How to Obtain Stormlight Post Retribution

[Trusk'our he/him]

With the dismantling of the Highstorm and the formation of Retribution, Stormlight is almost an extinct resource. The Heralds appear to have access to it, the Unoathed technically have some in the form of their Blades and Plate, and the little pieces of Honor Splintered off before the combining of Shard exist somewhere.

So, is there any practical method that can be used to get ahold of Stormlight now? I think so, actually, yes. Probably.

 

We know that Radiant Plate, and what appears to be Unoathed Plate has a Connection directly to the SR to feed it. We also know that this Investiture radiation is enough to feed White Sand (Radiant Spren in general as well as Lightweaving does this).

My thinking then is, what if you hooked up a gemstone and to Unoathed or Radiant Plate and used Intent and/or to move some of the Stormlight over to the gem? It would certainly still be a scarce resource, but it would be way better than only relying on Tetrabution's good graces (actually, would Radiant Spren themselves also have this function, maybe in Blade form? Might be worth considering).

 

As a second, slightly more universal but probably less efficient option, I wonder whether Lesser Spren feeding on emotions or other phenomena count as pulling Investiture (either Stormlight or Lifelight depending on the type) in really, really small amounts from the SR, kind of like how an oath sworn by a Radiant gives their Radiants Stormlight- basically, using a Connection to something they align with to feed on.

If possible, maybe you can functionally convert those things into Invested power, a bit like Feruchemy (as an example, if Flamespren can "feed" on fire, build a large furnace and try to hook them up to gemstones or White Sand, which is then moved to Gemstones. Or, maybe use Creationspren hooked up to a device on or next to an artist to harness their creative potential for Investiture).

It would be much harder to build up a reservoir of Investiture, I'm thinking, but not impossible if what I assume is true- though, I suppose it is worth mentioning that Lesser Spren may not actually pull Investiture from the SR when their associated phenomena occurs, maybe they're just drawn to it Realmatically. It's just a hypothesis.

[Jult]

4 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

We know that Radiant Plate, and what appears to be Unoathed Plate has a Connection directly to the SR to feed it. We also know that this Investiture radiation is enough to feed White Sand (Radiant Spren in general as well as Lightweaving does this).

My thinking then is, what if you hooked up a gemstone and to Unoathed or Radiant Plate and used Intent and/or to move some of the Stormlight over to the gem? It would certainly still be a scarce resource, but it would be way better than only relying on Tetrabution's good graces (actually, would Radiant Spren themselves also have this function, maybe in Blade form? Might be worth considering).

This seems plausible, but may not be the most efficient approach in the world. Brandon stated once that it is theoretically possible to take Stormlight out of dead Shardplate.

Spoiler

Quote

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

An invested object resists any attempt to put additional investment into it. Just like you can't pull metal that's inside a person's body. When the Shardplate cracks, the streams of Stormlight that you're seeing are actually the plate doing what it's supposed to: healing itself. So, theoretically, you could maybe pull a tiny fraction of that Stormlight out, but you can't just stick your hand up to the outside of the plate and retrieve it. However, if you have the plate open with the gem exposed and you were to touch the gem, then you could pull the Stormlight from it."

Words of Radiance Dayton signing (March 19, 2014)

So, I wouldn't be too surprised to find that you could take it from a living plate.

5 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

As a second, slightly more universal but probably less efficient option, I wonder whether Lesser Spren feeding on emotions or other phenomena count as pulling Investiture (either Stormlight or Lifelight depending on the type) in really, really small amounts from the SR, kind of like how an oath sworn by a Radiant gives their Radiants Stormlight- basically, using a Connection to something they align with to feed on.

If possible, maybe you can functionally convert those things into Invested power, a bit like Feruchemy (as an example, if Flamespren can "feed" on fire, build a large furnace and try to hook them up to gemstones or White Sand, which is then moved to Gemstones. Or, maybe use Creationspren hooked up to a device on or next to an artist to harness their creative potential for Investiture).

It would be much harder to build up a reservoir of Investiture, I'm thinking, but not impossible if what I assume is true- though, I suppose it is worth mentioning that Lesser Spren may not actually pull Investiture from the SR when their associated phenomena occurs, maybe they're just drawn to it Realmatically. It's just a hypothesis.

This I'm less sure about. I can't think of any evidence that lesser spren are making any kind of Connection to the SR when the manifest in the Physical Realm. And, in fabrials at least, they seem to consume Stormlight rather than generate it.

A third option would be to find a way to split Towerlight back into its base components. Navani would be the best person to do this, but she's a bit removed from play right now. However, her notes and the in-universe Rhythm of War are both in Urithiru. Along with the Alethi's best artifabrians and Zahel (who seemingly single-handedly figured out how to create anti-voidlight).

[Returned he/him]

We're on the cusp of Cosmere-dwellers discovering significant inter-Investiture form conversions, so I'm skeptical that future plot developments will go too deeply into mechanics of getting just one type through a slow, laborious process.

The state of play on Roshar seems like it will seriously limit Radiants' abilities to operate outside of Urithiru, while the value of Investiture not linked to a specific Shard's intentions and Investment in a place is clearer than ever. I predict that Stormlight will be scarce enough to deflate the magic power inflation Roshar experienced in RoW and WaT, and that most of what we see of it will be Towerlight that has been processed and converted or will be something like the jar of Dor from Secret Histories.

I think that @Jult has the right of it. The smartest scholars in the Cosmere are mostly stuck inside of a place that has ample Investiture of almost the right type, a very strong (perhaps existential) interest in converting it to exactly the right type, some experience in performing those conversions, and a fair bit of time without more urgent priorities (maybe arguable, but I think this is true enough).

Investigating how to siphon off scraps of Stormlight through convoluted methods might still be attempted but it seems (to me) unlikely to produce useful quantities and clearly less promising than researching a conversion scheme. If the Rosharans need a lot of power in a hurry I'd wager they're more likely to trade with the bankers in Shadesmar for some of the stores they have, and Shallan is conveniently located to help.

[Jult]

19 hours ago, Returned said:

something like the jar of Dor from Secret Histories.

Fun fact: in RoW 87 we see a jar just like this in Lasting Integrity that already works with Stormlight. The honorspren said they bought it from a group called the "eyree". Mistborn: Secret History spoilers:

Spoiler

Which is definitely either the honorspren and/or Shallan mispronouncing "Ire" (the Elantrian group from Secret History). So, this may not even need to be re-invented. 

A fourth source that occurred to me after posting yesterday: Radiants themselves. When they speak an Ideal, they create a temporary Connection directly to the SR and become heavily Invested.

There are hundreds of Radiants now and the Orders will probably continue to grow. And we know any Radiant can transfer Stormlight from their body back into gems. It may become a common practice to keep a supply of empty gems or Stormlight jars around any Radiants who are close to swearing an Ideal, so the Radiant can be used as a "tap" for re-filling them.

Kind of undercuts the inherent drama of swearing Ideals.. But I don't see a reason why it wouldn't work.

Edited October 15, 2025 by Jult
Realized this is the Stormlight only board so I added spoiler tags.

[Nitpicking]

On 10/15/2025 at 10:46 AM, Jult said:

Secret History spoilers:

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Which is definitely either the honorspren and/or Shallan mispronouncing "Ire" (the Elantrian group from Secret History). So, this may not even need to be re-invented. 

 

Warbreaker spoilers:
 

Spoiler

That isn't a mispronunciation. In Aonic (the alphabet used on Sel), vowels are always pronounced (never silent) and always long, so "Ire" is "eye ree".

 

[Jult]

20 minutes ago, Nitpicking said:

Warbreaker spoilers:
 

  Hide contents

That isn't a mispronunciation. In Aonic (the alphabet used on Sel), vowels are always pronounced (never silent) and always long, so "Ire" is "eye ree".

 

True. I did know it's pronounced that way. I just don't know what the word would be for "spelled it out phonetically (in an unspoken, internal thought in a book) because they aren't familiar with the language". 

[Returned he/him]

This idea has me thinking: trading for Light from Shadesmar will have a variety of practical problems (willing traders, who will have their own problems getting Stormlight, for example). So until the conversion problem is solved the only reliable options would be like those that @Trusk'our has outlined for when you must have Stormlight and nothing else will do. But these methods are inconvenient at best and probably not terribly high-yielding.

With that in mind, how much Stormlight would you have to be able to get from one of these methods to be worth the trouble? Conversely, with Stormlight in such short supply what tasks would be critical enough to justify using some? Assume that any of the methods suggested in this thread will work, and attach any yield of Stormlight that you think is reasonable for them.

I have to think that a planner like Navani will accumulate as much Stormlight as she can and store it away while she works on the problem. But I'm having trouble thinking of a problem severe enough to use such a precious resource, outside of an immediate, existential crisis.

[NeverTrustAesSedai He/Him]

A possibility would be that the Radiants could enter the Spiritual Realm, as occurs in WaT, and harvest Stormlight spheres from visions there. This might require a Bondsmith, though (it's been a while since I read the book, and I read it over two days, so I can't really remember the details too well).

[Returned he/him]

5 hours ago, NeverTrustAesSedai said:

A possibility would be that the Radiants could enter the Spiritual Realm, as occurs in WaT, and harvest Stormlight spheres from visions there. This might require a Bondsmith, though (it's been a while since I read the book, and I read it over two days, so I can't really remember the details too well).

They might be able to work something like that out. That's more or less what Dalinar learned to do near the end of Oathbringer, though I recall that among knowledgeable beings there was something surprising and unusual about his ability top open a perpendicularity and so it may not be available to Navani. Even if they could it wouldn't necessarily be Stormlight they got (it seems like that was Honor's form of Investiture-as-power, and he's gone/subsumed into a being who may not want the Radiants to have any). But pure Investiture would probably be an easier form to work with for their needs than other form borne of a hostile being (Spitelight?).

[NeverTrustAesSedai He/Him]

Another thought (Lost Metal spoilers):

Spoiler

Maybe, if they could get their hands on some of Autonomy's Investiture, they could use it to separate Stormlight from Lifelight or Voidlight, a la Wax with Harmonium in Lost Metal.

 

[Nitpicking]

Spoiler

Lifelight doesn't contain Stormlight. Stormlight is Honor's Investiture, Lifelight is the corresponding Light of Cultivation.

[NeverTrustAesSedai He/Him]

Oh, my bad, I meant Towerlight.

[TacoBellChoutaMeal]

As of Wind and Truth, Venli is genuinely the most important Radiant and the best bet that the Radiants have at getting access to any Stormlight. 
I don’t know if Venli can surgebind with warlight. Something tells me that having a Regal Form (something Odium handed out) while being a Radiant (Honor’s radiant) will let her utilize Warlight to surgebind. If she can in fact do this, her Willshaper powers will let her open a perpendicularity so that Radiants trained in Light tuning on the other side in shadesmar will be able to change the war light back into Stormlight and void light. Navani would know how to do this, but if she doesn’t make it back for book 6, anything could happen. But with Venli’s access to war light (via prayer at the shattered plains) and elsecalling, theoretically the radiants could get Stormlight working again when Navani wakes up. 
 

who wants to bet she’s the character who returns in book 6’s epilogue?

[Xanpheon]

On 10/27/2025 at 7:09 PM, TacoBellChoutaMeal said:

If she can in fact do this, her Willshaper powers will let her open a perpendicularity.

How so? Willshapers use Cohesion and Transportation. A Perpendicularity is a mass of Investiture so dense it punches holes through all three realms, but that specifically requires manipulations of Connection that so far only Bondsmiths have demonstrated capability to use.

Do you mean an Elsegate into the Cognitive realm? In which case - I can see the vision, but you also have to bear in mind there's already a Perpendicularity under their feet in the Shattered Plains - The Well of Control was the reason that Odium was trying so hard to reconquer that region in the leadup to the Contest of Champions, and also why Sigzil's gambit with the Listener population mattered so much - and now it's refilled with Warlight-liquid. And with Retribution in hiding, he's unlikely to be able to really stop people using that pool to access different regions.

I do personally think the more likely solution is still splitting up towerlight as it relies much less on a hostile entity, but either way.

[TacoBellChoutaMeal]

On 10/29/2025 at 10:58 AM, Xanpheon said:

Do you mean an Elsegate into the Cognitive realm?

I did, and I misspoke. Sorry. 
 

 

On 10/29/2025 at 10:58 AM, Xanpheon said:

but you also have to bear in mind there's already a Perpendicularity under their feet in the Shattered Plains - The Well of Control
 

There’s zero way Taravangian doesn’t have El keeping tabs on that thing. If it’s that important you can’t keep something like that unguarded. Isharr was able to use Odium’s power to great effect, and you don’t want anyone else getting a hold onto that.