Landis963

New question for the big list: "is there a way to absorb the Dor, much like Vin absorbed the mists?"

Hint 2: One of the player characters can teleport herself around a battlefield.

1. Why would the shard of Love ever want to leave her significant other without reason? Because that's what you're stating happened here. Unless you're saying that Dominion took Devotion's power by force in advance of Odium's arrival. I'm not sure which is less believable. I think we agree on the Investiture bit, although you appear to put much more stock in Shardic interference in magic systems than I do. And yes, I'm saying that the magic systems of Sel arose without their conscious input. 2. Not everything is Realmatics. Furthermore, if there was a hybrid Shard on Sel (as you appear to be suggesting), the Shaod would have a theme to it, and none has been apparent thus far. Besides, your hypothesis is more counterintuitive (at least to me) than I've found Realmatics to normally act. 3. "Any world with at least two Shards will result in a similar phenomenon." Again, the polarity of the two Shards in question has nothing to do with it. Unless you're stating that no friction ever occurred between Devotion's and Dominion's Intents (a dubious claim, to my ear), there will be one magic system for each Shard, and one for whatever friction happened. The relationship doesn't need to be acrimonious, it just needs to be present for magic system #3 to arise. I see no reason to second-guess that particular WoB. Also, AonDor bears the same mark of Dominion that all the other Selish forms do: AonDor is based on the terrain of Arelon. Just like Forgery is based on the terrain of MaiPon. There's no point in looking for three magic systems now, after Odium, because after Odium there's one brain-dead Shard, and therefore one magic system - the Dor. 4. Metal is a conduit for Allomancy. Metal is a storage unit for Feruchemy. Metal is a transfer node for Hemalurgy. Fabrial creation, Stormlight storage, and Soulcasting things into the Essences all require gemstones. I would argue that identifying a focus on any other planet is an exercise in reading too much into things, if only because for so many other planets there's not enough magic systems to draw parallels like one can for the Metallic Arts or for Roshar's systems. 5. Honor's power is unchanged because his cognitive shadow, the Stormfather, is in control of what's left of it. He's the one in charge of accepting Ideals, he's the one distributing Stormlight and sending the highstorms, he's the one in charge of sending the visions when it comes time for the cycle to repeat. Devotion's cognitive shadow, by contrast, is locked in the Shardpool. I'd say that's the biggest difference between Roshar's situation and Sel's. That and Roshar has a higher concentration of Splinters (i.e. the spren) bleeding away the power before it becomes dangerous. "Every Shard’s Cognitive means of accessing power differs from every other Shard’s, as do the Physical Realm results of the power exercise." Not so. Awakening, Surgebinding, and Hemalurgy all rely on state of mind to work. (An Awakener has to picture the result of the Command to transmit the action correctly, A Knight without the right mindset won't know the right phrasing for the next Ideal of their Order, a Hemalurgist has to "want" to do Hemalurgy in order for the power steal to happen) The Dor, however, requires next to no cognitive input from the practitioner (with the exception of AonDor, where the Elantrian can't accidentally draw an Aon). What the Dor does require, however, is precision. You must draw the Aon, or carve the soulstamp, or perform the ChayShan kata, without mistakes before the Dor coughs up the power you need. And finally, if I'm parsing the question correctly, there's a much simpler answer: The Dor uses the terrain of Sel to define itself. Because there's nothing else there to define it.

Hint 1: One of the primary questgivers was in an open relationship with two chairs.

Because no one has responded within the last 24 hours, here's my bad description: Disembodied voice leads a band of trigger-happy adrenaline junkies around a desert.

I wonder what talking tool inspired the advert in the first place.

1. Intent (or Shardholder attitude) has nothing to do with what I'm saying. It doesn't matter whether Ruin and Preservation hate each other, or Devotion and Dominion love each other. What matters is how the Investiture of each Shard reacts with the Investiture of the planet, and with the Investiture of any other Shard. Note that it is also canon that Preservation and Ruin did not "invent" Allomancy or Hemalurgy, or Feruchemy for that matter. Sure they can change a parameter here and there (see also the Temporal Metal switcheroo), but they don't design a magic system from the ground up. 2. Why would Love cede itself to Control in this case, of all cases? Why would Dominion cede his power to Devotion? Why would Skai ask Aona to cede her power? The basic premise makes no sense, even if the Realmatics were sound (which I don't believe they are, but admittedly I have a very shaky understanding of them). The Shards would still need to be balanced, it's just far easier than Harmony has it since Devotion and Dominion can agree very readily on a code of conduct that would satisfy both Shards' Intents; namely being a just ruler that spends time and effort to improve the lot of his people. And I'm saying that working together as lovers do is not enough to prevent a balance magic system from cropping up. Every time we've seen only one sapient-controlled magic system crop up, it's been under the influence of one Shard (Awakening is the only system on Nalthis, Sand Mastery the only system on Taldain). Even on planets with no Shards, there's been only one system of magic (disease magic on Ashyn, Aviar Talents on First of the Sun, Shades on Threnody). 3. Steelheart Signing Report, question 5 is the WoB you're looking for. Which pretty clearly corroborates my rebuttal here. 4. Why, then, does metal, of all things, unlock Preservation's and Ruin's power? Why do gemstones attract Stormlight so strongly, and hold it as tightly as they do? 5. Because the odds are very good that the splintering did in fact change the nature of Sel's magical power. The Dor is bursting at the seams during Elantris, attracting itself to Raoden's Aon experiments and threatening to overpower him. He hears no strange voice during his attacks, nor prophetic dreams, nor any sort of guidance from a cognitive shadow like Dalinar and Kaladin do from the Stormfather. Raoden only meets Aona's cognitive shadow once, when he gets dumped in the Shardpool, and we haven't seen hide nor hair of her or her counterpart besides that point. The Dor has very strict requirements that are remarkably different than those systems presided over by living Shards; Aons, for example, cannot be drawn accidentally, but making a mistake in the drawing invalidates the construction. Compare this to Awakening, where a misphrased Command produces a small bit of artificial stupidity, instead of leaving the target inert. I do agree that the relative level of Investiture was probably the same before and after Odium, and also that assuming that Sel's planetary Investiture was reset to factory zero after the splintering is faintly ridiculous. I also suspect that a proto-Dor, with terrain-derived symbols producing lasting magical effects, might have been the balance between Devotion and Dominion. However, there's still two systems that probably died with Devotion and Dominion, either because the Shards weren't present to grant the power or because the practice died in the intervening years between Odium and Elantris.

I'm of the opinion that, given that the nahel bond requires an alteration to the Spiritweb to take hold in the first place, that the bond itself is the thing the spike would steal. And then the Hemalurgist would have to go through the journey-before-destination song and dance in order to keep the powers. (And the spren might be very reticent to grant the powers in the first place, especially given how... messy hemalurgy can be.)

He does know its utility, though, and I can easily see the argument that goes "Hemalurgy saved his life." I can also easily see age dulling his revulsion for it to a simple "Useful, but highly dangerous." (See also his admonition to not use hemalurgy in experiments regarding the Spiritweb, and only to take Metalborn powers from those who are already dying, both applications that minimize the amount of collateral damage) Also in favor of him using it: The thing that made it "evil," Ruin, has been killed and subsumed into Harmony, who just so happens to be a valued ally and personal friend of Spook's, whom Spook knows would never be tempted to abuse the powers granted him by the use of Hemalurgy.

Furthermore, this is a desert that puts Death Valley to shame - Even if they timed it to get a lot of ground covered during the night, as soon as the sun rolled around they would be incinerated. (See also the village that got set on fire during the Catacendre)

May I have the next one? I've got a really good bad description on my clipboard and I really don't want to lose it.

I remember the thread on GiTP roundabout the time that particular plot point was published. At least 3 pages worth of variations on "Well storm." Good times. EDIT: Wait, are you starting Arc 26, or finishing Arc 26? Because... yeah.

Unfortunately I do not. Furthermore, it's in one of 3 places: it's either mentioned in passing in the Elantris annotations, it's in reference to a fan question about magic system inspiration, or its somewhere in the Writing Excuses playlist somewhere. (I'm actually fairly certain it's not in the Writing excuses playlist, because the only episode of that I've seen is the one they did on tES before that came out) EDIT: Found it. Reddit AMA 2011, question 157, and it looks like it was only a hypothetical one. Maybe he'll fold that particular bit of inspiration in once we actually go to Fjordell?

It's a question of where it was activated, I'd wager. Dakhor is "turned on", so to speak, during the initial rituals that implant the specific power within the bones of the practitioner. I suspect that Forton's potions are that magic system that I think Brandon mentioned once where the potion in question needs to be frozen in order to have any effect, so therefore they'd be "turned on" at the point where the solution reached 0 Celsius. In contrast, Aons are drawn and then "turned on" by Elantrians on the fly, so as we saw, Aons "turned on" in Elantris and environs have more power than those "turned on" in Teo. (Re: the mysteries: I assume that Iadon's rituals weren't going to work even if he had the symbols right, because he wasn't in Duladel or whereever the Mysteries draw from)

I'm going to be responding to this piece-by-piece. It does, in fact, provide precedence. Shards warp Investiture around themselves, we've seen it before, regardless of any feelings they might have on the matter. If we were only talking about how the Shards feel about each other, then you might be correct here, but we're not, so you aren't. Therefore, it stands to reason that when 2 Shards are in one area, the Investiture of that area would react in a similar to how it acted when 2 different Shards were in a different area. Yes, but an old married couple, no matter how in tune they are with the others' thoughts and actions, are still a couple, are still two distinct people. I don't know if "entwining" Shardic power like how you describe is even possible when there are 2 minds to contend with instead of only 1. Harmony is a special case because his intents are so diametrically opposed, but I find it difficult to believe that even if some chosen one took up Devotion's and Dominion's powers after they died, that they wouldn't need to keep the powers balanced like Harmony does with his powers. Except that we don't know whether the forms were a thing while Dominion and Devotion were alive. Sel may have had a focus of its own, a la Scadrial with metal, or Roshar with gemstones. Also, I remain skeptical of the "acting as one" bit, especially with regard to them creating a singular magic system. The main problem with puzzling out Selish magic is that there are two distinct parts of the history of Investiture on Sel: "Before Odium" and "Aftermath." Before Odium ("B.O." for short) we have two Shards that are 1) complementary by default and 2) lovers. In the Aftermath ("A.M." for short) we have no Shards (because Odium skedaddled as soon as he was done), a bunch of floaty talky magic balls and a mess of Investiture starting to act out because there's no mind in charge to give it purpose. BO would have had three magic systems, one for Devotion, one for Dominion, and one representing the push and pull between the two (and there would be some push and pull between the two). AM has one magic system, the Dor, and a whole mess of ways to access its power, running the gamut from "requires human sacrifice" (Jeskeri Mysteries, Dakhor) to "requires a magic dance" (ChayShan).

They're books. Spook found books at the end of HoA, SoS mentioned numerous pen-and-paper copies taking up space on noble shelves. Besides, if Sazed wanted to write his bible on metal, he wouldn't be able to read what he'd already written, which puts a damper on trying to spellcheck.

But the Investiture she'll need to fuel her immortality has to come from somewhere. Granted, she doesn't guzzle it like a Returned has to, but she'll need to have extra Breath eventually.

I like the idea, but what happens when the metal powder (in this case cadmium, but any toxic Allomantic metal will do for the point) detaches from the gum? You'd have to do an emergency scan-and-burn each night you tried it. To mitigate this, however, as alluded a post or two above, "in your mouth" counts as "inside" for the purpose. Might be a little spicy to burn metals in direct contact with your mouth, but there you are.

Your postulation of a "tightly entwined" Devotion and Dominion doesn't seem to fit with what we've seen happen between two invested Shards, e.g. Ruin and Preservation. Namely, one magic system for each Shard, and a "balanced" one for the push and pull between the two. Admittedly, Devotion and Dominion's relationship would have been much less antagonistic than Ruin and Preservation by default once the Intent really started to kick in, and we don't know the details of what magic was like before they were Splintered, but without further evidence the existence of a "proto-Dor" doesn't seem plausible, at least to me.

Not them specifically, as he was trying to keep a population around as a control group (i.e. no genetic and physiological changes like he did to the skaa and the nobles). He definitely gave them some advantages, though (extensive cave system to hide from the sun in, tools to make allofabrials, stuff like that). Also, explaining the change in leadership in a letter, so to speak, like you describe wouldn't be out of the question at all. (Although actively setting himself up to be worshipped by a population that wouldn't see him or his works until after the World of Ash goes away doesn't seem entirely Rashek's style - he set up the Steel Ministry, sure, but that was to keep a closer control over the population of the Final Empire, not for its own sake)

I don't think MaiPonese ancestry is required to Forge anything, and we know that Dzhamar has their version of Forgery as well. It's just that stamps don't work if they are applied too far from MaiPon. Aonic ancestry is required to be eligible for the Shaod, but I didn't see any sort of similar requirement for any other Selish Investitures. In fact, I believe the only real requirement for Initiation in Selish Investitures other than AonDor is merely training, and being facile with the specific language necessary to make it work. I also suspect that, if the Aonic Dakhor monk you posit was actually the recipient of Dakhor powers, it would be very difficult for the Shaod to take hold (Much harder to Invest something that has already been Invested, remember?), and would probably make him ineligible.

He probably didn't carry the outer arc all the way through. That and leave out the dot.

I use the emoticon myself when I want to convey flippancy. (forgot to add it to the previous post, sorry)

Incoming bullets aren't affected by time bubbles. It's the outgoing ones that ricochet. In fact, a cadmium bubble here would be a liability, as the bullet would speed up drastically, leaving Marasi with even less time to react. Unless she wanted to trap the bullet in with her (her bubbles are much larger than Wayne's, IIRC), in which case the bubble would give other people the chance to properly apprehend the gunman once the bullet hits whatever it hits. This'll be the cliffhanger. It's perfect for the purpose. Besides, the promise of an action scene to follow will be an excellent hook for people to go buy it. (Also I know Kurkistan will be salivating at the chance to see what exactly happens to a time bubble on a moving object)

South Scadrial: They probably wouldn't know about the Lord Ruler because they were literally on the other side of the world from them. Without any way for the Northern Scadrians to know about their existence (Also, no trade during the Final Empire because Scadrial was too close to the sun and the middle section of the planet was scorched clean of basically everything). In addition, Ruin couldn't change anything written in metal because he couldn't see anything written in metal. The medium itself glowed too brightly in his perception to make out words. Preservation had the same problem, and there's a WoB somewhere that Harmony does too.