How to take over the cosmere

[BridgeBoi]

I thought that this would be a fun topic. How would you, starting as a normal citizen with moderate wealth and resources take over the Cosmere or gain as much power as possible?

You can start anywhere in the Cosmere. 

You aren't allowed to take chance into account. For example, you can't say I would be taken by the shaod and become an elantrian. 

What would you do?

[TwinStorm He/Him]

realsitically, get honorblades and get spikes is step number one

[Through the Living Wrath he/him]

Imagine I entered in as an obligator shorty after the death of the Lord Ruler

I would grab the lerasium, yum yum it, and then take over with my awesome mistyborny powers.

I would then strike a deal with Kel

[Through the Living Heir he/him]

I’d start on Nalthis, and try to accumulate enough breath for fifth heightening. Because I don’t have a reliable way to do this legally, I’d set up a pyramid scheme and either self invest in it, or run away once I have enough for fifth, preferably sixth. Thus immortal, I’d move somewhere else in the Cosmere and set up a cascade production industry somewhere, potentially by bonding an Inkspren, swearing to slowly take over the Cosmere, then Transportationing myself away. Before I left, I’d talk to the Nightwatcher and get an investiture-source related boon, perhaps aiming to directly ask for help with my goal. Then I’d leave, perhaps to Ashnyn so I can acquire their floating city technology. 

[Treamayne]

28 minutes ago, Ookla the Inquisitive said:

Then I’d leave, perhaps to Ashnyn so I can acquire their floating city technology.

And, by technology, you mean the Common Cold? So you can't leave Ashyn if you want to fly anymore (not that you can fly there long either, until and unless you keep reinfecting yourself and hope you don't develop an immunity).

WoB:

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)

 

[Trusk'our he/him]

1 hour ago, BridgeBoi said:

I thought that this would be a fun topic. How would you, starting as a normal citizen with moderate wealth and resources take over the Cosmere or gain as much power as possible?

You can start anywhere in the Cosmere. 

You aren't allowed to take chance into account. For example, you can't say I would be taken by the shaod and become an elantrian. 

What would you do?

Hmm, starting in Era 1 Mistborn is quite tempting, maybe a few hundred years before the events of TFE (I'm removing any morality from this strategy, so it isn't one I'd actually want to do).

I can't rely on chance for becoming a Metalborn, but I can become skilled at bureaucracy and become an Obligator (I'll name my avatar Oswald) and try to weasel out secrets of Hemalurgy from the canton of Inquisition.

Assuming Oswald can get that information, he can then attempt to leverage his influence as a government agent to get underground favors, set up traps for Allomancers and maybe even Keepers. He could then conceivably grow a customized repertoire of powers, differing somewhat from what true Inquisitors have based on availability and utility. 

Becoming a Worldhopper is key to advance Oswald's influence much further, as Rashek isn't going to be an opponent a smart person would want to face and Ruin's influence on Scadrial mostly leaves that world as a dead end for ultimate power for the next couple centuries. 

I think it's somewhat plausible for Oswald the Hemalurgic Obligator to discover Perpendicularities while hunting Atium geodes, as grabbing the Godmetal would already be a must.

After popping through a Perpendicularity in the Pits and snatching a few Atium beads, Oswald could try to use Emotional Allomancy to help convince a Worldhopping merchant to take him with them, likely to a popular location- like Nalthis. 

During that travel he'd continue to Soothe and gather information on the wider Cosmere. 

After stopping at Nalthis via Perpendicularity the Obligator would use his Hemalurgically acquired powers to find a position of political and financial power (likely in Hallandren) by Soothing superiors and contractors, and by assassinating those who wouldn't be swayed in the night.

Investing money and purchasing Breath over time plus adding some stolen Breath from Mistborn escapades and he'd obtain functional immortality, great wealth, a position of political power, a little Atium, and the abilities of a fairly powerful Awakener and Inquisitor.

Oswald would keep tabs on Worldhopping activities, and learn tales of Shardblades and Plate (if he didn't already know), so he'd eventually want to make his way over there. Not sure how the chronology lines up though, so he might have to wait a while for actual Surgebinding to become a viable option. 

I'll probably add a part 2 later, but for now Oswald the Obligator is sitting comfortable on a pile of Nalthian Breaths while slowly growing greedy for more power.

[Duxredux he/him]

Partner with the first interplanetary Chouta food chain. With the economic might of Chouta, immortality via Breath should easily be in reach for my co-founders and me. Expand my empire until I have other vital trade commodities and sell to both sides of the coming Era 4 war. Pick up the pieces and cement my economic dominance. You just gotta have a cousin in the right places.

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

I'm going to assume that I get to keep all of my cheaty-cheat metaknowledge of the books, because otherwise this would be completely impossible.

Now, if I can start anywhere in the Cosmere, I'm also assuming that I can start anywhen as well.

So first off, I'd start at the Well of Ascension, 1024 years before Rashek took his dip in it.

Make myself a Mistborn, Feruchemist and a master Hemalurgist. Then, after making sure I didn't screw up Preservation's plan in some way, I'd focus on the greater Cosmere for as much information I can get. Shadesmar routes, Perpendicularity locations, other worlds that we haven't see yet. All that good stuff.

Then with the last of the Well's power, I'd get a few tons of the more technologically dependent metals like bendalloy and nicrosil and especially aluminum.

Then I think I'd spend a century or two on Scadrial, master my new powers, gather as much atium as I can get my hands on, gather up some locals to worship me as their god so they can carry my stuff and do my bidding, then start making my own Worldhopping organization. All the while being very wary of Ruin and not trying to make big plays on whatever the current politics is going on during this time to reduce the butterfly effect, stay far away from the Terris.

I'd go to Roshar, probably not Bond a Spren because the Recreance wasn't too long ago, gather up some Shardblades, Plate, Perfect Gemstones and Soulcasters. I'd use my cheaty-cheat knowledge to figure out the Tones and continue the experiments to Unkey Stormlight so I can use it.

I'd set up a new Branch of my secret organization on Roshar so they can continue to Unkey Stormlight for me, as well as try to Bond Spren so I can try to figure out how to make Nicrosil Medallions to mass produce Surges. And if I am unable to figure out how to get Shards and Soulcaster off of Roshar, I'll want them to hold onto the ones we collected until we can.

I'd stay far away from Aimia, no need to antagonize the sentient bug swarms.

For any members of my organization who are experienced, I'd send them to places I don't want to go myself, like Taldain if it's open at this time to gather some Sand, and someone to Nalthis to gather some Breaths for me to experiment with. I wouldn't go there myself because I don't want to take a chance for Autonomy or Endowment to Smite me.

I'd set up a homebase on a World with no Perpendicularity, because I'd use Compounding to make one myself. By using Unkeyed Stormlight and massive Metalminds I'd fill with Compounding to gather enough Investiture in one place to pierce the Realms. I'd want a world that has people, so I can recruit them all and set up a society all for myself.

Then, with a few centuries I'd have a society on a world untouched by foreign gods that have Unsealed Metalminds that grant all kinds of powers, such as Feruchemy and Surgebinding, maybe even Breaths, Sand Mastery and even Aviar. I'd make sure to keep the best stuff to myself and my inner circle of trusted lieutenants, while still giving lots of good stuff to my new people. I'd make sure to keep my world isolated from the greater Cosmere to make sure I don't give away anything, I'd also encourage technological development so that my world would be the most advanced and hopefully push into the Space Age before the True Desolation, or at least to modern level technology.

By then, it would be easier for most people to work with me than against me, as I would both hold many secrets of Investiture and be willing to trade.

I'd make myself the most successful businessman in all the Cosmere, trading with the dragons of Slverlight, connecting various worlds with trade routes I'd have made and owned, have access to Investiture and technology that everyone would want a piece of.

But of course, I'd also be looking and waiting patiently for a chance to steal one of the Shards and Ascend properly.

I wouldn't go for Preservation and Ruin, because I like Sazed and would prefer to be his ally. I'd stay off of Roshar when the True Desolation rolls around, as I'd be paranoid about Cultivation interfering.

Instead, I'd be quietly researching the Dor, to see if it's possible to push the power back into the Spiritual Realm and then Connect to it to Ascend into a God just as powerful as Harmony.

And from there, only the gods know.

[Through the Living Heir he/him]

9 hours ago, Treamayne said:

And, by technology, you mean the Common Cold? So you can't leave Ashyn if you want to fly anymore (not that you can fly there long either, until and unless you keep reinfecting yourself and hope you don't develop an immunity).

WoB:

  Reveal hidden 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)

 

Ah. I’d confused them with those floating cities with the Canticle. In that case, after an erroneous stop in Ashyn, which yields nothing due to my breath-enhanced immune system, I’d head farther away. Perhaps I’d go somewhere that does have advanced technology, or an invested art I could pick up. I’d refuse to use spikes, because taking over the world is hard to do when people can mind control you. Depending upon how Taldain’s light interacts with surgebinding, I might settle there, at least for a time. 

[Lord Ruler Sylphrena He/Him]

15 hours ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

I'm going to assume that I get to keep all of my cheaty-cheat metaknowledge of the books, because otherwise this would be completely impossible.

Now, if I can start anywhere in the Cosmere, I'm also assuming that I can start anywhen as well.

So first off, I'd start at the Well of Ascension, 1024 years before Rashek took his dip in it.

Make myself a Mistborn, Feruchemist and a master Hemalurgist. Then, after making sure I didn't screw up Preservation's plan in some way, I'd focus on the greater Cosmere for as much information I can get. Shadesmar routes, Perpendicularity locations, other worlds that we haven't see yet. All that good stuff.

Then with the last of the Well's power, I'd get a few tons of the more technologically dependent metals like bendalloy and nicrosil and especially aluminum.

Then I think I'd spend a century or two on Scadrial, master my new powers, gather as much atium as I can get my hands on, gather up some locals to worship me as their god so they can carry my stuff and do my bidding, then start making my own Worldhopping organization. All the while being very wary of Ruin and not trying to make big plays on whatever the current politics is going on during this time to reduce the butterfly effect, stay far away from the Terris.

I'd go to Roshar, probably not Bond a Spren because the Recreance wasn't too long ago, gather up some Shardblades, Plate, Perfect Gemstones and Soulcasters. I'd use my cheaty-cheat knowledge to figure out the Tones and continue the experiments to Unkey Stormlight so I can use it.

I'd set up a new Branch of my secret organization on Roshar so they can continue to Unkey Stormlight for me, as well as try to Bond Spren so I can try to figure out how to make Nicrosil Medallions to mass produce Surges. And if I am unable to figure out how to get Shards and Soulcaster off of Roshar, I'll want them to hold onto the ones we collected until we can.

I'd stay far away from Aimia, no need to antagonize the sentient bug swarms.

For any members of my organization who are experienced, I'd send them to places I don't want to go myself, like Taldain if it's open at this time to gather some Sand, and someone to Nalthis to gather some Breaths for me to experiment with. I wouldn't go there myself because I don't want to take a chance for Autonomy or Endowment to Smite me.

I'd set up a homebase on a World with no Perpendicularity, because I'd use Compounding to make one myself. By using Unkeyed Stormlight and massive Metalminds I'd fill with Compounding to gather enough Investiture in one place to pierce the Realms. I'd want a world that has people, so I can recruit them all and set up a society all for myself.

Then, with a few centuries I'd have a society on a world untouched by foreign gods that have Unsealed Metalminds that grant all kinds of powers, such as Feruchemy and Surgebinding, maybe even Breaths, Sand Mastery and even Aviar. I'd make sure to keep the best stuff to myself and my inner circle of trusted lieutenants, while still giving lots of good stuff to my new people. I'd make sure to keep my world isolated from the greater Cosmere to make sure I don't give away anything, I'd also encourage technological development so that my world would be the most advanced and hopefully push into the Space Age before the True Desolation, or at least to modern level technology.

By then, it would be easier for most people to work with me than against me, as I would both hold many secrets of Investiture and be willing to trade.

I'd make myself the most successful businessman in all the Cosmere, trading with the dragons of Slverlight, connecting various worlds with trade routes I'd have made and owned, have access to Investiture and technology that everyone would want a piece of.

But of course, I'd also be looking and waiting patiently for a chance to steal one of the Shards and Ascend properly.

I wouldn't go for Preservation and Ruin, because I like Sazed and would prefer to be his ally. I'd stay off of Roshar when the True Desolation rolls around, as I'd be paranoid about Cultivation interfering.

Instead, I'd be quietly researching the Dor, to see if it's possible to push the power back into the Spiritual Realm and then Connect to it to Ascend into a God just as powerful as Harmony.

And from there, only the gods know.

Starting at the well is very clever and following this logic I would start at the shattering and pick Endowment as my shard. Due to the further back you go the easier it becomes to get power I'll give myself the restriction of Mistborn era 1 as my start date. Assuming I start with everything I know about Cosmere mechanics I'll start on Scadrial and bring a couple friends with me. We would spike a number of Mistings and Feruchemists and make so each of us can compound one element(I don't want to be under a shards influence so sharing the spikes will reduce the weakness). We could then share our powers to reduce the need for extra spikes. Then I would go to Nalthis and spike a Divine Breath for immortality. Finally I would go to Roshar before the events of the first book of SA and steal as many Honorblades as possible from the Shin. Finally I use transportation to find find a planet with no active shard and spend the rest of my days as a benevolent god king collecting any other powers I desire over the centuries.

[OoklaApologist She/her]

Prior to the death of the Lord Ruler, be a high-ranking obligator with knowledge of hemalurgy. As Vin removes the Lord Ruler’s anti-aging measures, steal his gold feruchemy.

Proceed to the Well of Ascension, consume Hoid’s Lerasium, and hide Elend’s bead somewhere safe. Then step through the perpendicularity, tell Kelsier what’s going on, then provide him much-needed companionship and compassion, helping him get through the fact that he can’t help people or leave the well. Inform him of the Ire, and emphasize the importance of protecting the Shard of Preservation, preferably via obtaining it.

Using your Mistborn powers, leave the Well on the physical side, escape Kredik Shaw, and enter the Kandra homeland. Tell them basically what they want to hear. You are an emissary from the Lord Ruler. He is not dead, but in hiding. It doesn’t matter what you say, as long as they let you near the Atium. When they are distracted, steal a bag. Just for general funds and protection on your journey.

Return to Kredik Shaw, take up the power at the Well of Ascension, become a fullborn Kandra or other semihuman shapeshifter, and fix Scadrial. Cultivate a cult around you, selecting an inner circle of unwaveringly loyal lackeys. 

Around this time, Kelsier is in possession of the Shard of Preservation. Encourages him to hold onto that.

Find Nightblood. It’s probably hard, but you have hundreds of years to do it.

Avenge something. Work hard. Be passionate about it. Cultivate your plan to fruition. Alternatively, have Sja-anat enlighten the Sibling. Bond them.

Find Rayse and talk to him. It doesn’t matter what for. Kill him with Nightblood. Take up Odium.

Spoiler

Spend some time in the Spiritual Realm. Contemplate the meaning of honor until you understand it. Say the words.

You now have the Shards of Odium and Honor. Start a religion on Roshar, same as Scadrial. 

Get mad at Cultivation for an honorable reason. Attack.

I don’t know what this Intent is. Any guesses?

Keep killing Shards with Nightblood. Found religions. Really go ham with it

You might have to kill every member of Autonomy separately, but that’s ok. Your hard work will pay off in the end.

Don’t kill Hoid. Steal his memory, Taravangian-style. He won’t like that.

Back to Scadrial. Multi-Shardic worlds really are a pain, you know?

Kelsier owes you one. As a friend. From a friend to a friend, give him his favorite Dawnshard. Let him leave the shards to the experts. He can’t handle it anyway.

Have a minion give up the power at the Well of Ascension. Give them Preservation, and let them pull a Vin. You know all about Harmony. You kill Vessels to preserve order, don’t you know?

Eat every Hion. How do you do that? I don’t know. Repeat for seons and skaze. 

You are now Adonalsium, the god of a new world. You are all powerful, all mighty. You have won the Cosmere. 

For my dawnshards, I’d pick Kelsier, Rysn, Sazed, and Khriss.

For planet governors/leaders, I’d pick Raoden, Elend, Jasnah, Lightsong and Vathi for their home planets. All other planets’ books don’t feature loads of good characters in high positions of power.

Man, that was a long post, sorry