Chaos

This time on Shardcast, we are going to discuss one of the mysterious aspects of Oathbringer: the Sibling, and its relationship to Urithiru. We're also talking about the Dawncities and more--surprisingly, the Horneater Peaks too. And, as Ian says: "Caves? Kind of a bummer." This week we have Eric (Chaos), Ian (WeiryWriter), and joining us on Shardcast for the first time is Evgeni (Argent). My sincerest apologies about the audio; there were some exceptionally bizarre issues that occurred in editing. I've also heard that Shardcast is now on iTunes and Google Play Music. Let me know if something doesn't work out.

Yesterday, the first part of the Oathbringer Graphic Audio came out. Its regular price for a digital version is $16.99, and you can also get it on CD as well. Graphic Audio has done many of Brandon's books and are highly regarded. It isn't just a usual audiobook. It has a full cast of readers acting out the dialogue, with music as well. You can listen to a sample to see if it's your sort of thing on the Graphic Audio page. There are six parts to the Oathbringer Graphic Audio, and the next two come out May 23rd and June 20th, so we have about a month between them for these. If you have these, let us know what you think of the graphic audios below!

Yesterday, at a signing at JordanCon, Brandon read out something that was very old, which he said we had been waiting for "for a long time". He thought it was about eight or nine years old. It is crazy, and very exciting. It's a piece called The Traveler which is quite cosmere-aware, which Brandon thought he could now reveal. We recommend you just read it with no further introduction, but if you want some analysis, scroll on down. Get hyped. All of this is transcribed on Arcanum, and you can listen to the audio from the man himself at the links below. Here is Brandon's introduction to this piece: And so, here it is. Note, again, this is a very early draft from a long time ago. The Traveler A focused southern breeze made the trees sound like they were chattering. Tiny crisp leaves spreading the news of the Traveler’s return. Pure white leaves, clustered along branches like skeletal limbs. Even the bark clinging to the trees was white. In some lands, white meant purity; in others, it meant death. Here, it didn’t mean a thing. It was simply, normal. The Traveler sat on the mossy white ground, back to the tree, legs crossed idly as he picked at a pomegranate, eating the seeds one by one then spitting out the pits. They fell on the stark moss-covered ground, leaving red juice like blood running across a sterile white floor. To say he wore rags would have be an insult to many a goodwife who kept her washing rags in much better shape than the Traveler's costume. Ragged brown and black canvas, tattered cloak, and scruffy beard, rubbed dark with a black material that might have been soot — or ash. The leaves suddenly fluttered excitedly behind him, and a strange puff of wind blew across the trunks. A moment later, a figure in simple gray robes walked into the clearing. Clean-shaven and silver-haired, he had the look of an aged scribe, not haughty, but tired. “So, you’re back,” the elderly visitor said. “Did I leave? I am the lingering odor you can never quite locate, my friend. Just when you think I've faded you open your cupboard and find, in an overpowering reveal, that I've merely been… ripening.” “Hmph, that’s a new look for you.” The Traveler looked down at his ragged clothing. “I’ve been learning to blend in. Hard to do that in one of my normal costumes.” “I doubt you’ll ever be the type to blend in.” “You’d be surprised!” “Is that soot in your hair?” “Maybe.” The elderly man sighed, walking across the short clearing and settling himself down on a large protruding tree root. “You can’t keep doing this.” The Traveler continued to eat his seeds, though he had started to chew them up rather than spitting out the pits. “You will just make things worse.” “Ati and Leras are dead,” the Traveler said, picking a piece of seed out from between his teeth. The elderly visitor said nothing, and the Traveler eyed him, leaning in closely, studying the man's eyes. The pupils were rimmed with a silver far too metallic to be natural, at least for a human. “You sly old lizard!” the Traveler said, pointing. “You already knew! You were watching! And here you were chastising me.” “I did NOT interfere,” the elderly man said. ”You meddle in things we promised to leave alone. Things that we—” Traveler held up a finger, interrupting him, then slowly he pointed at the older man. ”I. Made. No. Promise.” “You made your choice. Why now seek for things you so eagerly denied? My friend, it’s the dangerous desire, the lust for power best untouched, that created the situation in the first place.” The Traveler did not reply. The two sat for a time, listening to the winds through the garrulous trees. “Did you… find what you were seeking?” the elder man finally asked. The Traveler shrugged, picking at another seed and nibbling on it. “You will not find a way to restore what you have lost, old friend,” the aged man said softly. ”It is impossible.” “You don’t know that. The old rules no longer hold.” The Traveler turned the pomegranate over in his fingers. ”Besides, I’ve heard of a place… It doesn’t matter. I don’t care. This isn’t about the dead… or it’s not JUST about the dead, at least.” He dropped the fruit to the ground, wiping his fingers on his riding coat. “So it’s a simple vendetta, then,” the aged man said, sighing. “How many years have you lived, and you still can’t learn the wisdom of just letting go?” “A simple vendetta?” the Traveler said. He rose, stalking up to the older man, holding out a finger and touching the man's chest. “You saw what Ati nearly did.” The Traveler leaned down, face even with that of his older companion. “I would not think it MY vendetta that should worry you, old friend.” Isn't that crazy? It's obviously set right after Mistborn Era 1, right after Hero of Ages, with Hoid (the Traveler) talking to Frost. Not only that but it really sounds like they are on Yolen as well. Remember in The Way of Kings, the part two epigraphs were a mysterious letter of cosmere significance? That was sent to Hoid, from Frost. Then, in Words of Radiance, Frost sent a reply. This is crazy. What do you think? Also note, there's lots more JordanCon to transcribe in the JordanCon event in Arcanum. Come help out by signing up for an account, going to the Sources page, and hitting Edit. Come into our Discord in the #arcanum channel and we can help you out, or go here for a guide on how to do that.

Long ago, in the ancient days of 2016, we did a podcast back when we called this Shardkeepers, about Nightblood and Corrupted Investiture. With the advent of Oathbringer (Oathbringer spoilers in this podcast, by the way), we have not only seen more Nightblood, but we've also had a lot more Words of Brandon about it. Oh, and we're going to talk about Azure's Shardblade, too, because that's a pretty big deal. Today we have Eric (Chaos), Ian (WeiryWriter), and Matt (Comatose). Check out our previous Nightblood podcast (where I really didn't know how to edit audio nearly as well): https://soundcloud.com/17thshard/the-shardkeepers-podcast-corrupted-investiture-and-nightblood Email your Who's That Cosmere Character to [email protected] Subscribe to Shardcast: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:102123174/sounds.rss

This week we are diving back into a controversial character from Oathbringer: Venli! And of course, as is obvious if you've read Oathbringer, we have to talk about Eshonai too. Behold as we have an epic war between Ben (Overlord Jebus), Ian (WeiryWriter), and I on these characters. (My apologies this one is late; turns out 12-14 hour days all this week was a bit rough. Crazy, right?) Email your Who's That Cosmere Character to [email protected] Subscribe to Shardcast: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:102123174/sounds.rss

You've asked for an introduction and analysis of the Secret Societies of Roshar, and so here we are. There are Oathbringer spoilers, but we'll talk about the Ghostbloods, the Sons of Honor, the Diagram, the Skybreakers, and several worldhopping organizations too. We also discuss how dumb some of their plans are. And we also talk about Tezim a lot. Hilariously, Ian's power went out as we first tried recording this podcast. These secret societies don't want this information out! Or something. Today we have Eric (Chaos), a crazy Diagramist. We also have Ian (WeiryWriter), a crazy Ire, and lastly, we have Alyx (FeatherWriter), a crazy Skybreaker. Yup, we've all sworn the oaths. You can submit your Who's That Cosmere Character to [email protected] Subscribe to Shardcast here: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:102123174/sounds.rss