AquaRegia

1st page: "tizzy of white hair".

These are two very good questions which had also occurred to me. There's always another secret, storm it!

When is Mystery Hunt this year? Is there a topic? Any other Puzzlehunts coming up? I guess I'm in the mood.

I have just a few observations. 1) There are 16 shards. In order for each one to have a single distinct and characteristic color for its Investiture (and YatNP implies some may have two), Brandon will necessarily have to look outside our traditional ROYGBIV set of color names. I like the "stygian violet" he's invented for Odium. 2) I do not think it is a coincidence that Roshar has three moons - one green, one blue, and one violet. We know these moons are not natural, and their orbits are not stable over astronomical times. I doubt that WaT will shed any more light (see what I did there?) on the mystery of Roshar's moons, but I very much hope they will become important in the second SA series.

I was also a bit surprised, but it's still a good title - many layers of meaning in there! One specific interpretation stands out to me: "Wind and Truth" seems to be a clear reference to the Shinovar mission of Kaladin and Szeth - the Windrunner and the former Truthless. I freely admit, I'm looking forward to the adventures of Kal, Szeth and Nightblood more than anything else that might be in the novel. I recently reread some earlier scenes, looking for appearances by Hoid; when he meets young Shallan at the Middlefest Fair (WoR ch. 45), there is a Thaylen merchant with a talking "chicken". Shallan calls it a "voidbringer", and warns the man that "you'll draw the eyes of the Unmade upon us!" His response? "These things are common in Shinovar. If they attracted evil, all of Shinovar would be overrun." Delicious foreshadowing, anyone?

This makes a great deal of sense, thanks to all three of you! If I'm not mistaken, while we certainly see Hoid ACQUIRE a bead of lerasium, we don't see him SWALLOW it. I certainly agree it's by far the most likely explanation that he wants it for himself... but is there any confirmation that he has, in fact, become Mistborn?

Rereading MB Era 1 (so good!) and something jumped out at me. In Mistborn: A Secret History, when Kelsier is stuck in the Well of Ascension - this would be during the events of WoA - Hoid is passing through and says to Kelsier "You did what I needed you to, but..." To what, exactly, is he referring? The first thing I thought of, the obvious assumption, was freeing The Final Empire from The Lord Ruler. But a) Kelsier didn't actually DO that, and b) do we have any reason to think that Hoid "needed" that to happen? We, after all these years, still don't really know what Hoid's game is. One thing Kelsier DID do, undoubtedly: lay the groundwork for a new religion. Was THAT what Hoid somehow needed, or was it something else? It seems safe to assume that Hoid knows about the deal between Ati and Leras, and that he knows how the Well of Ascension works. Had Rashek lasted one more year, Ruin would have stayed locked in Preservation's prison for another thousand years, unable to directly affect events, but also unable to be permanently removed from the picture in any way. Are we supposed to infer that Hoid has arranged for Rashek to be taken out, as step one of getting rid of Ati? While that's exactly what ends up happening, it seems like a low-percentage play, even for Hoid. And we don't see Hoid being involved in any of the other steps, at least, not on screen (although it is implied, through Kelsier, that he spends time in the Terris Mountains, either shortly before or during the time the Inquisitors reportedly wiped out the Keeper leadership). What do you think?

Main reason for lack of response, I think... previous topic with plenty of math:

I always recommend reading things in order of publication whenever feasible. While don't disagree with @Treamayne , The Sunlit Man does contain MANY Stormlight references (some of which are pretty spoilery), as well as significant MB Era 2, Shadows of Silence, and Warbreaker references. It is definitely the most Cosmere-connected of all the Secret Projects. No MAJOR spoilers... but do make an informed decision.

I assume it's OK to discuss the October pin (#10)... I was both happy and unsurprised to see our favorite Windrunner Bridgeboy. It's a nice pin, too! I will refrain from talking about November's pin (#11) (yes, I got my box already), other than to say I was considerably surprised, in a pleasant way. For #12, I'm still leaning toward Kelsier, but no bet. #11 demonstrated that my pool of candidates was a bit small. As noted by @The Isochronism, there will be more pins!

There is a lot to like about these ideas. Certainly everything about Canticle seems to point to an unusual origin; Shard involvement is easily imagined. An intentional design for Shade-free living? Could be. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever know (unless through WoBs). I won't be surprised if Canticle never appears in another story. I think Brandon may leave all these questions unanswered. Also, don't the last few chapters of TSM clearly imply that the Shade-removal mechanism of "leaving people for the sun" is no longer going to happen anymore? Everybody seems happy about the Sunheart-recharging plan; no more sacrifices, no more lotteries... which means, going forward, LOTS of Threnodites will peacefully die on Canticle without being turned into Sunhearts. The Reliquary, the Ghostbusters™ Containment Unit where Shades end up (and made USEFUL!) seems to be the real solution to the Shade Apocalypse. Presumably, as long as they can keep building new Reliquaries, they can keep Shades from overrunning the planet.

I hope this doesn't count as a necrotopic, as I just finished TSM yesterday and have thoughts about these interesting observations. I do not recall this being implied. First, the Scadrians asked Nomad whether he had sworn Oaths; he lied and said "no", which they seemed to accept. Only THEN did they assume he was a mercenary. When he later revealed his Blade, they (correctly) accused him of lying about being Oathed, NOT of having a deadeye blade. Everything about the interaction seems consistent with the Scadrians assuming two separate types of Rosharans: Knights Radiant (tread very carefully!) and mercenaries (potentially valuable employees). Seems to me that the implications are 1). These Scadrians are reasonably well aware of the nature of Knights Radiant and, separately, 2). Some number of non-Radiant Rosharans have spread out into the Cosmere as mercenaries, which, given the relative dominance of Alethi-style military tradition and training highlighted all through this novel, makes a fair degree of sense. A small, well-trained cadre of Alethi spearmen could, like the 300, be a dominant force in a culture with lesser experience in combat. I don't think we should draw any sweeping conclusions specifically about deadeyes from TSM.