The reason they are travelling

[Ixthos he/him]

So this is about the Iriali. To be brief, I think they are travelling from world to world for much the same reason many fans think Hoid is travelling - to gather magic and parts of the Shards to reunite them back into the Power. Thus I think each planet they stop on is in some way associated with one or preferably more Shards.

Now it doesn't seem feasible to do this over the course of seven planets - assuming the first planet they started on was their home system - as by implication there are only three planets that have two or more Shards, being Sel, Scadrial, and Roshar. If they have or intend to visit Sel and Scadrial at some point then they will have been exposed to at least seven Shards' powers, leaving nine to cover four worlds, which wouldn't make sense if those nine were on two planets each, as we know Endowment is not happy that so many other Shards keep interacting with each other, and as aethers are present on multiple worlds - including Tress's planet, which the Iriali had visited at some point before - and may predate the Shattering they likely aren't associated very strongly with any single Shard, but I think there are ways around it.

• Aethers could naturally be linked to one or more Shards, or as they are pre-shattering they somehow are partially connected to all or several
• Shards may have moved from world to world, or other Shards besides Autonomy may have formed Avatars, and worlds they have been on in the past or worlds Shards will visit in the future will contain connections to multiple Shards they can exploit
• Related to the previous point, if the eventually visit Scadrial - or visited it in the past - they may be able to gain a connection to Trell and whichever Shard Trell is related to, most likely Autonomy, and similar situations may have occurred before. We already know other Shards have visited Scadrial in the past:

 

Quote

Menderbug

Was Scadrial visited by any other Shard before the events of Mistborn? If so, which one?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. Several.

General Signed Books 2018 (March 8, 2018)

 

• Threnody, being influenced by Ambition's splinters, was also possibly influenced by Mercy and Odium, and so if they settled on Threnody at any point - those poor poor people - they could, over the course of four planets (Sel, Scadrial, Roshar, and Threnody) become connected to anywhere between nine and ten Shards, leaving only six for the remaining three worlds
• They may not need to settle on planets connected to every Shard, but use some as a home base for later travels and send operatives out to other planets once they have become more established
• Endowment is implied to have only recently settled on Nalthis due to the Returned being a recent phenomenon, though this is speculation. If she had been on some other world, her distaste for Shards settling together notwithstanding, they may have acquired a connection to her already and thus could avoid her world while having become connected to her and another Shard at the same time
• If some Shards have a presence in the Cognitive Realm somewhere between worlds they are visiting, they may still pass closely enough within its influence to connect to it in some way

 

I realise this does seem like a stretch, but it would potentially address something that I've been wondering - if they visit a planet with a magic system, when they leave do they still retain individuals with those systems?

 

The question becomes how do they know they need to visit seven worlds for whatever their goals are - is this a cultural belief that isn't based on anything specific to the cosmere, or could it be linked to Fortune, something they know will happen in their future or they need, or is likely to happen or be needed? Do they actually need to visit seven worlds, or could they have - if this is right - accomplished this some other way?

Of course this is entirely speculation and could be completely unrelated to their reasons for travelling, though I think it is interesting to speculate on. What are your thoughts? Why do you think the Iriali have been travelling? Thank you for reading  have a great day or afternoon or evening or night 

[dbulick]

I like what you are saying.  My personal head canon is that they are not trying to collect all the different magic systems, but they are trying to collect Connection to all the various shards.  I feel like they traveling planet to planet to in order to have offspring that will be connected enough to each shard to be able to take up the big A when the time comes.

[Ixthos he/him]

41 minutes ago, dbulick said:

I like what you are saying.  My personal head canon is that they are not trying to collect all the different magic systems, but they are trying to collect Connection to all the various shards.  I feel like they traveling planet to planet to in order to have offspring that will be connected enough to each shard to be able to take up the big A when the time comes.

Ahhh, I didn't word my post as well as I'd liked - that basically is what I'm thinking as well, not so much powers but connection through the powers or just connected to the Shards through being connected to the planets the Shards are bound to or settled on. Though I'm also wondering if they intend to collectively take up the power, much like how I think Honour will be taken up by a group of ten people together. I think a whole people taking up the Power could have interesting implications in the Cosmere's future.

[Mazman he/him]

I always thought they just sort of poofed onto the next planet, without really knowing why or how. There is evidence to support my conclusion, but it isn't very strong. I mean, they don't seem to ever leave anyone behind when they move on, and it is weird that when they leave, everything is as if they had just been there. However, what you are saying makes sense, and probably makes more sense considering what we currently know.

[Halyo_Alex he/him]

21 hours ago, Mazman said:

I always thought they just sort of poofed onto the next planet, without really knowing why or how. There is evidence to support my conclusion, but it isn't very strong. I mean, they don't seem to ever leave anyone behind when they move on, and it is weird that when they leave, everything is as if they had just been there. However, what you are saying makes sense, and probably makes more sense considering what we currently know.

It could be that the Investiture of their original home planet gives them all elsecaller-like abilities when they collectively agree that it's time to move on to the next land... Allowing them to just dip into the cognitive realm and start walking as soon as they've prepared thoroughly.

[Kandrafish]

I am trying to wrap my head around the implications of this prediction...

This would mean that the Iriali would have good reason to join Odium's team, since they both want to travel the cosmere and use Roshar as a home base.

I, personally, thought the Iriali were using some sort of fortune magic. It fits with the superstitions and tide reading, if it actually gives them some sort of divine guidance. I figured that they would be travelling without any true end game plan, but primarily due to some sort of prophecy.

 

But, I am realizing that this is not exclusive to the prediction above. If the prophecy tells the Iriali that they must get all of the experiences and then return to Yolen and the One will reform, all of the experiences should include gathering all available magics and gaining Connection to all of the new shards.

Maybe the Iriali don't even know fully what they are doing or why like Hoid because of Fortune being used, but they are fulfilling some sort of divine mandate. A prophecy, if you will, and by doing as their religion dictates, they are helping to reform the One!

 

[Ixthos he/him]

On 3/20/2022 at 4:10 AM, Kandrafish said:

This would mean that the Iriali would have good reason to join Odium's team, since they both want to travel the cosmere and use Roshar as a home base.

That certainly could be a large part of it and would make sense - joining his team may also help in accessing his Investiture as well, furthering their connection to him.

 

On 3/20/2022 at 4:10 AM, Kandrafish said:

Maybe the Iriali don't even know fully what they are doing or why like Hoid because of Fortune being used, but they are fulfilling some sort of divine mandate. A prophecy, if you will, and by doing as their religion dictates, they are helping to reform the One!

I like this! A final plan laid out in advance with a purpose beyond what they know, but still slowly coming to fruition.