Frosted Flakes

We don't know enough about their immortality. There is hard immortality and soft immortality. For example, someone who holds a Shard of Adonalsium would essentially be immortal, but, then again, Odium has killed a few of those people. So Shards, despite their unfathomable power, are kill-able, and therefore not immortal. Even Adonalsium was Shattered. As far as I know, there are no hard immortals in the Cosmere. Either way, I hypothesize that an entity of sufficient power would be able to safely wield Nightblood unsheathed by overpowering him by force of will.

I can't believe it took me so long. I focused too much on the "misting" and not enough on the "Lady." In hindsight, it was fairly obvious. I just over-thought it. Anyway. This character collected wooden swords as a child.

Beldre!

Lady Stase Blanches? I admit, I'm stumped.

I would be very interested in reading that WoB if you can find it again. Spren fascinate me. They're cognitive ideas/concepts that, through investiture (Spiritual) from Shards/Adonalsium have become sentient. After the Nahel bond, they can take physical form, fleshing out the last of the three aspects.

I read a study somewhere that people actually like spoilers. Yes, everyone initially makes negative noises about how everything is ruined...but they actually enjoy the anticipation of knowing what's coming and seeing how the story will advance to that point more than they enjoy being surprised. I forget what the researchers did exactly, but it was something to the effect of playing a movie with a surprise twist to two groups of a few hundred people each. One group watched the movie with no spoilers and the other group watched the movie after having it spoiled. Neither group had seen the movie before. The group that had the movie spoiled consistently rated it higher than those who had not had it it spoiled. Also, welcome burngis12!

I have a sad, sad theory that the Doors of Stone is going to be a very disappointing read. Think about it. The running theme of the Kingkiller Chronicles is the reality behind the story. And real life doesn't work out like stories do. I think Doors of Stone will have a very appropriate ending, but I don't think that all mysteries will be revealed and all loose ends tied up. I don't think Kvothe will live happily ever after, but I also don't think he'll have a grand, tragic ending. I think Rothfuss senses that his final book in Kingkiller Chronicles will be underwhelming. I think he's trying to squeeze in other books while his popularity is at a peak; he's certainly obsessed with his Worldbuilders charity. There's nothing wrong with charity, of course, but he devotes nearly every waking moment for 2-3 months a year to this charity. He raises massive amounts of money for it, as well. I honestly believe this charity is more of a passion to him than his books. I would be shocked if he hasn't considered the possibility that after he concludes Kvothes tale, his relevance will fade and he will not be able to raise as much money. An alternative theory is that he wants to get his next book locked down before he finishes Book Three. That way, when he finishes Kingkiller Chronicles, he can immediately market his next novel and keep people interested which, in turn, keeps people donating. Now, I really hope I'm not coming across as whiny. That is not my intention. I simultaneously believe that Rothfuss doesn't owe me a thing and that I have the right to be annoyed that he's taking so long. Taking a long time is fine. It's the amount of energy he pours into everything but his writing that bothers me. But again, I'm pretty sure he said somewhere that writing, to him, was barely one step above a hobby. So here is what I propose: we spike Sanderson's incredible writing work ethic out of him, just for a few months, and give it to Rothfuss. With Sanderson's drive, Rothfuss shouldn't need more than 6-8 weeks to finish Doors of Stone, then we unspike him and give Sanderson his prolificness back. Everybody wins!

I'm currently reading The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson. Lulz.

Chapter Eight: Nearer The Flame "Victory! We stand atop the mount! We scatter them before us! Their homes become our dens, their lands are now our farms! And they shall burn, as we once did, in a place that is hollow and forlorn." (This death rattle sounds as if the words come from a Parshendi. It would make sense - I subscribe to the theory that the Listeners predate human beings on Roshar, and were displaced by them.) Foolish, idiot girl, she thought, a few painspren crawling out of the wall near her head. (This happens immediately after Jasnah angrily dismisses Shallan. She's just left abruptly, and is nearly crying in the hall. I've read the surrounding text very closely, and can find absolutely no evidence that Shallan is physically hurt in any way. So I guess painspren are attracted to both physical and emotional pain.) There was that matter of the strange collection of maps they'd found in [shallan's father's] study. What did they mean? He'd rarely spoken of his plans to his children. Even her father's advisors knew very little. Helaran - her eldest brother - had known more, but he had vanished over a year ago, and her father had proclaimed him dead. (Maps, you say? I also am extremely interested. So Kaladin kills Shallan's brother, a Shardbearer, while serving under Amaram, a Son of Honor, in a "minor border dispute." What kind of stuff was Shallan's father involved in? Also...Brandon uses the less common spelling of ''advisors'' rather than ''advisers.'' Not important...just neat.) "But i do know the Passions. You win when you need it most, you see." (Yalb to Shallan. I'd like to know more about the Passions. I wonder if, in this instance, Passions refers to the more archaic definition meaning the sufferings of a martyr.) "Can't I offer you a nice romantic novel? They are my specialty, you see. Young women from across the city come to me, and I always carry the best." (Okay, this whole scene at the bookstore raises a lot of questions. When all is said and done, Shallan pays over three emerald broams for a couple books. She literally pays more money than the life of a slave is worth. Now, I can understand that slaves are the lowest caste, but I refuse to believe they're as cheap as a stack of books. So it must be the books that are expensive. Is this because Roshar doesn't have a printing press? Is it because paper is hard to come by? Is it because the works of the authors she chose are rare and valuable? With books being so expensive, why on early would people write silly romantic novels? ...then again, if there is a market for it. Some schmuck wrote 50 Shades of Grey and made a killing...maybe I'm in the wrong profession, gents. The Thaylen's have it figured out.) The merchant blinked. Nearer the Flame was written from the viewpoint of a man who slowly descended into madness after watching his children starve. (Shallan asks for Nearer the Flame to start being snarky and sarcastic to the merchant. What's interesting is that Nearer the Flame is the title of this chapter, Shallan explicitly asks for it, and it's described briefly in the text. One could argue that Shallan is slowly descending into madness after witnessing (spoiler alert she killed him) of her father. "Then perhaps Eternathis will serve you," he said as his wife held up a blue-grey set of four volumes. "It is a philosophical work which examines [Rosharan history since the Heirocracy] by focusing only on the interactions of the five Vorin kingdoms. As you can see, the treatment is exhaustive." (I don't know what to make of this. A Thaylen casually mentions five Vorin Kingdoms as if it were common knowledge while Shallan, a Vorin herself, is surprised to hear it. Either way, I love in-world books and wish I could read those too.) Jasnah held out her hand. "You recall what I said about repeating myself?" (Ironically, this is almost certainly Jasnah's most repeated line.) [back to Table of Contents]

I propose directional explosives. Are plastic explosives on Scadrial in the Alloy of Law era? If not, they're imminently close to that technology and, though not nearly as effective, gunpowder may suffice. Anyway, you pack explosives, such as C-4, into the bottom of a cylindrical tube with a depression in the center of 42o. Over the top of the tube, place a thick copper plate. Prime the device from the bottom, directly center. Explosions happen extremely fast, but they are NOT instantaneous. The conical depression in the explosives causes the explosion to become focused directly towards the copper plate, propelling it forward at 24,600 fps, warping it to a semi molten, bullet shape. It will rip through 22" of rolled homogenous steel like it wasn't even there. It's moving so fast you can't push or pull it - you may not even be able to dodge it with a time bubble. You can set them up to rig with pressure plates, a time fuse, or a command line (a string you pull to trigger it.) Claymore mines with aluminum would be simpler and, perhaps, more devastating. Although, a better alternative may be sexy assassins. Imagine them, all flirty and sexy...you think it's your lucky day...take one home...bam! aluminum knife in your face.

I almost chose Honor, then thought about its limitations and decided on Odium for probably many of the same reasons Rayse wanted Odium. However, I would want to know the Intent of all the Shards before I chose. Edit: Upon further consideration, I would wait to take up a Shard until I was nearing the end of my natural lifespan.

...it's brilliant in its simplicity.

I had a random thought. It's not worthy of its own thread, so this is as good a place to post it as any. I was thinking about how people Return. Not so much why people Return, but how Endowment does it. I hypothesize that Endowment does something very similar to Awakening. When someone dies, Endowment snatches them up and shows them some possible futures and gives them the option of Returning. If they choose to Return, Endowment gives them a Command, like Awakening, and uses a Divine Breath to fuel it. I imagine the commands are rather vague like, "Endow someone worthy with this Breath." Or maybe I'm wildly off the mark. Food for thought.

@skaa, I love it. Now brb while I go reread the Chronicles of Amber.

Chapter Seven: Anything Reasonable "They are aflame. They burn. They bring the darkness when they come, and so all you can see is that their skin is aflame. Burn, burn, burn..." (I wish I knew what this person was seeing. Skin aflame? Bringing darkness? I don't recall Voidbringers being described this way.) As a child, [shallan] had found the patterns of [Parshmen's] marbled skin beautiful. (Parshmen's skin marbling is described as unique to each individual, and now Shallan identifies it as a pattern. I'm always on the look out for patterns, hate, honor, etc.) Every time the family had exhausted one of its quarries, her father had gone out with his surveyor and discovered a new one. Only after interrogating the surveyor had Shallan and her brothers discovered the truth: Her father, using his forbidden soulcaster, had been creating new deposits at a careful rate. (So this surveyor was in on it? And he so casually spilled the beans to the children of the house? He could be an idiot surveyor, or perhaps there was purpose behind leaking the intel to Shallan and her brothers.) Shallan couldn't help but admire the beauty of the doors; their exterior was carved in a intricate geometric pattern with circles and lines and glyphs. It was some kind of chart, half on each door. There was no time to study the details, unfortunately, and she passed them by. (Sounds like the interior art in the physical book. I think it has something to do with Vorinism, but I'm not confident on that. The fact that it's so prominently displayed in Kharbranth, however, seems important. Perhaps the Palanaeum, being buried safely underground, was a repository of knowledge meant to survive the Desolations.) "[The Veil and the Palanaeum] were here when the city was founded. Some think these chambers might have been cut by the Dawnsingers themselves." - a master-servant to Shallan, after passing through the engraved doors into the Veil. (Were the Dawnsingers the Heralds, or something different?) "But the third...well, the Planaeum has the finest collection of tomes and scrolls on Roshar. More, even, than the Holy Enclave in Valath." (The Coppermind Wiki tells me that Valath was a city in Jah Kevad, near the Horneater peaks. The Holy Enclave piques my interest, however.) In drawing a portrait, her medium was the soul itself. There were plants from which one could remove a tiny cutting - a leaf, or a bit of stem - then plant it and grow a duplicate. When she collected a Memory of a person, she was snipping free a bud of their soul, and she cultivated and grew it on the page. (How much of this is metaphor and how much of it is literal? Can Shallan subconsciously see an aspect of a person's spiritweb and apply that to her drawing of them? Is that why they're remarkably lifelike? Also, cultivating caught my attention. And I had an amusing thought about early fears about photography stealing your soul.) Each of the Ten Essences had an analogous part of the human body - blood for liquid, hair for wood, and so forth. The eyes were associated with crystal and glass. The windows into a person's mind and spirit. (Is that why the eyes burn when a Shardblade cuts a person's soul?) She'd developed the habit of memorizing faces, then drawing them later, after her father had discovered her sketching the gardeners. His daughter? Drawing pictures of darkeyes? He'd been furious with her - one of the infrequent times he'd directed his infamous temper at his daughter. (Perhaps her father recognized what it was she was doing. Maybe he didn't want her to be a Radiant. Her father seemed like he ran in pretty shady circles; he was undoubtedly privy to some interesting secrets.) The power of change itself, the power which the Almighty had created Roshar. He had another name, allowed to pass only the lips of ardents. Elithanathile. He Who Transforms. (How on earth did I pass over this the first time without taking due notice? This reminds me of the bridgeman who said, "Talenelat'Elin, bearer of all agonies." The 'Elin' looks like the beginning of Elithanathile. Maybe Telenelat'Elin means, "Taln, Herald of the Almighty.") One cannot apply logic as an absolute where human beings are concerned. We are not beings of thought only. (Like spren? Is there a distinction between living thoughts/concepts and beings of pure thought? The implication is that spren's behavior can be predicted logically.) "By Vedeledev's golden keys, Brightness!" (I love in-world curses. But what on earth are Vedeledev's golden keys?) "Now, not that I doubt your word, Brightness, but I'm rather intrigued how Dandos Heraldin could have trained you in arts, as - last I checked - he's suffering a rather terminal and perpetual ailment. Namely, that of being dead. For three hundred years." [Kasbal to Shallan, regarding her skill in art.] (Dandos Heraldin - a man - was a master of art? Three hundred years ago? He must not have lived in Vorin lands unless he was an ardent. This gender role stuff is so intriguing.) [back to Table of Contents] [Pre Consolidation]: Chapter Six is up.

Shut up and take my money.

Way of Kings for me, no doubt. But that's mostly because Shallan's irritates me. That's okay, though, because once she matures she'll be that much more an endearing character for having once been immature. Those last 100 odd pages of Way of Kings, though. Eddard Stark wishes he was as honorable as Dalinar.

Well I just destroyed my microwave because all this talk of Realmatics made me think aluminium foil would be microwave safe. Turns out, the investiture from my microwave does in fact react with aluminium.

@Moogle, I always assumed that Honorblades consumed more Stormlight when used by anyone other than the Herald Honor gave it to, though unless there is WoB somewhere, Syl does not make that distinction in-text. And yeah, as I was writing that I started thinking...how do you define power? You could argue that fabrials are most useful because, presumably, anyone can use them. You could also argue that a Radiant has more utility with his two surges because he holds the Stormlight within himself and doesn't need gemstones per se. I just kept it simple and used a rough idea of innate power. I think Heralds can do far more than what we have seen them do, otherwise why would Honor have bothered creating 10 of them when he could have made thousands?

Has anyone else noticed the trickle down effect in Stormlight Archive? Maybe it's coincidental, but... Honor gives Men Honorbaldes; they receive access to the Surges. > Spren figure out what He did, then give Men Shardblades; they receive access to the Surges. > Men figured out the Nahel bond, then gave themselves fabrials; they received access to the Surges. I think it's safe to assume that each progression is weaker than the last. A fabrial is not as powerful as a Surgebinder, which is not as powerful as a Herald, which is not as powerful as Honor. What if we look at infamous oathbreaking in reverse chronological order? The Alethi no longer follow The Codes, before that the Radiants broke their oaths, before that the Heralds broke their oaths, and before that...oh my goodness, the logical conclusion is that honor broke an oath. I imagine such a thing would shatter him. Obviously, the timeline of Honor dying doesn't sync with that proposed series of events, but something similar could be happening.

Chapter Six: Bridge Four I'm cold. Mother, I'm cold. Mother? Why can I still hear the rain? Will it stop? (This epigraph subject was a lighteyed female child, approximately six years old. I wish there was slightly more information here so that I could better extrapolate what she's seeing. Is the Cognitive Realm ever described as cold? At least one epigraph is a vision of Shadesmar, but most are not, so I'll assume that isn't what she's seeing. All that I can be reasonably certain of is that there is rain and this child thinks there shouldn't be. Even that isn't a certainty. Maybe she's visually seeing a clear sky, but hears rain. Ah, well. No use speculating with so little information. Even meta-speculation isn't helpful - Sanderson isn't going to throw frivolous details into these epigraphs, so I assume this is somehow important...but for what reason, who can say? However, many of the soldiers had a disorderly look. They weren't dirty, but the didn't seem particularly disciplined either. (Kaladin is a little disappointed at this. I am too. I'm also surprised - Sadeas doesn't seem like he'd care much about the Codes, but disciplined soldiers are a mark of an effective leader; I would assume that Sadeas would insist that his soldiers be disciplined if for no other reason than it would reflect well on himself. Tvlakv spoke with an important-looking lighteyed woman. She wore her dark hair up in a complex weave, sparkling with infused amethysts, and her dress was a deep crimson. She looked much as Laral had, at the end. (I admit that out of everything in Way of Kings, the flashbacks are what I was least interested in. I was so caught up in the present story that I didn't pay close attention to them. I had already accepted Kaladin's character and didn't need the flashbacks to flesh him out to me, so I feel like I'm missing something important when he thinks that this lighteyed woman looks like Laral had at the end. The end of what? Forgive my ignorance, dear readers.) [Tvlakv and the lighteyed woman haggle over the slaves] (I can't believe Tvlakv tolerates this sort of haggling. She pretty much forces him to accept her terms. I understand he has to be respectful towards a lighteyes - but I don't think it's legal for her to tell him how much he'll sell the slaves for. He'd have been well within his rights to profusely apologize, yet insist he visit other Highprinces.) "I cannot trust that you will behave. The people in this army, they will blame a merchant for not revealing all he knew. I...am sorry." (I believe that he's sorry. I forget, does Tvlakv die? I'd really enjoy for him and Kaladin to meet again.) "These spindly things?" Gaz said, chewing on something as he walked over. "They'll barely stop an arrow." (Foreshadowing! Literally the first thing Gaz says describes the purpose of the bridgemen.) Kaladin sighed. He'd met this kind of man before, a lesser sergeant with no hope of advancement. His only pleasure in life came from his authority over those eve sorrier than himself. (So apparently the Alethi don't have something comparable to a Medical Discharge, and I doubt injured soldiers get any sort of disability benefits. I actually feel for Gaz. Guy got hurt and they stick him with this horrible job and constantly threaten to put him on a bridge crew himself.) "Dead," one of the bridgemen said. "Tossed himself down the Honor Chasm last night." (I always thought it was weird that the place they kill themselves is called the Honor Chasm. What happened to strength before weakness and life before death? Yes, those are Radiant oaths, but they're honorable in nature.) The armor [shardplate] felt alien somehow. It had been crafted in another epoch, a time when gods had walked Roshar. (Does he mean gods like Honor, Cultivation, and Odium? Or gods as in the Heralds? Also, a little earlier it references Shardplate as each set being unique - why is that? How is Shardplate created? Is it the product of the Nahel Bond? Will Syl eventually become a set of Plate for Kaladin? I assume the gemstones in modern plate are not something the Radiants used.) It didn't take Kaladin long to nurture a seething hatred of the scrawny, scarfaced man. That was odd; he hadn't felt hatred for his other sergeants. (Kaladin just keeps filling up with hate. Although it is an understandable and natural reaction, I strongly suspect it's related to Odium. Hatred led the Parshendi to their stormforms.) "Talenelat'Elin, bearer of all agonies," said the man to [Kaladin's] right, voice horrified. "It's going to be a bad one. They're already lined up! It's going to be a bad one!" (How does this bridgeman know that Taln is the bearer of all agonies? Initially, only the other nine Heralds should have known what happened - for this information to be available to a random bridgeman, one or more of the Heralds must have spread stories. How much truth is in Vorinism?) Something snapped against [Kaladin's] face, a slight slap of energy with a sting to it. He cringed. (Syl slapped Kaladin. I was to know the mechanics of how this works. Was it a truly physical slap, or did she Cognitively slap him? Is such a thing possible?) [Pre Consolidation]: [@Xaladin]: I'm sure of it. Chasmfiend > Santhid > ??? > Reshi Islands. [back to Table of Contents]

This! Sword fights and surgebinding and uncovered safehands all over the place!

Did someone say reread? Sorry for the shameless plug. Welcome to the forums!

Chapter Five: Heretic I have seen the end, and have heard it named. The Night of Sorrows, the True Desolation. The Everstorm. (True Desolation implies that the previous Desolation's were...I don't know...warmups?) [Jasnah] had a squarish face and discriminating pale violet eyes. She was listening to a man dressed in robes of burnt orange and white, the Kharbranthian royal colors. (Technically, the word discriminating works here, but I've always felt that the word discerning works better. Also. Violet eyes. I will discover the significance of color eventually!) Reserved, statuesque, dressed immaculately in blue and silver. (From eye color to royal colors to the colors people paint their Shardplate...I'm starting to care less and less about Odium and wondering about these blustering colors!) On her freehand was a distinctive piece of jewelry: two rings and a bracelet connected by several chains, holding a triangular group of gemstones across the back of the hand. (This is our first description of a Soulcaster fabrial. Do the configuration of the gems matter?) House Davar was ancient, but only of middling power and importance. (So House Davar is ancient, and Shallan becomes a Radiant. Descended from Radiants, perhaps?) [Jasnah soulcasts a boulder to smoke to gain entrace to a sealed room at the request of Taravangian.] (This scene is too long to type out verbatim, but something is fishy here. I can't believe that a stone would collapse so far underground from a highstorm. I think Taravangian set this whole thing up to test Jasnah. Maybe he suspects she may be a Soulcaster herself, not merely in possession of a soulcasting fabrial.) Note: This chapter has very straightforward content - not much to speculate about. [back to Table of Contents] Pre Consolidation: Chapter Four is up.

Riot and Soothe my wife to be constantly annoyed at me. Get it? It's a useless use of a useless power because she's already constantly annoyed at me.