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What follows is my current theory on how the 10 Heralds became the 10 fool's through the coarse of the Desolations. I will update this post as it evolves. I will try to provide links to all WOB. Quotes will come from the kindle versions of the books via cut and paste. I will list book, chapter, and location number. Bold will be my emphasis. Italics will be possible contradictory evidence. Number 18 here From Reddit Fantasy Bookclub Q&A with Brandon Sanderson Feb 28th, 2011 We will start with this quote which shows us all Heralds were in WOK. First, the Desolations occurred when the Heralds were sent back to Roshar after one of them broke under the torture of Odium. Second, each Herald is associated with a primary and secondary Divine Attribute. (Possibly primary from Honor, Secondary from Cultivation?) Third, the torture does not happen in the physical realm. It occurs in either the cognitive, or more likely the spiritual realm. Fourth, when Odium breaks a Herald, he is literally breaking part of that Heralds spiritual connection to the Divine Attribute. Fifth, Odium's goal was to break all the Heralds and bring about the the Everstorm, allowing him to shatter Honor and Cultivation. Sixth, breaking the Divine Attributes shifted them towards something more compatible with Odium and less compatible with Honor. This resulted in the attributes associated with the 10 Fool's. Number 19 in this WOB, says each is uniquely insane. NOTE: One of the biggliest issues with this theory is not knowing the 10 Fools attributes. Two Fools are named. Two have attributes. Cabine - He acts like a child although he is an adult. TWOK chapter 37, page 593, location 10668 Eshu - He speaks of things he does not understand in front of those who do. WOR chapter 71, page 593, location 16877 One issue I have here is that the 2 Heralds I would link these two too are both female. Paliah and Battar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1) We have a WOB on this. Not a confirmation, but along those lines. 2) Herald. Primary Divine Attribute. Secondary Divine Attribute. Jezrien. Protecting. Leading Nale. Just. Confident Chanarach. Brave. Obedient Vedel. Loving. Healing Paliah. Learned. Giving Shalash. Creative. Honest Battar. Wise. Careful Kalak. Resolute. Builder Talenel. Dependable. Resourceful Ishar. Pious. Guiding 3) Since Odium was attempting to break the Heralds focus on their Divine Attribute, the torture most likely took place in the spiritual realm. The spren would probably know something if it took place in the cognitive realm. One thing pointing to the cognitive realm though is the fact that Taln appeared covered in condensation much like a shardblade. 4) By breaking the Herald, Odium shifted their Primary attribute to closer align with his shard and align less with Honors. This usually resulted in an almost inversion of the attribute. SPECIFICALLY I THINK ONLY THE PRIMARY ATTRIBUTE WAS BROKEN/TWISTED. Below I will show what I think the attribute shifted to after the Devine attribute. Herald. Primary Divine Attribute. Secondary Divine Attribute. Jezrien. Protecting. (Submission) Leading Nale. Just. (Arbitrary)(Judgement) Confident Chanarach. Brave. Obedient Vedel. Loving. Healing Paliah. Learned. Giving Shalash. Creative. (Destructive) Honest Battar. Wise. Careful Kalak. Resolute. (Weak-willed) Builder Talenel. Dependable. (Erratic) Resourceful Ishar. Pious. (Traitorous) Guiding These are based off of what we have seen or heard in the books so far. These are not perfect words, but the 17th shard manymind will probably come up with better. There are some subtle indications that only 9 of the 10 fool's have a strong history or mythology. Here is one concerning Lyft and pancakes. I think I subconsciously connected Lyft's silly quest to eat all 10 Pancakes with the 10 fool's. Research could not find a direct correlation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jezrien gives up on protecting humanity personally, submits to the Will of the group, and sacrifices Talenel to uphold the entire oathpact. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nale shifts from Just- working within the accepted standards of right and wrong to Arbitrary- following the rule of law without regards to morality.....he goes straight lawful evil. From Edgedancer Chapter 9, page 596 Arcanum Unbound, location 8565 Judgement not Justice. From Edgedancer Chapter 9, page 596 Arcanum Unbound, location 8565 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalash is pretty clear with her running around destroying art, and significantly art that depicts her and other heralds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kalak is in no way resolute when Jezrien meets him. He is in fact very weak willed, confessing that he cannot go back. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Talenel (if it really is him) comes back a broken man, highly erratic and unable to perform his duties as the Herald of War. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ishar formed the Knights Radiant originally, he led the Bondsmiths. He was also the one who promulgated the traitorous idea that 1 Herald could support the Oathpact. From Edgedancer: And And ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5) We know there were not literally 99 desolation. I suspect there were 9. One each time Odium broke a Herald. Then the next time that Herald would not be tortured as hard so that about her would break first. Nine also being the number of Odium I believe would work well with this. After the Oathpact was discarded, Odium let humanity rewrite Roshar's history and religion in preparation for the Final Desolation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6) The corruption of the 9 Heralds weakened Honor, but the Knights Radiant provided some support, until the Day of Requience when they abandoned all their oaths. Honor shattered shortly after. I have to go back and find some more quotes and WOB to fully support some of this, but I will edit them in as I find them.

MR12: Turf War Calamity has risen and Epics have begun to appear throughout the world. Luckily, Portland hasn’t been touched by much yet, though you know it can’t last long. Three gangs have begun fighting over territory in the city as the government begins to collapse. But the government isn’t giving up yet. Government Agents have infiltrated each gang and are trying to bring them down and establish a cohesive government again. The Blood Tyrants are a violent group, one that’s been around for some time, since before Calamity arose. The members of the gang are harsh and unforgiving, almost bloodthirsty. Their headquarters are in an Abandoned Warehouse. The Pearl District Neighborhood Watch is a group that formed to keep their neighborhood safe. They are very protective and loyal, always watching out for each other. Lately, they’ve begun to try to keep the entire city in order. They are based in the City Hall. The Evanescents were your stereotypical high school nerds. But when the government grew weak, they used their knowledge and began studying Epics and producing weapons and technology. They are based in an Underground Laboratory. The Government Agents are here in Portland, trying to take down the gangs so that they can establish a single, strong government over the town so the Epics can be dealt with and punished by the law. They have spread out and infiltrated the gangs in Portland. They are hiding in each one, trying to take them down from the inside. Win Conditions Condition 1: To win, each gang must eliminate the Government Agents within their own group. Condition 2: Blood Tyrants Win when all of the PDs Neighborhood Watch’s Epics die. Pearl District Neighborhood Watch wins when all of The Evanescents’ Epics die. The Evanescents win when all of Blood Tyrants’ Epics die. (This is not a secondary win condition. Both conditions must be met.) Government Agents win when everyone else is dead. General Rules: Hellscythe and I will be co-GMing this game. Standard Elimination Rules and Etiquette apply. 48 hour cycles (24 hour day and 24 hour night) Please include both of the GMs in all PMs. Sign ups will last a week, but due to scheduling, will end on either Friday, March 11th or Saturday March 12th at 4:00 pm MST. You will be informed 12 hours before, which time signups will end. Rollover will be at 4:00 pm MST. (5 minutes after this was posted) A new player list and countdown clock will be included at the start of the turns. If a player doesn't post in the thread for three turns, they will be MIA and they will be assumed dead. At that point, they will go straight to the dead doc, without entering Limbo. Because of the Tough Guy and Harmsway, there will be a one-turn period after death where players will be in Limbo. They will not be able to influence the game or access the dead doc in that time. After 24 hours, their role, gang, and alignment will be revealed and they will enter the dead doc if they do not come back. Roles - Banker - Cannot gain their own Points. Can only use points from the Bank to gain actions. Gang Investigator - Learn random person in your own gang or learn target player’s gang membership. Thugs - Each night, Thugs may protect one player from death. (Does protect from the Hit Man) Drunks - Can’t remember their role, alignment, or gang at the beginning of the game. They will sober up at some point in the game. Snitch - Give the gang membership, alignment, or role(randomly chosen each time) of one target player to another target player. (Night Action) Hit Man - The Hit Man can poison one player every night. Because the poison takes time to come into effect, the kill will come into effect as soon as the first vote of the next day is placed. Until the vote is placed, it will not be known if anyone has been targeted by the Hit Man. The Hit Man can be protected from. Sneaky Messenger - The Messenger can dodge one kill attempt on them per game. They can also make a PM with another player every cycle, aside from their free one. Regular - You’re a Regular with no abilities. However you have a higher probability of becoming an Epic. Angry Gang Member - Win condition is to be lynched. If lynched, the Angry Member can choose one player that voted for them and kill them at the end of the next cycle. Gambler - Choose one person during Night Cycle. If that person has an even number of votes by the end of the next cycle it adds one vote. If that person has an odd number of votes it subtracts one vote. Tough Guy - The Tough Guy is able to fight off the pain of death any number of times. But because of the effort this takes, they end up a different person than they started. When the Tough Guy fights off death, he switches gang membership. There is a one-turn time where he is struggling to survive. During that time, the Tough Guy is essentially dead to all the players in the game. If the Tough Guy is killed by either the lynch or a member of the team with the win condition to kill the Tough Guy’s current gang, he does not fight off death, but gives in and dies. He can still be brought back by the Reviver. If a Tough Guy is attacked by the Government Agents, he will die permanently. (Ex: Wilson is an Evanescent Tough Gal. She is attacked by a Blood Tyrant. She goes into Limbo for a turn, where she cannot interact with the game. After that turn, she will come back into the game as part of either the Blood Tyrants or the Neighborhood Watch. She maintains her position in the command structure. Ex 2: Wilson is an Evanescent Tough Gal. She is attacked by a member of the Neighborhood Watch. She dies permanently.) Harmsway - One of the first pieces of Epic tech that has been created. A player with a Harmsway may target another player that is still in Limbo and bring them back from the brink of death once per game. Epics - Epics will appear throughout the game. Any player who becomes an Epic will still keep their original abilities along with any new ones they receive, but only be able to use one ability per turn, unless otherwise stated. Bodyguard - Protect one player from death each night. You may not target the same player two nights in a row. Angry Guard - May protect one player from death each night. When their target is attacked, the Angry Guard will attack the attacker, killing them unless there is other protection, the first time this happens. The second time the Angry Guard protects from a kill attempt, he dies along with the attacker. Watchful Tail: The Tail follows around one player every night turn and watches for Snitches. If a Snitch tries to Snitch on the player being Tailed, the Tail will replace the note with a blank one. Some roles may not be in the game. You gain points(Except for the Banker, who does not earn their own points): 0.5 pt: First post each cycle 1 pt: RP-first time per cycle. 0.25 pt: Subsequent RP in a cycle. 0.5 pt: You have a vote placed at the end of the cycle. 0.5 pt: Using an action. 0.5 pt: Switching location(Getting placed on the Streets doesn’t count) 2 pts: killing or taking part in the lynching of an enemy Epic.(Only the gang linked to your win condition) 3 pts: killing or taking part in the lynching of a Government Agent in your own gang -2 pt: Not posting in the thread for a turn. -2 pts: Killing/Lynching a loyal member of your gang Every turn, players must tell the GMs if they would like to keep their points or donate them to their gang’s Banker. Each gang’s Banker is guaranteed to be a loyal member of that gang. If a player does not inform the GMs, the points will be kept to the player. The Banker is not informed who donated points or how many each donated. The Government Agents do not have their own Bank. The Banker may use the Gang Bank points to: 3 points: Give target player a random role/gang when snitched on for two cycles 4 Points: Learn a random player’s gang membership(not alignment). 5 Points: Create a PM that lasts two cycles. 7 Points: Kill or protect target player (Cannot self-target) 9 points: Scan to see if target is Government Agent Only one point-based ability may be used each Night or Day turn(if used during the day your vote will not count) except for the Banker’s PM ability, which may be used twice in a turn. Any Gang Member can use their points to: 5 points: Learn a random person in your gang 5 points: Create a PM that lasts one cycle. 10 points: Gain protection from one kill attempt that cycle. Every third cycle a heavy rain comes and flushes out the banks. Any points left in the Gangs’ Banks will be destroyed. Player-held points will be kept. Every even numbered cycle, each player will be allowed to create and keep 1 PM with a player of their choice. Locations: Each day turn, players must tell the GMs where in the city they would like to move to for the night. Anyone who does not inform the GMs will end up on the streets and be targetable by anyone(except those on the ferry). You will move at the end of every day. Players may only use their actions on players who are in the same location as them or on the streets. You will only know the people who are in your location. Players on the streets will be revealed in the thread at the start of each cycle. The Pub, Government Building, and Warehouse are on one side of the Williamette River and the Lab, City Hall, and Pool are on the other. Spending a turn on the Ferry is the only way to get to the other side of the River. Certain locations may have special bonuses and drawbacks for Epics. Pub Government Building Abandoned Warehouse ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ferry~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Underground Laboratory Portland City Hall Pool Streets Here is a Map if you would like a visual version. Room Point-Based Actions Can be done during the day or night, but your vote will not count if during the day, and no other action may be taken at night. You can only do these once per full cycle. Warehouse: In the Warehouse, you may sell on the black market. There is a chance of not selling(20%) and chance of selling for 3(50%) or 4 pts(10%) or losing 3 pts(20%) City Hall: In City Hall, you can attempt to steal any number of points from another target gang bank. There is an X% chance you’re caught and put in jail where X is based on the number of points attempting to be stolen. (Actions for the next cycle will not go through if you are jailed.) People voting during the lynch residing inside the City Hall will count twice. Laboratory: In the Lab, you can create a new science experiment and immediately hand it to your supervisor. It has a 65% chance to explode on impact, immediately kicking you out of the Laboratory and losing you 2 points, 35% chance to become pure gold, making it sellable, earning you 3 points. Government Building: In the Government Building, you can apply for a government job. You will get 2 points without fail. Command Structure The gangs all have their own command structures, but due to the secrecy in the gangs, each member only knows the people who directly report to them. Captains know their Regulars and Commanders know their Captains. The Government Agents do not have this. Example Command Structure: dsCommander Captain sfasdfsdfaCaptain Reg Reg Reg sfsfasdf Reg Reg Reg Write ups:

There are a few things about Nalan that have me curious about his (possible) abilities... and possibly the Skybreakers' as well. It's not really a proper theory or anything... but maybe you guys can help me figure this out and clear up my confusion. How many Nalan are we really dealing with, here? Here is where my confusion begins in Words of Radiance: Distance - (Interlude-2) We see Nalan in Iri hunting Ym. (Interlude-9) We see Nalan (aka Darkness) in Azir hunting Lift. (Chapter 88) We see Nalan in the Frostlands reviving Szeth (and offering him Nightblood). Iri, Azir, and the Frostlands are pretty far apart on the map of Roshar. Iri is far NorthWest, the Frostlands are far SouthEast, and Azir is nearer to the middle (but it's a little closer to Iri than the Frostlands). In any case, Nalan seems to be covering a lot of ground awfully fast during the events of WoR. How? I wonder how much time it really takes to travel across practically all of Roshar like that. If he is 'flying', then isn't that about the most overt way of getting around that he could possibly choose? If he is traveling by foot, then how would he cover so much ground so fast? Nalan's Minions- When he hunts Ym in Iri, he has no minions. When he appears in Azir, he has two minions. When he appears in the Frostlands, he again has no minions (and is carrying Nightblood). His minions are extremely knowledgeable about stormlight, investiture, and the like. One of them even has a shardblade... So I doubt that these minions were a couple of nobodies just drafted to help Nalan out in Azir only... and only for one case. Time - I'd be willing to believe Nalan simply travelled in one single direction during the events of WoR (First Iri, then Azir, then to the Frostlands) if it weren't for the time he spent on each case. In each case (Ym/Lift/Szeth) Nalan made it a point to explain how much work he'd put into each person. Nalan to Ym = "I had to look very hard to discover your indiscretion." Nalan to Lift = "Even the chaotic can be predictable with proper study.” (Presumably referring to her escape patterns, habits, etc.) Nalan to Szeth = "You? Not worthy? I watched you destroy yourself in the name of order, watched you obey your personal code when others would have fled or crumbled. Szeth-son-Neturo, I watched you keep your word with perfection..." On top of this, Lift already had prior experiences with him and knew he was dangerous. By the time she first saw him enter the palace during her story arc, she already had a name for him in her mind - Darkness. He seems to spend an awful lot of time and energy in each case and location he visits. Even understanding their laws and abiding by them. The mountains of paperwork he and his minions prepared in Azir to apprehend Lift could not have been an overnight task. To some extent, Nalan seems to have some roots in these places. His emotionlessness - When talking to Szeth: "He spoke the words calmly, without emotion." While chasing Lift: “'What was that?' Darkness asked, his voice cold, emotionless." Talking to Ym: “'You were an accomplice to murder,' the man said, pulling his gloves on more tightly, first one hand, then the other. He spoke with such a stark lack of emotion, he could have been conversing about the weather." Notable words from Lift: "He didn’t curse in annoyance. A fellow should curse. Made people feel real when they did that. But of course, Darkness wasn’t a real person. Of that, though little else, she was sure." and she also referred to him having "dead eyes" when she first saw him. All of Nalan's emotionlessness makes me feel like something more is going on than just a personality flaw. Are we dealing with more than one Nalan? Is it possible that we are dealing with Nalan's self-puppets somehow? ...mere husks of "Nalan Prime" whom we haven't really seen yet? Can he somehow use his Division surge to split thereby making "copies" of himself? Is the Nightwatcher involved? ...Or is he getting the help of an Elsecaller? Is he 'flying' and somehow avoiding detection from the general population? What the crap is going on? Am I missing something super simple, here?

So I found this interesting gem: Note that this is before Szeth has either met Nin or picked up Nightblood. So a)from Adolin's perspective, Szeth is Commanding objects. b)It sounds awfully like Breath - in particular could command inanimate objects, and we all know how careful Brandon is with his wording. (Or at least, how careful we THINK he is. *ahem* Gibletish ) However a)It could have just been the wind, and generally Adolin freaking out about the Assassin in White. b ) Szeth wouldn't have had time to give a verbal command, even if he could use Stormlight to power and Awakening. c) It seems a bit much to me that on top of Vasher and Nightblood, Brandon would then cross over an entire magic system from Nalthis - especially since we're not supposed to need to have read any particular Cosmere book to understand the others. IF however, Szeth can Awaken, the only way I think he could learn it is from Vasher. 99% chance he's not a worldhopper, since we KNOW he's from Shinovar, plus it would make flashbacks very messy. I'm not sure I can see Vasher teaching him anyway, unless he learned Awakening in his past, before or in his early days of being Truthless. Which is doubtful because flashbacks. So I open the question to the rest of you theorisers and obssessors. What doth 17th Shard think?

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but has anyone noticed this: from tWoK- City of the bells describing Tozbek "He wore...a silver buttoned black coat. She's imagined him getting that scar on his jaw in a furious sea battle..." Ummm...don't we know someone else who wears a black uniform with silver buttons with a scar on his face? Don't know what to do with this information, please help.

Was anyone else not entirely convinced that Darkness is actually Nalan? He didn't actually even say that he was--he just let Szeth draw his own conclusions. I mean, it's clear that the Heralds are capable of being selfish, giving up, and other human things, but Nalan going around and executing judgment on Surgebinders doesn't sound very Herald-ish. That along with giving Szeth (who's pretty crazy at this point) the most dangerous sword in the cosmere, just feels wrong. I have no other evidence to support my assumption, but I think Darkness is probably somebody running around with Nalan's Honorblade and delusions of grandeur (or nefarious plans of his own) or a rogue Skybreaker just pretending to be Nalan to further his own ends. Thoughts? Anything I'm missing?

So we now know darkness is nalan. I read in an early thread about the origins of the heralds. Menacekop pointed out that the essence of nalan sort of goes along with the magics of nalthis. We know from the szeth point of view that nalan is in possession of nightblood. Does this add further evidence to nalan being from nalthis, or do you guys think he obtained it from a worldhopper?

Random Speculation time! I rarely like doing much unfounded speculating, but my final re-listen to tWoK has put me in the mood for it. I think Gaz was killed by Darkness, for being a potential surgebinder. Evidence: 1) Gas disappears without a trace; perhaps like Ym? ii) Gaz, as evidenced by his POV, is a better man than he pretends. He hates himself for being part of the horrible lives of the Bridgemen. c) Gaz's description of being watched and his missing eye could be a spren lurking just out of sight, And finally what prompted me to think of this - 0b100) The title of Chapter 30, the one which contains Gaz's POV, is called Darkness Unseen. It is obviously a reference to Gaz's half blindness, but could have another meaning? We know the chapter headings are more important than most give them credit for.

Hey everyone, New user here, so forgive me if this has already been discussed. I've been lurking for a while, and trying to get up to date with popular theories. I have a question about the two men who Jasnah overheard at Gavilar's death-feast. A quick search didn't throw up any (helpful) topics, so I thought I would create one. From what I picked up from some of the other threads, it seems that some people think that they are both Heralds. They don't both have to be Heralds, right? I agree that one of them is almost definitely Nalan because of the black and silver dress and the white scar. But the other guy seems decidedly unherald-like. I mean, squeaking? Seriously? Since we also think that the drunk guy outside the feast is Ishar, that only leaves Kalak as a possible Herald candidate for the short guy (since Taln is still in Damnation) Also, the man refers to (presumably) Jezrien as my lord. From the WoK prologue we know that Kalak refers to Jezrien by name. Why then, would he revert to My lord millenia later when Jezrien isn't even present? But the question then is, if not a Herald, then what is this person? And to that, I have no answer. Would love to hear your thoughts about this.

This is my first topic and definitely nothing profound, just something I found curious when reading the WoR interludes. It seemed like darkness has an uncanny ability to identify and locate surge users over wide areas of Roshar. Any ideas on how this is possible? Ym I can sort of understand because he was healing kids, though very secretly, and rumors might have gotten around of how quickly kids healed after getting some shoes. It was apparent from lift's interlude she had been giving him the slip for a while but not only did he know she was at the place but he also knew exactly where to find her under the dinner table. In Jasnah's prologue he frowned at her when he saw her which I took to mean he recognized there was something "off" about her, possibly that he could even tell she had a budding nahel bond. (On a side note, if that is the case, why did't hunt her down sometime in the last seven years?) So, do you think he can actually see surgebinders? Maybe he can see their spren? Can the Larkin not only absorb stormlight from someone but also track people that can invest?

Thesis: Darkness has been corrupted by Odium. I suspect that his scar may be involved in the corruption, but that is not essential to the theory. This is something that happened sometime after the events of the Prelude. A. Support: Undocumented theory: Odium has corruption magic Support for undocumented theory that Odium has corruption magic: Dalinar's vision includes the following snippet which could indicate corruption: “Just keep your eyes open, once Ja-ana touches them they are different. They act strange. ...” Hemalurgy is a magic that changes other investiture. Ruin and Odium seem somewhat similar. Corruption seems like a tool that fits Odium's intent. There are at least several references to Voidbringers possessing people. Possession seems like a form of corruption. B. Darkness attempts to murder people who are doing good things. C. Darkness is described as having "Dead eyes" by Lift. D. Darkness is described as an "abomination" by Wyndle, who also says that "There is something very wrong with that man! He is not right, not right at all." E. Baxil's mistress, also widely considered to be a Herald, is described as "amazing. Wonderful, intoxicating, overwhelming." The reporters are obviously different and Darkness' indifference could be a perversion of confidence. The deadness of Darkness seems stronger to me than can be explained by corrupted attributes. Prediction is the test of a theory: I therefor predict that any Heralds that are described as dead or abominations will turn out to have been corrupted by Odium post-Prelude. Please note: This theory is meant to be completely compatible with Darkness=Nalan, Argent's Fallen Heralds theory and Isomere's "Heralds and Intent" theory. Basically, I claim that Darkness is corrupted beyond warped heraldic intent and survivor guilt. This corruption could have occurred in conjunction with the prominent scar on his face. Edit: Baxil's mistress point, clarify that influence occurred after Aharietam, prediction.

I don't remember exactly why we decided that Darkness was Nalan. I think it was because it seemed like he used Windrunner abilities, and had a Just-type demeanor, right? The thread in the steel-hunt forum suggests it was just kind of.... decided on. Mostly based on the Just thing, and the fact that Darkness has papers. I'm curious because he is described several times has having a mark underneath his eye, and we have a Herald who has just that in the drawing of his face - Kalak. He also has the Transportation surge, and we don't know exactly how that will play out for him. We assume Transportation is used by Jasnah to do Shadesmar stuff, but why couldn't it be used for fast transport in the Physical world? Lift does think it would be impossible for him to have followed her. That could be explained by a Windrunner's speed or something like that, but a Transportation surge might do the trick as well. It is starting to come up again in conversation as though we are sure Darkness is Nalan, but the physical description with the mark fits Kalak dead on, soooooo... thoughts? EDIT: I just found a picture online of Kalak with no mark, so I was wrong, but I was referring to the one on the Surgebinding chart. That might have been something that was just an effect on the art, but I figured it was worth talking about. One instance of a mark is better than none, right?

One of most interesting parts of the Lift interlude for me was what Darkness had to say for himself when speaking to Lift. What strikes me about this is that if Darkness is who we think he is, aka the herald Nalan, then I think his response here may give us a clue as to the cause of the recreance. From the prologue to the SA in the WoK we hear from Jez that his expectation is that the people will be fine because they have the Radiants now... but what if some time post 'last desolation' and prior to the recreance the heralds realised that another Desolation would be coming regardless of their attempt to have their cake and eat it? What if they started to believe it was the presence of the Nahel Bond connecting the Cognative, spiritual and physical realms together within the Radiants that was drawing a Desolation or Odiums attention Roshar's way? The quote above makes me suspect that it was the heralds or mabye just Nalan himself that asked/required the Radiants to disband and discard their bonds. What do you think???