marles

Yeah I'm only really vaguely remembering the description of Iyatil's mask being red/orange, but for some reason I was thinking that the Parshendi carapace was mentioned as having some orange coloring or something (maybe when Bridge 4 is picking through bodies and first discover the carapace is actually part of their bodies). But I haven't gone through the Cosmere nearly as much as most here so my memory of specific details is a bit fuzzy. I do agree that the timeline does not necessarily match up. Especially considering that even if there were Parshendi that made it to Scadrial as some point, if it happened during TFE they would have had to somehow get in more or less unnoticed (unlikely with TLR sitting on top of Preservation's pool and Ruin's perpendicularity being constantly populated with workers) and then make it across the continent and then ocean.

I would definitely think skill plays an absolutely massive part in it. Just consider Inquisitors. They have no eye sight due to their spikes, so they would not be able to tell that a blue line is pointed at a bullet, think to themselves that bullets are made of three components, and then see three separate blue lines to that same bullet. But, if every object only had one line to it, their steel-sight would be absolute crap, which we know it is not. Instead they are incredibly skilled with these abilities, having to use them all the time for vision. They may be skilled enough to essentially see each metallic atom. At one point I believe Marsh even mentions that he is able to tell the color of objects through the metal lines and that it wouldn't be necessarily hard for others to do the same. As mentioned above, Kelsier spins some metal rods by pushing/pulling on different parts of the same object. I don't think there is any mention of the rods he uses appearing to be multiple parts pieced together so I doubt Kelsier could do that just because he perceiving the rod to be two separate things. It's mentioned that Kelsier was highly skilled with steel and iron, even by Vin who is clearly skilled and a quick learner of allomancy as a whole.

I had the same thought as well. I don't remember seeing direct evidence of another coinshot using a bubble in Era 2 (although I could be wrong there) but I do remember one instance (in BoM) where Wax internally comments something along the lines of "that's why you should never drop your bubble." I was also thinking that Wax would be assuming that any coinshot can manage a bubble like his because it only seems to be a result of steel pushing to him. But since it could potentially be a mix of his two abilities and his use of them is so experienced and natural, he does not realize that a normal coinshot could not create a bubble in the same manner that he does. Wax's bubble is also a bit interesting because his personal metals from guns, flasks, etc are not effected. I would assume other coinshots may be able to create a sort of bubble but maybe not exclude their own metals. So if there are moments where other coinshots seem to have a bubble it would be worth noting whether or not it is mentioned that they have no metals on them, an aluminum gun and ammo, etc at the time when it seems like they have a bubble.

I recently have been reading Bands of Mourning again and some of the descriptions given about the masks seemed to have a resemblance to the Parshendi. Feel free to correct anything I say that may be wrong, I'm mostly listening to the audiobook so some stuff may slip my mind. The way the SoScads use masks leads me to think that Parshendi had some intereaction with the SoScads at some point in the past. Allik's mask is black and red and iirc Iyatil's is red/orange. I'm not sure if we have descriptions of other masks at the moment but these match Parshendi coloring without any additional colors that that would throw it off completely. When Allik is talking about the different SoScad cultures he talks about the Hunters growing into their masks (which we have seen with Iyatil). Growing into the mask so that it becomes a part of them is very much like how the Parshendi grow carapace armor. We also find out that in one of the cultures, masks are changed based on a person's profession, which sounds a lot like the Parshendi changing appearance based on the forms they take. Of course, the masks also hide their emotions from showing plainly on their faces. The Parshendi show emotions through their rhythms and not on their faces and I believe some of the Parshendi even mention or give a feeling that showing emotions through your facial expression is beneath using the rhythms. Allik gives us a similar feeling when he mentions that he thought all the Northern Scadrians were barbarians because they didn't wear masks, not because the SoScads are further technologically but because they don't wear masks. I'll admit that the evidence is pretty slim and I can't really think of when/why/how some Parshendi would have been to Southern Scadrial. But it seems almost too coincidental to have a society that sees their masks as the SoScads do and also have those masks and some of the actions around them resemble another culture we've seen elsewhere in the Cosmere. Any additional thoughts/refutations about this?

Thanks for the clarification. I forgot they could eventually choose to become full Koloss (or something like that). I'll have to take another read through Era 2. But if there could be Koloss-blooded metalborn, wouldn't they keep those abilities if they were spiked and became full Koloss?

Isn't one of the main Vanishers in Alloy of Law a Koloss metalborn? Or am I misunderstanding you?

But there doesn't need to be an obvious reason. Just as some characters are short and some are tall, some of the characters are gay and some are not. There doesn't have to be a purpose in mind for every aspect of a character when they're created. But having character differences like Drehy being gay gives us another look into the world and making it more immersive or relatable to things we see around us. It gives us a chance to see how it is treated in-world and how it impacts the characters we read about. Are things like this generally accepted, generally rejected, known about but mostly ignored, or handled in some other way? Do the characters we know treat it any differently then how the rest of the world generally does? As for my least favorite character, I would have to say that KanPaar ranks up there. He treats TenSoon so poorly after he turned himself in and then commits worse crimes soon after even though the most knowledgeable group within their culture has agreed that the end of the world has come. He's mostly just a power-hungry coward.

Steel sight being instant when they were spiked was one thing I didn't think about when I first posted. Between that and the WoB posted earlier saying others could learn steel sight convinces me it isn't something related to savantism at all, probably mostly training and experience. For the Inquisitors I'm going to assume it occurs so quickly because the spikes are driven through bind points in their eyes. I would imagine that bind points have some difference between them, or at least maybe when paired with the proper hemalurgic spike. Thanks for pointing this out too. I was not remembering that Vin hadn't been wearing the earring for awhile, so I would agree, the charge should have decayed quite a bit unless there was some other external intervention there. I hadn't seen that WoB before (still pretty new to the Cosmere) and that is interesting to know. I was thinking that the allomantic strength decay over generations had to be pretty small otherwise by the time we see Era 4 (although I don't really know how far into the future this is really supposed to be) allomancers almost might as well not have any powers unless of course there was some intervention by Harmony to return the strength to previous levels.

As was mentioned in my prior post, he can. He just... doesn't(and I really don't know why). Brandon says he can learn to do it "by brute force," whatever that means. Thoughts on this? It sounded like he was saying Elend could learn this ability by becoming a savant or possibly even just more practice, but I could be misinterpreting it. I was thinking he is different because when we first see Vin piercing copper clouds I don't think she would have been a savant by that point. I would have to go back and read through again to find the first point she is piercing a copper cloud but I think it was relatively early on when she had to still kind of mentally remind herself to use those powers, not at a point where she was most likely burning it constantly. That made me think she was piercing copper clouds based on raw strength alone, not as a real developed skill, whereas Elend receives his Lerasium MB powers and is not piercing clouds even after all the time that has passed until the end of Era 1. So I wasn't necessarily trying to say that Elend absolutely could not and never would be able to pierce copper clouds. Just that it seemed like in the same developmental/training stages of their powers Vin's 10th century MB power + the 10th century spike were stronger than Elend's Lerasium MB power. But again there are other factors that could play into this like Vin using the power without her knowing before she knew she was MB giving her a training edge and such.

Thanks for the thorough response, especially with all the WoB's. By my interpretation your WoB from number 1 was answering my question from number 2. In number one I'm asking if somebody has an ability spiked into them, can they use it to the point of becoming a savant of that ability. I assumed this possible as I was assuming that Inquisitors were steel savants (and we know Marsh only gained that ability from being spiked). But if you consider that steel-sight may be available to any steel misting and not actually a savant ability then this answer could still be up in the air unless there is other proof? Basically unless we saw for certain a savant ability being used by somebody spiked or a WoB saying it isn't possible we wouldn't know for certain. The second question I was asking was about taking savantism from somebody by using hemalurgy, which sounds like what the WoB is saying. Basically, since savantism changes a person, I wanted to know if, for instance, somebody spiked Spook to take his tin allomancy, would it be possible that they are instantly a tin savant or just a tin misting. I was thinking his subtle touch was because of practice as well but I also thought that TLR ruler's soothing hit like a freight train because that was what he wanted. Just like Vin sometimes subtly touches peoples emotions at some points but also, on occasion, completely bashes people over the head with brass+duralumin pushes. Days without Incident: 256. (Wow, has it really been that long since last time this was discussed?) Lerasium MB doing a Duralumin Soothing could match base TLR. If a double spike in 10th century could match a Lerasium MB, then a single spike in 4th or 5th century would be close to Lerasium by default, and adding Duralumin would nearly equate to Elend with Duralumin, which Brandon has said could match TLR. Given how much TLR hid from the world and his Inquisitors to keep his advantages, I don't think he would allow something that could challenge him. I stand by what I said then. I skimmed that thread a bit because I wasn't sure I was understanding at first. It's also a bit hard to discuss because for the most part we don't know when most of the Inquisitor spikes were created (to know approximately their possible initial strength) or how many times they have been passed from Inquisitor to Inquisitor (to have some idea of how much the power has decayed). Most of this discussion I tried not to really bring up TLR though because he crafted his own strength when he ascended and I didn't know how powerful he was in relation to other allomancers. But we know for certain that Elend cannot pierce copper clouds when Vin is able to. She has a bronze spike created from her sister so she is somewhere between 1 and 2 times as strong as an average 10th century allomancer (probably closer to 2 times since there would be minimal losses from the short time it took to transfer her spike). Given that and that above it is agreed upon that the copper piercing is strength related more so than savant related, I would say that Elend, or any other Lerasium MB must be less than twice as powerful as 10th century allomancers. I don't really think that rate of decay is that farfetched though. TLR didn't want people to be able to challenge him but nobody during his rule ever really stood that chance. By vastly dropping feruchemist numbers he was able to reduce the chance of a fullborn down to essentially 0%. Without compounding the only other chance somebody might have is probably to be spiked many times. But we know that TLR's Inquisitors only usually had ~10 spikes and I don't remember (could be wrong though) any of them having duralumin during his rule. And in any case, if an Inquisitor did have duralumin, so would TLR and his power would just be absurd at that point. We know that TLR was so secure and confident in his position that he fell to Vin, which should have never even had the slightest chance in happening given all the power he had available to him.

Is there somewhere that mentions characters' relative allomantic strength in a somewhat quantitative manner? In Era 1 we have Vin burning bronze with allomantic strength that has degraded over 1000 years + the strength of a bronze spike (probably slightly less powerful than her own ability but roughly equivalent). Inquisitors would probably be somewhat close to that strength as well. Then we have Elend, who has the full strength of an original mistborn. We know he can't pierce copper clouds, so he is less than twice as strong as a normal allomancer from that time period. But where in that range does he fit, 25%, 50%, 75% more powerful? Also, speaking of hemalurgy, does the size of the spike matter? We know that feruchemical stores have an upper limit to how much investiture they can hold that depends on the size of the metal itself. Does hemalurgy work similarly where if a spike was not at least a certain size you could not steal the entirety of a person's ability? Obviously if that were the case an overly large spike wouldn't steal more than what a person has originally, but I'm curious if it's possible to not grab all of a person's strength.

Thanks for the response! I don't think I explained my lack of clarity on bronze very well. I thought that hemalurgy granted the use of the metal (if the person didn't have it) or boosted their power if they already could burn that metal. I was thinking that Vin, being mistborn, was just power boosted by the spike. I vaguely remember (not quite finished it again yet) HoA saying that she could pierce copper clouds because of the spike, but I wasn't sure if that was just because a bronze spike specifically grants the power to pierce copper clouds or because it gave her enough of a power boost to see through copper clouds. I remember it being mentioned that Inquisitors are commonly seeker mistings to start but I don't remember it saying that they all were. I'll have to try to go back and find where it is mentioned.

Back again with some more thoughts/questions as I finish up my second reading of Mistborn Era 1. I wanted to try to get myself straightened out on how savantism develops and what it provides. As I understand it, an allomancer can become a savant by constantly burning (or maybe just burning a lot of it) a metal for a prolonged period of time. The extended use of the metal gives some added strength or effect to the metal when burned. I wanted to try to discuss a bit about how savantism differs from somebody having a large amount of raw allomantic strength or becoming experienced and nuanced in their use of the power. Feel free to correct me or blast craters into my thoughts wherever I may be mistaken. TIN ----------------- We see this aspect of investiture developed a bit with Spook in HoA. In Spook's case we see that his use of tin becomes many times more powerful than somebody else burning tin and his body had become so used to that sensory input that without tin he is basically blind, deaf, numb, etc. His senses become so vastly improved it mentions that he can feel changes in air pressure from nearby movements granting him an a sort of atium-like effect. To me, tin is maybe harder to discuss than some other examples. When somebody burns tin, all senses are enhanced, and when they flare tin those senses are enhanced a bit further than burning normally. We don't see a stronger allomancer (like Eland) have anything close to the sensory gains that Spook receives from tin. Is it possible for an allomancer to focus their efforts to a single sense if they are experienced or trained well enough with tin (like an experienced bronze burner can tell what metal is being burned instead of just knowing allomancy is being used)? BRONZE -------------- One power that is a bit unclear to me is bronze burning and the ability to pierce copper clouds. I assume that this is a benefit that could develop as one becomes a bronze savant. Again, we see Eland is unable to pierce copper clouds even though he is incredibly strong allomantically; however, Inquisitors and Vin have this ability. Vin does not seem to burn bronze to a point that I would think her a savant (at least earlier on in Era 1) and even Marsh doesn't mention being able to pierce copper clouds when (very briefly training Vin). We do know that Vin would be stronger in bronze than normal due to her spike, is this alone enough for her to kind of force her way through the copper clouds? I don't know if it is mentioned anywhere but I would assume Inquisitors probably don't have multiple spikes granting bronze alomancy (since I don't think they have a large number of spikes to begin with). However, I would think Inquisitors are burning bronze almost endlessly and could therefore all be savants. Is it possible for somebody to be a savant of a power stolen and spiked into them? Or is it possible that a savant fueling hemalurgy passes that savantism to the spike recipient? BRASS -------------- I would assume that Breeze is a brass savant with how he basically never stops soothing anyone near him but I don't think we ever know if he has some other benefit gained from his endless use. The only real credit that is given him throughout the story is how subtle he is and how many people he can soothe at once. We know that Eland could effect large crowds because of his strength and I imagine that practice would allow for subtle touches while soothing. Could brass savantism allow emotional alomancy use on a person burning copper in a similar fashion to bronze piercing copper clouds? Is Breeze a savant? Does his savantism just give him an even more subtle touch or larger area of effect compared to an allomancer of similar strength? Or is there something else I could be missing about this power? STEEL --------------- If I remember correctly from my read of Era 2 (or maybe seeing some postings or something), Wax is described as a steel savant. In Wax's case we don't see somebody that can steel push many times harder than a normal steel misting. Instead, Wax has the ability to create a sort of steel-pushing bubble around him that also somehow does not push on his own metals within that area of effect. Not only can he create this bubble effect but it persists unconsciously while he dives into intense and incredibly stressful situations. Wax took part in many shootouts, did his steel pushing during these battles cause the savantism to develop in a way that directly benefits his frequent use of the ability? I would like to jump back to Inquisitors while talking about steel, who have to constantly use steel to "see" given that the spikes are driven through their eyes. If Inquisitors (or anybody) can become savants of their hemalurgically-given powers I would say that Inquisitors would all have to be steel savants. I believe early on in HoA, Eland gets into a pushing match with an Inquisitor and we find out that his push is much stronger than the Inquisitor's (and I do not believe he uses duralumin in this instance). We do learn that even though the Inquisitors are not necessarily stronger with steel than other allomancers that they can see metal lines that a normal allomancer cannot (even to trace metals inside bodies iirc). Marsh also mentions at one point that he is able to even tell the color of objects from the metal lines. Simlar to Wax, does the Inquisitors' use of steel for vision cause the savantism to develop in a way that further aids them in seeing the world around them? Or do their vision-benefitting abilities of steel come from the fact that the spikes are binded to points in their eyes (do bind points alter the effect of the power granted through hemalurgy?)? It also seemed to me (unless I misunderstood this throughout Era 1), that most/all normal allomancers/mistborn saw only a single blue line to a metal object's center whereas Inquisitors maybe sensed more lines per object (if they only saw one line per object their vision probably wouldn't be so great). There is one notable exception I can think of to this; there is a moment in TFE where Kelsier simultaneously pushed and pulled on opposite ends of a metal rod so that it rotated very quickly (I believe this is towards the end during the fight in which Kelsier dies). Do more experienced or better trained allomancers see more lines leading to metal objects? Was Kelsier's trick with the rod because of his better than average skill or was it possible that he was also a steel/iron savant?

Thanks for your thorough response. I hadn't really considered that TLR may have been keeping Ruin at bay from controlling spiked individuals while he was still around and haven't read enough WoB's yet to have seen the one you mention. It makes sense since Ruin is still able to talk to people while trapped that he may just not be powerful enough to wrestle away control. I hadn't really considered that they could have actually been talking to themselves instead of just thinking the words. Next time I go through the books I'll have to pay a bit more attention to those parts. As for Secret History, I'll be sure to keep this in mind when I get to it again. I have only gone through that once I think and it's been awhile so I don't really remember how that part plays out.

I had kind of considered your first point but wasn't sure exactly if that's how it worked (Ruin being trapped there). It also kind of threw me off because of how she describes the voice, but obviously Ruin could just talk in any voice he wishes. I'll have to try to go through the books again at some point and take notes of when Ruin talks to Vin. I know there are some occasions where things he says could be chalked up to observation of current events but I thought there were a couple that seemed a bit extreme for that. But you are probably right, I hadn't really considered that Ruin closely watching Vin for her entire life may give him a better judgement when it comes to her emotions and behaviors. Thanks for the input! ------------------- I've got another question maybe you can answer about the ending scenes. When Sazed is following Vin towards the WoA he runs into Marsh who is seemingly not in complete control of himself. The way the scenes are laid out make it seem like Ruin is not yet released during this fight. If that is the case, how is he controlling Marsh? I thought that Ruin only had control over the inquisitors and other spiked individuals after he was released and could only influence them by speaking to them before that point.

So I just finished up my second listen to Well of Ascension, and am a little confused about the part when Vin is standing in the WoA and deciding whether to release the power or use it. If I remember correctly, Ruin has the ability to speak directly to people (if they are spiked) and Preservation has the ability to read peoples' thoughts. In the scene I am unsure about, Vin has absorbed the power of the WoA and has removed her earring. While coming to terms with the power she is holding she begins hearing a voice, which I assume is from Preservation since she no longer has the earring in and she is currently standing in Preservation's shardpool. After thinking about all the good she could do in the world and about saving Eland the voice tells her that she "mustn't do it" and that she "knows what she must do." This just doesn't make sense to me because either: 1. The voice is from Ruin, still pushing her to release the power even though she is not currently spiked. 2. The voice is from Preservation, telling her not to do it while she is currently thinking about using the power. Presumably Preservation should be able to read Vin's thoughts and know she was thinking about using the power and should be encouraging her change the world and save Eland so that Ruin is not released. Is there something else I'm missing that makes the voice that Vin hears in this scene make more sense? -------------------------------- Also, throughout TFE and WoA, Vin hears what she assumes is the voice of her brother speaking to her. Eventually we find out the voice is actually Ruin. As I pointed out earlier, Ruin can speak directly to spiked individuals but cannot hear their thoughts. However, there are several occasions where Ruin seems to directly answer Vin's thoughts or internal questioning. I wish I had the places bookmarked in the Audiobook to quote but unfortunately I do not. Shouldn't these sorts of responses be incredibly unlikely given the one-sided nature of Ruin's conversations with people? Is there something I am also missing here when I've listened to these books the second time?

Thanks for more clarification RShara. I figured something happened with their bodies but wasn't sure if we had seen any real evidence as to what that may be. For some reason I'm not remembering any of the shards' bodies returning to the Physical once they lose the power. But I'm about half way through my second read of the Cosmere works so I will be sure to keep an eye out.

I wouldn't think that is impossible but I wouldn't think it likely. But it's been a while since my read of SH so I forget exactly how much Kel knows about spikes and entities containing spikes being susceptible to control by Ruin/Harmony. Even if he made it through SH without knowing that spikes could lead to being controlled, he would surely have learned of that fact through Spook and/or Sazed. We already know from the memory in BoM that Kel has a spiked eye. That makes me think he would minimize any other spikes needed in his body so he can continue acting as he wishes. ----------------------------- Now for completely tin foil wrapped speculation/questioning. Is it possible for Kel to be spiked into Sazed's physical body? Do the vessels need their physical bodies from their time as a normal living being after they have ascended? We've seen several shardholders interacting within/through the spiritual realm while seemingly not having bodies in the physical (although having other physical manifestations; atium, lerasium, tears of edgli?). What would happen if Kel was spiked (or fused?) into Sazed's body? Would he then have his own mistborn powers as well as Sazed's feruchemical?

I forget all of their exchanges so correct me if I say something stupid (which is likely given my level of Cosmere knowledge compared to others here). I had this feeling as well. It seemed to me like she was after both Vasher and Nightblood but I would assume that retrieving Nightblood is a far more important task than finding Vasher given the destruction he can cause. It was clear to her that Adolin and company knew Vasher but they never mentioned or made any indications of being familiar with a sword as unique as Nightblood. As to why Vivenna is after them (obviously we need to wait to find the real answer) I had my own basic theory. After the events of Warbreaker, I assume that Yesteel eventually makes his way out as the big baddie. If I remember correctly it is mentioned somewhere that he has come up with an even better version of ichor alcohol to use with lifeless. This in combination with any other expert awakening knowledge he has gives him the potential to bring on a massive war as was attempted in Warbreaker (possibly by Yesteel behind the scenes?). If the war turns out to be massive and the situation dire enough, I can see Vivenna and others seeing Nightblood as a necessary tool to aid in their victory. Not only that, but luckily for them they have Vasher (with the knowledge of Nightblood's creation) and Suseberon (with the breath available to perform the task) to create another equally powerful weapon. Vasher already killed his wife to protect that secret and clearly wouldn't want another sword like Nightblood being created. So he slips away to Roshar, a place that he's presumably already been previously and that he probably assumes others would not know how to reach. I'm of the idea that separating from Nightblood was purposeful. Vasher knows that even if it's unlikely somebody follows him to Roshar that it is still possible. What would be the quickest giveaway to his location? Nightblood. He would be relatively easy to find if he carried around the most unique sword in the Cosmere at all times. So he gives up Nightblood and takes up his life as we see it in Stormlight Archive. If somebody came looking and found Nightblood, they'd have an extremely powerful weapon. But if he was found and made to give up the information he knows, that person would potentially be able to create more equally powerful weapons. Meanwhile, without Vasher, his knowledge of awakening, and Nightblood, the war continues on in favor of Yesteel. Suseberon manages to awaken a sword but it doesn't quite compare to Nightblood. Vivenna goes searching for Vasher and Nightblood: as a possible last ditch effort to turn the war around, to bring them back as a sort of ransom for Siri and the kingdom, or maybe for revenge for leaving them to lose a war. In any case, I can't wait for more concrete evidence into what happened on Nalthis and with our favorite awakeners.

Jofwu is on point with their response. Of course, being part of the Cosmere, White Sand is another piece to enjoy and think about as we get more glimpses into the inner workings of the universe. I don't ever read graphic novels but I did enjoy my time reading and looking through White Sand volume 1 and would certainly recommend it if you can afford the price compared to a standard novel. However, as mentioned, it is not a complete story. Volume 1 drops out kind of suddenly if I remember correctly, and volume 2 is still not released (edit: it was just released). There are supposed to be 3 volumes for this story, so you will still be waiting awhile for the conclusion. With that said, there is a prose version of White Sand available through the newsletter if you sign up on his website. Since the prose version is not published there are some typos and things throughout it, but nothing that makes it unreadable. It's been a little bit since I've read the prose version and looked through the graphic novel so I'm not sure if there are any major differences but I don't really remember there being any (but there could be some in volume 2 and 3 I suppose). I would recommend giving the graphic novel a shot with volume 1 first since that's a published version of the story and it supports the work involved to bring it to the readers. If you find that you can't stand the graphic novel format or can't wait to find out what happens next then I would move over to the prose version and maybe come back to volume 2 and 3 later when you get a chance.

You're right, of course. Just for some reason when I read it my immediate thought was not "three characters" but instead "three people". That made me start to think about whether I had missed some other clues/hints throughout OB. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing out I guess.

Are you counting as one of those three characters or did I miss somebody else somewhere in the story?

I also really enjoyed Sixth of the Dusk and would obviously love to read a full book or series that explores the world further. I started reading all things Cosmere within the last year or so and it always excited me to start a new book/series and find out what unique setting and magic system Brandon had cooked up. And while learning a bit about Patji, the Aviar, and whatever other creatures exist in the Drominad system was great, there was another aspect of the story that excited me a bit more; the time in which the story occurs. If I remember correctly (it's been awhile since I last went through AU), Sixth of the Dusk is the furthest in the Cosmere timeline currently. That is just a reminder of the content still waiting to be written and pieced together for us to enjoy and how much further the civilizations within the Cosmere will develop. Also, the small glimpse we get into the future gives a bit of focus to any ideas about the upcoming events in the Cosmere. What's particularly interesting to me are the Ones Above. Here we have a space-faring group that knows about and how to pinpoint investiture that appears to be interested in attaining the Aviar in some form. This is an important goal of theirs, but it is obviously not a power-grabbing or incredibly time critical move. We know this because they don't simply wipe out the native inhabitants or descend and steal away the Aviar but they are not above speeding along the development of the civilization to eventually "trade" for access to or the Aviar themselves. It seems to me that it may be a group from Silverlight that is mostly interested in researching and understanding the form the investiture takes. But how does this really help them, what's their endgame? Anyway, I can't wait for the storylines to further develop and shed some light onto the happenings during Sixth of the Dusk and to find out how it will be tied in.

I just wanted to clarify this statement. Are you saying that it is suspected that the Elantris Aon is targeting people and thus giving the selected people healing, agelessness, etc, AND access to AonDor? I was thinking that there was some threshold of devotion/connection to the land that granted access to AonDor (or the Dor in general) and then the Elantris Aon somehow targeted those people specifically to give the other effects. Are there any WoB's or other evidence that lean one way or the other? Also, as we see at least once in the story, Raoden reads a text that is written entirely in Aons. At first, this made me wonder if the language developed because of the workings/use of AonDor or if Aons focusing the Dor developed because that was part of the identity of Arelon. But neither of those things really make sense. If the language developed because those were the shapes that focused the Dor, why would those shapes only work in Arelon? If the Dor was focused through Aons because that was the language in the land/there was a connection that way, why would the Aons continue to work when that written language is basically dead and another has taken hold? Seeing how ChayShan was used in the story (no directly seen relation to country shape while performing) made me think that there is a more rudimentary way of accessing the Dor and that Elantris is not just a power amplifier of sorts but it is what is defining the specific functions of the Aons as well. I think the Aons being designed functions of the Dor makes a bit more sense knowing that there are many various modifiers for each Aon that seem to be specific. I think when Raoden is preparing the transportation Aon he is able to specify a travel length by marking the length of a "travel unit" (in this instance, length of a step) and then marking how many "travel units" he needs to be displaced. It seems odd that the Dor would have such specific identifiable parameters unless they were placed there by design. Thanks for mentioning this in your post. For some reason when I was reading the story, when they mentioned this I was thinking that the bones/muscles looked like the Fjordell written language but reading it in your post made me remember it probably just had the general shape of the nation. And I'm sure you're right about this, I was just grasping as straws as to why we see drop off in the power from some power but not the others.

I had been assuming it was some form of magic from Yolen or somewhere else we hadn't seen yet. I wouldn't think it would be light weaving in the same sense that Shallan uses it since the surge binding powers come from the bond with a spren.