Change my mind

[Scadrian Truthwatcher]

Zu is a transgender worldhopper.

The events of The Emperor’s Soul happen before those of The Stormlight Archive. Shai states that the common guards... well, guarding her when she was forging Ashravan’s soul would “probably find themselves assigned to [...] guarding the passes leading down to the distant Teoish peninsula or the like” (Day 98). Earlier (Day 3), Gaotona states that Zu “is the only one of our Strikers to know the extent of the emperor’s injury, and only [Zu] knows of our plan with you. Other guards will watch you [...] and you are not to speak to them of your task”.

If regular guards are being sent to the passes leading to Teod, is it too much of a stretch to assume Zu was sent further? To Arelon, even, where she could enter Devotion’s Perpendicularity like Galladon, Riino and Hoid, all of whom have been seen on Roshar since?

In RoW, we see a Zu that is rather obscure when referring to her past, but we know she has had weapon experience. She could have used that experience when acting as a Reshi guide. Especially since the Coppermind states “She is more skilled with weaponry [...] than her account of her past allows”. Looks can be faked, better so in the Cosmere than on Earth. Just saying.

Edited April 16, 2021 by Scadrian Truthwatcher
To make me seem more open to people who don’t think every character with a mildly mysteriously past is a Worldhopper.

[+mdross81 he/him]

I think it’s more likely that Shai is Zu and that she used the guard’s name and demeanor as part of crafting a soul stamp.

Zu already shares a lot of characteristics with some of the personas of Shai’s other soulstamps. She has a warrior one, a survivalist, a scholar who speaks a variety of languages. And the warrior one already has the sort of excitable, challenge-seeking bravado that we see from Zu the Stoneward.

Zu says that in the past she got in trouble mostly. Sounds like Shai.

They share a belief in the God Beyond. Shai calls it the Unknown God, but I believe Brandon has basically confirmed that that’s the same as the God Beyond  worshipped but the Iriali  

And as we see early on with Shai and her discussion of the stones making up her cell, she understands stones deeply, and Zu is a Stoneward.

Zu didn’t like Iri or Urithiru because of too many people telling her how to live her life and too many rules. This also seems to fit with Shai who gets really steamed every time someone suggests she should be using her Forgery skills in some different way.

Plus Brandon has hinted that we might see Shai pop up on Roshar:

Quote

Questioner

Is Shai on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson

Good question!

Questioner

Has she already popped up?

Brandon Sanderson

She has not already popped up.

Questioner

So she's not a Radiant. Or is she?

Brandon Sanderson

You have not seen her on screen yet, other than in her story.

Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing (March 21, 2014)

There might be other WoBs too but this was the one I remembered.

Now, she would have to have figured out how to get her soul stamps to work that far away from Sel. But it seems possible that there’s a way.

Edited April 16, 2021 by mdross81

[mathiau he/him]

1 hour ago, mdross81 said:

Now, she would have to have figured out how to get her soul stamps to work that far away from Sel. But it seems possible that there’s a way.

Non-MaiPon people can use a finished stamp so it's not even sure she would need that

[+mdross81 he/him]

18 minutes ago, mathiau said:

Non-MaiPon people can use a finished stamp so it's not even sure she would need that

That's true, but these two WoBs suggest that there would need to be some fix for powering them:

Quote

zotsandcrambles

Have we seen any soul-stamped objects in any of the non-Sel books?

Brandon Sanderson

For you to have seen this, someone would have to have cracked the issue with Sel magics losing power greatly when taken from the planet.

zotsandcrambles

Is this a feasible task for someone like Shai or Hoid? We know the Moon Scepter is a Rosetta stone, so the task seems less daunting, right?

Brandon Sanderson

The task is less daunting for certain. I don't want to say more, however, as I think the clues are there about Sel's magic, and I want to avoid saying too much.

zotsandcrambles

Thanks for taking the time (again) to answer me!

Brandon Sanderson

So, here's the thing. The problem with magic on Sel is not one people are looking at the right way. And I'm really loathe to dig into it more, because I won't be able to write the books set on the world for a few more years yet.

Already, great moments in upcoming books aren't going to be as powerful to the hardcore fans, as they'll know the answers already.

But your theory, while very cool, wouldn't work--and stems from you attacking the problem in the wrong way.

Worldbuilders AMA (Dec. 5, 2015)

and

Quote

Viper (paraphrased)

Aons look like Arelon; soulstamps look like MaiPon. Aons get weaker when you get further from Arelon, right? That's not just cause Elantris acts like a focus?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

That's right, it's based on distance. That's why there are no stamped objects in Elantris.

Viper (paraphrased)

So do soulstamps get weaker further from MaiPon? If you left Sel via Shadesmar and went to another planet, would the soulstamp stop working?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

That's correct.

Viper (paraphrased)

Could soulstamps be carved that used Arelon as a base form instead of MaiPon?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

That's very interesting, isn't it?

A Memory of Light Milford Signing (Feb. 16, 2013)

Certainly not insurmountable, but the cosmere is moving in the direction of people figuring out how to power one type of magic with another. And Roshar has freely available Investiure. Still, the conversion is an issue that would need to be figured out.