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They can get there with Duralumin, and Duralumin can enhance other magics like surges, but it might take more to allow the allomancer to actually take in and use an external Investiture like that, since Allomancy flows straight from Preservation in the Spiritual Realm rather than tapping a Physical Realm source the way Surges or Awakening do.

I think that was more or less what Nale thought Szeth could do. The other Skybreakers told Szeth that Nale had hoped he could jump to the 3rd, but since Nale was unavailable they went ahead with the normal track's tests.

True, though for it to maintain its integrity and still operate in the body it would have to be something insoluble (otherwise it would destroy the breath like when you eat awakened food), which is going to be a much shorter list of poison options (outside of heavy metals that would resist awakening anyway). At this point I think the practical limitations of a chemical poison make it a poor alternative to a more mechanical attack, something like Awaken thread to clog their arteries and give strokes, or smother their lungs, or whatnot. Breaths might still be capable of purely Cognitive/realmic attacks, messing with the target's mind or memories and the like.

Of the known lights, only Stormlight flows into Gems without additional steps/effort. Voidlight needs to be channeled directly from Odium or BAM, but doesnt flow through the Everstorm despite it having some properties of a Perpendicularity. Lifelife is present and visible in the Valley, but none of the pilgrims that went to the Nightwatcher ever came back with sphere's filled with an unusual Light. All that to say I think the Highstorm and Stormlight natively flowing into gems (both of which predate the Shattering) are the unique case rather than the rule.

Im not sure Awakening (alone) can do that sort of thing. Per WOB you cant awaken liquids (or at elast they wont gain mobility) and you cant use Awakening to do basic energy conversion like Become Warm. Given that Im not sure what physical attack options would be available for an Awakened poison.

Exactly. It's the difference between actually taking up a Shard (and initiating the infinite wrestling match with the Shard's Intent) vs just flushing out the Well. The Former gets harder as you fight the Infinite Intent and get changed by it, while the latter is a finite mass of wish magic that gets used up with each application.

That model never really made sense to me, and the more information we get the less it seems to work. The ancient Radiants (that knew more) thought it came from the Origin, even though modern Stormwardens think it's a continuous wave. When not in a highstorm, Dalinar feels the Stormfather's presence in the direction of the Origin, rather than a variable location tracking a constant circling storm. Admittedly, the first thing that made me assume it was a pulse from the origin (besides the legends of the Origin itself) was how it weakened so dramatically as it crossed the landmass. But that doesnt prove much since a real storm could just pick up more steam once it got back out over the sea and weakened only as it hits the continental landmass.

To pile on a bit to the overall sentiment, everything we've seen of Fortune is that it's all based on Perception of the Spiritual Realm, which narratively puts it more in the realm of Spidersense with a side of actual precognition, rather than the more problematic Probability Field manipulation nonsense that makes frozen turkey's fall from the sky or enemy gun's conveniently jam up.

Assuming the Origin is on the equatorial line so the Storm matches the meridians and passes both poles together, then for the Tower-Valley line to be at the peak of the ring the Origin would need to be 90° off, regardless of the hemisphere. But if the Origin is off the equator, then the Tower and Valley may never actually be in the Storm at the same time (outside of the Weeping, if that counts).

If that's 1/4 planet circumference from the Origin, that line might also be the point where the Highstorm is at it's largest, in terms of being right there when the Storm pulse reaches both poles and rings the planet at it's largest.

As far as surprising but not new/undeveloped characters to take up the mantle, he could make sense. Also a big theme in the modern Desolation is the blurring of the traditional battle lines; people talk about Orders going to Odium and talk abotu UnMade coming over to the Radiants as a 4th Bondsmith, but everybody seems to assume the UnConnected Nightwatcher will stay on Team Protagonist. EDIT: Especially now Odium is now held by one of the Nightwatcher's Mother's tools. She might consider him far less objectionable than Rayse. I mean, thats one of the more traditional ways. But dont ask us, it's up to the Nightwatcher. EDIT: to the OP topic, that line also goes right through the Purelake (another theorized Cultivation hotspot that has a supernatural response to the storm. Curiouser and curiouser.

I hate you for voicing that possibility... I was so blissfully happy and ignorant of it's existence.

There are somewhere between 200 and 300 bind points in the body, most of them just happen to be clustered in and around the heart, "It depends on where in the heart."

If the windrunner just lashed themselves (or their backpack or cloths or whatever) to magically manipulate the weights, but didnt hold Stormlight throughout the workout or use it to erase the healing pain/soreness afterward, it might work. But it would take discipline and still be a mostly mundane workout. Same probably goes for a Lightweaver that wants to build an alcohol tolerance up to the White: they cant use the stormlight to erase the consequences and still get the gains.

No, unless Connection is a new exception (which is possible), Feruchemy doesnt affect the outside world or any non-self targets. A Connector can tap and/or fill a metalmind to change how they think and feel about the target (which can be an individual or homeland, etc) and maybe get all the inside jokes even without the memories, but it will not change how the target feels. Or, as seems more common, you can increase your Connection to a Homeland and get the language and some cultural understanding, but it cant make you a celebrity that is Loved by everyone else. Now, if you used an Ettmetal grenade to get around the fundamental target rules, maybe?

No, or at least not reliably across the whole system. Several things all go into the overall effect of Hemalurgy: Metal, Harvest Bind Point, Implantation Bind Point, and Intent (which must also supplement for the Metal specificity if "universal" Atium is used). All of those together will determine the overall effect, and not every combination will produce an effect. If you have everything else right but the bind point is wrong, you can get death, no effect, or even something unanticipated. That's where need for research and experimentation came into play, even for a Fullborn like the Lord Ruler.

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The Valley definitely has something going on, since there was a visible fog of green Lifelight there. WOB says a Shard can have multiple Shardpools/perpendicularities, with a lot of speculation that the Purelake is a secondary one of Cultivation. The Valley could be another such place that is overly Invested. As far as practical effects, it could go a few ways: Symmetry: The Nightwatcher & Valley provide a font of Lifelight, a stationary equivalent to the storm. Spiritual: Realms are thin, things become more mutable, Soulcasting and other such realmic powers will be enhanced, and it lets the Nightwatcher more easily examine and modify Spiritwebs. 3rd Step: If the Storm brings it to the physical realm, and the Tower maintains it, perhaps the Valley will improve the Surge effect somehow. Maybe it will make Surges blend more easily (rather than needing a Bondsmith's Spiritual Adhesion), or allow for a less offensive means than traps for getting Spren in fabrials, or perhaps be a source of special/advanced Spren the way Aimia is.

Codex Alera by Jim Butcher. Phenomenal high fantasy, complete at 6 books, and it's narrated by Kate Redding. If you dont know her name, her and her husband Michael Kramer do the narration for nearly all of Sanderson's works (most recently together as a team for stormlight novels).

What if The Oathpact = A Dawnshard, and Dalinar got that feeling because he is now responsible for the Oathpact as the Stormfather's Radiant and apparently Tanavast's heir in those matters (or close enough for Odium). You know, if it turns out that Cultivation and Honor settled on the same planet as both the "Change" and "Bind" (or something similar) Dawnshards, Ill need a reason beyond Coincidence for associations that on the nose.

I dont think so, given the example below that spiking muddies the Identity too much for them to share metalminds, even though both recipients can use the originator/victim's metalminds. I think that same muddying would scramble & dispel any resonant connection that might arise.

I am 100% on board with this! The only counter argument is that (doylistically) he might consider it satisfied with the cultural statement from (I want to say) WoK that the Alethi considered Rhyshadium to be the third Shard, but that it's not literal and/or historic. However, the Rhyshadium are the only example we have of a clearly earth/human biome creature evolving a Gemheart, and the closest example we have of that sort of breeding/genetic change is Radiant eye color making Lighteye bloodlines. It would make sense if both stem from the Investiture saturation that the Radiant package provides. And it would be fitting for them to empower an animal mount in a world were most of the creatures have that special gem-organ for magic augmentation. Do you think they get augmented with pure investiture and develops into the Gemheart, or do you think they get a Gem implanted or fed to them like Yelig-nar.

Per WOB: Her and Tanavast were "romantically involved". She came to Roshar with Tanavast and before Odium. [2nd WOB] They invested Equally She help Honor against Odium.

This conversation made me want to reread Adolin's trial and Maya's declarations, and the bit where he offer's her his strength sparked something: He felt a warmth within himself suddenly, then she breathed in deeply and was stronger. Could that be Lifelight? Could Adolin now be a Lifelight battery/generator for Maya, and could Maya herself now be developing the ability to use actual Lifebinding. It feels like less of a stretch if we accept that deadsys spren can still grant surges if properly Connected.

Given how much plate Connects enough to grants a random person a whole suit of low-level physical enhancements (speed, endurance, reflexes, etc), I think they'd almost certainly do more for their originator. If a dead shardblade can grant surges and be summoned (and likely without the 10 heartbeat waiting time, if maya/adolin can), the shardplate would probably be able to do a lot of the more impressive stuff we saw Kaladin's do, being Connected enough to direct the Spren themselves. Though that could be an understanding problem, since modern Rosharans had entirely forgotten they were Spren originally. But they also were less...damaged? by the dying process, if Syl's impression of their contentment compared to blades is accurate.