Criggleworth Posted July 30, 2020 Report Share Posted July 30, 2020 The cosmere is a large and diverse universe and features a variety of sapient species, appropriately given the scale. I wanted to sort them by pre and post shattering of Adonalsium. I'll have my rationale for any that might be a controversial pick for either side on this time scale. Curious to see if others agree with how I sort them out. And if I've missed any, please let me know! Pre-Shattering Humans- one of the original three species that lived on Yolen and basically everywhere we know of in the cosmere. Dragons- the second of the three species of Yolen. We've gotten a letter from one dragon on screen, but know from WoBs that they predate the shattering. Sho Del- the third and final species from Yolen. We've seen none "on screen" as far as we know, but Brandon has confirmed their existence via WoB. Singers- the original inhabitants of Roshar, a world that Adonalsium directly designed and created. While it is possible they were added later via Honor and Cultivation, I find it unlikely given the overall designed nature of Roshar. Sleepless- potentially a controversial pick for pre-shattering. As far as I know, we don't know where the Sleepless are from, though they are obviously associated with Roshar. The limited information we have does not give me reason, currently, to think they are a post-shattering addition to the cosmere. Post Shattering Humans (Scadrians)- created by Ruin and Preservation using the humans of Yolen as the design. It's a technicality to include them as post-shattering, but they were technically made after. "True" Spren- while spren definitely existed pre-shattering, it's suggested that the sapient spren emerged later, after Honor and Cultivation arrived. I believe that the first of each of the varieties of true spren Hemalurgic Constructs- I'm going to lump them altogether here, the kandra, koloss, Inquisitor, and chimera (not sure honestly if the chimera would really still count as sapient. Our scarce details suggest not, but they were modified humans). Made post-shattering through Ruin's magic, hemalurgy. Siah Aimians- a controversial pick for post-shattering. I have them here as I believe they are the children of spren and humans. Being partially cognitive entities would explain the direction of their shadows and the partial shapeshifting that they display. Axies' ability to "write" on his skin reminds me of Vasher's abilities as a Returned as well as the implications of the Royal Locks. I could be wildly wrong on this one, we've little information on them. Awakened Constructs- so far, this includes Nightblood and, potentially, Lifeless. Azure's sword may also fall under this category. Seon/Skaze- made from investiture from Devotion's and Dominion's shattering. Cognitive Shadows- I'm just going to lump all the cognitive shadows we know of under this heading- Returned, Heralds, Fused, etc. We don't know of any pre-shattering shadows, though it may have been possible. Rhyshadium- Khriss labeled them as near sapient, so good enough for me to include them here. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karger Posted July 30, 2020 Report Share Posted July 30, 2020 21 minutes ago, Criggleworth said: Siah Aimians- a controversial pick for post-shattering. I have them here as I believe they are the children of spren and humans. Being partially cognitive entities would explain the direction of their shadows and the partial shapeshifting that they display. Axies' ability to "write" on his skin reminds me of Vasher's abilities as a Returned as well as the implications of the Royal Locks. I could be wildly wrong on this one, we've little information on them. THIS WOULD MAKE SO MUCH SENSE. Also if we take Hoid's story maybe the spren involved was somehow associated with the moon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frustration Posted July 30, 2020 Report Share Posted July 30, 2020 1 hour ago, Criggleworth said: Sho Del- the third and final species from Yolen. We've seen none "on screen" as far as we know, but Brandon has confirmed their existence via WoB. Ambition was Sho Del. Also why do you group the Simians separately? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GudThymes Posted July 30, 2020 Report Share Posted July 30, 2020 1 hour ago, Criggleworth said: Singers- the original inhabitants of Roshar, a world that Adonalsium directly designed and created. While it is possible they were added later via Honor and Cultivation, I find it unlikely given the overall designed nature of Roshar. Quote HorseCannon I didn't realize Horneaters had parshmen blood, didn't even realize that was possible. How closely are humans and parshmen related, do they have a common ancestor? Or is one an artificially created version of the other? Brandon Sanderson There was intermixing long ago. Horneaters and Herdazians are both a result. (Signs of this are the stone carapace on Herdazian fingernails and the Horneater extra jaw pieces--in the back of the mouth--for breaking shells.) Humans and parshmen don't have a common ancestor. And as a side note, both of these strains of humanoids predate the ascension of Honor, Cultivation, and Odium. Confirming that the Singers are most definitely Pre-shattering. Predate ascensions of the Shards. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weltall Posted July 30, 2020 Report Share Posted July 30, 2020 (edited) The Tai-na on Roshar are believed to be sapient by the Reshi and what we've seen in the books suggests they're correct in this belief. 2 hours ago, Criggleworth said: Singers- the original inhabitants of Roshar, a world that Adonalsium directly designed and created. While it is possible they were added later via Honor and Cultivation, I find it unlikely given the overall designed nature of Roshar. Adding to the above WoB, we have this one that much of what we see on Roshar was the result of evolutionary processes. Brandon has mentioned that natural selection is a thing in the Cosmere but to make it work in the timespan he's working with, he uses 'Investiture Did It' to explain how fast some of the adaptations are. Edited July 30, 2020 by Weltall 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Oltux72 Posted August 2, 2020 Report Share Posted August 2, 2020 On 30/07/2020 at 10:40 PM, Criggleworth said: The cosmere is a large and diverse universe and features a variety of sapient species, appropriately given the scale. I wanted to sort them by pre and post shattering of Adonalsium. I'll have my rationale for any that might be a controversial pick for either side on this time scale. Curious to see if others agree with how I sort them out. And if I've missed any, please let me know! A few borderline or unknown cases: Deep Ones of Threnody The Evil of Threnody Aviars The Set's Faceless Immortals some Unmade (unless you count them as spren) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brgst13 Posted August 2, 2020 Report Share Posted August 2, 2020 9 hours ago, Oltux72 said: A few borderline or unknown cases: Deep Ones of Threnody The Evil of Threnody Aviars The Set's Faceless Immortals some Unmade (unless you count them as spren) 4. The Faceless Immortals are kandra. These postdate the Shattering because they were created by Preservation. Also, all of Scadrial was formed post-Shattering. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bzhydack Posted August 2, 2020 Report Share Posted August 2, 2020 1 hour ago, Brgst13 said: 4. The Faceless Immortals are kandra. These postdate the Shattering because they were created by Preservation. Also, all of Scadrial was formed post-Shattering. @Oltux72 was talking about Set's red-eyed creatures, named as Trell's Faceless Immortals, his equivalent of Kandra. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brgst13 Posted August 2, 2020 Report Share Posted August 2, 2020 7 minutes ago, Bzhydack said: @Oltux72 was talking about Set's red-eyed creatures, named as Trell's Faceless Immortals, his equivalent of Kandra. Either way, if they were created from Mistwraiths, they have to postdate the Shattering since all of Scadrial does. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Oltux72 Posted August 2, 2020 Report Share Posted August 2, 2020 Just now, Brgst13 said: Either way, if they were created from Mistwraiths, they have to postdate the Shattering since all of Scadrial does. If ... It is unclear what they are. In fact they may be Cognitive Shadows of Kandra. Or something else entirely. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brgst13 Posted August 2, 2020 Report Share Posted August 2, 2020 3 hours ago, Oltux72 said: If ... It is unclear what they are. In fact they may be Cognitive Shadows of Kandra. Or something else entirely. I was just assuming that they were Scadrian. Obviously if they are from another world, all bets are off. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormblessed Dolphin Posted August 4, 2020 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 On 7/30/2020 at 4:40 PM, Criggleworth said: Sleepless- potentially a controversial pick for pre-shattering. As far as I know, we don't know where the Sleepless are from, though they are obviously associated with Roshar. The limited information we have does not give me reason, currently, to think they are a post-shattering addition to the cosmere. Just want to say, that we don't know for sure that they are originally associated with Roshar, they are apparently on other worlds as well. Although, this does contribute to the idea that they are pre-shattering. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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