Leaderboard

Tom was glad that he had a duty now, at least. Because otherwise, he would have spent the day brooding about his old job, and about how the world was sort of like, oh I don't know, ending? But then, he had discovered that he could burn atium. That instantly put him in the position of the village's bodyguard. That was pretty cool. Tom felt a small sense of accomplishment when he fought off the Inquisitor again, and again, and got closer each time to winning. This battle, though... something was wrong. Tom realized that his supply of atium was running out, and that there was no way he could kill the Inquisitor before that happened. And then. He sucked in the mists. Somehow, the mists gave Tom the power to continue and keep on fighting and... more atium? The more he would burn, the more it seemed he had remaining. When the Inquisitor lunged, Tom instinctively found the perfect parry and counterattack. They spun together in the mists, and finally, without quite knowing what was going on, Tom became the mists. Floating in the everywhere and nowhere at once, Tom knew... everything. He saw into the distance and into the far depths of time. More importantly, though, he knew exactly what he needed to do to put the Inquisitor's life to an end. In a deep, booming voice, Tom spoke as the wind in the Inquisitor's ear: "YOU ARE A STICK." "No!" The Inquisitor screamed. "I am the Inquisitor! And these are my spikes!" She waved her spikes menacingly toward the direction of the voice. "YOU ARE A STICK." "YOU ARE A STICK." "YOU ARE A STICK." "YOU ARE A STICK." "YOU ARE A STICK." "YOU ARE A STICK." "YOU ARE A STICK." "YOU ARE A STICK." "YOU ARE A STICK." "YOU ARE A ST-" And just like that, the newly ascended Preservation realized his plan. A chunk of Investiture spontaneously appeared from Roshar, answering the call, and letting Tom harness the powers of Soulcasting. Don't ask me how that would realistically work. It probably wouldn't. But in this hypothetical universe, it somehow happened. The scary, powerful, menacing Inquisitor convinced herself that she was indeed a stick. LG59 is over! Thank you to everyone for playing, and congratulations to the village for their victory. I have so many people to thank. I'll start off with @Coop772 for his help with GMing and @Alvron for being the IM. @Elbereth, @Fifth Scholar, and @Devotary of Spontaneity were invaluable in helping me balance and edit the rules of my first game. @Haelbarde and @Burnt Spaghetti, among others in the Discord, came up with some awesome titles (some of which I used), and @Butt Ad Venture even wrote a writeup for me. In addition to that, every single one of you signed up despite this being an incredibly busy time of the year, and I'm so grateful for all of the people who played or spectated for taking the time to do so. @_Stick_, it was super fun having you in the elim doc. Despite not having converts, it never got lonely in there. @Snipexe, thank you for being lynched Day 1 and tolerating it @Cicada, I hope you enjoyed your first game and that you'll stick around. Now for the fun part: Dead doc https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EPZPG_kSbI4mo57P7OxGxWK0wUcprgyS2igf-LURUCM/edit# Elim doc https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dKK9PHPl3sCRtmQyQpdRvQuctZemTlsC3zwcWnOEBLU/edit# GM spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1knOYaTGMjiT0sA-IPopxXSTn5mV00V3pvrqA5K1SZSw/edit#gid=0 Rules https://docs.google.com/document/d/1laraq97vMiiOxzlt9opQRi6mXJTzfAobBNFo8jEEwAs/edit Alright, I'll post GM thoughts and stuff on how I might change this game in a later post, as I have to get to class. Again, well played everyone!

My immediate reaction to the knowledge of this meme:

Unstoppable force (my desire for brownies) vs immovable object (the knowledge that my roommates would inevitably eat them all as soon as they exited the oven)

I'm going to jump in here (awesome plot, by the way) and say that Songbearer should either play Tarachin as a way to get to know the other gods, or develop his religion. If we can only pick one, I'd be more inclined towards developing the religion, as that seems to fit more with his character as I've seen it, but really either sounds useful. [X] Develop Religion And, if possible, [X] Play Tarachin with Other Returned

Suddenly, Star's eyes widened. "Wait a second," she said. "There was a portal in Silence's Realm. Do you think we could use that somehow? I know it's a long shot, but it's all I have." @xinoehp512

I am pretty sure at the end of WoR it ahows any oathgate can go to any other location. This to me seems like she had to select Urithiru as an option.

Firstly, Rebecca, Ghanderflaffle and Karger, many thanks for your kind welcomes, pleasure to meet you all! Rebecca: it was a bit of a foregone conclusion wasn't it really? Hehe! Always leave em wanting more . My favourite Sanderson characters thus far are: Kaladin - as I identify so strongly with both his depression and his desire to protect and care for other people. Kelsier - again, I identify with his struggle against the status quo and desire to fight for whats right. Also... whats not to love about the badass?! Teft and Dalinar - I have long struggled with addiction and self-medication to cope with my various issues including a lack of self-worth... "I will protect those I hate. Even...even if the one I hate most is... myself." is a line that resonates with me deeply. To be honest... I could go on and on answering this question as Sanderson's characterisation is so strong and I haven't come across a character that is poorly written thus far! Honorable mentions go to Lift, Rock, Lopen, Breeze. Ghanderflaffle: I hazard a guess that a Ghanderflaffle is RAFO for something I've not come across yet? If not, what an exquisite name! Favourite Sanderson book is also pretty hard to call... they've all been amazing so far. Probably The Way of Kings though, as from the very beginning I was enthralled by the ideas in the book (the whole prologue gave me the strongest of chills) and the fact that it was ONE BOOK IN TWO PARTS which I had never encountered before. Kaladin's journey and that of Bridge Four was something monumentally page-turning and I (pun intended) stormed through it. I haven't yet read anything Non-Cosmere but I have my birthday coming up and I'm hoping to plug those holes expediently. My main drive was Cosmere books once I realised there was this whole interconnected narrative and big picture stuff. I have, to that end, read the Arcanum though. I love a short story done well - one of my favourite modules at University - and I found the Arcanum to be simply tantalising. Would love to have more expanded narratives especially on things such as Sixth of Dust and Shadows of Silence in the Forests of Hell! Karger: Thank you, your Radiance! Yeah, as above, absolutely loved Arcanum. The Edgedancer and Mistborn Secret History segments were also particularly special of course with how they complimented their larger narrative counterparts (OMGKELSIERWTF!!! - I had moved onto Stormlight by that point when I picked up AU and was sorely tempted to dive back into Mistborn for a re-read following all the revellations, but Oathbringer awaited me, haha!) Again, many thanks for all your kind words. Your humble Stick, ~Atrias~ PS - I had to resubmit this post because apparently us newbs can't post links?? I only included @ tags to the three of you so that I could respond to you personally... seems a bit mean

Greetings Highlords, Highladies... Brightnesses all! I stumbled across The Final Empire in my local bookstore last year whilst looking for a new and intriguing series of books to get my teeth into during a period of extended sickness. I had never heard of Brandon Sanderson before and, despite the old addage, I totally judged a book by its cover and was sold immediately on the premise written on the UK edition cover "What if the Dark Lord won?". I scurried home eager to dive into a new world of fantasy, completely unaware of what was in store for me. I read the prologue and the first few chapters and was completely and utterly blown away by the characterisation, world-building, grounded magical systems and so on... so I promptly set down my book with a resigned feeling of "Oh no, here we go again" and returned to town to purchase the other two books in the series as I knew this was something special. In my defense, not wrong, but little did I know how deep the rabbit-hole truly went! I devoured Mistborn Era 1, then decided to read Elantris to see where it all began (from a published works \ bibliographical sense) and noticed thematic similarities, connections, the same dedicated attention to detail and fantastic cast of characters. I, like all of you before me, had discovered the Cosmere. I was hooked, but like taking the first few rubs of firemoss, I was still naive as to what would happen next. I found Brandon's website. I found to my delight that there were MORE COSMERE BOOKS. I read Mistborn Era 2. I read Warbreaker. Amazing. Outstanding. Could it get any better? Then Stormlight dropped from the heavens and its four almighty tomes that comprised Book 1 and Book 2 proceeded to give me as comprehensive an emotional roller-coaster as I had yet experienced in my 31 years of life. I had to have more... like waiting for Pullman or Pratchett (RIP ) or Canavan, the itch just begged to be scratched. As luck would have it, I was fortuitous enough to have finished SA2 to find that Oathbringer was also available for me to purchase immediately. Such a weighty and majestic hardback I have never before held in my hands! The rest is history. I began cross-reading, lurking on these forums, reading annotations, deleted scenes... you all know the drill! What I find is something so fascinating, so brilliant, beautiful and compellingly powerful within his works. His ability as a writer to speak to the many facets of my own mental health issues has helped me immeasurably over the past year. His ability to give me back feelings and emotions I had long buried and the pervading hope that everything is going to be ok has, without question, saved my life. For that, for him, for his works I am eternally grateful. I look forward to continuing this journey with you all and hope to further expand my own knowledge and understanding in Brandons works, and by extension my own growth and healing, by participating in this board. Your patience in reading my intro post is greatly appreciated and I hope to get to know many of you better in time! Life Before Death Strength Before Weakness Journey Before Destination ~Atrias~

I assume its just a blanket ban on all embedded links and things for new members, but I was disappointed to find in my introduction post I was forced to resubmit my reply to people who had kindly welcomed me to the forum. My post was rejected because of embedded links and the only thing I can think of is that I had used @ tags to mention the members specifically. In case its an unintended bug or oversight I just thought I would mention it.

Well, I am now officially, a college student. So, as of Monday, I may be slightly less active, so as to keep up with classes. I'll try to keep up on my RP obligations though, so fear not.

Can we post screenshots here? Because anyway, this needs to happen.

Something has been bothering me for a long time. At first I couldn't put my finger on it. Whatever it was, it kept evading me. I knew it had something to do with the Shard, and I narrowed it down to this thread very early in its existence. But I couldn't locate the cause of my grief. Days went by. I studied this thread forwards, backwards and inside out. Until I finally discovered what it was. Through thorough research and scrutiny, I've come to a conclusion. The Shortest Thread is no longer the shortest thread. It is a lie.

I Tire Here. I've Nocturnal Knowedege In Mind. Focus And Lucidity Lost In New Gnostics. All Slumber Leaves Everyone Energetically Powered SHARD

Hi, everyone! I'm writing a summary of the CBST-verse right now, and if anyone wants to read it to know what the heck I draw all the time and just what went down on TLT, I'd be totally willing to send it to ya.

Spren or Seon... none of this messing about with mushy body physical realm stuff Pattern's comment about defecating and "trying to hide it" (which I'm recalling and paraphrasing badly) comes to mind, hah!

Pewterarm moving companies Iron pullers working on building skyscrapers. Never have to worry about falling, you can just yank yourself back up onto the girder. Steel push short order cook. Make the food, throw it on a plate that is attached to a track, push the metal plate and the food flies on the track to the customer. Cadmium line management. For instance lets say you are at Disney land. have cadmium pulsers at specific points of the line. Group gets on the rollar coaster. Ride starts. All Cadmium pulsers along the line pulse till the ride is done. People get off, next group gets on. Rinse and repeat. Line appears to move super fast to those on line while time passes normally outside. No more frustrated line waiters. The only downside is people will need to be prepared to manage their time better

@Ixthos gotcha, yeah @Rebecca cleared that up for me in the end, looks like I’ve been repped up a bit now and all appears to be well. Thanks for your help, I must get back to my bridge before anyone realises I’m missing

@Rebecca gotcha, that was what I figured and I suppose the message I got did clarify that to an extent but I felt a little sad I wasn’t able to mention you guys directly for being so kind as to come and speak with me! I’m in the clear now it seems tho so, woo, one day I will make it out of the bridge crews !! @Cadmium Compounder Many thanks. I have a passion for writing and even on forums try to write in a way that’s entertaining to read. Before joining I spent my time lurking in the various cosmere book sections just seeing what sorts of things people discussed; I think I’m probably going to be joining you in theories and things as I love a good deep read and exposition of thoughts and things but I want to ensure my knowledge is up to scratch first! I might also take a look at the writers forums I see you have here. It’s been a long time since I’ve put my hand to any prose or poetry of note so that seems to me like a gentle way to ease my way back into things with like minds. I’ve frequented many a forum before but never entered into any games but you might just have convinced me to dip my toe over there as well! Agreed with your thoughts on Siri and Vivenna... brilliant characters and underrated; but i think things like Elantris and Warbreaker are easy to forget sometimes when stacked up against Mistborn and Stormlight... the beauty of it is, as you touch upon, the knowledge that these parts of the cosmere are not “done” with and the roles they have to play in the larger scheme of things will come out in due course (providing Brandon is able to continue his breakneck writing pace and maintain his deific level of skill ). @Lord Furret I see!! I will have to check this out, Color me intrigued! Nice to meet you too!

@Karger. The message said specifically it was to prevent spam from new members so I’m not sure it will affect someone with your post count but @Ixthos I’ll try tagging you both and see if it lets me... who knows... maybe 3 posts is the threshold. Edit: ok, yeah clearly that works now, I’ll try in my original thread as well in case there’s different parameters for different sections of the forum (I can see why allowing links would be required in a tech / support area )

I fully agree, and that is something I really like about Brandon, how he uses optimism to reconstruct the tropes and ideas commonly deconstructed, showing the value in the old while still exploring the new :-) I'd like to try and group the shards we know into a more refined block later on, as well as working on the assumption wisdom is also a shard (for several reasons - complete side note but in what I am writing there are several beings similar to what Brandon has shown, only they exist in several distinct groups / types / "species", people can't take them up, and they are fewer in number, as well as having a hierarchy, but Wisdom is one of them, and that is commonly seen as something of the divine, as Proverbs compares Wisdom to a woman and was the first of God's creation). The shards can match certain ideas of pagan mythologies as well as divine attributes, and I think they have distinct archetypes, such as war, love, wisdom, fate, and so on, with some overlap Before exploring that catagorisation, I do want to have some feedback on two things I've noticed that is important with the types of shards. The first thing: Shards like Honour, and possibly Autonomy, Ambition, Devotion, and Dominion, apply their trait to themselves, so Honour acts honourably, and presumably Devotion would be devoted and not just trying to make everything devoted to her with no caring on her own part (though whether Autonomy and Ambition value their own property and apply it to themselves isn't clear - Odium might want others to hate him?) Shards like Preservation, Ruin, and possibly Cultivation and Endowment, apply their trait externally, even to their own cost, so Preservation doesn't try to preserve himself any more than Ruin tries to ruin himself (presumable the person who can take up a shard must be someone who sees the value in that trait, and some apply to ones own actions as well as some applying only to what you want the world to become) The second thing: Preservation, Ruin, Cultivation, and probably one other, like Endowment, form a block - Ruin and Cultivation are focused on change, Ruin destructive change, Cultivation constructive change, while Preservation and possibly Endowment are focused on maintaining a certain amount of something, with Preservation favouring stasis and Endowment favouring sharing out a finite amount of something - a gift that doesn't grow but can be passed on, remaining unchanged If Preservation is ordered goals, ordered methods, and Ruin is chaotic goals, chaotic methods, and Cultivation is chaotic goals, ordered methods, then the last shard in that block might be ordered goals, chaotic methods, which could be Endowment - it could be argued Endowment is in any of the two quadrants with both order and chaos - or another All the shards in this block are those which don't apply their trait to themselves, and are outwards shards What are your thoughts on this observation? If it makes sense, what other blocks of four could there be, remembering that with six shards not known there could be at least one entire quadrant with no shard revealed?

I like the idea. A good game never hurts. Best case we can have interesting conversation while playing, and maybe cann see who of those that put forth a proposal to vote on tries to influence us. [x] Play a game of Tarachin with a few of the gods

Shallan: Where can I find Jasnah Kholin 15 super easy DIY soulcaster repairs How do I know if he's in to me? What do your jam choices say about you, quiz Ethics??? How to make a stick catch fire Why wont my stick burn? SERIOUSLY, how do I make this stupid stick catch fire!!!!!!! Funny jokes to impress your boyfriend How to poop efficiently in battle armor

10/10 best meme on this whole thread

Hmm... I'll try it. Pretty much everyone:

Pun being so punable gives me...

Just found this, titled "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em"

Ah, okay. Then I'm going to go for: [x] Be a Tarachin superstar Play a game of Tarachin with a few of the gods Ideally with the gods that are putting forth proposals. I mean, it's a way for them to get to know Songbearer and try to manipulate backstab get the newbie to vote with them, right? Why not?

I would be a stick but I could be FIRE

This is just for fun! Please don't attack

The luck doesn't work all the time. at the midpoint of the story, have the main character rely on her luck to solve a problem, and have her fail utterly. Perhaps this trait could be tied in with a character arch. for the first half of the story, she could rely on her luck to solve problems. at the midpoint, her luck fails her when it matters most. So for the rest of the story, she is trying to solve problems without taking any chances. during the third act, she could be put in a situation where she must rely on her luck once more. She could go from a character who always trusts the roll of the dice since, more often than not, the odds come up in her favor, to a character who is terrified of relying on luck. In the end, she must come to terms with the fact that sometimes she must rely on chance. Just a thought (Edit) one of the most common and effective ways to take bad writing and making it work is to tie it in with the themes of the story. Shrek and One Punch Man are good examples of this. In Shrek, the protagonist is an oger who has lived a simple and lonely life and is suddenly forced out of it and into the world of fairy tale knights and princesses. so while crude humor is usually a big no-no in writing, it works for Shrek because of the crude humor ties into the story thematically. One Punch Man is about an overpowered superhero who can defeat any enemy, no matter how powerful with just one punch. while overpowered protagonists are usually bad writing, the show is great because it is more about the protagonist's inner conflict. the main character is bored with life because he does not have any challenges or obstacles that he can't easily solve with a single punch.

That was good, especially the last sentence. The fact that the POV doesn't have a name was a little distracting near the beginning but the fact that he is the only 'he' in the piece means it isn't confusing. One thing I would advise is giving it a little more action, there's nothing wrong with the guy sitting in a tree but I found myself more curious about the stuff going on below then the stuff going on in his head. There was a whole lot of naval gazing. I assume that the rest of the story is either a flashback leading up to the catastrophe or the story on the survivors. Both those sound fun, if you need any more readers I'll always be glad to help. Good luck with the story!

So just a third possibility to think on. What if it is possible to go directly between oathgates (Jah Keved to Shinovar for instance), but since you need a spren blade, the radiants limited travel to have to go through Urithiru to benefit from taxes. We see the exact same thing happen in Era 2 Mistborn Spoilers below:

With medallions cadmium ferring bands. As a wind player myself I can say not having to breath would be super nice and make a band sound much better

To all those in a world I've just recently discovered, Two years have passed since I first heard of Brandon Sanderson, and I'd be lying if I said his books haven't had an impact on me. But it's been a journey, and it definitely had a rough beginning. I was fifteen years old, still wet behind my ears when it came to fantasy since all I had read were the Inheritance Cycle and the Ranger's Apprentice series (and all books relating to it). I didn't really know what good fantasy looked like - no disrespect to Paolini or Flanagan, but Sanderson's work leaves almost everyone in the dust. I was introduced to Brandon's books by someone I barely knew, and for the first month or so I was a little skeptical of the book he had lent me: a huge, thick, 1000-page tome titled "The Way of Kings." I believe I got through the first 150 pages or so, but by that time I had had the copy so long that the owner began to wonder if I intended to give it back. So I did, and for a few weeks I completely forgot about it. Then I met another fan of Sanderson who told me that The Way of Kings was probably not the best place to start, and recommended Mistborn and The Reckoners. So I read the Reckoners, and my mind was blown. I went back to The Way of Kings soon after, this time with an amount of trust in this Brandon Sanderson person, whoever he was. I read The Way of Kings in about three weeks, which isn't anything special, and again my mind was blown. It was like nothing I'd ever read before, and even LOTR seemed slow and inconsequential in comparison. Two years and dozens upon dozens of hours of reading later, I'm firmly convinced that Sanderson is the best fantasy author today. I haven't even read all his books (Mistborn Era 1, Warbreaker, Elantris, and of course Arcanum Unbounded are still on my list) but I know they will, as always, blow my mind and leave the competition far behind. This is a special and important era in the world of fantasy, and we are the ones lucky enough to see it happen in our day. These past two years have only been the beginning. - Liranaril

I've just got a complete set of Farscape on DVD So happy I can't stop crying, as Sting would say. Now I only need to hunt for LEXX and whole set of Deep Space Nine. *hopeless example of sci-fi show nerd*

Welcome to the Shard! We have ghanderflaffles, at least we do in TLT. What’s your favorite Sanderson book? Have you read anything non cosmere? Have you read the Arcanum Unbounded?

Yes, that's why Jasnah had to soulcast Shallan's blood multiple times, and why Shallan woke up in a hospital room. Shallan had eaten the bread (where the poison was) and hadn't eaten the antidote since it was gone. So she got poisoned and Jasnah had to fix her blood to save her.

My wife complains about me being a “visionary man”. My two sons also murmur against me for the same reason. Seriously though it was probably when someone said I sounded exactly like Bill Parcells. I was around 17 and he (Bill) was probably around 65 at the time.

...Is Szift actually a thing? Isn't she about 13 in OB? Ew... (Also I am both weirdly disappointed and hugely relieved that nobody seems to have thought of Szord-Nimi yet)

BoS stares at Star for a long time.

This is veeeeeeeeeeeeery entertaining.

“I love you too.” The beam of light came down again, enveloping Marsh. When it dispersed, he was gone again, back to the Beyond.

The thing is, once Sanderson decided that Szeth was too cool to kill for good at the end of WoR, as he initially intended, his motivations got retconned. In WoK Szeth in his PoV explained why he was following the murderous orders of his masters despite his own horror, revulsion and very clear understanding that it was wrong. It wasn't because of honor. It was because he was afraid of oblivion after death that would allegedly await him if he didn't adhere to the strictures of being Truthless. He valued his own after-life, even one of eternal torment, over lives of the hundreds of people that he has killed and tens of thousands who died as a result of chaos thereby unleashed. Kaladin called him a coward during their duel in WoR and he was right. But this wasn't a good basis for redemption, so now Szeth did it all "for honor", it seems. I kept encountering this argument in various threads and wanted to dispute it for some time, so I'll just do it here: This isn't really true. The similarities between these characters are mostly in their external circumstances, not at their core. Due to my recent re-read, I have noticed that Amaram was always a mess of character, who lacked any kind of internal consistency and was whatever was needed to provide Kaladin with challenges. I wrote about it more in the recent "Amaram" thread, but what is perinent here is that Meridas never took his promises seriously even when it would have cost him nothing (see Tien), he was not particularly addicted to the Thrill compared to normal Alethi, he was a religious fanatic, though also a very hypocritical one and he was very scholarly for one of his station. In other words, nothing like Dalinar. As to Moash, he was always very selfish and self-centered, nothing like Kaladin. All his indignation about the oppression of darkeyes was because it affected him directly. But he didn't lift a finger when he caused a beating of his good acquiantance by his refusal to speak to a captive highlord. He was angered by the dire straits of a widow with small children, but wasn't moved to help, just to feed his hatred. He also tried to kill his friends and savior, let's not forget. Yes, he helped the parshmen, but also not because he particularly cared about them as individuals, but because he wanted to maintain his illusion that singers are better than humans. Kaladin's defining characteristics are compassion, caring, loyalty to his friends. He may have gone dark, sure, but it would have played out differently. Knowing that Szeth was originally supposed to die for good at the end of WoR, I think that it is fairly likely that Eshonai became a sacrificial lamb in his stead. Not that I don't like Venli, but I liked Eshonai more... and I find that Dalinar, Szeth and Venli all 3 being repentant mass-murderers who became the first new Radiants is a bit too much.