Vortaan

It makes sense. The only thing I see against it is the vision we have where Dalinar is healed by a KR. She very clearly uses a Soulcaster, which leads me to believe she isn't a Stonewarden or a Windrunner.

Also remember that there is always a metal pair that lets you effect the outside world and a metal effect that is more internal. Electum/gold change something inside you, bendalloy/cadmium change something outside you. They fit the internal/external metals pretty well.

It's specifically mentioned in conjunction with the trek from Terris. They are also in the Central Dominance and shouldn't have hit as much of the daylight issue, and were in the Central Dominance from the end of WoA. I find it more likely that Sazed assumed that the Terrismen lost people to the mists, but if they hadn't isn't it odd that no one noticed it before then? Elend was tracking all kinds of data about the mist sickness, why would he leave the entire remaining Terris population out of his figures?

Just noticed this during a reread. In chapter 18, Sazed is musing about the deprivations of the Terris people. The quote I am thinking of is this. This is very interesting to me because later the Terris people tell Sazed that no Terrismen have been taken by the mist sickness. Is this an inconsistency, did Sazed just assume some people died because other were attacked... or did the mixing of Terris and Allomantic bloodlines happen a lot sooner than we assumed? Were there possible Twinborn as far back as HoA?

I'd like to see Smokers learn to control the size of their clouds. It just seems like a useful ability for a traitorous Smoker to have just at the right minute.

Unless you count storing enough age to keep yourself looking 25ish in two thin atium armbands a lot of power. Considering he was fighting a thousand years of aging, that is one hell of a Feruchemical charge, even if you deplete it every three days.

The dying phrases started around the same time Gavilar died. Do we know if it was a bit before, or after?

Could I get a little bit more here besides "Yes you could do it?" How do you change the cognitive aspect of something that has to exist in the heads of thousands if not millions of people? Where does that manifest?

I'm just randomly speculating there, but if there is another Shard on Roshar that is anti-Odium, like Preservation is anti-Ruin, Rayse may have only been able to damage, but not kill said Shard, without killing himself. I don't see Odium doing that, so that's a possibility.

Well, I don't think you Soulcast anything that doesn't have a tangible Physical element, so that's out. And as Shadesmar seems to be somewhat affected by perception, I don't know that any single person could do much damage to a language from Shadesmar.

I like that better than my thought, actually. Second curious question: if a full Feruchemist is storing Identity when he gets bisected, would that mess with the healing process? Could you get clones that way?

Does it make more sense if you follow Kaladin's mother's explanation? When a suit of Shardplate is separated into smaller pieces, each piece has a spren, but smaller than the spren that powers the whole suit originally. When it is regrown whole, the spren attached to the missing pieces dies, and the spren attached to the larger piece becomes larger to account for it.

One I was thinking about today: Does Shu-Kereth pre-date the Splintering of Devotion and Dominion, or did it happen after?

I'll wager a cognitive factor plays some role in this too. If Miles perceives himself to be attached to a certain part of his body, his soul will probably jump to that first. Spiritual connections probably don't die until the cognitive ones do. With Shardplate, I'd imagine the "core" of it, if there is a spren attached, is either in the head or possibly the breastplate, although I admit to wanting to see a Fullmetal Alchemist type seal somewhere in the interior. So if it's damaged, and more Stormlight is being fed into a gauntlet, for example, then it feels it's "body" dying and moves to the healthier part because that is what it would perceive as being it's body. Given a tie in Stormlight being fed, I'll bet Shardplate heals the largest continuous section attached to the helm or breastplate.

I really think it has more to do with Adonalsium than Lerasium. Although interesting bit I just noticed... Adonalsium, Lerasium, Atium... is it possible that there is a metal remnant of Adonalsium floating around, and THAT is what the writer is protecting?

Good point, she is in warform.

Huh. Random thought: What if the Voidbinding that current Roshar thinks is evil is actually a form of Surgebinding? Is there an order of KR that precognition would possibly fit under? And if so, does that make the Recreance something that had to happen in order to PREVENT the Final Desolation? Maybe a vision shows the KR that the only way to win the future Desolation is to abandon humanity for a couple thousand years.

Except that the Shardbearer Dalinar fights at the end has a very thick accent.

1) We're not sure exactly what the Desolations contained army wise. If Jasnah is right and a major part of them are parshmen, then that leads me to believe that the essences are more like specialist troops, and probably far less. You're also forgetting that enough time seems to have passed between Desolations that most people aren't ready for them, at least pre-Nohadon. 2) It looks like Voidbinders work off Stormlight, just like Surgebinders. If Odium is using Honor's own magic against him, then yes, the Investiture is probably minimal. A good example would be Ruin using Koloss. Koloss are created through Hemalurgy, but really the Investiture that powers them is Preservation's. 3) We know Odium has enough power to do both the Desolations AND splinter two Shards. Obviously we either don't know how much power it takes to Splinter a Shard, or the Desolations are a relatively minor drain on his overall power, or Odium's specific abilities make one or the other much easier to do than you'd think. 4) Obviously the Desolation plan worked, since Tanavast is dead. The question is really did it work because the Heralds failed, or was it along the lines of the Preservation/Ruin pact where Odium was going to win without a big sacrifice play from someone?

Because the Desolations tie down at least two Shards with minimal Investiture, and allow him the freedom to roam the Cosmere and do his thing. Let's keep in mind folks that so far, Odium is the only Shard we know that travels. The rest seem to have found their little niches and settled down. Locking down Honor so that he couldn't come help, for example, Devotion seems like a good use of power.

Actually, that is a really good question. How small does the core have to be to regrow? Is it whole pieces that become loose, like Dalinar's gauntlet, or could they get the gauntlet and the pieces of the helm and feed Stormlight to both? And how do they feed Stormlight to a gauntlet anyway? Do you put in an infused gem? Is there a slot? In which case, how many slots are in Shardplate and how many pieces could you theoretically feed Stormlight to? I really wish we had a sketch of Shardplate...

I don't think he can do one without doing the other, or he'd upset his balance too much. Remember that Preservation and Ruin don't play well together. I think it's likely fueling Allomancy derived from Hemalurgy is Ruin-y enough to counteract some Preservation... and I doubt Wax is drinking pewter with his steel.

So following that theory, why can Shardplate regrow if it's damaged by a Shardblade? Does the Blade need to cut through a "core" part of the Plate? If so, what counts? Dalinar lost his helm, which seems pretty core to me.

This seems solid. However, the other thing I see this leading towards is Shardplate having spren involved in it's manufacture. The spren's soul stays with the larger bulk, and "heals" itself back, very similar to Miles. Odd question, then, is why don't Soulcasters? Or was Shallan's a fake from the get-go?

We actually have proof positive of this in that Hrathen can have a Seon, but no Fjordell without some Aonic blood is ever taken by the Shaod. There is definitely a genetic angle to AonDor, much like with Allomancy. On topic, a Shardic romance could have been the element that weakened both Shards enough for them to be Splintered at all. I can't imagine Devotion and Dominion play together much better than Ruin and Preservation did, so perhaps a closeness on the parts of the Shardholders caused a residual weakness in both Shards.