Jofwu

Meaning something like: "No knowledge that exists can destroy you."

I'm sure he simply didn't look that closely at the meaning. I definitely got the sense from the workshop that the idea wasn't to blend the perfect words into something Alethi. It's more that they simply want to get a certain feel. The idea of using the "correct" words is more like a convenient place to start than a goal in itself. If that makes sense.

It looks like "Midpeace" was written lowercase in Words of Radiance. It pops up early in chapter 45: "Midpeace" was capitalized twice in Oathbringer. I'm assuming that this case is either an original, unintentional typo in WoR or else something that was retconned in OB and simply needs updating here. Otherwise, I'll have to move this to the OB typo thread I guess.

Returning here to add a few tidbits for Arcanum reference. After I made it through the signing line, I went to go visit the folks at Sanderson Trivia to see how that was going. Afterwards, a couple of us went up and spoke to Karen while she had her wiki out. Seemed like a good opportunity to get some things I've been wondering. I'm going to list some tidbits here without much rhyme or reason. Shallan and Jasnah left for the Shattered Plains on "day 6927" (her calendar), which comes to 1173-9-6-2. (she did note that her dates are subject to change if needed) Highstorms apparently come more frequently around Midpeace. We know they come less often around the Weeping, but I don't recall anywhere in the books saying they are more frequent around the middle of the year. There are no storms during Midpeace itself, if I'm not mistaken, so I assume she means the weeks before and after. This last bit came up as Karen revealed that... minor OB Spoilers: Highstorms move at about 370 miles per hour. The Everstorm moves at about 120 miles per hour. Those are somewhat variable of course; particularly for the highstorm. Karen confirmed something Peter told me privately a few months ago: for their Everstorm timing calculations they used a cycle of 9.1 [Rosharan] days. I also noticed that she had Roshar's circumference at 22110 miles, though I don't know how official that is meant to be OR whether that's technically "real miles" or "Rosharan miles". (If it's "real miles", that would give a circumference of 0.888 which is close--but not exactly--the 0.9 number that Khriss mentioned in Arcanum Unbounded.) I may have a few other notes scrawled in notebook margins, but I think this is most of it. Edit: Oh! Two more OB timeline points that she checked for me.

Yeah, I tend to think modern Rosharans have a pretty good idea of which cities are "Dawncities". They might be wrong about some of them; some cities that they consider Dawncities might not have actually been singer cities prior to the humans arrival. But that's beside the point. I think Dalinar knows which cities are considered Dawncities, and is saying that he simply hasn't seen any of them. He has seen Kholinar, of course, but he just doesn't remember it. (at the time of the quote) It's possible that he's seen another and doesn't remember. Most likely, I think we can assume he simply hasn't seen any others.

My interpretation of Soulcasters is that there's nothing special about the gems used. There isn't a specific gem that stays in, is there? They just swap them out as needed, if you need a different type or if one cracks. And the WoB basically confirms (as the books suggest) that they aren't a common fabrial making use of a trapped spren. So I don't think the gem(s) could be the problem. I'm also skeptical it was a fake. Seems like quite a narrative stretch. Navani never saw it herself, but seemed to think that Soulcasters breaking isn't uncommon. She also seemed fairly confident that they could fix it, as I recall. So whatever the reason it was broken, I get the sense that special materials or a deeper understanding of how they work isn't the issue. It's hard to speculate though because we know SO LITTTLE of their common knowledge concerning modern fabrials. That makes it hard to see what they know and are thinking.

Ooops, sorry, fixed. I couldn't remember if you were in that one or not. It's all becoming a blur.

By the way, @Argent, @Pagerunner, @yulerule, and I were inducted into the Calligrapher's Guild. No, we will not divulge all of the guild's secrets.

I certainly wouldn't say there's proof. This is just a theory. The point is that Taravangian was effectively predicting the future. The future in the cosmere is never CERTAIN, I think, but there's generally a high probability that events will unfold a certain way. Atium doesn't show you what will absolutely, definitely happen, but what is most likely to happen. I'm proposing that, by seeing the future, Renarin made certain decisions and took certain actions that he otherwise would not have made. This threw the course of events off in ways that Taravangian did not predict in the Diagram. There is some debate as to whether the Diagram made use of future sight or not. I'm not picking either side of that argument here. I don't think it matters. Renarin bonded with Glys well after the Diagram was created, so he wouldn't have been a factor at the time it was created. Either way, he tried to predict the future, and while he was accurate in many many ways, he was wrong about Dalinar. I think this is because Renarin's future sight opened up possibilities that were previously unlikely.

Last night I reread the scene where Taravangian speaks with Odium... So basically they are looking at the Diagram as it originally appeared, written all over the original room it was created in. Odium then overlays his vast knowledge on top of it. And we see that in one corner it's all gone black, presumably because of Renarin. I thought it was interesting that Taravangian mentions that this black section begins "behind where the bed had stood". So I flipped open to the Diagram epigraphs in WoR and found two that seem to be in that same area of the room, near the bed. I think it's interesting that both of these are directly related to Taravangian's plans to become king of the world. They are also, so far as we know, the biggest failing of the Diagram so far. Their interpretations and predictions concerning Dalinar (and the politics for Taravangian to take over) have been repeatedly wrong. Is it just a coincidence that these pieces of the Diagram are written near the bed, which is where Renarin's impact on Odium's foresight is rooted? A bit of a tangent here, but... Why is the blackness rooted in Renarin? We can speculate all over, but the obvious (general) answer is that it's related to the corruption of Glys. That's the most unique thing about him. And the most tangible thing we know of that's a result of this is his ability to see the future. I think Renarin's ability to see the future is causing him to have an atium-like affect on the grand scale of events on Roshar. When somebody uses atium, they can see the future of the world around them. It's different for Renarin of course... He clearly sees a bit further ahead than one does with normal atium usage. And his sight is centered around key moments rather than a simple foresight into how the objects/people around him move. But it's effectively the same thing. When TWO people burn atium, they see a (seemingly) infinite number of possibilities sprouting from the other person. This is because you're getting a positive feedback loop that makes each person's actions nearly impossible to predict. So I think this is what's happening with Renarin's blackness on "Odium's Diagram". Renarin's just one guy of course. Compared to Odium's future sight, he presents a relatively small margin of error. But it's enough to have an impact in one corner. Imagine you're a general burning atium while watching a battle unfold, as one of the soldiers on the battlefield also burns atium. That person's actions would be a mess that makes no sense of course, but he doesn't influence the ENTIRE battlefield. You can see most of it clearly. Just not that corner over there. All of that to say... Odium seems to have augmented Taravangian's Diagram in this scene, and it's very curious to me that the blackness of Renarin is in the same corner as these snippets relating to Taravangian's plans concerning Dalinar and the coalition. Snippets which have repeatedly proven hard to work with, at best. Theory: Renarin Kholin's ability to see the future has caused events concerning Dalinar and the coalition to diverge from what Taravangian originally predicted.

The "drawing" thing is odd. It's possible that it's not as dramatic as we see described. Maybe it's not drawing the spren as if it has to come from a distance, but more like the spren is just sort of sleeping until she wakes it up to ask for help. Does that make sense? The reason she doesn't see it is easier to explain in my opinion. I think she simply doesn't look at it or see into Shadesmar enough. It's pretty clear that Kaza is catching glimpses of Shadesmar, and we have no reason to think that a spren would be invisible on that side. It's got to be that she simply doesn't look in the direction of the spren. Or perhaps that she's just not looking into Shadesmar clearly enough in that scene. Too busy concentrating on what she's doing or whatever.. Between this WoB, the nature of the Oathgates, and the hints about Urithiru/the Sibling, I feel pretty strongly about this theory in general. I'm not sure what I think about... where these spren come from or what they are like. I think originally I was imagining that they were sapient spren which already existed, and someone basically made a deal with them. "Attach yourself to this physical object and help out when I call for you with it. In return you get Stormlight (or whatever)." Something like that. But now I'm leaning towards thinking that these spren are more unique than that. I'm also not so sure that they are sapient. I DO, for the record, no longer feel that Shardplate is a fabrial like this. Far too much weirdness there for it to be a physical device of some kind. I mean, it might have some similarities to ancient fabrials, but it definitely isn't one.

That's true. I absolutely agree that Gavilar is talking about Ba-Ado-Mishram in that conversation. I'm just referring to the fact that the conversation is more broadly about capturing spren in general. I don't think the particular glow of the sphere implies it's BAM. Nergaoul glowed the same way and we can see that Fused glow with voidlight without access to BAM (seemingly). I definitely think that's what the glow is. I just don't think it implies the sphere holds BAM.

Eh. I suppose it could be that sort of Easter egg. But I realistically, I don't see why the 17th Shard would be in a position to sneak their symbol onto maps (in an official capacity) like this.

Sorry, I just wanted to point it out so he could jump into the conversation if he wished.

I just skimmed through all of this and I don't think I saw what is, in my opinion, the most obvious answer. I think the voice is Oroden's. The connection Syl is referring to is Spiritual. Time has little meaning in the conversation. That's kind of the point really--that Syl knows these people even though she's never actually met them. When she smiles and zips away it's because she goes looking for him.

Digging this topic up to add my WoB from this weekend which (unless Brandon is being sneaky?) confirms that Soulcasters have a spren "like the Oathgate spren." I'm kicking myself for not thinking of a better wording... "like the Oathgate spren" is awfully vague. Technically, he could say, "Yes, because they're both spren," though I think the way he answered suggests he wasn't playing that game. I couldn't come up with something better. I was afraid of getting too specific and getting a simple "no" because of a finer point. If nothing else it at least confirms that the "will" described by Kaza is indeed a spren. WoB: Relevant quote from OB I-4: My interpretation (what I intended to ask and what I think Brandon confirmed) is that every Soulcaster has a spren "bound" to it which is responsible for making the device work. I could draw some other implications, but that's getting into heavy speculation. I'm curious how others interpret this.

Most explicit hint yet as to what prompted the Shattering? Also some really strong (but mysterious) hints as to what Hoid is up to.

Note quite Mitsubishi, since that one meets at the points in the center rather than overlapping.

Those are @Pagerunner's questions btw.

True, at the time of the two WoBs I linked. But I think that's unlikely. I definitely get the sense that he thinks the mystery would be and has been answered in this book regardless. Yeah, I doubt that Gavilar went around and got these all on his own. It seems very likely he obtained them through the Sons of Honor, especially in light of Mraize's info dump to Shallan about them. That doesn't change my opinions though on the fact that (1) it seems unlikely any person or group would have their hands on 3+ trapped Unmade AND that (2) Brandon would be uncertain as to how many they had.

Or make that, Gavilar's black spheres. Brandon hasn't been asked about these since Oathbringer came out, so I tried to fish for more information during RAFOlympics at JordanCon on Saturday. There's a few things that made me interested in this. Brandon said all the way back in the TWoK annotations (released just before OB, but written long ago) that he felt like the nature of the sphere was obvious, if confusing. He has said that he would explain it in book 3 and that we would all know what it is by the end of book 3, and yet here were are still unable to agree on it. The other interesting thing to me is how many of them there are. I transcribed the OB prologue when Brandon did a reading of it in early 2017 and Gavilar explicitly stated that he had more when he gave one to Eshonai. In the final version of the prologue, this line was removed and we were merely left with the implication that Gavilar had at least two. (one to Eshonai and one to Szeth) I was curious if this was simply a case of word count being shortened or if Brandon took it out on purpose. So the WoB: He didn't reveal much at face value. I THOUGHT that he would be less coy now that it is supposed to be obvious. No such luck. Guess I should have explicitly mentioned that there are still ongoing debates. We can't agree on "what we think it is" Brandon! And the number is "several", but non-canonized and a RAFO. My interpretation of this is that Brandon RAFO'd the number simply because it hasn't been canonized. It sounded strongly to me like a case where he didn't want to commit to a number if they hadn't decided on one yet. Fortunately, I'm of the opinion that this narrows down our options to the most obvious solution. I think there were four plausible theories: voidlight, voidspren, Fused, or Unmade. Voidlight is the easiest to eliminate. The context of the discussion between Gavilar and Eshonai is heavily about trapping spren in gemstones. Furthermore, we have never seen voidlight contained in a gem. Between these, I don't see how Brandon could possibly think that OB "implies" the sphere contains voidlight. I also think that this WoB eliminates the Unmade. I know there's a compelling argument that it does, because Gavilar very clearly explains how Ba Ado Mishram was trapped in a gem when he shows the sphere to Eshonai. There's some other supporting evidence as well, I believe. If nothing else, there's the fact that Navani compares the black sphere(s) to the King's Drop (which seems designed to hold an Unmade) and the fact that several Unmade pop up around Kholinar when the Everstorm comes. However, this isn't the only interpretation of that evidence. And most importantly, I have a VERY HARD TIME believing that Gavilar possessed [1] at least 1/3 of all the Unmade (several implying at least 3) or that [2] Brandon doesn't know exactly where all of the Unmade are. Surely if Gavilar had several Unmade held captive, Brandon would know the precise number. Personally, I think there's an argument to be made that it could be a Fused. But I don't suppose that there's a great explanation as to HOW he could have obtained one of these if they're all trapped on Braize and only get free for Desolations. It would imply that the sphere(s) have held these Fused for an awfully long time. Overall, this feels like an idea with little support. So... it's got to be a voidspren, in my opinion. Worth noting that long ago Brandon claimed Navani's notebook pages in TWoK (about fabrials) offer a clue. Also, when Eshonai sees the sphere, her immediate reaction is to think of the forms of power. Forms which are associated with voidspren. I think this is the most obvious explanation that fits with what we know. It fits with the prior discussion about fabrials and trapping spren (like listeners trap spren in their gemhearts, as Eshonai notes) and it fits with the idea that Gavilar has some unspecified multitude of them.

Wanted to put this out there while it's fresh on my mind... Isaac did a workshop on glyphs at JordanCon this weekend. There are some mundane things to be shared eventually. Most of the workshop revolved around his process of creating glyphs. The general idea being: (1) Find/make a cool shape that "feels right" for the word, (2) Work the right phonemes into that sketch, (3) Make adjustments, as if it has been changed and warped over time. And of course, rule zero: "Cool trumps readability." Anyways... He revealed that this glyph, found on the "Ironstance Scroll" in WoR... ...is the symbol of the secretive Calligrapher's Guild. Technically, it "spells" Isaac's name. That is, "IZAK" I believe. Though it's not meant to represent those sounds in world of course. It's merely the glyph of the Calligrapher's Guild. After the workshop I asked him about this glyph: It's been quite a mystery that we never solved. It shows up in MANY places in TWoK. It also shows up in the Frostlands map in WoR and the Kholinar map in OB. Maybe other places? Peter confirmed (in that last link) that it's not the symbol of Isasik Shulin (famous Alethi cartographer). That's about all we really know. So I asked about it. Isaac said that he doesn't know what it means. I'm a little skeptical of this, because it seems that he generally has to know the meaning and word to create a glyph. He doesn't just draw nice shapes or pick random phonemes. Anyways, he claims that he doesn't know what it means, but that Brandon has asked him to put it in several places. He has mentioned before that it's supposed to be an Easter egg of some kind. So that's itself isn't news. One interesting thing that he added was that I should "compare it to the Calligrapher's Guild glyph." He actually held up one of the buttons he had with that glyph on it and said (something along the lines of), "Compare it to this one. That's all I will say." @Pagerunner and I took the time to compare them this afternoon and it seems to be pretty straightforward. They both clearly seem to share the same phonemes. But what does that mean? Peter seems to have shot down the obvious answer. To analyze things a bit further... It's interesting to me that the symbol appears in both obvious and subtle ways. It shows up prominently in the compass rose of Isasik's map of Roshar, for example. But then in the map of Shadesmar it's more like somebody added it later. Like they stamped an existing document. This suggests to me that the person/people using it are some kind of secret society. This idea of a common symbol being used in suspicious ways gives me a major Freemason vibe. My next thought was to compare the documents that it's used in. Maybe that would give a clue as to who this secret society could be? I started thinking that it might be related to the Sons of Honor because MOST of the items it appears on are maps related in some way to the Alethi monarchy. Maps for Gavilar, maps of the Shattered Plains... The Silver Kingdoms and Shadesmar maps are easy enough to explain along those lines. The view of Kharbranth is more of a stretch, but we have reason to think Taravangian was related to them in some way. The biggest hole with this of course is the (multiple) appearances on the Frostlands map. It's possible the explanation is more mundane of course... Just something related to cartography or a group of cartographers? But then... Why would it show up stamped in random places, some of which can barely be called maps? I'm curious if you guys have any thoughts on this. Putting this here for now as it all ties back to this relationship between these two glyphs. If we go down too much of a rabbit hole we can move to another thread so as not to get in the way of actual glyph/language work.

Few things I wanted to put down before I forget... This is apparently the glyph of the Calligrapher's Guild. (It's technically Isaac's name, but it doesn't mean "Isaac" in-world) I asked Isaac about this glyph. He said that he doesn't know what it means (I'm a little skeptical?), but that Brandon has asked him to put it in several places. (including more since then) He then told me to compare it to the Calligrapher's Guild glyph. "That's all I'll say." Super mysterious! @Pagerunner noted that several of the same phonemes are there. I'm wondering if it's related to the Sons of Honor or some other secret society... But I'll take this to the glyph thread and share more thoughts there when I have the time. A few of the most interesting (but still very mundane) Stormlight timeline questions I asked Karen... The 100th day of the year marking the end of Oathbringer (referenced in Karen's blog post) refers to the last event in the final chapter. Highstorms come less frequently around the Weeping (which we know), and they come more frequently around Midpeace. A certain character in OB spent just 5 days in Marat before the finale. I also got some details about Everstorm/Highstorm speeds, but I need to sort through that. My questions for Brandon were recorded, so I'll just let those be captured directly on Arcanum.

I've never been to a con myself. No pressure, and not asking anybody to commit. Just wanted to put the idea out there, in time for people to see it. I figure we've all got to eat, and that it would be fun to put faces to some usernames. I won't be there until later tonight, so I don't have a feel for what the best option is. I imagine it would be best to meet in the hotel lobby and go somewhere close, or just eat at the hotel. I'll either pick a restaurant or a spot in the lobby I guess and post it here by tomorrow morning? So if anybody is interested, they know when and where to meet. If anybody wants to just stop to say hello and do their own thing for lunch that's totally fine.