Stark

So. Is this the Super Secret Project then? I assume yes.

Despite his super obvious body mods, has Marsh ever Worldhopped in the time between Harmony's ascendance and Era 2?

Some really fun questions came out of this. Thanks everyone for asking questions!

Is Rlain's gemheart big enough to contain a Bondsmith class spren?

So you mean to tell me that the Ire are literally drinking Powerthirst...

I think we need to look at what happens to the various spren types when they 'die.' Higher spren, when their bond is broken after reaching the sword ideal for their order, are deadeyed. Lesser spren, we don't know. But I think we assume they become plate, but we have not seen their cognitive versions yet. So what about the super spren - Stormfather, Nightwatcher and the sibling? What happens when they are killed, the Bondsmith spren? Bondsmiths, if I remember correctly, don't get swords. An Urithiru is clearly more than it seems and lacks a lot of its previous functionality. As does shardplate and shardblades. THe sibling was injured and is being protected. What if Urithiru is the Physical Realm Deadeye version of the sibling? I have no proof - just a random thought that came to me while reading this thread.

Have to agree with Bort on this one. You always hear about firstborn, or about the youngest. Never the "Only-considered-the-first-until-my-parents-get-busy-again"-born child. It functionally makes no sense and is too chaotic. You cannot plan a society around the upheaval that would come from every member of a given family getting a demotion each and every time someone new is born. There is no stability in that model. Far more sensible is the model where the first child leads, and the second child is taught a different task, but also given training in the case an accident befalls the first, and so-on and so-forth. IT has the failing of your role being decieded at birth, not by individual merit, skill or desire. And that is Rock's problem - his society is cast based from birth order. The first son will never be a cook, the fourth son will not lead while the other three live. If you have one son who is slated to be a soldier, but wants nothing more to be a cook, that is tough. He has soldier training. If then his older brother dies, it is terribly sad, but he gets to be a cook, and loves his role - he finds a semi-guilty happiness. But if then a few years down the line, the eldest commits suicide by shardbearer along with other brothers, this son who was a soldier turned cook is forced to take up a mantle of leadership that he has never wanted. Especially if he won shards in combat. There is an element of cowardice you can assign to him for dodging that responsibility and remaining a bridgeman. But you can see in his chapter, when his family arrives, he is trying to enjoy the life he loves for as long as he can before he faces his responsibility, and as much as he misses his family, you can see that he knows he will have to face it sooner rather than later once they arrive - because they know. It is harder for him to hide now. And then he wins shards in combat. He broke his commitment to non-violence, and likely became a king in doing so. He must hate this. This next year will not be pleasant for him, so I don't blame him for a little responsibility shirking. Except, the world is marching towards doom. He needs to Windrun, to lead, to protect, and help Dalinar unite Roshar. So if by book four he has not stepped up, then I will agree with you, he is running away from responsibility when the world cannot afford to allow him to. So wait and see?

@vikorr I had started theorizing along tangential lines to this over here. I'm not sure he is a coward, he does seem to have principles that make violence abhorrent to him, and does seem to be in a position to be an unwilling king. So there is a definite amount of responsibility dodging he is doing by being a bridge team cook rather than going home with his new power and possessions.

I think it was a few things. Specifically two elements that led to the scorching of the planet - The lack of the Radiant orders, and the surgebinders working in concert. For the first element, surgebinders working in concert, we have seen something similar before - the formation of the Everstorm. This was an action taken by a massive group of voidbinders working in concert to effect a massive, permanent change on the world. So to wreck a planet, I'd think you'd need a massive amount of 'binders working together, or far more likely, working in opposition. And if I am right, and 'binders working in opposition can have as terrible an outcome as 'binders working together, it becomes terrifying to look at the order splits along faction lines. Skybreakers with Odium, Dustbringer(s?) with the diagram, many unaligned. Take a Skybreaker and a Windrunner in opposition. Have them lash the same stone in different directions, what happens? DO the Lashings cancel each other, or do the opposing forces rip the stone apart? The other element we keep hearing is that Ishar forced the surgebinders to form orders or be destroyed. To take oaths that bound them with checks and balances. Which makes me think that the nature of the Nahel bond between sprin and 'binder prevents them from obtaining world-cracking power.

Well, that is the debate, isn't it. Nightblood absorbs and changes Investiture. When created, he was a heavily invested item. But as he exists and continues to absorb, his investiture level will begin to approach shard levels. What happens then? Will the shards whose investiture he has consumed slowly get weaker? Will he develop an intent and become a new Shard? Nightblood scares me. If I was in the Cosmere, he'd be the source of Nightmares.

"Nahel bonding in Ten easy steps" By the Internet - "Number nine may surprise you" "Unusual uses for Allomancy that will change your life" By some scammer - "Number 16 will blow your mind" "Conversing with yourself" Shallan's guide to dealing with trauma "B90-X: How to get a Bridge-runner's body in 90 days or less" Exercise Regime - Bridge and arrows sold separately.

An intent to seek out and destroy all things dishonorable? Starting to sound like Nightblood - "Destroy Evil!" But with no context or concept of how to describe what evil is. I'll grant you, the Skybreakers seem to be heading in this direction, with their allegiance to Odium, but the destruction of all that is not lawful is not Justice. It is a self-perpetuating cycle of hatred and violence. The purpose of Justice is to determine guilt from innocence and ensure that the guilty get the punishment they deserve. Indiscriminate destruction and murder of those that are guilty, from an 'Honorable Hatred' of their dishonor does not read as Justice to me. That is Tyranny, or Vengeance.

True. But if we are talking about a god-like being who determines what is Just, you are correct, we need Compassion. Neither Honor nor Odium, nor even Cultivation read as compassionate. That's what I was aiming at for not liking the idea of Honor+Odium=Justice. Blind may not be the best version of Justice, because, as you point out, that leaves no room for Compassion. But it is better than Justice that is 50% Hatred.

I personally don't like this idea. Justice should be blind, and apply equally to all. It should be passionately pursued, but it should not be hateful or odious. A passionate enforcing of the bonds of law? Well, we have Skybreakers for that - the Justice aspect of Honor distilled into a league of law abiding vigilantes. Except they aren't really vigilantes if they have been granted authority to act - the gray area is finding out whose authority they are using. But Odium is not Passion. He is Odium. Adonalsium's divine hatred separated from all else that gave it context. Mix intense hatred with Honor, I don't believe you get Justice. Justice comes from Honor and a little bit of Cultivation. Honor and Odium? That spells Vengeance to me.

Was a best seller until it was supplanted by New Limbs in ten seconds or less: A Kandra's guide to shapechanging by Tensoon.

Which comes down to a probably maybe for people using Stormlight to facilitate gender transitions. If possible, it would be extremely difficult, requiring the person in transition to have an iron clad image of their identity and self as it should be, as opposed to their current physical reality. Am I interpreting that correctly?

So a potentially sensitive question. Stormlight healing is in large part due to the person's sense of self, to their Identity. Given enough light, the healing process will bring the person back to health in accordance with their Identity. This is why it does not heal Kaladin's scars, he has not yet fully divested himself of the slave who deserves to be punished for failing his squad. Or [OB] But what about someone whose Identity has never matched their physical self? I ask from a position of ignorance on the majority of the subject, and I do not aim to offend. If I do, I apologize, it is not my intent. But what I have been led to believe is that in some, if not many people who do not identify with the either of the binary gender options, or who identify as the other binary gender, have self identity concerns that are not easy to resolve. In Cosmere terms, if someone Identifies themselves as a certain gender, either one of the non-binary genders, or as the gender they were denied at birth, would Stormlight healing help their body align with their Identity? Would Stormlight be able to help someone born as a genetic man or woman and transition them fully to the gender of their Identity?

Just don't build an outlet near Threnody. You don't want to have to be Shade Smart when you head to the Shadesmar(t).

Jon Snow? I figured we'd be talking about Kvothe's mom at this point.

Take out the Cylon Ressurection ship. End the Everstorm. Nightblood. Take out Odium. Stop killing them and break their connection to voidlight, so that they are trapped in one body, imprison them, and rehabilitate them. Have everyone sit and talk about their feelings. Xenocide (Please do not use this option) Show the parsh how bad an idea it is to consent to possession during an Everstorm, thereby removing their supply of fresh bodies. Nightblood. Hemalurgy? Find a worse enemy than the humans to give human and parsh common cause together, so fused and radiant must stand side by side or face oblivion.

I agree with sickly - His stance on martial violence outside of sparring with Kaladin seemed more cultural than anything else. There was no mention of an oath, just that violence was beneath him as the Nth son. He is clearly trained for war, but finds violence distasteful, which may be why he was hiding his rank after his family lost their bid for Sadeas' plate. Definitely a culture thing, in line with the shin valuing 'he who adds' over 'he who takes away'.

No matter how you shake it, there will be a lot of things that change for Rock in the year off. Whether Bondsmith (Coll, had not thought of that) or not, he is now the most influential Horneater in the peaks. First to own shards. Killed an Alethi Highprince in battle. Is Radiant. His wife hinted at more before he hushed her - as his family spends more time around Bridge Four their Alethi will get better, and the chances that his secret will slip gets higher. Never mind that he was well off enough that each of his kids could be taught a different secondary language. The next year will likely ruin Rock's life, forcing him to be something he does not want to, but it will be extremely interesting.

It has to be something about knowing when to let go, either to preserve himself, or to allow others to stand on their own without him as a safety net.

Part question, part just want to see it. Identical twins on Roshar. It is well known that in usual developement twins develop their own distinct personalities When discussing Radiance, would identical twins be more likely to end up in the same order? How would spren view it if they ended up in different orders?

Yeah, the answer to that is definitely in Whitesand (Prose). It is not yet in the graphic novel however, so cannot confirm if it will be shown there or not. But definitely not hemalurgy.