Blaze1616

I was perusing the list of Aons for enjoyment today, and I noticed something that I haven't seen pointed out elsewhere. The Aons hold a fair number of references to other Cosmere doings. Some fun things I've found: [edit] Ashe is "Light, Illumination." Illumination is a surge on Roshar. I find it odd that Raoden's illusion trick was through using Aon Shao, when Shallan's lightweaving seems more based on illumination than transformation (see Shao below). As a lightweaver, though, she has both of those surges, so I suppose the lightweaving itself uses both (I just got the feeling from the book it was mostly illusion and not transformation). [/edit] Are is "Unity, Cohesion." Cohesion just so happens to be one of the surges on Roshar. I presume Surgebinders with access to cohesion will have similar abilities to what Aon Are does (not that it is shown in the novel). Ata is "Grace, Smoothness." This reminded me of the abrasion surge and how slicking works. Perhaps it is similar? Ati is the aon of Hope. Hope isn't exactly how I would describe Ruin, but I thought it was interesting his name was also the name of an aon. Deo is "Gold, Metal." Though I think this one simply exists due to the language needing a word for metal, I thought it was interesting that it is an Aon specifically mentioned, and Brandon had a metal based magic system in a later book. Ene is "Wit, Cleverness." Makes me surprised Hoid went by Hoid in Elantris, and not Ene. As we all know Wit is a common name he takes. Eshe is "Gift, Endowment." That's interesting that the exact name of a Shard shows up... Also, given the almost exact wordings of some of the Surgebinding parallels, I wonder if this could be used to Awaken after some jury-rigging. Mai is "Honor." Yet another exact name of a Shard... Shao is "Transform, Change." Yet another parallel to Surgebinding. Tia is "Travel, Transportation." Another parallel to Surgebinding. I'm willing to bet this is one way Elantrians get to the Cognitive Realm. So I thought those "coincidences" were interesting. The parallels to other magic systems (namely Surgebinding and my possible Awakening tidbit) means that hints to the rest of the systems could be hidden away in the current list/complete list that I'm sure Brandon has. In addition, the inclusion of two Shard names got me to thinking that the names of the other Shards could be in here too. Though I am usually opposed to us wildly guessing, some interesting candidates are "Wit, Cleverness," "Loyalty," "Chastity" (this would be a little odd), "Intelligence," "Affluence," "Punishment, Retribution," "Love," "Justice," "Solemnity," "Wisdom," "Mercy, Forgiveness," "Willpower, Endurance," "Protection, Safety," "Stability, Security," and "Bravery." Also of interesting note is Ati's name being an Aon. There are various theories floating around that could explain this. I've read that some think Aona and Skai were directly in contact with the Selish people's prior to being splintered by Odium (explaining the occurence of both Aona's and Skai's name being in world). This would also explain why so many other interesting Cosmere "coincidences" occur. Another theory was the origins of the shardholders, and whether they were all from Yolen or not. Could Ati be from Sel? This would depend on whether Sel and it's peoples were made by Aona and Skai (I can't find any information regarding this, though it seems likely given the importance of Aon Aon). Anyways, I simply thought all this was interesting, figured I'd share. Have fun reading into this way more than we probably should (like I am).

I agree with Mestiv, AonDor should easily conform to fabrial "tech". I was actually a little surprised that the old Elantrians hadn't made flamethrowers when reading the book. Aon Ehe on a palm sized plate, to be activated in similar fashion to the Tia plates Mestiv quoted. Edit: Or firearms. Aon Daa on a palm-plate should work too.

Right, but saying that is abnormal is an odd observation, given we have no other Type IV entities to compare to. That's more what I was getting at. Each type is radically different from the other types (although they share something in common with their "neighboring" types). So saying Nightblood barely behaves like a biochromatic entity doesn't make much sense to me. This is wildly off topic though...

Well here's the issue; they want to release on last gen consoles too. By the point this game is coming out, if publishers still desire the game to be sold for 360 and PS3, then the hardware companies have utterly failed with the current gen. My point, however, is that top-notch graphics won't happen if they have to create the game for last gen as well.

Just so you are aware, this has not been confirmed, nor denied. We do not know if it will work. I personally think it will, but due to using Stormlight instead of Breath, a time limit gets introduced to the equation, and the awakened object will eventually "die." That is wildly off topic though. I'm not really sure what you mean? A biochromatic entity is just a being. It's a binary definition. Nightblood either is or he isn't. How can he "behave" like one? All a biochromatic entity is is a thing with Breath that isn't a "generic" human. Sorry, I'm just curious by what you mean.

Emphasis mine. That is a very interesting idea that had never crossed my mind. I wonder if the herald identity is tied to their blade, and as time went by having been separated, they all reverted to what they used to be like prior to being Heralds. That could explain Shallash destroying her art, and Jezrien being a drunken fool. It could also mean that Naln may or may not have gotten his blade back. Perhaps he's gone off the deep end and doesn't have his blade, and that's why he hunts new radiants who have broken the law. Or perhaps he's completely sane after recovering his blade, and this is just how the Skybreakers worked. I'm not completely sold on the concept, but I had never thought of that. It would be interesting if it were true.

YES.

Right, that's how most freeform RPs on forum sites seem to work, at least in my experience. I did a bunch of freeform RPs on forums back in my junior high and high school days *chokes at the realization that that was almost 10 years ago* and the response rate was a post once every other day, if not every day or multiple posts a day. Of course, that was prior to the boggy schedule of college and adulthood (as I'm fairly certain a fair number of the other players were also high school students). If I start getting really into the RP community here on 17S, my responses should come, bare minimum, once a day on weekdays (weekends are a no go for me). I merely brought it up to get a better understanding of the community here. The hardest hurdle for a RP to overcome is the beginning. The biggest issue that leads to a RP's downfall, in my experience, is getting the players together. If the characters never come into contact, everyone is just writing their own little novella, rather than roleplaying together. What often has to happen is someone has to bite the bullet and make that awkward post where their character stumbles into someone else's scene. It's weird, no one ever seems to want to do it, but without it the RP never amounts to anything. Every RP I've been a part of which successfully jumps that hurdle has passed the 25 page mark. Though that's not incredible impressive, it's better than 3 pages. Hopefully Paidia will soar over that hurdle

That is regrettable to hear, as most of the best theories are found in this forum.

It would seem that they are placing the Firefight chapter samplers in all their shipments from the store. I got one in my christmas gift. They must have printed a ton of them. It certainly was a nice surprise though!

All right, so rather than gods being limited by specific ideas (such as rats, mice, lilies, sunflowers, etc.) the gods are limited by area and overarching ideas (god of animals in the X area, god of flowers in the Y area, etc). So then are there multiple sky gods, or just one? Is there a god of clouds, or would that fall under water? Is there a god of the hunt/hunting? Or rather, can there be? I apologize about this. I'm trying to come up with two gods for two different characters. One is to be nomadic (and the corresponding god also so), is that possible? For a god to be nomadic? The second doesn't have any specification, I just want to understand how the deities work so it fits rather than clashes with your world.

Alloy was not included in the original 36 books actually. It started out as an idea for a short story between WoT revisions (which then turned into a novel and then a four book series...) The "original plan" as I understand it was: 10 - Stormlight Archive 9 - Mistborn (trilogy of trilogies) 7 - Dragonsteel (It has never been explained fully to me whether the Liar of Partinel/Lightweaver of Rens prequel duology was included in this seven...) 3 - Elantris 2 - Warbreaker 3 - White Sand 1 - The Silence Divine which is only 35... The current plan, as I understand it is: 10 - Stormlight Archive 13+ - Mistborn (trilogy of trilogies, Mistborn Adventures, plus whatever he decides to write) 3 or 5 - Dragonsteel (Peter mentioned this on Reddit a while back) 3 - Elantris 2 - Warbreaker 1+ - White Sand (the first novel is being split into three graphic novel volumes, don't know if there will be more--here I am counting those three volumes as "one") 1+ - Dark One 1+ - Unknown cosmere series 1 1+ - Unknown cosmere series 2 .5 - The Silence Divine (now downgraded to a novella) .5 - Sixth of the Dusk .25 - Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell Before adding in novellas and shorts, and underestimating everything that's again 35. If I bump Dark One and the unknowns up to 3, making them trilogies, then the number is 41. So 45 doesn't seem an unreasonable estimate. I knew Alloy was not originally planned and that it resulted from a writing excercise during WoT. My 36 number came shortly after Alloy was published, if I recall correctly. Regardless though, if White Sand was originally a trilogy, that most likely means 6 to 9 graphic novels, assuming they print them in normal graphic novel size, and not Watchmen size, and all three novels of the trilogy are printed in graphic novel form (it would be a little odd for only the first novel to do so, and the other two are in prose form). So perhaps 45 was a tad high, and the final count will be closer to 40. Who knows though, Brandon's flights tend to be major brainstorming times, apparently.

All right. Thanks for the clarification.

Alright. So I know I'm a little late to the game, but this sounds awesome, so I'm going to do my part in keeping it from dying, if I can. I have a couple of questions first, though. Let us say there are these five gods: The god of rats, the god of mice, the god of squirrels, the god of all other mammals, the god of all other animals. Now let us say their borders are linear and look like so: rats | squirrels | mammals | mice | other animals If the god of mice were vanquished by the people worshipping the god of rats, who would envelop those powers? Would the god of rats become the god of rats & mice? Would the god of other animals envelope mice as well? Am I completely misunderstanding how this all works? If it is the god of rats who envelops the mice powers, would people worshipping the god of rats also gain mice related powers? From what I've gathered the rat worshippers would not gain mice powers, but instead have their rat powers enhanced? If a god has one last living worshipper, and that worshipper is on their 3rd incarnation, and they die, I'm pretty sure I understand it correctly that the god would then die upon the worshippers death. Would this person reincarnate? If yes, would the new incarnation have any powers? Once I have these answers I have a few characters in mind. as a general RP question, as I've yet to RP on 17S, do you guys normally take weeks to respond? I noticed this RP thread has only 4 replies, and not everyone has contributed their first post yet. Oh, and thanks for the answers, anyone who takes the time to respond!

I think it is definitely doable. When I first read about Alethkar, I thought that a detailed and well thought-out map would make for a good board to play Diplomacy. Same could be said for the Shattered Plains, if more of the plateaus were named. For the game you mention, you could bridge in some of Diplomacy's rules for battles (such as taking of plateaus and whatnot). You could also go with Risk rules instead, though I prefer Diplomacy and its lack of chance and luck. Acquiring gemhearts would give you money to purchase more troops, bridgemen, better weapons, etc. I think it would be fun!

To spitball more possibilities: Perhaps Surgebinding specifically requires gaseous investiture? We've assumed, but have no proof, that Breath can be used for Surgebinding. That being said, I'm not sure how one could utilize metals to do so. On Sel, where there is the most similar situation to person-spren bonds, we never got investiture in the gaseous phase (or the solid phase for that matter). The Dor was this mysterious power held in some other plane/dimension/location and we never really got to see it. I feel like the natural state of the Dor is gaseous (the description given is almost identical to Stormlight, no?), but the Selish cannot just breath it in like Rosharans or Vin. I think it is more likely to do with the individual's bond to Roshar, though, as I mentioned in the other thread. People on Roshar automatically have a basic bond to the planet: gravity. There might be other bonds we don't know about due to the Cognitive Realm as well (and perhaps this is entirely cognitively based). Off Roshar, though, individuals who do not view themselves as inherently Rosharan no longer have a connection. Those who do, though, continue to maintain the bond. I think this fits with the whole bonds being the focus too. I am interested to know if Vasher can do anything with Stormlight other than sustain himself. WoR makes it evident he does not view himself as Rosharan at all. Another possibility is that the powers are tied to the Cognitive Realm. The more in-touch a land is to it's Cognitive counterpart, the more potent Surgebinding can be done. I view this extremely unlikely, but Sel's dangerous Cognitive Realm could explain why the bond between a Selish and their Seon does not exhibit power. That's all I got off the top of my head right now.

Well, given Seons can apparently travel off world (unless Brandon's response was more a "what-if" kind of deal), I would assume Spren could, meaning Sprenblades should be useable as you note. I wonder if maintaining powers off Roshar has to do with a connection to the planet itself. Surgebinders born on Roshar, or rather who truly view themselves as Rosharans, might be able to maintain powers. I suppose all we have is guesswork right now... Perhaps you are right, and all surgebinding capabilities are lost off Roshar. This would probably mean Rosharan worldhoppers have a bit of a rougher time than others. It also means, though, that they are unique, because even Elantrians can make use of the Dor off-world, right?

The number increases as Brandon comes up with new ideas. The original 36 number occured before this whole Era 2 Mistborn business. That adds three right there (Alloy was included in that number if I am not mistaken). Then Brandon has mentioned how he might do Mistborn in the current age (Era 3 is 80s, current Era 4 is sci-fi, this would be Era 3.5, or 4, making current Era 4 Era 5 instead...) That would add more books. The 36 number also assumes the Stormlight Archive will be confined to 10 books. Due to Brandon being a heavy outliner, it is unlikely the series will expand beyond that, but it might. Same can be said for the Dragonsteel series of 7 books that is coming a long time from now. My point is his number is constantly changing. By the time the Cosmere is done with, I wouldn't be surprised to have bought 50 different titles. I went with 45 to be a little more conservative.

That WoB is not definitive proof, but rather your conclusion can be inferred from Brandon's response. Surgebinders should be fine off-Roshar though. We know Team Sanderson has done math for a Windrunner to reach orbit. Is that not leaving Roshar?

We all seem to be forgetting the Spook incident? Not that this should turn into a discussion of Hemalurgy rather than Sadeas being an inquisitor, but... Mistborn Spoilers That being said, Sadeas can't be an inquisitor. He doesn't have the Keystone spike. He was simply brutally murdered.

There could also be a genetics thing. Such as spren only being capable of bonding people with specific sDNA. The Kholin line might be a sDNA goldmine for Nahel Bonding. It just so happens that Shallan, Navani, and Kaladin all wound up involved as well. I'm sure Brandon has an explanation other than "they're the important players in this story."

We do know that the author is a part of Seventeenth Shard. It is either Hoid or a member of Seventeenth Shard WoB The author is not Hoid WoB Therefore the author is Seventeenth Shard.

I concur that the term "anti-investiture" should not be used. As you pointed out Windy, it seems to have three conflicting definitions right now, and we don't need to add confusion to a universe that some would say is already confusing enough. Particularly when you add in the fact that heavily invested objects also resist investiture, yet they aren't "anti" investiture because they've already recieved some. Like Moogle, though, I do not like the term "investiture cancelling," but prefer "investiture resistant." I suppose "investiture selective" could also be applied, given how aluminum does work with Feruchemy and Hemalurgy like Moogle points out.