Vax

[Retrac he/him]

Does anyone have any idea on what Vax is? I've been digging fairly hard and haven't found anything. My main theory is that it is a different name for Yolen. Or at least has something to do with the shattering.

[imriel452]

As per the information from the Coppermind (https://coppermind.net/wiki/Vax)

"Nothing is known of Vax, its peoples, or any Shards that may or may not be located there. All that is certain is that it has a manifestation of Investiture in which people are Initiated differently than on Sel, Scadrial, Nalthis, or Taldain."

Also, most importantly, and perhaps the most frustratingly for you, I guess:

"Brandon refuses to say anything about Vax."

Apparently "they're very interested in Vax, everybody's interested in Vax." (https://wob.coppermind.net/events/120-warsaw-signing/#e7738)
 

Given that Leras would recognise Vax, I would assume it is most likely a Shardworld, possibly that they both came from  

[datalaughing he/him]

I suspect that Brandon is doing that because he hasn't decided himself exactly what to do with it yet and doesn't want to commit before he's decided. I still think it might end up being the Aether world.

[Honorless he/him]

We don't know anything about Vax, except that it's a place that has its own a investiture system (from the Arcanum Unbounded) and that both Leras and Ati know it (from Secret History). WoBs regarding Vax are RAFOs.

Edited June 30, 2020 by R J

[Quantus he/him]

What's worse is that given the timeline of the Cosmere, we cant evn be sure it's not both a place and a person.  The WOB is that Leras "would recognize Vax", and that it was "heavily suggested that it's a place".  But we have characters that have created whole planets and lived for millennia, it's not out of the question for Vax to be a place but also have been a person back in the shattering era when Leras would have known them. 

[GoWibble he/him]

more things that we know:

Quote

Diego98 (paraphrased)

Would Leras recognize Vax or is it just like some Ati backstory??

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yeah, he would recognize Vax.

Madrid signing (July 16, 2019)

and this basically sums up what brandon is willing to say about vax:

Quote

Blightsong

Can you shed some [light] on why Ruin's last words were "Vax"?

Brandon Sanderson

No, I can't, I mean I can but I'm not going to.

OdysseyCon 2016 (April 8, 2016)

 

[Elegy he/him]

It's safe to assume that it's a place at this point, since Khriss talks about it like a place. It's also safe to assume that it's a planet, since she compares it to Taldain, Sel, and Scadrial. It wouldn't make much sense for her to say: "It does not appear to be tied to family descent, as one finds on Scadrial, nor is it a specific Shard's Decision, as on Nalthis. Even Taldain's and Urithiru's methods do not seem to apply here." That doesn't really work. The farthest it could be from a planet would be a place in the Cognitive Realm.

Khriss talks about it as having a notable form of Invested Art, at least notable enough to be mentioned in one breath with Awakening, Sand Mastery, and Allomancy. That Invested Art is obtained by people in some way (a way we don't know, but know to be different from the other ones mentioned). That highly suggests a major Shardworld, since minor Shardworld's magic seems to be more of an environmental thing. Brandon mentions this in this WOB:

Quote

Questioner

What differentiates a minor Shardworld like First of the Sun?

Brandon Sanderson

The amount of Investiture, and whether there is actually a Shard in presence. [...] [W]hat you'll find is that the worlds were all created with a level of-- a little bit of sort of ambient magic. What you'll find in worlds like that is things like, Shadows for Silence and things like this, the magic, it's not necessarily "people with magic" it's you can interact with nature... [...]

Salt Lake City Comic-Con 2014 (Sept. 4, 2014)

That means that it's unlikely for a minor Shardworld to have a magic that can be "Initiated" (as Khriss calls it, capitalized!), so Vax would presumably be a major Shardworld, which in turn means that there is at least one Shard there. So, the information that we can deduce from all of this is the following:

• It's a place
• It's most probably a planet
• It has an Invested Art that can be Initiated in people
• The way it's Initiated is different from the AonDor, Allomancy, Feruchemy, Awakening, and probably (the phrasing is kinda vague there) Sand-Mastery
• It's probably a major Shardworld, so it should have at least one Shard, although it might or might not be Splintered
• Leras and Ati have been there

---

Also:

3 hours ago, datalaughing said:

I still think it might end up being the Aether world.

This WOB seems to suggests otherwise:

Quote

simon_thekillerewok

Is there a planet called Lor? (aka what planet will Aether of Night take place on).

Brandon Sanderson

I do plan a planet called Lor. But Aether of Night is very in flux right now, so I won't canonize where it takes place.

Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA (Dec. 14, 2018)

It could still be, but looking at that WOB, that would presume that he doesn't know what to do with Vax yet (since he's undecided whether to put Aether on it or not), and since he's making such a mystery out of it, I doubt that.

And:

3 hours ago, imriel452 said:

Given that Leras would recognise Vax, I would assume it is most likely a Shardworld, possibly that they both came from  

Ati and Leras are from Yolen (but I agree that it's a Shardworld!):

Quote

Questioner

Are all the original sixteen Shardholders from Yolen?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing (March 21, 2014)

 

[+Oltux72 he/him]

15 minutes ago, Elegy said:

It's safe to assume that it's a place at this point, since Khriss talks about it like a place. It's also safe to assume that it's a planet, since she compares it to Taldain, Sel, and Scadrial. It wouldn't make much sense for her to say: "It does not appear to be tied to family descent, as one finds on Scadrial, nor is it a specific Shard's Decision, as on Nalthis. Even Taldain's and Urithiru's methods do not seem to apply here." That doesn't really work. The farthest it could be from a planet would be a place in the Cognitive Realm.

Arelon, specifically Elantris has a method of initiation different from the rest of Sel. A country would be possible though not be the most obvious option.

15 minutes ago, Elegy said:

Khriss talks about it as having a notable form of Invested Art, at least notable enough to be mentioned in one breath with Awakening, Sand Mastery, and Allomancy. That Invested Art is obtained by people in some way (a way we don't know, but know to be different from the other ones mentioned). That highly suggests a major Shardworld, since minor Shardworld's magic seems to be more of an environmental thing. Brandon mentions this in this WOB:

Patji on First of the Sun?

 

[Eternal Khol he/him]

1 hour ago, Elegy said:

5 hours ago, imriel452 said:

Given that Leras would recognise Vax, I would assume it is most likely a Shardworld, possibly that they both came from  

Ati and Leras are from Yolen (but I agree that it's a Shardworld!):

Quote

Questioner

Are all the original sixteen Shardholders from Yolen?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing (March 21, 2014)

 

 

 

i think he meant that they came from Vax directly before creating Scadrial

theres WoB that most Shards have meddled around on most other Shardworlds and Ati and Leras would both recognize it.

 

"The being called Patji still exists, and is a Shard of Adonalsium. Shards in the past have been interested in First of the Sun, and have meddled in small ways there. (Like they have on a lot of Shardworlds.)"

 

 

56 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

Arelon, specifically Elantris has a method of initiation different from the rest of Sel. A country would be possible though not be the most obvious option.

Sel is a corner case. every other Shardworld we know of doesnt have most of the Shards power locked in the CR. which is the whole reason for the different country magics.

 

56 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

Patji on First of the Sun?

thats still not humans performing magic. its interacting with it.

its magic Birds. id say thats pretty environmental and not anything like Surgebinding or Allomancy

 

 

 

"I intend the minor Shardworlds to involve interactions with the magic as setting--coming back to spren, you could have a minor Shardworld with people who use, befriend, even bond spren. (Or the local equivalent--Seon, Aviar, etc.) But you'd never see power on the level of the city of Elantris, the actions of a Bondsmith, or even the broad power suite of a Mistborn."

General Reddit 2018 (March 18, 2018)

 

 

Questioner

What differentiates a minor Shardworld like First of the Sun?

Brandon Sanderson

The amount of Investiture, and whether there is actually a Shard in presence.

Questioner

I'm assuming there is not one there?

Brandon Sanderson

There is not one there.

Questioner

So it's like a Splintered one from something else?

Brandon Sanderson

No what you'll find is that the worlds were all created with a level of-- a little bit of sort of ambient magic. What you'll find in worlds like that is things like, Shadows for Silence and things like this, the magic, it's not necessarily "people with magic" it's you can interact with nature...

Questioner

So there is inherent Investiture...

Brandon Sanderson

There is inherent investiture in every world created but you are going to see-- You aren't going to find Mistborn on a world like that but what you might find is a way there are magic aspects to the setting. Spren could exist on a world like that but they would be like the minor spren, you wouldn't find Syl, but you would find something like lifespren.

Salt Lake City Comic-Con 2014 (Sept. 4, 2014)

 

Edited June 30, 2020 by Eternal Khol

[Wits End]

2 hours ago, Quantus said:

What's worse is that given the timeline of the Cosmere, we cant evn be sure it's not both a place and a person.  The WOB is that Leras "would recognize Vax", and that it was "heavily suggested that it's a place".  But we have characters that have created whole planets and lived for millennia, it's not out of the question for Vax to be a place but also have been a person back in the shattering era when Leras would have known them. 

I have never thought of it like that before.

[Eternal Khol he/him]

I just had a thought that maybe Vax is the planet with Ambition’s Splintered Remain’s

we know she was splintered somewhere other than the Threnodite system. And as things go in the Cosmere, those Splinters are bound to become sentient or make some kind of magic if they are even on a habitable planet 

but the way Khriss just glosses over it in the Arcanum Unbounded and how she just hints at Vax’s magic system in Elantris’ Ars Arcanum, makes me think the two are connected and Brandon will eventually do a vax novella or something and itll all make sense

Edited September 26, 2020 by Eternal Khol

[Danthemystic he/him]

My theory is that Vax is both the name of a place and a person. I think it is specifically the name of a Shard Vessel that Ati was close to in some way and probably thought one of the people in the Cognitive Realm when he died surrounding him was Vax. 

We also know in Aether of Night that the first version of Ruin in the Cosmere, which was called Decay in that story, was on that world and the world's name started with a V (or an L now that I think of it). So, I think it was the first world Ruin went to alongside the shard who was named Vax. Ruin fled that world, possibly because the Vessel saw that he was too destructive to have on his/her planet. 

So the Aether of Night story could take place on Vax and the Aethers might be from there. Whatever the Shard there is doing, it is creating some sort of magic system that involves Initiation but also involves Aether materials to function. 

On 9/26/2020 at 2:11 AM, Eternal Khol said:

I just had a thought that maybe Vax is the planet with Ambition’s Splintered Remain’s

we know she was splintered somewhere other than the Threnodite system. And as things go in the Cosmere, those Splinters are bound to become sentient or make some kind of magic if they are even on a habitable planet 

but the way Khriss just glosses over it in the Arcanum Unbounded and how she just hints at Vax’s magic system in Elantris’ Ars Arcanum, makes me think the two are connected and Brandon will eventually do a vax novella or something and itll all make sense

I like this idea a lot. It makes a decent amount of sense as I myself don't believe that Ambition splintered in the Threnodite system but definitely went somewhere else. 

I think Vax is going to end up being super important to the story of the Cosmere as a whole. We are most likely going to get either a single novel or a novella set there.