Bromo_Sapien

Better phrasing: "How would the prolonged Feruchemical use of a metalmind affect it physically (e.g. wear and tear) or magically (e.g. more efficient storage)?" If it doesn't, he would simply say, "It doesn't."

A pantheon of Bavadins? Bavadi? Bacardi? I'm a blue abadee abadie? We see it in AU. Could Bavadin be the Ones Above? A) We only see one dead body reportedly from the Ones Above in Sixth of the Dusk. B ) They are crafty in so far as they work around the "rule" about not interfering with the technologically inferior First world. C) Expanding their reach and sewing chaos sounds a lot like what Bavadin is trying to do with the religions and what the OA are doing on First.

Cultivation, not Endowment, but I'm not sure it really matters. I don't think it takes an affinity for the past to see these shadows. After all, atium saw the future while malatium saw the past. I get that Nightblood sucks the life out of things but there are no signs that he sucks the color out of anything. All of the people he kills in Warbreaker don't turn white. We also haven't seen or heard of him moving Investiture; that would be an unbelievable power to have. We haven't seen Investiture switch realms on that level outside of Sel, and that was caused by the splintering of two shards (or at least that's the latest theory, correct me if I'm wrong). As far as him being a perpendicularity, I would find that very very hard to believe. Perpendicularities seem to necessitate a connection to a Shard (only planets with a Shard or had a Shard on them have a perpendicularity, plus the anomaly of First of the Sun) more than just a large amount of Investiture. It just seems to me that the description of the after images seem to match closer to the mal/atium shadows than to anything we've seen with Nalthis or anywhere else...

Has anyone read The Shadow of What Was Lost yet? It was just published by Orbit about 3 weeks ago but was apparently self-published before that and had enough of a following to garner a reddit thread in r/fantasy and comparisons to Sanderson and Jordan. I read a sample chapter on the author's (James Islington) website and it seemed pretty good.

So can jet fuel... I buy into the Unmade being the demigods, especially considering most were named after demigods/demons: Moelach/Moloch, Nergaoul/Nergal, etc.

I think Steelheart made a rather salient point here that's been ignored. Everyone keeps remarking on the idea of Nightblood being involved because of the Nalthis connection but the after images weren't in color, as you would expect if Nalthis was relevant. Everything related to Nalthis is colorful, right down to its very Investiture, and all of a sudden it produces something without any color? That doesn't seem right to me. The after images, to me, were more similar to atium and malatium than anything we saw on Nalthis. If malatium's effect occurs by [Secret History spoiler] I theorize that Lift is witnessing some level of Connection to Szeth's past somehow. How she's doing that, I don't know. If Allomancer's used part of a god to See that, maybe it has something to do with Lift's connection to the Nightwatcher (I subscribe to the Nightwatcher = Cultivation theory). Maybe Szeth's Connection to his past is stronger than anyone else's (makes sense, with his backstory) and that makes it easier for someone with a Connection to a god to see. I don't know; I don't necessarily buy the last two sentences of speculation I just wrote, but Lift witnessing Szeth's Connection to his (extremely recent) past seems more in line with the effects of mal/atium than anything with Nalthis to me.

Rereading my original post and Argent's reply, I realize I didn't explain myself well last night (that's what I get for trying to form a coherent post at midnight). It's not just that all things have a cognitive aspect; it's that all things have a cognitive aspect which can be interacted with within the Cognitive Realm. If all things have a Cognitive aspect which can be interacted with, then there could be a Selish equivalent of Cryptics or Scadrian Honorspren or Nalthian Highspren (obviously all existing solely in the Cognitive Realm, unlike the spren of Roshar), not merely a table whose history you could change.

So I'm in the middle of rereading The Emperor's Soul for the first time in awhile. On Day 12, Shai is explaining Forging to Gaotona in realmatic terms and says the following: " '...as the wall wants to act as a whole.' 'The wall,' Gaotona said flatly, 'wants to be treated as a whole.' 'Yes.' 'You imply that the wall has a soul.' 'All things do.' she said. 'Each object sees itself as something.' " Is it just me, or does that sound very much like the idea of spren? Spren are the physical embodiment of items' (alespren, flamespren, groundspren) and concepts' (awespren, hungerspren, painspren) perceptions of themselves. We have seen spren existing in Shadesmar, but what if there are "spren" in the other "worlds" in the Cognitive Realm? Basically what I'm saying is that the wall Shai uses in her example has a "spren" in the Cognitive Realm and Forging convinces this "spren" that it is different, somehow. We, or at least I, think of spren as being limited to Roshar/ Shadesmar but I believe that is merely the only place they are physically embodied as well as cognitively and that you could conceivably find the equivalent of tablespren and gloryspren in the Cognitive Realm of Sel, Taldain, Scandrial, or Nalthis (obviously adjusted for their specific cultures and peoples).

Oooooo I hadn't seen that. Interesting... Relevant WoB: INTERVIEW: Mar 22nd, 2014 WoR Signing Report - Argent (Verbatim) QUESTION If Adonalsium shattered with intent, will he always shatter to the same shards? BRANDON SANDERSON It is plausible that he could shattered in a different way. QUESTION So it could've been different Shards? BRANDON SANDERSON Yes, that's plausible. It doesn't disprove my theory though. There was still... not evil but "not good" attributes to Adonalsium. With a slight Sandersonian twist, I could say that this helps my theory: the Shardholders "picked" from the Box rather than "smashed-and-grabbed" it. If there were other potential Shards, it just means more attributes of Adonalsium, not that he was better or worse as a being. I'm not saying he's evil, just not empirically good. Most JudeoChristians believe in an empirically good God and I know I was imprinting that onto Adonalsium. Maybe he wasn't. Literally all we know of him is that he was all powerful and that seventeen (at least; could be more depending on if Frost is a Shardholder and if there were others like Hoid who participated but didn't pick up a Shard) "people" wanted to (and did) destroy him. You could just as easily say that Adonalsium (don't want to use God in order to separate from JudeoChristian norms) Cultivates control. It Hates those who do not worship it. It Honors those who Honor it, etc. It could believe that being "used appropriately" is to not give humans attributes, that it was better for the world to have one autonomous and omnipotent overseer ruling the plebeians, a la the Lord Ruler and skaa. Adonalsium directly controlled the world enough that he was a corporeal form with direct contact with "people" on Yolen. All I'm saying is that we should look at what has been directly said about Adonalsium and what we are assuming based on our own beliefs of gods and religions. Different universe here.

He also literally met a capital-G God, someone who literally created everything (including humans, i.e. him originally). I wonder if Adonalsium was somehow suppressing individuality and that Hoid et al "stole" that when they killed him. I generally think of A as a benign God, but considering Odium and Ruin came out of him, perhaps that's a bit naive. Spitballing a theory here that I probably should develop while not at work: if A was a living Pandora's Box, containing the sixteen Shards away from humanity (to use a general term representing all sentient life). That would explain Hoid's comment of stealing himself, since the Shards compose most of what defines a personality. Purely a braindump that came from this topic; I'll look more into it when I'm home later, see if I can garner more evidence...

Granted, but it never goes away, growing to the point that all the shiny glitter would, in effect, blind you. I wish to control a Shard.

In the FE Era, nobody *on Scadrial* knows of Chromium and Nicrosil (and even that may not be completely true. All we know for sure is that no one in the Final Empire knew of it. Who knows if Ruin/Preservation or a Southern Scadrian knew of it?). Hoid/Khriss/Worldhopper Feruchemist from pre-Rashek Scadrial could have known about it beforehand. That being said, I doubt it. Seems like too many maybes. More likely, imo, is slave labor. You have a beaten down populace that is, unfortunately, genetically predisposed to servitude and manual labor. Others in the cosmere would most definitely take advantage of that. It also explains why destroying that perpendicularity ended the ecosystem when there are, conceivably, other ways to worldhop onto Scadrial: Destroying the Pits was the first blow that led to the rebellion and the end of the skaa being perfect slaves. Whereas before they were dejected and resigned to servitude, after the destruction of the Pits, they had some measure of hope built through this cult of Kelsier (which turned into the cult of the Survivor).

Granted, but you become allergic to literally everything but that brand of chicken noodle soup. It is now the only thing you can eat. I wish to never have a bane from the Nightwatcher.

Another important thing to note about the Seventeenth Shard is their recruitment of many Important Characters from our stories. Capital-G Good Guys like Galladon and Demoux are members of the Seventeenth Shard, which lends credence to the idea that SS is empirically good. Remember, most of what we have learned about SS comes from Hoid, who is naturally predisposed to dislike them and slant our view of them. Also important to note, there could be overlap in those groups. The Ones Above are called that by Sixth (iirc; I haven't read that one in awhile) while the Ire/SS/Silverlight expedition are referred to as such by only a few others. It could be that those called Ones Above on First of the Sun could be the same as the Silverlight expedition referred to by Khriss or SS members in the future.

I generally think of the Shards as a "class" and the vessels as the "player". Players start off raw and can make their way through the early stages using whatever weapons/spells they want. However, as the game progresses, the importance of their class grows, meaning some weapons/spells become more powerful and some that were great early become obsolete since they don't work well with the class. Same thing goes with the Vessels and Shards. The Vessels started off with their own personalities (e.g. Ati was a good and kind man) but as the cosmere progressed, the importance of their Shard grew. So much like a wizard will forgo physical weapons in favor of spellcasting (in most games), so to did someone like Ati become more destructive because of the shard Ruin.

So I always assumed he was a Shard Holder, and was about to reply as much until I actually went back and reread the Letters. It doesn't say anything about him having a shard, just that he is knowledgable of the Shard Holders and the happenings in the cosmere. Interesting. So if he is not a Shard Holder and instead merely another Yolenite, that makes it seem like all Yolenites know about the Shattering (which also makes sense. Like I said above, the destruction of a god seems pretty monumental). Where are all of these other Yolenites who know the truth of the Shattering? On an entire planet, I couldn't imagine Hoid would be the only one who rejects Frost's notion of nonintervention.

Ya, I really liked a lot of the casting choices there. It had a nice blend of big names and new faces that fit. The casting of Adolin and Hoid both seemed particularly inspired. I will say, however, I always imagined Dalinar as being broader than they seem to. I love Ken Watanabe and we love to see him find his way to the movie, but I always pictured someone like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He might be a bit young at 44, but Dalinar would have kept himself in peak physical shape while on the Shattered Plains that it fits. Also, while I really like the Rose Leslie casting for Shallan, take a look at Aya Cash. She's fantastic on You're the Worst and has the right blend of arrogance, immaturity, and biting wit to be perfect for Shallan.

Have we ever gotten a WoB about who else knows about the Shattering besides the 16 original shard holders, Harmony, and Hoid? I know he has said that Khriss is the most knowledgable and that Nazh knows approximately as much as Hoid but does that include the Shattering? I can't see how it would, since I doubt K or N are in contact with a Shard Holder and I doubt Hoid gives that info away. And how much do the natives of Yolen know about the Shattering? I would imagine that the destruction of a god would be a notable event but we have heard nothing from other Yolenites (Yoleners?).

I've always thought of Hoid (pre-Shattering) as the D'Artagnan to the Shard Holder's Three (Sixteen) Musketeers. The Shard Holders all seem to know a lot about each other, their personalities both pre- and post-Shattering, likes, dislikes, etc. Hoid writes of them in the Letter not as godly figures but more as close friends, reminiscing over old arguments and past friendships. There seems to be the same in-fighting, romances, and shifting interpersonal dynamics that are so often seen in long-term friend groups, like when you get together with old friends you grew up with as adults. Hoid seems, at once, to be an outsider to the group (quite literally, since he is not a Shard Holder and is the only one we have met who was at the Shattering) while also knowing and liking many (or all) of them personally.

So I don't necessarily believe that Szeth is Odium's Champion right now (I think Odium is banking on Eshonai before she betrays him), but will descend into darkness over the next few books due to mental corruption. Nightblood isn't exactly... easy to get along with and his misunderstanding of "destroying evil" and Szeth's confusion with the morality of his previous actions could react in supremely negative ways. Plus, Szeth can do evil and be aligned with Odium without going full cackling villain. He can believe what he is doing is right and just while working for Odium. He's just incorrect (from our and the protagonists' perspectives).

Am I the only one that would love to see Szeth go the opposite route, get darker and darker and become the corporeal Big Bad of the series? Especially if you (like I) believe the Parshendi will redeem themselves, Odium is going to need a Champion a la Dalinar for Honor or Vin/Wax for Preservation/Ruin/Harmony. Every other shard (other than Autonomy, for obvious reasons) has some sort of Champion. I love Szeth's character and enjoy the angsty anti-hero as much as the next guy but I also love zigging when others are zagging. Szeth is on the edge right now and could turn either way. We need someone who will "betray them all". Plus, Szeth seems like a nice contrast to Dalinar. One is a lord who is questioning his role in an effort to improve his society. The other simply takes orders and brings destruction and death. Plus, there's the whole murdering Dalinar's brother and idol thing, which makes for pretty natural rivals.

Stick was/is the Blessing for WalDo

I'm fully caught up on all Cosmere works. I always though of the whole "Shardblades are dead spren" thing more as "the soul/magic of the Shardblade (i.e. can cut through anything except another Shardmaterial and can be summoned at will) comes from the 'magic' of dead spren" rather than "the physical form of the blade is the same material as a dead spren". Then again, I probably conceptualize spren as more incorporeal than they probably are. I think of them more as little sentient balls of energy than physical beings, almost like Navi from Legend of Zelda. I realize that is probably not accurate, but eh. Have we gotten a WoB that you can't burn heavily invested metals? If so, how are atium and lerasium not considered "extremely invested" when they are literally the power of two Shards?

What metal are Shardblades (and Honorblades, for that matter) made of? If they were made out of an allomantic metal, what would happen if someone shaved off a slice and burned it?

I just finished rereading TES and Shai mentioned the MaiPon people worshipped "rocks that fell from the sky at night.The souls of broken gods, those chunks had been called." That sounds an awful lot like a splinter of a shattered Shard. Have we gotten confirmation of this (I haven't seen them mentioned as splinters on the Coppermind) and if so, which Shard they belong to, Devotion or Domination? I would assume Devotion since Forgery demands that someone become devoted to learning the true history of the piece they're forging.