Ciridae

I like that idea. Celebrant is closeish to the beginning of the expanse of vapours. I'm pretty sure someone asked Brandon about either Splinters of Harmony or Preservation but I can't remember what the answer was and I'm having trouble finding anything on the arcanum...

Exactly. As far as I know people have been trying to match them with one of the orders. Knowing that they are not affiliated at all is pretty cool. The only other sapient spren we've seen so far (on Roshar) that weren't associated with an order were voidspren. I just think it's interesting.

There's also this Which I think is really exciting. There was a bit of a debate whether these were truthwatcher or skybreaker spren. So instead what could they be?

Ive been wondering for a while if this is actually the case on Roshar. Singers are described as having red or black hair strands, and I always imagined that to mean actual red instead of orange. We know horneaters are a human singer hybrid, and that lots of Vedens with red hair get it from their horneaters neighbours. Maybe Rock and Shallan have actual red hair.

Edgedancer, which is usually number two for me after Willshapers. But I really enjoyed the quiz, really good questions.

I'm not sure Venli could even have a Shardblade. Timbre is inside her gem heart, so it's an interesting question what would happen if she tried to manifest her as a blade.

I hadn't though of that. But what makes the Fused go back to Braize in the first place? Shouldn't they pop up in the CR of Roshar when they die?

@MountainKing That's an amazing WoB, I hadn't seen that yet. Thank you!

Not sure about spoilers here sooo...

I think it's a number of factors that end up forming the personality of fully bonded Nahel spren. Their base personality from the CR, with all their memories that slowly return as the bond progresses, the ideals and needs of their Radiant, the new memories they aquire in the PR (like being able to understand human nature) and their own "nature", whatever mini-intent they may have or embody (like protecting or adhering to the law). Depending on spren, Radiant, and circumstance, I think all these factor in to varying degrees.

I've had the baseless idea that Rock will become a Stoneward. I don't know if or how unconsciously fiddling with Tension could explain how he was able to use the Shardbow, but that's what I'm thinking right now. I hope at least one member of bridge four will be a Stoneward.

I've been thinking about how different the personalities of the various Nahel spren are, and had a little thought/theory about them and the Nahel bond itself. It seems to me like a lot of the spren we see exhibit personality traits that are complementary to those of their bond mates. Kaladin struggles with his depression, he takes things very seriously and has a realistic, if often pessimistic outlook on life. Syl is usually upbeat, optimistic and tries to get him to enjoy life. She encourages him and, like Tien, brings light into Kaladin's life. Lift is spontaneous, reckless, and impulsive. In Edgedancer we learn that Lift's mother and their relationship is a big part of Lift's "inside"- character (for lack of a better term). Wyndle fills the role of Lift's mother in this case. He cares and worries for her, is cautious and tries to get Lift to take care of herself. What little we see of Renarin and Glys also seems to reflect this. Where Renarin is usually reserved and struggles with self-doubt, Glys is excited, jovial and encouraging. Shallan is tricky. The best I can think of is that she is a very intuitive person, where Pattern sees things in a very abstract and literal way. Shallan is very good at understanding her surroundings, and especially other people, but struggles understanding and defining herself. Pattern knows exactly what he is, but he has a hard time comprehending the normalites of human existence (...like most spren. I may be stretching here.) Dalinar and the Stormfather are difficult too. Here I'd argue that the Stormfather is too powerful and specific of a spren for the Radiant to have a very large effect on the personality. We've seen very little of Jasnah and Ivory. I can't come up with much for them. The same applies for Teft, Venli, Malata, Szeth, Lopen and their spren. So to say that spren personify what their Radiant is "missing" or "needs" is an oversimplification, but I do think that the character traits of the Radiant have an effect on the development of the Nahel spren's personality after they cross into the physical. We know the spren already have distinct personalities in the cognitive realm, but Syl says that all spren are essentially the same person (I think this is when she is talking about spren children, can't get the exact quote, sorry). So I think part of what the spren get out of the Nahel bond is a further developed and more individualized personality, compared to their self in the cognitive realm. I'd like to clarify that this is definitely not a hard rule, and the degree in which this phenomenon is expressed very likely varies between the various spren and Radiants. (An alternate or additional explanation for why the personalities of spren and Radiants are the way they are is because reading interactions and dialogue between contrasting characters is far more interesting than if they are similar. Bit of a meta reason that Brandon could have worked off of.) Most of this is conjecture, but even realmatically, I would argue that this is plausible, considering that the Nahel bond is basically a merging of souls where in most cases one of the souls fills the cracks in the other. I think it's satisfyingly symmetrical, and very much in line from what we've seen in Stormlight so far. Let me know what you think

I've been wondering about this interlude as well, mainly about its purpose. Was it to add a bit of world building, show some of Herdaz and a new greatshell or are we going to see more of the captain? The escape acts made me wonder if he may be using abrasion, maybe without knowing what he's doing yet.

Wow yeah, that's as conclusive as it gets. Awesome, that completely went over my head when I read that chapter, thanks. Edit: I found this just under the WoB you provided:

Ah sorry, I was pretty vague there. I don't think he's an Elantrian necessarily, more like an entrepreneur with a one-trick device made from Selish tech that needs investiture to function. But yeah, it's definitely a little weird, I didn't get the impression that Riino's lighthouse gets a whole lot of traffic, but it must be enough to survive. Do spren visit him? What would other worldhoppers be doing around Kholinar in Shadesmar? Heh yeah, good point. I'd love to know more about what's going on with Felt. Glad he showed up in OB.

Ease of access to investiture for people like Riino and Vasher I imagine. For Felt and the ardent who mentioned soil, I'm not sure, but we know Felt has tried to visit the Nightwatcher. But it is puzzling why after they would take the time and effort to stay with a highlord's army for years and years, during a relatively uneventful time. Maybe they just like chouta. It's an interesting question though. We know (Mistborn) On Roshar there shouldn't be a reason why they can't have the same for the PR. I like it. About the canned food...there's a whole population living in a massive region that can't grow their own food and are almost completely dependent on imports or their own brought rations. I'm sure some cosmere businessman has already established an empire built on canned fish. Doesn't have to be on Roshar, I'm sure they'd find a way to transport large amounts through the CR, either way, but it's not impossible. Also, if there is a community living on islands at the origin, we might get to see it as soon as we get Wandersail. (Worldhopping, Larkin-riding Rysn confirmed. Maybe she'll cut herself a slice off the lucrative CR-food delivery business and starts spreading chouta through the cosmere. Sixth of the Dusk has tried Herdazian food after all. Food for thought.)

Yes, it's for sure part of what the surge should be able to do. I agree that it's probably not easy to master, and if I remember correctly Brandon has said that Elsecalling isn't very exact, even if you know what you're doing. Now I'm not sure if Elsecalling is just the act of creating the mini-perpendicularity or if is also transporting things through the physical realm. We've no confirmation of this but I still think that transportation allows for a ranged application of the surges.

I reckon the sphere just contains Voidlight. We know Gavilar was talking about Ba-Ado-Mishram when talking about his "crucial" spren, and we also know that Ba-Ado-Mishram had the ability to provide Voidlight. To me it seems like he discovered BAM somewhere under the palace, she is the source of his knowledge, she manipulated him, and she provided the Voidlight. I think he was about to free her before he was killed, or as soon as he had some Bondsmithy powers to do so, if that's what's required. That would have at least sparked another False Desolation, not necessarily the True Desolation, for which Taln had to break first.

@Isilel Most of the spren bear some similarity, but other don't at all. If Timbre is a Reacher her physical form looks nothing like her cognitive form. We still don't know what Ashspren and Stonewardspren look like in the physical, odds are that they could also look very different.

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what the Fused are that are described as hulking with large carapace armor similar to Sharplate. Several times we see this variety of Fused shape their carapace to suit their needs, IIRC once in the lumberyard in the shape of a saw, and again when Kaladin is fighting Amaram, I think I remember there being a Fused with a carapace club. Is there any sort of consensus on what these Fused are doing? Is it simply a clever application of Cohesion? Could it be Progression or even Tension? For some reason these Fused really stood out for me, not necessarily in a good way as their powers seem so different from what we see of other Fused. Are they using a surge or is this a separate power?

I assumed they were highspren, based on the fact that most of the spren primarily consist of one of the essences, and the essence of vapour is associated with the Skybreakers. I'd like to know why they were working on an honorspren ship though.

I have to admit I thought about it too, especially because he seems to reference Odium in the same breath: It might just be a nod to a shard that isn't actually Wisdom but maybe something similar. He does seem to personify wisdom more than would be normal, but Hoid is anything but, so who knows.

The flashbacks in OB were key for the plot and helped us understand what made present day Dalinar who he is, while shedding some light on to questions we've had for years. But Eshonai isn't undergoing any more character development in the present, and the setting of her early life isn't very relevant to the current plot. So why did Brandon chose her as a flashback character? Do we know of any events in the region of the unclaimed hills during the last 30ish years (do we know how old Eshonai was when she died?) that are important for the current plot? What can we expect from Eshonai's flashbacks? I have a couple of ideas/hopes for what we might see, but I'm sure there's more. With Venli going through the arc that most of us thought Eshonai would undergo, we'll be heavily exposed to a present-time main character as seen through the eyes of another. Venli still measures herself by her sister's standard and I think the dynamic and conflict between the two sisters will be a big part of what the flashbacks have to offer for the present-day narrative: Our newest (probably) Willshaper's character growth, based on Venli's past as seen and evaluated through the eyes of the most archetypical would-be-Willshaper in the books. I'm certain we'll see more in the present of the deserters who did not want to take on Stormform. The flashbacks could show us more of some characters, like Thude, who may have a larger role to play in the present. As far as we know, Venli and the deserters are the only surviving Listeners, who know the old songs, and, more importantly, remember how the Last Legion turned away from Odium. Hopefully we'll learn more about the Singer forms and lifecycle (are babies born in a form?), listener culture, their pre-human conflicts, where their Shards came from etc. We would probably learn more about the Shattered Plains. There's a lot we dont know, like the origin of the warcamp domes, Stormseat's history and what great magic caused the plains to be shattered in the first place. There's Listener songs about that event after all. Any other ideas what we might expect or why Eshonai was chosen as a flashback character instead of someone else?

@hoiditthroughthegrapevine I was thinking about lesser spren, like most Singer forms use anyway. As far as we know Venli is the first Singer since the betrayal of the spren and the arrival of humans to bond a Nahel spren. And it seems larger Voidspren like Ulim don't usually end up bonding Singers either. @.S.A.M.K.M We know so little about Plate that it's impossible to say, but it's an interesting idea. Even if Plate turns out to work differently, the forms of power would probably be available to copy if you can get your hands on the right voidspren.

I've been thinking a lot about Singer forms, fabrials, and the future of Rosharan technology. I believe that fabrial technology has the potential to alter the physical aspect through manipulation of the spritweb, much like hemalurgy. When it comes down to it, Koloss, Kandra and Singer forms are exactly the same thing. Beings whose spiritwebs have a piece of investiture artificially grafted to it. The extra piece of investiture alters the spiritweb, and as a result, a different physical and cognitive form is expressed. Using hemalurgy to alter the physical is messy, and extremely difficult. The only examples we have are Koloss and Kandra (and to a degree Inquisitors), created through the knowledge of Ascension along with whispers from Ruin, and the Chimeras, that were probably created with the help of some very knowledgeable foreign entity. Even in the thousand years after his Ascension Rashek wasn't able to create any new servants through hemalurgy. But on Roshar the process is facilitated through the spren, convenient and plentiful packages of investiture, and a singular grafting point to the spiritweb, the gemheart. So the idea is, that eventually someone figures out how to attach a fabrial to someone's soul, maybe in an attempt to grant powers permanently without the fickle Nahel bond. Whether or not that actually works is up in the air, but I'm certain it would have ramifications on their physical form. The main difference to creating hemalurgic creatures here is that the artificial gemhearts would probably only slightly alter a normal blueprint of the physical, like we see with the Singer forms. So I think just how Singers build up their physical and cognitive aspects through the spren bonds, humans could likewise change their aspects, with a lot of potential, not only in the physical realm. The best thing is, that we already have an example of a human grafting a spren to their soul with their physical form being altered as a result. Yelig-nar is a piece of investiture tied to a grafting point that anyone can use. The primary purpose is to grant the ten surges to whoever 'bonds' Yelig-nar, but what's really interesting is what happens to the wielder's body. There's a huge change, most internal organs being replaced by a cavity holding the gem, and crystals growing from the skin. The first time reading OB I assumed it was mostly something added to look cool, to add some visuals to the climax of the book. But Amaram's body changing so dramatically makes a lot of sense. His soul was just drastically altered, that should have ramifications in the physical realm. How Yelig-nar's gemstone allows for an anchor point to someone's soul is a mystery to me, just as why gemhearts appear to be a physical slot inducing change in the spiritual realm in the first place. What's truly fascinating about all this though is that the key point to physically transforming is the gemheart. We have plenty of examples of spren bonds that don't result in dramatic transformations. Both Surgebinders and the Sadeas soldiers in Thaylen City are in a spren bond whose only physical expression is the color of their eyes. So what lets gemhearts facilitate physical transformations? I'm not certain, but I'm think the transformation aspect is a key part of Roshar's investiture based ecosystem. We know that greatshells rely on Mandras to reduce the effects of gravity on their bodies to survive. In addition, I think that most creatures with gemhearts need them not only for the powers they may grant, but also to help in the natural transformations between various lifestages. There's a reason chasmfiends pupate during highstorms. Fabrial tech is an extension of what we see in Roshar's nature. I think with enough realmatic knowledge someone could figure out how to copy nature and apply it to humans. The Singer forms and other applications of the gemheart in nature are probably far more elegant than what humans could create in the near future, but with enough tinkering who knows what could happen. Maybe some of this could be applied to animals as well. Think horses with carapace or faster, more powerful chull. Some thoughts to end on, I have no idea how a fabrial could be attached to a person's soul. The best I can come up with is that someone who can access the spiritweb, like the Nightwatcher or Sja-anat, if what they do even touches the spiritweb, would have to help in the process. I doubt you could do it from the Cognitive Realm, but who knows. I'm also uncertain how spiritual changes directly affect the physical. On Roshar, most lifeforms seem to use stormlight to power their transformations during highstorms. On Scadrial, spiritual changes seem to express a change without the help of additional investiture. I hope most of this was coherent enough to make a little sense. I think Roshar's ecosystem is beautifully imagined, and I love how intricate and mysterious is still is. There's a lot we don't know, but with a magitech society on the rise in Roshar's future, I'm certain we'll see great things.