Secret Ardent Man

Okay, so I preemptively apologize to everyone if this question exists elsewhere, but I don't know how to find the answers I'm looking for. I actually have two questions: 1) We know that the Parshendi had spies in the Alethi camps (obviously, since I'm talking about Rlain), and we know that they have some weird mental connections. However, we never experience an Eshonai interlude (at least that I can remember) where she mentally communicates with another of her species. Yes, in conversation the Parshendi often "hum" a tone which can be felt by their conversation partners, but so far we have not experienced any other form of telepathy, which I assume is how spies in the warcamps communicate since they and the rest of the parshmen are so closely watched and counted by their Alethi owners. It doesn't make sense that parshmen are just walking back and forth across the barren Shattered Plains--surely they would be seen by the numerous Alethi scouts. Therefore, my first question is how do the spies communicate with the Parshendi at Narak? We know Rlain has been in the warcamps for years -- that is a long time for a spy to sit around being useless, since during wartime information would be needed as fast as it could be brought. So, Rlain is worthless....unless there is some sort bond that Parshendi possess through their Cognitive connections that allow their spies to transmit information nigh-instantly. Remember, Eshonai knew that the Alethi would be marching towards Narak within a short amount of time after Dalinar made the decision to do so. I'm curious what the forums have uncovered via WOB's or from their own speculations. It seems apparent to me that all of this could be explained by the spies running back and forth between the camps and Narak, but once again I feel like that it too much traffic to not be noticed by sharp-eyed scouts looking for movement. 2) My second Rlain question revolves around the in-book timeframe. We know that Shen told Kaladin he needed to leave Bridge 4 before Kaladin fell into the chasm, and even before Adolin's 4-person duel and Kaladin's days (weeks?) of imprisonment. We also know that the Parshendi are able to cross the Shattered Plains at a much faster rate than the Alethi due to their ability to jump. How quickly can they move across the Plains? Given that they reach the chasmfiend chrysalises at the same time as or often before the Alethi, even Sadeas's troops, and it's unlikely that they have roaming armies, they must then leave from Narak itself. This means that they can move across the vast majority of the Shattered Plains--almost to the warcamps themselves--in hours, when it takes Alethi armies days to reach Narak. Admittedly, a dullform Parshendi probably can't move as quickly, but they have to cross the plains somehow. So, at the very least we know that Rlain transformed into warform BEFORE approaching Narak during one of the highstorms. However, he only approached Narak AFTER the final two highstorms before the Weeping! He mentions to Dalinar that the transformation of his people was the reason he stayed away from Narak when he first approached it. THIS CREATES A WEIRD TIME GAP BETWEEN HIS ESCAPE ONTO THE PLAINS AND HIS ALMOST RETURN TO NARAK! Full weeks pass between his departure and his rediscovery by the Alethi army. He already admitted he never returned to Narak, so what in the world was he doing? How was he surviving alone for weeks out on the barren Shattered Plains? What could have happened here? Please, enlighten me, as I am very confused by this seeming time-progression dichotomy.

Or maybe..... Kaladin looked down upon the Honor Chasm. "It's easier this way," he thought to himself. He took the leap. OR.... Szeth stared with wide eyes at Kaladin's glowing form and whispered, "Are they back? Are they all back?" "Yes," Kaladin said. It felt like the right response. "NO!" The Shin cried out as he burst alight once again. "I AM TRUTHLESS! I know! I'll just stab you with this here Shardblade, since you don't seem to have one yourself! That should answer all of my questions, and then I'll go back and kill the highprince." He smiled brightly. "That should just about do it!" Well, crap, Kaladin thought. The shardblade flashed. Darkness.

That's interesting to have a music-themed way of travelling to Shadesmar, but it makes some sense, since we know that humming is part of how to make Soulcasters work. Humming and music? We're starting to see the pattern here....

I'm interested to see how the Stone Shamans who attempt to retrieve the Honorblade react to the revelation that surgebinders are returning. If they attack Dalinar, Shallan, and Renarin in Urithiru then they will be faced with definitive proof that someone is surgebinding without the aid of an Honorblade (since they know that of the 9 on Roshar only 2--Szeth's and one other--are not in the Stone Shamans' possession. I wonder if they will react like Szeth did when he first encountered a glowing Kaladin. Will they turn on Shin society as well?

WIth the type of post you've made, I think that the reputation level "Awakened Object" is absolutely perfect for you. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. Edit: Not meant to be an insult; meant to reflect the fact that you've made inanimate objects come to life via reenacting scenes from books we love.

If I was stuck on Roshar, I'd have to pick a Shardblade. Then at least I would be a lighteyes and fairly high ranked.

Shallan + The Lopen = The Shalopen The pairing to end all pairings. The True Relationship comes....

Boy, I'd hate being the embodiment of hate myself.

Probably one of the Shards themselves.

I was wondering, if each character in the Stormlight Archive could only listen to one song on repeat on their iPods, who would listen to what? Some of my thoughts are below; feel free to post yours as well! Kaladin: Bridge Over Troubled Water / I Believe I Can Fly - / Nalan: The Sound of Silence (mostly for the opening lyric: "Hello darkness, my old friend.") - Ym: We Are One - Syl: Colors of the Wind - Kabsal: Secret Agent Man - Bridgemen in general: They Don't Really Care About Us - Obviously, I could keep going, but I'll stop because I want to know everyone else's thoughts! This is just for fun, so don't get into any huge arguments or attack each other for what you consider a "poor" choice. Post your thoughts, and have fun with it!

I thought recently that perhaps the Dustbringers, since I equate dust with sand, could have done this to the Shattered Plains. Way before the Recreance, probably, but maybe not.

Personally, I think that there's no way we can even speculate over what made Szeth Truthless. In reality, we know so little about the Shin culture, as it is so alien from the rest of Roshar, that anything we try to come up with regarding their people, expectations, or customs has almost no factual basis whatsoever. However, because speculating is fun, I will also speculate over what made Szeth Truthless. Who knows? Maybe the Sander-man will get word of these and decide they're better than his own ideas. First, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Stone Shamans, a part of the Shin people, have or have had control of at least 8 or 9 Honorblades since the Heralds left. We can intuit from this that either the Shin were 1) given the Honorblades by someone or some thing, or 2) collected or stole the Honorblades through various means. Whichever the case, I think it implies that the Shin have a more developed understanding of Roshar's distant past. This understanding may relate to greater preserved knowledge on the Nahel Bond, the Recreance, or the Heralds themselves. Second, this knowledge almost certainly applies to Szeth's becoming a Truthless. Although I don't have the book in front of me, his fury and confusion at seeing Kaladin use stormlight related to his being made Truthless. He asked, "Are they back? Are they all back?" to Kaladin, which to me implies that his Truthlessness related to an assertion that either the Knights Radiant or Voidbringers were returning, which his people, either because they didn't want to believe him or because they were fooled by the Heralds (whom the Shin may or may not know are still alive and functioning, given Szeth's lack of "BUT YOU'RE DEAD" reaction to Nalan's appearance, due to my postulated "extra knowledge" of the Shin people, or at least the Stone Shamans) refused to accept. What did Szeth experience to lead him to his conclusion, you ask? Well, with all the theories surrounding Szeth's becoming a Radiant in the upcoming books, I thought to myself, "Why couldn't he have started that process earlier?" As such, I postulate that Szeth's Truthlessness stems from the fact that his spren started forming the bond with him six years ago, he knew what it meant due to the Shin's preserved knowledge of the past and brought it to the attention of his people, and they, possibly believing the Heralds that the Desolations were finished and armed with the knowledge that the Knights Radiant disbanded centuries ago, either labelled him Truthless as a liar or denounced him as a potential Voidbringer and banished him. The Stone Shamans granted him an Honorblade to serve him and his masters outside of Roshar, and his reprehensible actions with the Honorblade, or maybe the "dangerous amounts" of stormlight the blade required, sundered the fledgling bond he had with his spren, effectively killing it (he will bring it back to life when he comes to his senses and leaves Nalan's employ, finally swearing some oaths and strengthening the bond). Like I said, this is pretty much pure speculation based on the fact that we know next to nothing about the Shin, but a man can dream, can't he?

Does that mean that every Shard of Adonalsium would have a physical pool on the planet/system they oversee? Does Cultivation? For that matter, would Odium have to create a pool on every system he visits?

I don't understand the "ornamentation" comment. As far as we know, shardblades need no upkeep or care. There has not yet been an instance where a shardblade is described as being ornamented or painted like shardplate. Why, then, would an Honorblade--the ostensible precursor to a shardblade--change over time? If an Honorblade is a piece of Honor himself, why would it degrade? Shards-and conceivably splinters as well-shouldn't degrade, as they are simply power. Can one even decorate a shardblade or Honorblade? Wouldn't the ornamentation just disappear when you dismiss the blade? I don't know why an Honorblade would diminish in size over time either, as there is no suggestion that the Shardblades (all of which have existed since the Recreance centuries ago) diminish over time due to age, wear and tear, or something spren-y. Heck, Some of them are described as being practically 6 feet long!

During a re-read of WoK, I came across the following quote at the start of Chapter 35: " Though many wished Urithiru to be built in Alethela, it was obvious that it could not be. And so it was that we asked for it to be placed westward, in the place nearest to Honor." (emphasis added). The phrase "in the place nearest to Honor" made me wonder: Could Honor have had a physical manifestation on Roshar during the Shadowdays? What exactly does this phrase mean? Knowing what we do from WoR, Urithiru is located high in the mountains somewhere in the middle of Roshar. Did the ancients conceive of the Almighty existing somewhere in the sky or beyond, somewhat like Christianity's depictions of Heaven, or did they conceive of the Almighty existing somewhere in the WEST, opposite from the Origin of the highstorms? There are, however, myriad ways in which to interpret this phrase. I know that there was at least one thread where it was postulated that the Nightwatcher was some form of Cultivation, possibly a spren, but possibly Cultivation itself. I also draw your attention to the fact that Preservation was able to physically manifest in Scadrial despite being a shell of his former self. Furthermore, I know of no instance where a WOB stated that a shard could NOT manifest in the world (Harmony chooses to let others act without him). Could Honor have physically manifested himself in Roshar during the shadowdays? I just want to speculate and spark conversation as to what this quote could possibly mean.

Greetings, everyone! This is my first post after being a long time passive observer, so I apologize if this topic came up in previous threads. My question is this: Towards the end of WoR, when Szeth is talking to Nalan after fighting Kaladin, he mentions that there are seven Honorblades remaining with his people in Shinovar. Counting the one he dropped (8), and the Blade that Taln (wherever he is) ostensibly still holds (9), there are only nine blades accounted for. Who, then, could have possession of the tenth blade? It seems to me as though Nalan is the likeliest of the Heralds to have recovered his blade, as in Lift's interlude she describes him as being "awesome" as well. Without additional evidence, it seems as though the Heralds did not have a Nahel Bond, and as such require an Honorblade to use stormlight. However, I do not recall Lift's description of Nalan's Blade to be anything out of the ordinary as far as Shardblades go. Is there, then, the possibility that Nalan does NOT have an Honorblade? If so, do we have enough information to extrapolate where it could possibly be? I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this. A second question came to mind just as I was about to post this: How did the Stone Shamans end up with ALL of the Honorblades? In Kalak's introductory chapter in WoK, there is no description of trees, grass, or dirt. Only rock. Shinovar, as we know, is the only place on the continent that has Earth-like...well...earth. Do we have any theories on how that came to pass? Are the stone shamans remnants of a Herald-worshipping cult from the Shadowdays (Proto-Vorinism?), or is it likely something else entirely? Once again, I'd love to hear your comments on this!