Stormlight Radio Transmission

[Letryx13]

Okay, so I had this idea after reading RoW. It's a little out there, but I was thinking it might be a way for invested people on Roshar to travel off world. Thanks to Navani's experiments, we know that stormlight and voidlight are connected to the tones of Honor and Odium, respectfully.  Almost certainly the same of lifelight and Cultivation. 

I wonder if it's possible to transmit that in some way long distance, like a radio.  Now, I don't that radios don't actually transmit the sound itself. The sound is encoded into radio waves that can be received and translated back into sound on the other side. Maybe if two gemstones were conjoined like span reeds, then a constant source of stormlight could be transmitted.  Or maybe gemstones cut in a certain way could receive the tone sent out by a large gemstone transmitter or something, like car radios receiving a signal from a radio tower.  Such a thing would need to be limited, only so much stormlight could flow through at a time, but a constant stream of stormlight could maybe act as an anchor to Roshar. 

Kind of an out there theory, like I said, but it could be a way to get stormlight, and possibly radiants, off of Roshar.

[handleinthedark]

In theory you could do this similarly to spanreeds with the basic principle of a telephone. Instead of attaching to a pen you would attach them to a membrane so it would just be the physical movement of the gemstones. On the sender's end you would speak at a membrane that would vibrate according to the sounds you make and the gemstone in the center would transmit that information to the distant half on the exact same type of membrane. Volume could be controlled via fabrials that multiply or decrease the paired movement. This would be pretty simple basically two drums with gems tacked on in the middle. However the fine vibrations would perhaps be more susceptible to losses in fidelity/strength compared to the movement of a larger spanreed. You might need two pairs, as the mic and speaker functions might not be totally reversible, each end having one of each.

[Letryx13]

48 minutes ago, handleinthedark said:

In theory you could do this similarly to spanreeds with the basic principle of a telephone. Instead of attaching to a pen you would attach them to a membrane so it would just be the physical movement of the gemstones. On the sender's end you would speak at a membrane that would vibrate according to the sounds you make and the gemstone in the center would transmit that information to the distant half on the exact same type of membrane. Volume could be controlled via fabrials that multiply or decrease the paired movement. This would be pretty simple basically two drums with gems tacked on in the middle. However the fine vibrations would perhaps be more susceptible to losses in fidelity/strength compared to the movement of a larger spanreed. You might need two pairs, as the mic and speaker functions might not be totally reversible, each end having one of each.

Well, what I'm suggesting here isn't actual radios, but transmission via radio waves.  Using the same concept of radios, but transmitting stormlight instead of sound.

However, I'm fairly certain there will eventually be fabrials on Roshar that can transmit light and sound using light weaving. In my head, it's a pair of small mirrors, conjoined via fabrial, that create light weavings of what the other mirror reflects.  And sound tags along for the ride, in a way.

[Returned]

Intriguing idea! I don't think we can rule it out based on anything we've seen, especially given what we've learned of spren allowing some bi-directionality of cause and effect.

We know that it's (generally) hard for "manifested" Investiture to travel, but this seems due to a Shard Investing itself into a plant via some unknown mechanism and then being "rooted" there. So it's hard for Stormlight to leave Roshar because it's Honor's "manifested" Investiture on that planet, which exists because Honor became attached to Roshar. By the same token it's hard for spren to leave because they're made up of similar Investiture and so are similarly bound, and since Radiants are bonded to spren they should have some trouble leaving too.

In that sense it seems to me that the tones of a planet/system are a result of a Shard Investing that planet/system and not the binding itself (by which I mean you couldn't just perform Honor's rhythm with drums on Scadrial and force Honor to become attached there)-- if Honor's Invested there, the tone is there. So my gut reaction is to be skeptical that you could run things in the reverse direction by forcing Honor's power to be sufficiently Invested just by playing a rhythm and creating a localized connection that way.

But we've also seen that exact thing with spren: you can draw a flamespren with a fire, the "normal" way. But if you have a flamespren plus some Investiture (and the right materials) you can cause that flamespren to manifest heat. So maybe this is exactly the way to get Radiants off Roshar! If so I presume it would take a lot of Investiture and would probably work similarly for all Shards, and so may not require the specific trappings of Roshar like gemstones. I'd bet on godmetals being involved as well

[Letryx13]

13 hours ago, Returned said:

Intriguing idea! I don't think we can rule it out based on anything we've seen, especially given what we've learned of spren allowing some bi-directionality of cause and effect.

We know that it's (generally) hard for "manifested" Investiture to travel, but this seems due to a Shard Investing itself into a plant via some unknown mechanism and then being "rooted" there. So it's hard for Stormlight to leave Roshar because it's Honor's "manifested" Investiture on that planet, which exists because Honor became attached to Roshar. By the same token it's hard for spren to leave because they're made up of similar Investiture and so are similarly bound, and since Radiants are bonded to spren they should have some trouble leaving too.

In that sense it seems to me that the tones of a planet/system are a result of a Shard Investing that planet/system and not the binding itself (by which I mean you couldn't just perform Honor's rhythm with drums on Scadrial and force Honor to become attached there)-- if Honor's Invested there, the tone is there. So my gut reaction is to be skeptical that you could run things in the reverse direction by forcing Honor's power to be sufficiently Invested just by playing a rhythm and creating a localized connection that way.

But we've also seen that exact thing with spren: you can draw a flamespren with a fire, the "normal" way. But if you have a flamespren plus some Investiture (and the right materials) you can cause that flamespren to manifest heat. So maybe this is exactly the way to get Radiants off Roshar! If so I presume it would take a lot of Investiture and would probably work similarly for all Shards, and so may not require the specific trappings of Roshar like gemstones. I'd bet on godmetals being involved as well

I hadn't considered the shard metals, but that does seem like a possibility.  And a way for other invested people to move off world.  The version that I had always imagined (if they could ever figure out how to do it) would be have a large gemstone the size of a room somewhere in Uritheru, and have it be like a radio transmitter, with smaller gemstones cut to act as receiving radios.  But your idea of the shard metals makes me think that maybe an ancient style fabrial could be better.  Either way, it would be like having a lifeline to the shard wherever they are rooted, so it could allow the invested person to travel freely.

[Returned]

I am very interested to see how the problem of Investiture being bound to planets or systems is addressed by characters. It seems like an issue with huge implications, but which Sanderson doesn't treat as an especially difficult obstacle (more in the sense of "once you know the trick, it isn't hard"). I keep thinking that Autonomy and Endowment should be giving us clues, but I'm at a loss as to what they might be (if they even operate by the same rules as the others, which they may not).

I really like the idea of mechanically projecting the necessary conditions to allow the movement. But I feel like we're at least one Stormlight book away from any more information.

[Letryx13]

On 9/21/2022 at 0:54 PM, Returned said:

I am very interested to see how the problem of Investiture being bound to planets or systems is addressed by characters. It seems like an issue with huge implications, but which Sanderson doesn't treat as an especially difficult obstacle (more in the sense of "once you know the trick, it isn't hard"). I keep thinking that Autonomy and Endowment should be giving us clues, but I'm at a loss as to what they might be (if they even operate by the same rules as the others, which they may not).

I really like the idea of mechanically projecting the necessary conditions to allow the movement. But I feel like we're at least one Stormlight book away from any more information.

I doubt very much that we'll see a concrete answer before Stormlight 6, but the ghostbloods will probably have some information in book 5.   If I had to guess, the full answer will come up on a different world. Maybe Scadrial.  But obviously, some people know ways to accomplish it.  Otherwise Hoid, Vasher, NightBlood, Vivenna, and Galladon shouldn't be able to be on Roshar in the first place. It's just a question of when the information becomes widespread.

[cometaryorbit]

I don't think any of those characters have the problem on Roshar (though now that Hoid has a spren bond he will have to deal with it upon leaving Roshar). Hoid, Vivenna, and Galladon are living people, not spren or Shadows, and Vasher and Nightblood won't have the same problem as their Investiture's Intent is "without strings", since it's (Warbreaker)

Spoiler

of Endowment (Divine Breath or regular Breath)

 

Edited September 26, 2022 by cometaryorbit

[Letryx13]

27 minutes ago, cometaryorbit said:

I don't think any of those characters have the problem on Roshar (though now that Hoid has a spren bond he will have to deal with it upon leaving Roshar). Hoid, Vivenna, and Galladon are living people, not spren or Shadows, and Vasher and Nightblood won't have the same problem as their Investiture's Intent is "without strings", since it's (Warbreaker)

  Reveal hidden contents

of Endowment (Divine Breath or regular Breath)

 

I know Intent is the most important aspect of the Cosmere, but does it matter in this case? Based on the conversations between Shallan and Mraize, not to mention Navani and Rabonial, I was under the impression that any invested individual was tied to the world where the shard had "planted" itself.

[cometaryorbit]

I think that applies to spren and Cognitive Shadows but not Invested living people. And (WB)

Spoiler

Endowment specifically is an exception, a gift given without strings