Chaos

It's the name of the chapter where it happens. It appears in no other instance in the book.

Sending you an email. It won't help you much, but it'll save you a little trouble. May also help the Coppermind...

Immediately what comes to mind is that the creatures Dalinar fought seemed to have stone-like bodies.

Math is its own fun

Well, she was still chosen at a young age, but apparently holding the Well was important.

Right. The other two factors were that she was chosen by Preservation, and also because she held the Well's power, "attuning" her.

to the Dor (You knew this was coming)

Hehe. But seriously, I'd rather not turn this into Stump Chaos. I want to help people learn math.

Oh fun, we're making this a stump Chaos session EDIT: Ah, zero.

Do you have a question about math? Is there something you never quite understood about it? Well, prepare to be confused no more; Chaos is here to help! Post your questions here. I can't promise I'll get to them quickly, though. If you need them answered quickly, find me on AIM or Skype.

Wow, I never even considered that. I don't know if it's true, but it's an interesting analysis. I buy it a little more with Dalinar. He really is of Honor. Kaladin too. Man, Principle of Intent, is there anything you can't do? That is indeed why Vin could not take Preservation.

That's not a bad theory, Feather. I've started thinking that Surgebinding is related to both Honor and Cultivation (in that there are bonds--Honor--and spren--Cultivation), but your answer may be more elegant. I like it.

Atium and the Well of Ascension do replenish, but my intent for talking about it in this theory is to try and understand why Shard power replenishes. Brandon's mentioned one instance where Shard power doesn't seem to replenish: when they are powering the Metallic Arts. Emphasis mine. So from that quote, it appears to me that such "expending power" does not return (unlike atium and the Well). Maybe I'm wrong about that, and the power would return. But if I'm right, that's an interesting conundrum. Why would sometimes a Shard's power return, and why wouldn't it? My theory, as stated in the Principle, was that if you spend power in accordance with the Shard's Intent, it returns. Atium killed (Ruined), so it would replenish. Same with the Well of Ascension. But if I were to use Preservation's power to fuel Hemalurgy, that would expend that power from Preservation permanently. That's my theory, at least.

Man, what indeed? I've learned so much from this podcast that it literally has transformed my writing. Is it cheating to say all of it? Because... it's all of it.

creating many doors.

Ick, a triple post. Apologies. I've edited the front list. In addition to your questions, I thought I'd add some questions, too. Some are pretty basic, but hey, the list needs completion. How many Shardworlds are there? Only seven? (Sel, Nalthis, Scadrial, Roshar, Yolen, Taldain, and whatever planet The Silence Divine is on?) Is Aona's Shard name Devotion? Is Skai's Shard name Unity? Did Odium travel to Sel before the construction of Elantris? How could a person from Scadrial access Shadesmar? An alloy of a god metal? The Allomantic metals are separated into four quadrants. Do the Shards have classifications as well, in groups of four? Do two Shards exist on Taldain? Does one Shard exist on the world of The Silence Divine? Does Bavadin hold a Shard? Why do Shards refer to themselves by their Shard name, rather than their original name? Do they still remember their original name? Which Shards are responsible for highstorms? What is Stormlight? Is Stormlight a focus? What is Midnight Essence? Why is the chapter where Dalinar (presumably) sees the Day of Recreance called "A Highway to the Sun"? Fabrials replicate Soulcasting abilities. Is it possible for fabrials to replicate all such Surgebinding abilities? Did members of the Hierocracy see visions like Dalinar's? Are the spren Shallan sees called truthspren? Is Jezrien the voice Kaladin hears when he rides the storm? What are the exchange rates of gems on Roshar? Are Honorspren Splinters, or do they hold Splinters? Is the Nightwatcher Cultivation or of Cultivation in some respect? Will we see more notes from the person who wrote the letter in the Part Two epigraphs? Is the letter writer Hoid? - Status: RAFO You said that Preservation created the Terris Prophecies. Why couldn't Ruin see into the future and counter Preservation's plan? Why does lerasium relate to Physical and Enhancement properties? Allomancy causes many dramatic effects and a lot of change. How does this make Allomancy of Preservation? Will we ever get to see additional god metal alloys? You know, sometime. How does one detect a new Feruchemist? In Allomancy, there is always bronze. Is there something similar for Feruchemy? Did Odium travel to Sel before the construction of Elantris? You said to not travel to Shadesmar on Sel. Is this a consequence of Odium Splintering Aona and Skai? Is the Dor a combination of Aona's and Skai's Shard's power, or only related to Aona? There are 108 questions related to the cosmere. Holy crap, guys.

Hoo boy, lots of questions to go through. Wyrn, or an agent of his, can see the future. Brandon was very coy about this. I'm going to edit the "How did Wyrn see into the future?" to gain the same idea. The latter has been mentioned. Adding the first one, however. This has now been answered. See the Vericon report. Editing this to say "Has Honor been Splintered". FeatherWriter's "Honor is Shattered Like Adonalsium" theory is different than what you meant, I'm sure. This one is a bit too vague. Clarify it, and it'll go in. Having something this vague will surely get RAFO'd I am fairly certain someone said there would be a Jasnah book. My memory is a little hazy on this point, however. I know you're referring to the Heralds' "Shardblades", but I'm going to make this clearer. I'm pretty sure Honorblades and Dawnshards are synonyms. Clarify for me what you mean here. In some sense, the Shards all had a common origin. Roshar is not that world of origin. Zas could whip up a quote for me, but I am positive that the process of healing consumes the divine Breath. Great question. Where did you find the six generation thing, however? You've stumped me! Her enhanced Seeker power is the cause of this. It's also why she was able to hear the Well. It is indeed extremely important. I don't know all the specifics, but here's what we see. Ruin and Preservation's magics both share a focus, which is a cosmere term. AonDor and the Commands are other focuses. Judging by Ruin and Preservation's blindness to metal, this signals that focuses are deeply tied with the Shards. Since Sazed holds both Ruin and Preservation, he would be tied to both of those Shards' rules. Both of those are blind to their own focus. Thus, Sazed is still blind to metal. That hasn't changed. So, I think I can parse out a coherent question: "Why are Shards seem blind to their focus?" Current theories on Aona's Shard name, as well as Brandon's cryptic comment about the Shard name, seems to imply that Aona holds a Shard name like Devotion or Loyalty. It makes sense, then, that the Seons would be tied to their masters, not the land. Still want me to ask the question? It seems like a pretty closed deal... Brandon has explicitly referred to them as Honorblades. Synonyms appear to be Dawnshards (as you said) and Dawnblades, but those could be names given by the culture. Given the fact that the Almighty's Shard is Honor, I think "Honorblade" is the clearest term that exists. I could still add this to the list, but I can already predict the answer. There are other cosmere clues in Dragonsteel. Phew, finally done. Now to edit them into the topic. Feel free to call me out if a question that I critiqued above is something you still want asked. Some I'm including. Some questions which I feel has an adequate answer aren't included. But if you so desire, I can put them in anyways.

Hey, maybe. I'll get right on it.

No such topic exists. You should go make it! The highstorms are quite mysterious, really. What Shards caused them? What is Stormlight? etc.

I guess, but normal spren feel a lot like Cultivation. An event "cultivates" them, so to speak. From a Shard Intent standpoint, Cultivation feels more right.

Future Scadrial Politician: "Quick! Get us off the gold standard, the Allomancers are stealing all of our money!"

Actually, I meant what I said. Both main character arcs paid off precisely as they needed to to hit an emotional chord. I liked the dreams, but that's not why I loved that movie. I loved it because the writing was solid. The characters were solid, and I cared about what happened. It's an expertly crafted movie, where every element does their job. Worldbuilding is nice, but it is only one element of a great story. Inception had all of them.

Okay, I might go see Sucker Punch. Maybe. I also don't think Inception was totally, oh, "mind-bending". Mind-blowing because of the story, but I was never confused at any point with the blocking. The one exception was in the opening scene, though the blocking came pretty quickly there, too.

I stand by my statement. There is no evidence for it actually changing the Shards' Intents, and there still isn't. Harmony is a great nickname for Sazed, but that does not mean the Shards' Intents changed. They are still independently Ruin and Preservation. I intend to be very bullheaded about this. My personal theory about that (as well as Kerry's) is that the Shards are to Adonalsium as Mistings are to Mistborn. Separate aspects to a greater power. In order for the Intents to go away, you have to have all the Shards together.