+Kelkamer Posted August 30, 2018 Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 I've been relistening to Warbreaker and at 8 hours and 16 minute it mentions that if Vasher had more breaths he could have seen the "lichen" on the grass. I can't find if it has been discussed, any idea if it's the same lichen as mentioned in White Sands that fuels their sand Mastery? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted August 30, 2018 Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 I doubt it's in anyway related. Lichen are just a type of tiny microbe/plant thing. They're invested on the Taldainish? Taldani? The sand. That doesn't mean normal lichens don't exist elsewhere. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Kelkamer Posted August 30, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 Ah well that makes sense. Swallowing Iron on Roshar will just make a Rosharan sick. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiquidBlue Posted August 30, 2018 Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 (edited) On 8/30/2018 at 5:03 PM, Kelkamer said: Ah well that makes sense. Swallowing Iron on Roshar will just make a Rosharan sick. Thanks! Unless they are an allomancer. The Taldain invested lichen can live and absorb investiture off of Taldain (Wit had some living sand with him on Roshar)... Actually that's an interesting thing. Is there a reason that the Taldain lichen isn't spread all over the place on Roshar. There should be plenty of free investiture in the High Storms to feed it. I think this means it needs the Taldain sand as a substrate on which to grow. Or it requires a very dry environment. Edited September 6, 2018 by LiquidBlue typos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Kelkamer Posted August 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2018 I do know/remember that not all Taldain sand can be invested. And now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure the reason the lichen on Taldain can hold investiture is because one of the creatures on that planet digested and passed the sand whipe eating stuff living in that sand. And after it passes the same, it is then coated in the special lichen film Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrand_Antharo Posted August 31, 2018 Report Share Posted August 31, 2018 I've been wondering if the sand lichen on Taldin is the same as the stuff living on elantris's walls, so maybe it has spread but only where there is a constant source of investiture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leyrann Posted August 31, 2018 Report Share Posted August 31, 2018 12 hours ago, LiquidBlue said: Actually that's an interesting thing. Is there a reason that the Taldain lichen isn't spread all over the place on Roshar. There should be plenty of free investiture in the HighStorms to feed it. I think this means it needs the Taldain sand as a substrate on which to grow. Or it requires a very dry environment. How would it get there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Kelkamer Posted August 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2018 1 hour ago, Leyrann said: How would it get there? Pretty sure there's a WoB saying the Seventeenth Shard brought the common cold to Roshar. And Mraize had some sand from Taldain with him on Roshar. Apparently the Worldhoppoers aren't super aware of microbes. There's also WoBs mentioning that sand from Taldain could be used as investiture detector (turning from white to black to white again when charged with kinetic investiture). Potentially the lichen could breed and spread when a worldhopper takes it to a new shardworld as an investiture detector? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leyrann Posted August 31, 2018 Report Share Posted August 31, 2018 1 minute ago, Kelkamer said: Pretty sure there's a WoB saying the Seventeenth Shard brought the common cold to Roshar. There is. Which implicitly also means that it hasn't been brought there before, despite however long worldhopping has been going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RShara Posted August 31, 2018 Report Share Posted August 31, 2018 It wouldn't be able to grow on Roshar. Water, or liquids, causes it to give off any power it has and turn black. Roshar's basically a perpetual storm lol. And when it's not storming, it's still pretty humid. The lichen wouldn't really have a chance to gain much of a foothold. Also, it probably requires some nutrients from the sand itself that rocky Roshar wouldn't provide well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storyspren Posted September 3, 2018 Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 On 8/31/2018 at 4:36 AM, Leyrann said: How would it get there? Well the sand has to be there right? Since there are little piles of sand at the end of each library shelf in Kharbranth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezzik Posted September 3, 2018 Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 13 hours ago, Storyspren said: little piles of sand at the end of each library shelf in Kharbranth? This is salt or another desiccant, to prevent fungus (like mold or lichen) in the library full of valuable books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted September 3, 2018 Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 Probably saltpeter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walin Posted September 3, 2018 Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 If someone tried to spread Taldainish lichen over to Nalthis, they'd probably try to do so to other planets as well. I'll definitely look around on Scadrial for any viewpoints in metal refineries or lichen growing in Feruchemical copper-banks, or something. On Roshar, the worldhopper could have success by putting lichen indoors in places where a water Attractor fabrial would be (such as libraries or machine rooms that use rusting metal). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 @Walin not sure it's worth the effort. If the lichen is anywhere, it will have to be on a sealed container. The moment water touches it, it releases its investiture. Rain, or possibly even a remarkably humid day would mean the lichen would flash and turn black. If it needs to absorb investiture to survive, then it can't get wet for long without needing more. Who knows how it's life cycle works though, because if you can keep it alive and drained, it can act as an investiture detector because it can absorb, and turn white, from any type, not just Autonomy's Investiture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storyspren Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 15 hours ago, John203 said: This is salt or another desiccant, to prevent fungus (like mold or lichen) in the library full of valuable books. Wait, wait, wait. Is this for sure? I expected somebody to thrash back with some obscure WOB. So you're telling me... what I thought was the sand (with lichen) is actually something used to repel mold (and lichen) by absorbing water? Either way, isn't there's potential relevance in a universe where the presence or absence of particular species lichen substrates is pretty important? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RShara Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 8 hours ago, Storyspren said: Wait, wait, wait. Is this for sure? I expected somebody to thrash back with some obscure WOB. So you're telling me... what I thought was the sand (with lichen) is actually something used to repel mold (and lichen) by absorbing water? Either way, isn't there's potential relevance in a universe where the presence or absence of particular species lichen substrates is pretty important? Quote The air smelled of old paper and dust. Not wet. It was never damp in the Palanaeum. Perhaps the dryness had something to do with the long troughs of white powder at the ends of each room. So it's white powder, not sand. And yeah, it sounds like a dessicant, rather than anything magical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiquidBlue Posted September 6, 2018 Report Share Posted September 6, 2018 On 8/30/2018 at 10:13 PM, Kelkamer said: I do know/remember that not all Taldain sand can be invested. And now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure the reason the lichen on Taldain can hold investiture is because one of the creatures on that planet digested and passed the sand whipe eating stuff living in that sand. And after it passes the same, it is then coated in the special lichen film It very could be that the animals eating the sand also prepare it so that the lichen can continue to grow. My impression was that the animals eating the sand weren't so much consuming the lichen as they were consuming the investiture in the lichen. On 8/31/2018 at 3:03 AM, Thrand_Antharo said: I've been wondering if the sand lichen on Taldin is the same as the stuff living on elantris's walls, so maybe it has spread but only where there is a constant source of investiture. This is a very interesting point. This is my head canon for now. I'd think that there is enough natural investiture on Roshar for the lichen to grown, but it is very likely much too wet and humid for it to grow or thrive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted September 6, 2018 Report Share Posted September 6, 2018 The sand had lichen on it which took in investiture to turn white, and turned black when that investiture was spent. When a creature eats and passes the sand, the granules are stripped of the lichen and are translucent. The lichen itself is what's eaten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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