Colours of Shardplate

[Maffu17 he/him]

So the colours of the the Shardplate worn by the Surgebinders will probably correspond to these colours:

 

Windrunners -  Sapphire - Blue (as seen in Dalinar's vision)  

 

Skybreakers - Smokestone - Black? Dark Grey?

 

Dustbringers - Ruby - Fiery Red

 

Edgedancers - Diamond - White

 

Truthwatchers - Emerald - Darkish Green

 

Lightweavers - Garnet - Blood Red

 

Elsecallers - Zircon - Light Blue / Turquoise

 

Willshapers - Amethyst - Purple

 

Stonewards - Topaz - Amber (Dalinar's vision)

 

Bondsmiths - Heliodor - Yellow

 

 

 

Adolin isn't going to like his colour when Kaladin trots past in the blue.

 

Not sure how great Dalinar is going to look in yellow, although I suppose it could be a darker more golden shade without being too close to amber.

 

Thoughts anyone?

[Wrath]

The Stormfather said that Dalinar will be without Shards, so I assume he is not going to get any new Shardplate.

[RShara she/her]

Aren't garnets reddish-purple on Roshar?

[Wrath]

I also find it pretty weird that rubies and sapphires have such different properties when you consider that they're basically the same physically - a ruby just having a slight impurity that causes the colour to be different than a sapphire.

[Moogle]

I'd expect the Lightweavers to have eyes more on the pink side, but I agree overall with the list. The Dustbringers having red eyes would naturally get people associating them with the Voidbringers.

[Lozen]

Adolin isn't going to like his colour when Kaladin trots past in the blue.

 

Did we see that Adolin is a Radiant?  I don't remember that happening

 

 

I'd expect the Lightweavers to have eyes more on the pink side, but I agree overall with the list. The Dustbringers having red eyes would naturally get people associating them with the Voidbringers.

 

Their eye color is changed based on the Order they are in?  I thought Shallan's eyes were shown as blue or did they change after we see how her mother died?

 

[skaa he/him]

I also find it pretty weird that rubies and sapphires have such different properties when you consider that they're basically the same physically - a ruby just having a slight impurity that causes the colour to be different than a sapphire.

Well, this might seem off-topic, but since the colors of the KR glowing Shardplate (as well as that of the KR eyes) are based on the Polestones, I think we can discuss this here. I do think you're onto something there, Wrath. I was studying the composition of the ten Polestones a few weeks ago and noticed that there are three stone type pairs: sapphire and ruby are both corundum, emerald and heliodor are both beryl, and amethyst and smokestone are both quartz. Windrunners and Releasers (sapphire and ruby) have the opposite powers (one lashes things, the other releases things). I think this might be similar to how alloys have the opposite Allomantic characteristics of their base metal. So, it's possible that Skybreakers and Willshapers (smokestone and amethyst), as well as Truthwatchers and Bondsmiths (emerald and heliodor) have opposite magical characteristics as well.

Here's a relevant WoB:

Reddit AMA 2013

Just as steel and iron are very similar in the Mistborn world, emerald and heliodor can be very similar—but produce different effects.

I don't really know how diamond, garnet, zircon, and topaz fit into this, though. Garnet, zircon, and topaz are all nesosilicates, which makes them a triad, not a pair. Diamond is just carbon, which the other Polestones do not have. We don't even know what variety of garnet Brandon chose for the system. Still, it's interesting that the ten Polestones are composed of five different mineral groups (corundum, quartz/tectosilicates, beryl/cyclosilicates, nesosilicates, and diamond).

Edited April 23, 2014 by skaa

[PorridgeBrick he/him]

Did we see that Adolin is a Radiant?  I don't remember that happening.

Their eye color is changed based on the Order they are in?  I thought Shallan's eyes were shown as blue or did they change after we see how her mother died?

Nope, just speculation. We do know, however, that several orders, including Willshapers, would be perfectly fine or even applaud his murder of Sadeas.

Q: Will a Surgebinder's eye color change when they Surgebind or have a Blade. Is the color of their eyes corresponding to their Order? So Windrunners would do blue.

A: Yes.

Q: So each Order does a different eye color?

A: Each Order does indeed have an eye color representation.

Strangely, however, Shallan's, and Jasnah's, eyes haven't changed even though they're at high enough levels to have Blades. I suspect it may have to do with being Lighteyes, though it may just be that the change is still to come.

[Tamzin Ashevai she/her]

Well, this might seem off-topic, but since the colors of the KR glowing shardplate (as well as that of the KR eyes) are based on the Polestones, I think we can discuss this here. I do think you're onto something there, Wrath. I was studying the composition of the ten Polestones a few weeks ago and noticed that there are three stone type pairs: sapphire and ruby are both corundum, emerald and heliodor are both beryl, and amethyst and smokestone are both quartz. Windrunners and Releasers (sapphire and ruby) have the opposite powers (one binds things, the other releases things). I think this might be similar to how alloys have the opposite Allomantic characteristics of their base metal. So, it's possible that Skybreakers and Willshapers (smokestone and amethyst), as well as Truthwatchers and Bondsmiths (emerald and heliodor) have opposite magical characteristics as well.

 

Here's a relevant WoB:

 

 

I don't really know how diamond, garnet, zircon, and topaz fit into this, though. Garnet, zircon, and topaz all nesosilicates, which makes them a triad, not a pair. Diamond is just carbon, which the other gemstones do not have. We don't even know what variety of garnet Brandon chose. Anyway, it's interesting that the ten Polestones are composed of five different mineral groups (corundum, quartz/tectosilicates, beryl/cyclosilicates, nesosilicates, and diamond).

Can I just say, wow? As much as I appreciate everyone's assessments and theories, I never would've even remotely thought of this. This is way beyond my scope (obviously). Awesome!

[Maffu17 he/him]

Aren't garnets reddish-purple on Roshar?

I assumed with the currency being called Bloodmarks that the colour could be inferred, I didn't notice anything about purple..

 

 

 

I also find it pretty weird that rubies and sapphires have such different properties when you consider that they're basically the same physically - a ruby just having a slight impurity that causes the colour to be different than a sapphire.

 

There was a WoB about this somewhere, a guy who worked with gems for a living made some interesting observations, but i'm sorry I can't find it again. It was mostly concerning Beryl. I believe Sanderson said that the differences in the gems that dictated the colours were enough to allow for the differences on Roshar.

 

 

I wonder if Shallan's eyes do change colour, but only when she's wearing a disguise, which also disguises the eye colour i suppose they could change when she is projecting illusions but if so it's never been mentioned.

[Argent he/him]

There was a WoB about this somewhere, a guy who worked with gems for a living made some interesting observations, but i'm sorry I can't find it again. It was mostly concerning Beryl. I believe Sanderson said that the differences in the gems that dictated the colours were enough to allow for the differences on Roshar.

 

This?

[RShara she/her]

 

Like the grand cavern outside, this hallway was cut from the rock, but it was more richly furbished, with ornate hanging chandeliers made with Stormlit gemstones. Most were deep violet garnets, which were among the less valuable stones.

-The Way of Kings, page 90

[Maffu17 he/him]

Yep Argent great find that's the WoB I meant, thank you.

I'm mightily confused now RShara, why call them bloodmarks if they're deep violet.

Could that be important? Chasmfiends have violet blood right?

[Goatborn he/him]

I'm not sure that all orders will have Plate - there's still so much we don't know about how Shardplate comes into existence.

But the fact that Jasnah mentions a large portion of Radiants were scholars/public servants would tend me toward there being Plateless orders. Although, unless an order's bond was centered around pacifism, there would always be unusual Radiants that would use peaceful powers to attack.

[skaa he/him]

This?

 

Yep Argent great find that's the WoB I meant, thank you.

 

Funnily enough, that is the same exact interview that I quoted from in my post above (though I linked to the actual Reddit page instead of Theoryland). I apologize for not quoting the whole thing.

 

 

I'm mightily confused now RShara, why call them bloodmarks if they're deep violet.

 

Garnet is associated with the Essence of Blood. We know that the Essences are important to Vorin symbolism and are therefore well-known, so calling garnet marks "bloodmarks" still makes sense regardless of the color.

[Maffu17 he/him]

Garnet is associated with the Essence of Blood. We know that the Essences are important to Vorin symbolism and are therefore well-known, so calling garnet marks "bloodmarks" still makes sense regardless of the color.

Hmm I dunno Rubies are called Firemarks not Sparkmarks. Diamonds Clearmarks. Sapphire Skymarks.

The names of the others reflect the colour of the light they emit.

[PorridgeBrick he/him]

There's not really much in the natural world that is violet, however. So since much of the native Rosharan wildlife (like chasmfiends, as you said) has violet blood, it makes sense to name the violet spheres bloodmarks. The only other important violet thing is the violet moon, but you can't call them moonmarks since the other two moons are completely different colors. Matching up with the essence helps a lot too.

[Alina Two she/her]

Garnets can be maroon or purple in our own world too - I actually own one. Garnets can be green, orange, or yellow as well, though a deep red is the most common hue. I think there would be a similar spread of garnet colors on Roshar - it doesn't necessarily mess with the idea that deep red is the color most associated with the stone and hence the Lightweavers.

Edited April 10, 2014 by Alina Two

[Wrath]

Garnets can be maroon or purple in our own world too - I actually own one. Garnets can be green, orange, or yellow as well, though a deep red is the most common hue. I think there would be a similar spread of garnet colors on Roshar - it doesn't necessarily mess with the idea that deep red is the color most associated with the stone and hence the Lightweavers.

 

That's interesting. On Roshar even very slight differences in the composition of gems can result in them having vastly different powers - such as between sapphires and rubies. That makes me think that their garnets only come in the one shade.

[Alina Two she/her]

Of course I can't find the WoB to back this up now, but I feel I've read that the color of the hard cover of each book will match the order of the main character of that book. So Kaladin's book was blue/sapphire, Shallan's was a blood-red/garnet sorta color, and so on. This is why I'm sticking with the idea that garnets are still often red on Roshar.

 

I will admit it's weird that the negligible chemical difference between ruby and sapphire is so significant. However, there are multiple colors of sapphires, diamonds etc. as well. Maybe a culture's cognitive perception of a gem's identity has an impact on how it performs magically? For example, we persist in referring to sapphires and rubies as different gems in spite of now knowing that they're essentially the same thing. And we know on Roshar that the cognitive assumptions about an object make a big difference.

[Alina Two she/her]

Sorry, I accidently double posted. My computer likes making me look silly.

Edited April 10, 2014 by Alina Two

[Shaggai]

Of course I can't find the WoB to back this up now, but I feel I've read that the color of the hard cover of each book will match the order of the main character of that book. So Kaladin's book was blue/sapphire, Shallan's was a blood-red/garnet sorta color, and so on. This is why I'm sticking with the idea that garnets are still often red on Roshar.

 

I will admit it's weird that the negligible chemical difference between ruby and sapphire is so significant. However, there are multiple colors of sapphires, diamonds etc. as well. Maybe a culture's cognitive perception of a gem's identity has an impact on how it performs magically? For example, we persist in referring to sapphires and rubies as different gems in spite of now knowing that they're essentially the same thing. And we know on Roshar that the cognitive assumptions about an object make a big difference.

Brandon has confirmed that the color is what matters. We don't know whether that has something do to with the Cognitive perception, or simply is related to the color as an attribute (similar to how Awakening feeds on color. AFAIK, Cognitive perceptions of color don't affect its use as an Awakening fuel. Maybe someone should ask Brandon about that at some point).