alder24

There was mention of Awakened Metalminds and they said they are very expensive, so Awakening is still in use, but it's probably turned towards creating AI rather than simple tools. From Yumi we know Awakening can be done without Breaths as it's a general term in Cosmere referring to using investiture to grant sentience. We also saw Awakened Metalminds in TSM so Scadrial definitely can use Awakening. Ch 22: There is also something called the Awakened deflection shield, some sort of protective system used next to Allomancy and Aons. Ch 39: It seems it's just an oxygen mask, not something invested. However it's weird he doesn't use F-gold to heal it. They still can't make medallions granting that power, or is it too expensive? Ch 58: From TSM we know there are multiple factions on Scadrial, some neutral in the conflict. I doubt Elendel was conquered, but it definitely isn't as influential as Malwish are, nor as aggressive. Malwish are dominant on Scadrial in Era 4 so it looks like they won the cold war in Era 3. Ch 35:

Well, I must admit that this is not the greatest of Brandon’s secret novels. It was enjoyable, the story, setting and characters were fine, but that’s it. Just fine. Not as engaging as other secret projects. The loredump was the best part of the book so far as so many things were revealed - dragons, Silverlight, the Evil, lots of tech, new planets and so on. While the story of Starling and Dusk on their own stood well, I like them, but together they never really clicked for me. It seems disjointed. Sure, in the second half of the book they had a common enemy and interest in Drominad’s perpendicularity, but Starling was focused on her crew, while Dusk was focused on the cave and they barely worked together. It felt like those two were just separate stories stitched together in one book. I wish they’d interacted more and planned an escape together (Chrysalis could have let them talk to each other after all). The villain was bad. I’m very disappointed in Dajer. He was a caricature of a villain, stupid with Dusk, yet smart with Starling. A space fascist, but at the same time being investigated by his own military for incompetence, disobedience and breaking laws. I could not take him seriously at all. Brandon can do better villains. What even was the point of introducing Malwish secret police at the very end if they did nothing in the story? It was a waste, it would be better to use them to actually imprison Dajer and introduce a real and threatening villain in the last part. Dajer just didn’t work, he was a joke trying to pass a serious threat. I still like the book, it was a nice and relaxing read. Starling was a nice character, her relations with Frost, Hoid and Xisis were fun to read about, her crew was good, but not as developed as the crew of Crow's Song from Tress. Those interactions were lacking. I wish there were more of them as they were too much in the background, while Starling was busy with Dajer. Dusk was also enjoyable, seeing how the First of the Sun changed in those years was both heartbreaking and interesting. Patji didn’t deserve this fate, at least leave a nature reserve on the island, but that’s just a step towards progress Dusk’s people had to make to survive. It's impressive how much can be revealed and teased about the future of Cosmere without actually spoiling other books. There are still some things that can tell us a bit about what’s going to happen. Malwish are dominant on Scadrial and they hold a firm grip on the vast section of Cosmere and Shadesmar, they seem to win the cold war in Era 3 and have the power to rival Roshar, there is a lot of going on with Shard’s involvement in human affairs, it’s definitely a complicated politics, Harmony did something unique, Autonomy is still alive (as Patji is still fine, but I wonder what would happen to Avatars during a death of Shard’s Vessel and a merger), Invention created multiple planets, the Grand Apparatus was made before the Shattering and it’s ruled by Sleepless, who are quite aggressive and enslave others (that’s why Masaka run away), Threnody was destroyed by the Evil (which was hinted at in TSM), dragons on Yolen have a Dawnshard and the most shocking of them all - Hoid got married. What kind of a crazy person would marry Hoid? Although she decided to leave him and forgot about him, so not so crazy after all. And she’s a twin, do we know of any twins in Cosmere? There is a lot to unpack here, this book will be worth rereading, so that’s why I think the lore is the best part of the book. I love all scenes with the Evil, Such an interesting and awesome entity. A being made entirely out of anti-investiture, capable of destroying anything. Can it run out of it eventually or can it be replenished somehow. Was Ambition's investiture almost fully converted into anti-investiture during her death by Odium and that’s why nobody can Ascend to it per WoB? How much does it think, it’s stupidly invested and does want others to suffer so it seems to be somewhat sentient. Is Argent a traitor? Does he work for Malwish in secret? There was an arcanist who gave Dajer a tip about the map, so was that you Argent? It can’t be Huio!

F-Iron stores mainly mass but it's weird as it doesn't follow normal rules. And yes, that's how compounding work. Practically speaking, you probably won't be able to burn through enough iron to generate mass required to create a black hole. That would be a whole lot of iron. A black hole with a radius of 10 cm would have a mass of more than 11 Earths. That's just a ridiculous amount of mass you would need to create via compounding, you would just run out of both iron and your lifetime before getting even remotely close to that value (compounding isn't instant, burning metalminds takes time just as burning regular metals does). And that's just a 10 cm radius, a black hole with a radius of 1 meter would need more than 100 Earth's masses. You would probably be killed in dozen different ways by trying to tap such an amount of mass before you would become a black hole. But hypothetically speaking, if you have access to infinite investiture and healing, you could become a black hole (as you can become a star). But that's purely hypothetical, infinite investiture breaks the rules.

Sleepless aren't native to Roshar, but they evolved to fit in. The first Sleepless that came to Roshar had hordlings looking similar to spiders and considering that Scadrial is an Earth analog (with many animals from Earth being named in Era 2), it seems reasonable to say that Sleepless on Scadrial would look like spiders, unfortunately. But we don't know if any Sleepless are present on Scadrial at all. As for where the first Sleepless came from, we don't know. There is no information about it anywhere. The Shardpool on the First of the Sun is Autonomy's Shardpool and Patji is Autonomy's Avatar. There is no known connection between Autonomy and Sleepless, however we do know that Sleepless have an origin planet, which we haven't seen yet. It's not the First of the Sun.

Not many. 5 seems to be of Endowment as it's everywhere in Warbreaker, 7 might be associated with Autonomy, but we have next to nothing on the rest of the Shards. I also think 3 is of Cultivation as there were 3 people touched directly by her and this number appears a lot in the SA, but that's a stretch.

At least according to Taravangian, time dilation was caused by the death of the Highstorm and the birth of the True Everstorm, not by the merger of Shards, not by Honor. WaT ch 145:

Mostly from WoBs, but there was at least one hint. OB ch 40: The first WoB about it is from may 2018:

WaT ch 146 implies that Jasnah will still be the Queen of Alethkar in exile, but her power will be slowly reduced over time. She will remain in Urithiru as a ruling figure in the new Alethi government and Urithiru government. She isn't going anywhere, she still will be a queen, but not an absolute one.

Honestly, it's hard to define what strength is for a Shard and which one is the strongest, but I'm surprised I'm the only one who voted for Retribution. Retribution is a dual Shard, so he's already twice as powerful as any other Shard except for Harmony in terms of raw investiture. Moreover, unlike Harmony, his intent isn't self-restricting, so as of now it seems he can do whatever he wants and isn't bound to a planet anymore. 90% of Roshar is now under Retribution's direct control. Retribution has also a very crafty, sneaky and extremely intelligent and ruthless Vessel, which is a huge factor here. And lastly, Odium is the most combat oriented Shard out of all 16 and Honor isn't that far behind considering how eager to fight with Odium the power itself was. Retribution only loses points because of the lack of skill and experience in controlling the Shard, but that also gives him an advantage as he's so fresh that Taravangian wasn't warped by Retribution's intent yet and has more freedom than other Shards (as Vin has shown us). Yet, for some reason the Shard of Reason had 4 votes but Retribution none. Why? Sure, the Intent sounds smart, but besides this we know nothing more, we don't even know if the Vessel is capable of utilizing Reason to its full potential, which is very important here. I would like to hear your reasoning for choosing this Shard. Edit: Oh, the title asks about the most intelligent Shard. Ok, that makes sense now. However, in this case it should all boil down to which Vessel is the most intelligent.

Those two things are still Hemalurgy and are still of Ruin, they simply are manifested a bit differently in different worlds. Ruin is everywhere in Cosmere, affects the entire Cosmere and it doesn't care who and where uses its power. Hemalurgy is like Lightweaving, a natural part of Cosmere which exists everywhere, but manifests differently on different worlds. On Scadrial, metal is a core part of the planet's identity, on Roshar its gemstones and that's why Hemalurgy on Roshar manifests with crystal spikes (but metal spikes would still work). So we have Rosharan Hemalurgy and Scadrian Hemalurgy, both are of Ruin, both are Hemalurgy, but the difference is in their manifestation due to how Hemalurgy/Ruin interacts with both planets.

Considering that even Tien attracted a Cryptic over simple insecurities and spoke at least one Ideal, Elhokar's Truths would have been similar to that of Tien - a journey of self realization that he's a bad king, that people ignore him and disregard his authority, maybe even realizing that Dalinar loves him and cares for his growth. Things similar to those he spoke about with Kaladin in WoR ch 80. The whole mess with Moash's grandparents seems too out in the open already and too well known. Dalinar took care of it, scolded Elhokar etc. I doubt this alone would have been one of his Truths, maybe admitting that he has poor and impulsive judgment, which would have applied to this situation and many others as well.

I don't think this would be even possible. Hemalurgy rewrites your spirit web, Hemalurgic spikes not only become a part of your body (body shifts to accommodate the spike), but also a part of your spirit web and your Spiritual Ideal. Hemalurgic Constructs are not even humans anymore, so the use of perception is even trickier. I don't think you could even use healing to push the spike out of your body. It would be like trying to cut off your arm with healing - sounds impossible to me. Even Hoid needed to get smacked in the face to remove his teeth, it seems like he couldn't just heal them out, or add a bruise to his face with healing. Perception can do a lot of things, but you're still limited by your spirit web and Hemalurgic spikes are a part of it. OB epilogue:

Interesting, pure tones might have played a role here, however in my opinion not in this way. Harmonium reacts with water like cesium does, this reaction does not need any oxygen to be sustained, it's 2Cs + 2H2O → 2CsOH + H2. The Harmonium-Trellium reaction on the other hand is more similar to fission, which also doesn't require any oxygen to occur. Both of those reactions release tremendous amounts of energy via heat and radiation, which heats up air around it and this creates a shock wave, which is the explosion. This isn't even considering the fact that air is only 21% oxygen, the rest is nitrogen, which would still be there even if oxygen was used up if hydrogen were to be ignited - there would be no vacuum. However, the experiment took place in a controlled environment, not in a vacuum chamber and Harmonium was also coated with oil, so it couldn't react with water at all. So while the vacuum and pure tones are a smart idea, I don't think it can possibly be applied to this reaction. Harmonium and Trellium are pushing each other away even when they were placed in close proximity and the electric current seemed to be the only physical thing allowing for a fission-like reaction to happen between Harmonium and Trellium. Also, Navani's experiment succeeded because Navani played the tone of anti-light once the vacuum was created, so that the very first thing light inside would hear is the inverted anti-tone. Nothing like this happened during Wax's experiment, there was no source of the pure tone of Preservation or Ruin for the Harmonium inside to pick up while leaving the vacuum. Those two experiments aren't similar at all. TLM ch 15: RoW ch 97: My personal theory is that Wax had a very specific intent, which allowed for the creation of Lerasium. Moreover, I believe that you can only create one god metal depending on which intent you have - if you don't want to change anything about yourself or use god metals for your own gains, you will create only Lerasium, if you do desire the opposite, you will create Atium. Wax created only Lerasium (Sazed lied), Kandra only Atium, Set could have been unaware that god metals are created in this reaction as they could only see the destructive potential of it for their bomb, thus they'd never search for god metals. Other than Wax's intent during the experiment, I can't really see anything else special there that could play a major role in it, at least nothing more is in the book. TLM ch 15:

Ishar is creating visions just like Dalinar had and those happen in the Spiritual Realm, which is spaceless and time independent. Dalinar was warned by Hoid that while years or even decades might pass on Roshar, he might feel like only hours passed in those visions in SR. Time there flows differently than in the Physical Realm. As for why they want to experience as little time as possible, it's because they are still not healed, they can't be fully healed because their status as a Cognitive Shadow makes their condition worse the longer they live. A human soul, even if made immortal, isn't capable of existing for thousands of years, it wears down and this takes a toll on Heralds. Additionally, their minds also aren't capable of remembering all of what they lived through (as Hoid explained in ch 14). The more they have to remember, the more they forget, causing their minds to deteriorate further. For Heralds it is actually beneficial to live in a faster time frame.

I think it was either instantly returned to Honor, or it will slowly return to the SR and slowly be reincorporated with Retribution. Some of it might have been snatched by Syl, but she might have been invested by the little parts of Honor separated from it when Retribution was formed. The Sibling can't be Unmade because Honor forces Taravangian to respect the terms of Dalinar's contract, which establishes a ceasefire and peace after the contest.

Because Honor was forcing him to respect the contract he made with Dalinar. Urithiru wasn't a part of the deal, the deal said after the contest the borders will be frozen, which means he had to leave Urithiru alone otherwise he would have lost Honor (and Honor might have opposed his action with its power stopping him, just like Ruin and Vin did to each other). This is also the reason why Taravangian had to leave Azir and Listeners alone - they fought successfully for their freedom and Honor forced him to respect that. Honor however hated Hoid, so even though he might have been under protection of Dalinar's contract (it's still unclear to me), Honor wanted to kill him just like Odium did and that's why Taravangian could attack Hoid, but not Urithiru.

Yes, he did gradually in Szeth's flashbacks. Shins know the Truth, which is that Aharietiem was a lie and a new Desolation will one day come when Taln breaks. Because of this they are preparing for the coming of the True Desolation, they are training with Surges and Honorblades and they have a whole class of people dedicated only to fighting - those who subtract. They fight to protect Roshar when the time comes. Truthless is a title given to someone who betrayed the Truth, or falsely announced the arrival of the True Desolation. Young Szeth mistook Ishar for an Unmade and said that the True Desolation had finally come. He and other Shins believe that Unmades, just like Fused and Voidspren, are on Braize in between Desolations and thus the presence of an Unmade in Shinovar means that Taln broke and soon a Desolation would start. He was wrong as Shins didn't know that Unmades were slumbering on Roshar in between Desolation and that it was Ishar corrupted by Odium's power whom he met, not an Unmade. Szeth announced the start of the True Desolation, raised an army and started a civil war in Shinovar trying to fight other Honorbearers, believing they are under an Unmade control and those are the reason he was given the title of the Truthless. He betrayed the Truth, announced the start of a Desolation and started a war in Shinovar. This is vastly different from a person who just subtracts. In the end, the True Desolation actually came but not for the reasons Szeth saw. He was wrong but right at the same time.

It's possible Harmony guided Wax's hand. The night that day was very Misty, Harmony acts through Mists (they are always present during important events in Wax's life) and Wax ingested Mists at some point in the past. I think Wax was also spiked that night as well (his earring), which would give Harmony the ability to guide his hand to aim for the proper binding point. Harmony interleaved in AoL to make sure that the box with his guns and mistcloak would be at the location where the climax took place and that Wax would find it.

All forms of innate investiture will grant effects similar to Heightenings granted by Breaths. This includes increased lifespan, pitch and color recognition, life sense, immunity to illnesses and toxins and agelessness. This was more explored in TSM. While the specific effects of Heightenings related to Awakening might change and be related to other invested arts depending on the innate investiture used, we don't know if this works like this (for example we don't know if the 6th Heightening gained from Hemalurgy will increase your intuitive understanding of Metallic Arts), but it's still possible. Breaths seem to be one of the most invested forms of commonly available innate investiture, Scadrians have less of it from the Preservation's fragment in them, therefore a spike containing 50 fragments in it would be most likely less invested than 50 Breaths (which is the 1st Heighetning). It looks like if you want to have effects given by higher Heightenings, you need to spike a huge amount of people. Hemalurgy doesn't seem like a very efficient way of gaining innate investiture (unless you want to use it to steal a Divine Breath, which is possible), people on average just aren't invested enough to make this practical. We haven't seen anyone with a Hemalurgic nicrosil spike giving them only innate investiture. But for example, inquisitors generally had an increased lifespan because of their higher innate investiture levels. Steelsight can be gained from having your eye spiked - Inquisitors had it, Kelsier has it. Just spike your eye and you will gain Steelsight. It can also be acquired just from having Allomantic steel and iron without any spike.

You are correct. The words are just a focus for the intent, which encompasses more than the word itself. The interpretation of the Shardic intent depends on the Vessel that's holding the Shard. Ruin isn't about destruction, Ati was able to focus it around entropy.

Did Vin need to pass her messages through Ruin to communicate with her Koloss? no. Telsin also didn't need Autonomy or Harmony to talk to those spiked with Trellium. Hemalurgy can be used this way, but it will require some special changes, maybe strengthening Connection between two Hemalurgists. Trapped Ghostbloods can use Allomancy or Feruchemy to send out SOS signals with their pulses, there probably is an Aviar that could help them communicate with others, spren can forward messages, Seons as well, spanreeds and Awakened strawmen can be used too. It all depends on the circumstances and the methods of their confinement, but there are some ways they could use to send out a distress signal. Ghostbloods are well organized, so an agent trapped on Taldain would have the Taldain Ghostbloods cell close enough to alert Scadrial about his imprisonment. They don't need to have interplanetary communication to do this, they just need a way to alert nearby agents. But some of those methods will work between planets.

Basically, yes. They are using the same kind of mechanism via different methods. There are of course many differences (listed already by Entr0pic), but just as Ashynite Bondsmiths are still called Bondsmitsh by Rosharans, just like an Elantrian manipulating Connections would be called a Bondsmith as well, Rosharans would most likely call him a Bondsmith and his powers as Bondsmithing. They are very similar. Theoretically speaking, any compounder can do this. Enough investiture in one place will create a perpendicularity. It's not exactly the same thing a Bondsmith can do but it's still something close to it.

Aluminum is known to be different in Cosmere. It can't hold Breaths, it can't hold Stormlight, it can't hold any other investiture. There is no reason for aluminum to work differently in Metallic Arts. There is no confirmation that Aluminummind holds investiture when used instead of just blanking your identity with no way to tap it back. An aluminum spike can work in the same way - it removes all powers from your spirit web, without being invested itself. It doesn't even make sense for an aluminum spike to have a need to be charged before it's used to remove powers - what charge would it even need when all it does is the same thing as any other spike that's used on all donors. Aluminum is different and we have to take this into consideration. The more I think about aluminum, the more I realize that aluminum holding a charge in Metallic Arts would be inconsistent with how aluminum works in Cosmere. Why would you expect aluminum to be investable by Feruchemy or Hemalurgy, but not by Breaths and Stormlight? We will probably see how an Aluminummind works in Era 3, from that we can extrapolate it to Hemalurgy.

There are still 16 Shards, they are just intermingled with each other or Splintered into pieces. But they still count as 16 Shards. Investiture, like energy, can't be destroyed, so even those Splintered Shards don't stop counting as Shards. They are just in pieces and without any Vessel, but if you take two pieces of Splintered Ambition, you will know this is Ambition's investiture. Even Harmonium on the fundamental level is still made out of distinguishsble investitures of Ruin and Preservation. Harmony itself is made out of two powers, which Sazed constantly remaind us throughout Era 2. Those Shards still exists within him separately. As for the number of Vessels, there is a Shard that is not held by its original Vessel (not counting Harmony and Retribution). Because the question is about holding a Shard, it should exclude Splintered Sharda like Ambition, Virtuosity, Devotion and Dominion. However, I think Brandon was thinking about Honor, who isn't Splintered and started to develop its own sapience, but the possibility that there is another Shard which switched hands is still opened. Kelsier counts as a Vessel, he held Preservation, even if it opposed him strongly and he couldn't utilize its full strength due to his CS status. I don't really see any evidence suggesting that Valor is held by a new Vessel.

They can get through Shadesmar, but there is a barrier storm blocking their way. RoW ch 89: