Erunion

Vancouver, Canada

Awesome idea! Great game, and it would suit it very well! I have no talents in this regard, but I wish you all the best!

Dat Jasnah though That's amazing. One thing on the Shardhammer - it's probably more like a giant version of a medieval warhammer. So sharpened points, more proportional and balanced of a look. Still huge, but not THAT huge.... Doing some quick estimation math (0.4m*0.4m*0.6m), the hammer you just drew weighs over 1600 lbs, around 750 kgs..... So, uhhh... that would take 4 people to carry..... Or more. Other than that, AWESOME job

I wish I'd joined this discussion 21 pages ago. It's fantastic to see an Internet discussion about religion where everyone is happy, friendly and curious. I love it Just a heads up - I'm a Christian (Protestant if you want to be more specific, Evengelical if you want to be EVEN MORE specific, Plymouth Brethren if you want to be ridiculously specific, and open church if you care about minutia). On the Song of Solomon - my knowledge of it is mostly the same as @Delightful: a beautiful metaphor of the Love of God for his believers. This is how it's generally considered among the Christians I know. However, as is the case for most of scripture, it also showcases another important thing: that marriage (and sex within that marriage) is a beautiful, wonderful God-given joining together of two people. That married people are supposed to enjoy each other completely - their company, their personalities, and yes, their bodies.

Not the throw a wrench in your theorizing, but Lift just had her first period, so that means she's hit puberty and is definitely growing up - evidence: Sanderson is pretty subtle about it, but that's pretty clearly a reference to menses - specifically her first menses. So she is changing; she is growing up. And it appears that she did ask to NOT change, but isn't quite getting what she expected to get. However, I COMPLETELY buy the idea that she's been shifted partly to the cognitive realm, and it's entirely possible that it will give her longevity/functional immortality. However, it seems that her body knows she's supposed to grow up first, at least part of the way.

Ahahahah thanks! I have probably spent too much time thinking about historical/fantasy battles.... I blame a childhood spent strategy gaming with brothers. (Board games, video games, games we'd make up on paper - we did it all)

And here we strike another of Erunion's geek points - military history and tactics. Last time I geeked out on this on these forums I wrote a 2000+ word essay. By accident. You have been warned (it's in the first couple pages of 'Roshar vs. Scadrial', if you're interested....). Shardbearers are unique. They're much akin to super heavy cavalry, or even tanks in more modern combat. Strong, mobile, deadly, almost unkillable in a direct confrontation, but vulnerable to being swarmed and overwhelmed. As such, I see them being used much like I would use kataphractoi, or late medieval knights, or other units of super heavy cavalry. You have a plethora of deployment options. You can treat them as classic medieval Knights - charge the enemy head on, pull back, reform, then charge again. Repeat until the enemy breaks and runs. You can use them as a flanking force - tie down the enemy with your main line, then sweep your shardbearers (likely with cavalry) around the flanks and hit the enemy in the sides or the rear (much akin to the Zulu 'horns of the buffalo' tactic). You can use them as Dalinar does, as the vanguard of your force - striking deep into the enemy lines, shattering them, and then holding the gap open for your footsoldiers to exploit. This exposes the shardbearers to great risk, but protects those self-same footsoldiers. Greatest risk to the bearer, least risk to the infantry. The main disadvantage, however, is flexibility. Once stuck in; it's hard to get out. Having your shardbearer engaged in a brutal front line conflict You can use them as your second attack - hold them in reserve, and then send them to deal with problems or exploit gaps. This is, by far, the safest and most sensible usage of a shardbearer, if not always the most effective. The tactics used would inevitably vary with the situation. Every battle is different, every army you bring in is slightly different, every enemy you face is different, every battlefield you fight over is different. Somedays, you would NEED to use your shardbearers as Dalinar does on the shattered plains - use them to hold a beachhead while a bridge is lowered behind, or to hold a breach in a cities walls. Somedays you would face an army in an open field, not holding close formation. Then you would sweep in with shards, cavalry and heavy infantry, and with luck sweep the enemy off the field (like Theoden's Eored before the walls of Minas Tirith). Other times you would face down against a strong wall of infantry. Then it would be wisest to send the shards around the flanks while engaging the main body of the foe, so that they would take the enemy from the side and disturb their lines the whole way down. Most often, were I to have shardbearers, I would hold them in reserve. Not for long - but just long enough to see how the battle was going, what the enemy was doing. The shardbearers could be used to blunt any spearhead as my foe tried to pierce my lines, or foul a flanking attack. More often, once the battle was engaged, I might see a chance to break the enemies lines and win the day, and to that task I would set my shardbearers and the cream of my forces in their tow. And so my shardbearers would have bows. Not to make a huge difference, but to give them something to do, some useful task they can accomplish while I hold them back, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

That IS really cool - Knife science. Definitely interesting. As Pathfinder said, this might be where they got the name Edgedancer! Also, if anyone is curious, I signed up for the newsletter an hour ago and just finished reading the excerpt - they send the latest newsletter as soon as you sign up!

Depending on the user, EVERYTHING is a valid target for a weapon as overpowered as this... Shardbows are likely favoured by 2nd line generals - officers who want to engage in the fight but not get stuck in. Wielding a shardbow, a shardbearer could do damage while directing a battle or while acting as a reserve (holding back until a weak point opened up, either in the enemies line to be exploited or in your own line to be shored up). Furthermore, you may well be able to take out multiple opponents with a shardbow - it's so overpowered that it might simply pulverize the target area and move through, hitting another target behind (or dragging the first body with it).

Most likely is that Lirin is just what he appears to be on the surface - normal. An educated, scholarly surgeon. But crazy theorizing is always appreciated

hrmm. Nice analysis hwiles! Just some considerations: If it's that thick and black, the arrow might well be hollow metal. We use hollow metal arrows nowadays. But these are practically handheld ballistae. Good analysis on the strength of the bearers!

That's a good way to go about it! As an archer, I'm quite sure those tables exist (recently bought some arrows and the shopkeeper went through them to confirm which arrows I should have for my bow). I wasn't thinking hollow arrows, but a hollow bow - so a hollow tube of springsteel to serve as the bow itself (with the built in fabrials). The risk of buckling under compressive loads might not be worth the reduced weight though :/

Wouldn't be surprised if they went off to Kharbranth.

Aiyah! I feel for you. I'm being trained as an Engineer north of the border (in Canada, if that's not obvious) - they occasionally have us do stuff in Imperial in case we're hired by or work with people from down South (the USA). I'll send you a commiserative hug. For a bow, they'd likely use different types of spring steels (like those used in some crossbows). These have a yield strength of anywhere from 450 MPa to 1000 MPa (although that's more accurately the yield strength of a specific steel alloy, with more than just carbon and iron). To really figure it out though, you have to figure out the thickness of the bow (is it hollow? Or solid? Thick or thin?). And then deal with the tension/compression characteristics, which I'm not up to handling right now (have an exam in an unrelated topic tomorrow...)

Yay math! Looks good so far. Except that imperial units make me cringe... (Stick to Metric man! Makes life so much easier!)

Should WOT really be there? It's hard to compare the completion of someone else's epic series with his own work...

Yup. You guys were right. It was worth listening too. It was awesome. Funny, clever, great characterization.

Is there a transcript of this? I'm bad at listening to readings xD

As a fellow engineer, it's just beautiful to see!

That's it for me too. She's a person who does not want to be defined by her gender, sexuality or anything else. She is a scholar, first, foremost, and always. Romance, sexuality, all of that is of such low importance to her (as compared to her work) that it may as well be irrelevant.

Nyali and Pathfinder said most of it: Sanderson's relationships aren't typical Hollywood relationships - they're more 'grown up', less teenage. It's a pretty cool thing, actually. I have one more thing to add: you complained about the lack of screen time for most of them, but appreciated the Vin/Elend relationship (which had a lot of screen time). That's intentional. In most of Sanderson's books, the characters romantic relationships are secondary to their other character growth and the story as a whole. The main exception is Mistborn, where the protagonists character growth is exemplified in her relationship with Elend, and so that relationship is a main focus of the story (each book has an emotional overarching theme that's exemplified in their relationship; the first book is about trust, I forget the second one orz, but the third one is about faith).

thanks, and done.

The issue here, OP, is that Sanderson's villains are very rarely 'in the wrong' in their own eyes. They are, in fact, too well realized; their motivations too well developed. For a character to be redeemed, that character must first repent. Repentance requires the character to see that their actions are wrong, realize that there is a better way, and then act on that. Once a character has repented, they can be redeemed. Sanderson's villains typically believe that they have no reason to repent. They believe that their actions are just, well thought out, the very best that can be done. Sanderson's villains don't see themselves as villains. Curiously, we have two exceptions. First is Denth: Denth knew he was a villain. It bothered him, deeply. He could have been redeemed, but he was too angry (and Vasher lacked the eloquence/ability to convince Denth to turn to the light, as it were). Hrathen, on the other hand, is a classic exception to this. He was a villain. His actions brought bloody revolution on the duladen republic. Throughout the book, we see him slowly repenting of his actions, until in the end he decides to do the right thing at his own expense, and he IS redeemed.

You cremlings. I am so, so envious of you all right now. If only I had money. And didn't have exams. Also - awesome work on the transcriptions of the RAFO sessions! Who should I upvote for those ?

90% agree with you. Just a couple of corrections though: - Most hair colours appear to be normal, and passed on just like ours. The only hair that streaks is the Iriali golden hair and the Alethi night-black. Iriali hair isn't just blonde, it's super-blonde golden. Alethi hair isn't just dark, it's super-black. There's something up with those two peoples. - Do we have evidence that eyes are super-fancy and glowing? AFAIK, that's a feature exclusively of people who are channeling stormlight. AFAIK, Hoid's blue eyes are normal to all the Alethi. But yeah, I would HATE it if Roshar got white-washed. Because the world is so cool for being UNIQUE, with almost no ethnicities matching earths 1-1. It's so cool.