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Welcome back, everyone, to the next installment of my ongoing space fantasy saga Realm of the Stars! For those just joining us, this is the third volume of a series I pitch as "Star Wars meets King Arthur meets Dune" and is the ending of the initial trilogy I have in mind (though I still have plans for more works in this universe!) - if you're looking for the Arthurian parallels, then this story's events would roughly correspond to Arthur's war with Rome. If you're interested in checking out the previous installments of this series, then Volume I is here, Volume II is here and some character portraits are here. And here we go! Prologue and Dramatis Personae:

Hell, everyone! MasterGhandalf here with my second-ever NaNo project (I sat out last year due to various real-life issues; in 2017, I posted the first volume of my ongoing space opera/Arthurian re imagining Realm of the Stars). This year, I'm doing a project I'd been toying with for a while in my long-time favorite genre, high fantasy. This one is deliberately supposed to be evocative of "classic" fantasy, but with a twist - where a lot of high fantasy takes it's inspiration from Lord of the Rings, this one is inspired by "The New Shadow", a sequel to LotR that Tolkien wrote about a chapter of late in life and then abandoned. Basically, the idea is that the "dark lord" figure rose again and was defeated for good about a century ago, but his legacy and a few of his minions are still out there, while the "good guy" kingdom has started to crack around the edges, with noble ideals giving way to ruthless ambition. Just because the dark lord is dead doesn't mean evil is gone for good. And of course, when human evil and supernatural evil meet, bad things are in store. And it's deliberately designed to have a lot of the fantasy tropes I personally love - intrigue! Adventure! Epic quests! Cool magic! Dark elves (long a guilty pleasure of mine)! If that sounds cool to you, strap in. Feed back, as ever, is appreciated.

This is a new writing project of mine, a high fantasy story entire separate from my "Realm of the Stars" space opera series. I also plan to have an update for that ready to go within the week, and intend to alternate chapters of both for a while!

I've always loved Charlie Chaplin's 'The Great Dictator' speech. Just heard a version of it with Hans Zimmer's Time (from Inception) playing in the background. Give it a listen. Whether or not you've heard it before, give it a listen. Now. That is an order Right here. Right now. No delays. (Note - the link SHOULD take you to the last 5 minutes of a 33 minute video. It's a list of 10 speeches. They're all good, but it's the one at the end you need to listen to. Hopefully the link works and it jumps you to the right spot).

Hello. Its been awhile since I posted on this forum. I decided to get back on here after reading Elantris and watching a couple of Sanderson's interviews that inspired me to keep on writing. It sounds weird but how Sanderson studied Robert Jorden, I am studying Sanderson's writing and consider him a mentor that I have never met (Can't wait to meet him for the first time in Toronto 2017). Being 100% honest I am writing to a dream of being published by a company like tor; its something that I can not shake away but deep down I love telling and writing stories. Writing for me at this moment in time is strictly a hobby, currently studying Computer Science at Sheridan College. One thing I know I need to do going forward is read a lot more books. And books of different genres. I am currently collecting all Sanderson's books, wheel of time books and stephan kings novels as well to start with. I also need to start writing more often and also find time to write even during crazy times like exams. Well getting to the point of this post here is my idea for a fantasy standalone novel(no title yet, names and such will change): Elass is the most powerful and wealthy kingdom in all the land compared to the Elraz Kingdom and The Old Kingdom. This is due to their king, well partly, who turned the kingdom around after a century of war, bringing happiness, power and wealth to the races. After the century war the people of Elass have been drugged(Aether Ore) making them happy and delirium, because the king couldn't of just flipped the tables without a dark side. The king is running out of Aether Ore and the next generation of children will be free from the delirium and have magic- which the Aether has suppressed. These people are banished by the king, because without the Aether in their blood they can feel and see the wrong things the king is doing. All historical records have been destroyed, the people of the Elass kingdom are not allowed to leave except for the king and the king's army who know the truth and some have magic to. Also magic has been banned from the lands making it hard for The Old Kingdom which is the most magical land. Elraz Kingdom has an understanding of one another and hope to destroy The Old Kingdom together. To achieve the spread of this Aether Ore the king has put it into there water source. The moment you are exposed to it it takes a hold of you, gives you happiness and strength when you are actually very weak and ready to die. Plus you can't live without it once you are exposed to it. Here is a prologue bit that I wrote that has new ideas that I want to introduce like loremasters: PROLOGUE “Are you alright, sir?” a scrawny, malnourished servant asked walking over to the prince’s nightstand with a worried look. Gently setting down the tray of food the servant stepped back to observe the prince in an attempt to figure out what was wrong. “Shall I get the leech?” Searing pain laced through the prince’s nerves. Something did not feel right, and it was not the prince's throbbing hangover. He grabbed the edge of the nightstand and pulled himself upright. There was a clang as the food tray hit the floor, eggs and apple juice painted the floor. His breath got trapped in his throat as he fought against crying out. Beads of sweat broke out on his flushed face as he pulled himself the rest of the way up and glared at the servant, panting slightly, with his left hand still on the nightstand to steady himself. “Your hand, sir!?” the servant shrieked. Fear pulsed over the prince as he to noticed a purple symbol glowing on his wrist. He stumbled forward letting go of the nightstand. With one foot in squashed egg his right foot snagged his bed clothing sending him to the floor. Not knowing what to do the servant just stood staring at the fallen prince still shocked at what had just happened. W-what's happening to me? The prince asked himself with no answer to follow up. This was not normal in the Kingdom of Elass, the prince was a human which meant the strange and unknown were not supposed occur. Humans were none magic folk unlike the elves and gnomes in the faraway kingdoms. The only magic that occurred in the human kingdom was with the Loremasters. The prince would be accused of using magic; making him an enemy in the eyes of his father and the public, even if he was the prince and only heir to the throne. The prince knew he would have to deal with that servant soon enough. He could not afford to allow the servant to gossip about this… event to others in the castle. Just another issue on top of another issue. At least this issue is far worse than yesterday’s issue of not being able to beat Sir Will in sword combat. The prince's father was so angry at him, said he had failed him as a son and disgraced his kingdom for losing to a mere knight. At this very moment though all that seemed little, there were ancient symbols still carving into the skin of the prince and the pain was unbearable. With one swift motion the prince threw off his nightgown and watched in horror as purple glowing symbols slowly curved their way up his right arm. So there you have. A bad plot followed by bad writing. I would love to hear your thought. What you think about the plot. How my writing can be improved and such. If this is not the place to ask such questions well, ignore what i asked and move on Also who here is excited for Stormlight 3?

I love the reckoners series, and it completely became one of those ideas I so wished I had come up with. Because of this, I started making lots of fan epics, and some of them are pretty cool in my opinion.

I realized that Megan doesn't have an Epic name. Firefight is the Epic from another dimension, so she has no Epic name. I propose Phoenix. Thoughts?

I was thinking about how some Epic technology is visually similar, like the tensors (the real ones) and the rtich (mercury manipulation). So, could there be technology with interchangeable motivators, so you could change which powers you had at a time?

I've always wondered if all epics are gifters but just choose not to gift. I mean, what about being psychotic makes you want to give your powers to someone else? It just seems like we've got a lot of unwilling test subjects and so we can't prove a negative (like some of them can't gift). Do we even have any evidence other than David's word that there are epics that can't gift?

I have 2 theories about the weakness. 1. His fear is a world completely destroyed by epics. If this is true, to stop Prof the epics have to completely destroy everything. 2. His fear is Tia dying and/or becoming an epic. I have lots of evidence for this. a. In Firefight he only changes the frequency/password to Tia's and his own mobile, because he is "paranoid". b. His friends all became epics. He might be scared that Tia will as well (or has she already?) c. They were dating, people. 'Nuff said. d. He gives Tia the job of staying back and not getting into danger. If this theory is true, Tia has to die or become an epic for the Reckoners to bring back/kill Prof. For more info, check out my Tia theory on the introduce yourself! forum.

So, since we learn from the first two chapters of Calamity that (spoilers for safety) I'm wondering what Knighthawk's powers are. From other threads I gather that the mobiles are Epic tech, probably gained from Knighthawk himself. So he likely has some form of telepathy. I would like to suggest that he has reverse gifting: He has the Epic powers of all the Epics around him, synthesized by keeping Epic mitochondrial DNA around him constantly.

Did anybody else notice the suspicious little blurb about Prof's dislike of contests? Before Calamity, he even refused to put a quarter in a slot machine. I wonder if this could be a clue...

If David gets Rended in Calamity, (or if his rending actually took permanent effect in Firefight), what powers/weaknesses would he have? Would he have water powers, with a fear of sharks? (As in Firefight) Would his weakness be a fear of murdering innocents? (His thoughts of killing Sourcefield after she turns normal) Will he have a cliché of not wanting his frends to die? Or will it involve his incredibly bad metaphors? Post your ideas about his powers/weaknesses below.

"The depths had claimed me as one of their own. And though I've pushed them back, I still bear their hidden scar. They insist that they will have me again." ​ So as we can see in the prologue for Calamity, David still "bears the scar" of Calamity. This probs means that David will be a full blown Epic sometime in the book. Any thoughts?​​

It has been mentioned multiple times throughout Steelheart and Mitosis that David has been able to identify Epics easily. I don't have an exact reference, but I believe that it was mentioned in the Prologue of Steelheart and in Mitosis that he had an uncanny ability to be able to identify if an individual was an Epic through "their bearing and the way they walked." However, multiple times throughout the entire series, Prof gifts to David. It has also been mentioned that David was able to figure out and master the tensors better than anyone else. This led me to consider his secondary ability: being able to use or perhaps even "steal" other Epic powers. In essence, I think that David has two powers: to identify and utilize the powers of Epics.

(Mitosis and Firefight spoilers) From Firefight, we learn that Epics like Mitosis had been flocking to Babylon Restored to seek Regalia and get a power boost. When an Epic is confronted with his/her weakness, their powers simply stop working, and they become human again. However, in Mitosis, we could see how his weakness, his own music, was directly affecting him, "melting" his clones, which we have never seen a weakness actually "killing" an Epic. Basically, my theory is that the more powerful an Epic, or if they get a power supplement, the more vulnerable or affected they will be by their weakness. Laws of equilibrium still apply to even Epics.

A random thought came across my mind during my reread of Firefight. The fact that Val seemed extremely irritable and cold all the time stuck out to me as the effects of an Epic using her powers. Just random speculation with no actual concrete evidence, but maybe we can hope for a reappearance in Calamity!

Being fans of Brandon Sanderson, we suffer a terrible curse even as we enjoy his blessings. The author we adore creates brilliantly, breathtakingly well-designed worlds. We fall in love with his worlds. We wish to explore them to the fullest extent. We wish to see more of them than even his prolific novel-writing can sate. One world that I and many others have fallen in love with is the world of the Reckoners. If you're on this board then you've likely read at least Steelheart; I think we've all gaped in awe at the vividly realized world of heroes and tyrannical supervillains that Sanderson weaved for us. To be honest, my heart fills with sadness whenever I contemplate how we will only be treated to three total novels set in this world. I weep at the thought of how much of the Reckoners' world must by necessity be forever unseen. Darn it, Kobold, I hear you saying, why are you depressing us? Why are you pointing out these sad, sad things! Well my friends, I am saying them because I've been doctoring my melancholy with a vivid fantasy that I'd like to share with you: "The Illustrated Guide to Epics." Great authors like Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin put out compendiums detailing the histories and landscapes of their worlds. What if Brandon Sanderson created a similar compendium of the Reckonerverse? While his massive workload might very well prohibit this, I can't help but give a wistful sigh at the idea. (And rest assured I'd lay down good money to read it. If you see this, Mr. Ahlstrom, be sure to tell your employer that I said that. ) A few things I'd like to see in such a compendium, if one were ever published: An in-universe point of view; the book could be written in the form of David's notes about various Epics, detailing both his categorization system and the amount of knowledge he was able to accumulate on them. Bonus points if his (in)famous metaphors are brought up at least once--"Obliteration melted San Diego like a scoop of buttery ice cream laid on top of a nuclear reactor while a giant hairdryer blows on it," for instance. A detailed map of the Fractured States, marking the territories of various Epic tyrannies. We know that Steelheart and the Coven at least laid claim to large portions of land; wouldn't it be nice to know the boundaries to their kingdoms, or to learn about the other Epic nations scourging the land? Bountiful information on the many Epics known to David. Definitely more detailed accounts of Epics we've seen in the books, like Steelheart, Nightwielder, or Newton, but I'd also like to see bios of Epics who are either mentioned only in passing or not heard of at all, such as the Snowfall, the Pink Pinkness, or the nameless Epics responsible for the destruction of Oregon. And last but not least, a general overview of how the world in general responded to Epics. Have all the world's countries succumbed to their tyranny? Are there still human strongholds in the world? Those are just a few things I'd like to see in an official guide to the Reckonerverse. Does anyone else have anything they'd really like to see?

So...Hi. Anyway, I was wondering what calamity was. It's not a shard because it's not part of the Cosmere, so is it just the first Epic, (who is a super-powerful Gifter) or something different? In Firefight, Tia is revealed to be a rocket scientist at NASA, (Prof and his friends take a field trip there) After, Prof and his two friends are revealed to be Epics. This raises two questions. One, is this a coincidence? Two, if it's not, why isn't Tia an Epic? Or is she? Anyway, I think that NASA is connected to it somehow. Did they create Calamity? Find it in space? Open a wormhole? (Question 3: Is Calamity Darth Vader?)

No, this topic's not about the Reckonerverse characters re-imagined in a kindergarten setting. (Though for the record, if we ever have that conversation I want to be a part of it.) This topic is for discussing a new WoB about Epics, and attempting to decipher what it could possibly mean. At the Reddit AMA, Brandon Sanderson was asked whether Epics could have children, and whether their children would in any way inherent their parents' Epicness. He responded like so: For a long time, I believed Epics were sterile. I believed this largely because of the info on Epic genetics we received in the first book, informing us Epic DNA is mutated from the normal human genome. I assumed that such mutants would be incapable of reproduction. I was, in a word, wrong. Not only can they reproduce, but their children can in some cases inherit Epicness from their parents. But how exactly does that work as a mechanic? Do they inherit the same powers as their parents, or do they gain new abilities of their own? Do they inherit the same weaknesses? How many Epics have sired or given birth to offspring since Calamity first rose? As a side note before I turn over the reins of conversation to you guys, I'd like to place my bet now that Night's Sorrow, long speculated to be in the final book, is a child, and possibly the spawn of two Epics. We'll see if I'm any closer to the truth now than I was about Epic sterility.

Epics are hot. And this time, I don't just mean Obliteration. Here's a description of Deathpoint: And here's Big S himself: So that's at least two different instances of Epics being noticeably more fit than a normal human being. From an out-of-universe perspective, I feel that this detail is meant as a reference to a certain trope from comic books, in which male characters look like they should be lifting weights at a circus and female characters look like Barbie dolls that have undergone extensive plastic surgery. What I can't help but wonder is whether there's also an in-universe reason for this phenomenon. Does whatever DNA-voodoo that goes on in Epic mitochondria affect their appearances somehow? Do Epics feel an urge to hit the gym more often than a normal human? Was Calamity a fitness nut who only selects people who fits his high standards, with more muscular individuals like Steelheart receiving the best powers?

Being involved with the Reckoner’s RP I did a lot of thinking about weaknesses, both for my own Epics and to a lesser extend for those of others. I always wondered if a weakness fits with what we’ve seen from the books. In those musings I noticed some trends, some of which can be spread across all weakness and with some it’s just that none of them go against it, even if they are closely related to the topic at hand. Naturally, the small sample size means a lot of this in conjecture but given that we now know there’s some order to weakness there might be even more. On to the list! The root trauma: This one is a given, the books downright tell us that these roots exist. I just want to take the chance to point out that in my opinion the term “fear” as used in the books isn’t ideal and if anything oversimplifies the matter. Looking at the known origin of weaknesses we know they always come from something in the Epics past that left a scar on them and not just something they just happen to be afraid of like spiders. Even more looking at Mitosis, the Epic who’s reason for being written was mostly to hint towards the fact that weaknesses are connected to their past, his weakness didn’t really come from fear. He hated his situation in life and it ate him up from the inside but I wouldn’t exactly call that fear. Just wanted to get it out of my system that I like the term (psychological) trauma more in this context. Generalization: Pretty much what it say on the tin. Weaknesses are connected to an event but can be triggered without all the details matching up. E.g. Megan reacts to fire not burning houses, Newton doesn’t need to be complimented by her parents, Steelheart didn’t have to be confronted by that one specific guy etc. A part of this is also that weaknesses can’t really disappear, the brand that Sourcefield was poinsioned with as a child may be out of business but that doesn’t mean similar drinks can’t be created. Lack of intent: From what we have seen it doesn’t matter what someone is thinking while doing something or why they do it. Only what they do seems important to triggering weaknesses. E.g. Steelheart had no clue what he actually did, when he pulled the trigger but the explosion still counted as his attack and could harm him. The compliment David gave Newton was obviously insincere, yet it still allowed him to kill her. External/lack of control: This is admittedly one point I’m less sure about and it might simply come from the lack of data points, but no weakness we have seen requires the Epic to think something or do anything specific, it’s always just something around them, be it an object, people with certain qualities etc. Always something they have no control over, which also plays into the lack of intent. Repeat: This one is impossible to prove and more something that seems logical. I simply think that if an Epic is in the situation that his weakness originates from, then his weakness should trigger, which puts a limit on how abstract a weakness can be in relation to the event in question. These are the patterns I noticed and I while again there is little hard proof but no Epic breaks these rules and they make sense with the theme of trauma/fear that weaknesses are connected with.