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Yeah, Brandon has RAFOd this Nightblood is one of the most heavily Invested things in the Cosmere that isn't Shard but there is a follow up to that worth noting Nightblood may be getting more powerful with time: There are some WoBs worth noting on Nightblood interacting with Shards: There's also this WoB, which describes something that we see happening first hand in OB Battle of Thaylen City & also get a glimpse at in Warbreaker: Nightblood has been described as an Investiture sink (though Brandon did clarify that the Investiture he consumes isn't leaving the system). There's also the question of his Command vs a Shard's Intent. It's an interesting question, I think it shouldn't be impossible but I don't think Nightblood's Ascension can happen naturally and would require some hacking

Some Lita sketch-work this evening. Lyrics from "If I Had A Heart" by Fever Ray (which you should all listen to)

“Nuh-uh,” the Nightwatcher says. “I can’t give you something you already have. I’m sure heaps of people like you, and you just don’t know it.” She smiles at you and waves her hand. Suddenly, an adorable puppy/kitten (whichever is your preference) appears in your arms. “This is your boon,” she says. The puppy/kitten wriggles around, trying to jump onto the ground, but it can’t. “And this is your bane. It’s stuck to you forever.” I wish for a basket of fruit. Sentient fruit.

Alright Everyone. Per the request of @Honorless and @Truthwatcher_17.5 I am doing the next in my series of Radiant ideals on Elsecallers. For those of you who don't know I believe that Radiant Oaths (with the exception of Lightweavers) follow a pattern. The first ideal is constant, the second is about service, the third is about fairness, the fourth is about trust and the fifth is about the ultimate goal. This belief fuels all of my oath theories. Keep in mind while we have seen Jasnah since book one the Elsecallers are still an order little about compared to some of the others. As such I am much less comfortable speculating then normal. The first ideal for Elsecallers is of course the same "Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination." This is always the first ideal. After this however we have to speculate. The second ideal pretty consistently deals with service. The main services that Elsecallers provide are good advice and careful preparation. Jasnah for example is always a source of good advice even for people such as Dalinar. She is also always ready for nearly anything, "I will give good advice" is not an ideal(sorry bearded old men). Everyone tries to give advice pretty much all the time. Let us instead look at the other actions Jasnah takes. Jasnah is famous and using for being willing to kill. People who are threatening her family yes but also nearly a member of her family. So what is the common link? I think the answer can be found in maximin strategy. Under maximin strategy the goal is to be in the best possible situation when in the worst possible position. In the position Jasnah was in Renarin had not yet been established as a danger. However Jasnah and Ivory both thought killing him was the best option. I believe the reason was quite simple. Renarin could be a danger and eliminating him would have been one less possible danger to worry about(yes she decided not to but we will get to that latter). As such I think the second ideal of Elsecallers is "I search for all dangers and take appropriate actions to counter them." The third ideal according to my pattern will deal with fairness or at least judgement. Contrary to their reputation's Elsecallers are as capable or empathy, fear, anger, or mistake as anyone else. Despite being cautious even the wisest and most careful people make mistakes. In order to take action and not either be paralyzed by paranoia or lash out in fear an Elsecaller must have some way to decide if eliminating danger is worthwhile. Of the many many different ways of deciding this in political economy I think that Public choice, or public choice theory would appeal most to people as realpolitik as the Elsecallers. To state this theory in ideal form this would say. "I will look at the realistic potential outcome of any important action before making it." The fourth ideal should deal with fairness. In this I am actually aided by an in book example. Jasnah according to her first three oaths should probably kill her cousin. It would remove a potential danger and the amount of damage he could do greatly out ways the positive impact he could have on the battlefield. However Jasnah chooses otherwise. This may be the start of her oath four journey or perhaps she swears it here but regardless she chooses differently to everyone's shock including her own. Unlike many I dislike the belief that a reliance on logic in decision making is dangerous or unemotional. Sometimes "because they love each other" is not a good reason. Still Elsecaller's do have to deal with others. In their efforts to destroy dangers an Elsecaller may forget that the people or problems being destroyed are still people. Us vs Them mentality is a plague on the careful planners of the all places. This WoB indicates that an Elsecaller thinks of the species not simply a group. Their goal is to enhance their own agenda not to hamper other people. As such I think an Elsecaller's fourth ideal is "I will not stop looking for the best solution for everyone." The final oath seems to be about the destination. The destination of Elsecallers seems to be eliminating problems. However problems that plague a system do not go away until a better system is found. However changing systems is dangerous. As such I think that the Elsecaller's final ideal is "I will take action so that we can have progress." You can find my pattern of radiant oaths theory here.

I was reading Brandon's live tweets from New Years Eve, when he was showing progress on the last scenes of Book 4. His update four, below link, mentioned a scene that was painful to write. Update four This got me thinking of scenes that were painful to read - where they hit the feelings hard. The obvious one is Elhokar's end. But that's not the one that hit me hardest. For me, it was a scene just after the fall of Kholinar, when the main team had escaped to Shadesmar. I don't remember the exact location, so I can't give a full, proper quote, but it was when they were looking for a method of transport across the sea of beads, and Shallan was looking for the right cognitive representation to help them. One of the ones she discarded she described as 'a piece of trash that still thought of itself as a child's toy.' That imagery, of a discarded/lost toy in a sacked city, with no idea of what happened to the child who had loved it, that hit me really hard. What small moments got to you? And how many do you think are coming in November.

Meanwhile, I drew a majestic chicken in a tornado:

Mumford and Sons Sigh No More album, specifically "Roll Away Your Stone".

That hit me hard too. I didn't really love Kelsier, but his last words made my eyes a little watery. Tien's death was awful. I was very happy when Adolin killed Sadeas. When Dalinar heard that Kaladin was back, and went running, I was really happy. I agree with this wholeheartedly.

With relation to the glyphs, it's actually really fun to squish and rearrange the lines to make it look like something. I've done this with names of friends, and it's incredible how many different things you can make with a single name

It is not genetic but their kids would be more likely to attract a Spren and form a Nahel Bond. Here are a few relevant WOBs:

So I fell asleep in a chair for two hours and need to go back to bed asap so this’ll be quick it’s Night 5 here’s a writeup Fifth did because he’s lovely and capable of staying awake sein’s is not done yet because I fell asleep and also know absolutely nothing about destiny help The squadron of spearmen marched through the lit corridor of Urithiru leading to the Breakaway. They were the first of the reinforcements which Dalinar had promised Kareana, and while there were no Radiants among their number (quite intentionally), they would still help secure a greater portion of the tower city, especially the parts which were already scouted. At their head was Brightlord and Major-General Vamah, who was an interesting choice of Dalinar’s; Kareana thought him something of an incompetent fop, with more knowledge of Roshar’s flora and fauna than of tactics and fighting, but that also made him easier to direct. Perhaps that was Dalinar’s way of indicating that she was still in charge of the expedition, despite the need to send a high-ranking officer to reassure the ordinary troops going there. She smiled, the thought cheering her as she greeted Vamah warmly, if with a slight edge. The man returned the greeting, sitting cross-legged on the cold stone floor as Kareana briefed him on the Unmade and other knowledge from their most current scouting. Vamah mostly nodded throughout the exchange, asking a polite question here or there about certain areas, and when Kareana had finished, he stood up to his full height. “Thank you for the information, Brightness, which I am sure will be useful to us as we aid you in your scouting. I’ve certainly heard enough about the thirty-eighth floor to want to avoid it, and the other areas where men have been murdered. However, I do wonder about a certain thing; if you’re really limiting scouting expeditions to three parties a day, the entire squad doesn’t need to go with them every time. In fact, they’d probably just get in the way. What if I took a fourth group of just soldiers into a lower-risk or cleared area to do further investigations? It costs you nothing, and we may learn something useful.” Kareana frowned, weighing Vamah’s request. The idea seemed good enough, and was perhaps the mathematically soundest distribution of soldiers, but she did worry still about the shadows. Without Radiant protection, half a squadron of soldiers would still be essentially dead meat, and with it, they would be baggage. She shrugged slightly. It was the man’s own life he gambled with, in the end. “I do hope you fully understand the risks these shadowed beings could pose,” Kareana cautioned him, “but you’re certainly free to explore if you wish to. Just know that no Radiant will be permitted to wander off alone with you or anybody else, so if you get neck deep in trouble, you’re bailing yourself out.” Vamah smiled. “Understood, Brightness. We will report anything strange to you, naturally, including the shadows.” If you make it back alive, fools! Kareana raged inside her head. She breathed deeply. The major-general would likely never understand until he had encountered the things himself, which, hopefully, would never happen. She dismissed him with a wave to search the fifty-eighth floor, a cleared level, and with that dismissed him from her mind. She had more important things to worry about than the potential death of a foolish general; the matter of the actual death of a number of dependable and sensible Radiants was far more of a blow, and one they could ill afford to take several more times. With more planning and a firmer grip on the small remainder, however, Kareana hoped to demonstrate that the Knights Radiant could unite, cleanse themselves, and be the beacons they were meant to be. They just needed to stop the infighting. The last soldier stepped back onto the lift system, preparing the ropes to have them be moved back up to the Breakaway. Vamah’s first exhibition had been an unmitigated success; the fifty-eighth floor was devoid of shadows and suspicion, and his squadron had found several artifacts, mostly gemstones, which the ancient Radiants had used. He nodded to his lieutenant. “You have the sample for Brightness Kareana?” The man nodded in reply, gesturing to the large gemstone secured in his breast pocket. “Excellent. I’ll take another look at that structure back there, and will be up with you all in a minute.” Some of the squad frowned, unwilling to leave their leader, but most were aware of Vamah’s eccentricity, and these were the ones who seized the ropes and began ascending the lift, silencing objections. Vamah grinned, setting off at a good clip as the squad left him. Urithiru would be full of ancient mysteries and technology just waiting to be discovered, and the central structure of the inner chamber on this level was one such contraption. It looked to be a sort of furnace or fireplace, with a large shaft shooting upwards for ventilation, and a grill of metal between its inner workings and the frame he could see. As to how it worked, that was another mystery. Was it powered by Stormlight, or could an ordinary match set it ablaze? The latter could be tested, at least. He took a small match out of his coat, struck it, and threw it between the bars of the grill. A loud whoosh of flame came to his ears as the furnace came to life, crackling red-hot. With the illumination, he could see that the large grill in front could be opened, presumably to incinerate objects, or to forge ordinary steel—perhaps it was simply abandoned by a craftsman who lived in the great city initially. Swinging open the grill, he peered against the bright light inside the contraption, looking for clues of its ownership or origin. As he did so, he felt his shadow growing darker behind him, and froze. Was this what Kareana had warned him about? Glancing over his shoulder, he saw with horror an oily black figure seem to rise from the ground, resolve itself into humanoid form, and push, sending the unfortunate major-general toppling into the furnace. There would be for him no return. As night fell in the towers of Urithiru, Jesh and Jonan sat together, whispering. "I miss Trisk," Jesh said. "I hope she's okay." "Yeah," said Jonan. "We'll go find our axehounds once we're done helping Sein, okay?" Jesh pouted. "We could find them now." "It's not safe for us to split up and be alone. There are dangerous things out there. Murderers," Jonan said. He cast a wary glance at the entraces to the room around him. Some of the spheres were already dun after days of use by Radiants, so the room was only dimly lit by a bowl on the edge of the room. They cast strange shadows on the corners of the room. "Sein goes off by himself all the time," Jesh said. "Yeah, but he's a Ghost-whatever. I'm not sure he even knows about the Odium sympathizers running around and killing everyone," Jonan said. They spent a moment in silence. Another sphere went out, the last of its Stormlight finally leaking away. Then Jesh quietly ventured, "What if Sein's one of the murderers?" "Come on, kid, you know he's not," Jonan said. But he spoke as if trying to convince himself. He had heard the other Radiants murmuring to themselves about the weird little spren. He was strange, they said. He couldn't be trusted, they said. With a chill, he remembered Brightness Kareana's words. "Don't trust the spren here. They could be corrupted." A loud screeching sounded outside. Then another. "Voidbringers!" Jesh said. Jonan leapt to his feet. "Get behind me, Jesh." He held his hand out for his Shardblade, heart hammering. Ten....nine... It was so dark out there. He couldn't see into the corridors. His Shardblade manifested in his hand, and at the same time something whizzed towards his face. He swung towards it. "Got some signal! I'm transmitting back to Sol --" The Shardblade connected just as Sein moved into the light. It sliced easily through his shell and fuzzed though his bright blue eye. Light exploded out of his core. Jonan threw up his arm to protect himself, but it passed harmlessly through him. The two halves of Sein clattered to the floor. In another universe, in another time, a Hive Wizard received a signal. She was a fearsome sight, with three glowing green eyes and tough carapace for skin. Three Guardians surrounded her, pumping magazine after magazine of bullets into her that were absorbed harmlessly into a shield of energy. She didn't appear to pay them any attention. "Hmmmmm," Dûl Incaru said. "A world full of secrets, murders, and trickery? Mother will want to know of this." She idly waved her arm, and a moment later the three Guardians dropped dead. A vicious grin split her face. "Oh, yes. Let's see if their cunning stands up to ours." Major-General Vamah was a loyal... soldier I guess Emerald Falcon (Sein) was a loyal worldhopper! here have a vote count Emerald Falcon (3): Amethyst Scorpion, Magenta Albatross, Saffron Iguana Amethyst Scorpion (1): Emerald Falcon Mint Heron (1): Mauve Crocodile Salmon Meerkat (0): Mint Heron Sunburst Toucan (0): Salmon Meerkat night five has begun and will end in 22 hours etc etc PMs are still open I can’t be bothered with a player list right now goodnight everyone (don’t worry we’re changing rollover time soon so this won’t happen again) (probably)

I do too. I think he would make a great Edgedancer and the problems of humanity are big enough and they can use someone like Adolin on their team as a radiant!! plus I really want to see maya revived and I think it cannot happen without the two forming some type of bond. I think Adolin like his brother would be a different type of radiant. And I can not wait to read about it

Bendalloy can do that. You'd need a separate metalmind for hydration and nutrition but its covered.

@Wiresegal and I patched together Kal's rendition of Frozen's Let it go, as sung by Kaladin from stormlight (Syl too) [she helped with the sylllables] also thanks to @shallan314 for the inspiration (image credit goes to botanica) [Verse 1] [Kaladin] The storm burns bright in my pocket tonight Not a windspren to be seen A kingdom of oaths now broken And it looks like he’s the king The highstorm howls but I've got no storm inside Couldn't keep my Oaths, Tien knows I've tried [Pre-Chorus 1] [Syl] Go lead your men, don't let them see Be the Stormblessed you always had to be Conceal, don't feel, don't let it show Well, now they know! [Chorus 1] [Kaladin] Let it go, let it go I've been here before Let it go, let it go We save them as Bridge Four! I don't care what they all will say Let this storm rage on The winds never bothered me anyway. [Verse 2] [Syl] It's funny how the sky's view Can make everything seem small [Kaladin] And the fears that once destroyed me I push beyond them all! [Pre-Chorus 2] [Sigzil] It's time to see what this can do To test the limits and break through Do right, not wrong, Ideals to keep you're free! [Chorus 2] [Kaladin] Let it go, let it go I am one with the wind and sky Let it go, let it go You'll never see them die Here I stand, in winds I claim Let the storm rage on! [Bridge] [Kaladin] My power banished as I fell below the ground My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around And one thought drives me, even in the darkest night. To protect those I hate, so long as it is right! [Chorus 3] [Kaladin] Let it go, let it go I will stand like a Knight of old Let it go, let it go What's broken shines like gold! [Syl and Kaladin] Here we stand, with our Bond still strong! Let both storms rage on! The skies never bothered us anyway.

What is your most insane, ridiculous, or otherwise unfounded Cosmere theory that you just can't get out of your head? I'll start: Hoid's gift to be where he needs to is an attempt by Adonalsium to have Hoid gather a bit of every shards investiture and prime him as a Vessel for every shard at once. Hoid will become Hoidonalsium.

As an avid fan of experimenting and theorizing with the limits of Cosmere magic, I've found a handful of interesting combinations that result in obscure (sometimes not fully practical) emergent properties. For example, using Steel Compounding with Abrasion to reduce drag to allow you to run even faster than a normal steelrunner could before "bad things" start to happen like re-entry heating and stuff. Another fun thing you could do with Abrasion is if you pair it with Gravitation, and lash yourself only slightly horizontally, such that the total gravitational pull makes the ground feel like a downwards slope. Then slick your shoes with Abrasion and slide all around, re-lashing yourself to change direction. Alternatively, instead of doing that with Gravitation, you could use Allomantic Steel to give yourself momentum across the ground. Possibly one of the most interesting to me is an Augur who is also a Forger. They use their Gold Allomancy to learn all they can about a possible alternate past for themselves, and then Forge themselves into that alternate history. In addition, if they were a Copper Ferring (twinborn of gold and copper), they could store what the Gold shadow 'feels like' to them, and then use the memory while writing the soulstamp. The applications of this are likely only limited by what exactly one can know about themselves through Gold Allomancy and the skill of their Forging ability. Are there any of these interesting cross-compatibilities you think would be possible in the Cosmere? I would love to know more of them.

It's beautiful! I love it!

I saw this and HAD to click on it. I was not disappointed. I was LITERALLY belting this out at the top of my lungs for most of this. My siblings were probably very concerned. Never trust a sleep-deprived Cahira to not do stupid stuff like this..

Hoid was originally one of the 16 but for whatever reason didn’t take a shard of Adonalsium for some unknown reason. Theory: he did then released it, the shard he took was Passion, this shard has the most ability to see the future and he saw what he would become... Odium. there is a conversation Hoid has with Shallan in a tavern about “knowing Wisdom well” and she doesn’t like him. In the same paragraph he says: “Some men, as they age, grow more cynical. I, fortunately, am not one of those. If I were, the very air would warp around me, sucking in all emotion, leaving only scorn.” Sounds like Odium

I'd just like to say to Fifth/Elbereth that the writeups have been really awesome this game, and have made it a lot more fun to play in. Thanks!

He also has white sand and hemalurgic spikes as well as a few other invested items. He’s also described as twisted and scared so could have access to the Dor

I personally like to imagine it as a Rubiks Cube

Genuine question I hope you can clarify. If Kelsier is good because he allows Vin to leave despite knowing what he is planning, which would leave him vulnerable, and her potentially revealing his plans, as well as he holds this practice with others, not just Vin (I believe that point was mentioned in a post some where above), then why is Kelsier killing because it is unwise for him to appear weak or letting untrustworthy people live (the people he let go despite telling them his plans)? Ok I think I wrote that poorly If we cannot judge Kelsier via Western middle-class standards in regards to who he does kill, because he is a crime lord and wanted man, so if he lets them live then it makes him appear weak and letting untrustworthy people live is not a wise course of action. Then should Kelsier have not also killed Vin and the others? Further if by the metric that Kelsier not killing Vin and the others despite it making him weak, and letting untrustworthy people live is not a wise course of action shows Kelsier is good. Then wouldn't those he kills for those reasons show he is evil?

There are a few different sides of it. At that time she was bonded to Pattern, first in generations, but he'd regressed to near animalistic levels of stupid. Shallan, who was bonded to him, was also telling lots of fun lies for very complicated and very human reasons. She was also pushing her abilities which was causing her to flirt with Shadesmar itself, causing all kinds of illogical human responses (ie fear and panic). All this would be really interesting to Crytpics and make them want to come and observe. But once she was calmer and had figured some of it out, and had re-sworn Truths to revive Pattern, she'd likelybecome less interesting to whatever group of cryptic that was. There's also the fact that those Cryptics might not have come to the Physical realm for her, rather they might have simply been attracted to the Palanaeum in general and found her of passing interest when they arrived. If Im not mistaken those visions also dried up around the time she left Karbranth.

They were watching her for various reasons. Probably to see if she would revive Pattern, to see if someone else should take Pattern's place, etc. One of them might have actually been Pattern. Then she starts to revive him, and also starts traveling to the Shattered Plains, so they didn't need to follow her as closely. Yes, They're attracted to people who are holding large deceptions.

Nah, the sky is Kaladin's. Kelsier is just a kangaroo on steroids by comparison.

As already mentioned, you can't inherit Surgebinding powers because the magic comes from a bond with another sapient being who has to choose you, but being connected to someone who already is Radiant makes it more likely for a spren to bond you. One little detail to add (and it sort of goes to the original question about which powers the children of Radiants might have) is that just because you're connected to someone of any given Order doesn't mean that you would necessarily attract a spren associated with that same Order, even if you're a Squire. So you could be a child of two Windrunners and end up as a Skybreaker if you were a better fit for a highspren than an honorspren, or you could be a child of an Edgedancer and Elsecaller and end up a Dustbringer, etc etc.

My thoughts on this chapter: This chapter felt very flip-floppy to me, making me mad at the plot decisions. I felt like the things that happened weren't really being driven by character so much as plot necessity, and so they felt empty. The beginning of the chapter essentially reverses the decision made last chapter as they decide to stay. Then the decision reverses again when Sa is suddenly willing to leave on his own. I don't understand what makes him willing to leave so suddenly. Wouldn't he want to stay and learn about the culture of his girl/boyfriends as well? I know I would. But he expresses no desire or curiosity to do this, just says, "Ok, I'll go." Is it forbidden in some way? I'm not sure what makes him suddenly okay with splitting up, which is exactly what was proposed in the last chapter and made him freak out. I enjoyed seeing how the symphony worked, but I felt that it could use less technical explanation of what was possible and not possible. The flow of the description kept being interrupted by hypotheticals ("if she left these notes here, this would happen. If not, this would happen.") Having it happen once is fine, but there were several descriptions like this and it pulled me out of the moment. The characters all feel very same-y to me too. Everyone talks in the same reasonably polite way of conveying information. I don't get different emotional reactions from anyone. Even M is able to quickly dismiss his amazement at finding two maji, something that was literally thought impossible. This should have a longer emotional impact. I also thought the sudden collapse of the leader at the end should have been foreshadowed by her behavior in the scene.

Interesting that you say memoir-like. My writing background is definitely in memoir, and I leaned heavily on that here. It's definitely more of a dreamy, magical realism type of feel I'm going for. Thanks for the comments, everyone!

I guess what I have been trying to convey but have been failing is that the definition of fairy is not someone coming up and saying "fairy is this". We cannot say that, because a fairy does not exist. I will elaborate below So we take the fairy example. We type fairy in google and we get a definition from the dictionary that says: noun: a small imaginary being of human form that has magical powers, especially a female one adjective belonging to, resembling, or associated with fairies. Does that mean we can now apply that definition to everything we see to determine whether it is a fairy or not? We cannot. Because this is a generic definition for someone who just wants a generic idea. It is not what a fairy is. It can be said it is the most common and widely accepted version of a fairy, but if we look back 100 years, then the most common and widely accepted version of a fairy might be different. Is the definition of fairy only determinate on the number of people that currently agree on it? Then we look at the Merriam Webster dictionary (I will only reference the first one in the dictionary, as the other regarding the slur is not pertinent here) 1. a mythical being of folklore and romance usually having diminutive human form and magic powers So we have a definition right? But notice the word choices here. Mythical. Folklore. Usually. Now we could then go into the definitions of those words, but suffice it to say they are self referential (mythical for instance is "occuring in or characteristic of myths, idealized, ficticious). So what was really defined? Can we then if a fairy suddenly did actually exist, say it meets these requirements? And if it does meet these requirements, is it truly a fairy? The concepts to use to define the fairy are not concrete. They are not measurable because they are trying to come up with a rough approximation of what people can recognize so they have something to discuss. So then we take it further and go to a source such as wikipedia, or a library source on fairy. The definition of that is then: A fairy (also fata, fay, fae, fair folk; from faery, faerie, "realm of the fays") is a type of mythical being or legendary creature in European folklore (and particularly Celtic, Slavic, German, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural. (I copied pasted to make it easier than retyping it). So what does this definition really tell us? Is it actually defining a fairy? Or is it defining what other people who believe in fairies have or do define a fairy as? It lists all the currently known words for fairy. It lists the types of cultures that usually believe in them.But is it defining what a fairy is? I believe the answer is no. It is citing those people's definition. The person writing that article, or section in the dictionary is not defining fairy. They are providing references to those that do. So let us take another concept. Gravity. It is a theory. We have a definition for it. Can one day a new knowledge, or technology arise that changes that definition? Of course. It is a theory. It is to be questioned. It is to be worked on, altered, tested and retested. If someone writes what gravity is, and someone else comes across and says "that is not true, gravity does not exist". The original person can say "ok, well here are the tests I used that brought about my conclusions.". The person that disagrees then attempts to replicate those tests. They can determine if those tests are accurate or not. They can run their own tests. And their tests can be tested for accuracy. To an atheist, God cannot. To take things further, we can make conclusions based on the theory of gravity. Conclusions that then can be tested and replicated. Conclusions that result in real definable and actionable results. We get things like airplanes, and cars. We get airbags. All things that function based on an understanding of what gravity is. It does not matter if one person believes it, 100, 1000. It does not matter if 100 believe it 10 years ago, but one believes it now. If the test yields the results, the test yields the results. If you can then act on those results, and derive further results, then it does not matter if that one person, or everyone believes it, it still is. Because it was tested. It occurred. It was measured. If we go back to the whole Almighty discussion where Jasnah says morals are outside of the almighty's purview, so the character Taravangian replies that she has removed all need for the Almighty's existence, and Jasnah said indeed. If we say that is then Jasnah's definition of god, that implies that if a being was revealed to provide morals, then that being would be god. That if someone could present Jasnah with a being that could provide morals, Jasnah would then be required to call that being god. So let us take this example and run it fully through. So now we have a being that provides morals. At Jasnah's current knowledge and technological level she cannot disprove this beings capability to or to not provide morals. So then the being is god? Ok then lets say that. Then lets say 1000 years pass. Jasnah has lived and died and become dust. Someone one day find a way to make a moral sensor. It can detect the source of morals. It is solid scientific work. It is tested. It is proven. That person then holds the sensor up to the entity, and the sensor says nope. This is not the source of morals. Does the being that was believed to provide morals, and that criteria making it god, cease to be god? And if it ceases to god, does it mean back when Jasnah was alive, that being at that time was or was not god? Which is why the question becomes (for the atheist Jasnah), are we terming god to be a being that we just cannot prove wrong yet? For Jasnah, a person of logic and reason, that is trying to prove a negative. In Jasnah's words, that is irrelevant and pointless. In Jasnah's words, god does not exist. So in Jasnah's words, why try to prove a negative? (side note. I am emphasizing in Jasnah's words, to indicate it is Jasnah's perspective. I am not personally saying religion is irrelevant and pointless. Honestly I do not believe even she is saying that. She is saying in regards to herself it is irrelevant and pointless. But that does not mean Shallan believing in Shallan's god is irrelevant and pointless. Shallan is perfectly entitled to believe. Jasnah is not intending to mock or diminish Shallan's beliefs. She is only stating why they are not hers. ) edit: I think I found another way to say it. Jasnah would rather assert god does not exist, and spend her time researching and working on fabrials, the desolation, and survival, than continually coming up with a new proof that god does not exist. One pursuit she feels is actionable and will yield results. The other pursuit is (to her/atheists) just a continual sliding metric that by its nature can never yield actionable definable results. Personally based on the quote that Jasnah said an unseen, unknown, and unknowable entity is in her words "an exercise in futility". I do not believe her definition of god would include it. But to each their own. edit: To clarify, I am not intending to say you cannot believe that that is her definition. Just going back to the earlier part you quoted me on, and the earlier quotes I posted from the books, I personally do not think that is the case. Also not intending to say you are wrong in believing as you do. Just I personally do not believe that.

When you keep getting reputation from old YKYaSW posts and you realize that people are such fans that they go through all the old posts

I don't see Kelisier being able to hit hard enough for kaladin to do more than look at it. Kal just can't be hurt by Kel's weapons. Kel on the other hand wont be able to get within a spear's length of a guy that can come flying towards him. Kelisier stands no chance.

Maybe, but I'd just like to attract your attention to the text in Elbereth's signature: "Confirmed good does not equal confirmed right."

Nightblood consumes Investiture no matter what form it takes. Including Spren. And as far as we can tell, he absorbs it all and becomes more invested as a result. Nightblood is the most invested non-shard in the entire cosmere, iirc. So no, I don't think Szeth will be able to augment Nightblood with just his one Highspren with a net gain of abilities on his part. He would probably lose his Skybreaker powers, and Nightblood would become vaguely more powerful, I guess. As to what happens when Nightblood does become as invested as an entire shard, well, that's open for debate. I have no idea if it even would matter.

If only there was a Feruchemical metal that allowed you to store hydration similar to how bendalloy can store nutrition, that would be immensely useful to a Sand Master. Maybe Soulcasting would be the best option there, but it would be difficult to make use of that on Taldain with all that Invested sand being resistant to Soulcasting.

Am I the only person on this forum that WANTS Adolin to become an Edgedancer?

I would like to take a moment to strongly remind everyone that it is the responsibility of all individuals to be courteous and keep discussion friendly and civil. If someone asks you to stop doing a particular thing or that you tone it down then check yourself and consider why they are doing so. Be considerate, be friendly, and be empathetic about how your own messages are coming across because ultimately, every individual is responsible for what they write and how they engage. The mods are here to overall facilitate discussion, not to dictate every instance of what engagement is considered okay. It is our expectation that all members are polite and respectful and abide by the spirit of the rules as much as the letter. While we do strongly encourage members to report posts rather than engage, this does not mean that posts that are not reported are mod approved. Someone does not have to be a moderator to ask for civility and friendliness.

Ooh, I like that! My personal favorite is a Radient Soulbearer. Acting under the assumption that you could store stormlight in a nicrosilmind it would act as a personal perfect gemstone with virtually limitless capacity.

Ive had the feeling this is how spren reproduce. Their "cousin" spren gets a power up. Like an honor spren might start as a wind spren then are given a bit extra and become honor spren.

Day 5: A Blaze of Fire The night was still and quiet. In the main chamber, Radiants and scribes slept everywhere, with barely room to walk between bedrolls at times. The only sounds were snoring and the occasional shift of movement from a restless sleeper. Jashi had fallen asleep notes still in hand, trying to recalculate the storm schedule. It might have been a habit for her - her ink was stoppered up, so that she couldn’t knock it over in her sleep. Beside her, Germaine snored lightly. Jashi had taken a bit of a liking to the old man that most of the Radiants hadn’t. His habit of cryptically quoting scripture in response to questions was a bit difficult to deal with at times. Nearby, Tnaidar was sprawled out, exhausted from days of scouting. He was determined to get this over as soon as possible - and if long days mapping meant less time spent around Sympathisers, all the better. A few people were still awake, of course. Kareana had set guards in case anyone tried anything at night. Jonan was tossing and turning not far from Tnaidar, trying his best to sleep and not imagine Gren alone and hungry... And Max Mercury was awake, of course. He crouched a little ways away from Jashi, and quietly struck sparks from his flint, which floated down to land on a string that stretched away from him into the space between Germaine and Tnaidar, where it ended in a small package Max had bought on another world. He knew he needed to leave soon, before anyone noticed, but he hesitated for a moment, watching the flames burn along the string. He hated not to see the product of his work up close. Sighing, he rose to his feet and began backing away as quietly as he could, keeping one eye on the string. He was only a few feet away when bang! The package exploded into a storm of fire, hot enough that Max could feel the heat on his face from here, and the blankets and bedrolls were the perfect fodder for it to grow. Max grinned. Perfect. Jonan wasted no time as the flames began to soar high, hearing the screams of several Radiants caught within their grasp slowly fading as they choked or burned. He rolled away from the consuming blaze, putting out several of the smaller fires that had caught in his cloak, and drew his sword. A conventional blade, but a good one, made of tempered steel which had stood the test of twenty years at his side. Plucking an unlit torch from the wall beside him and lighting it on the steadily advancing tongues of flame, he whirled to face the man who he had seen start the fire: Max Mercury, who appeared to be trying to escape from both the flames and detection. Already he was a silhouetted figure, and in the turmoil of the burning level he seemed to be making a dash for the door. Jonan sprinted to catch up, but Max was easily outstripping him. Where did that man get his speed to outstrip Jonan? It seemed preposterous. A blurred figure suddenly sprang out of the shadows of the room and turned to face Max as he made his way towards the door. The baying of an axehound came to his ears, and the creature sprang, knocking Mercury down in what it thought was a game, and enthusiastically tugging on his cloak. Mercury swore, unable to escape without being detected, and tried to pry his cloak free. The creature hung on gamely, its eyes bulging as it tugged on the cloak. Jonan felt a surge of hope. It was Gren! He redoubled his pace, breathing raggedly. He had to reach Mercury, kill him, and rescue Gren. But twenty paces was still a wide gap, and with horror he saw Mercury draw his sword and tense, preparing to kill Gren. In a stroke of the Almighty’s own luck, his pet saw the blade come out, and abruptly retreated, whimpering as it scampered out the door and into the staircase between levels. Mercury turned to follow, but now Jonan was there. Tears running down his face from the fire and from having Gren slip his grasp another time, he dove at Mercury, tackling him to the ground. They rolled in a heap away from the doorway, towards the spreading blaze, and Jonan felt the heat getting more intense. He couldn’t pin Mercury to him forever, or both of them would die; besides, the man had drawn a dagger from within his belt and would kill him easily with it, even if he was grappled. Letting go, he changed the direction of his roll, managing to avoid being plunged into the flames themselves, instead rising with a cough from behind a nearby outcropping of rock which had been allowed to remain in its natural form. He could see the twisted red veins running through it, and shuddered. Evil was everywhere these days, it seemed. He took a quick self-diagnostic as he peered into the bright and raging inferno, looking for signs of Mercury. His skin felt singed at the very least, and the air, already thin, was filled with smoke, but he would live yet. Mercury appeared, and looked to be in worse condition; his cloak was nearly gone, and not just because of Gren, and his face was burnt with a large mark on its side. But he was not dead, and the sheer resolve in his posture made Jonan subconsciously retreat, stepping backwards slowly as he approached with a thin sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. Then he remembered who he was facing, and gritted his teeth. He held his sword in front of him, the shadows from the torch he held illuminating Mercury’s snarl of hatred and casting shadows on his face, from which his eyes, reddened and piercing, leapt out. Then Mercury himself leapt, spinning at Jonan with almost superhuman speed and lunging with sword and dagger. It truly had begun, then. Catching the dagger between the metal tines of the torch he bore in his right hand, Jonan twisted, feeling a surge of pleasure as the heat and pressure forced Mercury to drop the dagger, and withdraw his hand sharply before it was badly burnt. Then the man’s sword came crashing down on top of his with overwhelming force, sending a shock through Jonan’s entire frame and bringing him to his knees. He was wielding his own sword with the wrong hand because of the torch, and Mercury took full advantage, quickly darting at the kneeling man with his own blade. One, two, three jabs, and Jonan was on the floor, disarmed with blood flowing from his arm and side. Mercury clearly has no intentions of letting this go any longer than it had to. He panicked. He was dying, and Mercury would still get away with the murders! Throwing the torch with the strength left in his injured arm, he watched in satisfaction as it struck Mercury fully as he tried to approach further, setting the already dried and burnt frame of the man ablaze once more. He shrieked in pain, desperately shedding his burning cloak and coat, but dropping his sword to do so. Jonan saw his last chance here. Grabbing the torch from where it had fallen, though it was now unlit, he set the prongs in Mercury’s chest and shoved. There was one last gibbering shriek as his adversary lost balance, toppling backwards into the inferno, then a new blossom of purple flame sprang up where he had fallen. It would be the only gravestone for the four slain that lay within the blaze’s grasp. Scarlet Octopus (Max Mercury) was a Odium Sympathiser Worldhopper! Amber Vulture (Jashi) was a Loyal Knight Radiant Worldhopper! Coral Swan (Germaine) was a Loyal Knight Radiant Worldhopper! Opal Lion (Tnaidar) was a Loyal Knight Radiant Worldhopper! Magenta Albatross (Jonan) was attacked, but didn’t die! PMs are open. GM PMs are being sent out, please be patient. All credit to Fifth for the latter half of the writeup, which is amazing. Day 5 has begun, and will end in 46-ish hours on January 9th at 1am Eastern. Player List 1. Amber Vulture: Jashi, Stormwarden Radiant Worldhopper 2. Amethyst Scorpion: Jesh, Lost Axehound 3. Chartreuse Penguin: Taladir, Gambler Radiant Worldhopper 4. Coral Swan: Germaine, Scholar Radiant Worldhopper 5. Cream Tuatara: Dfyan, Scholar Radiant Worldhopper 6. Emerald Falcon: Sein, Inquisitive 7. Indigo Weasel: Adhom Inem, Ardent 8. Ivory Dragonfly: Krask, Conspiracy Theorist Sympathizer Worldhopper 9. Magenta Albatross: Jonan Wikim, Lost Axehound (Gren) 10. Mauve Crocodile: Sernes, Paranoid Scout 11. Mint Heron: Sam, Once a Darkeyes 12. Onyx Flamingo: Kir, Kleptomaniac Scout 13. Opal Lion: Tnaidar, Scout Radiant Worldhopper 14. Pearl Chameleon: Purrl, Adolin’s Former Girlfriend Radiant Worldhopper 15. Plum Rhinoceros: Logalog, Scholar Sympathizer Worldhopper 16. Quartz Zebra: Arauna Khadal, Adolin’s Former Girlfriend Sympathizer Worldhopper 17. Saffron Iguana: Merinira, Scout 18. Sage Kangaroo: Gilglin, Ardent (Devotary of the Mind) 19. Salmon Meerkat: Cadamum, Ghostblood Recruit 20. Scarlet Octopus: Max Mercury, Past Lives Sympathizer Worldhopper 21. Sunburst Toucan: Tafud, Slightly Crazy 22. Taupe Gecko: Brana, Scholar Radiant Worldhopper 23. Turquoise Gorilla: Bomer, Gambler Radiant Worldhopper 24. Violet Axolotl: Adi, Anxious

“I kind of lost track of time...""For two hours?""There were books involved.

It’s been a while since I posted on here but I figured I’d share some custom cosmere figures I’ve done. I am an action figure collector and found the lack of Cosmere figures aggravating so I made some myself. So far I’ve done Ham, Vin and Kelsier and I’m almost finished with a Szeth and Adolin with a Spook, Breeze, Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar in the works. I would like to someday finish off the main casts of Stormlight and Mistborn and then the rest of the Cosmere books when I get around to reading them. Thanks for checking out my work sorry that these are tilted weird. Couldn’t figure out how to fix it UPDATE: I recently finished some Stormlight figures. Here we have Shallan Davaar, Adolin Kholin and Szeth. Shallan Davaar is my favorite Stormlight character and the most frustrating of the six to work on. She is a mix of three different figures so all of her pieces don’t fit together perfectly. It ended up working out well in the end. From the neck down is all custom paint/ dye and her safe hand was sculpted by me. Next is my other favorite Stormlight character, Adolin! He was really fun to paint and he’s probably my favorite of the six. All the armor was originally silver and the hair is also painted. The shardblade is hand sculpted, that’s why it’s not super accurate. Helmet can fit on him as well. Last is Szeth, Assassin in white. He is probably the most simple of all six. All he needed was a few symbols removed from the white clothes and he was done. His blade also needed heavy modifications seen as it was designed for six inch figures. thanks for taking a look at my work! Really appreciate it!

YKYASFW... you apologize for wrong number texts by saying that you had your earrings in when you sent them you hear 'spiked' (insert food) and wonder why someone would want to give food superpowers, before realizing that's not what they meant someone asks you for book reccomendations and you wordlessly hand them a list of branderbooks you draw aons in your notebooks when you're bored you have alethi glyphs doodled on everything you own

I agree with all of this. Which sucks, because I really, really want to love the graphic novel. But the consistency, the fact that many of the characters are visually indistinguishable from each other is just too jarring. The final chapter art was redemptive, but getting two thirds of the way through a story before getting decent art is too much. And much of the plot feels too rushed. Elements come out of nowhere without any of the build up you got from the prose. Spoilers of course.

Yeah... there are a lot of things that don't make sense to me about what is going on in Nebrask (we know so little...). In the duel between Fitch and Nalizar at the beginning of the book, a straight hit by one of Nalizar's LoV's nearly breaks Fitch's circle. We see other places where chalklings don't take very long to do significant damage. If the great circle at Nebrask is a basic LoW (even at the strength of our familiar smaller circles) and there are any significant number of wild chalklings (plus Forgotten and whatever else is out there), I have a hard time seeing how they hold it, even with large numbers of Rithmatists monitoring it. It would be like... you know those old arcade games where you have to shoot down the invading aliens or asteroids with your laser gun? Where you can run along the ground (around the edge of the circle) but can't fly after them? You can keep those up for a while, but eventually something is going to get by you. I know they have lots of Rithmatists out there working together, but even so... Also, regardless of how large the circle is, you still (presumably) only get at most 9 bind points and you are still, presumably going to need to anchor it with LoF. You can get 9-point circles where some of the bind points are arbitrarily close together, but there are still going to be stretches where your path is blocked by a LoF. There is also the fact that we are used to seeing LoW attacked from the "outside" (where the curvature is positive) and at Nebrask it seems like it would be attacked from the "inside" (where the curvature is negative) and there's no telling how that would change things. I would LOVE to see a diagram of the current defense scheme in Nebrask. Basically, I don't have a good answer to this, but I have various tentative half-baked theories: We know that there are extra things Rithmatists learn when they are ready to head to Nebrask that they don't get to learn while they are still in school (and thus that we don't know about). It is possible that there is some sort of strengthening ward or something that gets used on the great circle. 2) Maybe the great circle is the last line of defense and there is a ring of smaller not-quite adjacent circles inside it that the Rithmatists defend from. It could be that it is mostly there to buy an extra few crucial moments to deal with chalklings that get past the main line of defense. Maybe there isn't actually a giant chalk circle and there is actually a much more complex set up. Maybe we talk about the "Great Circle at Nebrask" in a metaphorical sense because in this world defenses are synonymous with circles. Regarding curvature, the part you reference is one of the parts of my theorizing that I am least confident in...more tentative half baked ideas: In one of the diagrams in the book (this one) we are told that an ellipse "will be stronger where it curves more than a circle and weaker where it curves less than one." As I mentioned in part 5, this statement is naive and doesn't actually say much. At the signing, Brandon acknowledged that 9 point ellipses would be Rithmatically valid but also made it clear that it would not make sense to use them. The implication seemed to be that if you were in a situation where you expected to need to defend the sides of your LoW, you should have started with a circle. (Note that the usual method for determining the curvature at a point in real world math is effectively determining what radius circle would best approximate the curve at that point. We say that the curvature of a circle with radius a is 1/a.) Some possibilities for (at least part of) what is going on : The simplest reasonable explanation I've come up with - the one from part 5- would be that every curvature is assigned a strength and that the strength proportional to curvature. Assuming my calculations are correct, this would mean that if you have an ellipse with semi-major axis a and semi-minor axis a/2 (so it is twice as long as it is wide), then the curvature at the strongest points would be 4/a and at the weakest points would be 1/2a. That is, it would be 4 times as strong as a circle with radius a at the strongest points and half as strong as a circle of radius a at the weakest points. Another way to think about it is that the strength of the ellipse at the weakest points would be the same as the strength of a circle whose radius is twice the semi major axis of the ellipse. The closer together the two axies are in length, the closer both factors will be to 1. If you were in a situation where you were expecting the brunt of the attack from one direction but there was still the possibility of an occasional attack from the side, it seems like a 9 (or 6) point ellipse where you could bind a couple of defensive chalklings and could add more stabilizing lines could still be a good idea. It could be that the basic premise of 1, that every curvature is assigned a strength, is correct, but that the relationship is more complicated than a simple proportionality. This could lead to weaker sides for the ellipse, but it would also lead to larger circles getting weak faster as well. There could be a certain total amount of strength (which I tend to think of in terms of charge) in a Line of Warding. That charge then could be attracted to areas of higher curvature. In a circle, where the curvature is constant, it would spread out evenly. In an ellipse, it would concentrate in the areas of higher curvature and leave the longer "sides" weaker. Depending on how this "attraction" worked, it would mean that larger circles are still weaker than smaller circles (since the charge is more spread out), but that the long side of an ellipse could be weaker than a circle of equivalent curvature. We could have something similar to 3, but where the total amount of charge in the LoW depends on the length of the curve (every inch of chalk contributes a unit of charge, or something) rather than being fixed for lines of warding. This possibility would mean that all circles could have the same strength. It would also lead to the possibility of long narrow ellipses with extraordinarily strong ends and equally weak sides. This option is the one that currently feels to me like it fits best. The idea of a LoW being somehow charged also fits thematically with the LoF that produce something reminiscent of a magnetic field and LoV that behave like EM waves. It is also rather more complicated to work with and raises more questions (How exactly is the total charge related to length? How does the "attraction" component work? How does the charge distribution affect the way LoF work in stabilizing the LoW? etc...) There could be something else going on entirely. I wish I were a Rithmatist so I could draw a bunch of circles and ellipses of different sizes and shoot equal LoV at them from equal distances but different angles and record all of the results and analyze them. I actually have a whole list of Rithmatics experiments I wish I could run. Ah well.