Some new theories... *spoilers*

[CrazyRioter she/her]

So I was thinking last night about how paired fabrials work, and I think they work because you stick a certain kind of spren in there and then split the gemstone and you get two spren that are still very closely linked cause they were just recently split apart. Um, I don't know if I'm explaining my theory very well.

[Cheese Ninja he/him]

So I was thinking last night about how paired fabrials work, and I think they work because you stick a certain kind of spren in there and then split the gemstone and you get two spren that are still very closely linked cause they were just recently split apart. Um, I don't know if I'm explaining my theory very well.

You explained it well enough. Sounds fairly reasonable, especially if you consider the Navani's notebook page that got translated.

The cut and type of the gem determines what kind of spren are attracted to it and can be imprisoned in it.

There must be thousands of possible combinations. Once a spren is captured and the gem infused with Stormlight the fabrial can be used in machines.

And then with the Ars Arcanum as well:

PAIRING FABRIALS

Conjoiners: By infusing a ruby and using methodology that has not been revealed to me (though I have my suspicions), you can create a conjoined pair of gemstones. The process requires splitting the original ruby. The two halves will then create parallel reactions across a distance. Spanreeds are one of the most common forms of this type of fabrial.

Conservation of force is maintained; for instance, if one is attached to a heavy stone, you will need the same strength to lift the conjoined fabrial that you would need to lift the stone itself. There appears to be some sort of process used during the creation of the fabrial that influences how far apart the two halves can go and still produce an effect.

Reversers: Using an amethyst instead of a ruby also creates conjoined halves of a gemstone, but these two work in creating opposite reactions. Raise one, and the other will be pressed downward, for instance.

These fabrials have only just been discovered, and already the possibilities for exploitation are being conjectured. There appear to be some unexpected limitations to this form of fabrial, though I have not been able to discover what they are.

Have we ever been told who's writing the Ars Arcanum in interviews? It sounds a bit like Jasnah or Shallan.

Edit: Now that I've read Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear, this reminds of the simplest forms of sympathy. You too?

Edited September 15, 2011 by Cheese Ninja

[prehistoricman]

I personally believe it's a feedback loop, re spren and the thing they are named for, rotspren don't cause infections, but once they get attracted to an infection they can make it worse. Which attracts more rotspren, etc.

As for tidespren, tides on Earth actually happen twice a day, also as Roshar has three moons, their tides must be more complicated then Earth tides.

The tides might be more complicated, but my impression was that the moons were equidistantly spaced in the same orbit, which would make the tide fluctuate more quickly, but not be more complex.

[Arcanist Lupus he/him]

Have we ever been told who's writing the Ars Arcanum in interviews? It sounds a bit like Jasnah or Shallan.

I don't think it's been said, but I suspect that they're being written by someone off-world, probably either Hoid or the 17th Shard. My reasoning:

1. There's been an Ars Arcanum in every book. That makes it difficult for Jasnah or Shallan to write them if they all have the same author. If they don't have the same author, how is a text called Ars Arcanum appearing on every world? It seems unlikely.

2. The Ars Arcanum mentions Voidbinding, which has not been mentioned in the book, and I suspect that the characters haven't ever heard of it. So they couldn't have written about it.

[CrazyRioter she/her]

I'm pretty sure it's Jasnah, the tone is right. And Voidbinding was mentioned once in the text, I think by the ardent Adolin talked to. The ars arcanum title is out-of-world I suspect.

[Arcanist Lupus he/him]

I found a quote in the Brandonology:

I think it goes back to Tolkien. There's a map in The Hobbit, and that map isn't just a random map, which has become almost a cliché of fantasy books, and of epic fantasy. "Oh, of course there's a random map in the front!" Well [Tolkien] wanted you to think this map was the actual map the characters carried around and that's why he included it. He wrote his books as if he were the archivist putting them together and translating them and bringing them to you, this wonderful story from another world, and he included the map because the map was there with the notes. That's what I wanted the feel for this ephemera to be. As though whoever's been writing the Ars Arcanum for all of the books has collected this book together, done the translation and included pieces of art and maps and things that they found in the world that had been collected during these events, and that's what you're getting.

This strongly implies to me that there is one author for the Ars Arcanum.

Another Brandonology quote:

Remember that the tables--and the ars Arcanum--are 'in world' creations. (Or, at least, in-universe.)