Fires of December / SP6 (Spoilers from the reading at Nexus)

[Through the living Wahr He/Him]

I hope this is the right place for it.

So yeah, Brandon read the first two Chapters from the sixth secret Project, Fires of December. 

Theres a lot of discussion around the potential Time Travel, but what I find also quite interesting is the Planet, is it one we have seen before? Is it one we know exist but dont know much else, or is it something completely New? Abd whats up with that supposed Demon?

[First of the Tide He/him]

Yep. This is the right spot for it. Chaos gave permission here:

and the OP didn't follow up. I don't think that it will be set on an existing planet, since the SPs usually show a glimpse into a new world. Hoping It's set on a diff. Shardworld, and I'm thinking Valor rn

Also wish I could have the full transcript (I only have some partial videos since I wasn't there), but both brandonsanderson.com and the Arcanum have not released them yet

 

[FroggerCollectsHats they/them]

I wasn't at Dragonsteel and can't find it anywhere and now I'm sad. I'm here because I don't mind spoilers and I need to figure out what is happening.

[First of the Tide He/him]

4 minutes ago, Ookla the Collector said:

I wasn't at Dragonsteel and can't find it anywhere and now I'm sad. I'm here because I don't mind spoilers and I need to figure out what is happening.

I anticipate it'll get posted to his website fairly soon after SotS25 is wrapped up, and Arcanum will follow shortly after, but I wouldn't hold out hope for earlier

[Muse]

Just noting that his reading of the new book is recorded on Brandon's YT channel in the Tailored Realities release party video! He read the first two chapters here.

[FroggerCollectsHats they/them]

I found it and am watching it now.

[+Oltux72 he/him]

On 12/9/2025 at 11:14 AM, Wahrheitswächter said:

Theres a lot of discussion around the potential Time Travel, but what I find also quite interesting is the Planet, is it one we have seen before? Is it one we know exist but dont know much else, or is it something completely New? Abd whats up with that supposed Demon?

I would say it is one of those we haven't seen so far. Though that is based on the meta level thinking that Brandon would not want complications with existing worlds. The question is though, when is it set? The technology is premodern, but the place could just be backward. From the reading I could not rule out that this is on, e.g. Classical Scadrial.

Other than that I have three questions:

1. What is the demon?
2. What form of Investiture can be used to create epidemics?
3. Is this true time travel or did the protagonist experience something like an extremely boosted form of gold allomancy? What caused it?

[First of the Tide He/him]

Me, I'm the demon.

7 hours ago, Oltux72 said:

• What form of Investiture can be used to create epidemics?
•  

Spoiler: Unpublished(and I think unnamed, and not a priority sort thing):

Spoiler

I think Brandon has said there will be a disease-inspired magic system set on Ashyn

WoB:

Questioner

So I was reading that one of the worlds, I think it was Yolen, is going to be a disease oriented magic?

Brandon Sanderson

It's not Yolen, it's Ashyn...

Questioner

How does that work?

Brandon Sanderson

Viruses and bacteria, various strains of them, have evolved in-line with the Investiture on the planet to grant you a magical ability when you catch the disease, because they want you to stay alive long enough to--

Questioner

To transmit it.

Brandon Sanderson

--o transmit it. So it becomes part of the transmission vector. So you have superpowers or whatever-- You can fly as long as you have the common cold, but when you get over it, you can't anymore.

Firefight Seattle Public Library signing (Jan. 7, 2015)

for #3, I feel like he specifically, and intentionally gave us exactly enough info to have us ask this, but also for us to have no satisfying answer. my thought is that she never actually lived past that day, it's a Dalinar Vision sort thing.

Spoiler for Yumi:

Spoiler

Design specifically says that time travel to the past is impossible, but who knows?

As for what caused it, that's my primary reason for thinking Valor. She was given memories that taught her how to be brave in all of these situations, and then she was put back into it, similar to how Dalinar got shown what was needed to refound the honorable Knights radiants

Edited December 10, 2025 by First of the Tide

[Muse]

One detail that stuck out to me:

Spoiler

In the capital, "the demon making a fire in the sky" is suspiciously similar to what was happened on Ashyn! Too early to tell, but could imply the setting is on Ashyn (along with the illness-based investiture system as mentioned above).

Edited December 11, 2025 by Muse

[+Oltux72 he/him]

On 12/11/2025 at 12:19 AM, Muse said:

One detail that stuck out to me:

  Hide contents

In the capital, "the demon making a fire in the sky" is suspiciously similar to what was happened on Ashyn! Too early to tell, but could imply the setting is on Ashyn (along with the illness-based investiture system as mentioned above).

It seems to me you have it kind of backwards. On Ashyn diseases create an invested art. On the demon's world an invested art creates a disease. Ashyn's arcane arts look a lot like First of the Sun's just with far less appealing symbionts.

[First of the Tide He/him]

16 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

It seems to me you have it kind of backwards. On Ashyn diseases create an invested art. On the demon's world an invested art creates a disease. Ashyn's arcane arts look a lot like First of the Sun's just with far less appealing symbionts.

Ooh, good point.

so, Valor?

Spoiler

pls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls plspls pls pls

 

[Muse]

18 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

It seems to me you have it kind of backwards. On Ashyn diseases create an invested art. On the demon's world an invested art creates a disease. Ashyn's arcane arts look a lot like First of the Sun's just with far less appealing symbionts.

Almost pure speculation at this point, so I don't feel super strongly about this, but I was referring to "an ailment of December's" with which she was unknowingly inflicted which did not allow her to have children, although I'd bet that the fuller manifestation of said ailment is related to her "time travel" (likely not true time travel but almost certainly some form of investiture allowing her to experience a version of her future).

[Through the Living Shadow he/him]

On 12/10/2025 at 9:17 AM, Oltux72 said:

I would say it is one of those we haven't seen so far. Though that is based on the meta level thinking that Brandon would not want complications with existing worlds. The question is though, when is it set? The technology is premodern, but the place could just be backward. From the reading I could not rule out that this is on, e.g. Classical Scadrial.

Other than that I have three questions:

1. What is the demon?
2. What form of Investiture can be used to create epidemics?
3. Is this true time travel or did the protagonist experience something like an extremely boosted form of gold allomancy? What caused it?

I don't think it's time travel. I think that this is something that happens at least partially in the spiritual realm

and am inclined to believe that it happens entirely in the spiritual realm. December is some sort of non-physical being, whereas all the people around her are recreations of physical beings.

thats just me tho the demon is a dragon and the river is impossible or at least very very very super ultra highly invested

first of all

the river has no cohesive forces. Not many things are like that

second of all, it isn't an oil

third of all, and the reason why i think its highly invested 

IT LITERALLY EVAPORATES INTO THE AIR if you get far enough. Consistently and without heat.

unless I'm remembering wrong.

 

December is not special for having touched the river, others reported doing so and still got sick

She's special because Hoid said she was

 

And Hoid also said that she died. Or was always dead. Not referring to when she died in the story, but he said that they would not meet again in her lifetime. 

 

 

GUYS WHAT IF VALOR DID A TARAVANGIAN AND HIDES FROM OTHER SHARDS IN THE SR?

Edited December 12, 2025 by Ookla the Ansible

[First of the Tide He/him]

1 hour ago, Ookla the Ansible said:

GUYS WHAT IF VALOR DID A TARAVANGIAN AND HIDES FROM OTHER SHARDS IN THE SR?

I'm listening.

[Through the Living Shadow he/him]

28 minutes ago, First of the Tide said:

I'm listening.

Okay, so Taravangian his Kharbranth, or some version of it, in the SR

What if Valor did the same? At the convention, Sanderson said that if Taravangian brought an entire city (and the people) directly into the SR (I stress of just replicating it), that would be really dangerous. He RAFOed on whether he actually did that.

But what if Valor did that? That could be the cause of the sickness, some radiation or other. And the Demon could be some manifestation of Valor, perhaps

 

throwing out ideas here

[First of the Tide He/him]

32 minutes ago, Ookla the Ansible said:

Okay, so Taravangian his Kharbranth, or some version of it, in the SR

What if Valor did the same? At the convention, Sanderson said that if Taravangian brought an entire city (and the people) directly into the SR (I stress of just replicating it), that would be really dangerous. He RAFOed on whether he actually did that.

But what if Valor did that? That could be the cause of the sickness, some radiation or other. And the Demon could be some manifestation of Valor, perhaps

 

throwing out ideas here

Iiiiinteresting..

Okay. So, From This:

Spoiler

Questioner

There's a lot of situations where people hear voices or see visions, stuff like that. What would be the effect, if somebody had something like mental condition like schizophrenia or multiple personality? Because you talk about-- Because a lot of the magic is about their will, you know?

Brandon Sanderson

Schizophrenia in the cosmere is going to-- So, anytime you're seeing the future, and things like that, you're kinda glimpsing into the Spiritual Realm. That's why it happens so often, because the magic systems are the way they work, are coming down from the Spiritual Realm. Schizophrenia will make you more open to that, so you are more likely to actually see the future. But you won't be able to tell it from the things your mind is making up, which is gonna be really dangerous.

Questioner

So, what if you had, like, one personality wanna do one thing, and another one trying to do something else, would it cancel each other out?

Brandon Sanderson

Not necessarily. I mean, we're going a little that direction with Shallan, anyway. You'll see.

Oathbringer Houston signing (Nov. 18, 2017)

We know that the spiritual realm lets people see the future. sound familiar?

And, if @Ookla the Ansible is right, and this is the cause of the sickness, maybe December was immune because she was already exposed to it(like a vaccine), through the vision (she saw the vision where everyone died, which was a true aspect of the future. she was not affected because even in the alternate future, she had had that vision, she just was not aware of having had it yet, does that make sense?)

and I think the demon is a way to get Valor's investiture, kinda similar to ruin's system

Kill people brutally with spikes-> shows Ruin -> Get Ruin Magic (Hemalurgy)

Kill Demon -> shows Valor -> Get Valor Magic (River of Investiture)

Edited December 12, 2025 by First of the Tide

[Through the Living Shadow he/him]

24 minutes ago, First of the Tide said:

Iiiiinteresting..

Gimme a minute, I'm theorizing

While you’re theorizing consider

Is there some sort of divide between Valor’s intent and the Vessel’s intent?

Is the “Demon” an SR manifestation of Valor’s past? Is the person who stopped the demon the intent of the Shard?

If it is, rivers of blood could literally be metaphorical. That sentence makes sense.

 

 

Hhhmmmm

Hhhhhmmmmmm

I was thinking a sort of Groundhog Day sort of thing, but this theory interesting…

Edited December 12, 2025 by Ookla the Ansible

[First of the Tide He/him]

9 minutes ago, Ookla the Ansible said:

Is the “Demon” an SR manifestation of Valor’s past? Is the person who stopped the demon the intent of the Shard?

Interesting line of reason. I'm not necesarily convinced, but I could be.

 

10 minutes ago, Ookla the Ansible said:

Is there some sort of divide between Valor’s intent and the Vessel’s intent?

I doubt that this is likely to the extent where it would be relevant... I mean, just look at tanavast. not impossible though,

[+Oltux72 he/him]

7 hours ago, Ookla the Ansible said:

GUYS WHAT IF VALOR DID A TARAVANGIAN AND HIDES FROM OTHER SHARDS IN THE SR?

I am sorry, but somebody has to ask the obvious question. Why? What is the benefit she'd reap from such an action? And why would the personification of valour hide rather than fight?

[Through the Living Shadow he/him]

4 hours ago, Oltux72 said:

I am sorry, but somebody has to ask the obvious question. Why? What is the benefit she'd reap from such an action? And why would the personification of valour hide rather than fight?

It just seems cool

This less comes from motive and more that the other shards can’t find Valor

So Valor is already hiding, or forced into such a thing

 

But I also think that Valor’s vessel is not exactly in alignment with the Shard

[WestwardWind]

Alright. We received the first chapter today, and immediately I began to wonder “What planet does this take place on?”

Here are my theories. 

1, it’s Ashyn. I know this isn’t very strong, but certain things seem to interlock in ways I can’t ignore. The fire in the sky, the war, and the king betrayed. This sounds similar to the story we hear in Stormlight about Ashyn. The plague is also suspect, because what we have of Above the Silence Prime, it sounds similar.

2. It’s Yolen. Mostly based on the fact that the king was murdered by one of his dukes. This is very similar to the tale of Jerick told to us by Hoid in Stormlight 5

3. Mythos. The tale sounds very mythology in nature. That’s it.

Or it could be on another, unknown planet. I’m just spitballing here before we get more information. I initially posted it in a new thread, but someone pointed out I could post it here

[NameIess]

My take on the sickness is that it's caused by the river vanishing. The inhabitants of the town are natives, connected to the investiture of the river, and so when whatever happened to make it stop flowing happened, they died. December wasn't a native, so she wasn't linked to the investiture of the demon/river, so she lived.

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

Guysguysguys

WHAT IF IT'S VAX

[WestwardWind]

Yes! Because they don’t have vaccines! That would be awesome!

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

24 minutes ago, WestwardWind said:

Yes! Because they don’t have vaccines! That would be awesome!

Vax+Valor

The RAFOs are connected!