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This is a really good idea. I'll edit this onto the OP2. Given its similarity in strength to regular armour, I've always treated it as being common and weak enough not to be worth attributing points too. I could see adding 5 or 10 points for them, but I didn't have plans to. ***** While I'm here, I'd like to take this opportunity to update you about how this thread is going to run going forward. As you know, Voidus and the leaders of this sub-forum have edit privileges. They are the ones that can add or edit bios on the list. In past, I've been the point-man on that front, but I am handing over that responsibility to @Lord Meeker. AV mods may still add in bios if they happen to stop by, but it will be assumed that if no one else does, Meeker will do it. No pressure, Meeks. The character submission process will remain the same. Post your bios here, then someone will authoritatively explain why they think it is acceptable or not. The Index should help keep this process consistent. The final say will still go to the mods, but speaking from experience, it's really nice when someone dissects a bio for you. I appreciate the input that people take it upon themselves to provide. If you're submitting a bio and Mac, Itiah, Kenod, or any other fantastic person quotes you and shares how they scored it or makes comments about how it could be improved, I encourage you to listen to them. That's what this thread is about: sharing your idea with the community so you can get as many eyes on it as possible before it becomes official. Don't be afraid to bounce ideas off of people, or to pick the brains of experienced RPers. Additionally, Snipexe has been coerced convinced to cover the graveyard shift. Expect to see him commenting on bios as well. Once the details are sorted, you should tag Meeker, not me. It should also go without saying that PMing me with bios is a futile endeavor. It's easier if you post your bio here instead anyway, not just because it gives you the opportunity to get feedback from other people, but it also keeps everything character-related in one place. There are other ways to make the mods' life easier as well. Format and spell-check your post before submitting it. Also, work a lot of context clues into your sentences, and be clear about what your referencing. It's easier to locate a bio, or even an old train of thought, if you drop hints about who the Hoid you're talking about and why we should know them. Finally, be patient. Due to volume of submissions, IRL events, and other commitments, you may not get a response for a few hours, or even days. If Meeker posts after you and doesn't mention you, then you may have been accidentally missed. It happens. If it happens to you, quote your old post and ask what's up. Chances are your request was lost in the sea of other text they were sifting through. Thank you all for your cooperation. I know going through this process can be tiresome sometimes. Y'all are troopers, and the prep work you put into your characters has made my job so much easier this past year. Try not to break anything while I'm gone.

So I've had a thought that something that might help people who are planning on having OP characters would be to have a separate character sheet. Or, essentially the same character sheet but with some additions so that other players can see why they might want to approve the character. I hope that it might also help people refine OP characters so that other players actually get excited about interacting with them and think of ways that they can weave their own character into the OP characters story. OP characters should be central to many plots, so it's important for other people to know how they might interact with the world ahead of time so that plots can develop accordingly. Something like: So for example: Metronome

The ten orders at a Pizza-party: The Windrunner is going around checking if anybody is allergic to anything, and warning people that the pizza is very hot. When they get around to eating their own pizza, it's cold. They stare off into the distance, thinking about the many, many dangers of baked dough with tomato sauce and toppings. The Skybreaker demands a discount when the pizza takes more than 30 minutes to arrive and checks twice if everyone's pizza slices are the same size. The Dustbringer wants their pizza extra, super spicy so they don't have to share with anyone. The Edgedancer shares their pizza with everyone, and reminds them that a lot of other people aren't as fortunate as they are. The Truthwatcher foresees that they'll have indigestion if they eat too much pizza, but they offer to share half of theirs with the Dustbringer. The Lightweaver's first truth is that they prefer calzones to pizza. They also freak out the pizza delivery guy by lightweaving themself to look exactly like him. The Elsecaller decides that the logical thing to do is to Soulcast their pizza into something healthy with the maximum amount of nutritional value. It doesn't taste good, but they tell everyone it's brainfood. The Willshaper orders a pizza with literally everything on it, then walks around asking if they can try a slice of everyone else's pizza too. The Stoneward orders the same pizza they always do, Margherita. They are extremely satisfied. And of course the Bondsmith is the one who invited everybody to the pizza party. They order a huge family size pizza for everyone to share. And garlic bread. And mozzarella sticks. Food brings people together.

I disagree with that. For Kaladin, I think it chipped away a little bit at his perspective on lighteyes. His relationship with Dalinar has obviously been the biggest factor in Kaladin overcoming his prejudices. And his time with the Kholinar Wall Guard was also pretty significant. But I think his interactions with Shallan, including the slight romantic interest, played into that development. For Shallan, I think Kaladin was a way for Brandon to highlight the depth of her splintering personalities. At first she's a teenage girl with mixed emotions that she's not entirely sure how to sort through. She's interested in both for different reasons, which is totally normal. Then the next moment she's got different personalities interested in different guys. Not good! Edit: Oh, and for Adolin it highlighted his feelings of inadequacy pretty well, I think, if nothing else.

Unexpectedly, Archer reacted by switching to first-person narration. I set down my fork, gazing at the pistol the ghanderflaffle had placed on the table. I suddenly became very aware of every background noise that I'd previously tuned out in the crowded restaurant. "If you kill me," I said as calmly as I could, "you won't leave here alive." Seemingly unperturbed, the ghanderflaffle allowed his fingers to tip toe towards the gun, caressing its sleek metal body, before tightening into a firm grip around the hilt. He raised it so that it was level with my eyes, then slowly clicked off the safety. "And if you kill me," he responded, "no one leaves here alive." Three heartbeats later I blacked out.

*hugs* Also we have a PM if you want to join.

Before he died, Mace's last thoughts were of his family. As his lungs convulsed, his nephew's face came to mind. It was happy memory, from a time between wars. A time when everything seemed possible. Back when I had hair, came a random observation from his subconscious. Also, owwwwww. The pain was unbearable. He tried to heal, but something was wrong. His goldminds wouldn't compound. He tried to flare his metals, any and all of them, but it was like they had disappeared. He couldn't sense them. All he could feel was a painful bulge in his stomach. His nephew's face was replaced in his mind's eye. In its place, a grinning skull appeared. It was nestled in the hood of a dark cloak that Mace vaguely recognized. Suddenly, the skeleton spoke. Its voice was deep and ancient. Mace immediately remembered where he'd last heard it, nearly two decades ago. YOU COULD USE YOUR FERUCHEMICAL ABILITIES. YOU STILL HAVE THOSE. Dang you, Mace thought at it. Dang you to- HELLO, the skeleton interrupted. IT APPEARS THAT YOUR ATTACKER IS NOT FINISHED. With brutal efficiency, Detran brought his sword down upon Mace's neck. In his last second of life, Mace managed to eek out a single word. It was a whisper, likely imperceptible to all but its intended recipient. It was the universal cry of a defeated man. "Why?" MACE KLASTEN, YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW... Mace's body fell to the ground, dead. Concerningly, he could still hear the other man speaking. ...WHEN YOU DO A DEAL WITH DEATH, THERE'S ALWAYS A CATCH. Mace looked at his corpse and winced. An impossible amount of blood was seeping out, soaking into the ground around him. It was morbidly captivating. Finally, he looked back to meet the gaze of the skeletal creature beside him. TIME TO GO, it said coldly. And for once, Mace didn't try to fight the inevitable. Instead, he lifted his head, straightened his back, and embraced the Beyond with acceptance. It was finally the end for him.

Good prompt question. Professor Thomas Cardinal is the single greatest boon to paleontology the world has ever seen, and no, he won't let any of the researchers flocking to him forget it. He still struggles with depression but his sudden intense importance to an entire scientific field pleases him. There is a possibility that he would still turn into a supervillain if he wound up dying multiple times somehow, since a portion of his megalomaniacal delusions of grandeur were derived from the way his power worked and not just Calamity's corruption. That said, in a world with active police and Steelheart-tier superheroes flying around, Lightwards would have even more difficulty carving out a foothold for himself. Disregard everything above. Steve Lawrence is the single greatest boon to paleontology the world has ever seen, because he can uncover not only dinosaur bodies but dinosaur behavior in their natural habitats. When discovered Lawrence was shortly thereafter offered generous stipends from countless universities and world governments who were extremely eager to take advantage of his one-of-a-kind power. For a while Backtrack lived the good life. Then he went missing, because a gang of particularly nefarious supervillains kidnapped him and to this day use him as a special asset. It doesn't matter which gang did it. He has so little situational awareness that if it wasn't them, it just would have been someone else. Aldo the Enigmatic's magic show was stunning before he gained the ability to pull a yacht out of a paper bag, and it's even more fantastic now. Stephen Vondra isn't an Epic, but the National Guard division he commands is nonetheless a vital tool in the nation's defense arsenal. He specializes in countering destructive Epics by luring their attention away from civilian targets, luring them into traps, and using the immensely superior firepower that Daniel Dewhickey and a federal budget can supply him with. He's worked with many superheroes, and while he doesn't fully approve of their dubious status as law enforcement, he appreciates having them around. I see sort of a gruff Commissioner Gordon kind of dynamic between him and various superheroes in the world. Edgar Hawk is still a career criminal, and a dangerous one too. His general demeanor and propensity for violence haven't changed much in this universe. What has changed is the degree to which he can flaunt it, since police sirens still do weaken his powers and he has to be careful where he uses them. He's often used as a glorified mob hitman, sent in the dead of the night to swiftly assassinate problems. He has ambitions of being the one running the underworld, though... will that ever happen? He's probably a recurring member of some Epic superhero's rogues gallery. Wilbert Abners, AKA Glamour, is a successful DJ who can light up an entire dance floor with his powers. No interest in superheroing on his part. He's right where he wants to be. ... Möbius is still out there somewhere, and she did still steal a city. No one knows why. But she is a powerful force and if there are any shady conspiracies going on in this world at its highest levels, you can bet that somehow or another she's connected to them. Either because she started them, or the very fact that she exists forces them to make their peace with her. She isn't as cruel here, but her personality is still one that wants desperately to change the world... and someone with her kind of power can do that almost any way she wants. Vanilla Sabotage: Invocation Edition Sam's family is still alive, with her father a notable heroic Epic. She does her best to dodge reporters bent on asking her weird questions about her powers, as although she's virtually immortal and highly powerful in her own right, she doesn't generally use them. It's not out of any fear of corruption, since that never happened in the Invocationverse. It's just that she doesn't have any interest in breaking things or getting into fights. There was a time she got caught up in a hostage situation involving a supervillain, but this turned out worse for the supervillain than for her. Sam spent the entire time looking bored, picking at the ropes binding her, and periodically snarking off at him until he got fed up and zapped her in the face with a ray gun. She instantaneously healed, broke out of her ropes, and left him tangled up for the cops to get. Revolution Sunburst Jones is a pacifist superhero, known for invincibility and incredible energy powers but an unwillingness to use them to harm another human being. This generally involves her walking into a bad supervillain situation, drawing their fire away from people who could otherwise get hurt, and disrupting their plans in any way she can that doesn't involve reducing everyone involved to ash. Which she could do. Easily. If I'm forgetting anyone it's probably because no one cares about them.

How the ten orders buy a car: Skybreaker: Checks the car over to ensure that it meets all of the safety standards and then examining all of the other cars for the same reason before making a decision. Windrunner: Flies about making sure that nobody is being harmed by an over zealous salesman. Dustbringer: Sets fire to all of the cars in the lot and then chases the salesman for no good reason. Edgedancer: Reminds the salesman about all of the forgotten car features. Stoneward: Buys the same model of car that he had before. Elsecaller: Goes in having done all of the research and tells the salesman exactly what they want. Willshaper: Takes the car on a joyride when the salesman looks away and forgets to return it to the lot. Lightweaver: Soulcasts the functional minivan into a sports car. Truthwatcher: Foresees the salesperson's pitch and cuts them off and buys their car of choice. Bondsmith: Unites all of the salespeople into one ultimate salesperson.

I agree with all that you said. Well put. I suppose if I wanted to critique something... This line stuck out. I think its easy to read this as if maskShallan is a static personality. They haven't been around very long, but it seems like Veil and Radiant are static. They fulfill very specific purposes, and while she may flesh them out over time I don't see them... changing. Shallan has been wearing many masks over the years though. So I would be careful not to suggest that she invented some persona as a young girl and has been hiding behind that idea ever since. Does that make sense?

The gemstone is a sort of go-between that lets the spren synchronize to the person currently holding their Physical Realm corpse. The heartbeats are how long it takes after this pseudo-bond has been established to 'wake up' the spren enough to summon the Blade. It's basically tricking the spren into a semblance of life. The spren is still 'dead' when it's summoned, the ten seconds are the time required to trigger the pseudo-bond and summon its Physical form back to the bearer's location. Remember that the spren is already trapped in the Physical Realm, having the bulk of their being pulled there by the original Nahel Bond. The pseudo-bond they form with a modern-day shardbearer allows the blade to be dismissed, then the heartbeats act as the triigger to summon them back. The gemstone clearly doesn't contain the spren, as can be seen when Adolin crushes the stone in one of the Blades he wins in a duel. We see spren escape from damaged gemstones, like when Eshonai breaks the stone holding the voidspren but this doesn't happen with the gemstone attached to a Shardblade. It's the go-between, not a vessel for the spren. It's also noted that this action wasn't required because all it takes for a shardbearer to break the bond is to will it. It's like a very limited version of the Nahel Bond that's created by means of whatever mechanism makes gemstones the local magical storage medium on Roshar in the first place.

Sebastian walked into the room, he stood a moment taking in everyone present, then sat down. "You know good sir that nobody could be there for the original set time. We all live in different time zones for Almighty's sake. Give everyone the chance to comment!" He said, addressing the DA member. "Shall we continue with the proceeds on the list?"

I defeat you all!!!

Thank you! I totally agree on his behaviour being mix of the two things you mentioned. I think, he was doing the right thing with not trying to pursue her while she was betrothed. I actually didn't want him to talk to her in Shadesmar when Syl pushed him to, but whatever... And regarding his lack of self-esteem, I was absolutely struck on my reread by his thoughts while imprisonment and on his homecoming. In prison he thought that Bridge Four and Dalinar secretly despise him and want to get rid of him. On his homecoming he was worried about how he was going to face his parents and tell them he failed to save Tien. His parents! He thought that they won't be happy to see their own son who went to war 5 years ago. Really. What to say about Shallan, who keeps mocking him constantly and flirting with the other guy in front of him?

Yay, we sort of won! As for boiling my puns in acid, I have to say they’d taste better fried. Yomen’s Returned name will be based on his best quality, as demonstrated in HoA.

When your history teacher asks "How do we know Medieval Knights did not follow their code?" on a study guide, and you immediately write down "Because all the spren are dead :(". Not to mention when you also get said history teacher to begin reading The Way of Kings.

Well, I mean...I think I’ll bring back Duilin for this game, if everything has to start with “D.” Birdwatcher, archer, and most importantly, dead over a thousand years after this timeline is supposed to happen. So you shouldn’t kill him, eh, Lackeys? Couldn’t have a ghost having been lynched in LG45. Also, in spirit of the “D” theme, I propose the Feruchemist role be renamed to “Dark Terris Magicks.”

So update on the petticure. I was going to get all the era one allomantic metal symbols (minus Atium and 11th metal), but they couldn’t even do a simple heart on my friend’s toes. So it didn’t work out. I did, however get a Kholin blue. And, the lady who did my nails reads Sanderson too! So I talked to her about his books the whole time, and told her she NEEDED to read SA, since she had been putting it off. Anyway, you know you’re a Sanderfan when that happens.

When you hear that 16 is important in food measuring and in nature, and grin to yourself. When you read “the land of mist and snow” and automatically think Well, it’s not snowy so much as hot, so you’re half right. When you read the words cultivation and endowment in the same sentence and have to forcibly tell yourself that the book isn’t referring to what you think it is. When you’re hearing about knights in World History, and...it’s so hard not to make references. I mutter them under my breath, I mention the similarities to my teacher (who’s a Sanderfan and gets it), I mull it over in my mind. The Knights Templar, you say? With vows they have to say, and different orders? HMMM. When you’re reading a book with a group called the Legion and a character named Calamity, and it’s about superheroes, and every time… When again, in World History, you talk about guilds, and the whole time you’re thinking, so, assassins, bakers, scientists, et cetera, yes? When you misread biochemical as BioChromatic. When you misread allotment as Allomancer. When in that same World History class (it’s a gold mine, I tell you - disregard my pun), the teacher happens to say something about some guy who was so rich my coated a steak in real gold and ate it, and you decide he must be an Augur. When you read a book (Red Queen) with a main character named Mare. Good thing they don’t say her name too often. Wouldn’t want to be emotionally dead TOO often. When you learn that a student in your chemistry class is named Sami, and your brain goes “But Sami is a girl. And not American. Something’s wrong here…” When you mistype shared as Sharded, completely from autopilot. (And just then, I typoed it as Shard and just quietly smiled.) When in The Famous World History Class, excommunication comes up, and it’s all you can do not to scream Dalinar’s name. You can guess at what I’m going to say by now, I’m sure; it’s with convents and the Conventical of Seran.

Backtrack and Kokichi:

So, there was a lot of... I made a brick! Is this good food? "No. You can't even eat it." How about those people over there? Would they make good food? "No! You can't eat people!" I can't eat anything at all. ... Are those people heroes? "I guess you could say that." So they're good people? Good, is that right? "What are you getting at?" My orders are to make Good into food. If I had emotions I'd feel bad for them. Death by spatula is an embarrassing way to go.

The potato suffered a great fall and all the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put potato together again.

Rotcennoc knelt on the ground. He saw darkness begin to spread throughout the glove, unstoppable now that he was no longer keeping it in check. He felt the power bearing down on him, an oppressive force that sought to break his soul, consuming and destroying him utterly, killing him beyond any hope of resurrection. He knew that power well. Even before he'd killed his first island, he'd felt it, a hidden shadow in the heart of his home, so different from the connections he saw from people to other people or the island. He didn't know then what it was; he could barely even sense it in the energy that composed the majority of the island's power. He'd been far more interested at first in the connecting power, childishly shunning the other as "evil". During his Initiation, he had worked up the courage to ask the island how he might control the power, entranced by the possibility that the ability would grant. Dezino had declined to answer the question, saying he was too young, but suggested that one day, perhaps, an answer could be given. Rotcennoc had left the cave less than satisfied, but there was nothing he could do but wait. So he waited. Three years had passed by in what seemed like a flash, now. He had hunted, and fished, and helped build, and many other things. He had been good at them, too; although he wasn’t quite as strong as the others physically, none could match him in intellect. This quality earned him the respect -but not the friendship- of his peers. Then, one day a small boat had landed. Many moments after that had been pivotal. He marked this one, though, as the one that had shifted his path, changing it from what it had been to what it had become. Many times after the fact he had wondered what would have happened if things had been just a tiny bit different. What If the boat had never landed? What if, instead, the young woman on the boat and her infant brother had fallen prey to those who had hunted them? Or drowned in the sea before reaching their island? Or had died while his mother nursed them back to health? What if, when they had recovered, they had left the island instead of staying with his family? What if he hadn’t fallen in love with her? What if she hadn’t reciprocated? What if, three years after their marriage, the hunters hadn’t finally caught up? What if the island had let him touch the power then, as he desperately cried for help? What if he’d been able to save her? The what-if’s weighed on him heavily. Could he have changed any of them, knowing what he know knew? Would he have? Surely, his cause now was worth more than any simple life on an island. And he knew that if any of those what-if’s had gone the other way, that’s what he would have got, even if Dezino had let him touch the power eventually. By the time he had left, he had realized that unless he grasped the power himself, he would never truly wield it. And so he had formed an alliance with the shadow-birds, taking down one of the other islands. Then, he had set his birds loose upon the island he had once called home, wearing it down until he could kill it, steal the gemheart, and add it to his glove. Everyone he had once known had died in that disaster. The only survivors besides him were his allies, the birds; a baby island produced by Dezino only a day earlier; and his six-year old brother-in-law. He had left the boy in the Pass of Dreams, trusting that the reputation of the pass would keep him from danger until he could return. He had set a small portion of his birds to chase the island across the North sea past the Wall, attracting the attention of two Alleycanes. He had taken the rest of his birds to hide out in the cavern of Royeta, whose desire to fly once more had made her desperate enough to accept anything he offered. Things had worked perfectly. Kodeka had come back, as predicted. The alleycanes had fallen for the bait, as predicted. Royeta had been strong enough to force him to create the new gemhearts through Nogard, as predicted. What he hadn’t predicted was Nogard’s companions. He had begged the island to chase them away, kill them, anything. He’d even gotten her to poison one and almost drown another. But both had survived, and both had accompanied him to the cave anyways. Of course, that had been a mere distraction to him at first, just one more thing he had to deal with. He hadn’t expected just how much trouble they could cause. If it hadn’t been for them, he would have gotten all three gemhearts in his possesion. Nogard would never have been able to steal any away from him, not when he was drowning in pain. He would have stolen the power of the gemhearts, incorporating them into his glove, and turned on Royeta. After that, nothing could have stopped him. He would have moved from island to island, killing them and stealing their power. With that sort of power, he could do anything. He could erase mountains. Change seas. Even warp the very fabric of space and time itself! He would have been a god. And he would have acted as he thought a god should, making a world without pain or suffering, healing whatever he saw broken. He had been so close. But Nogard and his friends had stopped him. Because of them, his plan had failed. In what was supposed to be his moment of greatest triumph, he was lying on the floor, helpless, as the shadow slowly took over him. He felt Damaya pull at the glove and felt a sudden surge of hope. Might removing the glove stem the tide of darkness? It was worth a try. But the glove was fused to his hand; he would have to break the bond somehow. An idea came to him. Could he reroute the shadow back into the glove? With weakened will he reached out with his mind and gave a nudge. With a sudden crack, the glove shattered and gave way, falling off in Damaya’s hands. Rotcennoc stared at the place where it had been and his heart sank. On his forearm remained specks of shiny black gemstone, melted into the skin. The shadow had not faded. He would not be free. Rotcennoc closed his eyes. There was only one thing left that he could do. He could let the power take him, but guide it so that all it destroyed was spatial location. It would take him away from here, sending him to somewhere random. It would hopefully offload the tremendous power that weighed on him. With time, perhaps, he could even earn back his glory. But it would be painful. Agonizingly painful. The mere thought almost broke his will entirely. If he refused it, though, he would die. His work would be left unfinished. All he had paid would have been paid for nothing. And when put like that, it was no decision at all. With resignation, he said a silent farewell to the island. Then he reached out and nudged the shadow again, letting it shear through him, sending him into the darkness. Space twisted, pulling inwards, erasing him from reality. There was a dark flash.Then all was still. ~~~~~~~ High above, Kate gathered the last of her power into one last strike. It wasn’t much compared to what she’d had. But it was enough. She felt a tug, more powerful than ever, and tied it to the cloud, ready to release only moments after she let it go. The last of her resistance spent, Kate fell, the pull of the gemheart too strong. But she fell satisfied, knowing that she and her brother would be avenged. Far below in the cave, Nogard felt his gemheart awaken. And then the lightning struck. ~~~~~~~ Royeta felt the bolt hit her gemheart, flooding it with power. Time seemed to slow as the power enhanced the speed and depth of her thoughts. For the first time in a long, long while, she saw clearly. What she had been doing was wrong. What she had let Rotcennoc do was even worse. The visitors had unstabilized her, it was true. But what she had done in her own mad longing to achieve the sky again had been unforgivable. And she would die for it. She could already feel the structure of her gemheart beginning to give way. Every island gemheart had some shadow in it, and the lightning would stress those impurities, forcing open cracks. Once the cracks had formed, power would rush out through it in a massive explosion. She could only hope that those in the cavern would not be too badly hurt. As the flaws began to expand, she finished a few last things she could do. She cut herself off from the island itself to prevent collapse upon her death. She prepared one last unlikely hope. Then she sent a message to Nogard, including everything that she knew about what had led her to this moment, including what she knew about Rotcennoc. Hopefully he would understand. Her last tasks performed, Royeta relaxed, feeling the cracks give way. Goodbye, she whispered as the gemheart exploded. ~~~~~~~ Nogard blinked a few times. Had Rotcennoc just vanished? In his arms the gemheart awoke suddenly. He looked down at it, stunned. Without warning, a blinding flash and a deafening crack split the cavern. The gemheart exploded, throwing him backwards into a stalagmite. He slid to the floor, stunned. With the explosion came a flood of information that made his head spin even more. What had happened? What was going on? What… Nogard! The voice echoed in his mind. Are you there? Nogard breathed out a sigh of relief. Kodeka. He opened his mind to the island, sharing the message from Royeta. Then, energy spent, he closed his eyes and fell unconscious.

Just a note but savantism is not something that merely takes time. You need to constantly flare a metal for months on end. Normal use of tin wouldn't make someone a savant no matter how long they lived.

So... Here’s my OP character. But it should be okay if they’re just a chef.

“But we only have one type of stew! What do you expect me to do, serve the same stew each time? The costumers, they would die of boredom! Experimentation is the only way to improve! Do you say that eggs were a bad thing then? Everyone else must have thought the first person to eat one crazy, but here we are!” He put out the fires in the kitchen, then retrieved the other pot of stew from the bar and set it over a fire, still grumbling. ”I will make normal stew so Silvia does not have to wait. But later I make more enhanced stew! I almost had the explosive one just right, he just needs some more pewter...” “Right away,” Lunamor said, going into the kitchen. He grabbed his best ingredients and set to work. A short while later, he placed his results on his best plate, and walked back to the table. “Here you go!” he said cheerfully, setting the 10th pancake in front of StormblessedSurvivor. It was a waffle. With chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

16 hugs each

How would everyone’s characters be in the Invocationverse? I feel like Red’s still a weirdo, but she has enough taste to keep it to herself and a partner who’s not actually flat out pure evil, while Kokichi got rescued, found their parents again, and went to therapy.

Cheers.

Narrator Archer immediately got shot in the head for talking in first person.

The only logical course of action was for the ghanderflaffles to assassinate @Archer!

And when he reveals his two blades, he will tell Szeth that they are named 'Des' and 'Troy.'

Brandon tends to persistently re-use a number of themes/motifs/tropes. He himself has mentioned his fascination with the concept of 'The City of the Gods': Elantris is the home of the "god-like" Elantrians. T'Telir literally has a Court of the Gods. Luthadel is home to the Lord Ruler, the Sliver of Infinity. I'll also mention Urithiru, even though it technically doesn't have gods. There's one I call "The Idealist Despot": Elend Venture is an idealist, giving up his throne because of his ideals of democracy, but then switches to ruling by force because the others wouldn't uphold his ideals of equality for the Skaa. Dalinar Kholin spends most of The Way of Kings trying to "inspire by example" the other Highprinces into following the Codes, because it wouldn't mean anything unless they chose to act honorably, but then he grasps power and forces them to follow the Codes anyway because the Highprinces "are like children". But the big one, to me, is "Atheist Becomes God": Sazed spends most of The Hero of Ages disproving religions, then at the end he becomes Harmony. Lightsong keeps insisting throughout Warbreaker that the Returned aren't gods, but then in the tunnels in chapter 57: You could even count Galladon, he states several times that the Elantrians weren't gods, yet becomes an Elantrian himself. This one is doubtful, because even as a restored Elantrian, I don't know if Galladon ever actually accepts this means he's a god. (I can't wait to see what kind of god Jasnah turns into, maybe one of a new set of Heralds?)

@I think I am here. We won! Kind of! (But Ashspren is very intentionally ignoring you. It's probably a sign that he hated your roast and wants to boil your puns in acid.) Taan's Returned name will be Tome Raider. It's funny because books.

A kid, maybe 16, ran to the court. He was paling for what to do next. “Hello, Queen,” he said, taking out a piece of paper and reading what was scrawled on it. “I would like to challenge you to your throne, which I deserve.” He became as white as the snow surrounding him, and began shaking slightly. Of course. Truth or dare. And of course he’d picked dare. And of course his friend had chosen the worst thing for him to do.

I found a Great Horned Owl today, completely by accident! I mean, yes, I was out deliberately looking for birds, but not in a place where I was expecting to find an owl... Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures because there were a bunch of branches and twigs in the way, but it was still a neat experience! I never would have spotted him if the trees hadn't been completely bare of leaves--it made his silhouette really obvious.

How the orders go skiing. Windrunner: Is constantly flying around saving people who are falling down. Hasn’t had fun all day. Skybreaker: Makes sure people all follow all the rules, and gets mad at anyone moving quickly near a SLOW sign. Dustbringer: Fell off a cliff, got frustrated, and broke the cliff. Edgedancer: Is already an expert, and has slicked their skis so they are going down so fast that it’s giving the Windrunner a heart attack. Truthwatcher: Is calling it every time someone biffs it. Lightweaver: Decides to be particularly sadistic, lightweaves an illusion of a tree not being there. Elsecaller: Is taking their ski lessons very seriously. Willshaper: Is all over the mountain, and has found every jump or shortcut there is. Stoneward: Does the exact same run over and over. Bondsmith: tries to organize a friendly race, which the Edgedancer wins. EDIT: Sorry about double posting. I didn’t realize until after I put this down.

@Roadwalker, here: I don’t know if this is the most up to date version, but it does list quite a few ranks.

The only things that live in Universes K and X are ghanderflaffles. They are creatures of all Universes. In fact, that's how they keep coming back to life. They just migrate from other places every time someone doing something stupid kills all of them in Universe A.

No Szeth felt it too at the Battle of Thaylen, but he just reacted in disgust. You could assume it's because of his shin culture and his experience with murder that caused the reaction. My theory is that certain radiant orders have a natural affinity/immunity to corresponding Unmade. Windrunners have a immunity to Nergaoul and Lightweavers have an affinity with Re-shephir. It would explain Shallan's success against Re-shephir despite her inexperiance, but being fairly ineffective when confronting Ashertmarn. it would also explain why Dalinar's bond didn't seem to protect him at all from Nergaoul and why he couldn't sense anything wrong with the Urithiru while Re-shephir controlled it's central gemstone thing. Before someone brings up Renarin sensing something wrong, I'll also add that it doesn't have to be a 1:1 correlation (wouldnt add up anyways). Just that some orders are more likely to be successful against certain Unmade than others. For example: perhaps for Skybreakers, instead of total immunity, disgust is their typical reaction to the thrill.

The Highprinces be like: The Lord Ruler's thoughts on how to make a successful society: Also... On a related note to some of our oldtimers:

I was once a dreamer like you... but my dreams were crushed by the State of the Sanderson 2018! Magic: The Gathering instead of Wax and Wayne 4?! What vile betrayal was this?! Now, I wander these forums, a soulless husk that feeds on the juices of freshly crushed dreams, filtered through a sieve because few things are grosser than dream pulp.

How the Ten Orders Date: Windrunners: That love interest who notices the protagonist being attacked and shows up in the climax somehow to save them. Skybreakers: Refuses to sneak out, drink, be intimate before marriage, etc. Dustbringers: Secretly dating your ex, and planning to kill you both. Edgedancers: Just casually dating, but hilarious and sweet. Always remembers the anniversary. Truthwatchers: Take forever to admit they like you, then another forever to ask you out. Got their spren to whisper advice so they seem experienced. Lightweavers: Definitely cheating on you, but nobody can ever prove it. Elsecallers: Has dated a lot before. Will probably break up with you before you can them. Willshapers: Knows the best date spots, and will be happy to take you there. Stonewards: Probably married that steady high school partner. The only person in their class to do so. Bondsmiths: Extremely loyal. Will love you for the rest of your lives. How the Ten Orders Play Video Games: Windrunners: Keeps annoying the Dustbringer by throwing themselves in front of every shot the enemy makes. Skybreakers: Learns the controls the fastest and knows the rulebook better than anyone. Dustbringers: That one person who trolls the rest of the group by killing them all and acting like it was an NPC. (Nobody is fooled.) Edgedancers: Snacks while playing. Plays the game simply to play the game. Loves it and has a lot of fun. Truthwatchers: Just has to find every Easter egg and secret. Succeeds. Lightweavers: Hacks into the game’s code to auto-win, but covers their tracks excellently. Elsecallers: Looks up an online guide to the game, because why bother doing what someone else has already done? Willshapers: Reaches the end of every level before anyone else, then goes back to help the Truthwatcher. Stonewards: Gets stuck on the first level because they chose the tank character. Bondsmiths: Tries to settle the trash talk, picked the team game. How the Ten Orders Sanderfan: (Yes, that’s a verb now.) Windrunners: Is so well-loved for being on everyone’s side that they become a God Beyond on the Shard within days. Skybreakers: Almost all of them are mods or admins. THEY KNOW ALL. Dustbringers: The spammers and haters. They enjoy starting wars. Edgedancers: Prefers forum games, and generally wins them. Truthwatchers: Lurks in the corner, but doesn’t often participate in discussions. When they do, they’re always right and introduce new info no one knew about. Lightweavers: Makes tons of dummy accounts, gets promptly found out, rarely posts anything of substance (pun intended, of course) unless it’s in the gallery. Elsecallers: Hangs out on the Coppermind or Arcanum. Singlehandedly completes both websites. Willshapers: Goes to every signing and asks Brandon the questions nobody else can even begin to comprehend. Rulers of the RAFO. Stonewards: Has been there the longest, since the fandom’s creation. Never left it. Bondsmiths: Promotes all the sites in an attempt to join them as one. Secretly carries a lot of influence and is occasionally more well-known than the admins and mods.

In the WoK, Hoid tells the story of a group of people who committed horrible things under the orders of a king only to discover that that king had been dead for years, and that they were responsible for their horrible actions. The dead king is discovered in the passage below: “Derethil and his men came out of the tower a short time later, carrying a desiccated corpse in fine robes and jewelry. ‘This is your emperor?’ Derethil demanded. ‘We found him in the top room, alone.’ It appeared that the man had been dead for years, but nobody had dared enter his tower. They were too frightened of him." In the final chapter Dalinar finally realizes that the Almighty hadn't been talking in response to him, that he hadn't been following orders but had been misinterpreting the visions. He then learns that the Almighty is dead. The title of this final chapter? In the Top Room.