Radiants Shards and Plate

[el_warko he/him]

Morning All,

 

First of all, I semi skim when I read so I sometimes miss the finer detail, which is one of the many things that makes the peoples of this site so great. It is a fantastic resource.

 

Now that I've buttered you all up, I have a question regarding the swords and plate of the Radiants. At Feverstone keep, the Stonewards and Windrunners ditched their gear. Do we have any proof, WOB, quotation or otherwise that specifies that any/all the other orders also had this equipment? I recall reading somewhere that not all Radiants were front line warriors as such. If that is the case can we infer that (and now I'm making things up) for sake of argument, the more mage like orders nominally Elsecallers, Lightweavers, Edgedancers etc. had other kit - staff's, mirrors, roller blades or whatever to focus / enhance their powers?

 

I realise that there has not been much/any mention of this but if the peoples (non-Radiants) pretty much only saw the front line troops that would explain the lack of information. Also, if each of the Orders was roughly evenly populated, you'd only have to account for ~200 odd missing sets of plate and swords as proposed to ~1200.

 

If this has been discussed ad nauseum, could someone please redirect to the requisite location.

 

Cheers,

 

[11thorderknight]

I'm pretty sure they were all called Knights Radiant for a reason. Remember, these orders were primarily founded to protect humanity against Desolations. In Dalinar's latest vision we see a Dustbringer with Plate and Blade, and Darkness talks about the Edgedancers as "glorious" for their battlefield abilities. 

 

I believe there has been WoB that all Radiants had access to Shards, even if they personally didn't use them much. Now, some people have taken this to mean that only certain orders took part in fighting. I've spoken out strongly against this interpretation. Again, they were all called Knights for a reason. I'll concede that certain orders, by virtue of their divine attributes, may have attracted members who were more or less likely to devote themselves to the study of and preparation for war during peacetime, such as the Windrunners (protecting) and Dustbringers (brave). However, once the voidbringers showed up, humanity would have needed every 90 year old retired Knight they could find to dust off their Shards and get to the front lines. 

[Swimmingly he/him]

Morning All,

First of all, I semi skim when I read so I sometimes miss the finer detail, which is one of the many things that makes the peoples of this site so great. It is a fantastic resource.

Now that I've buttered you all up, I have a question regarding the swords and plate of the Radiants. At Feverstone keep, the Stonewards and Windrunners ditched their gear. Do we have any proof, WOB, quotation or otherwise that specifies that any/all the other orders also had this equipment? I recall reading somewhere that not all Radiants were front line warriors as such. If that is the case can we infer that (and now I'm making things up) for sake of argument, the more mage like orders nominally Elsecallers, Lightweavers, Edgedancers etc. had other kit - staff's, mirrors, roller blades or whatever to focus / enhance their powers?

I realise that there has not been much/any mention of this but if the peoples (non-Radiants) pretty much only saw the front line troops that would explain the lack of information. Also, if each of the Orders was roughly evenly populated, you'd only have to account for ~200 odd missing sets of plate and swords as proposed to ~1200.

If this has been discussed ad nauseum, could someone please redirect to the requisite location.

Cheers,

[rant]

I'd like to get something straight: Even without a SINGLE surge, inhaling stormlight makes you a badass. A man who can use stormlight gains an instant healing factor, sped up senses and reactions, and increased strength and skill. So what if you're an aging lightbringer without the knack for illusions or a good opportunity to Soulcast? You're still a nigh-invincible glowing supersoldier! Go shove sharp implements where your enemies don't enjoy them![/rant]

[el_warko he/him]

[rant]

I'd like to get something straight: Even without a SINGLE surge, inhaling stormlight makes you a badass. A man who can use stormlight gains an instant healing factor, sped up senses and reactions, and increased strength and skill. So what if you're an aging lightbringer without the knack for illusions or a good opportunity to Soulcast? You're still a nigh-invincible glowing supersoldier! Go shove sharp implements where your enemies don't enjoy them![/rant]

 

Absolutely, I never intended to suggest otherwise (apologies if that's how it reads), just voicing my thoughts with regard to equipment and challenging assumptions that I think are being made about it.

 

Disclaimer I have NO military background and do not pretend that I do.

 

Also, 11th if you are in the army are you not a solider, even if you are the sniper or a tank driver or regular infantry?  Each of the previously listed sub occupation would be equiped differently which is what I was trying to get at.

[Natans he/him]

Dalinar WOR Vision showed a female Sharbearer that some believe are a *insert correct order* so we have at least one more order beside the Stonewardens and Windrunners with shardplate.

 

For sure some orders could be less "action directed". Like the Elsecaller(Transportation and Transformation are the best logistic duo that one could desire).

 

The EdgeDancer could act like Ninjadiants with all the jumping, surf in the ground and such.

 

Lightweavers spy or trap creators (Ilusion and transformation)

 

We don't know much about the other orders but for what we get from the name all them are serious wicked houses of awesomeness ( come on Skybreaker and Dustbringer people)

 

But when all come to blows every and which order could kick a serious chull.

 

In true i think that is more a question about especialization some orders must be better to kill some foes, and for what I got Voidbringers will come in all shapes and tastes.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Natans

[11thorderknight]

Absolutely, I never intended to suggest otherwise (apologies if that's how it reads), just voicing my thoughts with regard to equipment and challenging assumptions that I think are being made about it.

 

Disclaimer I have NO military background and do not pretend that I do.

 

Also, 11th if you are in the army are you not a solider, even if you are the sniper or a tank driver or regular infantry?  Each of the previously listed sub occupation would be equiped differently which is what I was trying to get at.

 

You're right, if you're in the military then you are a soldier. And of course, I'm sure that certain orders had specific roles based on their Surges - the Edgedancers and #5's would have been healers obviously, to use the easiest example - but I think some people have taken the concept to the extreme, proposing that certain orders basically didn't fight at all, or had no training. That's what I was arguing against.

[el_warko he/him]

You're right, if you're in the military then you are a soldier. And of course, I'm sure that certain orders had specific roles based on their Surges - the Edgedancers and #5's would have been healers obviously, to use the easiest example - but I think some people have taken the concept to the extreme, proposing that certain orders basically didn't fight at all, or had no training. That's what I was arguing against.

 

Fair point.  Also, I think Shards is slighly more genereic than a subset people are making it out to be.  Plenty of theorising out there on:

 

STOP: Hammer time            (might be showing my age here )

 

and spears. 

 

Also, Natans yeah man, I am also REALLY looking foward to the various other methods of bringing the pain.

[The Count he/him]

I am sure the is Word of Brandon that said, basically, that all the orders had access to shards but not all of the knights used it. Seemed to me like he was implying that it was a personal choice for each knight.

 

Also, we do not know if any orders other than Windrunners can inhale / infuse themselves with stormlight. Certainly we have seen both Shallan and Jasnah use it for soulcasting but they did not seem to inhale it or store it in themselves.

 

My own theory on this is that the battle oriented orders, Windrunners, Skybreakers, Dustbringers etc can infuse themselves but the other orders just use it directly from gems. Mayvbe it is an Honor / Cultivation thing.

 

Note: It is impossible to use Lift as evidence as she seems to be unique in how she gets and uses Stormlight. Although Darkness seemed to think that she could infuse herself, so there is that.

[Awesomeness Summoned he/him]

I'm not sure it's "impossible" to use lift as an example. Darkness is one of the most knowledgeable people alive when it comes to surges, he knows lift is either an edgedancer or the other friction order at the time, and he clearly believes she can invest stormlight. That doesn't necessarily mean she breathes it in per se but it's likely more than just honor oriented surges invest stormlight into their bodies.

Jasnah and shallan imply you are right, though, that at least some of the surges don't grant the ability to invest within the body. After six years Jasnah would have to have figured it out if she could do it.

[Swimmingly he/him]

I'm not sure it's "impossible" to use lift as an example. Darkness is one of the most knowledgeable people alive when it comes to surges, he knows lift is either an edgedancer or the other friction order at the time, and he clearly believes she can invest stormlight. That doesn't necessarily mean she breathes it in per se but it's likely more than just honor oriented surges invest stormlight into their bodies.

Jasnah and shallan imply you are right, though, that at least some of the surges don't grant the ability to invest within the body. After six years Jasnah would have to have figured it out if she could do it.

Or she just chooses not to, because it makes it pretty obvious that you're doing something weird.