Mraize's Cabinet of Curiosities

[MGershone]

So I was rererererererereading WoR, and I got to the scene where Shallan first meets Mraize and the Ghostbloods. The book describes Mraize's collection of glass boxes holding artifacts that are unfamiliar to Shallan. Here's the exact quote:

Quote

The right wall had the greater number of trophies, including several enormous gemhearts....There were also shells that Shallan vaguely recognized. That tusk was probably from a whitespine. And that eye socket, that looked frighteningly close to the structure of the santhid's skull.

          Other curiosities baffled her. A vial of pale sand. A couple of thick hairpins. A lock of golden hair. The branch of a tree with writing on it she couldn't read. A silver knife. An odd flower preserved in some kind of solution.  - WoR p. 493

That second paragraph of stuff, given what we now know about Mraize's off-world hopping, could very well be from somewhere else. (others, I think, have mentioned this). ANyone have any theories, ideas, WoBs, etc relating to this?

My guess for the sand would (obviously) be Taldain, because it's white sand, but other than that, I have nothing.

[Halyo_Alex]

The thick hairpins are hemalurgic spikes, the golden hair may be a snip of Royal Locks, the silver knife was probably made on Threnody, and the odd flower is almost definitely a Tears of Edgli flower.

The tree branch, I don't know about. I think I heard something about it being a Tamu Kek but I've no idea. I kinda got reminded of a Dahkor Monk's bone with the description, but it obviously isn't that. It might be something aonic anyway, though.

[mathiau]

Just now, MGershone said:

rererererererereading WoR

Only at your 7th reread?

 

I think there's a power in one of the unpublished magic system that allows you to makes crystals grow and adding another power of this magic system makes them change colour, the pink crystal might come from there

The skull is probably from 1st of the Sun, like the chicken

[MGershone]

11 minutes ago, mathiau said:

The skull is probably from 1st of the Sun, like the chicken

I was thinking this too, but it seems like no one really visits First of the Sun until Sixth of the Dusk happens. As Khriss points out, it's really hard to get there.

23 minutes ago, Halyo_Alex said:

It might be something aonic anyway, though.

I was thinking the same thing, perhaps a Sellish system we haven't seen yet?

[mathiau]

Just now, MGershone said:

I was thinking this too, but it seems like no one really visits First of the Sun until Sixth of the Dusk happens. As Khriss points out, it's really hard to get there.

Well the chicken is fro FotS so Mraize probably went there

[MGershone]

Just now, mathiau said:

Well the chicken is fro FotS so Mraize probably went there

Oh right. Ok, you're probably right, then.

[+Oltux72]

42 minutes ago, Halyo_Alex said:

The thick hairpins are hemalurgic spikes, the golden hair may be a snip of Royal Locks,

That I doubt
 

1. Shallan is from Roshar. She can tell blonde from golden hair.
2. We already have something from Nalthis
3. Golden is not a natural color. That screams Iriali.

42 minutes ago, Halyo_Alex said:

the silver knife was probably made on Threnody, and the odd flower is almost definitely a Tears of Edgli flower.

The tree branch, I don't know about.

Yolen. Khrissalla mentions the Fainlife in her essays.

 

[Halyo_Alex]

Just now, Oltux72 said:

That I doubt
 

1. Shallan is from Roshar. She can tell blonde from golden hair.
2. We already have something from Nalthis
3. Golden is not a natural color. That screams Iriali.

Ooh, good point. That'd be a little cooler, honestly.

[mathiau]

Just now, Oltux72 said:

That I doubt
 

1. Shallan is from Roshar. She can tell blonde from golden hair.
2. We already have something from Nalthis
3. Golden is not a natural color. That screams Iriali.

...Golden hair is a real life type of blond hair

[Elegy]

On 4.7.2021 at 9:26 PM, MGershone said:

That second paragraph of stuff, given what we now know about Mraize's off-world hopping, could very well be from somewhere else. (others, I think, have mentioned this). ANyone have any theories, ideas, WoBs, etc relating to this?

Two WOBs:

Quote

Questioner

[Mraize's] cosmere treasure room had a white tree branch-like thing, is that the bones from Sel?

Brandon Sanderson

It is not from Sel, it's from Yolen.

Shadows of Self London UK signing (Oct. 19, 2015)

Quote

Questioner

Mraize's Basement Emporium. Is that more like a trophy room or a "In case of emergencies" room?

Multiple people

Or a bank vault?

Or a weapon's vault?

Or both?

Brandon Sanderson

So, yes...

I mean, he can't use the Aether, right? ...He can't use the Aether, he doesn't have an Aether. But the sand, the sand does stuff. So a handful of sand is a really useful amount of sand to have if you're not a sandmaster. Because sand reacts to Investiture. So if you let it fade and you take it somewhere, as soon as Investiture goes kinetic, it'll turn white again. So you'll be able to use it to tell who's using Inve-- it works just like a Seeker, like bronze pulses...

So having white sand, having sand around is really good. If you can keep the little beasties that are growing on the sand around, they will react to basically the Investiture equivalent of radiation. So that's handy.

Emerald City Comic Con 2018 (March 1, 2018)

The flower is almost certainly a Tear of Edgli from Nalthis, the silver knife is probably from Threnody. Not sure about the rest.

[Honorless]

The branch might be a branch of fain life (which sounds dangerous, let's hope Stormlight back 5 isn't a zombie outbreak) or quite possibly bones looking like branches, not Dakhor bones but Tamu Keks. It's confirmed that it's from Yolen¹

A vial of pale sand refers to white sand from Taldain, it's confirmed²

A couple of thick hairpins probably refers to Hemalurgic spikes? Might refer to Soulstamps?

A lock of golden hair. The Elantrians had silver hair, so it's not from them. Probably the Royal Locks of Idris from Nalthis. It might also possibly be from the ancestors of the modern-day Iriali.

Podman36

Did the Iriali have inhuman ancestry at some point in the past?

Brandon Sanderson

Depends on your definition of human. Most would say yes.

Skyward release party (Nov. 6, 2018)

A silver knife from Threnody, presumably 

An odd flower preserved in some kind of solution could refer to Tears of Edgli from Nalthis (they are Invested)³, it could also refer to Patji's Fingers flowers from First of the Sun (they're Invested as we see in the novella, and the Ghostbloods already have Aviar from there, so they can definitely access the place), or Marewills from Scadrial (though those are not Invested objects but Thaidakar is Kelsier)

The chunk of pale pink crystal is confirmed to be an aether

Questioner

Will we see Aether of Night eventually?

Brandon Sanderson

I can't promise. You've seen the aethers; Mraize's room of trophies. But I can't absolutely promise I'll work it in... The question is, if I find the time. I just stay consistent on the mainline Cosmere books. If I find the time, I'll get Aether of Night.

Skyward Houston signing (Nov. 19, 2018)

1:

Quote

Questioner

[Mraize's] cosmere treasure room had a white tree branch-like thing, is that the bones from Sel?

Brandon Sanderson

It is not from Sel, it's from Yolen.

Shadows of Self London UK signing (Oct. 19, 2015)

2:

Quote

Questioner

Mraize's Basement Emporium. Is that more like a trophy room or a "In case of emergencies" room?

Multiple people

Or a bank vault?

Or a weapon's vault?

Or both?

Brandon Sanderson

So, yes...

I mean, he can't use the Aether, right? ...He can't use the Aether, he doesn't have an Aether. But the sand, the sand does stuff. So a handful of sand is a really useful amount of sand to have if you're not a sandmaster. Because sand reacts to Investiture. So if you let it fade and you take it somewhere, as soon as Investiture goes kinetic, it'll turn white again. So you'll be able to use it to tell who's using Inve-- it works just like a Seeker, like bronze pulses...

So having white sand, having sand around is really good. If you can keep the little beasties that are growing on the sand around, they will react to basically the Investiture equivalent of radiation. So that's handy.

Emerald City Comic Con 2018 (March 1, 2018)

------------------------------------------------

WinespringBrother

When Veil went to Mraize's lair, she saw a vial of white sand. Was there a reason that it didn't turn black?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes

WinespringBrother

Can you tell me that reason?

Brandon Sanderson

So, sand will turn white in the presence of certain kinetic usage of Investiture. 

WinespringBrother

Okay, so that was what Veil was doing?

Brandon Sanderson

Depends on how loud the Investiture is, that sand-- that sand just absorbed some of the Stormlight. I'll just be be clear with you, yeah... It was not the stuff that Veil was doing. 

JordanCon 2018 (April 22, 2018)

3:

Quote

Brandon Sanderson

So, if you don't know what these, the Tears of Edgli are flowers that they get a specific dye for that are briefly mentioned in the books. But they are where the Shardpool is in Warbreaker. So it's actually pretty relevant, although in the first book, it doesn't actually pop up all that much. But they are Invested flowers, basically.

YouTube Livestream 3 (Jan. 25, 2020)

 

Edited July 7, 2021 by Honorless