aczh1
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Posts posted by aczh1
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Maybe it's just me, but I thought Lyrna's character was extremely inconsistent.
In Blood Song, she was described as cold/calculating/ruthless. In Tower Lord, we see almost none of that.
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I personally didn't enjoy the Dresden files. I read the first ~3, and they were very basically written - seemed like the books were targeted towards preteens. Very predictable plot, cliched humor, etc. But a lot of people seem to enjoy the books, so at least try reading the first few. They aren't very long.
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Huh, seems like this was already done! Should've looked harder on the wiki. You can delete this thread, it's obsolete
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http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/23974-different-types-of-gemstones/
Lengthy post I wrote where I gathered as much textual evidence as I could from the book concerning gem color/function.
I personally think that the type of gem in Shardplate does not matter. In my scanning of the text, whenever a gem is connected to Shardplate, it's a sapphire. However, this could be due to the fact that the Kholin color is blue (like moogle said)
And moogle, if you make claims about what each gem does, you should back it up with textual evidence! I never found anything suggesting that certain soulcasting required certain gems.
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In the "Can We Talk About Shardplate" thread (http://www.17thshard.com/forum/forum/19-stormlight-archive/) we started discussing different types of gemstones and their functions. There was very little textual evidence being thrown around, so I started researching, and looked for every reference to gemstones I could find in the books.
This is what I found.
RUBY: Used in spanreeds. Also used in hearths.
Spanreeds:Dalinar leaned forward as the familiar—yet indecipherable—lines appeared on the page in stark violet. Faint wisps of reddish smoke floated up from the gemstone.
The spanreeds looked like ordinary writing reeds, except that each had a small infused ruby affixed. The one on the far right pulsed slowly.
She didn’t dare return to her rooms, with all of those sketches accusing her, but there was a desk and a spanreed board in the main room. She sat there, then twisted the ruby.
Description of the function of rubies (back of book)By infusing a ruby and using methodology that has not been revealed to me (though I have my suspicions), you can create a conjoined pair of gemstones. The process requires splitting the original ruby. The two halves will then create parallel reactions across a distance. Spanreeds are one of the most common forms of this type of fabrial.
Navani's Fabrial (what does it do?)Navani placed something on her table, a device of polished brass about the size of a fist, with a large, infused ruby at its center. The red Stormlight lit the entire table, throwing shadows down the white tablecloth. Navani picked up the device, rotating it to show her dinner companions its leglike protrusions. Turned that way, it looked vaguely crustacean.
Hearth FabrialAdolin glanced at his brother. Renarin stood beside the hearth, inspecting the new fabrial that had been installed there just a few days ago. The infused ruby, encased in a metal enclosure, glowed softly and gave off a comfortable heat. It was convenient, though it felt wrong to Adolin that no fire lay crackling there.
Instead, the hearth held a ruby the size of Kaladin’s fist, one that could have paid to feed everyone in his hometown for weeks.EMERALD: Every gemheart that has been described after it's been taken out of a chasmfiend has been an emerald. Used to make food.
FoodEmeralds were the most valuable, for they could be used by Soulcasters to create food.
Gemhearts
He ripped free the beast’s gemheart—the enormous gemstone that grew within all chasmfiends. It was lumpy and
uncut, but it was a pure emeraldKaladin lifted the remnants of his coat away from the table, revealing a massive green gemstone. Though bulbous and uncut, the gemheart shone with a powerful inner light.
Uncut emeralds, Adolin thought, then looked up to meet Sadeas’s eyes. The man smiled. “The gemstones are recent acquisitions,” Sadeas noted. “I am fond of them.”SAPPHIRE: Whenever a gem attached to Shardplate is mentioned, it is Sapphire (this could be because the Kholin's color is blue, therefore they use Sapphires). Could also be linked to surgebinding. Szeth's eyes turn blue when he uses the surgebinding Honorblade.
ArmorThe armor bearers inspected his boots—checking to be certain the laces were tight—then brought a long padded vest to throw over his uniform. Next, they set the sabatons—armor for his boots—on the floor before him. They encased his boots entirely and had a rough surface on the bottoms that seemed to cling to rock. The interiors glowed with the light of the sapphires in their indented pockets.
Eight of the ten sapphires used to infuse his Plate were cracked following the battle.”
Unknown FabrialA large blue gemstone rose into the air, hoisted high on a distant pole near the command tent.
Szeth's EyesThe moment he summoned his Blade, his eyes would turn from dark green to pale—almost glowing—sapphire, a unique effect of his particular weapon.
“Did I Lash you?” the assassin asked in accented Alethi. His eyes had darkened, losing their sapphire blue quality.AMETHYST
Gem that contains the angerspren.
She sat on the rock and took the spren-filled gemstone from her pocket, setting it on the ground in front of her. The violet stone glowed with Stormlight.
(Back of book)Reversers: Using an amethyst instead of a ruby also creates conjoined halves of a gemstone, but these two work in creating opposite reactions. Raise one, and the other will be pressed downward, for instance.
DIAMOND: Used when Shallan soulcast the goblet into blood.
(Assuming this is diamond because it let's out white light). Shardblade pommel
“This is for my men,” Amaram said. He took the Shardblade from the cloth, holding it in his hand. The gemstone at its pommel let out a flash of white light.
Shallan Soulcasting (Pointed out by Paragrin)
The only light in the room came from the three diamond marks in the large crystal goblet on her nightstand.
HELIODOR(Yellow)
Fabrial that senses people when they come close
She hurried back to the tripod with the fabrial’s box. She slid off the wooden top and removed the large heliodor inside. The pale yellow gemstone, at least two inches in diameter, was fixed inside a metal framework. It glowed gently, not as bright as one might expect of such a sizable gem. (Fabrial that pulses when people come close?)
These fabrials use a heliodor stone as their focus. I do not know whether this is the only type of gemstone that will work, or if there is another reason heliodor is used.Jasnah: She uses the diamond to turn a man into crystal, and cracks the smokestone when smiting the two running away. However, when she turns the first man into fire, the ruby is not mentioned at all.
Soulcaster
The gemstones set into Jasnah’s Soulcaster were enormous, some of the largest that Shallan had ever seen, worth many spheres each. One was smokestone, a pure glassy black gemstone. The second was a diamond. The third was a ruby.
“Most of them seek to stop the questions.” Jasnah halted. Then she briefly pulled back her glove, using the light beneath to reveal the street around her. The gemstones on her hand—larger than broams—blazed like torches, red, white, and grey.
Soulcasting sceneThe other three men began to curse, scrambling away, tripping over one another in their panic. One fell. Jasnah turned casually, brushing his shoulder with her fingers as he struggled to his knees. He became crystal, a figure of pure, flawless quartz—his clothing transformed along with him. The diamond in Jasnah’s Soulcaster faded, but there was still plenty of Stormlight left to send rainbow sparkles through the transformed corpse. The other two men fled in opposite directions. Jasnah took a deep breath, closing her eyes, lifting her hand above her head. Shallan held her safehand to her breast, stunned, confused. Terrified. Stormlight shot from Jasnah’s hand like twin bolts of lightning, symmetrical. One struck each of the footpads and they popped, puffing into smoke. Their empty clothing dropped to the ground. With a sharp snap, the smokestone crystal on Jasnah’s Soulcaster cracked, its light vanishing, leaving her with just the diamond and the ruby.
If you guys find any text evidence I've missed, I'll gladly edit this post and add it in (and credit you of course!)5 -
Just did a reread of WOR. I focused on Moash because I was dumbfounded by his actions at the end of WOR, where he almost kills Kaladin to exact revenge on Elkohar. Actually, he didn't even need to kill Kaladin. Killing Kaladin only makes the job "cleaner".
I thought Moash's actions at the end of WOR were out of character. I believed the only explanation for his actions was that he was being guided by an outside force. Perhaps Odium was controlling him (similar to how Vin was being influenced by Ruin).
As I worked through my reread, I realized that Sanderson set him up to be a villian. Nearly everything Moash says is petty/spiteful. He lusts after Shardblade and Shardplate (presumably to help him exact revenge on Elkohar). He's hypocritical. Here's a few passages if you aren't convinced:
“I’d join them in a heartbeat,” Moash said, walking up
behind. He folded his arms across his lean, well-muscled chest.
“If I were in charge, things would change. The lighteyes would
work the mines and the fields. They would run bridges and
die by Parshendi arrows.”“Sounds fair,” Moash said, walking over to join Sigzil
beneath the overhang. “Better than deciding who rules based
on eye color.”(Second statement contradicts the first)
Moash stopped a few feet from Kaladin, just out of easy
striking range with the spear. “What are you going to do, Kal?”
Moash demanded, looking at the spear pointed toward him.
“Would you really attack a member of Bridge Four?”(He contradicts this multiple times)
“He’s probably some kind of brightlord in his country,”
Moash said. “The way he talks. Wonder how he ended up
with us cremlings.”(This is just bad)
It's interesting how Sanderson was able to blind (at least me) to Moash's character simply by making Kaladin emphasize with Moash's state.
I still have hope for Moash. People have hypothesized that Moash might be Odium's champion - I think that's not likely. He clearly regrets his actions. I strongly feel that he will redeem himself in the next few books.
Thoughts?
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In Dalinar's vision where he fights Night Essence the Radiants helms appear and disappear -- presumably -- at will, this indicates to me that it is part of the Nahel bond, but the Nahel bond and fabrials aren't mutually exclusive, as proven by the Oath gates. It's probably a combination of both.
I reread the passage and yes, the Shardbearer seems to summon the helmet from nothing. Good catch, it was worded subtly.
Even though Radiants can store a lot of stormlight, they still have limits on how much they can store. Szeth can store a crap ton of stormlight, but he still carries around bags of spheres because he will inevitably run out. I'm guessing it's the same with Shardplate.
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They also had glowing glyths like the blades, and at the very least the helms could be dismissed and summoned as well in the visions. That along with the automatic features that still function would suggest something rather excessively complex enough to make you wonder how it can self-operate for a few thousand years nonstop.
Speaking of, the gemstones are removable right? And Kaladin can power one piece directly. The gems might just be there so you won't, say, accidentally lock yourself in a suit of heavy armor if you drop your money in combat.
I don't remember Shardbearers in Dalinar's visions being able to summon their helms. And I assumed their armor lit up because the men/women were surgebinders, not because of the armor itself (though I could be wrong).
I assumed gems were the most efficient way of storing power. Putting several gems in Shardplate -> more resilient armor.
And I still strongly believe Shardplate/Shardblades are closely related... In Dalinar's visions, people who owned Shardplate also had Shardblades. Nobody just had Shardplate or just a Shardblade.
Why do you guys think Shardplate isn't connected to the Nahel bond?
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You say that you're fairly sure that Shardplate is NOT related to Nahel Bonds, but are instead merely fabrials...
I disagree.
In the book, Dalinar wondered why Shardplate was not given to common people. Shardplate is incredibly useful for even mundane tasks. Why didn't ordinary people get Shardplate (or even high-ranking generals in the army) if Shardplate was simply a type of fabrial?
I think the best explanation for this is that Shardplate is connected to Nahel Bonds. In Dalinar's flashbacks, the only people who possess Shardplate also have Shardblades. Even in the present world, the number of Shardplates seems to be strongly connected to the number of Shardblades, suggesting that they come from a similar source and are linked.
I'm guessing that Kaladin will need to swear additional oaths before he gets Shardplate.
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Well, we don't know if she watched him on her own time or merely observed his actions with Kaladin (although the quote does suggest the former).
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In both WoR and WoK, Syl disappears randomly for a short amount of time. Where is she going, and why does she never tell Kaladin where she's going (admittedly, Kaladin never asks her).
Pattern's behavior in contrast makes Syl's disappearances even weirder. Pattern always sticks next to Shallan, and only leaves her when Shallan explicitly tells him to scout.
On top of this, Pattern is a liespren and Syl is an honorspren. I'm not implying that Syl is doing something nefarious out of Kaladin's view, but I would expect her to be more transparent than Pattern, and I'd expect pattern to be more slippery/devious.
Any thoughts? I haven't been able to think of anything Syl might be doing. Is there any pattern in her disappearances (right before highstorms, right after highstorms, etc). What could she possibly dbe doing when she's away?
(these were the only two bits of text i could find. should be more though.)
The stink of blood and viscera hung in the humid air.
Kaladin held his torch aloft as his companions fell silent. The
dank chill kept the bodies from rotting too quickly, though the
dampness counteracted some of that. The cremlings had begun
chewing the skin off hands and gnawing out the eyes. Soon
the stomachs would bloat with gas. Some rotspren—tiny, red,
translucent—scrambled across the corpses.
Syl floated down and landed on his shoulder, making
disgusted noises. As usual, she offered no explanation for her
absence.A few hours later, Kaladin sat on a chunk of wood beside
Bridge Four’s nightly fire. Syl sat on his knee, having taken the
form of a small, translucent blue and white flame. She’d come
to him during the march back, spinning around gleefully to see
him up and walking, but had given no explanation for her
absence.8 -
Hope this question hasn't been asked before!
Spoilers below
Syl seemed to want Kaladin to keep and use the Honorblade he got from Szeth. Why?
Obviously, they allow people who don't have Nahel Bond to surgebind. But what would they do for someone like Kaladin, who already possesses a Nahel bond?
When Szeth fought Kaladin, his honorblade seemed to be far inferior to Kaladin's Shardblade, which could change form. I see no reason for Kaladin to use his Honorblade at all because Syl is just better. The honorblade seems wasted on him, and would be better on someone else (who isn't a windrunner).
On top of this, it's stated that Honorblades take more stormlight to use.
Is there something in the book that I've missed that make the Honorblades attractive for people who can already surgebind?
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Where Does Syl Go?
in Stormlight Archive
Posted
It's stated in the book that Syl is an Honorspren, NOT a windspren. They're similar but not the same.
And when kaladin falls into the chasm, doesn't Syl just die?