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I was thinking about the magic system in a book I’m writing, and realized that it was slightly similar to Forgery, in that you take magic ink, write/draw with it, and something happens. As I am currently developing which symbols do what, this got me thinking about what, in Forgery, you carve on the Soulstamp to convey meaning. As I don’t think we know this, I thought about this in Forgery and thought of a rune-like arcane symbol that has a specific meaning not decided by not-very invested entities that is carved into the stamp. Almost like Aons. Then, my brain started coming up with ways that all the Selish magic systems work with this. I never actually finished Elantris, but on the Coppermind I learned about Dakhor, where bones twist into “ancient Fjordell characters” that decide the effect of the magic. Perhaps this is how Hrovell potions are Invested. Bloodsealing we know very little about, but I think could work with this. Thoughts? Is this very obvious and I just somehow never realized it? Am I completely off? How does ChaySan fit into all this?

An Elantrian's skin has a distinct metallic cast to it. Could this be because it's laced with so much Investiture that it act's as the Dor's Godmetal? Could they block a Shardblade with their limbs?

Okay so I'm the latest book we see Elantrians seem to have most of their powers off Sel. Where does the power come from? I assumed in Lost metal there was still a bunch of unkeyed Dor available. Does the sorceress just have a bunch of invisible Dor in her tower? Or another unkeyed investiture source that can power AonDor? It looked like they didn't have most of their powers off-world back in Secret History, but a lot of time has passed since then.

The officer at the border wore an expression of attentive boredom, with more emphasis on boredom than attentiveness. There were few men manning the post, no more than five. Little competition for the Monks. "Kind sir, can you please state your name and purpose in coming here?" The monk, ignoring the officer, calmly grabbed an axe, not a hatchet or some other axe that could be used to cut wood, it was an axe of war. It also was clearly not meant to be thrown, the Monk either didn't know, or simply didn't care as he threw the axe with blinding speed at the man in front of him. More Monks stayed behind him, unmoving, it was considered the prerogative of the highest ranking Monk to take the kills. Moving faster still than any human, he dashed forward to grab his axe, snapping the kneck ot yet another officer while moving. That left three. With his axe again in hand, the Monk split another man in half before blocking the attack of yet another officer in the same motion. The man who had just attacked swept his blade back to slash at the Monk's side. When the Monk moved his axe to block the blade, the swing turned out to be a feint that reversed to cut at the Monk's head. However, attack failed to draw blood due to a faster than human duck. The Monk then cut diagonally, beginning at the man's shoulder and traveling to his hip. The man fell to the ground, the Monk was surprised by a stab forward from a a silver skinned man. The blade moved in a complex motion, slashing diagonally, then making a circle, then slashing in the opposite direction diagonally, then cutting at the face, the in to conflicting curves before slicing at the feet. After that last swing, a bright light flashed forward, killing the Monk. The man stared at his sword in disbelief. While he was absorbed in his awe, another Monk stepped forward and beheaded the man. "Ignorant men have no idea what they fight, to Elantris we must go." The Monks stepped over the body and across the the border into Arelon. During the skirmish, a sign had fallen. It read, "Welcome to Arelon, home of Elantris." _____ Hafbjorn has died, they were a Dakhor Monk and a fictional character. Five Guardsmen have died, they were innocent bystanders. Welcome to Quick-Fix 57: The Infiltrators of Elantris . I am your GM, and @Devotary of Spontaneity will be the IM. Signups will end at 2 PM, Thursday the 9th of December. Cycle One will follow shortly. The Rules: Basics: Alignments: Roles: Order of Actions: Players: Pinch-hitters: Spectators: Quick-Links:

So, Elantrians’ automatic healing. Does it work as a natural mechanic of their magic system, or is it a function of Elantris boosting their power? Would they be able to survive with the same level of ability as a radiant or a Bloodmaker so long as they had access to the Dor? We know that they can at least regrow their heads, so why was Raoden afraid of being killed at the end of Elantris? Was he just too far away from Elantris to make his regeneration work?

Both the Dakhor and the Elantrians are, if not straight up biologically immortal, at least very long lived. I know that they both have access to active forms of investiture (drawing aons and activating bone twists), but is the reason for their longevity due to them passively holding on to large portions of investiture, similar to the heightenings of bio-chromatic breath? If it were simply a constant influx of kinetic investiture, then they’d likely be in a similar position of the allomantic savants, which don’t have an increased lifespan, so I don’t see that being the case. What is your guys’ take on this?

As the Cosmere gets bigger we start to see similarities on different Pllanets in the Cosmere. Two of them have made shardblades. One thing that next popped out to me is that several planets have some form of cognitive shadow that is persistent . Roshar have Heralds and the Fused . Sel has Elantrians. Nalthis has The Returned . I’m not sure if the Shades on Threnody are Cognitive shadows but anyways . I’m seeing a pattern . I’m thinking the shards need some type of Cognitive shadow to serve as Agents on the planet . So I’m asking what are the Cognitive Shadows on Scadrial . At first I thought it was the mist wraiths . They would preservations Form of shadow . But knowing what a cognitive shadow is I know it can’t be the mistwraiths . They were never alive as a person and came back to life . Then I wondered if steel inquisitors were. Again same problem . They never died and came back .the only person that has died and came back was Kelsier. And one doesn’t equal enough to be a system . It’s just one irregularity .So can you guys speculate with m . Does it seem that every planet has a type of cognitive shadow ? And if so what is the cognitive shadow on Scadrial

I've only recently finished Elantris and am quite interested in the Elantrian magic system and so have been developing a character for fun. However, if I wish to worldhop as said Elantrian character (who wouldn't if they could) I face the slight disadvantage of being away from Elantris and, oh I don't know, the magic not working. So the crux of my inquiry is, is it possible to somehow capture or store the Dor in some sort of vessel to carry around with you in your adventures? Would these be nicrosilminds? Spheres? Some other Thing™? I do hope it's possible, otherwise Elantrians prove to be pretty worthless worldhoppers.

Hey all. So this is a quick speculation thread based on some stuff I was thinking about in the shower after re-reading Elantris and some WoBs about nicrosil. The way interplay between all these different forms of Investiture is hinted at is fascinating. I've been a casual poster here for a while, but this is my first foray into actual speculation. If what I'm saying has any spoilers in it (I don't think it does, but I could be wrong), feel free to mark it as such. Also, I'm not really up-to-date on the latest Realmantic lingo, so bear with me. Anyway, as far as I'm aware, Feruchemical Nicrosil stores Investiture. In terms of Scadrial magic systems, this usually means storing the Investiture an Allomancer or Feruchemist uses to fuel their other abilities, with the ability to tap it at a greater rate to get more of that power over a shorter duration. However, we know from various WoBs that a nicrosilmind can stor other forms of Investiture from other worlds, including Divine Breaths from Nalthis or the ability to use the Surges of the Knights Radiant (whether this refers to storing the Nahel bond or Stormlight is unclear). We also know that in Selish magics, the Dor is heavily linked to location, because of the Dor being essentially the shattered corpses of two gods dumped in the Cognitive Realm by Odium. This means there is a sharp drop-off in the power of Selish magics the farther they get away from their particular region-- most notably in AonDor and Forgery, with the Dakhor monks being a little better at this, for currently-unknown reasons. So my hypothetical is this: Let's say I have nicrosilmind--whether I'm an actual Soulbearer or just using an unsealed nicrosilmind is an irrelevant distinction at this stage. If I were on Sel, could I store Investiture from the Dor in my nicrosilmind and take it with me, to fuel Selish magic with it? If I were an Elantrian or Dakhor monk on another world, could I tap that nicrosilmind to increase the power of my Aons/Bone-twisties to the level they would be closer to home? A sort of Dor-battery or Dor-transformer? Or is there something I'm missing in my analysis. Be gentle.

My questions on the matter. If I don't get clear answers I plan on trying to ask Brandon at the Oathbringer signing. Here goes: Is it feasible/possible for Elantrians to make more giant Aon Raos across Sel? Wear Clothing with Aon Rao? Build boats, or later space craft, with Aon Rao? You get the point. We saw in Elantris that Dilaf was able to break the Aon Edo that Raden made. Dilaf broke this with a touch. Could Dilaf, or another Dakhor (spelling?) monk, travel to Elantris and break it? Or would that require an insane amount of Investiture/sacrifices? Could Aon Rao enhance the power of other Investitures and magic systems? i.e. if an Allomancer came to Elantris, would it enhance their power?

We know about the plates that could be pressed to activate Aons stratched into them by Elantrians. However, is it known whether they have to be pressed by Elantrians? Sorry if this is necro-ing an old, answered idea. Also, I’m pretty sure that you have to be Elantrian to activate an Aonic plate.

We recently got confirmation that Returned are Cognitive Shadows, and that some people would call the Heralds Cognitive Shadows. This got me to thinking, where have we see Cognitive Shadows before? On Roshar, we have the Stormfather, the Cognitive Shadow of Tanavast/Honor. We have the Heralds*, and we have the throwaway line by Khriss in Arcanum Unbounded saying the Braize is inhabited by Splinters and possibly Cognitive Shadows. On Scadrial, we have Kelsier, who's a bit of an exception, since he tricked Leras into putting him in the Well of Ascension. We also met Spanky, who is presumably a Scadrial native because it is difficult to take Cognitive Entities between worlds. Preservation/Leras might fall into this category as well, since he seems to have died a long time ago in Secret History. In the later era of Scadrial, Wax probably counts now, since Harmony stuck him back into his body. On Nalthis, the Returned are like Wax, Cognitive Shadows who were stapled back into their bodies by Endowment. On Threnody, we have the Shades, obviously. On Sel, now, I theorize that we have the Elantians. When Raoden wakes up as an Elantrian, and gets locked in Elantris, he talks to Galladon and realizes he doesn't have a heartbeat. Galladon is always going "You're dead, Kolo?" This always bothered me, because, how would someone who's body is dead, still obviously retain sentience? This question is answered if we realize that they are Cognitive Shadows that are (like the Returned, and Wax) stapled back into their bodies. Relevant WoBs and quotes: -Arcanum Unbounded. The Rosharan System. Page 535, hardback. Source. Source.

Background Just before the 10th Anniversary Leatherbound Elantris was released, @Yata had been conceiving a theory regarding the nature of the Dor, which prompted me to ask Brandon a question in an attempt to gather some information that might aid him. When I received my signed copy in the mail, I shared the results with him immediately, and had intended to post about it shortly after, but for one reason or another never got to it. After finishing work this morning, I had found one of my coworkers had read the Stormlight Archive, and decided to lend him my copy of Elantris so that I could open his eyes up to the whole Cosmere... but first, I decided, I would finally take the picture and post it for all to see. This inevitably led me to getting in a discussion about the Dor with another member of this forums, @The Young Bard. During our conversation, I had a thought that I'm genuinely surprised has not been mentioned before (it's possible it has, but after some searching I've yet to find anything that matches it exactly). Personalized Leatherbound For those interested, my question and a picture of Brandon's answer will be in the following spoiler: Theory As the title states, I now believe that specifically Jaddeth, and potentially Domi, are the Cognitive Shadows of Skai and Aona respectively. The theory began when I read this exerpt from the Coppermind about Jaddeth: Emphasis mine. Immediately two separate thoughts crossed my mind upon reading this statement. First, that "the Skaze have a large amount of influence on most politics and most working in Fjordell." Second, that "the Stormfather is the Cognitive Shadow of Honor." Exploring those thoughts further, we know that the Skaze are Splinters, similar to the Honorspren on Roshar. We know that the Honorspren are loyal to the Stormfather, due to him being a cognitive remnant of their original (whole) form. We also know that through Honor's Intent, the Stormfather is required to bestow visions upon a man that meets a certain set of requirements (most recently, Dalinar). As a result, I suspect that Jaddeth is Skai's Cognitive Shadow, and that Wyrn is Jaddeth's Dalinar; a "prophet" who's purpose is to fulfill Dominion's last wishes, along with his Cognitive Shadow and subsequent Splinters. Just this morning, I read @VirtuousTraveller's theory about The Origin of the Dor, and I'm starting to believe that this might be true. From Bands of Mourning, we know that when a person dies, their spiritual aspect (innate investiture) returns to its original source to be distributed again, while their cognitive aspect moves on to the Beyond. When Odium Splinters another Shard, we know that their Cognitive Aspect is broken into many tiny pieces (Spren, Seons, Skaze), which end up being manifested in the Physical Realm. In the case of Devotion and Dominion, I believe all of their Spiritual Essence culminated in the Cognitive Realm, due to the nature of their relationship, and inevitably fused together, creating the shard of Unity. Meanwhile, their individual Cognitive Aspects became their respective Splinters, and a Cognitive Shadow was left behind. These Cognitive Shadows would then become altered by the two branches of the Shu-Keseg religion (Dereth and Korath, aka unity through domination and unity through love). Both of these Cognitive Shadows wish to achieve the same thing; unity. Except without Skai and Aona's personalities to control them, they seek a means to achieve those goals through their own specific intents, and sadly, as of Elantris, it's clear that Dominion is winning. It has been discussed before that all Elantrians are chosen because they are "devoted" to something in some way, yet it still appears random because not everyone who is devoted is affected by the Sheod. Though I never made the connection before, this reminds me a lot of Endowment and the Returned. We know that Endowment specifically asks people who sacrifice their lives for a cause to become Returned. However, given how few Returned there are, I imagine that not everyone who dies in a heroic way gets this offer. Perhaps a lot of them refuse it, but I am sure that if given the chance, most people who would earn that gift in the first place would be the type to take on the responsibility of stopping a future (cataclysmic) event. I believe that Domi, the Cognitive Shadow of Aona, is doing the same thing, except instead of asking she is thrusting the power upon those she deems worthy. This likewise matches what Nightwatcher, who is thought to be a Spren of Cultivation, is doing by granting her boons and curses. It also would serve to explain why only certain races are able to become Elantrians; Arelon, Teod, and Duladel are the last countries in the world to believe in her (or in Duladel's case, the idea of a unified Overspirit?). I would not be surprised if this has been discussed before, or at least some variation of it, but in the case of Jaddeth and Wyrn for sure, this is my headcannon for what's going down. I would love to hear what others think, positive or negative, and likewise would appreciate it if someone asked one of the following questions in the future, or something akin to them. Is Wyrn to Jaddeth what Dalinar is to the Stormfather? Is Jaddeth the Cognitive Shadow of Skai? Does Aona's Cognitive Shadow decide who becomes an Elantrian? Is the voice Raoden hears when he enters the Lake / Pool Aona's Cognitive Shadow?

So hey, I'm new here and I apologise in advance if this has been brought up/answered before. I was wondering, what with the localised magic systems on Sel, why is it that the Elantrians seem to retain their overall appearance and physical changes (e.g. Raoden being able to run faster than other humans etc.) when travelling to Teod, but not their specific powers? Similarly, the Dakhor monks don't just become "normal" when leaving Fjorden, but retain their... modifications? I actually have multiple questions about this. Is it possible that they could reach a certain distance from their homeland where even these changes would fade and they would revert to normal human beings? Or do you believe that they will stay the way they are? It seems, IMO, that the Shaod can only take someone in Arelon and one can only become Dakhor in Fjorden, but while the "activation" of these processes can only happen in a specific location, (at least some of) their effects are kept even if someone travels to another place. Similar to this is the case with Forton's potions, which I read (somewhere on this forum) are confirmed as somehow Invested, but are still effective outside his homeland. If this is the case (and I'm just wildly speculating here), if someone were to change themselves (or even an object?) via Soulstamp/Essence Mark and then travel to another country, would it hold? It's pretty clear from other examples that you would not be able to apply the stamp elsewhere, but would it be "rejected" once taken away from MaiPon? Of course I could be wildly wrong here but I wanted to ask what everyone's opinion on this is and whether or not Brandon has said anything about this that I've missed.

I've just started listening to SSFH again and these very first sentences jump out at me. This almost sounds like a description of a worldhopper. This is the first time I'm reading this novella in awhile, so please enlighten me if we have some good theories about what this may be referencing!

As the title states, which team do you think would win in a duel, given that all of the magic systems work simultaneously. Team 1: Pre-Radiance Kaladin; unconsciously uses Stormlight as he did in Bridge Four, and has no shards. Vin at her strongest (But not as Preservation); plenty of Allomantic stores. Hrathen, ability as shown in Elantris. Enough said. Team 2: Raoden at his best, able to make use of AonDor. Denth in Warbreaker, plain beast. Eshonai in Warform and in full plate. Place of Battle: Elantris, Sel. Who do you think will win? Feel free to justify below

Seekers have described listening for allomancy users as listening for a pulse or a beat, and have referred to the waves of metals being burned in almost musical terms. I'm wondering if anyone has drawn a conclusive parallel with them and the Listeners (parshendi) since they also hear this music behind the scenes of consciousness. My thought is that they are both hearing the background patterns of investiture trying to force its way into our world like happened in Elantris. If so, then I think the Mistborn may be able to offer some secondhand knowledge of Listener forms to the Parshendi, and the Elantrians may be able to deduce the different resonant frequencies of their forms. Thoughts?

In all fairness, this is not a real theory - because it's kind of been confirmed by Brandon. But when I was searching through the Theoryland database, I found an old WoB I had either missed in the past, or hadn't considered in its due depth: The part about "wounded" spirits being easier to fill with something else sounded pretty much exactly like the description of Words of Radiance from Brandon's site: The reason I am so excited about this is because of the scope of the older WoB. In the Words of Radiance bit, we've been (correctly) assuming it refers to the Knights Radiant - a Surgebinder must have a "broken soul" for a spren to bond with him or her. But considering the other quote and how... free of context it sounds (e.g. Brandon says "it has to do with a person's spiritual makeup," not "it has to do with an Allomancer's spiritual makeup"), I am beginning to think that this applies throughout the cosmere. The good news is, Nalthis might be pretty easy to explain in a way that fits the model. This whole "broken soul" thing is essentially a requirement people must meet before they can start doing magic; and since everyone on Nalthis could do magic, then they must all have broken souls. Which, in a way, they do. With all the Breath being passed around, I get the feeling that the spiritual make, the sDNA, of pretty much everyone is all over the place. Changes to the spiritual aspect of things take time to sink in, the soul needs time to adapt - and if people are constantly trading BioChroma and using it to Awaken things, then their spiritual aspects are constantly shifting and changing. The bad news, Sel might be a little more difficult to explain. The Elantrians and AonDor are easy - the Shaod comes and rewrites a person's spiritual aspect, breaking their soul if you will, and now that person can do magic. The requirement doesn't apply to the Shaod because it's external to the future Invester; It works the same way lerasium does - you don't need to be spiritually wounded to eat and burn a piece of lerasium and become an Allomancer, that's a process you personally don't need magic for. The other magic systems on Sel, though... well, we don't know enough about them. And I can't figure out how they fit the model from the little we do know about them. Forging might be the easiest to explain, because of reasons similar to the ones I provided for Nalthis. If you live in MaiPon, where Forging is pretty common and accepted, then there is a good chance you've been stamped or Resealed at one point or another - which, almost by definition, would have wounded your spirit. From this point on, it would've been easier for Brandon's "something else" to find its way in. Something like the Dor, maybe. TL;DR: A person's soul / spirit / Spiritual Aspect must be modified in a way that would live it "wounded" in order for that person to gain access to magic, the ability to Invest. This spiritual damage could be caused by emotional and / or physical trauma (Surgebinders and Allomancers), the simple passing of (spiritual) DNA from parents to child (Feruchemists), an external force that targets the spirit (Hemalurgically created Mistings & Allomancers, Elantrians, Dakhor monks), or high levels of exposure to Investiture that touches the spirit (anyone who has been Forged or Resealed (or Bloodsealed?), or practically everyone on Nalthis).