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I think it is on us to distinguish two terms: * a Cosmere world that plays a major role in the Cosmere epic * A Cosmere world where at least one Shard chose to Invest over the course of the post-Shattering history. Doesn't really matter which of the two definitions "major Shardworld" stands for, as long as we all collectively agree to use it that way.

There are six more Shard unaccounted for and presumably still alive (or at least, not offed by Odium). This is not inconsistent with what you are stating above, as we know that single-, double- and possibly triple-Shard Shardworlds are a thing, and also given that there may be a Shard out there (that just wants to survive) that did not Invest into a planet.

The Liar is not canonic, but fainlife appears to be bigger than The Liar: that is: it appears to have paid a significant role in the overall Yolen ark leading up to the Shattering. Also, the mention of fainlife in UA confirms that it is part of the Cosmere. We know that the specifics might change, but I feel like we can use our knowledge of what fainlife is based on the text of the Liar for speculative purposes.

Brandon's answer, I suspect, will be something to the tune of "possible but extremely difficult, so do not invest in those Perpindicularities'R'Us shares just yet". We may also be missing one more thing in this discussion. Shardpools allow for a lot of Investiture in one place because there is something in the underlying relationship of the Shard with the planet that anchors the Investiture there. But just because you are the proud owner of 5000000 Breaths does not mean that if you release them into a specially prepared hole you dug in the middle of nowhere, those Breaths will turn to liquid and remain concentrated in a pool. You may need some sort of an "anchor", and it is not clear that one can just get it. Of course if you are Invested to the point of Ascendency, you may be in position to do that - we know that Rashek manipulated the locations of the pools.

Huh. This is nicely fitting, and also awfully surprising in its reveal. To continue the thought, this is actually an excellent clue of how Jasnah acquired one. They were probably like "OMG.... This is some awesome writing she is doing!!! Must... bond... NOW...."

Which is why Elsecallers are awesome (-:

The point I was making with this post is that while the core question got RAFO'd, the way in which the animal question got responded essentially allows us to deduce the correct answer to it. Brandon talks a lot about spren sapience and the effects it has. He makes a lot of other things in Roshar's magic system a function of spren sapience. So, to me, we effectively have our answer: random nature spren cannot be Rioted, but Syl -- very much so. This is consistent with what we know about her behavior and behaviors of other spren we have been able to observe in detail: Pattern and Wyndle. So... take heart...

What is in your hidden comments does not have the be THE ONLY power possessed by that particular pool. Also, remember But then, you both may be right - an UnSharded pool of Investiture does not have to have the full Ascending power to be a Perpendicularity. In fact, it might work like the Breath system does (and how building one's homestead is gamified in a lot of computer games): * At X units of Investiture you get a pool * At 5*X units of Investiture we install a perpendicularity in it. * At 10*X units of Investiture the pool TALKS TO YOU. * At 50* X units of Investiture you can Ascend * At 100*X units of Investiture: .... instant noodles!!!

Yes. It's an old WoB: Onto the the rest of it: This may be a fair observation, although I do consider "You will eat your vegetables, dammit, even if you hate that spinach" to be a bit on the cruel side. But I think the overall view that because she is Tanavast's lover/romantic interest, and because she fought Odium with him, she is this fluffy cuddly creature who likes to grow plants and distribute chickens around Roshar is a bit one-sided. Her stamp is most evident in Shinovar, and what happened to Szeth is orders of magnitude more cruel than what happened to Kaladin. Mark my words, Cultivation is quite capable of dealing serious damage, defending herself, and, in general being terrifying (remember, Tanavast perished, she survived). Either as a strong mother figure, or as a twisted joker figure, she is still dangerous. You want to be on her good side. No. I am thinking that I saw (don't have the text in front of me now) a reference to Ambition as "her" or "she" in Arcanium Unbound (don't remember the exact wording, but I recall having a "oh, another female Shard" thought). But maybe I *am* confusing with the more striking "ho, sh*t, Bavadin's a SHE!" thought that I also had.

Sounds like a question to Brandon then, ain't it? (-: In trying to approximate the amount of Investiture required to be tied to a Shardpool, we are probably missing some bit of information. What do we know? a. Shardpools contain enough of Investiture to Ascend, or to perform some powerful actions (think Aona's pool). This is our lower bound. The amount is massive. b. Shardpool pool of Investiture (in the presence of a living Shard) does not constitute a significant drain on the Shard's powers. That is, a Shard retains control over a vast chunk of the Investiture not tied to a pool. In the presence of a dead Shard we see the "vast chunk" as available for tapping through other means. This is our lower bound. So, the questions become: what percentage of Shard's Investiture is sufficient to make up a pool? (1%, 0.1%, 0.01%), and how much total Investiture a Shard tied to planet controls.

Ok, so this may have deserved a separate post, but I'll just put it there for now. Doing a scan of the interview database. Got this one: Case closed?

Just found this one from Out of Excuses: Not even certain why he RAFOed the one above... A hair-splitting difference between spren reacting and spren being affected?

A cameo to look forward to in Oathbringer

Not that we didn't know it before, but has there been a prior direct confirmation of Hoid's source of perfect pitch?

A-HA! Truthwatcher then.

To save you from talking exclusively to yourself (-: .... I tend to agree with your doubts more than with your original theory. While it may be possible to pool Investiture into a specific proto-perpendicularity in batches, it is still A LOT of Breath. Imagine the army of Kalad's Phantoms, each with Susebron-level Breath. Now, take a serious multiplier to that. So it simply may be prohibitively expensive for Silverlight. Also, assuming that Silverlight is a singular entity is a bit dangerous. My guess is that it is full of politics and people who quarrel with each other all the time.

Now, this actually sounds like one of those situations where he wound up exectly where he needed to be.

Very nice! Thank you for the effort. One suggestion: perhaps color-code the main line of the events (or preface it with planetary/system labels) in the column B.

So, I have a general comment and a specific one. The general observation is this. I believe there is somewhere a note from Brandon who says that indeed, *these* 16 Intents are not necessarily what a Shattering would have resolved into: that is, under different circumstances and with a different crowd of future Vessels, the Intents could've been different. Last winter I posted a theory regarding there being "atomic" sub-Intents, and the Shards being constructs of these sub-Intents. It seems like you are thinking in the same direction. However, I do think you may be looking at matching the Intent of the Shard and the "intent" of the Vessel at Shattering time in a too literal a way. I also am not certain that I agree with some of your characterizations of Vessels. For example, you make Cultivation to be rather benign, yet we know that she was Tanavast's lover (an elderly lady, eh?) and that her power can be used in relatively cruel ways (see: Nightwatcher, The). On the specific topic of Autonomy: I share similar suspicions: in the past I called such religions "Abomination cults" (treating Investiture use as abomination); they can also be called "prohibitionist". However, what I disagree with is in your (implicit) implication that this is ALL Bavadin is doing. She is responsible for Taldain's investiture and hence, for Investing the sand ,for example. I think, the picture is quite different. Based on Brandon's word that Bavadin has oodles of personas and makes up pantheons of herself, I suspect that she is playing a divide-and-conquer game to her own ends. That is, my theory is that: (a) Bavadin supports Prohibitionist cults NOT because she is somehow opposed to the use of Investiture by humans, but because it serves as an excellent check on the powers of the respective planets' Shards (or whatever is left of them). That is: her reasons for supporting Prohibitionist religions are political, not ideological. (b) Bavadin's MO is "set the goal, then figure out what the best means of achieving it are". She appears to largely do it by creating, co-opting and possibly outright corrupting religions, and by making the religious adherents the chief executors of her will. But it appears that she is literally not above setting up two conflicting religions where she is behind both of the Gods/ pantheons. Also, isn't Ambition a "she"?

Have you seen how indecisive Szed got when he acquired the powers of just two Shards? Now think about holding ALL Intents at the same time... It is a lot of power, but it is also a lot of conflicting Intents to placate at the same time... So, do not just assume that Adonalsium was active just because he was all-powerful. Edit: Read a bit further and saw that you are arriving to the same conclusion. Well played.

Since it is about a cross-over of powers, figure it belongs here.... Looking through the Provo Q&A on Theoryland, spotted these two beasties: and then this: So, who else thinks that the latter answer also applies to the former question?

There is now a group of WoBs on this matter:

Kandra essentially puts "fluid" in "genderfluid".

So, this gives us then a complete accounting of Honorblades subject to any recent thefts/"recoveries" from Shinovar: Nalan: one Honorblade (his own) Kaladin (via Szeth via Shinover): one Honorblade (Jezrien) Shinovar: seven Honorblades (everyone except for Naln, Jez and Tal) Talanel: one Honorblade (his own) - lost in transport (right?)

What was the original number of Honorblades held in Shinovar? Nine or eight?