Leaderboard

Hello SE, and congratulations on somehow surviving another year of murders and bloodshed. Welcome to Anniversary Game 6/Anonymous Game 7: We Shall All Be Changed. Before discussing the game itself, however, I have several important announcements to make on behalf of the moderating team, and would encourage all of you to fully read through them. The first and most pressing matter is that of the moderation team itself. Unfortunately for all of us, both @Orlok Tsubodai and @Alvron have felt that their schedules no longer permit them to serve as effective moderators for the subforum, and have decided to step down. Needless to say, this is very saddening, as both have given years of service to SE and its community, helping to shape it into a better place, and both the logic and clarity of Orlok and the (sometimes lurking) activity of Alv will be missed on the moderating team and the subforum. We wish them the best of luck as they dedicate themselves to their respective pursuits, and hope that they will find the time to occasionally sneak back into a game or two. Their replacements on the moderating team will be @Elbereth, the other GM for this game, and @Devotary of Spontaneity, and I am confident that both will be excellent additions who will help Wilson and I tremendously in the coming years. El brings with her a wealth of experience in conflict resolution and a veteran perspective as two other long-time players depart, and Devotary’s keen sense of balance and impartiality will also be welcome in game balance review and our thankfully infrequent moderation. With changes in the moderation team, our game balance committee is also undergoing a shift in membership. We are pleased to welcome both @Amanuensis and @STINK back into the committee, and to receive @Elandera, @Araris Valerian, and @Sart as its new members who will be helping with game review. The committee will also be taking on responsibilities such as keeping the GM spreadsheet updated, revising the rules and Lexicon to reflect a post-AG2 understanding of SE, and giving additional feedback in the Art of Game Creation thread—undertakings which moderation has historically wished to be able to do, but there never seems to be enough hours in the day. With the revitalised committee, however, we hope to see these changes finally be made. The final significant alteration to SE policy is with respect to the SE Discord server established by @A Joe in the Bush and currently owned by @little wilson. While the Discord has been incredibly successful on its own merits, its well-being and the casual community fostered there have come at the expense of the subforum’s health and the activity of socialising institutions such as spectator and dead docs, PMs, and the games themselves, which have experienced a falling-off in activity recently. Therefore, to stem community migration to the server, we are officially divorcing it from the subforum—it will be removed from the General Rules thread, the #game_creation channel will be archived to incentivise participation in the largely defunct Art of Game Creation thread, and we ask that you not invite new members to the Discord, but instead encourage them to remain in the subforum and use the games and docs for social interaction. With these changes, we hope to revitalise the SE community and bring personal discussion and RP back into the games. It might surprise you, but you are allowed to talk about your life or begin off topic discussions in docs and PMs, and doing so actually helps both the community and the games. That should be it for sweeping structural changes, so onto a couple of smaller points. First, the variety of GMs in the spreadsheet for upcoming games is depressingly low, and we’d love to see more people creating and running games. With the reinvigorated committee and mod team, there are plenty of people eager to help out if you have a game idea you’re looking to refine, including El and I, and we’ll get you signed up on whichever list you’d like. (And once it comes to actually GMing, there are plenty of experienced players happy to help you co-GM.) So please contact us if you have any ideas you’d like to see run. Second, we’re implementing automatic spectator lists, which you can sign up for to be immediately PMed a spec doc for any game you’re not participating in, hopefully further incentivising people to contribute to spec docs. Finally, after a break during AG5, we are back to handing out non-Sanderson game passes, and will be distributing 3 or 4 after the game to worthy recipients. We won’t be revealing exact criteria, but worthy players are likely to be active, thoughtful and sensible players who foster discussion and community within the games. Just a thought. /announcements Oh no! Although Dalinar Kholin has successfully re-founded the Knights Radiant upon the formerly lost city of Urithiru, there looks to be an insurgent faction of the new Knights sympathetic to ODIUM, the Lord of Hate. While you’re aware of their existence, a small group of cornered individuals with mystical powers and incentive to kill...well, that can be a dangerous thing. Besides, should the Knights fall, who will guard Roshar when the Final Desolation begins in earnest? Factions: Roles: Cosmetic Roles (please read before signing up): Housekeeping: Each Day turn will be 48 hours long, with a simple no-vote-minimum lynch. The player receiving the most votes at the end of the Day turn will be killed; should there be a tie, a random player from among those lynched will die. Each Night turn will be 24 hours long, allowing the various factions and Radiants to submit orders. An inactivity filter of two cycles will be enforced. This is subject to change based on player count. To reiterate, PMs are open so long as an Edgedancer is alive. Please remember to include both @Elbereth and myself in any PMs made. Rollover will occur at 4 AM EST (-4:00 UTC) and may be posted by either El or myself. Due to writeups and the need to send PMs, this will typically take about an hour. Please be patient and bear in mind that there are likely thirty of you to keep tabs on. This game is a completely anonymous game. Please sign up by PMing both @Elbereth and myself with the title “AG6 Signup Request: [Your Name Here]” and include your chosen character and Cosmetic Role (details above) in the PM. Do not tell anyone whether or not you are playing the game. This both makes identity-guessing more fun and ensures the integrity of any voting we may do at the end of the game for non-Sanderson passes. If you wish to spectate, please PM us in a similar manner, and do not reveal that you are doing so. To facilitate anonymity, this thread will be locked, and we urge any discussion about rules changes to be made in the Q&A/Meta Discussion thread. At the start of the game, you will be issued an anonymous account. There are a number of rules associated with the use of an Anonymous Account. Please follow them carefully. Given the potential for abuse of Anonymous Accounts, any rule breaking using the accounts will be dealt with harshly. 1) Do not change the password of the anonymous account you are issued. Wilson (the IM), El and I will have access to all anonymous accounts for the duration of the game. 2) Do not use the anonymous accounts to PM any non-anonymous account, other than the accounts of the GMs. Please do not use your normal accounts to PM anonymous accounts. 3) Once again, do not tell any other player or individual associated with SE whether you are playing or not playing the Anonymous Game. Player identities will be revealed after the game, not on the death of their avatar. Players must not reveal their own identity after their death, until the end of the game, including in the dead/spec doc. Players wishing to spectate rather than play should PM El and myself for a link to the spectator doc. Questions and rules clarifications should be submitted in your sign up PMs, and will be posted by myself in the signups thread. 4) Do not change anything cosmetic about the accounts, including member title, username, signature, and avatar. Good luck to all, and we hope to get this thing started in about a week. Quick Links:

Cycle 1 “Oy, someone’s stole my knife!” The burly, bald-headed man with tattoos marking from the top of his spine, up and over his head and down to his chin, his belt with every imaginable weapon, and muscles more deadly than any one of them made for a menacing sight as he stood in the back of the open van and looked around at his companions for an answer. “Maybe yeh sat on it and it went up to ‘ide from yeh.” The rest of the group chuckled at this response, obviously used to the big man’s complaints. “You makin fun of me Dodger?” The large man leaned down over the man who’d made the snide remark. Dodger glanced up to look him in the face. “I can’t tell if yeh don’ know I was, Bran, er if yehr just tryin to intimidate me. Either way it’s not goin’ to work so just sit down. You’ve got like 5 knives and you’d best keep better watch of ‘em when we get to the city. More pickpockets there than among yer team.” Bran snarled at him, but sat down with a huff. Miranda covered a smile from the passenger seat in the front of the van as she felt beneath her vest at the cold steel she’d pilfered. She still had her careful fingers that had kept her alive all these years. “Shut up, all of you. We’re nearly there.” The driver flipped off the headlights and a massive dark silhouette loomed in the distance before them. They were getting close to the city. Miranda swallowed. She’d have to have more than this blade to keep her alive on her mission to find an epic. She’d need some nerves of steel as well. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Welcome to cycle 1! This cycle will end in 48 hours at 1 PM CST on the 21st of December Rule update! In order to increase game activity some new rules have been added and the game changed slightly. You can find the new rules here ! Good luck! Player List: The Black Market:

Wow thank you all for your comments, I super appreciate it! Really brought a smile to my face when I read all the kind words. Makes me want to do more cosmere art. Happy Koloss Head-Munching Day and a Merry Axemas to you all!

I think it's clear that Maya is forming some kind of bond with Adolin, despite being a deadeye. She's certainly not as dead as other deadeyes. She acted of her own volition to defend him against a Fused in Shadesmar. She knows her own name. She tells Adolin her name, via a mental link in the Physical realm. She comes to him in fewer than 10 heartbeats. She warns him of an incoming Fused. And it's strongly suggested she enabled him to heal with Stormlight (unconsciously) in being able to "gather himself" to stand and then to walk out of a storming collapsed building. "Gather himself" from what he'd been sure had been shattered bones? Right. When asked about this before Oathbringer came out, Brandon had said such a thing (reviving a "dead spren" Shardblade) had never happened before, and would require some unusual circumstances... One of which might be the current bondholder of the Blade meeting the spren in Shadesmar, which you have to think has never happened before. That said, I don't think Brandon will do something as "obvious" as "Mayalaran woke as from a long sleep, having regenerated the missing parts of her cognitive soul, and happily bonded the person responsible for her return to sentience, becoming cultivationspren and Edgedancer as it was always meant to be with the one who brought her back". That's too easy. Whatever the future has for them, it's going to be interesting, and I don't want to get too invested into what I hope/expect to happen, except that I expect it NOT to be the above. My personal POV on this: A spren is a cognitive being, and forming Ideals with one links into that spren's cognitive "soul": It embodies a multi-layered concept, and a Radiant links up to a deeper core layer of the concept with each successive Ideal. To be a deadeye Blade, at least the Third Ideal of five was achieved, so having that part of a spren ripped out and made permanently physical (the remains of the broken oath) is like ripping out 60% of the spren, with the other 40% or so the zombie-like deadeye figures in the CR we see in Shadesmar. (Living Shardblades, like when Syl or Pattern are summoned as weapons by their Radiants, fully transition to the Physical realm and are 100% of the spren, explaining why they glow and stuff where dead Blades do not.) I don't think cognitive beings can "regenerate" or "heal", as in to recover what was lost. BUT, what I think is going on with Adolin is that he's bonding to the 40% remainder of Maya, which required someone bonded to her Blade to also think of her as a spren (no other Shardbearer of a dead Blade on Roshar even knows that's the truth behind the Blade), to wish to have a bond, AND be someone that would under other circumstances also be someone she'd want to bond with. And now that bond, kind of like grafting a sprout onto the base of a pruned root that's still alive, is extending that "40% of Maya" to being 50%, 60%, climbing back towards being a full spren. But not toward a 100% tally of the cultivationspren she had been. She's going to be "plugged" in the way that a spren normally plugs the cracks in a Radiant's soul. Basically, Adolin is patching HER cracks. As she approaches fuller sentience, she's not going to be a cultivationspren, so much as a cultivationspren base with a layer of... Well... Whatever Adolin thinks a Radiant could or should be.

Hey all! First and foremost, how is everyone? I know I'm barely active anymore, but I like popping back on here from time to time. Life's busy, but isn't it always? Making it through one day at a time. I'm getting Starsight tonight, so hey, that's some good news. As this year starts to wrap up, I have a question to ask all of you: what are your New Years Resolutions? I haven't thought of mine yet, so I'm asking around to see what inspiration I can get. I probably won't be on the Shard for the next 2-3 weeks, so just wanted to say that I hope everyone has a great holiday season. See you all in 2020! –Ash

Emphasis mine. So technically cycle 7 is the earliest the gun comes into play, assuming no one currently has one. : P Also, @BrightnessRadiant, Does purchasing from the black market come before or after stealing in the OoA? (even though it isn't an action) Edit: oops, posted early. And Sorry BR, I have some more questions... So, 15 players. That means likely 2-3 elims. I would assume 3 as of right now as one of the elims wont be using items while the entire village can use them. Looking at all the items: Gun - one time use, may kill any player you target unless they're protected by the vest 15 player game with 2 dying per cycle gives us a maximum game length of 7 turns. Since we cant use a gun from the black market until Turn 8, I think it might be more of a tool to prevent the game from stalling. As guns are 1 time uses, I think there is a decent chance one is floating around somewhere, but not more than one. If someone has a gun early in the game, they are close to guaranteed to be a Villager. Also, if you fire a gun, I can't think of a reason for a villager not to publicly claim that you did so? The gun is destroyed after use, so there is no particular target put on your head. Bullet proof vest - one time use, protects against any attack excluding the lynch (passive ability but if activated by an attack it will cancel out your other action if you took one) As it is a passive ability, there are probably less of them than if it was an active ability. There are two available to purchase, and it will take at least 3 turns to buy one. I am similarly thinking that there will be 2 floating around. As the elims have a faster maximum rate they can collect points, and the low chance of shooting them early in the game, I wouldn't expect them to start with these in the game, though it is possible. Knife - wounds a player of your choice, blocking their action for that cycle (may be used once per round) This I am less certain about. 10 available for 3 points means that these are a near limitless supply. I would expect at least 1 player to start with one of these. Probably village, but could go either way. Binoculars - may spy on a player's action, seeing whom they targeted and with what action (may be used once per round) Both the elim kill and the gun will show up as an attack if the binoculars spot it. It will not specify which one it was. These are extremely powerful. The fact that they show who the player targeted means that you see someone attacking someone else, you can make a very good guess as to if they are evil or not. This is mirrored through there not being any of these in the black market. There will likely be one person with this *at most*. So if you have one of these, please try not to die : P (If there is more than one, I would personally predict that the elims started with the second one... But I don't think that is particularly likely) These will likely not produce consistent results past turn 4, as elims are able to receive Smoke Bombs at the end of turn 3. Smoke Bomb - You cannot be observed with Binoculars. Using this doesn’t consume your action. So... as far as I can tell, this item only helps elims. But if anyone can think of any other reason for it to exist, please correct me. There might be a villager that starts with this item, but it doesn't really matter. I expect the elims will want one or two of these once turn three comes around Is someone able to spend their action to pass their item to someone else? Strongbox - Cannot be stolen. You can store one item in the Strongbox. That item cannot be stolen while in the Strongbox. Putting an item in a strongbox does count as an action, but the item is still available for use on following cycles even if it is in the strongbox. This item is cool, and 20 in the Black Market means we shouldn't run out. i don't particularly think this means anything though. At least not as of right now. Is a player allowed to pass a Strongbox? What if the box has an Item in it?

So I have my own theory regarding Adolin and Maya. I have gotten a lot of flak for this theory because people feel it is taking things away from Adolin. I do not feel that is the case. The title of this thread is "Do you think its possible for adolin to bring mayalaran back from the dead". I do, and I am going to say how I think it is possible. If that does not work for anyone else, I respect that, and wish you luck, but that does not change my belief in my theory. So now that that is all stated here is my theory: What we know via WoB: 1. just stating the oaths of the order, if you are not the original knight radiant, is not enough 2. something extra must be done 3. dead spren have something ripped out of them. The equivalency is having a jack in your head be forcibly ripped out, chunky and all, leaving a gaping hole. So how do we fix that? The bond with a shardblade I believe is a faux bond created with the aid of stormlight in the gemstone placed in the pommel. It is not a radiant bond. It is taking a third thing, to mimic it, and provide minimal functionality. I believe Adolin has strengthened this faux bond, so he gets a little more out of it, but it is still not a full bond. Dalinar has had the same exact (to me) experiences with oathbringer as Adolin and Maya. Adolin felt an urging from Maya. Dalinar in Way of Kings while fighting the chasmfiend felt an urging from Oathbringer. Maya remembers Adolin and demonstrates increased sapience. Dalinar when holding Oathbringer as a radiant, heard Oathbringer not scream as loud, and stormfather explained that Oathbringer remembers Dalinar and his actions. That demonstrates increased sapience. The reason Adolin was able to experience this while not being a radiant at the time was because the realms were closer together. Brandon confirmed that distance does in fact matter regarding the number of heartbeats to summon a shardblade, just normally you would never experience or notice the discrepancy. Spren are beings of investiture. They had a huge chunk ripped out of them. The current connection is not enough (for me) to forge a full bond, as Brandon has said something more is needed. Investiture interferes with other investiture. A radiant cannot manipulate another radiant's surge or plate. For myself, I believe that chunk needs to be restored in order to awaken the spren, and bond it in true. Who has investiture manipulating powers? Dalinar. Who had connection manipulating powers? Dalinar. Who can bypass the investiture interference to manipulate another radiant's surge? Dalinar. So what does all this mean? I think Dalinar in his capacity as a bondsmith using the "scaffolding" that Adolin's strengthened faux bond has created, can force through a large infusion of investiture, healing the huge gaping hole in Maya, allowing her to become a living spren once more than Adolin can then bond. That without Adolin increasing the faux bond, this could not happen. Without a bondsmith, this could not happen. Which is why in all the thousands of years, it has not occurred. We have seen Shardbearers increase their connection to shardblades in the past. What has not been for thousands of years, is a real bondsmith radiant. I do not feel this takes anything away from Adolin as it requires Dalinar and Adolin to work together. I do not think this takes anything away from Adolin as it would require him to then teach others to deepen their bond to their shardblades. And finally I think this is going to lead to an arms race in grabbing up every shardblade that they can so they can awaken them and increase the knights radiant numbers, while the enemy tries to prevent it. That is my theory. I wish everyone luck with their own.

I hope Brandon and Tor again release all of Part 1 in weekly segments leading up to release. One, it makes the book arrive just that much sooner, and two, combing over every word and theorizing with all you Sharders was so, SO much fun.

Game will start at 1 PM CST 19th ...finally

I hope so. Adolin, in doing so, will have a bond just as strange as his brother's. Also, I really wanna see Lift making fun of Adolin for less than proficiency with the surge of Abrasion. Also him pulling a rockstar move and sliding on his knees, but extra far cuz yeah. All jokes aside, Adolin would make a great Edgedancer. He sincerely cares about people, and the oaths we've seen Lift say I can see Adolin saying. Also, it would be cool for almost all the Kholins to have spren. Except Navani (so far...). And Gavinor, but he's too young yet.

MR39: For Science! "Scissors." He reached out a gloved hand, blood dripping to the floor and spattering his boots. He didn't look up from the dissected body on the table before him. Miranda picked the scissors from the tray and handed them to the doctor, hands trembling as she watched him take the gleaming silver tool from her. His steady hand moved to make the cut. Miranda let out a small gasp, bringing him to a stop. "Do you need to leave the room, Miranda?" The doctor spoke quietly from beneath his mask. Miranda's heart beat wildly and she didn't make a sound. "Send me another to take your place. You're relieved for the day." Moments later she leaned against the door of her room, trying to calm her stomach. Nope. She lost what food she'd eaten that day. Shaking, she wiped her mouth with her sleeve and collapsed on her bed across the room. Something had to be done about this. Dissection after dissection and still nothing satisfied the doctor. Everyone knew that epics were horrible people but that didn't mean it justified cutting them open to see how they worked...did it? "I have to stop it." Opening the drawer in her end table she pulled out a pad of paper and a pen and began writing. ~~~ Trying to steady her breathing, Miranda knocked on the office door. The doctor's voice beckoned her inside. A clock ticked on the wall, the only sound in the room besides that of papers shuffling on the heavy wooden desk. It was a nicely furnished room with a dark velvet chair in the corner, a pretty green rug on the floor and a dark wooden bookcase lining one wall. A tank of fish sat next to the chair, the filter causing bubbles on top that made the fish curious until they forgot what they were doing. Fish don't have the greatest of memories. The doctor glanced up from his desk in the center of the room. "Are you feeling better? Please come in." Miranda swallowed and stepped forward, handing the doctor the note she had written. "What's this?" "I'm leaving." The doctor looked at her in shock. "You're what?" "I need to get away from here for a while. I want to go on the next expedition you send out to find epics for your….research." The doctor's expression changed from concern to consideration. "I...see." He removed his glasses, hooking the end of the frame in his lip as he thought. Did he suspect something? Miranda counted to ten to distract herself and still her nerves. He sat quietly for a moment, the ticking of the clock seeming to grow louder and louder in Miranda's ears before the silence was broken. "Very well. You've been my best assistant." He put his glasses back on and set to writing on a clean sheet of paper, signing it when he was finished. "Give this to Arone straightaway. I believe his team is leaving for Newcago first thing tomorrow morning." Miranda reached out and took the paper, sighing in relief and turning to leave. Just after the paper left his fingers, the doctor gripped her wrist, causing her to look back at him. He stared her in the eye, his cold blue gaze feeling as if it would pierce through her. "Be careful." She nodded. Leaving the room, she closed the door behind her and exhaled. She wasn't sure if those words had been meant as well wishes or a threat. Did he suspect her intentions? Either way she was leaving. She would find a way to put an end to this. Even if it meant having to find an epic to help her. _________________________________________________________________ Welcome to MR39! The game will begin on Friday the 13th at 1 PM CST. Good luck! The game is set sometime before the events of the book Steelheart but after Steelheart has taken over the city of Newcago. So basically before the beginning of book 1 minus the prologue. Rules: This will be a MR with 48 hour cycles The elims have a separate doc to discuss and they have one kill per cycle Open PMing (only 1 on 1) All PMs must include myself and Fifth Scholar (IM) Tied lynch ends in a no lynch No minimum vote requirement When a player dies their items are removed from the game Actions: You may only take one action per cycle Elim kill counts as an action You may use an item You may target a player and attempt to steal their item You may choose to guard yourself against an item being stolen Factions: Loyals - you are loyal to the doctor and will see your mission done when you find all of the traitors Traitors - you win when you kill or outnumber all of those who are loyal to the doctor Items: Gun - one time use, may kill any player you target unless they're protected by the vest Bullet proof vest - one time use, protects against any attack excluding the lynch (passive ability but if activated by an attack it will cancel out your other action if you took one) Knife - wounds a player of your choice, blocking their action for that cycle (may be used once per round) Binoculars - may spy on a player's action, seeing whom they targeted and with what action (may be used once per round) Both the elim kill and the gun will show up as an attack if the binoculars spot it. It will not specify which one it was. Smoke Bomb - You cannot be observed with Binoculars. Using this doesn’t consume your action. Strongbox - Cannot be stolen. You can store one item in the Strongbox. That item cannot be stolen while in the Strongbox. Putting an item in a strongbox does count as an action, but the item is still available for use on following cycles even if it is in the strongbox. The Black Market: This will be a space where players can spend points earned from activity each cycle. Some items are only available in the black market and do not start out in game. There will be a limited number of items for the entirety of the game. Point Gain: Posting over 150 words in at least one RP post in a Cycle - 1 point Making at least 2 posts contributing to discussion in a Cycle - 1 point The Black Market is not a place for charity, and besides, you’re all mercenaries. Points cannot be given to other players. If two people go for the same item and there isn't enough inventory then the person who put in the order first will get it. The person who didn't get it will retain their points. You will not be informed of who got what, but you will be able to see what went down in inventory on the next cycle. There is a set number of items at the start of the game and no more will be added. The black market does not count as an action and therefore the binoculars cannot see it. There is a 2 point cap that can be reached each cycle. Order of Events: Guarding an item/ strongbox Stealing Bullet proof vest Weapon or elim kill Smoke bomb Binoculars Inactivity filter: must post once per cycle or you'll be removed from the game Player List: Links: Rule Clarifications: 1. When targeting a player to steal an item, you may specify what item you're attempting to steal if you wish, but if they don't have that item then you will get nothing. If you don't specify then you will get one of their items at random unless they were guarding that item. 2. You must choose which specific item to guard from being stolen. 3. You can steal as many items as you can get.

Spoilers for Hollow Knight:

Ahh, my first Koloss Head Munching has come and gone now that it’s past 12:00 where I live, and I am once again Truthless of Shinovar!! Which is rather fitting, seeing as Sword-nimi has joined me on the shard as my rank!

I believe, based on the types of items in the game, we're more likely to have 4 elims in the game, 3 at absolute minimum. Items like the knife and gun that can take out elims, binoculars that can spot them, and vests that can block kills are all things that will hamper elims efforts. It's just as possible for village to get these items (if not more possible, since we have more people). Besides, theft is also another thing that can cause problems for elims. I agree with pretty much all of this, especially if elims get their hands on binoculars. Villagers should be careful about making it obvious they have the smoke bomb, just so they don't become a target of theft. @BrightnessRadiant, I echo these questions, just in case they were missed. Awww. Ruin all my fun, why don't you. (Also, I thought you were specifically asking the person, Fifth, to not lynch you. I became very confused for a moment.) I'll RP later, when I actually get an idea worth RPing.

When Shallan used the oathgate, Sja-anat's sent her to the cognitive realm. When Kaladin and Co reached Thaylenah, they all asked Shallan to transfer them again. She could not. Dalinar opened a perpendicularity that they used to transfer. In both situations Shallan was not the one causing them to transition. An outside force did. She just used that force. Any transition was completely unconnected to her soulcasting that she gets from being a lightweaver. Where in Oathbringer, when using her own powers, did she completely physically transfer to the cognitive realm and back? Because I cannot recall a single time.

Here are some of my various comments and observations, ordered chronologically: Cosmere Symbol: An interesting modification to the cosmere symbol in the header: The ring with sixteen suns around the outside is new. (Well, the ones we can see are spaced such that there should be sixteen. It gets a little transparent in the bottom-left.) I suspect those sixteen represent the Shards, and the centermost one represents Adonalsium. But I had thought that the sixteen points represented the sixteen Shards; why do each of the outermost ones have sixteen points, as well, if each of those represents one of the "points"? I'm also unsure as to the remainder of the design elements. I think the four-pointed star is the Spiritual Realm (from which Investiture comes), entering and passing through the single circle of the Cognitive Realm (which is all connected), moving toward the four arcs that represent distinct planets in the Physical Realm (not particular planets, necessarily, but the concept of there being separation). Way of Kings Kickstarter: Looking forward to the descriptions. It makes me think of the small companion book we got before Oathbringer, which had some interesting tidbits that hadn't been otherwise confirmed up until that point. I do hope they have an easy way to let you get all ten tiers of the Order-specific goodies; signing up for eight new burner accounts is going to be a little time-consuming. Signing Changes End of an era. I'd be saddened by the loss of the signing line - that's been one of my favorite parts of the fandom, and something that makes us unique. I'm torn between gambling that I'd be able to get in the lottery (or have a friend who could get me in), and wanting to see the signing line gone entirely in the hopes that Brandon is more amenable to people staying afterwards to ask some more questions. (At all of the signings he's been at, he's been too tired to offer any second-rounds. But if it gets done at 11:00 instead of 2:00, that could change things.) Either way, it's going to make Reddit AMAs that much sweeter. (And there's been rumors that one could be coming once Brandon finishes up Stormlight, so keep your eyes open over the next few months.) That format is actually a little better for detailed cosmere questions anyways; there's much less time pressure in answering. Back in 2015, Brandon kept going back to an AMA for six months (right until the date the thread got locked, pretty much) answering more questions. Reddit itself could probably be used better to leverage AMAs. Questions get posted day of, and Brandon basically sorts by "new" in answering. But using upvotes to push questions that more people want to see to the top, and having Brandon sort by "hot" or "best," could make them run even better and minimize repeated questions or stuff that's already been answered. (You hear that, @Jofwu? Might be worth trying.) White Sand Well.. it's better than nothing, I guess. I'm not a fan of the pacing of comics in general, but these seem to be working. Future Cosmere Plans This is the first I've heard of the First of the Sun YA novel. I must say, I'm not a fan of YA books. The parts of the cosmere I dislike the most are the characters who feel like they're out of YA novels (Lift, Lopen, and Wayne). Girl Who Looked up is fine, but that's not really something for Brandon to work on, either; that'll be more like the Leatherbounds, where it's his team. The Secret Standalone Cosmere book is interesting. Based on history, Secret Projects tend to get a lot of momentum really quickly and get pushed to the front of the writing queue. (Alcatraz, Skyward, and Children of the Nameless all started as Secret Projects.) So, one one hand, if Wax and Wayne get pushed back again, it would be nice to at least have something in the cosmere be released in their place. But on the other hand, what could it possibly be? Is this a new world? Or is it a Secret History style piece, something that fits in on an existing planet? Brandon made no mention of Mistborn: Secret History 2 or Stormlight: Secret History, both possibilities he's floated before. Could this be a Hoid: Secret History book? But those wouldn't be very much of a "standalone," if they were entries to existing series. Here are some WoBs where Brandon has talked about other things before: Kite Story: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/385/#e12820 and https://wob.coppermind.net/events/379/#e12792 Sixth of the Dusk sequel: https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?query=&date_from=2003-12-05&date_to=2019-12-20&speaker=&tags=sixth+of+the+dusk+sequel&ordering=-date Emperor's Soul sequel: https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?query=emperor's%2Bsoul%2Bsequel&date_from=2003-12-05&date_to=2019-12-20&speaker=&ordering=-date Threnody Novel: https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?query=&date_from=2003-12-05&date_to=2019-12-20&speaker=&tags=threnody+novel&ordering=-date Silence Divine: https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?query=&date_from=2003-12-05&date_to=2019-12-20&speaker=&tags=the+silence+divine&ordering=-date Aether of Night: https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?query=&date_from=2003-12-05&date_to=2019-12-20&speaker=&tags=aether+of+night&ordering=-date Wandersail: https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?query=&date_from=2003-12-05&date_to=2019-12-20&speaker=&tags=wandersail&ordering=-date Horneater: https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?query=rock%2Bnovella&date_from=2003-12-05&date_to=2019-12-20&speaker=&ordering=-date Darkside Graphic Novels: https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?query=darkside%2Bgraphic&date_from=2003-12-05&date_to=2019-12-20&speaker=&ordering=-date Also, the Silverlight novella has disappeared from this list. Was it an accidental exclusion? Or has that become the Secret Standalone? https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?query=&date_from=2003-12-05&date_to=2019-12-20&speaker=&tags=silverlight+novella&ordering=rank Film/TV Uh oh. This has the potential to be a huge time sink. I'll selfishly hope this fizzles out like Apocalypse Guard did. Release Schedule Well, this is a first. Compare to last year's: This is the first time nothing has moved back. Is Brandon finally being conservative enough in his estimates? Or is that more due to the fact that he's been working on the same book the whole year, with no opportunities to revise his plans? Looking forward to next year, to see if we get two in a row. Big Cosmere Plans Original Cosmere Outline for reference: I've also done some number crunching on Brandon's writing speed. He's seeing 30 years, and I'm seeing 35; that's largely due to his book-by-book approach, whereas I looked at a word-by-word approach, so his will be skewed by the prevalence of shorter stuff earlier on. I think he's selling White Sand short - if we count each graphic novel trilogy as a single "novel," then we're at one more completed, and one more to go. So 12 out of 37, which improves his percentage a bit. The Aether trilogy is new. I had seen it as 1 book in the outline, as Aether of Night. But Brandon had done some working on a larger series (where Syl originally started, as a matter of fact): Climb the Sky: https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?query=climb%2Bsky&date_from=2003-12-05&date_to=2019-12-20&speaker=&ordering=rank The planet of Lor: https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?query=lor&date_from=2003-12-05&date_to=2019-12-20&speaker=&ordering=rank Threnody novel being the replacement for another cosmere novel is... also interesting. It appeared in Brandon's list from 2003, which had an untitled Warbreaker as a single book. Like I said above. I would not be surprised if the new Secret Project bumps out Wax and Wayne again. He wants to do standalones, and the only brand-new project on this list is this Secret Standalone.

So found it, but its not a WoB. It is Jasnah speaking to Shallan in Oathbringer page 1179: "Not too far" Jasnah warned "You can't bring your physical self into the realm, as I once assumed you could, but there are things here that can feast upon your mind."

It is up!

Hmm...it just said “Page Not Found.”

In Soviet Roshar , Szeth son son Vallano , Truthless of Shinovar wore beige on the day he was to kill YOU!!!!!

In Soviet Roshar , The arm regrows the Lopen

Skybeakers: a tool of Radiant science Shadesmarsh: where Cognitive water meets land

I want to see Adolin's and Renarin's reactions to finding out what happened to their mom. What Dalinar did.

Speak again the hallowed oaths: Books before friends. 17th Shard before the real world. Release dates before birthdays. This guild is for those of us who will pledge our allegiance to the cause of... well... being awkward. Our best friends are fictional characters. We stay up late at night, watching the comforting blue glow of our various devices as we look up obscure things on The Coppermind. We read and reread books for traces of Hoid and various awesomeness. The Knights Awkward must rise again. The orders are as follows (spoiler tags for length)

Since we’ve got a release date for Stormlight 4, what are some things you hope will happen? What things do you want to see? Of course it’s good not to get our hopes up too much. We may get a book completely different than what we expected (as was the case for me with Oathbringer), but it’s fun to think about things that could happen. Personally, I really want Vasher and Nightblood to reunite. I guess it’s kind of inevitable (although Urithiru is a big place), but if it does happen, I hope it happens on screen (bonus points if Vivenna shows up). Another thing I’d like to see is more Ghostbloods, and more about Roshar’s secret societies in general. I’m pretty sure Mraize only showed up for about ten pages of Oathbringer, which kind of annoyed me at the time, because he’s one of my favourite characters.

I recently bought The Final Empire (I've owned the other two for ages), and had myself a long-overdue Era 1 reread; I've been on a bit of a Scadrial kick ever since. Next up for a reread was Wax and Wayne. I don't personally own any of them; I think I've read The Alloy of the Law twice and the other two only once. Well my copy of The Alloy of the Law has arrived from the library, and I've made a horrible discovery. Everything I've loved is a lie. There is no second "the" in the title. Huge letters, filling the width of the cover. The Alloy Of Law. Four words. No matter how many time I check, it remains the same. The. Alloy. Of. Law. Now, either I've been remembering the name wrong all these years, despite seeing it written down again and again, or there's a malevolent cosmic entity of destruction editing Brandon's work, as part of an evil scheme against either Sanderson or prepositions, or both. Occam's Razor, of course, suggests the latter. Well, I'm on to Him. Can't fool me, you deific chill. PS. The "Berenstain" Bears? That's Ruin's fault, too.

The irony... Wow. The unintentional pun. When you're reading State of the Sanderson and keep making weird noises in response to different things (tWoK leatherbound, needing signings to change, Skyward 3, Stormlight 4, the fact that he's probably going to be dead before the Cosmere is finished...) and are disappointed in the fact that your mom isn't emphasizing with you.

Remy looked around the room over the top of the map in his hands. Many of them seemed on edge, one even barking in his direction about computer . . . something. He seemed to be paying for components. If Remy wasn't already working for the doctor then he might consider it, but he liked doing one job at a time. That left him plenty of time for his side projects. He looked back down at the map in his hands and mumbled to himself "I might just have bitten off more than I can chew." The name of the cartographer in the bottom left corner caught his eye again: Constantine. His name. The map depicted the small portion of the tunnels under Newcago, the original reason he had come to the city of eternal night, the city of steel as some called it. He didn't really want to be here anymore, he wanted to see the ocean again, and see the stars like he had on the Provence back in France. Alas, the mighty ship would ne'er sail again because of Tiamat, the French Epic. Despite the oppressive constant night felt in Newcago, Remy found himself staying; he would always remember the feeling of his few expeditions down into the tunnels and the sense of exploration that made his heart soar. So to pay for his stay he had found the doctor and had sold him his services. After all, Remy was a sailor, he knew how to handle himself in a fight. He could handle the heavy-lifting this job required and it gave him an excuse to go out into the maze he so desperately wanted to explore. Remy folded up his map and took his feet off the chair in front of him and looked out once again to the room full of his colleagues. "Mon dieu, if I am to settle here for the duration of my expedition, I should probably find out why everyone looks so prepared to bolt." And so Remy Constantine was scanning the room, trying to map out who was there to make trouble and who he could rely on. After all, he was good at making maps.

Okay, @BrightnessRadiant a few questions regarding the new rules. If two people try to buy the same item at the same time and there is not enough inventory for both of them, is it just random who gets it? If so, will the person who doesn't get it still have their points? Will we be informed of who buys what? If not then would we know what someone bought if we used binoculars on them? Is buying things from the black market an action? Will the black market get new items periodically or is what we see now all there is? Are we able to get more than two points per cycle if we complete their objectives more than once, or are you capped out at two per cycle?

I wonder how much Plate can shrink or grow according to a person’s size. I mean there has to be an upper limit, right? I’m just imagining a koloss wearing Plate now.

Shardblades are Honor and Cultivation's godmetals, I don't think replicating their effects will be as simple as loads of Investiture. Hmmmmm... doesn't that mean you can do Hemalurgy by stabbing someone with a Shardblade if you have the know-how?

The Kaladin album is a soundtrack kickstarted by a collective called the Black Piper (guess why) ! It can be purchased on their website, and I think you can also listen to it for free on YouTube, although supporting the artists in their work, especially this awesome, is always a good idea (I can't post links yet but you'll find it pretty easily !)

Hey everyone, I'm sorry for the delay. I've been dealing with some irl stuff the past several days but I'll get the game ready today. It'll either start tonight or tomorrow. But I will get it ready today to go up for one or the other.

"A journey will have pain and failure. It is not only the steps forward that we must accept. It is the stumbles. The trials. The knowledge that we will fail. That we will hurt those around us. But if we stop, if we accept the person we are when we fail, the journey ends. That failure becomes our destination."

Hoidden - Someone who remains mostly behind the scenes, but still plays a noticeable role. Kala-Din - Someone who cannot properly play the flute, making unpleasant noises instead of music. Rao-Din - An overly optimistic Elantrian who won't stop talking Preservacation - A term used for when a person who has a lot of responsibility disappears without warning. Example: It was probably the worst time for Bob to go on a preservacation, as he had yet to submit his Allomancer Jak edits for tomorrow's print. OathStoned - Adjective for a person who follows orders and commands without thinking of what they are being asked to do. BioChRomantic - An Awakener that uses Commands to flirt. Example: Awakened roses are one of the basic tools of a BioChRomantic. DorK - A person who enthusiastically studies Selish magics. Bondsmith (I know this already exists as it's own thing) - That one person in the friend group who keeps trying to get two people to go out with each other.

Haha, wildly incorrect. All you have to do is Hug him. He had no flippin' clue how to react to Shallan that time...

DoMinion - an alternative name for the Skaze

The Mistborn Valentine's Day cards by @Herowannabe are pretty good:

(Anyone still here?)

Hello, there, little ones! You might be running around confused at the sudden appearance of many strange claiming to be an "ookla the X", while wearing the guise and skin of your former friends. You may be saying to yourself "What sort of macabre post-halloween but not quite non-demoninational-winter-solstice-holiday magical trickery is this?!" Well, fear not my child, for I, grand pappy ookla himself, shall explain to you this tradition. This tradition, which you find so strange, is non other than a celebration! A celebration of Life! For, you see, a long loooooong time ago, an utterly, devastatingly, unimaginably long time ago, about 30 to 40-ish years ago, the person you know as brandon's assistant, @PeterAhlstrom was born! This, in and of itself, is not the origination of this tradition. No. This tradition comes much later. Fast forward to the existance of the 17th shard, and you'll find a number of young forumites, who decided it should be a grand festival! Unfortunately, due to the spread out nature of people on the internet, there was no way to show our love and support as a community. "But wait!" Exclaimed one young, eager forum go-er. "We could change our names!" "That's dumb" responded nearly everybody, "What good does that do?" "It would just be confusing," said still others. "Well, do you have a better idea?" retorted the snippy young upstart. And they did not. And so it was decided, every year on his grand celebration of his birth, people would change their names! The decision was made to name change to be similar to peter's original forum handle, Ookla The Mok, which he abandoned to live and work in a more professional capacity. And so now you know the tale of this ancient tradition as old as maybe 6 or 7 years, give or take. The festivities usually last about a week, or until we get tired of it, enjoy everyone!

I don't know, I kind of love the build up to getting a new Stormlight book. Oathbringer was the first time I was following the whole process, and with readings at signings, the Reddit updates, cover and art reveals and the entirety of part one being released as sample chapters week by week the wait is almost as fun as getting the actual book. Especially the discussions and speculation after each weeks sample chapters. I’m really, really looking forward to all of this for RoW.

Brandon calls them conflux novels

Saw a restaurant today called Kel's. I immediately thought about Kelsier and wondered if instead of liberating Scandrial he went on to become a chef

A...are you me?

When you start assuming that random strangers are actually Hoid.

Humans existed before the Shattering of Adonalsium. We know this. Besides the existence of the original Shardholders that we know to have been human (Ati and Leras) and Hoid themselves, we know from Sazed's epigraphs in Hero of Ages that Preservation and Ruin created human life on Scadrial based on a form they had seen elsewhere. So, human life existed before Adonalsium was Shattered into Shards. This is established. But what about sapient races other than humans? Besides Adonalsium itself (most likely a singular being), every sapient species we have seen besides humans was either created from or by humans in some way (Kandra, Koloss, Elantrians, Nightblood), or are themselves splinters of a shard of Adonalsium (Seons, Skaze, Returned, most Spren), or splinters of Adonalsium directly (other Spren). Except on Roshar. The Listeners (or Parshendi if you prefer) are the first example we've seen of a sapient species that has no obvious connection to humanity or to a shard. Words of Radiance gives us much insight into the Listeners. I have transcribed a few choice bits: Words of Radiance, Interlude 5 (pages 395 and 396 in the hardcover edition). Listener Song of Secrets, 40th Stanza, epigraph of Chapter 28 of Words of Radiance (page 338 of the hardcover edition). Listener Song of Spren, 9th Stanza, epigraph of Chapter 32 of Words of Radiabce (page 368 of the hardcover edition) Listener Song of Secrets, Final Stanza, epigraph of Chapter 34 of Words of Radiance (page 385 of the hardcover edition) There's a common thread in all of the quotes I noted above- the idea of the Listeners having been betrayed by the Spren. On the surface, this idea makes no sense. The Spren have been identified by Jasnah and Shallan as being the product of human thought. So, if they were created by human thought, how could it be a betrayal for them to work with the humans? Many, if not all, of the Spren are splinters. We know, from the Word of Brandon, that many Spren are splinters of Honor or Cultivation, or some combination thereof (note). We also know that some are splinters of Adonalsium itself, directly, which he had left on Roshar intentionally (note). Humans are Children of Honor. Honor and Cultivation arrived on Roshar together. Odium arrived later. What evidence we have points to humans having been created by Honor, or by Honor and Cultivation. Honor and Cultivation are shards, so logically they cannot have existed prior to the Shattering. So, if there were no humans on Roshar prior to the Shattering, why did Adonalsium leave splinters of himself on that planet? I deduce that there was a sentient species already present on Roshar before the creation of humans- the Listeners. Either naturally evolved or, more likely, a creation of Adonalsium. Why do the Listeners see the Spren working with the humans as a betrayal? Because they, the original Spren, worked with the Listeners first. The humans came later, and some of the Spren, whether the older Adonalsium-based ones or the newer Honor/Cultivation based ones, chose to work with the humans instead. Why? Because Honor and Cultivation made the humans "meatier" for the Spren, as opposed to the brothy Listeners. So, when Odium came, and created Spren (or perhaps empowered existing Spren?) with his own splinters, in order to destroy, the Listeners turned to them as their gods. "Our gods were born splinters of a soul, of one who seeks to take control, destroys all the land that he beholds, with spite." Note that several passages confirm that the Listeners turned to their gods after this betrayal; I think this makes it abundantly clear that Odium did not, himself, create the Listeners (in case anyone wanted to argue for that). All that aside, we have this: The above quote is from the second letter in the epigraphs of Part 4 of Words of Radiance. It is, by my interpretation, a clear statement that Roshar (and possibly the other worlds in the Roshar System) were shaped directly by Adonalsium. All this seems indicative to me. I theorize that the Listeners were created by Adonalsium before the Shattering. This raises some interesting questions, if true. Why would Honor and Cultivation choose to create humans on a world that was already inhabited by sapient life? Were the Listeners changed by the arrival of the two shards? What was the relationship between humans and Listeners before the arrival of Odium? In any event, I am certainly interested in hearing thoughts on this theory, and on the questions it raises.