Shardic Intent relating to Magic Systems

[ReadAndFindOut]

We see on multiple worlds that the intent of a Shard is directly related to how the magic system on that world functions: Awakening on Nalthis is the giving of Breath to something else; bonding a spren on Roshar requires honoring oaths; end-positive Allomancy and end-negative Hemalurgy on Scadrial; etc.

So, how is Sand Mastery related to the intent of Autonomy?

[RShara]

Sadly, without knowing how the sand masters are chosen and trained, we don't really know how it relates to Autonomy.  Autonomy is definitely the Shard on Taldain, and the investiture that currently powers sand mastery is from her.  It seems like it follows bloodlines to a degree, but even that's kinda tenuous.  Sorry

[Weltall]

Given that the graphic novel is kind of waving a big neon sign and yelling 'Autonomy Is Here!' at us, I think the connection is undeniable. But as RShara says, there's so much we don't know that it's hard to answer the question. We have some comments in Elantris 10A that Initiation on Taldain has some hidden factor at work that we're unaware of.

Quote

How, then, is a practitioner of AonDor Initiated? It does not appear to be tied to family descent, as one finds on Scadrial, nor is it a specific Shard’s Decision, as on Nalthis. Even Taldain’s and Vax’s methods do not seem to apply here.

So, it's not just through bloodline or Khriss wouldn't have included Taldain and Scadrial as separate possibilities (though bloodline seems to be a factor) and it's not 'Because Autonomy Wills It'. There's some back-and-forth over Kenton's power-up and whether it relates to his acting more autonomously or not, can't be sure where that's going until the final volume is out.

[StanLemon]

I'm not entirely sure that Sand Mastery is associated with Autonomy. We know that several Shardworlds were created before the Shattering and that the Sand has properties all on its own that let it soak up Investeture so it might be possible that Sand Mastery or at leas to the potential for it existed pre-Autonomy. Additionally we don't know if the Dark Side has any magic of its own either.

All that said however I do have a couple ideas how it could be related to Autonomy though. One such hypothesis has to do with the Sand Masters themselves. I'm pretty sure that they possess their own innate Investiture separate from the Sand and it isn't that they control the Sand itself but the Investiture collected in it. Essentially giving the Sand the ability to move. There is more to my idea if you would like to inquire and it definitely has holes because of the lack of knowledge of more that the basic abilities of Sand Mastery but I was just using it as an example.