Herald

Hello, welcome to the Shard. Have an upvote!! Also stay away from cookies. I see that your post title has a dedication of a Yolen resident. Did you find it in the WoB recently or is there any other source for it?

Pardon me if this has already been asked before, but is there a way to see our upvoted content like Reddit? I upvote many quality comments on some threads and I like to revisit them again periodically (especially the theory-crafting threads). So is there any way to see this or if not, can we have this feature? I'm not sure how easy or feasible it is to implement.

Hello everyone, I'm wondering if we have a consolidated list of Hoid's abilities we have seen till now. The only ones I can think of are 1. Allomancy: Stealing the Lerasium (WoA), Interacting with Shallan (WoR) 2. Feruchemy: WoB 3. Lightweaving: Stormlight Archive (during narrating story to Kaladin) Do we have evidence of him having or using any other abilities like Breath or Dor?

You are probably right about second and third. But for the first one, during the signing at San Francisco, Brandon RAFOed and said that he does plan on answering this question at some point. So I have no idea if this was as simple as you said or may be there was a deeper mystery to it.

I'm not sure if this is answered before, but if not, could you try asking him if we would get a similar novella like Secret History but from Hoid's point of view in the future? Such a book would have multiple jumps in the timeline and as we know, he will be visiting many places in Cosmere. I'm also curious if all the actions done by Hoid are rational. Having something from his point of view would help clear at least some of these things and provide us clues to the bigger things going on in the Cosmere. No matter how much I think, I can't seem to find a logical explanation to him drinking perfume when he met Wax or acting as an informant to Kelsier or [Edgedancer spoilers].

Thanks for the heads up. My bad, forgot to insert the link

Thought I'd share the recent “post-Arcanum” interview of Brandon with Google Discover Edit: Corrected the link

Normally people ask 3-4 questions, but Brandon is patient and would still answer all the questions you got. In the interest of time and the fact that there are lot of people waiting in line behind you, you wouldn't ask more than 8. That said could you ask if we would ever get a novella like Secret history from Hoids perspective? The past events will be covered by Dragon Steel series but in the current time, he is really busy jumping all over the place. Even in Edgedancer we get a glimpse of him having done something strange. So it'll be good to know all the things he did from his perspective and his timeline - I doubt if all of his actions are rational, but that's discussion for another day

There is a long line and it's almost 10 PM, but a big thank you to Brandon for patiently answering questions asked by everyone. Personalized copy - " Dedication from a resident of Yolen please" "May two worlds become one to you" He stressed that it's worlds not realms. I'll give a link to the picture later. Here are the questions I asked: 1.a. Is it possible to reliably deduce what a Shardworld's Cognitive realm will look like if we knew a lot about its Physical realm? For example, mists in Scadrial, spheres in Roshar etc. (Thanks @Argent) A. Yes, but it works in odd ways. So it may not work in the logical way that you think 1.b. Why spheres on Roshar? Something related to the highstorms makes more sense, right? A. Yes there is a reason for them being spheres. RAFO 2. How do we pronounce Bavadin? Have we see his/her influence on other worlds till now – like Austre in Nalthis or other religions which Sazed studied on Scadrial for example. A. ba-va-din (ba as in batman, va as in want, din as in dinner). Yes you have seen her influence in other worlds other than Taldain. He wouldn't confirm if it is Nalthis or Scadrial or any other planet. 3. a. Is there more significance to the 10 other planets around the Rosharian start system and them being gaseous? We know that Roshar's moons have unnatural orbits; so there seems to be some astronomical manipulation in the system. A. Yes there is significance of 16 in cosmere and 10 in Rosharian system. 3. b. The outer 10 gas giants in the Rosharan system suggest a tie to the number 10 that predates the arrival of the current Shards. Is the prominent numerology we see around the Cosmere an inherent property of the planets, rather than the Shards who invest them? A. Big RAFO 3. c. Would Ashyn/Braize share the 10-centric numerology of Roshar? A. Yes 10-centric is for the entire Rosharian planetary system...wait Braize is 9-centric 4. Do Ym, Stump belong to Edgedancer? Will we see Stump again in the future? A. Ym is not an Edgedancer. You will see Stump in the future novels though you may not see Tashikki much again. 5. Is Vax present (lurking) in any of the star systems explained in Arcanum Unbounded? Personally I think there will be more star systems that would be discovered in the future and Vax might be part of them. Comment? A. RAFO for Vax. Yes, there might be more stars. The picture on the cover is the sight observed from one particular place (Silverlight? RAFO). Let's just say that there are more planetary systems present in the existing star chart itself that you don't know yet. (He RAFO-ed when I asked if Yolen is present in the dragon constellation) 6.a. Have we seen any of the system or the world that has end-negative magic system other than Hemalurgy? A. Yes there is one more end-negative magic system and you have seen minor hints of it. 6. b. What about Hemalurgy in other worlds other than Mistborn? A. Yes. (I again asked with the exception of Kandra, have seen Hemalugry such as people who may have been spiked. He repeated "You have seen Hemalugry in other worlds." (In other words he is tight-lipped about Kandra part - neither yes or no) 7. What would have happened if Kelsier hasn't taken Preservation or later Sazed hasn't taken Ruin and Preservation powers? Would the earth have been destroyed due to so much raw power much before the actual destruction due to Ruin's actions? A. Yes. Bad things would have happened (Me - "Like Sel?" Him - "Not going to answer that. Just bad things would have happened") At the end he thanked me for the questions!! I was almost stammering while asking all these questions since I'm so excited and nervous. Luckily I have the questions printed on paper. While leaving, I thanked him a lot. First time meeting him and what a memorable event!! Undoubtedly one of the most humble and good-natured author I have met.

On the way back home. He was patient and answered all my questions though half of them were RAFOed and I finally got a RAFO card. Will update everything in two hours. Meanwhile an interesting thing - Asked for a dedication from a resident of Yolen. Got "May two worlds become one to you" He stressed that it's worlds not realms!!!

Can you provide the Reddit link? Hoping that there might be more discussion there which would shed more light on this. One thing I understood from Sanderson novels is that most religions are close to the truth. So even if they are ideas generated, there might be some grain of truth somewhere in them

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I have originally thought of these questions. I'll definitely try to ask the empires on Sel if I have time. I'm not sure how many questions I could ask though 1. Is Bavadin refered to as he/she or is it unknown and Khriss assumed the gender? (Hope I get something other than RAFO) 2. Is there more significance to the 10 other planets around the Rosharian start system and them being gaseous? (pretty sure the answer is yes but it would be good to confirm) 3. Do Ym, Stump belong to Edgedancer? Will we see Stump again in the future (in case the first part is RAFO-ed) 4. Have we seen/Are there hints to Hemalurgy in the published novels till now other than Mistborn series? Since Hemalugry can steal any form of investiture. 5. Is Vax present (lurking) in any of the star systems explained in Arcanum Unbounded? (I think there will be more star systems that would be discovered in the future and Vax might be part of them) 6. Have we seen any end-negative systems besides Hemalurgy? Or any other magic system that applies to all forms of investiture? 7. What would have happened if Kelsier hasn't taken Preservation or later Sazed hasn't taken Ruin and Preservation powers? Would the earth have been destroyed due to so much raw power much before the actual destruction due to Ruin's actions?

I'm going to be there and I'm so nervous and excited at the same time since it's my first signing. All the books I have read till now are kindle ebooks, but I'm planning to buy one at the store to get a signed copy. Can anyone suggest some questions to ask? I have read all the cosmere books and I think the answer to most of my questions will be RAFO, so wanted to know how to ask 'reasonable questions'

Hurt Adolin; heal Dalinar 1. Kelsier 10 HP 2. Kaladin 6 HP 3. Vin 9 HP 4. Elend 8 HP 5. Shallan 9 HP 6. Dalinar 4 HP 8. Siri 4 HP 9. Adolin 9 HP 11. Sazed 6 HP 12. Raoden 5 HP 14. Marasi 7 HP 15. Wayne 8 HP 16. Sylphrena 9 HP 17. Lightsong 8 HP 20. Marsh 8 HP 24. Hoid 8 HP 25. Jasnah 7 HP

Hurt Hrathen, heal Vivenna ! 1. Kelsier 7 HP 2. Kaladin 5 HP3. Vin 6 HP4. Elend 6 HP5. Shallan 5 HP6. Dalinar 6 HP7. Vivenna 5 HP8. Siri 5 HP9. Adolin 5 HP10. Spook 4 HP11. Sazed 6 HP12. Raoden 5 HP13. Wax 5 HP14. Marasi 4 HP15. Wayne 7 HP16. Sylphrena 7 HP 17. Lightsong 6 HP19. Hrathen 3 HP20. Marsh 6 HP23. Renarin 5 HP24. Hoid 9 HP25. Jasnah 6 HP

By the way, I remember reading a WoB where Brandon mentions that he couldn't answer some question because speaking about it would reveal about the nature of the back five books. Now I couldn't find it . Can anyone post if you find it?

Hurt Shallan, heal Marasi. 1. Kelsier 6 HP 2. Kaladin 5 HP 3. Vin 5 HP 4. Elend 6 HP 5. Shallan 5 HP 6. Dalinar 6 HP 7. Vivenna 4 HP 8. Siri 5 HP 9. Adolin 5 HP 10. Spook 4 HP 11. Sazed 6 HP 12. Raoden 6 HP 13. Wax 5 HP 14. Marasi 2 HP 15. Wayne 6 HP 16. Sylphrenia 7 HP 17. Lightsong 6 HP 18. Sarene 3 HP 19. Hrathen 5 HP 20. Marsh 5 HP 22. Szeth 4 HP 23. Renarin 5 HP 24. Hoid 7 HP 25. Jasnah 6 HP

Heal Marasi, Hurt Sadeas 1. Kelsier 5 HP2. Kaladin 5 HP3. Vin 5 HP4. Elend 6 HP5. Shallan 6 HP6. Dalinar 5 HP7. Vivienna 5 HP8. Siri 5 HP9. Adolin 5 HP10. Spook 4 HP 11. Sazed 5 HP12. Raoden 6 HP13. Wax 5 HP14. Marasi 5 HP15. Wayne 5 HP16. Sylphrenia 5 HP17. Lightsong 5 HP18. Sarene 4 HP19. Hrathen 5 HP20. Marsh 6 HP21. Sadeas 3 HP22. Szeth 5 HP23. Renarin 5 HP24. Hoid 5 HP25. Jasnah 5 HP

http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/20500-orem-library-signing-on-december-6/?p=204063

Do the spammers always have numbers in their post? I observed +, 91, few more digits in every post title (along with vashikaran). In such case, you can put a captcha after they hit submit or just prevent the post from being displayed until it's approved by the moderators. Another way I think is to check the number of posts posted as soon as a member joins within 5 minutes or so. In case of spambots, there will be almost a post every minute for atleast 5 minutes with no other comments on any other thread. In this case, you can ban the user and purge all his posts immediately. But to use this, it needs to be confirmed if there can be a genuine active user who can fit this activity profile.

Oh, now I get it. This is the quote regarding Bondsmith So Melishi retired to his tent, and resolved to destroy the Voidbringers upon the next day, but that night did present a different stratagem, related to the unique abilities of the Bondsmiths; and being hurried, he could make no specific account of his process; it was related to the very nature of the Heralds and their divine duties, an attribute the Bondsmiths alone could address So this means that Shallan is bonded with Pattern before (or at the time?) she killed her mother using the shardblade. But shouldn't the bonding with a spren be done consciously? I mean she must be so young at that time. I thought that Shallan bonded when she confronts Jasnah and confesses that she killed her father.

I think you must have confused Ivory (spren that bonded with Jasnah) with a statue. Did you mean this paragraph from WoR prologue?

But Shallan has that ability much before she has actually bonded, right? In Lightweavers case I think the members already have an artistic talent which helped them to be recruited into that order. Quote from WoR regarding this: These Lightweavers, by no coincidence, included many who pursude the arts; namly: writers, artists, musicians, painters, sculptors. Considering the order's general temperament, the tales of their strange and varied mnemonic abilities may have been embellished. But if nahel bonds grants some extra abilities, do you think it depends on the type of spren? I didn't find any extra abilities that Kaladin acquired due to his bonding with Syl other than his surgebinding abilities.

1. How are Truthwatchers able to see the future, if their surges are Progression (The Surge of Growth and Healing) and Illumination (The Surge of Light, Sound, and Various Waveforms)? Is it related to their spren or ideals or something else entirely (Cultivation influence maybe)? 2. It seems that Truthwatchers can predict future just based on present circumstances without considering the drastic changes that may immediately happen. Renarin Kholin predicted that everyone would die due to the clash of Everstorm and Highstorm, but Shallan is able to use the portal at the end and prevented this from happening. This might be the reason for them to be silent and secretive since being vocal about their prediction could bring about some changes which may cause the prediction to fail. Are there any holes/faults in this theory? I'm new to 17th shard, so if there has already been a discussion on these topics, please post that thread. Thanks!

There is WoB related to this.