02ranger Posted March 19, 2019 Report Share Posted March 19, 2019 8 hours ago, Calderis said: In my opinion, the majority of the blades were lost between the Recreance, and the addition of gems to the blades. Without the ability to dismiss the blade, you either hide it, or you carry a big storming blade all the time. Accidental deaths mean lost blades to be buried in crem, and carrying a large blade that can cut through literally anything but a ridiculously rare metal would provide plenty of opportunity for accidents. But more importantly is murder and theft. All blades are recognizably distinct. If you manage to kill someone and take their blade, or find it and steal it, you now are walking around with a huge banner that proclaims your guilt. Plate shouldn't be usable yet as without gems, it's an extremely heavy statue at best. So what do you do? You hide the blade. And you don't tell anyone where you hid that blade... And with no bond, when you die the blade remains hidden instead of dropping next to your body. So between accidental losses, and intentionally hidden blades, I think there's a ton of blades that are out there, in buried buildings, or clefts of stone, or hidden boxes, all lost to time and crem. Add in the many blades, like Heleran's and Liss' that there's no record of, and the inevitable collectors and secret societies... Many blades lost, even more plate lost due to negligence before it was worth keeping as more than an ornament, and a good number kept in secret... The only possible issue I can see with that theory is that we have absolutely no stories of people randomly finding blades, not even some fanciful sword-in-the-stone type of stories. It seems like if there were any number of blades just hidden throughout the world that at least a small percentage would have been randomly found by now, and a percentage of those would have at least rumors attached that they were found rather than won. I don't really have a good alternative for where they're all at, though. I don't believe the Shin could have gathered all the shardblades that aren't currently owned by somebody. I suppose other groups could have searched out unclaimed blades in the past and stockpiled them someplace..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted March 19, 2019 Report Share Posted March 19, 2019 16 minutes ago, 02ranger said: The only possible issue I can see with that theory is that we have absolutely no stories of people randomly finding blades, not even some fanciful sword-in-the-stone type of stories. It seems like if there were any number of blades just hidden throughout the world that at least a small percentage would have been randomly found by now, and a percentage of those would have at least rumors attached that they were found rather than won. I don't really have a good alternative for where they're all at, though. I don't believe the Shin could have gathered all the shardblades that aren't currently owned by somebody. I suppose other groups could have searched out unclaimed blades in the past and stockpiled them someplace..... Unless people are regularly digging in cremstone, why would they? A world of stone that grows consistently makes things like this far more plausible. They build walls for towns out of crem in matters of months-years. There's no mechanism that compares in real life. Just look at the buildings on the shattered plains. A blade lost in that is gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turin Turambar Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 21 hours ago, Calderis said: In my opinion, the majority of the blades were lost between the Recreance, and the addition of gems to the blades. Without the ability to dismiss the blade, you either hide it, or you carry a big storming blade all the time. Accidental deaths mean lost blades to be buried in crem, and carrying a large blade that can cut through literally anything but a ridiculously rare metal would provide plenty of opportunity for accidents. But more importantly is murder and theft. All blades are recognizably distinct. If you manage to kill someone and take their blade, or find it and steal it, you now are walking around with a huge banner that proclaims your guilt. Plate shouldn't be usable yet as without gems, it's an extremely heavy statue at best. So what do you do? You hide the blade. And you don't tell anyone where you hid that blade... And with no bond, when you die the blade remains hidden instead of dropping next to your body. So between accidental losses, and intentionally hidden blades, I think there's a ton of blades that are out there, in buried buildings, or clefts of stone, or hidden boxes, all lost to time and crem. Add in the many blades, like Heleran's and Liss' that there's no record of, and the inevitable collectors and secret societies... Many blades lost, even more plate lost due to negligence before it was worth keeping as more than an ornament, and a good number kept in secret... So why weren't more blades randomly found? It would make sense that many mining expeditions could randomly uncover a blade. And are you agreeing or disagreeing with me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 25 minutes ago, Turin Turambar said: So why weren't more blades randomly found? It would make sense that many mining expeditions could randomly uncover a blade. And are you agreeing or disagreeing with me? Mining in general isn't exceptionally common on Roshar. There are mining regions that we've aware of in Bavland, but I'm guessing that most mining is confined to similar mountainous regions. Flatlands and lower grades are just to prone to flooding during highstorms. Quote ccstat Are gems in those mined or exclusively from gemhearts? Brandon Sanderson Some are mined. Mining is not easy on Roshar. Firefight Atlanta signing (Jan. 24, 2015) Quote Neuxue Does Roshar have a magnetic field? Brandon Sanderson Um, Roshar, magnetic field, yes, it does. Yes. Yeah it does Neuxue You said at one point that it is all one plate-- Brandon Sanderson Yes. Neuxue --that there's no tectonic activity. What is the interior of the planet like? Brandon Sanderson That’s a good question... You're not going to get an answer on that one. It's a weird planet, let's just say that. It's a pretty weird planet Neuxue Are the diamonds naturally occurring? Brandon Sanderson Yes, but most are going to be-- They aren't-- all gemstones are naturally occurring, but most of, many or most of, the gems they are getting they are getting from creatures that grow them, not from the rock. Though there are mines on Roshar, you just have to-- most of them are on the leeward side of mountains, where the crem isn't being deposited. Neuxue So, diamond mines are about tectonics-- Brandon Sanderson It was a created planet, keep that in mind. Shadows of Self London UK signing (Oct. 19, 2015) You can't just set up a mine anywhere. So no, I don't think there's much digging into the rock at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quantus Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 9 hours ago, Calderis said: Mining in general isn't exceptionally common on Roshar. There are mining regions that we've aware of in Bavland, but I'm guessing that most mining is confined to similar mountainous regions. Flatlands and lower grades are just to prone to flooding during highstorms. You can't just set up a mine anywhere. So no, I don't think there's much digging into the rock at all. From a purely practical standpoint I think they still have to, they just dont bother as much specifically for gems since there is an easier way to get far higher quality gems. But Mining for metals and quarrying for stone is still a thing. Shallan's family was supported by marble mines (even if they were secretly creating new deposits with a soulcaster). And while soulcasting other things to metals and stones is certainly possible and present, it was implied that the needed soulcasters are relatively rare. There's a whole Nation that's famous for the fact that it has a single Soulcaster capable of bronze, and there's that trader who was prized by the Shin for being able to certify that his goods were entirely soulcast and not mined or quarried. Both these things imply to me that using pure soulcasting for metals and stone are not going to be able to support the entire economic need. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turin Turambar Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 And gems aren't the only thing that needs to be mined for - though it is possible that most of societies needs for materials naturally found could be created by soulcasters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersmith Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 8 hours ago, Turin Turambar said: And gems aren't the only thing that needs to be mined for - though it is possible that most of societies needs for materials naturally found could be created by soulcasters. Ya but Evi's brother (Can't remember the name) said that Iri, and most countries don't have soul castors, so most countries would need to mine for stuff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stark Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 Hmmm. Sunraiser is the only blade we know of that has all ten glyphs. I would have been inclined to guess that it was a bondsmith blade, the sibling who is 'asleep' if not for the below WOB Quote Questioner And there's one last question if I may: I'm really into swords and such. I couldn't help but notice king Elhokar's Blade. It's just... All the others are ornamented, and they may have some glyphs, but it is the only one where it is explicitly it is told that there are ten fundamental glyphs on it which are the glyphs of the orders. I read some of the chapters from Dalinar from Unfettered II, and I know how he got it for Elhokar. Is there also some more backstory to this Blade? Brandon Sanderson There's a backstory to every Blade and every one of them is special, that's the problem. But I will be exploring the origins of some of the Blades. Eventually. Not a ton, but a little bit. Questioner As it is ornamented in such a way... Could it be related to a Bondsmith? Brandon Sanderson Bondsmiths didn't have Blades. Questioner All of them? It's just... Maybe it was just the Stormfather... Brandon Sanderson No. That's a really good guess. Really good guess. I'm gonna RAFO Bondsmiths because you gonna learn a lot about them in the next book because it's the Bondsmith's book. That's a really good theory, but it's not true. Questioner But maybe there is at least something to it. Brandon Sanderson But there's a reason to it, why it has all the 10 orders. Leipzig Book Fair (March 24, 2017) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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