Where do the spores go?

[riverspren Spearman]

Does anyone know what happens to all of the spores? There's a continuous supply from the moons/lunagrees.. so wouldn't this inevitably bury the whole planet? There has to be some cycle.. I thought it was funny how Hoid talked about the water cycle, but what about the spore cycle? Maybe I missed an explanation somewhere?

[AquaRegia Seer]

No, you didn't miss it - it's not there.  It remains an open question.  Many of us have speculated... but we don't know.

[riverspren Spearman]

5 hours ago, AquaRegia said:

No, you didn't miss it - it's not there.  It remains an open question.  Many of us have speculated... but we don't know.

Ugh.. that’s going to bug me way more than it should.. ha. Hopefully we get something from Brandon in a Q&A. My guess is there is something happening on the sea floor that we just don’t know about?

Edited January 11 by riverspren

[Yuliya Gyorn]

On 12/01/2023 at 3:37 AM, riverspren said:

Ugh.. that’s going to bug me way more than it should.. ha. Hopefully we get something from Brandon in a Q&A. My guess is there is something happening on the sea floor that we just don’t know about?

Xisis had to chose the sea bottom as a residence for a reason. Perhaps, his guess is the same as yours.

[Dunkum Lord Prelan]

23 hours ago, Yuliya said:

Xisis had to chose the sea bottom as a residence for a reason. Perhaps, his guess is the same as yours.

I forget wither it was Xisis, the Sorceress, Ulaam, or Hoid, but one of them specifically said something about how Xisis is studying the ecology at the bottom of the spore seas - which suggests that SOMETHING complex is going on down there.

[Yuliya Gyorn]

40 minutes ago, Dunkum said:

I forget wither it was Xisis, the Sorceress, Ulaam, or Hoid, but one of them specifically said something about how Xisis is studying the ecology at the bottom of the spore seas - which suggests that SOMETHING complex is going on down there.

I hope it will not remain a mystery forever. It is too cool of a world to never return to in the future books

[Tglassy Forger]

Perhaps there is water on the Spore sea floor.  It's constantly feeding the Spores.  That could be where the Seething comes from.  The Zephyr Spores turn into air.  They hit the water at the bottom of the sea, explode into air, and are compressed throughout the planet.  Or perhaps fall through a cave system into a vast underground ocean litered with cave systems, turn into air, and explode out all the cave systems into the rest of the world, thus creating the Seething.  

[AquaRegia Seer]

On 1/15/2023 at 8:51 AM, Dunkum said:

I forget wither it was Xisis, the Sorceress, Ulaam, or Hoid, but one of them specifically said something about how Xisis is studying the ecology at the bottom of the spore seas - which suggests that SOMETHING complex is going on down there.

It was a comment by Khriss (in RoW Ars Arcanum) about someone named Foil, who many of us assume to be Xisis.

[Dunkum Lord Prelan]

7 hours ago, AquaRegia said:

It was a comment by Khriss (in RoW Ars Arcanum) about someone named Foil, who many of us assume to be Xisis.

no, i'm referring to this from page 370 in my PDF copy (went and looked it up):

Quote

There were other mortals in the dragon’s house, though they were not allowed in the entry hall when supplicants arrived. Xisis did not want his servants to be tainted by things like reminders of the world outside. They had important work to do, after all: serving him and his research into the complex ecosystem at the bottom of the spore seas.

 

[RaeTheRaven Lighteyes]

The fact that the land mass is mostly islands though does seem to suggest that the planet is in fact slowly being buried. That isn't to say there isn't something going on at the bottom. It could just be that whatever the process of spores being degraded is slower than the spores pouring from the moons, so the levels of the spores are slowly increasing. 

[AquaRegia Seer]

10 hours ago, RaeTheRaven said:

The fact that the land mass is mostly islands though does seem to suggest that the planet is in fact slowly being buried. That isn't to say there isn't something going on at the bottom. It could just be that whatever the process of spores being degraded is slower than the spores pouring from the moons, so the levels of the spores are slowly increasing. 

Was there anything in the story to support the claim that sea levels are constantly rising?  That's not something that people living on an island would fail to notice, and I don't recall anything being mentioned about it.

[RaeTheRaven Lighteyes]

1 hour ago, AquaRegia said:

Was there anything in the story to support the claim that sea levels are constantly rising?  That's not something that people living on an island would fail to notice, and I don't recall anything being mentioned about it.

No, I don't think there was. It was just implied that all known land was islands. That, combined with the fact that we know that the aethers are not native to Lumar so the spore seas weren't always there, suggests to me that the planet is slowly being buried by the spores and the current "islands" on which people are living are probably what used to be mountains.

I mean... they wouldn't necessarily notice. It might be a slow enough process that it's hard to notice within the life span of one person. Kind of how we know Venice or the Netherlands are slowly "sinking" and have been for a very long time. It's speeding up now due to global warming, but it's been going on for a long time, though not necessarily in a way that was easily noticeable day to day or year to year. 

It could also just be that it wasn't particularly relevant to the story so Hoid left it out. 

[GeoMantrix Bridgeman]

On 1/15/2023 at 9:10 AM, Tglassy said:

Perhaps there is water on the Spore sea floor.  It's constantly feeding the Spores.  That could be where the Seething comes from.  The Zephyr Spores turn into air.  They hit the water at the bottom of the sea, explode into air, and are compressed throughout the planet.  Or perhaps fall through a cave system into a vast underground ocean litered with cave systems, turn into air, and explode out all the cave systems into the rest of the world, thus creating the Seething.  

This idea could have some merit.  What do aethers do with water, and where does the seethe go?  If aethers are in any way plant like, they should be releasing oxygen.  Or something.  I mean, end of the day most investitures don't hold up to science as we know it on earth.  This is probably why he leaves it vague.  I appreciated, on re read, how the planet is basically a big D12.

[lacrossedeamon Arbiter]

4 hours ago, RaeTheRaven said:

No, I don't think there was. It was just implied that all known land was islands. That, combined with the fact that we know that the aethers are not native to Lumar so the spore seas weren't always there, suggests to me that the planet is slowly being buried by the spores and the current "islands" on which people are living are probably what used to be mountains.

I mean... they wouldn't necessarily notice. It might be a slow enough process that it's hard to notice within the life span of one person. Kind of how we know Venice or the Netherlands are slowly "sinking" and have been for a very long time. It's speeding up now due to global warming, but it's been going on for a long time, though not necessarily in a way that was easily noticeable day to day or year to year. 

It could also just be that it wasn't particularly relevant to the story so Hoid left it out. 

It’s possible that it reaches equilibrium at some point. Maybe the more aethers there are on the planet the quicker they degrade or recycle or whatever.

[RaeTheRaven Lighteyes]

3 hours ago, lacrossedeamon said:

It’s possible that it reaches equilibrium at some point. Maybe the more aethers there are on the planet the quicker they degrade or recycle or whatever.

It's possible. Maybe there's something that eats spores at the bottom. More spores can sustain a greater population of whatever they are and they eventually reach an equilibrium. 

[riverspren Spearman]

8 hours ago, RaeTheRaven said:

No, I don't think there was. It was just implied that all known land was islands. That, combined with the fact that we know that the aethers are not native to Lumar so the spore seas weren't always there, suggests to me that the planet is slowly being buried by the spores and the current "islands" on which people are living are probably what used to be mountains.

I mean... they wouldn't necessarily notice. It might be a slow enough process that it's hard to notice within the life span of one person. Kind of how we know Venice or the Netherlands are slowly "sinking" and have been for a very long time. It's speeding up now due to global warming, but it's been going on for a long time, though not necessarily in a way that was easily noticeable day to day or year to year. 

It could also just be that it wasn't particularly relevant to the story so Hoid left it out. 

The islands being mountains and the spores slowly piling up is what I’m starting to believe, given how small all mentioned islands were.. sounds grim for our lumar friends  though they probably have generations(?) to go before major issues. Definitely want to hear if Brandon has anything more on this though !

[RaeTheRaven Lighteyes]

3 hours ago, riverspren said:

The islands being mountains and the spores slowly piling up is what I’m starting to believe, given how small all mentioned islands were.. sounds grim for our lumar friends  though they probably have generations(?) to go before major issues. Definitely want to hear if Brandon has anything more on this though !

It would certainly be more interesting from a storytelling perspective if they were slowly being buried. If he ever were to write more on there that is. But I have no idea if he plans to write more on Lumar. 

[Frustration Herald]

12 hours ago, RaeTheRaven said:

It's possible. Maybe there's something that eats spores at the bottom. More spores can sustain a greater population of whatever they are and they eventually reach an equilibrium. 

I think this idea has merit, especially considering the spore's similarity to sand, and how certain sandlings would eat the lichen that grew on the sand.

[riverspren Spearman]

4 hours ago, Frustration said:

I think this idea has merit, especially considering the spore's similarity to sand, and how certain sandlings would eat the lichen that grew on the sand.

Hmm I could see that. Although there's no water down there, so would be tough for anything to live. And eating/ingesting would probably involve some processes that require moisture, which would be.. explosive

[Frustration Herald]

Just now, riverspren said:

Hmm I could see that. Although there's no water down there, so would be tough for anything to live. And eating/ingesting would probably involve some processes that require moisture, which would be.. explosive

The sandlings on Taldain literally melt if exposed to water, so there is a basis for cosmere organisms that don't need it.

[riverspren Spearman]

2 minutes ago, Frustration said:

The sandlings on Taldain literally melt if exposed to water, so there is a basis for cosmere organisms that don't need it.

Good point! Then yea I could totally see something living down there, eating to maintain an equilibrium

[RaeTheRaven Lighteyes]

What I always wondered about the sandlings is... does contact with water kill them or only water when it's liquid. Cos they have some sort of gas that functions as their blood. And I have similar questions about the spores. Do the react to water in all its states or only as a liquid? And does there need to be a certain concentration of water before they react to it? Hmmm

[Dunkum Lord Prelan]

Scientifically - Ammonia has been posited as a possible alternative to water for exotic life forms, though it has never been encountered. if the spores specifically react to water, then ammonia based life should be able to interact with them safely

[FollowYourMuse Gyorn]

The seethes are caused by air, so it brings to mind some kind of basic life form that is ingesting the spores and releasing oxygen. Like cyanobacteria and stromatolites did for the earths oceans. 

[lacrossedeamon Arbiter]

20 hours ago, RaeTheRaven said:

What I always wondered about the sandlings is... does contact with water kill them or only water when it's liquid. Cos they have some sort of gas that functions as their blood. And I have similar questions about the spores. Do the react to water in all its states or only as a liquid? And does there need to be a certain concentration of water before they react to it? Hmmm

I don't know if water actually kills them or if it removes their terken based invulnerability to Sandmastery meaning they can just be killed afterwards