InstantWalrus

Ants and bees interesting. So presumably the recessive genes are weeded out through selection. I.e. the cystic fibrosis haploid offspring dont survive long enough to pair with another recessive gened haploid skyeel. I dunno, i think its a cool idea. Certainly if its indicative of an inside reference in the books. But i doubt that BS thought through it that deeply. However i do like the cremling to greatshell multistage theory, i think it gives the highstorms an even more interesting role in the rosharan ecosystem. If the highstorms carry cremlings around who then grow into specialised greatshells/shells based on environment they land in. Would explain why shinovar isnt over run by them at least. It would be good if we knew more about other shelled creatures breeding like domesticated chulls or axe hounds. AFAIK axehounds are reared from pups but i dont remember if it was mentioned whether they were hatched or birthed live. Im pretty sure most great shells and shelled animals on roshar are related... like theyre all mammals except obviously not mammals but in their own group. And as large complex animals id imagine they shared simmilarities in development. Do all shells have gemhearts? Or just Greatshells? Or do greatshells have really big valuable gemhearts whereas smaller shelled animals like chulls are just more valuable than their tiny gem hearts. edit: im an audiobook listener (and insomniac so big fat and fun books are not conducive to me sleeping) which makes it difficult to reread specific bits to look stuff up, but i just thought of an interesting question. Are any of the domesticated shells ever refered to by gender? For example is whats his faces, Shallans brother whos cruel to animals, axehound ever refered to as male or female? Same for chulls? Im pretty sure theyre always described as gender neutral. Sigh going to have to look up gender specific morphology of crabs now thanks op

Are there any organisms that use the haploid/diploid split lifestage you describe that arnt plants/fungi? Im pretty sure it doesnt occur in "higher" organisms not even insects (although i could be wrong... animals as far as my biological expertese goes are test subjects and theoretical models and thats about it) im trying to think of a biological advantage to a haploid/diploid lifestage and cant think of one... im pretty sure whatever hatches from a chasmfiend chrysallis is the mating stage of the chasmfiend... otherwise why bother going through the enormous amount of energy required to metamorphose? Are sky eels pre or post chrysallis stage in your theory?

Ok so i did a quick and superficial google of the nutritional value of chitin (my days of researching for essays are in my past and for now i wanna keep it that way so im just going to look up easy sources) and first think i read (obviously) was wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitin#Agriculture and interestingly it turns out chitin can be used as fertiliser. Which i think is interesting if you think of the whole crem -> decomposed/larval cremlings idea. But on the topic of horneeater eating habits, im pretty sure their diet is a cultural thing rather than trying not to waste food. Possibly it has something to do with their shared ancestry with the parshendi. As we know the parshendi grow carapace like bone spurs (in warform) so perhaps horneater shell eating habits come from a long forgotten belief that eating shells will make them grow their own or make them more like their parshendi ancestors? We dont know much about how they percieve voidbringers... could be they used to worship them or at least didnt have the same prejudices as other lowlanders... presumably their peaks arn't as affected by highstorms (cant imagine a worse place to be in a highstorm than on top of a mountain) and since their ancestors interbred with parshendi i cant imagine them hating them for being voidbringers so they were probably mostly unaffected by desolations.

I like to think theyre "horses" in the same way that parrots are "chickens" so theyre not necessaraly even remotely like horses just big four legged things without a shell that people ride on. oh and everyone knows that any radiant can summon one permanently as a companion when they hit lvl 5 about the time they get their second use of smite evil/day you know just before the first use of cure disease

Personally im more invested in interesting worlds and enjoy the world building parts of books best. So i found the beginning of the first book great, rather than focusing on character relationships in the beginning (which is why pilot episodes of tv shows generaly suck) i was instead pulled into an interesting world. However i dont like the other two books in the trilogy, i kinda feel they jump the shark (or shard if you will) in the first book

Can i add something that has been missing in this discussion Sky eels! They must be a big clue as to the atmosphere os Roshar. From the pictures it seems impossible for such a creature to be able to fly unless the atmosphere thins out very fast the higher you get and the gravity on roshar is very weak, even so what do they eat and how to they get up there in the first place.... Another interesting thing would be the final battle in the sky above the ever/highstorm... If theyre above the highstorm is that because the atmosphere cant support the storm there (or is the stormshight artificially limited). But if the atmosphere is too thin for a storm is it too thin to breathe up there? Basically i like your thinning atmosphere conclusions

For me BS books have a very special tone which is strongest in the SA books. I like to view his works in my minds eye as an anime. Now this visualisation may put off anime haters but its just how i personally visualise the books. So if you like (ill spoiler the thing just in case) SA is deffo for you edit: overexcited use of a naughty word, but cant think of a synonym that isnt naughty... mhmm

For me Chull look like giant woodlouse. Most of the shelled creatures have more of an exoskeleton look rather than crab shells. Also axe-hounds look identical to d&d rust monsters in my head... making them the scariest of pets... unless your a shard bearer. Also Kelsier is never going to be blond in my head cannon... maybe he died his hair as part of a disguise... but all skaa are dark haired edit: oh also all the names without an x in them that are pronounced french like ... are wrong its KEL-SEER-ER damnit

Thanks for all the replies I guess ill just have to passively get the info from reading the forums oh poor unfortunate me

wow really just the one book? Or are all the meta interviews and such just more meta so to speak... I love me my audiobooks... i could just be missing the important stuff.

Ok disclaimer. I might just be useless. I cant seem to work out exactly which books i have to read to know all the things people in this forum seem to know on the cosmere. Ive read (or listened to) -mistborn series -stormlight archive -warbreaker -elantris and im sure im missing vital information that seems to be pretty common knowledge... am i missing some of the books or whats going on? Im guessing its short stories or novellas that im lacking. Apologies if there is an easy guide to this but i havnt really seen it. So please help a noob cosmereonaut out. thanks ^^

AFAIK S.A.D. is to do with lack of light... hence most sever cases are in places where winter is dark and daytime is very short (are weepings or whatever they are called described as being dark? I always imagined the people generally liked them what with it being a reprieve from the highstorms and a good source of crem free water.) I still think Kal is strongly linked with the wind/highstorms. Much like Dalinar. -He has had several out of body experiences in highstorms -Syl if often compared/in contact with wind spren and i think its been suggested theyre closely related types of spren. I might be very wrong but when i read the books i always got the impression Kals connection to the storms was more than natural edit: hmmm s.a.d. being related to lack of light, lack of highstorms means lack of stormlight... food for thought edit2: if the S.A.D. vs magical explanation has been discussed before could someone linky pls. Im very new to the forums so obviously havnt read a great deal on here

Heya, first post, It seems to me that at least one of Kal's passives is his affinity with wind. As others have mentioned he has increadable spacial awareness often described as being led by the wind, but on top of that if i remember correctly he also starts being able to predict/feel highstorms before they come. Not only that but he gets super mopey during, whaddayacallem... the periods where there is no highstorm. Which is something he had since childhood. He'd get depressed and often remarks how he hates that time of year and it always brought about really bad moods that only his brother could get him out of (not that hes the most cheery at the best of times). I mean they are called windrunners.