Ars Aracnum Authors

[Thor]

After reading some of the discussion on the Feruchemicl Powers page, I decided to create a list for the relative knowledge of the writer (in regards to the Cosmere) and speculation on who the writer is for each Ars Arcanum page (or the AA equivalent.)

Elantris:

Author doesn't mention the Cosmere at all. Note that this is a list of Aons with their respective "translations" and mentions almost nothing on the capabilities and restrictions of each Aon.

Author's Identity: Almost certainly an in-world scholar, probably not a member of the SS or even a main character from the story.

The Final Empire:

Author doesn't mention anything related to the Cosmere. Much more in-depth than the Elantrian AA though is lacking in a lot of information (though this is probably on purpose, both in and out of universe.)

Author's Identity: Most likely an Obligator in the Steel Ministry; possibly a condensed version that is given to the nobility, as some cantons of the SM know a lot more about Allomancy than is mentioned in this AA.

Well of Ascension:

Similar to TFE, the author doesn't mention anything related to the Cosmere. Adds more information regarding the Metallic Arts, specifically Feruchemy.

Author's Identity: Again, probably an Obligator, though this document may be classified, as it shows information that very few people outside of the Steel Inquisitors know about.

Hero of Ages:

Again, the author doesn't reference anything relating to the Cosmere. Adds more information on Allomancy and Feruchemy and gives around half of the Hemalurgy powers. Note the (known to us, as outsiders) incorrectness on the wheel, specifically the lack of Bendalloy and Cadmium, the inclusion of Malatium and Atium on the wheel and the missing information on Feruchemy and Hemalurgy as facts that the author of the AA doesn't know everything about the MA, leading to the suspicion that the author is probably not Harmony or Sazed prior to his ascendancy. Sazed wouldn't have that much specific knowledge of Hemalurgy prior to his ascension, as Marsh wouldn't have known enough about Hemalurgy to tell Sazed the knowledge in the AA during the time that Marsh was willing (and able) to speak with him. Additionally, Harmony should know everything about the MA from just gaining the complete powers of Ruin and Preservation. This is supported by TLR using (merely holding the power, ala Vin, isn't enough) a small fraction of Preservation, he gained enough knowledge of the MA to create the three Hemalurgic Creations and knowledge of each metal's abilities (whether or not he decided to share the knowledge of their powers is another story.)

Author's Identity: Probably a very high ranking Obligator in the Canton of Inquisition, if not a Steel Inquisitor or the Lord Ruler himself. May be Sazed or Harmony (see above for rationalizations on why these are unlikely.)

Warbreaker:

The Author makes no comments on the Cosmere, similar to the first 4 books, nor alludes to themes of the Cosmere (the three Realms, Shards, etc.). The author is much more scholarly than the other authors that have come before, and uses Bio-Chroma terminology constantly: the Mistborn AA author's tend to speak of the MA in more lay terms (though the HoA AA uses more technical terms for the MA, as opposed to TFE.)

Author's Identity: The writing style is very consistent with that of Vasher, possibly as an entry in a book on Bio-Chroma, with some knowledge made dubious to conceal his identity (There are a few passages that try to show ignorance on the author's part, specifically the lines about the Hallandren God Kings being the only known people to pass the 8th Heightening, though they don't show much ignorance to those of us with an out-of-universe perspective.) Out of the information that is given (specifically, the powers of the higher Heightenings) only the HGK (and, presumably, the Five Scholars) have ever reached the Eighth Heightening, restricting the knowledge of their powers to the three HGK and Vasher. Additionally, the HGKs can't know of the powers that they hold, as they cannot speak, which rules out the three HGK as the authors (or even their priesthood) leaving Vasher as the only likely in-universe author. Members of the SS would only have full knowledge of the Heightenings if they spoke with Vasher or another member of the Five Scholars, since they couldn't gain enough information on the 8-10 Heightenings on observation alone. As Vasher is probably the most knowledgeable of the Five Scholars, that is still alive, on Commands, Heightenings and three of the four BioChromatic Entities (with Shashara, before her death, possibly knowing more than Vasher with respect to Type Four BCE and Commands, Yesteel knowing the most about Lifeless and Arsteel/Denth mostly focused on fighting) it makes the most sense for him to be the main choice as an author for the AA. However, it is interesting to note that the tone and the way that the information is given may suggests that this AA is written from an out-of-universe POV (Brandon, with a self-restricted knowledge of BioChroma, not an in-universe character from another planet.)

Way of Kings:

Again, there are no mentions of the Cosmere as a whole, though the author is much more aware of the supernatural beings that are involved with the planet than the previous AA authors, though this may be attributed to the setting itself, as people on Roshar have interactions with the supernatural with far more regularity than the inhabitants of other planets. (Sel has Elantrians, though they are mostly confined to one section of the world, while the Dakhor monks are all about secrecy. Scadrial has Mistborn/Feruchemists that are fairly common, though they do not seem nearly as supernatural as Inquisitors, Kandra or Mistwraiths. Nalthis has the Returned and awakeners, both of which are rare and mostly confined to one location. Roshar has spren, which are omnipresent outside of Shin, tales of the Radiants, the Heralds and Voidbringers, and Shardblades/Shardplate which are of a greater supernatural weight than mere humans gaining superpowers, imho.)

Author's Identity: There are many different possibilities for the author of this AA: Jasnah, Shallan, Navani, Hoid, or a generic member of the SS have been suggested. I think that Jasnah is the best possibility out of these choices: Shallan is extremely unlikely, as her interests lie in other places and she has been too disconnected from any major scientific or political events for her to even think about researching the subjects covered in the AA. Navani is a member of the artifabrian community and wouldn't mention that fabrials "appear to be the work of dedicated scientists." She would outright say that they are the work of dedicated scientists. Hoid doesn't seem the type to draft up an essay on the workings of fabrials, Windrunning and the Ten Essences, nor does his, shown, personality fit with the first few paragraphs in the AA that deal with history of Roshar, something that Hoid already knows or doesn't care about. If the author was a member of the SS there should be more ideas pertaining to the Cosmere and speculation on how each ability in the AA could influence the Cosmere as a whole. Besides, the writing style fits with Jasnah's, the line "...have led me to some sources of information that are, I believe, generally unknown..." fits well with Jasnah's preeminent scholarship and the emphasis on the historical aspects of the Ten Essences (the first 2 or 3 paragraphs) definitely points toward Jasnah as being the author.

Alloy of Law:

Wow, the author of the AA for AoL knows a lot about the Cosmere. Dropping words like Spirtweb, the name of the planet, and "Cosmere" itself ...it is safe to say that this author is the most knowledgeable in terms of the Cosmere out of the AA authors.

Author's Identity: The references to "Investiture," "Spirtweb," the three Realms, the name "Scadrial," and the outright statement "...great interest to the Cosmere" screams that the author is a worldhopper and therefore most likely a member of the SS, in addition to the heavy references to Sel and AonDor, suggests that the author is from Sel, almost certaily an Elantrian, and possibly Raoden. It is particularly interesting to note that the author does not draw parallels between some parts of the Metallic Arts and other "Investiture" (specifically Windrunners) as the all of the magic systems in can give very similar outcomes, even if the method for obtaining the outcome is drastically different. [Windrunners are stronger, faster and heal at an accelerated rate ala Allomantic Pewter, can attract objects to a point similar to Allomantic Iron and can "reduce" their weight by lashing themselves upward, similar to Feruchemical Iron.] suggesting that the author of the AA has not been to Roshar as of the writing of the AA. It is also interesting to note that the author has a very good relationship with the Terris people, to the point where one might wonder if the author is a Terrismen/Women or is capable enough at disguise to fool the Terris people, as as he/she knows a lot about the Spiritual Feruchemical powers, which, as stated by the author, "...aren't spoken of to outsiders." This may also suggest an Elantrian, as very convincing disguises are quite possible with AonDor and enough practice, or a relationship of some kind with Harmony (the notes on Hemalurgy and Kandra suggest this heavily: it would be fairly easy to talk with almost anyone on the planet with a pass from the deity of the planet, and the author will probably be noticed by Harmony since Sazed almost certainly knows that the author isn't from around here.

Feel free to add any speculation and correct any points I may have missed (or misinterpreted.)

[darniil]

My thoughts. (Not using spoiler tags 'cause they're not spoilers, and also because I figured you did it just to save space.)

Warbreaker: We don't really know that much about Yesteel, right? It might be too soon to dismiss Yesteel as the author. Nightblood said he was sneaky, and he's probably had all this time to study things.

Alloy of Law: I'm not sure if the person is actually an Elantrian, but some of your logic does make sense. The only problem I see is with the disguises: an Elantrian would - as far as we currently know of AonDor - have to go back to Elantris every time s/he would want to change disguises.

Also, I have my doubts about it being Raoden. Raoden seems like the kind of person who perceives his sole purpose in life as taking care of his people. (Which is probably why the Shaod took him.) I can't think of anything - short of a cosmere-wide cataclysmic event - that would make him set that aside. Elantrian? Maybe. But probably not Raoden. (Plus, the author didn't have the excitement we saw in Raoden as he discovered things about the aons.)

[Sunblesser]

i posted a theory last night in the feruchemical powers thread, that the author of the AoL AA could be the autistic kid from elantris. to quote:

"hmm, just had a thought... what was the name of that kid in elantris? the autistic savant who was taken by the shaod but his family hid it?

anyhow, it could be him, as he definitely had a mind that would be suited to scholarly pursuits, and as an autistic person, he might be less likely to view hemalurgy as an evil thing, since his mind does not necessarily reason in those terms. the language of the essay might at first seem incongruous with his character, but he's had a lot of time to blossom and develop as an elantrian since we last saw him.

in fact, this might even be a little teaser from Brandon, since this kid is apparently the main character of the second elantris novel, iirc. we could go back in time and see how he grew into a respected scholar and member of the seventeenth shard."

[lordofsoup]

I dont see why it couldnt be an Elantrian. He could have just brought a large amount of clothing to Scadrial with him while he was there. That way he would not need to go back to Elantris to change disguises, if he put a different face on each piece of his clothing.

[CrazyRioter]

Brandon did say that there are ways to get all the magic systems to work on any world, though some are trickier then others, I'd imagine AonDor would be one of the trickier ones to get working on other worlds, but somebody who knows enough to worldhop in the first place might well be able to work it out.

[darniil]

if he put a different face on each piece of his clothing.

You're right. I forgot about that aspect of the illusions. Thanks for the correction.

[Thor]

I did indeed use spoiler tags for length. (It isn't as long as some of Chaos' theories but it clocks in around 1.5k words, and it looked really bad without them...)

Good point on Yesteel, though we don't know enough about him to put him higher than Vasher on a list.

Sunblesser: I do like your idea on having Adien being a worldhopper and I like the idea but, as with Yesteel, we don't know enough about him. (It is so sad to not have enough information.)

You're right. I forgot about that aspect of the illusions. Thanks for the correction.

Didn't someone speculate that tattooing Aon Rao onto your body might allow you to use AonDor anywhere and Brandon RAFOed it? It would be very weak in comparison to Elantris, as Elantris is a massive AonRao but might give you enough power to be effective.

Also, I have my doubts about it being Raoden. Raoden seems like the kind of person who perceives his sole purpose in life as taking care of his people. (Which is probably why the Shaod took him.) I can't think of anything - short of a cosmere-wide cataclysmic event - that would make him set that aside. Elantrian? Maybe. But probably not Raoden. (Plus, the author didn't have the excitement we saw in Raoden as he discovered things about the aons.)

I think that this statement actually supports him being the AoL AA author (or at least a worldhopper/member of the Seventeenth Shard). If someone from the Cosmere suggested that Odium/Hoid/Something could threaten the entire planet I think Raoden would jump on board, especially if the major problems on Sel were resolved (Dahkor).

And the excitement could be less since an Elantrian can't use Allomancy/Feruchemy. (And it is text: the author has probably mulled over the data and is therefore less excited since the ideas he is putting on paper aren't completely new to him/her. Additionally, the data is presented in a very dry manner, ala a text book.)

Edit: Fixed some errors in vocabulary...

Edited November 5, 2011 by Thor

[darniil]

All very good points, Thor.

I guess I'll just have to wait until the 8th to find out if the AoL AA was written by a new character there, or if we're still all in the dark.

[dj26792]

Didn't someone speculate that tattooing Aon Rao onto your body might allow you to use AonDor anywhere and Brandon RAFOed it? It would be very weak in comparison to Elantris, as Elantris is a massive AonRao but might give you enough power to be effective.

but surely there are also power modifiers that could be used to amplify it, still might not be as powerful as Elantris, but we know they have power mods for other Aons, why not Rao, in which case they could have a significant amount of power at their disposal.

[Catalyst21]

but surely there are also power modifiers that could be used to amplify it, still might not be as powerful as Elantris, but we know they have power mods for other Aons, why not Rao, in which case they could have a significant amount of power at their disposal.

And what is to say that Elantris is not already employing these power mods?

[Guinevere]

Unfortunately for the author of this post, I have some new information about the Ars Arcanum from Brandon himself. I'll probably start a new thread so we can discuss.

[Thor]

Unfortunately for the author of this post, I have some new information about the Ars Arcanum from Brandon himself. I'll probably start a new thread so we can discuss.

I responded to your thread and based off the theory I have there, this is still valid, just in a different way.