudged how much people knew about the Radients. I think either he's talking with knowledge he can't explain having in an attempt to frazzle Dalinar, or with he's just talking about Spren as a whole.

Relevant:

When I started working at a junior college in my area, back in September 2005, the show Supernatural started, and I got this romantic connotation in my head on account of the character of Dean Winchester. Like, whenever I was extra-down on my luck with the lads (always outta luck on that score, I might actually say...), so to say, I would think of Dean for some kind of abstract comfort. Besides the eye-candy aspect of the situation, I wasn't sure why this image stuck with me so strongly. It's not that the character is an example of my "ideal guy," either, ethically/personally/w/e. Not even sans-cigar close. So anyway, I really like the show Lost and bonded with an LDS missionary, one of the first two I ever met, over our mutual admiration of the program, but try as he might he never managed to convince me to join the LDS church. Instead, I became fixed on this idea that, "I have to be friends with that church," like on the outside of the outskirts, looking in, defending them on message boards or random discussions in my everyday life or wherever. After Lost ended, the only show I wanted to keep watching was Supernatural (I've Netflixed some entire other series since 2010, but I'm talking the passion of waiting for new episodes and new seasons: I wasn't willing to devote that to anything else besides the adventures of Dean and Co.). Now, I couldn't figure out why it was so important for me to be affiliated with the Mormon movement, without joining, like this intuition was totally random until I read The Hero of Ages. Several months beforehand, I had convinced myself that the demon-angel of destruction in the Bible, Apollyon, is somehow sort of a real being. The word "Apollyon" means "the Destroyer" and goes with "Abaddon" for "Destruction," so... Ruin... So I also had this idea that Apollyon was listening to things people say out loud and corrupting the Earth's scriptures, and that the plan to stop this being was connected to the numbers from Lost (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42). (Italicized number = you know what, bold number = the one I thought was being left as a "signal," by the Holy Spirit, to guide people who were supposed to be champions in the conflict with Destruction.) I had never read any of Sanderson's work and had no plan to at the time. It was only because I lost my job because I freaked out about this Apollyon story in my head, that I was going to the library (the books there are free to read, so with no income, it was the place for me to be), and happened upon The Final Empire, a few months after I lost my job, and it was only because The Hero of Ages was the one being sold closest to where I lived (in the paperback section of the grocery store I went to) that I got that book instead of The Well of Ascension (I had recently started work again and was dying to know what happened after the first Mistborn book, which was the only one at the local library (I could've done interlibrary loan but was being superimpatient, without realizing what I was about to read)). As of today, and as of many todays over many of the last ten years, I have come to believe that this coincidence of stories is not accidental, that Sanderson deduced this problem of personified destruction and its role in human history, and then re-encoded it in one of his narratives. I am supersure that something like this at least might be true, because of another coincidence. In 2015 I was walking around and a creepy man singing about angels and demons was lurking in the park where I was, and while this scenario unfolded another, totally-not-creepy young man approached us, and talked with me for like an hour or so, then went his way, and I didn't learn his name then, but thought, "Wouldn't it be weird if his name turned out to be 'Dean'?" (The alternative weird-coincidence-option was, "Jason," for tl;dr reasons so yeah...) So I took a copy of The Way of Kings later, back to the park where I met the stranger-from-Utah (I could tell from his accent that he came from that state, on account of when I hung out with LDS missionaries from that place and picked up on the accent), and notes about the Apollyon story, and left them for the mysterious fellow there, and eventually he showed up again and said he'd gotten the notes, and he was a (lapsed) Mormon, too, and when he was heading home again I looked at him and said, "My name's 'Kristian,' by the way." He shook my hand. "I'm Dean," he said.

Picture Book My name's Barry! It's so nice to meet you! I'm a small animal with abnormally large eyes. I live in a miniature house or a massive borough, I can't remember which. My memory is very poor. Maybe you can help! Help me count the sheep! One. Two. Three. Three sheep! Wasn't that fun? I wear clothes, and use human tools like mirrors and plates. That makes me happy. When I'm happy, I smile, even though that's a sign of aggression among my species. But I'm not your typical animal. Can normal animals talk? Or carry a conversation? No! That makes me special. I have no fear of humans. I'll show you! Group hug! ... I also have the rabies. DIE HOOMAN! NO ONE MESSES WITH BARRY AND LIVES TO TELL THE TALE! NO ONE!

Nah. Gotta get them to get over their crap and unite against Odium. Neither side is wrong. Just Odium and the Fused. The Singers are not the Fused.

Do you have a "nuke from up close" spam button?

when for some reason you're driving down the road see this wall, and have vague thoughts about Stormward and Leeward side.

Before Oathbringer came out there were a lot of sharp eyed readers that noticed the thrill was unnatural and probably atrached to Odium. I must admit I dismissed these conclusions and thought the "Thrill" was simply a result of the human condition that was described by Karen Armstrong (apologies for the length): "Here again the limbic system comes into play. The prospect of killing may stir our empathy, but in the very acts of hunting, raiding, and battling, this same seat of emotions is awash in serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for the sensation of ecstasy that we associate with some forms of spiritual experience. So it happened that these violent pursuits came to be perceived as sacred activities, however bizarre that may seem to our understanding of religion. People, especially men, experienced a strong bond with their fellow warriors, a heady feeling of altruism at putting their lives at risk for others and of being more fully alive. This response to violence persists in our nature. The New York Times war correspondent Chris Hedges has aptly described war as “a force that gives us meaning”: War makes the world understandable, a black and white tableau of them and us. It suspends thought, especially self-critical thought. All bow before the supreme effort. We are one. Most of us willingly accept war as long as we can fold it into a belief system that paints the ensuing suffering as necessary for a higher good, for human beings seek not only happiness but meaning. And tragically war is sometimes the most powerful way in human society to achieve meaning. It may be too that as they give free rein to the aggressive impulses from the deepest region of their brains, warriors feel in tune with the most elemental and inexorable dynamics of existence, those of life and death. Put another way, war is a means of surrender to reptilian ruthlessness, one of the strongest of human drives, without being troubled by the self-critical nudges of the neocortex. The warrior, therefore, experiences in battle the transcendence that others find in ritual, sometimes to pathological effect. Psychiatrists who treat war veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have noted that in the destruction of other people, soldiers can experience a self-affirmation that is almost erotic. Yet afterward, as they struggle to disentangle their emotions of pity and ruthlessness, PTSD sufferers may find themselves unable to function as coherent human beings. One Vietnam veteran described a photograph of himself holding two severed heads by the hair; the war, he said, was “hell,” a place where “crazy was natural” and everything “out of control,” but, he concluded: The worst thing I can say about myself is that while I was there I was so alive. I loved it the way you can like an adrenaline high, the way you can love your friends, your tight buddies. So unreal and the realest thing that ever happened.… And maybe the worst thing for me now is living in peacetime without a possibility of that high again. I hate what that high was about but I loved that high." So my question is what clues were those sharders working off of and how did they know to differentiate it from the previously quoted part that is just common to the evolution of humans?

I’m glad Eshonai died. It was needed after the WoR ending with Jasnah and Szeth coming back. It was also a huge shock, since everyone expected her to survive. It also makes her an incredibly tragic character, in that she became a monster to help her people, and never got a chance to change.

Mine is my face. I thought it would work. Regretting it now. It’s actually my senior yearbook photo. About the only photo of me that doesn’t make me wanna go inquisitor and spike my eyes out.

Congratulations, Zath! Sorry again that I couldn't participate. But hey, second place isn't so bad, right? Good luck to all of you! (If the stick rap is solely 'I am a stick', I don't know what that says about Sharders) (Never mind, it means we're awesome)

Rebecca is totally right. There are a ton of spam albums and no "Report" button or anything for the albums themselves. Community Photos is absolutely the worst of the lot, as Rebecca pointed out, but most of the other galleries have at least one spam album in there as well, usually near the bottom. No worries, I got this. (...yes, I admit it, I started making this list and couldn't stop. Please send help. ) Administrators/Moderators, in an effort to help clean up the 17th Shard, here is a list of all the spam albums I could find (spoilered for length, and to decrease the visibility that these spammers get on this site.)

Storms, these have all been great! Everybody give yourselves a pat on the back! And then brace yourselves, 'cause Spook's about to drop the beat. (Major spoilers for Mistborn Era 1 and minor spoilers for Mistborn Era 2):

You actually see a full sleepless earlier in Oathbringer. It’s Kaza’s interlude thing. The cook.

Congrats to @AonEne for making the final round. I hope you're humble in defeat, as well as victory Here goes: Arrrrr come on mate, now this ain't fair, I'm only here because you were there. Back before the Catacendre, doesn't matter i'll still end ya. Whats over your eyes mate? Underwear? Lord Mistborn, Spook, or Lestibournes. I'll roast you, with gratitude, rest assured. What is it with lords and all there names, let me say now, you won't survive these flames. You weren't Tineye, more like Tin addict, lucky your mate was emperor, you could always have it. Kelsiers barman, with all the drinks you were serving only Mistborn in the end because he put a word in. There's nothing you can do, nothing to really hurt me. You could be Twinborn, Mistborn, Compound with Hemalurgy. You'll be forgotten in era three, i'll be going strong in era thirty. You nearly killed yourself, you want victory, you ain't worthy. I come from a time of electricity and cars, you don't need allomancy to glance at the stars. You come from a time ruin and ash, you had no idea what you were doing, your trash. I sure as hell won't forget to mention, how useless you were in the Well of Ascension. A sword and some tin? you need a better armoury, I'll Ruin your Preservation, you will never know Harmony.

It really seems like the only way to read it is that half-shards are filled with sentient spren. There isn’t any reason to read it another way. I’m very shocked only one person was arguing for this position. The text clearly says that those spren may have once blessed a radiant, and there’s no reason to believe this conversation was a fake-out. This entire book is about ethics, and radiant spren being used in Fabrials is par for the course so far. Anyway, I found this episode quite frustrating and wanted to turn it off quite frequently. I can’t fathom why the majority of the casters refused to accept there was likely slavery going on (and that it was very likely). The amount of mental scaffolding required to disprove the idea is not compelling in any way: “maybe Mr.T was lying and Dalinar didn’t understand and the Stormfather had bad gas at that exact moment and we agree it’s possible but for some reason it is not happening here for unrevealed reasons”... Me.T could be wrong, but the reader is supposed to believe he is right.

I get what you're saying, and you do have a point, but I think you're vastly overstating the similarity between Kaladin's and Moash's "betrayals". The whole crisis for Kaladin in the second book deals with the meaning of "protecting". Protecting, like attacking someone in aggression, is an ACTION: you deliberately put yourself in harm's way, between a threat and its intended target. Kaladin sympathized with Moash's bitterness towards Elhokar, and had it compounded by his own when he learned that another outcome of the "Roshone Affair" that led to the imprisonment and death of Moash's grandparents is what ruined Kaladin's life in Hearthstone as well, including conscripting Tien into Amaram's army. So he was swayed to believe there was a "third path": to attack, to protect, and to step back. So long as he was not present when Elhokar was attacked, he reasoned, he could not be blamed for not protecting him. Who would know he could have done so? The answer, of course, is that HE himself would know, and did know. That dissonance is what killed Syl. And he did intervene, despite having no Stormlight, to prepare to die in defense of Elhokar. Now, does he owe Dalinar or anyone other than Syl an apology, confession, explanation, etc.? That's an interesting question. Other members of Bridge Four were aware of Kaladin's (temporary) loss of Surgebinding. Eventually, if any other Radiant "backslides" on their Ideals and loses their Nahel bond, Dalinar may put two and two together about the way that "Stormblessed" got all busted up getting out of the chasm with Shallan yet didn't heal with Stormlight until days later, implying something similar had happened, and then recalling how Kaladin came back to save him from Szeth just after saving Elhokar from the attack. Or, I suspect Navani or Jasnah might want to collect and document the progression of Ideals from their current crop of Radiants, similar to some of what they found in the recordings at Urithiru, and put Kaladin on the spot as to how and when he gained his Shardblade. Given what happened later I'm sure Dalinar et al. would "forgive" Kaladin, but I bet the details of that will come out eventually. If it waits until Moash publicly outs him in a climactic moment, that could be very painful for Kaladin. But, I don't think it compares at all to Moash's betrayal, which is far more personal. Kaladin was guilty of moral cowardice, and realized and repented of it in time to prevent Elhokar's assassination. Both Kaladin and Moash had betrayed the duty of guarding the king, and Moash throws that in Kaladin's face ("and you're different?" -- "No, I'm not. But I'm trying to change that.") However, Kaladin had originally explicitly told Moash, as a direct order, to stop meeting with Graves and co. and to break off his plans with them. Which Moash disobeyed. That betrayal was pretty damning, until Kaladin found out that Roshone was at the center of both of their grudges, and was momentarily willing to let the plot go on... And he changed his mind. That, I think, is Kaladin's right. I think holding onto vengeance, repaying for the death of his grandparents, over the friendship and loyalty he owes a living man who he owes his own life in Kaladin - even going so far as to move to kill him - is far, far worse than Kaladin's dereliction of duty. Valuing vengeance over the life of his friend, his "captain, forever", who'd saved his life in the bridge crews, trained him, and made him a Shardbearer with a gift of Shards that Moash hadn't earned in any way, other than friendship and loyalty? And to kill him with those selfsame Shards? It's the exact reversal of "Life before Death", isn't it? Not "dope" at all. And it's not like Kaladin was telling Moash to "let go of your anger" or some Jedi thing. He said he'd discovered the true culprit wasn't Elhokar but Roshone, and that they could both seek justice against him. Moash didn't listen.

Chapter One: Oathbreaker

Excellent! Make it your profile pic I'd love to help but honestly I can;t even draw a stick, let alone stick men. So I agree with you that Adolin is hopeless with women, but I honestly don't blame him for going along with Shallan. I think he has been ensnared by the idea of marriage and love and all that malarky, and he found a woman that seemed to really fit. Now regardless of how people feel about Shallan's choice, she has spent a great deal of time around Adolin trying to be the perfect woman for him. It is one of the reasons she wants to hide Veil from him - she wants to keep up the illusion that she is only the "perfect Shallan". Adolin is essentially in love with the idea of being in love - he may also love Shallan, but he has been looking to get a stable relationship for a while - it was why he agreed to the causal in the first place - he admits as much to Kaladin. I think he likes the idea of settling down. Being married will allow him to continue doing the things he likes - duelling, wine, fashion, without the requirement to find a woman to marry. It is hardly surprising he gets caught up in the moment because he genuinely likes (I am unclear that it is definitely love - I personally thinks it is too soon) Shallan - and she is being particularly pushy at that moment. He hears what he wants to hear - ie the praise for Adolin and misses the implication that there was no denunciation of Kaladin. She has the momentum and he is happy to be pushed along with it - he is used to having someone else being the driving force in his life - previously it was Dalinar, now it is Shallan.

The 17th shard (sitting in chairs formed in a circle) responds with a many voiced, almost monitone, "Hi Calderis."

That seems rather, time consuming.