Poolhopping (WoR and Elantris spoilers)

[Kadrok]

Preface: So I had this thought a while back, but I've been lazy about coming here recently. If someone else has thought of this and posted about it... please forgive me... I gave a cursory glance of what's been happening, but as I mentioned, I've been lax in my presence here as of late, and am probably not up to date.

 

 

Let's just get right into it shall we... I'm proposing that Hoid worldhops through pools of some kind, possibly shardpools. Let's have some quotes!

 

 

Interview: Nov 6th, 2012

Weller Book Works Signing - Josh & Mi'ch (Verbatim)

Question

Okay, I also want to know if there are other ways to Worldhop aside then what Hoid uses.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Tags

worldhopping, cosmere, hoid,

So note first that how Hoid worldhops is not the be all and end all of worldhopping... there are other ways.

 

 

Concerning my argument, these quotes are most important...

 

 

Chicago (if anyone has the report/audio for Milwaukee, please let me know)

http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/7058-words-of-radiance-tour-chicago-signing-mar-22/page-2#entry116818


Q:  The prevailing theory on the 17th Shard is that Hoid worldhops using Shadesmar. I was wondering if you were willing to confirm or deny that?
A:  Hoid has indeed gotten between worlds before through Shadesmar.
Q:  And would you be willing to give us a hint as to how he does that?
A:  There are hints in the books. There is a hint in the very first cosmere book I released. [that would be Elantris] Which I thought was a huge hint, but so far I haven't seen anyone talking about it.  I thought for sure once people started figuring the cosmere, they would see the massive in-your-face hint I put in that book, but so far, as far as I know, no one has.  Now, the one [hint] about the map, that one I don't think is obvious. I know people have been trying to figure it out. It's going to be fun once you figure it out, but it's not something huge and obvious. The Elantris once was, like, enormously "HIIINT!"
 

 

(This is going to be really embarrassing if you guys have figured out what this is in my absence and I am wrong). People I've seen have jumped on the teleportation aspects of Elantris, but there is another more interesting feature of Elantris which seems to connect to Words of Radiance. In Elantris we see Elantrians placed in the magic dissolving pool, and disappear. The element of Words of Radiance I am talking about is of course the story Rock tells about how he met Hoid (he doesn't know it's Hoid, he thinks of it as a trickster god, but it seemed obvious to me it was Hoid, and if anyone takes issue with this I suppose I can revisit the passage and make the case). Hoid was emerging from a sacred pool only the Horneaters are allowed around; people with a connection/awareness of spren, and therefore with some sort of cognitive mumbo jumbo. So Hoid comes out of the sacred pool in Horneaterville... where was he coming from? We've thus seen people disappear into pools, and a known worldhopper emerge from one.

 

Even more suggestive, you'll note that one of the only known instances of Hoid's worldhopping in which we know exactly where he went was when he used worldhopping to access the Well of Ascension chamber and steal a bead of lerasium... he worldhopped directly to somewhere with a shardpool... perhaps through the shardpool in some way.

 

My theory, mechanically speaking, is that these sacred pools (which don't all have to be shardpools) somehow form a rift between the cognitive realm and the physical realm, allowing travel between them. In terms of Scadrial, and Hoid's long search for the Well of Ascension, it is possible Hoid only knew where the pool at the pits of Hathsin was, and needed a better idea of where Preservation's pool was before he could "exit" there, hence all his time wandering around Terris.

 

Finally, let's consider perhaps the most important quote:

 

 

 

Interview: Sep, 2012

Cosmere Q&A - 17th Shard (Verbatim)

mycoltbug

Is there a magic system that best allows people to world hop between worlds?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, but it isn't needed. Some do help more with understanding how to traverse the Cognitive Realm.

Tags

cognitive realm, shadesmar, worldhopping, investiture,

 

 

 

You could take Brandon's "but it isn't needed" in two ways, but in the context of his second sentence, it seems to me to imply that no magic system is needed, or at least that any magic system could be used (although ones with Cognitive Realm powers serve better, unsurprisingly). If this is the case, one would simply need to know where these pools (or perhaps more accurately rifts) are, and how to access them. That said, Jasnah notes that it is dangerous to travel Shadesmar without Stormlight, and I can see at least one magic system being required in order to generate the investiture necessary to survive...

 

Thoughts?

[Swimmingly]

I think that's because Stormlight, through the surges, lets you Invest beads and travel with them. It's probably just a convenience - if you could somehow take a boat with you, for instance, that could work too.

[Kadrok]

Lol... next post I read I find this:

 

So I know a lot of people have been throwing around the idea that worldhoppers are able to travel through means of shardpools.

*sigh* nevermind *goes back to where he's been hiding all this time*

 

EDIT: Threw in some ideas on the other topic.

Edited May 7, 2014 by Kadrok

[lyht]

I give you a vote. I had read some of those quotes before, but I liked everything you included, and the way you put it.

[Kadrok]

I give you a vote. I had read some of those quotes before, but I liked everything you included, and the way you put it.

 

Awww, thanks.

[Kurkistan]

A bit necro, but I use this thread as a place to see all the pool-related quotes, so here's another.
 

Q: At the midnight release I asked if an Elantrian took their seon to a different planet and modified the aons to use the seon's aon(its core aon) would that allow them to use their magic on the other planet. A: He said it would be very hard but it could be done. Q: Later at the signing I Asked Sanderson if Raoden found a way to make Sarene live as long as he does or if he gave himself to the pool after she died. A: He r.a.f.o.'d me and said that the pool wasn't what people think it is.

[CWS]

I agree with the OP in that Hoid has world hopped via the pools...  I think this is one of his two ways of traveling thats been hinted at, and the pool hopping is different than his travel via shadesmar.  I posted the general idea of how I envision shadesmar travel happening in a thread earlier this week: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/8799-does-brandon-check-for-speedhacking-in-the-cosmere/ 

 

Pool hopping fits very nicely with this concept to allow point to point travel from somewhere Hoid is not familiar with.  I'll go further out on a limb (and probably just display my total ignorance) and say I think that the pools are not a gateway to the cognitive realm, but to the spiritual one. 

 

My reasoning is very weak on this one, its as follows:  We've seen evidence that Hoid can travel with and without pool access (bar story about "gods" jumping out of pools, and confirmation that Hoid traveled from point to point on Scadrial in WoA assuming he wasnt jumping from pool to pool there)  Brandon has said that Hoid can travel/hop via Shadesmar, so one of those methods I'm assuming is via shadesmar, they both seem different enough that I'm also assuming one is NOT shadesmar travel...  I'm going with the pools being a thin spot between physical and spiritual realms just because 1) The face that Brandon said that the pool on Elantris is not what most people think it is (most ppl think its a shardpool, so its not that?)  and 2) The mysticism surrounding the pool and death seems to fit more with it being spiritual realm than cog realm...

 

Unfortunately when I have time to read/post I usually don't have my books with me to reference anything, so apologies in advance if this is stupid enough to actually be a waste of time for you to read