dvoraen

Also in agreement with Moogle. We don't know everything that the Nahel spren require of their bonds, but we do know that some Orders (per WoB) are okay with... what Adolin did to Sadeas, so I can't see how that suddenly excludes fellow Radiants. Secondly, Honor himself stated in the visions that the Orders had problems but were "focused" as a means of mitigating those issues, which heavily implies it's possible they could have had interfighting. Thirdly, we know from the Nohadon vision* that a Surgebinder was directly responsible for starting a war before a Desolation hit. If that isn't a means of getting people killed, including Radiants, I don't know what is. * (I've wondered if this vision took place before the inception of the Immortal Words and the foundation of the Radiants.)

Soulburst for me, for a list of reasons including the likely applications of an Investiture metalmind. It feels like there's so much potential (energy) there. I mean, think about it: if the Investiture stored is the raw stuff, you're pretty much giving yourself a generator for your powers here on other worlds. And this assumes the Investiture stored can't be used for other power systems, such as "emulating" the effects of other Allomantic metals, just to name one example theory.

The problem is that this assumes the Shards pretty much split into eight pairs of opposites, and that we have no data on. You're not alone in this line of speculation - I've wondered the same myself - but I can't help but think it's not as simple as complete opposites, yet the possibility does exist that there could be.

I always got the impression that Rashek got a hint about Allomancy when he held the Well's power, and as part of what he did he created those beads.

Sure, that all makes sense, but I wonder if we can trick an answer out of Brandon by asking if Hoid would take up a Shard with the Intent of Faith (ref. epilogue of Words of Radiance).

I'm inclined to think there isn't one, simply because one thing Hoid seems to enjoy is free will: the right to choose your own actions. Shards... corrupt that, by overwhelming the holder with the Intent to the point the Shardholder is completely biased in his or her decision making after a while. I don't see Hoid taking up a Shard unless Humpty Dumpty was put back together again, since only then (and perhaps maybe not even then) would there be a equality in what was pulling which way.

I would think there'd be a lot more atium and lerasium on Scadrial as a result of this Splintering.

I was pondering on whether or not a Nicrosil Ferring - double Nicrosil Twinborn, really - is a required component for FTL on Scadrial. Basically, they store Investiture, burn the metalmind(s) via Allomancy, and use that enhanced power burst to fuel the space-time warp (of the requisite Allomancers).

Actually, I think Gavilar's dying words are something more: The words the Heralds said, when the Oathpact was formed. I've been wondering for a while if they will have to be effectively reformed in order to provide enough of a beacon to humanity (with Dalinar effectively leading them) to survive this Desolation Deluxe. Remember, the Death Rattles mention only ten people against the storm, and we don't know yet how Taln (and/or the man claiming to be him) factor in, whether he'll retain his Heraldic duties or not. Oh wow, I have no idea how I necro'd this. I wasn't even using a search function. O.o

I got the impression that the weird spren was the stormspren that had possessed her. I should also mention one thing, that I'm now dithering if Jasnah's ranged Soulcast was due to Transportation or not. She closed her eyes, and that could easily mean she was finding their flames in Shadesmar to force the change there, but it manifested as a ranged blast of Stormlight in the Physical realm. I still stand by the idea of telekinetic Willshapers, though.

If you want to post things like this, I'm going to ask a mod to rename you Nergaoul. Back on topic: I don't really see Fabrials as akin to Hemalurgy at all. While it's enslavement of a spren, there is a strong implication that the spren can be released from the gemstone/fabrial device it's a part of. The one question I have that we really don't seem to have an answer to, is: what are the metal (filigree?) adornments on fabrials that we frequently see? I seriously wonder if there's a component to fabrial science that hasn't been released yet, and I seriously wonder if it involves the willing participation of some spren. My point being: Hemalurgy literally removes that aspect from the source. Fabrials simply require the right spren locked in the right gemstone(s). There's no removal of power from the (spren) source in the case of the fabrial, by everything we know.

Something I was thinking about, regarding Willshapers' use of Transportation and Cohesion, was that it would be akin to telekinesis. I can't think of a better way to describe this. I've been suspecting - and I doubt I'm alone in this - that Jasnah's ranged Soulcasting was due to combining it with Transportation, and that made me wonder if Willshapers could do the same with their abilities, thus making it seem like they're "shaping with their will," so that it seems they're utilizing Cohesion from a distance (via Transportation) to alter the bonds of objects while also moving them with Transportation. To other eyes, it looks like they're manipulating reality in front of them. In other words, I think Toph is more a Willshaper.

Kind of taking it further, but I would liken a Nahel bond to a Hemalurgic spike, but the differences lie here: - Your Cognitive and Spiritual states are what attract the given spren. This would also account for the variance in which orders get a Shardblade (and/or Plate) when; their cracks are filled differently. Some require the equivalent of a root canal for a Blade, others are "shallower" in that respect. - The Nahel bond functions as the Surge "spike", and it goes both ways (affects spren too, remember), where the Immortal Words function as the anchor point for each. When they're broken*, so is the bond. Humans lose their powers; spren lose their enhanced Cognition, and to them that's extremely painful (since they're Cognitive entities). - The Words increase your Spiritual compatibility, thus strengthens the anchor and bond by extension.

RE: Urithiru. I've been wondering if it was abandoned simply because of the implication that people weren't paying the "Stormlight tax" that's been hinted in epigraphs, that the Radiants at that time couldn't basically pay the power bill (so to speak) for the fabrials-and-more that were there. Or, that they were unable to reliably use Urithiru as the waypoint for the Oathgate network because they were lacking in extra Stormlight. Either way, it wasn't feasible to use Urithiru anymore due to lack of infused spheres. (Which then begs the question of how a highstorm functions there. Will it dump any Investiture into Urithiru or is the place too high for that to happen?) It's also another reason that would support my claim that the Radiants were lacking in leadership. They didn't have a central point to congregate, and so on. A bunch of factors basically added up to the Orders splitting, dividing, feuding, and in the end turned their backs on humanity because they lost faith in their mission (which would be a direct violation of the First Ideal, aka a broken Nahel bond).

I would think it works the other way too, such as: "A sword tries to cut your flesh, and shatters instead." Because you solidifed your skin layer that much that it can't be damaged.

Why complicate it? An Ideal of Self (or Individuality) seems right up the Spiritual Realm's alley to me. It would represent the truth of one's being, like a state of nirvana (or is it enlightenment?), but the implementation of that particular Ideal is Cognitive and Physical. Each relies on the other, in the case of humans, and so I'd imagine it's why Invested sapient beings are so... unique? Because I'm guessing they function on all three levels, just not necessarily consciously in each case. It would also be my guesstimated method by which Lightweavers enhance their Nahel bond. Their Connection (capital intentional) to the Self increases.

More evil questions: Cosmere - Had any of the people present at Adonalsium's Shattering been different, would the sixteen Shards have been split differently (into other Intents)? Mistborn + Cosmere - Does burning aluminum heal Spiritual damage? - Does burning duralumin cause Spiritual damage? (The cracks by which Investiture can seep in.) Stormlight - Are there ten Unmade of significance, colloquially known as the Ten Deaths? (Note that I'm not asking if there are only ten Unmade, as we've gotten to an answer to that, but more that I suspect the total number of Unmade is significantly higher. In other words: ten with names that are sentient and analogous to the Heralds, but more Unmade that are mindless "forms of destruction", such as those that animate thunderclasts.) - Is Nightblood able to consume the entire Investment of a highstorm and/or everstorm to effectively render it powerless (no spheres, Surge-/Voidbinding, etc.)? - Are all of the abilities of a Lightweaver relevant to their Connection to a given subject? (Shallan's Memory-taking strikes me as establishing a direct Connection to the scene she later releases into her drawing. The Lightweaver epigraph implies that they Connect to their audience for "spiritual sustenance" with regard to illusions.)

Plus, based on that excerpt above about Investing his Divine Breath elsewhere within himself, so it doesn't go out the window with the others, I posit that he can do the same with Stormlight before and/or after the conversion process. In other words, converts it then 'stores' it to the repository stashed away until it's time for consuming it with his Divine Breath. I'm kind of curious if Vasher can store a lot of Breath should he be out in a highstorm. He may actually have quite a few tucked away as "life insurance" that we simply don't know about.

There's also this. (source) It sounds like we're both right.

On the serious: Cultivation + Endowment = Innovation Cultivation + Devotion = Inspiration Odium + Ruin = Nihilism Odium + Dominion = Tyranny (We're in agreement, hoidhunter. >.>) Odium + Devotion = Malevolence Honor + Devotion = Glory Honor + Dominion = Majesty Honor + Cultivation = Altruism Honor + Preservation = Salvation Honor + Ruin = Valor Honor + Endowment = Benevolence ... Something says I'm going more towards the Intent of the combination than an actual name, but I definitely stand by "Majesty" as a name and Intent for Honor + Dominion.

Not quite bumping this because something just crossed my mind that relates to this post: Remember how in the Way of Kings epigraphs, Jasnah remarks that the Palanaeum had been fired (had burned almost completely?) at one point? The work she quoted also had to do with an apparent treatise on the era just around the Recreance, if I'm not mistaken, which seems incredibly coincidental. We don't know when the burning happened, but suppose that Taravangian actually found the secret in a book, per the Diagram's instructions, and set the whole place ablaze after learning it? Or, just as precisely, figured it out on the Day of the Diagram because of something he had read that was in the Palanaeum,

RE: Curiosity's spoiler block.

Though we do have a WoB that seemed like it shot down that theory: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/20500-orem-library-signing-on-december-6/page-2#entry203408 So, I don't think Yelig-nar was imprisoned in a sphere. While the Unmade seem to share characteristics with spren, I also agree that the term 'spren' is used a bit too freely to describe intangible entities. I think the Unmade could be imprisoned (likely via a Dawnshard), but if the sphere was indeed imprisoning one of the Unmade, my money is on Nergaoul. What I really want to know, though, is whether the beings Kaladin saw in the highstorm were either two of the Unmade, or Odium's divine form with one of the Unmade.

I got the impression that it has to do with the nature of a Nahel bond. A human bonds to a spren and becomes Radiant, but they can also bond to other humans. Either way, it's safe to say that it's likely due to Honor's Intent that this can happen in the first place. The real question I have, is why would some orders not have or need squires in the first place? It makes me wonder if the reason squires exist has to do with the purpose of the Order, and what role a squire would play in it outside of fighting and/or bodyguarding their Radiant.

Sure, Harmony is "considered" one Shard, but if Brandon himself says it IS one Shard now, a literal reunification of Ruin and Preservation, that doesn't really mean Sazed has two competing Intents so much as the fact that the combined power literally creates passivity on his part over time, that instead he has the 'Intent' of Harmony (which is not to do anything directly to disrupt the balance so much as maintain it*). Thus, the need for agents like Marsh, the kandra, and so on. I feel bad for anyone that tries to take on Sazed, though, because he'd probably Splinter someone a new Shard, ifyaknowwhatImean. * This can swing both ways, even if destroying competing influence is the means of maintaining the desired status quo. I do think that Sazed is "technically" being affected by Ruin and Preservation, but it's more the fact that he has no Intent to act unless it's needed.