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  1. So it is by now no secret that I am a bit of an F-Tin addict. I’ve made probably too many posts about it, and have overthought it’s capabilities about five too many times. How much could one more hurt? Brandon Sanderson has a whole lot of different magic systems in the Cosmere, and a surprising amount have to do with senses in some form. Knowing this, I want to try to locate all of the possible supernatural senses that could be stored, as well as the possible preexisting senses that could be supernaturally given a boost through magical assistance. I’ll be going by planet, and seeing what is possible in each one. Scadrial Ah, home sweet home. I believe I’ve made a thread on this already, so I’ll try to keep it relatively brief. We have Allomantic steel and iron, where you could store that juicy 360 degree vision with Investiture detection abilities, which could be quite nice. You wouldn’t be able to affect any metals, but it would still be cool. I also doubt you could separate the metal detection from the 360 degree vision, but it would be cool if you could. Allomantic bronze works in much the same way, but I do wonder: would you be able to store sensing of Allomantic Investiture and something like sensing Feruchemantic investiture? The Sandlord has said that they are detected differently, but depending on how they are detected differently, maybe they could be separate senses? It’s a long shot, but I’ll take what I can get. Allomantic gold, electrum, and Atium Prime are odd ones. They give their own sense, yes, but they also do something else. Either tapping into Identity or Fortune, they end up messing with the Spiritual Realm. So I feel like they could be stored, but I doubt all of it could be stored. Gold Shadows could store the additional human+ maybe seeing out of their eyes as well, but with Atium and Electrum, if you aren’t storing Fortune, would storing the shadow do anything? Moving on from that weirdness, we have Allomantic tin and pewter. Neither give new sense, but they enhance preexisting ones. Tin enhances, well, all of em, and pewter enhances your sense of balance to match the increase in strength. Both can certainly be useful, and with A-Tin, you could compound, which would be pretty crazy. Now I come to a recent addition that I’m trying out. What of Koloss Sense? Powerful Soothers/Rioters have the ability to sense the koloss, and likely other Hemalurgic constructs they control, from a distance. Now, it’s been a while since I’ve read the original trilogy, and Coppermind is being not so accommodating, but I believe that they were able to detect the emotional state of the koloss, as well as the position that they were at. While one could argue that this is more of a telepathic link of sorts than it’s own sense, I would argue that it is a distinct way of taking in information about your surroundings, so therefore is a sense of sorts. This is a bit of a reach, but I have high hopes. Speaking of Hemalurgy, let’s talk about it. H-Tin steals senses, so that will certainly help give extra senses. Although, I would argue that, if you find the right bind points, you could steal an animal’s senses, such as the ability to see UV light, or infrared Vision. Maybe you could steal the enhanced night vision of an owl for example, but I’m not too sure if you could store that. Still, it would be quite interesting to see (pun intended). I’ll briefly go over some potential with Feruchemy, but there isn’t that much that I can see. Perhaps F-pewter would adjust proprioception, but I doubt it would really increase it. Past that, there really isn’t much that I can see that would add or increase senses. Nalthis: Nalthis, sweet Nalthis. Land of color and many different shenanigans. Let’s get the most obvious one out of the way. Lifesense. It’s what allows Nalthinians to have a faint idea about living beings around them, and with more breaths, that can be perfected. However, with the power of F-Tin, it can go even further! Storability is quite nice, and very possible. Now, there’s been controversy over the store-ability of perfect pitch and perfect color recognition. It’s an augmentation to a preexisting sense, but it doesn’t really seem different enough to be stored separately. But I feel like it has to do something for F-tin, right? I don’t know, maybe it’s me getting my hopes up, but I feel like there has to be some interaction. Sel: I don’t think there’s anything in Sel that could directly help, past maybe soulstamping, but at the same time we really don’t know much about the magic systems there. Threnody and Taldain I’m lumping these together, as we really don’t know much about either magic system. Maybe there’s something that could help Worldhopping Windwhisperers, but we just don’t know at the moment. First of The Sun Now we don’t know a lot about this funky little planet, but from what we have right now, we know that there is at least one aviar that can give you a new sense of sorts. I would interpret Sak’s visions as similar to electrum shadows in their storability. Roshar I’ve been avoiding this one, for a few reasons, but mostly due to the fact that I really don’t know that much about Roshar’s intricacies, and the lack of full exploration of all of the magic systems in the books certainly isn’t helping. But I’ll give it a try. The surge of gravitation theoretically gives at the very least a more honed sense of gravitational direction, from flying/falling about everywhere. Does it actually supernaturally increase that sense? Probably not, but it will at least improve it through use. The surge of transportation allows peeking into the Cognitive by Truthwatchers, but I doubt that’s really it’s own sense. I think it’s very likely that the Purelake spren sight works in much the same way, so I won’t be counting those. I also don’t think Dalinar or even Renarin’s visions really count, as they seem to be more of a cognitive thing playing with preexisting senses than a unique sense. But again, a more SA-nerdy fando might be able to give more insight. Now, Old Magic is a bit of a cheat, as you can get any extra sense or augmentation of senses, but it is also a bit of a bait, as unless you are really close with Cultivation, you don’t really get to choose what you get. We don’t really know how Old Magic works, but however it works, Cultivation calls the shots. Anyway, that’s all I can think of for Stormlight’s magic systems. There are many wild things you can do with em, but gaining new senses does not seem to be one of them. That just about wraps this megatheory up! If you have any new points to make, or if you contest some points that I have made, feel free to contribute! I am far from an expert in the Cosmere, just an F-Tin addict.
  2. I'm looking for inspiration for designing a magic system with philosophical underpinnings, a la Sanderson's cosmere, and I've come to the conclusion that the best way to find it is to read books (shocker, I know). I've read all of Brandon's cosmere books, which I collectively consider one magic system with many interpretations, as they all share the same philosophical foundation, namely Plato's Theory of Forms. I also stumbled upon the Prince of Nothing series and the subsequent Aspect-Emperor series by R. Scott Bakker, which has a magic system focused on leveraging logic and/or creativity to overwrite reality. Now I'm reading Dune while I wait for the third book of the Aspect-Emperor, which didn't arrive with the other three, to be delivered so I can read that. But beyond that, I'm starting to run dry on fantasy series with interesting magic systems. I've read all the cosmere books (of which I am now an avid fan), the Wheel of Time, R. Scott Bakker's series, and Harry Potter, though the last one is a bit of an interesting case in regards to magic systems. If anyone has any recommendations for fantasy series with interesting, unique systems of magic, I'd love to hear about it. P.S. I'm not sure if this is where a post like should go, this just seemed like the "miscellaneous" forum, so if any mods know of a better place for it, I would not object at all for it to be moved there.
  3. So, in short my question is whether there's any confirmation or indications one way or another on whether the lifesense of someone who holds Breath can detect the Investiture a feruchemist stores in their metalminds. For instance, if a firesoul left out a brassmind filled with a lot of heat, would that register to someone with lifesense?
  4. Watching the newest WoB shardcast made it apparent to me that there differing views on Shard/Planet Interaction. I want to get people's opinion on how I view it. I would post some of the WoBs supporting but I'm new and can't do links. WOB: asmodeus You've said before that a lot of the magics we see across the cosmere come from an interaction of Shards and their Investiture with the planets they Invest in. What does this mean practically? If Scadrial explodes tomorrow, will Hemalurgy stop working across the cosmere? Brandon Sanderson Hemalurgy wouldn't stop working, most likely, but it could. There are ways that you could make it stop working. I kind of mean that the Shards are an innate part of physics in the cosmere, and the magics that arise are an innate part of physics because of that. Like atium seeped out into the Pits of Hathsin, in the same way, these magics are just gonna leak out, and different places are going to affect them. You'll see Lightweaving happening in different places, and the way the Shard is interacting with the local... The way the Shard is is going to affect how Lightweaving is administrated in the various magics, but it's still gonna be there. Hemalurgy is kind of a similar thing to that. You will see Midnight Essence, you will see some of these recurring ideas popping up, and these are like natural parts of the physics, but they're influenced by the Shards on the local planets. I don't know if that answer, that's gonna be a really fun one for them to transcribe into the Q&A thing, because I go around in circles on that question a ton. Put this part in when you do it. Footnote: It was a really fun one. YouTube Spoiler Stream 4 (June 16, 2022) Other Known things: Rosharan Magics Ashyn Uses similar surges as the Rosharan magic system does today. The magic is now sickness based. The magic was not always sickness based. All of the rosharan system was specifically set up by adonalsium for a specific purpose. Shards can have investiture in parts of the cosmere that they are unaware of until they look for it. When aware of it, they can shape it in a way. "Shards influence and tweak certain Investiture, giving it a kind of spin or magnetism, but all Investiture ever predates the Shattering--and in the cosmere matter, energy, and Investiture are one thing" Scadrial was created by Ruin and Preservation but they didn't create the atoms themselves. My Interpretation: I think my interpretation is much like Argent's was in the recent WoB video, but I don't think he had all of the main points readily available to push this idea forward. While I don't think it's totally accurate, I think it helps understanding to think of all investiture and magic as particles for the sake of this. In any given spot you may have matter, light, gravity, magnetism, electric charge, magic (such as midnight essence or lightweaving particles), ect. With these raw materials from a location, magic systems are formed. I would liken it to how different communities would use stone vs wood vs clay as base building materials for their civilizations based on the materials available and the weather forces they see regularly, except on a galactic scale. While typically not cognizant, the shards (either the power or the vessel or a mix of the two) bring magic systems into being based on what is available in that vicinity and how those magics interplay with the shard. It may be possible for a shard to intentionally bring more materials to in area to allow a specific interaction between themselves and the materials to come forward, but probably don't do things more than that to create a magic system. For Roshar, we know that Adonalsium created the entire system for a specific purpose. While we don't know what that purpose is or how it works, if we think of the system as a singular thing it would make sense that the system has a specific set of raw materials. If all investure is just a part of physics then these magics would be part of the raw materials of the system. That may explain why pre-sickness Ashyn, post-sickness Ashyn, and Roshar all powers relating to those surges. There's something about the area that makes those magics more prevalent. I think it would explain it better than the surges are of Honor/Cultivation. That would mean that Honor/Cultivation had a hand in the creation of the unchecked surgebinding that destroyed Ashyn, and then also mimicking/forbidding it on Roshar. We know that Ruin and Preservation very intentionally made Scadrial by jointly gathering and arranging atoms in a way that subfused every atom with thier... attunement? We know that Lord Ruler and Fuzz at times have tweaked the world to have the magics play in their favor (creating mistwraiths, forming the Pits, or changing the metals used to include Atium). But it makes sense that it would be outside of their abilities to have it be "if you burn iron you can now lightweave", because lightweaving particles don't seem to be one of the materials that are readily available in that system. One of the talking points in the stream was that it could be inherent to the shard and that endowment would likely do breaths wherever she was, but that breaths may look different. I would agree with this based on this model. The breath, the magic endowed to each person at birth and the possibility to come back and be endowed with extra life, is likely an effect of how that shard's essence interplays with the materials around it. We may think of Nalthis as a place with a lot of the magic particles that power Tin at scadrial, and other magic particles that can bring awareness/ect for awakening. If endowment was instead on a planet with a lot of gravitation surge and connection surge maybe instead your breaths would help you fly and you could use them to forge a connection between things, but the mechanic of being born with a little and being able to pass them around would likely stay. Let me know what you think. Feel free to add ideas if you think you can support it or bring up some counter arguments. I just was listening to the podcast and I couldn't help but feel the ideas weren't fully fleshed out when Argent was talking about it, and it didn't sound like the other people that disagreed were necessarily disagreeing with the key points. Thanks all!
  5. Ugh, this is gonna be a kind of long post so thanks in advance if you bear with me. I have just started developing this magic system and have put some time into it so I hope you guys will like it. Btw, EC = extended consciousness The Ink : Ink is a black liquid/slimy substance which can be extracted from the bodies of Pages, a race which come in various shapes and sizes based on their environment and evolution. Ink is not made available to the public and only some specific organizations, hospitals, hunters and some other independent organizations have their hands on a large amount of this substance. And of course, there's the black market which obtain this through many means. The quality of Ink varies from one page to another while some age over time, some get destroyed over time. Even their compositions are different. There have been efforts to mine Ink from the fossil fuels take from dead bodies of pages as well. Sometimes, it affects the entire environment it is present in. For example, while being mixed in with the soil, it can react with a tree's 'Essence' or a plant's 'essence' and shape that tree and the environment into Ink-based nightmares. Only evolution can determine what it will turn into. But Ink can only be used by Humans who are the 'Plagued'. The Plagued are a small fraction of people who aren't that rare, and have an average ratio of being 4/10 people. A unspecified time period ago, a disease or 'parasite' had gone in rampage and had taken over the entire population of the nation in a plague. This plague left some evolving immune to the parasite while others evolving with it. Over time, the parasite which evolved within them became an 'extended consciousness' of the person which can also emotionally influence a person while having a physical form which is attached to the backbone. The people who evolved with it are the Plagued. The Plagued when awakened through a traumatic experience or being exposed to a large amount of Ink, have to make a pact with their 'parasite' in order to make it not control them and lend them power. This is because up until that time, it had been living in the body without any restrictions so you have to ask it's 'Name' and make it submit. While this happens, the user's body is in a state of trance while they interact with the EC. Their parasite builds up and releases particles called the 'Essence' which helps in bending the Ink and using it to your will. When an individual/living organism is exposed to large enough amounts of Essence without any protection or even with protection of Essence, it starts to succumb and decompose into biological dirt. An individual's Essence can either be aggressive, malicious, defense etc. depending on the person and how their thoughts are being influenced by the EC. People who use Ink with their Essence are called 'Inkcasters'. An Inkcaster can only have one primary 'ability' as their Essence cannot be freely manipulated into various abilities since it has only limited memory. There are 4 categories of Essence within Inkcasters which the different variants of Parasites forces upon them : Augmenting : The Essence is closed to their body and when Ink is exposed, with the right training and talent, they can enhance their physical capabilities and their body. Due to the Essence being close to the body, it imposes extreme fatigue or muscle pain if used too much. Sometimes, this can even result in breaking of body parts. Shaping : Their Essence are surrounding them in an amoeba kind of shape which is not absolute or fixed. They can shape their Aura into things or shapes and use them in battle. For example, an individual can turn his Ink into threads and create various techniques out of it. Due to them being around the body, it severely affects the brain and can cause headaches and migraine if used too much without any protection. It even affects the senses sometimes. Enhancing : They have a sticky Essence which can be used on other objects and stick their Ink on it in order to use it in combat. This can be done in many ways. But in order to expel the essence, the EC takes control of the sweat glands. So while they fight, they have to worry about their body temperature increasing and them getting hot. Manipulation : They have a constantly moving/bending Essence which can be used to manipulate and alter the properties of Ink. This ability can also be used on Ink imposed/Ink-made objects if it doesn't have anyone else's Essence on it. If used too much or a high amount, it can lead to them giving in to their parasite and their thoughts being manipulated more and more until they can't think of anything to do during battle. There are also 7 different substances which can be mixed with the Ink using the Essence to activate in order to get varying effects. Right now I haven't decided on these 7 substances so I'll put that aside. (Even though slight help would be cool) There are tattoos too, where the Ink can be used to make tattoos in order to increase the Essence output and efficiency but is dangerous. An Inkcaster can create and form their ability from their respective categories with great training and patience while also putting up with the parasites. (Sometimes the EC can be annoying because they are literally you talking to you) But what I wanted to say from this post is that, I have been thinking of variants of parasites which fall into a category between any 2 categories. Which is having a primary category but their essence also has a sub category of the other. And since there are 4 categories (visualise a square), It will be an equal chance for any category to have a sub-category from any other category (inspiration from HxH but it's a square lol). I have thought of this, but I can't seem to create limitations like I did for the 4 categories for the Primary/Sub-categories. I think it's a cool idea since having variants of parasites which will be able to draw from both categories opens up a variety of possibilities of both abilities and strengths. But I cannot find a way to impose limitations on these. Do you guys have any idea as to how to impose these limitations? Also, which category of Inkcaster would you guys like to be? What do you think of this system as a whole? Once again, thanks! It would be a really great help if you comment down what you think!
  6. Hey! So I've made a bunch of outlines and the magic in them always seems, somewhat subpar so I'm going to post them here and see what other people think and would change. There one aspect of Sanderson's magic systems that I love and it's the fact the almost everything could be explained once the magic was understood. Like every bit had a purpose. And I want to add that aspect(or at least to some degree) to my magic systems. So here we go! In Predan the world is Destoryed, Fragmented. Full of islands in the sky ranging from the size of a small room to a large city. The higher islands are the most vibrant colors are. The lower they are the more monochrome. Magic here has 2 systems, One internal the other external, Not sure how I'm going to explain that one either. The First is Fragments(internal), the second is Base Magic called Attributes. Fragments are little stones from a ______(structure) That was destroyed long ago. Each stone grants a certain power. Like a Pigmentation Fragment lets you change the color of your skin and clothes letting you camouflage. There are hundreds more but few discovered so far. Once someone with a fragment dies, the fragment reappears in the original place it was found. Most people can only take one fragment, though there are a few who can take 2 and even fewer who can take 3. They are absorbed by "Drinking" them in. They are stones but as soon as someone starts to "Drink" then it will flow like water. A lot of the world is focused on Fragments because the world was "Fragmented" and everyone who wants power searches for "Fragments" etc. The second one, Attributes(external), are kind of like enchanted items. There are a few people who can create them, they are called Mystics. They are as frequent as allomancers in Mistborn. They can create these attributes. Each Attribute item is shaped like a ball and has to be rolling on skin in order to activate. People use gloves with dials on the back to keep the item rolling. There are different Attributes but the most common ones are flight(in order to get across islands), Sense to improve sight smell hearing etc, Strength, and Thought(mostly used by nobles to give them an upper hand). I'm not super stuck on these so if you guys have some better ideas I'm super open to them. You can also only use one attribute at a time. if you try to use 2 the second one will be destroyed. Ask me if there's something u don't understand too.
  7. Ok so I've been keeping these in my pocket for a while now. I've created four color-based magic systems and three worlds one is known as Fictiki the other is called Callain and the finale one is called Shapara I've included a spoiler for each world with three sections: magic, world history/culture and curses/sayings (because curses are fun) Callain (name pending) Fictiki Shapara (name slightly less pending) Also 900th topic in CC woowoo
  8. So this is my very first post on this site. I just wanted to throw this magic system out there for people to see and get their thoughts on. This magic system was created for my first ever original fantasy story--Fantasia. Fantasia is an anthology series that is separated into different sagas. These sagas take place in different points in time, one book could take place in a modern time period while another book is set during ancient times, and another in the far future. These sagas also have their own characters and conflicts, all taking place in the same world but not interconnected enough that you'll feel lost, unless they're direct sequels to each other. Overview In Fantasia, magic is the manipulation of the elements. I've taken inspiration for this system from other series like Avatar, the Witchlands book series, and the anime series Magi. Since I've never been a fan of the whole "magical gene" story element that seems to be famous these days, I've made magic as something anyone is open to learn, like music and art. But like music and art, only certain types of people are talented and skilled enough to use magic properly. Before we get into that, though, I have to get into what makes magic possible--Mana. Mana Mana is a metaphysical energy that exists in all forms of life. It exists and flows through nature and within people. The specific abilities and strengths of mana differ from individual to individual, and are dependent on a number of factors, such as experience, training and innate skill. The manipulation of mana is not magic, and there are many non-magicians who can control their mana but can't do magic. Mana can be channeled throughout the body to increase the user's physical abilities, such as strength, speed, and durability. Users can cloak their bodies in mana to protect themselves from most physical and environmental threats. They can still feel pain, though, and feel sensations such as heat and cold. Mana can be used in its raw form--as pure energy. It can be projected from the body as pure concussive force, heat and light. Mana can also be used to create energy constructs such as shields, weapons, platforms, domes, or stepping-stones. These constructs can be summoned from any part of the user's body (arms, legs and feet). Experienced users can even vary the tensile strength of their constructs to some extent, rendering it soft and yielding enough to cushion a fall from a great height. All living beings generate the same amount of mana, though this differs depending on their species. As an individual trains in mana manipulation, their body's ability to generate mana grows, increasing their reserves. A person's mana reserves degrade with use until they are left weakened or even incapacitated. An individual can recharge their mana with time, food and rest, but this recharge time differs between people. Magic Magic is the manipulation of the elements. In nature, mana flows throughout the world and everything within it. Fluctuations in this flow of mana cause events such as storms, earthquakes and tsunamis in the physical world. Magic is the art of using mana to give commands to the elements within nature to reproduce these natural events. All magic in the world is connected to the six elements: four physical--air, water, earth and fire, and two spiritual, aether and void. A mage can draw upon these elements to cast different spells. For example, a mage using air magic can cast wind and lightning spells. The art of casting a spell is done by directing one’s energy to give ceremonial commands to an element and direct that energy towards accomplishing a particular goal, often through the use of incantations and physical movements. From simple snaps to complicated hand gestures, all movements of the hands and feet are used to harness the elements and produce the desired magical effect(s). High level magicians are capable of casting spells without an audible incantation. All creatures are born with an affinity to one of the six elements. Magicians have an easier time learning to control an element that matches their affinity, although even then it may take a number of years. Mages are not limited to the element they have an affinity for, and it is in fact common for master magicians to have mastered two elements. Although it is technically possible to master all six elements, it is very rare because of how much training is involved. Few mages have total mastery of their element, as they usually specialize in a certain part of it. If a user overexerts their magical capabilities too much, it physically takes a toll on their body causing them fatigue, exhaustion, dizziness or fainting. It could also cause their energy to be drained or depleted, leaving them unable to use their magic until it recharges, leaving them defenseless. If the magician isn’t powerful enough and don’t know how to cast them effectively, they will be unable to cast incredibly powerful spells. Aether Aether is the spiritual element associated with life and the heavens. Said to be the purest of the six elements, aether magic is the art of manipulating the substance that forms the celestial heavens and affects the mind. Subtypes of aether magic include light magic, psychic magic, illusion magic, gravity magic, and space-time magic. Air Air is the physical element associated with the sky and storms. Air magic is the art of manipulating air and wind. Subtypes of air magic is lightning magic, sound magic, and weather magic. Water Water is the physical element associated with both fluids on the earth and fluids in the body. Water magic is the art of manipulating water in all its forms. It is considered to be the most versatile element. Subtypes of water magic include ice magic. Earth Earth is the physical element associated with all things linked to the earth-from stones and metals to plants and animals. Earth magic is the art of manipulating earth and earthen materials in all its various forms. Subtypes of earth magic include metal magic, plant magic and animal magic. Fire Fire is the physical element associated with heat and flames. Fire magic is the art of creating and manipulating fire. Void Void is the spiritual element associated with death and the underworld. Considered to be the darkest of the six elements, void magic is the art of controlling the chthonic substance that flows between the realm of the living and the dead. Subtypes of void magic include shadow magic, bone magic, blood magic, poison magic, and death magic. So that's my magic system for my story. I'll add another entry to this topic describing some of the subtypes of the six elements, but this is the gist of it. Thanks for reading!
  9. Canolian magic: Daring: increasing someone else's bravery slightly Blatant: increasing your own bravery greatly Waring: increasing someone else's fear slightly Cower: increase your own fear greatly Breaking: decreasing someone else's mental stability greatly Divide: decrease your own mental stability slightly Killing: decreasing someone else's physical health greatly Sicken: decrease your own physical health slightly Will write Arogonian magic tomorrow sorry in the meantime time could you give some feedback on the Canolian magic Arogonian magic: Nonbiological telekinesis: can move any non living thing with ease regardless of its size or weight however the closer something is to being alive the "heavier' it feels and anything that is living literally can't be moved and will act like a incredibly heavy object Biological influence/minor telekinesis: can make a living thing move a little such as making a person stumble or trip generally people are resistant to thinking they are being controlled telekinetically things that the telepath considers dead literally cannot be effected Nonbiological Teleportation: can move any non-living object in your field of view to anywhere within your field of view or it can move the non-living object to somewhere that you can remember vividly. It cannot occupy a space that is not already occupied Biological teleportation/self teleportation: can move yourself instantly exactly a mile in any direction however you cannot come to occupy a space that is already occupied Other magic: Corruption/transformation more correctly called alteration: can make something into something else that is of the exact same dimensions and size as the original thing if used on living being it will give them the qualities of the new object with actually altering them in any way if this is used on an Altarus it will change their appearance in subtle ways as well
  10. Guest

    Ink based magic system

    Ok so a little bit ago I was thinking of a kind of magic system that revolves around ink and essentially the way it would work is certain types of ink do different things like there's bind-ink which sticks to anything that touches it until a inkmaker (magic user) touches it deactivating it or ever-ink which is invincible as well as anything that touches it so does anybody here have any ideas on the different types of ink and the way these magic inks are made? Inks: bind-ink, slip-ink ever-ink, mend-ink Never-ink, Day-ink bright-ink, Night-ink
  11. Greetings to all of you from México, this is my first post in the web. Maybe some of you have heard of Anima Beyond Fantasy. I'm in the task to write a magic system for each Beryl and Shajad due to their similarities with the Shards, just for fun. I want some advice, brainstorming, critique and whatever you can contribute to this. First, I want some critique about this magic system based in emotions, lets call it "Emotional Spectrum" due to a lack of a better name. It's origin is the Beryl Gabriel. Those who can use this magic are able to use the colors to fuel their magic. Each color is associated to a emotion and a power, you only can absorb a color if you are feeling the right emotion. The stronger is a feeling, less color need the magic. Red - Love - Make bonds Orange - Curiosity - See emotions and bonds Yellow - Hapiness - Increase and decrease emotions (Yes, I take this from Mistborn. I'm open to other suggestions) Green - Hatred - Cut bonds Blue - Fear - Make illusions Purple - Sadness - "cloud" of mental immunity Red: Love allows a Bondmaker (I'm open to new suggestions for names) to create connections between individuals. There are many ways to use this. A Bondmaker could link two persons to make them able to communicate no matter if they talk two different languages, or feel what the other is feeling physically and mentally. or know where is each other; could make a bond whit a group to communicate no matter the distance, or connect two individual to make one able to learn the skills of other. A Bondmaker can only "close" those trails but never cut them. Orange: Curiosity allows a Truthseer to see the emotions and bonds that connects people. When a Truthseer use this power the world around them turns greyscale and they can see the emotions like an aura and bonds like a threat, each one of the color corresponding to that emotion. A trained Truthseer can see more shadows of the basic six and with that more specific emotions. Truthseers are the only ones able to see through the illusions of a Lieweaver. Yellow: Hapiness allows a Emotionshaper to increase or decrease the emotions of one or various individuals. A Emotionshaper cannot increase and decrease emotions at the same time, and can't increase a emotions a person is not feeling. Green: Hatred allows a Linkbreaker to cut the bonds between people. It's easier to cut a feeling connecting two individuals than to cut the whole bond. Cut the whole bond needs a lot of color and an intense Hatred. Cut the whole bond means that the feelings and memories related to that bond disappear. Cut all bonds of a person is like to erase it from the world. Blue: Fear allows a Lieweaver to make illusions. The bigger need to be a illusion, more color needs. Purple Sadness allows a _________ to create a "emotional cloud" that prevent others from modify the emotions and cut the bonds of those who are inside the cloud. The bigger is the cloud, more color needs.
  12. As we know on Scadrial, Am I stating the obvious by saying that magic on Roshar obeys a similar system but with respect to your soul? The radiants access surge binding by adding to their souls literally fusing together with a spren. They go from various kinds of broken souls to better people. Old magic, the deals with the nightwatcher, often seem to involve an exchange. One part of your soul for another. Voidbinding accesses the surges by driving people slowly insane, damaging, twisting and deforming their soul. Odium seemingly consumes parts of peoples souls, twisting their souls in a manner reminiscent of Dakhor. Then he seems to return those parts of the soul with voidlight flowing through and around their broken soul. We might then label the Radiant surgbinding, Soul positive, the Old Magic Soul Neutral, and Voidbinding soul negative. Some might object that old magic doesn't fit this theory, you just have to think a little imaginatively about the Boon's and Curses. I know Av's father got a heap of good cloth. Perhaps the Nightwatcher gave Av's father the ability to weave beautiful cloth or knowledge about where he could trade or find cloth. The Nightwatcher in similar fashion offered things to Dalinar that might not technicallybe part of his soul. Perhaps, she meant that she could alter his soul so he could obtain such things. I know Brandon said old magic is suppose to be mysterious and without rules. I suspect that Brandon's desire to invent complex rules to govern magic systems is almost an obsessive disorder. I imagine he interrupts his children to ask why that unicorn has the power to run across water. Anyway, what are the implications of this theory? One implication might be thinking about the Unmade differently. Perhaps the Unmade's power comes from what they lack, not what they are? Nergoul lacks empathy, Ashertmarn lacks hope, Re-Shephir lacks imagination, etc...
  13. With no new cosmere books on the horizon, I thought the time ripe for my post-OB comprehensive magic theory. I update my iteration from two years ago to reflect OB, intervening WoBs, and the Forum’s endemic (but helpful) hypercriticism. As always, these are MY INTERPRETATIONS, not canon or even consensus. My goal is to show how cosmere magic fits together. No theory is perfect and there will be jagged edges here and there. Theory has text and WoB support. Speculation expands on and logically flows from theory but lacks specific support. The Appendix applies my conclusions to known magic systems. Please read the main body first. Topics: Cosmere Origin [Speculation] Spiritual Aspects and Connections [Theory] Perception’s Cosmere Role [Theory] Cosmere Thermodynamics [Theory] The Shattering [Theory and Speculation] Shard Magical Uniqueness [Theory] Assigned Investiture [Theory] Types of Magic Systems [Theory] Magic System Rules [Theory] The Role of Planets in Magic Systems [Theory] The Role of Shards in Magic Systems [Theory] “Pathways to Power” [Theory and Speculation] Conclusion Spoiler: Appendix – Applications and Predictions [Speculation] Postscript – What If? Cosmere Origin [Speculation] Raw Investiture pre-exists the cosmere. Raw Investiture spontaneously forms a mind – Adonalsium, an anagram for “a mind, a soul.” Adonalsium then creates the Physical Realm. Pre-Shattering, Adonalsium’s mind inheres in all Spiritual Realm Investiture. He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent – his mind is coextensive with his Investiture, and his essence comprises the Physical Realm. Spiritual Aspects and Connections [Theory] Brandon says Spiritual aspects are a mix of Connections and raw Investiture. Connections resemble our universe’s “quantum connections” and are not themselves Investiture. Spiritual aspects thus differ only as to their Connections. Each new or lost Connection changes that Spiritual aspect. IMO, Connections alone carry the information that defines every cosmere person and object. Perception’s Cosmere Role [Theory] Adonalsium’s cosmere is an Investiture-energy matrix that manifests to mortals as the Physical Realm. Mortals collectively perceive the Physical Realm’s physical and emotional forces as Connections. They interpret the Physical Realm through these Connections. Brandon says here, here, and here that cosmere magic is a “human construct.” Different planetary cultures perceive different Connections. Rosharans, for example, perceive the Surges as fundamental cosmere forces. Discrete cultural perceptions partly explain why each planet has a unique subastral. Cosmere Thermodynamics [Theory] Brandon says the cosmere generally follows our universe’s thermodynamic laws, but he adds Investiture as a third element to make the energy flows work. Investiture “is my get-out for the laws of thermodynamics.” Cosmere thermodynamics’ first law states the sum of cosmere matter, energy, and Investiture is constant and these three substances are mutually inter-convertible. The second law states the cosmere’s entropy never decreases over time. I believe the key to understanding magic systems is to follow each system’s energy flows. Our universe’s thermodynamics requires physical and chemical reactions to begin with an “activation energy.” Most magic systems activate with the energy from a magic user’s metabolic or physical processes: Allomancers burn metal. Hemalurgists hammer spikes. Selish magic users move (dance, turn essence stamps, stir potions, draw Aons, bend bones). Sand Masters dehydrate (burn water). Surgebinders inhale Stormlight. Feruchemy and Breath transfers (with or without Awakening) don’t seem to require an activation energy. These “end neutral” magics seem to rely on the bare Intent to perform an act of entropy or stasis (Feruchemy) or to transfer Investiture quanta (Breath transfers). That Intent summons a “facilitating power” from the Spiritual Realm to energize the magic and otherwise comply with thermodynamics. The Shattering [Theory and Speculation] Khriss hints the Vessels first kill Adonalsium and then Shatter his power (M:SH, Part Three - 2, Kindle Locs. 931-940.). Brandon confirms this. I believe the Vessels kill Adonalsium’s mind, his capacity to direct magic. The Vessels then Shatter the now undirected power into sixteen equal Shards. This WoB suggests the method: I speculate the Vessels allocate Adonalsium’s power by forging some unique Connection between each Shard and its Vessel. The Vessel’s “general intent/mindset” makes forging that Connection “way easier,” but aligning general intent/mindset to the Shard is unnecessary. Like with kind and generous Ati, the Shard always prevails. Brandon describes each Shard’s “influence and tweak” of Investiture as a “spin or magnetism.” I think this phrase refers to the Connection that distinguishes one Shard from another. A Shard’s “spin or magnetism” Connects the Shard to all its Realmic states. These Connections mark the Investiture source when Investiture, matter, and energy inter-convert. This maintains the 16-Shard balance. An April 2019 WoB says magic users can change Stormlight into Breath – Honor’s Investiture into Endowment’s. Brandon cites one method: “Refining the power somehow into a more pure form.” I think this method strips the Investiture of its Shard’s unique “spin or magnetism.” That undoes the Shattering as to that Investiture. If so, any Shard can now Connect with it. Odium can change his Shard victims’ Investiture into his, rather than merely Splintering the power. This is a big deal. Permanent Investiture changes like this would upset the Shards’ balance. Brandon should clarify this WoB, or we’ll all have to revise our settled wisdom. Shard Magical Uniqueness [Theory] DISCLAIMER: Posters often use the non-canonical word “intent” to describe Shard magical uniqueness, but that term doesn’t distinguish between the role of the Shard’s Investiture and the role of its Vessel. Brandon has yet to canonize any term to express Shard magical uniqueness. Brandon says Shards are I read this important WoB to distinguish (i) the Shard’s unique magic from (ii) the Vessel’s mind that directs the Shard and cultural perceptions of the Shard. I theorize a Shard’s unchanging “primal force/fundamental law/something...natural” refers to the Connection that marks that Shard’s Investiture, its “spin or magnetism.” The quoted WoB identifies Ruin as the “charged term” for entropy and Preservation as the “charged term” for stasis. This other important WoB shows Honor grants his magic “through the filter of” bonds. Shard magical uniqueness IMO stems from this filter, this primal force/fundamental law Connection, not Vessel personality or cultural influence. Assigned Investiture [Theory] The Shattering caused all Investiture to be “assigned” to the Shard with the same “magnetism” as that Investiture: “Assigned” Investiture to me supports the Shard Connection theory. Without these magnetisms, these unique Connections, Shards couldn’t track their own or other Shards’ Investiture after it converts into matter or energy. Autonomy couldn’t find “a gathering of [assigned] Investiture” to create Avatars out of. IMO, Physical Realm matter, energy, and Investiture always Connects to the primal force/fundamental law that creates it regardless of its creator, Adonalsium or a Shard. Types of Magic Systems [Theory] There are two types of magic systems: “interaction with nature” systems, where mortals interact with the magic but can’t direct the magical effect; and Shard-created “people with magic” systems, where mortals can direct the magical effect. “People with magic” systems appear only on Major Shardworlds, where Shards reside. They result from magic users’ “greater strength of access to the magic, and control over it” on such planets. I believe Roshar’s pre-Shattering ecology and First of the Sun’s Aviar are “interaction with magic” systems. Allomancy, Awakening, and Surgebinding are “people with magic” systems. (Some posters name such systems an “Invested Art,” following Khriss.) Magic System Rules [Theory] With some exceptions, I believe all known “people with magic” systems follow the same general rules: 1. Magic users Intend some magical effect. 2. Magic users in most systems infuse their own energy into the magical process to activate it. Feruchemy and Breath transfers – two “end neutral” systems – activate solely on Intent. 3. The magic system uses that energy (or Intent) to summon Shard power from the Spiritual Realm (or Cognitive Realm for the Dor). Spren-based magic converts Physical Realm Investiture into power. 4. The magic user Focuses that power as it Invests them or an object. 5. The magic user directs the Focused power for the Intended magical effect. Khriss describes the magic system rules of Intent and Perception. (AU, “The Selish System,” Kindle pp. 18.) A magic user must Intend to make magic. Magic is a deliberate act. Perception refers to a culture’s influence on magic. On Sel, “language – or similar functions – directly shapes the magic as it is pulled from the Cognitive Realm and put to use.” The Role of Planets in Magic Systems [Theory] Brandon says a planet’s pre-Shattering magic (its “inherent Investiture”); the planet’s culture; and the local population’s sDNA all influence a planet’s magic systems. Most posters including me believe Focuses derive from the system’s planet. A Focus IMO substitutes for the mortal inability to think a magical effect into being (like Shards can). Besides “shaping the magic,” a Focus limits Investiture flow and prevents magic user vaporization. I think all three planetary influences contribute to that planet’s Focus. The Role of Shards in Magic Systems [Theory] I think these are Brandon’s most important statements about the Shards’ magical role: “The 'role' of the Shard has to do with the WAY the magic is obtained, not what it can do,” “The means of getting powers…are related to the Shards, but not the powers themselves.” “Honor doesn’t belong to gravity. But bonds, and how to deal with bonds, and things like this, is an Honor thing.” I read these WoBs to say Shards have two roles in magic systems: They determine how magic users (1) access Investiture, and (2) perform their magical abilities. IMO, magic systems grant access and performance through their Shard’s unique Connection, its primal force/fundamental law: Ruin magic users Intend an act of entropy. A Feruchemist converts their attributes into Investiture. A Hemalurgist spikes through Spiritual aspects. Nightblood destroys evil. Preservation magic users Intend an act of stasis. A Feruchemist returns to their prior state (the status quo) when they re-convert Investiture into attributes. An Allomancer pulls power down metal’s static molecular structure. Honor magic users Intend to enter a bond. A Surgebinder chooses to enter the Nahel bond. Windrunners “lash” (re-bond gravity) to fly. Brandon confirms those three Shards’ primal forces/fundamental laws. I speculate in the Appendix what others might be. Again, I believe a primal force/fundamental law is the “spin or magnetism” that Connects the Shard’s Investiture to its other Realmic states, including to its Vessel and magic users. “Pathways to Power” [Theory and Speculation] Investiture energizes magic. I believe magic systems move that energy down inter-Realmic power lines. Marasi sees Preservation’s metal “pathway to power” when she draws Investiture from the Bands of Mourning: Metal is Preservation’s pathway to power (and Scadrial’s Focus). It is not Preservation’s Investiture. From this example, I speculate other magic systems have their own pathways to power. Pathways generally have these characteristics: They aren’t made from Investiture. In several systems, the magic consumes the pathway. In these systems, the magic ends when the consumed pathway ends. Like metal’s static molecular structure ties to Preservation’s stasis, each Shard’s pathway also seems tied to its “spin or magnetism,” its primal force. I speculate about each Shard’s pathway in the Appendix. I believe pathways differ from Connections. Connections convey information. Pathways seem to convey Investiture. I think “pathways to power” overlap with Brandon’s “natural pathways.” The latter seem to refer to pre-programmed Investiture delivery methods: This WoB confirms magic generally follows natural pathways “built around Adonalsium” that the Shards now influence. Even pre-Shattering Physical Realm manifestations of Spiritual Realm Investiture break Realmic barriers somehow. To me, it makes Realmic sense magic systems might funnel Investiture through a natural pathway other than perpendicularities. Conclusion Like you, I seek cosmere truth. How does this stuff work? Because we don’t yet know cosmere truth, I ask you judge my theory by a three-part “validity” test: (1) Is the theory self-consistent, and does it fit together on its own terms? Would Pattern approve (hmmm)? (2) Is the theory consistent with text and WoBs? (3) Does the theory predict how newly-unveiled magic will work? Precedent suggests readers will focus on the Appendix, where I speculate about individual Shards and their magic systems. If past is prologue, I’ve made many mistakes for you to correct. But I prefer you focus on the main theory, the “big stuff.” The little stuff like magic systems will fall into place if we can get the big stuff right. If nothing else, consider this post red meat during these lean times between books. All the best. C. Appendix – Applications and Predictions [Speculation] The Spoiler applies the magic theory to each Shard with a known “people with magic” system. EVERYTHING in the Spoiler is raw to informed SPECULATION. (Probably true of the whole post, really...) Each time I update a theory, you help me plug more holes – (cough) Awakening – but I feel this iterative process gets us closer to cosmere truth. Here we go! Postscript – What If? I urge you all to read Brandon’s short story Perfect State. Few posters comment about it. In a Matrix-like world, each live human participates 24/7 in their own virtual reality simulation. Brandon’s penchant for foreshadowing makes me wonder: What if 16 virtual characters managed to kill the one live person (Adonalsium) in their simulation? Is the cosmere now a self-executing simulation? When Brandon releases Dragonsteel, will its epilogue show Hoid nattering about a computer program run amok and the failings of postmodern art?
  14. I was wondering about this on my most recent read-through of Warbreaker & SA, because in Mistborn Era 2 we've seen that combining Feruchemy and Allomancy produces some really neat things; I wonder if we have received any confirmation about how other magic systems might interact. Also Hoid is living out his inner Ash Ketchum with Shardic powers so it's going to come up in the future. So yeah, Awakening and Surgebinding. Returned are, according to the coppermind wiki, Cognitive Shadows, however, as shown by Nale becoming a full Skybreaker, that doesn't exactly stop the Nahel bond from forming. Which raises a question: can a Returned become a Surgebinder? If they were to do so, would the different forms of Investiture combine, to allow them to go out into a highstorm with some bright clothes and start mass-Awakening big things? On the other side of things, if one were to create coloured illusions via Lightweaving, could this be used as a source of colour for Awakening? Speaking of Returned, could Type IV BioChromatic Entities become Surgebinders (imagine Nightblood the Windrunner, with its spren taking on the form of a person wielding the sword...)? Going the other way, could a Surgebinder Return? How would that affect the Nahel bond? Would their death cause it to break, and then they would have to spend time reforming it and reswearing the Ideals? Would the newly-Returned even remember their spren? Assuming that it can happen, we're presented with a number of interesting implications. If we fast forward to the more interconnected Cosmere which is coming in later Mistborn eras, it would be really cool to see artists try to desperately acquire a large number of Breaths and a Cryptic or Truthwatcher spren in order to become a better artist. Returned have a headstart by being propelled up into the 5th Heightening straight away, with all of the cool art appreciation features that come with that; a Returned with access to Lightweaving could conceivably create illusion-based 3D artwork with all of the depth and complexity that only another massively Invested Nalthian (or perhaps a Tin savant / relevant Feruchemist?) could appreciate. Add in SoulForging and you've got a seriously upmarket art installation. On the topic of SoulForging, if you spent time on Nalthis and Roshar, could a Forger rewrite your spiritweb to make it so that you became a Surgebinder or Returned? Or an Allomancer/Feruchemist based on a life spent on Scadrial? How would that work?
  15. So. I've been wondering about ways to create Shardblades using different magic systems. So far, there's the original, the Honorblades, which were made by Honor, and grant Surgebinding to the user. There's Sprenblades, which are bonded sentient Splinters which manifest in the PR and grant surgebinding. There's dead Shardblades, which are the Blades of dead spren whose Radiants betrayed their oaths. They have the same abilities of other Shardblades, but do not grant Surgebinding. There's Awakened Blades, such as Nightblood and presumably Azure's Blade. Since there are so few examples, the only common information shared by these weapons is the requirement of Ninth Heightening, and 1000 spare Breaths to Invest the weapon with. These are the known types of Shardblades, but there may be other ways to make one. Possibly AonDor could be used on a regular sword to give it strength, sharpness, and the summoning ability, however, this might only work in Elantris, and the Blade would always exist in the PR. Another method could be pulling a Seon or Skaze into the PR fully. So Aon Blades, Seon Blades, and Skaze Blades might be possible. Scandrian Blades would be different from other blades in that they would not be supernaturally sharp or strong, but they would grant powers and/or be made of Ettmetal, so an Allomancer's Blade would have a strip of Ettmetal in the sword, or an Ettmetal hilt. This could be used with Unkeyed Feruchemy to make the Blade itself a "medallion", and therefore give the user Allomancy or Feruchemy. I'd imagine the most common Blades would be Ettmetal, with unkeyed metalminds for A-steel and A-pewter. A-pewter would let the user swing the Blade with increased power, and possibly be put into the Ettmetal to make the Blade stronger. A-steel would push an opponent's armor and weapons away in a fight if put into the Ettmetal. These abilities might mimic an ordinary Shardblade's ability to cut through almost anything. A simpler option is that the entire Blade is just a metalmind, no Ettmetal involved.
  16. So right now we know Hoid has a bead of Lerasium , has done much research on selish magic systems and it can be inferred he has done research on and might have access to Taldainite magic systems as well. He also might be bonded to a Cryptic , giving him access to illumination and transformation. He has conclusively been known to have used Yolish lightweaving and nalthisian awakening. He also seems to use fortune and healing through some as yet unknown method , possibly through some pre-shattering magic system. He probably has access to other pre or post shattering magic systems as well. Let's just refer to these as Hoidbindings. So now my question is how many of these magic systems can he access ? How many of the magic systems have been bound by Hoid ? He has been implied to use allomancy . Is it true ? If it is , I guess it's due to his access to Lerasium somehow , right ? But he has been said to be a feruchemist as well . This I don't understand. 1). Is it true ? 2). Feruchemy doesn't seem to have an analog to Lerasium , although I guess u could alloy it with atium to get a feruchemy endowing compound ??? 3). I read this other theory somewhere that Hoid is the progenitor of all ( atleast all scadrian) feruchemists. Like ,it said that feruchemy was a pre shattering magic system and Hoid during his newly immortal ill spent youth had a dalliance or two with some women in Scadrial giving rise to the Terrismen. I actually thought this was true but after joining the Shard I realize it's probably false , right ? 4). So then how else could he have acquired or will acquire feruchemy ? Or is it a deadend , that is, feruchemy is totally off limits to him ? So this is my question . Also could u guys list out all the Hoidbindings he has in potential or in reality , pre and post shattering. Thank you.
  17. So, I've got a kind of "Fallout except in a world of magic" type of story going on, where magic is done via a language who's pronunciation has been lost but the symbols are still known and effective for casting spells- with the main magic users being people who study the grammar of this language to figure out how to combine the correct combination of words to make the magic go. Very much a "magic as a computer coding language" type system. Brandon's made some very excellent names for his magic systems and magic users, and his talk of "taking two words and mashing them together" has definite merit- the three metallic arts, biochroma, shard-whatevers. I just can't for the life of me figure out a combination that actually LOOKS good- some kind of combination of coder or scribe with glyph or rune? Maybe use enchantment as a base word? I'm just stumped.
  18. Has anyone ever asked, hypothetically speaking, what form Investiture might take if it were on Earth?
  19. I believe all “people with magic” systems – where mortals direct magic rather than just interact with it – follow the same basic steps. These steps reflect Brandon’s “unified cosmere laws.” A magic user: 1. Begins by infusing energy into the magical process. 2. Uses that energy to summon Shard power. 3. Focuses that power as it Invests the magic user or an object. 4. Directs the Focused Investiture for some magical effect. Energy Infusion Some energy infusion always begins the magical process. Magic users metabolize metal or Investiture, or they move, or they simply command Shard power to add “facilitating” energy (Feruchemy and maybe non-Awakening Breath transfers). Summoning Shard Power I theorize the initial energy summons the magic’s actual fuel – Shard power – from the Spiritual Realm (or from the Cognitive Realm for the Dor). The lone exceptions IMO are Roshar’s spren-based magics because spren transform Stormlight into power rather than summon it. Brandon says, “almost every magic in the cosmere [including Feruchemy] is end-positive, almost every magic is relying upon an external source of Investiture to power it [italics in original].” Focusing Power Every known magic system except Surgebinding grants a single ability through a single Focus. Radiant spren act as a dual Focus for Surgebinders. I believe Cultivation transformed two “natural” spren, each with their own Focus, into Radiant spren. Directing Focused Power The magic user in every system directs the Focused power to produce some magical effect. Application to Each System Following are MY INTERPRETATIONS of these magic systems. I feel text and WoB support these interpretations, but they are still MY OPINION ONLY, not canon. Allomancy – Body heat (or maybe stomach acid) “burns” metals to begin Allomancy. Preservation’s power, Focused by the metal, Invests the Allomancer. The Allomancer directs the Focused power to perform magic. Feruchemy – Brandon’s clear that Shard power “facilitates” attribute conversion. The Feruchemist lessens an attribute (increasing entropy) by summoning Ruin’s power and regains the attribute (returns to stasis) by summoning Preservation’s power. The Feruchemist’s metalmind Focuses both powers. Hemalurgy – Spiking is an act of entropy that summons Ruin’s power through the spike’s metal Focus. Ruin’s Hemalurgic power transfers a magic user’s sDNA to someone else. (Nightblood works the same way – killing is an act of entropy that summons Ruin’s power through Nightblood’s metal Focus. This power allows Nightblood to “destroy evil.”) Awakening – I believe Awakening drains Investiture from colored objects, not color itself. “Color” is the eye’s perception of reflected light. IMO, Nalthis' electromagnetic radiation (EMR) holds Investiture. Colored objects absorb the Invested photons that aren't reflected as color. The drained Investiture provides the energy to summon Endowment’s animating power. I believe absorbed photons are Invested because the drained objects turn gray – like from a Shardblade cut, Azure’s Shardblade, and Nightblood’s drain on his holders, all of which involve Investiture loss. Awakeners Focus the animating power with a visualized command to the object they give Breath to. Sand Mastery – Sand Masters begin by dehydrating. I believe Taldain’s water is Invested, as Autonomy’s Investiture radiates its oceans and circulates through the planet’s water cycle. IMO, Sand Masters consume this Investiture to summon Autonomy’s Spiritual Realm power. Khriss says this power forms a “brief Cognitive bond” between Sand Masters and the microflora that configure the sand. I believe the microflora detect and absorb Sand Master water as they dehydrate, and the bond is made through the water contact. Like Awakening, Sand Mastery’s Focus is the visualized command the Master sends the microflora through their bond. Surgebinding – Surgebinders begin by inhaling Stormlight. Radiant spren transform Stormlight into the power they personify. Spren IMO are Roshar’s Focus. Roshar is the only known planet where Investiture converts directly into power, and spren are the reason. Through the Nahel bond, Surgebinders direct the Radiant spren’s power. Fabrials – Fabrial magic also begins with Stormlight infusion. Like Radiant spren, the Fabrial’s captive spren are Focuses that transform Stormlight into the power the captive spren personifies – light, heat, gravity, etc. The Fabrial user directs that power (in the way artifabrians designed the Fabrial to be used) by turning the Fabrial on and off. Voidbinding – Voidlight consumption begins Voidbinding. As Cognitive Shadows imprinted on Odium’s Investiture, the Fused IMO are Voidbinding’s Focus, each splinter giving access to a single power. Voidlight consumption summons this power from the Spiritual Realm. The Fused then direct their Invested power. Sel’s Magic Systems – I lump these systems together because they were one system before Odium mashed Devotion and Dominion’s power into the Cognitive Realm. I believe Sel’s magic systems still follow the same steps despite their current diversity: 1. I think Sel’s ground holds Investiture like Roshar’s highstorms, Nalthis’ EMR, and Taldain’s oceans do. Evidence: (i) each system’s form is a map of the local topography; (ii) Khriss says, Sel’s “very landscape itself has become Invested to the point that it has a growing self-awareness,” (AU, “The Selish System,” Kindle p. 18); and (iii) Raoden needed to draw Aon Rao on the ground, not in the air, to make it effective. 2. Each Selish system begins with motion – drawing a form, or turning an essence stamp, or stirring a potion, or dancing. 3. Each Selish system summons the Dor with Investiture the food chain leaches from the ground. Shai’s essence stamp uses organic inks. Bloodsealers use their target’s blood. Dakhor monk bones hold this Investiture. Forton’s potions IMO use some organic ingredients. The “mostly Spiritual” Elantrians draw Aons from the Dor because Aon Rao amplifies the Dor in Elantris – but Aon Rao itself has to be drawn on the ground. 4. Each system’s topographic form Focuses the Dor into the desired power. Each magic user directs that power for some magical effect. Conclusion Not every magic system perfectly follows the predicted paradigm. Feruchemy and non-Awakening Breath transfers begin with commands for Shard power to fuel the magical transaction. Surgebinding and Fabrial spren transform Stormlight into power rather than summon it. But for the most part, the paradigm presents a uniform series of magical steps.
  20. This post spotlights perceived flaws in some widely held theories. I don’t necessarily have better answers, but IMO these theories don’t add up on their own terms. My analysis follows the statement of each theory. Theory: Breaths are Awakening’s Fuel Breaths are indivisible. Awakeners can’t use partial Breaths. If Breaths are the fuel, then Awakening should consume some portion of them, but it doesn’t. Something about “color draining” instead fuels Awakening. (“End-neutral” non-Awakening Breath transfers analogize to Feruchemy and are fueled by “facilitating” Spiritual Realm Investiture.) Theory: Water is Sand Mastery’s Focus Consensus defines Focus as the magic system component that “shapes” the magic. Many posters view water as Sand Mastery’s Focus. But Sand Masters dehydrate no matter how they manipulate the microflora that configures the sand. The water instead “forges a brief Cognitive bond” between the Sand Master and the microflora: Sand Masters use Spiritual Realm Investiture “to control the sand.” The “Cognitive bond” seems to give them this ability, suggesting Sand Masters’ thoughts “shape the magic” (much like Awakeners), not the water. Khriss says water causes uncontrolled growth. If it doesn’t “shape the magic,” water can’t be Sand Mastery’s Focus. Theory: “The Nahel bond is obviously of both Cultivation and Honor, but not all Surgebinding is the Nahel bond” I read this statement of common belief on Discord. It contradicts two WoBs that say HOW Shards access Spiritual Realm Investiture is the only magical difference among them: “The means of getting powers…are related to the Shards, but not the powers themselves.” “The 'role' of the Shard has to do with the WAY the magic is obtained, not what it can do.” A 2017 WoB confirms Honor – and only Honor – gives magic through bonds. “Bonds [are] an Honor thing”: “Surgebinding” is the Nahel bond – by definition. Fabrials and Voidbinding also bind Roshar’s Surges, but they are not “Surgebinding” because these systems “obtain [their] magic” through different means than bonds. The means of access defines the system, not what the magic does. This is true even though Cultivation’s spren are part of Surgebinding. “Bonds” on Roshar means a Spiritweb Connection between two people – mortal and Radiantspren. The Fused gain Voidbinding by replacing a Singer’s Spiritweb (filling that void). Fabrials use a captive spren to transform Stormlight into the power the spren personifies. All three bind Surges – manipulate Roshar’s fundamental forces – but they access their magic differently. Theory: Investiture is limitless This theory spins from Brandon’s frequent comment that Investiture is “Infinite.” “infinite” can mean either incomprehensibly vast OR endless. If there’s an endless amount of Investiture, then thermodynamics’ first law fails for want of a constant sum of Investiture, matter, and energy. Since Brandon says it does apply, Investiture can’t be limitless. There’s just an incomprehensibly large amount of it. Theory: The cosmere shares its Spiritual Realm Investiture with the larger universe of which it is a part The issue here is thermodynamics’ first law – the sum of cosmere Investiture, matter, and energy is constant. But that law applies only if the cosmere is a closed, self-contained system. Brandon says the law does apply. Therefore, the cosmere is a closed system. The Spiritual Realm and its Investiture cannot extend beyond the cosmere. Theory: Shard “intents” are divine personality traits Brandon says Shards combine personality with some “primal force” like entropy and stasis. Posters commonly ignore the primal force component to focus on personality. I recently posted my thoughts on this subject. I think a Shard’s primal force converts the personality metaphor into workable magic mechanics. Frost, for example, describes Odium as holding “God’s own divine hatred, separated from the virtues that gave it context.” To translate divine hatred into magic, I think we should look at what hate does. It corrodes relationships, divides people, and numbs feelings to justify bad behaviors. It makes sense to me Odium’s magic breaks people-to-people Connections as its mechanic, freeing a person’s basic instinctual drives from their cultural restraints. This idea might be completely wrong. But it is equally wrong to ignore a Shard’s primal force altogether as so many do. Until next time…
  21. New and updated info is marked in red. This is an idea that I've had bouncing around in my head for a while. I figured that if I put it here all of you can help me shape it into a full system. The idea is that Time is a resource and that all things in the universe hold a certain amount of time. The amount of time an object holds is based on how long it has been in that state. For example, a human that is 20 years old holds 20 years worth of time (give or take how many days they are from their birthday.) The way this works as a magic system is that there are certain people that can draw from these wells of time that each object has, this allows them to say, take 10 years out of a rock and put it into a tree. This change has a physical effect on the objects because the objects are actually aging or de-aging. This change would have different effects on different objects, for example in the aforementioned scenario, the rock would likely not change much because 10 years is not much to a rock. At most the rock might get a little larger because it doesn't have the 10 years of erosion anymore. But to the tree, 10 years could mean a drastic change in appearance. 10 years could mean the difference between a 2-foot sapling and a 12-foot tall tree. Drawbacks The main drawback is that Time cannot exist without affecting something. What that means is that the average Time manipulator could not hold more than at max around 60 years. Any more than that and they risk dying of old age. Parameters Time cannot exist without affecting something. This means that no matter what is holding the Time, be it a rock, person, plant, or even a building, it will either be moved forward or backward in its timeline depending on how much it's holding. Time can only be pulled out of an object to the point where it last changed form. What this means is that if you take for example a broken sword, even if the sword is 30 years old, if it broke when it was 20 years old you cannot pull more than 10 years out of it because it changed from when it broke. Likewise, if a man lost his leg at 19, you could not de-age him past 19 because the loss of his leg changed his form. There is one exception to this rule, however, If you have both parts of the original object, like the sword, both the handle section and the blade, then you can de-age them at the same time and fuse them back together. Due to the fact that you obviously could not have every molecule of a broken object, it is possible to pull Time from a broken object with having all the pieces. But this takes more time and concentration. Essentially, the more you have of the original object the easier it is to pull Time from it. The past is set in stone, the future is not. This rule is in two parts, this first means that anything that happened in the past cannot be changed. This means you could take time out of a painting till it was just a canvas, but no matter how much time passes, when you put time back into the canvas it will ALWAYS become the same painting. The second part of this rule is that the future is fluid and ever-changing. This means that if you add time to say a hunk of wood and it becomes a beautiful carving, if you take that time out of that wood reverting it backing to just wood there is no guarantee that when you add time back into it again that it will still become a carving, it may become part of a chair instead. Memory's are not lost when a person loses Time. All this means is that memories are tied to a individuals identity, not their body. This means that if a person who was 60 transferred 40 of those years into a rock, thereby de-aging themselves to be only 20, they would not lose the memory's that gained during the 40 years they got rid of. 90% of the time, you must be touching the items you wish to change. It is possible to change an object that you are not touching, only by passing the Time through multiple objects. This can be incredibly hard to do and causes a lot of mental strain. The more objects that the Time has to pass through, the harder it is. Objects will always attempt to return to their present-day form. What this means is that if you add 100 years into an object it will try to shove that time back out so that it can return to the form it should be at the present time. The farther an object is from its starting point the harder it will push. So if an object is 100 years older or younger than it should be it will leak slower than if it were 1000 years older or younger. I don't know the ratio yet, but they don't tend to leak much until they are at least 150 years off of where they belong. Objects will only leak into things directly touching them. There are certain materials that are resistant to the effects of Time, what that means is that they work as insulators so that even an object that was 2000 years older than it should be could not leak into them. Them main insulator materials are gemstones. P.S. This means that you could build a sword with a diamond insulated handle that had 15000 years into it so that when you hit anyone with it they would get so much Time shoved into them they would essentially disintegrate. When multiple objects are isolated, the Difference (how far off they are from present form) will equalize. This is loosely based on the "every action has an equal and opposite reaction" law. Essentially it means that if you had a rock with a Difference of 100 years and a rock that was in present form and you put them into a diamond-lined bag so that they could not leak into anything but each other, they would equalize so that they both had a Difference of 50 years. At that point, they would stop because they would both be pushing on each other with the same amount of force. It is WAY easier to tap into the TimeWells if you have a Focus. Focuses can take the form of a variety of different things but the most common is a pocket watch. Whatever the focus, it must contain a gemstone, Quartz works the best. They are most commonly used by placing one hand on the object one wishes to change, and holding the watch in the other hand. The one affecting Time then focuses on the face of the watch, visualizing the time running backward or forward for the object. Gemstones do not function under the same rules as everything else. This is the reason that they work as insulators. Time does not naturally flow through gemstones. This does mean that Gems can be used as storage for Time, but pushing Time through the Time barrier that they possess can be difficult. Also, because Time effects Gems differently they can be used for a variety of purposes. I hope I explained this clearly if you have any questions or ideas I'd love to hear them. After all, feedback is the reason I posted this. I am currently writing a book based on this magic system, a feedback topic for that is located here: Killing Time Edit - Typos and updated information.
  22. Because what better place to go for help designing a magic system than a Brandon Sanderson fan forum, right? One of my big inspirations in designing a magic system has been Sanderson's Metallic Arts in the Mistborn books. I especially admire the storytelling simplicity of Allomancy, a list of ten twelve sixteen powers that are easy to remember, thematically linked with each other (Pushes and Pulls), and all seemed like an intuitive fit for the kind of epic fantasy heist novel that The Final Empire was. I'm trying to do something similar, only instead of making powers that would fit well within a heist novel, I'm trying to think of interesting magical abilities that would fit within a detective/mystery story. How the magic will work is already decided, but I'm having trouble actually deciding what it will do, if that makes sense. I'm trying to think of a good thematic link for them that also would make them useful to a detective-like character. I'm leaning towards two ideas: Magical effects that alter the user's interaction with/perception of time (since interacting with the past seems like a very useful magical skill for a detective character) Magical effects that share a thematic link to blood (since blood sacrifice and bloodletting are an important component of how the magic will work) Basically, I'm looking for ideas on not how the magic will work, but what it can do, and giving the "things magic does" a connecting theme/element so they don't feel like a bunch of generic fantasy spells thrown into a box. Any suggestions are welcome. If you need more details on the "how magic works" side of the equation, I can elaborate, though in general I'm leery about giving away too much.
  23. I am making my own magic system. It has been in development for a long time. The issue is I know I want there to be eighteen elements, but I can only think of seventeen. I have put them into pairs as well. I am open to suggestions for the last element Edit: I have come up with the last element, but I need some help coming up with descriptions for each one. Use this link to access the document. It is set to suggesting. That means that I will approve the changes made. .
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