Sol Invictus Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 I have a question----are the Idrian Royal Locks subject to the color-draining qualities of BioChromatic Breath? After all, Siri is around quite a few Awakeners, and her hair is never mentioned as changing involuntarily. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oudeis Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 More people seem to Awaken around Vivenna, actually, than Siri... I'm gonna guess no? Which is odd. On Roshar, Shardblades cut through hair and nails, because they aren't considered alive. Yet on Nalthis this doesn't seem to be the case. Even without anything to Awaken, they keep all color away from Vahr just in case. Why bother, if he could simply use the color of his own hair? Maybe there's something about Breath. Maybe it permeates your whole being, even your hair, making it "part of your living body" the way it isn't on Roshar. Since Vasher does use spilled blood, it's been suggested that Vivenna could cut off her hair, which would presumably either stay the last color it was or revert to whatever her "natural" color is, use it for Awakening, then grow more hair and repeat the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 I suspect it has to do with Cognitive Identity in the case of Breath. You can't drain Color from your hair because you see it as "you", and you can't drain Color from tree bark because the tree sees the bark as "me", so it's "life-force" (or Cosmere equivalent) holds onto the color. A Shardblade on the other hand seems to work more like a Hemalurgic Spike in its definition of "Alive", so just like you can't Spike someone's hairdo you can't Shard-sever their hair-soul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oudeis Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 That seems inconsistent. Why would people on Roshar consider their hair to be not a part of their bodies, but people on Nalthis do? I also always find the "because Cognitive aspect trumps everything" to be a weak catch-all card to play with huge flaws. If that were the case, wouldn't insane people have incredible powers? If I'm crazy and truly believe I can fly, shouldn't my Cognitive aspect trump the laws of physics and grant me flight? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParadoxicalZen Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 I don't think it is possible to drain hair colour, at least from the royal locks anyway, given that the locks are a sign as being descended from Vo the First Returned and therefore more Invested than normal hair. This reminds of WW's question in regards to whether if you were to cut the hair of someone with the Royal Locks, would they be able to change the colour of the hair on both sides of the cut (one of WW's examples was this; Let's say Siri's hair is two feet long. A shardblade passes through the hair exactly in the middle ("dividing" the hair into two one-foot sections). In your previous answer you said that while usually the shardblade would just sever the hair (leaving only a foot attached to the head) with the Royal locks the entire two feet would remain attached but only the foot on the "head" side of the cut would be able to change color.) So perhaps after it had been cut by...Shardscissors/razor? you could possibly drain the colour from the 'dead' side of the hair http://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/2ytg2h/im_novelist_brandon_sanderson_ama/cs07oz0?context=10000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol Invictus Posted June 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Thanks, everybody! Another thing's been bugging me concerning the Royal Locks: As I was reading Warbreaker, I simply assumed that Idrian royalty were blood kin to Vo and the other original Returned. But, much later on, it's revealed that the Returned are sterile, thus necessitating the priesthood finding a Returned baby to be Susebron and Siri's "child". With this being the case, how can Idrian royalty be descended from Vo? Was the priesthood wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natc Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 It's a mystery that is meant to be revealed, and for now RAFO'd. I do believe I once saw a WoB that the royal locks work off of a divine breath fragment inherited by the bloodline in a similar mechanism to Returned pseudo-shapeshifting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Thanks, everybody! Another thing's been bugging me concerning the Royal Locks: As I was reading Warbreaker, I simply assumed that Idrian royalty were blood kin to Vo and the other original Returned. But, much later on, it's revealed that the Returned are sterile, thus necessitating the priesthood finding a Returned baby to be Susebron and Siri's "child". With this being the case, how can Idrian royalty be descended from Vo? Was the priesthood wrong? It's not that Returned are sterile, but rather they have to do something specific/special to produce children. It's mentioned in... I think the Warbreaker Annotations. Maybe a WoB I read while I was reading the Annotations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol Invictus Posted June 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Ah! Thank you! Meaning, normally they're sterile, but with some of magical assistance, it becomes possible. My question is, how could the priesthood of Hallandren have forgotten such a thing? It makes succession a heck of a lot easier when you literally have an heir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Ch 44 annotations: It is possible for a Returned to have a child. Vo, the First Returned, did it. The God King isn’t special in that he can do it; any of the Returned could, but it requires some special knowledge that—I’m afraid—I’ll have to keep secret until the sequel. Suffice it to say that the priests know how it is done. The problem is, they aren’t always able to get this to work. Sometimes, they have to do what Siri guessed—replace the God King with an infant Returned. Infant Returns happen very infrequently. It’s more rare than an adult Returning, so there is something sound to the Hallandren reasoning that you have to do something heroic in order to Return. (That’s not true, but it is more sound a doctrine than Siri thinks it is.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol Invictus Posted June 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Ahhhh!!!! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 I suggest reading the Annotations, there's a lot of good side-stuff in there. I've actually read both Warbreaker and Mistborn in a 1-chapter-1-annotation... makes the book a bit of a slog, but it also expanded my understanding of what exactly was happening. Some things I thought were important had simple explanations, and some things I thought were simple were much more important Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol Invictus Posted June 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 I'll do that, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oudeis Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Odd that whatever it was, the First Returned figured out the trick in a week, yet it's been a secret every since. Perhaps that was Vo's Destiny, or part of it? To start a line of people with a spark of Divine Breath? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Odd that whatever it was, the First Returned figured out the trick in a week, yet it's been a secret every since. Perhaps that was Vo's Destiny, or part of it? To start a line of people with a spark of Divine Breath? The fact that it's specific doesn't mean it isn't simple. It could be easy as being in normal human form or suppressing the Divine Breath, and then you can procreate like a normal person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 That seems inconsistent. Why would people on Roshar consider their hair to be not a part of their bodies, but people on Nalthis do? I also always find the "because Cognitive aspect trumps everything" to be a weak catch-all card to play with huge flaws. If that were the case, wouldn't insane people have incredible powers? If I'm crazy and truly believe I can fly, shouldn't my Cognitive aspect trump the laws of physics and grant me flight? It's not that "Cognitive Aspect trumps all", it's that "Cognitive Aspect shapes Investiture" So when you're Awakening, you're using your Cognitive Aspect to shape Investiture, and as such your Cognitive bumps up against the other person's Cognitive, and the hair is unaffected. When you swing a Shardblade, it's a Physical Blade vs Physical Hair. Cognitively, the Hair is Alive, but Physically, the hair is dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol Invictus Posted June 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Cognitive aspect does have the ability to shape the material universe, at least, on Nalthis it does. Blushweaver, if I recall correctly, had a much smaller bust before Returning. However the Returned see themselves, that is how they appear post-Return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oudeis Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Your argument does not axiomatically support your premise. For example, if the mortal who would become Blushweaver had thought of herself as "busty" as a human, why didn't her chest grow? It seems clear that in this case, the crux of the matter is being Returned. If you are a Returned, that sets up a unique scenario wherein your cognitive aspect affects changes to your physical aspect. The cognitive aspect does not, that we know of, have an inherent ability to shape the physical realm. Instead, we have seen a small number of specific examples wherein a unique situation refers to a cognitive aspect to affect physical change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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