The musings of Frustration Part 2: Elsegates

[Frustration]

Well, I'm back, and I have more thoughts this time about elsegates.

 

So we come up against something that only brings me questions: Elsegates.

These things are wild, and yet as for now Brandon is keeping everything he can about them close to his chest. So here's what I can find and questions I want answered. As always I will frame these as questions for Brandon that I will save for when I next get an opportunity to ask him. If you can find ways these questions could be improved or condensed that would be appreciated.

 

1. What happens to something inside an Elsegate when they close?
2. Dai-Gonarlthis can only make elsegates between locations with large concentrations of investiture. Can Elsecallers make Elsegates more freely, or is this a common theme? And can you make an elsegate between two places in the cognitive realm, or between the realms and at different places at the same time?
3. You have previously said that Elsecallers can move between locations faster than light, but you more recently said that Elsegates are speed of light compliant. Is this an update as you refined the Elsegates, or is there something else Elsecallers can do?
4. Jasnah and Szeth both had difficulty making Elsegates, however Pozen seemed to have no problem. Is Pozen unusually skilled, or are Szeth and Jasnah bad?
5. Could a Willshaper make an Elsegate similar to what we see Ishar do, or is that an Elsecaller only thing?

[Trusk'our he/him]

18 minutes ago, Frustration said:

1. Dai-Gonarlthis can only make elsegates between locations with large concentrations of investiture. Can Elsecallers make Elsegates more freely, or is this a common theme? And can you make an elsegate between two places in the cognitive realm, or between the realms and at different places at the same time?

Jasnah had serious trouble getting back the the PR in WoR, so I'd imagine it's a similar scenario. More Investiture of any type in a location of thins the barriers between the Realms, so it should be easier to Elsegate between them.

Spoiler

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/171-oathbringer-release-party/#e8140

TheFulgid

Could you Invest... Could you use a nicrosil metalmind to Invest the sort of Investiture enough that you could open a Perpendicularity up to the Cognitive Realm?

Brandon Sanderson

So, I'll just say it this way. Enough concentrated Investiture in one point is going to pierce the Realms, no matter what form it takes. 

TheFulgid

...So, it doesn't have to be a nicrosil metalmind.

Brandon Sanderson

No. 

TheFulgid

Okay... But it could be?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. That is theoretically possible. 

 

18 minutes ago, Frustration said:

1. Jasnah and Szeth both had difficulty making Elsegates, however Pozen seemed to have no problem. Is Pozen unusually skilled, or are Szeth and Jasnah bad?

I believe Ishar had been using his powers- probably in combo between being a Bondsmith and an Avatar of Odium (assuming that's what taking up the Well of Control does to you)- to boost all the Honorbearers' power.

They did also have much more experience than Jasnah and Szeth always struggled with it, so it's possible it's also a skill issue on top of that.

18 minutes ago, Frustration said:

1. You have previously said that Elsecallers can move between locations faster than light, but you more recently said that Elsegates are speed of light compliant. Is this an update as you refined the Elsegates, or is there something else Elsecallers can do?

I imagine they can go faster than speed of light, but it probably requires some kind of extra step. Most likely taking a more roundabout path through the Spiritual Realm (which I'm sort of assuming they don't do normally since there is a speed limit), since time and space don't exist there.

Spoiler

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/551-youtube-spoiler-stream-7/#e17046

VeryNiceName16

In Emberdark, we’re told that the only way to go to a planet without a perpendicularity is to use an FTL ship. And in Sunlit, Sigzil says that methods to get to planets without perpendicularities are very recent. Why can’t you just use Transportation to go from the Cognitive to the Physical?

Brandon Sanderson

You'll find out more about that when we get there. When we get to the back five [Stormlight 6-10] and we talk about it.

There's a couple things going on there. Obviously, Hoid does it, so it is possible to do. In these cases, most people, they're mostly talking about large scale- like if a person wants to go there, they can. And we will get to why Transportation isn't an option. That doesn't mean an individual couldn't figure out how to get onto-

So, just understand that it is possible. They're both kind of wrong; but if you're talking in general terms, there are very, very rare exceptions without FTL. And one of those exceptions is to just bring a whole metric strawberry-ton of Investiture with you, and that will puncture into the Physical Realm if you do it right. It's harder to go from Cognitive to Physical; if you have that in Physical, it happens automatically. Much harder to do. But it happens very naturally in Physical. So if you can get a bunch of Investiture together in the Physical Realm, it will make a hole that you can get through. So, there's ways.

Adam Horne

Have you guys mapped out light-year distances for the system?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. Isaac has, but I don't know if we're gonna release that.

This is a more nuanced question than I've answered before on this. But Transportation, most forms of teleportation in the cosmere, work at speed of light. Transportation works at speed of light. So Elsecalling, Elsegates, work at speed of light. Spanreeds work at speed of light. Most of your uses are speed of light. There are a few ways around speed of light but...

 

Edited January 23 by Trusk'our