The Ultimate List of Questions for Brandon

[Moogle]

Cosmere - Shards and Magic

 

Are the magic systems tied to the world or to the Shard? For example, if Ruin and Preservation had landed on Sel instead of Scadrial, would Sel have Allomancy, AonDor, or a third unrealized system? Also, do Shards bring "their" magic with them? I'm thinking specifically if a moving Shard like Odium is leaving a trail of magic systems behind him.

 

Both the Shard and the planet play a role:

KAIMIPONO

On a broader level, is hemalurgy officially dead, then? Or is it still extant in some Ruin-free (but still messy) form? (If it's gone, is there any imbalance since Preservation's magic power is kept and Ruin's isn't?)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Is Hemalurgy dead? No, not at all. It, like the other two powers, was not created by Ruin or Preservation, but by the natural state of the world and its interaction with the gods who created it. It still requires the same method of creation, but very few people are aware of how it works.

(source)

 

However, Odium is not leaving his power behind, so there will be no magic systems left in his wake:

sufficientlyadvanced

It says that it's dangerous to travel to Shadesmar on Sel. Why?

Brandon Sanderson ()

It has to do with the Dor and the lack of an entity controlling much of the power Odium left in his wake on Sel.

Phantine

Woah, that's interesting. I had no idea Odium left little bits of his power on Sel... I guess it kinda makes sense for evil monks to be powered by pure hate, though.

Brandon Sanderson

Odium did not leave his power behind, one should note. He left several other powers which are now, to a large extent, mindless...

(source)

 

The last WoB isn't absolute about him leaving it nowhere, but I was unable to find the one I was thinking of. There's this one, though:

Shadowsaber223 ()

If Odium were lured to Scadrial, would his physical body turn into a burnable metal? If so, could Harmony create an Odium-metal legion of Mistings to consume and burn it? Would that weaken him sufficiently enough to be killed or destroyed?

Brandon Sanderson

The difficulty here is, again, one of Identity. People born on Scadrial have an Identity tied to it and its magic. Odium would have to do certain things to make them able to use a magic he fuels. He has done these things on Roshar, so it's not impossible for him to manage it on Scadrial.

(source)

Edited January 13, 2015 by Moogle

[Blaze1616 he/him]

In short, we have one point of data. What I'm "trying to figure out" is to get a second point, and using that information try to figure out the best ways to get more and more data, like Battleship. Except that we're all playing Battleship against someone who has the option to not tell us whether or not we hit a ship of his, making the game significantly harder.

 

Upvoted, because that is exactly what it feels like.

[blad3mast3r he/him]

"Here's the essence of Pure Hatred, go ahead, Eat it!"

 

.........nah

[entropicscholar he/him]

Cosmere - Shards and Magic

 

Are the magic systems tied to the world or to the Shard? For example, if Ruin and Preservation had landed on Sel instead of Scadrial, would Sel have Allomancy, AonDor, or a third unrealized system? Also, do Shards bring "their" magic with them? I'm thinking specifically if a moving Shard like Odium is leaving a trail of magic systems behind him.

Slightly different way to ask a similar question:

 

---

After a shard invests themself in a Shardworld is it possible for them to un-invest themself from that world when they leave?

 

i.e. if Odium were to leave Greater Roshar, and attack some other world, would he be able to remove the magic system of Voidbinding, from Roshar, so-as to retreive his power?

[Kurkistan he/him]

Slightly different way to ask a similar question:

 

---

After a shard invests themself in a Shardworld is it possible for them to un-invest themself from that world when they leave?

 

i.e. if Odium were to leave Greater Roshar, and attack some other world, would he be able to remove the magic system of Voidbinding, from Roshar, so-as to retreive his power?

 

Source:

Q: When one of the shards, like Odium, move from world to world in the cosmere, does their presence, like the metals they leave behind and their magic, leave with them?

A: Umm... Odium never really settled on a planet. He is now settled on Roshar and his magic has permeated things. Leaving would be very difficult for him. It would either involve leaving behind some of his power or ripping that out, which would be a difficult process. So yes it is very tough to leave.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Kurkistan

[Bort he/him]

I have one question I'd like to put to Brandon. I expect the answer will be 'No', but I'd be interested to see his reaction.

 

My question is... Did Reya eat Hoid?

Edited January 14, 2015 by Bort

[SmurfAquamarineBodies he/him]

Is it possible to place Breath into a plant?

What would happen to the plant?

Could you retrieve it with Hemalurgy?

[Turos]

If you awaken a carrot, then eat the carrot, what happens?

[LiquidBlue]

What do cognitive changes look like from the perspective of Shadesmar? For example, what does the process of a log burning into ash, smoke and flame look like from within Shadesmar? Or what does splitting a log into firewood?

 

Can changing cognitive attributes create hazardous conditions in Shadesmar?

[Oudeis he/him]

Is the metal of a fabrial Invested enough to resist steelpushes?

[Darkness he/him]

Is Ashir's discovery going to be a game changer?

Edit for an add-on: Did the Heralds visit the Nightwatcher?

Edited January 22, 2015 by Darkness

[entropicscholar he/him]

Is the metal of a fabrial Invested enough to resist steelpushes?

 

There was a discussion related to this at the WOR Signing in Herowannabe that touched on this a great deal.

I would guess that the answer depends alot on what type of fabrial, though.

one that is "always on", like a detector, should be more difficult simply because it has stormlight flowing through the metal all the time, rather than just sitting in the crystals that power it.

 

obviously, I can't do more than guess but...

now I want to know the answer to this...

Edited January 22, 2015 by entropicscholar

[Asperity he/him]

Will any Shardworlds become as technologically advanced as Scadrial will?

 

Is the threat to Adonalsium extragalactic?

Will we see anything in-Cosmere that is extragalactic?

 

Also to that guy who was going to add my question to a 'card' on the desk, or whichever, could you PM me if that question is ever answered?

Edited January 22, 2015 by Kythis

[Oudeis he/him]

Is each Order better at one Surge than the other?

[Cheese United he/him]

Don't know if it's been done yet, but what does a cognitive shadow look like in the cognitive realm?

(Like kelsier's shadow or the stormfather, but not in the physical)

Hope we don't already know that, cause then this'll just look awkard

[Moogle]

Don't know if it's been done yet, but what does a cognitive shadow look like in the cognitive realm?

(Like kelsier's shadow or the stormfather, but not in the physical)

Hope we don't already know that, cause then this'll just look awkard

 

We don't know, but it's a safe bet to say that it varies based on world.

[ROSHtaFARian2.0]

We know that Ati was once a good man, altered by his Shard's Intent into the much more malevolent Ruin.  Have there been any instances where the reverse happened with a Shardholder?  Ie, a mostly amoral Shardholder like Rayse or Bavadin who was altered by their Shard's Intent to being much more benevolent?

[Oudeis he/him]

Don't know if it's been done yet, but what does a cognitive shadow look like in the cognitive realm?

(Like kelsier's shadow or the stormfather, but not in the physical)

Hope we don't already know that, cause then this'll just look awkard

 

Your question pre-supposes that all cognitive shadows are the same. What if "Cognitive shadow" is analogous to the phrase, "work of art"? What does a "work of art" look like in the cognitive realm? Well, presumably both a statue and a painting would be represented by a glass bead. What about a photo of the painting? Is it a new glass bead, or an extension of the first one? What about a play? Is there a glass bead as its being performed? Is it just the glass beads for the stage, the performers, the lighting? Would they be how the "play" is represented in the cognitive realm? If no one is currently performing the play, does it no longer exist? What about a song? Is it in the singer's glass bead? Does it get its own, despite having no physical substance? Does it reflect the emotions and memories that the song invokes? Is it just the glass bead of the sheet music?

 

My point is, you may wish to ask more general questions first to understand what a cognitive shadow is before you're able to ask something like "what does a cognitive shadow look like in the cognitive realm". As my friend told me the other day, when you're trying to reconstruct a skeleton, you start with the big bones. We know a few different things about cognitive shadows and most of them confuse us, perhaps because there's an underlying assumption that all cognitive shadows are the same, when they might be very, very different things which are alike in fewer ways than we realize.

[entropicscholar he/him]

We know that Ati was once a good man, altered by his Shard's Intent into the much more malevolent Ruin.  Have there been any instances where the reverse happened with a Shardholder?  Ie, a mostly amoral Shardholder like Rayse or Bavadin who was altered by their Shard's Intent to being much more benevolent?

Leras would be an example.

 

he started out as quite selfish, but then sacrificed his own sentience, and then his life to bring about the entire storyline of the Mistborn trilogy.

Edited January 23, 2015 by entropicscholar

[Oudeis he/him]

From where do we know that Leras was once selfish? Also, the actions he took were pretty harshly in contrast to the Intent of "Preservation" so... if he changed, I doubt it was purely through the principle of Intent.

 

For my question: Does your spiritweb need to have a connection to Roshar for you to bond a Shardblade?

 

EDIT: I believe we've had it confirmed that Soulcasting is unique among Surges in that even if you're a Surgebinder, you need stormlight from a gem of the appropriate color in order to soulcast an Essence. What would you Soulcast if you, like Kaladin, drew Stormlight in directly from the storm, not from a gemstone?

Edited January 24, 2015 by Oudeis

[Turos]

You would blow up.

ಠ__ಠ

 

Q:

Can people see outside the visible spectrum if they reach a certain Heightening?

Like X-ray and Ultraviolet, etc.

Edited January 24, 2015 by Turos Stoneward

[Turos]

Since Aluminum is counter-intuitive to investiture-ness, is Duralumin extra-intuitive in all ways that Aluminum is not?

 

Is Chromium unaffected by powers like Aluminum?

Edited January 24, 2015 by Turos Stoneward

[SmurfAquamarineBodies he/him]

If a Lerasium alloy was made with a non-Allomantic metal, like lead, and someone burnt it. What would happen?

[entropicscholar he/him]

Leras would be an example.

 

he started out as quite selfish, but then sacrificed his own sentience, and then his life to bring about the entire storyline of the Mistborn trilogy.

 

 

From where do we know that Leras was once selfish? Also, the actions he took were pretty harshly in contrast to the Intent of "Preservation" so... if he changed, I doubt it was purely through the principle of Intent.

 

I'm having a bit of trouble finding the Quote I was working from.

The more I look, though, I think you are right.

I still think he was changed by the intent, but not nearly in the extreme way I thought he was.

[Oudeis he/him]

Soulcasting, even for a Surgebinder, requires you to use specific gemstones depending on the essence. At one point in the books, Kaladin and Szeth both Invest directly from the Highstorm. If Jasnah were to Invest directly from the Highstorm, what Essence could she Soulcast? Any of them? A brand-new 11th category?