Puck

I bet he still has a soft spot for lolcatz

Day 1 a winter morning yields to autumn winds, and spring falls further away For today's poem, I went with a haiku (because it was a long day) about the obnoxious weather. I know, how pedestrian could I get, right? We woke up and there was snow covering the ground (not to mention falling from the sky), and the rest of the day was full of crisp winds! It only began feeling like spring right before sunset. Nature's little April Fools joke, I guess. Day 2 Strange that a lifetime spent imagining magics would draw a veil over wonders right here.

I double majored in Philosophy and Comparative Literature. I had no idea what I wanted to do/be after college, and I knew that it was important to get a degree, so I simply chose the things that excited me most: logic, words, and languages. It was awesome, and I'm sad that I've been out of it for 3 years. (Maybe that's my draw to 17S - it gives me an excuse to research & write "papers" again.) Don't let anyone talk you out of the liberal arts if that's what you want. Unless you want to go into a specific field - Engineering, Medical, etc - it will serve you very well. And hey, if not, at least you can mock the rich people in iambic pentameter

that was mean! it took me a good 2 sentences to realize what today's date was!

ditto. I would also like to announce that Peter is a sadist, who is interested only in forcing me to lose sleep (and maybe get myself a copy of Raoden's pendant)

Let the theorizing begin! (I would've put this in the Elantris section, but Peter did say "Cosmere") Aside from thinking "Oh man! I'm totally adding all of this info into my wiki entries!" here are thoughts that occurred to me as I read: 1) All 3 are involved in the linking of Aon chains: Ehe to trigger, Ene/Omi to link Significance: no idea 2) The discovery myth of Ehe Significance: possibly drawn by a well-known, beloved, meddling planet hopper? Crazy theory, I know 3) Symmetry is discussed quite a bit Significance: possibly none 4) It took "several decades" (which I'm interpreting as 2 generations) for the Shaod to affect the new inhabitants of Arelon. I think this tells us a little bit about how Shards interact with a people's Physical/Cognitive/Spiritual DNA Significance: tons (depending on the question and once we get a little more info) 5) Omi "is one of the few Aons which requires something other than drawing skill from its Elantrian." Well, we love our exceptions. Question: what are the other Aons like that? [OK, most of those don't seem Cosmeric, but more Sel-specific] 6) Before Korath started referred to god with "Omi," the Elantrians used "Daa," which is the Aon for power. Significance: it ties in with one of my yet-unpublished parts of the Unifying Theory of Magic. patience 7) "None are as strong without modification as Aon Ehe." Fire is somehow key/fundamental. Also, the effect of all 3 Aons is very light-heavy. Significance: combine with the whole "Elantrians burn easily, mysterious fast-burning rocks from the south" it yields "der". also, it leads to the next one. 8) The description for Ehe really focuses it on how "primal" it is, how it's one of the primal elements. Significance: That got me thinking: Earth = metals Fire = see #7 Air = breath Granted, this is just the seed of a theory, and it doesn't include all magic systems. But there might be something there. 9) And, of course, the effects of the 3 Aons each fall neatly into a Realm: Physical = Ehe (fire) Mental = Ene (wit/cleverness/intelligence) Spiritual = Omi (love/affection/faith)

I'm pretty sure that this one has been answered as a "No" already (zas? quote?). Even if we can't find a Brandon quote saying so, there are enough statements in the Brandonothology that point out that how a person accesses Creation is not just about what planet they're on, but about their Physical/Cognitive/Spiritual makeup. People who are of Sel (not to be confused with people that are on Sel) access Creation through ways x, y, and z, while those of Scadrial access it through a, b, and c. At least that's how I understand it.

Awesome, Joe. Upvoted (although I'm scared to Google an explanation for #31)

Just wondering: are any Sharders going to be participating? I know I always do better at NaNoAnything when I have people to shame me into sticking to it

I vote No. I DECLARE IT HERE AND IN MY SIG!!! ...maybe just here. sigs take all that effort to modify

You do indeed (nyuk nyuk)! Welcome, Moru! I'm glad you took some time out of lurking & coding to say hi

nag nag nag

I'd be careful here. Let's say the Dor is Shard-specific, and Dakhor is of a different Shard than the Dor. We ask our question phrased this way, and Brandon says"by building a city." He means one thing, we hear another. I think "magic systems on Sel" provides the least amount of wiggle room for him

Just the front. In like a lion, out like a lamb

... or Meatloaf I love this place

I'm still gonna say we're saying the same thing here, only you're talking flavor and I'm talking recipe, symptom vs. disease, effect vs. cause, or some other analogy that won't come to my head right now I guess what I'm saying (and what seems to be the case from what Brandon has said), is that a Splinter is always and inherently a separate object from human intelligence. My theory is that it is the temporary bond between Splinter and human that give the Splinter temporary sentience (a sentience that tends to follow its [the Splinter's/Shard's] Intent). What I was implying with my earlier post is that Divine Breaths are indeed sentient, when bonded to a human body. They reflect that human's personality a bit (as in the Clod/Arsteel example), but the human's soul is gone and the thing animating the human shell (makes it walk, talk, quip, play lawn games, flirt) is the Divine Breath. Granted, this is Just A Theory, but it's a theory that accommodates for Seons-, Divine Breaths-, and Spren-as-Splinters, and explains the meaningful difference between them that has been raised (namely, sentience)

I like this question, as it would tell us how Fjorden would create an amplifier. Maybe change the word "AonDor" to "magics on Sel." Elantris has a major home-court advantage - as long it doesn't want to go out conquesting, it's virtually unimpregnable! Look at what they did in Teod, and that was without amplification! I've always thought that this was a major advantage that Elantris has over Dakhor and, in order to make some kind of tension, Brandon will have to even the playing field. While Fjorden might not be building its own "amplifier city" (I don't think Brandon would be that redundant), I'm pretty confident that some [perhaps portable?] equivalent will come about.

ditto ditto

I agree zas. In fact, I think that's what's going on with Returned. to wit: Let's follow this chain of reasoning: 1) Arsteel is dead. He is . However you want to say it, his spirit is no longer in his body.2) However, he is still moving around, despite having died. 3) That is the nature of this quadrant of Awakening: one breath animates the dead thing and lets it act, to some extent, like it did when alive 4) In fact, as in the case with Clod, the Lifeless can act very much like it did when alive, even down to parts of personality 5) It is the nature of the breaths with which Clod is endowed that allow him to maintain a part of Arsteel C) One breath, of a very specific/potent quality, can create an Awakened who strongly retains his personality traits, so much that we might forget that they're dead/that their soul is no longer in their body. It doesn't take much of a leap to see that the principles that make Clod special are the same that make a Returned more special than an Animated squirrel. Fundamentally, it's all about the quality of the Breath (and, possibly, the nature of the host with which the spren Seon Breath bonds). Human intelligence (permanent) + Shard's power (temporary bond) -> Sliver Shard's power (permanent) + Human intelligence (temporary bond) -> sentient Splinter Really, all we have to accept is that there are 2 types of Splinters: bonded/sentient and unbonded/non-sentient ...did I just create a Theory? did i just create 2?!

wow! I feel honored! (maybe even Honored) I agree. My goal (with or without help, but ideally with ) is to do this for every Sanderson book. Once I'm done with my Elantris articles, I'll be moving on to Warbreaker

Seconded Also, have we talked about this yet?

Before I delve into the writing/editing of roughly 95 Elantris wiki entries, I've decided to reward myself for the good work I've done so far. So, I'll be reading the Alcatraz series as well as finally reading the end of the Wheel of Time series. (This reward inspired by a conversation here.) Alcatraz I once half-listened to the audiobook of the first novel, and really enjoyed it. So, there's that. (I'm also reasonably sure that the characters' voices in my head will inevitably be those of that narrator.) But I remember enjoying the world, the break-every-rule-of-writing style, and the general silliness, so I think I'll be in for a good time. Wheel of Time I'll be starting on book 9 with the WoT, since I've read the first 8 several times. 9 is where I always start to get foggy on what exactly happens in any given book; gun to the head, all I could tell you is the climax of the last chapter (I think) of each. I've read all the way through 9 (Winter's Heart) and 10 (Crossroads of Twilight) only once, and got so bored/frustrated that I couldn't bring myself to start book 11 (Knife of Dreams), so it won't be conquering completely new territory. But I'll be damned if I'm not gonna get the best of this series! I'll earn my silver sword and golden dragon yet!

I would like to announce that, despite two straight weeks of 12-hour days at work, i have finished parts 1 and 2 of my Elantris reread! All that's left now is converting all of that raw data into wiki entries. That's simple enough and not time-consuming at all! Right?