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Jasnah and the garnet


Tsidqiyah

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Ok in the last two months I have listened to the Stormlight books three or four times, and I noticed something interesting. This is kind of a two part thought.

Radient powers, specifically soulcasting, appear to be tied to the type of gemstone the light came from, just like their fabrial counterparts  But this changes if the radiant breathes in the power. It can then be used for anything.

Jasnah requires a garnet to soul cast the poison from Shallan's blood ( presumably to avoid revealing herself) but at the battle of Thaylan Fields she is soul casting stone fire and oil without a care. Sure there are other things to take account of there but I don't think those circumstances would remove the rules just catalyze the process.

Personally I think Jasnah is swearing oaths off screen allowing her to be less restricted. (In WoK she had to use the right stones, but by the time of the Oathbringer she had progressed to be able to use her own light.)

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13 minutes ago, Tsidqiyah said:

Ok in the last two months I have listened to the Stormlight books three or four times, and I noticed something interesting. This is kind of a two part thought.

Radient powers, specifically soulcasting, appear to be tied to the type of gemstone the light came from, just like their fabrial counterparts  But this changes if the radiant breathes in the power. It can then be used for anything.

Jasnah requires a garnet to soul cast the poison from Shallan's blood ( presumably to avoid revealing herself) but at the battle of Thaylan Fields she is soul casting stone fire and oil without a care. Sure there are other things to take account of there but I don't think those circumstances would remove the rules just catalyze the process.

Personally I think Jasnah is swearing oaths off screen allowing her to be less restricted. (In WoK she had to use the right stones, but by the time of the Oathbringer she had progressed to be able to use her own light.)

Alternatively it is possible Jasnah was lying about needing the garnet in order to keep the appearance that she still uses a mechanical soulcaster, or she had gemstones with her when soulcasting in Oathbringer and just didn't draw attention to them.

Still, I like the idea that progressing oaths loosens restrictions :-) I like this theory.

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Pathfinder and I argued about this extensively.  I personally see no reason why at Theylen field she could not have simply picked up all ten stones or that she simply keeps a sampling of all ten on her at all times these days in case of emergency.  Also during the perpendicularity things get kind of weird. 

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Darkness (paraphrased)

Further on in that… do different gemstones hold a different flavor, or different "frequency" of Stormlight?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Umm…. Nnnnnnnnooooooo… But kind of? Here's the thing: So with the gemstones on Roshar… scientifically some of these gemstones are just really close to one another. Like chemical formula and whatever. But, their cognitive selves and their spiritual selves are gonna be very different because of human perception, right? (sure) And so, the answer is both a no and a yes because of that. So people's perception has sort of changed how the magic works, to an extent… but it's the same amount of investiture, just with slightly different flavorings.

Darkness (paraphrased)

Right, so… is it easier for a Soulcaster to turn rock into smoke with a smokestone as opposed to a ruby?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

So… Soulcasting… is gonna really depend on whether you're using a soulcaster.

Darkness (paraphrased)

First is for a Soulcaster, second is for a Surgebinder.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

A Surgebinder is far less constrained than someone using a device accessing surges, right? A Knight Radiant is far less constrained than somebody using a mechanical means of accessing magic, and I would include Honorblades as a mechanical means of accessing a surge.

Darkness (paraphrased)

Cool! So with the whole Jasnah scene, she inhales Stormlight, for using Soulcasting. So how is it the Soulcaster appears to glow more fiercely instead of growing dimmer in that scene?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Um… heh heh heh… So… this is perception on Shallan's part, watching and kind of resonating with the Soulcasting, and some weird things are happening that she sees, and not necessarily anyone else is seeing.

Darkness (paraphrased)

I love that! Alright… Also, did Taravangian recognize that Jasnah was not Soulcasting traditionally? Like was it the hand sinking into the rock that gave it away?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Taravangian knew and already suspected.

Supanova 2017 - Sydney (June 16, 2017)

 

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