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So I've been thinking about Perpendicularities and how to make them artificially. Along with this WOB So let's put that to the test, shall we? I'm going to try to find a way for someone to create a Perpendicularity within each Invested Art, no hacking like Compounding cause that's cheating. Here are some ideas: Surgebinding: Transportation or Bondsmith. Just getting that out of the way. Allomancy: Have someone be implanted with many non-Hemalurgic spikes of their metal, plus Duralumin to burn it all instantly. Would need to be Mistborn and for the spikes to be Pewter to survive it. The resulting massive amount of Investiture might be enough to bring the Realms together for a moment, if this isn't enough then try with more Allomancers who can Burn Pewter and Duralumin until it is. The Perpendicularity resulting from the method will likely just be temporary. Feruchemy: Have a lot of Feruchemists fill up a whole lot of little metalminds, or a few really big ones. It would likely take several lifetimes to completely fill but would probably be more stable, and thus more usable, than if you used Allomancy. Hemalurgy: Now this is a hard one, End-Negative doesn't leave a lot of room for hoarding a motherlode of Investiture but I'll try. I'd say make a really big spike that has multiple 'prickles' that can be used for stabbing, like a giant metal cactus, then gather up as many people as possible and start ritualistically sacrificing them to the almighty Spike, you'd probably need to leave a body or several stuck on it to prevent Hemalurgic Decay. It'll likely take a whole civilization of people to be sacrificed to make this have any chance of working but once you have it, you'd just need to hook on a few fresh corpses once in a while to keep the Investiture in. Yeah this was pretty dark moving on! Awakening: Gather up an ungodly amount of Breaths, probably much more than the Godking. Maybe several hundred thousand or maybe even a million Breaths. At some point you'd probably become a walking, talking Perpendicularity. Then if you wanted to you could just dump all those Breaths into some random object and Command it to 'Be still' or something. Would definitely take lifetimes but hey you'd be immortal after your two-thousandth swindle. AonDor: This will likely require an Aon as large as or even larger than the Aon that makes up Elantris, just find an Aon that will allow you to stockpile Investiture and one that produces raw Investiture then write Aon Rao over and over again. Could be more complicated but we've only seen the tip of the Aonic iceberg. Forgery: Forgery is one of the 'Low Investiture' Magics like Sand Mastery, not a lot of Investture is used in it's process. Best idea would be to try to figure out how to stack multiple Soulstamps on the same object, then keep as many multi-soulstamped objects together as possible. It would likely be wildly impractical but it's all I got. Dahkor: Similar to Hemalurgy, sacrifice a whole lot of people all at once. Or give one Monk as many sacrifices as possible. Other Selish Arts: We just don't know enough about ChayShan or Bloodsealing to really make any accurate guesses, but I suppose if many practitioners where to use it all at once? I dunno moving on. Aether/Sand Mastery: I'm putting these together because they seem to operate on smilar principles. Water + Sand/Aether makes the magic happen. Low Investiture needed so I can only assume that if many, many Sand Masters/Aetherbounds were to drink a whole lot of water and use their powers all at once something might happen. Old Magic: No idea. And that's all I've got, hope you enjoy my crazy ideas. I actually surprised myself a little with a few of these.

Here we go : Question 1 : Distance are different in the cognitive and the physical realms. And much less in the cognitive realm but considering that time travel to the past is impossible, one cannot travel faster than light in the cognitive realm, implying that the speed of light ( maximum traveling speed) in the cognitive realm is smaller than in the physical realm. Would that be correct? Of course it would still make travel faster but dependent on the maximum speed that can be reached. Like if we assume that a character travel from Roshar to Scadrial and the two planets are say 5 light years appart he would take 5 years of relative time to travel through the cognitive realm? Question 2 : Time in the Cosmere on the physical realm is also relative. As proven by the ability of investiture to affect speed of time ( Chromium and Bendalloy) Fundamentally it doesn’t create time travel into the past complications consideting that it s very similar to time relativity on earth. But does a time dilatation in the physical realm affect the cognitive realm. Basically is there a superposition of Realms or not. And if so does that mean that someone using a bendalloy/chromium in a place of the physical realm could freeze someone traveling through the cognitive realm ( and or make them speed up). Which could create time travel complications if the speed in the cognitive realm is C ( relative to the physical realm obviously) Question 3 : If there is no superposition of Realms what would happen if one were to open a perpendicularity in a Bendalloy/Chromium bubble? By the way i m willing to learn i m an imbecile and don’t understand anything to realmatic magic

So, while deliberating on whether or not Odium could shunt a Shard's worth of Investiture into the Physical Realm, I was considering whether the Investiture would condense into a God metal or not, and how big a Shard's worth of God metal would be (Asteroid, moon, planet, star?), but then just figured it would collapse in on itself through time dilation due to such a big mass of Investiture concentrated in one place, along with becoming a Perpendicularity. We know that Sel experiences time dilation due to the Dor. But then, why does the Dor not form a giant Perpendicularity? It's literally two Shards' worth of Investiture, all just sitting there in the CR. Having a bunch of Harmonium opens a Perpendicularity, and apparently not even that much given that Allik repeatedly warns Wax about it despite Wax not owning that much of the metal. Any Bondsmith can theoretically open one. There already are two Perpendicularities on Sel. You're telling me that that little pool in the mountains is somehow more Invested than the entirety of the Dor?

Looking back we've known for a while that there's something odd about the Shardpool on Elantris, since it presumably doesn't just dump someone who uses it into the Dor plasma in the CR. Nor is it in of itself plasma and it doesn't restore power to an Elantrian who enters it. What exactly is filling that Shardpool?

Hi everyone, I have a question about compasses interacting with a perpendicularity, and if it would affect the direction the needle is pointing. A compasses needle changes direction if a strong magnetic field appears, so first, does a perpendicularity emit a magnetic field? On First of the sun in sixth of Dusk, Dusk's compass points towards Patji, where the planets perpendicularity is found. I would like to hear your theories please, as I do not have an answer to this yet. Thank You.

So, I just had a thought. If one were to gather up enough Investiture to cause a Perpendicularity to form, shove that Investiture into an object (say, via Awakening for sake of argument), then encase that object in aluminum, would it still cause the Realms to draw together on the 'other side' of the aluminum? I.e., while encased, would the Perpendicularity it creates be confined within the aluminum, or could it still stretch beyond it? Aluminum blocks magic, but I'm not sure this effect is magic per se so much as just... a general effect that Investiture has, analogous to the way gravity is caused by mass.

I am sure this idea exists but I have to wonder about Odiums Perpendicularity. Odium has been on Braize and is invested on it making it a possible place for the Perpendicularity. However he is also invested on Roshar so could he have two?

Hello everyone, i was just wondering: is there a limit to how much Investiture Nightblood can absorbe? Since RoW we know there is kind of a limit, at least Nightblood was fed up after consuming part of Odiums Investiture. But is this the hard limit of how Invested Nightblood can become or can it still wield more Investiture? Secondly we know that Nightblood leaks Investiture in form of black smoke, so there is definitely a loss there. Just imagine the possibility of Nightblood storing a very big amount of Investiture. In that case it may function as a Perpendicularity, so you might be able to travel the Realms freely just by holding Nightblood. There might also be the possibility for Nightblood to mix different types of Investitures. I imagine that, after consuming Stormlight and Voidlight, the black smoke it leaks may have similarities to Warlight. I hope we see something like this in later books, as it would enhance our understanding of the cosmere significantly. So let me know your thoughts on this. Maybe there is somthing in the books i missed or maybe there are WoBs I don't know about. Cheers and have a wonderful day.

In Oathbringer, Dalinar opened Honor's Perpendicularity and all of the Gemstones and Radiants near him were super-charged with Stormlight. My question is: could this happen with all Perpendicularities? Could Lift potentially gain power from Cultivation's Perpendicularity?

What would happen if you caught an Adonalsium Fragment in a Perpendicularity? Could you use a Hemalurgical Nail to "stab" the Fragment?

When a large enough amount of investiture is within one location, a perpendicularity can form. Is the reason for the perpendicularity forming near Elantris because the city is basically a giant Aon that draws investiture to it?

Can you teleport through the spiritual realm via perpendicularity use, since time and space have no meaning there? If you could teleport using this method, would you be limited to where you could travel by what you have a strong enough Connection to? I haven't seen any proof of this yet in the books, but it feels weird that even though people can enter the spiritual realm to see the future, we haven't seen anyone use it to teleport long distances either.

If multiple people had unsealed metalminds that allowed for Dalinar’s bond-smith powers, could multiple perpendicularities be opened simultaneously?

Could you turn a full nicrosil metalmind into a weapon by combining it with an “allomantic grenade”, to create a mini perpendicularity that sends your enemies to the cognitive realm? And if that doesn’t work, maybe you could create it instead by combining an unsealed feruchemical metalmind containing the surge of transportation with an allomantic grenade.

Where is Cultivations Perpendicularity? I thought it was the horneater peaks but know I'm not so sure. I'm new to the 17th Shard but I've read all the cosmere books. Now I just gotta reread them.

Perpendicularities IMO are the cosmere’s most important post-Shattering structural element. They spike the Realms together. They are the conduits through which massive amounts of Investiture pass. They are a critical part of a Major Shardworld’s system of recycling Investiture. They make Worldhopping possible. Here I analyze and interpret some perpendicularity WoBs. (I edited these WoBs to focus on the relevant parts). I start with perpendicularity basics. I then ask (and try to answer) about a dozen questions on perpendicularities, their properties, and their role in the cosmere. PERPENDICULARITY BASICS What a Perpendicularity Is To confirm what you all know, here’s a few WoBs defining what a perpendicularity is: I believe “perpendicularity” refers to the conduit a massive Investiture concentration creates. IMO, the word does not refer to the Investiture that flows through the conduit. Perpendicularities need not be permanent. If Investiture continues to flow through the conduit, the perpendicularity remains even if the Vessel dies. But “there are ways that a perpendicularity could vanish.” Brandon doesn’t describe those ways. Perpendicularity Formation Relevant WoBs: These WoBs show a slow way and a fast way to make a perpendicularity: 1. A Shard can “stay” on a planet and start to seep Investiture onto that planet’s Physical Realm location. This stalactite perpendicularity allows the Investiture to integrate slowly into the Physical Realm as matter or energy. I speculate “stay” means the Vessel’s mind is focused on that Physical Realm location. I also speculate some minimum amount of Investiture, a critical mass slowly collecting in the Physical Realm, causes the Spiritual Realm to puncture. Does every Shard’s Investiture have the same critical mass before a perpendicularity forms? If Investiture is the same except for each Shard’s “spin or magnetism,” the critical mass for “seeping” perpendicularities should be a constant. But who knows... This assumes, of course, we can measure Investiture, something Brandon’s team has supposedly been working on but has yet to share. 2. Or a Shard can instantaneously Invest a Physical Realm location. The Shard must use this massive Investiture infusion “to start making some stuff.” Presumably any unused Investiture would find its way back to the Spiritual Realm rather than integrating with the Physical Realm as matter or energy. Some of this Investiture could also stay manifest in the Physical Realm. Realmic Compression Perpendicularities push the Realms closer to one another: You can see into the Spiritual Realm through a perpendicularity. The Cognitive emptiness of space makes Worldhopping possible, but the Cognitive Realm’s proximity at perpendicularities gives Worldhoppers easy access. I suggest possible explanations for Realmic compression after quoting the relevant portions of these WoBs: Two possible (and not mutually exclusive) causes of Realmic compression: 1. “Puncturing” or “spiking” will draw the punctured barrier after it. Imagine a tack going through paper. You see the perforated edges of the paper following the tack through to the other side. In this way the Spiritual and Cognitive Realms move closer to the Physical Realm, the repository of that Investiture. 2. OR maybe the Cognitive Realm collapses a bit at a perpendicularity, drawing the other two Realms closer together. My reasoning: Space and location are irrelevant in the Spiritual Realm. (Brandon applies this rule to Dalinar’s perpendicularity.) If space is irrelevant there, maybe the Spiritual Realm can’t be “moved” except right at the place the Investiture punctures it. And to human perception, the Physical Realm itself has defined limits. Maybe perpendicularities compress the Cognitive Realm alone, squeezing the Realmic sandwich at that spot? FWIW, when I first read Brandon I conceived the three Realms as alternate “phases” of the same reality, different aspects. The idea the Cognitive Realm comprises physical space people can walk through still boggles me. QUESTIONS AND SPECULATIONS Massive Investiture concentrations cause perpendicularities and Realmic compression, but that’s about all we know. The rest are questions and speculations. What Causes Investiture to Concentrate in the Physical Realm? IMO, the Spiritual Realm doesn’t spontaneously seep massive amounts of Investiture onto some Physical Realm location. There are no “accidental” perpendicularities (excluding the one near Threnody). Shards choose to “stay” or instantaneously Invest there. They either drip Investiture through the equivalent of an intravenous tube or inject the Investiture all at once. In both cases Shards willfully make their perpendicularities. Perpendicularities are why there are Major Shardworlds. They are the residue of the Shards’ massive post-Shattering Investiture in planets. This Investiture made the Major Shardworlds more magical – and more unbalanced. Adonalsium wove the cosmere tapestry with an eye towards the whole, but the Shards didn’t. They disrupted Adonalsium’s vision and remade the Major Shardworlds to suit themselves and their Investiture. Perpendicularities brought magic to mortals. Does Investiture Flow Only Through Perpendicularities? No. Perpendicularities are reserved for massive amounts of Investiture collecting in the Physical Realm (usually). Investiture also flows from the Spiritual Realm to fuel magic systems or to manifest in gaseous form. Perpendicularities are only one form of Investiture seepage into the Physical Realm. Cultivation’s perpendicularity, for example, is in the Horneater mountains. Yet the Nightwatcher’s Valley fills with gaseous Cultivation-light. Preservation’s mists permeate the Final Empire, though the Well of Ascension lies hidden beneath Kredik Shaw. These gaseous Investitures don’t appear to flow directly through a perpendicularity. Did Adonalsium Have a Perpendicularity? I think Adonalsium did have a perpendicularity – the one on Yolen that got him killed. I speculate Adonalsium created the entire Physical Realm through this perpendicularity. I do not believe he needed to create planets with their own perpendicularities. Adonalsium was the entire cosmere by himself, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. He could change his Physical Realm “body” at will without needing to inject massive amounts of a particular Investiture “flavor” like the Shards did. Example: Roshar’s pre-Shattering ecology already depended on Stormlight’s precursor to energize its life cycle. But lesser amounts of that Investiture filled the pre-Shattering highstorms – maybe not enough Investiture concentration to form a perpendicularity. The Parsh Rider of Storms pales in Investiture concentration compared with the Tanavast-fortified Stormfather. Even the metaphor of their names shows this: The Parsh great spren “rode” the storms. The human Stormfather commands them (though with still-limited powers). Even pre-Shattering planets have inherent Investiture. As with Cultivation-light and the mists, those Investitures somehow cycle through those planets’ systems without a perpendicularity. Otherwise every planet would have a perpendicularity, and Khriss says they don’t. What Happens to the Investiture that Makes the Perpendicularity? Brandon says the Shards that form “instantaneous” perpendicularities “just need to start making some stuff.” Thermodynamics’ first law applies to this Investiture. It must be converted into matter or energy or some other Physical Realm manifestation. The only difference between this and the “seeping” perpendicularities is the rate of thermodynamic conversion. Can Shards Change Their Perpendicularity? Yes, with difficulty. Brandon says, “Once you've got a Perpendicularity, you are starting – That's trouble for going other places.” Presumably the massive Physical Realm Investiture concentration ties the Shard to the planet. Maybe a Shard like Odium wouldn’t scruple to destroy a planet (Roshar) to recover his Investiture and leave. Most Shards I suspect have some appreciation for the people and things they’ve Invested in over the millennia. I also suspect Shard divestment from a planet requires vast amounts of Investiture to execute. Which Shards Have “Seeping” vs. “Instantaneous” Perpendicularities? Except for Ruin and Preservation, it’s hard to know. Investiture continues to flow through all perpendicularities including the “instantaneous” ones. Ruin and Preservation created Scadrial in a cosmere moment, but Investiture still condensed in the Pits of Hathsin and Well of Ascension afterwards. Investiture manifests in the Physical Realm through perpendicularities regardless of how they were created. They are an essential part of a Major Shardworld’s “Investiture cycle.” Without perpendicularities, pre-Shattering planetary plumbing might flood trying to handle the new Investiture infusion. Other than Scadrial (and Dalinar’s), I think the clearest examples of “instantaneous” perpendicularities are Autonomy’s Avatars. I believe Autonomy creates these perpendicularities when they Invest their Avatars including Patji. Autonomy’s assigned Investiture is already present (I believe in the form of matter with the same “spin”); and Autonomy further Invests this “gathering” of Investiture to give it consciousness. The additional Investiture IMO passes the “critical mass” threshold and creates the perpendicularity. But all of this is speculation. Is a Perpendicularity’s Size Related to How Much A Shard Invests There? I don’t think so. Kelsier and other prisoners had to crawl through narrow spaces in the Pits to find atium geodes. Yet through that perpendicularity Ruin created half a world. Why Do Different States of Investiture Collect in Different Perpendicularities? These differences seem to relate to the Shard, the planet, and the Vessel. Shards can manifest in the Physical Realm in any state and do. But these different Investiture states do not all flow from a perpendicularity, as we see with Cultivation-light and the mists. It’s unclear why Shards manifest in their perpendicularities as different Investiture states. Brandon describes the general causes of Investiture state differentiation: I find that WoB vague and unhelpful, but there it is. Most perpendicularities hold liquid Investiture. The known exceptions are Ruin, Honor, and Autonomy. Atium collects in the Pits of Hathsin as solid Investiture. Stormlight’s gaseous Investiture fills Honor’s “moving” perpendicularity. Autonomy’s perpendicularity sits in Taldain’s Dayside sun. It presumably holds gaseous Investiture. We don’t know anything about Odium’s or Dominion’s perpendicularities. Does Harmonium Condense in a New Perpendicularity? Harmonium (ettmetal) is a different substance than either atium or lerasium. The Shards are now combined. My guess is Sazed formed a new perpendicularity when he re-shaped Scadrial, and harmonium condenses in that perpendicularity. Brandon says Scadrial’s cycle of Investiture leaves the Well and Pits empty “for now,” suggesting there may still be some uncombined Ruin and Preservation about. ASIDE: Off topic, but why should Ruin and Preservation combine into Harmony with a new god metal just because the two Shards now have one Vessel? This is especially weird given the 180° difference between the Shards. I don’t think this is “resonance” given how opposite the Shards are. Just curious for your thoughts. What’s Different About Dalinar’s Perpendicularity? Brandon says Dalinar’s perpendicularity is “both the bug and the feature at the same time.” At least five things distinguish Dalinar’s from other perpendicularities: 1. It’s the only known perpendicularity to form without a massive Physical or Cognitive Realm collection of Investiture pulling it through the Realms. Dalinar plucked the Investiture directly from the Spiritual Realm by collapsing the Realms at Thaylen City. 2. It’s the only perpendicularity created by mortal action. (Dalinar’s still mortal even if he’s now a sliver. I ignore Elsecalling’s “mini-perpendicularity.”) 3. It’s the only “instantaneous” perpendicularity we’ve seen on-screen. 4. Dalinar’s is the only perpendicularity seen on-screen while filled with kinetic Investiture. 5. Dalinar’s and the Well of Ascension are the only two perpendicularities described from within the Cognitive Realm. Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin see Dalinar’s. Kelsier sees the Well. I’m not sure what conclusions we should draw from any of this. “Seeing” a column of Investiture spike through the Realms is pretty cool though. Why Does Nightblood Collapse Some Perpendicularities But Not Others? A preliminary question: Is simply drawing Nightblood enough to start him eating Investiture? Doesn’t he feed on Investiture only to fulfill his command to “destroy evil”? What would Nightblood do if Vasher, for example, draws him and is the only person there? Maybe there’s a WoB I’m unaware of that addresses this. If there isn’t, I suggest Nightblood might not eat Investiture in any perpendicularity unless he first determines he must destroy evil. Moving past that, I think the Physical Realm outlet for the perpendicularity matters. I can see Nightblood collapsing Honor’s “moving” perpendicularity but not the Pits of Hathsin. Even if Nightblood ate the atium, the Pits as conduit would remain. If Nightblood ate all the Stormlight, there’s nothing left to Honor’s perpendicularity. CONCLUSION Perpendicularities are strange and perplexing. That’s all I’ve got to say. What do you folks think?

Investiture, like matter, can appear in solid, liquid or gaseous state (and plasma too: the Dor, don't know if it can take a form like Bose-Einstein Condensate). Liquid Investiture pools together when a highly Invested object like a Shard spends a lot of time on a planet. This forms what Sharders (it's not a in-book term) call a 'Shardpool'. A Shardpool can be used by Worldhoppers to access a Shardworld via the Cognitive Realm. Shardpools aren't the only form a Perpendicularity can take however, nor are pools the only form a liquid can take. So can there be Shard Rivers and Shardbrooks? We know liquid Investiture can be taken away from the pool so liquid Investiture doesn't just seem liquid, it is liquid. Can these Shard Rivers be used to Worldhop? What about a small, narrow, shallow brook? I believe that the latter cannot be used to Worldhop since one would need enough volume of liquid Investiture to be able to submerge themselves in order to do that.

The newspaper illustrations of the Mistborn Era 2 books are full of easter eggs and yet don't seem to get discussed much. As I was flipping through Shadows of Self again, I stumbled over this one that I didn't pay proper attention to before: (Be sure to click at the "Full Size" button at the bottom left to make it readable.) Specifically, I mean the article about "VISITORS from other WORLDS". It mentions a blue pool south of the Southern Roughs and an inhuman creature "by the pool". The implications seem to be obvious: The pool is a perpendicularity and the creature is some kind of worldhopper. This could mean it's Harmony's perpendicularity - or one of them. Brandon has been close-lipped about whether Harmony has one or two of them. However, blue being the perpendicularity's color irritates me. The colors of the previous perpendicularities on Scadrial were black and white, and while Harmony would be able to change the color, I don't see any reason for him to do. Blue wouldn't mean anything to him, would it? The logical conclusion is this perpendicularity being one of another Shard, as in Trell. It is very likely that Trell is an avatar of a Shard (and it's very likely that it's Autonomy), and avatars seem to be able to manifest perpendicularities (as happened on First of the Sun), so it doesn't seem unlikely that Trell's interaction with Scadrial has also lead to one manifesting - it has, after all, lead to another god metal. It's not clear what the creature mentioned in the text might be. But - while all kinds of characters could move through it no matter its origin - it seems likely that it's associated with Trell: After all, the perpendicularity seems to be in the south, and the south seems to be a very good place to hide things on Scadrial (it took them hundreds of years to even discover the Southern continent), so it might be a safe place to move his agents through (like the red-eyed visitor in Bands of Mourning's epilogue - they had to get to Scadrial somehow, and without Harmony noticing, ideally). As for the meaning of the color blue in this context, in Trelagism, Trell is associated with the night sky, which, being blue, could be an explanation for the symbolism behind blue as Trell's color. Anything else I missed? Let me know. Also, if you find other interesting things in the Mistborn Era 2 newspaper sheets, I might repurpose this thread to an "Era 2 newpaper discussion".

I have not found a thread on this topic, to my surprise. Supposedly, every Shard is able to form a perpendicularity. Every perpendicularity has a color. From what we’ve seen, the color of perpendicularities differ from Shard to Shard. Brandon said about this: So the perpendicularities are color-coded, which means that the Shards are too, since the perpendicularities are made out of the essence of the Shards, for example the god metals (and Ruin and Preservation took on the very same colors of their perpendicularities when we saw them “on-screen”). However: So it is true, but it is 1) not really important (but that will not stop us, will it), and 2) not really specific. Let’s collect the colors of the perpendicularities we’ve seen or know enough about: Well of Ascension (Preservation) = White Pits of Hathsin (Ruin) = Black Lake near Elantris (Devotion) = Blue Lake in the Horneater Peaks (Cultivation) = Green Patji’s Eye (Autonomy) – Green The perpendicularity Dalinar opened (Honor) – it's only described as "glowing" and "brilliant". Not sure if that means golden or light blue. The gloryspren present are golden, if the perpendicularity is connected to them, it might be golden. However, on page 1136, it says Venli sees "thunder and lightning" in him just before he opens it, and lightning is usually associated with light blue. So it's not clear, could be any of them. This would be a question to ask Brandon. There are two more things of note here. First: There are two different Shards with perpendicularities that are associated with the color green – Autonomy and Cultivation. This ties into what Brandon said about the colors not being “as specific as [the questioner is] thinking”. There is a possibility that two Shards share the same color, or maybe different shades of the same color. This doesn’t particularly surprise me, as I have problems finding 16 completely distinct color tones. Second, it’s obvious that these are only 6 of the 10 Shards we know. There are 4 Shards whose Perpendicularities we haven’t seen yet: Odium, Dominion, Endowment and Ambition. As far as these are concerned, we are left with speculation. So this is what I gathered: Odium has been connected to several color tones throughout his appeareances and in the mythology surrounding him. For the longest time, I presumed his color to be red, but then Brandon confirmed: That means, things connected with Odium being red doesn’t have to mean anything except for him corruption (or co-opting) another Shard’s magic, which – given his way of approaching things – wouldn’t be a surprising thing for him to do at all. There’s also a theme of orange present, but the color I find the most convincing is violet, given this occurance of the color when Dalinar confronts Odium and gets a glimpse at the meaning of its Intent, which should be what the Shard actually *is* instead of what instruments it uses. Notice how there’s a lot of colors mentioned over the course of this one passage, but one of them is particularly striking: It goes on to describe the passion, harted and ecstasy that is associated with Odium. All of this is a description of “this” violet blackness. Dalinar only reaches the actual Intent of Odium once the flame turns violet. And, thinking about it, it would make sense for Odium to be violet, since the color is often associated with drowsiness, haziness, intoxication, which seems to summarize Odium rather well. Whether you define him as hate or passion, he’s all about intoxication. Next off, we have Dominion. So we know that Devotion is coded as blue. As for Dominion, we don’t have proof, but some indications. Like this WOB: If he is fascinated by “the blue and the red” as opposites and he sees red as the opposite of blue and Dominion as an opposite of Devotion (which is blue), then it seems logical to assume that Dominion might be red. This fits with other indicators – the heavy use of red in all things Fjordellian, especially the priests, which in the end worship Dominion. This leads me to another thing: Assuming that Dominion is red – and we have strong indications for that – then red is used in two contexts: Dominion on the one hand, the corruption of Investiture on the other hand. This is most probably not a coincidence: Corrupting foreign Investiture – dominating it – seems like a very Dominion thing to do. I don’t mean to imply that Dominion has anything to do with what Odium does when red shows up – but that the principles of Dominion’s Intent are at play. The essence of Dominion and domination are red, so Investiture dominating Investiture has the same color. Assuming that this is correct – and I’m assuming a lot now, I know – will open a whole new can of worms. Any time a given color has shown up when Investiture was at work might indicate principles of Shardic Intents. The blue lines seen by Allomancers have the color of Devotion (although there might be another Shard with the color blue), so if Devotion is all about connection, does that hint at the connection between the Allomancer and the metal? That seems like a stretch. Elantrians are known to be radiant white – a connection to the Intent of Preservation would make sense, since Elantrians, not aging anymore, are “preserved”. With all that being said, there are still two more Shards that I haven’t covered: Endowment and Ambition. With these two, any kind of speculation is completely baseless and all I could rely on at this point are vague plausabilities. My own personal baseless guesses are Endowment being a maybe violet or another blue Shard (depending on whether Honor is blue or golden, but who knows, there are enough shades of blue for three Intents) and Ambition being silver. But for the moment, I’d like the points I’ve made up till now to be food for thought. So what do you think? Does the connection make sense? Is it completely unlikely? And what uses of color in combination of Investiture could have a deeper meaning?

I have looked in many places for an answer to this question but haven't found it so I'll ask it myself. We know that Taldain is currently unaccessable: Questioner This is about certain people from Nalthis... living on Roshar and how they are living on Roshar. Could they also do that on Scadrial? Brandon Sanderson Scadrial would be a lot harder because getting the Investiture out of things on Scadrial is tough, there are ways you could do it but it would be much more difficult. Questioner Does that have to do with the Investiture being more directed? Brandon Sanderson Yeah, it's more the genetic component is a big part of it. The directed component-- In Roshar its just flowing around all over the place. For instance, if he could get to a Shardpool he could feed off that, but then he's at the Shardpool and that's kind of dangerous and things. Roshar is really the easiest place in the cosmere for him to consistently get this sort of stuff. Taldain would not be bad either, that's the White Sand world but it is inaccessible currently in the cosmere Salt Lake ComicCon FanX 2016 (March 26, 2016) So how long has Taldain been inaccessible? And how did Khriss leave Taldain and become a worldhopper if it is supposedly inaccessible? I didn't think that perpendicularities could be one way, but I could be misinformed.

I admit I have only comepleted books 1 and 2 . Perhaps book 3 will provide something that will change my theory . But , it seems to me that it would be simple to add this trilogy to Cosmere. In my opinion Calamity is similar to a shard. The gifted abilities are like investiture granted by shard. All we would need is for him to write era 2 reckoners , create a perpindicularity , and have Hoid visit for some Unkown reason and Tada , Reckoners is part of Cosmere . Why do we need this . For a long time I avoided this series’s because it wasn’t cosmere. Big mistake as it is very good and feels the same . What do u guys think. Would you like to see the reckoners join the cosmere

This is a tenuous theory, but here goes... We know that Honor's perpendicularity moves. (and I'll spoiler quotes for size reasons) So understandably a possible theory is that it's in the Highstorms. But I just read something I'd never seen before, a scene from between WoR and Oathbringer that Brandon published on the Tor website back in 2014. So the Highstorm containing the perpendicularity doesn't make sense to me. The Highstorms sweep across Roshar pretty fast, so there's no way they could catch up with it, there's no reason to go north or south because it covers the continent. For it to be very distant, and them to walk to it, it must be in a relatively set location at the time of these events, not sweeping across the continent. So to me that largely rules out the Highstorm. Now, we know from here that Jasnah, after escaping the Cognitive Realm, ended up in the Unclaimed Hills. So I know Jasnah elsecalled to that location, that's made clear by her means of arrival, Hoid and WoBs. We know that Jasnah could not Elsecall directly out of the Cognitive Realm without getting to a 'juncture' (a perpendicularity). Perhaps that just as she didn't have enough Stormlight (it would surprise me if one can only Elsecall near a perpendicularity as that would make it a pretty useless power). So to me, the reason they need to find a juncture is presumably to either access more Stormlight (as we know the Cognitive Realms is Stormlight-poor), or more likely because with the amount she has she needs to be much closer to a place where the boundaries between the realms are particularly thin. We also know from WoR that she didn't mean to Elsecall to exactly where she was, because she was trying to escape. But as she's in the Unclaimed Hills, which are between Alethkar and the Shattered Plains (well, part of them anyway), I'm assuming she didn't Elsecall to somewhere completely random on Roshar, but just to somewhere pretty near the point that she left the Cognitive Realm. This would also make sense given the Unclaimed Hills are a kind-of appropriate distance from where she entered the Cognitive Realm, given Ivory said the perpendicularity is very distant, and given we know it took her a long time from entering the Cognitive Realm before arriving back in the Physical Realm - but it's not like she's on the other side of Roshar. For reference, here's the Roshar map. So, on these bases, and admitting there are quite a few assumptions there, I think at the time of her escape, she needed to get to Honor's perpendicularity, which was in or near (relative to Roshar) the Unclaimed Hills. Add to that the idea that Honor's perpendicularity was in that location for long enough for Ivory to say they needed to get there (I think that would be difficult if it was moving constantly over a large distance). The question is then why would it be there, as opposed to anywhere else in Roshar, at that time. Which brings me to my idea. Part of the Unclaimed Hills is wedged right between Alethkar and the Shattered Plains. Basically it's all largely north, but part is north-west, between the two regions. What is going on in the Shattered Plains at the time, that is going on a lot less everywhere else in Roshar? The active use of investiture, through both some live-spren surgebinding and of course through quite a bit trapped-spren surgebinding (in the form of many of the world's Shardblades in use there). So my theory is that Honor's perpendicularity moves around Roshar towards the place that has the most active use of investiture. Not in the form of spren, they are everywhere (except Shinovar) but their investiture is not being used, nothing is being drawn from the Spiritual Realm. Same with the Highstorms, where investiture can be trapped by spheres but is not actually being drawn on. I think when Stormlight is being drawn from the Spiritual Realm, Honor's perpendicularity basically gravitates towards it. The reason the perpendicularity isn't in the Shattered Plains is because that's not the only place investiture is being used. Most of it is there, but there is still some Shardblades and Shardplate being used, and drawing investiture through the Stormlight trapped in Spheres, in other parts of Roshar, particularly Alethkar. Which drags the perpendicularity slightly further west, and a little north. Into the Unclaimed Hills (or thereabouts). So that's that. I simply couldn't find enough evidence on this subject to be at all confident about this theory. And there are a number of assumptions. But I feel it has some backing and I wanted to put it out there for thoughts, corrections, dismantling or perhaps support.

We now tentatively know the approximate locations of Urithiru and all ten Oathgates. I've marked them with blue circles on this map. (I'm guessing with the Aimian one.) You might have noticed that I also marked off a large area in red. This huge area is conspicuously devoid of Oathgates. I call it the Oathgate Deadzone. The central and northern parts of this region are farther from an Oathgate than any other point on the Rosharan landmass. These are the areas which, in the event of a voidbringer attack, would take the longest to receive Radiant assistance. I've got to wonder if there's a reason behind this. The simplest explanation is that this region had the least need for Oathgate-based military aid. Based on the present-day distribution of Shardblades, we might conjecture that Alethela and Valhav, which made up most of the Deadzone in the Silver Kingdoms era, were very strong countries, with lots of combat-ready Radiants among their populations. But if I accepted that explanation, I could hardly justify an ominous name like "the Oathgate Deadzone." So maybe there's another explanation for it. When I think of the old Desolations, I see the Heralds and Radiants spearheading a coordinated global defense. Voidbringers appear somewhere, and within the hour there are Elsecallers and Willshapers on the scene, doing reconnaissance. Within days there'll be a fighting force of Windrunners and Skybreakers, drawing the battle lines and probing the enemy's defenses. And then, a week or two after the initial enemy incursion, the bulk of our forces arrive -- huge armies of radiants, squires, and ordinary soldiers, marched in from the nearest Oathgate. Except in the Deadzone. There, with all the Oathgates far away, the Radiants' response time suffers. The enemy has more time to rally, to dig in, to fortify their position, and be ready for battle. This means the Deadzone is where the Radiants (and humankind in general) are weakest. It's a hole in their global defense network. It's a weakness the enemy can and will exploit. If the Radiants were smart, they would have filled in this gap by building an Oathgate out there, perhaps in modern day Elanar or Northgrip. So why didn't they? Is it because they could rely on local Alethi and Vedens protecting themselves? Or is there a more sinister, catastrophic reason? Well, you know what just happens to be in the Deadzone? The Horneater Peaks. And what's in the Horneater peaks? A shardpool. The only known stationary perpendicularity on Roshar. And I don't think that's a coincidence. I think... if I was sending an army of monsters to invade Roshar, I'd send that army through Shadesmar. And the easiest way to get them into the physical realm is through that perpendicularity in the Horneater Peaks. This is my theory. Odium's unseen voidbringer hordes will arrive en masse through that shardpool. The Horneater peaks are Ground Zero for every desolation. The Radiants probably tried to set up an oathgate-base in the area, but it was always overrun and destroyed early in the desolation. The voidbringers make it their priority to secure their LZ by rapidly and decisively taking control of the region. Expect shock troops. Expect death. From there, they expand outward until Radiant resistance is strong enough to push back. Then a brutal war of attrition begins, with each side trying to cripple the other using behind-enemy-lines surgical strikes -- which is what we've seen in Dalinar's visions. The Oathgate Deadzone is actually enemy territory. Voidbringer Central. Mordor. It always has been, and it's about to be again. And when the monsters of the voidbringer vanguard pour out of the Horneater Oceans, eager to establish their home base, they will not be happy to find a whole human culture camping out around their portal. If the Horneaters don't evacuate their mountains in a hurry, they're about to be wiped out. Hence my clickbait thread title. If that's not bad enough, Hearthstone is also inside the Deadzone. And I think House Davar's estate is as well. And so is Herdaz, and potentially hundreds of Lopen's cousins. The only tangible proof I could find is this: Herdazians and Horneaters both make their homes inside the Deadzone. The two human races descended from Listeners just happen to live inside the region with the worst Oathgate service. Their presence suggests this region was once home to large Listener populations, which I think would confirm my logic: Oathgates, no; Voidbringers, yes. Throw in a perpendicularity, and it can't all be a coincidence, can it? It can, obviously. But maybe it's not! This might be the reason the Alethi and Vedens are so warlike. Their ancestors were living on the front lines. They were the first line of defense when a desolation came, and the last ones fighting to retake their lost territory as it drew to a close. If this theory is at all correct, I think we can expect so see confirmation pretty soon. I predict that we'll soon hear about some very unusual parshman activity in Vedenar. (This part has Oathbringer spoilers.) Either way, I bet we'll know before book 4. Thoughts?

Quick question. It seems fairly accepted or assumed within the fandom that each Shard has only one Shardpool. Granted, we've only seen one per Shard thus far, but it seems likely to me that there are a lot more on each planet. I was just wondering if Brandon has confirmed it himself that there's only one per Shard at some point that i just can't find. Thanks.

Another in my ongoing series “A Theory of Cosmere Magic” Classification of Magic Systems Pre-Shattering Magic In the Beginning – The Cosmere’s Origin I include this topic because my views on Realmic theory underlie the over-arching cosmere magic theory. While most of my views are canon, you shouldn’t be surprised some aren’t. I changed from “Realmatic” to “Realmic” to follow Khriss in AU. I am concurrently posting “In the Beginning – The Cosmere’s Origin,” since that post provides some background to the conclusions I reach in this post. THE THREE REALMS Preservation’s Metaphor. In M:SH, Preservation metaphorically describes the Realms to Kelsier. The Spiritual Realm shines a beam of “perfect” light that the Cognitive Realm “filters” before the light “pools” on the Physical Realm’s “floor.” The Spiritual Realm is the place of perfection, of Spiritual energy (the Powers) and structure (Spiritwebs). The Cognitive Realm is the place of perception, filtering the Spiritual Realm’s perfection. The Physical Realm is the place of material existence, where perceived objects and lifeforms take shape. I use the term “Creation” to describe the sum of all Spiritwebs and their corresponding Cognitive and Physical Realm aspects. Kelsier himself calls this description a “metaphor.” (M:SH, Kindle Loc 530, Part 2-1 .) The description does not address the mechanics of magic. Brandon intends this metaphor to help us understand Realmic differences, not how the magic works. Spiritual Realm. The Spiritual Realm consists of two types of Investitures: the Powers (Spiritual energy) and “Spiritweb Investiture” (Spiritual structure). Spiritweb Investiture constitutes the Spiritual aspect of Creation (the sum of all Spiritwebs). The Spiritual Realm holds the most Investiture because of the Powers: Shards are “mostly Spiritual.” Location “isn’t particularly important” in the Spiritual Realm, only Connection. Cognitive Realm. The Cognitive Realm is the collective mind of the sentient entities on each planet (an idea Brandon expressly borrows from Carl Jung). Non-sentient objects exist in the Cognitive Realm as the perceptions of the collective mind, since such objects have no cognitive function of their own: “Whenever a planet has enough thinking life on it that's considering it a planet, it drops into Shadesmar.” The collective mind includes the conscious and the unconscious. (WoR, Kindle p. 40.) a. Correspondence to Physical Realm. Brandon describes the Cognitive Realm as relatively flat, but not two-dimensional – a plain, not a plane. He contrasts its topography with the Physical Realm’s, which is three-dimensional. The SLA maps and the Dor show there is a one-to-one correspondence between locations in the Physical and Cognitive Realms. b. Subastrals. Each collection of sentient minds has its own “subastral” – the term Hoid uses in M:SH to describe Scadrial’s Cognitive Realm. Each Shardworld with a sentient population has at least one subastral. Roshar has two subastrals: one for its Physical Realm sapient population (humans, listeners and Aimians), and a second subastral for its sapient spren. Brandon calls all sapient entities “people.” Sapient spren are ideas that have ideas. These spren have their own politics and cities. The discarded Oathbreaker chapter where Jasnah first Elsecalls shows the Rosharan spren subastral. Braize also has a subastral – Khriss says there are splinters and Cognitive Shadows there. Cognitive Realm distance is measured by thought, and the distance between subastrals compresses minds. c. Shadesmar’s Sun. I believe the “sun” in Roshar’s and Scadrial’s subastrals represents those planets’ collective perception of the afterlife – the place the spirits of dead people go. Brandon refers to these collective perceptions as “cultural.” The Cognitive Realm sun is like the “light” that Earth people see during near-death experiences. That “light” is the Cognitive Realm’s collectively perceived Connection to the Spiritual Realm. The “clouds” that trail towards the sun represent the collective mind’s perception of the souls of the dead moving towards the Spiritual Realm. Everything in the Cognitive Realm “moves towards the light,” including shadows. This movement is how the collective mind perceives entropy: “all things must pass.” Physical Realm. The Physical Realm is the material world sentient life actually experiences. It consists of the matter and energy into which the Powers convert plus the Physical Realm aspect of each planet’s Unique Investiture – one can see Stormlight, Breaths and the mists. Adonalsium’s Creations comprise most of the Physical Realm cosmere: “The effects of Adonalsium permeate everything.” SPIRITUAL REALM INVESTITURE Spiritweb Investiture. Spiritweb Investiture composes the Spiritual aspect of Creation – Creation’s “Spiritual matter.” Spiritweb Investiture gives Creation its Spiritual structure. Each use of the Powers creates new matter, energy and/or Unique Investiture. That new part of Creation either has its own Spiritweb or is part of other Spiritwebs. a. A Spiritweb consists of a soul and its Connections. Each soul has unique Spiritual DNA and unique Connections – a unique Spiritweb. b. Connections bind the cosmere together – not only between souls (“External Connections”), but also between the three Realmic aspects of each soul (“Internal Connections”). Kelsier could not return to Scadrial’s Physical Realm because his death severed his Internal Connections to that Realm. (i) Internal Connections maintain mind-body-soul unity. They “vertically” link the Realmic aspects of each attribute of a lifeform or object. The Feruchemy sections of recent Ars Arcana list many human attributes. Each attribute has an analog in all three Realms. (ii) External Connections “horizontally” link a soul to other souls. These Connections can extend between people, between objects, between a person and a planet, a person and other objects, and a person and Unique Investiture. A temporary Connection can extend between a person and the Powers – that’s how catalytic magic systems work. c. A Shardworld’s Unique Investiture is encoded into the Shardworld’s soul and is part of its Spiritual DNA. Unique Investiture is thus a form of Spiritweb Investiture. Sazed says a Shard’s Unique Investitures are its “flesh and blood.” (HoA, Chapter 14 Epigraph.) d. Connections link to different Spiritual “genes” of an entity’s Spiritual DNA. A planet’s soul includes as Spiritual “genes” each location on that planet. When Allik Neverfar in BoM uses his language-translation medallion, he Connects his soul to a different “Spiritual gene” of Scadrial’s soul – a different birthplace location on Scadrial. Allik retains his accent because his soul still knows he is Malwish. Allik explains, “My soul thinks I was raised here, in your lands, but it knows that I am Malwish by descent…so I cannot help but have an accent…” (BoM, Kindle p. 302.) e. Brandon says Connections are not “on/off” switches. They can widen or narrow over time. f. “Identity” refers to the relationship between a mortal and the Unique Investiture of his native Shardworld. Unique Investiture is “keyed” to the mortal, enabling the mortal to perform “Unique Investiture Magic” on that Shardworld: “The Spiritual self is tied to the Investiture of the world that you come from.” Identity is embedded in the mortal’s Spiritual DNA. It can develop over time as part of an adaptive, evolutionary process. Non-natives must “hack” local Unique Investiture to use it (except for Breaths, which automatically “key into” their holder’s Identity.) Non-natives’ Identity is not “keyed” to the local Unique Investiture. Feruchemists’ Unique Investiture is “internal” and personal to them. BoM shows their Identity relates to the use of their personal Unique Investiture inside their metalmind. The Powers. The Powers are the cosmere’s “Spiritual energy,” the “the energy of Shards.” Under Brandon’s “one substance” principle, the Powers are the source of everything else – they convert into all of the cosmere’s matter, energy and other Investiture. The Powers are “raw” undifferentiated Investiture awaiting a directing mind to tell them what to do. Brandon also calls this form of Spiritual Realm Investiture “true Investiture” or “raw power.” COGNITIVE REALM INVESTITURE Unlike Spiritual Realm Investiture, Cognitive Realm Investiture is different everywhere – it is a form of Unique Investiture. If the Cognitive Realm is the collective mind of a Shardworld, Cognitive Realm Investiture is the collective mind’s ideas. These ideas have a Spiritual Realm aspect with their own Spiritwebs. Shai describes how this happens in TES (Kindle p. 74). Splinters are bits of the Powers that become “self-aware.” That means a splinter (including spren) has its own Cognitive function. Bits of the Powers that become splinters convert into Cognitive Realm Investiture: splinters are “less physical, more a blend of the other two [Realms].” PHYSICAL REALM INVESTITURE Differences Between Shardworlds. Like Cognitive Realm Investiture, Physical Realm Investiture is also a form of Unique Investiture. It is different everywhere. Roshar, Nalthis and Scadrial have gaseous manifestations of Investiture: Stormlight, Breaths and the mists. Lerasium and atium differ from Autonomy’s Investiture of microflora. The Tears of Edgli differ from Devotion’s perpendicularity. Each Physical Realm manifestation of Investiture reflects the Mandate of the Investiture’s Shard plus the planet’s “inherent Investiture.” Minor Shardworlds continue with whatever Unique Investiture Adonalsium and/or a Shard left there. States of Physical Realm Investiture. Brandon says the liquid state of a Shard’s Unique Investiture (its “shardpool”) is the most “potent.” The Coppermind asserts, “the liquid essence of a Shard is said to be related to the Cognitive aspect.” The solid state of Physical Realm Investiture (metals) is the least potent, and each metal has a single function. The gaseous state of Physical Realm Investiture is somewhere between the two in potency – it can directly fuel a Connection to the Powers like the mists did for Vin. PERPENDICULARITIES Realmic Conduits. Perpendicularities are conduits between the three Realms. They permit Worldhopping. The only Worldhopping we’ve seen so far is between the Cognitive and Physical Realms. Formation. Khriss says perpendicularities arise from a Shard’s presence on a planet. (AU, Kindle p. 477.) The weight of the Shard’s Investiture punches a “spike-like” hole through the planet’s Realmic aspects, forming the conduits between Realms. Brandon states the existence of a perpendicularity means the Shard cannot easily divest itself from its Shardworld: “Once you’ve got a Perpendicularity, you are starting...That’s trouble for going other places.” Speculation: Investiture Residue. I speculate a perpendicularity is the precise spot where a Shard Invests in a planet, where its Investiture “enters" the planet’s three Realmic aspects. That’s where the Shard “is present” and why the perpendicularity is “spike-like.” Otherwise, the weight of Investiture seems like it would form multiple perpendicularities per Shard on that planet. When Investiture is complete, residual unused Investiture remains – like water dripping from a turned-off hose. These attuned “catch-basins” collect a planet’s recycling Investiture. Brandon says perpendicularities “normally” disappear when a Shard divests itself from a planet, but “there are circumstances that could prevent the shardpool from disappearing.” Since Sazed says Physical Realm Investiture (like a shardpool) is the “body” of a Shard, I speculate the Shard Vessel’s death might be one such circumstance: Aona’s shardpool didn’t “disappear” after her death. I also speculate that a Shard can choose to leave Investiture behind when it divests. (Brandon recently confirmed this speculation when he stated at least one planet has a shardpool the Shard abandoned (voluntarily or not).)