marianmi

That's why I prefer to write Mr. T Don't have to check if I spelled it right...

Being a sliver could make it easier for him, too (maybe he gained some knowledge when having the power?).

@Darnam - I don't think I have seen the distinction until your post. And I totally agree it should be done - even if they have things in common, they are different things. Also, about pedantry.... sometimes I am in a hurry to post a reply and I am not careful to see if I am using the right terms. It makes sense in my head, but reading it later (and after several replies asking for clarifications ) I can see how other people can understand something else. That being said, in all my posts I am trying to stay away from generally accepted terminology, for a couple of reasons: 1) make my posts understandable to those that are not Cosmere-aware (or not so much realmatics-aware) 2) some terminology is confusing, and even Brandon changes it from time to time (e.g. splinter definition). Now, just to clarify what I mean by spren "cosmere-aware" - I was, in that context, indeed referring to "realmatics-aware". However, it's my opinion that spren are also much cosmere-aware, and that they know about the existence of other shards and worlds. It is my impression that also the people on Roshar had some cosmere knowledge in the past (they def were more realmatics-aware) - and not just the KR (in one of Dalinar's vision we have a curse involving the "three gods"). Edit: (so everyone was more cosmere-aware, and KR were also very much realmatics-aware). Erm, I found your post very to the point, and made me try to explain better and hopefully more careful to my terminology in the future ANOTHER EDIT: @Darnam: Syl is very aware of Odium, and it would make sense to me that Wyndle is aware too.

I thought it would be fun to start a topic for everyone here to write the names they've seen spelled wrongly Especially if the wrong spelling is fun! So here I am the first: * Sly * Shallon * Seth

I don't have any problem with you defending your idea. But making up shard's special unique abilities to explain your idea is just silly Your point a few posts back was that she can't process food into fat that fast. I totally agree with that. This is why I said (or tried to) in an earlier post that probably it's not fat. And I also said that it does not really matter the exact mechanics (if it is fat, food, spit, gastric acid or whatever). And I will repeat here why: 1) Lift is the only one that has this ability, and the chances of anyone else having it are very slim. 2) In WoR, there is only one interlude with Lift, the one which we already read. This means that, from the entire WoR book, we will not get any new information about Lift or Wyndle. 3) Lift may or may not appear in future books. This means that, in the best case, we shall see her again towards the end of 2015, in the worst case - never. Now, what do you think her purpose is in the whole picture? My opinion is that she was introduced to: 1) give more information about Darkness - Darkness is the one that shows up in at least one more interlude (Ym - and maybe Jasnah too), and I suspect Darkness will play a more important role in the future; 2) talk about The Ring - an organization of spren! 3) details about how a spren bonds - in this case that spren can choose or initiate a bond, not just mindlessly "become attracted", like Syl 4) show that spren have quite some Cosmere knowledge 5) other small details about spren and the Cosmere, e.g. that they chose Lift because she visited the Nightwatcher. This has impact on the main story, i.e. Dalinar also visited the Nightwatcher. So, having a person that can eat and produce stormlight is not really the important thing here. Hence my conclusion: is not really important how exactly this thing is achieved. If a spren, with lots of Cosmere knowledge, does not really know how, I don't think we are supposed to know also. The important point of contention here was: is it possible to "create" stormlight? Does she "creates" stormlight out of food, or does she uses food to "transfer" stormlight in her body? To the point of everything being invested at creation by Adonalsium, I have explained what I believe about "native investiture" - that is, shards cannot use native investiture or convert it into investiture that they can use (like stormlight). This would be just silly, since one shard could just start eating worlds to grow in power. Hence, I presented my belief that there is a closed system, with each shard having a fixed amount of power. The power can be invested in an object, making it unavailable for a time (like the power in Plate or Blade), or can be used to perform magic, thus being consumed and transferred back in a state that the shard can make use of again (like stormlight, after being consumed after a lash, gets back in the shard's ... pool let's say). To this, you have replied (my interpretation of your words):maybe Cultivation has a special ability that no other shard can have (?!), that is to create stormlight (?). And since she does not have a digestive system, she needs to make others do it, like Lift (!?).

I would be glad to hear reasonable concerns. Saying that Cultivation can have a special shardic ability to create stormlight is, to me, given the existing knowledge of the cosmere, something very very improbable, and just looks like arguing for the sake of it.

Oh no, Peter.... you just destroyed my hope for Dalinar to be revived as a Parshendi...

Would you please be so kind and explain, what you mean with "is used for" in this case? If I understand it right, the Dor as well as the Stormlight are the "fuel" (I'm not happy with this word) the Shards "magic systems" (the AonDor on Sel and the Surges on Roshar). I apologize if I (again) didn't understand you right. I think you did. Let me rephrase: Of course, maybe [...] stormlight is a mix of Honor + Cultivation and stormlight is used for fuelling both Honor and Cultivation's (shared) magic system. Of course! Unless even Cultivation cannot do it herself, and can only award it to humans. Unless, there are 1000's "unless". But truly now, how probably do you think Cultivation has the unique ability to convert native investiture into *other shard's investiture*? Nothing can stop me from saying she can also gift someone the ability to drink water and create Dor out of it, because why not?. And you can't prove me wrong. Currently, nothing is impossible and you can invent whatever works for you, but why invent some unique ability, instead of fitting it with something that is there already, and also used similarly in Brandon's other works? Are you arguing just for the argue sake here?

Maybe her stomach is a point of leaking stormlight into the physical, and she's not using fat, rather her stomach acids are creating a mini "highstorm" in there that brings on the Awesomeness... Or maybe she's burning "food" like metals, not "fat" - so she only needs something in her stomach... The exact mechanism does not really matter. There is only one Lift interlude in WoR, and there is no guarantee we shall see Lift again, and I very much doubt we shall see someone else with her ability. And I'm not sure we'll get a WoB about the exact mechanism, so we are all left with guesses, and your guess or Shardlet's is as good as mine. I see the point about "conservation of Sharding power" being more important here. By the way ... speaking of food...

Probably So, don't rest until the fat lady sings. The final page has it all. Dalinar is revived... .. as a Parshendi! And now he spends time with Eshonai... Also: Shallan turns to the Dark Side of the Force.

You can think of many reasons why Ghostbloods would want to study the dawncities... 1) what;s with the shape?; 2) find a cache of shards; 3) find Urithiru; 4) find fabrials ... I think this is a good theory. PS: You can splinter Endowment easily by deceiving it to endow a lot of Breaths (e.g. make people have many lots of babies for few generations) / Divine Breaths, until it's too weak, then make a force attack.

@hoser - I tried to phrase the same doubt. If Lift can do this thing, a gift from Nightwatcher - presumably Cultivation - then Shards should be able to do it, too - then one of them could become very powerful just destroying stuff (e.h. unhabitated planets). Let's not forget there is also "native investiture" - humans have it for example (different from Breath). Like you, I like to think the Shard's power a closed system, with a fixed amount of power. I don't think a shard can "absorb" a human's "native investiture" (and become more powerful), and I don't think Lift "converts" native investiture (from food) into Shard-compatible investiture (like stormlight). My opinion, expressed too many times, is that , burning fat, she "transfers" stormlight - maybe from the same place stormlight exists when there is no Highstorm.

+1. He was on the path to surgebinding then. After the words, he is on the path to radiantness.

1) I very much doubt that a person can transform dirt into e.g. Breath. 2) Stormlight, which Lift transforms food into, seems particularly tied to Honor (The Stormfather for example was Jez, head of Windrunners (or with the power of a Windrunner); Windrunners seem to be the only ones that have 100% full Honorspren bond). I am not sure stormlight is used to fuel Cultivation's magic *** Stormlight is not the only representation of the power of creation on Roshar (we have the dark sphere which is from another shard)... What I'm trying to say is that she does not convert into "the power of creation" - otherwise Odium would change every rock into power and use it against other shards - but she gains specifically stormlight. Again, my theory here is that she "burns" fat to access stormlight, like allomancers "burn" metals to access the power on Scadrial. There are not many who like my theory though *** of course, maybe the surges and stormlight is a mix of Honor + Cultivation, and stormlight is used for both, like the Dor is used for both Devotion and Dominion

I am referring to the fact that Highprince's Hatham wife spends her time studying the Dawncities. This may be because she has nothing better to do, or maybe because her study was requested by Hatham or by somebody else working with Hatham - like the Ghostbloods (or maybe some other party). I was just trying to put up the idea that Hatham is part of the Ghostbloods.

The synopsis seems to be written by someone in-world, and someone native to the planet. Looks to me it's someone from one of the secret societies, my bet is on Teft or someone from the Envisagers.

My impression is that the intent of the shard matters only in how you get the powers, not how the power manifest or how the person uses the power. How the power manifest depends on the interactions between the 3 realms. The shard has only limited ways of changing how the powers manifest (Sazed "tweaked" allomancy a bit, but I don't think he can make fundamental changes).

sounds like a river. or one of the islands.

I don't think they are mere... meteorologists...

I think there is more to Mr. T than meets the eye...

Side question: Is it possible she studies the Dawncities as something related to the Desolation, and Hatham had a big mouth - or thought nobody understands why she's studying them? Or maybe Hatham (and his wife) is part of one of the secret societies?

Shardlet - I tend to think the same about sprens. Now, since the Highstorms are more related to the mists, which are power w/o sentience ... I am inclined to believe after the splintering of Honour, some power became spren, and some power is left behind on its own, surfacing during highstorms - the stormlight. If the above assumption is true (and it's a reasonable one), I think an important thing here is that stormlight is Honor's power (in case there were doubts). The black sphere probably contained Odium's power, and we are yet to see what's the reflection of Cultivation's power. Also, from another WoB about gemhearts - one conclusion that can be drawn is that they are a shard's "body". Since they are able to store stormlight, I would say that they are Honor's body. There are some old spren that have bonded with big animals - like the Reishi islands. Since they are not like honorspren, I would then tend to believe those are the Adonalsium spren. But here is the interesting bit - does that mean that the Reishi Islands are sentient / intelligent - in Brandon's words - "people"?

Erm, I think you are confusing things a bit... "Journey before destination" is a Knights Radiant ideal. It is not related to the ability to surgebind. There have been surgebinders before KR, before the ideals. The ideals and the Words empower a surgebinder, they do not make him a surgebinder. Based on his way of acting, he would not attract a honorspren, but there are spren "less discerning". Mr. T cannot be a KR, cannot achieve the ideals, but he can be a surgebinder.

Yes, that quote contradicts even something else what Brandon said. And according to this "definition", where is then self-awareness in the Returned? 'cause looks to me the awareness and personality comes from the (dead) person.

We can't really compare spren yet.... Splinters are: * Divine Breath - which is combined with a dead person to make the Returned. * the aon in seon - which is combined with an aon-less seon (which is a new thing that did not exist before) to make the seon. So in both cases, you have a splinter and a splinter-bearer, like shard and shard-bearer. A BOND. Maybe then the spren is the splinter - like the aon in seon, and the Divine Breath in the Returned, and you have a person as the splinter-bearer, via the Nahel bond (vs the Returned Bond vs. the Seon Bond)? Maybe the seon gains his "consciousness" from the human, heavily altered by the "intent" of the splinter - like the Returned draw their "consciousness" from the dead person in the Returned "bond". I think it's too early to speculate, but this may be a good possibility. EDIT: my 300th post, yay!