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  1. 10 likes
  2. LG84 Aftermath: Regressive Negotiations A note found on the desk of Eshena, courier of the Teod Empire. Consider this a confession, for I do not wish to pass on with only enemies to share my story. Everything I do, I do for Teod. We are stronger than the rest. Our navy can defend against any threat. Why should we bend? Why should we kneel? A treaty would ruin us. So I did everything to ensure that it would never come to pass. I poisoned Teo diplomats. We already had one who believed as I do in the ranks, but one was not enough. They will live. Probably. I set fire to the boat that brought us here. It was a boat from Teod, mine to destroy by right. I killed people. They didn’t deserve it. They, like I, were only trying to do right by their empires. But their wishes contradicted mine, so I ended them. My allies fell, as swift and as painfully as Elantris, and soon I was alone. There is no way forward for our cause. There are too many trusted diplomats in our number, too many exalted names, and soon, I will be caught. They will not be merciful. I regret nothing save for my failure. When Teod crumbles, remember me. Remember my failure. Only then will I be mourned. Only then will they see that I was right. We are strong, but soon, we will not be. I can only say that I tried. For Teod, Eshena The remaining diplomats crowded around the note. They weren't sure whether to believe it, whether it meant they were safe, whether it meant that they'd killed Bortington for nothing. Somehow, at least one member from every Empire was still alive, even if some were in better shape than the others. They tried briefly to negotiate, getting little progress, before retiring for the night with bated hopeful breath. Day broke without a sound. They met again, wondering if it was a trick, and managed to settle a trade route between a few small islands. Day broke without a sound. They heard from their seons, heard that the Fjordell were sending a ship to pick them up, to rescue them. Day broke without a sound. The negotiations had been disrupted, but while some were scared, others took the lead that their work was more important then they realized. And while their drafts were rushed and incomplete, they would provide an excellent foundation for a Sel united once more. Bort was executed! They were an Elantrian Diplomat within the Fjordell Empire! JNV was executed! They were a Regular Disruptor within the Teo Empire! Final Vote Count: Bort (4): JNV, The Baker, Tani, |TJ| JNV (4): Matrim's Dice, Bort, Kasimir Tani (1): Devotary of Spontaneity |TJ| (0): Sart Congrats to the Villagers for winning the game! And thank you @Elbereth and @xinoehp512 for helping me run it! Edit: And should probably mention, thanks to @JNV for the first section of this writeup! Docs should be going up soon, but I figured I should post this first. Game Docs: Spec Doc Elim Doc Master Spreadsheet Empire Docs: Fjordell Doc Rose Doc Teo Doc Arelene Doc - aka the one with Friends, Formatting, and 151 pages Player List:
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  3. Fell in love with my new NPC typical
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  4. Whisper felt the immediate pain in her throat as she screamed, even a whisper was painful for her, this kind of hoarse vocalisation could well tear her throat apart. But she felt one of the forbidden Alleys shift in front of them, Alleys so dangerous and unknown that not even the foolhardy members of R&D ventured into them, or at least those who did did not come out alive. She could still remember what they'd found of the last person to try that journey, what remained of them was enough to turn the stomachs of the most hardened of denizens. She closed her eyes as she felt the shift, her mind reached out to try to grab something else, anything else to put in their way but she was too disoriented, too panicked to be able to begin the dangerous and methodical work of Alleytravel. She understood at last why others sometimes expressed difficulties with the task, heightened emotions made it nearly impossible. She clutched onto the sleeve of the man who was bringing them to their doom, wondering if perhaps she could at least twist his neck before she was killed in the Alley, but then, mercifully, she felt a sudden shift as another Alley jittered into place instead of the forbidden Alley. "What an odd sensation." The man commented drily, voice a little shaky but seemingly unaware of how close they had both come to catastrophe. "My apologies, I seem to have disrupted what you were doing. Bit of an unfortunate habit of mine actually, I'm often told to be more careful at the lab." More careful? Whisper thought with incredulity. I can't even conceive of an action less careful than that. The Alley they'd arrived in was thankfully cool and dark, a comfortable, soothing atmosphere. It helped her head cool and her impulse to dispatch of this man immediately subside. Dangerous he might be but he was also clearly skilled, and it would not be worth throwing away a tool that may still have some use to it. "Never do that again." She said, illusory voice echoing around the Alley. "That was dangerous beyond your ability to understand the meaning of the word." Shaking her head she tried to figure out where they had ended up so she could find a safe route back but she was quickly distracted by the Alley itself, the walls were natural stone rather than brick or concrete, not all that unusual as Alleys go but the atmosphere certainly was. It felt peaceful here, beyond the usual comfort Whisper found in the Alleys. It felt like safety, even though none of the Alleys should ever be considered that. Most distracting however, was as she examined the Alley and found a small depression in the stone, a natural pool had formed. And from above a silent, and gently falling rain continued to fill that pool.
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  5. Has anyone else just quit reading a book right before the end because you don't want it to be over? I'm reading a great book and if it's over, I won't be able to get the next from the library for a few weeks!
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  6. A celebratory cake to commemorate this delightful victory! Truly a wonderful occasion! Thank you dearest hosts @xinoehp512 @Elbereth @Ashbringer for putting together this glutenous experience! And thank you all for being such joys to play alongside, even though some of you were moldy bread in the game, you're all delightfully fresh bread outside of it in my book bread box! (Also Naan shoutout to @Amanuensis I'm glad you found my baking to be entertaining!) My read accuracy for finding wolves this game was a bit below what I usually aim for (I blame getting stuck on the assumption that there was 1 elim per doc!), but @Kasimir was obv-town fairly early and I had confidence in him leading town to a victory if I just made sure he stayed alive! @Matrim's Dice and @Devotary of Spontaneity voting for wolves two of the first three days also made them very easy to lock-in as "never-flip" picks as well, very well played to the both of you! @JNV And I'm glad to hear my gambit worked! For what it's worth, you did have me fooled and there was a good number of people I wanted to flip before you! Very well played! @Tani I'd be honored to have a gambit in my name I enjoyed your company in our doc very much!
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  7. Aluminum functions too much like a normal metal. Soulcasters can make it, when they wouldn't be able to make other godmetals: And aluminum can be made using normal methods like we have in real life: So I don't think it's a godmetal.
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  8. You say aluminum is unique in that it is a metal with magical properties on another planet without being a god-metal, but the truth is that the more we learn about the advanced workings of magic systems, the more things like metal, color, and rhythm all start to appear as important in every magic system. We learned in RoW that metals have a great effect on fabrials, and we've seen from the beginning of SA how important the color of gemstones are, despite them being chemically almost identical. Meanwhile, we're only in retrospect realizing that the pulses a seeker can detect are probably related to the rhythms of investiture. My point is that aluminum having properties in every magic system isn't so unique. Rather, what's unique is how dramatic that effect is. And while I'm sure there is an explanation for that, I'm not convinced its because aluminum is a god-metal. I'll admit it might be, but my main hesitation is all the investiture "assigned" to Adonalsium took on a new "spin" when they shattered, meaning that aluminum would likely have split into the 16 different god-metals rather than simply becoming inert.
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  9. Oof, this might be the first time I've been the victim of a sweep Excellent play by the town! What can you say when someone just beats you through genuine good play and hard work? Y'all deserve it. I really enjoyed playing with you all, this is a very nice community!
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  10. ...so is this game going on my stats
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  11. This theory would make sense, especially given this WoB. So, some of Shallan's truths are going towards her new bond with Pattern, but some might be remnants of the old bond with Testament, and thus were going towards salvaging that bond. I'm not sure if its possible to bond two spren fully at once, so reviving Testament might weaken or break her bond with Pattern, or vice versa. This could be the step back and complicated part.
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  12. Good points all around, and something to consider. I'm not sure that what happened in TWoK was "truths" being accepted as oaths, since the words were not "accepted." But, that also comes down to how, and by whom, words must be accepted. It seems to vary, probably by order. We do know that: - Bondsmiths: the words are accepted by the Bondsmith's "spren" since Stormfather accepted Dalinar's words and the Sibling accepted Navani's. - Willshapers: Unclear, as Stormfather accepted Eshonai's first Oath, but a "famalen voice" (possibly Cultivation/Nightwatcher) rejected Venli's second Oath the first time, then accepted it later in RoW. - Edgedancer: It's unclear in the Interlude if Lift is just remembering her second Oath, or if that actually when she said it. Same with Edgedancer, where she "said the words in her heart" - so neither time do we hear the words accepted; but this could also be because Lift is such a special case. It also seems that the "voice" accepting the words can only be heard by the Knight saying them. - Windrunners: It seems Stormfather must accept the words. (Though maybe he has taken over this duty from Honor) - Kaladin hears his third oath be accepted, but in TWoKs we see the words accepted by Stormfather (as indicated by the crack of thunder) through Teft's viepoint and he did not hear the "voice" (TWoK Ch 67) - In Dawnshard, Lopen sees Huio's third Oath be accepted, but also does not hear the "Voice," but from Lopen's viewpoint he does hear the voice when his Second and Third Oaths are accepted. So, it comes down to Lightweavers - AFAIK the words were not "accepted" in any scene; unless in TWoK Ch 45, when Shallan hears "This is true" is an indication that only the Spren has to accept the "Oath" from a Lightweaver. this seems in line with Skybreakers: - When Szeth swears his third Oath (OB Ch 121), snow crystalized in the air and he felt acceptance (possibly from the HighSpren), but didn't hear a "Voice."
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  13. So, I went to a dance this past Saturday. T'was nice and all that. Everything, except basic human functions – breathing, blinking, etc. – shut down since I was socializing most of that day, but good. Anyways, the people hosting decided to have little name tag thingys for the people attending. They were the typical: "Hello! My name is ..." I didn't think much of it, even when one of my besties wore one. Some of my friends decided to get one and put their names on it and I didn't, till I got an idea. I grabbed one, wrote something down, and slapped it on myself. What did it say?
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  14. I'm new I pretty much just joined to post one theory about aluminum but who knows I might become active
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  15. Don’t do stupid things. You might die. It would be sad if you died. So don’t do stupid things.
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  16. When your music teacher, the day of the secret project announcement, asks what one of the best days of your life has been, and you say today. And then go on a looooooong explanation about who Brandon really is.
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  17. "Yes," Lita said, spearing a piece of chicken cutlet with her fork. "That seems like the best course of action." There was something soothing in the way her knife sliced through the meat, a sense of method, of predictability, of control. She took a breath, reaching inward to begin burning Tin, only to find that her reserve was shockingly low. When did I...? She hadn't flared her Tin in hours; there should be plenty left, nearly all of it. Tin was the slowest-burning of all the metals. What had caused her to use so much? Her sense of unease rose, that prickling sensation travelling down her back and across her shoulders like a finger drawn across her spine. She took another drink of water, then rolled her neck, trying to dissipate the knot of tension that had begun tightening at the base of her skull. A tiny pulse of pain bloomed on her right side, between her two last ribs. Damn port. How much had she drunk? And what had possessed her to do so in front of a new acolyte? Lita ran a hand through her hair, skewering her last piece of chicken with slightly more force than was necessary. She had apparently just taken a shower, though she felt as though she could use another one. "Do you need a change of clothes?" Lita stood and addressed Laurelai. "I imagine many things might be too short for you, but perhaps one of the longer dresses would work." She turned, heading towards the bedroom and adjoining closet, running a hand down her neck again. It did feel like she had been burning Tin - a lot of it. Her skin was hot, while her palms were cold and clammy. Lita took the moment alone to remove the gold coin from her robe pocket and turn it over in her fingers. It was smooth and cold, and heavier than a coin of its size ought to be. Lita flicked it up, then caught it in her other hand and danced it over the backs of her fingers. The motion felt easy as lying, the muscle memory of a habit ingrained beyond intention to reflex. Light winked off one of the faces, throwing a golden refraction onto the wall. Gold on the wall, script in a thousand foreign tongues - Lita blinked, then shook her head, setting the coin on her dressing table and picking out a simple green pencil dress. She stepped behind a dressing screen and shucked off her robe, draping it over the screen and calling back toward the door. "Feel free to borrow whatever you like, rusts, I'm sure some of these frocks have only been worn once." She slipped on the dress, arching her back to get the right angle on the zipper, and slid the coin off the dressing table with two fingers. Mmmm, no pockets, she mused, weaving the coin between her fingers for a moment more and then tucking it into the neckline of her dress. Its surface was so cold it almost burned, pressed as it was right below her collarbone. Lita didn't manage to suppress the shiver this time. "I'm curious as to your 'other methods' of discovering the answers to our mysterious lawyer and 'doctor,'" Lita said, pulling a comb through her long red hair and coiling it into a bun. "Some method of Forgery, I would guess." She secured it with a stylized hairspike, then opened another drawer to retrieve a vial of Tin, which she drank without ceremony. The familiar feeling of a full reserve was reassuring, though it did little to banish that prickling unease. If anything, it augmented it. @Voidus
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  19. Here you go, from Chapter 66 of RoW, where Dalinar just figured out how to see the connection lines:
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  20. One of the things that Brandon mentioned in the SP1 livestream is that the 'core' Aethers do not consider themselves to be creations of Adonalsium. Apparently this is something he wanted to do even back when writing Liar of Partinel which predates the Shattering. Now, just because they believe that doesn't mean it's true but it does suggest that whatever Shard is associated with the Aethers isn't going to be revealed until we've had a chance to see the main Aethers. Otherwise we'd hear whatever they have to say on the matter and the readers would just think 'Well you're wrong, you're associated with Ruin/Valor/Whatever' and that would be kind of silly. He RAFO'd the direct question by the way, because of course someone asked it.
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  21. I need to vent quickly. Several times now I've been using YouTube to talk to others and debate them. And sometimes they seem to stop responding in the middle of the debate. Well, it turns out some of the time that's because YouTube decides NOT to post your comment ... but makes your account think it actually has. As soon as you look at that chain from a device that isn't part of your account, it isn't there. Why? Why. If its not going to let my comment through, THEN DON'T PRETEND ON MY END THAT IT HAS. Give me a notification, tell me if there is a problem. I just had to cycle through three accounts to continue a discussion with someone online of a theological nature, and checking from each account only about two thirds of the messages I sent - split up to try and help them all get through - got through. How many discussions have I and anyone else had where we think the other person hasn't responded been because my message didn't get through, or their message didn't get through? It's irritating.
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  22. Backreading this conversation is a trip when one is in a quiet environment and is trying not to laugh XD This was the moment when I almost broke. Conference was wonderful. Elder Utchdorf was iconic, and Elder Holland's talk about mental health hit hard. His are always so well done.
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  23. There was also a quote about restoring the spren killed during the Recreance in WoR: It has a bit of extra importance because this is Pattern speaking, and he already knows about Testament. I've undervalued this section in the past, but this thread has made it seem much more important to me. We have a maybe analogous situation with Syl and Kaladin (it's not clear she was dead in the same way that spren involved in the Recreance were). But Testament's knight still lives, and Adolin and Maya have shown that rehabilitation of deadeyes is possible. I wonder what it would mean to have two bonded spren, especially for a Lightweaver since their oaths could be different for each.
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  24. That is not the case, if Rubies and Amythists produce FTL responces but the other polestones have much slower responces both statements can be true.
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  25. It mostly seems like it should work. the biggest issue I see is that you would leave a bunch of knights without their blades and/or have a suit of armor that could disappear at a moment's notice if the spren felt their knight was in particular trouble. I also doubt it would provide the strength benefits of shardplate, though you could probably wear it as a layer over top of regular shardplate for that
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  26. So, um, another weird and pointless status update! I post them with extreme irregularity, I know. Anyway, I just wanted to try to distribute an idea I had through here. Sorry if this disturbs you in any way. The idea was to start an online discussion group on the secret projects (mostly for those who didn't read the preview chapters) when they come out, that'll read them at the rate if chapter per week. Here is a link to the thread I already started about it.
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  27. Why would Endowment want Nightblood? I theorized a long time ago that she Returned Shashara in order to make Nightblood, in order to kill Odium. I was... kind of right in the end, even if that wasn't Endowment's intention, I called Nightblood's narrative purpose to a large degree. But I don't think she has any desire for Nightblood back at this point. But in the main she's focused on Nalthis and not concerned with Cosmere wide efforts.
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  28. This is really good. The worlds kinda resemble a yin-yang: Painter's black sky with a single star in it, and Yumi's world dwarfed by a huge sun.
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  29. I have so many thoughts regarding Shallan and her oaths, and I am starting to wonder if she was reclaiming a Truth to Testament at the beginning of TWoK. I'll condense it down as hard as I can. First, I very quickly want to address that, in-world, none of the characters seem to believe that Syl died or became a deadeye. For them, this is the obvious answer. It's briefly brought up in Adolin's trial in RoW. I personally think this is part of the "deadeyes can't be cured" in-world belief, because if Syl had died, she would not be very much alive currently, and they need some way to explain away that impossibility. But in the quote you bring up from Syl seems very much like she believed she was dead at the time. Onto Shallan. Something that has stuck out to me for a while, and that's the fact that she doesn't use her Memory power in any of her flashbacks on the page. She draws constantly, however, and loses time while she does so. What she does do in her flashbacks is intermittently make things glow, and I believe she may have used Stormlight to heal head trauma that she took in the fight with her father. (He throws her to the ground and she is temporarily blinded; then her vision suddenly clears. Once Lin is subdued and they discover the Soulcaster, one of the gemstones is cracked and the glow is gone. I think they assume it was cracked in the swordfight, but to me it's very like Jasnah cracking the gemstone to fuel her Soulcasting.) As you say, this contrasts to Kaladin, who lost all of his powers when he went against his oaths, and there wasn't a gradation to their return like Shallan seems to show. This could be because it's an entirely different behavior, because Kaladin hadn't earned his Shardblade yet, or maybe honorspren are more all or nothing than Cryptics, who seem to allow more of a sliding scale. Lots of interpretations here. I tend to go with the sliding scale; all the evidence I have seems to point to the idea that Cryptics are much more permissive with what a Truth is supposed to be, whereas Syl has been pretty strict in her expectations for Kaladin's behavior. Going back to the idea that Shallan's powers, as granted by Testament, return as she reclaims the spirit of her Truths: well, I think it's interesting that Shallan is able to even think about her Shardblade when she's in Kharbranth. I think it's interesting that she can use her Memories and totally separate her ability to use it from where she got that power. But I also think that by chasing after Jasnah and pursuing her ridiculous Soulcaster heist, she is fulfilling what I think is a candidate for an easy childhood Truth: Shallan wants adventure. She wants to soar, learn, and discover things. She's attracted to danger, secrets, and intrigue. This point is hammered over and over again. Think of Shallan hopping overboard to see the santhid; Shallan, mesmerized by the chasmfiend; Shallan, infiltrating the Sons of Honor and stringing along the Ghostbloods. It tracks pretty closely with The Girl Who Looked Up. One of the things she tells Pattern early on when he asks her is that her purpose is to seek truth. There's really no madcap scheme Shallan isn't 100% on board with, especially in pursuit of knowledge. To me, what Shallan says when she recants her oaths, "I am finished!", it kind of sounds to me like she could be done with going on adventures or making discoveries or something along those lines. And I think this is because Shallan's longing for adventure and discovery ends up having serious, traumatic consequences for her. I generally think Shallan's story contrasts with Kaladin's because while his problems mostly stem from failure (because he couldn't do something), Shallan's mostly stem from transgression (because she did do something). Just prior to her mother's death, Shallan remembers feeling very grown up, and then suddenly realizing she was still a child. This situation is her fault, according to her, because she wanted to make grand discoveries, because she bonded a Cryptic, because she dared to do those things. Think of her idea of wit and humor; she goes too far all the time. As far as she's concerned, her choices resulted in her mother's death and the absolute destruction of her family's chances at happiness. Her childish desire for adventure "ended the world" and made her into a monster. But in TWoK, in the present timeline, where she has access to her Resonance, and where she can Soulcast, kinda, I think it's because she's figured out a way to rationalize going on the adventure: it's in service to her family, right? And in RoW, when she begins to question the validity of that rationale, that's when Testament is reintroduced. The aspects of Veil that merge with her are those aspects connected with a desire for espionage and intrigue. The reason I connect this is because these are all very brave things to do, and I like the way it plays with the Truth Shallan ends up giving to the whispery voice in Kharbranth, I'm terrified. And at the end of RoW, Testament looks a little better, after Shallan faces down that particular Truth. There's something going on there. So following my logic there, what's left is either that third Ideal (second Truth if that's how you keep score) or the first. Radiant has always been associated with wielding the Shardblade, and doing the arduous, thankless tasks in general. When I see Shallan using even a hint of her powers in her flashbacks, it seems like it's when she decides to do that she doesn't really want to do, but must. The adventure is fun and exciting, but you also need to deal with the difficult consequences ... and Shallan isn't particularly great at doing that head-on. She either shuts it down completely, or hides from it. I think that this is the next big step for Shallan's healing process. Think of the other Truth she admitted to the whispery voice (who is probably Testament): I am a murderer. When Radiant kills Ialai, it's explicitly so that Shallan doesn't have to do it and deal with the moral and emotional consequence of killing someone else. It's like Radiant is protecting Shallan from that particular Truth, now. Shallan comes to grips with that murder, but that's very different from actually dealing with her parents' deaths emotionally, which she has admitted but not examined. Her previous conclusions have been proven wrong, but to her, in the moment, they were the most truth she was able to handle. Finding out the truth about the circumstances of her mother's death is probably next on the list. And then of course, she's never said the Words on the page, and I really want her to!
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  30. I want to cry I can see the stars. I’m at the beach, and I can see the stars. There aren’t cities near here, no light or noise pollution. I can just stare up and see the stars. Orion, Virgo, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Polaris. It is beautiful. I have traveled to most states, dozens of national parks across over 20 countries. I have been to the places that have supposedly been preserves of nature, preserves of peace. Very rarely have I been to a place and it has been so undisturbed, so clean, so perfect Also I saw some dolphins
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  31. I may have jumped the gun a bit. I haven't finished the stream yet, but Brandon seems to use the term "hold" for Dawnshards quite liberally, and all but states that Nomad actually was the Dawnshard.
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  32. We have some exciting news to announce. So far in order to obtain some unpublished works of Brandon's, you'd have to email him through his site, and his assistants would distribute them. Well now you won't need to wait for that, because we will be in charge of distributing Aether of Night! All you have to do is post in this topic (you'll need a 17th Shard account, but that's it), and our staff will PM you the document. You do not need to post an email address here; we will send it to you through this website. Once we do this, we'll remove your post here. We'll be using this topic as a to-do list for requests. Ideally since we have lots of staff members, we will get this out to you soon, within a week or two. We hope you're excited about this, so many of you will be able to get this text in a much more obvious way now! You will receive a .docx file, and if you need to convert it into a .pdf or .epub, there are many converters to do that for you. (We are not distributing the old prose version of White Sand; that is distributed in Brandon's newsletters.) Thank you Dragonsteel for letting 17S do this! Edit as of 2024: This is still going! We've gone through over 300 pages of replies distributing. It's just that we remove posts here once we send them out.
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  33. I think at this point, we've all heard the "Shallan's mother was Chanarach theory". If you hadn't the main points of evidence gathered up through RoW were: Appearances. Most notably, the physical similarities between the released images of Chana and Shallan are also pretty obvious. Process of elimination. Sanderson has said that most (possibly all) of the modern heralds were mentioned on page in WoK, and we've found most of them. Kalak, Shallash, Jezerin, and Nale are obvious. Battar is Dova, and Paliah was confirmed as the ardent in the Palanaeum. I am fairly convinced Lyss is Vedel. Chana has no other good candidates. The Davar household is full of more secrets than Kelsier. Sh*t was clearly going down there, with everyone from Hoid to the Unmade to the Knights of Honor getting involved. Personality. Chana should be acting as an inversion of brave/obedient, which Shallan's mother fits with. The might also be something to the mental troubles of Shallan and her siblings also (WoB) having some magical elements, almost like the herald's insanity. It might just be the UnMade, but it might not be... Overall, I thought it was an interesting theory, but more on the tinfoil-side. However, I think the just released Stromlight 5 Prologue reveals some info that blew my mind, and I starting to get on board. First, and more simply, we get on page confirmation that Chana does have bright real hair (previous evidence was "in-universe" and could have been inaccurate). This really reinforces Chana's red hair, and draws an obvious connection to some of the only other (non-horneater) gingers, the Davars. Chana being a redhead is also important enough to emphasize as canon, so unless it's a red (lol) herring, it should be relevant. Before I go into the second, I want to shout out this theory (@teknopathetic), since the reveals are basically supporting evidence for the main idea laid out here. TLDR: Chana is Shallan's mother, Shallan killed Chana and sent her back to Braize. Channa later breaks and releases the Oathpact/Taln. So we get this in released Prologue: So, one of the heralds dies the same day as Gavilar and the Stormfather (somehow?) covers it up. The phrasing, particularly the commentary "The Oathpact" suggests to me that this was 'return-to-Braize' died, and not perma-killed a la Jezerin by Moash. All this explains how/why Taln came back to Roshar after the Battle of the Tower. One of the Heralds returned to Braize, and then held out ~6 years until they broke, which released them and Taln back to Roshar. What's even more interesting is that Gavilar and the mystery Hearld die in 1167. The year Shallan kills her mother? 1167.
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  34. Been trying to work out in my mind how all of these can be connected, and have a basic idea I think that could work. Please correct me if anything is clearly wrong, or couldn't work this way. It would all start with the breaking of the Oath Pact, which considering Honor's basic ideal would be anathema to him. Since they were heavily invested by Honor, this could have dealt some damage to him but not enough to really kill him. But, he would have lost at least some trust in humans. Then the False Desolation happens. There's two basic ways I could see it starting that would highly damage Honor. 1. Humanity has advanced enough that they can really wage war again and declares war on the Singers. This may have devastated Honor because the powers he had inspired and were being used in his name (using the Oaths devised by his Heralds to bind the Radiants) were being used to attack another group that could not defend themselves against the onslaught, and might seem to Honor like a repeat of the destruction the surges caused. 2. Ba-Ado-Mishram connected the Singers and started back the desolations from previously without provocation. Humanity then needs to defend itself, and the false desolation occurs. Where does the major damage to Honor come though in both these situations? It would lie in the mystery of how Mishram gained the ability to link to the Singers. In the first scenario, upon seeing the Singers being slaughtered, Honor could have felt compelled to aid them, and gave Heraldic Bondsmith powers to Mishram. Greatly wounded by the humans actions using his power he would start his ranting and raving that surges would destroy the world again. In the second, perhaps after losing faith in humanity, or seemingly no desolations, Honor could have decided on his own to try to end the desolations or that it would be Honorable to extend the surges to the Singers as well. Ba-Ado-Mishram then using them to start the desolations again would greatly wound Honor. He again starts his ranting and raving stage. Finally, the humans capture Mishram, taking a huge piece of Honor's power as well as having Honor's actions basically labotomize an entire people. The Radiants discover Honor's actions and feel betrayed, leading to all but the Skybreakers deciding to be done with their connection to him. These two actions are the death wound for Honor. It was protracted, but like Preservation, Honor died. Just an additional piece of information. Brandon has been cagey about Bond Spren. He has been clear there have never been more than three (at one time), but refuses to go further. If the three were once the sibling, the nightwatcher, and mishram during this period it would still fit. As long as the Stormfather was made a bond spren after Mishram was captured and severed from Honor then there would still only ever have been three.
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  35. Hi hi hi that was fun being the last elim is very stressful and kinda unwinnable here but it was great I think technically might have earned that lifetime achievement award several things conspired agianst us to stop the victory some out of our control some just my bad there the Archer death was a major hit striker not getting those votes in time was kinda unfortunate the Amanuensis modkill led to another vote panic led to shadows death and shadow was pretty clean honestly and the bad thing about shadow death is it cleared way way way too many people just really unwinnable there then the role nonsense there at the end gah not so great situation and the one really really really big mistake I made was not killing Kasimir if you want to read my fvie stages of last elim grief skim the evil doc thats basically the last few pages or read it for two definitely villagers being definitely villagers intheir native environment before one of the last two of an endangered species gets brutally murdered by a mob of angered diplomats @The Baker your gambit worked theo nly reason I iddnt kill Kasimir was cause you sussed them and I was hoping to get you voted off eventually so yeah gold star a plus that was what got me killed methinks so great job there @shadow1 best scumchum I could have asked for thanks bud you left me too soon @Amanuensis best non evil doc buddy I could have asked for love you I wanted you to live forever also in your eyes did I win the lifetime achievement award of gaining your trust as evil and proving turnabout to in fact be fair play? @Tani do you have any idea why you just always seem evil to me like even as evil you just seem so scummy so evil so wonky and I dont get it @Kasimir I salute you definitely should ahve killed you I was a fool oh well @Ashbringer this was a great first evil game of all the evil games Ive had in various places even if it was a clean sweep I had fun this was great all the love youre the best hope to play another game by you some time Honestly though I wouldnt have confirmed your assertions at all I thought your post was as scummy as scummy could be I completely disagreed with you and I would have bussed you no hesitation if Id been on so... honesetly might have been better that way though ties killing all really messed us up there but yeaha if Id been on youd have definitely died I would have argued you into the grave honestly depends on the images early Baker eh maybe not later Baker was actually kinda helpful a bit is it the not voting thing yeah I noticed that too thats my bad Ill have to work on one being online more two forming genuine looking opinions as evil three getting over my paranoia over being seen as evil and just trying to be trusted instead of well liked
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  36. Ooooo this is a great idea. I'm doing something similar with Stormlight, but it's a more long term campaign, not a one shot. My thoughts, are before you even think about detailing the plot, figure out how you can translate the Metallic Arts into DND.
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  37. I'm pretty sure that Honor died because Odium killed him. Humans and Singers had been at war for generations, and the Singers at least had considered and attempted genocide as a means to end it, so I don't think that the Singers being slaughtered would have made Honor all that horrified. I don't see either of these scenarios as remotely possible. Why would Honor give Mishram, a servant of Odium, any powers? He would be much more likely to simply refuse the humans access to his powers. As for giving the surges to Singers, we have no evidence that such a thing ever happened. Spren would never agree to bond them. And a desolation starting would not bring Honor into his ranting and raving stage. Fighting among humans has no effect on Honor. So neither would fighting between powered Singers and powered humans. Honor would not be killed by the humans forsaking their oaths. Nor would he be killed by Ba-Ado-Mishram being captured. That's like saying that if the Stormfather died, it would kill Honor too. Doesn't work that way. Preservation was killed by Ruin. Honor was killed by Odium. The Radiants abandoned their oaths because they feared they would destroy the world with their now-unbound surges.
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  38. To reply in order, mildly concerning given his murderous tendencies but I will concede he has some charisma some may find appealing. Two, unsure how being a windrunner will mix with murder the rich, but you know...morality for windrunners is more mercurial. Finally, glad to see warbreaker getting some love.
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  39. I don't think it will happen, but I think he could possibly manipulate Adolin's anger at his father into controlling him. Unlikely, but possible. If I had to guess, much of the structure will be the exact same time from different character's perspectives. Until now, even as we've gone from one character's perspective to another's, the story has always gone in one direction. Forward. There are times when the exact time lineup is unclear, but for the most part, the story keeps moving forward. If it were me, writing about such a short time frame of ten days, I'd write one part of it from Kaladin and Szeth's perspective in Shinovar. Then go back to the first day and tell it from Adolin and Shalan's maybe helping more dead eye spren. And then go back again and tell it from Dalinar and Nvani's perspective, preparing in Uritheru. You get the idea. Having said that, having the champion battle earlier than the grand finale with something even bigger afterward would be a good twist. But given all the buildup to the champion contest, that's a very tall order.
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  40. The poetry is flowing here is three more for any interested parties. A song then sung Dread becomes pure joy. Singing by sapphire waters. Majestic marching. Enough? Feasts come from above. There is no rest to follow. Most joyful feasting. Enough Resting most sublime. The greatest joy is absent. Still satisfaction.
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  42. "So here's an analogy that every man, woman, and child will understand . . ."
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  43. I wasn't part of the hype train of this theory before but i just have to say i'm all for it now. (i logged in again just to support this theory lol)
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  44. "The world ended, and Shallan was to blame. - Words of Radiance, Chapter 10. Mentioned by @honorblades ---- If Chana is the dead herald, I think we should talk about what the Bright Light Shallan and her father see was. What did Lin put into the safe? Why did he act so quickly to lock the item up? When I first put the Chana theory forward, my main point was that the Bright Light in the safe did not make any sense and that I did not believe that Shallan just hallucinated the whole event. That was the key element that snapped the theory into my mind. When we learned about Shallan's first spren and her trip to the garden, I was then 100% sure something magical was indeed put into the Davar safe (and not just a regular shardblade). Affter the herald-death, Child-Shallan saw a glowing soul be placed into the safe. Then Child-Shallan runs to the garden and knows that Testament would be in the garden (and not locked in a safe). Child Shallan cannot both believe her spren is locked away and that her spren is not locked away. It is only Adult Shallan that thinks that the blade was in the safe. But at the same time Adult Shallan believes she can summon a blade in TWoK, so Adult Shallan does not truly believe her blade is locked away in the safe. We then have Pattern, who may not fully understand what happened with Chanarach, convinces her that she must be misremembering the glowing-soul part. Shallan overtime begins to doubt if her memories of the glowing soul were real, and who can blame her? But childhood Shallan is not wrong about the glowing soul. Childhood Shallan has no reason to confuse a shardblade with the glowing soul of her mother. Why would a child see a weapon and think "yup, that is a glowing soul". If Shallan killed a herald, we really should consider that the glowing light truly was something invested and not the Testament-blade. Something was put into that safe that could not be a regular old shardblade. It was something that glowed somewhat like a dawnshard or the aural-light Dalinar seen when listening to Jasnah recite the Way of Kings at Gavilar's funeral. What was that "soul" Shallan remembers being placed into the safe? If Shallan in fact killed a herald, then the light is almost certainly something real. Shallan, and likely Lin, were able to see the thing through the safe. Shallan is blinded when even walking by the door. That is weird. That is heavy levels of connection weird. Many had dismissed this as "she is just crazy", but I don't think Shallan was that crazy as a child. That is one MASSIVE psychosomatic response. If Chana was just a woman, that might be more believable. But if Chana is a herald, then bright glowy light hidden in a safe becomes something we need to treat as textually important. I have had some time to mull over what was in the safe, and I have four ideas: 1) A Soul Is it possible Lin knew Chana was a herald and somehow locked her Soul into an aluminum safe? Do we ever hear when the safe was opened? I wonder if Chana was locked in there for a time and then was released at some point (maybe when the Davars fled the estate or some earlier time I am forgetting?). It is also possible the soul slowly leaked out just like with Jezrian. I do prefer the idea that the safe had been prepared for a purpose though. Lin seemed to act with quick reflexes to lock the item away in the safe. If the safe did somehow slow the return, then this may explain why Chana lasted 5 years before the desolation. 2) Ba Ado Mishram Another idea is that Ba Ado Mishram was hidden inside Chana. This would mean that Chana had an unmade gemstone inside of her, and that the dark influence inside the Davar estate was that influence leaking out into the household. No one would ever think to look inside a herald for the gem, so that is the best place to hide it. Lin would have known this, and he held on as long as possible as the influence poisoned him. I think Wit provides some evidence for this. Wit knows there is a Dark Force influencing Shallan. Maybe Wit is one of the people who knew where Ba Ado Mishrim was hidden and was therefor able to provide support to Shallan to fight back that influence, or maybe he could see the tendrils of influence around Shallan. 3) An Honourblade It could be Chana's herald blade as well, if it was actually a blade. Maybe the Herald blade appeared and Lin stuffed it away in the safe so no one would find it. There may have been a coverup here. The Stormfather/faker says "they cannot know" after a herald dies, so we know an effort is made to hide what has happened. We know Ishar was with the Shin for a while before Tukar, so maybe the fact a blade vanished was hushed-up by him or someone amongst the Shin. We have contextual evidence that at least someone didn't want anyone to know Chana had died, so a coverup is certain to have happened at least by one entity. 4) A Gemheart Another idea that occurred to me was maybe Heralds have gemhearts that get left behind? We don't know how heralds are brought back, but storing a soul in a gem might make sense. That is how fused do it, so gems might be used here as well. Bonus) 1 +2 + 4 They locked Ba Ado Mishram in Chana's gemheart. We see that Venli can lock a voidspren away in her own gemheart, so the groundwork for this occurring may have already been forshadowed in the text. -- Those are the four ideas I have had for what is in the safe. It could be something else, but I am now 120% convinced the glowing light placed in the safe is something important. If it turns out I am right about Chana being Chana Davar, then my supposition about the Glowing Soul actually being real is something I feel we cant dismiss merely as "Shallan be trippin". After RoW, I think we should be very interested in unexplained lights.
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  46. OK, I entirely think the Fools are a cultural construct born out of the Heralds going crazy while wandering Roshar, interacting with people and leaving them disappointed when compared to their mythic persona's. But I like your version way better!
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  47. In a sense they are all related in that they were the ten most impactful books that shaped the modern Desolation era for Roshar. Im assuming they will be gathered as a related collection by (or after) the end of series events.
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