Tariniel

Heal Iyatil, Hurt Felt. 1. Khriss--10 2. Nazh--9 3. Galladon--10 4. Vasher--10 5. Nightblood--11 6. Iyatil--12 7. Felt--8

I'm not really sure about this, either. How extreme do you think they would have to be, to cause a significant evolutionary change in the flora and fauna?

The blood connection could simply be the reason why Rock is able to see spren, and that's that. It doesn't have to extend any further...

So... At first I found this hilarious, and went to check on my own copy of WoR, just because. Now I'm spooked beyond words... (Picture below) Mine was also bought used. If I was hard pressed I would say this is specifically the reason they are marked as used, as spilled ink is likely a common occurrence in a printing press. That being said, the book description matching up... This is a scary coincidence

Hurt Baon, Heal Iyatil 1. Khriss--11 2. Nazh--10 3. Galladon--7 5. Baon--4 6. Vasher--9 7. Nightblood--9 8. Iyatil--11 9. Felt--9

Why?!? Hate this match up... Uh, (closes eyes)... Dalinar. Just... Dalinar.

Yes, but even behind those hand-waviums (misdirections) Brandon usually has a scientific explanation. He uses magic to explain the last couple of impossibilities, but he gets as far as he can through scientific means. This blend of scientific background with a fantasy-type storyline is something I actually got from him, as it is one of the things I find most fascinating about his books. Take the greatshells, for example: This is really what I am shooting for. I find it fascinating the way that, not only animals, but cultures would build around having to live completely differently throughout the year. My issue with the animals was that I am not sufficiently adept at biology to find an anatomically probable way they would use to switch off. This discussion has given me a couple of ideas, which I am currently fleshing out into something somewhat coherent Thanks for your awesome answers everyone, and thanks @cometaryorbit for bringing your obvious expertise to this thread. I have a couple of question, but they'll have to wait until the morning. Taking the ACT tomorrow, need to get my sleep in

You guys both did two things: You provided me with some things to think about and possibly expand on, as well as succeed in making me not feel so bad about my ignorance. I'm currently a senior, so I haven't even finished that environmental science you speak of @The One Who Connects. Regardless, I do have to find an expert on this sort of thing. Do either of you know someone, or somewhere, where I can get this information? Now on to your comments: Could you explain this a little more @Tsidqiyah? I assumed these changes would have something to do with astral bodies, and the world's axial tilt, but I'm not quite sure what you're saying here... Also, do you guys know if it would focus more on solar changes or lunar ones? What do you mean by lowering the latitude? Do you know how exactly that would affect things? This is a great observation. I just need to figure out how to not make certain things contradict biologically, which will be no easy feat. One step at a time Homework for me: I'm going to look into that antifreeze aspect of fauna in the Poles, as well as look farther into life and climate in those areas.

So... I am writing a fantasy novel and have run into a bit of a snag. I have this thing (definitely an outgrowth of reading too much Sanderson) to have as much of my worldbuilding as possible have a concrete backing in scientific fact. The problem is that I know nothing about astrophysics, biology, or anything that could really help me work out the permutations of certain changes to the world. Here's my current situation: The world I'm building is plagued by abnormally high temperatures throughout half the year (comparable to a constant heat wave) and similarly cold temperatures for the other half. They are mitigated by a short, two-week period of regular weather in between. During the Heatsurge there is week or so long period where the sun does not set, mirrored by a similar period during the Coldsurge when it does not rise. These events repeat in a constant, yearly cycle. The flora and fauna have all had to grow around these extreme conditions, with adaptability becoming even more important to survival. My questions are twofold: First, is there a way to make this astronomically grounded. Would something like the axial tilt have to change to keep the continuing cycle of Hot and Cold surges, or does that have nothing to do with it? Multiple astral bodies? I don't know, just throwing things out there... Second, how would the flora and fauna adapt to such extreme changes in temperature? I've been reading up on some animals' ability to survive temperatures below freezing using something called supercooling, but I feel I would need more of an adaptability factor here. This world's plants and animals have to be able to change throughout the year, as protection against one half of the year would likely be harmful during the other. Any biologically-adept people that can help me out here? The original idea for this came out of a desire of mine to create something fundamentally connected to the world that affected all the life within it, from biology to culture to business (similar to the highstorms of Roshar). Let's see if this can work! Hope you all can help me out! Thanks for your time!

Kill Terriswoman, Heal Iyatil 1. Khriss--9 2. Nazh--7 3. Galladon--5 4. Demoux--5 5. Baon--5 6. Vasher--6 7. Nightblood--6 8. Iyatil--7 9. Felt--7 10. The Ire--5 11. "WalDo"--8 12. The Nalthis Terriswoman--0

Why you no go to Florida! Why?!?

Yes, if he'd just said RAFO. I don't think that 'ooooh!' would warrant a 'she's dead' answer.

Of course, I haven't read White Sand yet, even though I have the prose version. Need that and Arcanum Unbounded to complete my Sanderson collection! Hurt Terriswoman, Heal Iyatil 1. Khriss--8 2. Nazh--7 3. Galladon--4 4. Demoux--5 5. Baon--5 6. Vasher--6 7. Nightblood--6 8. Iyatil--7 9. Felt--7 10. The Ire--5 11. "WalDo"--8 12. The Nalthis Terriswoman--2 Oh, and @Secrets, remove formatting when you copy the list. Should work then

Sorry, simply preying on the weak. I'll probably switch over to the Terriswoman soon... Does anyone know who Baon is? Can't seem to recall him from anywhere...

Not sure what came over me, but I changed the numbers up so there weren't any jumps. It was bothering me. Hurt Galladon, Heal WalDo 1. Khriss - 9 2. Nazh - 6 3. Galladon - 4 4. Demoux - 5 5. Baon - 5 6. Vasher - 6 7. Nightblood - 6 8. Iyatil - 6 9. Felt - 6 10. The Ire - 5 11. "WalDo" (the mystery Kandra worldhopper) - 8 12. The Nalthis Terriswoman - 4

That certainly does help with the mental picture. I was imagining one of the generic scepters, with a sphere at the top connected to a long pole, but this makes much more sense. Thanks!

Hurt Galladon, Heal Iyatil 2. Khriss - 7 3. Nazh - 6 4. Galladon - 4 5. Demoux - 5 6. Baon - 5 7. Vasher - 7 8. Nightblood - 6 10. Iyatil - 8 11. Felt - 6 12. The Ire - 5 13. "WalDo" (the mystery Kandra worldhopper) - 6 14. The Nalthis Terriswoman - 5

Kill Hoid, Heal Iyatil 1. Hoid - 0 2. Khriss - 6 3. Nazh - 5 4. Galladon - 4 5. Demoux - 5 6. Baon - 5 7. Vasher - 7 8. Nightblood - 5 9. Mraize - 5 10. Iyatil - 7 11. Felt - 6 12. The Ire - 5 13. "WalDo" (the mystery Kandra worldhopper) - 5 14. The Nalthis Terriswoman - 5

It astounds me how he can think that deeply into everything, and still interconnect it all. Coming from someone who is currently building his own fantasy world, the ways Brandon overlaps everything in his books (from social norms to storming clothing) is nothing short of incredible. I mean, just look at how far the storms go into Roshar's ecology, culture, and epithets.

Oops, my bad @CalypsoDreaming. Won't happen again Why are you guys trying so hard to kill Hoid? Heal Hoid, Hurt Galladon 1. Hoid - 3 2. Khriss - 7 3. Nazh - 6 4. Galladon - 4 5. Demoux - 5 6. Baon - 5 7. Vasher - 5 8. Nightblood - 5 9. Mraize - 4 10. Iyatil - 6 11. Felt - 5 12. The Ire - 5 13. "WalDo" (the mystery Kandra worldhopper) - 5 14. The Nalthis Terriswoman - 5

The fact that Jasnah discovers that humanity has enslaved the Voidbringers seems to imply that the parshmen can also become Voidbringers somehow. So I wouldn't limit myself to only the Parshendi being the danger here. That being said, there could very well be Parshendi in other parts of the planet (I would say this is even likely), though I think jumping to other planets is a bit lacking in source...

Hurt Mraize, Heal Iyatil

Hmmm... I wonder if this is how someone could travel through time. Unless this is something specific only to Hoid, we have a WoB saying that: Could he have somehow gotten into the Spiritual Realm, then moved forward in time to reach an important event? Do we know if it is even possible to travel to the Spiritual Realm completely? It seems to me that you can, as I seem to remember that Perpendicularities are places where the Spiritual bleeds in to the Physical. Maybe you can take that connection the other way around? (Just found out that you can. WoB (#47)) It could be that traveling forward in time is sort of a passive effect of being in the Spiritual Realm, then returning to time in the Physical. Only the Investiture itself is able to affect the past. That could explain why Hoid hasn't traveled back in time before, something I imagine would be extremely useful in his line of work. Just throwing things out there. I'm probably missing a lot of information, but that's where my mind went

So... this is a tough one. It seems that Adolin would definitely win in a fight, but Jasnah can Elsecall and Soulcast... She faked her own death, for god's sake! My vote goes to her.

Not sure why, but I haven't read the Wheel of Time yet. People keep telling me about it and I'm just like, yah, I'll get to it. Really have to actually get started lol