The Ultimate List of Questions for Brandon

[masaru]

1. Can Nazh world hop or does he travel between worlds by other means?

2. Is Nazh seen in Shadows for Silence?

3. When in the Cosmere timeline do Shadows for Silence and White Sand take place?

Edited August 11, 2014 by masaru

[CosmereNinja he/him]

Hey, I'm new to the site so go easy on me!

After recently meeting Brandon at a signing in Leeds I thought id take the plunge and get involved in the cosmere theorising. Not sure if this is the right place to post it or if anyone has asked this question - I asked

" would a non returned be killed using nightblood if it used up their breath, or would they just become a drab?"

Brandon - " yes and very quickly, no matter whether they are returned or not"

I then asked "so the same would happen if they used nightblood on Roshar with stormlight"

Brandon - "yes just the same"

This just made me think of a lot more questions but I was pretty nervous and left it there

[Moogle]

Hey, I'm new to the site so go easy on me!

After recently meeting Brandon at a signing in Leeds I thought id take the plunge and get involved in the cosmere theorising. Not sure if this is the right place to post it or if anyone has asked this question - I asked

" would a non returned be killed using nightblood if it used up their breath, or would they just become a drab?"

Brandon - " yes and very quickly, no matter whether they are returned or not"

I then asked "so the same would happen if they used nightblood on Roshar with stormlight"

Brandon - "yes just the same"

This just made me think of a lot more questions but I was pretty nervous and left it there

 

Welcome to the forums! There's a thread in the "Events, Signings, & Stalking" forum section where you should post that question & answer. If there's no thread for the signing in Leeds, you should make one! This thread is more for questions we want to ask Brandon rather than ones that are answered.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Moogle

[Oudeis he/him]

Atium-producing crystals crack in the presence of allomancy. Why? Is it because allomancy is of Preservation? What would happen if you used feruchemy near the crystals? What if the allomancy was stolen via hemalurgy?

[mail-mi he/him]

We all know you can store breath in a Cadmiummind. But can you store Breath in a Cadmiummind?

[Oudeis he/him]

Does eating and the process of digestion interact in any way with the process of burning metals allomantically?

[trixster]

• 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?

This question opens a different question. The Chalkling is 2D. They attack the Chalk line making a hole. There is a point made of making lines on the walls to keep the Chalklings from going around the lines using wall. So the real question is,

 

? In a room or hall why do the chalklings not use the roof. The answer seems obvious to me. If a line is drawn along the floor the 3d wall generated would not be in the wall but only up to it. However the wall of force must extend beyond the ceiling and prevent chalklings from crossing. so if you drew a line on the roof the chalking would most likely have to go to the roof to eat away the line, or the system is completely flawed.

Edited August 21, 2014 by trixster

[Oudeis he/him]

Back when Mr. Sanderson wrote the first book, and Vin referred to her ability as Luck, did he already know he eventually intended for there to be a metallic power of "luck"?

[Localconfusi0n]

If a person, once at a time, held and let go of every single Shard what would happen?

 

 

Did Hoid take more than 1 bead of Lerasium from the Well?

 

 

In White Sand what is the Magic System like on the part of the world we didn't see? (Im trying to be as non-spoilerish as I possibly can so that's why this is so vague, sorry if its still too much)

 

 

How could someone with Surgebinding use their Surgebinding on another world? Would it even work since Investiture is so easy to obtain on Roshar compared to pretty-much every other Shardworld we've seen?

[Oudeis he/him]

Does any Shard in particular hold Adonalsium's sense of humor?

[kaladamSB he/him]

What is Harmony's range for Hemalurgy? If someone is spiked on Roshar, would he know and be able to influence said person instantly? How many spikes before he can assume full control? Can this be blocked by another shard?

[Moogle]

What is Harmony's range for Hemalurgy? If someone is spiked on Roshar, would he know and be able to influence said person instantly? How many spikes before he can assume full control? Can this be blocked by another shard?

 

While this is unknown, Harmony is only Invested on Scadrial, going by Vin's PoV. The spikes don't explicitly let Ruin control you; the spikes open up a wound in your soul that lets anyone control you, including Ruin. I don't expect Harmony could influence anyone spiked off of Scadrial, at least not instantly, but other Shards could.

Edited August 26, 2014 by Moogle

[kaladamSB he/him]

While this is unknown, Harmony is only Invested on Scadrial, going by Vin's PoV. The spikes don't explicitly let Ruin control you; the spikes open up a wound in your soul that lets anyone control you, including Ruin. I don't expect Harmony could influence anyone spiked off of Scadrial, at least not instantly, but other Shards could.

Since hemalurgy is Ruins system, does that mean he has the most control over spiked beings? Meaning if Ruin and (for example) Odium were to fight over control of someone who had been spiked, would Ruin win outright? Or would it depend which innate investiture the person had originally? Hemalugy is so friggin cool

[Moogle]

Since hemalurgy is Ruins system, does that mean he has the most control over spiked beings? Meaning if Ruin and (for example) Odium were to fight over control of someone who had been spiked, would Ruin win outright? Or would it depend which innate investiture the person had originally? Hemalugy is so friggin cool

 

We don't know. Here's how it works:

Chaos2651

Is there a rationale to how Hemalurgic powers are distributed? I tried to look for a system, but they seem rather randomly distributed. For example, the spike which steals Allomantic powers for a particular quadrant is not always in one particular spot.

Brandon Sanderson

That is correct, it's not always in one particular spot. None of them are. I used as my model on this magic system the concept of acupuncture and pressure points. Placing a Hemalurgic spike is a very delicate and specific art. Imagine there being a different overlay on a human body, like a new network of nerves, representing lines, points, and 'veins' of the soul's spiritual makeup.

What is happening with Hemalurgy, essentially, is that you're driving a spike through a specific point on a person's body and ripping off a piece of their soul. It sticks to the spike on the Spiritual Realm. Then, you place that spike on someone else in a specific place (not exactly the same place, but on the right spiritual pressure point) and 'hot wire' the spirit to give it Hemalurgy or Feruchemy. It's like you're fooling the spiritual DNA, creating a work-around. Or, in some cases, changing the spirit to look like something else, which has the immediate effect of distorting the body and transforming it into a new creature.

Hemalurgy is a very brutal way of making changes like this, though, so it often has monstrous effects. (Like with the koloss.) And in most cases, it leaves a kind of 'hole' in the spirit's natural defenses, which is how Ruin was able to touch the souls of Hemalurgists directly.

(source)

 

So it has nothing to do with the Investiture, I think. There's just a hole in the spirit any Shard can use. The Shard which used more power would probably the one that wins when fighting to control people. We don't know for sure, though.

Edited August 26, 2014 by Moogle

[Curiosity he/him]

Do you ever come here, browse the theory boards, and laugh at them?

[Miyabi She/Her]

So it has nothing to do with the Investiture, I think. There's just a hole in the spirit any Shard can use. The Shard which used more power would probably the one that wins when fighting to control people. We don't know for sure, though.

By this line of logic EUOL provides could that mean it's possible for Hemalurgy to be used to create 'hotwires' for any type of spiritual connection within the Cosmere, provided the person performing the Hemalurgy knows where to use the spike to gain the proper connection to the spiritual realm?

[Moogle]

By this line of logic EUOL provides could that mean it's possible for Hemalurgy to be used to create 'hotwires' for any type of spiritual connection within the Cosmere, provided the person performing the Hemalurgy knows where to use the spike to gain the proper connection to the spiritual realm?

 

Oh, hey, welcome back. Haven't seen you in forever.

 

As to Hemalurgy, it should be possible to manipulate the soul to do anything. There's a few WoBs on doing interesting things with Hemalurgy:

Odium's_Shard

Lastly, less pressingly, do Spirit Points (hemalurgic spots) apply to ever magic system, and through the Cosmere at large? Ie. could Hemalurgy be used to take any other magic systems aspects, and do other magic systems also have these 'Points', such as Body Focuses, that work in similar ways?

Brandon Sanderson

Hemalurgy crosses magic systems. You could steal things from people on other worlds, if you knew the right places for the spikes.

(source)

 

For example, you can use it to steal Shardblades.

Kurkistan

Can Hemalurgy be used to steal Shardblades directly, transferring ownership from the victim to the spike's recipient without a need for the recipient to physically take the Shardblade first?

Brandon Sanderson

A novel use of Hemalurgy which is not outside the sphere of its powers.

(source)

 

So long as you can find someone with a Spiritual connection to something, you should be able to steal it, I think. I've been viewing the spiritweb as a sort of tangled mess of string, where the string leads to other people/places/things and "your" spiritweb is just where a bunch of strings intersect. Hemalurgy just sort of 'snips' the strings connecting people in my mental model. And I'm not entirely sure you'd have to steal it from someone else, though I'm not sure how you'd infuse a spike properly otherwise...

[Miyabi She/Her]

Thank you! ^.^ Yeah, I've been gone for ages.

A-ha! I'm glad there's already WoB on the matter. Considering we have Marsh teaching people about Hemalurgy, I feel that before we reach the end of SA we will see it used at least once or twice on Roshar. Especially considering how closely related these things are timewise.

[TheSilverDragon he/him]

Why is 16 so important but on Roshar the magic their has 10 as a base? I thought that everything in the cosmer would be based on the number 16.

Also why does one shard have more magic systems than another?

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

If you tapped a Cadium mind on a fast Sunday, woul that be breaking Fast?

 

Mormon Question.

[Miyabi She/Her]

Why is 16 so important but on Roshar the magic their has 10 as a base? I thought that everything in the cosmer would be based on the number 16.

Also why does one shard have more magic systems than another?

16 is important because that is the amount of pieces that Adonalsium shattered into and is a fundamental piece of the Cosmere. The 10, if I had to guess, would be because it is something which was chosen by Honor. He gave 10 people his power, he made them create 10 orders. The magic itself isn't based on 10, just the culture and the number of orders. I'd be willing to bet if you broke down the magic system mathematically it's based on 16 in some way or another. Something like a chit stores 16 units of STormlight and a Mark stores 156, etc.

The different magic systems is a thing that can be affected by a lot of things. The Shard's intent, its strength, etc.

[SmurfAquamarineBodies he/him]

What happened to Vin's body? / What would happen if someone Awakened it with the command 'be Vin'? Would the body be more powerful because it once held a Shard?

[WeiryWriter he/him]

Does hair that is still attached to a person's head get cut if a Shardblade passes through it?  If not if that person had the Royal Locks could they change the color of the hair "below" the cut?

[Localconfusi0n]

Theoretically, if you found a Sharholders body, could you steal their Shard with Hemalurgy? 

[Curiosity he/him]

Would the Parshendi make good world hoppers?