DoctaDajman Posted January 8, 2025 Posted January 8, 2025 I was just watching some videos on Vortex cannons and large air rifles and my mind locked onto and remembered the idea of zephyr aether. The ability to create and control air could be pretty dang awesome. My first thought was flight but then I wonder how do you shape air? It doesnt really hold its shape right? So if creating air as aether, do you suppose you could control its form and the way it is being created? Obvious options for weapons systems involving air are air rifles. Some tube that you have developed a psuedo magazine for and you just create air double time within it might net you a decent rate of fire. Some divers carry knives that shoot out CO2 when they are activated to not only pierce but create some good air embolisms. Barotrauma would be the other one. Like blasts from explosions, barotrauma is basically the pressure changes so rapidly that the body cant change fast enough to compensate. Popped lungs, brain bleeds, burst eardrums and even bulging eyes and blindness... all brutal effects of barotrauma. Perhaps simply creating a large enough puff of air would do this. Range would not be your friend here. You need to be close. Do you think Zephyr aether could control the type of gas they are creating? Could you create CO and pump it into a room giving carbonmonoxide poisoning to the inhabitants? Could you create pure O2 and make a poor mans blood doping to boost your own performance? Sand blaster. A tiny tube hooked up to a bag of sand using the venturi effect for air entrainment making a sand blaster? Absolutely capable of peeling the skin off of any target. Its all kind of brutal ideas but I think there may be even more that a tinkerer could do with something like Zephyr aether and I would welcome any thoughts of uses. Big question... What do you see as working defensively for Zephyr Aether? 2
alder24 Posted January 9, 2025 Posted January 9, 2025 12 hours ago, DoctaDajman said: I was just watching some videos on Vortex cannons and large air rifles and my mind locked onto and remembered the idea of zephyr aether. The ability to create and control air could be pretty dang awesome. My first thought was flight but then I wonder how do you shape air? It doesnt really hold its shape right? So if creating air as aether, do you suppose you could control its form and the way it is being created? Tress was able to control the growth of the Verdant Aether with simple Command and visualization so I bet you can do the same with all Aethers. You could probably say to it to make a gust of wind that would raise you into the air or something like that. You could become an Airbender. or you can always use a nozzle. 12 hours ago, DoctaDajman said: Do you think Zephyr aether could control the type of gas they are creating? Could you create CO and pump it into a room giving carbonmonoxide poisoning to the inhabitants? Could you create pure O2 and make a poor mans blood doping to boost your own performance? I don't think so, it creates breathable air. As far as we know Aethers create one specific essence and you can't make the Verdant Aethers to create potatoes. Aethers are comparable to god metals - they are the body of Prime Aethers, investiture manifested in the Physical Realm, so I find it very unlikely that you could change the material they are made out of. Spoiler Ladder Contact 6814 What are the other six types of spores we didn't get to see in the book? Were there any that you really wanted to include, but couldn't? Brandon Sanderson No. When I've written books, I tend to gravitate toward a couple of the aethers that are really the most dynamic for action scenes and things like that. Some of the other aethers are there for the necessity of the future of the Cosmere. For instance: zephyr, while very useful in this for firing cannons and stuff, is really there so that we can have propellant in space by just-add-water and make yourself some extra propellant. And atmosphere; kind of a low-tech (there's better-tech ways), but a low-tech way to: "hey, we've got zephyr aether, it makes breathable air. And so, if we've got water and a barrel of this stuff, then we'll be able to breathe." So there are some of the aethers that are there for that sort of reason, so that we can have pneumatic weaponry and some easy access to emergency propellant in space, and stuff like that. But verdant is the one that I just keep coming back to, that one and roseite, as making for the most dynamic storytelling. We'll see what I do with some of the others. I'm not gonna answer what the ones I haven't mentioned are, because I am saving them for future books to be used and to be interesting and engaging with them. Tress Spoiler Stream (March 31, 2023) Spoiler Overlord Jebus All the physical manifestations--solid physical manifestations we've seen of Investiture has been metallic. It's been atium, lerasium, Shardblades. Is that just a coincidence? Brandon Sanderson No, it's intentional. Overlord Jebus It's intentional so we're not going to see Investiture wood or Investiture plastic? Brandon Sanderson Right, I mean technically, like, what do you call the aethers? Those are not metal. But I do it as metal intentionally. Questioner They could be a metal with very low boiling point. Brandon Sanderson *sarcastically* Yes, the vine ones are-- Overlord Jebus Well we've had liquid, we've had gas, the solids all seem to be metallic, so. Brandon Sanderson That is intentional, it's just one of those little laws of the cosmere, that's not meant to mean anything Emerald City Comic Con 2018 (March 1, 2018) 13 hours ago, DoctaDajman said: Big question... What do you see as working defensively for Zephyr Aether? A wall 1
DoctaDajman Posted January 9, 2025 Author Posted January 9, 2025 18 minutes ago, alder24 said: Tress was able to control the growth of the Verdant Aether with simple Command and visualization so I bet you can do the same with all Aethers. You could probably say to it to make a gust of wind that would raise you into the air or something like that. You could become an Airbender. or you can always use a nozzle. I don't think so, it creates breathable air. As far as we know Aethers create one specific essence and you can't make the Verdant Aethers to create potatoes. Aethers are comparable to god metals - they are the body of Prime Aethers, investiture manifested in the Physical Realm, so I find it very unlikely that you could change the material they are made out of. Reveal hidden contents Ladder Contact 6814 What are the other six types of spores we didn't get to see in the book? Were there any that you really wanted to include, but couldn't? Brandon Sanderson No. When I've written books, I tend to gravitate toward a couple of the aethers that are really the most dynamic for action scenes and things like that. Some of the other aethers are there for the necessity of the future of the Cosmere. For instance: zephyr, while very useful in this for firing cannons and stuff, is really there so that we can have propellant in space by just-add-water and make yourself some extra propellant. And atmosphere; kind of a low-tech (there's better-tech ways), but a low-tech way to: "hey, we've got zephyr aether, it makes breathable air. And so, if we've got water and a barrel of this stuff, then we'll be able to breathe." So there are some of the aethers that are there for that sort of reason, so that we can have pneumatic weaponry and some easy access to emergency propellant in space, and stuff like that. But verdant is the one that I just keep coming back to, that one and roseite, as making for the most dynamic storytelling. We'll see what I do with some of the others. I'm not gonna answer what the ones I haven't mentioned are, because I am saving them for future books to be used and to be interesting and engaging with them. Tress Spoiler Stream (March 31, 2023) Reveal hidden contents Overlord Jebus All the physical manifestations--solid physical manifestations we've seen of Investiture has been metallic. It's been atium, lerasium, Shardblades. Is that just a coincidence? Brandon Sanderson No, it's intentional. Overlord Jebus It's intentional so we're not going to see Investiture wood or Investiture plastic? Brandon Sanderson Right, I mean technically, like, what do you call the aethers? Those are not metal. But I do it as metal intentionally. Questioner They could be a metal with very low boiling point. Brandon Sanderson *sarcastically* Yes, the vine ones are-- Overlord Jebus Well we've had liquid, we've had gas, the solids all seem to be metallic, so. Brandon Sanderson That is intentional, it's just one of those little laws of the cosmere, that's not meant to mean anything Emerald City Comic Con 2018 (March 1, 2018) A wall My thoughts were that aether not staying connected to the aetherbound in the right atmosphere turn to dust or whatever. So I was under the impression that you likely couldn't control it beyond contact and thus it would dissipate and quickly just become air with no lasting change. If it can be controlled beyond touch then I think it becomes even more powerful and my ideas are way limiting its power. The windwall is a solid idea.
alder24 Posted January 9, 2025 Posted January 9, 2025 3 minutes ago, DoctaDajman said: My thoughts were that aether not staying connected to the aetherbound in the right atmosphere turn to dust or whatever. So I was under the impression that you likely couldn't control it beyond contact and thus it would dissipate and quickly just become air with no lasting change. If it can be controlled beyond touch then I think it becomes even more powerful and my ideas are way limiting its power. The windwall is a solid idea. As long as an Aetherbound touches any part of the air created from his Aether, he would be able to control all of that Aether air - just like TwinSoul can control all of the Roseite Aether as long as he touches it in just one place. This could manifest as a continuous gust of wind being emitted from the hand of an Aetherbound or something like that. However I doubt that the Zephyr Aether will turn into dust - it's gas, not solid, it would most likely just stay as a normal air.
DoctaDajman Posted January 9, 2025 Author Posted January 9, 2025 (edited) 18 minutes ago, alder24 said: As long as an Aetherbound touches any part of the air created from his Aether, he would be able to control all of that Aether air - just like TwinSoul can control all of the Roseite Aether as long as he touches it in just one place. This could manifest as a continuous gust of wind being emitted from the hand of an Aetherbound or something like that. However I doubt that the Zephyr Aether will turn into dust - it's gas, not solid, it would most likely just stay as a normal air. So an aluminum boomerang like Sokka's could be a legitimate weapon choice for a zephyr aetherbound. Sick. Combined with a mindset allowing you to fight dirty this could be a nasty opponent. Edited January 9, 2025 by DoctaDajman 1
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