Rosharan

I see the logic in this reasoning and these WoB's definitely weaken the theory but I still can't see Kelsier not having an influence in the 17th Shard with the evidence(however small) that I've found so far. Kelsier has been known to use good people and their righteous intentions for his own agenda.

Pretty certain every question about who leads the 17th shard has and will continue to be RAFO'd for the time being. Unless of course there are quotes stating otherwise that I'm not aware of.

While re-reading the stormlight archive for the upcoming release of book 3 I noticed something that contributed to this theory. The first interlude in WoK is about a purelaker who meets with some foreigners(members of the Seventeenth Shard). Two of these members are confirmed to be Galladon and Demoux. They are clearly searching for Hoid(he even mentions this in his letter). Before leaving, one of the men says something that made me think and refers to Hoid as "Roamer". When I checked out the coppermind page for Hoid this known pseudonym is listed along with Drifter. These two names are the only ones that can be almost directly linked as synonyms. Considering that Kelsier named Hoid Drifter when he first met him and one of the members of this group is Demoux, someone from Scadrial and devout follower(even worshiper) of Kelsier, then I would say it's likely that they call him this because Kelsier set them upon this mission. Roamer could easily be Drifter lost in translation of the Selay language and the only person to call Hoid this name is Kelsier so why would they primarily refer to Hoid as this rather than his other more known pseudonym "Hoid"? My guess is because the first time they were told of him was by Kelsier referring to him as Drifter before he found more information(like names he uses) on him. This leads me to believe even more that Kelsier is either the leader of the Seventeenth Shard or of high enough status to order a search like this. Thoughts?

It has been confirmed by BS that once you are a cognitive shade and you no longer have any connection to the physical realm your abilities as an allomancer or feruchemist are meaningless.

Personally I think nicrosil may have a key role in returning Kelsier to the physical realm. Maybe mixed with some duralumin for connection to the physical realm while nicrosil allows him to tap it in the first place. And of course the feruchemist would need to be filling an aluminum metalmind at the same time so both the investiture and the connection to the physical realm is identity-less. Only thing is I wouldn't know how kelsier would be able to use it in the first place which may be where hemulargy comes in.

Hopefully there is at least communication between her and the organization.

Galladon or Khriss would be great as well. I imagine Khriss would need a lot of convincing and I'm interested in how they did it.

Just found that link on the Ars Arcanum Coppermind page as well. That's interesting. I would think that Khriss is mostly a member for the sake of discovery and so she can use resources that the Seventeenth can offer. She doesn't seem like the person to get caught up in politics of the group or a manhunt(Hoid). Although this would also connect Frost to Khriss, I could definitely imagine her conversations with him about the cosmere. What we really need right now is a POV from a Seventeenth member after they've been recruited or a POV of their recruitment.

I'm not going to claim that Khriss and Frost aren't in any form of contact but I haven't seen any proof to suggest it even though a reptile as old as Frost would be a wealth of information that Khriss would definitely be interested in. What WoBs indicate that Khriss is a member of the Seventeenth?

That's what I thought but the events of Roshar(described in the stormlight archive thus far) happened long after the events of the first mistborn trilogy. Elantrians live much longer than humans as well, not sure how long. It's entirely possible that Kelsier(possible head of the 17th Shard) recruited Galladon after the events of Secret History. Which means the 17th Shard could've been formed after the events of Elantris.

Yeah, Frost is most likely the guy Hoid is writing to. And I don't think the 17th Shard showed up anytime during the events of Elantris. I don't know why The Young Bard thinks that but I could be wrong. There isn't anything in the coppermind about it but I also haven't read Elantris in good while.

Well there is a "WARNING" in the description of Cosmere Theories but you're not wrong.

I would agree with you if the book wasn't released almost a month ago but oh well, I guess that's up to the guy that submitted it.

Well this is a theory about the head of the 17th Shard more than anything else so I think Cosmere Theories is an appropriate place for it.

No need to research either of those actually I'm pretty familiar with both although I have to admit that Frost slipped my mind for some reason. He is most likely the recipient of The Letter. Khriss is also most likely the author of the Ars Arcanum, that much is clear. Her being the founder of the 17th Shard... I don't know about that. Why would she leave scadrial right after hearing that Hoid was there if she is chasing him on Roshar?(Same with Frost, if he has a non-intervention policy then why would an organization he founded chase after Hoid?) And how do we know that the 17th Shard was around during the events of Elantris? And I also agree that Hoid isn't working for the 17th Shard.