What Powers the Illumination of Stormlight?

[Duxredux he/him]

The King's Drop in the Thaylen Gemstone Reserve has been glowing brightly in a dark vault for 200 years. Uh... how? The explanation that it's a perfect gemstone and can hold Investiture indefinitely is all well and good, but energy in the form of light as bright as daylight is being emitted constantly from that gem. It hasn't diminished in that time presumably, and I doubt they lied about it. So where does that light actually come from, if it's not the Investiture emitting radiation in the form of light? Where does the actual light of Stormlight come from?

[Frustration]

It leaks through from the spiritual realm

Spoiler

Alteroden

With Stormlight, the better the gem is cut, the less Stormlight it leaks, and the longer it holds its charge. If a gem was perfectly cut, on a molecular scale, would it leak Stormlight at all?

Brandon Sanderson

In a theoretical flawless gem, then no it would not.

Alteroden

Would it actually give off light?

Brandon Sanderson

[...] Theoretically no it would not, but it's not what you're thinking...

Alteroden

No no no, that’s not what I’m thinking, I figured that’s something totally different.

Brandon Sanderson

Well, actually, it probably would still give off light, because it's drawing out of the Spiritual Realm. So I’d say it still lights, but it doesn't leak. The leaking is not where the illumination is coming from. The illumination is coming from a direct... It's basically a light bulb screwed into the Spiritual Realm.

Shadows of Self Chicago signing (Oct. 12, 2015)

 

[Lego Mistborn he/him]

29 minutes ago, Frustration said:

It leaks through from the spiritual realm

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Alteroden

With Stormlight, the better the gem is cut, the less Stormlight it leaks, and the longer it holds its charge. If a gem was perfectly cut, on a molecular scale, would it leak Stormlight at all?

Brandon Sanderson

In a theoretical flawless gem, then no it would not.

Alteroden

Would it actually give off light?

Brandon Sanderson

[...] Theoretically no it would not, but it's not what you're thinking...

Alteroden

No no no, that’s not what I’m thinking, I figured that’s something totally different.

Brandon Sanderson

Well, actually, it probably would still give off light, because it's drawing out of the Spiritual Realm. So I’d say it still lights, but it doesn't leak. The leaking is not where the illumination is coming from. The illumination is coming from a direct... It's basically a light bulb screwed into the Spiritual Realm.

Shadows of Self Chicago signing (Oct. 12, 2015)

 

Basically some hand wavy relativity means that the investiture pulls photons from the spiritual realm, with more depending on how much is in the gemstone.