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  1. All was quiet in the large hangar housing the Northern wind as Professor Iral Evenward made last tour of his majestic creation. The address he had given to the press had gone over well, and he felt pleased with himself. There had been skeptics, of course, but the imminent launch of his creation would put those dissenting voices to rest. The tinkle of metal dropping on concrete pulled his attention back to the here and now. It seemed to have come from the other side of the scaffolding supporting the airship, where the apparatus creating the gas that would hold the ship aloft was situated. “Hello? Is someone there?” The professor walked over towards the noise. All the engineers and craftsmen should already have gone home for the day, and the guards didn’t patrol inside the hangar. He didn’t spot anyone as he arrived at the large machine, but it was immediately clear that something was wrong. The tube connecting the machine to the gasbag had been decoupled, and the highly flammable gas was leaking out into the air! The professor ran towards the machine and started closing valves to shut off the leak. So focused was he on his work that he didn’t see the flaming rag as it got tossed at the machine. *** “Alright, listen up everyone!” Foreman Cole’s voice rang out over the milling workers, engineers and future crew of the Northern Wind. “As you no doubt have heard, there’s been an accident here last night. We’re still piecing everything together, but we know that a large explosion badly damaged the airship’s gas bag and the machines for creating lifting gas.This explosion also badly hurt professor Evenward, though he’s still fighting for his life under the care of some of the best doctors in the city.” The foreman paused for a second, knowing that what she said next would cause her no end of problems over the coming days. “Whatever happened, it was almost certainly an act of sabotage. Normal accidents don’t knock out guards, nor do they leave them tied up in a janitorial closet. Whoever did this most likely had a pretty good understanding of the work we do here. Work that, until yesterday, was kept secret from everyone but those working on the project.” “The police are currently working under the assumption that someone here was party to this act of sabotage. If you believe you’ve seen or heard something that might shed light on who was responsible, you’ll bring this information to me. Under no circumstances are you to take matters in your own hands or strive for revenge over this cowardly attack on our work. Bring whatever you think you know to me, and I’ll let the police sort this out.” “Now, let’s get to work. Just because we’ve had a setback doesn’t mean we can suddenly ignore our deadlines. The Northern Wind will fly as scheduled. We owe the professor that much at least.” Airship parts: player list This cycle ends monday 15th of July, 12:00 (noon) Amsterdam time. Role pm's will be going out shortly after the thread is posted. If you haven't received one by the time an hour or so has passed, send me and/or bard a message. There is a lynch this cycle.
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  2. Taking notes at the important meeting:
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  3. My name is Notchbeard and I have Cosmere addiction. I finished Wheel of Time 4 months ago and thought hmm I wonder if Sanderson's own books are any good and got in over my head. I came here for help. Here is what I have read in the 4 months since I picked up Mr Sanderson's fine works: Warbreaker Final Empire Well of Ascension Hero of Ages Way of Kings Words of Radiance Edgedancer Oathbringer I am starting Mistborn Era 2 now then I will read Elantris. Not sure where I will go from there. I feel like Sazed on his quest to find faiths, only my quest is to read these stories until I KNOW WHAT CEPHANDRIUS IS DOING!!! At this point I dont care which series he writes books for as long as it reveals more of our favorite storytellers true purpose/identity. Hello fellow addicts, I am now invested enough in this author to even spend time online theorycrafting. Toodles.
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  4. Praise be to the Gods of Luck and Chance for guiding my aim true.
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  5. The camp was quickly turning on Caden. He had admitted to being a Thief, and that he was hoarding Bribes. However, he had an ace up his sleeve. There was lingering resentment about Jenoue, and suspicions he might have been a Forgotten. A well-placed Bribe did the trick, and Caden was able to get the town to turn on Jenoue. Sadly, Jenoue was merely a loyal Rithmatist, further weakening the Camp. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Forgotten known as Ecnelis made his move, and summoned more chalklings to devour the Village. However, a gunshot rang out, and Ecnelis dropped to the floor. Out of his body flowed dozens of Wild Chalklings. The cabin was no longer safe, and the remaining soldiers bid a hasty retreat. Vote Count: Cadmium Compounder (2): Devotary of Spontaneity, Araris Valerian Devotary of Spontaneity (3): StrikerEZ, Cadmium Compounder, Snipexe Devotary of Spontaneity was lynched. He was a Rithmatist. Xinoehp512 was shot. He was a Forgotten. Camp Supply: Items Taken: Player List: The Strength of the Chalklings is at 3. This Night will end on Sunday July 14 at 7:00 PM CDT.
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  6. 3rd of sunset is joining the fray. Be prepared.
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  7. I’m currently doing a re-read of MB, and I was thinking about how Allomancers can’t push or pull on metals inside or piercing a persons body. I’m assuming this is because of the innate investiture that all people have, and how it’s really hard to manipulate (couldn’t think of a better word, sorry) objects that are invested. So if an Allomancer were to go to Nalthis, would they be able to push on the metals inside the body of a Drab, because they have no more inherit investiture? Because if that is a possibility, they could essentially turn in to bloodbenders (from Avatar) and control Drabs by pushing and pulling on the iron in their blood, and I think that would be terriffying, but also pretty cool.
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  8. From the album: My Art

    I can't believe nobody's drawn Wax and Wayne as Zenigata and Lupin before, it seems so obvious in hindsight
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  9. It’s 5. Ark only has 5 characters and I have it noted which ones. I haven’t updated the list because it’s a giant laggy thing that’s a pain to edit.
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  10. Drabs are still invested, they are just not quite as invested as most people, so it would be easier to push/pull on metals inside a drabs body. But it would still probably be basically impossible or at least extremely difficult for the average Allowmancer.
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  11. How many times has Saturn been married? I don't know, but it sure has a lot of rings! Why did the planets go to Earth's house for dinner? Because the Earth has a lot of plates!
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  12. She'd seen no sign of the enemy that walked, but the enemy of stone still stood tall. It still tried to rise into the skies and claim what was hers, still taunted her with its existence, fueling the rage that she continued to feel towards it. The enemy that walked could be dealt with later, she would find it eventually. But she already knew where this one lay. Another great beat of her wings sent her careening towards it, talons spread before her and heat spilling from her to melt whatever her talons could not break. She lightened herself to start with, enough that her wings could keep her aloft and moving. But once she'd built up enough momentum she reversed that magic, draining the metal within her to become even heavier than a creature of her size would normally be. She thought about using the storm as well, but that was best saved for later. She would use the metal for now. She soared across the city with blinding speed, ready to tear the center of the building apart and burn whatever remained. But just an instant before she reached the building she felt something else, a sudden force sprung into existence, pushing back as her weight carried her forwards. She saw a spiderweb of light appear beneath her talons and outlining the shape of a large dome, surrounding the building. The same as then. Her mind flashed back to the last time she had felt the enemy, hiding within a different city and protected by a dome of energy. That time it had been the enemy that walked, but it appeared that this enemy of stone used the same tactic. All the more reason to burn it. She had crushed her own body in this first attack, but before she could even begin to fall her bones had already snapped back into place, bruises and ruptured tendons had mended as though they were never there. She hovered over the barrier, perfect once more. Amber eyes narrowed towards the dome as she stretched out her talons, ready to try another attack. She received a sudden response from one of the connections she still heard. Not the Rival who still flew with her, one of the others, a walker and possibly a Kindred. Found. Her eyes lit up with glee at the message. Both enemies lay within her grasp. She could end them both and then burn the city to ensure that neither of them came back again. Hold it. She sent back. This enemy will burn soon, and then that one will join it. She moved a little higher towards the peak of the dome that surrounded this building and then let herself drop ontop of it, perching atop the force that continued to try to repel her. Her head cocked to one side as she regarded the light that spread out beneath her, and her talons flexed atop the shield attempting to dig through with sheer force. But that did not seem to be enough. Burn. Her flames flashed white once more as she pulled on her stores of accumulated heat. A sudden updraft was generated as the air became superheated and rose, new air rushing in to replace it. She had to fold her wings in to prevent from being pulled back into the skies, but she stood firm, talons still scratching against the shield, trying to find a gap that she could grip onto. But still the shield resisted. Burn. She commanded again, beak clacking momentarily in irritation at its refusal to obey. The flames spread out further still, spilling across the dome and down the sides towards the streets below.
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  13. Did you hear the joke about the giraffe? Never mind, it’s over your head Did you hear about the guy who got his left arm and leg cut off? Don’t worry he’s all right now.
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  14. Well, I personally don't like the tone of this discussion at the moment. To me it should be about forming an opinion, not about blaming each other for mistakes/ things that didn't go well. I propose that we vote on whether we do that plot line or not and if we spread it out over two eras or not.
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  15. I think it was stated that changes would be undone to their original state, with the additional perk of being able to add things from the changed world (if you want). So, the GBs would be able to regain their power when the changes are undone, but any cool things that happened during the change (such as maybe the GBs began a petting zoo ) would be able to be added (so in the very end you’d have the original power of the guild in addition to the petting zoo). It seems more of a temporary depower to explore more options that will eventually be reversed than a permanent one.
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  16. I'll RP as Eight Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty-Ninth of the Just a Smidge After Twilight ... or, I guess, Twi for short
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  17. Guess who's falconry permit just got UPGRADED! I'm now a general falconer!
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  18. Fun fact. Spanish speakers didn't have to look it up because "Hatred" literally translates to "Odio".
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  19. So I recently reread Mistborn era 1 for the first time, having read the series the first time over 7 years ago. I also reread Alloy of Law and then started and completed the rest of Era 2 and Secret History. And now I am having a huge book hangover and I just need to share my disjointed thoughts and feelings somewhere as NONE of my friends have read any Sanderson books. Here they are: While my favorite book of all time right now is the Way of Kings and my favorite series is the Stormlight Archive, I feel like the Cosmere’s most emotional/tear-jerker, intimate and even funniest moments happened in Scadrial. The Final Empire: My favorite book of the whole series. I must admit, I did not see Kelsier’s death coming the first time I read it. I would have thrown the book across the room, against a wall, had I been reading a book rather than my kindle at the time. Kelsier is my favorite Mistborn character, and second favorite in the Cosmere behind Kaladin. I am glad I chose to reread the series, despite its darkness and sad, though bitter-sweet, ending. I ugly-cried when Vin yelled at the group/Kelsier and the subsequent heart-to-heart between Vin and Kelsier on the rooftop (I did this on the reread, knowing what will happen to Kelsier). I really love the relationship between Kelsier and Vin, and how they helped each other grow. That’s one of the reasons why TFE is my favorite Mistborn book. Well of Ascension: I was quite bored reading the first half of the book during the reread. But I loved seeing more of Sazed and being introduced to TenSoon. I really liked Vin’s and Elend’s love story in TFE, but it took me a long time for me to be convinced of their relationship in Well of Ascension. Hero of Ages: Wow…I don’t have the words for this yet. Let me just think about it more. Alloy of Law: Of all of the Era 2 books, I think I love Wayne most in this one. He’s hilarious in this one. As the series goes on, he gets a bit too much at times. I really wanted to slap him after seeing his few interactions with Steris in the later books. This book was a great introduction of Wax and Wayne. One of my favorite quotes: “It’s the place honor goes to be strung up, flayed within an inch of its life, then cut down and left in a desert. If it survives something like that, it’ll be stronger than hell” I know this refers to the Roughs, but I couldn't help think of Kaladin when I read this. Shadows of Self: I love MeLaan so much! She’s definitely one of my favorite Cosmere characters of all time, behind Kelsier. This was the book that made me realize that Wax, though a descendant of Breeze, seems more like a mix of Vin, Kelsier and Kaladin (you can see the same hardness in him in this book that Kaladin has). The ending was so sad. Bands of Mourning: Sanderson as a writer really shines in this book. It is so well crafted. There is a healthy mixture of humor, adventure, action, romance, and strong character development of all of the main players. I love Steris in this one. Wax’s and Steris’s romance is Sanderson’s best written, most believable romance in the Cosmere. I will reread this soon because it’s just so fun. Secret History: I have mixed feelings about this book. It made me question Kelsier a lot more. I also didn’t fully appreciate some of the last things Vin had to say to Kelsier. It was almost like she was lecturing him. I have this feeling everyone wants to villainize Kelsier so much (yes, I do think he needs to control his anger and he is narcissistic…) but I feel that he does KNOW how to love. His love for Mare never really altered, even after assuming she betrayed him. That fact, in the first book, was what helped Vin learn to trust more, too. What Vin said to Kelsier in the end needed to be said to him, but maybe that wasn’t right time to do it. But maybe Vin just felt that she had no other time. At least Kelsier didn’t seem too bothered by it. He just felt more proud of her. Funniest parts/quotes of the series: - when everyone starts talking Eastern street slang to get a rise out of Breeze in The Final Empire. “Wasing not of wasing is.” - In the beginning of Alloy of Law, Wax drawing stick figures on his notes, showing how much he misses his friend and his old life. “As he wrote he hesitated then added a couple of stick-figure bandits at the top, drawn in Wayne’s sloppy style. Crazy though it was, he felt better having them there.” - “‘Huh,” Wayne said thoughtfully. ‘Tea is poisoned.’ With that, he toppled to the ground.” - “‘You’re a very unique individual, Wayne.’ ‘Technically, we all are,’ he said. Then he hesitated. ‘Except for twins, I guess.’” - Introduction to Ranette, who threatens to shoot Wax and Wayne - Steris to Wax, in Shadows of self: ‘You, however, have given me only two names of people to invite. Wayne and a woman named Ranette – who, you noted, probably wouldn’t try to shoot you at your own wedding.’” - Elendel University in Shadows of Self, from Wayne’s POV: “The etched letters over the top proclaimed, in High Imperial, WASING THE ALWAYS OF WANTING OF KNOWING. Deep words.” - “‘Aw, Ruin!’ Wayne said. ‘I missed her? What did she leave for me?’ ‘She …said I was to slap you,’ Darriance admitted. ‘Aw. She does care. See that, Wax, she cares!’ Wax nodded absently as Wayne tried to force Darriance to slap him across the rear-which he doubted was what Ranette had intended.” - “The immortal demigod took a throaty slurp of her beer, then slammed the mug down onto the table, grinning like a four-year-old who had been paid cookies to rat out her sister. Wax studied her as she looked Wayne in the eyes and let out a belch that could have woken the dead. Beside Wax, Wayne nodded in appreciation, looking quite impressed.” - ‘Thy snoring,’ MeLaan said, ‘is rather loud.’ ‘I…what?’ ‘It doth be like unto an hundred angry koloss,’ MeLaan said, ‘in the middle of a rockslide. Lo, and it doth come near to waking the dead.’ ‘Right…’ Aradel said.” - Bands of Mourning: Wax, Wayne, Marasi, MeLaan and Steris all scaring poor Aunt Gin when they first got to the hotel room. - Bands of Mourning, the group escaping the hotel: "'Is that the constables?’ Aunt Gin asked, sounding horrified. ‘Afraid so,’’ Wax said, pulling the door closed. The carriage lurched into motion, and Steris leaned out the window, waving farewell to the poor innkeeper. ‘Framed for murder!’ Steris called to her. 'It’s on page seventeen of the list I gave you! Try not to let them harass our servants too much when they arrive!’”
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  20. Brandon has teased that the end of the SA is hinted at in the first two books. Now people have been scrambling to find this sly spoiler. I present you my attempt at being the one who discovers it! From the letter to Hoid from Frost: (talking about Odium.) That's the problem isn't it? There's a shard of hate on the rampage that has to be stopped. A shard of hate which has no context. The obvious solution would be to merge Odium with Honor giving it context. It would dilate Odium significantly but would, in my opinion, still be too much of a Odium to Honor ratio. I have seen theories claiming Dalinar will combine all three shards. I think it would still be too much Odium in the mix. Did someone say Dalinar? Dalinar is by far the most powerful radiant. We were all awed by his stunning feat at the end of Oathbringer. The stormfather was startled, humans/parsh were bewildered, and Odium was terrified. Many people look to this event as a sign that Dalinar will someday Ascend to Honor and defeat Odium, gaining two shards. It seems likely enough. Mistborn spoilers (I really should have wrote this in Cosmere Discussion.) Obviously we need something else for narrative reasons. I propose Dalinar will Ascend to Honor (temporally) and shatter Odium. You might be asking how a glorified bondsmith could shatter anything. Glad you asked! What if Dalinar bonded Odium to ALL the other shards? It would be complete destruction of a shard, something we haven't seen before. There would no longer be sixteen shards but fifteen. Each of the others would gain a sliver of Odium's investiture. The reduced pieces of Odium would find context back with the other shards. This ending would set the stage for a much bigger story. Like cosmere ending levels. And! Mistborn spoilers: What are you awesome people's thoughts?
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  21. An expectant buzz filled the air as the last journalists to arrive took their seats in front of the small stage. Journalists all across the country had been expecting an invitation to this press conference for several months now. It was common knowledge that the Norther Interest Trading Company was up to something big, but so far they'd managed to keep the exact nature of their project a secret. Today, that secrecy was coming to an end. The murmur of conversation among the journalists abruptly cut off as a bearded and bespectacled man took to the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?" He asked, unnecessarily. "As you are all aware, the Northern Interest Trading Company has suffered many losses over the past years in our efforts to decypher the mysteries of the Pantheon Islands. Many have wondered whether the eventual reward is worth the effort. To this question I say 'yes, a thousand times over!' Its ever been the nature of humanity to explore and innovate, no matter the cost. If we where not to give in to this impulse, we would not be human!" "However, just as our drive to explore pushes us up against new difficulties, so does our capability to innovate provide new solutions. Over the past year, our scientists and engineers have been working tirelessly to design and create a new sort of vessel. A ship that does not have to brave the dangerous waters around the Pantheon to bring its crew tot he prize. A ship that is not limited to the well-explored beaches we have been limited to before. A ship that, for the first time in our history, will allow a group of intrepid explorers to take to the sky!" "Ladies and gentlemen..." With a loud grinding noise, the large hangar doors behind the stage started to glide open to reveal the majestic airship within. "I present to you: The Northern Wind!" *** General rules Roles and airship parts *** For this game @Young Bard will be my co-GM, and @Fifth Scholar will be the impartial moderator. This game is planned to start July 10th at 12:00 Amsterdam time, but with two games starting rather close together the game's start might be delayed slightly if necessary. FAQ: Player list: Xinoehp512 Lumgol Eight Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty-Ninth of the Just a Smidge After Twilight... or, I guess, Twi for short StrikerEZ BrightnessRadiant Ventyl Elandera Amanuensis as Saluden Leiken, a Willshaper Worldhopper from Roshar. Ax's boyfriend as Arr K. Thousantoo, an ancient worldhopper who recently recovered from his incident with the constabulary. MrakeDarshall as Quill, a hemalurgist by trade who was marooned on First of the Sun quite some time ago, and has survived mainly by virtue of his... Er... "pets" Devotary of spontaneity as Auseor, a merchant working with a group of salvagers. Mark Shanerockes _stick_ TheMightyLopen Alvron as Second of the Sky Araris Valerian as fourth of the moon Burnt spaghetti as 3rd of Sunset Spectators: Furamirionind Butt Ad Venture Snipexe Rathmaskal cadmium compounder Quick links:
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  22. Since Ash is almost certainly our Dustbringer and is not yet a Dustbringer I suspect she's got a bit of life yet ahead of her, so all of the Heralds getting killed off is unlikely to me
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  23. “Well, I best be going, as I have an army to run and a war to win.” General Victoria left, dissatisfied. Unless…That could work.
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  24. And yet, the First Generation aren't Feruchemists, so that really doesn't work. Also, we do not know if Kelsier got his face back. We only know that he has a face, and scars on his arms. The scars on his arms could be similar to Stormlight Spoilers
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  26. Taylor Swift approved. And as such, she fell from stardom like a boulder off a cliff.
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  27. Sabotage eh? Well that'll do wonders for making the crew work harmoniously together. Its not like everyone will be paranoid and pointing fingers at anyone and everyone or anything. How delightfully fun and definitely not going to be chaos or anything. Sunset glanced at those around her. Already she felt a sense of unease. The coming days were going to be interesting to say the least. --- Well then. Hello everyone. Been a while let's have some fun, shall we?
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  28. Yes, this is much more in line with the quality that I have come to expect from you. Excellent improvements overall! The only change I don't like: - In the first draft you started by showing us an initial encounter that was designed to show us that R is a badass. It didn't really work because 1) you used the same monster from the first chapter and 2) she dispatched it too easily. Based on the feedback for the last draft, I can see why you cut it. But. With the changes to this new draft, I think you need that initial encounter. Something that shows us she is worthy of a reputation before we are told that she already has one later. Does that make sense? 3 - Confused. By now as part of her job she should have already spoken to everyone in the camp and explained to them what she needed out of them. I have nothing against her trying to be friendly with them, though. 5 - "part of the country where the technology was centuries behind and social norms" I don't buy CENTURIES behind. Years. Even decades, but centuries? No. - "Those weren’t the kind of jobs that paid for Enhancement batteries..." Nice foreshadowing! 6 - "R took the weapon and quickly disassembled it, pulling off the frame, removing the revolving chamber and unhooking the string from the arms." This is great. I was really confused by the weapons but this is the perfect way to show them to us without simply info dumping a description. - Is she using her battery every time she does something like an x-ray or is that stuff powered separately? 7 - "danger-klaxons" made me go huh? - "straight-bladed chokutō" Nice, specific detail. - "made a surgical scalpel look like a butter knife" I like this. Takes two cliches and combines them into something fresher. - "fighting stance" Be more specific. - "My parents? D? Or was it one of the Families outside of NA?” Woah. Why is she revealing all this info? - He doesn't strike me as the type of person who would blush/flush over something like this. I'd cut. 8 - The punch took me by surprise! - “Eat science, you feather-hatted son of a slontze...” This falls really flat for me. I'd cut. 9 - Everything about the tech flows so much more naturally this time around. I'm not jolted out of the story every time I learn something new. Kudos! - Even though an entire page has passed since the punch, I don't feel the flow was interrupted. - Confused. If she has fallen head over heels into a pit and hasn't gotten up yet the logistics of going for her bows is weird. - Also, I'm not sure I buy that he disarmed her in the time it took her to fall back after the punch. I know he's supposed to be good, but I'm assuming her bows are locked into place. And it's not like she stumbled around before falling backwards. 10 - He's not really missing his mark, though, right? He's missing on purpose? - I'm starting to lose the immediacy of the scene a bit here, especially after she tells him to follow her. 11 - "bucket of ice water over her head" This makes me wonder if there is social media in this world. - "JT’s ten-year-old daughter had died in those flames, and the city-folk Confederates had rejoiced, thinking that it would sap all the fight from him." This is good backstory but I think the line that follows (and after) is much stronger without it. I'd cut. 13 - "creepy city tech" Oooh. I like this! Excellent world/character building. 14 - "like she had a whole parade of ants beneath her shirt" Cool simile! 15 - "You’re gonna make Channels outta them.” Oh rust, son! I love this. Especially since the dragon thing seemed so background last draft. Awesome! - I just noticed nobody has Ancient Greek sounding names. I think this is a missed opportunity. 16 - "I don’t suppose any of them mentioned that the White Viper was two people?" I like this. Good lead in. 19 - The chapter is so strong that it feels like it fizzles first with the bit of back and forth negotiation (stuff we've already covered) and then a full page of R's internal thought process.
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  29. The High Path. West of the Border. Afternoon. “The lost city of Thalinore?” “Heard it.” “The Great Beast’s Brother?” “Saw that one in a play just last month.” “How about Negation’s Curse?” Tion stopped mid-stride, his boots kicking up a tiny cloud of dust from the well-used trail. “Now that,” he murmured, “is a story I haven’t heard in a long time.” His travelling companion, a short, elderly man with a flowing beard, grinning toothlessly. “An enlightened choice,” he said, his rich voice giving his words a subtle rhythm as he talked. “Not many wish to dwell on that tale.” Tion jogged forward a few steps to catch up with the man, then matched his stride as they continued forward. “Let’s just say I take a professional interest in it.” His companion hmmed at that. “Perhaps. If you are so educated, perhaps you already know where this story starts. With the Old Gods, in the heavens, at-” “The beginning of time?” “Or thereabouts.” He stroked the tip of his beard thoughtfully. “Back when the Ten first took notice of man. The deities gathered to discuss the curiosity, gazing at our planet from above like gamemasters examining a Skidboard.” “At first it was chaos,” Tion added. “Each wanted to remake the realm in their own image. Truth demanded an innovative world of candor and free communication. Probability wanted a chaotic realm of chance and glorious uncertainty. Arguments broke out. Threats were made. Everyone went for the jugular, save Negation, who just sat on the sidelines, bidding their time.” The god of Sensation trailed off, staring at something indistinct in the distance. The old man furrowed his brow at his unexpected interruption, but he smoothly picked up the story where it had been left off. “Yes, that is one interpretation. I believe in that version, the God Negation talked them all down. Quite persuasive, that one. If they ever get tired of godhood, they might find politics suits them nicely.” He paused to laugh at his own joke, but promptly picked it up again when he saw that Tion did not. “At Negation’s suggestion, it was agreed that the souls that walked the world below would be shared. Each of them could claim a tenth, ten percent of the population to take under their influence.” “Doesn’t explain the Suitability Conundrum,” Tion interjected softly. “Random selection explains the even distribution, but not why most powers pair well with their recipients.” That prompted another hmm. “You prefer Dominance Theory? I have always thought that one unlikely. If we have within us a portion blessing from all of the gods, then develop instincts based on the share we lean most strongly towards, why do they never change? I am not the man I was at twenty, and yet, I remain a practitioner of Sensation.” Tion did not have an answer to that. The two of them continued their journey in silence for a few minutes. After about a kilometer, the storyteller decided to carry on. “Whatever the reason,” he said, “near the Beginning, a tenth of Hopearaa’s populace was gifted with Negation’s trait. At will, they could undo events. Like Infinity, but more refined, more useful. The most powerful of the powers, or it would have been, if their skillset had not been incomplete.” “They didn’t know.” The man nodded enthusiastically. “Right! Instincts are but a diluted form of the powers they are patterned after. If they were complete, we’d be living in a world of gods. So, we get a taste of the magic, nothing more. In Negators’ cases, they didn’t know when they had used their powers! Imagine, a girl with the power is standing in a field, minding her own business, when suddenly, a snake leaps out of the grass and bites her. Instinctively, she reverses time to before the attack. Instantly, all of space goes back in time by, say, two seconds.” He gestured at the land beneath their feet. “Once again, she is standing in a field, unharmed. But here’s the thing: she does not remember the threat, nor that she used her power. And the snake is poised to strike again. It leaps at her! She screams, uses her instinct, and…” “The cycle repeats itself.” “Exactly! They would lock the planet in a loop. The same sequence would repeat, everyone in the world starting to move, only to be blasted back to where they were after just a step, again and again and again. A perfect deadlock, and no one even knew it was happening.” Tion frowned, knowing where this was headed. He decided to ask the inevitable question that the story begged anyways. “So, how did they get out? Shouldn’t the first one to freeze the world have doomed us all? How are we here, moving, today?” The man let out a light sigh, then shrugged his shoulders. “It is unknown. Perhaps the God Negation intervened somehow? Or maybe the Negators ran out of power? Or, it is possible that the problem persisted. We could trapped in a loop at this very moment, ignorant of our predicament, and woefully unable to escape it.” He smiled. The man liked seeing people’s reactions when he ended the story like that. Unfortunately for him, Tion had given this prospect some considerable thought, and was concentrating too deeply to fall prey to any sensationalism. “You’re wrong,” Tion said softly, turning to look at the man. “It is escapable. Having the same thoughts, being in the same circumstances, moving in the same ways, none of those mean that every time you repeat a sliver of time, you will do the same thing.” “Destiny is inevitable.” The man was stroking his beard with both hands now, but still grinning. “So? What if you trained yourself to act randomly? Not all the time, but every once and a while. The first few times you were stuck in the loop, you would repeat the same choreography. But eventually you’d do something completely random and new, allowing you to alter the equation.” The man shook his head dismissively at that. “You forget that even if you could change your sequence, the Negator at the center of it all would be unaffected. You have neither the time nor the knowledge to get to and stop her.” “I don’t need to. Change one thing, change everything. My actions affect those of the people close to me, which affect their neighbours, and so on. The butterfly effect kicks in, altering everyone’s sequence. With luck, the girl’s does too.” The man nodded sagely at that logic. “That sounds like an excuse to act out.” Tion laughed at that. “You’ve got me there, Emaldson,” he said, slapping the other man’s back. “If I could make a living out of acting randomly, would. But alas, I can’t, so I’m stuck making trips with you. Sweet Sensation, I’m going to miss these.” The elderly man nodded his agreement. Tion’s comments confused him sometimes, but he knew better than to pry. He was just happy that his travelling companion had not asked him where the Negators had gone after their flaws had been revealed, for that was a question he had no good answer to. Some things were better left unpondered. Three hours later, the two of them parted ways. Emaldson took the main road north towards his hometown; Tion took a lesser known track east in the direction of the Earn'Lamath Forest. After another three hours, around sunset, he arrived. As the daylight faded, he slipped in among the trees, his footsteps sure as he slunk like a wraith towards a concealed glade known only to him and nine others. Within in fifteen minutes he would arrive, prepared to participate in what might be the most important meeting of the millennium.
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  30. Wouldn't a better name for this thread be Oathbringer cognitive shadow chapter? Get it? Anyone?
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  31. WoK Syl for a serious answer. Stick for a meme answer. Doomslug the Destroyer for a non-Cosmere answer.
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  32. DOOMSLUG! Oh wait, not Cosmere... Um, I think I'm going to have to give my vote to Steris' attempts to be helpful on Wax's adventures. Utterly adorable, to say nothing of hilarious.
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  33. Pattern is most adorable thing in the known Cosmere.
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  34. Laurelai gasped as she felt the pressure suddenly let up, she had felt her mind on the point of breaking under it if it had continued for much longer. Whatever that was had been no ordinary Soother, not to get past two stability spikes and also affect such a wide area. She still felt deadened by it, the pressure was gone but its effects remained to some degree even now. She struggled to muster up even a small amount of anger towards it, but all she could feel was fear. No, nothing controls me but me. Emotions are just a distraction, clouding logical thinking and rational decision making. Allomancy or no I should be better than this! She straightened up, struggling to regain the breath that she'd lost when the Soothing hit. Tried to regain her composure. That was when her mind finally processed what would happen, and she heard KanMien confirm her suspicions a moment later. "Phoenix." The giant creature that had razed half the city during the seven day war, probably killed thousands in its passage. It had arrived inexplicably in the middle of the war and then left just as suddenly after a huge explosion in the sky. Reports were mixed but a number of powerful figures met their deaths at the hands of the Phoenix, people far more powerful than she was. It was one of the DAs unique creations, creatures that only existed as a single specimen. Irreplacable and unable to be duplicated. She'd seen records of a number of them, but the Phoenix had always been the one that interested her the most. After all, it was the Phoenix that had burned her house down when she was a child, the Phoenix that had made her an orphan like it had so many others. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sudden shift in emotion caught Voidus by surprise, emotional Allomancy was a power that the Phoenix possessed but not one it made much use of. Not under ordinary circumstances anyway. The force was not enough to cause any real concern, but he raised a Coppercloud to be safe. It was an ability that most who stayed in the DA for long managed to acquire, a failsafe against the inherent weaknesses of Hemalurgy. Stability spikes helped, but they could only mitigate so much. Copper was usually safer. But the question is why is that necessary? His eyes veered upwards once more catching a flash of red and orange as it past overhead, accompanied by a fresh wave of heat on the air. It didn't seem to be lingering here at least, it was heading towards something. But what? What had attracted its attention? The only thing of note in that direction would be... "Plasmacore?" He asked, turning and seeing Mac and the Stranger arriving at the same conclusion. With a start he recalled that they were not alone and his head snapped towards Laurelai, eyes widening for a moment before he saw her. She was still standing, and seemed focused enough that no influence had slipped in through her spikes. But she was breathing rapidly and pale, clearly she'd felt the emotional impact at the least and that had been enough to take the wind out of her. Voidus' eyes narrowed as he glanced towards the Phoenix once more. The air had been almost hot enough to burn moments ago, but now there seemed to be a sudden chill surrounding him. @Sorana
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  35. He'll see her again once he leaves the cosmere for good, which will presumably take him another few hundred years. When people die in the cosmere, they leave it for the Beyond, Kelsier however has stayed in the Cognitive Realm (and also seems to have found a way to get a new body by now), so he's never been where the actual dead people go. That will take a while, and he'll pass that time with a lot of mischief, I'm sure ..
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  36. Szeth won’t make it out of book five alive. He will save Lift who he is cultivating a friendship with and die in the process. Leaving Lift some serious serious guilt and sadness to deal with for 10 years before her book in book 6. All part of Cultivation’s plan
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  37. Whelp, she doesn't like me that way, but she did applaud me for shooting my shot. XD
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  38. I always read that as if Odium were to come across Dalinar again, Dalinar could demand that the challenge take place immediately before Odium had prepared a new champion and was ready for it.
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  39. Then what do you make of this? He read them out loud. “You have agreed to a battle of champions. You must withdraw to prevent this contest from occurring, and so must not meet with Dalinar Kholin again. Otherwise, he can force you to fight. This means you must let your agents do your work. You need me.”
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  40. Hemalurgy requires Intent and very precise placement. Vin wasn't intending to create a spike, nor did she know how to do it, so it is not a Hemalurgic spike at all.
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  41. It's notable, too, that Ruin in HOA comes across kind of somber, 'it is the world's time to die' kind of thing. He talks like he doesn't really understand why people don't just accept the end of the world and stop fighting it, it's just the natural way of things, and so on. I think that's the last remnant of what was good in him. Ultimately the pressure of the Shard would warp him into someone who will destroy, no matter what. But since Ati was inherently originally a good person, he ends up seeing destruction as 'good' or at least neutral/inevitable/natural.
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  42. @Karger summed it up, it definitely took some time. The corruption was definitely not an immediate thing. It was a partnership more than a fight at the very start, I'm sure they two had a good rapport before the obvious impasse of slight imprisonment.
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  43. The corruption likely took time. Think of it as a battle of wills between shardic intent and human nature. The intent is unchanging and constant but human will is not so eventually the shard wins but this may take a great deal of time.
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  44. On Roshar, the people believe seeing the future is evil. The few instances we've seen of foresight are associated with Odium. At a recent signing, Brandon said this: I find the bolded part where he trails off to be amazingly fascinating. Given the rest of the conversation, I propose that seeing the future is dangerous because of the following possibilities: 1. It draws the attention of the Shard (or its agents as explained below) that is powering the foresight. 2. It is heavily influenced by the intent or motives of the Shard that's powering it. 3. It's an ability granted by the Shard on purpose in order to manipulate events toward a future that the Shard (or its agents) desires. 4. It aligns you to the intent or motives of the Shard. This can be short-term (see atium below) or long-term. Repeated uses may cause a more lasting efect. 5. There's also the always-present conundrum of trying to change the future after you've seen it. Without context, you have no idea if changing your actions will cause that future or if not changing your actions will cause that future. The true answer could be any of the above, none of the above, or some combination of the options I've given. In order to evaluate possibilities, I've discussed the instances we've seen of people seeing the future, either as a summary, or as specific text, or links. Atium: We know how atium fuels Allomancy. It lets you see a few moments into the future. It also increases your mental and physical capabilities in order to take advantage of that knowledge. Sazed speculates in one of the HoA epigraphs that This appears to correlate to possibility 4--That seeing the future via atium temporarily aligned a person toward Ruin, the essence of entropy toward destruction. It might also explain why, after using atium as a metal mind and burning it for so long, TLR had such Ruinous impulses--mass slaughters, willingness to let the nobility destroy each other, etc, etc. After a thousand years of compounding atium, it's likely that he was very Connected to Ruin. It might also tie into possibility 3, assuming the possibility of Ruin wanting Rashek to become such a despot that he's overthrown just as the Well is about to fill, opening the way for Vin to take and release the power. Endowment: Endowment appears to be able to see some of the future, and sometimes her Splinters, the Returned, can pick up on this as well. We see this in Warbreaker, when Lightsong has his dreams and visions of T'Telir burning. She appears to send her Returned back in order to do a specific task (or set of tasks) based on what she sees, giving rise to possibility 3. Endowment apparently wanted the Hallandren and Idrians to persist, and sent back some of her Returned to help prevent the coming destruction. She probably has multiple contingency plans for if one of them dies before his or her task is accomplished. Wyrn: In the Elantris Annotations Brandon says: And Given that the Seons are Splinters of Devotion, (Love) and the Skaze are Splinters of Dominion, it seems like the Skaze are manipulating Wyrn in order to achieve their goals (Goals hinted at in the new epilogue in the 10th Anniversary Edition of Elantris) , tying back to possibility 3. Devotion and Dominion are both splintered, but the Skaze may retain enough of Dominion's intent to want to have complete dominion over the world (or maybe re-assemble Dominion?). And we come to the Stormlight Archive! We have more examples of foresight in SA than we have in any other book. There are three primary examples of it: Moelach: On the bridge between life and death, Moelach grants visions of the future, that the person utters in a cryptic and strange way, a phenomenon coined as Death Rattle. We don't really understand much about how this works, but the Death Rattles have been startlingly accurate, if incredibly obscure, so far. However. Moelach is a Splinter of Odium (along with the other Unmade). The Death Rattles we've seen so far all seem to be related either to the conflict between Odium and most of Roshar, or related to the people that are in that struggle. I have no absolute proof of this, but it's not a wild assumption (imo) to think that Odium, via Moelach, is using the Death Rattles to affect people's behavior. I realize this is putting conclusion before evidence, but I feel that it's a credible conclusion. Moelach is one of the mindless Unmade, as far as we know, so he's unlikely to have motives of his own. As a Splinter of Odium, Odium must have created him for a reason. We know Odium has a pretty good grasp of possible futures. Creating an Unmade to give people glimpses of the future (in a rather morbid way) to get them serving his purposes isn't beyond the realm of possibility. Renarin: We know very little about how Renarin's abilities work, and what types of things he can see, or how they will affect events. We know that his spren, Glys, is a Truthwatcher spren corrupted by Sja-Anat, another Splinter of Odium, and that Glys is likely what grants Renarin the ability to see the future. Renarin has seen Jasnah killing him. This would end him as a Radiant and as a Kholin. I confess, I am unsure what purpose his death would serve in Odium's cause. However, Renarin also saw Dalinar turning into Odium's champion. This would obviously be quite a desirable outcome for Odium. Given that Renarin has done a few things in order to try and warn about or prevent the things he sees, did he, consciously, or subconsciously, take actions that helped to bring that set of events into reality? We don't know yet what effects this might have, so I'm unsure which of the above categories this could fit into. The Diagram: Taravangian believes that he wrong the Diagram out of pure human capability and insight, rather than foresight. However, according to this WoB: As we know, in the Spiritual Realm, all times and places are essentially one. Seeing into the future in all other instances has been seeing into the Spiritual Realm. If Taravangian was closer to the Spiritual Realm than the Cognitive Realm, then he's likely incorporating at least some parts of what he sees in the Spiritual Realm into the Diagram. What we've seen him do so far has seemed to align him toward Odium's desires and motives. However, he was granted this ability by Cultivation, who is at odds with Odium. There was a lively discussion in this thread about the Diagram being a plant (pun intended) put in place by Cultivation. That T's actions, although they seem at odds with Dalinar+co, actually are meant to help them; and that T himself is unaware of this. As you can tell, I subscribe to this theory myself. This would fit in with possibilities 2, 3 and 4 above. Cultivation seems very crafty and careful, playing the long game with Dalinar, with Lift, and probably with T. And finally, we have Hoid. He has an ability to know where he needs to be at any given time. We don't really know most of his motives, so there's no way to determine what "where he needs to be" means, exactly. We're also very unsure as to how he knows to be in those places. We do know he uses something similar to Chromium Feruchemy in order to tap Fortune, but possibly isn't Feruchemy itself. We don't know what Shard he draws on, what intent that Shard might have, or if it's even a Shard at all. If someone can manage to tap directly into the Spiritual Realm without intervention from a Shard, it seems like Hoid would be the one. I'm also sure he's self-aware enough to know when/if he's being manipulated by whatever power he's using. So in short, I have no conclusions to draw about Hoid's abilities, other than a reiteration of his own speech to Shallan: There's always the risk, in seeing the future, of bringing about the exact consequence you want to prevent. That might be the simple answer to this entire question. Won't my face be red if it is! So, there is my long winded theory about the dangers of seeing the future. Please feel free to add to it or rip it to pieces, and thanks for reading!
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  45. Ten times as good as Gandalf's firecracker shows.
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  46. Narrator Shadow had enjoyed the spectacle. It was beautiful. Pain, sorrow, grief. Watching Star suffer was fun. “Let’s do it again.”
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  47. I started with Mistborn, then Stormlight. then I circled back to Elantris and Warbreaker. I loved both Elantris and Warbreaker obviously they are not as massive and intricate as MB and SA and maybe inconsistencies here and there. But the overall concepts are completely original. Sanderson's ability to write from the female POV is phenomenal to me. So I think that Warbreaker is nice break away from SA, given we know some of characters. And the magics have some similarities. The focus on spiritual light, harmonics, mathematics, and the ability to imbue or entrap light within objects and/or souls is mirrored in both worlds. It seems obvious why the worlds will become connected over time. As far as the sexual bits, sorry but some of you sound like complete prudes to me. The flirting between Lightsong and Blushweaver was awesome, it reminded so much of the banter between Zeus and Hera in the Illiad, complete with tragic greekiness. And the Godking and Siri were so adorable and sweet. To me after marathoning thru this book in the past 3 days, couldn't set it down, I feel it is very underated in the Sanderson lineup. I thought it was engaging, with an original magic related religious and political struggle, with a classic action filled fantasy plot. It was pretty great.
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  48. I realize this is a little outdated, but: [loses Adolin in a crowd] Me:[uses hands as a megaphone] Me: THE BLACKTHORNE IS GOING CRAZY AND LOSING HIS EDGE Adolin: FIGHT ME! RIGHT NOW! YOU DUEL ME THIS INSTANT YOU CREM EATING- Me: Oh, there he is.
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