Rasarr

Gaaah. You solve one problem, two others jump in its place! But yeah, I suppose Cadmium could be a better fit than aluminium, as to not kill the crew. Otherwise I don't know, although... consider: inertia is calculated as F = ma, where m is mass of body inertia works on and a is acceleration (of the ship, in this case). So if the entire crew uses ironminds to store as much of their weight as possible...?* Also, while we're mentioning cadmium: you could use cadmium cubes as alternative to hibernation. *disclaimer: Rasarr is not actually a physicist That's because you don't actually contain the train, only part of it, the same way the planet doesn't leap forward under Wayne's feet when he's burning bendalloy on ground level. My idea assumes that the entire ship is contained in the bubble, like Wax's and Wayne's guns, which do work appropriately faster when in the bubble, and the bubble moves because the cube that sets up the bubble is heavy enough to drag it with it. The idea of sentient ship is just so great, and the mechanism should work, too. Store Investiture to get out, tap it to get in.

While we're on the topic of coins, I've got this a bit weird idea for implications of their existence: movies! Think about it: rather than using bulky camera equipment, you use a person, a "living camera", to record scenes into coins. You then take all the coins and lay them down in order before another person, an "editor", who taps scene-memory after scene-memory without breaks and then stores the memory of the entire "movie" into another coin. You duplicate this movie-coin and sell them like DVDs, only the buyer doesn't need DVD equipment to watch them - they just sit comfortably in a chair and tap the entire movie from the coppermind. 3D, realistic sound, highest possible image quality, full immersion into the movie... Of course, BoM seems to indicate that we will get moving pictures sometimes soon, but still, as "home video" this could have some potential. Another application: witness testimonies. Worried that your witness is lying? Have them store the memory into a coppermind and let the police tap it.

The 8:1 comes from Coppermind, which sources it to AoL: Hence 8:1. Not certain how this corresponds with the scen you've quited - if it is 8:1 indeed, then Wayne should see the bullet moving with speed of 42,5 km/h - or 12 m/s. I have not thought of that But it makes sense. I think your idea with aluminium coating on the ship has potential, especially in the light of the WoB (good catch, by the way!). Regarding Harmonium, I admit I'm in the Harmonium=ettmetal camp, although something tells me I'll be proven wrong in the next book.

Your art is absolutely gorgeous. I love the character designs, and the frenemies pictures, and the rest is awesome, too. You should've put them in separate posts, I could spend my entire upvote quota on you this way!

Actually there exists Japanese edition of Way of the Kings (In three parts, whose covers display glittery Shardplate, literally armless Shallan and bishii Kaladin in that exact order), although I can't tell you about WoR, though the publishing house of Japanese edition of WoK has rights to it as well. Re: Stormlight Archive on big screen, I don't think this would have nearly enough money to present Roshar in satisfactory way, and even if it would, it'd probably leave just barely enough for some good screenwriting and acting, which would doom the series. One of the options may be to cut down on the number of spren and strange creatures, but that wouldn't be really Roshar, now would it? I mean, horses instead of Chulls? Besides, while stories like Game of Thrones are largely built around humans and their politicking and interactions, in SA the world is pretty much yet another character, or even entire set of those, so it's not really something you can throw away. Then again, if SA somehow managed to keep up with its planned 2-years-per-book schedule (and we can be doubtful about that, considering there were four years between WoK and WoR, and now Oathbringer delays), it'll be 2023 before first arc concludes, and 2033 before the entire series is done. For all we know, tech advancements would make CGI live-action Roshar actually affordable by then.

Granted. You become a vessel for... Recreancy. Pros: Unlimited cosmic power and freedom to do with them as you chose, as you're currently not invested. Cons: you quickly start to take after your aspect. I wish to get the hell outta Braize and preferably not into interplanetary void or a star. Ah, you see, your bane is that you will never know what it is. But rest assured it's there. Preparing. Watching. Waiting.

Granted. On Nalthis, they Awaken giant stone statues with heads hollowed out and eyes replaced with glass for pilot's convenience. On Scadrial, they make more steampunkish mecha, using various BoM-spoilers-related tech. On Sel, they create giant Aon-powered constructs of pure light. On Roshar, they feed Stormlight to a Shardplate put on a giant statue, and then something-something-fabrial-magitek to make it work. At any rate, Cosmere now has mecha. I wish to be a nicrosil twinborn, but with nicrosil available to me and with no nicrosil allergy.

Maybe the novella could be about how Lift went to the Nightwatcher and got her Awesome powers? That could be interesting...

I also agree that Scadrians won't be much into fighting a war for shady reasons and on a distant planet, and that if Odium was such reason, Scadrians would probably end up helping Rosharans rather than battling them. Then again, this is the Shard of Wrath - I wonder if Rayse could find a way to manipulate events as to convince Harmony and Scadrial that Rosharan people were the aggressor. Then again, as was already noted, Harmony's answer would probably be to send his Lawmen Emergency Response Unit rather than an army. Considering Stormfather: even if we suppose he sides with Roshar, highstorms are very much a two-edged sword. On one hand, yes, they will slow down Scadrian advance; but so will they slow down Rosharans. Neither side can fight during a highstorm, and it will be destructive to both sides - moreso, even, to Rosharans, as during a highstorm Scadrians can continue muster, training and weapons production on their homeworld while Rosharans have to remain inside. It's also far from a controllable weapon: Stormfather's control over it seems to be simply sending it forth and then let it circle the globe. Probably the biggest advantage would be for Stormfather to send out storms in unpredictable fashion, giving heads-up to Dalinar about it, so that only Rosharans know where to hide, but Scadrians could counter that by having Steelrunning scouts watching for when Rosharans are hiding and then going to Scadrians to tell them to hide as well. And now I so want a Scadrial-Roshar Odium-fighting crossover...

While I enjoy reading your posts (and really, this entire discussion is fascinating), you're right that many of Kevino's points have been brought up already, so I don't think there's a point in analysing the same issues again. Still, if we want a short reminder: Scadrians would freeze to death in Horneater peaks: the best way to deal with cold is to dress appropriately. It's been shown in BoM that Scadrians do know how to deal with cold weather, and not necessarily by using medallions. Scadrians have no local data: scouting is standard element of military strategy, and Scadrian high command would have to be off its meds not to send anyone there before the main bulk of invasion forces. Highstorms: see above. Scouts would be assaulted by Horneates and killed: - We don't have the basis for stating that Horneaters would be immediately hostile, and not assume Scadrians are deities like Hoid - It's highly probable that scouts would be Metalborn - probably Pewterarms - and thus more resistant and capable of fighting back - Guns are a good deterrent - Scadrians could simply bribe Horneaters with goods Corrosive properties of Horneater peak lakes: waterproof bags? I'm pretty certain at least oilskins are known to Scadrians. Very few Scadrians compared to Rosharans: Scadrians are both more technically advanced and have more numerous magic users, with well-understood magic system. It's been shown time and again in history that while inferior technology might win battles, superior technology pretty much always wins wars. Stormfather/Parshmen will help Rosharans: neither of them is inclined to aid Roshar humans; quite the opposite, actually. Rosharans could go to Scadrial and do X: they cannot blend in (something that kandra can do) and rely heavily on Stormlight, which Scadrial doesn't possess Rosharans could duplicate guns: it's not as easy as it seems, and gunpowder alone is a huge leap that would take Roshar years too long Scadrians have no reason to go to war: possibly slave liberation, or battling Odium. I agree with this point, though. I think that's all the points that's been repeating themselves for the last few pages.

You are right that bubble isn't a physical object, but at any rate, it is something - I suspect waves (there's a theory here on Shard that I'd agree with, which proposes that Investiture is wave-like in behaviour). At any rate, waves also don't travel faster-than-light - unless, of course, we assume that the medium of Investiture waves is CogRealm, in which case my objection is moot. Thank you! I admit I only had time to skim through this briefly, but I'll certainly look through it more closely later. As for the frame of reference problem - how about the ship accelerating, then switching the bubble on? The bubble "reads" the ship as a moving mass similar to a train and thus moves accordingly, with the ship in it, and thus ship's "native" speed (the speed with which it's been moving before setting up the bubble) is increased. ...which likely leads to a whole lot of effects I'm probably unable to properly explain or deal with. Anyway, thanks everyone for their opinions.

As the topic implies, I've been thinking on how Scadrial is going to achieve faster-than-light travel, and I belive I have an idea how to do so with our current knowledge of Metallic Arts. Keep in mind that's it's a very rough-around-the-edges, probably-assuming-too-much and unsupported-by-WoBs (my computer doesn't let me access Theoryland for some reason) theory, but hear me out. Basically, I belive there are two ways to go faster than light: Allomantic one and Feuruchemical one. First off, Allomancy. We know two facts from Bands of Mourning: Large objects, such as trains or planets, will "drag" bendalloy bubbles with them. Southern Scadrians' cubes take Allomantic abilities (at least external ones) and later display them Now imagine a very large SoScad cube, roughly the size of a train, placed in the very centre of a somewhat bigger spaceship. The cube is charged and the spaceship, which is inside the bubble, begins to move (I know a typical bendalloy bubble is much smaller than a spaceship, but I'm guessing that the size is proportional to the size of Allomancer). While usually a Slider can't carry his bendalloy bubble with him, the spaceship - and the cube - is large enough for the "dragging" effect to occur, therefore the ship cheats the system and carries the bubble while moving with in-bubble speed. Going by numbers Coppermind gives, (1:8 time compression), if the ship reaches 0.5c while inside the bubble, it would appear to the outside observer as moving with 4c, which means it moves, objectively speaking, four times faster than light. Herein lies the problem with this theory, of course: even if the ship inside the bubble doesn't break the laws of physics, the bubble itself does. Still, I think this is something that could be used (going 0.1c in the bubble, 0.8c objectively, is surely fuel-saving), if only because bendalloy bubble would be a kickass sci-fi deflector shield. Now, the second method, which is harder, less proveable with our current knowledge, but also less physics-breaking: Feuruchemy. More specifically, nicrosil. What do we know in this case: Nicrosil Ferring can store and tap Investiture. Ascension is, basically, having a ton of Investiture (this may be my misinterpretation of facts, but see: Vin and mists; Shards being basically pure Investiture and Ascending involving taking it; and I'm fairly certain there was a WoB to this effect, though as I said, I can't search for it) Ascension into a Shard involves jumping into Congitive Realm, as this is where non-dead Shards reside. There exists a mechanism for giving machines Feuruchemical properties and making a machine utilize it (see: the scene of the Set investigating downed SoScad ship near the end of BoM. The ship can somehow store weight.) So, how would this work: a Nicrosil ferring (it could be that you'd actually need Nicrosil compounder for this) stores Investiture for days upon days until he/she collects it in absurd quantities, then "gives" it to the ship, which then taps all of it in a fraction of second. The amount of Investiture this realeases basically flings the ship to the CogRealm the way perpendicularity (or Ascension) would, but because of Investiture requirement runs out before the ship can Ascend, however this would look like. Voila - you are now in CogRealm and can worldhop with a ship. Of course, I have no idea how you'd return to PhysRealm. Perhaps by storing all the Investiture and leaving the nicrosilmind behind like some space junk? TL;DR: Use giant bendalloy cubes in ships to travel in Slider bubbles; use nicrosil to emulate Elsecalling. So there it is. I'm curious about your opinion. Of course, feel free to poke giant logic-, WoB- and textual-evidence-shaped holes in this. I'm sure there are plenty, and I'm pretty certain someone will immediately point out something that will render this entire theory moot.

That's exactly why I find the idea funny. All over SA we see honour as something of the kings, nobility, self-sacrifice, duty, etcetera, etcetera, but as you've noted, there's honour among criminals, too. I can imagine it: a cut from Dalinar talking about Way of the Kings in context of the Almighty to the would-be Almighty ordering a mob hit. I don't know, it just makes me chuckle for some reason.

Granted, you have acquired the ability of lucid dreaming and can create entire worlds in your dreams. As your bane, you now see the real world in greyscale - except for things that are brightly, eye-assaultingly pink. I wish to be able to make my clothes completely clean with a touch.

Ever since I read Hoid's line about Tanavast buying him a drink once, I had this thought floating around my head that Tanavast used to be a mobster and drinking together wasn't exactly voluntary on Hoid's part. I'm not sure why, except perhaps for the fact that Yolen having mafia and a member of it ending up with a Shard of Honor would be kinda funny.

You know, where I live, among local delicacies are soured milk and animal entrails*, so I think I'll survive horneater cuisine. And frankly, I'm quite apprehensive of Shinovar. You know this feeling, when the characters in a novel or TV series arrive in a small town and you immediately know that there's a dark, dark secret and there'll be corpses falling out of every closet in not-too-distant future? The kind of feeling you get when you're almost certain everyone is member of a cannibal cult, or worships the devil, or houses a witch's corpse or something along those lines? I feel like Shinovar is this small town upgraded to an entire nation. * I am not kidding you

Well, keep in mind that this guy had the disadvantage of whereas Voidus is still alive and thus included in Hoid's thou-shall-not-hurt clause... unless there's something we don't know about Voidus...

Anywhere other than Vorin lands - a left-handed woman may find living there just a tad problematic. Maybe Horneater Peaks? They sound like a pleasant enough place, the culture's nice, and Voidbringers could have problems getting there if the place is as cold as it's said to be.

The "eldritch" made me wonder if CogRealm could have some denizens beyond human-inhabited area. You know, some remnants of ancient species and civillizations long gone, sorta as if spren had their Rosharans wiped out. Now that I think of it... I'd really love to see Sanderson write allomancers or Knights Radiant fighting Cthulhu. Anyway, on the topic of CogRealm, I always imagined it as sort of sphere projected on a flat surface, kinda like we do to make maps, only with some distortion to account for blank spaces. Of course, there's the obvious problem that you can, for example, travel from Alethkar to Shinovar in PhysRealm by going east via the Origin, but you can't do that in CogRealm. So either non-Euclidean geometries or all Cosmere worlds have handy giant islandless oceans on one hemisphere.

Well, shining is part of their job description. Though I would like to see Joffreyerffoj joining Knights Radiant, if only to see Ialai tearing her hair out in despair. Seriously, though, I suppose Ialai may try to groom the kid to be Adolin-hate-machine, with intention of killing the man later... or something. This would have a huge chance of backfiring, though - Desolation is up and running, Radiants are being reborn, for all Ialai knows the world in 15 years will look completely different, up to complete destruction of Alethkar as a distinct nation. While foresight doesn't really seem to run in Sadeas veins (see: what Torol said that prompted Adolin to off him), this does seem a tad far-fetched. I mean, would Ialai actually play a fifteen-or-more years scheme just to get back at the man? ...wait, who am I talking about. Of course she would.

Added (though without the footprints). I wonder if there's enough content to warrant a Coppermind page on easter-eggs and references.

Reading up on this, something that's been mentioned before but not really expanded upon is, so to put it, societal issues. Roshar has slaves, and in none-too-small numbers, not to mention an entire slave race (Parshmen), whereas Scadrial has a history of having an entire "slave race" of their own (the skaa). For one, this could be a huge motivator for Scadrians, and Elendel could spin it as a war of liberation. For other, if it became publicly known that Scadrial doesn't endorse slavery - say, something like a grand proclamation of slave liberation on Scadrial-taken lands - Alethkar could find itself with a slave uprising on their hands, with the slaves supporting Scadrial, providing intelligence, et cetera. In turn, Alethkar has very little to offer Scadrians - not only is their standard of life much lower and societal system much more unfair, but descendants of skaa are unlikely to be willing to co-operate with slave-keepers. On the other hand, assuming that Scadrial is the aggressor and the war takes place on Roshar, the Basin is far from unified, politically speaking. As we've seen in BoM, many cities are resentful of Elendel, so if Elendel started to wage a war against Alethkar, it would be only Elendel's industry and populace that counted, not that of the entire basin. Other cities would be likely to stand on the sidelines and cheer for Alethkar - if not, depending on how deep the resentment runs, outright support Roshar, with intel if not tech and weaponry. This goes both ways, of course - other Rosharan nations, especially those with few Shards and powerful neighbors, would be likely to throw their support behind Scadrial in exchange for things like railroads, if not gun tech. I imagine Taravangian, with his knowledge of upcoming catastrophe, would be ecstatic to get weaponry that doesn't require radiants to operate, can be mass-fielded and is probably powerful enough to take down stormform Parshendi if in enough quantity. If Roshar is the aggressor, the Basin will probably unite; which is a moot point anyway, because invading Scadrial would leave Roshar with no fabrials and no Stormlight, robbing them of Shardplate, insta-food, instant communications and all other advantages that give their army fighting edge, whereas Scadrial would have the entirety of their magic systems in working order.

Huh. Fun thought excercise. With Sel, I suppose it depends whether it'd be Fjorden or Elantris who'd have a representative. If the latter, I bet on silver/dark gray Aon Rao on white background. If Fjorden, then... their symbol on rust-red background, I guess? I don't remember if we've been given the description of Fjorden's coat of arms or what have they. Alternatively, the flag could be divided in two or three vertical stripes, with one being Elantrian symbol, the other Fjorden, and the third, if there would be a third, of Rose Empire.

Thanks! I've added both of the above, and fixed the Domi-Dominion reference.

Granted. After being booed at a rally, Trup has a sudden revelation which causes him to abandon the race for president and let go of all his possessions in favour of life in ascetism. Newly enlightened, he starts writing books on self-help, being one with nature and similar topics - and your bane is that from today on, every single gift you'll ever get, no matter the occassion and the person who gives it to you, will be one of Trump's books. I wish for good weather to come and stay until the end of the next week.