ArborealEtymologist Posted February 8, 2019 Posted February 8, 2019 So I've just heard in Oathbringer > 60. 'Winds and Oaths' where Kaladin observes the colorful strata of the Windblades. I've heard this at least once before as well. And searching through other forum topics - it seems like other unique stone formations on Roshar may have similar. Question is: why are these not covered over with millennia-worth of crem by now? How are external rock-faces exhibiting colorful strata at all? Any ideas?
+Invocation Posted February 8, 2019 Posted February 8, 2019 Kholinar takes pride in the windblades, so they probably have someone chip the crem off.
CrazyRioter she/her Posted February 8, 2019 Posted February 8, 2019 Idunno shoveling sewage is probably worse.
ArborealEtymologist Posted February 8, 2019 Author Posted February 8, 2019 3 replies to get to excrement. It's probably not a record, but it's still nice. 3
+Invocation Posted February 8, 2019 Posted February 8, 2019 17 minutes ago, CrazyRioter said: Idunno shoveling sewage is probably worse. They don't shovel it, though. They just Soulcast it.
king of nowhere Posted February 8, 2019 Posted February 8, 2019 the windblades are not accumulating crem, they are being slowly eroded. I think, at least.
Ciridae Posted February 9, 2019 Posted February 9, 2019 22 hours ago, king of nowhere said: the windblades are not accumulating crem, they are being slowly eroded. I think, at least. Yes, in one of the visions (I think it's the weird one with Nohadon) Dalinar notes that the Windblades are far less weathered than they are in present times.
+robardin he/him Posted February 11, 2019 Posted February 11, 2019 On 2/8/2019 at 2:39 PM, Invocation said: They don't shovel it, though. They just Soulcast it. Hmm, yes, I seem to remember this detail mentioned in how they run the Alethi warcamps on the Shattered Plains in "The Way of Kings". (eBook searching...) Ah, here it is. Chapter 28, near the scene where Dalinar starts hammering rocks with his Shardplate, "in what would eventually be a latrine", one that he'd ordered constructed: "A long, sloping trough was to be cut, then covered with oiled and tarred boards to seal in the scent. A latrine house would be set at the high end, and the contents could be Soulcast to smoke once every few months." Even earlier, they mentioned the Soulcasting of stone into food: lavis grain, and also meat called flangria, described in the Coppermind as "produced via Soulcasting, which makes it far cheaper than other kinds of meat... often used to cheaply feed large quantities of people, such as bridgemen." Soulcasting is how they are able to feed their armies on the Shattered Plains without enormously long supply lines from the interior of Alethkar. So... Why not Soulcast the... output... of the latrines into food instead of smoke? It's easier to Soulcast into one of the Ten Essences than to do a more complex transformation, so if you're going to transform waste as cheaply and cleanly as possible, turning it to smoke makes sense. But Soulcasting stone into flangria is already doing a complex transformation. Once you're already Soulcasting stone into flangria, how much harder would it be to Soulcast latrine waste into flangria? You wouldn't have to quarry out blocks of stone first, which is also a labor cost, if non-magical. And if the waste is largely derived from eating flangria in the first place, wouldn't that make it cognitively closer (and easier to Soulcast) back into flangria than stone? Storms, why am I thinking about this at all?
+Invocation Posted February 11, 2019 Posted February 11, 2019 (edited) 4 minutes ago, robardin said: So... Why not Soulcast the... output... of the latrines into food instead of smoke? Why they don't do that is quite simple: it's absolutely disgusting. Yes, you're transforming it all the way, theoretically. Yes, it is no longer waste. But think about the reaction to sausage (or haggis) some people have upon learning what it's made of and then picture that but 900x worse because it's human waste that goes to food that you then eat. Also the Alethi know about most sanitation things and having food touching the same surface waste was just touching is not okay. Plus, it's not like they're running out of stone any time soon, and particularly with Shardblades and those massive hammers, it doesn't take much effort to have a ready supply of stones to make food from. Edited February 11, 2019 by Invocation
Quantus he/him Posted February 11, 2019 Posted February 11, 2019 1 hour ago, robardin said: Hmm, yes, I seem to remember this detail mentioned in how they run the Alethi warcamps on the Shattered Plains in "The Way of Kings". (eBook searching...) Ah, here it is. Chapter 28, near the scene where Dalinar starts hammering rocks with his Shardplate, "in what would eventually be a latrine", one that he'd ordered constructed: "A long, sloping trough was to be cut, then covered with oiled and tarred boards to seal in the scent. A latrine house would be set at the high end, and the contents could be Soulcast to smoke once every few months." Even earlier, they mentioned the Soulcasting of stone into food: lavis grain, and also meat called flangria, described in the Coppermind as "produced via Soulcasting, which makes it far cheaper than other kinds of meat... often used to cheaply feed large quantities of people, such as bridgemen." Soulcasting is how they are able to feed their armies on the Shattered Plains without enormously long supply lines from the interior of Alethkar. So... Why not Soulcast the... output... of the latrines into food instead of smoke? It's easier to Soulcast into one of the Ten Essences than to do a more complex transformation, so if you're going to transform waste as cheaply and cleanly as possible, turning it to smoke makes sense. But Soulcasting stone into flangria is already doing a complex transformation. Once you're already Soulcasting stone into flangria, how much harder would it be to Soulcast latrine waste into flangria? You wouldn't have to quarry out blocks of stone first, which is also a labor cost, if non-magical. And if the waste is largely derived from eating flangria in the first place, wouldn't that make it cognitively closer (and easier to Soulcast) back into flangria than stone? Storms, why am I thinking about this at all? It might be as simple as which Essences the Soulcaster in question is attuned to, as I think to cross the Essences you need a Soulcaster that is attuned to both sides of the transformation. It would make logistic sense if they have one with Garnet&SmokeStone and one with Emerald&Topaz available, but they did not have any with the Emerald&Garnet combo. Or maybe Emerald&Zircon? Would a giant pit of Feces&Urine be more Tallow, or Blood?
+robardin he/him Posted February 11, 2019 Posted February 11, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, Quantus said: It might be as simple as which Essences the Soulcaster in question is attuned to, as I think to cross the Essences you need a Soulcaster that is attuned to both sides of the transformation. It would make logistic sense if they have one with Garnet&SmokeStone and one with Emerald&Topaz available, but they did not have any with the Emerald&Garnet combo. Or maybe Emerald&Zircon? Would a giant pit of Feces&Urine be more Tallow, or Blood? I think we should just leave off thinking about this topic, and concede that @Invocation is probably right that they simply haven't given it much thought because EW. Though part of me does suspect that if there were in fact signficant cost savings to be found in such a "recycling effort", a cremstain like Sadeas would have used it, at least to feed the bridgemen. ———— "Say, Rock," Teft asked at the Bridge Four meal one evening. "How did you manage to make so much stew with the handful of clearchips we were able to pool together in our bridge running days?" "Was not easy. Even flangria is expensive when all one has are clearchips, at 1/4 of a pound per chip! But I found a place to get a full pound for only three clearchips." Teft stopped eating. "Rock. Don't tell me you used Flangria Green." "Yes, Flangria Green! Same as flangria, they even gave me a taste first, maybe a little older, but in stew nobody notices." "Rock... Flangria Green... It's... It's..." "What?" "Never mind." Edited February 11, 2019 by robardin 1
Quantus he/him Posted February 11, 2019 Posted February 11, 2019 2 minutes ago, robardin said: I think we should just leave off thinking about this topic, and concede that @Invocation is probably right that they simply haven't given it much thought because EW. Though part of me does suspect that if there were in fact signficant cost savings to be found in such a "recycling effort", a cremstain like Sadeas would have used it, at least to feed the bridgemen. "Say, Rock," Teft asked at the Bridge Four meal one evening. "How did you manage to make so much stew with the handful of clearchips we were able to pool together in our bridge running days?" "Was not easy. Even flangria is expensive when all one has are clearchips, at 1/4 of a pound per chip! But I found a place to get a full pound for only three clearchips." Teft stopped eating. "Rock. Don't tell me you used Flangria Green." "Yes, Flangria Green! Same as flangria, they even gave me a taste first, maybe a little older, but in stew nobody notices." "Rock... Flangria Green... It's... It's..." "What?" "Never mind." Hehe, more or less what got Rock sent to the bridge crew in the first place... 1
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