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Here is the Cosmere map for those who couldn't find it. Just like Mistborn: Secret History, there is a lot of new information in this book. So let us dissect a few. First of all the maps: First, the Galaxy (or is it universe?) We have possibly a new planet called "The scar" (weird name I know) which is part of a constellation of a Reptilian beast (a serpent or dragon...sound familiar?) Second: Roshar, which is part of a constellation of a shardbearer's, more specifically on its heel/tendon. From the map it seems like it is fighting the serpent in a final battle. Like Roshar it is the primary foundation of the Shardbearer, and without it, it would lose its balance and fall to the beast. The Knight is probably honor. Third: Scadrial, this is a weird one since it seems like it is barely connected to the hair of a woman's face constellation (I am not sure what this signifies, but maybe it ties in to the next one). Maybe it ties into the flowing of hair which can sort of be represented as a huge but slow surge of power. (But that seems like a stretch). Fourth: Nalthis. this one is the most interesting in my opinion, since it is a constellation grown from another (both Nalthis and Scadrial share a constellation) But while I could not discern Scadial's placement meaning, Nalthis is obvious. It is on the breath of the previously mentioned women's face, a barely visible misty wind engulfing the planet and the constellation line growing from the constellation. This correlates to Endowment breathing breath into Returned and people using breath as investiture. If I knew what the Scadrial placement meant, I could probably discern this unique occurrence, but maybe the you will figure that out and post theories below. The woman is probably meant to be Endowment, but maybe it is Vin, or maybe they are the same...dundundundun. (or not). Fifth: Sel, which is the part of the constellation of a genie's lamp, on the open end part with similar said mist coming out. This signifies that it is the only possible place in its constellation for investiture to come out of, and in only a very controlled amount. It is never-ending, but very restricted in passage. Just like the Dor. Sixth: First of the Sun, this one is more difficult to understand, but it looks like a constellation of a boy on boat reaching out to a lone planet far from its own constellation (First of the Sun) and the planet is on some long rope/thread/net (figurative obviously). Maybe the boy is granting the planet power even though there is no shard on it. Or maybe it is a worldhopper trying to travel to the planet via Perpendicularity (hence the thread). Or maybe it is the Ones Above. Seventh: Taldain, It is in the middle/center/heart of a constellation of a bare gnarled tree. This might signify that it is being protected or isolated from outsiders and it is impossible to make it past that wicked pointy tree to make it inside the outside shell and into its core. Just like Bavadin/Autonmoy is currently doing. Eighth (and final): Threnody, This one is second the most interesting because it almost looks like it, the constellation of a another women, with the planet at the back of her neck, is watching from the sidelines while the other planets dig deeper into the fray. And that is very much Threnody's ideology. However, if you look at the map as a whole it could look like all the known planets are ganging up against the serpent, which could be in the future. But that also might be a stretch. Now individually, they all have their own map which I will get into; First, Sel, it is interesting because each planet here has two names (sel/seol) one without the added Aonic language, and the other with. This might just be a small detail or might hint at some things (because the moon doesn't have two names, just one Oem, which is already an Aonic name). There is also a sign on the planet which I don't know the meaning of. It does not look like an Aon. But more to that later. Second: Scadrial, this one is very interesting, as it shows the two orbits of the planet, from the Lord rulers time to the Harmony time. The old one is closer to the sun with a steel sign showed on the planet, signifying that it was pushed closer, too close, to the sun. Meanwhile, the new orbit is farther away from the sun with a Harmony sign on it, showing that it is in perfect placement. Also there are two further planets, the closer blue one called Aagal Nod ans the farther red one called Aagul Uch. The blue could represent Preservation's good intent of blocking the planet behind him, ruin, from interfering with the planet. (It is funny because Presevation is Nod, like yes, while Ruin is Uch, like eww gross). Third: Taldain is my favorite, and it finally clarifies how White Sand works. The two big luminaries, one near invisible because of a particulate ring (sort of like pollution) blocking most of it from view, except part of the rays/brightness. (The sign is two sides of the planet (pretty simple). Fourth: Threnody, it is a planet with a symbol of a knife, an open eye, and a six petaled snowflake thingy. Those might represent the three simple rules of the forest of hell. Knife: Don't shed blood. Open eye: Don't make a light to see with Snowflake: Not sure, but maybe go slow, not fast, like a snowflake. Also, there is a much bigger planet far away from Threnody called Purity, which could possibly be a shard. (not likely, but would explain a lot like how it has Investiture). Also, we do have news of a new shard that used to be in that system that Odium fought there: Ambition. (Two new shards in one System!) Fifth: First of the Sun, not much to talk about here. It has a symbol of a feather, or something (not really sure what it is supposed to be). First of seven planets. That is it really. Sixth (and final): Roshar, The most interesting in my opinion, the planet is marked with the famous five crossed sword that is the chapter heading to many of the side characters. Roshar is in the middle of Braize and Ashyn. Roshar is the only one with moons (all of which are palindromes). More interestingly however are the ten other planets farther away which are named after the ten heralds (so again, all are palindromes). This makes me wonder if when they die, is it possible they go onto their respective planets to reside (not physically) until they are called on again. (Also, they are all numbered. But numbers are represented by lines which seem to number them by lines, but after six, they retract back towards one. Hopefully someone can discern a possible method of applying it), Also, we don't see a map of the world of Warbreaker. Why is that? Why some planets have signs on them might be just random for planets that are in our story, or maybe there is more to it than meets the eye. Obviously there is more but I already typed enough. And that is it. Any comments, mistakes, thoughts, theories, questions, or answers, please inform me. Anything i missed I want to discuss.

We know that we have at least two dead Highprinces, at the end of WoR. Question is, do we think more of them kicks the bucket off-page? Everyone did not leave for Urithiru. And how bad a situation will replacing several highprinces be?

Ove the past several months we have seen an influx on new posters who are not aware of or just not following the spoiler policies of the site. This is particularly obvious in the Stormlight Archives forum. Could the moderators e.g. make soem posts about the spoiler policy in each of the forums, reminding users to make use of spoiler tags? It feels like it needs more awareness. I also wonder how hard it would be to allow readers to have a sub-header for threads for spolier tags, and allow other readers to tag the thread. For example: Title: Why does Nigfhtblood leak investiture? (posted in Warbreaker) Spoilers: Mistborn, Stormlight Archive, Elantris. This would allow the readers to self-police threads. Anyway, just a thought!

I’m fairly new to the forums, so please show me the link to where this has been brought up before but buried over time. Anyway, after extensive searching through theoryland and the coppermind I’ve come to the conclusion that atium gives the wrong powers. Atium, as we know, is the physical body of Ruin, who is the polar opposite of Preservation and thus wants to destroy everything. Furthermore, we know from WoB (and possibly Secret Histories, I can’t remember where I got my info) that Ruin cannot see very far into the future. It is not his defining attribute. I find it very odd then, that allomantic atium use allows the user to see into the future while the feruchemical use effectively allows the user to be preserved throughout generations. It seems to me that the physical body of this shard should enable destruction, not preservation and future sight. In contrast, Lerasium grants the user untold destructive potential. The very opposite of Preservation’s nature. The only theory I can come up with is that there is a switch in nature from the cognitive realm to the physical realm, but it doesn’t make that much sense to me.

Is it possible to use unkeyed Nicrosilminds to store Stormlight (assuming that the user is capable of Surgebinding, probably through an Honorblade)? If so, what other forms of Investiture would Nicrosilminds be capable of storing? Would it be easier or harder to Awaken a Stormlight filled metalmind?

Could someone from any planet use the Bands? If so, could a kandra or koloss use the bands? Could a returned use them? An Elantrian? A Lifeless? What decides whether someone can use them?

So, maybe I'm making a connection that doesn't exist...but follow me on this. When Hoid shows up at the well of ascension and accosts Kelsier...he's riding a corpse like a boat...and that corpse is not all the way dead (it mumbles something when Hoid prods it) BoM Maybe I'm reading too much into these things, but is it possible that some yet unseen shard world's magic system somehow involves the manipulation of the dead?

I can't be the first person to notice that some of Sanderson's characters seem quite similar. Now, let me be clear, I'm not saying this is a bad thing, and I'm not insulting his writing. I'd be lying to myself if I insulted his work, and also, I don't want to wake up with a Hemalurgic spike in my back. I just thought it'd be fun to point out parallels between characters. For example: A young, high-ranking man who just wants to lead their country and do what's best for the people, but their dad doesn't make things any easier. At least they have their awesome girlfriend to support them, who's also a pretty good fighter. I think Elend and Raoden would get along pretty well, actually...

Alright, this is my first post, and I don't know how to work with spoiler tags or proper quoting, but I have a pretty good theory to propose! There will be spoilers for WoK (mild) and Mistborn: Secret History (strong spoiler), so prepare, or leave, as you see fit. To the Theory! First relevant quote: Now, Brandon said this wasn't necessarily important, but I think it is. Sanderson rarely includes this much detail for something with no importance, and the fact that it was RAFO'ed means there's something more there. [spoilers!] Reading Mistborn: Secret History, we see another sphere that reminded me of the sphere in the pouch the Radiant had: the sphere the Ire has, that can capture the power of a weakened Shard and contain it. This made me think of another quote, about the black sphere Gavilar has in the beginning of WoK: (Emboldening my own.) "Something like that." I don't think think Odium invested in the sphere, but rather part of his power was taken from him and placed in the sphere. I thought of this largely when I saw this question: Odium is referred to as the "Broken One", in the epigraphs. How is he broken? I propose he was broken by the Radiants stealing a portion of his power using the sphere--possibly given by the Ire?--shown in Dalinar's vision. With the power of Odium in it, it turned black, and became the sphere Gavilar had. This would explain why Gavilar needs to keep the Sphere out of Parashendi hands. If they give the sphere to Odium, breaking it as Kaladin did in Secret History, and giving the power, Odium might become un-"Broken". This might even show why there hasn't been a desolation in so long, as Odium is Broken and doesn't have enough power. It seems difficult to prove or disprove this with the amount of information we have now, but it feels right, and it seems like a Sanderson thing to have! Also, thanks for enduring my first post.

Sanderson has said that anyone can take up a Shard. However, it was necessary for Kelsier and the Ire to have the Connection device (the "thingy" in the title) in order to take up Preservation. So, the question is: why? I think it may have had something to do with the fact that Kelsier had no physical Aspect.

Since Hemallurgy seems to be able to grant individuals the powers of allomancy and feruchemy, is it possible that one could use hemallurgy on a machine somehow to let it automatically use the metallic arts? If so, giving a machine steel compounding could certainly pave the way for ftl travel in the cosmere. Thoughts?

So.... Who else wants to engage in a thousand page discussion/review?

Hey Sharders! In Warbreaker there is a scene where Vasher is without Breath completely, making him a Drab. As we learn later, Vasher is Returned, so wouldn't being without Breath kill him? Returned need a Breath a week to survive, but what happened to Vasher's one Returned Breath? I know Vasher can change how he appears and all that, but how does that hide his aura?

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:

So...I'm just wondering...has anyone been able to get any insight or information from Brandon or Peter about the character Felt? Or...does anyone have any interesting theories they would care to discuss regarding his identity? Here's all that I've got so far... What we know for sure: Felt is a spy from Urteau, Scadrial. He is described as lithe and short with a hawkish face and a drooping moustache.[1] He is one of the main spies for House Venture. He spies on Kelsier's crew's hideout and reports to Elend that they are a well-funded, competent skaa thieving crew.[1] Elend employs Felt again during the Siege of Luthadel to figure out how the city was being infiltrated. He interrogates the refugees entering the city and the people running the Luthadel passwalls before searching the river and determining that someone had pried the grates free to create their own entrance into the city. Before that, Felt had not had much work as a spy, and is enjoying the tasks he has been given during the siege.[2] During the Siege of Fadrex City, Felt is assigned to watch the Lord Ruler's storage cavern in the east. [3] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Felt is an Alethi scout on the Shattered Plains who reports to Lyn during the Battle of Narak. Felt and Shim are sent scouting the surrounding plains prior to the Battle of Narak.[1] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So...Coppermind lists these as being two separate characters...but I find it hard to believe that Brandon would have given two different characters the same name accidentally. While it is not specifically named as being Felt, one of the two scouts who return to the command tent gives Shallan the hint that she needs in order to find the oathgate. Supposing that Felt is in fact a worldhopper...I don't believe that he is tied in with 17th shard...for one...he's not with the other three we see at the purelake. #2, he is using the same name that he used on scadrail instead of trying to hide his identity. What do you all think?

So with Calamity ending like it did, does anyone think it is likely that there will be more books with david and prof and everyone? There wasn't really a satisfying conclusion that would end the series as a whole, and i just kinda felt like it was left open for more. So question is, does anyone else think there will be more or anything you found that could hint at another/more books?

What was Harmony's distraction at the end of the Bands of Mourning? It's kind of odd to have a god not aware what he is distracted by. So far I have two ideas. First, he is having some inner conflict of Preservation and Ruin, who still slightly control his actions and are trying to separate. Second, perhaps TLR(or Kelsier) has taken a piece of him when they left from the grave. What do you guys think? is there something else I'm missing?

While trying to get my over caffeinated mind to sleep last night, I found myself pondering the cosmere (as usual). Something occurred to me that I don't remember ever seeing addressed. What would happen if someone tried to swallow and burn a piece of metal that had a hemalurgic charge instead of a feruchemical one? Now, there are obvious reasons why this would be hard to attempt in the first place. Following the rules, an allomancer can't take just any old metalmind and burn it...it is keyed to the feruchemist's identity...so the only people who can compound are people who, for whatever reason, can use the same metal for both feruchemy and allomancy...twinborn, hemalurgist, etc. Assuming that this remains constant with the theoretical situation I'm positing, you would have to either: A: Take a shaving off of a spike already in your body B: Spike yourself, survive, and still have access to the ability to burn the type of metal the spike is made of. Method A sounds a lot easier to pull off...method B...almost impossible... I could easily accept that this is just not something that works...which is why it has never been addressed. But just for fun, what do you guys think would be the result of hemalurgic compounding?

I think that the following death rattle deals with the mystery surrounding Taln. Now, we know that it's most likely that the person we think is Taln is some sort of imposter. We know this because of a WoB where he refuses to confirm that the person who claims to be Taln is who he says he is. So we are left with several questions. Mainly, who is this imposter, where did he come from and how did he get Taln's Shardblade? My theory is as follows. The death rattle quoted above refers to both Taln and his imposter. They are the two dead men who came from the pit. "The pit" would be referring to Braize, the purgatory where the heralds are relegated to in between Desolations. The "heart in their hands" is referring to Taln's Honorblade. Remember, before the Blade got switched out for a plain old Shardblade, the blade that Taln's imposter was carrying seems to be an Honorblade. I think that the Honorblade is instrumental in returning the Heralds from Braize to Roshar. They certainly grant investiture as evidenced by Szeth's manifestation of windrunner abilities. It's not too much of a stretch to say that the Honorblade is the "heart" that they are holding. "True Glory" can refer to one of two things. The obvious thing is the glory of a herald. The other requires me to elaborate on my theory. Here's what I think happened. Someone came to Braize to rescue Taln or to inform him of the coming Desolation. He would have to be a worldhopper and a powerful one at that to survive the hellfires of Braize. We see evidence of his power when he catches the poisonous darts fired at Amaram mid-flight. This however doesn't seem to match what we know as Heraldic powers. The heralds' powers I believe were just stronger versions of the knights radiant. For example, Jezrien would've been a really strong Windrunner, perhaps an immortal one in terms of aging. However, the heralds were not supermen. Superspeed was not, as far as I know in their repertoire. Nor is it in the repertoire of any of the invested beings on Roshar as far as I know. Maybe he's a Feruchemist (unlikely, but he could have tapped speed, after all his hand motion is described as a blur.) Regardless, his powers are not those of a Rosharian. So he goes to save Taln. He finds him, but Taln refuses to leave Braize. He feels that he must hold to the oathpact for fear of letting Odium free. The Oathpact is, I assume, what has bound Odium to the Rosharian System. However, he still feels the need to send help. Therefore he sends his Honorblade with the imposter and instructs him to help the Rosharians. Something goes wrong and the imposter loses his mind. Not sure why. The "Glory"is the sacrafice made by Taln in order to uphold the Oathpact. Wooooo..... Okay so hopefully most of that wasn't nonsense. Please comment and tell me what you think. P.S. I do think that the imposter is someone that Hoid knew. He refers to him as "My confused, unfortunate friend." Perhaps this was a friend of Hoid's on some previous Hoid adventure.

Honestly, more SoS spoilers, but this just occurred to me. This is somewhat about Trell's influence, but more about his tendency to have (two) villains in these books spiked. It's almost like a pattern, but I think that might be a little far... So, how do we know that he was spiked? Wax mentions it in his POV in chapter 13: Was spiked, Brandon mentioned this in his Chapter 13 Annotations for Alloy of Law. Also: Odd? Well, we do know something about odd spikes that Sazed cannot sense. If Miles got a different metal grafted onto his spikes, then, in theory, he may have a Trellium spike. In other words, Miles was not possessed, but Trell had direct influence over him through his spikes, perhaps whispering words of grandeur (or whatever) into his ears. Driving Miles [more] insane, and upping those psychological qualities Miles presumably had some control over in the Roughs. In other words, much like Paalm, Miles' actions are directly linked to or influenced by Trell. I don't think that it excuses his actions, but one of the themes in all three books so far has been stopping someone you know/care about when they go bad because YOU would've wanted them to do the same thing if you were in their shoes. It's a strange kind of love; a strange kind of idea of mercy, really. First it was Miles, then Paalm, and now Telsin (she is still Wax's sister, so, I believe she fits the theme). It also means that someone else might go bad in the Lost Metal, since it fits the series' authentic. [Perhaps the last book will be stopping someone before they go bad, but that's neither here or there]. So basically, Miles was spiked just like Paalm; he was using Hemalurgy, it seems, and it was probably Trellium. Marasi should go and find his metalminds to make some...interesting connections...

When I recently reread the Mistborn books, during the part with the atium stash, I wondered how much it would acutally have containted. After all, the Lord Ruler would have to burn it literally all the time in order to compound age storing, and not die of old age. Even if the Lord Ruler kept it on a very low burn most of the time (higher when there is anybody to see him) the speed at which atium burns means that he couldn't possibly need less than 10 beads per day. The prisoners in the pits of hathsin get one bead a week. This means that, simply to keep the Lord Ruler alive, there would have to be more than 70 prisoners on average. When Kelsier takes over the pits, he mentions that there are only a couple dozen guards [citation needed]. This means that there could not have been all that many prisoners. Combined with the fact that being sent there is extremely rare (the old guy in the first book had only seen it happen once), I'm thinking that the pits have an average of 100 prisoners at a time, each getting an average of one atium geode a week. With the Lord Ruler using ~70 of those beads and 10 going to the nobility, that leaves 20 going to the kandra each week. Remember, a lot of the atum the nobility gets goes to the kandra, so let's say that the kandra get 25 a week. With some quick math (and assuming that Scadrial has the same length year as Earth) we can conclude that the kandra's cache should have contained (roughly) 1.3 million atium beads. With that number, we no longer have to worry about it being too small an amount, but it could be too large. In the fight against the colos where the atium got burned up, there were about 200 atium mistings, plus Eland, and that they were fighting for roughly 3-5 hours straight. With each misting having to burn a total of 65000 beads, this means that each geode worth of atium would have to take roughly 3.6-6 minutes to burn. Sounds about right. And with that, we can conclude that if I was correct with my calculations, Brandon Sanderson likely was too.

So it seems pretty clear now that at least one way that Feruchemical nicrosil works is very similar to storing other attributes such as strength or senses. I.e. weakness now for strength latter. Other then just having that attribute available in greater abundance latter, it is possible to quickly dump the charge for even greater super-powered attributes. Any full feruchemist, who knows about nicrosil, should be able to go through periods of being a "weak" in order to have the option of being a "strong" or super-powerful feruchemist latter. The means that if the idea of a feruchemist being weaker or stronger than another makes sense, any full feruchemist, regardless of feruchemical power, should be able to use a nicrosilmind to temporarily obtain any level of feruchemical strength. We have already seen the characters with different levels of allomantic power, and I am curious to find out what a powerful feruchemist looks like.

Alright...it's been a little while since I've seen a "what powers would you want?" thread...and despite being cliche...they're one of my favorites. To keep it original...I'm going to add some specifics. You are on earth. Present day. All conditions about your life are exactly the same as in reality. You have not had powers until today. You are basically Rick Grimes waking up to the zombie apocalypse already in progress. Same zombie rules as the walking dead apply. You are aware that from today onward, there will be some other metalborn out there. You get to be a twinborn of your choice...and just for fun...throw in a 3rd hemalurgically induced power with zero negative repercussions. Let's also say that you get a pocket full of metal shavings and/or jewelery to get you started...but after that you are on your own (i.e. atium doesn't exist) What powers do you want...how will you use them to survive...and what is your plan of action? I'm gonna go with coinshot, seeker, subsumer. Coinshot is a must for avoiding and combating zombies...almost makes it too easy. Since there are other metalborn out there...being able to find/identify them will be vitally important, because nowadays people are just as dangerous as the undead...plus you might be able find some friends with superpowers. Being a subsumer would make not starving or dying of thirst a lot easier to manage, while still remaining very mobile. Let's have some fun with this one guys!

Something that I just now, at this moment noticed, and I'm not sure if it's been noted before. On the main page of the forum, along the right side there's a section for New Topics. I just noticed that a topic from the SoS spoiler board is in the list, and the title itself is a sort-of spoiler. Is there a way to prevent this in the future, because I thought topic titles could have spoiler info so long as they are placed in the correct board. SoS spoilers:

The first chapter of The Bands of Mourning has been released on Tor.com, and I didn't see a thread for it yet. Shame on you all ()