Runyan Firetree

The heritage / child spirit web section brings to mind the RL-debate over nature v nurture. 

What would you expect from the following scenarios?:

1. Difference in a child's spirit web / identity if raised by biological parents or adopted soon after birth
2. Difference in identical twins (raised by birth parents) spirit web / identity at adolescence
3. Difference in identical twins spirit web / identity at adolescence if born on Roshar, but one twin is taken by a worldhopper immediately after birth and raised on Nalthis

15 minutes ago, Ookla the Obtuse said:

26 minutes ago, StormingTexan said:

I also like Michael's Nightblood voice a lot more than the narrator for Warbreaker. All in all pretty good and I will enjoy re-listening to it. 

 

To be fair, this isn't a high threshold to cross.

 

There's actually a Michael Kramer version of Warbreaker, but as far as I know it's only available through the National Library Service for the Blind.  I'd certainly like to know if his rendition of the three Warbreaker characters in OB is consistent with this recording.  That being said, I feel like I'm the only person who liked the James Yaegashi version.

As for the Oathbringer recording, I was presently surprised that Kramer/Reading actually provided additional context when reading the illustrations and maps.  In previous Cosmere volumes they just read out the words as they appear on the page without adding any descriptive context.

I expect that a collapse or schism of the Vorin church is inevitable.  Once it becomes common knowledge that Ishar is Tezim, I expect that many of the hard-liners / anti-Dalinar ardents may choose to follow Ishar.  The moderate ardents will probably choose to either go to Urithiru or stick with their chosen Devotary.  Most of the devotaries have a chance to survive and thrive through any schism and may eventually evolve into their own splinter or reformation religions.

Do we know anything about the two maps with ley lines from the WoR artwork collection?  Could one them be related to the moving perpendicularity in some way?

This entire Roshar map has ley lines running through both the Horneater Peaks and Pure Lake.

This frostlands map by Nahz has numerous ley lines and 5 seemingly randomly placed compass roses where several of the lines converge.  They don't seem to correspond to any known cities or towns on other maps (one is over the ocean), and given the artist I don't think it's a stretch that they could be of significance to a worldhopper.

One thing I haven't seen considered yet is that perhaps Dalinar's request to the Nighwatcher had conditional statements or certain nuances that are now met.  For example, King T asked for "... capacity. The capacity to stop what is coming. The capacity to save humankind."  If humankind was saved, would King T's boon/curse go away? 

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If a spike were to steal the physical connection of a person, and then placed into Kel, he would then be composed of investiture in the Cognitive Realm and have a connection to the Physical Realm, just like every worldhopper. At this point, all he needs to do is go to a perpendicularity, and transition into the Physical Realm, the same as we've seen worldhoppers do before. 

When he steps through, his body should form from background investiture, or whatever mechanism works for your average worldhopper. 

Kelsier's body may not be his original, but it's 100% his own. 

 

Nice theory @Calderis  Perhaps it's possible that another person wouldn't even be required if all that is needed is a physical realm connection since we have a WoB stating hemalurgy works on animals. 

But if another person's PR-Connection was stolen via a spike in the CR, would that person die (start being pulled to the Beyond) or would they just be a Cognitive Shadow or other CR-entity without being pulled to the Beyond?

> the eastern face of the tower was straight and sheer, facing the Origin. No balconies along that side.

> This creature in Tukar, however, is different. I’m not convinced he is human. If he is, he’s certainly not of the local species.…”

When I wear my aluminum bowler cap I like to hold the unlikely hope that Tezim is [Mistborn-All spoilers]
 

There's a few out of context death rattles that address this dilemma:

>I...know that all who live wish me to let the blade slip. Spill its blood upon the ground, over my hands, and with it gain us further breath to draw.

> So the night will reign, for the choice of honor is life...

When is it acceptable to kill innocents, in this case people you've enslaved, if you think doing so will give your allies 'further breath to draw'?  If you kill them preemptively, chances are you would violate the first oath, "Life before Death"; but if you don't then they may go on to side with Odium and bring death, destruction, and desolation.

I agree with @Yata at least partially in so much as I think there's something else going on with the Void.

We know that Adonalsium held "the powers of creation" and that he was shattered by some sort of opposing force.  We already know that death/decay/destruction are derivatives of these powers of creation (Ruin, 'killing the weeds / pruning the garden' aspects of Cultivation) which leaves us with few other options for something that would be an opposite to 'the power of creation'.  The concepts of negation, nothingness, or the void could fit as an opposing force to creation.  Perhaps Odium's use of Voidbinding is just a continuation, mimicry, or hijacking of the same force the shardholders used to shatter Adonalsium.

There once was a prince whose brother was a hero,
but all he could do was write lots of zeros.
"We're dead, we're dead",
he screamed from his head.
zero zero zero zero zero zero

Nearly every time I bore the Storm
I caught a glimpse of Honor's form.
The sacred oath-
those words I've quoth.
The Knights Radiant have been reborn!

I move the armies onto the plains
against assassin and unexpected rains
a hateful song
death won't be long
Shallan succeeds, and above Kaladin reigns!

You're looking at it from a Hushlander perspective.  In the Free Kingdoms the works that make up the Cosmere are known to be dramatizations of actual historical events in our universe, however in Libraria the Cosmere books are published under Brandon's name in order to bypass Librarian censors just like the Alcatraz autobiographical series.  Accept this fact and the deepest of Cosmere secrets will be clear as glass:  How was Adonalsium shattered? A:

On 6/26/2017 at 4:39 PM, The One Who Connects said:

We have more than you'd think. It's the reason I didn't respond to what they said with "maybe M names are just common,"

Admittedly, I don't put much stock in it, but the similarities between Mrall and Mraize go beyond just the "M".  Out of Ashlv, Barmest, Beznk, Mraize, Mrall, Rysn, Tozbek, Tvlakv, Vstim and Yalb there are only two names that contain same opening letter sequence "Mra", which is half or more of their entire name, and those same two Thaylens just happen to have positions of authority in two of the shadowy organizations we've encountered. 

Additionally, or alternatively, I wonder if there's any connection between Mrall & Mraize.  Both are described as Thaylen and their names are the only ones with that unique letter combination at the beginning; while it could certainly be coincidental and of no importance, it could also imply a familial relationship or organizational relationship if the names are aliases. 

Pigs and their byproducts may have been one of the initial interplanetary trade goods. In this thread from last year, Sharder ecohansen points out that several shard worlds have pigs, even in places where you wouldn't expect such as outside of Shinovar on Roshar.  Furthermore, we have WoB's indicating that pigs exist on Yolen and that Hoid loves bacon; this lead to my personal favorite bit of head-canon that Hoid loves bacon so much that he facilitated bringing pigs from Yolen to other shard worlds post-shattering in order to always have access to one of his favorite foods.

I found out today, via a reddit comment by Peter, that Michael Kramer recorded a version of Warbreaker for the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.  I've never seen this mentioned before today, so I'm wondering if anyone here has had the opportunity to listen to this version and how it stacks up compared to the other two audio releases. 

I'd also like to know if Kramer uses the same voices for Warbreaker/Stormlight Spoiler

http://www.loc.gov/nls/index.html

Author:        Sanderson, Brandon.
Title:         Warbreaker [sound recording] / Brandon
                  Sanderson.
Published:     Washington, D.C. : National Library Service for
                  the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress,
                  2010. (NLS, recording studio).
Description:   1 online resource (audio (23 hours, 50 minutes))
Book Number:   DB 69788
Dewey No.:     813.6 AFI 22
Notes:         Availability restricted to persons meeting the
                  eligibility requirements of the National Library Service for
                  the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.
               Narrated by: Michael Kramer.
               Digital talking book. 2 levels. Digitally
                  mastered.
               King Dedelin sends his youngest daughter Siri
                  instead of the promised daughter Vivenna to marry Susebron,
                  the God King of Hallandren. Angered, Vivenna, who wields
                  magic using breath and colors, embarks on a journey with a
                  questionable group of Idrian operatives to rescue Siri.
                  2009.
               Male narrator. NLS/BPH
               May also be available for loan on cartridge.
                  Contact your cooperating library for more information.
               Recorded from: New York : Tor, 2009.
                  9780765320308
               Full audio with structure.
               System requirements: NLS authorized ANSI/NISO
                  Z39.86-2002 digital talking book (dtb) player compatible with
                  NLS flash cartridges. Web version requires computer with
                  Internet access, BARD password and NLS authorized digital
                  talking book player. Contact your cooperating library or the
                  National Library Service for the Blind and Physically
                  Handicapped, Library of Congress, for more information.
               Description based on print version.
               2 DM
               dbcurrent
Subjects:      Gods -- Fiction.
               Imaginary places -- Fiction.
               Magic -- Fiction.
               Princesses -- Fiction.
               Sisters -- Fiction.
               Downloadable books.
               Fantasy fiction. lcgft
               Fiction. lcgft
               Talking books. lcgft
Other authors: Kramer, Michael, narrator.
Location:      DLC-B DB 69788 NLS/BPH
Control No.:   650702
Access:        Downloadable talking book.

Hoid and his clone came over so now I have to dust.

A genie lamp is a light lamp though, it's a lamp with a magic being living inside / bound to it.  While certainly an ornate version, the same style elements can be found in several different lamps from antiquity.

The wiki article for oil lamps makes a pretty good case for lamp as a symbol for devotion.
 

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> Lamps appear in the Torah and other Jewish sources as a symbol of “lighting” the way for the righteous, the wise, and for love and other positive values. While fire was often described as being destructive, light was given a positive spiritual meaning.

>"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105)

 

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Elantris was beautiful, once. It was called the city of the gods: a place of power. radiance, and magic. Visitors say that the very stones glowed with an inner light, and that the city contained wondrous arcane marvels. At night, Elantris shone like a great silvery fire, visible even from a great distance.  - Elantris opening paragraph

Two other semi-related WoB:

Crem, which is deposited by highstorms, is something akin to Shard-waste:

Highstorms manifest in CR but RAFO regarding how:

@Pagerunner is correct that there could be orientation issues with taking this approach, however the for-sure matches of Scadrial/Vapors & Nalthis/Vibrance do make it seem promising.  If Sel is Densities & Taldain is Broken Sky, then where are Braize, Ashyn, and the 10 gas giants?  If the orientation approach is valid, then I tend to think that Sel is either:

• one of the Densities along with the Rosharian planets [Sel-CR is dangerous, Braize is dangerous, 10 gas giants are hard to study per Khriss...thus the generic name of "densities", people know there are multiple locations out that direction but is too dangerous / difficult to travel to and study closer]
• unlisted expanse between Vibrance & Densities
• not listed and it's relationship is similar to the locations of Maine & Massachusetts, they are separated by 20 miles but don't share a border.  To get to Maine from Mass you need to drive through New Hampshire, so maybe you need to travel through vibrance first before coming to Sel's CR.

Would there be any benefit to trying to match the Roshar Shadesmar map with the new AU star chart?  If we align Expanse of Vapors with Scadrial on the AU star chart, then work our way clockwise through the planets with close proximity to Roshar the next planet we come to is Nalthis which aligns with the next Expanse on the Roshar map (Vibrance).  Going counterclockwise from Scadrial/Vapors, we would get Broken Sky paired with Taldain which also seems to fit for reasons others have already stated.  Leaving us with Expanse of Densities to be paired with either Braize, Ashyn, or Sel.  For this, I think Braize & Ashyn can fit for expanse of densities as WW described earlier:

On 4/21/2015 at 2:35 PM, Ookla the Indefinite said:

Well in reality it is a synthesis of two things. One, Ashyn, as a planet, is mostly barren with a few fertile patches. And two, distance in the Cognitive Realm reflects the amount of "thought" going on in the Physical (which does not necessarily have to be sentient thought). I believe that this would result in a region of the Cognitive Realm that is mostly empty with localized "dense" spots (corresponding to the fertile bits).  In mind it makes a sort of poetic sense to call it the Expanse of "the Densities".

This would leave Sel as the odd one out.  One possibility is that it is one of the Densities in the Expanse of Densities, but I think it's more likely not to be represented on the Shadesmar map.  Perhaps as a result of the issues caused by the splittering, but it could be due to Sel's close proximity to Nalthis. You may have to travel through vibrance/nalthis to get to Sel's CR from Roshar-Shadesmar, similar to how Massachusetts is near Maine but you have to travel 20miles through New Hampshire to get there.

I fully believe this is Hoid, but there seems to be issues with the timeframe for these events.  Lift escapes Darkness in Interlude-9; Hoid leaves the warcamps in Chapter 67 and then makes the "better part of a year" comment to Jasnah in the final chapter.  The various timelines on coppermind seem to indicate that there's only 4~5 weeks between when Hoid leaves the warcamps and the end of the book.  So is this an error by Brandon, a false connection on our part, an exaggeration on Hoid's part, or is there something more to read between the lines?  Maybe he needed a safe place on-world to conduct extended magic, perhaps needing the use of a time bubble resulting in him spending half a year while only a few weeks went by in-world.