The Ultimate List of Questions for Brandon

[Kurkistan he/him]

Some quotes:

 

Source:

CZANOS (17 OCTOBER 2008)

Preservation can fuel Allomancy, (Minus Atium.) but can Ruin fuel Hemalurgy? (Or Atium?) And could Sazed fuel all three Metallic Arts?

 

BRANDON SANDERSON (17 OCTOBER 2008)

Both gods could, if they wanted, fuel all of the metallic arts. Preservation is stronger at fueling Allomancy, Ruin stronger at fueling Allomancy or Feruchemy when it has been given via a spike. Both are balanced when it comes to Feruchemy. But this rarely comes up in the books, as it required expending power in a way that the gods were hesitant to do.

 

Source:

ANDREW THE GREAT (19 OCTOBER 2008)

Why can Vin fuel Elend's atium-burning, even though Atium is Ruin's Body and Vin is using Preservation? Or did I misread that and he was just burning atium and had run out of everything else?

 

BRANDON SANDERSON (20 OCTOBER 2008)

Yes, as has been pointed out:

 

A powerful peace swelled in Elend. His Allomancy flared bright, though he knew the metals inside of him should have burned away. Only atium remained, and the strange power did not—could not—give him this metal. But it didn’t matter. For a moment, he was embraced by something greater. He looked up, toward the sun. (From the text.)

 

As a note here, the powers granted by all of the metals—even the two divine ones—are not themselves of either Shard. They are simply tools. And so, it's possible that one COULD have found a way to reproduce an ability like atium's while using Preservation's power, but it wouldn't be as natural or as easy as using Preservation to fuel Allomancy.

 

The means of getting powers—Ruin stealing, Preservation gifting—are related to the Shards, but not the powers themselves.

[Oudeis he/him]

Cool, thanks!

 

Kandra have gender and, apparently, gender preference. Can they produce offspring? Would the offspring be mistwraiths? Are kandra genetically capable of homosexuality?

[Meg]

Kandra only were made by using "Blessings" on mistwraiths. The first Kandra were made by The Lord Ruler, they are called the First Generation. For the following generations (one each 100 years) The Lord Ruler provided the needed Blessings to the Kandra. So in my understanding Kandra don't produce offspring. I, too, don't think they have a sexuality like humans.

(This information is from Hero of Ages, Chapter 7.)

[Oudeis he/him]

So in my understanding Kandra don't produce offspring. I, too, don't think they have a sexuality like humans.

 

I know we've got it confirmed that mistwraiths are born, live fifty years or so, reproduce, and die. However, I just saw something (and now for the life of me can't think of where) that linked me to a Theoryland post saying that kandra can tell gender by smell, and that they have sexual preference. It didn't specify whether that meant, they were always attracted to the opposite gender, or not. Since they have negligible senescence (and if I spelt that right I award myself fifty points) which is a trait the unbirthed do not possess, they might also have other changes. If I were better at searching theoryland I'd find the quote again and post it. For in-text support, there's a moment when Vin and "OreSeur" are discussing dresses, and she tells him he's a boy, and he asks how she knew.

 

Personally, I think it'd be a blessing if they couldn't reproduce. Imagine falling in love, knowing that if you indulge your lusts there's a chance you'll give birth to a cat, and that unless you give birth within a relatively short span of years, you won't have the ability to bring your child to life as a sentient being.

 

Actually... that might make for an interesting character. What if a couple fell in love, bore a mistwraith child, and in grief either one parent donated his or her own Blessing, becoming a beast in order to grant their child a mind, or maybe each parent donated a single spike (though if I understand hemalurgy, only matched spikes are actual Blessings, so the parents would have to have the same Blessing). I want to write that story now. The only fifth-and-a-half generation Kandra, the only Kandra with Kandra parents, where daddy is kept in a cage and basically treated like a favored, pampered pet... she bears his Blessing of Stability, and sometimes she can sit back and meditate, and literally feel the residual traces of how much he loves her.

EDIT: Here's the quote. Believe it or not I hadn't even closed the tab. Remind me to check those next time before I say I lost the link.

Edited December 20, 2013 by Darnam

[Demandred]

Could an object on Roshar or Scadrial be somehow invested to the point that becomes sentient, like Nightblood? Or is that an ability unique to Warbreaker's world?

Also, Nightblood seems to feed off of Breath, which is a form of investiture yes? Could Nightblood be fueled by other forms of Investiture, like stormlight?

[Aether he/him]

Could an object on Roshar or Scadrial be somehow invested to the point that becomes sentient, like Nightblood? Or is that an ability unique to Warbreaker's world?

Also, Nightblood seems to feed off of Breath, which is a form of investiture yes? Could Nightblood be fueled by other forms of Investiture, like stormlight?

I do not think it is beyond reasonable to assume that Stormlight could work. I am not sure if he would be able to kill someone other than Nalthians from draining them out.

[Moogle]

Could an object on Roshar or Scadrial be somehow invested to the point that becomes sentient, like Nightblood? Or is that an ability unique to Warbreaker's world?

Also, Nightblood seems to feed off of Breath, which is a form of investiture yes? Could Nightblood be fueled by other forms of Investiture, like stormlight?

 

There is a theory that Hoid has a Nalthian sword like Nightblood, and that he plans on using it to kill a Shard. Bind the sword to the Shard, and have it eat all of the Investiture.

[Oudeis he/him]

Would a steel blade in an aluminum sheath be pushable?

[Meg]

Could an object on Roshar or Scadrial be somehow invested to the point that becomes sentient, like Nightblood? Or is that an ability unique to Warbreaker's world?

Regarding Roshar and spren this information might help:

source

 

Brandon Sanderson

Objects with almost sentient behavior like Nightblood in Warbreaker share important links with the spren from The Way of Kings. If you understand the spren you will understand a lot about the connection between the books.

[Oudeis he/him]

What is the colloquial term for an atium ferring? Like how an iron ferring is known as a Skimmer or a brass misting is known as a Soother.

Human the koloss found the Trust empty. If he'd found it full, what would he have done? What spiritual, cognitive, or physical acts would be required for Ruin to access the power?

[Shardlet he/him]

What is the colloquial term for an atium ferring? Like how an iron ferring is known as a Skimmer or a brass misting is known as a Soother.

 

I doubt that there is one.  Ferrings did not apparently emerge until the age of Harmony.  And of course, atium has not apparently been reintroduced onto Scadrial.  So there would be no known atium ferrings.  Since terms like skimmer, slider, and soother are in-world constructions, there would not be a colloquial name for them unless some one IRL coined it.

[DocHoliday he/him]

It's been said that the Mists of Scadrial are similar to the Highstorm of Roshar.

 

Is there a relation to the Mists Snapping with Leras "occupied"; and the intensity of the Highstorms power after Honor was shattered ?

[Oudeis he/him]

I doubt that there is one. Ferrings did not apparently emerge until the age of Harmony. And of course, atium has not apparently been reintroduced onto Scadrial. So there would be no known atium ferrings. Since terms like skimmer, slider, and soother are in-world constructions, there would not be a colloquial name for them unless some one IRL coined it.

It would be theoretical, but still something someone could think of in-world. It is fairly well-known what atium does, feruchemically, and it's known that there are atium Mistings. I don't see why there'd be a rule that "we aren't allowed to name this until it is documented." They surely know in-world what we do; that technically there are atium ferrings around, it's just that no one realizes.

[TheShogun he/him]

Are there waffles on Roshar?

[Shardlet he/him]

It would be theoretical, but still something someone could think of in-world. It is fairly well-known what atium does, feruchemically, and it's known that there are atium Mistings. I don't see why there'd be a rule that "we aren't allowed to name this until it is documented." They surely know in-world what we do; that technically there are atium ferrings around, it's just that no one realizes.

 

That is not really consistent with the definition of colloquial though.  Colloqiual means used in ordinary or familiar conversation.  Not formal or literary usage.

[Oudeis he/him]

That is not really consistent with the definition of colloquial though. Colloqiual means used in ordinary or familiar conversation. Not formal or literary usage.

It doesn't have to be formal or literary. Wayne claims (and of course take it with a pinch of copper) to know the nicknames for every possible combination of twinborn. Wayne doesn't exactly fit the definition of formal or literary, but he's got ordinary and familiar down to a science. This is clear support for the theory that the common populace is interested in the phenomenon. It would be somewhat esoteric, I grant you, much in the way that knowing what a chromium/gold twinborn is called isn't likely to come up often, but still something people in-world would discuss, much more frequently, I should think, than we IRL discuss comic books (or even chromium/gold twinborn) as they are things that are very real and present in their world.

[Shardbearer he/him]

Come get your Metallic Arts Trading Cards! Find the rare Twinborn Combo Cards to learn the names of every possible twinborn combination, along with descriptions of how to defeat them in battle. Can you find and collect all of the super rare Compounder Cards? With these cards you will be fully equipped with the knowledge of how to defeat any Metalborn you come across.

 

Disclaimer and warranty: Do not try fighting Metalborn at home. We are not responsible if you try to combat Metalborn and are injured or killed in any way.

[Kurkistan he/him]

Human the koloss found the Trust empty. If he'd found it full, what would he have done? What spiritual, cognitive, or physical acts would be required for Ruin to access the power?

 

He'd need to "manifest" so that he could metabolize it. So just popping up in mist-spirit form would probably do the trick.

[TripleCheck]

Do the lines on the Allomantic symbols, as shown on the Allomancy chart, look suspiciously like Hemalurgic spikes to anyone else, or am I going mad? (Don't know if anyone else has asked this before)

[PorridgeBrick he/him]

Just read Rithmatist, and I noticed that there are hardly any questions on it, so I think I'll add a few.

1. Can all conics, including parabolas and hyperbolas, be used as lines of warding, or is it just the non-infinite ones?

2. Are all of a circle's bindpoints determined by where it intersects with significant points on a triangle, or is it just the nine-point that behaves this way? Also, do they have to be on the points of greatest curvature (infinitely many for a circle, but only two for ellipses and hyperbolas and only one for parabolas)?

3. Is the strength of a line of revocation determined by its wavelength just like for a line of vigor?

4. Do chalklings interact with just the 2d chalk line of a line of forbiddance, or does the 3d force field generated by it also block chalklings? If a line of forbiddance was drawn on the ceiling such that the force field touched the floor, could chalklings cross that floor?

5. What happens when a line is drawn all the way around the surface of a sphere? Is it a line of forbiddance or of warding?

[Oudeis he/him]

I suspect there haven't been a ton of Rithmatist questions because it is non-cosmere. That said, interesting questions.

[Oudeis he/him]

If Glen burns Gold at the same time that Francis burns Malatium, would the malatium-shadow that Francis sees appear in the same spot as the Gold-shadow that Glen sees?

 

We know that you have to be at the (what, 9th?) Heightening in order to Awaken stone/metal. Do you have to be there in order to store Breath in metal or stone, the way Vivenna stores hers in that scrap of cloth? What about things like glass or water? What about things inside your own body? Could you swallow a tiny figurine of a human, then Awaken it? Could you swallow a scrap of cloth, and use its color to awaken?

Edited January 2, 2014 by Darnam

[Moogle]

What difference does Allomantic strength make when using gold/electrum, if any?

 

Would burning electrum and atium offer any advantages when fighting against someone burning only atium?

[Oudeis he/him]

Does Awakening something rigid, like stone, grant it the fluidity to move when you Command it, the way Awakening a rope grants it the rigidity of strength to move/grab/strangle/fetch cups of water/fling boulders?

 

Can you Awaken water? Could you Command it to Freeze? Can you Awaken fire? Can you Command a log to Burn?

[Kurkistan he/him]

We know that you have to be at the (what, 9th?) Heightening in order to Awaken stone/metal. Do you have to be there in order to store Breath in metal or stone, the way Vivenna stores hers in that scrap of cloth? What about things like glass or water? What about things inside your own body? Could you swallow a tiny figurine of a human, then Awaken it? Could you swallow a scrap of cloth, and use its color to awaken?

 

I can answer some of that.

 

Source:

Miyabi: We only have one here from Nalthis, this one’s a little bit tricky. Can you store Breath in metal without the Eighth Heightening? Just put it there without awakening, just to hide the Breath.

 

Brandon: Can you hide Breath… Yes you can hide Breath in things.

 

EDIT:

 

Does Awakening something rigid, like stone, grant it the fluidity to move when you Command it, the way Awakening a rope grants it the rigidity of strength to move/grab/strangle/fetch cups of water/fling boulders?

 

Can you Awaken water? Could you Command it to Freeze? Can you Awaken fire? Can you Command a log to Burn?

Apparently the Breath needs to act like "magical sinew" for the Phantoms to be able to do their thing.

Edited January 2, 2014 by Kurkistan