Sairys

The notes about Scadrial kinda need to also have the context that Preservation was there trying to have the world in a static state, that one supremely powerful being was there the entire time trying to maintain control over that world. It also didn't last and I don't believe we've seen any magic system capable of replicating that? There's an also issue of definitions in that post. Primarily around what it means to "Destroy a World" given that a world is distinct from a planet. For us the world isn't just earth, it's the countries, the cultures, and the people. Our individual worlds are even more specific, they could be "the english-speaking world", for some we say their family is their entire world, geeks can also be described as being fascinated with other worlds which can become even more broad up to universal or larger scales. There are a few things that could "destroy our entire world", such global pandemics, that would ultimately only kill off humanity. So... the original world of Sel was destroyed, the planet Sel remains. The culture and people that originally created Elantris are gone, not even a memory. Given how the Dor came to be in it's current state, their magic systems were probably all destroyed. Roshar seems to have been mostly destroyed with each desolation, the Heralds are really the ones that carried on the knowledge to the civilisations that developed after them. The world of the original inhabitants has effectively been destroyed. Scadrial was kinda destroyed by Lord Ruler and replaced with something else. And so on. Potentially, Ashyn could even be less of a "destroyed world", there was a cataclysm but their magic system may have survived, the pockets similarly might have saved their culture and their people. Also, for the Cleopatra example the Aztec empire may work more nicely given we're nearing only the 500th anniversary of its, end. It also seems like what you've written and your conclusion is in opposition. As you note, when we look back into history we have the tendency to lump things together even if they're separated by thousands of years. That would lead to the expectation that historians looking back would think the arrivals of Honour and Cultivation are followed soon by the arrival of Odium, when the reality would be that they were hundreds, if not thousands of years separate. If it was relatively recent history then it would likely lead to the feeling that much longer has passed than it really has. Following the logic presented, that it seems to be a long time between could imply that it's longer than that.

Derp, having a weird issue where "enter" doesn't do anything so typed out in notepad and must have double tapped v when pasting

Given what we've seen of other shardworld, yes, I expect they would have recovered more. Regarding Scadrial, it was like that for 1024 years, looking at some timelines this falls between the previous desolation and the beginning of the stormlight chronicles, so that's thousands of years. It's also a different situation. Different Shards are involved, most of their issues revolved around one human who didn't know what he was doing reacting to all of the problems he was causing. The global problems were resolved by Harmony and civilisation hits the point it's at in Mistborn 2 around 300 years. The closest comparisons are Sel and, to a degree, Threnody. Odium doesn't appear to have any real interest in making the worlds he passes uninhabitable and, aside from splintering the shards, he doesn't appear to make any really permanent changes to them. His moves in the Stormlight chronicle seem like he's trying to force himself free, which could enable him to destroy Cultivation and would likely result in him immediately leaving Roshar to hunt down another Shard. Leaving a third world that Odium has left without similar devastation to Ashyn. Just really makes Ashyn feel different. I think another thing that's sticking in my mind is the Ashyn theory requires Honor to abandon a world. To break oaths and bonds to that world and travel to another. Similarly, it seems as though that would also mean a relatively short time if Odium chases them to Roshar where the Singers seemed to already revere them as Gods.

@ROSHtaFARian2.0 true, though that's the source of my curiosity about what effect Shards might have on other planets in a system. For example, could investiture perhaps overflow from Roshar and supercharge the magics on the planet nearby. Another interesting note that comes to mind is the state of the worlds we know Odium has visited. Sel is rather well off, for example, and Threnody's main issue seems to be its magic and possibly whatever effect Ambition has had there. With all of that expected to have happened far in the past relatively close to the time the first desolation happened, wouldn't we expect Ashyn should be showing similar signs of recovery? Particularly given that his focus is on the Shards. This could raise the question of whether or not Ashyn's current state is as a result of Odium's binding though.

The WoB is here, but effectively all worlds have some form of magic to them. Considering diseases are natural it could similarly fall within the definition of "interacting with nature". The question was asked in this WoB and RAFOd, but a living organism entering another and giving them magic is a similarity between Ashyn and First of the Sun. Makes me wonder if it's possible that the presence of Shards on a planet could affect the nearby worlds as well, maybe enhancing the magic there without creating a separate system?

@emailanimal alternatively, could the humans have come with Odium from Sel? They could have been the original inhabitants of the Arelon region, given Elantris was empty and abandoned when the Aonic people moved in well after the splintering of Devotion and Dominion. It could offer an origin for glyph wards given Selish magic iform basis, the original group of humans might have passed it down and the glyphs have become unrecognisable over time (and may even be from a magic system that was lost in the splintering on Sel) The mural Shallan found in Urithuru has a solitary figure hovering before the large blue disc with arms outstretched, kinda reminds me of the mural Raoden and crew found in Elantris depicting Devotion's shardpool. Which would make Elantris the Tranquiline Halls (which could be fitting given just how awesome and nice it seems there) and ending up on Roshar after living there would likely be like getting kicked out of heaven.