CuratorOTL IG Posted February 16, 2024 Posted February 16, 2024 (edited) Quick Theoretical question. Would it be possible for their to be an Investiture-based disease that spreads through Connection? Edit for Clarification: the 'virus' in question would be more akin to spren, meaning beings made up of investigate, rather than actual viruses. They would infect someone's spiritweb, and then use Connection to spread to other spiritwebs. Also, I haven't read TSM, so I don't know anything about that and I'm not willing to read any spoilers. Edited February 20, 2024 by CuratorOTL
alder24 Posted February 16, 2024 Posted February 16, 2024 5 minutes ago, CuratorOTL said: Quick Theoretical question. Would it be possible for their to be an Investiture-based disease that spreads through Connection? I don't think so? They are physical pathogens, Connection is spiritual, it's hard to transmit something physical through something spiritual UNLESS it can Elsecall. And that can be possible. The most likely place we might be able to see something like that is Ashyn, where there is a disease based magic system, giving people powers. But I think a little virus that can teleport itself into another carrier is a bit too much. Spoiler Questioner So I was reading that one of the worlds, I think it was Yolen, is going to be a disease oriented magic? Brandon Sanderson It's not Yolen, it's Ashyn... Questioner How does that work? Brandon Sanderson Viruses and bacteria, various strains of them, have evolved in-line with the Investiture on the planet to grant you a magical ability when you catch the disease, because they want you to stay alive long enough to-- Questioner To transmit it. Brandon Sanderson --o transmit it. So it becomes part of the transmission vector. So you have superpowers or whatever-- You can fly as long as you have the common cold, but when you get over it, you can't anymore. Firefight Seattle Public Library signing (Jan. 7, 2015) Spoiler coltonx9 How are the floating cities in Ashyn held aloft? Brandon Sanderson By local magic... So basically, I can tell you how it works, because I'm not saving any secrets here. One of the diseases gives this power. The reason it's called The Silence Divine is right now, the way I've devised it, is this power also causes hearing loss. So you have this virus that does this weird thing, but also gives you the power. And so there's a conclave of them, a chorus of them that keep the cities aloft. And that's why the book, if or when I write it, I guess it can't be a virus in this case. Whatever disease they have, someone develops penicillin and can potentially cause the city to come crashing down. That was the premise for me, but that means it needs to be a bacteria, not a virus but it needs to be a bacteria that stays with you long, so I have to work out exactly how I would make these diseases work. Idaho Falls signing (Dec. 29, 2018)
Returned he/him Posted February 16, 2024 Posted February 16, 2024 For a physical disease, it sounds tricky (though I'm sure someone could engineer it, as magic allows for a lot). But a spiritual disease? I think that that could happen. Arguably it did happen to the Parshendi and Heralds, though I would probably not classify it as a disease as much as a single, catastrophic event based on what we currently know. Manipulating Connection to disseminate problems among communities and groups would be incredibly dangerous. 3
CuratorOTL IG Posted February 17, 2024 Author Posted February 17, 2024 On 2/16/2024 at 10:50 AM, alder24 said: I don't think so? They are physical pathogens, Connection is spiritual, it's hard to transmit something physical through something spiritual UNLESS it can Elsecall. And that can be possible. The most likely place we might be able to see something like that is Ashyn, where there is a disease based magic system, giving people powers. But I think a little virus that can teleport itself into another carrier is a bit too much. Hide contents Questioner So I was reading that one of the worlds, I think it was Yolen, is going to be a disease oriented magic? Brandon Sanderson It's not Yolen, it's Ashyn... Questioner How does that work? Brandon Sanderson Viruses and bacteria, various strains of them, have evolved in-line with the Investiture on the planet to grant you a magical ability when you catch the disease, because they want you to stay alive long enough to-- Questioner To transmit it. Brandon Sanderson --o transmit it. So it becomes part of the transmission vector. So you have superpowers or whatever-- You can fly as long as you have the common cold, but when you get over it, you can't anymore. Firefight Seattle Public Library signing (Jan. 7, 2015) Hide contents coltonx9 How are the floating cities in Ashyn held aloft? Brandon Sanderson By local magic... So basically, I can tell you how it works, because I'm not saving any secrets here. One of the diseases gives this power. The reason it's called The Silence Divine is right now, the way I've devised it, is this power also causes hearing loss. So you have this virus that does this weird thing, but also gives you the power. And so there's a conclave of them, a chorus of them that keep the cities aloft. And that's why the book, if or when I write it, I guess it can't be a virus in this case. Whatever disease they have, someone develops penicillin and can potentially cause the city to come crashing down. That was the premise for me, but that means it needs to be a bacteria, not a virus but it needs to be a bacteria that stays with you long, so I have to work out exactly how I would make these diseases work. Idaho Falls signing (Dec. 29, 2018) Hold up, what's all this info about Ashyn? I've never heard of any of this! I less talking about a virus, and more of some sort of magic that would be labeled as a disease because it could infect the spirit web and maybe have some adverse effects, such as draining investiture. Sort of like a mini, Spiritual Nightblood that could spread. 20 hours ago, Returned said: For a physical disease, it sounds tricky (though I'm sure someone could engineer it, as magic allows for a lot). But a spiritual disease? I think that that could happen. Arguably it did happen to the Parshendi and Heralds, though I would probably not classify it as a disease as much as a single, catastrophic event based on what we currently know. Manipulating Connection to disseminate problems among communities and groups would be incredibly dangerous. Yeah, I was talking more of a spiritual 'disease', not really am actual virus, that could follow Connection from spirit web to spirit web. Of course, I'm not completely up to date with my cosmere mechanics, so it might not be possible.
alder24 Posted February 17, 2024 Posted February 17, 2024 (edited) 2 hours ago, CuratorOTL said: Hold up, what's all this info about Ashyn? I've never heard of any of this! You can read more here: https://coppermind.net/wiki/Ashyn#Magic But all information about it is from WoBs, so you can search for them too on Arcanum. 2 hours ago, CuratorOTL said: I less talking about a virus, and more of some sort of magic that would be labeled as a disease because it could infect the spirit web and maybe have some adverse effects, such as draining investiture. Sort of like a mini, Spiritual Nightblood that could spread. I doubt it then. Those viruses would have to live in the Spiritual Realm, not in the Physical one. The Spiritual Realm, which is where Spirit Webs exists, is different - space and time are one there and only Investiture is in SR. As far as we know only Shards exist there fully, but they are investiture. The viruses from Ashyn grant powers via Connection, similar to how Aviars get their powers or Radiants. If such illnesses were present in Cosmere, they would be already visible all across Cosmere. Edited February 17, 2024 by alder24 1
Duxredux he/him Posted February 17, 2024 Posted February 17, 2024 (edited) The Shades of Threnody probably fit the bill, but their condition is thus far specific to natives and descendants. Threnodites killed by a Shade become a Shade themselves, and I'm not sure if we've seen a non-Threnodite killed by a Shade. Tough to say how exactly a Cognitive Shadow does damage to someone in the Physical Realm, but it's not via Physical Realm infection, that's for sure. Disease definition: A disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that has a known cause and a distinctive group of symptoms, signs, or anatomical changes. A particular quality, habit, or disposition regarded as adversely affecting a person or group of people. TSM spoilers: Spoiler The whole absorbing Investiture thing with the people of Canticle and how Nomad could get adopted into the Beaconite group and gain the ability to absorb or give Investiture is suspicious too. The exact method that Threnodites of Canticle and Shades can damage on contact is up in the air, but it may be via Connection. We also see that Threnodites off Threnody can still become Shades. If the Night Brigade has weaponized multiplicative Shades, yeah, that could totally wipe out planets, and might be called a weaponized plague. We just haven't seen it because for the most part Shades are restricted to Threnody and are relatively docile unless the Simple Rules are broken. Edited February 17, 2024 by Duxredux clarity 3
Banazir864 Posted February 18, 2024 Posted February 18, 2024 TSM spoilers Spoiler To elaborate further on the leeching abilities, it's also worth noting that before being adopted as a Beaconite, Nomad could only transfer "heat" into a Sunheart of a fellow Rosharan, and that he was able to use this to transfer away part of his Torment. What if, instead of using the Sunheart, Nomad had waited until after he became Zellion and had then shared heat with a local? Would that give the local his Torment? If Zellion still had his Torment when the Cinder King leeched from him, would that have inflicted the Cinder King with involuntary pacifism (which would be hilarious, especially since he doesn't seem smart enough to find loopholes like Nomad did)? If so, that's close enough to a Connection-based disease to say that such a thing is possible. So, based on that, I think it's definitely possible to have a "disease" (in the sense of a contagious affliction) that requires Connection to spread, although it would likely require something more than a mundane physical disease. I suppose you could also have a physical disease that ordinary people are immune to and also have a contagious Connection-dependent affliction of the soul that leaves you vulnerable to the disease, in which case you could loosely describe the disease as being spread by Connection.
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