The One Who Connects

Team Sanderson has potentially backpedalled on their Hemalurgic qualities. Assuming they are still Hemalurgic in canon, the charge would've been decaying for a while. I'm pretty sure they also broke the bracers down into smaller portions of Atium , which would cause extra weakening of the charge inside(even if they didn't, whoever they sold them too would have so it'd be in swallowable beads). It's entirely possible that they didn't have much of a charge in them anymore by the time they were eventually burned. Marsh's spike granted F-Atium. If it was made from TLR's bracers, that means either 1) the bracers granted extra F-Atium power to TLR, or 2) the bracers were converted into a spike that stole F-Atium later on, making their original charge irrelevant. 1) TLR using the Well to become a powerful Allomancer is Canon. (Many of use are against him using Nicrosil at all because there was no mention of an "unknown metal" found on his body, but that's not relevant right now) 2) I still don't understand why Zane got precision from his spike. As has been pointed out before, Marsh's soothings are still blunt beyond belief, so he didn't get skill from his spikes. Is it Steel only? Does it only enhance a power you already have? Etc..? There are too many unknowns here. 3) Very bad idea. Koloss and the Chimeras from Era 2 are examples of what spiking in Human Attributes do to a person. Even one would probably noticeably warp TLR. 4) What else is there to steal, and how would he know?

"Bondsmiths didn't have Blades"

You should really look up the definitions of words before you misuse them. To Prune is to remove unwanted or superfluous parts from something. That's it. If I removed unwanted weeds from my garden(and did nothing else), am I guiding the growth of the other plants in my garden? No. But I am still pruning my garden. Mowing the grass doesn't influence/guide the growth of the grass in the slightest, but I am still pruning. i am removing unwanted parts(long/uneven grass) from something(my yard). I can prune without guiding. I can prune with guiding. I can guide without pruning. I can guide by pruning. They are not mutually exclusive, and doing one does not, and should not, imply doing the other. But I'll indulge the question anyway: If I put a barrier in the ground and cut away every bit of the plant that crosses that barrier, I'd say that I "guided" the plant to grow in a different direction. Dalinar's memories are the part of him that crossed that barrier, and they were cut away. With that old path now lost to him, his personal growth went along a different pathway. I'd consider losing something as minor as a few memories as the slight change, as opposed to losing one's sight/hearing/limbs. One's limbs or eyes are just as fundamentally part of who they are as their memories, if not more. You'd have to go about life quite a bit differently if you went blind, or if you lost an arm. But we lose memories all the time as we get older, and that doesn't change us that much by comparison. This sentence literally accomplishes nothing. If he changed himself into a good person because he chose to, then he still became that person. If he changed himself into a good person because of societal pressure, then he still became that person. If he changed himself into a good person because someone convinced him that he was wrong before, then he still became that person. If he changed himself into a good person because he couldn't cope with being a bad person, then he still became that person. If he changed himself into a good person because he lost his memories of being a bad person, then he still became that person. I could do this all day. All you are doing is changing the middle of the sentence, while the start and end are what matter. Dalinar was still Dalinar(mostly) after the visit with the Nightwatcher. From my understanding, there wasn't anything "magically" in place to prevent him from going back into battle and back to conquering if he so chose. He made the decision to seek out the Nightwatcher, he made the decision to try and become a better person. All Cultivation did was get rid of the hardest hurdles to get over on that path to becoming a good person. But it was Dalinar who walked that path, and it was Dalinar who chose to walk that path. You are acting like she gave him complete memory loss and turned him into a blank slate, which is definitively not what happened, and I am very confused as to why you feel this way. Feel free to point me towards passages from the book that support your view to correct my understanding, as that'd end this argument real quick.

When you have a time-gap, things happen during it. We all know that, but that's not really the issue. The issue revolves around what you want to happen before and after the time-gap. If you want to showcase the heroes getting hit with a devastating defeat before the gap, you lose out on showing how they recover from it. If you want to show the heroes recovering from a resounding defeat after the gap, you lose out on actually showing that defeat. A good example of the latter comes from the tv show Falling Skies. Minor Spoilers, I guess: We got some decent snippets of exposition during the show through some of the dialogue, but all we really saw was the aftermath and how they dealt with it. We did get to see the battle in the form of a comic/graphic novel series, but that was outside of the main story, ie: the show. That doesn't seem like a Brandon thing to do, especially given how "big deal" we want this battle to be. If Brandon starts Book 6 with them recovering from a big defeat, then we wouldn't actually see that defeat. Brandon is a very good writer, but without any flashbacks, even he is limited in what he can really "show" us, and it risks distracting from the current narrative. If Brandon ends Book 5 with them suffering a big defeat, they'd either be back to normal by Book 6(making the defeat less relevant), or rebuilding almost from scratch due to successive defeats because Odium won't stop at just one, not when he has the advantage. These are the options you have when the in-world gap is ~15 years. Take your pick on which one you prefer. On a side note, I kinda want Book 5 to end with something much less "grand" than the rest of you do. Battle of The Tower Battle of Narak, Kaladin vs Szeth Battle of Thaylen Fields, Kaladin vs Amaram, Dalinar's "ascension" 1, 2, 3, in more ways than one, huh? If we keep on this track, Book 10 is gonna be "epic ending" for all 1,500 or so pages, with no room for a start, a middle, or a story. At some point, he's gotta settle down and say "this is enough." Maybe even bring it down a few pegs for a while so he can bring it back up with more impact later, rather than the marginal increases we've been getting so far. Additionally, he's gonna be leaving Stormlight alone for several years while he writes MB Era 3 and possible finish the Elantris Trilogy. He's probably gonna want to give SA 5 an ending we'll be talking about for years, and you can't do that by simply making it "epic." Brandon knows his fanbase, and knows that to keep us talking, he's gotta get us thinking: I think Book 5 is gonna be filled with a lot of revelations and theory-fuel for the Back 5 to explore in detail, and for us to discuss eternally in the interim. There'll still be a big battle to give that epic feeling, but it doesn't have to top Thaylen Fields when most of us would be fine with something on the level of the Tower or Narak.

Brandon, Circa 2008. Brandon, Circa 2015.

Personally, I wouldn't word it that way if I wanted to say that, but I don't think I can say whether or not Brandon would. My "normal inquisitors had 9" line is from HoA, which is definitely after Vin learned Marsh had 11. Granted, Marsh's MAG page says that he had 10, so I don't know. They are more than likely Savants in those metals on account of high usage of Steelsight. Most Inquisitors have extended lifespans, which would make them from a less weakened generation of Allomancers. A few began as Mistborn. Also, some of them had A-Duralumin. I think some combination of those things should account for a reputation of being "particularly strong" without necessitating double spikes. Why not? Steelsight works with one spike, and we know that people with no spikes can learn to use Steelsight. I don't see any reason that having two different eyespikes would interfere with Steelsight. I'll direct you to the Inquisitor Builds thread from last year. I believe in specializations. Also, I'll echo hwiles' point about Tin: We know that "Not all Inquisitors had the same spikes" so some will have F-Gold like Kar did, others will have A-Duralumin, etc.. They didn't even all have Atium. With Tin potentially out of the picture, and several spikes being non-standard, I think it's entirely possible for them to manage 9 spikes. Hrmm, I got the impression(from someone's comment on here, possibly) that at least a week passed. Still isn't enough time to "master" it, but it's better than nothing. He doesn't need to see perfectly, just well enough. The Inquisitorius are a secretive community, and they've all gone though the blindness phase before. Perhaps they help the recruits practice to get them out in the field faster? Just throwing out ideas here. You make an interesting point about mirrors, I haven't considered that before.

I'm fairly certain that it stopped during Wax's era. So he would be weaker, albeit probably not by too much. I even found a WoB(eventually) The default strength of Mistings are shown in Alendi and Wax. TLR artificially strengthened the system with the Lerasium, and it's been trying to revert to normal ever since, and they're returned to that by Wax's time. They aren't getting any weaker anymore. Your total is a bit high. Per Vin, TLR's Inquisitors normally had 9 or 10. Once Ruin got free though, they all got an extra 2-4(except Marsh, who doubled his Spike count). I'd put it more on the lack or normal sight distracting them than on the Bind Points. Here on earth, the deaf can gain great skill in lip-reading, but it's a lot tougher for you and me because we are so dependent on our ears. Allomancers will be similarly dependent on their normal sight. Inquisitors no longer have that distraction, so they can focus their efforts on their Steelsight. The same reason that [Warbreaker Spoilers] got killed by Vasher: Shock. Marsh had killed his Inquisitors, and had betrayed him. (More the anger & betrayal than shock, but that's tipping his emotional balance) Vin had recognized who he really was. (That would shock him, given how much effort he'd gone to to wipe that name from legend) His Armbands were quite literally ripped out of his skin. (The wound isn't the biggest deal to him, but the loss of Metalminds would do something) Someone had actually hurt him, and in a way that F-Gold could not heal. (This would be more on damaging his immortal self-image) TLR's body was rapidly going from age 25-30ish to age 1050. (I'd think this would be a shocking, and probably uncomfortable, experience) Any number of these things could have have shocked him into not thinking straight. Also, given how Invested Vin needed to be to push on them, I don't think TLR could have just Ironpulled his Armbands back to him. Speed would probably have worked, but I don't think TLR is experienced enough to deal with shock. TLR was essentially immortal, in more ways than one, and had been that way for 1,000+ years. That sort of power doesn't really give him many situations where he'd be shocked/in danger, and the overconfidence doesn't help matters.

I don't have WoBs for you(surprisingly), but I do like the first comparison to Savants. I'm pretty sure the "matching the intent causes less pressure" idea is a pretty popular one around here, but the idea that it's because some intents are more "human" qualities is new. Not sure I agree, but props for originality.

Skaa-Noble interbreeding got rid of most of the differences between them(the ones that weren't just exaggerated/fabricated by the nobility). The ones that Harmony talks about were to deal with the ash.

It's from late in the Roshar vs Scadrial thread. Roshar has lower gravity, which should theoretically allow things to grow taller. Something to do with spinal compression and the like, I believe.

Random thoughts from half-asleep me before bed last night. Backstory: Sel is basically all one magic system. In AonDor, the Aons(from the Aonic language) have powers associated with them. Dakhor Monk bones resemble Fjordell Runes. Logical conclusion: Fjordell Runes are the Dakhor equivalent of Aons. From a magical perspective, are the symbols from the Fjordell language functionally equivalent to Aons from the Aonic language(IE: granting power based on their shape)? Can a Dakhor Monk be created with bone patterns of Aons? If yes: Where would it have to be done: Elantris, Fjordell, or somewhere in-between? If yes: Can it be done without hacking the magic system? If no: Is that an "absolute" no, or a "not without hacking the system" no? Can an Elantrian use Dakhor symbols as Aons? If yes: Where would those be stronger: Elantris or Fjordell? If no: Same "if no" as Q2. If an Elantrian used the Dakhor symbol for granting say.. physical strength in AonDor, would it grant the same power? Would the same be true if a Dakhor Monk used the Aon for strength in their bone patterns? If the power is changed: Why is it changed, and what would it be changed to? If one changes, but the other doesn't: Why? If both change, are they changed to the same thing? If not: Why not? Would there be some sort of magical consequences if a Dakhor Monk had bone patterns of both Fjordell Runes and Aons, or could the magic symbols coexist? In the same vein, could you do the Dakhor bone transformation process on an Elantrian? What effect, if any, would that have on the Elantrian's ability to draw Aons? Can a Dakhor Monk be taken by the Shaod? What effect, if any, would that have on the powers granted by the Monk's bones? Elantrians can make use of Aons "drawn" onto objects(Ex: Tia Plates). Can the Dakhor makes something that does the same? If yes: Could a non-Dakhor person use them? If no: Does Dakhor absolutely have to be bones then? On that subject, is there a way to make Aon plates(or the Dakhor equivalent) usable/activatable by normal people? If yes, can it be done without hacking? (I've got a few ideas with Aon Coding, but...)

marles already pointed out that I misinterpreted his two questions. You cannot steal Savantism. Whether or not you can become a Savant in a stolen power is unconfirmed(but you almost certainly can).

Ah. I.. don't see why not. (Though I can't confirm this) They did, actually. As was mentioned in my prior post, he can. He just... doesn't(and I really don't know why). Brandon says he can learn to do it "by brute force," whatever that means. Thoughts on this?

I agree with Rshara: It's not that simple. Consider the mental fortitude aspect, which is what led to Ruin giving eleven extra spikes to his most stubborn pawn(Marsh). And even with 22 spikes, Marsh still had some control over his actions if Ruin was slightly distracted.

That depends on your definition of "efforts." They can train themselves to mentally focus more on the inputs from a specific sense, just like we can. But the power of the Tin itself, that's always gonna affect all of them, like the other metals. 1) Elend could do that, but it'd take practice. 2) It's the difference in strength between the Coppercloud and the Seeker, so I'd say yes. 3) Many Inquisitors used to be seekers(like Marsh), so they've got the 2x power anyway. That said, Bronze is the easy power to become a savant in. 1) No. 2) What does this mean? I agree that if anyone was a Soother Savant, it'd be Breeze. As for what it gave him, I'm not sure... This is a paraphrasing of his account during the Siege of Luthadel. His power is limited in 3 ways: number of people, area of effect, and complexity of effect. Savanthood probably increased at least one of those above the average soother, but we don't have proper examples to compare with. Also, I personally think his subtle touch was a result of him practicing to attain that light touch, rather than from Savanthood. TLR was a Savant too, and his soothings hit like a freight train(The first time we experience it in the book, Vin nearly got knocked from her perch by the sheer force of it). Brandon is considering backpedaling on that. Issues with the drawbacks from Savanthood, Wax's Resonance, etc.. I agree(and think that's confirmed somewhere..) A non-Inquisitor can attain Steelsight, for your information. Brandon does not specify Savant, so it might not even require that. To me, I see it as a six of one, half-dozen of the other situation. Wax sees the bullet in multiple parts because he sees the bullet as multiple items(the perception argument), while the layman sees a bullet as a single object. You know that a car is a collection of parts, but you see it as one thing. A mechanic probably wouldn't, and if you put your mind to it, you could see it as a collection of parts again. Magnets are actually one object, but they have a North and a South Pole to them. We see a single object as having distinct parts, and Kelsier could have achieved what he did via the same concept, by seeing the two ends as "separate." On the other side of the equation, there's Allomantic strength(via Spikes/Lerasium, or from the Savant boost). TLR was physically strong enough to push on the metals within Vin's body(both her stomach and the rest of her body) as well as the trace metal in the colorings from his stained glass window. Niteshado points out that Marisi was capable of similar feats while holding the Bands. But that only showed her things she wasn't strong enough to see normally. For all her power, she'd still see the bullet as one object. Days without Incident: 256. (Wow, has it really been that long since last time this was discussed?) Lerasium MB doing a Duralumin Soothing could match base TLR. If a double spike in 10th century could match a Lerasium MB, then a single spike in 4th or 5th century would be close to Lerasium by default, and adding Duralumin would nearly equate to Elend with Duralumin, which Brandon has said could match TLR. Given how much TLR hid from the world and his Inquisitors to keep his advantages, I don't think he would allow something that could challenge him. I stand by what I said then. I could easily see that, but there's also Hemalurgic Decay to contend with, so I don't think you're getting all of it anyway.

I think it heals the worst injuries first because that's the wounds you would want healed first. (perception) I'd definitely want a broken arm fixed before dealing with various cuts and scrapes.

It's also in Edgedancer. IIRC, there was even a faint mention of feeling like air and light had no grip on her. From my perspective, no actually. I see it as a game of trade-offs. More friction would allow you to push off the water with more force, allowing you to speed up faster, while limiting your top-speed. Less friction would increase your top speed by quite a bit, but if the water can't grip you, you can't push yourself forward. Consider Yata's point about sinking. If you have no friction with the water, you aren't gonna be able to swim upwards, because you can't push off the water below you. Change up to forwards, and the example still holds. Also, please try not to double(or triple) post. It's better to just respond to everything in one post than to clutter a page with multiple. If you need to add more/respond to someone else, you can edit your existing post to do so.

Brandon says this himself. Parts sold separately. He knew some things, but not too much. He still could have, but I agree with Landis that he'd have kept Nicrosil a secret. To do that, he'd have to personally involved in that interplanetary trade and I don't see him doing that. Also, to use Yata's age-old argument against Nicrosil, there was no mention of an "unknown metal" on TLR's body after they killed him.

Makes me curious what the third edge of this triangle would look like: Parshendi-Aimian crossbreed. (Assuming that's viable)

I know that feeling. Back in the day when we had reasonable expectations for a "short story," before Sanderson/Tolkien/Martin and the like corrupted us with the glories of detailed worldbuilding. I've recently raided the Young Adult/Teen Fiction sections of local bookstores for anything that looked interesting, and I'm seeing a lot more complexity and detail in stories from the 2013-2017 era than I remember there being in the years prior when I was growing up. It's a welcome change, but it's also an interesting one to think about.

Absolutely agree. The Circle of Blades would be the perfect image. Simple, yet powerful. The kind of still image from a movie trailer that becomes the poster image. (Even if they don't use that for the cover, it should be a poster. We need that in our lives) The big question I'd have would be whether to have all 10 Honorblades, or only 9 to match the scene that it illustrates?

In essence, Calderis is right. But I want to provide this WoB anyways, because it's useful to have wording with a different perspective.

They are. The biggest change is that it's now three building blocks: Matter, Energy, and Investiture. This lets Brandon get away with things that he normally wouldn't be able to, without entirely breaking the natural rules

Because Time-Travel doesn't exist. How is she supposed to learn about something if there's nobody to learn from? Alendi was one of the first Allomancers. The only people who knew anything about the other Metals were the Synod(who were in hiding, and by HoA, all dead) and the Lord Ruler, who doesn't allow interviews. Khriss was only allowed the scraps of knowledge that TLR allowed anyone to know. The Steel Inquisitorius is responsible for Atium being in the Temporal Quadrant, and as the only ones who've experimented with it, they are the most authoritative source. This is also why the Atium steals anything tidbit didn't exist yet, because the Inquisitors hadn't discovered this until Ruin was freed. MB Era 2 Spoilers(on the assumption that you haven't read it yet) It's the same on Roshar, where there haven't been Surgebinders in nearly 2,500 years, and 4 losses of information since then(The Recreance, The Hierocracy, The Fire in the Palanaeum, etc..). She can't learn what nobody knows.

I drew a connection between the Skaze and Shu-Dereth because they are involved in it. The specifics of that involvement isn't important, and the Skaze don't have to believe anything. They influence Fjordish Culture, and this involves Shu-Dereth. Like you said, they probably picked this religion to make use of it, which makes the connection between them valid. The connection between Shu-Dereth and Jaddeth is also valid, since both have their origins in the Do-Kando. I wouldn't be surprised if Dereth was influenced by a Skaze while a Seon was influencing Korath when the two of them had their argument following Keshu's death. "It was a very Fjordell thing to do—ambition was the one emotion Jaddeth would accept as readily as devotion." It's in the book. Not only that, it's from Hrathen. Also, serving is not always devotion. You make this point yourself. Man > Priest > Wyrn > God. Switch Wyrn with Pope and you've got a model that fits on Earth. Catholic people can worship god even if there are a few layers of the church between them and god. Nothing is changed here by making them Derethi, merely the regimentation of the layers between them. You can't go to Wyrn's sermons like you can with the Pope, but if Vatican City closed it's borders, then even that would be the same. We've only really had one religion that didn't involve worship, and that's on Scadrial. Even the Jeskeri Mysteries worshiped something, even if it was the movement of celestial bodies. There's also this interesting tidbit from the wiki, showing that things changed. Military might is all Dominion, but conversion? That sounds more like Devotion. Perhaps this was a hint that the intents of D&D have finally started to merge?