Does this make sense?

[Tesh Any pronouns]

@Kaladinwillumarryme? and I just came up with this. What if the dor, stormlight, the powers the people have in White Sands, and allomancy all were branches of something bigger? And Hoid has access to the main thing? I haven't read all of the cosmere, but there is obviously more things like this that would fit. What do you think?

Edited June 3, 2017 by Smart Sloth

[StrikerEZ he/him]

That's kind of what it is. The basic idea is that magic, in all shapes and forms throughout the Cosmere, come from one of 16 shards' Investiture. These 16 shards (such as Ruin, Preservation, Honor, etc.) come from Adonalsium, which was shattered long before even the earliest canon Cosmere book (which is Elantris, I believe). So, each magic system is separate, but they all work by allowing the users some way to manipulate Investiture and the world around them.

There's also the three Realms: Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual. Shadesmar on Roshar is the Cognitive Realm for Roshar, though not every world's version of the CR is the same.

That's about all I can come up with right now, I'm sure someone else will come and explain better than I did.

Edited June 3, 2017 by StrikerEZ

[Tesh Any pronouns]

@StrikerEZ, So how do you know all of this?

[StrikerEZ he/him]

Just now, Smart Sloth said:

@StrikerEZ, So how do you know all of this?

Well, most of it is from reading on the forums and reading WoB's (Words of Brandon) from theoryland and reddit. The best in-book description of the three realms, in my opinion, is in The Emperor's Soul, the Elantris novella.

[Calderis he/him]

5 minutes ago, Smart Sloth said:

@StrikerEZ, So how do you know all of this?

By spending time here, or being super observant of things in the books. This stuff is the bread and butter of discussions here in the Cosmere Theories forum.

Most of it's from people questioning Brandon at signings. Some of it from the books.

The letters in SA hint at it. Hoid directly mentions Adonalsium. There's a ton in Secret History, HoA near the end, and Era 2 Mistborn. 

Basically, we know all this because people pester Brandon a lot and than theorize way to much here. 

[Caevita he/him]

5 minutes ago, Calderis said:

By spending time here, or being super observant of things in the books. This stuff is the bread and butter of discussions here in the Cosmere Theories forum.

Most of it's from people questioning Brandon at signings. Some of it from the books.

The letters in SA hint at it. Hoid directly mentions Adonalsium. There's a ton in Secret History, HoA near the end, and Era 2 Mistborn. 

Basically, we know all this because people pester Brandon a lot and than theorize way to much here. 

This.  Also, it's *sense.  (Sorry).

[Reborn radiant]

Read Arcanum Unbounded.

[Oversleep]

5 hours ago, StrikerEZ said:

That's kind of what it is. The basic idea is that magic, in all shapes and forms throughout the Cosmere, come from one of 16 shards' Investiture. These 16 shards (such as Ruin, Preservation, Honor, etc.) come from Adonalsium, which was shattered long before even the earliest canon Cosmere book (which is Elantris, I believe). So, each magic system is separate, but they all work by allowing the users some way to manipulate Investiture and the world around them.

There's also the three Realms: Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual. Shadesmar on Roshar is the Cognitive Realm for Roshar, though not every world's version of the CR is the same.

That's about all I can come up with right now, I'm sure someone else will come and explain better than I did.

I'd also want to add that there is no bigger, encompassing magic system. They share roots and fundamental laws and so on... it's like there are different kinds of waves, right? They're basically the same thing but they're all different and there is no "universal" wave.

[Tesh Any pronouns]

8 hours ago, Caevita said:

This.  Also, it's *sense.  (Sorry).

Yes. I am really bad at spelling. Thanks. I have no idea how I got an A in it last year.