Odium's_Shard Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 Yes, yes. But if you couldn't use your nerves, or your brain, to tell you're heart to beat, of your muscles to move, etc, you look dead and will be in three minutes flat. That statement applied more to things like limbs, though.
Cheese Ninja he/him Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 On that topic, has anyone though about the possibility of an especially stupid or fearless character in the books who would use their Shardblade to cut their hair or nails? I think the Mysterious Death/Disappearance that Brandon was talking about is Gaz. At least, that's the impression I got when I read the interviews/Q&As. Mostly from this one: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/446239-q-a-with-brandon-sanderson-way-of-kings Josep wrote: "Just a nagging question: What happened to Gaz? After some character development he just vanishes in chapter 59 without further explanation. Will he be back on the next books?" I'm planning for you to find out what happened to Gaz. There are sufficient clues that you can guess. But it is not explicitly stated, and I'm not going to say it's as obvious as Robert Jordan implied Asmodean's killer is. I was tempted to spell it out explicitly, but there wasn't a good place for it. I will probably answer it eventually, maybe in the next book, but until then you are free to theorize. But yeah, I'm totally on board with the man Kaladin killed being Nan Helaran...
Odium's_Shard Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 They aren't living tissue... but it is unclear in Roshar whether related and planted organismic objects could be inferred to as 'living'. Technically, in that way, nothing is living. Cells are made up of small protein strands, which are configured with DNA. It is the cycle of rebirth in proteins and amino acids that makes the cell 'alive'. Hair is just a large protein strand, but is still part of the organisms 'life tools', as much as protein strings within a cell. And nails are made of the same thing as hair: keratin.
Windrunner he/him Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 Yes, yes. But if you couldn't use your nerves, or your brain, to tell you're heart to beat, of your muscles to move, etc, you look dead and will be in three minutes flat. That statement applied more to things like limbs, though. I'm pretty sure you're instantly dead, not brain dead/unconscious for a brief period of time. If that blade touches your spine your eyes burn out too. In my opinion, that is a clear sign of instantaneous death.
Sweetness she/her Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 I was rather under the impression that the soulcasters didn't really do anything. The jewelry, not the people. I remember reading in the book (and I may have to go quote hunting again) that soulcasting was only done in the middle of the night, under controlled circumstances, by a select few. Jasnah didn't need the jewelry, why should anybody else? The jewelry is (in my personal Soulcaster Conspiracy Theory) kind of misinformation. The average citizen believes they need the jewelry to soulcast, so they don't try to do it without the jewelry. See?
CrazyRioter she/her Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 Jasnah seemed pretty sure that the ardents really do use the fabrials to soulcast...also I tend to think that there's no way that kind of conspiracy could hold up for hundreds of years, no matter how good they are at killing or recruiting anybody that figures it out sooner or later somebody is going to slip past them and the secret will get out. and yeah, I'm pretty sure a Shardblade going through somebody's spine kills them instantly, whatever part of the spine it goes through. If it goes through a limb then that limb is paralyzed and numbed.
Voidus Posted March 23, 2012 Author Posted March 23, 2012 Yeah I think that it was said that their are real soulcasters aswell, seems a bit weird to me as well that so many of the ardents would be able to. Surgebinding would have to be incredibly rare so yeah, I think there are fabrials that do it.
Odium's_Shard Posted March 23, 2012 Posted March 23, 2012 (edited) I take your point about Shardblades -> Spine -> Instantaneous Death. However, if you think about it, it makes sense. Your brain no longer functions. Your entire body is, in effect, paralyzed, as your brain cannot reach them. Even if your eyes didn't burn out, the brain couldn't see with them. You can't move, enter death throes, etc. So, in your mind, in your own thoughts, you have a few minutes of life left until your brain dies, but nobody on the outside would know this, if you could effect no communication or movement. You are dead, but in the same way that a decapitated head can think for another minutes, so could yours, if, say, your spine was cut by a Shardblade. There is just no way of telling that the person is still brain-alive. Edited March 23, 2012 by Odium's_Shard
Aradel he/him Posted March 23, 2012 Posted March 23, 2012 The shardblade doesn't really sever nerve connections, it seems to me that it attacks the spiritweb of anything living. Which implies that there's something vital centered in the chest area near the spine. More vital than the heart even, if death is as instant as it shows in the book.
Natquin Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 What about Luesh? His death is mentioned, but do we know why/how he died? It seems like a death that we know happened, but is very easy to dismiss as unimportant.
name_here Posted July 11, 2012 Posted July 11, 2012 According to the message received, he just got sick and died. It's possible he was poisoned, but there doesn't seem to really be a particular motive.
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