1stBondsmith

To be honest, I expected more wit responding to the initial posting. A good mix of wit and flatulence humor due to the newly coined order, but it appears you all "mist" it.

My son noted that the most deadly order of Knights Radiant must be the current form of Szeth, as he was a Windrunner and now combines Skybreaker powers, thus making him the first Wind Breaker How true that is!

@Quantus, This is a good theory. I have recently studied the story Wit told, and I think this is close. I don't know if this lead to Tanavast's demise (a good potential theory), but it was certainly a factor with Cultivation, and I believe, the missing people to the East. This affair will definitely affect the outcome of a lot in the future of Roshar. The Moons are a good reflection of the Shards and maybe more. Can't wait to find out what!

When asked about the craziness of Spensa trying to have her life in danger to use the cytonic drive, I was reminded of the White Sands sandmasters approaching death by dehydration to be able to get more ribbons of sand in their control; killing vast armies with Nightblood but draining your life to death... not a first for Sanderson.

I agree with you on Sazed (holding two shards of Adonalsium allows quite a bit of research), but Jasnah is far behind many many people we know about as far as the Cosmere goes. Kriss, Gavilar, Heralds, a grouchy swordmaster (or others of the 5 Scholars), Nazsh, Kelsier, Ire members, etc., etc. I wouldn't put her in the league of one of the "Brightest" till she learns a lot more.

Being who I am, I wouldn't wish the job on anyone I liked. Seriously though, Sanderson said he would like to be a bondsmith, but he didn't think he was tough enough (or it was too hard) to go though what it takes to become one. We have more to see with Dalinar, and it won't be pleasant. I spoke with Brandon a few times on the subject, and he RAFOd any good information, but said the price was very high.

This question leads to the whole point of "Journey before destination." what good is saving people and seeds and animals in a huge vault to outlive the nuclear holocaust, if you remove the very people smart enough to avoid the holocaust, and place them in a vault? What good is protecting your city, if the rest of the world becomes an unlivable place? Why rule the world through fabulous wars, if the result is a slave/master society? The journey matters because it determines the destination better than the goals do.

@Honorless asked if I was in the Military. I am not active duty anymore, but you are always in for our men and women. My spare time, when not earning a living for my family is spent with OUR (Operation Underground Railroad). Uses the skill set for a great cause.

The reason we all like Dalinar (see how I included everyone here:)) is "The most important step is the next one". That is the hope of all of us good, bad, amazing, and despicable. It does not bring me any pride to say it, but I have killed men who have committed less death than Dalinar, and would do it again because we can't wait for them to change before they kill again. But, I hope to my last breath that they, and all of us get a chance to be better people by painful changing. It is the hope we all live by. Genocide, mass murdering or holocaustic killing need justice and need someone to stop them, but sometimes that requires large scale killing to do so. Your motive and your capacity matter greatly in the judgement of justice. Dalinar showed many times that he was no Sadeas. I cheered when Adolin removed him from the story. Dalinar is not the bully he was, nor does he justify killing like he used to. But, I too, would eliminate the man who betrayed a white-flag tryst to have me killed. The rest of the city casualties we can blame on Sadeas, as he acted early without orders and with malice.

@Honorless, is likely right. There would originally be Justice (as in fair result), but it would probably be pushed by the shard into Vengeance as well. That would be a tough Shard to fight in world, wouldn't it?

Honor would lean to Loyalty. Devotion would stay the same. Odium would become justice. Ambition would take me over.

Callsign: Silversmith- Also quite a Hobby!

I have been thinking that it would be uniting the Heralds to the Unmade...and a final step, unite Roshar souls with Braise Inhabitants. Possibly even those from "The Tranquilan Halls" who might be left.

@TheFoxQR, well thought out. I still do not get the third moon, and if it is odium or another Shard, but I agree with the overall interpretation. I also agree that the Bondsmiths are involved, but otherwise do not think the Spren are required to be part of this particular Story. I think you are right about Queen Tsa ascending, but was she a Bondsmith? Having a child with Nomon would but a new twist on Bonding, and also describe why Honor had less power to fight of Odium. I also agree that this is a big hint about Amians and their importance to the overall story and fight with Odium. "End of worlds" kind of level.

Entitled form- an endless pain to Work form and all the Power forms Victim form- expert at denying ability, capability or culpability Bored form- just like it sounds... unamused, unexcited, unimpressed, and uncaring Content form- continually happy with where they are, what they know, and who they know Stylo form- only copies what is in front of them; nothing original

I lost my balance when I lost all nerve input from my ear. I had to learn to ignore the input from the good ear for balance. I lean heavily on vision and foot sensation for balance. The stronger the muscles in the foot, the easier it is to balance on them. It is not isolated from other senses, but strong muscles definitely help balance. A wife with Parkinson's issues has learned the same thing. We attend a boxing class together and strength in the large muscles definitely helps the balance of those who lose it neurologically. A thought.

Last year @The Forgetful Archivist listed the Prom Ticket he/she uses. I would also like to list an additional reminder I have of my Symbol of Ignorance. Today I have half the hearing (one ear lost hearing in college), half the eyesight (lost to straining on screens and some age issues), no sense of smell or taste (lost in a head injury that injured the brain), half the strength and endurance (lost in a war conflict and weight loss in the recovery), and now, half of my wife's precious time (lost to anxiety, treatment and pain from early onset Parkinson's). It seems I have half of all the things I love that I used to have all of. They were a "basic" part of life I now miss, and am forced to adapt to. Most people I deal with have no idea I have any of these limitations. Enjoy your available experiences and blessings with gratitude... with joy... and sharing as much of it with the people around you as you can. You will be left with large reminders when they pass.

Dalinar is the only Bondsmith we know of to date int he story. He is bonded to the Stormfather who has never bonded to another since he has incorporated the Cognitive shadow of Honor. This has led to various uses of power that have never been done, according to the Stormafather. Dalinar has not begun using his second surge, which could also be boosted. Ishar/Ishi/etc.as the Herald of Bondsmiths/ priests/ etc.was first in enforcing oaths on the Radiants, and claimed to have power to destroy them all. He is also mad, and without his Honorblade, but has a following believing he is a God (as he himself thinks) and still has a strong influence over Nale and his Radiants. The two are going to clash, and likely sooner rather than later. So the speculation starts with these: Does Dalinar clash with Ishi before Odium gets to him? -(I think yes) Who comes out as the top Bondsmith? - I must hope Dalinar does, since two other Heralds appear to be inclined to him at least). Does ishi try to destroy Radiant bonds? -Wow! what a twist that would be. Any guesses? Will Ishi join the coalition when he finds out of Honor/Stormfather's approval of Dalinar? - Naw, he is nuts.

16 Shards.... Microphone drops...

Another thing to note. If you cast any metal, it has bubbles and flow patterns. That happens when you cast. Sometimes, you can see this on rubber tires, but most products are polished or finished after casting, and that hides some of the flaws you would otherwise see. If you soulcast it to another metal, it would still have these interstitials and flaws. You don't get forged steel when you change cast iron to steel, you get cast steel. This is much weaker than forged. The forging process is what gives it the impact resistance and changes the crystal structure to be tougher. If you change iron to crystal, the lattice structure would dominate, but the empty spaces would still be there. Metal to oil would have bubbles. Metal to food would have air pockets as well. I don't see how you could change one metal casting into another metal forged. There are restrictions to this change, even if it is magic.

Bicycle, take me where I want to go! Cloth, stop the bleeding! Cloak, protect my daughter! Stick, pick fruit for me till I say stop!

It was the role of guards that I wondered about. There is a permanent storm there, not the Highstorm. Controlled differently depending on people trying to get to the island. "they reach Shin lands, to an extent". Yes, but as rain? With any stormlight? Does the Stormfather pass the mountains (like the place Kaladin meets him in twice after the stormwall passes). It is different here. I want to know how the Mountain Spren are part of this. I think we must just wait and RAFO.

Although I respect your insights, I do not believe this has to do with Horneater beliefs. I believe something unique to Shinovar is going on. The Shin Mountains feature in too much magical lore to be like other peaks (Girl who looked up, Swiftfoot, no highstorm, all foriegn plants, etc.) I think the spren- plural or singular- are special there, as they seem to form a boundary of epic effect. I think this was a teaser of future things we will learn about Shinovar, but I can see that there were other references to the religion as well, so I am looking for informed speculations about something we only have a dim view of. Was this where the first migration of non-rosharan humans cam after "Destroying" their world? Was it set aside for their welfare, and guarded by spren to keep it isolated? How is the storm stopped; or, is this mythological because the mountains are high enough to physically stop the storm? I rather doubt this, as Szeth surely knows when there is a powerful spren around. Thanks @Pagerunner, for your input. Are there other references to Shinovar's isolation that might shed light here? I cannot recall any.

On a careful reread, I rediscovered a conversation between Szeth and Nale, where Szeth refers to Nale as "Aboshi, a deific honorific previously reserved for the Spren of the Mountains..." From this I gather the obvious, that the Shin honor those spren as Gods, but what are these spren? Do they represent a spren for each mountain; a spren for all the mountains, or many spren in the mountains? Based on the sentence, I see them/ it as being powerful and large spren, since Szeth does not seem to treat all spren with equal reverence. Are these mountain spren why walking on stone is Sacred? We need more info on this. Have any of you addressed this before? Thanks.

An unornamented armor does not mean it is not complex. Remember the descriptions about larger plates filled between with smaller plates, and those being filled. It is about movement and completeness of protection, not about the style. It won't have flowers and curls and inlays, but it will have corners, lots of reticulations and lots of shape adhesion to the person. No openings, deflection angles, and no edges to catch blows.