An odd, though effective, mixture of Investitures

[Enter a username]

Imagine for a second what would happen if a Forger became Radiant or if a Radiant learned Forgery. Ignoring obvious obstacles (Forgery not working off of Sel, physical inability for a Radiant and their spren to leave Roshar, etc), this could be quite powerful. Most of the time, a Forger would have to spend a while physically making a soulstamp, but a Radiant far enough in their oaths could just near-instantly summon their spren in the form of a soulstamp. They would have to spend some time perfecting the shape, but this is still much easier than meticulously carving the exact right form where the penalty for failure is starting over from scratch. The only other thing they'd need is ink, which probably wouldn't be too hard to come by. (As a side note, which Radiant order would be the best suited for Forgery? I'm thinking Lightweavers would be the best, with most of the others okay with it depending on the circumstances, and Skybreakers taking roughly the same view as the Rose Empire's government.)

[Quantus]

Interesting thought.  The spren-form might be too invested to operate as a Soulstamp, for the same reasons that they cant work for a Hemalurgic spike (ie already Invested).  But a skilled user of Soulcasting or Cohesion should be able to do it magically.  

As far as who would be best at it: Lightweavers have some mysterious perception going on, but I suspect traditional Truthwathers will prove better at that specific part of Illumination (assuming that's what it is) from a purely thematic standpoint, and the "Enlightened" Truthwatchers like Renarin could do even more on the logic that their precognition might help them trace down "What-If scenarios" much like WOB confirmed gold allomancy could be useful.  Willshapers have the right thematic tone on the surface, but forgery might be a little too Literal for their oaths?

[ShrubSeph]

9 minutes ago, Quantus said:

Interesting thought.  The spren-form might be too invested to operate as a Soulstamp, for the same reasons that they cant work for a Hemalurgic spike (ie already Invested).  But a skilled user of Soulcasting or Cohesion should be able to do it magically.  

You could use the shardblade as a mould for a plaster soulstamp. 

[Quantus]

18 minutes ago, Kings_way said:

You could use the shardblade as a mould for a plaster soulstamp. 

True, though that would limit you to cast-able soulstamp materials.  The material makes a big difference, but the only (known) materials are wood, crystal, bone, and Soulstone. I have to think they'd have tried and presumably rejected metals as viable.  Given that the ink has to be organic, it's possible that metals are equally bad at it.  That would mirror Awakening, for example.  

[Chinkoln]

4 hours ago, Quantus said:

True, though that would limit you to cast-able soulstamp materials.  The material makes a big difference, but the only (known) materials are wood, crystal, bone, and Soulstone. I have to think they'd have tried and presumably rejected metals as viable.  Given that the ink has to be organic, it's possible that metals are equally bad at it.  That would mirror Awakening, for example.  

No, you can make the cast out of whatever material you want, then make the actual stamp out of another material. Once you have the stamp, soulcast it to the right material.

[Quantus]

11 minutes ago, Chinkoln said:

No, you can make the cast out of whatever material you want, then make the actual stamp out of another material. Once you have the stamp, soulcast it to the right material.

If you also have access to Soulcasting, sure. At that point the question becomes Who is the better "shaper", the Spren transforming their physical form, or the radiant using their Soulcasting. If it's the latter you could skip the shardblade step entirely.   

 

EDIT:  Slightly off topic, but personally I think the biggest potential synergy between soulcasting and Forgery is the other direction: I think Soulcasting could be used to make an active forgery permanent.  Forgery leverages a complex symbols system to make very detailed and subtle changes to the target, but it's temporary and requires active investiture to maintain the effects.  Soulcasting is permanent through a direct Change of Cognitive self-image, but it requires the Soulcaster to provide all the details the hard way with pure Intent.  Based on the scenes we've had with first person soulcasting, I strongly suspect that if you already had an active Soulstamp on a person or object would make the conversation far simpler by letting the Forgery provide all the details and the Soulcasting "conversation" with the object is just "Be This Now."

Edited March 18, 2021 by Quantus

[IAmTheStick]

13 hours ago, Enter a username said:

Imagine for a second what would happen if a Forger became Radiant or if a Radiant learned Forgery. Ignoring obvious obstacles (Forgery not working off of Sel, physical inability for a Radiant and their spren to leave Roshar, etc), this could be quite powerful. Most of the time, a Forger would have to spend a while physically making a soulstamp, but a Radiant far enough in their oaths could just near-instantly summon their spren in the form of a soulstamp. They would have to spend some time perfecting the shape, but this is still much easier than meticulously carving the exact right form where the penalty for failure is starting over from scratch. The only other thing they'd need is ink, which probably wouldn't be too hard to come by. (As a side note, which Radiant order would be the best suited for Forgery? I'm thinking Lightweavers would be the best, with most of the others okay with it depending on the circumstances, and Skybreakers taking roughly the same view as the Rose Empire's government.)

Dustbringers wouldn't even have to summon their spren, just carve the form into an object with a thought