Treamayne

Dalinar has decades of practice, training and experience in both fighting and leading armies Kaladin isn't just raw talent, it's thousands of hours of fighting and spear practice** and dozens of "battles" practicing reading combat situations. The main characters are talented. But it is a talent sharpened by practice and honed by experience.

Thanks for the WoB. It confirms my point (in different words: A-Gold is fast burning because peeking into the SR is investiture heavy) It might be worth confirming with Brandon in a Q&A if, for example, A-Pewter and C-Pewter burn at the same rate. However, I think Pewter is a poor comparison. Vin's cuts and broken ribs took 3 months to heal with A-Pewter (still faster than an unaided person, but nowhere near Miles/Wayne). I'd imagine the investiture/burn rate for C-Gold is more akin to (SA) You'd get a lot of health out of that short time, but I doubt it would burn slower than A-Gold. Unless the theory that how full the metalmind has been stored affects the rate of burning it allomantically.

But you implied that there would be gold left without a feruchemical charge that would burn allomantically. That's not the case**, since the charge is dispersed throughout the metal (think of putting a few drops of food coloring in water - it will diffuse throughout the volume - not just a portion of the volume) so when the gold runs out, it's because it was a small amount of gold and it all burned away. That WoB is one of the reasons I think the amount of compounding is at least related to how full the metalmind has been stored. If you recal Vin's Gold Experience in TFE (and Miles in AoL) - gold burns rather quickly (almost as fast as Atium). I'm not sure if the full metal mind would burn slower (as previously proposed) or just offer a larger exponent of released health (as also previously proposed). There are WoBs that discuss how a broken metalmind still has investiture in all of the pieces - but in some cases (like a Coppermind) it might damage or destroy the storage.

Shouldn't that be "appreciable mass?" After all, we already have confirmation of Axi in the Cosmere and the Makay-im are able to use the Surge of Cohesion to intermeld the Axi of their bodies with that of solid objects, without either being "broken."

I think this touches on something. Don't forget that IRL we also have energy states - photons (light), electricity (free-flowing unbound electrons), and plasma (ionized gas): Sel Spoilers: So, it's possible that "contained" Stormlight is in an energy state similar to the visible spectrum of light - drawn out it converts to a gaseous state while not contained - then returns to an energy state while in the surgebinder's body (Kal speaks of feeling energy coursing through his blood and muscles). Leaking investiture from a sphere is emitted as light while leaking investiture from a person is emitted as a gas. At no time does it seem to change from Investiture to Matter or Energy; but investiture seems to have states that mimic the states of both matter and energy. Wikipedia: Since electrons and ions both have mass, Investiture in those states would also have mass. Photons are considered massless, but that assertion is being challenged by the scientific community. Since we have this WoB (Taldain), it would appear that Investiture does have a confirmed photonic state that is potentially massless: So, I guess the question somebody would have to ask Brandon/Peter during a Q&A or AMA is: Is Light trapped in a gem in a Photonic or Plasma State, since either could be emitting visible light as the investiture leaks from the gem? If the former - then light in a gem is potentially massless until it converts to a gaseous state; if the latter, then light in a gem would almost certainly have an imperceptible, but measurable, mass.

Why did you think it was the wrong spren? Was it because Eshonai said "angerspren?" The spren was named in Interlude 4 (stormspren), when Eshonai said "this is wrong" she was referring to something else (but related) that will come up later in the book. . .

@Frustration and I have slightly different interpretations (and we could both be close, or both be way off base - there just isn't enough information to nitpick the details yet), but here's my primer (using the notional IU): Given (notional) 1 gram of Gold can Allomantically burn for 60 seconds Further, lets say that it releases 10 IU of investiture (manifested as Gold Shadows), or 1 IU every 6 seconds Given (notional) a 1 gram Goldmind (maybe an earring) can hold 5 IU of Health when full. Because that 1 gram of gold is Feruchemically charged, when a compounder burns it, the Investiture Key is to release Feruchemical power One possibility is that the amount of Feruchemical charge doesn't matter - that 1 gram Goldmind will always produce 10 IU of health This could account for the origin of the "10x" referenced by both Sazed and Wax - if a 1 IU metalmind created 10 IU of feruchemical power If this is true, then power could be wasted if the metalmind was "full" because you would have "spent" 5 IU to make 10 - only 2x return Another possibility is that the amount of charge does matter - but then the question becomes how It may be exponential (as considered above) - in that Feruchemical charge times ten dived by the burn time (a 5 IU metalmind burns as 50 IU of feruchemical power dived by the number of seconds to burn the full metalmind) This would then be bounded by how much can be stored in a metalmind that is still small enough to swallow and burn - knowing that we have WoBs that state that if a metalmind is broken after filling then power is lost (and with some metalminds - like Copper - possibly all of it is lost). So you may not be able to simply fill a huge bracer and break it into a few hundred chinks to burn later It may be proportional - where a full metalmind would release an exponent charge, but a less-than-full metal mind releases less than 10x change This would account for the WoBs (above) that imply the amount of charge matters - and that's why TLR was running out of time where he could continue to stay alive by compounding age ("). Example: 2 IU of charge in a 5IU metalmind is 40% full - so that would burn at 4x (40% of 10x) or release 8IU of feruchemical charge divided bu the seconds to burn. It's also entirely possible that more than one option is possible - because Command and Intent may change how the compounding is expressed for the individual. The main problem is there is an inconstancy in the Words of Brandon implying different "solutions."

I feel like they were swapped, while an interpretation of the current wording is possible, they do make more sense if they were reversed. I've reposted to the Typo thread to hopefully get an official response.

@Firesong made a good point in this thread. Have we confirmed that the back cover text was not accidentally swapped for Navani and Shallan? This: Makes much more sense like this:

Please see my post in this version: Also more quotes are here.

These are great observations Another subtle hint that you can sometimes notice is idioms and/or phrases that seem "disjointed" (such as Zahel's line in this interlude:) A real world analogy might be if I said "Even a monkey can fall from a tree" (which is a Korean Proverb about how anybody can make a mistake no matter how good they are at something); which, without context, just sounds like nonsense. . . I believe Amara is starting with Stormlight Archive, so she would not have yet read the story where we see Zahel under a different name (but it will be interesting to see if she picks him out when she does read that work)

Hightstorms have to be invested, that's how the storms renews Sphere's Stormlight. I thought they had explained the Ardents before this (in Way of Kings) - back when Jasnah was discussing the Heirocracy with Shallan. A few centuries before the events of these books, the Vorin church attempted to develop a Theocracy by claiming visions from the Almighty.* Their defeat is why all Ardents are considered slaves (but not quite typical slaves, as Kaladin had been - they are "owned" and cannot own anything or participate in politics; but they also can only be tasked with religious tasks) and also led to the concepts of the Glory and Calling - making worship more "transparent." The Ardents typically provide education to pursue a Calling, and test for Elevations in that Calling (as opposed the the Heirocracy's "as long as you do what we tell you then you are following the righteous path" pretext). Note: (Theory, not spoiler) What makes you think that?

Most of this is found in the Coppermind and Arcanum:

Just as each book has a focus flashback character, they also each have a focus interlude character. Szeth was Way of Kings (at least one interlude in every set); while Words of Radiance's interlude focus character is Eshonai (at least one every set). Szeth will be in the interludes between parts 3 and 4, and will also appear again in other chapters and interludes. . . Very nice

I took "Feruchemy is about multipliers" to mean that multiplicative properties are inherent to the magic system. Which may mean that is why compounding works in the first place (a multiplicative property of feruchemy being exploited). I did not intend to imply a direct, for example, "double strength becomes 20 times strength" compounding relationship.

We have no evidence they were created by the Radiants - and it is far more likely to have been developed the same way people post-Recreance learned that affixing a gem to a Shardblade allowed the user to "bond" it. ^This^ Because during the Recreance, that was the shape of the helm when it's original Radiant broke their oaths. While subtle things like adjusting size to fit the bearer are still possible, fully altering the helmet shape is either no longer possible, or would require Command and Intent (and therefore impossible for modern Alethi who don't realize such changes may be possible and therefore never try). Because without it you can't breathe While I expect the breathe answer was sarcasm. . . There is also a world of difference between "not airtight" and "enough airflow to sustain combat." For example, take a winter full-face skimask, put it on backward and try running on the treadmill. Even though the weave is air permeable, many people wouldn't last a mile as breath is impeded enough to increase lactic build-up and decrease aerobic function.

It sounds like you will be satisfied with how this subplot resolves. Including Spoiler (Ch 34 - do not read before Ch 34):

The more I think about this, the more I think neither of these interpretations are exactly correct. There are Words of Brandon that support both interpretations (see below). Let's reason it out together. . . far the sake of discussion (and avoiding complexity by using Breaths, since that could imply Awakening to people reading this later) I suggest we simply use the notional "Investiture unit (IU)" This implies to me that the metalmind filter really is nothing more than "instead of Allomantic IUs you get Feruchemical IUs" This implies to me that the amount of Ferchemical IUs released is related to the amount of metal burned. This implies to me that your understanding and Intent of how compounding will function can impact how that ability expresses itself. This implies to me that "multipliers" can be a part of the "Ferchemy filter" applied to a metalmind acting as allomantic fuel This implies to me that different Ferchemical attributes (metals) may behave slightly differently depending on how that F-Attribute is impacted by your Spiritweb and Cognitive Self. Therefore, some of those properties become part of the filter. This also implies to me that the amount stored in the metalmind has at least some impact, since it implies that TLR had to store more and compound more to get the same result. If 1 allomantic metal IU of F-Atium only ever resulted in 10 IUs of Age when burned, it seems TLR would have run out of compounded age long ago or quickly gotten to the point where all he could do 24/7 was eat and burn Atium since the smallest IU of age would be insufficient to roll back centuries of age. Note: Where BS has "<health wrong>" I noted he probably meant age - since compounded health should never turn you into a child, but duralumin burned compounded youth might. But it still implies to me that the amount of stored youth matters to the compounding. If that was not the case, then a duralumin burned Atium-mind could never result in a enough youth, when burned, to age back to childhood. ***** My Conclusions: At its most basic, Compounding changes the metal's filter from Allomancy to Feruchemy - but part of that filter is the multiplier quantity of the attribute and is also spread across the qty of IUs of metal. Since burning (without duralumin) is a small release over time (that can be increased by "flaring" - but with a maximum cap based on allomantic strength) any qty of feruchemical storage in a metalmind would be divided by the IUs of allomantic metal in the storage before being multiplied by burning the IUs into feruchemical investiture. A notional "100 multipler" burned into "1000 times F-Attribute" isn't really possible, because a metalmind storing "100 times attribute" would be too large to swallow and burn - and any shavings from said metalmind would, by necessity, be a relative fraction of the starting "100 time attribute" worth of storage. Intent, and (implied) command are also a factor of how the effect is expressed. So, the amount stored matters - the size of the metalmind matters but both are simply variables in the total equation so it is not as simple as "any storage is that same as full storage" nor as simple as "qty of storage x 10." Ideas, thoughts, conclusions?

I understand where you are going with the idea but: If it is limited by metal; it, by-definition, is not unlimited A metalmind storing 100,000,000 hours of double strength would be the size of a house (or larger) and you would use all that strength just to move it for a minute or three. Metalminds are not, of themselves, unlimited storage. That's why Keepers had metalminds of varying sizes (earrings, rings, bracers). Sure you could fill multiple metalminds, but you could not have them all on your person all at the same time, so it's still not "unlimited." Which doesn't mean that it isn't an obscene amount of power - TLR shows us that. And you can always make more, given enough metal and time. However, at any given time the amount of ability you could tap does have a limit for that time and that situation (either bounded by the amount of digestible metalminds you have with you to burn allomantically, or the number of filled metalminds you have on you to tap).

You are noticing something - but not necessarily the same something in all three cases. In this case, it is similar to something you have seen before: TWoK Ch 9

Here's the Coppermind Page See my post above, please. You'll see threads around theorizing "Reverse Compounding" - but, if it exists, we do not yet know how it would work to use Feruchemy to store Allomantic ability (and therefore tap that ability in the multiples allowed by Feruchemy, but not normally found in Allomancy) Brandon has RAFOed all questions on Copper Compounding. Ditto and of the Spiritual Quadrant metals Storing Age makes you older for a time, tapping it makes you younger. Therefore burning it you "gain" 10x the youth that was stored.

So, in Feruchemy the metal is a key to a given ability, but the power comes from your own body (or, more technically, the attribute is stored as investiture in the metalmind, then that Investiture is tapped to release the stored attibute). In Allomancy the metal is a key to a given ability, but the power comes from the Spiritual Realm (burning metal being the action of "converting" metal into investiture based on the "key" of the metal. In Compounding, a Twinborn stores an attribute in metal - then burns that metal Allomantically. This converts the metal into investiture powered from the Spiritual Realm. However, because the metal burned was a Metal Mind, it still has the Feruchemy "key" (rather than the allomantic key for that metal). The result is the Compounder gets (roughly) 10x more power out of the metalmind than what was stored. That output can also be stored into one or more new metalminds. The Twinborn is essentially making a new Allomantic metal only that person can use. (Very rough) Example: *Note: none of the numbers in the example are accurate, they are meant only to describe the process

Awesome, thanks. I was thinking more along the lines of transport (minerals as part of larger digestible molecules moving though intestinal walls) than at the atomic level; so I go hung up on the uptake (kind of how salt in a brine draws the water out of the meat, then as water moves back in the salt comes with it).

Maybe there's an MD that can weigh in; but I doubt, for example, you would get similar nutritional Iron from a nail that you do from spinach. Also, half of the Allomantic metals are alloys that wouldn't, in any form, be considered "nutrition" with or without F-bendalloy; and some that are elemental metals (like cadmium) are definitely not nutritious. I don't know if you checked out the link I posted (wikipedia) but basically, the only allomantic metals that are also nutritional trace minerals are copper, zinc, iron and chromium. TLR would not have been able to store durlumin or the other 11 metals even if F-Bendalloy could store those four. This dialog leads me to a separate question(s) though. . . I wonder how often a Lurcher becomes an iron-deficient anemic through burning off their nutritional iron before it can be digested and incorporated into making blood. Similar deficiencies in copper, zinc, and chromium could have other health issues (such as chromium deficiency glucose intolerance). I feel like the Cosmere answer would need to be that nutritional trace elements are slightly different that their Allomantic equivalent - so while trace amounts of allomantic metals (like Vin's brass and pewter in Book 1) can come from eating utinsels and such, A-Iron need some in-world fundamental difference from nutritional iron to prevent Lurcher Anemia (and similar effects). Even if that difference is just "intent" (no known examples of somebody eating spinach with the intent of Lurching).

It's likely a combination of multiple elements. You can have lingual migration (especially vocabulary; over grammar/syntax) without population migration. Sometimes it's the "common root" causing similar derivations and sometimes it's cognates being incorporated into language (and possibly altered/shifted). Examples: Tea - In dozens of languages of the eastern hemisphere the word for tea (chai, cha, jai, etc.) is so close in pronunciation it can often be understood between languages. Many of these languages do not share a common root (e.g. Mandarin, Pashtu, Hindi, Nihongo are all different language families) but the similarity could come from vocabulary sharing and cognate drift Kindergarten - A direct German cognate, but so assimilated into English that a large percentage of the population no longer recognizes it as a word with a foreign origin (unlike jalapeno or samurai which are similarly incorporated, but still recognized as cognates) Succotash (a reverse cognate) is an example of a local vocabulary being incorporated into a migration population; with usage spreading backward to the migration origin. It's accepted by most English speakers as a non-cognate, despite originating with American Natives and drifting backward to Europe. I would imagine that it went something like: