Question and Answer

[emilylime]

Hoid in WoK seems really different from MB and WB Hoid... when I first read Warbreaker, he was so drastically different from Wit/Hoid that I was convinced that WB Hoid was the person who Wit/Hoid said he stole his name from. why is his personality so varied throughout the books? is it just me? Is it just because of his weird timeline, and he's older in some than in other? do we even know?!

[natc]

Hoid in WoK seems really different from MB and WB Hoid... when I first read Warbreaker, he was so drastically different from Wit/Hoid that I was convinced that WB Hoid was the person who Wit/Hoid said he stole his name from. why is his personality so varied throughout the books? is it just me? Is it just because of his weird timeline, and he's older in some than in other? do we even know?!

His real personality is the type to let entire worlds burn if it will fulfill his objective.

He's just a brilliant actor who had tens of thousands of years to work with, in my opinion. Sometimes he just acts his age I guess.

And of course he's older in some than in others, the books are centuries apart half the time.

Edited April 15, 2015 by natc

[Zas678]

In Lift's interlude (WoR I-9), Darkness/Nalan is awesome. How? Is it the larkin, or does he have an Honorblade?

 

RYBAL

Can the Heralds Surgebind without their Blades and if not are they under the same restrictions that others are?

BRANDON SANDERSON

The Heralds without their Blades are incapable of the powers you're familiar with. It doesn't mean there aren't other things they can do.

 

http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=1048#4

 

So I would tend to guess that it is because of the Honorblade. 

[BeskarKomrk]

Random question related to Sixth of the Dusk:

 

I thought when I read it there was a reference to many different types of Aviar, more than the two we see. I took a quick skim through again but couldn't find a quote to confirm this. Am I crazy? Or do other people also remember that being in the story?

[Lord Pifferdoo]

Random question related to Sixth of the Dusk:

 

I thought when I read it there was a reference to many different types of Aviar, more than the two we see. I took a quick skim through again but couldn't find a quote to confirm this. Am I crazy? Or do other people also remember that being in the story?

 

I'm pretty sure there's others. Sixth makes the remark that Aviar not raised in the Pantheon have different powers than the ones born and bred there, and even he had probably not discovered all of them. 

[wildbuc117]

There are a few things in the back of my mind I'm wondering about if anyone would be willing to point my in the right direction...  

My first thought is dependent on each Shard having an opposite, Ruin and Preservation, Odium and Honor, Dominion and Devotion.  Although I have no real justification for it I think the lower numbers are probably prone to evil and the higher numbers are more prone to goodness, not that they are good and evil considering they are forces.  

I think each shard has a number associated with it which applies to how many magics are associated with it.  I realize that there are issues with this theory as I have no idea how Honor and Cultivation combining their powers affected the magic.  

1 Ruin (1 power: to steal.  And if i'm not wrong it could be used to steal other powers from different systems, correct? I'd like to think I read that in an interview by Sanderson) - 16 Preservation (16% of the population, 16 non-god Metals/Alloys to power feruchemical/ allomancy methods )  
2-15  
3-14  
4-13 Endowment (I have no reason to think this other than I believe there are more than the 10 known heightening and I would hazard a guess that there are more than 11 at least so I figure he would be between 12 and 15)  
5-12   
6-11  
7 (Odium) - 10 (Honor) (10 is in everything in the stormlight archive)  
8 (Dominion)- 9 (Devotion) Not sure entirely about their numbers or if they are even truly each other's opposites which I guess could be wondered at for Odium and Honor....  Could be Odium and Cultivation for all I know.  

I guess the question I have is has this been proven or disproven yet or RAFO answer?  
 

I've heard talk about nightblood being similar to a shardblade, but I feel like he's more closely related to an honorblade as he bestows great powers at a great cost vs just being a dangerous weapon.  And who else is ready for the epic Szeth showdown with the rest of the honorblades Shin?   

 

 

In Sixth of Dusk, are the one's above from Scadrial?  I ask because I know that the last trilogy that Brandon is planning to write on that planet has to do with space travel and there is mention in Sixth of Dusk that the One's Above use space travel.  I think I read at one point that people were wondering if it might be from Sel, which may make sense considering their inability to worldhop easily.  Also, if Harmony is the god of Scadrial, wouldn't harmonious involvement with the local people not be to take advantage of them? IDK!

 

Finally, does anyone have any idea about how many worlds Jasnah has hopped to?  She obviously knows of Yolen and of some of their magic (similarity to light weaving I believe), but other than that...  

[Kurkistan]

There are a few things in the back of my mind I'm wondering about if anyone would be willing to point my in the right direction...  

My first thought is dependent on each Shard having an opposite, Ruin and Preservation, Odium and Honor, Dominion and Devotion.  

<snip>

 

This quote might interest you.

[Moogle]

...

 

To add on to Kurk's WoB, here's a few thoughts:

• As Kurk pointed out, not all Shards have direct opposites.
• Even if they did, I would pair Devotion (originally named Love as I recall) and Odium together as opposites. Honor and Odium don't seem as opposed as Ruin and Preservation.
• Hemalurgy can in fact be used to steal the powers of other systems, but it still has sixteen different metals which steal different things. I wouldn't give Ruin 1 based on that.
• I doubt the Heightenings correlate with Endowment's number, even if all Shards have numbers (which is not at all guaranteed). The Heightenings are not a thing that exist in nature, like the sixteen metals. The Heightenings are strictly a label humans apply to Breaths - eventually, if you get enough Breaths, you become Endowment yourself. (I am not saying I have disproved this, just that I find it really really unlikely.)
• Dominion and Devotion are likely very compatible and not opposites. When conflicting Shards go on a planet, it seems to create a "balance magic", as well as two systems belonging to each Shard. Sel just has the one system by WoB, which seems to be a combination of Devotion and Dominion, which suggests there's no conflict. (Some more theorycrafting on this here.)
• I agree Nightblood seems closer to an Honorblade (as both consume the user's Investiture), but he's still a Shardblade by WoB. Honorblades are Shardblades too; it's more of a general category, with Sprenblades being confusingly named Shardblades instead of Sprenblades.
• We don't know where the Ones Above are from. WoB is that we've seen the world they're from. I favor Scadrial, but there's plenty of options.
• I know of nothing saying Jasnah knows of Yolen. Where are you getting that from?
• It is possible Jasnah went worldhopping, given she obtained a bandolier at some point after her "death" and her reappearance, but we do not know that for sure.

[wildbuc117]

Thanks to both of you for responding to me!  So the implication being that hatred already killed love? haha, so this isn't your ordinary stuff going on, but I think we already knew that.

 

So would feruchemy would be the balance magic of scadrial then plus whatever harmonium ends up doing.  I assume it will be linked with the metals as well.  

 

I thought Honorblades didn't have to do with spren but Honor himself and that shardblades were just dead sprenblades and could potentially be brought back to life.

 

For some reason I thought that the notes past the epilogue were her notes because I listen to the audiobooks and the notes were done in Kate Reading's voice.  Plus the implication that she knows some things that hoid doesn't know and it sounds like they may have conversed on the cosmere before.  My thought being he asked her if she knew what adolnasium was and she's been searching for it as an answer to odium.

 

I didn't notice the bandolier before and just read that forum.  That is quite interesting indeed.

[Dunkum]

Well, remember Hoid worked/works for her brother, so presumably she could have met him before.  As to things Hoid doesn't know, that could easily just refer to some specific facts about Roshar that Hoid had not discovered for himself yet

[skaa]

For some reason I thought that the notes past the epilogue were her notes because I listen to the audiobooks and the notes were done in Kate Reading's voice.

 

From the evidence found here, we believe the author of those Ars Arcanum notes is a woman named Khriss who, incidentally, also knows things Hoid doesn't know. She's a character from one of Brandon's unpublished novels (a graphic novel version of which is already in the works).

Edited April 23, 2015 by skaa

[Moogle]

So would feruchemy would be the balance magic of scadrial then plus whatever harmonium ends up doing.  I assume it will be linked with the metals as well.  

 

I thought Honorblades didn't have to do with spren but Honor himself and that shardblades were just dead sprenblades and could potentially be brought back to life.

 

Feruchemy is the "balance" magic between Ruin and Preservation, yes. Allomancy is of Preservation, Hemalurgy of Ruin, and Feruchemy of both. We suspect (note: theorizing) Roshar has a similar thing going on, though a bit more complex. Surgebinding is, by WoB, of Honor + Cultivation, which leaves a balance magic of Honor + Cultivation + Odium (the "esoteric" system mentioned in the Ars Arcanum?), as well as probably another system (Voidbinding?), which will be composed of Odium by himself or Odium + either Honor/Cultivation.

 

Honorblades have nothing to do with spren, right. There is a general category of magical blades in the cosmere - Shardblades. While we don't have direct WoB on it, basically any Invested sword is a Shardblade. Nightblood, Honorblades, and the blades that spren turn into are all Shardblades. However, in-world you'll see characters calling the weapons that spren turn into Shardblades, which confuses matters a little - they're being imprecise.

 

As skaa says, the Ars Arcanum was not written by Jasnah.

[wildbuc117]

Thanks to both Skaa and Moogle!  

 

So there could be a potential of 7 magics on Roshar: 

1. Odium (voidbinding?)

2. Cultivation (old magic?)

3. Honor

4. Odium/Cultivation 

5. Odium/Honor

6. Honor/Cultivation (Surgebinding)

7. Honor/Cultivation/Odium

 

So would sprenblades would be similar to awakened objects on Nalthis? 

 

And is Sanderson still giving White Sand out if you ask him on his website?  I saw that's where all the potential information on ars arcanum might be or at least the person who wrote it.

[Moogle]

...

 

There could be a potential seven systems, yes. The Ars Arcanum and a few WoBs imply there's just the three systems (well, 30, depending on how you look at it), however. Our Intent Meshing theorization predicts that, given there's three systems and three Shards, two of the Shards must be 'paired' and considered a single entity and so cannot have systems on their own. Whether or not you find the theory convincing is up to you.

 

Sprenblades are similar to Awakened objects, but mostly only in that they're Invested. Awakened things have some Endowment placed in them, and Sprenblades are kindasorta pure Honor+Cultivation (a little like atium/lerasium - apparently a Mistborn could burn a Sprenblade). Awakened objects tend to have an Intent associated with them, and (note: speculation) while spren seem have a similar thing going on, it's a bit more broad.

 

Sanderson should still be giving out White Sand and Aether of the Night if you ask. I hear the wait times are really long lately, but maybe you'll get lucky. PM me if wait times go forever, if you don't mind. I can look into things and see if anyone else is having the same issues. (I recommend White Sand over Aether. Both were fun reads, but they were obviously not published for a reason. I still liked White Sand more than Elantris, though.)

[emilylime]

When does each Cosmere story/series take place in relation to the others? like, what's the timeline? Do we know?

Edited April 24, 2015 by Lady Eowyn

[Moogle]

When does each Cosmere story/series take place in relation to the others? like, what's the timeline? Do we know?

 

This is the best compilation I know of.

[Turos]

Why do gems hold stormlight?

 

Also, why do they express it as rays instead of mist like other things which hold stormlight, e.g. knights radiant?

Edited April 25, 2015 by Turos Stoneward

[natc]

Who says it isn't mist? It's glowing no matter what it's in, gems just don't leak very fast, unlike humans. Perhaps an infused voidbringer wouldn't even glow. They aren't exactly transparent.

The stormlight definitely shifts around and churns like a storm while inside[/] gemstones, Kaladin acknowledges this. People only call it steady lighting because candles are storming terrible at being steady.

[Turos]

How/what do Steel Inquisitors see?

[natc]

How/what do Steel Inquisitors see?

A few trillion blue lines visualized in their minds pointing to every tiny bit of metal within range.

Potentially down to molecular/atomic accuracy, that part idk. But they can see the shape of anything and even read.

[Moogle]

How/what do Steel Inquisitors see?

 

To extend on natc's answer, they are basically just doing an advanced technique where they burn steel/iron and see many more lines than normal. A regular Allomancer can learn to do this. From the Annotations:

By the way, you probably remember form book one the way that Inquisitors see. They have such a subtle touch with Steel and Iron, and their lines, that they can see via the trace metals in everyone’s bodies and in the objects around them.

The thing is, any Allomancer with access to iron or steel could learn to do this. Some have figured it out, in the past, but in current times, nobody–at least, nobody the heroes know–is aware of this. Except, of course, for Marsh.

And he chose not to share it.

(source)

[Turos]

I wonder if you can mentally assign other colors to the lines and even to what types of metal.

[natc]

I wonder if you can mentally assign other colors to the lines and even to what types of metal.

Well the lines aren't actually visual, or it would be useless for Inquisitors, so I imagine it's only blue because of some instinctive perception of the ability to specially track metal.

The power itself seems uniform in behavior for all metal besides aluminum though, so I wonder if the "metal sense" can differentiate between all metal elements, alloys, and trace residue. Maybe even compounds and ions. That's a lot of things.

[Turos]

If Kaladin went to Nalthis, would he have a Breath to give away?

 

What would happen to his abilities as a Radiant if he did?

 

What would happen to his abilities if he gained more Breath?

Edited May 2, 2015 by Turos Stoneward

[kinxer]

If Kaladin went to Nalthis, would he have a Breath to give away?

 

What would happen to his abilities as a Radiant if he did?

 

What would happen to his abilities if he gained more Breath?

Unfortunately, all we really have for this is conjecture. In other words, we don't know. However, there is a precedent (Nightblood) for abilities shifting upon worldhopping, so that might happen.

 

My guess is that he would retain his abilities and be able to use Breaths as extra powerful Surgebinding fuel, or he would change abilities to something completely unexpected that directly relates to the nature of breaths and Awakening.