The Ultimate List of Questions for Brandon

[+Extesian]

1 minute ago, ElephantEarwax said:

I have a few questions.

Sel:

Did Galladon use AonDor to access Shadesmar, or was it through a different ability or form of investiture?

Do all of the nations have a form of magic?

Nalthis:

Do worldhoppers have a breath when they arrive on Nalthis or are they drab.

 

I can answer the Nalthis one. They are not drab and do not have Breath. Breath is Nalthian but a Nalthian without Breath is missing something non-Nalthians have. Ie Nalthian with Breath > non-Nalthian > Drab

Quote

NUTIKETAIEL

"If a native of Sel or another Shardworld travelled to Nalthis, would they be a drab?"

Brandon almost answered quickly, but then got a thoughtful look and paused to consider with a "hmm." After a moment, he replied:

BRANDON SANDERSON

"No, they would not be a drab. But, no one would be able to take their breath."

NUTIKETAIEL

"If such a person died on Nalthis, could they Return?"

BRANDON SANDERSON

"No, they cannot Return."

NUTIKETAIEL

"If such a person received breath, could they use BioChroma?"

BRANDON SANDERSON

"Yes."

NUTIKETAIEL

I was probably grinning like a looby at this point, but I didn't care. Brandon complimented me on my questions, saying that I had asked some good ones and that nobody had gotten so much information out of him in a while. I don't know whether he meant it, or was just trying to give me some confidence and make me feel good about myself as an amateur realmatic theorist (very, very amateur), but either way it made me feel like a million bucks.

Quote

Q: Could non-Scadrians use Southern Scadrian Amulets?
A: Yes, they could.
Q: And could Drabs?
A: Yeah, Drabs could. They're missing a little bit of something else, going there eventually, but they could make those work.

 

[The One Who Connects]

1 hour ago, ElephantEarwax said:

Do all of the nations have a form of magic?

Something was brought up earlier today about why Teod didn't seem to have its own form of magic, so I would say no. Either not every nation has a form of magic, or Teod is very non-exploratory and hasn't found theirs.

[Storming Radiant]

Okay, so here are some questions I had. Being new here, I don't know if these have already been answered. Please let me know.

~ Can multiple people tap/store simultaneously  on an unkeyed metalmind?

~ Would compounding grant a burst of power with every metal?

~ When a Feruchemist taps something like wieght, we now that something sort of makes him stronger so he can hold himslef up. Does this also happen when an iron compounder burns his metalmind allomanticly?

~ Can Parshendi become radiants?

~ Can a human bond with a spren of Odium? If so, what will it do?

~ Can a Drab/Awakener become Returned?

~ Can a vessel splinter his own shard? Will he survive it?

~ If left alone, will the shards try to reconnect?

~ Does Hoid have an hemallurgic spike?  (I now read a WoB saying he does not.)

Edited July 7, 2017 by Storming Radiant

[Fezzik]

1 I don't know

2 yes

3 yes

4 not historically, but maybe

5 don't know, but probably voidbinding

6 drab, no

7 don't know

8 they will gain sentience on their own or seek a vessel

@Storming Radiant

Edited July 7, 2017 by john203

[teknopathetic]

What would happen if a full Mistborn attempted to burn a light-infused gemstone? Would the Mistborn be able to feel or use the investiture? Would an Identity Medallion help in any way? 

[StrikerEZ]

Just now, teknopathetic said:

What would happen if a full Mistborn attempted to burn a light-infused gemstone? Would the Mistborn be able to feel or use the investiture? Would an Identity Medallion help in any way? 

Well the gemstone isn't metal, so I'd say nothing would happen and they'd have a gemstone stuck inside of them.

[teknopathetic]

6 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

Well the gemstone isn't metal, so I'd say nothing would happen and they'd have a gemstone stuck inside of them.

Well the Allomancer can burn metal because it is invested; a gemstone is also invested and might be burnable as well. If gemstones glinted the same way metal does in the cognitive realm, I bet some weird things could happen. 

Edited July 7, 2017 by teknopathetic

[StrikerEZ]

2 minutes ago, teknopathetic said:

Well the Allomancer can burn metal because it is invested; a gemstone is also invested and might be burnable as well. If gemstones glinted the same way metal does in the cognitive realm, I bet some weird things could happen. 

Well, actually, metals on Scadrial are not Invested. That's why Allomancy works on other planets; the metal is just a gateway for Preservation's Investiture to flow through, as long as it's the right type of metal.

[teknopathetic]

16 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

Well, actually, metals on Scadrial are not Invested. That's why Allomancy works on other planets; the metal is just a gateway for Preservation's Investiture to flow through, as long as it's the right type of metal.

I agree that metal isn't invested directly, but there must be more going on:

I think they are invested in some sense. Metals glow in the cognitive realm with effect;  Ruin was unable to read things etched in metal. Metals have something about them that prevents Ruin and Preservation from reading what is written on them. WOB says Harmony cannot read metal etchings as well. Maybe the potential investiture blinds Ruin and Harmony from seeing metal clearly? Seems odd that a potentiality would have such an effect? What is it about Metal that can channel so much power and can blind a God? 

Metal also glows the same way humans seem to glow (according to the tale in Secret History). The 2nd Mistborn arc has a character realize that all life has the same 'meatless' one senses when pushing or pulling. So what is it about metal that makes it easier to draw investiture when all matter is potentially useable? Metal must have something. 

 

The Gemstones are also not directly invested, but WOB says that different coloured gemstones have different properties because humans see the different colours as "significant". The gemstones themselves don't have any power to change the magic used - it is perception. I am trying to draw a connection between the metals and the gemstones via that route essentially. The Gemstones have no direct power but act as a gateway to allow different abilities to be performed. If writing written on gemstones were not legible to Honour/Cultivation/ETC, id be very inclined to think that they were burnable in some way (with a lot of tinkering)

If an Allomancer burns not the Metal but the investiture drawn by the metal, shouldn't an allomancer be potentially able to burn Stormlight in a gem or Sunlight held in Whitesand? I am not saying out would be easy, but it should be possible given enough sciencing. If connection is the issue, then medallions are the answer. 

Edited July 7, 2017 by teknopathetic

[Calderis]

3 hours ago, teknopathetic said:

If an Allomancer burns not the Metal but the investiture drawn by the metal, shouldn't an allomancer be potentially able to burn Stormlight in a gem or Sunlight held in Whitesand? I am not saying out would be easy, but it should be possible given enough sciencing. If connection is the issue, then medallions are the answer. 

The issue here is that an allomancer has the SDNA to preform Allomancy, and uses the metal as a key to unlock Preservation's investiture. In the process of "burning" the metal it is literally consumed as it shapes the power to proper effect. 

Gemstones on Roshar contain Stormlight, but if an allomancer did somehow find a way to utilize that investiture, they would need a way to shape the power correctly, and they would still be left with a gemstone in their gut. 

Burning the gem itself would require it to function as a focus for an ability and pull raw investiture from the Spiritual Realm. They aren't a focus though, merely a container for a unshaved fuel. 

[The One Who Connects]

18 hours ago, teknopathetic said:

a gemstone is also invested and might be burnable as well.

You're assuming gemstones are not Allomantically Inert.

[Dunkum]

a couple questions:

1. if a misting tapped a nicrosilmind for an allomantic ability they already possess, would that increase its strength?  if they tapped deeply enough, could they match TLR's strength in that same metal?

2. Could a duralumin ferring tapping their metalmind use that extra connection to essentially steal a shardblade or honorblade from the person using it?  if so, what would happen when they stopped tapping/ran out?

3. would someone tapping Identity from a metalmind have additional resistance against being soulcast (above and beyond the effect of just being more invested)? 

[ccstat]

As seen in Secret History, the cognitive realm has "gravity" that doesn't vary (much, at least) between areas associated with planets and areas corresponding to open space. 

1. Does the gravitational pull experienced in the cognitive realm vary between planets? (i.e. near Scadrial @ 1 g, vs near Roshar @ 0.7 g)
2. If, upon developing spacecraft, the people of the cosmere begin to collectively associate outer space with weightlessnesss (as is the pervasive understanding on Earth) will the gravitational profile of the cognitive realm change to reflect that?
3. If you operate an airplane or a spacecraft in the cognitive realm, will you find additional (otherwise inaccessible) regions/objects at higher altitude?

Edited July 9, 2017 by ccstat

[Calderis]

1 hour ago, Dunkum said:

3. would someone tapping Identity from a metalmind have additional resistance against being soulcast (above and beyond the effect of just being more invested)? 

I'll try to find the WoB, but there's one that says that storing identity would make you more vulnerable to soulcasting (that was the the question, he answered that it would make you more vulnerable to "a lot of things"), so I imagine that the inverse would be true. 

[The One Who Connects]

2 hours ago, Dunkum said:

3. would someone tapping Identity from a Metalmind have additional resistance against being Soulcast (above and beyond the effect of just being more invested)? 

35 minutes ago, Calderis said:

I'll try to find the WoB, but there's one that says that storing identity would make you more vulnerable to Soulcasting (that was the the question, he answered that it would make you more vulnerable to "a lot of things"), so I imagine that the inverse would be true. 

Calderis is essentially correct, but the question was originally about Forgery. Spoilered for size.

Spoiler

Q: Would a Feruchemist actively storing identity be more susceptible to Forgery? Would more outlandish changes be able to take effect? Thanks for your time, and have a wonderful day.
 
A: Yes, if you store identity, it makes you susceptible to ALL KINDS of things in the Cosmere. Forgery would be on the short list.
 
Q: Does the difficulty of effecting metals in a body with Allomancy have to do with identity?
 
A: No, more to do with the fact that most people are innately invested in the Cosmere--and certain planets have extra investiture. Something invested is more difficult to transform/move/etc with another form of investiture.
 
Q: That is what I had originally thought before you capitalized ""ALL KINDS"". Is Soulcasting people like Jasnah Kholin did doubly hard since people a have a strong sense of identity and have innate investiture?
 
A: We're getting a bit far on this course, so it's time to pull out the RAFOs. I don't want to overplay my hand and leave the books without anything to talk about.

---

56 minutes ago, ccstat said:

Does the gravitational pull experienced in the cognitive realm vary between planets? (i.e. near Scadrial @ 1 g, vs near Roshar @ 0.7 g)

Possibly. If it does, you will hardly notice. Reach the point where you enter Roshar's sea of beads, and the lesser gravity will be in the back of your mind. The heightened gravity on Sel might be more noticeable, but given the Investiture Storm it currently is, the gravity isn't your priority. The Vibrance on Nalthis will... etc...

[ccstat]

6 hours ago, The One Who Connects said:

Possibly. If it does, you will hardly notice. [...] gravity isn't your priority.

I guess I'm mostly interested from a Realmatic standpoint, rather than a "someone could exploit this" standpoint:

Does the gravity in the CR come from the shared perception of the local populace (and therefore vary with location)? Or does it derive from a cosmere-wide perception and average out to be the same everywhere? Or (less likely) does each person carry their own gravitational expectations with them, such that a native Elantrian visiting Roshar's CR for the first time would still experience Sel's gravity?

The answer would hint at how some of these perception feedback-loops work.

[+Extesian]

Quote

 

3 minutes ago, ccstat said:

I guess I'm mostly interested from a Realmatic standpoint, rather than a "someone could exploit this" standpoint:

Does the gravity in the CR come from the shared perception of the local populace (and therefore vary with location)? Or does it derive from a cosmere-wide perception and average out to be the same everywhere? Or (less likely) does each person carry their own gravitational expectations with them, such that a native Elantrian visiting Roshar's CR for the first time would still experience Sel's gravity?

The answer would hint at how some of these perception feedback-loops work.

 Good questions cc. My immediate reaction was your last option, that individuals' cognitive view matters. You're right that would be illuminating about cognitive realmatics generally. 

[Brightlord M. Alhstrom]

1. Would reassembling the Shards of Deotion and Dominion require destroying/merging the Seons and Skaze?

2. What is Honor's equivalent to Seons/Skaze, since he was also splintered.

3. Does a forged object continue to draw on investiture once it's spiritual identity has been written? Essentially, if an object's spiritual identity has been permanently changed by a seal, would it still be location dependent on Sel? Or would it no longer need the location's link to the Dor to stay the way it is?

4. Did Hoid swallow the Lerasium bead? You've implied it, but never confirmed it.

5. You can use a Keystone soulstamp to connect and activate several other stamps without needing to stamp them all. Would it be possible to do something similar with Aons? A single Aon used to activate several other connected Aons?

6. Is there any work to turn any of your books into movies or tv shows? Would you be open to such development? (Answered here: http://faq.brandonsanderson.com/node/217. Thanks john203 for giving me the link.)

7. Is the Redeeming/Destroying from the Aimian prophesies relating to the Aimians or the entire world?

8. Would using a syringe excite Shades? Or is the fact that the blood in an airtight container enough? What if a single drop leaked out of the puncture wound when you took the syringe out?

9. Is Taldian's sun Autonomy? (if no) Is Autonomy invested in Taldain's Sun?

10. Is Dahkor location dependent in both the creation and use of the Dahkor bone formations? Or just in their creations? In other words, if a Dahkor user left Sel without a connection to the Dor, would his bones still keep their abilities?

11. Is running the only simple rule connected to the time of day?

12. As technology progresses in the Forests of Hell, will the simple rules expand to incorporate other "bad things"? or will it stick to blood, fire and running?

I'll probably add more later.

Edited July 10, 2017 by Lord Maelstrom

[Fezzik]

@Lord Maelstrom, number 6:

http://faq.brandonsanderson.com/node/217

[Oversleep]

11 hours ago, Lord Maelstrom said:

2. What is Honor's equivalent to Seons/Skaze, since he was also splintered.

Spren.

11 hours ago, Lord Maelstrom said:

5. You can use a Keystone soulstamp to connect and activate several other stamps without needing to stamp them all. Would it be possible to do something similar with Aons? A single Aon used to activate several other connected Aons?

Yes. In Elantris when experimenting with AonDor Raoden used a string of Aons which did things in sequence.

And I confirmed it's possible to assign Aons to another shape and then call them by writing the other shape:

Quote

DK: OK, I’ve got another question about AonDor.
BS: OK.
DK: So it’s a lot like functional programing.

BS: Yes.
DK: And my question is: could you write higher level language of programming with that.
BS: Yes.

DK: Ohhh...
BS: Mhhm but only an Elantrian could make it like work, right? Not compile but could execute the function. They would have to type it out and execute. Like if you were just, even if you just gave it to them, they would have to retype it and go, but yes, you could.
DK: Couldn’t you like, is there an Aon for define, definition? So like you could go and define some really long sequence of Aons and then assign it to simple shape.
BS: Right.

DK: Then draw the simple and would it work?
BS: Right right, object oriented. This is realistically plausible, you would have to write all this stuff and call the function and have this constantly in the state of Kinetic Investiture, but that is reasonable. I mean it’s not so far off from things they actually did with much fewer, much fewer lines of code if you wish in the past. It’s what Elantris itself was, so yes.

DK: Pretty awesome.

[The One Who Connects]

16 hours ago, Lord Maelstrom said:

A single Aon used to activate several other connected Aons?

Aon Ehe.

Quote

When used as a modifier it can create a ward that will start other Aon chains. It is a useful Aon, however its complexity makes it difficult for less skilled practitioners.

---

16 hours ago, Lord Maelstrom said:

10. Is Dahkor location dependent in both the creation and use of the Dahkor bone formations? Or just in their creations? In other words, if a Dahkor user left Sel without a connection to the Dor, would his bones still keep their abilities?

I like this one. The fact that the bones should theoretically stay as they are has me thinking. There isn't anything magically preventing people from using the ChayShan movements, even if only a JinDo can utilize the magic. What would using ChayShan movements actually do while on another world?

[Sparkrunner]

1. Does a rithmatist have to touch their chalk? Could they hold it at the end of a stick? Could they have a machine make it?

2. Would it be possible for a rithmatist to make a working 3D-Chalkling by layering chalk?

[Brightlord M. Alhstrom]

4 hours ago, FiveLate said:

Q22 - Blood, flesh, and bone are all different essences, yet make up the human body.  Could a soulcaster only soulcast the blood and flesh of the body to stone or metal, leaving the bones intact and encased?

Are you thinking about awakening? Because this would be a very easy way to turn a corpse into a statue, which would mean that you'd have a much easier time creating Kalad Phantoms. Now, it would probably take more than 1 breath to awaken one of these Phantoms, but considering that they were originally bodies, I might be wrong.

It would be especially interesting if you could turn the flesh into stone, and the blood into ichor-alcohol. Or maybe some stronger material instead of stone.

Edited July 11, 2017 by Lord Maelstrom

[Brightlord M. Alhstrom]

1 hour ago, FiveLate said:

/sarcasm Who here would try to figure out ways to game the system like that? /

In that case, you might want to look at ways you could use AonDor, or Forgery to do the same.

For AonDor, I think Aon Shao (Transform) might be your best bet, though if Aon Ien (Heal) also applies to corpses, then that could have some promising results. The nice thing is that once you had the required modifiers memorized and optimized, you might be able to carve in a permanent version of the Aon, which would mean you wouldn't need to rewrite it over and over again. You could have a Phantom factory up in no time. The only concern would be taking the Phantoms off-world. From the way Dilaf undid Raoden's Illusion, it would seem that some applications of Aon Shao keep relying on the Dor, instead of doing a one time change. However, Aon Ien was used to heal foreigners who came to Elantris for healing. I would be surprised if the healing was undone when they left Arelon. So some effects of Aons are permanent, and others are location-dependent.

Forgery. If Forgery worked on other planets, or if you could used other sources of Investiture (like stormlight) to power it, then you could use forgery on Nalthis to change the history of a Lifeless into a Phantom. Just a bit of a change in which body got chosen to become a Phantom.

 

And, yea, I'm totally game for doing OP stuff by mixing different magic systems in cool ways.

Though this throws in another couple question for Brandon:

13. If an Elantrian used Aon Shao to turn Stone into Meat, or vice versa, then you took the transformed object off-world, would it revert? And if you ate the meat, then went off-world, would you die, as part of your body turned to stone?

14. Could you use Aon Ien to turn flesh into something else? Like stone?

15. Could you power Forgery through another source of Investiture? Like stormlight?

Edited July 11, 2017 by Lord Maelstrom

[The One Who Connects]

13 hours ago, FiveLate said:

Q2 - Do Alethi experience the Thrill everywhere in Roshar?
Q3 - Could The Thrill be experienced by someone in New Natanatan and Akinah at the same time?

No. I am almost certain that Taravangian has stated that Nergaoul moves too, and his area of influence should move with him.

13 hours ago, FiveLate said:

Q10-Q20 - Was one of the previous homes of the Iriali Yolen/Sel/Nalthis/Taldain/Scadrial/Threnody/Ashyn/Vax/Silverlight/ Braize?  

Line of questioning needs improvement. Try to ascertain their origin point and/or their order of travel(Q28).

Quote

28

Botanica

“If you wish to say it that way,” Ym said. “But it is not completely true. I accept no god. You should accept no god. We are Iriali, and part of the Long Trail, of which this is the Fourth Land.”^[16]
“Accept no priests either,” Ym said. “Those are from other lands, come to preach to us. Iriali need no preaching, only experience. As each experience is different, it brings completeness. Eventually, all will be gathered back in―when the Seventh Land is attained―and we will once again become One.”^[16]

Wait! The Iriali, are they nomadic people who travel between various Shardworlds? Is the "Long Trail" their travel path? So the "Fourth Land" refers to Roshar? (Roshar is exactly the fourth Shardworld we get to know. But I saw you note on the forum that we shouldn't use the publication order? Then it's hard to speculate.)

Peter

2. Yes, they travel between various Shardworlds, and this is the 4th planet they have been on.

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13 hours ago, FiveLate said:

Q24 - Hemalurgy requires flowing blood, lifeless have Richie-alcohol instead, how does this work?

We know that you can make a weak spike from a Lifeless, but we don't know if you can give them powers. Good question. Additionally, we should ask about Lifeless that were made in "the old way" without using Ichor-Alcohol.

---

Now for a few questions of my own. Hemalurgy... again... but only about the blood(which somehow makes it less morbid)

1. For a species with an open circulatory system, where hemolymph is analogous to blood, would they still fit the "moving blood" requirement for Hemalurgy?
2. From same source as 1: (I know this is mostly flatworms and jellyfish), but would a species with no circulatory system be viable to use Hemalurgic spikes?
3. How about Lifeless made without Ichor-Alcohol? Are they viable to use Hemalurgic Spikes?
4. What actually makes "the old way" different from the Ichor-Alcohol method? How does one actually prepare the body with the alcohol vs how the body is prepared in the old method?
5. Would a Steel Inquisitor turned into a Lifeless after dying retain their powers? (Use generic Allomancer if need be)
   • Would they retain the mental capacity to use those powers, the way Lifeless soldiers retain their muscle memory?
   • Are Lifeless physically able to ingest metals in order to use Allomancy?
6. Could a Steel inquisitor on Nalthis become a Returned, or do the spikes interfere with the Divine Breath?
   • Would adding spikes to a Returned interfere with the Divine Breath in some way?
7. A Nicrosil Compounding Returned could essentially live forever, no?
8. Agelessness is from the 5th Height, but when Returned suppress their Divine Breath, they are not at the 5th Height. Would they grow older while suppressing, or is this another passive effect that they cannot turn off?
9. Has anyone in the Cosmere used Hemalurgy to steal something besides a power?(Koloss/Kandra Spikes don't count)
   • If yes, what did they steal?
   • What is the strangest non-power attribute someone in the Cosmere has stolen with Hemalurgy?
     • What is the strangest non-power attribute that can be stolen with Hemalurgy? (besides writing skill)