Sol Invictus

Thank you! What I've read so far has been of the utmost excellence!

No problem! I'm one of the rare few who'll still read a book or see a movie even if it's spoiled for me. Spoilers are, by nature, bare-bones descriptions; the novel or movie is the actual meat. Ergo, I'm not worried!

At! I've not yet read Mistborn! So far, all I've read is Elantris, The Emperor's Soul, Warbreaker and "Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell". I'm also reading through the Coppermind all the time, but there's a LOT for me to go through!

....and, as a subsidiary question, what DO we know of the Spiritual Realm, by which I mean the actual dimension itself. I understand the Cognitive Realm is immensely important throughout the Cosmere, but what of the third realm? And can someone explain "sDNA" to me, as I'm not entirely sure what the word is referencing, other than its "spiritual DNA".

Granted, I'm still a Cosmere novice, but what I've noticed is that on many Shardworlds, the Shards are worshipped as gods (which is appropriate, since without them, Investiture stops working). Is magic a religious matter throughout the Cosmere? For instance: [Nalthis]The Returned are worshipped as incarnate deities. [Roshar]Honor is worshipped as a deity. [sel]Elantrians were worshipped as living gods by the people of Arelon. And so on. My point being, is magic in the Cosmere linked to religious belief? Or do (pardon the phrase) 'secular' magic-users exist.

I'm a he, by the way. :-) "Sol Invictus" is the Roman name of a very male sun-deity.

I have a question----are the Idrian Royal Locks subject to the color-draining qualities of BioChromatic Breath? After all, Siri is around quite a few Awakeners, and her hair is never mentioned as changing involuntarily.

Thanks, everybody!

Siri! She refused to buckle under the strain of two very different cultures---Idris and Hallendren---and yet retained her innate goodness, compassion and likability.

True! But I suppose I am asking about aliens from a more sci-fi perspective----in clearer terms, are there beings that evolved utterly independently of humanity? Be it by magic, interbreeding, so on?

Thank you! As a further three question: [Cosmere-wide]What about languages? Say a Surgebinder from Roshar Worldhopped over to Nalthis and immediately runs into someone native---could they successfully communicate? And if so, would this constitute a Yolish language everyone has forgotten the origins of? [Nalthis]Do the Hallendren have a creation-myth? Furthermore, what do they believe sends the Returned back to Nalthis? Warbreaker was frustratingly vague on this matter. [sel]Considering the highly regionalized nature of Selish Investiture, what does it take for new geographical magic to appear? Say the people of MaiPon are forced to move far afield (for whatever reason---famine, civil war, so on)---if they settled a new land elsewhere on Sel, would they be cut off from Investiture due to being far from home, or would they slowly discover a new form of magic unique to said new location?

Awesome! Thanks you very very very much! I know the Yolen-specific fiction is yet to set down in canonical format and thus should be considered highly protean, buuuuuut, what are the other two races on Yolen?

Yes, Nightblood is obviously not human, but----he is the product of human magic, thus eliminating him from my question. I'm referring to truly alien sapient so, beings that may now have been significantly altered by humanity, but ultimate do not ORIGINATW with man.

I've devoured everything the Coppermind has on the Cosmere so I'm well aware of the metaplot of Adonalsium, Hoid, Odium, so on, AND that humanity's original home was Yolen. But one thing has been bugging me--- ---How spread out IS humanity on each Shardworld/Splinterworld? In the real world, it took humanity a hugely long time to spread across the Earth; but humanity in the Cosmere was an artificial element introduced to every Shardworld except Yolen. So---how far spread out IS humanity on each Shardworld? Take Sel, for instance---are there large swaths of Selish territory that've never seen human habitation?

Thank you! I'm happy to be here!

Forgive me if this has been answered elsewhere---in novels, by a Word of Brandon, whathaveyou---but are there any truly no human species in the Cosmere? I know several nonhuman races have been created by humanity---koloss, kandra, so on---but what about races utterly unconnected to humanity?

Hi, all! New member, glad to meet you all! Keep in mind my understanding of the Cosmere is restricted to the three novels and one short story I've read, plus plundering the Coppermind, so please excuse me if I make an error in reasoning, but... Shards and those who hold them are basically gods, yes? This doesn't mean they all have the same powers. Each Shardworld has a very different Investiture, yes? (Yes, I know it all comes from the same ultimate source---Adonalsium!---but each Investiture manifests in very different ways.) Therefore, wouldn't the abilities personally possessed by each Shard therefore also be very different from every other Shard? Take the Greek gods, for instance. Ares couldn't help you in matters of love, just like Aphrodite couldn't do anything for you in martial matters. Therefore, Odium might be considerably more directly destructive than other Shards. Maybe Harmony is, not less powerful, but less able to overtly manifest the way Odium can? What with Intent shaping each Shard/Investiture? Or am I completely wrong? I apologize if this has already been solved, elsewhere.

I'm new to Mr Sanderson's work, having discovered him via The Wheel of Time's final three novels. I've since become deeply interested in Mr Sanderson's Cosmere meta-setting. Of Cosmere fiction so far I've read the novels Elantris, The Emperor's Soul and Warbreaker; plus the smaller work "Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell." I own almost all the other books (in paperback, due to the lesser cost), and am will soon get started on the first Mistborn trilogy---or maybe Way of Kings---I can't decide! LOL Anyhow, I've been a fantasy/roleplaying nerd since my early teens and've become extremely bored with traditional, Tolkien-esque fantasy novels. Another author I'm currently reading is Adrian Tchaikovsky (his Shadows of the Apt series is well worth checking out).