Storyspren Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 Ok.ok. Hear me out. Both Jasnah and Renarin had childhood illnesses. Relatives aka Gavilar and Dalinar probably also exposed. Kaladin and Tien lived basically in a germ factory (surgeon's house). The only cluster that needs any explaining is the Shallan, Helleran cluster. Gotta search for references of Shallan being sick. Anybody know offhand? Lift's background is both special and specially clouded so literally nothing to say there. Both the cobbler and the orphanage lady had a lot of exposure to kids and their germs. I'd say it's some kind of illness kids are unusually susceptible to but people don't usually get as adults because the kids get it doing some kid behavior adults don't do. Probably not airborn.
CrazyRioter she/her Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 I don't think it's literally contagious. I think we have WoB that spren tend to pay more attention to people near people other spren have already bonded. 2
Calderis he/him Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 As @CrazyRioter mentioned, there's a reason, and it's not illness. Quote Questioner Is being a Knight Radiant at all genetic? Because you have Jasnah, Dalinar, and Renarin in the same family. Brandon Sanderson It is not genetic, however… Um… Families or people close to one another are more likely. It’s not genetic. So for instance, if everyone were adopted it would still have the same prevalence. Questioner Okay, fascinating! Questioner [interruption hard to hear] Brandon Sanderson Well, there are a couple of reasons for that. One is which, attracting the attention of a spren can mean that other spren are paying attention to that area. There are also things in the Cosmere (the shared universe of them) where people are connected spiritually. Um… and that’s part of the magic as well. So… You are more likely to become a Radiant if you know a Radiant. source Quote Questioner Why are there so many Kholins that are Radiants? Is there a story reason or... Brandon Sanderson There is a story reason, kind of. So the Kholin family is in Alethkar, which was the hereditary-- one of the homes of the Knights Radiant. It's still kind of in the forefront of the-- how shall we say-- the collective unconscious and things like this. Plus there's-- Questioner And then they are on the forefront of that. Brandon Sanderson Yes. I mean-- Yeah. And so the spren, some of them are naturally looking for where a lot of Radiants used to be. So it's just a higher concentration of spren around the area, if that makes sense? source Knowing a Radiant means your more likely to draw the attention of a Spren. In the case of Jasnah and Renarin, their also at the forefront of Alethi society, which places them in a position of being under particular scrutiny already. With Gavilar having drawn the Stormfather's attention early, it's no surprise other members of the family drew attention. And Shallan is indirectly responsible for Heleran and the Skybreakers, whether he actually bonded a spren or not. 3
Storyspren Posted June 6, 2018 Author Posted June 6, 2018 I'm aware of these things but I still think all these Kolin mystery illnesses also play a role. Which makes it unlikely kaladin's family's medical stuff is unrelated IMHO.
Felt he/him Posted June 6, 2018 Posted June 6, 2018 There's also the magic of Ashyn that spreads like disease... 1
Calderis he/him Posted June 6, 2018 Posted June 6, 2018 We don't know that any of these are illness related at all though... Renarin's "illness" was epilepsy. It's a neurological issue, not something to do with any transmitted disease. Jasnah's, in the way it was described, could be an illness... Or it could be neurological, or it could be a substance that was unknowingly given to her. The only person that we can be sure was exposed to some kind of disease is Kal and Tien... And if that were the case, why aren't there a ton of other Radiants in hearthstone? 1
Storyspren Posted June 7, 2018 Author Posted June 7, 2018 On 6/6/2018 at 5:38 AM, Calderis said: We don't know that any of these are illness related at all though... Renarin's "illness" was epilepsy. It's a neurological issue, not something to do with any transmitted disease. Jasnah's, in the way it was described, could be an illness... Or it could be neurological, or it could be a substance that was unknowingly given to her. The only person that we can be sure was exposed to some kind of disease is Kal and Tien... And if that were the case, why aren't there a ton of other Radiants in hearthstone? They also need to a) attract a spren and b] be exposed via a vector the disease can travel on. If it weren't airborn that would explain it.
DocHoliday he/him Posted June 12, 2018 Posted June 12, 2018 I've always been of the opinion that Radiantcy is not genetically passed down in a family, but more "culturally". Family members often share similar outlooks and values in life, in essence causing them to act in a similar manner. If the values of a family were attractive to a particular type of Spren, if wouldn't be surprising then that multiple Radiants might pop up. 4
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