Soulcaster theory - spren reproduction

[Ixthos Luke/Luke]

I'll try to be brief as I feel like a ramble is coming on, so, focusing just on key points:

• Soulcasters - and probably Oathgates - are unique in terms of observed fabrials
• All fabrials appear as spren in shadesmar - indeed, everything has a "spren", but some spren are just beads of glass
• Fabrials typically are made by combining a spren with a gemstone, and then shaping that gemstone and attaching it to a metal cage to control and focus it
  • what does this look like in Shadesmar, the spren becoming trapped in the glass bead? Does the bead, over time, become like the spren, or the two fuse together such that after a long period the spren thinks of itself as a fabrial?
• Spren reproduce by finding investiture and turning it into more of themselves, presumably - I think this was said in the text? - the investiture has to be of a compatible type, so Honourspren require investiture that is mainly Honour with a little Cultivation, but couldn't do this with a pool of Odium's investiture (though this is supposition)
• Key point: EVERYTHING is made of Investiture
• Theory: Soulcasters are made when a sentient spren TURNS THE COGNITIVE COMPONENT OF AN OBJECT INTO ANOTHER SPREN
  • it's probably more involved than this, but this is the general idea - not trapping a spren INSIDE an object or an object's cognitive component, but rather turning the cognitive component INTO a spren - maybe the object has to be primed first, OR ... see next bulletpoint
    • I have said several times that I think Oathgates are made by a collaborative effort of a Willshaper and an Elsecaller working together, using the three surges they bring - each with one unique but one, Transportation, shared - to change an area of reality. Perhaps for each surgebinding fabrial a collaboration of orders is required, though as Oathgates have two spren, each a loose match for the spren of the two orders with access to Transportation, perhaps (if the theory is correct) they are unique, OR ... see next bulletpoint
      • maybe soulcasters ALSO have a second spren, and that spren is missing, OR ....

... Okay, I said I would try not to ramble, so let's stop here for now :-P

Basic theory - regular fabrials involve trapping a spren, raising questions of what this looks like in the cognitive realm and if a spren is inside a fabrial for a long time if it will eventually become part of it completely and be unable to leave even if the gemstone is cracked. Soulcasters, this theory proposes, are when the object is transformed into a spren, with possible preparation or circumstances required in advance.

What do you think? :-)