JamHeretic Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 Do gems other than than the main ten store Stormlight? I mean, if smoky quartz and amethyst can store stormlight, what about regular quartz? Opal? Peridot? Aquamarine? There's so much focus given to the ten essence stones that I've been wondering. (And if the essence stones are valuable simply because of their Soulcasting utility, and other gemstones collect Stormlight, it seems like that'd be a decent way of forging spheres by using a less valuable stone that still provides stormlight.) I'd also be willing to believe that other gemstones don't exist on Roshar. There's enough oddness in Roshar's geology and ecology that I could be convinced that there's something like Atium going on - I mean, who heard of a natural metal only found in slowly-growing geodes? Another thought: if they do exist and store Stormlight, could they be used for soulcasting? What effect would that have? Presumably they wouldn't be attuned to any essence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardlet Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 Since straight up quartz can be soulcast, I suspect that only the ten essence gemstones can be infused. Recall that Shallan is our source for the assumption/belief that the gemstones cannot be soulcast, but she doesn't bat an eye at identifying soulcast quartz at the Palanaeum or the thug who was soulcast to quartz by Jasnah. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asha'man Logain Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 I would agree that only the ten can hold stormlight, and only the ten can therefore be used for soulcasting. I started a thread 'body of honor' that you may be interested in. I'm of the opinion that the gems (at least the ten) are ONLY found from gemhearts, giving them their unique quality. And other gems, if there are others are quite capable of being soulcast, as they are just a particular configuration of rock, whereas the ten that can hold stormlight are special, and likely grown in the various shelled creatures of Roshar, possibly giving them a way (or easier way) to interact with various spren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardlet Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 I'm of the opinion that the gems (at least the ten) are ONLY found from gemhearts, giving them their unique quality. I don't know about this idea. I think that their economy is way too dependent upon gemstones for them to only come from gemhearts. The conclusion of the scouring of Aimia would have resulted in an economic panic as well as massive deflation as the gemstone's they had would become enormously valuable since primary sources would have been depleted. Soulcasting would have become prohibitively expensive since that is the primary means for the consumption of gemstones. Majorly unstable economic basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimmingly Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 I don't know about this idea. I think that their economy is way too dependent upon gemstones for them to only come from gemhearts. The conclusion of the scouring of Aimia would have resulted in an economic panic as well as massive deflation as the gemstone's they had would become enormously valuable since primary sources would have been depleted. Soulcasting would have become prohibitively expensive since that is the primary means for the consumption of gemstones. Majorly unstable economic basis.This might be a problem. I wouldn't be too surprised if spheres are no longer the dominant currency by the end of the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shumei Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 Shallan specifically states that if her family got a working Soulcaster, they would make marble, opal, or jade with it, as these are the most valuable non-gemstone deposits that they could create with soulcasting. This implies that there are 1) gemstone deposits and 2) the ardents don't know/won't use this trick, since if they did there would be loads of these valuable rocks created. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamHeretic Posted February 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 None of those are crystalline gems, though - they're opaque (well, ok, not all opal is entirely opaque, but it's not clear in the same sense that a sapphire or a diamond can be clear). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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