Define "day"

[+Czernobog]

Asked Shardcast-style: what does "day" mean? Is a "day" one rotation of a planet about its axis?

We've seen a mere Sliver shift a planet's orbit elsewhere in the Cosmere. With Honor dead, and Cultivation not directly countering Odium, how difficult would it be for a full Shard to slow the rotation of Roshar? 10 days could be an awfully long time, if the planet's  rate of rotation were dramatically slowed.

[Zedseayou]

It seems like Odium thinks he's going to win, so why would he delay?

The orbital movement thing also seems tricky - it's odd that Shards don't do it more often, in my mind. Why is the battle for the cosmere being fought on a human scale at all? There are definitely some other constraints at play

[ftl]

1 hour ago, Zedseayou said:

 Why is the battle for the cosmere being fought on a human scale at all? There are definitely some other constraints at play

I think that one, in general, is because Shards are paired off and are by definition equally powerful. Here, we've got Odium vs Cultivation - Odium can't use his power to do much because otherwise C would kill him, and vice versa.

(All cosmere spoilers, about shards and planets)

Spoiler

We have epic save-the-world plotlines on Scadrial and Roshar. On Scadrial, Preservation and Ruin used up most of their power perfectly balancing/trapping each other - with only a little left over to affect the world, leaving humans as a necessary pawn. Here on Roshar, same thing - Odium and Cultivation are watching each other carefully, each waiting for the other to use just a bit too much power, to leave themselves just a bit too open to a strike.

On the other hand, Warbreaker, White Sand, Elantris - there's no opposing Shards fighting, and so the stakes of the battles are a lot lower on a Cosmere scale.

So far, humans have cosmere-scale significance when they're the ones acting as a "tiebreaker" in fights between Shards.

[+Czernobog]

9 hours ago, Zedseayou said:

It seems like Odium thinks he's going to win, so why would he delay?

But we don't know why Odium thinks that. He simply comments that Dalinar had set himself up for failure.

I agree that slowing the planet's rotation to stretch out the length of days is probably not his plan, but it's interesting to ponder, nonetheless, especially with the Scadrial orbit change having happened.

[Karger he/him]

I think the good faith portion of the agreement would stop this.  At any rate I do not think that slowing the fight would really benefit anyone.  In fact it gives Dalinar more prep time.  I would speed things up if my only goal were victory.

[Kingsdaughter613 she/her]

2 hours ago, Karger said:

I think the good faith portion of the agreement would stop this.  At any rate I do not think that slowing the fight would really benefit anyone.  In fact it gives Dalinar more prep time.  I would speed things up if my only goal were victory.

T has no intention of playing in good faith. That was Rayse.

[Karger he/him]

Just now, Kingsdaughter613 said:

T has no intention of playing in good faith. That was Rayse.

T is still bound by the agreement.

[Kingsdaughter613 she/her]

3 minutes ago, Karger said:

T is still bound by the agreement.

By the letter, not the spirit. Rayse said he would play fair - T won’t. Dalinar should have made a no cheating rule.

[Karger he/him]

4 hours ago, Kingsdaughter613 said:

By the letter, not the spirit. Rayse said he would play fair - T won’t. Dalinar should have made a no cheating rule.

Rayse also promised and Dalinar agreed...

Quote

We will approach this contest in good faith, Dalinar.  This is not some deal with a Voidbringer from your myths, where one tricks the other with some silly twist of language.  A willing champion from each of us and a fight to the death...  No tricks no lies.