Rear Endsheet answers ... kind of

[QuantumHarmonix]

For the longest time I've only had the audiobook of The Way of Kings, so for my birthday I decided to get a signed copy. Since I heard that you could ask a question when you got it personalized I asked: "Is the Rear Endsheat about Cultivation's or Odium's magic system? Does it involve Fabrials, Gemhearts, or Voidbringers?"  This was my response:  

 

For the record I don't think the current theory about it being Odium's system for Voidbringers is correct. I think that it is Cultivation's magic system, involving the use of gemhearts from certain greatshells to create the fabrials that replicate the various surges. Unfortunately, when I tried to make my question fit within the character limit on the personalization, I left the question a little to open ended. 

 

I'm trying to decided if this tells us anything new, so I'm posting it here for help. There is also a mark on the top of the book near the Interludes between Part 3 and 4, but I don't think that means anything. 

 

If Peter or Brandon reads this, I would like to say Thank You. I know asking for this right near the release of WoR couldn't have made things easier, so I really appreciate you taking the time to do this for me. 

Edited February 19, 2014 by QuantumHarmonix

[Eri]

I don't think fabrials are Cultivation; I think they're just a more technical mirror of the existing magic systems, like the stuff we'll see in Mistborn Second Trilogy.

 

Also, one of the rear page colour glyphs appears in corners of the Kharbranth illustration, I suppose it has something to do with Taravangian's um... activities. And those seem quite voidiish to me.

[beef man]

Sounds like they are all the same/system to me. Or at least the same enough that he couldn't say one without it being partially untrue. Maybe its how their systems are all connected? Maybe the system is a combo system to start with? Maybe they all use the same basic premises to manipulate the system to their own ends - for example the fabrial gemheart system is connected to the surge system but it isn't the same. Just some thoughts. Yes to an either or question normally means both/all.

[Moogle]

I've speculated before that Taravangian is of Cultivation, what with his pruning away the old rotted growth of the world so that new stuff can grow, and I am ~80% sure that Cultivation's system is Voidbinding. We have to keep in mind that the method of gaining power is determined by the Shard, not what the actual power is. So... you have to grow things with Voidbinding? Sacrifice things? Difficult to say.

 

Good job narrowing things down with the question, though. You gave Brandon an easy way to be tricksy though. Now we just need to play twenty questions (well, fewer) with further questions to figure it out. 

[QuantumHarmonix]

Yes to an either or question normally means both/all.

I thought of that, but unfortunately I think it means that only one of the options is true. But I posted it to see if anyone could convince me otherwise.

 

Good job narrowing things down with the question, though. You gave Brandon an easy way to be tricksy though. Now we just need to play twenty questions (well, fewer) with further questions to figure it out. 

Yeah, live and learn.   The other reason I posted my answer was so that someone else could narrow the response further, since the answer should be one of the options in my question.  

[Swimmingly]

Brandon is the master of the Logician's answer. Is A, B, C, or Jaguar true? Yes.

[QuantumHarmonix]

Brandon is the master of the Logician's answer. Is A, B, C, or Jaguar true? Yes.

I know. At least I do now. 

[Morsk]

I don't know how many other people think this, but I think a fabrial is basically a synthetic gemheart, and is mimicking the symbiotic relationships animals form with spren, only in a machine instead of an animal. That would let fabrials be Cultivation's magic, even though at first glance it feels really counter-intuitive that her magic would be technology.

[QuantumHarmonix]

I don't know how many other people think this, but I think a fabrial is basically a synthetic gemheart, and is mimicking the symbiotic relationships animals form with spren, only in a machine instead of an animal. That would let fabrials be Cultivation's magic, even though at first glance it feels really counter-intuitive that her magic would be technology.

So the greatshells would be natural fabrials? Meaning that certain greatshells would have surges similar to their comparative Knight Radiant order?

[Morsk]

So the greatshells would be natural fabrials? Meaning that certain greatshells would have surges similar to their comparative Knight Radiant order?

I think they have powers similar to the new inventions, not the old Radiant fabrials, like making themselves weigh less through diminishing fabrials.

[Swimmingly]

I like this theory immediately. Perhaps the gems of spren symbiosis creatures are already faceted, or maybe the creature itself replaces the need for a pattern to attract the spren.

[skaa]

Another way to look at fabrials is to think about plants. You are basically taking a seed (a spren), planting it in soil (a gemstone), and then watering it (Stormlight) until it grows. It's still the same concept of manipulating the Surges via spren and Stormlight, but with Cultivation's Intent of natural development instead of Honor's Intent of binding oaths.

Which means Odium's system is also spren+Stormlight=Surge, but with Odium's Intent of conflict. I wonder if Voidbringers bond with spren by somehow consuming them during a highstorm, perhaps trapping them first in a small gemstone and then swallowing the gemstone? After all, "eating is terrible destruction."

Edited February 18, 2014 by skaa

[Moogle]

I think that if they were acting in a manner similar to fabrials, they would need a source of Stormlight. So far as I can recall, the gemhearts recovered from greatshells don't have any Stormlight in them. I think it's more likely that the creatures have evolved in such a way that their entire cognitive aspect is focused on one thing to attract spren.

 

I mean, we've never heard of skyeels having gemhearts, but they do have spren in symbiosis with them creating gas for them to float.

 

It's possible that for creatures of sufficient size that they attract enough spren that the spiritual energy that suffuses the spren will leak into them over time and create the gems.

 

I wonder if Surgebinders get gemhearts... it would explain the gem-colored eyes. Gemstones grow in their eyes.

 

The odd thing about all of this is that you'd think that if Investiture was used to create a gemheart, it would be permanently infused, like Szeth's black gem. Unless... Szeth's gem isn't permanently infused and there's an opposite of a highstorm that creates an unnatural calm and infuses gemstones? This requires further thought.

[Argent]

Fabrials could be pure science, it's not necessary for them to be a magic system of their own. I've been in both camps for this argument (on one side we have Surgebinding - Honor, fabrials - Cultivation, Voidbinding - Odium, and on the other - fabrials are not tied to a specific system, they are just machines; though in the latter case you could argue that they are kind of like Hemalurgic spikes, and they get their own system, so...).

 

Just sayin'

[QuantumHarmonix]

I've thought that fabrials might not really get their own system as well, but I still think the rear endsheet is connected to them somehow. My reasons are the giant gem in the center, and that it mirrors the shadesmar map which is the realm of the spren. That's why I think it is showing something about attracting spren to certain gems, in order to get a desired result. I also think that the symbols represent the greatshells in the same way the surgbinder chart symbols represent the heralds hilts. I don't really have a reason for that other than the third order symbol looks like a red crab, and the fifth order symbol kind of looks like a turtle.