alder24

Yes, that's even better idea. Or he specifically made them non-sapient, thus less invested to avoid investing too much on Roshar as he didn't want to get trapped on it.

No, it will never end. We will have topics like "did Moash deserve all this hate" or "death was too merciful for Moash." He will always engage our emotions and hate him or love him, that's a sign of a storming well-written character. That's why he deserves to be talked about.

A better idea - buttons. They are already using buttons, but this time make them covered in an aluminum layer in front, while their back is a normal metal. Because the metal back is from your side you can push them, while from the front they would be undetectable to steelsight because of the aluminum layer. A gun that relies only on steelpushes won't have much power, so instead of having a tool that you have to aim, thus alarming all your opponents that you're gonna shoot, just position yourself to face your enemy and push buttons - they won't see it coming, they won't see them with steelsight, they might not ever see them coming at night or in Mists. Silent and invisible weapon - but can be only used against non-armored opponents as it won't have much penetration - bullets are faster than a steelpush, a real gun is still a must have. The problem with Copperclouds is that you can't use A-bronze while burning copper, as it silences all pulses coming from the outside. Therefore an aluminum hat is still useful - you can burn bronze to hear what's going on around you, while being protected from emotional Allomancy. If you're skilled enough you can listen to emotional pulses a Soother or a Rioter sends and detect which emotion they are trying to influence, thus gain knowledge and act accordingly. TFE ch 21: @Longshot97 has already mentioned this, but because I write a response first then read the next post, I wrote the same thing. But hey, I provided a quote! Springs you said? How about an Allomantic gun that uses a spring instead of gunpowder, like @JustQuestin2004 wanted earlier? Instead of pushing on a bullet itself, you pull spring to lock it and give it energy, then release a trigger and the spring pushes a bullet out while you push on it as well to give it more energy. It's not perfect, it would be better than normal steelpush, but you would need a larger spring, thus it would make noise.

Aetherbounds can no longer survive but their Aether can - Silajana is from Dhatri. Aditil is no longer an Aetherbound so she should be fine. What this inhospitality means and how it affects both an Aetherbound and their Aether is another question. Could Aditil expose her Aether to a deadly strike by bonding them? They are the same Aethers as they have the same sets of elements, but they are separate beings, different. Aethers don't have a hive mind. So yes, the roseite crystal is the same, but it came from two separate entities. Lumar's roseite Aether is a different entity from the Dhatri's roseite Aether, but they both are a roseite Aether - that's how I view it. "at least on the core aether world" which means Aethers on other worlds are separate entities from the one on Dhatri. I agree. No it can't be - CR is location dependent, distance matters there. It would take years for Silajana to answer Prasanva from another planet. They can communicate instantly, that means it goes through SR. Plus Lumar's Aethers transfer water from the planet to themselves via Luhal Bond, which is spiritual. A Shard is a combination of both the mind and the power. The mind can be killed - the Vessel - and the power ripped to pieces - the Splintering - but the power can't be destroyed. The same applies to all things to be fair. A soul and a spiritweb are two different things. A spiritweb is measurable, existing in SR, a soul is something unknown, unmeasurable, which passes to the Beyond, which is also unknown. We don't know and won't know if souls or the Beyond exist in Cosmere. But the spiritweb stays in SR even after death. You can revive a body, so I'm quite sure you can revive a dead spiritweb too. So yes, Teft's spiritweb is still there in SR and it's not just energy. Both terms are used interchangeably and in this case this is wrong, because a spiritweb doesn't go to the Beyond. Ok, I think we have a different view of what an Aether is. For me an Aether is both an entity and an essence - which is the body of that entity. When Prasanva grows an Aether, he actually grows the body of Silajana - Silajana can sense things through that body. In my understanding an Aetherbound can't have a dead symbiote without the core Aether-entity being dead. It may be possible for an Aetherbound to break the bond and that might kill the body of their core-Aether, without killing the entity, but I wouldn't call that their "symbiote is dead" as the entity is still alive. So I view this statement from the reading as the core Aether, the actual entity is dead, which resulted in broken Aether-essence on Aditil's body. TLM ch 44: But Honor doesn't give them power directly, does he? Aethers do that, the entity is more important then raw power in their case. A Shardic magic system isn't directly created by Shards, it's a natural manifestation of their power in the physical realm. Aethers form a symbiotic bond, they grant power directly to their Aetherbound - without them, the power can't be given. In my opinion those two things aren't comparable. Like Aditil can't connect to her Aether because they're dead, but Rosharans can't connect to Honor as well because he's dead - they connect to the Stormfather instead who was set up as Honor's replacement and Honor's CR, he accepts Radiants Ideals now. Cultivation still is the one that accepts Ideals from her half of Orders - Willshapers for example. Radiants can't have power without being connected to a living entity - a spren, just like Aetherbound can't have powers without being connected to a living entity - an Aether. So no, I don't agree that the entire magic system is gone after Aditil's Aether died - Aetherbounding still exists after all, you just can't connect to that Aether because you need a conscious agreement. Luhel Bond isn't gone. But just like Nahel Bond is broken once one side of agreement dies, Luhal Bond is broken when an Aether dies - but the magic system is not gone. Comparing an entire magic system of Surgebinding to an individual Aetherbound isn't valid. Shards are powers with a mind, Aethers are just beings, they aren't like Shards. They are independent from Adonalsium thus those rules don't apply to them. Oh, I just remembered this WoB, Aethers are a physical manifestation of investiture, the essence is a kind of god metal. It's investiture in a physical form (duh, it reacts to base metals):

Well, we've already seen three perpendicularities that were destroyed - all on Scadrial, the Well of Ascension, Ruin's perpendicularity in the Pits of Hathsin and the Autonomy's perpendicularity under Bilming. It's not that unique, stuff can happen. They aren't permanent. Dhatri is a home world of Prasanva, which was invaded by the Dark Aether, making it inhospitable for Aetherbound. That's definitely related. The fact that this force was likely able to kill an Aether is a big deal in my opinion, far greater than the disappearing perpendicularity that someone could have drunk for example. The way of accessing powers are vastly different between a Shard and an Aether. An Aetherbound is in a symbiotic bond with their Aether, accessing the power of a Shard you have many ways, depending on the magic. Honor isn't responsible for granting powers to people directly - spren are. Killing a spren results in the same thing as killing an Aether, losing the access to the power - Teft was left powerless after Phendorana was killed. The nature of Knight Radiants is similar to that of Aetherbound, as they both form a symbiotic relationship with a being that gives them powers. The difference here is with their reach, a Radiant will lose their powers if they got separated from their spren on a relatively short scale, while an Aether is basically omnipresent (just like Shards are) - TwinSoul remained in contact with Silajana even on another planet. The fact that an Aether can communicate and grant powers to someone on the other side of Cosmere means they are significantly invested. Are they equally invested in Shards? Debatable of course, Aethers claim they are as a collective. But there are many Aethers, more than the number of Shards - 12 alone on Lumar, 12 on Dhatri (one dead now), many others on other planets as they've spread across Cosmere. So while individually they seem to be weaker than a Shard, but still very powerful, collectively they might be able to rival one or all Shards in raw power (though they might be far more limited in using that power than a Shard is). Investiture, just like energy can't be destroyed, it can only change state. Shards can die like Aethers can and that dead Aether still left a broken pieces on an Aetherbound's body - the Aether isn't entirely gone, it's dead, but something was probably left behind (that's why , just like a Splintered Shard is dead, but not entirely gone, leaving behind a Splintered pieces. The Aether is killed, their body and essence was not destroyed, it was just broken. One just needs to look at Threnody to see how devastating a Splintering of a Shard can be to people in the Physical Realm. Or Sel to see how it affected the Cognitive Realm. But it's true, Aethers have a Physical body, that's what Aetherbound grows, that's what resides on Lumar's moons. But they still have a very significant presence in the Spiritual Realm, because of their ability to stay in contact with their Aetherbounds all across Cosmere. Shard's have a physical body as well. Nothing in Cosmere can be truly destroyed. A soul-corpse is always left in the Spiritual Realm. Even people can be brought back no matter the state of their physical bodies - Yumi just made a body for herself out of raw investiture. Shards as a being are dead and gone after the Splintering. I do want to know if a killed Aether can be restored, just like a Splintered Shard can be reassembled. I don't agree that Aether must be mostly physical because they were destroyed - Spren can be "destroyed" too and they aren't "mostly" physical. I do agree that Aethers have a significant physical presence and do have a physical body, as seen on Lumar, or with Aetherbounds. Shards can be killed, their power Splintered and dragged out of the Spiritual Realm - when you "destroy" an Aether something is left behind, their power, their essence, their investiture. That's because laws of thermodynamics work in Cosmere, investiture can't be destroyed, it can only change states. A being can be killed - a Shard or an Aether die in the same way - but it leaves something behind, a dead body and raw investiture. But it can't be destroyed. And we saw that dead body of an Aether on Aditil. I wonder what you can do with it, I want to know if a killed Aether can be restored, just like a Splintered Shard can be reassembled.

Honorspren existed before Aharietiam, they were created directly by Honor. There were around 2000 Honorspren killed in Recreance, all created by Honor except for Syl and her generation that was the first created by the Stormfather as Honor was dying, shortly before the False Desolation. OB ch 108: RoW ch 87: Windspren are the plate spren of Windrunners and that's also the form Honorspren often take when they are in the Physical Realm.

Please avoid necro-posting, this is against Shard's policy. This topic is almost three years old and the question is already marked as answered. Reviving such old and dead topics is not advisable.

But it's still possible. As Brandon said "Mateform is not the only form capable of producing--any more than Warform is the only one capable of swinging a sword. The forms are specializations" - even Rlain in a Dullform was able to learn how to fight with a spear in WoR. You are literally arguing with Brandon at this point. I'm not saying that all are capable of reproduction, but many, if not all are, even if most are asexual and may have reduced chances of fertilization.

Or Frost is taking care of a mess Starling did on Yolen, while she is exiled from her beloved home and her powers were taken away from her, so she would not mess things up again - all to teach her a lesson of some kind. Maybe she's on Xisis' ship so they can watch over her.

Connection can allow you to break into a Hemalurgic Construct and once under your control, you can talk to them in their mind, but you don't hear their thoughts. This approach might require a cracked soul, if not Hemalurgic spikes, but this might be possible with animals. I wouldn't say you're gonna talk with them, more like you will communicate your thoughts to them, but it would be more like Vin talking to Koloss-Human - they would be very confused and had a hard time understanding you. They still don’t have a very developed brain or speech. This would be more useful with dogs who can understand some of your words, gestures and the tone of your voice.

That's not necessary. She could have met Hoid on Yolen and done something on Yolen, which was against Frost's ideology. We know from the reading that she started exploring Cosmere after being exiled.

This WoB is newer and Brandon directly said many forms are capable of reproducing. This is as straightforward as it can be. And you can also be fertile and asexual. Many reasons. You want to lower your chances of fertilization (but it still happened), you don't like being in the Mateform, you just have an opportunity now as your partner is leaving shortly and you can't wait for a storm to change forms, you didn't become a Mateform unlike your partner (it happened before Listeners started using gemstones to trap spren), or maybe something tragic happened and it wasn't consensual. Does it make sense now? The definition of "several" from Oxford Languages is "more than two but not many." Mateform and Slaveform aren't the only forms that feel sexual attraction, but this is separate from being able to reproduce. Asexuallity doesn't mean infertility, those things are separate.

Thaidakar set things in motion, that were coming anyway: I believed it's about starting a True Desolation by sending a Herald to Braize. And so it happens that a Herald died just a moment later. Hmmm, I wonder who it could be - Chana of course. Ghostbloods were highly interested in the Davar family, Mraize knows too much about Shallan's childhood, I wouldn't be surprised if Ghostbloods arranged things that resulted in Chana's death, thus starting a new Desolation. That's also something Gavilar wanted to achieve so their goals aligned - probably that is why Thaidakar decided to work with him.

Possible. He stagnated the Empire for a thousand of years, but it took some time to establish this system, he even tried to end it at one point, so I don’t think this is solely because of being a Sliver. He seems like a nostalgic person (which was partially influenced by Ruin), buried in the past and most importantly just bored. He didn't really care as long as he stayed in charge. I feel like he was just that kind of person, but it's possible that being a Sliver of Preservation had some small, lasting effects on his mind. Kelsier is a Cognitive Shadow so his situation is a bit different.

Buying hundreds of Breaths to get rid of an illness seems like a very expensive thing. Sure they might get cheaper in the future, especially if you can exchange investiture, but buying/borrowing an unkeyed Goldmind or a Progression Fabrial seems like a much cheaper alternative.

I actually thought that it was Frost that exiled her for some reason. Knowing how strictly non-interventionist Frost is, Starling might have been pushed by Hoid to do something with which Frost might not agree. Something drastic, which influenced politics on a greater scale and possibly against dragon’s traditions, so other dragons would want to exile her and Frost agreed with them. Dragons exist outside of Yolen. One only needs to look at Xisis on Lumar to know how many different stories about dragons might exist across Cosmere. Dragons are entrepreneurs, they have businesses, own companies etc. I bet Xisis is exploiting the fact that he recently acquired a skilled captain, so why not use her to run him merchant errands across Cosmere? But the choice of crewmembers is interesting. If Scadrians have a way to deal with Avatars (they kind of dealt with Trell already), then it makes sense why Patji would sit quietly. If not then that's a good question. But I think the answer is simple - he sent Dusk. Patji might have put Dusk in a position to help. I agree, I think Hoid is partially responsible for that. DId I miss something from the reading where it said Xisis is in a bad position? I didn't get that. Sure, the ship is old and junky, Xisis owns it, but Starling also said it's her ship. So if someone is in debt, I bet they're indebted to Xisis, risking becoming his slaves - not all as Aditil can just leave, or the Sleepless who was chosen by Hoid and it's there temporarily.

TSM spoilers:

This does help a lot. Thanks. "Several forms are different in terms of being asexual, including Slaveform" - not only Slaveform is different (important note: asexuality means not feeling a sexual attraction, but such a person is still fully capable of having kids). And "Matefore isn't the only one capable of reproducing, it's specialization" - the WoB clearly states that many forms are capable of having children, even if some of them don't feel any sexual attraction. Mateform is the most specialized form for reproduction, but others are also capable of doing it, just like other forms can swing a sword, not just Warform.

Well, Shardic Intent is not writing itself onto the Spirit Web of the Vessel, it is just influencing their mind. If a Vessel were to drop their Shard, the influence of its Intent over their mind would eventually fade. But they will remain a Sliver, which is an expanded soul, and that might be inherited to some degree.

You mean Adolin? He's half-Riran, thus has Iriali roots which might cause this since they have "inhuman ancestry" - WoB. Dalinar also has gray-black hair, but he's aging. I don't really remember who else is there with those two-colored hairs.

Speaking the Words isn't a necessity, you must mean them and live by them - Eshonai was unable to speak the Words when she died drowning in water, but she meant it, she lived them in that moment, she spoke them in her mind and that was enough for the Stormfather to accept them. So there must be another reason for why he failed to become a Radiant. RoW ch 117:

A Shard can create a physical body for himself so it's likely they can reproduce that way. A child would not become a "half-shard," or a new Shard, nor would they inherit their parent Shard, but it might be easier for them to Ascend when opportunity arises, as they might have a very strong Connection to that Shard. It's likely they would be more invested than normal people, maybe even become a weird type Sliver. This last WoB makes me think of this one particular person that is called "a child of Tanavast" - there is a significance to this title, so maybe Honor was more involved than normally. It doesn't have to mean that he’s literally the biological father, but as per other WoBs posted before, a greater investment in Kal might have made him a spiritual child of Tanavast.

Not true:

A future plot twist? That was already revealed in RoW, that's known and accepted by now. Navani heard the pure tone of Honor proving she is a child of Roshar, that she belongs to Roshar just as Singers do. RoW ch 76: RoW ch 110: Both of those things could have happened during Desolations, there were humans that were fighting on Odium's side.Intermixing of species could have happened in between Deoslations. Those two things don't really say anything and it's not important if humans belong to Roshar or not - you can throw a party for your newly arrived guests, can't you? While I think it's possible for Singer's DNA to be present in Rosharan humans, I don't think it would be relevant in any way, or be a plot twist - just like all humans on Earth have a tiny bit of Neanderthal DNA it doesn't mean that we are direct descendants of Neanderthals. We're not, Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals just intermixed a few times and this was later carried by blood to the rest. Instead of humanity being direct descendants of one of the Singers's form (which I find unlikely as there would be some unique physical characteristics pointing at it and I find none, I don't know what do you mean with "Rosharans have issue with hair"), I think it's more like some Horneaters or Herdazians, who are direct descendants of Singers, have children with normal humans, which seeded and diffused their Singers DNA in human population, which over time became a tiny, inconsequential bit.

Really? To become a squire you need to be fit for the order, OB ch 46: They all begin by swearing or living by the First Ideal: However as I was digging through WoBs I found this one: So you have a point, it's possible for a squire to become a knight of a different order. But I still believe a squire needs to live by the First Ideal to be a squire in the first place - for an animal even with an increased intelligence, understanding such abstract concepts might be a bit too much. It doesn't work like this. A knight believing a person is a part of their "crew" isn't enough, a knight doesn't give powers on command. No matter how hard Kaladin wanted Rlain to become a Windrunner's squire it simply didn't work, Rlain wasn't fitted for that. A squire candidate must be qualified and that's what's the most important.