Suppressor Fabrials

[Riino He/Him]

I'm not sure if this is the right place, or if I shouldn't have created a topic, but I was listening to the Unoathed Shardcast, and when they talk about the suppressor fabrial at ~21 minutes in, I came to a hasty conclusion, which I think is the case, in which the suppressor fabrials affects the Nahel bond in a similar way to how Adolin couldn't communicate with Maya due to the distance between them. The suppressor fabrial might enact some kind of anti-stormlight material or such to create a bubble in the Cognitive realm that pushes the Radiant spren into the Cognitive Realm and away from their Radiant? Sorry if I'm completely wrong, and probs gonna get smashed by 5 WOBs buy this is a really interesting subject. Thanks

 

[Through the Living Shadow he/him]

16 hours ago, Riino said:

I'm not sure if this is the right place, or if I shouldn't have created a topic, but I was listening to the Unoathed Shardcast, and when they talk about the suppressor fabrial at ~21 minutes in, I came to a hasty conclusion, which I think is the case, in which the suppressor fabrials affects the Nahel bond in a similar way to how Adolin couldn't communicate with Maya due to the distance between them. The suppressor fabrial might enact some kind of anti-stormlight material or such to create a bubble in the Cognitive realm that pushes the Radiant spren into the Cognitive Realm and away from their Radiant? Sorry if I'm completely wrong, and probs gonna get smashed by 5 WOBs buy this is a really interesting subject. Thanks

 

Interesting… I don’t think they directly go to the CR, but perhaps the connection is strained in a similar way?

[Argenti he/him]

16 hours ago, Riino said:

I'm not sure if this is the right place, or if I shouldn't have created a topic, but I was listening to the Unoathed Shardcast, and when they talk about the suppressor fabrial at ~21 minutes in, I came to a hasty conclusion, which I think is the case, in which the suppressor fabrials affects the Nahel bond in a similar way to how Adolin couldn't communicate with Maya due to the distance between them. The suppressor fabrial might enact some kind of anti-stormlight material or such to create a bubble in the Cognitive realm that pushes the Radiant spren into the Cognitive Realm and away from their Radiant? Sorry if I'm completely wrong, and probs gonna get smashed by 5 WOBs buy this is a really interesting subject. Thanks

 

I'm willing to bet it effects the connection between spren and radiant, but 4th oath+ bonds are just too strong.

[Jult]

It seems right to me that the main thing being impacted by the Suppression Fabrial is the Nahel Bond. If we take a step back and question what the Suppression Fabrial could be targeting, I can think of 4 options:

1. Stormlight? - Nope. We see Stormlight behaving normally in the presence of the SF (in Navani's lab and in other fabrials). It just can't be used by Radiants. 
2. Spren? - The SF doesn't appear to harm spren. It did affect Phendorana's ability to manifest in the Physical Realm, but I'd say that's more evidence that it is targeting the Nahel bond and not the Spren themselves. In fact, unbonded Spren can materialize Physically as Shardblades without any issue.
3. Surges? - Nope. Thanks to everyone's favorite guy with crystals for eyes, we've seen that the Windrunner Honorblade had no issue granting access to either Gravitation or Adhesion in the presence of an SF. And, of course, the Fused are accessing Surges as well.
4. Spiritweb? - This seems to be the main contender. It seems like the SF somehow targets the Connection between a Radiant and their Spren.

Unfortunately, we aren't given a lot of details on the composition of a SF. We know:

• It has 4 garnets embedded in a diamond-shaped pattern and one larger unidentified gem on the base
• It's got a cylindrical body with two angular pieces that extend from the top (kind of like a tuning fork according to Navini) 
• The body is made of metal. No detail on what kind, but we could speculate a little based on what we know about fabrials and metal. Most likely Tin since it seems to diminish rather than completely deplete.
• It uses an Enhanced Spren from Sja-anat. Moash says these Spren are "rare", but I'd argue any Enhanced Spren is rare. It's type pre-Enhancement might actually be pretty common. 

So, while we can guess at what the SF is doing, it's pretty tough to guess how the SF is doing it.

 

[Riino He/Him]

4 hours ago, Jult said:

So, while we can guess at what the SF is doing, it's pretty tough to guess how the SF is doing it.

Thanks for the breakdown. Yes, I was thinking along the lines of Spiritweb tampering, yet that seems quite far-fetched for a fabrial. My best guess, along the lines of Spiritweb-related concepts, would be that the fabrial creates a temporary bond between people in the area (and possibly their Spiritweb) with the Enhanced Spren. This bond could exist in a cloud-shaped area in which it drowns out the bond of any Radiant who hasn't achieved the fourth Ideal yet. However, this seems extremely complex to project an uninitiated bond to people in a contained area.

[Treamayne]

The Supression Fabrial seems to operate (Mistborn Spoilers)

Spoiler

On the same principals as a Coppercloud - blocking Cognitive Realm activity (or transition between Physical and Cognitive). Like a Coppercloud being pierced by strong enough investiture, the Supression Fabrial is pierced by 4th Oath Radiants, whose ties to the Cognitive Realm are stronger. 

 

[Jult]

12 hours ago, Treamayne said:

The Supression Fabrial seems to operate (Mistborn Spoilers)

  Hide contents

On the same principals as a Coppercloud - blocking Cognitive Realm activity (or transition between Physical and Cognitive). Like a Coppercloud being pierced by strong enough investiture, the Supression Fabrial is pierced by 4th Oath Radiants, whose ties to the Cognitive Realm are stronger. 

 

An excellent point! Interestingly, as far as I know, we haven't seen anyone mention how Copper interacts with a fabrial. Navani mentions several other metals in the RoW Epigraphs which are [Mistborn Spoilers]

Spoiler

All of the Physical and Emotional Allomantic metals except for Copper.

RoW Epigraphs 7-11:

Spoiler

Quote

"The two metals of primary significance are zinc and brass, which allow you to control expression strength. Zinc wires touching the gemstone will cause the spren inside to more strongly manifest, while brass will cause the spren to withdraw and its power to dim.

Remember that a gemstone must be properly infused following the spren’s capture. Drilled holes in the gemstone are ideal for proper use of the cage wires, so long as you don’t crack the structure and risk releasing the spren."

"A bronze cage can create a warning fabrial, alerting one to objects or entities nearby. Heliodors are being used for this currently, and there is some good reasoning for this—but other gemstones should be viable."

"A pewter cage will cause the spren of your fabrial to express its attribute in force—a flamespren, for example, will create heat. We call these augmenters. They tend to use Stormlight more quickly than other fabrials."

"A tin cage will cause the fabrial to diminish nearby attributes. A painrial, for example, can numb pain. Note that advanced designs of cages can use both steel and iron as well, changing the fabrial’s polarity depending on which metals are pushed to touch the gemstone."

"An iron cage will create an attractor—a fabrial that draws specific elements to itself. A properly created smoke fabrial, for example, can gather the smoke of a fire and hold it close. New discoveries lead us to believe it is possible to create a repeller fabrial, but we don’t yet know the metal* to use to achieve this feat."

*It's Steel - Jult

I just assumed Copper would prevent a warning fabrial from detecting things; as [Mistborn Spoilers]:

Spoiler

as a Coppercloud would protect you from a Seeker. It slipped my mind that Copperclouds do more than just block detection.

With that in mind, I'd be surprised if Copper wasn't used in the construction of a suppression fabrial.  

Edited June 10, 2025 by Jult
Hiding Mistborn Spoilers

[Treamayne]

7 minutes ago, Jult said:

I just assumed Copper would prevent a warning fabrial from detecting things; Mistborn Spoilers"

Spoiler

as a Coppercloud would protect you from a Seeker. It slipped my mind that Copperclouds do more than just block detection.

With that in mind, I'd be surprised if Copper wasn't used in the construction of a suppression fabrial.

Please Tag all non-Stormlight Spoilers in the Stormlight Forum (or we can move the OT to Cosmere Discussion - but Riino put the thread here, presumably, for a reason). Also, WoBs (Mistborn Spoilers):

Spoiler

Quote

CealdishOrbLender

Can a Smoker block an Awakener's lifesense?

Brandon Sanderson

That will work, yes.

Shadows of Self Lansing signing (Oct. 13, 2015)

Quote

OrangeJedi

If a coppercloud was near an Awakener, would they dampen the effect of the colors being deepened around them?

Brandon Sanderson

I haven't thought about that. Yes. That one is a tenuous yes, though, I would have to think about it.

Skyward release party (Nov. 6, 2018)

Quote

SimonGrisinger

I have a question about copper. Wouldn't a coppercloud also end up hiding their enemy's allomancy?

Brandon Sanderson

That is one of the dangers of using one.

General Twitter 2013 (Sept. 11, 2013)

Quote

William Anderson

Can a Seeker inside a Coppercloud Seek someone out of one?

Brandon Sanderson

It is possible.

William Anderson

What about a Soother instead of a Seeker?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, again possible.

Goodreads: Ask the Author Q&A (Aug. 13, 2014)

Quote

Questioner

There is quantitative difference in Allomancy (e.g. Elend is stronger than Vin), there is skill difference (e.g. Breeze is better than Vin with zinc), but is there a qualitative difference too?

Brandon Sanderson

That’s the scale of what we call savant. Wax can do more with less. It’s not just skill, the burning for long, using for so long, will actually adapt your soul to the power.

Questioner

So can bronze savants pierce copperclouds?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, a bronze savant should be able to pierce copperclouds. It depends on the strengths of the coppercloud and the strength of the savant, but yes.

Questioner

So Elend could theoretically learn to pierce copperclouds?

Brandon Sanderson

Weaker ones, yeah, totally. He can learn how to do it by brute force.

Shadows of Self San Francisco signing (Oct. 9, 2015)

 

 

[Riino He/Him]

On 6/10/2025 at 11:49 PM, Treamayne said:

Please Tag all non-Stormlight Spoilers in the Stormlight Forum (or we can move the OT to Cosmere Discussion - but Riino put the thread here, presumably, for a reason). Also, WoBs (Mistborn Spoilers):

 

Thanks, guys, for the input in this thread. 

What exactly do you mean, Treamayne? I did put this in the Stormlight section. Also, what is the OT? I just put the thread here because I assumed that the suppressor fabrial mainly sat under Stormlight Archive.

[Argenti he/him]

30 minutes ago, Riino said:

Thanks, guys, for the input in this thread. 

What exactly do you mean, Treamayne? I did put this in the Stormlight section. Also, what is the OT? I just put the thread here because I assumed that the suppressor fabrial mainly sat under Stormlight Archive.

He wasn't referring to you. Jult had untagged Mistborn spoilers, which is against shard spoiler policy. The subforums aren't like areas of relevance, because everything in the cosmere is interconnected. They're based on spoilers - the Mistborn subforum should only have spoilers for Mistborn, Yumi and so forth. Cosmere is everything in the cosmere. You can include them in your posts; however, if you tag them properly, as such:
Book name/series (WAT, Stormlight, Warbreaker)

Spoiler

You can get this by pressing the eye in the editor.

OT is the original thread. Referring to the thread of "Suppressor Fabrials".

[Treamayne]

2 hours ago, Riino said:

Thanks, guys, for the input in this thread. 

What exactly do you mean, Treamayne? I did put this in the Stormlight section. Also, what is the OT? I just put the thread here because I assumed that the suppressor fabrial mainly sat under Stormlight Archive.

2 hours ago, Argenti said:

He wasn't referring to you. Jult had untagged Mistborn spoilers, which is against shard spoiler policy. The subforums aren't like areas of relevance, because everything in the cosmere is interconnected. They're based on spoilers - the Mistborn subforum should only have spoilers for Mistborn, Yumi and so forth. Cosmere is everything in the cosmere. You can include them in your posts; however, if you tag them properly, as such:
Book name/series (WAT, Stormlight, Warbreaker)

  Hide contents

You can get this by pressing the eye in the editor.

OT is the original thread. Referring to the thread of "Suppressor Fabrials".

Argenti answered for me, so I'll just add that the point of Spoiler Policy is that somebody that has read Stormlight may not have read any other Cosmere works at all - so this section is free to discuss anything Stormlight that is not in the New Release Spoiler Period; while asking Sharders to be mindful that people in this forum may not have read non-Stormlight works (ditto for each series/book forum)

So those points need to be spoiler tagged and labeled (so people know the origin of the contents before clicking - it's not halpful to have a spoiler tag sitting there with no way for a fan to know if they should or should not read the contents).

Much of this (and other tips) are all available as a reference in the Sharder FAQ.

Example - RoW Spoilers:

Spoiler

Epigraph to Ch 8 has:

Quote

"A bronze cage can create a warning fabrial, alerting one to objects or entities nearby. Heliodors are being used for this currently, and there is some good reasoning for this—but other gemstones should be viable."

Since Heliodor is Sinew Essence - this would imply that if Copper is Suppressing then the Gemstone should influence what is being Suppressed.

 

Edited June 16, 2025 by Treamayne
SPAG

[Riino He/Him]

1 hour ago, Argenti said:

He wasn't referring to you. Jult had untagged Mistborn spoilers, which is against shard spoiler policy. The subforums aren't like areas of relevance, because everything in the cosmere is interconnected. They're based on spoilers - the Mistborn subforum should only have spoilers for Mistborn, Yumi and so forth. Cosmere is everything in the cosmere. You can include them in your posts; however, if you tag them properly, as such:
Book name/series (WAT, Stormlight, Warbreaker)

  Reveal hidden contents

You can get this by pressing the eye in the editor.

OT is the original thread. Referring to the thread of "Suppressor Fabrials".

 

1 hour ago, Treamayne said:

Argenti answered for me, so I'll just add that the point of Spoiler Policy is that somebody that has read Stormlight may not have read any other Cosmere works at all - so this section is free to discuss anything Stormlight that is not in the New Release Spoiler Period; while asking Sharders to be mindful that people in this forum may not have read non-Stormlight works (ditte for each series/book forum)

So those points need to be spoiler tagged and labeled (so people know the origin of the contents before clicking - it's not halpful to have a spoiler tag sitting there with no way for a fan to know if they should or should not read the contents).

Much of this (and other tips) are all available as a reference in the Sharder FAQ.

Example - RoW Spoilers:

  Reveal hidden contents

Epigraph to Ch 8 has:

Since Heliodor is Sinew Essence - this would imply that if Copper is Suppressing then the Gemstone should influence what is being Suppressed.

 

Thanks guys. 

Ill try to remember this in the future