Yeshaya

It does, thanks!

Is there a list of previously used characters for WTCC? I have a few I want to send in but not if they've been used already. Also is there a style guide for things like what tense to use, or will the cluemaster just modify the hints as necessary? Thanks!

As a general thing, is there any concept of Honorplate? I wonder if the Shardblades were intended to imitate the Honorblades, perhaps bonding an Honorblade gave you the ability to summon plate too. For the specific question I agree with all the people above that he hasn't really needed it yet, but I expect he could summon it.

The black sphere is a vial of black wine, the strongest of all the colors of wine

The black sphere is not just a cool rock, but the coolest of all cool rocks, which Tien manipulated his way into Amaram's army in an ultimately fatal effort to find

The black sphere is actual vantablack, the blackest of all blacks (for real). It is so black that Awakeners can draw infinite Color from it without it fading. That's why Vasher is on Roshar. 

The black sphere is the eight ball Hoid and Frost have been using in their cosmere wide game of pool. Whoever pockets it first by throwing it into a Shardpool wins the ultimate prize......Vax.

47 minutes ago, Calderis said:

I think Sazed is intelligent enough to realize that he can't just sit and ignore things outside his sphere.

There are players, and to truly protect his world he needs to know events outside it, and that's why he has Kandra searching elsewhere. 

I think he'd be all for trying to discover more if he didn't have some major distractions at the moment. 

I certainly agree that Sazed wants to know more about the cosmere, since he's really new at this, plus a scholar at heart anyway. I do think though the Intent of his shard will keep him on the defense, rather than trying to proactively meddle in events in other systems. On a sidenote, I remember in Secret History that Kelsier asked Leras/Preservation to come with him to see the Ire, and Leras said he couldn't leave Scadrial since he was too invested in it. I would expect that same limitation would apply to Sazed, and limit him to just sending spies rather than interacting himself. So I agree that he won't just ignore things things happening elsewhere, but I think he'll be pretty handsoff.

On the original quote, I wonder what exactly it means that Odium is "afraid" of Harmony. I don't think he's afraid of Harmony coming over to Roshar to stop him. Rather I think he considers him to be the biggest obstacle in his quest to shatter the other 15 shards. I think he would be comfortable taking out Ruin and Preservation, seeing as they already did 99% of the work weakening each other already. But going up against a double-powered Shard, with such a difficult to manipulate, inert, intention, will be really hard for him.  

I was reading an interlude from the Way of Kings, and the Purelaker's religion reminds me very much of Trelagism from Scadrial. Particularly that there are two competingbrother gods, with one more jealous than the other. For the Purelakers, the only place where it's safe to openly worship their god is in their holy grottos. If there really is something to this religion, and its similarities to Trelagism imply there is, I wonder if the grottos are somehow (naturally or otherwise) made from aluminum rich metals, which would in fact block the "gaze" of a Shard, like we saw in Oathbringer under Kholinar. 

The second one is a bit looser: In that interlude, the Seventeenth Shard is asking their fisherman spy Ishikk if he's had any luck finding Hoid, and he tells them he hasn't. As they leave, Ishikk overhears one of them (good old Galladon) say that this is a fool's quest, which amuses Ishikk. 

Quote

His foreigners splashed down into the Purelake. Grump was last. He seemed very dissatisfied. “Where are you, Roamer? What a fool’s quest this is.” Then, he added in his own tongue, “Alavanta kamaloo kayana.” He splashed after his companions. “Well, you’ve got the ‘fool’ part right,” Ishikk said with a chuckle, turning his own direction and heading off to check on his traps.

Admittedly this is a stretch, but a royal Fool is pretty similar to a King's Wit (or an Imperial Fool on Sel). Any chance Ishikk knew they were looking for Hoid, and that they were in fact literally questing for a fool? In that case Ishikk would have to be a friend of Hoid, or at least someone he paid off to mislead them. I thought by the names he might be Ishar too, but insane god-king-Heralds probably don't do much fishing in their spare time.

So what do you think, either of these have anything going for them?

Haha the idea of Shardarrows just occurred to me. I got straight to the forums and of course its one of the most recent topics. A couple extra thoughts, and apologizes if these have been suggested already and I missed them:

Shardbola: This probably breaks the rule of moving parts, but something like a hand thrown bola or a gunpowder-propelled chain shot. Those would have a bigger area of effect than just a regular sphere or projectile. Maybe spikes on them as well if they need a penetrating component. 

Shardcuffs: Thrown as a bar, but when it gets near the target it changes shape to form a tight band around their legs, or around an arm and their torso, to restrict their movements. It would be more useful against an enemy shardbearer, because theoretically they wouldn't be able to break it with their own Blade. And its metal, so I think its more plausible. I know the Spren can change from spear/sword/shield pretty instantly, so I'd assume going from straight piece of metal to circular one is doable too.

Shardballista: I'd guess a ballista's spear is about human-sized, so I think that fits within our size limitations. I think Roshar already has ballistas so it would just be swapping out the ammo. Could be especially useful for Radiants who have the blade but no plate. 

Lashing-powered shardspear: (In the event that you can't Lash your own Shards) Put the Shardprojectile into a regular tube-shaped casing made of wood or something. Have a Windrunner or Skybreaker put a ton of horizontal Lashings onto the casing, so it'll go flying taking the Shard with it. You'd need a casing for each shot though, but a human sized spear falling sideways and several times the acceleration of gravity would probably be a decent weapon to use against a block of troops. Or anyone really.