Goodies in the Ars Arcanum

[Ba-Ado-Fisherman]

I finally decided to read through the Ars Arcanum, and picked up a couple of really interesting tidbits.

 

Most interesting to me is this line:

“Fortunately, in my explorations, it appears that Stoneshaping is far less … explosive of a power, bounded by the rules that Honor placed upon it to protect from the mistakes that happened on Yolen.”

 

Once again, we see a reference to the destructive capabilities of Surgebinding when unrestricted.  What interests me most is the direct reference to Stoneshaping instead of Surgebinding in general.  Could this mean that whatever happened on Yolen was a direct result of Stoneshaping taken too far?  

[IAmTheStick]

Interesting... (shattered plains?)

Also, does this mean a bondsmith could weaken whatever is theoretically limiting the surges? (Uh, thinking about this, I don't think a bondsmith could do that. Maybe a certain "bondsmith unchained" could, but probably not the Urithiru couple)

Does this also mean that both powers of a bondsmith existed before the rest of the surges? (If I'm terribly wrong don't murder me with your cosmere-aware words please)

[LewsTherinTelescope]

10 hours ago, Ba-Ado-Fisherman said:

What interests me most is the direct reference to Stoneshaping instead of Surgebinding in general.  Could this mean that whatever happened on Yolen was a direct result of Stoneshaping taken too far?  

Not directly Stoneshaping, but rather its "cousin" (as Khriss refers to it in the AA) microkinesis. We don't know details, but from WoBs, it is a subatomic particle manipulation magic that has a history of accidentally causing nuclear fission. Brandon's expanded on it slightly here, but not a lot.

3 hours ago, IAmTheStick said:

Also, does this mean a bondsmith could weaken whatever is theoretically limiting the surges?

I'm curious if those restrictions even still hold, considering that even by Melishi's time, the limits on at least Bondsmiths' powers were weakening and/or gone, due to Honor's death.

2 hours ago, IAmTheStick said:

Does this also mean that both powers of a bondsmith existed before the rest of the surges? (If I'm terribly wrong don't murder me with your cosmere-aware words please)

Not necessarily. Stoneshaping uses the Surge of Cohesion, Bondsmiths have the Surges of Adhesion and Tension.

[Crucible of Shards]

I think what makes Bondsmiths unique is not the pairing of specific surges, but their ability to manipulate Connection. A theory of mine is that most Rosharans would call anyone who can manipulate Connection on this level a Bondsmith, similar to how some Rosharans would call all magic surgebinding.

Edited May 1, 2021 by Crucible of Shards

[ElMonoEstupendo]

1 hour ago, Crucible of Shards said:

I think what makes Bondsmiths unique is not the pairing of specific surges, but their ability to manipulate Connection. A theory of mine is that most Rosharans would call anyone who can manipulate Connection on this level a Bondsmith, similar to how some Rosharans would call all magic surgebinding.

By WoB, each of the Orders has a "Resonance" between their two Surges that changes how they can use them to some extent. Windrunners get, I think, an increased number of squires, and Lightweavers gain mnemonic stuff like Shallan's ability to take a Memory.

Perhaps the Bondsmiths' Resonance between Tension and Adhesion is this facility with Connection - it seems closely related to Adhesion, but that Surge works very differently for Windrunners.

[LewsTherinTelescope]

4 hours ago, Crucible of Shards said:

I think what makes Bondsmiths unique is not the pairing of specific surges, but their ability to manipulate Connection. A theory of mine is that most Rosharans would call anyone who can manipulate Connection on this level a Bondsmith, similar to how some Rosharans would call all magic surgebinding.

I'd agree, especially since we know the Windrunners were not named until the Radiants formed (OB 64), so the order names referring to the Surge pairs were not all pre-existing.

Quote

“There are some who assumed you were one of the Heralds,” Dalinar noted to the Stormfather, who rumbled in the back of his mind. “Jezerezeh, Herald of Kings, Father of Storms.”

Men say many foolish things, the Stormfather replied. Some name Kelek Stormfather, others Jezrien. I am neither of them.

“But Jezerezeh was a Windrunner.”

He was before Windrunners. He was Jezrien, a man whose powers bore no name. They were simply him. The Windrunners were named only after Ishar founded the orders.

Edited May 2, 2021 by LewsTherinTelescope