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I wouldn't be surprised if there was a post like this already. I didn't find any, but if there are, mods feel free to move or delete this! So, i recently got around to reading the chapters we have so far of SP 1 2 and 4. And while one of them namedropped a Shard, the other two are still out, so I wanted to spark the conversation about which Shard's influences we're seeing here. Tess and the emerald sea: The different seas, the sorceress... Many people expect Aethers here, from what I've gathered. I haven't read Aether of Night, but it seems that the Aethers on this planet, if there are any, relate to the 12 moons somehow and are seperate from the OG Aethers? Which aren't from any shard as far as we know? Or are they? The sorceress sounds like she could fit Dominion, but tbh almost any Fantasy Villain could fit Dominion. If there's knowledge here that I missed and can be discussed openly, I'd be happy to hear it! Someone mentioned Pragmatism sounding like a shard name, and i wouldn't be surprised if Pragmatism would be a shard that coopts anothers system. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter: Virtuosity. Interesting! Both manifestations of the investiture seem fun, and I already love spirits. Can't wait to think about whether you could Bond them somhow else. It seems that the gift that Yumi has is not genetic, but it is rare. Similar to the Shaod, just randomly chosen? I wonder if it's something super weird, like, your genes have to be an interesting pattern. It seems that basically anyone can become a Nightmare Painter if they have the artistic talent for it, so that makes me wonder whether Yumi's gift could be learned too, I guess we'll see. And we'll see if the planet has these two sides or if there's more distinct versions of Virtuosity Magic. And whether you can take Spirits offworld! The Sunlit Man: The big one. Already multiple worlds being namedropped and appearing, Roshar, Scadrial, Taldain, Threnody... The people here are descendants of Threnodians/they are Threnodians. But is the magic? Nomad compares the sun giving power with Taldain, but we know this is a seperate system. @Miltank_drink wondered if the sun is the grave of a highly invested person or the site of a splintering. That would be super interesting! I don't think we've had the first part yet, but someone like a Godking giving up their life or being killed to set free their Investiture in a form like this would be insanely cool and also a great mythos for the world. The people on this world are certainly brave and ambitious, so Valor or Ambition being involved wouldn't surprise me either. I assume not all of Ambitions Investiture is near/on Threnody, but it's probably mostly in the same system. Makes you wonder which way round things happened. Did Ambitions power settle here too, investing the sun, and that lead Threnodians to come here/discover this planet? Or did they leave the Homeland, and ended up on a planet invested by another power, be that a Shard, Avatar or the grave of someone from another world? If a giant elder spren bonded with a Shard's cognitive shadow can dispense investiture, who's to say there's not a giant elder invested being (Spirit, Spren, Splinter, whatever) bonded to/making up the sun and perpetually burning and imbuing this planet. To funnel my thoughts and open discussion, here's a few shards I thought of here: Cultivation: Plants blooming within a day, then burning up again. Would have to be in a future where Cultivation is not fully busy on Roshar. Then again, we don't know she is during SA anyway. Valor: The pit fights, and Invested People being those that proved themselves in trial and get rewarded for it with power, that could be Valor. Living here certainly needs some bravery. I wonder if some Threnodians were searching for other powers to combat or reign in Ambitions volatile power, and found this planet. We (the readers) know that Odium wants Roshar as a training ground, i would not be surprised if Valor had a planet or multiple planets like these that they see as a proving ground. Maybe the Threnodians hoped to prove themselves, become chosen by Valor, and then return to the Threnodian system with it, Anchoring it there somehow? Maybe I'm speculating too much. Ambition: They're from Threnody. Ambitions is dead and chunks of it are in different places. Who's to say this small planets burning hot sun isn't from Ambitions power or invested with it? It could be a system fairly close to Threnody, but not the same system. Dominion? I don't know how that would work, but the Cinder King certainly seems dominant. If the IRE can exist outside Sel somehow, who's to say this planet doesn't have some influence from Dominion (and Devotion?). The Ember Knights with their red glowing embers, obedience to the Cinder King, winning in a trial, those all have themes of Dominion and Devotion too. Makes you wonder if the Ember Knights are Svrakiss, taking over bodies... Autonomy: She likes to put Avatars in places. Her main planet is locked between daytime and nighttime, and for sure the people on this planet have to live autonomously if you want to put it like that. Cities made up of individual parts that can break out of them, never resting, never settling to grow farms. So, what do others think, what shards could be involved in the worlds and magics we've been exposed to here?