Search the Community

Hey, i was wondering is anyone could explain to me a bit more on how Elantris works with all of this Cosmere stuff. Is Aon Dor a shard? How does this book fit into all of this stuff? Also, i have seen emperor's soul bunched up with Elantris, why? How are those two books similar? Thanks! - I have read all of the cosmere books so don't worry about spoilers to me.

(This thread is mainly for the discussion of the hint and trying to use it to figure out the Elantris worldhopping puzzle...) I was going to revive the Sel worldhopping topic http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/2515-sel-and-worldhopping/ , but since it was last posted in way back in January of 2013, I thought that perhaps it might not be wise... Sometimes necromatic powers don't work that well, I guess (or I need to learn the one-Breath command for Lifeless again)! --- So, a few days ago, Brandon revealed that apparently Raoden had misinterpreted one of the Aons. (source) On page two of this topic, Argent mentions that he thinks that it's related to the Aon Tia, and that Aon Tia doesn't need distance, only a destination. This is based on an old theory of his (one I've read, but, at the moment, can't remember where the link is), and might explain why this is such an important hint and will help us to better understand worldhopping...(and yes, worldhopping might be my major. I have three topics somewhat related to it!) I think that the Aon misinterpreted is either Aon Rao (kind of was the idea behind my one ill-thought out theory a few weeks back) or Aon Tia. Perhaps, even a combination of the two. I agree with Argent that it is probably Aon Tia, though, here are my reasons: 1. Aon Tia is one of the few Aons that Raoden really takes time to interpret/explain to the readers. This is first done in Chapter 25 (343-346) and later on when he travels to rescue Sarene. Both times, he added modifiers that specify location and the person himself. What Raoden says specific is this: The book he was getting this information (on the AonDor) only really gave him hints on what to do and how Aons (like Tia) worked. Now, if it is Tia, it might be just destination that is needed (as Argent suggests), but it might also be modification based. If it's modification based...we have to consider what modifiers Raoden thinks he needs. He thinks he needs one that specified that it only should work on him (which seems right) and distance specification. But, Aon Tia means travel, what would happen if one just drew Aon Tia without a specific destination (where would you go, it seems unlikely to be nowhere), or, if one added different modifiers that programmed Tia to bring one into the Cognitive Realm/Across the Cosmere a certain distance. Really, if one wanted to have fun with Tia, you could even use the distance modifiers to travel LIGHT YEARS, if you could just figure out the correct distance and some other things of the sort! If it is Aon Tia, the modifiers could be another Aon...such as Aon Rao or the Aon related to cognitive things, Aon Mea. However, what ever the specific modifiers would have to be for this to work is still unknown at best, if this is even the one Brandon was talking about... 2. It could also be Aon Rao. However, despite it's prevalence in the book (since Elantris and the surrounding landscape is AonDor), I feel that it's still unlikely. If you can think about it, Raoden doesn't understand it well or how it works though, so there is that, I guess... 3. It could also be the two Aons that are on the device they used to enter the area where the Pool is. However, it's Galladon who sees these Aons (Aon Rao, perhaps, and Aon Tae [352]). The later, Aon Tae, is the one they push to open the "secret" passage. Anyway, while this could be it and Raoden could've misinterpreted what Aon Tae really meant in this instance and what effect it could have on the pool (or even as a modifier of Aon Rao), I don't think this is the secret, and the only reason I even brought it up was because it was related to the Pool... Anyway, those are just some suggestions about what this WoB could mean... Since this was only a clue (and really, one that isn't that obvious...I think), but now, we can prove how good we are at figuring stuff out! I trust that now we can figure this out...perhaps in less than a month!

Originally, this was going to be more world-hopping based, but I lost some stuff and this turned into a topic on realmatic transportation (physical to cognitive) hopping instead. It’s not a theory, though this is probably not the best topic to dabble in lightly; unfortunately, I was a little bored, it was late, and I wanted tea. So forgive me if my thoughts are not well-explained or if it seems to just go on and on about rabbits…What I’m saying is that I expect to be shot down by the self-proclaimed real experts on Realmatic Theory. Well, at least I tried? Heh, I just hope no one stole my thunder…but anyways, enough of my blab… Geronomo! --- First though, I want to bring up Aon Rao. As we know, the shape of Elantris and the landscape around it is based on this Aon and creates Elantrians and allows them access to that magic. But at the heart of this giant Aon, is the pool or the "dot" in the middle of Rao. This Aon Rao can be seen as a gateway, one that allows Investiture in from the Spiritual Realm into the physical realm; or a place where Investiture is moving from a place of “high spiritual pressure to a place of lower pressure.” A giant Aon, perhaps even (in some way) a giant Seon, though for this topic, it doesn’t particularly matter if the pool we are dealing with is a splinterpool or a shardpool. It only matters that it’s a big gateway. What really matters is this: when one draws an Aon, when one uses stormlight, when one burns metal, et al.; one opens a gateway for Investiture to flow through. Notably, the pool in Elantris is at the certain of an incredibly large and powerful Aon that continuously draws in Investiture. It operates as a gateway, but as anyone can tell you, gateways can be entered through both ways. If one opens a big enough gateway (and maintains it), one should be able to go through it. Essentially, this means that a big enough gateway can be used by a person just as a big enough gateway let’s in a lot of Investiture. Pools, like the one at the center of the giant Aon Rao, are this, but I think is easier to see with Aon Rao because we already know what Aons do. Aons let Investiture into the physical realm, and should also be able (if they’re big enough) to let physical beings out. This means, that if something opens a gateway (or uses Investiture), it opens a gateway for a person to go through, allowing for further realmatic shenanigans on the other side. No, this point doesn’t explain how world hopping is conducted (when we see Elsecalling in action, I think we might have a better idea), but it does explain how someone can enter the cognitive and possibly the spiritual realms. I’m not proposing that this idea is revolutionary (I’m sure someone brought it up before me). Instead: I’m only proposing that the Pool on Elantris reveals that this pool exists in that particular spot because of the giant Aon Rao, and this giant Aon Rao draws on AonDor in such a way that it opens a gigantic gateway between realms. Essentially, all you need is a big enough gateway…and the ability to open it (except, perhaps, if someone did it for you…) for realmatic transportation, however, I will say that this only for certain worlds and really only a basic idea. I’m not doing application, only proposing that by opening gateways for Investiture to seep through (like the giant Aon Rao, but it should work on a smaller scale, like with Soulcasters and Elsecallers, though not quite in the same way), one can enter another realm and eventually worldhop. (That’s the best I could come up, and yes, I probably did not hit the dot. Just don’t kill me, this is still my first topic…)Originally, this was going to be more world-hopping based, but I lost some stuff and this turned into a topic on realmatic transportation (physical to cognitive) hopping instead. It’s not a theory, though this is probably not the best topic to dabble in lightly; unfortunately, I was a little bored, it was late, and I wanted tea. So forgive me if my thoughts are not well-explained or if it seems to just go on and on about rabbits…What I’m saying is that I expect to be shot down by the self-proclaimed experts on Realmatic Theory. Well, at least I tried? Heh, I just hope no one stole my thunder…but anyways, enough of my blab… Geronomo! First though, I want to bring up Aon Rao. As we know, the shape of Elantris and the landscape around it is based on this Aon and creates Elantrians and allows them access to that magic. But at the heart of this giant Aon, is the pool or the "dot" in the middle of Rao. This Aon Rao can be seen as a gateway, one that allows Investiture in from the Spiritual Realm into the physical realm; or a place where Investiture is moving from a place of “high spiritual pressure to a place of lower pressure.” A giant Aon, perhaps even (in some way) a giant Seon, though for this topic, it doesn’t particularly matter if the pool we are dealing with is a splinterpool or a shardpool. It only matters that it’s a big gateway. What really matters is this: when one draws an Aon, when one uses stormlight, when one burns metal, et al.; one opens a gateway for Investiture to flow through. Notably, the pool in Elantris is at the certain of an incredibly large and powerful Aon that continuously draws in Investiture. It operates as a gateway, but as anyone can tell you, gateways can be entered through both ways. If one opens a big enough gateway (and maintains it), one should be able to go through it. Essentially, this means that a big enough gateway can be used by a person just as a big enough gateway let’s in a lot of Investiture. Pools, like the one at the center of the giant Aon Rao, are this, but I think is easier to see with Aon Rao because we already know what Aons do. Aons let Investiture into the physical realm, and should also be able (if they’re big enough) to let physical beings out. This means, that if something opens a gateway (or uses Investiture), it opens a gateway for a person to go through, allowing for further realmatic shenanigans on the other side. No, this point doesn’t explain how world hopping is conducted (when we see Elsecalling in action, I think we might have a better idea), but it does explain how someone can enter the cognitive and possibly the spiritual realms. I’m not proposing that this idea is revolutionary (I’m sure someone brought it up before me). Instead: I’m only proposing that the Pool on Elantris reveals that this pool exists in that particular spot because of the giant Aon Rao, and this giant Aon Rao draws on AonDor in such a way that it opens a gigantic gateway between realms. Essentially, all you need is a big enough gateway…and the ability to open it (except, perhaps, if someone did it for you…) for realmatic transportation, however, I will say that this only for certain worlds and really only a basic idea. I’m not doing application, only proposing that by opening gateways for Investiture to seep through (like the giant Aon Rao, but it should work on a smaller scale, like with Soulcasters and Elsecallers, though not quite in the same way), one can enter another realm and eventually worldhop... --- That’s the best I could come up, and yes, I probably did not hit the dot. Just don’t kill me, this is still my first topic…be nice! I'm gonna sleep now...also, since the Pool is at the center of a giant Aon Rao, I think it might be more of a splinterpool by the time of Elantris...or even the center of a giant "Seon". One might say it's not quite a shardpool..., indeed. Now for some wild speculation (just for fun):

First topic of my own! Reading this post today gave me a thought about marrying the regional magic systems of Sel with some Realmatic Theory. After a quick search, I didn't see anything posted that covered all of my thoughts, but apologies if this has been said before. Anyways, here goes: Spiritual - A Selian's innate ability to invest in the powers of Devotion and/or Dominion; their particular heritage has an impact on their sDNA and so impacts which system someone can use. Cognitive - As described here, the cognitive aspect of a nation determines the base shape, but I think this must also be in harmony with the physical world. I imagine that the fall of Elantris happened when the chasm appeared, not when the country as a whole learned about it. I also think that an individual's cognitive understanding of their heritage, like their sDNA, has an impact on the system they use. Physical: The base shape must physically match that of the nation you are currently in. The key point: Spiritual and Cognitive impact your ability and method to access investiture. Cognitive and Physical impact the base form. This would mean that someone from Mai Pon could use Forging in Arelon if they used Aon Aon as their base. Let the debate begin!

Hi all, This is my first time joining a site like this, but there is just too much going on in Brandon's series to not explode one's brain. Anyways, I have been rereading Elantris since I finished Words of Radiance, and I have been wondering if certain cultures/religions on Sel descended from Roshar. Also, I may have a few facts wrong, so please let me know if I remembered something incorrectly from Roshar's or Sel's history. Here are my thoughts: The Vorin Religion tried to take over the world (in essence). The Derethi religion is currently trying to. Vorin priests are called "ardents", while Derethi priests are called "arteths". Further, in Roshar it seems that several names have the "th" phoneme, which seems prominent with the Derethi. Vorinism worships Jezerezeh'Elin. Jezrien was a Herald of Honor, and later became the Stormfather, who seems to be in charge of the spren somehow (or at least the honorspren and windspren). In Sel, there is the Jesker religion. Jesker was believed to be the "overspirit", and the jesker religion involved spirits in general and being in harmony with nature. Furthermore, "Sel" and "Syl" are almost identical. So I have wondered if when the Heirocracy was ending, certain groups of Vorin followers traveled to Sel, and over time words such as "ardent", Jezrien or Jezerezeh, and Syl (which I believe was chosen for a reason, not just because Syl liked it) devolved into arteth, Jezker, and Sel. The Derethi religion would have descended from the Vorins who thought that the church should rule absolutely. I realize that some of these points are thinner than others, but I would be interested in hearing anyone's thoughts. Thanks!

So, I remembered one of the other thoughts I had whilst re-reading... There are two points in the book where Ashe comments on religion. The first he says to Sarene "Your god would never allow it to happen" or words to that effect (I forget the exact phrasing). The second he mentions the possibility of converting to Shu-Korath - the line is something like "If He keeps you safe, then He might have His first Seon convert." So my question is this: is Ashe just following normal human speech patterns and mannerisms (and in the first example, attempting to off Sarene comfort) or do Seons know more about the nature of Gods on Sel that we first thought?

For the longest time, prior to stumbling upon this forum, I had a theory that Elantris and the Mistborn series were set on the same planet. The reason being, the mention of people on another continent that the main characters did not know about in Mistborn. I thought that these people were the people in Elantris, and furthermore, that the chasm that suddenly appeared and ruined everything in Elantris was caused by the Lord Ruler moving and reshaping the world. I now know this is wrong, but I still think that the two could be related. The way I see it, when the Lord Ruler was moving the planet itself around the solar system, this would have had effects on other planets, and if Scadrial and Sel are in the same solar system, then Sel could have been affected. By moving Scadrial past Sel, its gravitational pull could have affected the other planet, causing an earthquake, and therefore the creation of the chasm. It couldn't be caused by Sazed or Vin from when they held the power, because the Mistborn series takes place after Elantris, but the Lord Ruler would have effected the world one thousand years before, which could put it, chronologically, when the chasm was formed. We also know that Odium did not cause the chasm, and that it did not occur naturally. This might be easily disproved, however, if Sel and Scadrial aren't in the same solar system, but I haven't found anything to against this being a possibility. Thoughts?

I asked Brandon a question or two about Shadesmar and Elantris. Ben McSweeney and Isaac Stewart were also present. Me: So, I don't actually own a hardcover copy of The Way of Kings, but I did notice when looking at one that there's a map of Shadesmar... And that the map shows that Shadesmar geography is precisely aligned with Roshar's geography... So I'm just going to assume that other planets we've visited so far also have realms of Shadesmar that are aligned geographically. Brandon: That's very clever of you! (smiles) Very clever... Me: So I guess my follow-up question is: is Elantris a Dawncity? Brandon: Hmm. I could see where your reasoning could come to that conclusion, but no. No, that's not it. But your earlier extrapolations are in the right direction. Ben, Isaac: Yeah, you're in the right direction.

I finally decided to make an account after reading this site for a few months and being thoroughly impressed by the intelligence and politeness on these forums. Here are three questions I asked Brandon today in Seattle as he signed my books (I am shocked he didn't RAFO me): Question 1: Shardblades vs Hoed (Major WoR + Elantris Spoilers): Question 2: Function of the Skybreakers (Minor WoR Spoiler): Question 3: Adolin and the Knights Radiant (Major WoR Spoiler): My thoughts and Interpretations (Major WoR Spoiler): Thanks for Reading! Jerich P.S. It was nice to meet several of the 17th Sharders like Trickonometry and a charming Superfan who gave me her name which I promptly forgot... I will add it here if she posts to this thread:))

Be warned: this challenge is not for the faint of heart. Seventeenth Sharders, welcome to my humble abode of challenge and book loving. I find that this is the eve of the last week before we are blessed with the release of Words of Radiance. Indeed, I must say that the warm fire of Brandonium burns comfortably in my stomach, Heightening my anticipation. However, this challenge, as I said, is not for the faint of heart; it goes beyond Skimming, involving fully Reoding the complete works of Brandon Sanderson's cosmere, in order to reAwaken our knowledge of his universe. I want to Lash out at the people who have already read it, and my impatience will make me snap. Fear not, for I have a plan. Every day, I intend on reading at least one of his books (Alloy of Law and Emperor's Soul are put on the same day). Then, on Tuesday, I will finish by devouring Words of Radiance. Here is my schedule, for those of you who are brave enough to join me: Tuesday: Mistborn, the Final Empire. Wednesday: Mistborn, the Well of Ascension Thursday: Mistborn, the Hero of Ages Friday: Alloy of Law, Emperor's Soul Saturday: Elantris Sunday: Warbreaker And finally: Monday: The Way of Kings. As I go through this Olympian endeavor, I will post my thoughts about the challenge and the books themselves. I encourage you all: Join me! Happy Reading, Sharders.

So I'm (almost) done on my Elantris re-read and I've noticed one or two things (which I'll probably add in later because I don't remember right away) but still: Aons and constellations. There's at least one incidence of people looking at the constellations, which themselves form Aons. Does anyone know if this is a case of people just arbitrarily defining star-groups (as we do on Earth) or if the constellations are clearly and un-arguable aons? If the latter, then why? After all, AonDor is specific to Arelon, and other magic-systems use their local region as a base symbol. Perhaps there are other constellations relating to MaiPon and Fjorden? It's unlikely that they would only be viewable from their respective regions, but perhaps people in those countries never made the connection? I know there's more I wanted to discuss, but I'll have to go over my Kindle clippings to refresh my memory.

Hello everybody! This is my 2nd topic to post on this site, so forgive me if this has already been said but I thought I could point out the connections between the magic systems in the hope that we can learn how they relate to each other and the rest of the Cosmere. And I apologize in advanced, but this will be a very long post. Unfortunately, I have not read from the Emperor's Soul, so I will not be able to speak to the power of Forging. If someone would like to add that into the comments, I would be appreciative. I will add a Tl;Dr section at the bottom for those not interested in reading the full post. I would like to reflect the opinions of everyone who wants to add input, this forum page is a place for discussion, as such please be respectful of everyone's opinions. If you disagree, I would be happy to reflect your opinion on this post. To skip the explanation of all the magic systems, please feel free to Control+F "Connection" there will be a header that is bolded, italicized and underlined. Obviously, this topic will contain spoilers for Elantris, Warbreaker, Mistborn, and Way of Kings, if you prefer to read the book first, I do suggest you book mark this page so you can return to it once you have read all the books, thank you! I'm going to list a quick survey of the magic systems together so we can compare/ contrast them. I would absolutely love to hear any input or conjectures, no matter how big or small. So let's get started then: Elantris: Aon Dor: the magic of drawing Aons to access the Dor, a powerful pervasive magic that is focused through the massive Aon Rao which is Elantris and the surrounding areas. Notable Features: The Shaod will pick people in the surrounding areas of Arelon or Teod and transform them into Demi Gods of sorts, able to use Aon Dor. Once taken by the Shaod, the person's skin turns into silver and their hair turns a pure white. There is a connection between Aon Dor and Seons. The Fuel: The Dor having been accessed by Aons. ChayShan: the Magic of accessing the Dor to increase the Martial prowess. Known to the Jindoeese. Notable Features: this magic system was shown, only briefly, at the end of the book of Elantris. However, we know that similarly to AonDor, those who use the power rely on some sort of body gestures and motions (in this case a martial art) to access the Dor. Its effects seem to speed the martial artist up and giving them incredible power. So much, that Shuden was able to break the bones of a Dakhor monk. The Fuel: The Dor having been accessed through a combination of martial arts and meditation. Dakhor: the magic of enhancing the skeletal system and improving the body's capabilities far beyond what normal peoples should ever be able to accomplish. It does this by somehow by probably accessing the Dominion's gateway to the Dor. Notable Features: only the Dakhor monks in Fjorden have ever been known to have this power. While it doesn't necessarily seem to be based on location, I assume that the knowledge of how to access this power is a heavily guarded secret kept by the Dakhor Monastery. The abilities include teleportation, the ability to enhance the human body by shaping the skeletal structure. The structure of the bones seems to change the varying levels of power in this system. It also has the ability to wipe out Aons. -Thanks to Kurkistan for the Corrections. The Fuel: A willing human being must sacrifice himself. The Mistborn Trilogy and The Mistborn Adventures, book one: Allomancy: a magic that consumes metals to various effects. This magic comes from Preservation. Notable Features: Allomancy is an incredibly fun magic system in which the user can "burn" metals to push or pull on metals, forcibly change someone's emotions, hide themselves, find other Allomancers (and possibly find other uses of magics from other worlds, though this is speculation), strengthen their bodies and senses, affect their own stores (and those of others) of metals by depleting them or using them in a single burst of power, forsee the future and lastly affect time by slowing it down or speeding it up. This type of magic is genetic and becomes deluded after generations. Fuel: The fuel for Allomany comes from Preservation's power using metals as a "focus" for that power similar to how Aons focused the Dor's power. -Thanks to Kurkistan for the corrections. Feruchemy: the magic of Harmony. It relies on storing up an attribute into metals for later use. The use of this magic can be used to multiply the attributes several fold, but doing so drains the user quickly. Notable Features: Feruchemy is an end neutral magic system. BioChroma might be end-neutral, also. If the user can store up enough of an attribute, s/he can expend it very powerfully for a short time, until an equilibrium has been reached. The user can store or use the following attributes: Speed, Strength, Mental Speed, Health, Memory, Weight, Age, Senses, Warmth, Wakefulness, Spiritual Connection, Identity, Fortune, Investiture, Nutrition and Calories, and finally Breath. -Thanks to Kurkistan for the corrections and the link. Fuel: the user must store up these attributes into a metalmind of the correct alloy, then they can use that storage at a later time. Hemalurgy: the parasitic magic that can steal potentially any magic ability from any user given the right alloy of the spike, the knowledge of where to place the spike and I supposed the sadism to even use the magic. It is a "messy" magic. Notable Features: Hemalurgy steals magic from the magic user. The longer the spike is outside of a body, the more magic is lost. It is the only end-negative system in the Cosmere, so far, but it is highly possible that there will be another. When impailed with Hemalurgic spikes, the host of the spike can hear Ruin's or Harmony's intent. Given enough spikes, the host will be unable to act on their own as the intent becomes much more powerful and can overcome the free will of the subject. It's "an oddity in the cosmere". -Thanks to Kurkistan for the correction and the link. Fuel: the magic kills the Magic user and steals his power and is placed into the new host. So the fuel is either the blood, the life, or both of the host. The Way of Kings: Book one of the Stormlight Archive: Surgebinding: the magic of using Surges. There are various effects of this magic and the user can use only two, based on the Ten Essences The Ten Surges, as shown in the Knight's Radiant Table (Currently [though subject to change]: Surface Tension, Transportation, Transformation, Light, Grown, Friction, Division, Pressure, and Gravity). Users can affect Gravity, Heal, Lightweave, Soulcast without Fabrials, and can do many other things yet unknown. - Thanks to Kurkistan for the Corrections. Notable Features: All of these Magic use Stormlight and are only usable to the Knights Radiant. This magic system has not been fully explored and much of the details are unknown at this point. However there seems to be a connection between using the power, and having an Honor Spren. Though it is worth note that not all "Bond Spren" are "Honor Spren". -Thanks to Kurkistan and Gloom for the Corrections. Fuel: Stormlight, some magic left behind in the wake of a High Storm that is stored in Gems. Old Magic: Little is known about the Old Magic. We do know that they are some how tied to the Nightwatcher Voidbinding: Again, little is known about Void Binding and I will be sure to add in the information when it becomes available. Shardblades: Though more is known about Shardblades than the previous two magic Systems, there is still a great deal of mystery shrouding the blades. From what we do know, the blades were wielded by the Knights Radiant, but were abandoned on the Day of Recreance. They do not cut living flesh, but the soul it self. I could fully describe them, but it would be better to read the Wiki Article as the information there is fantastic. Warbreaker: BioChroma: is an interesting type of magic that requires the uses of Breath. Having different amounts of Breath can passively increase the wielder's ability to detect perfect hues of colors, gain perfect pitch, sense the Breath of others, Awaken without words, Agelessness, and Distort Colors among many other things. These various stages of Breath are referred to as Heightenings Every person on Nalthis is born with a single Breath given by the Shard Endowment. They can sell or give away their Breath to anyone else. People can then use these Breaths to perform a magic called Awakening, whereby they temporarily store their breath into an inanimate object and give it a command to obey. Notable Features: Awakening works best when the object is "human shaped" and organic. The closer the semblance to a human, the less Breaths are required to Awaken the object. Though, theoretically, nothing is impossible to Awaken, given the expertise and enough breaths to perform the awakening. -Thanks to Kurkistan for the corrections. Fuel: Breath (kinda). As the Breaths are not consumed in the process of Awakening, rather they are borrowed and then later returned. Some, however, believe that the fuel for Awakening is color. However it is worth noting that if this were the case, it would only be the initial fuel for the awakening as the magic does not rely on the constant draining of color to continue. At the Highest known heightenings, it is possible to use more color for awakening. -Thanks to Kurkistan and Robot Aztec for the corrections. I should note that the next three items on this list are simply an extension of BioChroma and not necessarily a new magic system unto their own. Returned: When a person dies a particularly virtuous way, they can be returned to life with a single, powerful BioChromatic Breath. In order to sustain themselves, they consume one Breath per week. They are the utmost Ideal of physical form. The men are tall and muscled, well formed, and the women are the embodiment of beauty. They can give up their one Breath to cure anyone of anything. The God King is a different type of returned but nevertheless, still a returned of a sort. -Thanks to Kurkistan for the corrections. Lifeless: these are not returned, they are simply a corpse that has been awakened to follow it's master's bidding. - Thanks to Kurkistan for the corrections. Nightblood: Nightblood is a sword that has been Awakened with BioChromatic Breath. It wants to "destroy evil" though, because it is a sword, does not understand exactly what evil is. Feel free to read the Wiki to understand the various facts about Nightblood. Ok, now we will explore the connections between the various Magic Systems: Let's start by grouping the Magic systems by how they are inherited or obtained. Magics obtained through inheritance (genetics, locations): Allomancy, Feruchemy, BioChroma (kind of) Aon Dor (though, I suspect with these two that the location only matters because Devotion is shattered), ChayShan Magics obtained though endowment (picked randomly or otherwise to ascend to power): Aon Dor through the Shaod, BioChroma via the Returned, Surgebinding, and Voidbinding (presumably) Magics obtained through taking someone's life force: Hemalurgy, Dakhor, and BioChroma (again! but this time by taking someone's Breath and/or absorbing color of nearby objects with the possibility of taking it from human flesh... looking at you Nightblood.) As you can see, there aren't a terrible lot of differences in the means of obtaining the powers. So let's take a second to explore some of the similarities. In Aon Dor, when one is taken by the Shaod, there is a visable change in their coloring. They get white hair and silver skin. We presume the one gets taken by the Shaod for having considerable Devotion to something. In BioChroma, the Returned come with just one Breath, like normal, except that this Breath is so powerful that colors seems to glow much brighter and more pure in their presence. Similarly to Aon Dor, the Returned are chosen to come back based on some Virtue that they possessed. In Surgebinding, the user glows when he holds in Stormlight, while there isn't a large difference in appearance (other than the the eye color changing to become a "Lighteyes") a Surgebinder is picked to become such when they display incredible acts of Honor Virtue. - Thanks to Kurkistan and Gloom for the correction and the link. My guess is that Voidbinding would be doable if one exhibited supreme hatred, thought this is speculation. Otherwise powers are obtained via location, heritage or simply by stealing someone else's power. We will get into that in a bit. Now let's take a look at the various storage of Fuels and their similarities. The majority stores their powers in Gems, Metals, and Bones. Though the powers vary on effects and uses, the method of storing excess power is similar. Allomancy: Metals Feruchemy: Attributes stored in Metals Hemalurgy: Power stolen; stored in Metals Surgebinding: Stormlight stored in gemstones Soulcasting with a Fabrial: the fuel is probably Stormlight stored in gemstones, but I imagine the cost is offset the Spren. Dakhor: The fuel is a human life, it is stored in human bones. Aon Dor: The Dor, a pervasive magic on the World of Sel. It acts differently as it isn't really stored so much as it is released. Probably similar to the Well of Ascension. BioChroma: Breath, kind of. In this regard, BioChroma acts differently. There really isn't a "fuel" for their power and it can technically be stored in anything. It even acts conversely against the other metals (IE storing Breath in Metal or rock is actually quite hard, its much easier to store it in something that was once living, similarly to Dakhor.) I believe that the fuel for the power of BioChroma is offset by Endowment, not unlike the Dor. It has been noted that the particular storage of fuel, be it in metal, gems or bones, could be irrelevant, and it could simply be a different method for a different world. However, given that the Shards created those worlds (and presumably the method of storing their power) it could have some relevance. - Thanks Kurkistan for the commentary. Alright let's evaluate the various Investitures that the Shards give to their Creations: Ok this is a bit harder to explain, this group evaluates the similar ways that the Shards invested themselves into a planet. For Example, the Seons and the Spren are the direct result of the Shards reducing their power (Seons, it seems were actually a result of the shattering of Aona [Devotion], and logic dictates that Spren could be similarly created. Though the origin of Spren seems to be a rather large debate with too few facts to say for certain) Seons and Spren are a particular life that exudes the influence of the Shard, presumably, and retains some of their power. Just to clarify, some examples of this power are the Seon's ability to communicate like a telephone and the Spren's ability to change size, shape and form. Furthermore, on Scadrial, humanity is, in part, different than everywhere else because they have a bit more Preservation inside of them. Then on Nalthis, Endowment has endowed (wow shocker) humanity with breath but even more powerfully, Endowment gives a very powerful Breath to the Returned to bring them back to life. We don't have a ton of information on the investiture of the Shards into the races in Way of Kings but we do have the Aimians who can change the form of their bodies not unlike the Spren that exist on that planet. I can't imagine that Shinovar doesn't have a large touch from Cultivation, but that's speculation. The point is, that the Shards have all invested themselves into their creations. We know from Preservation that this weakens them. This may be the way that Odium can be stronger than the other Shards as we can only really attribute the Voidbringers to his power, definitely not a full planet filled with life. - Thanks to Kurkistan, WeiryWriter, and Shardlet for the input and links. These Magics Grant Sentience: In Way of Kings, Syl slowly gained her sentience as her bond with Kaladin grew stronger. In Warbreaker, Nightblood gained his sentience through the vast amount of Breaths he received when he was Awakened. It would also be interesting to note, that while humans can Awaken, Endowment can Awaken granting full sentience rather than partial robotic following of a single imperative 90% sentience. - Thanks to Kurkistan for the corrections. In the Mistborn books, the Koloss and the Kandra both received their sentience when Hemalurgy was used on them. In Elantris, the Seons received their sentience from the Aon that glowed at their core. It would seem I am mistaken about the sentience of the Seons. It actually comes because they are Splinters of Aona (Devotion) IE the Dor's power was channeled in a way that gave them cognizance. - Thanks to Kurkistan for the correction and the link. While BioChroma remains King on investing mundane Items with Magic, it most certainly isn't alone: In Elantris, Aon Dor, by simply drawing an Aon on something, you turned something mundane into something magical. Need a light? Draw Aon Ashe on the wall. Want a Flamethrower or a Torch? Draw Aon Ehe on an object. Et Cetera. In Warbreaker, the Awakener could simply Awaken an object with a set of instructions for the Awakened item to obey. It temporarily took breath, but the item would do as commanded. You could also do this to a corpse and create a lifeless servant to follow and obey you. Do take note that a dead body acts very differently than a live one. This rule is the same with shardblades. In Mistborn, while you couldn't make items universally magical to all who held them, Feruchemy stored their magic in the metals, Hemalurgy stored the magic in the metals and an Allomancer could burn metals to produce magic. This becomes important to note. Most of us understand the mechanic of burning Feruchemical metals (metalminds) as an allomancer. The Feruchemy turned the Metal into something... greater than simple metal. I'd wager that there would be similarly fantastic effects to burning hemalurgic metals (Mistborn 2nd Trilogy mayhaps?). So while the metal would appear to be magical, it most certainly changes the properties of the metals in some fundamental ways. This begs the question if the metal's atomic compisition changes measurably and if the futuristic metals could be engineered to be "full" artificially for Feruchemists. IE, could they store a book into a coppermind that any Feruchemist could pick up and "read" anyway, sorry for the tangent =P. Also note that you can't affect metals in someone else's body. - Thanks to Kurkistan for the input. in Way of Kings, when stormlight fills a gem, it glows. When a Surgebinder lashes an object, it glows and sticks to whatever the Surgebinder wanted it to. The Shardblades and Shardplate are most certainly magical as well. They act differently in the hands of a dead man, and against dead bodies. Meaning that a dead man's Shardblade will not vanish if he drops it. Ok, so they're similar... So what? I think Brandon Sanderson means to write several books in which we can see the interactions of our favorite heros or at the very minimum a few books in which we'll see the way these magic systems interact. They are made to be used together. Adonalsium shattered and created the Shards which made the magics. This means that essentially these magic systems were all one at some point. However, there is a distinct possibility that these systems were not created to work together in some fashion, Kurkistan aptly points out this in the following quote. I would like to add a section in here concerning the ideas about the Spren and Seons that I have seen reflected in the comments below. Thanks to everyone for the input. - Natan - Kurkistan - Natans So this is the fun part of the post! I want to hear some of your ideas and input as well! What happens when the two magic systems meet? What happens if you burn an awakened metal? Could a Feruchemist access or store attributes in Awakened metal? In a Stormlight Gemstone? Could a Sel version of Nightblood or Shardblade be made by Forging, Writing an Aon on the blade, or using a Dakhor Bone Blade? Would Lightweaving be more powerful with Aon Ashe present? Does a Hemalurgic Spike steal all the victim's Breath? Does a Hemalurgic Spike affect Spren or Seons? How many of Sazed's religions do you think were Realmatically aware? What are the chances that Odium was worshiped on Scadrial? Could a Returned come from another planet? Could they be Returned to another planet? If so, what would happen to a Returned Mistborn? Say, Vin and Elend? Can a combination of the magic systems somehow repair a splintered Shard? I wrote this article to be discussed! If anyone has any input, please feel free to share it! I would love to hear it. Critiques are welcome, but as this is a post to discuss and speculate I would appreciate it if you would be polite to your fellow posters! TL;DR The magic systems are very similar in a lot of different ways. This could help provide some insight into the Cosmere about how Shards work and perhaps the purpose of Hoid's mission. Thanks everyone! I look forward to hearing your response! Please let me know if I missed giving you credit from your comments in the post!!!

Hello my dear readers, My name is Austin (aka Nehex), and I'll be your blogger for today. I've been thinking about writing a blog for some time now, and finally decided to do it. Seeing as this is Brandon Sanderson's official fansite, I think it's fitting for me to write about about the first time I picked up a Brandon book. Sherman, set the Way-Back machine to 2006. I was in my junior year of high school, and obsessed with fanfiction. At the time, I was writing a Sonic the Hedgehog/Young Wizards series crossover that, in all honesty, was six different kinds of awful. Long story short, I trashed the story, but met another friend who was a fan of Diane Duane: a fellow fanfictionist who called herself BookwormRose. We quickly became friends and frequently exchanged emails to each other. One day, I mentioned that I hadn't read anything good lately, and she suggested that I read a book her boyfriend (who was also a twin named Austin[or maybe it was Allen with a twin brother named Austin, I forget.]) had just finished reading called Elantris. I was a little skpetical at first, as I usually am when picking up an unfamiliar book. But, true to my word, I went to the library and checked it out. After 10 pages, I was hooked. I flew that book faster than anything I had read in a long time, and was hungry for more. I rushed back to the library to find out that he had no other books that I could devour. Saddened, I decided to fill my bitter hole by purchasing a copy for myself. As I was leaving the Barnes and Noble, Elantris in hand, I noticed a sign saying Brandon Sanderson had a new book coming out in just one week. Not only that, he'd be signing at that very store soon after that. I hurriedly rushed back inside and pre-ordered my very own copy of Mistborn. I read Mistborn even faster than I read Elantris and showed up an hour early for the signing, eager to have him sign my book. Brandon showed up with a smile on his face, and happily signed my book. I was starstruck. In person, I'm usually fairly quiet until I get to know someone fairly well. That night, I was the very definition of a booth barnacle. After my book was signed, I clutched it to my chest, backed up a few feet so some other people could get their books signed too, then sat and stared like an idiot for the rest of the night. I made my brother (Swifftalon) and my best friend (Rubix) read Mistborn, and they quickly became as obsessed as me. We all joke that I'm the official infectious disease of our group, the A-Team. The rest, as they say, is history. Until next time, keep the fire alive Austin