Cusicesh - What is it?

[Duneye]

So I've been scouring the forums, Coppermind, and Arcanum for any information on Cusicesh I can find, but there isn't a whole lot, and there's certainly nothing that would suggest why exactly it could open Honor's perpendicularity. As far as I can tell, the only other people/beings able to achieve that were Dalinar and Ishar. Does anyone have any ideas as to why Cusicesh would be able to do this?

I'll list a couple theories I've found and my thoughts on them, any help figuring this out would be amazing.

FIrst: Cusicesh is some kind of spren guide for the Iriali as they travel the Long Trail. They have both been on Roshar for thousands of years, so it's plausible they appeared at the same time. This obviously explains why they were the one to usher the Iriali into Shadesmar, but doesn't exactly explain how it opened Honor's perpendicularity in particular. So far as we know, only Dalinar and Ishar (and him only after Dalinar), both with Connection to Honor, have been able to do that.

Second: They're some kind of Ocean Spren. I personally like this one, but it doesn't address its relation to the Iriali unless it's like a local guide for the Iriali. But, of course, this would beg the question - When people talk about the ancient spren like the Night, Wind, and Stone, why don't they talk about the Ocean? Since (as far as we know) Roshar is the only continent on the planet, that would make the ocean pretty darn big. Seems to me like it should have a spren.

What neither of these theories covers, however, is why it pops up at 7:46 every morning or what's up with the "illusory wake" it emanates. The shifting faces makes it seem connected to the Iriali religion (experience of many into one). I wonder if it's downloading the experiences of the Iriali in those ten minutes it appears, shifting its face to that of the person it's downloading from...

Edited February 13, 2025 by Duneye

[Mattel]

53 minutes ago, Duneye said:

Second: They're some kind of Ocean Spren. I personally like this one, but it doesn't address its relation to the Iriali unless it's like a local guide for the Iriali. But, of course, this would beg the question - When people talk about the ancient spren like the Night, Wind, and Stone, why don't they talk about the Ocean? Since (as far as we know) Roshar is the only continent on the planet, that would make the ocean pretty darn big. Seems to me like it should have a spren.

I was also super confused at cusicesh and what on earth had I just read.

I honestly super love this theory. We are told that Wind and Night both left/started getting weaker as they were either forgotten or less "worshipped." The Rosharans have no love for the sea, only Thaylens do and they don't go far enough out that they can't see the shore. So it makes sense that it has always been there and not loved by the Rosharans. Also didn't the Irali come from somewhere else? I acknowledge that I am on the Cosmere Spoiler board section of WaT, but I don't know much about them, but it feels like they aren't native to Roshar. So it would make sense that the Irali would have an appreciation and less fear of the Ocean, so Cusicesh would be appreciated by them and them alone. 

It also has the exact same affect that the Storm father creates. When he shows up to take the vows from Navani and Dalinar at the top of Urithiru, we are told that everyone acted drained when he left, like their energy had been siphoned slightly. Cusicesh reportedly has the same affect. This is a correlation that two Spren have, and one we know is a fragment of Honor, and the other is a large and apparently powerful Spren.

[Duneye]

1 hour ago, Mattel said:

I was also super confused at cusicesh and what on earth had I just read.

I'm glad I'm not alone lol. It's just such an odd spren.

1 hour ago, Mattel said:

Also didn't the Irali come from somewhere else?

They did, apparently generations ago they world-hopped to Roshar and have just been living there until they were called to go elsewhere.

 

1 hour ago, Mattel said:

It also has the exact same affect that the Storm father creates. When he shows up to take the vows from Navani and Dalinar at the top of Urithiru, we are told that everyone acted drained when he left, like their energy had been siphoned slightly. Cusicesh reportedly has the same affect. This is a correlation that two Spren have, and one we know is a fragment of Honor, and the other is a large and apparently powerful Spren.

ooo I hadn't caught that. Maybe it's some kind of effect highly invested spren have? I suppose it's possible Cusicesh is a Splinter of Honor, same as the Stormfather, but that'd be kinda weird since Tanavast never mentioned it in his chapters.

I wonder if the Iriali worldhopping to Roshar somehow created Cusicesh...

[Nitpicking]

I deny that it's Honor's perpendicularity. I think Dyel's mother (and maybe her spren Uma) are just wrong about that. Honor's is the only perpendicularity they've seen or heard of.

[Ninth of the Night]

20 hours ago, Nitpicking said:

I deny that it's Honor's perpendicularity. I think Dyel's mother (and maybe her spren Uma) are just wrong about that. Honor's is the only perpendicularity they've seen or heard of.

This has merit, as Demoux noted the perpendicularity behaving oddly.

Spoiler

Nearby, she spied the three strangers again, Demoux complaining about the “odd behavior for a perpendicularity of this nature.”

We simply don't have enough information to form anywhere near an accurate answer. My guess though is that Cusicesh doesn't even originate from Roshar at all, possibly a Splinter of a different Shard with no connection to Honor other than what it formed during its centuries on the planet.

[Dofurion]

Godspren of Virtuosity.

Personal theory.

[gokucauthon]

Maybe they travel by Andolisiums original perpendicularity, which i would assume would manifest in some way like the shards peeps do now, maybe shaesmar is andos original perp?

[Ashbringer he/him]

I wouldn't be surprised if it's the mechanism by which the Iri have made their other jumps, but given a spren-like form due to being on Roshar where those kind of mechanisms gain personifications.

[TheoreticalMagic]

On 2/18/2025 at 9:57 PM, Ashbringer said:

I wouldn't be surprised if it's the mechanism by which the Iri have made their other jumps, but given a spren-like form due to being on Roshar where those kind of mechanisms gain personifications.

I think its something along these lines. I'm reminded of the fact that in the Sunlit Man, a big deal is made about how much Investiture is needed to power huge worldhops, though of course the mechanism there is much different from the portal that opens here. But given that we also know that enough Investiture, given enough time, eventually develops its own sentience, I do suspect that there is a standing mechanism for the Iriali worldhopping along the Long Trail, and Cusicesh is the sentience it has evolved into over time and multiple worldhops. My personal suspicion is the changing faces Cusicesh is noted for is a reflection of all the people who come within its "range" and are left feeling drained after witnessing it, same as Mattel noted the Stormfather has an effect on people......because my hunch is that this is a) connected to the Iriali belief in the One and that all people are aspects/part of it, as reflected by a myriad of faces being worn by Cusicesh, and b) this is the fuel that POWERS the Long Trail.

Just like sufficient Investiture has to be built up between jumps to worldhop as shown in the Sunlit Man, the Long Trail requires that every time the Protector guides the Iriali to a new land, expending massive Investiture in the process, the Iriali then have to stay in that new land long enough for their worldhopping mechanism to slowly, over time, absorb enough trace Investiture from people that bring themselves within range of it, that it can eventually activate and open the Long Trail again. With this possibly happening differently on each Long Trail "stop" as the mechanism isn't for worldhopping per se, but rather for hacking/hijacking the most convenient mechanism ON THAT SHARDWORLD, for enabling mass worldhopping. And on Roshar, that just happened to be hijacking Honor's mobile perpendicularity, thus making it behave oddly. At some point in the distant past, either on Roshar or one of the stops before it, this process had been repeated enough that the Long Trail mechanism achieved sentience as Cusicesh, and became the Iriali's active Protector rather than just a passive part of their nomadic culture and relocation process.

The reflecting faces thing that Cusicesh does is I think incidental, or rather symptomatic of Cusicesh absorbing trace amounts of the Investiture present to some degree in all living things. Its not the POINT of Cusicesh, just a fringe inevitability.....my theory is that the Four Aspects of Adonalsium are Investiture, Connection, Fortune and Identity, the Spiritual Bedrock of the Cosmere, through which all existence is one and the same. Because Cusicesh's nature requires acting as a sponge for ambient Investiture in order to regularly refuel and reinitiate the Iriali worldhopping, that process makes Cusicesh also "soak up" trace amounts of Identity, Fortune and Connection from all the people it absorbs tiny bits of Investiture from.....which is where the changing faces comes in, a byproduct of it absorbing these Spiritual Traits in tiny degrees as well.

The absorption I think is so minimal that it doesn't really rob anyone of their Investiture, Fortune, Connection or Identity to any meaningful degree....I imagine that how long the Iriali spend on each world is relative to how populated that world is, and thus how long it takes the Protector to soak up enough Investiture to recharge (thus more advanced Shardworlds that more easily support larger or growing populations would lead to shorter stays, with the Iriali having spent longer than usual on Roshar because of how much the Desolations set back population growth and ease of travel within range of Cusicesh, despite Roshar's large size). Likely the reason it takes so long though is because the Protector, by design (though whose is the question) isn't meant or able to absorb more Investiture/Identity/Connection/Fortune from individuals than they can afford to lose without being noticeably affected. Like whatever Cusicesh takes is more like 1/1000th of a Breath, even.

Edited February 20, 2025 by TheoreticalMagic

[Ashbringer he/him]

4 hours ago, TheoreticalMagic said:

I think its something along these lines. I'm reminded of the fact that in the Sunlit Man, a big deal is made about how much Investiture is needed to power huge worldhops, though of course the mechanism there is much different from the portal that opens here. But given that we also know that enough Investiture, given enough time, eventually develops its own sentience, I do suspect that there is a standing mechanism for the Iriali worldhopping along the Long Trail, and Cusicesh is the sentience it has evolved into over time and multiple worldhops. My personal suspicion is the changing faces Cusicesh is noted for is a reflection of all the people who come within its "range" and are left feeling drained after witnessing it, same as Mattel noted the Stormfather has an effect on people......because my hunch is that this is a) connected to the Iriali belief in the One and that all people are aspects/part of it, as reflected by a myriad of faces being worn by Cusicesh, and b) this is the fuel that POWERS the Long Trail.

I like this - I think scraping the souls of people is probably how Cusicesh powers up (although the Highstorm are is also likely a source - I'm not sure about Honor's Perpendicularity, because if Cusicesh could drain that it probably would be ready a whole lot faster? Depends if it really is Honor's Perpendicularity Cusicesh is manipulating vs creating its own artificial one, both of which are impressive, but since the Irali left Lumar which has no perpendicularity I lean towards the second).

I will note - I'd have to recheck, but I forget if Cusicesh actually is making full intra-cosmere Elsegates or just sending the Long Trail into Shadesmar. 

[TheoreticalMagic]

1 hour ago, Ashbringer said:

I like this - I think scraping the souls of people is probably how Cusicesh powers up (although the Highstorm are is also likely a source - I'm not sure about Honor's Perpendicularity, because if Cusicesh could drain that it probably would be ready a whole lot faster? Depends if it really is Honor's Perpendicularity Cusicesh is manipulating vs creating its own artificial one, both of which are impressive, but since the Irali left Lumar which has no perpendicularity I lean towards the second).

I will note - I'd have to recheck, but I forget if Cusicesh actually is making full intra-cosmere Elsegates or just sending the Long Trail into Shadesmar. 

I think it could be, but to clarify my personal hunch is it was manipulating Honor's perpendicularity but not because that's how the Long Trail ALWAYS works, but rather because Cusicesh's nature is to temporarily adapt itself/mold itself to the latest home of the Iriali in order to utilize the natural mechanisms/magic systems of each world to send the Iriali along to the next world. So it works differently on each world, changing in such a way as to exploit the existing infrastructure of the world to do what it needs to do, rather than just unilaterally bringing a static worldhopping mechanism to each new world. Thus even though Lumar has no perpendicularity and isn't considered a major Shardworld, it was still able to send the Iriali on along the Long Trail from there....most likely by utilizing the aethers in some way.

(I do think its particularly noteworthy that each of the Long Trail stops that we know of happen to coincide with worlds which have access to one of the magic systems we know enables interstellar travel, as referenced in Isles of the Emberdark. Scadrial, Roshar and Lumar....which while not part of the system the aethers are native to, does have aethers, which we know have been used for interstellar travel).

So using Honor's perpendicularity IS part of how Cusicesh sent the Iriali on to their next world, but ONLY because that was the most convenient way for Cusicesh TO access the Long Trail while on Roshar. The many comparisons between Cusicesh and the three major Bondsmith spren....while still being notably distinct from the three and not quite fitting into the same category as them....is because Cusicesh's adaptative nature molded it along the lines of how the Rosharan magic systems would achieve the end goal the Protector needed to achieve.....turning it from whatever it had been before, into a spren-like entity akin to one of the three Bondsmith spren who could open Perpendicularities and from there use the Spiritual Realm's Connection-to-Everywhere to power a massive Elsegate sending the Iriali on their way, via Shadesmar.

(Which is also a key point for me....we know Elsegates can be used to just send people through the Physical Realm from one planet to another, which is what happened during the exodus from Alaswha to Roshar. BUT given that Sigzil joined up with the Iriali caravan in Shadesmar, with it noted that many spren had joined up with the caravan on its way across the Rosharan Shadesmar landscape.....it seems pretty clear that the portal the Iriali went through just transported them from Roshar's Physical Realm placement to its Shadesmar equivalent.....which is so far distinct to Rosharan Elsecalling, as we've seen Jasnah's version work).

Edited February 20, 2025 by TheoreticalMagic

[Duneye]

1 hour ago, Ashbringer said:

I will note - I'd have to recheck, but I forget if Cusicesh actually is making full intra-cosmere Elsegates or just sending the Long Trail into Shadesmar. 

They did just get sent to Shadesmar, we see them trekking through it when Aux finds Szeth in the Iriali caravan.

[Ashbringer he/him]

9 hours ago, TheoreticalMagic said:

I think it could be, but to clarify my personal hunch is it was manipulating Honor's perpendicularity but not because that's how the Long Trail ALWAYS works, but rather because Cusicesh's nature is to temporarily adapt itself/mold itself to the latest home of the Iriali in order to utilize the natural mechanisms/magic systems of each world to send the Iriali along to the next world. So it works differently on each world, changing in such a way as to exploit the existing infrastructure of the world to do what it needs to do, rather than just unilaterally bringing a static worldhopping mechanism to each new world. Thus even though Lumar has no perpendicularity and isn't considered a major Shardworld, it was still able to send the Iriali on along the Long Trail from there....most likely by utilizing the aethers in some way.

(I do think its particularly noteworthy that each of the Long Trail stops that we know of happen to coincide with worlds which have access to one of the magic systems we know enables interstellar travel, as referenced in Isles of the Emberdark. Scadrial, Roshar and Lumar....which while not part of the system the aethers are native to, does have aethers, which we know have been used for interstellar travel).

 

(Which is also a key point for me....we know Elsegates can be used to just send people through the Physical Realm from one planet to another, which is what happened during the exodus from Alaswha to Roshar. BUT given that Sigzil joined up with the Iriali caravan in Shadesmar, with it noted that many spren had joined up with the caravan on its way across the Rosharan Shadesmar landscape.....it seems pretty clear that the portal the Iriali went through just transported them from Roshar's Physical Realm placement to its Shadesmar equivalent.....which is so far distinct to Rosharan Elsecalling, as we've seen Jasnah's version work).

I think to rephrase my idea - based on what Mishram and Ishar could pull off with the Well of Control, if Cusicesh really had access to the full might of Honor's Perpendicularity, it probably could just make all the Elsegates immediately and not need to wait to charge up on people's souls. Which I don't think it's necessarily a game of Cusicesh makes the portals as soon as it's Invested enough, because that doesn't necessarily make sense, but it'd be a question of why bother to soul harvest.

And the Elsegate into Shadesmar is seemingly different than the one from Ashyn to Roshar, but it seems to work similarly to an artificial perpendicularity in that sense. Pozen managed to drag people into Shadesmar just fine (and Jasnah has done so herself, technically, to survive her assassination attempt in WoR).

It's also probably likely that the Long Trail always happened this way - there's been several Lands before Roshar when none seem to have the technology for interstellar travel yet, and even Lumar suggested that the Iri up and vanished in a day, which doesn't seem like a rocket launch. But who knows with them.