[OB] Could Larkins be used to absorb all forms of Investiture, or just Stormlight?

[Somber Alchemy Skaa]

We already know that Larkins absorb Stormlight. Nightbloood is powered by any form of Investiture, could Larkins feed off of Allomancy, Feruchemy, ect.?

[Brgst13 Ferring]

I doubt it.  Each type of investiture has its own "wavelength", which is what makes it specific to its shard.  While there are ways to cross systems, it requires effort by the user.  Given that larkin, as far as we know, are not sentient, it is unlikely that they can cross wavelengths and are therefore restricted to stormlight.

[Calderis God Beyond]

Investiture is investiture to them. They feed in a similar manner to Nightblood. 

Quote

Questioner

If you were a Leecher, could you destroy a Shardblade?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm going to RAFO that for now, let's just say that it would be incredibly difficult if it were possible, and I'm not going to even say if it is. But that kind of power... 

Questioner

Let's just say they were burning duralumin as well.

Brandon Sanderson

Let's just say that the Investiture in a Shardblade is much greater than your average Allomancer, but... This type of thing is not unheard of in the Cosmere. The larkin, the Leechers, and Nightblood all have a similar sort of thing going on. Destroying a Shardblade would be reallyhard. And Investiture resists other forms of Investiture, so.

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/13/#e5023

[Brgst13 Ferring]

Well damnation.  That punches a hole in my wavelength theory of investiture.  Nice WoB.

[Somber Alchemy Skaa]

That brings up another question then. If a Larkin absorbed investiture from a feruchemist would it remove whatever is stored in the metalminds?

[Fezzik Soulcaster]

@Somber Alchemy, welcome to the shard! Have some cookies! To answer your question, a feruchemist is not invested all the time. A Larkin could perhaps drain a metalmind, but stormlight, breaths, and the mists are all vaporous manifestations of investiture. While I believe a larkin/nightblood could feed on liquid manifestations such as the well of ascension, the earlier WoB indicates feeding on solid manifestations like atium or shardblades is possible, though difficult. It seems as though difficulty increases with the rigidity of atomic structure. Metalminds, then, I would put somewhere in between moderate and difficult as investiture suspended inside a solid, much like electric charge. While a feruchemist is tapping/storing, I imagine it would become easier to siphon.

[KhanBoltNo4503 Skaa]

I presume that a larkin could however easily take a Nalthian's breath away, as stormlight and Breath are very similar.

[Yata Mistborn]

On 8/12/2017 at 11:04 PM, KhanBoltNo4503 said:

I presume that a larkin could however easily take a Nalthian's breath away, as stormlight and Breath are very similar.

In theory Yes, but the Breath is sticky to the host while the Stormlight leaks a lot.

ALarkin Will need a great effort to take a Breath, unless this great effort is beyond the Larkin's abilities at all

[Knghtstlker Crew Leader]

To our knowledge there is only one Living Larkin? Why are they so heavily hunted to extinction? Why are bodies sold for kingdoms, and who buys them? There cannot be that many people that know of the Larkin's abilities, and even less that find it useful in any way at all. Without a living Larkin to show what they do, surely mostly they are ornamental. I was not able to tell if the Larkin used in Edgedancer/Lift interlude was living or not. Surely the bodies are coveted because they can continue to "Leech" Stormlight through "Silver eyes"? Am I on the right road with this or do I need another re-read? I'm doubling down on Arcanum Unbound and OB is up next for a re-read.

[Fifth of Daybreak Most Ancient]

Everything that happened on Scadrial could have been avoided if Leras had a pet Larkin. Well of Ascension? Drained. Deepness? Defeated. Now we just have to import some Alethi to defeat this greatshell that's grown to the size of a mountain.

[Yata Mistborn]

1 hour ago, Knghtstlker said:

To our knowledge there is only one Living Larkin? 

There are at least two of them. One with Nale and the other with Rysn

[echaozh Noble]

On 12/10/2017 at 10:41 PM, Ookla the Obtuse said:

Everything that happened on Scadrial could have been avoided if Leras had a pet Larkin. Well of Ascension? Drained. Deepness? Defeated. Now we just have to import some Alethi to defeat this greatshell that's grown to the size of a mountain.

And the Cognitive Realm on Sel can be cleared for easy access from other worlds. Only the greatshell the Alethi needing to deal with is now the size of a planet.

[AkriTheEdge Skaa]

I think perhaps a Larken would be able to drain the breaths from a common Invested object but a much tougher time from a human. much like it would be almost impossible to drain Nightblood. I think the sentient  the cognitive connection a person or a fully awakened object has would be the difference.

[Hoiditthroughthegrapevine Voidbringer]

Some interesting thought experiments regarding Larkin:

1. What would happen if a larkin was flying just beyond the Storm wall in a High Storm? Could the Larkin feed of the Investiture directly from the Highstorm?
2. So we have seen Chiri Chiri drain a substantial amount of Investiture from the King's Drop in the Rysn interlude, and afterwards Rysn noted that Chiri Chiri was bigger. So, is this feeding off of Investiture really a case of a conversion of Investiture into Matter? If so, what other potential ramifications does this feeding off of investiture have? Spiritual energy, or Investiture has a near limitless potential, is the Larkin through it's existence in Roshar confined to creation of Matter that is Native to Roshar? What if the Larkin was on another Shard World?
3. What would a Larkin do, if brought into Shadesmar? Could an entire Spren city be destroyed by the Larkin feeding off the investiture of all the Physical Realm items that have been manifested in the Cognitive Realm? Would the larkin be able to feed on a Manifested stone of a wall, and have it pop back into the simple bead representation of that stone?
4. Could a single Larkin have defeated the entire Lifeless army of Bluefingers? I know it's been posited that Breath's are sticky, but the greater the Investiture, the more it resists a separate Investiture. With only one breath, it seems like a single Larkin would be all that a Nalthian kingdom needs to defend itself from Lifeless troops.

[Lumen Bridgeman]

A thought.  On Yolen there is a race of dragons.  Could Chiri-Chiri be a young dragon, somehow brought over from Yolen? 

 

[Spoolofwhool Stone Shaman]

1 hour ago, Lumen said:

A thought.  On Yolen there is a race of dragons.  Could Chiri-Chiri be a young dragon, somehow brought over from Yolen? 

 

Probably not. In the Cosmere, dragons will probably look like the classical fantasy dragon, as that it what Brandon has professed to have inspired him to write for a long time. As such, they wouldn't look like the strange crustacean analogues that Roshar has. Generally speaking, it would be hard for any off-world animal to replace the fauna of Roshar, due to how drastically different they look, with the carapace. 

[The One Who Connects Dawnsinger]

9 hours ago, Lumen said:

A thought.  On Yolen there is a race of dragons.  Could Chiri-Chiri be a young dragon, somehow brought over from Yolen?

I'd like to talk to you about the Lanceryn.

Quote

17

Botanica

Larkin and lanceryn
1. In WoK, Jasnah's mention of this lanceryn befuddled me a lot. We know that it is a kind of greatshell with gemhearts native to Aimia, but except this, we know nothing. The translator interpreted it as "lance-beast". I suspect he got it inspired because "lanceryn" is similar to "lance", which is a kind of weapon. I'd like to know whether this name origins from "lance" or not. If not, could you simply describe how this creature actually looks like, so I can come up with a new term? (I'm not sure if the former translator has ever contacted you.)
2. So larkins are more like flying insects? I imagine they are a mixture of crab (or any crustacean), wasp and little dragon. Is that okay? (Do larkins really have reddish/brown crusts?)

Peter

The lanceryn and larkin are two names for the same creature. When it says lanceryn, it’s definitely referring only to the enormous greatshell version that is believed to be extinct. The name is not related to “lance”…I think. The small larkin can be considered the cremling/larva version of the lanceryn.

Not a Yolish Dragon, but it could be a Dragon-Like creature(or not, we don't know). Regardless of what type of fantasy creature it resembles, it is a type of Greatshell, meaning they are native to Roshar.

[Solant Envisager]

Makes me wonder if lanceryn and Tai-na are actually the same species

[Yata Mistborn]

2 hours ago, Solant said:

Makes me wonder if lanceryn and Tai-na are actually the same species

Tai-na doesn't share features with the Larkin, but who knows?

[TheHeadHancho Ardent]

You know, the Larkin was also able to feed off of voidlight in OB.