Guest Zucchini Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Since the frst battle on the Shattered Plains, I've wondered what they did with the huge gemhearts they cut from the big baddies. We know that gems hold stormlight...I imagine since they are so large, that they could hold ALOT of stormlight... Do the shin have a technique to grow shardplate from...gemhearts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulir Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Interesting theory, but I am wondering why you think that the Shin have Shardplate? It never mentions that in the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReaderAt2046 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Zucchini is confusing the Shin and the Parshendi. (A lot of people do). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zucchini Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I have made the mistake before... I dont have the book in front of me but, yes, the dudes who trade chickens for soul cast metal that hasent been "mined". Theres a reason they want to go to war for gemhearts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReaderAt2046 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I have made the mistake before... I dont have the book in front of me but, yes, the dudes who trade chickens for soul cast metal that hasent been "mined". Theres a reason they want to go to war for gemhearts. That's the point. The Shin (chicken and soulcast) don't got to war for gemhearts. The Parhendi do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
name_here Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 The likely source of confusion on this point is that Szeth is a Shin Truthless. The Parshendi obtained his oathstone by unknown means and used him to provoke a war on the shattered plains for an unclear reason. It's not actually for the gemhearts, although they're strategically vital, as the Parshendi already hunted Chasmfiends. It is known that Gemhearts are used in soulcasting, particularly of food, but any greater significance is currently unknown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aethling Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Aren't the used as part of the currency as well. I always pictured them as uncut regular gems. That would enable them to be used for anything that is gem derived, currency included. My impression of the economy is that the king winds up taking most of the gemhearts for soulcasting, taxes, and tribute. I could swear Dalinar says as such somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
name_here Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I don't think they're used for currency directly, at least before they get broken up by repeated soulcasting, due to their large size. They actually go to the Highprince who won them, then the king gets some portion of their value by taxing soulcasting, which everyone has to pay for because it's necessary to keep an army supplied on the plains due to geography and Roshar's relatively primitive grasp of large-scale logistics and military operations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windrunner Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I dont have the book in front of me but, yes, the dudes who trade chickens for soul cast metal that hasent been "mined". Theres a reason they want to go to war for gemhearts. The people who trade the chicken for the metal are the Shin, Szeth's people, who are not at war with anyone, for gemhearts or any other reason. As I understand it, the reason the Shin don't want metal tainted by stone is because of the their religion, Stone Shamanism. Somehow it seems they find stone holy and refuse to cut it or wak upon it. They live in Shinovar, on the west coast of Roshar. The people who are at war for the gemhearts are the Parshendi, the people who used Szeth's Oathstone to compel him to assassinate Gavilar. The Parshendi live on the Shattered Plains in the unclaimed hills, in the land once known as Natanatan. I hope this helps clear up any confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zucchini Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 (edited) That's the point. The Shin (chicken and soulcast) don't got to war for gemhearts. The Parhendi do. ANd thats my point if your read my post. I understand your correction and I admitted that I made the mistake before. Edited March 13, 2012 by Zucchini 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReaderAt2046 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 I dont have the book in front of me but, yes, the dudes who trade chickens for soul cast metal that hasent been "mined". Theres a reason they want to go to war for gemhearts. This seemed to indicate that you had misunderstood. Sorry if i was rude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabbageHead Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 (edited) They currently go to the Highprince whose army captured them, yes. That is all due to change when/if Dalinar becomes Highprince of War. As regards to their value: I think there is something of an exponential function, or at least non-linear function, of size to value ratio for a gem. The larger a gem is, the more stormlight it can hold and the more can be done with it; that all follows a basic gem-size linear equation. However, gems sometimes shatter when used for soulcasting, and from what I gather/guess from reading, the chances of that happening seem to be based on the demand for power placed upon the gem, relevant to what it is capable of providing. Massive gems will not only provide a huge source of power, they have a lower probability of that power source being permanently fractured into smaller pieces, and as a result are more valuable than an equavalent sum of smaller gems. With regard to Shardplate: I doubt the Parshendi have the means to craft it. We have only seen 1 Parshendi thus far wearing it. However, I have a feeling that they have uses for large gems, beside the obvious one of providing food in the barren wasteland they are holed up in. The Parshendi Gavilar first met seemed to be relatively normal people. The ones fighting on the shattered plains have armour growing out of them, and can all just jump across chasms that humans require entire divisions of engineering troops to bridge. They definitely fall into the category that in a science fiction story would be termed as "augmented individuals". Edited March 14, 2012 by CabbageHead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odium's_Shard Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 The augmentations are interesting. What sort of use could the Gems possibly have in influencing this? Soulcasting new human lifeforms? That sort of understanding of Soulcasting would be like modern day scientists on Earth understanding how to create 'life'. It would be incredible, with that as perhaps understatement. Perhaps the 'armour' stage is a segment of their lifecycle? Brandon mentioned on his Writing Excuses that he likes to factor in elements of 'lifestages'. Perhaps the Parshendi have a 'warrior' lifestage, in which armour grows from their very body, in a similar way that the chasmfiend 'pupate' to create a large, hard shell. I am scientifically able enough to understand that those two processes are separate, but perhaps Parshendi form pupae? They all seem to have reached maturity by the point they are warriors, and all have a 'partner', so maybe the forming of armour is part of their mating cycle? When they mate, they form armour and become warrior mates. They then fight and die, leaving a new generation of Parshendi. Perhaps, then, the reason there are gems in their beard is part of the cycle (they emerge from the pupae with them) or are shattered from the strange, property-defying (?) gemhearts the Parshendi retrieve and threaded into their beards to mark them as 'warriors' (if the armour didn't do it?). Or perhaps there is a more base reason for the gems in the beards (which seem to be Stormlight infused, hence Kaladin's inhalation of their energies). Maybe they act like the gems in Shardplate: they fuel the weird adaptations? However, we didn't see any defunct behavior in any of the individuals whose beard-Stormlight Kaladin stole. There might be a very interesting reason behind all of this indeed- and I hope their is. Brandon has a habit of delivering with these sorts of things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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