Surgebinding, Shardblades, and frost/mist

[Armadillo]

Why does Surgebinding sometimes involve frost forming, especially with Windrunners? (ie. the frost forming the Windrunner glyph when they swear an ideal)

My guess is that it has something to do with their connection to Adhesion, pulling the water molecules in the air closer together.

Somewhat related question, do you think that this has anything to do with the mist or smoke coalescing to form Shardblades? Also doesn't Mayalaran look like vines when she forms into a shardblade? I'm trying to remember. Probably because she's a Cultivationspren, right? Do all of the Blades have unique ways of forming, related to the type of spren?

Hero of Ages spoilers:

Spoiler

Is this related in any way to how the Mists manifest on Scadrial and their connection to Preservation?

 

[Kansas Stormcursed he/him]

1 hour ago, Armadillo said:

Why does Surgebinding sometimes involve frost forming, especially with Windrunners? (ie. the frost forming the Windrunner glyph when they swear an ideal)

My guess is that it has something to do with their connection to Adhesion, pulling the water molecules in the air closer together.

My guess is, as far as oath swearing, it might have something to do with a sort of pressure created by Investiture being sucked into them (and into the Physical Realm) from the Spiritual Realm. Like that temporarily increases pressure in that area, causing water vapor to condense into frost.

1 hour ago, Armadillo said:

Somewhat related question, do you think that this has anything to do with the mist or smoke coalescing to form Shardblades?

Probably in some fashion

[alder24]

1 hour ago, Armadillo said:

Why does Surgebinding sometimes involve frost forming, especially with Windrunners? (ie. the frost forming the Windrunner glyph when they swear an ideal)

My guess is that it has something to do with their connection to Adhesion, pulling the water molecules in the air closer together.

Somewhat related question, do you think that this has anything to do with the mist or smoke coalescing to form Shardblades?

It's just condensation associated with state change. Swearing a new Ideal draws a lot of investiture directly from the Spiritual Realm, so you would have pure spiritual investiture manifesting physically as a gas, which would cause condensation. This is not restricted to just Windrunners and therefore it's not Adhesion, as Szeth swearing 3rd Oath did cause snow to appear around him, although he didn't draw in any Stormlight so this effect is not fully understood yet. OB ch 121:

Quote

“Not yet. I swear to follow the will of Dalinar Kholin. This is my oath.” At the Words, snow crystallized around him in the air, then fluttered down.

 

Spoiler

Questioner

Why does Stormlight make things cold?

Brandon Sanderson

It’s not the Stormlight, it’s condensation because something is going directly from a gas into a solid. The coldness is caused by that, it’s not necessarily that the Stormlight is making things cold, but that the Shardblade is condensing.

Boskone 54 (Feb. 17, 2017)

 

1 hour ago, Armadillo said:

Also doesn't Mayalaran look like vines when she forms into a shardblade? I'm trying to remember. Probably because she's a Cultivationspren, right?

Yes.

Spoiler

Kaladin al'Thor

I noticed my last time reading Words of Radiance that there were several times-- vines that were on Adolin's shardblade as he summoned it. So I was wondering if maybe the Radiant who used it had was an Edgedancer?

Brandon Sanderson

You are right.

[...]

Firefight release party (Jan. 5, 2015)

 

1 hour ago, Armadillo said:

Do all of the Blades have unique ways of forming, related to the type of spren?

It's possible although I don't remember if other blades were described in a similar way.

1 hour ago, Armadillo said:

Hero of Ages spoilers:

  Hide contents

Is this related in any way to how the Mists manifest on Scadrial and their connection to Preservation?

 

Mistborn spoilers:

Spoiler

Both Stormlight and the Mists are gaseous physical manifestations of investiture connected to their respective Shards - Honor and Preservation&Ruin. They are the same thing but of different Shards. 

Spoiler

Questioner

I know that there's three sorts of forms that magic presents itself in, the liquid and the solid and air. What would Breath be?

Brandon Sanderson

Breath is definitely like mist, it is in the form of the air.

Questioner

And is Stormlight the same?

Brandon Sanderson

Stormlight is the same.

Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing (March 21, 2014)