Lindel

Is that how it works? Roshar 7 Scadrial 20

This is a ridiculously tough decision. But good ol' Scadrial needs me. If I switch sides now, the fight's over. Rust and Ruin! I guess I gotta see this through till the end! Roshar 14 Scadrial 17

Utah! In my short career as a Sharder so far, I've only attended three Sanderson panels. I plan to remedy that.

I don't think size is the issue, I think it's likely placement that's the biggest concern. If you shear a spike in half, you'd probably also mess up its alignment a lot, not to mention potentially lose a lot of Spirit juice. Not that I actually have anything to back these claims, I'm just going on instinct here.

Let's even things out. Roshar 17 Scadrial 17

I can't remember where, but I'm pretty sure I've seen in WoB that breaking a spike damages it, speeding up the process of Hemalurgic decay. Each spike has half the power, but they're losing it far more quickly. That's what I remember off the top of my head, at least. Inside a body, I think breaking a spike is likely to damage its Spiritual connection to the person in some way.

Nalthis 1 Scadrial 15

So you're just arbitrarily abusing Scadrial to get at Observer? Nalthis 6 Scadrial 16 Sel 2 Yolen 7 First of the Sun 2

Why is everyone so into Yolen? Beyond it being Hoid's homeworld, we don't know a thing about the storming place! And what's wrong with Nalthis, anyhow? Nalthis 5 Scadrial 16 Sel 2 Yolen 11 First of the Sun 2

(Words of Radiance spoilers, obviously. Honestly, though, if you're worried about spoilers, stay away from this particular corner of the site.) As I've always understood it, a Shardblade doesn't sever the Spiritual connection unless it touches the bone. If it touches the spine, they're dead. If it hits their arm, that arm is "killed". If I remember correctly, Kaladin sticks Syl into Szeth's stomach, "searching for his spine". Until he actually hits the spine, however, the blade does no harm, correct? A Kandra's bones don't even belong to it, though. They're really just shaping their body around it, so I somehow doubt slicing through the bone would have much effect. I'm not sure what impact, if any, slicing their flesh would have. It's an interesting question. I assume slicing through its spikes would turn it back into a mistwraith?

Nalthis 5 Scadrial 16 Sel 2 Yolen 14 First of the Sun 2

I stumbled across these forums having finished the Mistborn trilogy. After getting an understanding of the basics, I decided not to continue browsing until I'd finished all published Cosmere works. EDIT: Actually, I first came across the Coppermind Wiki, which eventually led me here.

Shouldn't it be Splinter, not Shatter? The Shattering is what happened to Adonalsium. Unless I'm wrong, when a Shard is destroyed, it's called Splintering.

When you see little moving lights in the night sky, and instead of thinking, "Airplane", you think, "Starspren!" Or you wake up to thunder at 3:00 AM and your first thought is literally, "This Weeping started yesterday... shouldn't be a highstorm!"

Okay. I sort of see where you're going with this, but I think it would really help us help you if we could get more than two sentences. To start, what was the setting originally like, before the shift?

The concept sounds intriguing, but I think we need a bit more context before we can understand exactly what you're asking for.

Alright, I'm curious about a couple things, so here are some questions. Would it be common for psyvics to keep a reserve of stored up psyv, replaced often to keep it fresh? Or would most use a grinder shortly before it was needed? Are there any negative effects to just storing psyv before it's released? Do you have to keep your psyvitron to retain previously stored psyv? Once it's "installed", can you even take a psyvitron off? Is it possible, for whatever reason, for a human to born born with inherent psyvic-like powers? This would be very rare, of course. Perhaps more limited, but with more powerful uses in that single area? What would some distinctions be that separate innate psyvic power from psyvitrons? Rather than transmuting energy from one form to another, a "born-psyvic" might instead be able to transfer energy, instantly moving it from one place to another. I just need to jot down these ideas as they come to me. Don't feel the need to try to decipher any of this. I'm not even sure I have any idea what I'm saying. Where was I? Transferring energy. Okay, so I think I figured out the main point I'm trying to throw out there. It comes down to this. Are there other ways out there of harnessing psyv? Obviously there are some out there. This sentient species you mentioned, for one. The psyvitrons are based on that species' biology, so likely their psyv-manipulation functions very similarly. But what are the differences? Technology is rarely able to perfectly replicate nature. Just some ideas to explore.

Interesting. Okay, so physical contact between the source of energy and the Psyvitron is required? And this also holds when you're replacing the energy? Say I absorb the psyv from my grinder. It immediately cools down, and I know have that psyv stored up. I then place my hand in front of me and send a wave of mechanical waves in the form of a powerful sonic blast, basically. Does that work? It seems to me that the difficulty here is scaling. For a large scale effect, would I need an equally large amount of energy? Can you store up psyv? So, could I continually remove the heat generated by my grinder over a long period of time, and then be able to release a single, huge blast of some other form of energy? On a different note, would there be specialization among psyvitron wielders? Perhaps some are particularly good at creating heat, while others specialize in gravitational manipulation? Just curious.

From what I can tell, the reason you're limiting Psyv to forms of energy, not matter, is to put some barriers on what someone with a Psyvitron is capable of, correct? I have to agree that being fully capable of transforming anything into anything else could be problematic. However, I also have to agree with Argent's assessment, in that making a fundamental distinction between energy and matter isn't scientifically sound. Perhaps it's just a function of the world's scientific progress. They haven't yet reached the point where they understand the connection between energy and matter, and as a consequence have really only tapped into a fraction of the Psyvitron's potential. If that's the case, then for the purpose of discussion we can continue assuming Psyvitron-wielders currently can only affect forms of energy, not forms of matter. Now the big question is how "sciency" to you want to go with this? It looks like you're taking a more quasi-scientific approach to me, so I'll continue assuming that's the case for now. Here's a list of some of the more basic forms of energy. I'm not exactly an expert, but hopefully it'll help get us thinking. You scientists out there correct me if I'm wrong on any of this. -Kinetic -Potential (Energy stored up inside an object based on its position. For example, a spring, or a stretched rubber band.) -Chemical -Electric -Magnetic -Radiant (Electromagnetic radiation, including light) -Nuclear (Binds the nuclear of an atom together. Obviously very, very powerful.) -Gravitational -Heat -Work -Mechanical Wave (Ripples, waves, sound, etc. If I understand correctly, earthquakes also involve a transfer of energy through mechanical waves, so there's some interesting potential there.) These forms of energy can naturally be changed or generate other forms of energy. Kinetic energy creates heat due to friction, Potential energy becomes kinetic when the spring or the rubber band is released, gravitational energy creates kinetic energy when an object is dropped, electrical energy is transformed into radiant energy and heat in a light bulb, etc. If I understand correctly, these Psyvitrons uses the basic idea, but to a greater degree. Kinetic energy might be exchanged for directly for light, perhaps heat for gravitational energy, or dozens of other less common conversions. A grinder would use mechanical work to create kinetic energy which generates heat and mechanical waves, giving three sources of energy that can be converted. With the abundance of energy constantly around us, a grinder seems rather redundant. But maybe the conversions are easier with certain types of energy, and a grinder is able to generate a larger supply of the right kinds of energy? I think it would also be helpful if you could give us some examples of what sort of feats you envision being performed through Psyvitrons. Some I could see having a lot of potential are mini-earthquakes, changes in gravity (Windrunners, anyone?), and possibly illusions, both auditory and visual, to name a few. Depends on how much control a Psyvitron has on the energy after it's converted.

Thanks! Why is it that donuts always seem so much less suspicious than cookies?

Uh-huh. Mind if I completely dissect it before putting a single bite in my mouth?

An interesting suggestion! I'll have to think about this one more extensively, as it would be a pretty major modification, but it would certainly be a very cool addition.

Thanks! I now have it in hold at the library, and I'm number four in line.

Exactly! It acts as a kind of mental storage, although there may be some other interesting applications as well. Interesting idea on the color, I think that could work very well. Having the type of plant determine the kind of Imprint has basically the same implications as the color determining that without limiting the application of Imprinting as an art form. Individual Imprinters would probably have their own color code to make sure they don't mix up their paints, but this way individual Imprinters could have their own unique shades and color combinations. I like that a lot, actually!

@Haradion - That kind of thing happens to me all the time! For a fun side project once, I invented a Feruchemy-like ability that stored up Luck. I proceed to read Alloy of Law, and discover that Chronium does just that! As to your suggestions, I really like some of those ideas! I especially see the varying colors as a useful limitation. Here's how I see it. Black - Basic Imprint and a Bound Basic. Red - Directional Imprint and a Bound Directional. Green - Static Imprint and a Bound Static. Blue - Fluid Imprint I also like the idea of some sort component that dispels others' Imprints. Should this be a sort of "Anti-Imprinting" only accessible to Imprinters, or just a chemical mixture that anyone can use to slowly break down the ink? I'd imagine a single slash with "Anti Ink" would be enough to dispel most Imprints, while some sort of compound would be more like a form of acid that would corrode the Imprint. I'm liking the Anti-Ink idea better, personally. I like the concept of the single Imprint at a time, but I feel that, partially from a worldbuilding perspective, I like the idea of permanent Imprints better. I picture Imprinted objects littering the streets in poorer districts, where no one bothers to hire an Imprinter to dispel them, and Imprinting can also be used to create special protections against theft, or, if you're really rich, to create an entire building. Limiting it by color does put a damper on how useful Imprinting would be in an artistic/architectural sense, so I'm conflicted there as well. I love the creation myth concepts! Especially the idea that God "Drew" the world. Brilliant imagery! Thanks much! @Ashiok - The definition of Imprinting is "impress or stamp (a mark or outline) on a surface or body." When you Imprint, you're taking a concept from your mind, and forcing it into the world. Once it's there, it no longer has a direct connection to you. This is why there are no types of Imprints that can be directly "controlled" after Imprinting, and I actually think the name fits pretty well will that concept. Ooh, I like that! This actually helps me fill in some gaps I was wondering about. It's something that isn't fully understood within the world yet, but there's a distinction between the common types of Imprinting and the High Imprints. The general population of the world is aware of at least one of the High Imprints, called a Bound Imprint, but some of the others have yet to be discovered. Linked Imprints and Anti-Imprints open up new possibilities for other forms of High Imprints, although Linked Imprinting doesn't quite fit with the other three. I'll see what I can do there, I really like the concept. Anyway, one of these unknown Imprints is called a Reverse Imprint. Any guesses as to what it might do? (Hint: Normally an Imprint takes an idea from your mind, and turns that into a physical object.. )