Argel

Yay!! So happy to see new fanfic! Some of your best in this batch!! Great job as always!

We also know that the Honorblades require a lot more Stormlight to work (or at least it does for Szeth's), and that tapping itnot hat much Stormlight could be dangerous (likely in the "continued use over time" sense). There also seems to be a theme that the Nahal Bonded ones glow brighter that we see throught the series, including in the scene of the Recreance. Maybe the Connection or the bond allows them to harness Stormlight much more efficiently. Even more likely for e.g. Syl and Kal.

Inevitable and steady deterioration of a system or society. As mentioned, this is not true. He would not be able to pick up both and hold onto them if he did not already have a good connection with both. Secret History spoiler Why? A field medic trying to save a life is Preservation. If the war is to acquire resources in order for a civilization to survive then the motivation is preservation. If a war is to push back invaders, then the goal is to preserve the entity being invaded. Sun Tzu says in the Art of War that the ultimate goal of war is peace, which sounds a lot more like Preservation to me. I don't really get why you think war is totally aligned with Ruin, since most wars are about acquiring something or protecting something. Real-time Strategy games may be about wiping the enemy out, but in the real world, the enemy usually surrenders and is very rarely wiped out. Genocide can occur and can be a goal, but that is not true of every war and may only apply to one side in the conflict. We can also go with a long term view and say that there will also be periods of peace and periods of war, and thus harmony would have to include both, in which case a war could be necessary to preserve the balance.

It's a way to learn stances, forms, techniques, honing fighting instincts, etc. Have you read Wheel of Time? Think about the sword training Rand, et. al. gets. It's not directly related to combat, but I think it would be really good practice for KRs, especially given their small number right now. Shallan is further along in her oaths/truths, but Kaladin has the most experience for field operations where he may have to rely just on himself. Shallan is good at that with normal stuff, but fighting what's coming? If I was her or Renarin, I would try and work some shardblade training into my routine.] Edit: Adolin with Honorblade screams "gone to the darkside" to me. I don't see a good/honorable Adolin wielding an honorblade.

So, could Kal still do lashings while in it?

Well, as a common soldier, maybe not so much, but Dalinar was training him for leadership. If nothing else, logistics will be important, and he should have training in that area. He's also a great duelist, so he could help train others. Think about the KRs that have little combat experience. Even Shallan falls into that category. I'm not sure where his story arc is going, but I think these are possibilities. Of course, losing his temper killing Sadeas complicates things. Don't forget he did put himself in jail while Kaladin served his sentence. That's a point in his favor. And maybe there has not been enough time yet, but he doesn't seem to be jealous about e.g Kaladin being a KR. I think we can all guestimate what Dalinar's reaction to Sadeas murder will be if/when he finds out Adolin did it, but what about Renarin? Pargamatic? Dismayed?

He's also there in spirit in The Emporer's Soul. There is a deleted scene with him in and Brandon said the spirit/essence of that scene is canon (like what was said but it just could not have occurred the way it did/when it did). We also know he's the one that set Shai up (so, if she's really determined to track him down, she will have to become a worldhopper).

Also, it would require special training. And without a significant benefit, it makes more sense to improve single-wielding skills.

I've always seen "Ruin" as synonymous with "Entropy" and the intent seems to behave that way. I don't think an outright, clear cut, no doubts about invasion would be a problem for Harmony to deal with and I don't think he would need to hold his power back. Keep in mind that the Intent of Harmony has not completely overwhelmed him (we have a WoB on that). And there is nothing in any of the books or meta-knowledge to suggest Sazed would even think about ruining Scadrial except under very, very extreme circumstances.

At times they seem at odds, but others... I wonder if the Sons of Honor could be pawns of T and his Diagram. There's that time where Graves tells Moash he (Graves) is a patriot, and that always makes me think more of the Sons of Honor than the Diagram. What if bringing back the Vorin Church is part of the "solution" according to The Diagram? If nothing else, the Sons of Honor could be pawns of T and the Diagram. Or loose allies, harking back to before Gavilar was assassinated. It doesn't sound like T sent Szeth after any of the Sons of Honor. I feel like we're missing some info.

If Adonalsium was shattered on Yolin, why would his CS show up in Shadesmar (Roshar's CR)?

Thanks @Iron Eyes!! Some very useful and interesting information there. That leaves whether humans existed on Roshar before or after the Shattering. And if after, was it H&C that created them or was Odium also involved?

I wish they had stretch goals to make a PC and/or iPad version!

Adolin could be one of the people that ends up supporting the KRs. He has battle experience, military training, he's a duelist, etc. So he could still have a "good enough" role to play. Maybe even protecting the Truthwatchers? Of course, Sadeas murder could really change things. Hmm, recruited by Amaram if Dalinar "throws him out" It sure does seem like SA3 could reveal a lot more about Renarin and Adolin in addition to Dalinar.

I think he cares to some extent -- he does mention that it is dangerous for him to be there (Roshar) in one of the SA books. Which now that I think about it, suggests there are no agents of Odium nearby.

I am pretty sure we know that is true. Not as sure about which conspiracies he was in on, though I think we know Amaram was involved. Could Taravangian be part of the Sons of Honor?

I do not think Brandon has ever mentioned a vessel. We do know that Adonalsium is a "he" though. We also know the he was traveling around creating/influencing stuff, such as the greater Roshar system. And Hoid and Frost also seem to have known him. As far as I know we do not have any indication that Adonalsium was a shard+vessel, but we do have hints that that is not the case. Not sure if we have enough to consider it proven though.

We know Roshar is based on a Julia Set. I think we also have a good idea that it was formed from crem (and other natural processes) building up over time, eventually enough to create the continents, etc. I forget if we have a WoB on that, or just several strong hints. That may have occurred before the shattering. Do we know if humans existed on Roshar pre-shattering? I thought we did, but I'm drawing a blank on that right now. Considering Shinovar has soil, it makes me wonder if Cultivation has a stronger presence there. Or maybe less, because life in the harsher regions needs her attention more? Ugh, my head hurts!! Hopefully we will finally learn more about Cultivation in SA3. If we are really lucky, maybe we will learn more in Arcanum Unbound this fall.

Well, I was asked for titles that I found offensive a couple pages back...

Different topic: is there a reason that, when filled out, a user's Website is not converted to a hyperlink for users viewing said profile? I can copy and paste, but it just seems odd not to turn it into a hyperlink.

@Nyali I really like the rank numbering idea. There is one change I think should be made: "Darkeyes" and "Lighteyes" should be renamed to something without (or at least with much less obvious) racial prejudice connotations. "Darkeyes" made me feel uncomfortable and I was very glad to rank up above it.

But how they are being displayed is a new feature. I thought I made it clear that when the level of reputation was included, the titles were tolerable. The reason my view on this has changed is specifically because of the site version 4 changes.

That works for an unoffical fan site, but fans should be able to participate in the official fan site without being e.g. associated with murderous religious zealots and other offensive titles/villains. Additionally, without the reputation number, some of the titles could be mistaken for negative reputation. I know I wasn't happy about some of the early ones at the time I had them, but with the reputation number, I didn't feel the need to complain. I don't remember them off the top of my head -- is there a list of titles? The Bridgerunner one did not thrill me (thought it was tolerable), and I think there was one either before it or after it that bothered me a lot more. I'm also a bit confused why anyone would think being associated with a villainous organization, especially the more extreme ones, could not be offensive to some fans? Yes, some will find those titles cool, but is that really a good enough reason to force fans that do find the associations offensive to suffer them? More to the point, do the reputation titles represent Brandon and his official fan site well? Do they serve the goals and responsibilities of the official fan site? If said titles were dropped entirely would it hurt the site? If not, then isn't keeping them needlessly offending segments of the fan base? Is it wrong for fans to want to be able to participate in the official fansite without the negative associations?

Then you should at least remove the offensive titles from the list then. This is the official fan site for Brandon, and his fans shouldn't be forced to endure offensive reputation titles. It was tolerable before when the reputation value was there to give it context, but now the only context is a meaningless "+" sign (meaningless in the sense that until you see someone with a '-' sign it's not clear that it means positive reputation).

Like the new site overall, now that the brightness has been toned down. The one thing I really dislike is the change to Reputation. Either you should show the number, or some kind of obvious scale (like Reputation: 10+ 20+ 30+ 50+ 100+ 200+ 300+ 400+ .... ) or stop showing the reputation title. As is, it looks like a title the user may have chosen, and as has already been pointed out, some of those titles can appear to be offensive without the reputation context. Personally, I think it's useful to know who has high reputation, since e.g. someone with 4000+ reputation weighing in on a subject is more likely to be familiar with all of the meta info out there than someone new. If you are worried about it being too competitive, then maybe the scales I listed above would be a good compromise? Another option may be to go with boring but obvious titles such as "Reputation Rank 5" and maybe have 20 levels/ranks. Anyway, bottom line is I would really like to see some kind of indicator, or if that's out of the question then stop displaying the current reputation titles.