alder24

Yes. Pure Dor will always work, something like Stormlight would need some more work (it's keyed):

Which never happened in books (you said we've seen it, that's why I asked when) and that's from the WoB I've posted, where Brandon and Peter talk how they aren't sure if aluminum would be cut by a Shardblade and Peter only thinks it should work like you quoted - this is not fully confirmed yet. I agree with Peter, that seems logical. They are big, but they are surprisingly light. The biggest sword in history, Zweihander (2.1 m) weighs around 4 kg, while most longswords weigh around 1-2 kg. That's not much. Shardblades weigh less than a longsword, there is not much mass behind Shardblade strikes - and that's both for deadblades and living blades). WoR ch 44: The Half-Shard is made entirely out of metal, it's really hard to physically damage that. It's basically a breastplate held in your hands. Even wooden shields handle strikes very well, without breaking - that's the point of a shield. Medieval plate armors were 1-3 mm thick and that was enough to stop most weapons. Sure, against a Shardplate only a Shardplate can stand a chance. No. You underestimate the strength of a well-made wooden shield. It's meant to protect you, it won't splinter even if you were to keep striking it hard again and again. Sure they were damaged, but wood doesn't give up easily (especially when it wasn't just wood that makes a shield, it was wood, metal and leather meant to save your life).

No, they weren't always a couple, they were sometimes a couple and Sibling's Bondsmiths usually stayed apart from them. RoW ch 114: Moreover not every time there was a full set of 3 Bondsmiths - famously during the False Desolation there was only one. In between Desolations there was less Radiant as a whole as spren didn't feel the need to bond. So you propose that they aren't actual Avatars, but rather like Heralds, who have more or less made up titles fit to religion, rather than being actual aspects of Honor? Because that's what an Avatar is - an aspect of a Shard - Heralds weren't Avatars. Bondsmiths aren't Avatars as well, they are just bonded to big spren.

When did we see a Shardblade cutting aluminum?? I can't remember at all. Aluminum resists Shardblades - Leshwi’s weapon is made out of aluminum. A thin aluminum foil might be cut by the physical blade of Shardblade but not magical cutting.

If an aluminum box was all that's needed to take invested stuff off world, Ghostbloods would be already trading Stormlight on Scadrial. That's not it. Per WoB in the first post, opening the box with a CS inside would snap their soul back to Roshar, leaving a lifeless corpse in the box. Seons and Dor are probably influenced by their special circumstances - their Shards are Splintered and moved to CR.

Not a factor. Water is great at dissipating heat and you're in contact with it for just a fraction of a second while running - too fast to heat it up with your body temperature. Looking at the example with razors, the angle between the water level and the force of surface tension matters. More stable water would be better. Seems like it.

No, the Era of Solitude lasts till today, or at least till the True Desolation started. For me it makes more sense if they invaded after Recreance, before Radiants would have stopped them. They were pretty famous, mentioned by Dalinar/Gavilar in the same sentence next to Sunmaker, so it seems they achieved significant progress - and they used Honorblades and Surges too. That would have given them a huge advantage after Recreance, before they would have only risked losing their Honorblades to Radiants. Coppermind: At least before the 6th Epoch, when Radiants already existed. During Nohadon's times Oathgates were already functioning, but it's likely Knights Radiant weren't established - he mentioned how one Surgebinder caused so much devastation before Desolation that something needed to be done to prevent this from happening. A knight was a nobleman, many even fought on foot, rather than on horse. Kaladin got land after he revealed he’s a Radiant so he has all what a knight needs to have. Horses were just an expensive advantage that mostly nobles could have afforded, but the role of cavalry diminished greatly after the advancement of gunpowder. Well, Surges are worse than gunpowder, Hoid said that the end of formation fighting is coming to Roshar because of Surges - soon cavalry won't matter that much on Roshar. There are no real knights on Roshar, nobody is running around screaming they are knights. Lighteyes are fighting with swords and on foot, just like some are fighting with bows, others lucky ones on horsebacks, but that doesn't make them knights. Even Shardbearers aren't called knights. Knights simply don't exist on Roshar and Knights Radiants are something different. They are knights because of their morality and values they represent, not their mount. I don't think so, those are two different kinds of bonds. I find Stonewards to be one of least likely candidates to use horses. Firstly they were considered frontline soldiers like Windrunners, secondly their powers are about touching stones, which can't be done from horseback.

Ishar is likely messing with their Connection to CR and PR, but that should not change their Connection to Roshar - that's something different. Spren have bodies in CR, those killed by Ishar had the same bodies in PR, so those bodies were moved between realms. Their Connection to Roshar is because they are saturated with investiture of Honor and Cultivation and that binds them to the system. No matter if they are in PR or CR, they are still bound by this. You need to manipulate this specific Connection to Roshar, which Ishar likely wasn't touching at all as that wouldn't help him manifest bodies of spren.

I was going to write that spikes aren't part of their body, so they should not decrease in weight but then I looked at this WoB which I had in mind: So spikes can't be pushed because of their proximity to the soul, but that also makes them a part of PR. So maybe? It makes sense their mass would be affected by F-Iron if they really are considered as a part of the Hemalurgist body. Edit: Per this WoB they also have this proximity to the soul so they should count as well.

It's because you don't find and get Ryshadium, you are chosen by them. Most won't be that lucky. WoR ch 81: Historically speaking horses weren't really used for fighting on Roshar. They are especially expensive, require special care and aren't well adapted to the Rosharan environment. The first nation to use cavalry as a fighting formation was Shinovar during their numerous invasions of Roshar, which most likely happened after Recreance, thus after the Radiant era. Therefore most Radiant would not use horses like the classical medieval knights. Even now cavalry is still very rare because of how rare and expensive horses are. In WoR ch 67 Dalinar remarks that loosing on a plateau run could easily cost more than what won gemstone would be worth. I'm uncertain how useful Ryshadium would be for most Orders. Two of them can fly, so horses for them would be pointless and other Radiants would be Lashed by them to arrive quickly to their destination - as seen in the Starfalls vision. On a battlefield their horses would be extremely vulnerable and could expose their rider to enemy strikes when killed.. Moreover Surges are a devastating weapon to wield - Jasnah soulcasted air all around her into oil and set it on fire, which would kill her horse. Unless they somehow get a Shardplate for their horses (which should exist after Recreance if that was practiced, the lack of such horse Shardplates implies it wasn't), Radiants should not bring horses to a Surge-fight. Adolin learned this lesson the hard way. So while Ryshadium are called a Third Shard, I wouldn't necessarily assume that they were called that during the Radiant era. For me it seems like a modern development, rather than something carried from ancient times. I think spren fill the role of "a knight's horse" - it's not just about riding on a horse, it's about companionship, that's what spren are to their knights. And Kaladin hates horses. He would rather ride on a Chull than on a horse. Imagine, a graceful knight in a glowing full plate riding on an oversized crab.

Savanthood is a bit different. You become a Savant because you were using your powers for so long that it warped your soul to match the power, which often have some very drastic consequences to your body - Kaza from OB interlude 4 or Ithi from OB ch 81 are Soulcaster Savants. Soulcaster Savants' bodies change to match the substance they're Soulcasting things into - Kaza is turning into smoke while Ithi is turning into grain. But to have those effects you have you use your powers for a long time. Both Kaladin and Shallan barely started using their powers, they aren't Savants yet. It takes years to become a Savant. But Radiant suffer less from Savanthood - they don't turn into smoke for example. Moreover Brandon is a bit careful with making people Savants left and right - the idea of Savanthood is that the power warps your soul and it has some harmful consequences, it's not just a power boost, it's something important to their story. I highly doubt he would have made both Shallan and Kaladin into Savants (which also isn't very obvious). I think Windrunners in general can lend their Shardplate to protect others, which just fit with their order. But I find it likely that all orders can do that, it depends on the level of control they have over their plates. You were talking about extra powers - that's not Savanthood, that's resonance. This can be the reason why Kaladin is able to lend his plate to others. But we know the resonance of Windrunners, it's having more squires then other Orders. Mistborn Era 2 spoiler WoB:

That should not change their Connection to Roshar. Heralds are physical and they still can't travel off-world.

We don't know and Brandon doesn't know it himself what aluminum really does to metals in your body - does it burn them away or just break their Connection to SR. Metal has no power of itself, it glows in CR or to Shardic eyes because it's a conduct to SR which power seeks. That's probably why aluminum (and chromium too) can interfere with that, metal is just too close to SR.

Transformation affects the soul itself, which is in the Spiritual Realm. Dalinar can use Bondsmithing to affect the Spiritual Realm as well. Surges are fundamental forces of Cosmere, which is made out of three interconnected realms. Because of that some Surges will be focused more on one Realm than other, because that's its nature. A mental component of a person is actually just them, what they think. There was no talking there (because that would mean they would be hearing a voice in their head), Jasnah forced change upon them, overcoming the resistance of their souls by using more Stormlight. But Soulcasting at a distance is something that Elsecallers can do, even Lightweavers can learn how to do that, but it's harder for them. If you draw Stormlight from a gemstone very fast it cracks. That often happens in Soulcasting. That's why it cracked. Transportation is not just about traveling to Shadesmar, it's about traveling as a whole. The Oathgates, that are fabrials using the Surge of Transportation, can move you between two different points in the Physical Realm - like from Urithiru to the Shattered Plains - all without entering Shadesmar. Elsecallers can bring other people into CR, what they are doing is creating a mini-perpendicularity and slip themselves into Shadesmar. Lightweavers can move just themselves, no other people and can't go back. Elsecallers might potentially be able to move between the Physical Realm just like the Oathgates can - the way people from Ashyn came to Roshar was by using a huge non-Rosharan, pre-Radiant Elsecalling to move them all from one planet to the other. It's not that far-fetched to say that Jasnah can do something similar (but not on that scale).

I don't think so. Iron in your bloodstream doesn't just sit by itself, alone. It is bound to other molecules or proteins like Transferrin, or Hemoglobin. It's not a pure element anymore, it isn't Allomantically valid. If a tiny bit of impurity makes an alloy Allomantically useless, then a huge molecule full of other stuff will make bound iron impossible to burn. Look at the structure of Hemoglobin, that's a lot of things bound to that iron:

The Oathstone held no power over Szeth, he wasn't bound to it, he just did as he was obligated by the law and his honor. OB ch 92:

And plate spren don't bless their Radiant? I think it's made vague on purpose by Brandon. I agree, it's most likely some kind of Radiant Lesser Spren, because True Spren aren't really attracted to people in the same way as Lesser Spren, they would have to decide to show up in the Physical Realm and many can hide their presence from people. And I think hundreds of True Spren disappearing without any trace would be quite a big deal in Shadesmar cities. It was Taravangian's better day.

Yes. They can resist a few hits of a Shardblade before breaking, but they are a Fabrial. Everything invested enough will resist Shardblade. All ancient Fabrials are spren manifested in the Physical Realm as devices, so I think if you find and convince the right type of spren to do exactly what modern Half-Shard Fabrial does, you can do that. You probably don't even need to be a Radiant. But Syl won't be a Half-Shard, she can just become a shield that will never break - as long as she is bonded and close to Kaladin. We don't know what type of spren was used in Half-Shards, Taravangian said it's "the one that might have blessed a Radiant," but we don't know what it means or what type of spren is that. OB ch 100: RoW ch 46: Metalminds, Awakened objects, Hemalurgic spikes - all will resist Shardblades for a few hits. So they would be like a Half-Shard.

Probably because other attributes store your physical things like muscle mass and you need some bare minimum of that to function at all, while iron vaguely stores mass, which doesn't decrease your size, nor your density, nor your fat, muscles or anything physical. It's the weirdest attribute to store because it has to work weird as mass is essential for basically everything. Can't tell if those numbers are correct, someone smart would have to do precise math. But you need to store a lot of mass to stand on water, or little less than a lot but with running. Either way you need to store a lot.

I think that "point of no return" was when Moash chose revenge over his friendship with Kaladin and the Bridge Four at the end of WoR. It's not about punching Kaladin, not about killing Elhokar, it's just about getting revenge. There was no going back from this moment on because Moash made his choice and all things that happened afterwards just made him dig a deeper hole. He chose to be overwhelmed by vengeance. He was unable to stop himself from killing Elhokar in OB, in WoR he at least hesitated after hearing Kaladin.

Here: By Halfborn we mean a Mistbron + Ferring, or a Full Feruchemist + Misting combo. It's still one or all within each Metallic Art. But there are no Full Feruchemists or Mistborns because those genes are so diluted in the population. But it's possible for someone to be born like that.

It's not about floating due to buoyancy, it's about being light enough to not break surface tension. You can store so much mass that you can actually float in the air, or imitate a microgravity environment - I think walking on water is easier than floating. Yes, it would be hard to get a hang of it, you would lose balance quite often at first, but it's still possible. It would be a very weird feeling, but running on water would be easier than just standing. If the question was can a person run on water then you are right. But the question is can a guy that has a magical ability to reduce his mass down to a feather run on water. Yes, yes he can. Magic solves all your problems. As you store mass your mass to surface area ratio increases dramatically - you can walk, or even stand on water without being a Steelrunner, just store enough mass. There is nothing else a Skimmer needs to do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=6jyoBp2dBAo - here is how you calculate surface tension. By my understanding it should work the other way, instead of pulling the object away from water until the tension breaks, push it until it submerges underwater. The surface tension of water is 72mN/m - that means as long as you stay below that value, you will be held by the surface tension of water. And because the equation for it is v=F/2L (for something like a wire), where F=m*a, where m is maas, a is gravitational acceleration for an object at rest, you just need to decrease your mass enough to get that tension value below the breaking point. Disclaimer, I'm not very well versed in that topic, so my understanding of this is flawed. But mass is a big factor in surface tension. Here is another, better example with razor blades - https://user.engineering.uiowa.edu/~fluids/archive/HW/Solutions/2007/Ch01/01_084.pdf. The important part to see here is that for an object to stay on the surface, you need to find equilibrium between its mass and the resultant surface tension. The single edge blade was around 4x heavier and 1/4 shorter than the double edge blade and that's why the single edged blade sank while the double edge blade didn't. A Skimmer can reduce its mass until he finds that equilibrium. That's it. There is nothing else needed. No buoyancy, not even running (but while running you don't have to reduce your mass that much, just like that lizard).

Diagram served its purpose. Taravangian is now a Shard that can look into the future like no mortal can dream of.

Yes, they can. If they are light enough the surface tension will hold them on the surface of the water. There are lizards that can run on water, insects that can stand on it, you can put a needle, paper clip or a razor on the surface - it's all about the surface tension which depends on mass. A Skimmer can stand or run on water, if they can reduce their mass that much (running is easier). It's not about displacement of water at all. The whole idea of the surface tension is that it holds the object despite its density - a razor blade can be held by the surface tension and it's much denser than water. A Skimmer can change his mass (but not density), so he can get so light that buoyancy won't matter anymore, only water's surface tension.

Oh right, but Khriss suspects the Old Magic is something else entirely, so it would not have ten levels.