The Ultimate List of Questions for Brandon

[Calderis he/him]

Could the Spiritual Realm be used to create a gateway between two physical locations and allow for direct travel without the need for traversing the intervening space? 

Is this how Oathgates function? 

[Jondesu he/him]

Could you Awaken an object by giving the command to its bead in Shadesmar, or the equivalent in the Nalthian CR?

[Brightlord M. Alhstrom he/him]

15. Can an Elantrian use Aon Tia to go as far as he wants? Like to another planet for example? (If this is a yes, then I have a theory about how Galladon got off Sel.)

16. Can an elantrian create a portal through Aon Tia that would allow non-Elantrians to travel?
16.1 (If yes to 16) Can you make a permanent version of the portal? Kinda like the Aon Ashe metal plates?
16.2 (If yes to 16.1) Would such a portal allow two way transportation? (Essentially, what I'm picturing is WoT style travelling, with the stipulation that the portals can only be opened from Elantris. This would make it possible for Elantris to become a hub used to travel from city to city or world to world within the Cosmere.)
16.3 (If no to 16.) Is it possible for an Elantrian to bring others with him as he uses Aon Tia?

[Scriptorian he/him]

Does Feruchemicical Steel affect the speed of your bodily processes (aging, digestion, etc.) Does zinc?

Preusmably, tapping Feruchemical steel increases your reaction speed in some way. How is this different than tapping zinc?

Does Feruchemical zinc only make you think faster, or does it also increases your ability to make lateral connections?

Are you sure that tapping mass doesn't make you bullet-proof? 

Could an electrum savant reach the spiritual realm by flaring? What if they received a nicroburst?

If a lurcher were in the spritual realm, could they Pull on the lines Connecting them to everything? What would this do?

How hard would it be for a Kandra to take the form of a bird and fly? Would it have to be a relatively large bird?

Is it theoretically possible for an Elantrian to "mentally" draw Aons (make them appear in the air without actually drawing them) like how an Awakener visualizes Commands? Is this practical?

Can a Forger alter their epigenome? Could they change their genotype/phenotype within the possible genes provided by their parents?

Can a surgebinder consciously affect how much stormlight they expend in healing?

In order for Szeth to form a pseudo-nahel bond with Nightblood (and join the Order of the Nightbleeders) does he have to swear "I will destroy evil"? Is the next oath "I will destroy evil today"?

Edit: forgot a few. 

How does aluminum show up in the spiritual realm? Can a shard's future-sight account for it?

Would an Oracle be able to see an electrum shadow get struck by an aluminum bullet?

Can an Oracle only see electrum shadows in their line of sight?

Edited July 14, 2017 by Scriptorian

[Calderis he/him]

7 minutes ago, Scriptorian said:

Can a surgebinder consciously affect how much stormlight they expend in healing?

Kaladin healing the Shardblade cut arm took conscious effort, so I would have to say yes. 

[The One Who Connects he/him]

On 7/14/2017 at 10:24 AM, Scriptorian said:

Presumably, tapping Feruchemical steel increases your reaction speed in some way. How is this different than tapping zinc?

Does Feruchemical zinc only make you think faster, or does it also increases your ability to make lateral connections?

Zinc doesn't speed up reaction time. As for the lateral leaps, make your assumption around the Ken Jennings reference.

Quote

Alterodent

With zinc, you get mental speed. How is that any different from steel, except without [physical] speed?

Brandon Sanderson

I think of the mental speed actually turning you into... Let's say you sped up your body, and you wanted to figure out some really complex equations.

Alterodent

So it lets you have intuitive leaps.

Brandon Sanderson

Right. It basically turns you into Ken Jennings. That's how I imagine it.

Kurkistan

So it's not like bullet time?

Brandon Sanderson

No... It'll bullet time a little bit, it certainly will, because you're thinking faster than everyone else, but it has applications beyond bullet timing. Bullet time is really-

Kurkistan

That’s steel’s thing?

Brandon Sanderson

That’s kind of steel's thing. They overlap on that one, because the steel thing... But yeah. It's more like "I think fast, but my reaction speed is not sped up".

[Source]

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On 7/14/2017 at 10:24 AM, Scriptorian said:

Could an electrum savant reach the spiritual realm by flaring? What if they received a nicroburst?

Nicroburst, yes. Savant.. maybe, but it's got interference.

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Q: What would a Hemalurgic spike granting Atium do for an Allomancer already able to burn Atium? Does it function similarly to bronze, granting enhanced atium-ing? Along this line of thought, would enhancing Electrum burning via spike be of any advantage?
A: A spike of something you have would enhance your ability, giving your more strength. With Atium, more strength makes for a minimal edge--the length you can push out the Atium shadows. However, there's a certain breaking point where you kind of crack the whole system, peer straight into the cognitive(Spiritual) realm, and kind of have a "It's full of stars" moment. Electrum could reach this same moment, potentially, though there's more interference to fight through. Extra strength in Electrum isn't going to be terribly useful up to that point.
Q: Is that what happened when Atium was burned with Duralumin?
A: Yes.

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On 7/14/2017 at 10:24 AM, Scriptorian said:

If a lurcher were in the spiritual realm, could they Pull on the lines Connecting them to everything?

I doubt it, considering the lines that they can push/pull on are essentially spiritual already.

Quote

relient23

Are the lines that an Allomancer sees when burning iron or steel are in the physical realm, the spiritual realm, or the cognitive realm?

Brandon Sanderson

"It is more spiritual realm than anything."

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[Toaster Retribution he/him]

-What was Bavadins gender before he/she picked up Autonomy (I still feel that Bavadins gender is pretty vague).

-If you spiked an animal (let´s say a beaver) in a way that gave it Allomantic powers, would the beaver then understand how to use its newfound powers?

-Will we learn anything about currently unknown Shards in Stormlight?

-Is Spook alive during Mistborn Era 2?

-Would a shard be able to remove its investment from a planet in some way?

-Was Rayse human before picking up Odium?

Edited July 15, 2017 by Toaster Retribution

[Calderis he/him]

8 minutes ago, Toaster Retribution said:

Would a shard be able to remove its investment from a planet in some way?

Since I posted my Taldain thread yesterday I've been looking and failing to find one about this other than the one you've seen in that thread. 

I know I've seen one in the past that said they could, but they'd be forced to leave behind a portion of their investiture. This is precisely why the "shardpool" leaving shocked me so much. 

I think it's possible, but it weakens them, and that's precisely why Odium wanted to avoid investing. 

If I can manage to hunt it down, I'll be sure to post it here for you. 

[The One Who Connects he/him]

1 hour ago, Toaster Retribution said:

-Would a shard be able to remove its investment from a planet in some way?

I'm fairly certain that he has said this before.

46 minutes ago, Calderis said:

I know I've seen one in the past that said they could, but they'd be forced to leave behind a portion of their investiture. This is precisely why the "shardpool" leaving shocked me so much. 

I also remember one(or more) essentially saying that they had two options: 1) rip themselves away from a portion of their Investiture and leave immediately.  2) "Divest" first, spending time absorbing all of their power and then leaving. I cannot find it, and it's infuriating

1 hour ago, Toaster Retribution said:

-If you spiked an animal (let´s say a beaver) in a way that gave it Allomantic powers, would the beaver then understand how to use its newfound powers?

I vaguely remember a WoB about a chicken. Oh... that was about parrot and awakening. I think that since "intent matters" prevents a parrot from awakening, it should prevent power usage. But instinctive burning... hrmm.

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

24 minutes ago, The One Who Connects said:

I vaguely remember a WoB about a chicken. Oh... that was about parrot and awakening. I think that since "intent matters" prevents a parrot from awakening, it should prevent power usage. But instinctive burning... hrmm.

I just like the mental image of a steelpush beaver flying around in Elendel.

[Andy92]

I've read before that one of the original 16 Shardholders wasn't human. Was one of the original holders a dragon? 

[The One Who Connects he/him]

36 minutes ago, Andy92 said:

I've read before that one of the original 16 Shardholders wasn't human. Was one of the original holders a dragon? 

There are 3 races on Yolen. Humans, Dragons and Shodel.(uncertain about Dragonsteel Canon for Shodel)

Quote

INTERVIEW: Mar 21st, 2014

WOR Signing Table Q&A (Verbatim)

NUTIKETAIEL

Were the original sixteen Shardholders after the shattering all human?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Uh … RAFO. There are three races on Yolen. Three sentient races.

We assume that not all of the 16 were Human, so that's a 50/50 of the non-human one(s) being a Dragon. I'd also put more than just "one" as non-human, because 15/16 being human is bad odds considering...

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

@The One Who Connects What are the shodel like?

[The One Who Connects he/him]

3 minutes ago, Toaster Retribution said:

@The One Who Connects What are the shodel like?

Here is the grand sum of knowledge I have on them:

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Q: You've once said that there were three sentient species on Yolen: Human, Dragon and Shodel. We've seen a lot of 'people' on the different planets that were either descended from or intentionally based on humans. Frost is known to be a dragon. Are any of the non-human species we've seen descended from or based on either Dragons or Shodel?
 
A: RAFO!
 
Q: What colour is Frost's blood? What colour is a Shodel's blood?
 
A: RAFO, more because I'm not ready to canonize Dragonsteel facts yet, as opposed because it will be a huge revelation.

This is the first and only time I have ever heard the name.

Also: @Andy92 I found a better WoB that does say not all of the 16 were Human. So for those that aren't human, my 50/50 stands.

Quote

1.57

Q: I wonder, if original shardholder was (another?...) not from...

A: Not human or...?

Q: Human, but not from Yolen

A: So... no, everybody was from Yolen

Q: Sapience was..?

A: Not all human, but all from Yolen.

[Calderis he/him]

@Toaster Retribution until we see more of Yolen, I don't think we can answer. Having read the LoP sample chapters, we see exactly one of them and he's short, hunched and seems frail... But we only see one and it's not canon... So... 

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

@The One Who Connects @Calderis 

Thanks guys. Is LoP sample chapters one of those things that you can get if you send a nice email?

[Calderis he/him]

9 minutes ago, Toaster Retribution said:

@The One Who Connects @Calderis 

Thanks guys. Is LoP sample chapters one of those things that you can get if you send a nice email?

I remember finding it no problem when I looked. I do feel the need to tell you though that Brandon has suggested people not read it, as he thinks it's just bad, and he doesn't want it to shape anyone's opinion of Hoid. 

So I'm sure you can hunt it down very very easily, but you may not want to, as it's more likely to mislead us than gain anything concrete. 

[Sparkrunner he/him]

A question I have had for a while- when hoid and kaladin have the story-song around his little campfire, where he sees that evil king guy and the people on the island, etc. Was Hoid light-weaving that?

[Andy92]

@The One Who Connects Thanks, I would like to see a dragon somewhere along the line before Dragonsteel comes out in...too many years to think about lol. 

[The One Who Connects he/him]

12 minutes ago, Andy92 said:

@The One Who Connects Thanks, I would like to see a dragon somewhere along the line before Dragonsteel comes out in...too many years to think about lol. 

Well... apparently we may have. But thanks to being able to appear in human form, it's essentially as much of a wild goose chase as the Warbreaker Terriswoman was meant to be.

Quote

Q: One race on Yolen are dragons with the ability to shift. Now I'm positively sure that we haven't seen a dragon in his "dragon form" yet.
A: Right.
Q: How about their human form? And would it be possible to actually recognize their human form?
A: You have very likely seen...yes, you have seen a letter from a dragon....There are some that are off world, so you might have seen them. I won't tell you for sure, but you would not recognize them.

Edited July 16, 2017 by The One Who Connects

[Andy92]

@The One Who Connects If it ain't charring something with fire then I'll be unfulfilled by its appearance lol. 

[The One Who Connects he/him]

17 minutes ago, Andy92 said:

@The One Who Connects If it ain't charring something with fire then I'll be unfulfilled by its appearance lol. 

You say that when the only dragon we know is literally named Frost.

[Andy92]

1 hour ago, The One Who Connects said:

You say that when the only dragon we know is literally named Frost.

That could totally be a decoy...

[+Lewis Nethur He/Him]

23 hours ago, Toaster Retribution said:

@The One Who Connects @Calderis 

Thanks guys. Is LoP sample chapters one of those things that you can get if you send a nice email?

See link below for what I believe is the complete collection.  Sanderson asks that fans refrain from reading and sharing these as he fears that these works could improperly color people's perceptions about certain elements of the Cosmere.  However, I enjoyed them not for their entertainment value (relatively speaking, they're quite mediocre) but to get a sense of the evolution of the Cosmere and Sanderson's writing style, and it's in that spirit that I share them.

[Shqueeves]

iirc, Scadrial has waffles. Do they also have maple syrup?