VirtuousTraveller

And it has been confirmed! =) I've wondered if Edgli's Perpendicularity is the the great landlocked sea that T'Telir is built on. Since the Tears of Edgli only grow in the jungle area of Hallandren, I wonder if the water from the sea flows down into this valley area, taking the Investiture with it, fusing it into the local plant life.

I like the idea of Wayne's character, I really do, but I feel like his character is forced a bit much (especially in SoS). I thought SoS was the weakest of all of Brandon's books so far (especially in the Mistborn series), and Wayne's "overly silly" comments just didn't click with me, especially as I listened to the words read aloud via Audible recently. I think his POV in that book in particular lacked the depth he had in the other two era 1.5 books, which then pulled his whole character down to me. I know Brandon has spoken about SoS being a challenge when he wrote it, and I really felt the same way reading it. It did the job of moving the story along, but the entire book felt slow and forced - you learn the new plot line information toward the end, and then it's over. FORTUNATELY BoM and MB:SH were an incredible comeback! =)

Heal Ashyn, hurt Roshar. 1. Ashyn - 3 2. Braize - 3 3. First of the Sun--5 4. Nalthis--6 5. Roshar-6 6. Scadrial--8 7. Sel - 7 8. Taldain--6 9. Threnody--6 11. Yolen--5

Hurt Roshar, heal Threnody. 1. Ashyn - 4 2. Braize--5 3. First of the Sun 4. Nalthis--5 5. Roshar-7 6. Scadrial--7 7. Sel--6 8. Taldain--5 9. Threnody--6 11. Yolen--5

I believe there's a WoB that talks about an "opposing force" to Adonalsium that played into the shattering, however I don't know that I've seen anything about a stagnating world being a part of this. Where are you pulling that idea from? I'm assuming many, if not all of the original Vessels were good, but over time the intent of the shards they held influenced them in negative ways (consider Ati and Ruin).

...when you realize your cellphone is a more powerful communication/information device than a splinter of divinity :-P

I appreciate your thoughts. I was exaggerating on purpose - you said "feelings is counted as a part of the mind," but my point is, realmatically, what is "the mind?" Did Leras, like Tanavast did in the Stormfather, create a semi-cognitive shadow (or spren-like splinter) in the mists? Why would this require his mind versus the Investiture he possessed as a Vessel? I'm thinking out loud, not arguing! :-P

But what does that mean, to "literally give up his mind?" The realmatics of this statement don't add up to me. Does this mean that he, as a Vessel, gave up his "Cognitive Aspect" to create Ruin's prison? What's the connection of "mind" to the prison Ruin was bound to? If it wasn't his power, but his mind, that created Ruin's prison, could another Vessel alternatively give up his "feelings" or his "senses" to create something? But why would he choose this, knowing he had been working so hard to help the crew against Ruin? It's seems very short-sighted, but I guess if he didn't have his full mental faculties, being short-sighted fits.

It's been a little while since I read Secret History (can't wait for Arcanum Unbounded), but as I was thinking about Cognitive Shadows and such, I'm curious to hear some ideas about what exactly Leras was as we saw him in this story. He wasn't really dead, so he couldn't be a Cognitive Shadow, and he existed in the Cognitive Realm much like Sazed does, who is fully alive. Sazed didn't seem to understand all about the Spiritual Realm yet, so I'm not sure that the Vessel exists/has a presence in the Spiritual Realm (though they are able to channel incredible power from the Spiritual Realm). It seems via this power they can manifest themselves in the Physical Realm whenever they please (i.e. Ruin). Vessels' physical bodies appear back in the Physical Realm when the Vessel dies, but where do they exist until that point? 1. Do all Vessels of shards have a permanent presence in the Cognitive Realm? In other words, is this where they exist in realmatic space? In Secret History, Leras was literally falling to pieces (appearing fuzzy to Kelsier) in the Cognitive Realm. He gave up some of his power to invest in all of humanity, making him slightly weaker than Ruin, but from Vin's initial attempts to use Preservation's power to destroy Ruin, it didn't seem possible without completely destroying herself in the process. While I guess we can infer that this "slight disadvantage" in power over immense amounts of time could wear Leras down, I'm not sure of the mechanics of how this took place. The power of a shard seems to make a person functionally immortal, so would giving up 1% of a shard's power eventually cause you to lose your mind? That doesn't seem likely to me. 2. What actually caused Leras' death? 3. Is a Cognitive Shadow something intentionally created, or does this happen automatically? In other words, why wouldn't Leras just reappear in the Cognitive Realm fully whole again after he died? While he wouldn't have had his shardic powers any more, he surely would have had the knowledge to help Kelsier out in his questing. I apologize if these questions are simple and have been answered elsewhere. I shardsurf in my limited free time and don't always get to read all the past posts on stuff!

I don't know that the Set is entirely based on Scadrial - it may not matter that they hold social status at all. In fact, it could be that "Series" are worldhoppers or recipients of gifts/talents/orders/powers from other-worldly powers that give them authority.

Now that we have an idea about Kelsier's continued involvement in the cosmere, do you think he's the Vessel of the "survival shard?" Considering "survival" is so connected to his mission on Scadrial, it seems to make sense to me. The intent of the shard is related to survival, and the fact that it's hiding is only "tangibly" related to the intent. Hiding = There's always another secret? :-P EDIT: If this idea has been presented before, I apologize!

I've thought about this too. We assume that Cultivation is somehow inherently "good" because of Honor's opposition to Odium and Cultivation was supposedly romantically involved with Honor. In the perhaps growing absence of honor among men (consider that breaking the Oathpact wasn't exactly honorable by the Heralds), Cultivation may be supporting the growth of her former enemy, just by the nature of her shard's intent. Upvote for you! =)

DRAFO!

@Amanuensis I have to be completely honest with you, I hadn't ever considered the possibility of Jaddeth being a Cognitive Shadow like the Stormfather is. It would be awfully strange for a shard like Honor to be capable of setting up a scenario like he did with the Stormfather and the visions to help after his death, but somehow shards like Devotion and Dominion could not. The intents of Jaddeth and the skaze and Wyrn (as corresponding the "Bondsmith") match up pretty closely together and would appear to fit an intent like Dominion - perhaps the Cognitive Shadow of Skai is hopeful that by unifying all of creation he could somehow get Aona back? My only correction that I'd throw into your theory is the idea that Domi is the Cognitive Shadow of Aona. Domi seems connected to Dominion, as does Jaddeth. The voice in the shardpool, however, I believe is the voice of Aona's Cognitive Shadow, but I'm not sure how her presence is expressed in Elantris. I agree that she may play a part in selecting who becomes an Elantrian, much like Endowment does on Nalthis, but in terms of the collective memory of the culture expressing her name in a curse or blessing, I don't see it anywhere. In my opinion, this is a great working theory! Upvote for you! =)

And because I believe what I believe about the Dor's origin, I don't think that Jaddeth is a combination of Devotion and Dominion. I feel pretty confident about this. Jaddeth definitely has the feel of something morally negative, which Unity doesn't really imply (yes I know about moral relativism, but on Sel, it just feels wrong to me otherwise).

You should check out my theory over here about how Unity already existed! =)

LOL but someone who didn't RAFO wouldn't know!

Hi everyone, Since Brandon has started this wonderful tradition of telling us to "Read And Find Out" (RAFO) when we have questions about mysteries in his books, I thought it would be fun to list out questions that he's actually answered in his books, but someone who never actually read them would never have found out. Here are some starters! What is so special about Vin's earring? Why couldn't Vin use the mists like she did to defeat the Lord Ruler? Who was the Hero of Ages? How was Hrathen healed from the Shaod? How did Vasher manage to defeat Arsteel? Who was the White Fox? And....Go Go DRAFO! =)

Despite all the details we get in Warbreaker, we really don't learn that much about Nalthis outside of this small, geographical region.

I wonder, if the Ones Above are related more to Roshar than to Scadrial, if the resulting Desolation we're about to encounter in the Stormlight Archive will send Rosharians into space, seeking a new home or possibly weapons to combat Odium. Seeking out Investiture and magic makes sense, and since we know some of the magic allows Radiants to mess with the power of gravity, FTL travel may be possible with surgebinding/fabrials that we just haven't seen yet. The Rosharians are bound to leave Roshar anyways - Odium is looming on Braize, a planet that they can see in the sky. Whether that's through space travel or through the Cognitive Realm, I see our heroes taking the fight to Odium's home at some point.

Boy, that's a crazy line of influence! Fjorden is influenced by the Skaze who are essentially making up stories about an old legend of a powerful deity named Jaddeth, who isn't really there. That's one reasonable line of thinking and until we get more information, I think it's just as possible as Jaddeth being an actual being.

@Yata Your comments make me think about a possible connection to another world that has strong beliefs with the sun...Taldain!

Jaddeth definitely has the feel of some kind of shard-being, at least a splinter of a shard, either held by a person or that became sentient on its own. I don't know if it's some kind of warped intent of Dominion (corrupted by the splintering), or if it's something/someone Odium invested/empowered before leaving Sel. It would be interesting if Jaddeth and the conquering spirit his followers embody is related to Trell and the power-thirsty spirit his followers in the Set embody. But, the intents of Dominion and Autonomy don't really seem connected, in fact they seem opposed.

Silver on Threnody is very significant - it keeps people safe from shades and can be used to injure/kill shades. It's also in high demand and can be quite expensive. Since there isn't a shard there, I wonder why this takes place. Could the silver be invested or just inherently powerful in such a way that it could damage a shade? Aluminum has special qualities inherently that cross magic systems...silver may be the same way?

There are also the 5 scholars on Nalthis and the 5 visions they gave to mankind.