[OB] The Letters and First of the Sun

[Fifth of Daybreak]

2 hours ago, Ookla the Metroid said:

Woah wait what? How do you know this?

I think it was mentioned on the discord by Peter and then moved onto the forums? I tried to find the source but I'm having trouble pinning it down. I am confident that I'm remembering correctly, but yesterday was one storming bad twenty four hour shift and I've gotten too little sleep to function as well as I normally would.

[Tazren]

4 hours ago, Wandering Investor said:

Agreed, the entire island pantheon being of Autonomy seems likely. Just a matter of how autonomous they are. I find it unlikely Autonomy would actual splinters laying around. The letter shows a use of 'we', so the Autonomous personalities are likely still connected directly to the shard. Perhaps a hivemind democracy? That's just a theory though, not enough to confirm anything.

 

Edit: Read an earlier posted WoB. Seems wasteful, but if anyone will leave behind splinters Autonomy seems a likely candidate.

Maybe it's not wasteful, so much as a very different choice to make, that we haven't seen others do. If she is basically a hive-mind, that'd make her difficult to kill. If you've got many parts that make up a single whole, it doesn't matter so much if one or a few are destroyed. Maybe it's not the best way to fight off Odium in a direct confrontation, but could be a good way to survive, and perhaps oppose him in a more strategic way. 

[IndigoAjah]

As Bavadin invests themselves in the Sun on Taldain, it would fit that they are the best candidate for investing themselves as another "object", such as Patji,  rather than a "being", as well. 

[Wandering Investor]

2 hours ago, Tazren said:

Maybe it's not wasteful, so much as a very different choice to make, that we haven't seen others do. If she is basically a hive-mind, that'd make her difficult to kill. If you've got many parts that make up a single whole, it doesn't matter so much if one or a few are destroyed. Maybe it's not the best way to fight off Odium in a direct confrontation, but could be a good way to survive, and perhaps oppose him in a more strategic way. 

Not for shards. Even a slight difference can make a big difference over time, as shown by Preservation vs Ruin. I suspect her leaving splinters around is a compulsion to create (partly?)autonomous entities.

Also, it wouldn't be as wasteful as I thought since it does not require that Bavidin make powerful splinters, just splinters.

Edited December 7, 2017 by Wandering Investor

[StormingTexan]

The audio and visual of this WoB is hilarious. Brandon just kinda throws it out there.

I know it was not universally loved but man I really liked Sixth of Dusk and this has me craving another story from there. Brandon said “big asterisk” so I think it only makes sense this was a splinter left behind. 

[Tiak]

On 12/6/2017 at 8:35 AM, ai83 said:

As, I see, that settles it then. Still I wonder what did they want dead larkin for. 

I have to wonder if their gemhearts might be a source of perfect gemstones.  Perfect gemhearts could hypothetically be what allows them to capture and use stormlight so much more efficiently than other creatures.

[Unhinged]

On 12/6/2017 at 10:27 AM, ai83 said:

Me too, that's what I was thinking. 

I wouldn't be surprised to see something from First of the Sun here though, after all Roshar is the great crossroad.

Check on Mraize's shoulder.

[RShara]

On 12/6/2017 at 6:04 PM, StormingTexan said:

The audio and visual of this WoB is hilarious. Brandon just kinda throws it out there.

I know it was not universally loved but man I really liked Sixth of Dusk and this has me craving another story from there. Brandon said “big asterisk” so I think it only makes sense this was a splinter left behind. 

The asterisk is that it's an avatar of Autonomy, rather than Autonomy herself. 

[StormingTexan]

5 hours ago, RShara said:

The asterisk is that it's an avatar of Autonomy, rather than Autonomy herself. 

Yep thats what I meant when I said a splinter. Of course I am not sure is an avatar a splinter of the shard? I have also seen it called an "aspect". 

[RShara]

Avatar is what Brandon used in the letters, so that's what I'm going with.  I think Chaos used aspect when he asked about it, but he says he wishes he'd used Avatar instead, since that's what it is in the books.