Trusk'our's Observations (IotED)

[Trusk'our he/him]

I did something like this with WaT where I wrote down all the points of interest I had with the book as I read it as well as the pages they were found on for ease of looking them up later.

I know I'm quite late to the party, but in my defense I got my copy of the book yesterday. 

1. 142: Crow appears to still be a Sporeater. She needs to take a sip from her water-filled silver flaggon every few minutes to survive. 

2. 143: Northern Scadrian script is used in Scadrian starship controls. This hints that they are not dominated by Southern Scadrial in the future, which I'd thought about. 

3. 147: places traveled frequently in Shadesmar grow obsidian ground to walk on.

4. 160: So dragons aren't biologically immortal. 20,000 years is a good life expectancy. This further supports the idea that raw Investiture alone is not an effective path to agelessness. Unless you Ascend, more must be done.

5. 176: the enormous 3-way Perpendicularity of Starlight causes things near it to move ten times slower. This easily explains how Khriss could live so long, though other factors may be involved. 

6. 180: It appears that Sazed has done something than no other living Shard/Vessel has done, and it is considered impressive. 

7. 181: Invested systems that can be used by anyone are still considered very valuable in the space age. Are medallions harder to make, or less enduring than I had previously assumed?

8. 190: Xisis can apparently at least double a human's lifespan with "a flick of his claws". This is another reason why 17th Shard members can live so long, apart from time dilation. 

9. 193: Autonomy is known to have "old dominions". Could just be that they've been around for a while. Or, is Autonomy defeated now, her Avatars Splintered off?

10. 197: you can eat parts of Skullsnakes or worm paste to gain Seeker-like abilities. According to freaking Patji itself, only those blessed by it can eat the worms and gain this effect. 

11. 199: Dusk gains what appwar to be Seeker-like abilities (291 shows that Scadrians, nor anybody else can traverse the Emberdark like he can. So it is a unique ability).

12. 199: Dusk's Invested ability translates to his Aviar, just as theirs goes to him. Even more proof of powers shared being usable by the original owner as well.

13. 211: The Evil don't like going near populated areas lest they be warped into something else. Reminds me strongly of Nightmares and sensitive they are to perception, even more than Spren.

14. 237: Dajer needs lung support through medical means. Odd, given that healing Investiture is a thing. Are Goldminds too expensive to give to someone like him? Does this feed back into the idea in #7 that medallions are still somehow not common devices?

15. 250: Dajer calls Nazh an unbound Shade. Are the silver devices used to bind and control Shades typically? Is that how they're kept safe?

16. 251: Dajer claims "any child with a coin" can now fly as dragons have. Is this a severe exaggeration? Because other signs point to medallion use being a bit more limited than that.

18. 258: Dragons use special organs to fabricate nutrients from Investiture, using Connection (presumably to the SR). Severing that is hard, but is one of the few ways to kill them. Apparently, sleeping is a way to restore their Investiture, suggesting they can run out if not careful. 

19. 274: So, Patji creatures have Invested venoms and poisons? Enough so that even a dragon can feel some pain, albeit slightly. Also, does a dragon's Investiture automatically retaliate against assailants (killing the wasp)? 352: looks like they were made from Investiture to begin with, so Invested venoms are not a guarantee. 

20. 274-275: Dajer says the Evil is to blame for messing with Starling's healing, and that it's prevented Feruchemical healing. How can Sak's visions work still? Did Dakwara become "aligned" with Patji's/Autonomy's Investiture? It does appears to have been feeding on it, so perhaps. 

21. 279: Shadesmar gets its light from perception. Interesting. 

22. 283: Dragons are too Invested to bear a Nahel bond. Technically spoiled this for myself by skimming the Coppermind, but here's the og source. 

23. 294: Copperclouds seem way more useful now. Even creatures directly connected to the nervous system cannot infiltrate their minds. Other cognitive attacks like induced insanity or "phantom music" (perhaps a form of Soothing?). 301 confirms that super-powered Copperclouds can revert a Sleepless into a non-sapient swarm of bugs. WoB tells us it might be beyond human capacity, even enhanced though. 

24. 299: Sleepless have a core self consisting of specialized hoardlings. I had previously assumed that their personality and self was stretched more or less equally amongst all of their pieces.

25. 300: Hold on, no Aetherbound will serve the Scadrians? Something must have gone down between the primal Aethers and Scadrial or Harmony, especially given Kelsier's previous friendly affiliation with one. 310 Okay, nevermind, there ARE Aetherbound working for the Malwish, Starling just didn't expect it.

26. 305: Seeking works by picking up the radiation of Investiture? Not quite the way I envisioned it, but that makes more sense, I suppose. 

27. 310: Aetherbound can make Aether Spores, not just grow it directly. That definitely adds to their use. Speaking of which, why would Aether be used for fuel? Is it just super efficient?

28. 313: Welp, sounds like dragons can make people into Cognitive Shadows too. Why not?

29. 328: Hoid has a wife and appears to have twins. I'd wonder who, but no other evidence is there.

30. 328: Dragons are not only super long-lived, but can take millenia to be pulled into the Beyond. 

31. 329: Spren may choose how they appear the the Spiritual Realm. 

32. 348: Odium removed Ambition's Intent from the Evil? So, they're truly devoid of Shardic Intent, it would seem.

33. 348: Investiture free from the direct influence of a Shard is easier to shape via thought. This would support the idea that Shards act as a natural inhibiting force on many acts (the people of Canticle and the Nightmares on Komashi being examples of not having such protections, so other Investitures can easily effect them).

34. 356: Given that the Dakwara is made up of negative Investiture I wouldn't have expected it to actively feed on regular Investiture. Odd. Also, interesting to see that very large Spren or Spren-adjacent beings can be so durable against even advanced tech. 379: also, weird that it can seemingly bond and Invest a person who is Invested from another source despite being made up of negative Investiture. How much does that even mean at this point, really?

35. 388: Ed believes that extended close proximity to a Perpendicularity can change a person, granting certain abilities and adaptations. I'm gonna guess this is where the Horneater Sighted come from, at least in part. There may be another step, but surely this is part of it.

 

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

43 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

5. 176: the enormous 3-way Perpendicularity of Starlight causes things near it to move ten times slower. This easily explains how Khriss could live so long, though other factors may be involved. 

Definitely, over 300 years passed between her appearance in Secret History and Bands of Mourning, yet she doesn't seem 30 years older. Same goes for the trio of 17 Sharders trying to find Hoid in Stormlight.

43 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

7. 181: Invested systems that can be used by anyone are still considered very valuable in the space age. Are medallions harder to make, or less enduring than I had previously assumed?

I imagine that even with massive advances in Medallion technology, which we are definitely not privy too since it would spoil Era 3 and 4, Medallions still have some limits like "No Four Powers" or something like that. 

I think that any Invested Art that has universal usage would be quite the rarity and incredibly useful to anyone in the Cosmere. Especially with such loose restrictions, you just need an Aviar to willingly make a Bond with you to get powers and can even Bond multiple at a time. No Oaths needed, no special bloodlines or country Connections, just a little bird taming.

43 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

8. 190: Xisis can apparently at least double a human's lifespan with "a flick of his claws". This is another reason why 17th Shard members can live so long, apart from time dilation. 

Well, he is implied to be a Tenth Heightening Awakener. So, you could have Breaths to spare, with Mental Commands he might not even need to touch you or say anything to transfer Breaths. If 50 Breaths give an extra decade of life, then mathematically (Assuming the average lifespan is around 80), he'd just need to give 400 of his supposedly 50,000 Breaths to double a person's lifespan.

Unless of course there's something else at play here, which there very well could be, because Dragons are awesome like that.

43 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

9. 193: Autonomy is known to have "old dominions". Could just be that they've been around for a while. Or, is Autonomy defeated now, her Avatars Splintered off?

I imagine that after Retribution Ascended, that some of the Shards became at least a little more proactive when it comes to dealing with threats to their turf. Which Autonomy would count as. 

43 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

12. 199: Dusk's Invested ability translates to his Aviar, just as theirs goes to him. Even more proof of powers shared being usable by the original owner as well.

I wonder if that means Aviar can gain other Invested abilities from their partners, like Surges. Wait a minute... Could Lift's Chicken gain Abrasion and Progression?! Is this foreshadowing!?

43 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

14. 237: Dajer needs lung support through medical means. Odd, given that healing Investiture is a thing. Are Goldminds too expensive to give to someone like him? Does this feed back into the idea in #7 that medallions are still somehow not common devices?

They mention later that they have Feruchemical healing devices. Chances are that either Dajer's self-perception keeps him from healing, or warfare in the future involves ways to deal unhealable damage. Would make sense since the Scadrians would be fighting Surgebinders who have ridiculous healing factors at a minimum, and the Rosharans would probably also start using those.

43 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

16. 251: Dajer claims "any child with a coin" can now fly as dragons have. Is this a severe exaggeration? Because other signs point to medallion use being a bit more limited than that.

It was theorized by Wax that the Malwish couldn't create Medallions that granted Allomancy, or even ones that gave Feruchemical pewter or zinc, but this was before they conned the Bands of Mourning out of the North's hands, as in the only known Nicrosilmind that can give all the above. So chances are the Malwish could have used the Bands to create Allomancy Medallions.

But also probably an exaggeration to some extent, I highly doubt any society would be cool with letting irresponsible children run amuck with magitech that lets them push metal around and fly, they'd either get themselves killed or become a very annoying nuisance. 

43 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

23. 294: Copperclouds seem way more useful now. Even creatures directly connected to the nervous system cannot infiltrate their minds. Other cognitive attacks like induced insanity or "phantom music" (perhaps a form of Soothing?). 301 confirms that super-powered Copperclouds can revert a Sleepless into a non-sapient swarm of bugs. WoB tells us it might be beyond human capacity, even enhanced though. 

I think a big part of it is that you'd need to extend the 'Mind Shielding' aspect to all within its range, not just to one target. WOB states that its possible but extremely difficult for a Smoker to shield the minds of others from Emotional Allomancy. I imagine its just as difficult as a Seeker sensing Feruchemy and needs some unrevealed 'tweak' to work.

43 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

25. 300: Hold on, no Aetherbound will serve the Scadrians? Something must have gone down between the primal Aethers and Scadrial or Harmony, especially given Kelsier's previous friendly affiliation with one. 310 Okay, nevermind, there ARE Aetherbound working for the Malwish, Starling just didn't expect it.

They also state there are ways 'around' the permission of Prime Aethers. But we barely know the basics on how Aetherbound work so I have no idea on what this could mean.

It also seems like the Ghostbloods don't work alongside the Malwish Empire, since they only recently learned about Aviar being real and where to get them when the Ghostbloods have already been using them for years. Makes sense since Kelsier has a thing against 'Empires', and the aristocracy in general, so I doubt that the Malwish's current regime has the support of their 'Sovereign'.

43 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

27. 310: Aetherbound can make Aether Spores, not just grow it directly. That definitely adds to their use. Speaking of which, why would Aether be used for fuel? Is it just super efficient?

Maybe because its very renewable? More renewable than fossil fuels at least. And with a world like Lumar they don't even need permission from Primal Aethers to get it.

43 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

35. 388: Ed believes that extended close proximity to a Perpendicularity can change a person, granting certain abilities and adaptations. I'm gonna guess this is where the Horneater Sighted come from, at least in part. There may be another step, but surely this is part of it.

Interesting, so if people back in the old days lived near the Well of Ascension they'd be more likely to be born with Allomancy perhaps? It would even make sense since it was hidden under Luthadel and there were quite a number of Allomancers living there, so maybe that might correlate?

If people lived near Harmony's perpendicularity would they be more likely to gain Feruchemy? Better quality Breaths from living near Endowment's?

Maybe the other step to all this could be permission from the Shard?

Edited February 5 by JustQuestin2004

[Jult]

12 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

32. 348: Odium removed Ambition's Intent from the Evil? So, they're truly devoid of Shardic Intent, it would seem.

I'm really surprised I haven't seen this one discussed more. He "removed" Ambition's Intent. Is the Intent just gone now? Does it live on in Odium? Did he rework it into an Unmade? Where'd the Intent go?

 

12 hours ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

13 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

12. 199: Dusk's Invested ability translates to his Aviar, just as theirs goes to him. Even more proof of powers shared being usable by the original owner as well.

I wonder if that means Aviar can gain other Invested abilities from their partners, like Surges. Wait a minute... Could Lift's Chicken gain Abrasion and Progression?! Is this foreshadowing!?

THIS is something that bothers me about the lack of info we have on the Nahel bond. Is it a two-way street? It would be awesome. But I think it would also cause some problems. Like was Lift's chicken a Feruchemist when it was bonded to Gereh?

Aux seems to have some level of access to Zellion's abilities. But then is Design able to access all the abilities Hoid has? She does do some weird voodoo that lets Nikaro's spirit move farther from his body which definitely feels outside of a normal Cryptic's abilities.

And what about Seons? Is THAT a Nahel bond? Can Ien use Elantrian abilities? Is Olo also able to use Hoid's abilities? And I don't even want to think about Kelsier's Seon.

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

8 hours ago, Jult said:

I'm really surprised I haven't seen this one discussed more. He "removed" Ambition's Intent. Is the Intent just gone now? Does it live on in Odium? Did he rework it into an Unmade? Where'd the Intent go?

I thought it said that he inverted Ambition's Intent. Reading back on it, it really does say that the Intent was removed, and the pieces of the power itself was Inverted into Negative Investiture.

We know that Investiture can become 'Unkeyed', even raw power like Stormlight can be 'stripped of Identity' in some way by the Ghostbloods. So maybe this is that on an astronomical scale? Odium found a way to make even the entire Investiture of a Shard to become Unkeyed? As well as making it Negative, probably to help better insure no one can pick it up since trying would kill them.

[Jult]

11 hours ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

We know that Investiture can become 'Unkeyed', even raw power like Stormlight can be 'stripped of Identity' in some way by the Ghostbloods. So maybe this is that on an astronomical scale? Odium found a way to make even the entire Investiture of a Shard to become Unkeyed? As well as making it Negative, probably to help better insure no one can pick it up since trying would kill them.

I'm very interested in this because it could be very significant to other Shards. I'd really like to know if Odium performed one action that had both consequences (Intent removed and Investiture inverted) or if those were two distinct actions that he took.

I'm leaning towards both being a consequence of one action. Mainly just because the other option feels too convenient, I guess? If there were some method to remove a Shard's Intent without inverting its Investiture, then I feel like Leras would have included it in his plans for stopping Ruin. Or Rayse would have used it when he killed Tanavast. Or Taravangian would have used it before he picked up Honor (assuming he learned it from Odium's memories).

But, if the only way to do it is to cause a catastrophic event and create more Evil like Odium did when he fought Ambition, then I could see why no one has done it since.. that we know of.

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

24 minutes ago, Jult said:

But, if the only way to do it is to cause a catastrophic event and create more Evil like Odium did when he fought Ambition, then I could see why no one has done it since.. that we know of.

Mercy worries me, she was there and probably got a front row seat to whatever Odium did.

[Jult]

1 minute ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

Mercy worries me, she was there and probably got a front row seat to whatever Odium did.

I can't wait to find out more about Mercy. I'm soo curious to know what she was doing there. And whose side she was on. And how she was affected by it all.

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

2 minutes ago, Jult said:

I can't wait to find out more about Mercy. I'm soo curious to know what she was doing there. And whose side she was on. And how she was affected by it all.

Probably wasn't on Ambition's side, considering she's dead and every other Shard who knew her seems to be glad about it.

Maybe she got involved because of how destructive the battle was? They were literally tearing solar systems apart from the sounds of it, it would be quite a merciful act to help put a stop to the fighting before even more of the Cosmere was destroyed.

[Jult]

4 minutes ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

Probably wasn't on Ambition's side, considering she's dead and every other Shard who knew her seems to be glad about it.

Maybe she got involved because of how destructive the battle was? They were literally tearing solar systems apart from the sounds of it, it would be quite a merciful act to help put a stop to the fighting before even more of the Cosmere was destroyed.

My theory is she wasn't on either side and just showed up to finish off whoever was losing. Like a mercy-killing that also put a quick end to the destruction.

But I have a tendency to assume unknown Vessels are bad people until proven otherwise.

[Nitpicking]

On 2/5/2026 at 12:18 PM, Jult said:

I'm really surprised I haven't seen this one discussed more. He "removed" Ambition's Intent. Is the Intent just gone now? Does it live on in Odium? Did he rework it into an Unmade? Where'd the Intent go?

I don't think Intent is made of Investiture. I see it as a pattern impressed into Investiture, the way memory is a pattern in your brain cells. It could be erased like writing, if I'm right. 

[Jult]

On 2/7/2026 at 12:19 PM, Nitpicking said:

I don't think Intent is made of Investiture. I see it as a pattern impressed into Investiture, the way memory is a pattern in your brain cells. It could be erased like writing, if I'm right. 

Yeah, I don't think it's made of Investiture either. I've always viewed them as similar to Commands in Awakening. So, them being erasable doesn't sound impossible to me. But it always felt like such an intrinsic part of what a Shard is. It just being 'gone' feels wrong to me. Like, is it really that simple?

Intents have caused some pretty big headaches for the Vessels. If one of them figured out that Intents can be removed so early in the Cosmere's history, then why has it never been done since (as far as we know)?

Side note: If Ambition's Intent truly is just gone. It seems like that would also mean the damage to Ambition is irreversible. Which puts a damper on many of the theories about Adonalsium someday being reassembled. I'd actually be a bit pleased if that's the case. I've never been a fan of those ideas.

 

[Qianweilian He/him]

1 hour ago, Jult said:

Yeah, I don't think it's made of Investiture either. I've always viewed them as similar to Commands in Awakening. So, them being erasable doesn't sound impossible to me. But it always felt like such an intrinsic part of what a Shard is. It just being 'gone' feels wrong to me. Like, is it really that simple?

I always saw it like a vector. The amount of investiture is your magnitude, and it also has a direction or alignment.

[Atlas333]

On 2/4/2026 at 7:47 PM, Trusk'our said:

27. 310: Aetherbound can make Aether Spores, not just grow it directly. That definitely adds to their use. Speaking of which, why would Aether be used for fuel? Is it just super efficient?

 

It's likely just easy to produce. Zephyr spore + water = fuel. No complicated process as long as you have access to spores. 

 

Quote

Ladder Contact 6814

What are the other six types of spores we didn't get to see in the book? Were there any that you really wanted to include, but couldn't?

Brandon Sanderson

No. When I've written books, I tend to gravitate toward a couple of the aethers that are really the most dynamic for action scenes and things like that. Some of the other aethers are there for the necessity of the future of the Cosmere. For instance: zephyr, while very useful in this for firing cannons and stuff, is really there so that we can have propellant in space by just-add-water and make yourself some extra propellant. And atmosphere; kind of a low-tech (there's better-tech ways), but a low-tech way to: "hey, we've got zephyr aether, it makes breathable air. And so, if we've got water and a barrel of this stuff, then we'll be able to breathe." So there are some of the aethers that are there for that sort of reason, so that we can have pneumatic weaponry and some easy access to emergency propellant in space, and stuff like that.

But verdant is the one that I just keep coming back to, that one and roseite, as making for the most dynamic storytelling. We'll see what I do with some of the others. I'm not gonna answer what the ones I haven't mentioned are, because I am saving them for future books to be used and to be interesting and engaging with them.

Tress Spoiler Stream (March 31, 2023)

[ScadrianTank he/him]

On 2/5/2026 at 4:47 AM, Trusk'our said:

251: Dajer claims "any child with a coin" can now fly as dragons have. Is this a severe exaggeration? Because other signs point to medallion use being a bit more limited than that.

My read of that line is that it used to be that Invested arts and arcana were limited to a select few, but in this age of technology, any mortal can use one (or something with an analogous effect) in one way or another. Even if the fabrials/medallions/spikes/etc are uncommon and/or expensive, they're obtainable in a straightforward way.  Allomantic medallions themselves aren't a surprise, given the Bands.

[Nitpicking]

"Any child with a coin" can buy a ticket on a flying machine, is how I was reading it.