Geekritique Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 (edited) Hey guys. New to the forum. I've been doing a ton of research on the physical structure of the Cosmere and both the 17th Shard wikia and forum have been a ton of help. For a while now I've really wanted a visualization of the Cosmere. A rough map, at the very least. I've attached a photo of a VERY rough sketch of the Cosmere as it makes sense to me via the info I've found online. And really, istead of notes I just drew out the ten known planets as I went along. Tomorrow I hope to blow up the scale quite a bit, give it a ton more artistic flare, and make some semblance of sense of it. But as it is, from what I've gathered, there are two discernible planetary systems, although I'm sure there are more. The Greater Roshar System has been confirmed to include Roshar, Ashyn, and Braize. Visible to this system is a swath of "red stars," known from Roshar as Taln's Scar. There is definitely a second planetary system that includes Scadrial and Threnody, as we can assume both planets share the same sky. Both share an unusually bright patch of stars. In Threnody this is known as the Starbelt. Sanderson has mentioned that both Threnody and First of the Sun are Minor Shardworlds. That doesn't mean they're in the same system though. I can assume that First of the Sun literally means it's the closest planet to the star it orbits. I just don't know which star that would be. Sel is said to orbit a yellow star. Other than that, the other planets aren't extremely well mapped. For now I'll probably place Nalthis, Sel, Yolen, Taldain, and First of the Sun randomly on the map, clearly distinguished outside of the two other "known" systems, and/or perhaps as their own system. Unless someone has more information that I've yet to come across. I'll be including known moons. Correct me if I've mis-counted each planet's known moons, or just plain missed them. Roshar: 3 (Salas, Nomon, Nishin) Braize: 0 Ashyn: 0 Nalthis: 1 Threnody: 0 Scadrial: 0 Sel: 1 Yolen: 0 Taldain: 0 First of the Sun: 0 Are there any other Celestial bodies I should be aware of? Uninhabitable planets, star systems, etc.? And I've been able to find decent maps for the general layout for Scadrial and Roshar. But other than that I'm rather in the dark. If you have any knowledge of existing maps of any of these worlds, that'd be extremely welcome. Thanks guys. Depending on how this goes, I'd like to continue updating the map in the future as more information on planet system locales, and celestial bodies is forthcoming. This'll be the 2015 edition. Edit: Here's a more complete image, mapped out. Just beginning the inking stage. Edited December 12, 2014 by Geekritique 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurkistan Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 There is definitely a second planetary system that includes Scadrial and Threnody, as we can assume both planets share the same sky. Both share an unusually bright patch of stars. In Threnody this is known as the Starbelt. Interesting. Would you mind providing the quotes that lead you to this conclusion? P.S. Welcome to the forums, by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbird Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Maybe talns scar is the star belt, just red-shifted, although I don't think it can be that visible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurkistan Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Maybe talns scar is the star belt, just red-shifted, although I don't think it can be that visible. I'm not the physicist in the room, but I think the cosmere's dwarf galaxy wouldn't exactly stay together if parts of it were moving away from each other fast enough to get that much redshift. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skantre Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 I admire your ambition, and it would be intensely cool if you managed to succeed, but you should really map it out in a three dimensional manner. After all, space is a three dimensional space and those planet would not align on a plane like our solar system do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newan Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Awesome! I noticed that you don't have much information on Ashyn. Here is a deeper description of what it looks like: http://youtu.be/7TyHTj9_bSs?t=35m3s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geekritique Posted December 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Awesome! I noticed that you don't have much information on Ashyn. Here is a deeper description of what it looks like: http://youtu.be/7TyHTj9_bSs?t=35m3s Oh wow, that's a good 47 mins in length. I'll have to give it some attention. Thanks for the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geekritique Posted December 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Interesting. Would you mind providing the quotes that lead you to this conclusion? P.S. Welcome to the forums, by the way. The introductory paragraph to <a href="http://coppermind.net/wiki/Scadrial#cite_note-qa-727-60.7D-1">the Scadrial page</a> and the section under Astronomy of the <a href="http://coppermind.net/wiki/Threnody">Threnody page</a> cite very similar occurrences. I cannot cite further into the text as I'm not entirely sure where this is written. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geekritique Posted December 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Ah great. HTML doesn't seem to work here. Bugger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geekritique Posted December 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Maybe talns scar is the star belt, just red-shifted, although I don't think it can be that visible. Well, It's confirmed that Threnody isn't part of the Greater Roshar System, so I don't know how drastically different the star system would look from the different planetary systems. But I guess it's possible. I admire your ambition, and it would be intensely cool if you managed to succeed, but you should really map it out in a three dimensional manner. After all, space is a three dimensional space and those planet would not align on a plane like our solar system do.Hopefully I can succeed in making a 2D "map". Then we'll worry about throwing another dimension in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze1616 Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 (edited) First a few quick tips. Try to avoid posting immediately after yourself. It's something this forum wants to avoid (and for good, no-spam reasons in my opinion). Instead, use the Edit button. We here at 17th Shard, especially in this Cosmere Theories subforum, are perfectly okay with long posts. Also, when trying to post specific links, use the following format, but replace all parenthesis ( ) with brackets [ ]. (url=www.exampleurl.com)words you want to have be the link(/url) Remember to replace the parenthesis ( ) with brackets [ ]. As for my response to the OP, I like the idea of mapping, but I don't think we know enough to make a map that is useful. I like the idea of Scadrial and Threnody being in the same solar system though. Unfortunately, other than the sun, the only map we have of Sel is the one focused around Elantris. Same for Nalthis, the map given is only focused around Hallandren. Still waiting on Nightblood to shed some light on the rest of Nalthis... Edited December 9, 2014 by Blaze1616 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geekritique Posted December 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 First a few quick tips. Try to avoid posting immediately after yourself. It's something this forum wants to avoid (and for good, no-spam reasons in my opinion). Instead, use the Edit button. We here at 17th Shard, especially in this Cosmere Theories subforum, are perfectly okay with long posts. Also, when trying to post specific links, use the following format, but replace all parenthesis ( ) with brackets [ ]. (url=www.exampleurl.com)words you want to have be the link(/url) Remember to replace the parenthesis ( ) with brackets [ ]. Ah okay. Sorry about that. Haven't been a forum goer for many moons.As for my response to the OP, I like the idea of mapping, but I don't think we know enough to make a map that is useful. I like the idea of Scadrial and Threnody being in the same solar system though. Unfortunately, other than the sun, the only map we have of Sel is the one focused around Elantris. Same for Nalthis, the map given is only focused around Hallandren. Still waiting on Nightblood to shed some light on the rest of Nalthis...Hmm. Good points. For now I'll probably keep the unknown planet placements separate from what I've already established as headcanon. Again, I hope this to be an ever changing map, updated yearly as information is delivered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king of nowhere Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 I don't think scadrial and threnody are in the same system. I think systems with two planets capable of supporting multicellular life would be extremely rare. bacteria can live almost everywhere, but to have forests and lakes and such you need specific climatic constraints. the fact that they see the same patch of bright stars on their sky only means they are close, in astronomical terms. if the stars appear bright to the naked eye, we can suppose they are within 50 light years of scadrial. and also within 50 light years of threnody. that ccould easily result from the two planets being 100 light years aside, on the opposite side of the patch. As other people have said, your plan is ambitious, but I don't think we will ever have enough informations for it. especially concerning thridimensional distribution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oudeis Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Well, remember that Preservation and Ruin specifically created life on Scadrial. So, it stops being a matter of chance, so much as the 500 pound gorilla sitting where he wants. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geekritique Posted December 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 ^ Ooklalhoo'Elin beat me to it. I've also read that The Greater Roshar planets are in a similar situation where they're too close to their respective Star to sustain life, but they do. So it's not a matter of chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeiryWriter Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Also with regards to Greater Roshar, the star itself isn't old enough for the level of development on the planets. Anyway I think this is a really neat idea! It may not be a scientific star-chart but it is an artistic rendering of all the Shardworlds. I look forward to future iterations! I definitely think Threnody is close to Scadrial, even if it isn't in the same system, precisely because of the Starbelt (which Windy first pointed out 'cause I totally missed that). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geekritique Posted December 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 Also with regards to Greater Roshar, the star itself isn't old enough for the level of development on the planets. That's definitely important to note. Debating whether I'll place side notes on said map rendition... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oudeis Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 Well, an issue with star charts is that stars move, yes? Two stars will not remain the same distance from each other forever. Or do I not understand astronomy at all? That's wholly possible. ((shh, don't answer, Peter is good at astonomy, let's see if we can get him to respond)). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geekritique Posted December 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 Well, I really don't ever expect the map to be scale/distance accurate. I won't bother with determining how distant each star is. But perspectively, and as visually representative as I can ascertain it, I plan to do so. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asperity Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 I think the fact that you've bothered to map out a basic rendition is neat. Not sure why so many people expect a full 3D accurate portrayal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RawToast225 Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 A full 3D portrail would be more accurate, that's why. I don't really want a full 3D one, just a really well done 2D map that I can stick on my wall. This is an excellent start to that, my friend. Keep drawing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of Nohadon Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 I can't wait to see the final product! I remember a while ago I checked to see if anyone had done a rendition of the Cosmere and thought it would be cool to have. Honestly, I feel the correct distances between planets is something that can be added or put into a different map when we have more information, it's almost impossible and a bit meaningless to the story right now. Excited to have this as a reference, keep up the good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geekritique Posted December 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 (edited) I can't wait to see the final product! I remember a while ago I checked to see if anyone had done a rendition of the Cosmere and thought it would be cool to have. Honestly, I feel the correct distances between planets is something that can be added or put into a different map when we have more information, it's almost impossible and a bit meaningless to the story right now. Excited to have this as a reference, keep up the good work! Thanks! Hope I can deliver! Working on it now, and I'm enjoying how it's turning out. I'll be adding color to it at some point in the near future. Here's Greater Roshar currently: Note that the only planet of the ten that's truly well mapped is Roshar. Even the Mistborn books don't give me a decent glimpse of Scadrial. Just the one continent. So that's all I have to work with. Edit: also, under the legend, the different items will be color coded. Edited December 10, 2014 by Geekritique 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze1616 Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 Roshar looks fantastic, though I'd be interested to learn if the continent is that large. We know it is a Pangea outside of a few more islands, but that is a vast proportion of the planet, especially in context with Earth (71% water, 29% land according to Universe Today). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeiryWriter Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 (edited) Yeah, the continent does look rather large, and rather far north. The "peak" of the arc the Reshi islands make is roughly on the equator (This map has latitude marks), granted it could be a matter of perspective? Edit: Also on the note about the sun, I think it is wrong to say it is too young to support life (since it /is/ supporting life), it's just too young for these things to have developed naturally. Edited December 10, 2014 by Ookla the Ensconced Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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