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  1. [All Spoilers] Apologies if this is behind the times. I just finished RoW. [And am, as a result, the most sleep-deprived] POINT 1: We know that the Sixteen all came from Yolen. POINT 2: We know that there are three Yolish races: Human; Sho Del; and Dragon. POINT 3: We know there is currently only one Shard on Roshar. POINT 4: We know that dragons can shapeshift. POINT 5: Hoid said something about there being a dragon on Roshar. POINT 6: Specified that the dragon is a woman. POINT 7: And states that she hides her draconian form. POINT 8: During Taravangian's Ascension, we are explicitly told that Cult has many forms, but only one true form. So... Cultivation is a dragon. Right? FUN THEORY 1: "The Dog And The Dragon" is about Hoid and Frost on Yolen. Hoid, a poor widdle human, wanted to be all awesome like the dragons. Whether or not Dragons can actually shapeshift, Hoid acquired an equivalent ability in the form of Yolish lightweaving. He may have done other things as well. But it wasn't the same. Perhaps that is what drove him towards The Shattering. And/or towards being a walking talking museum for forms of investiture manipulation. FUN THEORY 2: We know that Lift turns food into Investiture. We know that this ability was granted her by Cult. I kind of wonder whether food-to-investiture is a dragon thing, and to affect it, Cult modified Lift's spiritual DNA to resemble the draconic. Guys I just want Lift to be a dragon. Is that wrong? Maybe! But I could still be right! FUN THEORY 3: Cultivation's Vessel is named Fyiad. AYYO BRANDON, MAKE IT HAPPEN.
  2. I believe the identity of Adonalsium is Brandon Sanderson, no this is not a joke. If this can be perceived as self-referential, I think Sanderson could be covering the nature of creative writing as a whole. I believe the way to support this is to look at everything Brandon has written and everything we can come to understand about his nature through these stories. The key to understanding this is the existence of Hoid, who is a perfect culmination of these two things. Hoid is an Omniscient seeming character interacting with most of the Cosmere characters. He has competition like Shards and we’ve come to understand their limits over the course of the series. He understands the nature of Investiture, so he knows how to collect it all. I think his goal could upend every character in the Cosmere’s belief that what they’re living is real. And to return something that once was. Sanderson has said that the concept of Hoid was inspired because he would insert himself in the story. (1: Because I cannot seem to link right now as a new member I will link a separate doc attached that provides links to the WoB.) If you can insert yourself into something someone else created you know it’s not real. You can figure things out before the characters do. The self-insert character Sanderson created knew what the characters didn’t like he brings up in the WoB link. Let’s say you self-insert into a story that is fictional. You know it’s not real but since it’s a story you have the awareness to know it will end and you may have an idea of how that happens. But what you don’t know is exactly how it happens. Your self-insert has to experience the story with you. Throughout his appearances, Hoid has conveyed this same thing through his words and actions. OB: “I can know where I’m supposed to be, Shallan, but not always what I’m supposed to do there.” There’s also a certain amount of confidence that comes with knowing you’re experiencing a story while the characters act as if they don’t. WoK: “Brightlord?” the guard repeated. “What are you doing up there?” “Waiting,” Wit said. He looked up, glancing eastward. “Waiting for the storm to arrive.” “That made the guards more uncomfortable. A highstorm was not predicted this night.” Sanderson also explains this same occurrence in the following quote… "Oh, no, they think that person is who they think they are, but nooo! This is this other person!" And so, I had this kind of proto-Hoid in my head jumping between other people's books.” Sanderson here explains confidence that develops from being able to discern the characteristics of a story when you self-insert. The characters don’t know that they’re in a story. They believe everything is real. That’s what makes us invested in what’s happening. If Sanderson's insert character tried to tell them he was not real, they would not take him that seriously. He's in their story. To make the characters believe he is not real you have to make them believe the world they are living in is fake. Because Adonalsium was shattered the Shards could make and fight over planets. Giving us the stories of Mistborn, Stormlight etc. But by doing this no character in the Cosmere knows what the Beyond is and Sanderson has stated he will never reveal. To make a character not return to the three realms you send them to the Beyond. Sanderson has also stated once someone transitions to the Beyond, their Investiture returns to the Shards and the Cosmere at large. (2) But since we know Adonalsium is where Investiture is derived from. Yet it has been proven some characters do not know his name (yet) until it was introduced by Hoid to Dalinar for example. The question becomes how did this happen? The best place to look is Hoid’s home planet Yolen. I think because Adonalsium knew everything, he was a force that could create everything after the three Realms were created. He was inherently a force that could oppose nothing in the realms before his creations. I believe his first creation was Yolen, but I believe because he created it, he could not actually live in it. Hoid has hinted at this concept… OB: “The only way to create something that nobody hates is to ensure that it can’t be loved either…Nobody will like everything, everybody dislikes something, someone loves that thing you hate—but at least being hated is better than nothing. To risk metaphor, a grand painting is often about contrast: brightest brights, darkest darks. Not grey mush. That a thing is hated is not proof that it’s great art, but the lack of hatred is certainly proof that it is not.” To be able to create I think Adonalsium forgot who he was. We’ve learned that Adonalsium is an anagram of “mind” and “soul”, so I believe he gave up at least a part of his mind to design and Investiture makes up his mind. Hoid shows us Adonalsium could have forgotten his identity through his words to Siri. Warbreaker: “Thank you,” Siri said quietly. “It was good of you to speak of it. Tell me, where did you learn such an . . . unusual method of storytelling?” Hoid looked up, smiling. “I learned it many, many years ago from a man who didn’t know who he was, Your Majesty. It was a distant place where two lands meet and gods have died. But that is unimportant.” You might ask why I think Hoid is talking about Adonalsium. It’s not just his description that gods have died. It’s also how he describes the place it occurred on. Where two lands meet. The two opposing forces that we know of on Yolen are trune and fainlife. These could represent what’s fake and what’s real. The way their characteristics are described can support this. From the Coppermind wiki with its WoB sources we learn their characteristics… “Its ecology is divided into two distinct parts. Parts of it are similar to post-Catacendre Scadrial, with similar flora and fauna. These parts are called trune. Other parts are covered in fainlife, a poorly-understood, parasitic ecosystem hostile to humans. Although fain has the shape of ordinary flora, the plants and land overtaken by it are bone-white, and spill red liquid when crushed or snapped.” This sounds like a way for beings on the planet to discern what’s “real” and what’s “fake.” The contrast between these two things doesn’t stop at ecology. The popular phrase for the Yolish is may two worlds become one. And they emphasize not talking about Realmatic theory. Hoid has also discussed Yolen in RoW with his story to Kaladin about the Dog and the Dragon. But the hints aren’t just because of the Dragon. He provides another possible hint that aligns with the characteristics of fainlife. “It was an amusing scene, watching the dog work. Not only because the animal did all this with feet and snout—but because the ground parted when the dog pawed at it. It wasn’t made of stone, but something else.” The ground sounds similar to Yolen ecology. It’s emphasized this happens when the dog was the one that did it. There was something the dog did, and it was recognized that it was something else entirely than what they know. I think that while there already seems to be a dichotomy between the mind and soul in the Cosmere’s realmatic theory, what is “real” and “fake” could relate to the mind and soul. What the mind perceives is felt as “real” and something like the soul is viewed as “fake” because it’s not entirely understood initially that it makes up something else. Some could even see this relationship as vice versa. I believe because of this Yolen was the first place where the three realms coexisted on the same plane and at the same time “real” and “fake” thus existed at the same time. This could explain the knowledge we have of three separate sapient beings living on the planet initially, and the Sho Del according to Sanderson “fill the niche” in the fainlife ecosystem like the humans did in the trune ecosystem. Through the Cosmere we can understand the concept of this through Perpendicularities, as explained by Khriss “Physical matter, Cognitive thought, and Spiritual essence become one—and a being can slide between Realms.” The realms bend enough where they are no longer separated, and it’s known the most common cause of this is a high concentration of Invesititure in the Physical or Cognitive realms. We know perception affects the Invested Arts so I think this could inspire the possibility Adonalsium’s creations were living with the perception that there was no separation or really “traveling” between these realms because Invesititure was working as a whole because he was still “one” on Yolen in the beginning. Emperor’s Soul has touched on this before…“Here is the point. The longer an object exists as a whole, and the longer it is seen in that state, the stronger its sense of complete identity becomes.” So the creations were of Adonalsium’s “mind” that he gave up and the Sho Del could’ve also been living amongst what they saw as “soul.” So Adonalsium also could’ve given up a piece of his soul in the creation process also. Which could another layer to a Yolish’s person popular phrase and specification of not discussing Realmatic theory. They were all secure in their identity as a whole but him. So Adonalsium’s creations were existing among these contrasting forces. Contrast’s relation to creation can be seen in other Cosmere stories. For example, Emperor’s Soul’s ending Gaotona seemed to come to the conclusion about the nature of true art… “True art was more than beauty; it was more than technique. It was not just imitation. It was boldness, it was contrast, it was subtlety.” When you create something, you are able to discern what is real and what is fake. That is the essence of Adonalsium, he’s referred to as the power of creation. He created but in turn forgot the beings he created. And if he forgot, Adonalsium would think someone else created it, detached from experiencing the world he created. Not able to truly live among both worlds. We as readers do that when reading stories from any fictional author. Detached but admitting its existence and indulging in it. I think the result of this were that the original beings that lived on Yolen, humans, dragons, and the Sho del only saw their identities as real and something else presented as fake. It could’ve been brought to their attention, but each group’s views contrasted each other so this could’ve created a lack of contact. Humans couldn’t interact with what was seen as fake because it was now perceived as parasitic. A lack of understanding can breed hate. Sanderson’s unpublished works reveal that when Adonalsium was around nothing was possible unless it was it was wished for. A wish that Hoid could’ve made could possibly explain why he lost something, what he gained made him lose something. And we know because of Sanderson he’s had powers that predate the Shattering. (3) This could be possible if whatever he wished for granted Adonalsium’s one wish. Adonalsium without an identity might’ve been forever alone never being to interact with them. Any attempt to do that could be seen as dangerous to these beings' existence. I think this is the motivation behind the attempts at the Shattering. One did fail but that attempt could’ve been Adonalsium trying to experience beauty. WoR: Can beauty be taken from a man? If he could not touch, taste, smell, hear, see . . . what if all he knew was pain? Has that man had beauty taken from him?” “I . . .” What did this have to do with anything? “Does the pain change day by day?” “Let us say it does,” the messenger said. “Then beauty, to that person, would be the times when the pain lessens. Why are you telling me this story?” The messenger smiled. “To be human is to seek beauty, Shallan. Hoid told the story of the two blind men waiting at the end of an era to Shallan to help her acknowledge the beauty of life while dealing with past pain and suffering. To keep persevering and truly experience life by not giving up. Hoid’s existence could’ve been the key to completing the shattering. He couldn’t be the weapon, but he could show them how to create it or find it and what to use it for. Hoid was the 17th shard because it freed Adonalsium to experience his creations. His Shattering transcended the realms to fully experience everything. (4) But that meant his creations had to know they were “fake” beings created by him. Hoid knows about both “real” and “fake” and mind and soul like Adonalsium originally did. There is also a group chasing down Hoid we know under this same name that was very deliberately chosen… This would make me believe that Hoid did technically exist before Adonalsium. (5) The name Adonalsium could not (may even be said) exist until the comprehension of what this being thought were other people’s creations were his own. This aligns with Sanderson’s beginnings, his self-insert’s experience in other people’s creations inspired his. The self-insert being a shard of himself. Now some of us only know Brandon Sanderson’s name (existence) because we interacted with his creations. The Cosmere stories we read. This culminates in my answer that Hoid was the key to turning Adonalsium’s mind into Investiture which gave us the worlds we know now. This is no secret that he was present, but I believe he gave them the way to do it. Hoid gained the awareness to detail this to the 16 beings that shattered Adonalsium. He needed an echo of Adonalsium’s awareness to convince them to shatter him. But I believe when he interacted with the inhabitants them to let them know they were created by design because he was supposedly the last shard or sliver of Adonalsium they did not believe him. This could draw parallels to the RoW Dog and the Dragon story and go beyond Kaladin’s relation to it. “The image of the dog in the rain felt far too familiar to Kaladin. Far too personal.” He had to prove his existence and give him the experience by killing him. Adonalsium understood he could experience through Invesititure, living through the Shards subsequent creations since they’d need something to reference when creating. WoR: “I’ll address this letter to my “old friend,” as I have no idea what name you’re using currently. Have you given up on the gemstone, now that it is dead? And do you no longer hide behind the name of your old master?... The worlds you now tread bear the touch and design of Adonalsium.” I think when Adonalsium was shattered he became the God Beyond to experience his creations and part of his soul in a sense stayed separated which could keep Yolen still existing but not necessarily aging. This could explain why Frost is functionally immortal, he can’t physically age, but his soul can be killed. Adonalsium is far Beyond from his creations. But by doing this no character in the Cosmere knows what the Beyond is and now they can only speculate on his existence and his nature. Rysn is one character that has come to understand this nature of awareness and creation. Dawnshard: “You were brought here, she thought to herself, by one of the Guardians of Ancient Sins. Of course she had been. That made sense. Wait. Did it?” When Rysn interacts with the Dawnshard she immediately understands her journey was “fabricated” to get to this point. “Naturally. All that nonsense on the surface of the island? Distractions. Intended to keep anyone from looking for this.” Upon being made to understand Rysn sees the “real” conflict occurring on the island as nonsense. Being aware that the belief of the conflict and consequences they go through are important prevents someone from seeing the way Rysn is currently seeing things. “They clung to a secret that was escaping despite their best efforts. As Vstim had taught her, she saw through their eyes. Felt their fears, their loss, their uncertainty.” “Don’t give them what they say they want, she thought. Give them what they need.” With the Dawnshard now inside of her, she deconstructs these characters by discerning they can't have what they want on the surface. Give them what they really need, not the lies they use to protect themselves but the truth. Acting out the will of a god. “It was then that she grasped, in the smallest way, the nature of the Command inside her. The will of a god to remake things, to demand they be better. The power to change.” Characters can learn his name and understand his nature to an extent like Rysn, but they truly can’t know him unless they returned to him. Then they’d know what lies in the Beyond. But we as readers know that will never be revealed. Adonalsium or the God Beyond can exist in an unknown location that the people of the Cosmere are drawn to after they die, beyond their world knowing whats real and whats fake. That is the nature of the creator of the Cosmere, Brandon Sanderson. Because he created it, he could not truly live in it, only inserting a part of himself in his creations. This goes far beyond just Brandon Sanderson but to actual creators in our world. That is why I can see it as self-referential, but it’s not just him. It doesn’t stop here. Hoid’s motivation might support this. Hoid cannot reforge Adonalsium because if he does the characters would be robbed of their beliefs about what they perceive is real, that’s something that cannot happen. Sanderson supports this as he’s gone on the record saying he wouldn’t join up with Hoid’s cause. (6) That’s why I think the support is in the truth that could be parsed out in every belief in the Cosmere. WoR: "Long ago, there was only One. One knew everything, but had experienced nothing. And do, One became many-us, people. The One, who is both male and female, did so to experience all things…Eventually, all will be gathered back in- when the Seventh Land is attained- and we will once again become one… As Many, they need ignorance. Each fragment of the One’s mind has its own body with different passions and inclinations. They exist in variety to experience all kinds of thought. That means some people must know and others must not.” And that’s why there’s some that believe there should be no interference… causing divergence in the outcome of a belief like this. “You will not find a way to restore what you have lost, old friend,” the aged man said softly. ”It is impossible.” “You don’t know that. The old rules no longer hold.” Hoid lost something to him and now he’s willing to do anything to restore something, but he doesn’t realize he’s fighting a losing battle. Brandon Sanderson (Adonalsium) has to sacrifice his self-insert so his stories cannot be destroyed. So, he sent a savior to make that possible (Hoid). But to make his stories possible his savior had to know the difference between what’s real and what’s fake. What does that sound like? A being who claims to know the truth and was supposed to have walked among us. But he knew we had to sacrifice him so we could live on eternally. Sanderson's beliefs could heavily inspire this because realizing this world is not the "real one" is an important part of Christianity. To know this in the belief, you have to experience the world. Christians experience the good and the bad which is also experienced through every story in the Cosmere. To be able to know what’s real you have to create something that is fake. Sanderson creates stories we know are fictional because we live in the real world. But while this could have influenced Sanderson’s premise there is a major twist. Overall, creators which apply to Brandon Sanderson (Adonalsium) are truly separated from their creations. If Sanderson is “playing God” by creating a fictional world they can never truly know him. By possibly referencing himself or creators he can let us ponder on how much creators in real life are eternally separate from their works and how it impacts their works living on. But since Investiture originates from Adonalsium the creator does in a sense still live on inside of them while not all the way being the way there, they can put a piece of themselves in their work. So, was the “mind” truly separated from the “soul” when Adonalsium was shattered? Thus, his characters must fight to stop him from being reforged and becoming "one" with Adonalsium then they'd have no agency. They have to gain “eternal life” by stopping Hoid. Going off the Christian belief God wants eternal life for his creations. Their Connection (soul) and Intent (mind or will) cannot be severed even though that’s not how they might be initially understood now by characters. They start to become interchangeable and vital to existence. ES: “You imply that the wall has a soul.” “All things do,” she said. “Each object sees itself as something. Connection and intent are vital.” The Shards take up the role of creators but in the end, they are the same as the beings they created. Just a vessel of Investiture and Intent. Characters in the Cosmere are not restricted from interacting and knowing the Shards that play a major impact in their life unlike Adonalsium. They now created “forgery” based on what they could gather through a singular intent of Adonalsium’s nature and ability since their mere presence leads to a Perpendicularity that pierces all the realms. ES: “To Forge the table, I must understand it as a whole.” But what their singular intent creates is a distorted replicant of Adonalsium’s ability and what helped create the original Yolen. But regardless what the Shards created are the character’s reality but that doesn’t mean everyone would see it that way. The Shards created worlds referencing Adonalsium’s design which can be seen as forgery. And again, Emperor’s Soul conflict presents this theme… ES: “No. You copy other people’s great art. What you do is technically marvelous, yet completely lacking in spirit.” What the Shards created could be lacking to Hoid is soul, since he is a product of Yolen, he was present and believed in this mind and soul split and has seen its consequences. ES: “A Forger had to create something so perfect, so beautiful, so real that their subjects never questioned.” The rest of the Cosmere could just be the other side of the coin to him but they wouldn’t initially realize since they are a byproduct of the Shard’s forgery. ES: “That a life full of lying makes reality and falsehood intermix.” Also, the way this is presented could give us insight into the main conflict of the last era of the Cosmere, Mistborn Era 4. If characters believe Hoid is doing something capable of killing them all some would surely try to stop him. Something that could doom what they perceive as all 3 realms could be a threat. And with the stories/worlds mixing now you have people like Kelsier becoming more and more Cosmere aware to save their own lives. And this only frustrates Hoid. SH: “I’m sorry, Survivor, for the rough treatment,” Drifter continued. “But you are not supposed to be here. You did what I needed you to, but you’re a wild card I’d rather not deal with right now.” He paused. “If it’s any consolation, you should feel proud. It’s been centuries since anyone got the drop on me.” That’s why it's important Hoid was tricked in RoW. Up until Kelsier’s appearance, no one had gotten the drop on Hoid. But now that’s no longer true, Todium has. Who came before them? I believe it was Adonalsium, he tricked Hoid into the same trick he tried with Todium with in RoW. This could completely recontextualize the Shattering. Hoid did what he was supposed to, believing he’d receive something in return. And as Hoid helps our characters in RoW create a deal that could beat the Odium they knew; he speaks from experience… RoW: “I once knew a man,” Wit said, “who was the finest gambler in all his realm. Where he lived, you make your cards walk themselves around the table by breathing life into them. He was the best. Intelligent, skilled with the Breath of life, a shrewd gambler—he knew exactly how to bet and when. Everyone was waiting for the day when he lost. And eventually he did.” “That’s different, Wit,” Jasnah said. “He couldn’t literally see the future.” “Ah, but you see, I was rigging the games. So I did know the future—as much as Odium does, anyway. I shouldn’t have been able to lose. Yet I did.” Hoid changes the perspective when Jasnah comments he could not see the future. He explains he was rigging the game for the gambler. He knew what the result would be, a “loss” for Adonalsium that resulted in his shattering. “Someone else rigged the game so that no matter what move I made, I could not win. The game was a tie, something I hadn’t anticipated. I’d focused my cheating on making certain I didn’t lose, but I’d bet on myself winning. And I bet it all, you see—if I’d have been more clever, I’d have let less be lost.” Hoid rigged the games to help them win but in reality, he also lost too. Hoid brings up a third party, “someone else” intervened in his rigging that aligns with how I think he’s possibly doomed to fail in reaching his overarching goal. Hoid can never truly win, and he even says it’s something he never saw coming. That holds true now because he knows where he should be but that doesn’t explain exactly why or what happens. He’s in the same boat, someone with the awareness but not the ability to actually see the future. But to any other character his vast knowledge, seeming immortality, and inferred guess on what is going to occur comes off as knowing the future. Hoid gave us a glimpse at this when he was heavily involved in Roshar’s fight against Odium in RoW because he knew how important it was. He doesn’t hide how much this means to him, but his word choice shows that he can only desire the sense of assurance, not certainty. RoW: “If you give Odium this contract—and get me the assurance that he cannot break free of this planetary system no matter what happens—” Dalinar even mentions he’d never seen Wit as serious as he had during this time of problem-solving during the war. Hoid’s actions and words only emphasize how important this all is to what he’s trying to accomplish so he stops observing and intervenes. OB: “These [people] know they can’t stop the boulder. So, they walk beside it, study it, and bide their time. Then they shove it—ever so slightly—to create a deviation in its path.” But he no longer has the assurance he asks of Dalinar, Todium could end up leaving this planetary system in Stormlight 5. Adonalsium can now have him beat, but it didn’t always seem that way. But it all cannot happen without Hoid, I see him as the key. I believe there are several instances in Hoid’s appearances, interactions with characters and even things said to us readers that give us insight into his nature, and foreshadow his goals, and what he knows which only support this overarching theory. Hoid bestows this same awareness at times to the characters in the Cosmere. I think it’s necessary for all that happens to even occur but knowing how Hoid is this always isn’t the case. WoR: “So you’re just here,” Kaladin said, “to mock me?” “Well, it’s kind of what I do. But I’ll go easy on you. I wouldn’t want you to go flying off on me.” Kaladin jolted with a start. “You know,” Wit said, nonchalant, “flying off in an angry tirade. That kind of thing.” Kaladin narrowed his eyes at the tall lighteyed man. “What do you know?” “Almost everything. That almost part can be a real kick in the teeth sometimes.” The emphasis on “almost” is so important. I think Sanderson consistently presents him like a discrete self-insert character would in Cosmere stories and characters react accordingly WoK: “Wit sat on a raised stool at the end of the bridge leading onto the island. Wit actually dressed as a lighteyes should—he wore a stiff black uniform, silver sword at his waist. Dalinar shook his head at the irony.” Sanderson writes Hoid in a way that makes it no secret that the “characters” he lives among should, be skeptical of him, fearful of him and even hate him. WoR: “Don’t try to understand Wit, Bordin. You’ll only cause yourself pain.” One of the most of unforgettable things Hoid has said is he’s willing to see their world crumble despite even tears. And in a deleted scene in Emperor’s Soul, he doesn’t hide his anticipation for a character’s death… “It’s the principle of the thing, I suspect,” the Fool said, still sounding amused. How wonderful that her life, and its impending end, could bring pleasure to the Imperial Fool. That’s why whenever he accepts deprecating comments and insults from the characters while they’re humorous, I see there’s truth in them… WoR: “Hugging him is like hugging a whitespine or, or a pile of nails or something. I mean it’s Wit. You’re not supposed to like him.” He clearly sees the justification whether they fully realize why they would hate him or not. We saw this recently in RoW… “I, Jasnah, am someone who is not bound.” “I feel,” she said, “like I should be terrified by that statement.” “That’s why I’m so fond of you,” he said. “You are poised, you are smart, and you are always ready with a ploy; but when each of those things fails you, Jasnah, you are—above all else—paranoid.” ----- “I hate you.” “Rayse, dear,” Wit said, “you’re supposed to be an idiot. Say intelligent things like that too much, and I’ll need to reevaluate. What Todium did at the end of RoW may have helped doomed Hoid. That’s why Sanderson initially made us fixate on what happened was either real or fake. (Even though it is confirmed he was tricked) That theme seems to be repeatedly presenting itself. To take Hoid's memories or knowledge (even temporarily) that powers his awareness of “almost everything” takes away all the leverage he has over the characters. That’s why Hoid’s point about reevaluating seems like more than a joke. If someone exhibited real hatred because they truly understand him, they might’ve got the jump on him. Especially dangerous if its someone with as much influence as a Shard. And we know Todium finding a way to get freedom from this lose-lose contest that was made is Hoid’s worst nightmare. The justification of this disdain continues in Oathbringer also... “Be wary of anyone who claims to be able to see the future, Shallan.” “Except you, of course. Didn’t you say you can see where you need to be?” “Be wary,” he repeated, “of anyone who claims to be able to see the future, Shallan.” ----- OB: “How many people need to love a piece of art to make it worthwhile? If you’re inevitably going to inspire hate, then how much enjoyment is needed to balance out the risk?” “He eventually squatted next to Kheni, who still rocked her empty cradle, staring with haunted eyes across the square…He smiled at the little girl.” “Your teeth look funny today,” she said to him. “I take exception to that, as the funny part is not the teeth, but the lack of tooth.” He held out his hand to her, but she ducked back in.” “I can’t leave Mama,” she whispered. “I understand,” Wit said. He took the rags and cord he’d worked with earlier, forming them into the shape of a little doll. “The answer to the question has been bothering me for some time.” The little face poked out again, looking at the doll. “The question?” “I asked it earlier,” Wit said. “You couldn’t hear. Do you know the answer?” “You’re weird.” “Right answer, but wrong question. He carried the girl back to the square, then quietly pushed the empty cradle away from Kheni and knelt before her. “I think, in answer to my question … I think it only takes one.” Kheni’s husband took him by the arm, smiling. “Can you not stay a little longer?” “I should think you are the first to ever ask me that, Cob,” Wit said. “And in truth, the sentiment frightens me.” He hesitated, then leaned down and touched the doll in the child’s hands. “Forget what I told you before,” he whispered. “Instead, take care of her.” Instead of continuing to ponder the bigger questions of existence and creation Hoid could be posing he then tells the child to focus on their life. It’s beneficial for him to not be truly understood or even acknowledged at times. “Thousands of years ago, he’d shared a dance with her [Vatwha]. Like all the others, she’d later been trained to watch for him.” “But not well enough. As he passed underneath, she gave him the barest of glances. He decided not to take that as an insult, as it was what he wanted. He needed to be soup so bland, it was water. What a conundrum. In this case, his art was best when ignored.” “Perhaps he would need to revise his philosophy.” But Hoid cannot keep up this act of not being taken seriously forever. He also clearly prides himself on his art of storytelling that brings awareness to whoever he tells it to. This was shown in RoW. “I am an artist,” Wit said. “I should thank you not to demean me by insisting my art must be trying to accomplish something. In fact, you shouldn’t enjoy art. You should simply admit that it exists, then move on. Anything else is patronizing.” “Kaladin nodded, standing up again. He realized that somehow, the story fired him up. He felt stronger, less for the words and more for how annoyed he’d grown at Wit” All this tells me Hoid doesn’t want them to be fully aware, or at least right now. Because if they did, they could impede his current plan in motion. ES: “Plausibility was key to any forgery, magical or not.” and… “The more people who know of a Forgery, the more likely it is to fail.” One of Hoid’s most common activities is telling stories, making comparisons or asking questions the characters can relate or ponder which propels them forward in the story. And every time he has there seems to be significant implications. It also gives us a peek into his true identity and motives. Let’s look at the Way of Kings and Kaladin’s current journey as whole… “But how would we know it? Did Derethil and his men return?” “Some stories say they did.” “But how could they? The highstorms only blow one direction.” “Then I guess the story is a lie.” “I didn’t say that.” “No, I said it. Fortunately, it’s the best kind of lie.” “And what kind is that?” “Why, the kind I tell, of course.” Hoid laughed, then kicked out the fire, grinding the last of the coals beneath his heel. It didn’t really seem there had been enough fuel to make the smoke Kaladin had seen. Kaladin immediately searches for the truth, searching for the real answer from the story Hoid tells, and immediately rejects what Hoid suggests because what he knows is real about Roshar. Hoid then follows up with an action that doesn’t make sense to Kaladin. Some things Hoid says or does to him when he’s not telling a story feels like a lie to him. And when someone’s words and actions fit together you tend to believe them. But what happens when Hoid leaves Kaladin so he can maneuver through what occurs in the rest of the story? “I don’t like him,” Syl’s voice said suddenly, coming from behind. “He’s strange.” Kaladin spun to find her on the boulder, sitting where Hoid had been a moment ago. “Syl!” Kaladin said. “How long have you been here?” She shrugged. “You were watching the story. I didn’t want to interrupt.” She sat with hands in her lap, looking uncomfortable. After hearing the Wandersail story that he relates to Kaladin has the awareness to parse out a lesson he can apply to his current situation. This propels him forward for the rest of the Way of Kings. But during the course of all of this he somehow lost track of where Syl was. Syl, a symbol and companion in his real life. We know Hoid’s existence threatens Cosmere characters, but Syl feels uncomfortable around him when Hoid does what he does best, give them the awareness of what is real and what’s fake through a story. I believe Hoid makes her feel uncomfortable because Hoid’s goal could threaten her existence as a spren. Spren’s existence are fragments of the powers of creation given purpose in the physical realm through beings on Roshar. Humans abandoning their belief in the Cognitive aspects that shape spren whether forcefully or voluntarily means there would be dangerous consequences for them. That’s why I think it’s more than mere coincidence we also have the Recreance subplot in SA, it focuses on restoring the relationships between spren and our characters in the physical realm. Our characters are doomed to suffer unless they Unite across realms. And Hoid could be bringing this fight to all three realms, making every inhabitant fearful, and uncomfortable. I also think that there is a lot of significance in Hoid giving the Trailman’s flute to Kaladin after he’s done telling him the story. After making Kaladin take a break from the “real” world and immerse in a seemingly “false” story for a second the opportunity is there to interpret what he wants from the story for his real life. Kaladin tries to reject the flute, but he leaves him with the flute anyways. A symbol that could stand for that while Kaladin believes the experiences, he goes through are real today he may eventually have the same awareness Hoid has about life currently and be able to also tell stories like him. Which could give even more significance to the question asked by Kaladin. “How would a man tell a story while playing the flute?” Hoid can because through his knowledge he can discern the truth from the lies and use that for his advantage. But Kaladin continues to think in WoR he cannot care about keeping track of the flute and survive. "Kaladin had left the flute behind. When he had gathered the bridgemen left in Sadeas’s camp—the wounded from Bridge Four, and the members of the other bridge crews—he’d been focused on people, not things. He hadn’t bothered with his little bundle of possessions, forgetting that the flute was among them." Hoid even passed this knowledge on to a friend Kaladin interacts with, Sigzil. It could be very important that the fruit of this training manifests in him questioning the character’s reality in WoR. “I’m not implying anything,” Sigzil said, turning toward Kaladin. “My master trained me to ask questions, so I’m asking them. In RoW, there’s Kaladin’s lowest moment of the entire series, Hoid extends a hand to him to help him. Kaladin this time asks him to tell a story. He does this because he knows what the effect is, something that may or may not be real with a lesson or a truth that could move him forward. The Cryptic held up a flute, and Kaladin recognized it. “Your flute!” he said. “You found it?” “This is a dream, idiot,” Wit said. “It’s not real.” “Oh,” Kaladin said. “Right.” With Kaladin near death the flute appears again in my opinion, as something symbolic. Like I said before I believe the flute represents the truth a character like Kaladin can receive when he passes on. There’s no way he could have found the physical flute if Kaladin believes it was lost or just didn’t care about its whereabouts. Hoid also wasn’t the one to bring it to Kaladin’s attention, it’s his bonded Cryptic. I brought up earlier how his goal could threaten three realms as they know it so it only makes even more sense that if Hoid has to a bond a spren for his goal there would be inherent discord between them. The Cryptic amusingly disrupts Hoid’s storytelling art to Kaladin while he’s in the midst of it, and this was one example. Hoid snapping at Kaladin to perceive the flute as not real could be a blunt but subtle way to get him away from entirely giving up. The story of the Dog and Dragon does end up working because Kaladin initially pressed for a point to be deciphered to him. “Kaladin nodded, standing up again. He realized that somehow, the story fired him up. He felt stronger, less for the words and more for how annoyed he’d grown at Wit” Kaladin keeps moving forward and survives. Let’s look to Shallan’s experiences. Shallan’s character is the personification of struggling with truth, deceit and maintaining a singular self that she sees as the real her. So, her interactions with Hoid conveys how his activities have major impact on the perception of truths and falsehoods. We get a glimpse of the consequences and learn more about him overall when they interact. This can be seen when Hoid tells her the story of the two blind men and makes her imagine the most beautiful thing. “She blinked tears. She saw it. Stormfather, but she saw it. She heard her mother’s voice, saw Jushu giving up spheres to Balat as he lost the duel, but laughing as he paid, uncaring of the loss. She could feel the air, smell the scents, hear the sounds of songlings in the brush. Almost, it became real. Wisps of Light rose before her. The messenger had gotten out a handful of spheres and held them toward her while staring into her eyes. The steamy Stormlight rose between them. Shallan lifted her fingers, the image of her ideal life wrapped around her like a comforter. No. She drew back. The misty light faded. “I see,” the messenger said softly. “You do not yet understand the nature of lies. I had that trouble myself, long ago. The Shards here are very strict. You will have to see the truth, child, before you can expand upon it. Just as a man should know the law before he breaks it.” Shallan is not ready yet and Hoid is disappointed but understands because she is merely another Cosmere character that to him that doesn’t know “almost everything” as he does. I think it’s significant she shows she’s not ready the moment Hoid presents Investiture to her. The Shards are responsible for creating someone like Shallan, but that’s not something he had to bring up. If he feels Investiture is what keeps them latched onto their life. It makes sense she cannot truly face any truth he guides toward her, at least yet. And to Hoid apparently, he ONLY knew the nature of truth at some point. Now that he knows the rules, he breaks the laws with the nature of lies. So, I think it’s significant he could be describing his Yolen self, a self not understanding the attachment a person has to the “lies” they hold dearly. Understanding the nature of truth lets him see through Shallan’s disguises in Oathbringer. “That’s a nice illusion,” Wit said. “You got the back of the head right. People always flub the back. You’ve broken character though. You’re walking like a prim lighteyes, which looks silly in that costume. You’ll only be able to pull off a coat and hat if you own them.” “I know,” she said, grimacing. “The persona … fled once you recognized me.” Shallan tries to understand what Hoid truly is by comparing him to a singular identity like a Herald, that is something she can fathom. But that doesn’t work of course. She eyed him. It was always hard to tell which of Wit’s exaggerations were supposed to mean something and which were confusing distractions. “Then what are you?” “Some men, as they age, grow kinder. I am not one of those, for I have seen how the cosmere can mistreat the innocent—and that leaves me disinclined toward kindness. Some men, as they age, grow wiser. I am not one of those, for wisdom and I have always been at cross-purposes, and I have yet to learn the tongue in which she speaks. Some men, as they age, grow more cynical. I, fortunately, am not one of those. If I were, the very air would warp around me, sucking in all emotion, leaving only scorn.” He tapped the table. “Other men … other men, as they age, merely grow stranger. I fear that I am one of those. I am the bones of a foreign species left drying on the plain that was once, long ago, a sea. A curiosity, perhaps a reminder, that all has not always been as it is now.” The longer he “ages” in this realm of the Cosmere, the stranger he is seen by someone like Shallan. I believe his comparison to a “foreign species” shows his presence in every story can be a reminder that the current Cosmere in nature is very different from Yolen’s original nature. Because the only time he fits in is when he chooses to. He even basically says if his past made him cynical everything around him would be left with contempt. And that is something previously shown that he still expects in the future and tries to avoid it as of now. So, he exists as an ally to our Stormlight main characters right now but still makes sure to subtly drop hints about the events that changed Yolen’s nature which made the Cosmere as Shallan knows it. Nonetheless in the context of her journey, it’s still put in a way that she needs to hear regardless of how she takes it. “You want to change the world, Shallan. That’s well and good. But be careful. The world predates you. She has seniority.” While their conversations are beneficial Shallan and Hoid experience a clash in values. Seeing as they’re two different “species” to one of them. “Power is the ability to make life better or worse for the people around you.” “And yourself too, of course.” “I don’t matter.” “You should.” “Selflessness is a Vorin virtue, Wit.” “Oh, bother that. You’ve got to live life, Shallan, enjoy life. Drink of what you’re proposing to give everyone else! That’s what I do.” “You … do seem to enjoy yourself a great deal.” “I like to live every day like it’s my last.” Hoid has kept it no secret that his goal is also for himself while he is changing the world with his powers. And as we see sometimes, he’s willing to bestow it to our characters. Shallan disagrees with this use of power and reminds him of a belief of people on HER planet. But she’s shown that living the way Hoid does seems as if it is very freeing and done with urgency. It’s living with a constant reminder that your reality could end so you act true to yourself. And selflessness is a way of denying yourself. Nearing the last stretch of Oathbringer, Hoid’s story of the Girl Who Looked Up arrives at the perfect time for Shallan. "Everywhere she trod, death haunted her. Every face she wore was a lie to pretend she could stop it." "Couldn’t she be somebody who didn’t hurt, just once?" “Have you heard the story of the Girl Who Looked Up?” “It’s a story from long ago,” Wit said. He cupped his hands around the sphere on the floor. “Things were different in that time… By the end, things are looking up… “She felt … better. Not well yet. It was all still there. But something about Wit’s words …I see only one woman here. The one who is standing up”. She began chapter 82 confused by her lies and seeing the suffering it caused. Hoid’s approach with Kaladin in other books works here too. By the time she exits the story and enters the “real world” again, she feels better, but not perfect because it’s still her journey to experience. She no longer sees her lies, just truth, and Hoid again gave the clarity to discern this through all the lies. And by the end of RoW Shallan’s growth drives her to be ready to confront the Ghostbloods, a now common enemy to Hoid since Kelsier leads them. I think through Adolin’s and Dalinar’s perspectives we get overt or subtle glimpses into Hoid’s motives and nature through their reactions that convey their significance. In Hoid’s first appearance in Way of Kings he immediately challenges a character’s perception. Adolin’s view on people doesn’t fit with Hoid, he doesn’t fit into Roshar’s categories “Wit nodded to them as he approached, wearing one of those keen smiles of his. He had blue eyes, but he wasn’t really a lighteyes. Nor was he a darkeyes. He was…well, he was the King’s Wit. That was a category all its own.” “Ah, young Prince Adolin!” Wit exclaimed. “You actually managed to pry yourself away from the camp’s young women long enough to join this hunt? I’m impressed.” Adolin chuckled uncomfortably. “Well, that’s been a topic of some discussion lately….” Wit raised an eyebrow. Adolin sighed. Wit would find out eventually anyway—it was virtually impossible to keep anything from the man.” Hoid shows off that he knows “almost everything” aside from the part where discussions have been had about Adolin’s mishaps with Roshar’s women. I think it’s hard to see how this would be common knowledge to a character that nobody seems to take very seriously and have disdain for due to his mockery of their intelligence and appearance. "Wit leaned in to Adolin. “Have I told you about the night Prince Renarin and I had two days back, walking the streets of the warcamp? We came across these two sisters, you see, blue eyed and—” “That’s a lie!” Renarin said, blushing. This could be seen as a stretch, but I find it amusing that a character we end up finding out that can see the future goes at Hoid when he knows what he’s about to tell a lie and Dalinar even mentions before this Renarin was determined not to say anything to him. In response, Dalinar defends his son from Hoid’s lies but this elicits some truth from Hoid that we see manifests later. “Perhaps you should restrict your mockery to those who deserve it.” “Brightlord Dalinar. I believe that was what I was doing.” “Those who ‘deserve’ my mockery are those who can benefit from it, Brightlord Dalinar. That one is less fragile than you think him.” He winked, then turned his horse to move on over the bridge. Hoid immediately challenges Renarin’s oath of silence by making him interrupt his lies to Adolin. Someone smart enough to anticipate Hoid’s lies through silence is clearly a good foil to him. That’s why he’s the only character to “deserve” this kind of treatment and I think that’s why this hint to Dalinar makes us look back and perceive Hoid as someone knowing almost everything. Hoid acknowledging Renarin as an equal adversary adds a layer to his comment about him becoming the new King’s Wit if Sadeas finally killed him. He does “seem to have the mind for it.” as Hoid says. The FIRST TIME Hoid is conveying a serious tone is when he eventually brings up Adonalsium to Dalinar in WoK. And to no surprise Dalinar does not understand what Wit is saying before he brings Adonalsium up. Wit’s eyes narrowed, and he scanned the night sky. “It’s been happening for months now. A whirlwind. Shifting and churning, blowing us round and around. Like a world spinning, but we can’t see it because we’re too much a part of it.” “World spinning. What foolishness is this?” “The foolishness of men who care, Dalinar,” Wit said. “And the brilliance of those who do not. The second depend on the first—but also exploit the first—while the first misunderstand the second, hoping that the second are more like the first. And all of their games steal our time. Second by second.” What Hoid is probably saying here is their planet Roshar continues to change and evolve, and big changes are coming to the Cosmere as a result. The men who care (all the characters in the Cosmere that don’t have the same knowledge/awareness as Hoid) cause this “spinning” or evolution. Hoid is the brilliant one that seems like he doesn’t care but he does. Hoid DEPENDS on the gears of Stormlight turning to reach his goal. If it didn’t, I don’t see why’d he’d help the characters the way he does (like helping create the contest of champions conditions). But in reality, he’s exploiting them for his future motivations. These men who care about what’s going on their planet don’t understand him but wish he was more like them. Hoid is whimsical and seems to care little about what goes on in their lives and all his previously mentioned appearances support this to me, from their comments to how he dresses, fits in and talks. “Wit,” Dalinar said with a sigh. “I haven’t the mind for this tonight. I’m sorry if I’m missing your intent, but I have no idea what you mean.” “I know,” Wit said, then looked directly at him. “Adonalsium.” Dalinar frowned more deeply. “What?” Wit searched his face. “Have you ever heard the term, Dalinar?” “Ado…what?” Wit IMMEDIATELY interjects and follows up with Adonalsium AFTER Dalinar acts like one of the first men he’s talking about when he doesn’t understand Hoid’s initial point about foolishness. A term Dalinar cannot even fathom, but the brilliant Hoid knows. And right after this, he reveals one of his real names, Hoid. Then as he leaves we are seeing him communicate his nature as we’ve all come to know in one piece of dialogue. “Watch yourself; Sadeas is planning a revelation at the feast tonight, though I know not what it is. Farewell. I’m sorry I didn’t insult you more.” Lastly, I don’t think it’s a coincidence due to all of these self-insert type traits and interactions whenever Hoid refers to the character’s experiences that are real to them they are seen as stories. WoK: “It’s a constant source of amazement that you get yourself into such messes, Adolin. Each one is more exciting than the previous!” “Er, yes. Exciting. That’s exactly how it feels.” ----- WoR: “What do you want,” Kaladin said, trying to speak more precisely, “from me?” “Ah, so you’re thinking. Good. From you, my friend, I want one thing. A story.” “What kind of story?” “That is for you to decide.” Wit smiled at him. “I hope it will be dynamic. If there is one thing I cannot stomach, it is boredom. But of course, they’d never see it that way. While I believe my theory has evidence that can be referenced in many of his stories I think we are too far behind in understanding Investiture in the Cosmere at this moment to answer how Hoid exactly could’ve gotten to this self-insert role aside from the things he’s said and done. Because I believed my theory fits thematically, I referenced evidence that is there for us but only can be resolved when we truly understand “almost everything” that has been presented to us about the magic system and the rules of the past. Dragonsteel seems like it can be that resolution as it will provide the necessary context to thrust Hoid into the main character spotlight in the last Mistborn Era. I can only speculate what the result of what we might see in Dragonsteel is based on what Brandon Sanderson has told us, has written, and what we know about him as fans. But I do know one thing Hoid has told us…“The old rules dont apply now” The only person not in the story that knows what the old rules were is Adonalsium. And Brandon Sanderson is the one person not in the story that will be able to tell us what these old rules were. AdonalsiumTheoryLinks.docx AdonalsiumTheoryLinks.docx
  3. what system is Yolen placed in, or is it known?
  4. From the album: Other Cosmere Art

    So I haven't posted this yet? I felt quite thrilled when drawing this XD I love them so much and how I wish I could get a time machine to read their story! (The art is per request and wildly imagined though. We actually don’t know much about Yolish dragons.) Liar of Partinel draft spoilers: Other Hoid doodles from this year and last year (Sorry for the mess of medias and styles): [Long post warning] Hoid in Greek costumes Shai trying to grab back the Moon Scepter Shai: Give back the Scepter, you foul liar! Fool: I won't give back such an useful translator. What are you going to do with me? Hoid does the worst in pilot academy Skyward x Cosmere - Spensa teasing Wit Hoid & Kelsier in suit/modern clothing Hoid as musician 1) Piano - 2) Violin - 3) Erhu (Chinese instrument) Character going dark meme Bonus: Hoid in drag as a flapper girl
  5. Kalak_

    Theory on vax

    So this is my theory in the dragon steel chapters brandon has made available, yolen is most of the time referred to as “the continent of yolen” now we go on to mistborn secret history , ati, before he dies utters the word vax, now presumably, the last place ati was before taking up the shard of ruin was yolen, or should I say vax (I will explain this later) in warbreaker, hoid refers to his homeland as a “place we’re to lands meet and gods have died” furthermore, there is a saying on yolen that goes “may two worlds become one to you” and Brandon has SPECIFICALLY stated that this is NOT in reference to any realms so my theory is that vax isn’t a planet, but another landmass or continent on yolen
  6. So I assume that every theory I come up with, someone on this site already had in like 2007, and it was disproven by 2008 That being said... here goes. A long time ago, the planet Yolen was home to Humans, Dragons, Sho Del, and a being called Adonalsium. The sixteen cornered Adonalsium and Shattered him. The sixteen, newly Ascended, each went their separate ways. Most went to their own Shardworlds. Some, like Bavadin, went to a sun. At least one just went somewhere in space. A few went two-at-a-time to a planet - like Aona and Skai on Sel - despite having bound themselves not to do that. Some used the powers of the Shards to make their own worlds, like Scadrial. (Aside: I wonder if Ati and Leras made their planet just to avoid some specificity of the language of their oath not to settle on the same planet. Which explains why Odium And Friends weren't able to kill and splinter them as easily as they did - even when their own fighting left them both preposterously weakened. Imagine if Ati and Leras were lovers or best friends, and the opposing nature of their Shards drove them to such enmity. All for their hubris. What a tragedy that would be.) Rayse - Odium - went off to his own Shardworld. This was not Braize - he would not end up there until much later. This planet was probably in its own solar system where Rayse could be a God unquestioned. Two Shards, however, decided not to leave. They would stay on Yolen together. These shards were Mr. and Mrs. Avast - Koravellium and Tan - the shards of Cultivation and Honor. When Rayse went to his planet, he took a group of humans with him. But he did not take every human off of Yolen. Many stayed with Cultivation and Honor. As did many dragons - Cultivation's species - and many Sho Del. We don't know much about the Sho Del. But they, and their ecosystem, was in conflict with the humans and their ecosystem. If Honor had stayed on Yolen alone, he would have established firm rules that allowed the two ecosystems to live side by side. If Odium had stayed on Yolen, he would have pitted them against each other until the stronger survived and the weaker died. But, true to her Shardic intent, Cultivation offered a compromise. She would let the two species grow together into one. The same will that would one day lead to the creation of the Sibling and its mixed light, spread across Yolen and all its people. Sho Del and humans could come together and create one species to live in harmony. The human and Sho Del ecosystems were also intermixed, creating wholly new hybrid species at every level. It is possible that some elements of each ecosystem were kept unchanged. Whether to act as a control group (like the South Scadrians), or through xenophobia, or just to preserve diversity, I cant say. This is related to one of the few pieces of Yolish trivia we have: that a common saying there was "May two worlds become one to you." Perhaps this is the same as many people on Earth say a variation of "may peace be with you" - because thanks to the intervention of the Shards, the conflict between these two ecosystems was ended by their merging. On Yolen, "two worlds becoming one" was literally synonymous with peace. And there was peace. Until there was Odium. Odium's planet was originally populated by humans who followed him from Yolen. As best as we know, those people destroyed their planet. They tried to manipulate the fundamental Surges, using even the Dawnshards, and in the end it was too much for them. They delved too deep, in the Moria sense; they opened the Bore, in the Collam Daan sense. This is a facially probably story. I mean, storms, look at what Rashek did - and he didn't have a Dawnshard - and he was fueled by an intent to Preserve! Yet still, I question the historicity of this account which blames humans. I rather expect that it was Odium who was trying to use the Dawnshards to do things that even his Shardic power did not allow him to do - such as change the fundamental rules of the universe. He failed. In his failure he destroyed his planet - maybe even his entire system. He needed help. He reached out to other Shards, who mostly told him to go pound sand - they knew what he had done to Aona and Skai and Uli Da. But when he reached out to Koravellium and Tan, they were willing to listen to him. In part because there were two of them and only one of him and they felt they could control him. In part because they felt sympathy for Odium's desperate humans - Cultivation to protect life, Honor to support a ruler's obligations to his people. (This leads me to another theory about what happened on Odium's planet - which is that he intentionally destroyed it, in order to create a situation whereby he could con Honor and Cultivation into helping him. It doesn't really matter - Honor is dead, and Rayse is too.) There were probably other factors at work. Perhaps Odium had something which Honor and Cultivation wanted: the ability to forgive them for breaking their word and choosing to reside on the same planet together. Perhaps he had something else they wanted: a Dawnshard. Perhaps they had a Bondsmith and so they felt they could create a pact which would protect them. Perhaps all three. In the end, they offered Odium a deal. He could return his people to Yolen. They wouldn't be too much of a bother - hell, if Honor and Cultivation had managed to find peace between the humans and Sho Del, dealing with just a few more humans would be easy. They would take these refugees. But in exchange, Odium would have to agree to restrictions, for Honor and Cultivation's safety. He would have to agree to be bound on a barren planet next to Yolen and would only observe and interact with his people through intermediaries. Odium agreed. Odium's planet was brought to the Yolish system. I expect this was done for practical logistical reasons, such as because Odium's people did not have enough idea of the Cosmere to find Yolen in the Cognitive Realm. While they were about it, they brought in a second planet, one just as barren, which would serve as Odium's prison. Suddenly Yolen went from being the only major planet in its system, to one of three. The other two were the planet that Odium's people came over on, and the planet on which Odium now resided. These were positioned to either side of Yolen so that visual astronomy, and therefore travel in Shadesmar, would be possible. This might have made it easier to get the humans from their planet to Yolen - but it would have been necessary for Odium's intermediaries to continue leading and viewing the people to whom he was a God. It is quite possible that Yolen's orbit was altered slightly, so that both of its two new planets would be visible to the naked eyes of its inhabitants. Unfortunately things did not go exactly as planned. Whether by natural occurence, or by Odium's influence - and of course I am disposed to expect the latter - the human/Sho Del hybrid race on Yolen began to worship Odium. By a turn, the humans that came with Odium began to ally themselves with Honor. This lead to a conflict between the two that threatened to be just as terrible as the ancient conflict between the humans and Sho Del. Cultivation attempted to solve this conflict the way she had solved the last one, by creating a hybrid species between the hybrid race and the humans. This did not work. In the end, Honor returned to Odium and offered him a new bargain: the Oathpact. Odium already had his ten intermediaries who could move between his prison-planet and Yolen. These ten humans... perhaps they switched loyalties to Honor, just as the human/Sho Del hybrid race had switched loyalties to Odium. Or perhaps something even more sinister is going on here. I can hardly speculate. This resulted in the Desolations, the death and splintering of Honor, and the modern history of Yolen as recorded in the Stormlight Archive. This is because my theory is that Yolen and Roshar are one and the same. The world we know as Roshar was once known as Yolen. The physical evidence has mostly been subsumed under crem. The memory of Yolen has mostly been subsumed under the eons, aided by the Desolations. That is why the location of Yolen is not known to (say) Silverlight - but rather than calling it 'unknown' or 'lost,' Khriss refers to it only as 'shrouded.' Its shroud is that it is known by the world which replaced it. It is hiding in plain sight. I do not know whether the Sho Del continue to exist, on Yolen or anywhere else. I don't see any evidence that unmixed humans remained on Roshar - or dragons, for that matter - so it seems unlikely that unmixed Sho Del persisted either. It is possible that they dwell in the oceans of what we now call Roshar. The Tai-Na could be the original Sho-Del - but I expect they are more likely to be a cross between the human Giant Turtle and a Sho Del equivalent. However, you can see much of the Sho Del ecosystem remaining in the rockbud-and-cremling ecosystem of modern Roshar. Perhaps this is the Sho Del ecosystem as it once existed - the equivalent of what in Dragonsteel Prime was called the fain. I expect that the Rosharan ecosystem is a hybrid between the Sho Del and human. Human dogs and their Sho Del equivalent were mixed to create axehounds; crabs and bulls were mixed to create chulls (a straightforward portmanteau of the words "crab" and "bull"). It may even be that the word for the human-Sho Del hybrid is a portmanteau indicating its origins. Part Sho Del, Part Human: Parshendi. The Parshendi are the Sho Del/human hybrids that were created by Honor and Cultivation to be the sole inhabitants of Yolen from the Shattering onwards. They were the sole - or at least, the primary - inhabitants, until Odium returned with his desparate band of humans. These humans were given Shinovar, which became a refuge for both the descendants of the humans of Yolen and their customs. I expect the Shin reverence for stone derives from the Yolish period, as a practice that resulted from humanity's conflict with the fain, whereby clean stone was kept in rings around towns so that moss, a sign of the advancing fain ecosystem, could be noticed as soon as possible. As with much in Sanderson's work, reasonable practices of survival and culture were eventually transformed into religion, disconntected from its original reason for being. It began on Yolen, was removed from its original context when brought to Odium's planet, and by freak happenstance ended up back on Yolen - a Yolen so changed that it was just as irrelevant, and yet, like so much of culture, persisted. The planet known to Vorinism as the Tranquiline Halls is what is known to Rosharan astronomers as Ashyn. What is not commonly understood is that the planet Ashyn is not native to the Rosharan system. Neither is Braize. When Odium destroyed his own system, Ashyn and Braize were brought to the Yolish system. Ashyn was brought to facilitate the transfer of its people to refuge in what is now known as Shinovar. Braize was brought to be a prison planet for Odium: Damnation. In subsequent years, we have seen interbreeding between the human/Sho Del mix known as the Parshendi, and unmixed humans. This can be seen in such human genetic groups as the Unalaki and Herdazians, wherein the human genetics are more and most dominant respectively. Perhaps this was forced by Cultivation in an attempt to recreate her solution to the human/Sho Del conflict of eons before. Or perhaps it is a pure happenstance, resulting from the Parshendi being half human - enough, it seems, to interbreed. We have seen similar levels of genetic expression as to another species: the Siah Aimians and the Natan. This makes me wonder whether the Siah are a nonhuman species and the Natan a new mixed-genetics species, or whether the Siah are a mixture like the Parshendi, and the Natan a point between the equal mixture and full human rather like the Unalaki or Herdazian. Because of his partial shapeshifting ability but humanoid appearance, it would not surprise me to learn that Axies the Collector, and his fellow Siah Aimians, are a hybrid between human and the other species of Yolen, the dragons. The Natan people are the result of breeding between this half-human hybrid and pure humans - the descendants of those who left Yolen with Odium, and then returned from Ashyn. As the Parshendi are to humans and Sho Del, the Siah are to humans and dragons. Perhaps there is even a mixed dragon/Sho Del species - I would suspect the larkin, like Chiri-Chiri. One related possibility is that the planet Yolen was moved somewhat in space, like Scadrial was. This may have been done in order to better accomodate the sudden arrival of two new planets in its system. Or it may heve been done before that, by Shards trying to create an ideal habitat for its combination human-Sho Del ecosystem. In either event, it seems like it required a little tweaking - much like Rashek giving the North Scadrians adaptation to ash and its effects. Perhaps throgh magical evolution, perhaps through the hand of the Shards, some animals of this new ecosystem were bonded to various nonsapient manifestations of investiture in the Cognitive Realm - what modern Rosharans would call the spren of Shadesmar. This can be seen in greatshells who bond to luckspren, or in Rhyshadium who bond to musicspren - probably the result of horses who left Yolen and returned later from Ashyn. (Fans of the Giants series might see reflections of Minerva in this theory.) One derivative theory might be of interest. How did the humans get from Ashyn to Yolen? They could have crossed through Shadesmar. I have a hunch that they crossed through the physical realm. I bet that Ishar, whether or not using a Dawnshard, created a physical portal between Ashyn and Roshar - a kind of super Oathgate, the Gotthard Base Tunnel or Danyang–Kunshan Bridge of Oathgates. I base this on only one thing: crem. We know that crem was not always part of the Highstorm cycle. Perhaps it was created by Cultivation in order to provide an environment that would be adaptable to her new hybrid ecosystem. That is perhaps the most likely explanation. But another is that a physical gate was opened between Ashyn and Yolen/Roshar and was never closed. This maybe by intention, or by Odium's trickery (maybe their pact said "it will close as soon as the last person crosses," and yet one billion-ass-year-old person remains on Ashyn, thus keeping the portal open.) This portal is located at the Origin. Because Ashyn has been rather destroyed, its shredded topsoil keeps getting blown through the gate. It gets spit out onto Roshar, where the Highstorms then carry it across the world. This would explain why the crem cycle only began so relatively recently in the life of the planet. It would also mean that, at every Highstorm, anyone on Roshar could look up and say "Ashyn fell from the sky." A final point is that this implies that Adonalsium was shattered on what we now know as Roshar. I expect this is likely from evidence we have of modern Roshar. The Shattering caused a release of energy so great that its seismic effects can still be seen in the form of the Shattered Plains. Yes, indeed, Adonalsium was Shattered in Plain sight. The only reason the Shattered Plains are still visible is that their deep crevices drain away the crem from the Highstorms - otherwise they would have been turned into a simple field long ago, the site of the Shattering forgotten. It would not surprise me to learn that some of the great features of Roshar were created through cymatics back when the world was still known as Yolen. This could have been through the deific music of Adonalsium. It could have been through the non-shardic "gods" of Yolen before the Shattering as referenced in WoB. Or perhaps it was simply as a result *of* the Shattering. That great release of Investiture carried with it the rhythms, the pulses, of that investiture, which were so great that they created structures such as the Windblades in an instant. In any event, I expect it shall be seen that such features of ancient Roshar are in fact relics, not of an older Roshar, but of Yolen. (Woolheads might say that Urithiru is Rhuidean, but things like the Windblades are straight up Paaran Disen.) Finally, it may well suggest that Frost has been on Roshar this whole time. Perhaps we've seen him already. Or perhaps he's a Sleepless who is also a Kandra, okay I'm tired I'm a stop now. Thanks for reading. Hope you all went long on tinfoil stonks.
  7. Finished! Nine characters from eight Shardworlds! From left to right: Dusk from First of the Sun / Kaladin from Roshar / Vasher from Nalthis / Hoid from Yolen / Harmony (Sazed) / Khriss from Taldain / Shai from Sel / Vin from Scadrial / Silence from Threnody This piece is also celebratory art! Happy Chinese New Year 2016 (Year of the monkey)! At first I drew these characters mainly for an online fantasy magazine because they kind of let me (as translator of WoR) introduce Stormlight and the whole Cosmere series in their New Year issue, which meant I’d better add some festival stuff. So here it is - Characters from eight different Shardworlds wishing you a Happy New Year! In China, this is a popular traditional gesture when people give New Year’s greetings. It’s called 作揖 (zuò yī, in spoken language: zuō yī). When you do this, you make a bow with hands folded in front of you and greet others at the same time. Raise your folded hands and then lower them. The motion can be repeated several times. For men, they should use their left hand to cover their right hand (In ancient China, men tended to hold weapon with their right hand, so they covered it when saluting, to reduce hostility and show respect.), while for women, they should do it otherwise and it’s better not to clench the left hand into a fist (You can learn this from the picture above.). If you do it wrong, you will convey some ominous meaning. Please be careful # # # Heck, so many tags! Also seriously, I think we may need a Cosmere crossover art album
  8. So an artist on Reddit was doing Cosmere A-Z and asked Brandon if there was any character whose name started with 'x'. Source
  9. Dragonsteel is a substance that the Yolish Dragons seem to be able to produce naturally from their own bodies. Dragonsteel also sounds awfully like a godmetal. In the Dragonsteel chapters, the Sho Del apparently use it somehow in order to be able to reproduce and the short story, The Traveler seemed to imply that the substance could be used to view events happening on other Shardworlds (as Frost's eyes were rimmed with a silvery metallic sheen) Dragons are also apparently naturally immortal and shape-shifters, which depending on their method of doing so sound like they could be Investiture intensive. The former is usually a result of holding a high concentration of Investiture. The latter is true shape-shifting, not illusory. Dragons are not like the Mistwraiths & Kandra with messed up Spiritual Identity and Cognitive blockage and fooling your sDNA regarding your species is no simple Forgery, this sounds like it should require a lot of Investiture.
  10. So, no WoBs or anything, because I don't have my copperminds with me today, so I'll check The Coppermind, but there are dragons in the Cosmere. But what is a Cosmerean Dragon? By the deeds of Brandon Tropebreaker, I doubt that such dragons would be the winged beasts that we are all very familiar with in common fantasy. This is not common fantasy, this is High Fantasy of the Highest Order! So what would a dragon be? Would it have wings, be quadrupedal or bipedal (I think it's safe to say they are reptilian), etc? Share your thoughts on the Dragons of the Cosmere.
  11. Hey peeps. I'm working on this interactive cosmere fan fic thingy and I need swear words. We've got the classic Rust and Ruin, Storm off, and other cosmere gems but I need more. I was wondering if we could get a list of cosmere cussing in the comments (alliteration mmm), and I was wondering if you guys have any ideas what people from Yolen would curse by. Adonalsium? Just looking for ideas. In secret history Preservation seems to swear by the name Senna (whoever/whatever that is). anyway, comment your curses and other ideas down below. Thanks!
  12. In my reread of warbreaker I found this when Siri asks hoid about his story telling style With the use of gods instead of god could that mean that one of the shards was shattered on Yolen. Because Adonalsium is a single thing but could one of the other shards or something with closer power have died on Yolen?
  13. So finally got my copy of Calamity through the post, Brandalised of course. Now, the Weapon and the Shattering is a particular topic of interest of mine - My copy of Firefight confirmed that there was a failed plot to kill Adonalsium, and my copy of BoM confirmed that Adonalsium shattered because he was killed, thereby confirming that Adonalsium was a being that identifed as male. My reuest for Brandon this time around was "for information on the current status of the weapon that was used to kill Adonalsium, including the current possessor" - as far as I am aware, nobody knows where the current location or the owner of the Weapon is. That is because the Weapon no longer truly exists. The response I received was as follows: "The weapon was expended, and no longer exists in its original form" Discuss, my fellow Sharders!
  14. I received my copy of Firefight this morning, signed and Brandonised as per usual My request was "to tell me something about the Cosmere that has not been previously mentioned" and this is what I received: Signing reads "To Adam, Long ago there was a plot to destroy Adonalsium. It failed." So, what does this mean for the Cosmere as a whole? Was Adonalsium split due to another plot to destroy it, or, did it possibly split under his/her/its/their own free will? What position does this put the original Shardholders such as Bavadin, Rayse etc - were their conspirators in a plot? Or was their taking on of shards a way to preserve the power of Adonalsium, albeit in a lesser form? If this is the case, how did they become the Shardholders of their specific shards? Was it all by choice, as we know Rayse's was, or by random fate? What is Hoid's ultimate role in the Plot? Opinions, as always, are greatly appreciated! Happy reading all! Adam
  15. So my theory of the origin of hoid is. First we will go back to the list of partinel- an unpublished cosmere book, a prequel to the dragonsteel main sequence- there is this man named midius, and his master/teacher is named hoid. As we know from the letter "And do you no longer hide behind the name of your old master?" We can assume that the hoid we know is "hiding behind the name of his old master" midius' master is named hoid. So midius is the hoid we know today. In mistborn: secret history, hoid refers to himself as “Who are you?” Kelsier said. “I?” the man said. “I am a drifter. A miscreant. The flame’s last breath, made of smoke at its passing." The man is hoid. But what does he mean by "the flame's last breath, made of smoke at it's passing" I believe that this "flame" is adonalsium. Before I continue I must explain the background of the liar of partinel: the lore is that they had gods, then they died. Then the fain life (white fuz that grows on everything. It is okay to breath in, but if you eat it it is poisonous and you will die. There are places called trune circles, Where people can live and fane won't come in) grew from their bodies. So I am thinking that midius is slightly different from hoid. I am thinking that midius took up the power of adonalsium saved yolen. Then the 16 came and disagreed with him. “Aaah . . .” Fuzz said softly. “I had thought that when he rejected the rest of us, he would stop interfering” (Fuzz is preservation) “I should know better than to trust an implication from him. Half the time you can’t trust his outright promises” So midius took up the power of adonalsium. Then the 16 came, had a disagreement with him. Made him promise something. Then he broke his promise, then the 16 were forced to shatter him. The 16 got his powers, but a form of cognitive shadow was left over. This cognitive shadow is the hoid we know. And now hoid is possibly trying to reform adonalsium. And get his powers back.
  16. We know that Hoid has access to several systems of Investiture, and that among these are Feuchemy and Lightweaving. Now, that fact that he seems to have Feruchemy is particularly interesting. As far as we know, Feruchemy cannot be obtained later in life- you must be born with it. It stands to reason, then, that Hoid was born with this ability, and, frankly, there's no reason to think he wasn't. After all, the raw material from which the Shards, and hence magic, come- Adonalsium- existed on Yolen at some time in the past. When the shards went to other worlds, they brought systems of magic with them. Lightweaving is also interesting, as the Lightweavers were apparently also an order of Knights Radiant, and both apparently have similar abilities. It seems unlikely that this is a coincidence. Once again, the KR are associated with a Shard, Honor in this case, and once again that shard, or a form of it, seems to have existed on Yolen when Adonalsium was there. Given these facts, I propose that before the shattering of Adonalsium, all the systems of magic we now have scattered throughout the cosmere were present on Yolen. Allomancers, Awakeners, users of the Dor- you could find all of them there. I suspect, of course, that magic on Yolen will not look exactly like the magic in any of the books. They would have known about the interactions between the systems and probably a bit about the underlying Realmatic theory. And since the shattering, you have gotten things such as the Dor that are strongly linked to new physical location of the Shards. The Yolenites woulds probably have viewed them not as separate systems of magic, but all parts of a single whole that could be controlled to various ends. Essentially, if having a single Shard on a world, and that lets you use magic, how can having all sixteen of them on a single world not let you use magic? Hoid seems to know a great deal about the interactions of systems of Investiture. Where did he learn this? I suspect he learned much of it on the world of his birth, where such things were studied and known about- Yolen.
  17. So we recently found out that the essay prefacing the White Sand sections in AU referred to Autonomy as "she" and thanks to some intrepid sharders like emailanimal we recently got this WoB on Reddit: This has lead to discussion in a few threads that she might be a Dragon or another non-human shapeshifter since she has so many male and female personas spread across the Cosmere. I would like to argue that instead her MO can be explained by her being or having been a Yolish Lightweaver. This doesn't preclude her from being a Dragon or a member of the third sentient race on Yolen of course, since we don't know what the requirements for initiation into investiture was back there. But she could also be a human. Consider what the two Lightweavers we know best actually do, not in the specifics of their magic but what they use it for: Shallan has used it to both make her self look more impressive and to create and use the persona of Veil. Hoid has shown up as a beggar, a smuggler, an informant, a storyteller, and two different flavors of court jester. Both have used only human personas so far, and always the same gender ones but I don't necessarily think this is limit of the power as opposed to how the two have thus been seen using it. And this bent towards using their powers of illusion and disguise in a way to become someone/something they are not may refer to an innate mindset that Hoid referred to in WoR as "the nature of lies" and Pattern's very nature as "liespren" supports.This is why even the times we have seen Hoid use more mundane methods for disguise I believe underpinning them is still this mindset that seems to come from being a Lightweaver. The WoB says Bavadin has a gamut of personas to the point where multiple pantheons are just her in different guises. To me this seems like the Lightweaver penchant for being able to become someone else, even multiple someone elses!, taken up to deific levels. Her still having/using lightweaving is irrelevant since from Ruin becoming Reen in HoA we know Shards can change how they appear to mortals even if the Vessal is not a natural shapeshifter. What matters is that her being/having been a Lightweaver means she understands the nuts and bolts of running all these various personas of her across the Cosmere (again the whole Nature of Lies thing). This also may explain the animosity Hoid has towards her, he explained why he's against Rayse: he finds him to be an evil man given a power that makes him even more evil and destructive. But never really touches on Bavadin in the letter to Frost besides mentioning her. But if she was another Yolish Lightweaver who used her powers in a way Hoid found to be at odds with his belief on how they should be acting. Well, that's one of the few things in the Cosmere that might really upset him: one of his own turned bad.
  18. Have we ever gotten a WoB about who else knows about the Shattering besides the 16 original shard holders, Harmony, and Hoid? I know he has said that Khriss is the most knowledgable and that Nazh knows approximately as much as Hoid but does that include the Shattering? I can't see how it would, since I doubt K or N are in contact with a Shard Holder and I doubt Hoid gives that info away. And how much do the natives of Yolen know about the Shattering? I would imagine that the destruction of a god would be a notable event but we have heard nothing from other Yolenites (Yoleners?).
  19. Hello! This theory have been in my mind for a very long time.ing First question: Who is Hoid? He is a Worldhopper from Yolen that is pursued by 17th Shard organisation. He also isn't a Shard, he has been present when Adonalsium was shattered, there are a couple of Hoids so it is kinda complicated, he uses magic systems from Scadrial, Yolen or Roshar, Naltis, he tried to become Elantrian. There is a very important part: HOID LOVES BACON Second question: What do we know about Yolen? There are Dragons and two other sentient races. First 16 Shardholders were from Yolen. Third question: What do we know about Dragons? Nothing (or I just don't know). I think he might be a Dragon, we don't know how the Dragons look. Humans look like humans probably. Coppermind says that Dragons can take human forms. What about "Small anatomical diffrences?" His hair is white, only old people have them, he is old, but he looks very well. I would say he is about 30. So what do you think of it. Is it possible? Please, help me to find out it.
  20. Please note the following theory will contain spoilers for the sample chapters of "Liar of Partinel". New Theory: Some, or all, of the original sixteen holders of the shards of Adonalsium were driven to Shatter Adonalsium because of Blarg! There are so many tantalizing hints and possibilities in those few sample chapters. If only all of the Cosmere books were done and we could know what happened! Ah well, someday.
  21. Bear with me on this (and cure me of my ignorance if necessary), I am rather new to the Cosmere stuff. I only have a big picture grounding when it comes to Adonalsium. If I am not mistaken the shardholders (less Sazed of course) are from Yolen. Looking back to Mistborn, it has been shown in the books that 'human' life on Scadrial was the result of a joint effort of Preservation (sorry, don't recall off hand his original name) and Ruin (Ati) to create this life. Presumably, all shardworld 'humans' were created in a similar fashion with, again, presumably, Yolen 'humans' being used as the general pattern but with subtle differences from world-to-world. Now, regarding Hoid specifically being able to have multiple magic adeptness (i.e., lightweaving, feruchemy, etc.) in conjunction with the comments above about identity. Hoid is also from Yolen (homeworld) so he embodies the master DNA, if you will, upon which shardworld 'humans' were patterned. Could this be the reason why Hoid is able to use a variety of magic systems from multiple shardworlds? In other words, if the sDNA of a person from Scadrial is required to use Feruchemy, etc. in the same way a key is required to open a lock, then could it be that the sDNA from Yolen is some kind of master key which is able to open the locks from each shardworld? If so, this would go a long way to explaining Hoid's versatility.
  22. Premise Thank youTempus for providing a Good Theory Template. The accepted version of Events is that some person, power or thing Hit Adonalsium, and it Shattered into the 16 Shards of Adonalsium. I doubt this. Hypothesis The Shards were Broken off of Adonalsium One at a Time. Possibly in an attempt to Make Adonalsium a Better Power. Chronology of Known Shards Odium The First Desolation was between 9000 and 100,000 Rosharan Years ago.[1] This translates to about 9900 and 110000 Earth Years.[2] Unfortunately, we don’t have a Timeline for When Odium visited Sel. Honor and Cultivation Honor and Cultivation came To Roshar together,[3] and they were there long before Odium was there. [4] This means that there is a Significant amount of Time Before the First Desolation. Endowment Endowment has only Been actively Returning people on Nalthis for a little over 700 years.[5] Preservation and Ruin The well takes 1024 Years to Refill, and has been filled twice that we know of.[6] Preservation and Ruin came to Scadrial together, and Preservation imprisoned Ruin in the Well as soon as they finished with Creation. Since the second Refilling, there was a 302 year gap.[7] So they’ve been on Planet for 2350 Years. Devotion and Dominion The City of Elantris was created hundreds, if not Thousands of Years before the Events of the book.[8] Shu-Keseg, the Original Religion, was founded after the Splintering of Dominion and Devotion.[9] Unnamed/Unseen Shards The Traveller/Space Shard We have a Word of Brandon that stating that there is a Shard that isn’t on a Planet. This shard isn’t the Shard that wants to Survive.[10] Tempus has talked about this and guessed that a Shard could only Stand being UnInvested for about 500 years, before getting Bored. (Note that His words are taken completely out of Context.)[11] Bavadin’s Shard The Shard of White Sand I can’t really Talk about this Shards activities Without Spoilers for Unpublished Work, so Suffice it to Say, that Bavadin has been on World for at least half of a Millenium. Probably More. The Shard of Survival Well. It’s been Surviving. We can assume that it’s invested in a planet somewhere, due to Brandon’s Comment about the Traveller Shard.[12] The Shardholders It’s possible that not all of the Shardholders were Human, Which means that some of them could have had a Longer lifespan than Normal Humans. They were all from Yolen though. and They all Knew Each Other.[13] Conclusion All the Shards have been active for Different amounts of Times. But if they were all broken off of Adonalsium at the same Time, then they should be Equally Experienced. So they were Shattered at different Times. Conjecture/Speculation Here’s What I think happened. Adonalsium was a Power on Yolen, Rayse, being a Crafty and Dangerous man, figured out how to Shatter Bits of it’s Power. He Broke off the Shard of Odium, took it up, and Left Yolen. The other 15, as well as Hoid, Figured out how he did this, and decided to Replicate it, to Spread out throughout the Cosmere. Aona and Skai both took up Shards, and headed off to Sel. Tanavst, being In love and Honorable, insisted on his Girlfriend/Wife getting one. They left together, and eventually Settled on Roshar. After a While, Odium learns that Others Followed his Lead, and Shatters Dominion and Devotion, then heads to Roshar to do the Same to Honor and Cultivation. He kills Honor, but gets trapped by the Surges and Cultivation. The remaining 16 learned that The Power and Intent of the Shard could Change a Person, So they Gave Ruin to the Nicest Person they could, Ati, and paired him with a Shard that could Balance out his Power. Eventually Endowment Takes up her Shard and heads to Nalthis. The other 8 Shards were also taken up and some point, and they left Yolen as well. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Possibilities are that Aona and Skai got their Shards, and Adonalsium kept Breaking, leading the Shardholders Forcing Odium on Rayse out of fear of it Deveolping Sentencee or Corrupting a Better man, As Ruin did to Ati. Rayse Blamed this on Devotion and Dominon, and Killed them References
  23. Reading over the Ars Arcanum in Words of Radiance, there is a phrase that I've remarked on many times, as have many others. In the bit about lightweaving, it states: Today however, I remarked just how important this sentence is, because of all the things it implies. I was blinded by the whole "Yolish" red herring - the chapters of Liar of Brandon's website made me go 'ah, yes of course it is to' and I never really read the phrase. But there is so much more in this one tidbit. The first important bit is: the most similar ability to the original Yolish variant. This implies a few things. The magic is similar to the abilities on Yolen. 'Most similar' implies that there are many other abilities similar to Yolish magic, more than a few It also implies the author is familiar enough with them to make comparisons. The use of the words similar and variant show that that Yolish abilities all worked slightly differently As a conclusion, I think this a strong supporting phrase for the "Yolen has all magics" school of thought that has been bandied about from time to time. BONUS INFO: The Ars Arcanum author is highly familiar with Yolish magic of multiple types. How else could they make comparisons, and speak so authoritatively? How could they qualify it as the most, unless they had at least a casual understanding of the majority of the others? If they visited Yolen post-shattering (and if Yolen is still around), then how did they know it was the original? This strongly implies the author is from Yolen, or has associated significantly with someone from Yolen. Our current leading Ars Arcanum author is Khriss, who is super knowledgeable but isn't from Yolen, and is many many years to young to have been on pre-shattering Yolen. Nazh, another favoured contender, is highly suspected to be from Threnody, so same arguments apply. It is of course possible that they were simply taught about Yolish magic. But it is interesting to note it.
  24. I get the feeling that Yolen was the "first" planet and the place where Aldonasium were shattered. All the original shardholders were yolish and the humans were originally from there. This feeling comes this: 1 - On the Ars Arcanun its is made some paralels using Yolish magic system as base. And it is called original system, if my memory serves me right. 2 - The original shardholders weer acquainted to each other. So there had to be a prior civilization where they could interact. 3 - The humans on all planets are a lot alike. It is granted that every shard that invested on their creation did so based on their preferences. But the end result looks like thare was some template to refer to. 4 - All the magic systems have the same underlying 'spiritual physics' that are somewhat customized by each shard influence. Your thoughts?
  25. Here is a quote from the 17th Shard Q&A with Brandon Sanderson last Fall (sorry, this is a cut and paste. So far I only know how to quote within a thread. I haven't figured out how to do a quote from a separate thread yet.): 'Aethling', on 25 Sept 2012 - 16:37, said: Brandon: The first planet with humans on it was Yolen. And here is a paraphrase of another quote (forgive me that I was not able to find the actual text and context of the quote, but I am 100% sure that I read itthis week): Brandon was asked about humans on shardworlds before the arrival of the Shard and Brandon affirmed that on some worlds there were humans existing on the world at the time of the arrival of the Shard. Assuming that these quotes are accurate and Brandon wasn't having a brain fart, humans were able to travel (presumably by worldhopping) pre-shattering. Any ideas on how this was accomplished? Obviously, realmatics was in play prior to the shattering since physical, cognitive, and spiritual realms and forms form the underpinnings of the cosmere. So, while Shard abilities may enhance the ability to worldhop, they do not seem to be required. The caveat in that statement is perhaps Adonalsium enabled any and all worldhopping pre-shattering and thus all post-shattering worldhopping is accomplished by virtue of the powers of the shards. What does everyone think about pre-shattering worldhopping and how it may have been accomplished?
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