cometaryorbit

I don't know. I always took that as "the Everstorm meant that Heralds were now irrelevant to the Fused returning" (given Jasnah's comments at the end of WOR that everything might be different this time, and Odium's statement to Dalinar that he now can't prevent the Fused from being reborn). Though the Chanarach = Shallan's mother hypothesis does seem likelier now (though I still dislike it).

Bondsmiths and Fused using the Song of Prayer pull new Light from the Spiritual, but it seems like most Radiants use Stormlight from spheres and gems or the highstorm (Investiture already present in the Physical Realm). Is it end-neutral for regular Radiants but end-positive for Bondsmiths and Fused? That seems odd.

Stormlight (and Breath) are Investiture themselves. They can provide energy from the Spiritual, but I think new Investiture only comes in from a highstorm (or Bondsmith) - on Roshar - or new people with Breath being born - on Nalthis. Allomantic Metals and Aons (on Sel) are physical 'keys' that pull in Investiture from the relevant Shard(s).

I just created an Arcanum account; is there a guide on how to use it?

Pretty sure that Adonalsium created the Dawnshards; isn't that stated in Dawnshard? Where does it say Nightblood clouds future sight? Other future sight does, but Nightblood doesn't see the future? I don't know if Dragonsteel is actually going to be about the Shattering, or a pre-Shattering story about Hoid.

I think the point is that

Hmm I thought it was longer than that due to character ages... I thought Vin turns 16 early in book 1 and says she's 21 at some point in HoA. Maybe I'm wrong though. Or maybe book 1 covers more than a year? The summaries of the previous book's events at the end of the latter books do say "One year has passed", so the gaps between books must be close to a year. EDIT: I actually can't see how Vin can die in 1025. I think the Well has to refill in 1024 (or more likely 1025 if there's no year 0) since the time scale is specifically 1024 years. So one year after that would put the beginning of HoA some time in 1025 or 1026.

Electrum wasn't known to the main characters until they found TLR's description of it between book 2 and 3. If they'd known electrum Vin would have used it against Zane. I think he might have had separate tinminds for sight and hearing... think they are listed in WoA, I will check.

The fact Shards have future sight suggests Adonalsium presumably did, so you would indeed think Adonalsium could have predicted and prevented the Shattering. The Iriali idea of the One and Many also suggests a voluntary Shattering. However, it's described in pretty violent terms in Dawnshard and by Khriss in Secret History. But perhaps the original Vessels didn't know that Adonalsium was aware of their plan beforehand. EDIT: there's also a quote from the Terris Prophecies in Mistborn "that which has been sundered must again begin to find its whole". 'Begin' implies that the merger of Ruin and Preservation was only the start...

Right but that still requires someone who actually has the power to be added to the medallion, so a Nicrosil Compounder can't just create all the other Allomantic or Feruchemical powers for themselves.

I think there are 50-100 planets in the cosmere per WOB (I assume this means planets inhabited by sapient life, not e.g. the ten gas giants in the Roshar system) So I can easily see say half of them being strongly Shard influenced if not actually 'in residence' We know of 12 planets with Shards in residence or strong influence from Shards: If we assume worlds for at least 4 of Valor, Whimsy, Invention, and Mercy, and the last unknown Shard, and a final Shattering location for Ambition, that gets us to 17. If there are more Autonomy avatars, another Shard has avatars, and/or Endowment and/or other Shards visited planets before their final destination, there could easily be 25+ with Shardic influence. In the space age, planets that didn't previously have sapient life (and thus aren't included in the 50-100) could be settled. I think the question of whether the cosmere is geologically/astronomically old or relatively recently created by Adonalsium is still unresolved; Vasher/Zahel's comment on fossils in RoW kind of suggests older, but fossils can form in say 15000 years so it's not definitive.

I think the Breath is a chunk of Investiture which pulls energy through from the Spiritual Realm, rather than using energy stored within the Breath itself. Mistborn: Stormlight glow is probably similar: the glow fades because the Stormlight leaks from the sphere, not because it's being converted to regular physical light. Otherwise better gems (which leak less) would glow less. The physical light energy is coming from the Spiritual. EDIT: color bleaching in Awakening is related to Breath transfer, not continuing effects of Breath. Regular Awakened objects* don't consume color while operating, nor do the passive benefits of Heightenings. *Nightblood does, but he also consumes Breath, so transfer is still happening.

Yeah. Here's the WoB I was thinking of that implies "normal metals with Spiritual add-on": At least the implications are conflicting. I can see one interpretation that kind-of could reconcile it (they're really high atomic number metals belonging to those periodic-table groups, that wouldn't be stable at all in our universe, but are stable in the cosmere due to Investiture/Spiritual properties). Here are two WoBs that suggest this will be explained in Era 3: classicalkhlennium A while ago I was talking with my friend about the presence of isotopes in Mistborn, and we thought surely the metals have ions and isotopes like they do in the real world, otherwise how else would they exist on an atomic level? We wondered if there were radioactive isotopes on Scadrial or even in the Cosmere as a whole, else they would never discover nuclear weaponry and fuels. None of the non-god metals in Mistborn have radioactive components, but that isn't to say that radioactive metals don't exist in the cosmere. Radioactive elements such as uranium (a necessary discovery for the 3rd and 4th Eras of Mistborn if they want to have long term fuel sources/weapons) and radium (necessary discovery in the field of medicine) seem necessary to the advancement of civilization. This also raises the question of where would the god metals, lerasium, atium, and harmonium, fit on the Periodic Table, and would all of their isotopes be stable, would they perhaps have radioactive isotopes that can somehow affect their Allomantic properties? Brandon Sanderson These are things we'll start answering in the modern day Mistborn novels, so RAFO for now. General Reddit 2019 (Nov. 18, 2019) Questioner You mentioned earlier that the Mistborn magic system is basically a Periodic Table of Elements. How would that affect the study of science in creating the whole Periodic Table? Brandon Sanderson If you can see what's happening on Scadrial, even in Era 2, they have a disproportionate amount of understanding and study of metallurgy, and they are not nearly as good at other things. So it's affected where they spend their focus and their research. Like, they don't have the radio, when they kind of should. They had to get it from some other places, the idea of that technology. So really, what's happening there is, I'm trying to keep it close ('cause Scadrial is an Earth analogue), but at the same time show what they're stronger at and what they're weaker at. It has influenced the way they approached science in some interesting ways. We won't find out a lot more until Era 3, where one of the characters is more interested in the science. Because the characters in Era 2 are mostly interested in shooting people and perhaps creating interesting mixed drinks. And finding lost coins. (Steris.) ICon 2019 (Oct. 15, 2019)

My guess is that this is related to the Jezrien-killing dagger being sort-of Hemalurgy or at least the same cosmere principles (cosmere scholars in-world could disagree on whether it actually is Hemalurgy) and Raboniel's nickel-silver alloy. I don't think silver itself would harm Fused or Heralds the way it does Shades, merely by contact; but that it's useful in building Hemalurgy-style anti-Cognitive-Shadow weapons that would work. But it's not exactly Hemalurgy in the known Scadrial sense since silver isn't one of the sixteen metals or a god metal.

I think the Heralds are generally too crazy to do anything helpful. The ones we've seen are opposing or following very warped versions of their ideals (Shalash destroying art of herself, Ishar going from Pious to "I'm God", Jezrien going from king to beggar, Nale going from Just to "find legal excuses to kill people I want to kill for unrelated reasons"). So I'd think Vedel would either be very destructive or be a very warped 'for the greater good' interpretation of Loving and/or Healing.

Ah, got it; I was thinking this was analogous to Lux or The Original.

I think the question is, is a god metal: - identical on the Physical atomic level to a known metal on our RL periodic table and only different because of its Investiture and/or Spiritual nature, or; - has the general Physical properties of metal, and even of a general group of metals (atium is a platinum group metal, harmonium is an alkali metal), but not actually Physically identical to any of our metals? I think there are WoBs leaning in both directions ('it's normal matter but wrapped in the Spiritual' vs 'it's not on our periodic table') but none clearly answering e.g. what's the atomic number of atium? EDIT: in either case, silver can't be one. But under the first idea, there could be a god metal Physically identical to silver (and atium corresponds to platinum and harmonium corresponds to cesium).

Hmmm, was that using silver? Maybe you have to take the silver into the Cognitive Realm to have it work in the Rosharan system? Threnody shades, maybe, are present enough in the Physical to interact with silver whereas Rosharan spren even when visible mostly aren't... unless they're manifested as Blade or Plate in which case you can't stab them with silver? But even that seems too easy. I really get the feeling that there was no permanent way to kill Radiant spren, Fused, or Heralds in previous Desolations. Hmm, maybe this has something to do with Raboniel's nickel/silver alloy? Perhaps the silver has to be part of a device.

I don't think Rysn can really use the Dawnshard to Change anything- without her having access to Surgebinding (or another Invested Art) it's mostly passive or dormant - just giving her Heightening-like passive benefits of being very heavily Invested.

Ok then I guess the only point where I disagree is that I don't think there's anything quantum involved. Friction and atmospheric pressure are forces that exist in the classical/macroscopic world; at the quantum level it's all electromagnetism. So I think Abrasion and Adhesion are dealing with classical physics / macroscopic world effects, altering them 'as a whole', rather than directly altering things at the quantum level. Cohesion was specifically limited or designed by Honor to be limited to intermolecular or interatomic bonds, not splitting atoms (not clear whether this is an 'external' restriction which is falling away like the 'unchained Bondsmith' issue, or one designed into the magic system). Surface tension and the rigidity of objects is also a macroscopic /classical phenomenon, so I think Tension is also basically macroscopic: the connection to the strong nuclear force is probably more philosophical. (Though the Surges as concepts include more than the specific KR/Herald powerset, I think.) EDIT: I'd say Progression (healing being based on your Cognitive self), Transformation, and Transportation are more Cognitive or inter-Realm in nature and not really 'physical', but they do work with objects or people as a whole. Illumination's light-wave aspects strike me as the only really quantum-looking thing we see in Surgebinding itself, though the nature of spren and Lights definitely has quantum-ish properties.

I agree that there are probably lots of worlds with Investiture but no Shard 'in residence'. The Aethers seem to be non-Shardic, and there's probably Adonalsium-era leftover magic lots of places. But there is likely Shard influence on worlds where they're not fully 'in residence'. Autonomy may not be the only Shard with avatars; some Splinters can travel, though others seem bound to their planet; and there are probably other forms of 'power left behind'. Ashyn is likely Cultivation 'power left behind' though she's 'in residence' on Roshar; Threnody has Ambition and apparently Odium 'power left behind'. And some Shards may have visited other planets before 'settling down'. We know Odium did, and Returns only starting on Nalthis about 600 years pre Warbreaker is IMO suspicious: Given her Intent tied to giving away power, there could be Splinters of Endowment on half a dozen planets. While I think the Sunlit Man system is probably Adonalsium-era magic, it could be Ambition's actual death location (which Khriss says was not Threnody) or something.

Yeah, Hoid says Kelsier "did what I needed you to", past tense. So it has to be something he did before that point - inspiring the skaa rebellion, training Vin, introducing various members of the crew, etc.

There's a possible reverse effect there though- Zane cutting himself weakened Ruin's voice in his head, so I think causing pain actually weakens control. Intense emotion of any kind might: koloss and Inquisitors are harder to control when 'berserk'. -- Soothers/Rioters can combine efforts to control koloss, so that's another option: get help. Or use a Primer Cube charged with emotional allomancy. Hmmm, I wonder if you're Soothing and somebody else is Rioting do you cancel out? Or not in this case since you're not really targeting specific emotions?

Not in our world, no, but you also can't make your coefficient of friction zero either, or change the direction of gravity for just one object. I think Surgebinding is kind of like reality editing, changing physical (or Cognitive) variables for whatever person/object you're affecting. Gravitation changes the direction of acceleration due to gravity for whatever is being Lashed, Abrasion sets friction to zero, Transformation changes the Cognitive definition of something (e.g. "I'm a goblet" -> "I'm blood"), Transportation changes the location of someone (or something?), etc. Syl talks about natural forces like gravity being basically 'an agreement between friends'. Surgebinding is changing that agreement, temporarily and locally, imo.

I think it's got to be a specifically Cognitive-entity effect, though, not just a reaction with Investiture. If silver had a weird reaction with the Metallic Arts it would have been noticed on Scadrial. I wonder if maybe it only works on beings without Physical bodies, or something. So Fused or Heralds wouldn't get burned by touching silver. Even then, though... if you could kill a Radiant spren by just stabbing them with a silver dagger, I think that would have been discovered by the Fused during the later Desolations.