Zelly

I really like Dalinar and Navani's chemistry, especially when he was trying to be proper and she was trying anything but. On non-romantic......Lightsong and Llarimar.

This is not about the spren that bond to knights (honorspren, cryptics, etc). I'm curious about the connection that some spren seem to have with certain orders of Radiants. Since we have so few Radiants, particularly in the same order, it's hard to make any good observations. Windspren are the most curious. Syl calls them cousins several times and tries to explain to Kaladin that winds are of honor. Kaladin meanwhile in OB is so desperate to protect that he starts airbending at one point (which Syl is surprised and curious about). Windspren also gather to Kaladin while traveling in Shadesmar. Creationspren pop up regularly around Shallan, eventually by the hundreds. If Shallan is like Kaladin, she might be able to manipulate them to some extent. I can't help but think that the way they take the shape of random things is similar to the sea of glass bead souls in Shadesmar (and thus to soulcasting). Gloryspren appear around Dalinar at least two notable times in OB. Once when he's using Bondsmith abilities to fix a temple, and then at the end when....uh....there's a lot of unifying going on. And in the middle of it is a giant swirling pillar of gloryspren. I know these spren are probably heavily leaning towards Honor or Cultivation and that may be part of the attraction towards the radiants, but maybe there's something more?

Been poking around about the last week, but hadn't really introduced myself. Hi! I'm here for the cosmere memes. Pretty update with what's published, though I really need to re-read everything on Scadrial. Stormlight Archive is my happy place. Also, thank you for the forum. I'm having a blast throwing around theories and babbling about Investiture. I kinda imagine this is how Kriss feels, hopping around the cosmere pestering people with questions and gathering knowledge.

So I was trying to write Keteks for characters, and ended up questions. Keteks should read the same forwards and backwards, but does mean the words can have different meanings as long as they sound the same? (See Adolin's ketek). [Kaladin's ketek ] A newborn wind. Broken, but surviving. Aloft, bonded aloft. Surviving, but broken. Wind, born anew. [Adolin's ketek] Hauls in dueling two. Stabbing, I try. Eye stabbing, two duel in halls. [Stick's ketek] Unknown purpose? Living questioned, life uncertain. Life questioned, living purpose unknown .... Plea to change, be another. Fire. No. Fire! Another changes to pleas. Am I stick? I am. Can you deconstruct words into prefixes/suffixes as long as it follows the verbal pattern? Example: You know, undo. Restart, do unknown, you. [in hindsight this should go on the ketek topic which I just noticed. Sorry! Is there a way to move/delete it?]

If that is a WoB, it also has some potential implications regarding Adonalsium's vessel and the Shattering. (Pretty sure there's a WoB saying Adolnasium had a vessel?).

Thanks for posting those WoB, they're pretty clear that Rayse is just trying to eliminate rivals. Though there are some interesting tidbits in there about the nature of Odium or Rayse, especially given what we learn about him from OB. But that's for a different topic (wow it's hard not to ramble when discussing the cosmere).

Sorry, that's what I get trying to be evasive lol.

Are the Surges in the Ars Arcanum named the way they are (with rather scientific terms such as vaccuum, gravitation, axial interconnection, waveforms, etc) because that's what off-worlders use to refer to them OR are they called the same names by natives on Roshar. I'm curious because I don't think characters have discussed anything like gravity. Do the Radiants themselves know the names for their surges? Or is it knowledge passed to them by the spren (Pattern and Windle especially mention surges by name or with more scientific understanding).

I asked a similar question: Could the Parshendi be a sort of living fabrial? (though I'm pretty sure it was also @RShara who answered probably not XD) Though in OB there is one character who ends up with two spren bonded, with one overruling the other. Don't know how that would fit into things since I don't think there's been any mention of single gems with multiple spren inside?

Mmmmm, pondering 17th Shard/forum appropriate swears..... "By Spoiler's Eye!" "Topic and Train!

In what way? It seems like the swearing is usually related to the planet and or/people. Roshar = "Storms!" because wow these storms are rough Nalthis = "Colors!" because it's a cultural/religious thing Lot of swearing by local deities as well ("by the Lord Ruler!")

Sja-anat, Taker of Secrets. The Creator: Her twisted creations are her beloved children. Her admiration of the breakfast cakes of our world inspires her. The Corrupter: She seeks the children of Waffle and the children of Crepes. With one touch she corrupts. .....and syrup is.....a perpendicularity....uh....bridging the realm between pancakes and man.

Oh wow, I really like this. What if the Shattering was simply part of the natural life cycle of God? Odd to us, sure, but for a lifeform totally different than we can really understand.... Energy can't be created or destroyed. We as a species continue by investing energy into a new generation of individuals. Maybe Adonalsium procreates by shattering and reforming its energy endlessly. "Unity" might be a primal driving biological need to progress through it's life cycle.

I'm not suggesting that Odium's a nice guy. His motivations, however, may be more complicated than simply trying to squash rivals. Take the Lord Ruler: murderous tyrannical jerkface and all around not nice guy. BUT also worked to prevent the destruction of the entire planet. In fact I'd say there's a lot of characters whose don't want death and chaos, but if it gets them their goal..... Hoid told Dalinar the same, about being his friend but would also watch the world crumble to obtain his goals.

So I stumbled on a random, but related WoB https://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=979#174 Could Odium actually be afraid not of other shards, but too much concentrated power? We know next to nothing of why the Shattering occurred. Had Adonalsium's power and presence created an opposite force/being to create a sort of balance? Maybe in an attempt to limit the ravages of a great evil, they had to weaken or destroy Adonalsium. This fear of combined power might also be the reason the original shardholders agreed not to inhabit the same planets. It also makes some interesting parallels between Odium and Taravangian, what with his " the end justifies the means" mentality. Theory kinda took a different spin, might try to put this together into something bigger later.

Dunno about Nightblood, but there is a spren killed by blade in Oathbringer:

Is the transformation of the Parshendi similar to the process of soulcasting? Could the Parshendi be a sort of living fabrial? They both use/trap spren in a gem or gemheart.

From the perspective of the Shardholder, sure. But the overall power shift seems.......kinda nice? We had Adonalsium whose power then got dispersed to planets via worldhopping shards. Woohoo more, better, stronger magics in more places! Now those shards are being splintered or splintering the own power and trickling the power down even more. The peoples of the cosmere use these powers to improve their technology, gain insight from other realms, create connections to other peoples, and generally grow in knowledge and skills. It brings up a lot of age old political and religious questions. Should power belong to the few or the many? Does access to such power make the cosmere as a whole a better place, or just a more dangerous place? Is Odium really the secret Robin Hood hero of the cosmere, stealing from the rich and distributing to the poor? (Okay, that's a stretch ). Discuss!

Oh, for some reason I assumed Wax was flickering on the border of death, but hadn't fully died. Looked up Szeth's death and yeah Nale states he was "dead for certain." Are Wax and Szeth cognitive shadows then? I remember a vague passage about Nale saying Szeth heard voices/whispers of the dead due to his condition. So I guess my thread is more about what it means to be a cognitive shadow...

Spoilers for OB and BoM. (New and not sure best way to handle spoilers). This is my twitchy theory that having a near death experience may add to/alter abilities, Investiture, spiritual connection, etc. At the very least, connection to the cognitive realm. I can understand that being on that line between life and death can create some flux between the realms, but when the person ends up NOT dying, I wonder if they don't "return" with some added bit of connection or ability as a result. I'm currently re-reading Warbringer and thinking about the "prophecies" that the Returned glean from dreams and paintings. The priests describe the Returned as having glimpsed the future due to their experience on the other side. Fast forward to OB and Kaladin's examination of a painting for sale in Shadesmar, which reads much like a painting from Nalthis. Is Kaladin's experience with the painting related to him being Invested and/or his (admittedly many) near death experience. The main one that stands out to me is when he's left out during the highstorm and sees what may be death spren. Hop over to BoM where we have Wax's near death experience and chatty vision with Harmony. There's also Szeth's super near death experience, to the point where his poorly reconnected soul leaves an after image from his body. There may be other examples. I mean, the trappers on First of the Sun live one giant near death experience. Maybe why Aviar seem to prefer them? Is Snapping on Scadrial related more to a mental breakdown and spirit web stuff, or potentially to a having a near death experience?

(I'm new, advice and forgiveness both appreciated in regards to posting). So Spiritual Adhesion allows Dalinar to understand and speak new languages via physical contact and Stormlight. I'm wondering to whom/what this might be applied in the future. The Ryshadium in particular have been noted to be unusually intelligent, understanding, and possibly musically inclined (which all makes me very curious about Wit's interactions with them). I thinking and hoping we get a deeper look into Ryshadium society/culture.