Observer Posted August 28, 2012 Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 Alright, anybody who read the Ars Arcanum in Alloy of Law was bound to notice the various Cosmere references. It outright mentions the Cosmere and names the world Sel. What I couldn't help but notice was that the only planet it mentions is Sel. Nothing on the worlds of WoK, Warbreaker, or White Sands (Though WS may not be complete enough to do that with). This leads me to believe that the AA author is from Sel, and either is new enough to have not visited any other world is is somehow confined in activity to Scarial. They also don't seem to view Hemalurgy as evil, and even states that it has interesting applications to the Cosmere (Though Hemalurgy doesn't have to kill, it still rips out your soul, and that's pretty evil to me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voidus Posted August 28, 2012 Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 Well the Ars Arcanum were all written by the same person so they do go to other worlds eventually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Observer Posted August 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 I just find it slightly suspicious that there is no mention of any world other than Sel. You'd think they'd compare to other worlds, such as similarities between lashings and pushes. Somebody suggested that all reports are sent to one person, who then compiles them into the Arcanum, which would mean whoever sent in the notes from Scarial was limited to Sel-Scarial activities. Either that or they just fail at comparisons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windrunner Posted August 28, 2012 Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 I strongly disagree that Pulls and Pushes manipulate objects in a similar way to the basic lashing. A lashing changes down for an object. It falls that way, unaffected by gravity. Wheareas we see that both pushes and pulls are affected by Scadrial's gravity, like when Kel drops while Pulling towards Keep Venture. Pushing and Pulling create forces, but a basic lashing just alters one that's already there. They can do similar things but they aren't done in the same way at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voidus Posted August 28, 2012 Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 Also considering time frames perhaps they simply have visited Roshar but at a time when there were no Surgebinders to study. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Observer Posted August 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 I strongly disagree that Pulls and Pushes manipulate objects in a similar way to the basic lashing. A lashing changes down for an object. It falls that way, unaffected by gravity. Wheareas we see that both pushes and pulls are affected by Scadrial's gravity, like when Kel drops while Pulling towards Keep Venture. Pushing and Pulling create forces, but a basic lashing just alters one that's already there. They can do similar things but they aren't done in the same way at all. I agree, bad example. It's just a little odd that there's 2 mentions of Sel and not a single one of anywhere else Wait. Don't Elantris and Mistborn, as well as AoL, ALL take place before Wok and WB? Haven't seen the timeline in a while, but I think that's fairly accurate. It would simply mean that at this time there wasn't anything to record or compare to... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voidus Posted August 29, 2012 Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 (edited) AoL, WoK and WB all happen at around the same time I think when I first re did the Chronology article that AoL happened after WoK but I think Brandon had to shift the timeline around so I can't remember where it is now. EDIT: quote on the timeline Second question is that I've moved things so that TWoK is around the same time as AoL, forced by some behind-the-scenes events. Warbreaker now happens before AoL. So yeah around the same time. Edited August 29, 2012 by Voidus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Observer Posted August 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 Alright, so it sort of makes sense now. I'm still thinking that they'd need to be from Sel based off the unfamiliarity with Scadrial but the many Sel comparisons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortaan Posted September 1, 2012 Report Share Posted September 1, 2012 Alright, so it sort of makes sense now. I'm still thinking that they'd need to be from Sel based off the unfamiliarity with Scadrial but the many Sel comparisons. Or they could have visited Sel when AonDor was powerful, prior to the Reod. That would give the person a pretty good idea of what AonDor could do. It could also be that the person visited Sel right before Scadrial, and so it was on his or her mind. I'm curious why you think the AoL Ars Arcanum person is unfamiliar with Scadrial. The entries seem pretty knowledgeable, and in the case of nicrosil Ferrings seem to hint that the author knows more about the process than the Terris people do. Certainly they at least know something beyond Sel, since the term Investiture is never mentioned in Elantris. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callumke Posted September 1, 2012 Report Share Posted September 1, 2012 Maybe Sel is mentioned frequently because of the similarity between Aon Dor and Allomancy. Both are end positive and both use Physical Foci. From this point of view, they are the two most similar magic systems we have seen in the Cosmere. It is for this perpose that Sel is mentioned in the Essay at the end. As far as we know, there isn't much Realmatic similarity between any other magic systems. The author is also familiar with Scadrial enough to name the Kandra by that name, rather than the Faceless Immortals, and implies that s/he knows more about the Kandra in the AoL timeline than we do. This makes it seem that the author is quite knowledgeable about Scadrial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Observer Posted September 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2012 What I meant to say was....well, not sure exactly. I was referencing the line "Allomancy is end-positive, according to my sources" or something along those lines, which says to me that the author probably got their info indirectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windrunner Posted September 1, 2012 Report Share Posted September 1, 2012 It says, "[Allomancy] is end-positive according to my terminology." No mention of having sources. Although, the map signed by Nahz implies the author may have some sort of network for gathering intelligence. This makes sense too. We've got ten Shardworlds out there all of which probably have at least one magic system. Then there are the Shardless worlds that have only Splinters, which could maybe have their own magic as well. Just from the four Shardworlds we know of, there are around eleven systems. We know the Ars Arcanum is all written by one guy, so it seems likely that he'd probably receive intelligence and firsthand reports about the magics and then interpret what they're seeing. I'm not saying that he never goes out to study the Investitures, but there's so many that having agents is probably more efficient. Especially in the case of having someone who is familiar with the Shardworld he's on. Then again, there's a lot of time to be studying these things. Right now, I'm leaning towards a member of the Seventeenth Shard as the author. Hoid so far has been portrayed as all alone, but the associate Nahz implies a bit more of a network. Right now, the Seventeenth Shard just seems more likely to me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Observer Posted September 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2012 It says, "[Allomancy] is end-positive according to my terminology." No mention of having sources. Although, the map signed by Nahz implies the author may have some sort of network for gathering intelligence. This makes sense too. We've got ten Shardworlds out there all of which probably have at least one magic system. Then there are the Shardless worlds that have only Splinters, which could maybe have their own magic as well. Just from the four Shardworlds we know of, there are around eleven systems. We know the Ars Arcanum is all written by one guy, so it seems likely that he'd probably receive intelligence and firsthand reports about the magics and then interpret what they're seeing. I'm not saying that he never goes out to study the Investitures, but there's so many that having agents is probably more efficient. Especially in the case of having someone who is familiar with the Shardworld he's on. Then again, there's a lot of time to be studying these things. Right now, I'm leaning towards a member of the Seventeenth Shard as the author. Hoid so far has been portrayed as all alone, but the associate Nahz implies a bit more of a network. Right now, the Seventeenth Shard just seems more likely to me. And in a few paragraphs he says what I've failed to coherently babble about for almost a whole page. Bravo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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