Shattering location

[Jeffo]

Did the shattering of Adonalsium happen on Roshar?

Questioner
How many Shards have ever been on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson
Oh, boy. At one point, all of them were on Roshar. Which is technically true.

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/296/#e9816

[Calderis he/him]

I can't speak definitively, as the story hasn't been published, but all of the Vessels are from Yolen, so it's most likely that that is where the Shattering occurred. 

Only 3 shards have been on Roshar. 

Quote

Chaos (paraphrased)

How many Shards have existed on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Three.

source

There is a more recent that says this... 

Quote

Questioner

How many Shards have ever been on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, boy. At one point, all of them were on Roshar. Which is technically true.

source

But that "technically" is most likely talking about Adonalsium, as he consisted of all Shards. Their power, even after the Shattering is everywhere, but the three in residence are the only ones to have made the system the home of their Cognitive/Physical being. 

Edited June 8, 2018 by Calderis

[whattheHoid she/her]

Do we know why Adonalsium was shattered in the first place? Were people just greedy and wanted power for themselves? That's the only concievable reason I could think of. Side note, is there a shard/s on Yolen? If so, what Investiture is there? I can't find anything on Coppermind. If there is a story on Yolen, I haven't gotten there yet, I'm just starting Elantris and all of the "short" novels there. Brandon is certainly prolific.

Edited June 14, 2018 by whattheHoid

[RShara she/her]

The Shattering occurred on Yolen, and all the original Shardholders plus Hoid, are from Yolen too

[Dunkum he/him]

15 minutes ago, Calderis said:

But that "technically" is most likely talking about Adonalsium, as he consisted of all Shards. Their power, even after the Shattering is everywhere, but the three in residence are the only ones to have made the system the home of their Cognitive/Physical being.

given that some of the spren on Roshar predate the shattering/we know some of them were created by Adonalsium directly, this is almost certainly what that WoB is referring to

[Wandering Investor]

That "technically" is probably either referring to Adonalsium as some pointed out, or is referring to the Shards representing the fundamental forces connected to everything in the cosmere. If that's the case, then all the shards are woven into every planet (except Scadrial perhaps), even if they can't sense or control the part of themselves that is there, and are therefore "technically" there.

[Wandering Investor]

49 minutes ago, whattheHoid said:

Do we know why Adonalsium was shattered in the first place? Were people just greedy and wanted power for themselves? That's the only concievable reason I could think of. Side note, is there a shard/s on Yolen? If so, what Investiture is there? I can't find anything on Coppermind. If there is a story on Yolen, I haven't gotten there yet, I'm just starting Elantris and all of the "short" novels there. Brandon is certainly prolific.

The answer is RAFO for most of that. There are no canon stories set on Yolen. Sample chapters from The Liar of Partinel and sample chapters from the Dragonsteel prime are where most Yolen information comes from, and both are non-canon and Brandon discourages people from reading them, so don't worry if you have read anything from Yolen.

We do not know why Adonalsium was shattered. Complete RAFO from Brandon. Excerpt from Mistborn Secret History is one of the best answers from someone in world that might know:

Spoiler

“A diverse group,” she said. “With equally diverse motives. Some wished for the power; others saw killing Adonalsium as the only good option left to them. Together they murdered a deity, and became divine themselves.” Quote by Khriss

Sanderson, Brandon. Mistborn: Secret History (Kindle Locations 941-943). Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC. Kindle Edition. 

And this:

“More like fractional gods,” Nazh said. “And ones with no particular qualifications for deityhood, other than being conniving enough to murder the guy who had the job before.”

Sanderson, Brandon. Mistborn: Secret History (Kindle Location 946). Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC. Kindle Edition. 

Some 17th Sharders theorize that it may have involved a danger from fain life (don't worry if you don't know what that is). But that's the best we have. 

Unknown if a Shard is on Yolen. 

I just realized you said you only started Elantris. You might have awhile before this makes sense. Good Luck

Edited June 14, 2018 by Wandering Investor

[whattheHoid she/her]

Some of this makes sense, some doesn't. I've gobbled up all of Stormlight, all of Mistborn, and Warbreaker. I read the Traveler and I've been a ghost on this site for a while trying to understand and figure things out. My goal, which I know is impossible to achieve at this point, is to figure out every secret in the Cosmere before the next Stormlight comes out. You can't blame a girl for trying. ;p

[Calderis he/him]

@whattheHoid the motives of the 16 were varied, and no clear to us. For some it would ha e been greed for the power itself, but that wasn't all of it.

Per Khriss in Secret History 

Quote

Anyway, there was a God. Adonalsium. I don’t know if it was a force or a being, though I suspect the latter. Sixteen people, together, killed Adonalsium, ripping it apart and dividing its essence between them, becoming the first who Ascended.”

"who were they?" 

“A diverse group,” she said. “With equally diverse motives. Some wished for the power; others saw killing Adonalsium as the only good option left to them. Together they murdered a deity, and became divine themselves.” She smiled in a kindly way, as if to prepare him for what came next. “Two of those created this planet, -snip- including the people on it.”

A diverse group, with equally diverse motives. 

[whattheHoid she/her]

I remember reading that in Secret History, however, that almost confuses me more. I guess it is hard to wrap my mind around not just one, but a whole group of people for whatever reason to just take down some god-like being. Was Adonalsium always there? Was he the first god of the Cosmere? He wasn't infallible or should I say undefeatable. It just is one of a few things that boggle my mind.

[Wandering Investor]

11 hours ago, whattheHoid said:

I remember reading that in Secret History, however, that almost confuses me more. I guess it is hard to wrap my mind around not just one, but a whole group of people for whatever reason to just take down some god-like being. Was Adonalsium always there? Was he the first god of the Cosmere? He wasn't infallible or should I say undefeatable. It just is one of a few things that boggle my mind.

Ah, misunderstood what you had read. I don't know if Adonalsium was already around/first god, but probably. There were some theories floating around that there was a sibling/devil figure, but no evidence for that...yet. 

As for infallible, that's the question! Frost kinda indicates that that several worlds show the touch and design of Adonalsium, so maybe Adon planned his death for reasons. As for why people would try to kill Adon, dunno. There was at least one prior attempt to kill Adon that failed. And the vessels were not the only ones present at Adon's death. Hoid was there, and even offered one of the shards. But we're gonna have to wait for Dragonsteel before any of that is explained.

[Weltall]

To add a detail, we know Hoid was present at the Shattering and was offered a Shard (exactly when in the chain of events is a RAFO) and refused. But he 'sort of' saw it as a necessary event.

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Questioner [PENDING REVIEW]

Did Hoid think of the Shattering as necessary?

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

*pause* Kind of.

source

 

44 minutes ago, Wandering Investor said:

There were some theories floating around that there was a sibling/devil figure, but no evidence for that...yet. 

As for infallible, that's the question! Frost kinda indicates that that several worlds show the touch and design of Adonalsium, so maybe Adon planned his death for reasons.

Brandon has largely nixed the sibling/devil/anti-Adonalsium idea. He was once asked if there was a force opposing Adonalsium and said yes, but on a later occasion he clarified that the sixteen Vessels could be construed as such an opposing force and that he explicitly did not confirm the idea of a devil analogue. And since he's also said that all Investiture in the Cosmere comes from Adonalsium, there's not much room for an entity on anything resembling that level of power, at least within the framework of the Cosmere as we currently understand it.

And Brandon's implied that Adonalsium did have foresignt and may have planned for his own death, but of course a question to that effect was RAFO'd. xD

Edited June 14, 2018 by Weltall

[Wandering Investor]

1 minute ago, Weltall said:

Brandon has largely nixed the sibling/devil/anti-Adonalsium idea. He was once asked if there was a force opposing Adonalsium and said yes, but on a later occasion he clarified that the sixteen Vessels could be construed as such an opposing force and that he explicitly did not confirm the idea of a devil analogue. And since he's also said that all Investiture in the Cosmere comes from Adonalsium, there's not much room for an entity on anything resembling that level of power

Truth be told, I was one of the one's that latched onto the opposing force being another God. Not necessarily a devil figure, more a sibling. Perhaps the creator of fainlife, or something similar to Decay from non-canon Aether of Night. But that appears to not be the case, as everything in the cosmere is basically investiture, and all investiture is related to the shards. Theory killed >.<

[whattheHoid she/her]

I know how you feel! I have all these theories and most of them are a no go! I can't wait for Dragonsteel, than maybe some things will make a little more sense!