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Foreman Cole thanked her lucky stars that the day’s work had gone smoothly and without incident so far. In another hour or so the day shift would end, and so far there had been no paranoia-related incidents. She'd have to… Her train of thought was interrupted by shouting coming from outside her office. ‘Me and my big mouth…’ she muttered as she headed out to see what was going on. A group of workers had gathered outside and where loudly arguing. “Everyone be quiet! You!” She pointed at one of the louder contractors. “What’s going on that apparently can’t wait and can’t be discussed in a civil manner?” “It’s Saluden, foreman.” a worker from the archipelago called First of the Dawn responded. “He hasn’t shown up for work. In fact, no one’s seen him for the last day or so. We think that’s mighty suspicious.” “Not as suspicious as Elandera, foreman!” Another worker spoke up. “She’s been spreading baseless rumors around!” “Saluden called in sick for the day. Something about ‘light-therapy’. That’s something those that worked with him should know by now.” The foreman turned her gaze towards Elandera in the back. “Spreading baseless rumors is precisely the sort of thing that’ll make our work here even harder. I honestly don’t care whether you were involved in the sabotage or not, this is the kind of work where there is no place for a rumormonger. Pack your stuff, and an officer of the constabulary will be waiting for you at the gate. I imagine they’ll have questions for you.” *** Mika Fergus was nursing a head-ache as he made his rounds. He’d been posted at the entrance to the hangar the night before, and had the dubious honor of running into one of the saboteurs. He didn’t remember the encounter itself, just waking up tied up and gagged in a janitorial closet. The patrol inside of the hangar felt a lot safer to him. With the airship’s searchlights operational anything suspicious could be lighted up as clearly as if it was noon. This had been useful when he had seen someone skulking around the aviary at the start of his shift, but that had just been First of the dawn looking at the Aviar. A cold splash of liquid in his neck brought his thoughts back to the here and now. Something seemed to be leaking from the brig section. Something that smelled like...fuel? “Hey, can I get some light over here!” He shouted as he started climbing the gantry. He was certain he could see a shadowy figure move above him. One of the airship’s searchlight started moving towards him, then suddenly went out after a flash that nearly blinded the unfortunate guard. When his sight returned, the shadowy figure was gone, and a small trail of fire was creeping its way towards the ship’s brig section. It reached the brig long before mika could reach it, and when it did the entire section was alight in a matter of seconds. *** Elandera was fired, she was a NITC worker. StrikerEZ targeted the Aviary. The brig and the bridge were sabotaged. Airship parts: player list This cycle ends Wednesday 17th of July, 12:00 (noon) Amsterdam time.

I listened to the latest episode of Shardcast, and I got interested in this particular WoB: The podcasters discussed this a little bit, and connected Brandons response to Kelsier, since Kelsier somehow being involved with the Ghostblods is a common theory. But if it was Kelsier, we wouldn’t be pretty close. We would be there. But someone close to Kelsier? Someone who has been seen as a Survivor, like Kelsier. That someone is Spook. We know that Spook is Cosmere-aware. We also know that he left his position as king and disappeared. But we do not know where he went after that, or what he is up to. I suggest that he became a Ghostblood. Furthermore, I think Spook is a word that has something to do with ghosts (not sure about this, please correct me if it isnt so). If so, that is another connection. What do you guys think?

You've got Investiture mixed up. Investiture is the stuff, like matter and energy, fyi. Still reading the rest of it.

Figured I should probably put up a bio for the Phoenix given everything that's going on, since some people weren't here during the SDW and the profile is buried in a PM somewhere. Name: Phoenix Abilities: Hemalurgic: Feruchemical Iron, Feruchemical brass(x10), Feruchemical gold(x10), Allomantic gold(x10), Allomantic brass(x10), Gravitation(x10), physical speed(x20). Skills: Expert Flier, very practiced with all of her abilities, Intelligent. Weaknesses: Prideful and an obsessive hunter. Very little can gain her attention while she is focused on a hunt. Hemalurgy: Has a large number of spikes, enough to be manipulated by powerful emotional Allomancy, but has stability spikes to combat this weakness to some degree. Physical characteristics: An enormous bird with large, amber eyes and reddish-gold feathers which burst into flame while she is utilizing her abilities. Her figure is often hidden entirely behind flames while she is in a serious battle. Home planet: Unknown Guild: Created by the DA, but is not a part of the Guild Backstory: One of the few unique creations in the DA, the Phoenix has yet to be replicated beyond a single specimen. She was given a cave in a mountain near the Alleycity as a roost, where she slept for a number of years before finally being awoken during the Seven Days War by an immense Rioting. She attacked the city, destroying large sections of it and killing a number of fighters from the war, including Rashan who was the first that she ever dubbed the Enemy. Many years later she was called to the Oasis city when Max performed a large scale Rioting there, she believed him to be the return of her Enemy and attacked the city, eventually breaking the barrier down completely and spreading destruction before finally leaving, unable to find her Enemy.

Kumiko watched the Phoenix try to get above her, while a second phoenix hovered in the distance, this one pitch-black. She started to struggle to keep up the humming, her body hurting from the strain of keeping up the wind, the heat burning at her skin. As the Phoenix dropped down at her she switched to the second form she had prepared. Her previous form dissappeared, and nine white fox tails appeared instead. Her hair turned white as well, and her ears turned into those of a fox. Her clothing changed too, forming something resembling a shrine maiden's outfit, and the amulet on her necklace changed into a small, jewel-like ball. Kitsune, she thought. Sparks of lightning started dancing between her tails, and she flew out of the way of the incoming Phoenix, grabbing Aln on the way out. Five large balls of purple flame appeared around her, sparks of lightning crackling between them. Landing on the roof of a nearby building she dropped of Aln, then took to the skies again, rushing towards the Phoenix. Throwing her arms forwards the balls of flame launched towards the Phoenix, turning and twisting in the air, following the Phoenix as it flew. Suddenly, she slowed, coughing, pain flaring up from her ribs. She tasted blood in her mouth. The strain from the forms were slowly getting to her. Her face grew determined. She could feel the Alleystorm approaching, somewhat relieving the strain. Just a bit longer, she thought.

The air cooled around them, and Lita breathed a grateful sigh before wiping her brow on her sleeve again. The air isn't the only thing in this alley that's cold, she thought, looking at Voidus. Waiting was the right move - certainly the smartest move, but still. People were dying in there. Tin allowed Lita to hear far more than she would have liked from the buildings surrounding PlasmaCore. People screamed, and everywhere the hot, hungry sound of fire chewed through the plaster and timber of tenements and shops. And are you going to go save them, Lita? She breathed out through her nose and looked down at the blackened ring surrounding her feet. No, no she would not. Lita was no hero, and she had never been. She was a spy, a creature of the shadows. Corrupted, down to the core. A memory floated to the surface of her mind, perhaps called by the sudden cool breeze. Lita could see the dappled green of the Village, so quiet, yet so alive. "She's already been corrupted," one of the robed men had said to his companion. Lita burned tin, the several yards of distance between them seeming like nothing at all. "Twinborn - dangerous. If we had raised her here, maybe it would be different, but the girl's father is a man of ill repute. A Soother. She's already spent too much time as an outsider." "The girl isn't even ten yet," the other man countered. "This place is her birthright, as much as yours or mine, Fadwyn. How can you pass judgment so early? Did you even read her letter? She believes her mother doesn't even know she's alive." Fadwyn shook his head, the disdain in his voice shifting towards pity. " Poor little fool," he said, pulling the letter out from within his robes and unfolding it. "Better to let her keep her delusion. Think about it Deshwym - you know how word travels here. What do you think would happen when she learned her mother never wanted her in the first place? That she was a mistake? That Ve--" But Lita had already extinguished her tin, turning her back on the cool green of the Village and disappearing into the steel and cobblestone snarl that was Elendel. An outsider - a mistake. Tears dripped onto her starched collar as she ran. Lita blinked, realizing she'd been staring at the ground. She raised her head, and as she did so she felt a slight wetness gather in the corner of her eye, pushing at the lashes there. Frustrated, she stoked her tin, the sudden rush of sensation shoving her emotions into the background to make room for a flood of new information. The tear became mere moisture in her eye - a nuisance, but hardly worth thinking about. Lita brushed it away with an indifferent flick of her finger and watched as the Phoenix descended rapidly on PlasmaCore. She pulled the Coin back out of her sock and flipped it once, opening her palm to reveal the image of the scales. Action. Reaction. Consequences. She wandered over to Laurelai. "I don't suppose it would be too optimistic to hope that the tavern will survive all this?" Lita waved her hand toward the Phoenix with a grim smile. "I still intend to cash in on that drink."

Okay finally here and going to catch up on the thread. Listened to the audio book of 6th of the dusk because I didn't want spoilers. Sorry for being late to the party but here's a bird I painted while listening to the story. Hopefully it'll help make up for my absence a little. Haha (not sure why the image is sideways)

Sixth of the Dusk spoiler:

I have a theory regarding how truespren make it back into roshar the first time. This theory came about as a result of the scene where Shallan had to draw Pattern before he could manifest. That seemed odd to me that she had to do that when none of the other new Knights have had to do something similar. I think it has to do less with her drawing him, and more with the amount of creationspren she attracted doing so (the quote says hundreds of creationspren were drawn to her at that time.) My theory comes from an assumption that each true spren type has their own "squires" so to speak. Cryptics have creationspren, Honorspren have windspren, Cultivationspren have lifespren, the Bondsmith spren have gloryspren. ( I posit that there has to be a sufficiently large amount of these "squire" spren in an area to punch a whole between the Cognitive and Physical realm "big" enough for these true spren to come through. For Syl, that mean there needed to be enough windspren, say in a windy area like barren plains or when fighting with a spear, which has been stated to generate windspren. For Pattern, Shallan had to actually be creative enough to draw enough creationspren to allow pattern to fully manifest, rather than poking through like most spren do. Idk, what do you think. I think this theory has holes, but its going somewhere.

Wait, people are still trying to win?

As a terminology matter, calling the spren that form Nahel Bonds 'true spren' is misleading. The more common but still unofficial term is 'Radiantspren' (with or without a space) and it's worth noting that they actually arose after most of the other types appeared, mostly spurred by the arrival of Honor and Cultivation.

The point I was making at least is ok illumination coupled with transformation lets you take photographic memories. Then taking that example, what would be the resonance for illumination and regrowth? Creating new memories? Putting memories in other people? What about illusion and transformation would cause someone to say "hey that must be photographic memories then!" excluding anything else before it was revealed? In hindsight it makes sense, but I have no idea how based on that information we could possibly theorize on what the others are before they are ultimately revealed/confirmed. What would transformation and transportation be? Some theorize geolocation, but that is based on one instance at the end of Words of Radiance because Jasnah knows where the nearest town is. If that is correct, then in hindsight it makes sense, because an Elsecaller would need to know where they want to go, but if not for that scene, what other information could help us narrow it down? Same thing for cohesion and transportation, cohesion and tension, gravitation and division, division and abrasion, abrasion and progression. I think there is a theory that Lift's resonance is being able to understand anyone (as in where they are coming from and identify with them, like what she did with Nale). If that is true, how do we get that from abrasion and progression? People metaphorically rub off on you (abrasion), and you grow your understanding of them (progression)?

And then he was foiled by his greatest nemesis, “Volcano”, who destroyed everything in a 4 mile radius. Only the truly uncultured have never used volcano in a game of Rock Paper Scissors.

I don't have a whole lot to add to this that @Mandamon and @Asmodemon haven't already. I can tell that it's improved from the last time I saw it, but the I feel like core issues I noticed about the chapter remain. The jobs not taken still sound more interesting than the one he does pick up and it is awfully convenient that the call happens when it does. I don't think the entirety of the "killing time in town" scenes need to go, because I think they add a nice bit of characterization and plot summary, however, they do go on a bit long and would probably benefit from some trimming or condensing. Sorry I don't have more here.

Meekers

In listening to the Shardplatecast episode of Shardcast, I came up with what seems like a new (or at least different) theory on the formation of Shardplate. I apologize for the superlong post. I am also not deeply versed in Realmatic theory, or the wide variety of Words of Brandon or other forum posts. I've read what I can. First I want to list out the things we know without argument about Shardplate. I'm taking from the books, the Coppermind, and Words of Brandon It can withstand a lot of damage by conventional weapons/impacts/pressure, but will eventually shatter. It can stop a Shardblade, though repeated blows will cause it to shatter. (Ergo is weaker than a Shardblade) It is originally from the Knights Radiant, and was abandoned during the Recreance. Radiants 'got' their plate by swearing the Fourth Ideal. The original Knights could summon and release the plate, or portions of the plate, at will, similar to Shardblades. Modern (dead) plate cannot be summoned or released. Modern (dead) Shardplate seems to be powered by Stormlight in the form of gems, When it runs out the plate stops functioning. Flawed gems cause the plate to shatter faster. It can be regrown by feeding the damaged pieces Stormlight. This can replace whole sections. Separated sections will 'die' as they main plate is regrown. It automatically fits itself to the wearer. It provides increased strength, dexterity and speed to the wearer, though not endurance. It is very heavy. (potentially around 1400 pounds) Higher spren don't scream/react to plate like they do when their Radiant touches a dead blade Plate is keyed to Radiant's Identity. Plate interferes with another Radiant's abilities (specifically lashing in Dalinar's visions) Theory point (I don't have a justification on this one). Dead Plate doesn't bond like dead Shardblades. Conforming to the wearer is not the same as keying to the summoner allowing it to be controlled, called, dismissed, etc. the way a blade is. Although Brandon did say it was a 'lesser bond', I argue that we aren't seeing the same strength as the blade/bearer bond. From this point, I want to lay out my theory, and explain how it touches to all the known parts above. We know that Shardblades and Plate are gained by Knights Radiant by strengthening/deepening the Nahel bond. We can see that with each 'level' the Radiant can use stormlight more effective/efficiently. From WoB we know that as the bond deepens the spren and the Radiant are melding into one individual. It follows that the bond between Radiant and spren is much stronger when the plate is formed than it was when the blade is formed. Their identity is more closely bonded. Yet the plate is weaker than the blade. My theory is that Shardplate is the manifested soul of the Radiant via their connection with their spren. They have pulled part of their spirit web into the physical realm and woven it with Stormlight to create armor. This allows for the plate to be keyed in identity to the Radiant. It follows from the idea that the spren and Radiant must be more closely bound (and that the bond weakening could take away the ability "Talk to your spren about it" in Dalinar's vision). Why did the plate stick around after they broke their oaths? It's similar to the way that hemalurgy can steal powers form an allomancer. Since the armor was part of their spirit web, when they abandoned their oaths it literally ripped a part of their identity/soul away from them. That's the reason why the Radiants in Dalinar's vision don't respond to him. "The former Shardbearer pulled his arm free and continued to walk away" and later "They walked with eyes forward, not speaking to one another, steps slow but resolute." Breaking their oaths has hurt them deeply, and has damaged them even as it killed their spren (Who are only as dead as their oaths). While the blades are the manifestations of the spren, the plate dies at the same time, and fades when the oaths are broken. I remember hearing on Shardcast that light is usually tied to the spiritual realm, so for the plate and the blades to lose their living light is to say that they have been severed from their connection to the spiritual realm. Why is the plate so heavy? Because it bears the weight of betrayal and broken oaths (metaphor made real by perception). Why is it weaker? because men's souls are weaker than ideals. Why did it stay behind after it was abandoned? As Mark Anthony remarked, the evil that men do lives on after their deaths, the good is often interred with their bones. We know that the Shardblades are spren that have manifested themselves physically in the physical realm. They must leave some aspect behind in the Cognitive Realm (deadeye spren are still present in the Cognitive Realm when their Blades are summoned, evidenced by the spren who says that the deadeyes are always wandering around, seeking their bodies). The dead spren are reminiscent of people who are killed with blades, who are referred to having their souls killed. Why would their be so much build up to the spren being blades, but not being armor? Where would be the deadeye armor? (for lack of a better term). Because stormlight comes from a connection to the investiture in the Spiritual realm, the stormlight allows for a bit of broken soul, the part of the spirit web that is the armor, to be strengthened, although it can never be completely made whole, restoring the Radiant's full being together. Stormlight does allow (similar to the heartbeats of a bearer bringing life to a deadeye to manifest) energy for the plate to remain strong. Spren wouldn't scream at the armor because it is more closely aligned with the radiant than with the dead spren. The psychic shock isn't as great. Well, that's the larger gist of it. I've been reading and typing on this for an hour and a half, so I may come back and flesh it out some more later, but at least it's a different take from the 'lesser spren' theory. It's probably unlikely, but it's a new idea.

Before the duel in WoR

I love Brandon Sanderson's work, but I hate White Sand volume 2. I am a cartoonist, and I have to say, this is the crappiest graphic novel I have ever read. If you disagree, leave now, highly opinionated vitriol follows. I loved the prose version of White Sand, it wasn't Brandon's best work, but I didn't expect it to be. But holy crap, I suffered through volume 1 of this monstrosity, with it's horrible art and truncated nonsensical dialog, but really to expect us to buy 2 more volumes of this horrible crap, to get a watered down, insensible version of the prose story, who does he think we are? For reals? Dedicated fans that will sift through the weird combination of baroque/neoclassical/renassaince/pashtun imagery in order to find some small hint about something of the deeper cosmere,....Admittedly, that is the case, but never before did dedication to a greater goal come at so high a cost. I hate this book, but I am compelled by forces greater than myself to read it, which makes me hate reading this particular book even more. I am a fan of graphic novels, but this is NOT a good graphic novel. Firstly, you shouldn't have a graphic novel where the major hinges of the plot are political and require book length sections of dialog. I'm an illustrator and I know that kind of thing is torture to draw. How many different angry expressions of the interlocutors can you draw before people get tired of the idea that the people who are talking are not happy about what they are talking about. This is totally general criticism of the whole series, but let me get into some of the specific criticism of this particular volume (volume 1 shares a lot of the same faults, but I will limit myself to criticism of the 2nd volume). Brandon said in Arcanum Unbounded that sand mastery lends itself to the graphic novel format. This would be true if sand mastery wasn't depicted as Flying with a crappy swirly line around Kenton and some little "magical" plus signs. I agree that sand mastery would be awesome if properly depicted in the graphic novel, unfortunately it's one of the weakest parts in the prose version as well. It's a magic system kind of specifically set up to make the sand masters look like egotistical jerky show-offs. It works far better in the prose version, they all seem like jerks. What is unforgivable in Vol. 2 is that the illustrator has seemed to have given up on depicting the actual sand, instead he just draws a glow around Kenton and some magical looking plus signs which indicate that some magic stuff is happening. Scratchy line drawings: The characters are not cohesive. Kenton looks 10 years older or younger from panel to panel, this is poor execution. The illustrator is using an aesthetic dodge, the reason the lines are so scratchy and hard to distinguish is because the illustrator is unwilling to commit to a specific presentation. His backgrounds (especially the natural environments) are awesome, but he gets less sure the closer the "camera" gets to the subject. Panel division: This is so poorly done, it is consistent from volume 1 to 2, but why divide the page up like that? It doesn' add anything to the narrative. It doesn't look good, it just makes the reading order of panels unnecessarily hard to determine. It seems like it's done as a further attempt to hide the fact that the illustrator is unable to create anything intrinsically compelling. What the heck, this is ridiculous? Ok, so this is going to be admittedly the biggest entry in this bulleted list, because it is going to have examples (spoilered so you don't have to look at them if you don't want to): A-Delius? What the crap is this depiction supposed to signify??????? This is one of the worst drawn characters I have ever seen. He is eating his wine like a pig at a trough! B-Sand mastery visualized — I bet Brandon had no idea that the grace and majesty of sand mastery would end up looking like this. Very rarely are ribbons of sand depicted, it's more of a magical nimbus of light with little magical plus signs to show spooky action of sand mastery. C-Continuity, continuity, continuity. This illustrator, not content to represent the lossandians as straddling merely three different eras (classical greece in the Diem, Loius the XIV's France in the Admiral's quarters and Florence from the Italian Renaissance in the Artisan's quarters), also unfortunately decided to be free and loose with the simple particulars of a given scene (like the one spoilered below where Ais kils the Kerztian assassin). She fires all five of her arrows at the Kertzian assassin at point blank range, but how they are depicted embedded in the head of the assassin doesn't make any sense, he looks like a pincushion. He has arrows in both temples, one up his nose and an arrow in each eye! How the arrows are arranged it looks like he was hit by 5 different archers from five different positions. Brandon writes incredibly cinematically, his prose visualizations would lend themselves quite well to the graphic novel form, but he should write specifically for the medium not have some other people try to shoe horn a complex political dialog packed thriller into this format. Sorry about the above rant, I don't usually like tearing things apart like this, but I needed to vent because I am compelled to read the entire Volume of this travesty (though it pains me deeply to do so). If I didn't care so much about the content of the book I would have stopped reading this volume after the 2nd page. Not looking forward to volume 3 at all, hopefully the illustrator that finished Volume 2 will be back to do all of Volume 3, his artwork, while not perfect, at least has the continuity down and the weird era straddling backgrounds are toned down substantially.

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.

Taking the Dawnshard, known to bind any creature voidish or mortal, he crawled up the steps crafted for Heralds, ten strides tall apiece, toward the grand temple above. has everyone always assumed this was speaking about one of the Sleepless? I just reread the quote in another post and it hit me with a completely different perspective than every other time I’ve read it. Heralds are normal sized folk lol... but maybe their steps are ten stride tall apiece for a cremling? Just a thought. Please correct me if I’ve missed something.

Wrong lever!!!!*

Cronk slams the door open.

One theory I've heard is that the Ghostbloods have origins on Threnody, which has strong associations with shades (ghosts) and blood (shed blood, and the shades attack).

Pi waited until Zokora came back. "So, you need somewhere to protect your people from the Phoenixes? I don't know if anywhere can really do that for long, but the tunnels are our best bet." @Sorana *** @Voidus Don't look at the void, don't look at the void, just like baking bread, don't look at the void, don't think about your parents, just get to PlasmaCore and help and DON'T LOOK AT THE VOID. Deteca knew she wasn't doing very well. Learning how to Alleytravel hadn't been her first priority during her time infiltrating the Dark Alley, and she'd only ever done it a few times. She remembered that finding a metaphor and using that to concentrate made for easier movement, but she wasn't certain how well she was performing. She took slow, steady steps forward, passing through the city and quite possibly places that weren't in the Alleycity at all. Don't think about Mom and Dad, don't look at the rusting void. It was almost a relief when she finally encountered someone, apparently a little girl dressed in rags - a child living on the streets. Not that Deteca actually thought she was one, deep in the alleys as they were; either she'd stumbled upon an abomination and was about to die in one of a variety of ways or she'd stumbled upon a denizen, and she wasn't sure which was worse. She stopped in the alley she was in, exhaling as she let go. Might as well ask directions, she thought ruefully. "Hello," she said carefully. "I'm fairly inexperienced for an Alleytraveler; could I possibly ask how close I am to the PlasmaCore building? Where the Phoenixes are attacking?"

Double post but YKYASFW you already know that these are gonna be the books you pass down to your kids for the next generation already.....

Personally I disagree, but more that it just doesn't feel right for myself rather than anything I could truly put forward to dispute your statements. I wish you luck with your theory! Well we do know a radiant wielding an honorblade of the same order would get a small degree of compounding, but it wouldn't be anything big. WoB, supports that. The person asked regarding Kaladin having the windrunner honorblade. As to Jezerin's honorblade, Moash uses it to float up in the air at the end when it is given to him, and that is after he killed Jezereh, so I believe yes it still works. AS to the rest, no idea lol.

I like it! It kind of reminds me of this WoB: In addition to windspren for Windrunners, I'd guess that the "cousins" are creationspren for Lightweavers, lifespren for Edgedancers, flamespren for Dustbringers, logicspren for Elsecallers, and gloryspren for Bondsmiths. (Not sure about the other orders.) I like the idea that they could have other practical functions besides Shardplate.

Shallan's photographic memory isnt the normal tropey sort, it has some specific quirks. She takes a Mental Snapshot, and can remember it in detail until she draws it, after which she no longer has it in her memory. I think the resonance at play here is that as a Lightweaver she is able to actually Create a new Cognitive Aspect of her future piece of Art, using her Lightweaving senses along with Soulcasting mechanisms. Then she comes back and uses her art to create a Physical aspect to anchor that Cognitive aspect, after which she looses most (but apparently not all) of her cognitive connection to it. I see this as a similar (if inanimate) version of how the Spren can Exist in the Cognitive Realm, but need something extra (a Radiant, a similar emotion or physical manifestation, etc) to pull them fully into the Physical Realm. Extending that (almost entirely unfounded) theory to a similar situation with Illumination and Regrowth, I think it could grant Psychometry (ie Object Reading), and possibly let the radiant restore that object past the normal time-limit. The biggest difference is that Soulcasting Defines a New Cognitive Self of a given target, whereas Regrowth Restores it's current True Self. So if Illumination+Soulcasting lets you define a wholly new Cognitive Aspect and then give it Form, Illumination+Regrowth look back and more directly perceive the true History of an object and restore it to that older "lost" Self. Just spitballing though, I have nothing specific to point to for support on any of that, and Renarin is a terrible case study anyway. Im not convinced there is that sort of absolute "Max" efficiency when you are talking about actual multiple Bonds. Per WOB, as you progress in the Oaths you get more efficient as "Consuming Stormlight" but "never as efficient as the Voidbringers, since humans leak too much." But two separate Bonds should still double (or at least increase) the overall bandwidth, regardless of the efficiency of the individual Bonds. Especially given how the Bonds are described as actually blending the two/three entities Spirtweb's together. I think it's a lot like Allomancy, which is throttled by a similar Bond to Preservation: A Spike of the same ability as your natural will always make you stronger at that power, regardless of your relative strength without it. I guess we'll have to keep a close eye on Nale, having both a Spren and the corresponding Honorblade is likely the closest we'll get to a dual Bond any time soon. Unless we see a Windrunner dual-wielding with the Honorblade. On that note, anyone know if Jezrien's Honorblade still works?

I feel the same was about this. While the first chapter had plenty to hold my attention, I had a harder time engaging with this one. Deciding on the case felt drawn out and I wasn't quite understanding why Q picked the one he did. As someone who didn't read book 1, I appreciated getting filled on the details of how Q and M came together, but it almost felt like too much all at once, especially since it was in such a quiet chapter. There seemed to be a lot of writing dedicated to the local politics. I got bored with it, but if it is something important that comes up later, I understand its necessity. I enjoyed Q's voice and interactions with M, but there was a lack of tension in this chapter.

Right, thanks, I got that wrong. Iyatil is from Denmark (just kidding). I still dont feel like the Ghostbloods would not recruit people on Scadrial.

I think that eventually, he will see mare again because the power holding him to the cognitive realm will eventually expire. He will pass on like any other in time... hopefully Thank you, also this was my first post and it blew up in a day.

First of all, it’s nice reading about Q. and M. again. Despite the flaws I really enjoyed the previous submissions. For this chapter I have to agree with Mandamon. The banter between Q. and M. is good, but most of the chapter is them not doing anything. And when it comes to them going through the available jobs every other job sounds more interesting than the one they are going to take. R job: Doesn’t sound to interesting for the reader, or for Q. and M., and they say so themselves. Knowing what I know from the previous times I read your submissions I know there’s more to the job than R. is letting on, but maybe a bit more of that should show through the request rather than it being a standard ‘fetch quest’. Or have it make more sense for them to take an easy task as a sort of holiday. Library job: I like that Q. accepts the library job, because he doesn’t think the R. job will take a lot of time and it makes sense to take that job instead. I don’t think that was in the last submission I read and I really like this addition. Maybe the library job can actually help sell the R. job as well. So, if they accept the library job, and that jobs requires them to be in Europe in 10 days, then they have some time to kill (maybe the timeframe can be a bit larger?). I can imagine that after the last book they would have had to take some time to recover, so taking another break would not be good for business. That could prompt them to take the R. job to kill time and make some easy money locally, not knowing it’s going to lead them into trouble. Father-in-law (1): One the one hand the ending of the chapter is a zinger to get us interested in an otherwise easy sounding job Q. and M. and have just taken, but personally it doesn’t work for me. It reads a lot like a PI novel where the main character is stuck on a case, but the bad guys make a move to take the PI out, thus revealing something to the PI that helps move the plot along. In this case, if the father-in-law hadn’t called, Q.’s interest wouldn’t have been piqued, and if something were to happen to R. it’s likely Q. would have just dropped the case. Instead, because of that phone call, Q. is committed to it. It’s like you’re trying to force Q. and M. to take the case, and stick to the case, because the plot requires it even though it doesn’t make sense for them to do so. Father-in-law(2): The fact that the father-in-law knows Q. accepted the job so quickly shows that the man has power and connections, but it feels a little convenient that not five minutes after Q. spoke to R. he already knows and calls personally.

Ok, I'm pretty sure I just had a crazy moment, but hear me out for a second with this very much on-the-spot hypothesis. What if Shardplate is lesser spren (at least as a framework for Stormlight to be formed into Plate), but not in the way most people think that means? What if the nahel bond at (at least approximately) 4th Ideal is strong enough to connect to a batch of Lesser spren, which then have their Identity... changed. Not "overwritten", but... ... re-harmonized? There's a word for what I'm thinking of, basically i'm picturing Identity as a specific Frequency that the spiritweb vibrates at, and by changing that frequency, the Identity shifts. So the Radiant bonds a batch of Lesser spren, and the bond transfers the radiant's Identity frequency to the spren, and makes their Identities all... "resonate" with the Radiant Identity. So, the Radiant's Investiture can 'penetrate' through their own Shardplate because the Identity frequency is similar enough to their personal Identity that it can wiggle through the plate. And I imagine at 5th oath the Identity becomes even more closely resonating, so the Plate is even easier to Surgebind through, thus needing less Stormlight to "brute force" through the lesser spren Identity of the plate. And if the lesser spren are just forming a framework for the Plate, that still allows the lower durability of plate to make sense, and the ability for "dead" plate to be healed with Stormlight suddenly becomes a matter of Stormlight just naturally doing what it does: restoring the physical to a Spiritual ideal, filtered through the Cognitive. The Lesser spren of Plate still have that altered Identity from their old Radiants (which is why you can't Lash through it in modern times) and need Stormlight to repair their Physical form back to their natural, Spiritual ideal. The lesser spren are Connected (by the lingering bond provided by the Radiant) to each other, and are in effect their own Spiritweb, which Stormlight can heal into a proper physical set of Plate. They perceive themselves as Plate, so they heal themselves to that form. But they still have enough... awareness? to shift into a perfectly fitting set of plate for whoever wears them. They know what they were made to do, and they do it. Even if that person puts a helm over their fist, the Lesser spren still know "oh, we ought to conform to this" and they do. Maybe not that sapiently, but on a fundemental, "cosmere programming" level, they know to conform to whoever wears the plate. this also explains "dead" plate's ability to block out Stormform lightning bolts from sight, the lesser spren still "remember" how to do that, and automatically block out the lightning on instinct. The glow of proper Radiant Plate would then be the glow of the lesser spren being alive and somewhat pulled into the physical realm to be the framework of the Plate, glowing with the same way Stormlight does. Again this is an entirely spontaneous crazy moment hypothesis, but after writing this out I think it has some merits... Feel free to poke holes in it with evidence though, I know this can't be perfect.

Well in that case, they’re both dragons, just because dragons are cool.

I haven't found any WoB regarding Parsh Worldhoppers, but I'm not very good at digging up WoBs. But I found this one: I always thought that the 16 original Vessels were from Yolen. The WoB would support my assumption and implies that there have been no Parshendi on Yolen (the three races were humans, dragons, and Sho Del).

Taking notes at the important meeting:

That is, of course, assuming that the Beyond does actually exist and there is a real afterlife in the cosmere.

Whelp, she doesn't like me that way, but she did applaud me for shooting my shot. XD

That is the conclusion that Hrathen came to for himself, not as per his religion's doctrine. It is stated in the book that whatever Wyrn writes is scripture. I will expand below Elantris page 33 "Not just the seal, Arteth" Hrathen said "That is his signature as well. The document you hold was penned by His Holiness himself. Than isn't just a letter - it is scripture" Few people had the opportunity to read words written by the hand of Jaddeth's prophet and Holy Emperor Elantris page 37 It had been scribed in front of Hrathen by Wyrn's own hand. It was revelation directly from Jaddeth; scripture intended for only one man. Few people ever got to meet Jaddeth's anointed, and even among the gyorns, private audiences were rare. To receive orders directly from Wyrn's hand...such was the most exquisite of experiences. Hrathen ran his eyes over the sacred words, even though he had long since memorized their every detail Behold the words of Jaddeth, through His servant Vyrn Wulfden the Fourth, Emporer and King. High Priest and Son, your request has been granted. Go to the heathen peoples of the West and declare to them my final warning, for while my Empire is eternal, my patience will soon end. Not much longer will I slumber within a tomb of rock. The Day of Empire is at hand, and my glory will soon shine forth, a second sun blazing forth from Fjorden. The pagan nations of Arelon and Teod have been blackened scars upon my land for long enough. Three hundred years have my priests served amongst those tainted by Elantris and few have harkened to their call. Know this, High Priest: My faithful warriors are prepared and they wait only the word of my Wyrn. You have three months to prophesy to the people of Arelon. At the end of that time, the holy soldiers of Fjorden will descend on the nation like hunting predators, rending and tearing the unworthy life from those who heed not my words. Only three months will pass before the destruction of all who oppose my Empire. The time for my ascension nears, my son. Be stalwart, and be diligent. Words of Jaddeth, Lord of all Creation through his servant Wyrn Wulfden the Fourth, Emperor of Fjorden, Prophet of Shu-Dereth, Ruelr of Jaddeth's Holy Kingdom and Regent of all Creation Elantris page 110 "But there is another way. lord Jaddeth will rise when every living soul is united - The Teos will be no obstacle if we destroy them. When the final Teo heaves his last sigh, when the Elantrians have been burned from the face of Sycla, then all men will follow Wyrn. Then Jaddeth will come." Elantris page 155 He finished with a stunning admonition to serve in Jaddeth's kingdom, to swear themselves as odiv or krondet to one of the priests in Kae, thereby becoming part of the chain that linked them directly to Lord Jaddeth. The common people served the arteths and dorven, the artetsh and dorven served the gradors, the gradors served the ragnats, the ragnats served the gyorns, the gyorns served Wyrn, and Wyrn served Jaddeth. Only the gragdets - leaders of the monasteries - weren't directly in the line. it was a superbly organized system. Everyone knew whom he or she had to serve; most didn't need to worry about the commands of Jaddeth, which were often above their understanding. All they had to do was follow their arteth, serve him as best they could, and Jaddeth would be pleased with them. Elantris page 160 "O great lord and master, Jaddeth's anointed, and emperor in the light of His favor" Elantris page 206 "I spoke of Wyrn, Regent of all Creation, leader of Shu-Dereth. Come now, Lord Telrii. Let us be frank. How many soldiers are there in Hrovell? In Jaador? In Svorden? In the other nations of the East? These are people who have sworn themselves Derethi. You don't think they would rise up at Wyrn's command?" Elantris page 244 "If Wyrn declares holy war on us, then it will mean the end of Teod" Elantris page 258 "And the burning fire of Jaddeth's displeasure shall clense them" "Judgement belongs to Jaddeth alone, and it is executed by his only servant Wyrn" Elantris page 262 "A true follower of Jaddeth will do anything to bring about His Empire, my lord" Well, at least he knows his Derethi doctrine, Hrathen thought with a mental shrug. (little side note, Hrathen is an odiv of Wyrn. please see the terms of being an odiv below) Elantris page 299 The calling of odiv was very demanding; most normal Derethi believers, even many priests, were sworn to the less restrictive position of krondet. A krondet listened to the cousel of his hroden, but was not morally bound to do what he was told. It was well within Dilaf's power to make his odivs accompany him to Fjorden. Hrathen could have no control over what the arteth did with his sworn followers; it would be a grave breach of protocol to order Dilaf to leave them behind. If the arteth tried to drag them to Fjorden, it was unlikely they would follow. And if that happened, Hrathen would be forced to excommunicate every single one of them. (so if an odiv disobeys his hroden, a moral duty, then that individual is to be excommunicated from the church. By Hrathen going against Wyrn, he is excommunicated from his religion) Elantris page 331 Dilaf was slowly seizing control. That in itself wasn't as frightening as Hrathen's own sense of foreboding. What if Dilaf was right to try and oust Hrathen? What if Arelon would be better off with Dilaf in control? Dilaf wouldn't have worried about the death caused by a bloody revolution; he would have known that the people would eventually be better off under Shu-Dereth, even if their initial conversion required a massacre. Dilaf had faith. Dilaf believed in what he was doing. Elantris page 567 Hrathen bowed his head. His duty was clear; Dilaf was his superior. "You forget to whom you speak, Gyorn" Dilaf snapped "This people is unholy. Only Arelenes and Teos can become Elantrians. if we destory them, then we end the heresy of Elantris forever" "You will slaughter them all? You would murder an entire nation of people?" "it is the only way to be certain" Elantris page 570 The Dakhor were Wyrn's favored warriors; their leader would be privy to many of his secrets (Hrathen is having trouble with his decision because it runs counter to Wyrn. Sarene calls him out on it) Elantris page 589 "Why did you do it, Hrathen?" she asked "Why turn against your people?" Hrathen hesitated. Then looked away. "Dilaf's actions are evil" "But your faith...." "My faith is in Jaddeth, a God who wants the devotion of men. A massacre does not serve Him" "Wyrn seems to think differently" Hrathen did not respond. Elantris page 594 "You didn't really answer my question before, priest" Sarene whispered "You have turned against your religion. Why?" "I......I don't know, woman. I have followed Shu-Dereth since I was a child - the structure and formality of it have always called to me. i joined the priesthood. I.....thought I had faith. it turned out, however, that the thing I grew to believe was not Shu-Dereth after all. i don't know what it is" "That is too simple. Belief is not simply Korathi or Derethi. one or the other. I still believe Dereth's teachings. My problem is with Wyrn, not God" Horrified at his show of weakness before the girl, Hrathen quickly steeled his heart against further questions. Yes, he had betrayed Shu- Dereth. Yes he was a traitor. (so by Hrathen's own words, he is betraying Shu-Dereth's doctrines. He is choosing to ignore it, and trust in what he personally feels is right with what he feels is his god. He acknowledges what he believes no longer lines up with the religion Shu-Dereth. That does not change the doctrine as it stands. Only that he personally disagrees with it and chooses to believe his own interpretation. Regardless as per the doctrine, he will be excommunicated and branded a heretic by Shu-Dereth.) Elantris page 597 How had Wyrn known that Fjon would find Hrathen here, on the streets of Teoras of all places? Fjon would probably never know; Lord Jaddeth moved in ways beyond the understanding of men. (but finally the nail in the coffin here is far earlier in the novel. Let us go back to that term odiv. Hrathen is Wyrn's odiv. This is what an odiv fully entails) Elantris page 36 "My lord....I am, of course, your humble servant" "You will be more than that, Arteth" Hrathen said "if you would be my odiv, I your hroden. You will be mine, heart and soul. If you follow Jaddeth, you follow Him through me. if you serve the empire, you do it under me. Whatever you think, act or say, will be by my direction. Am I understood?"

What? Marsh was the one who hated Kelseir's indiscretions when it came to killing noblemen. He agread to help take down Reshek because he thought it was the right thing to do. He had no choice in the matter. He did not want to become one. Marsh and Harmony don't always agree but Marsh is(or was) a man of compassion. I cannot see him threatening civilization in order to force it to evolve.

Yes, but the rule that automatically elevates shardbearers was calibrated for traditional Alethi society. The nobles, who hold the power, abide by that rule because they know it's practically impossible for a darkeyes to acquire a shardblade. It's like saying, "sure, if a pig learns to fly, we should totally make that pig a senator." What happens when thousands of pigs start flying? Are you going to hand your entire government over to pigs, just because you said you would? Or are you going to change the rules? If any old bridgeman can become a radiant and pull a new shardblade out of thin air, the rules need to change. The greedy, moneygrubbing lighteyes of Alethkar will not stand by and let an arbitrary custom undermine the social order that gives them their power.

Good eye! I kind of forgot about Jasnah wanting to hook Shallan up with Adolin for Kholin political reasons. I knew she was doing it for the benefit of Shallan's position, but it's good to remember that she saw a match with a Radiant as politically desirable for her family. This also matches with an observation that Navani makes in Oathbreaker when Dalinar is having his breakdown and Navani briefly assumes the position of ruler: So I could see the political/practical angle giving a clear opening for Kaladin and Jasnah to hit it off.

I'm more concerned with wtf happened to his eye and his 5th finger.