Invocation

I know this was probably asked a long time ago, but I can't find it (probably because I'm bad at looking for things). What arbitrarily caused The Big Dude to split into those particular categories? If he/she/it was God, wouldn't there be a lot more options? 

Rashek, Vin, and Sazed were all able to manipulate Scadrial's placement, geography, and life when they Ascended. Is everyone who Ascends able to do something similar with the planet they Ascend on, or was that just because Scadrial was entirely composed of Preservation and Ruin's power?

42 minutes ago, Gray to said:

Also I don't think that just because you have a magic system, you're immediately Connected to the Shard. I believe you need your Identity to to be spiritually Connected to the intent of the Shard. So collecting all the magic abilities wouldn't be enough to collect all the shards.

For most people, maybe, but this is Hoid we're talking about here. He does what he wants.

39 minutes ago, Weltall said:

FYI, double (or triple) posting is frowned upon. You can edit your posts to add additional content.

Yes, the speech pattern is meant to be a hint, as is the fact that the writer is clearly unaware of certain things that the authors of the other two letters are familiar with.

And Harmony knows that Kelsier is still around and he's aware of the current state of the Southern Scadrians (he mentions them to Wax in Shadows of Self before they finally appeared in Bands of Mourning) so yeah, he knows at least something of what Kel has been up to.

EDIT: Ninja'd while typing by RSHara saying everyhing I did, more concisely. xD

Sorry about the triple post, I get excitable and carried away sometimes.

Do we have a reason for Hoid attempting to horde all the magical abilities to where he can use them? What does he stand to gain? Is he trying to become a new Adonalsium by collecting each Shard's magic system that he can gain and then host all the Shards and Ascend x16? Do we know yet or is that yet to become clear?

On 6/16/2018 at 9:26 PM, RShara said:

One of the letters in Oathbringer is from Harmony.

Which one? How did I miss that?

On 6/16/2018 at 9:26 PM, RShara said:

One of the letters in Oathbringer is from Harmony.

Is it the third one?

On 6/16/2018 at 9:26 PM, RShara said:

One of the letters in Oathbringer is from Harmony.

Is that why I felt like I had read that third letter before, even on my first reading? 

Does Harmony know our friend, the man, myth, and legend, is doing what he's doing? 

Also side note: does he know about Hoid?

Just now, Calderis said:

Well, he offered to bond it. I suppose whether that actually happened is up to the Spren. 

And he was already a Lightweaver, just not of that variety. He had a variation Lightweaving from Yolen already... But we've seen him use Allomancy before, and if a bond did happen, he can now soulcast metals... 

How is he able to do all of this? How obliterated must his spirit web or whatever it's called be?

At the end, did 

The title is pretty self-explanatory. Do we know? 

@RShara  Thank you, that helps a bunch, but raises a few more questions.

What happens in the Cognitive Realm? Does time pass the same way? Spren can be hurt but not killed, does that apply to people too? Are people immortal in the "can't grow old and die from it" way there? 

I don't understand the realms much. Why is everything backwards? Why beads, of all things? Is it like that everywhere or just Roshar? Please someone explain as much as possible about the realms to me. I need help.

Note: I would keep reading to find out more, but I've just spent my book budget for an entire year getting both Mistborn eras, Elantris, and the first three Stormlights. I borrowed Arcanum Unbounded a while back from a library, but they didn't have any others, and to be honest, I do not remember much of it.

In order to gain Allomantic power, you must Snap. Why? Is it because Preservation's influence is so weak that it's latent until your body has to cycle through trauma? Is it because you have to choose to preserve yourself? Is it just plot? Do we know? 

Could you infinitely compound Shards into one person, since becoming a Vessel for one would probably grant you Connection to all the rest as pieces of the whole? I can see that going wrong if it's possible but the person doing it is inexperienced with the Intent of the Shards.

What would happen then if they took Odium and Ruin both as their first pair? Would they be able to control it enough to gain any more, or would the combined destructive Intents of those two particular Shards render them the worst force in the cosmere?

If you merged the triplicate of Shards from Roshar, would Honor and Cultivation's intents be able to cancel Odium's destructive Intent? What would that be like in any capacity?

Do all of the godmetals tie into their respective magic systems or any magic system? Like would each of them have some Allomantic or Feruchemical properties, or just lerasium and atium? Also do we know if it was a godmetal that Hoid/Wit gave Azure in Oathbringer to shield the Soulcaster signal or what godmetal that may be? I really just don't understand the godmetals. Please help.

Note: I've read the Wiki and stuff but it just doesn't click for some reason.

The Stormfather has said that bonding Dalinar changed him mentally, so would that work for a shard? Before chapter 67 of Oathbringer it says:

and while the Stormfather also says that going against his nature is pain, and it could be reasonably inferred that it would be the same for a full Shard, would they be able to change slightly over a long period of time while they have something like the Nahel (did I spell that right?) bond anchoring them to something that teaches them, and if so, would that end up changing their identity?

After reading Oathbringer, I was curious as to the third sibling-spren that would result in a Bondsmith. I think I remember something about a Shard named Autonomy that helped Odium for a while, and when I read another something that pointed out that it seemed that the third Bondsmith's spren was in some way linked to the tower's functionality (via the whole network of gems and stuff that was guarded by the Midnight Mother), I realized I hadn't seen anything stating there was only three Shards on Roshar (if I just missed it, tell me, because that would make all of this irrelevant). If Autonomy had helped Odium before, was it possible he was with Odium on Roshar, intending to help there too? If so, let's say he helped counsel the Heralds on their path to abandon the Oathpact because he knew that would damage Honor, helping Odium's cause. Let's say, even, that he then decided he'd vex Odium a little, because he does what he wants, and helps the parsh/parshmen/parshwomen/singers/listeners separate themselves from Odium's influence. He could even have taught the other spren to undergo the Nahel bond when the Heralds abandoning their pact didn't harm Honor as much as he hoped. Let's say Odium eventually got tired of him, and offed him (as much as you can do that to a Shard), but part of him survived in something like the Nightwatcher and the Stormfather, and followed their example of bonding someone or maybe just inhabiting the tower. It has been remarked that it would be difficult for the tower to run on its own with a full population, and what better way to separate yourself from everything else than with the help of a being whose sole purpose is to autonomous?

Tl;Dr: Is a remnant (or even majority) of Autonomy the third sibling-spren in the Bondsmith/spren combo?

Quote

 

Moridin997 (paraphrased)

Did Bavadin in any way help Odium splinter Dominion and Devotion?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Uhh...

Moridin997 (paraphrased)

(sensing an incoming RAFO): In any way...

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Uhh... Yes... Yes, you could say that...

source

 

Odium appears to have help from at least Autonomy in splintering some (and maybe all) Shards he has successfully taken out of the picture. We know from Preservation and Ruin that those two could not sustain contact with each other, at first glance because of them being direct opposites. What if it goes deeper? What if the reason Odium recruited Autonomy is because the closer (and more multiple) the Shards are to each other somehow destabilizes their power, as if trying to return to being Adonalsium, and just a few together would not have been enough to break Dominion and Devotion and Honor and Cultivation and whoever else he's capped? Brandon has confirmed that Cultivation was there at Honor's splintering, close enough to see what happened. What if Odium/Autonomy/Unknown Conspirator Shard/maybe even Hoid lured her there to facilitate an easier splintering? I don't see much of another reason they couldn't have quietly killed Honor. Why draw unneeded attention?

Is it possible that Shards cannot stand to be near each other in great numbers unless used with a singular purpose such as Harmony?

4 minutes ago, Xtafa said:

@The One Who Connects

Good feedback on that. Do you believe Shinovar would survive, as they are fairly cut off.

I know I'm not the comprehensive guy, but probably not. Sheer blowback from the rest of the collapses. If word got out they were whole in any way, they'd be flooded with refugees, enough to send them spiraling beyond repair as well, not to mention the plagues what might develop or cross the borders.

So we know both Dominion and Devotion are on Sel (I think that's what it's called), albeit Splintered with Devotion(I think). The way of the Dakhor monastery training demons and stuff that can access some form of magic, maybe the Dor, maybe not. At first glance, the way it looks is that these demons are of Dominion. After all, that's their purpose: beat the stuffing out of people. But my question is: Are we sure it doesn't involve Devotion as well? Is there a possibility that it's a Scadrial scenario, with those two Shards being two halves that fit together, and the Fjordells took advantage of that to use both?

Since Sazed has both Ruin and Preservation, would that make him able to host all the other Shards as well, through the connection between Shards? Would he potentially be able to become Adonalsium?

@Calderis @RShara

I did not know that. Will delete thread if possible. Thank you.

I'm new here, and I don't know if the separation of cosmere vs non-cosmere is due to oblique statements, or if we haven't gotten anything on it yet. Seeing the Reckoners out of the Cosmere grouping combined with my sleep deprivation to birth an idea:

What if the Reckoner's trilogy is in the Cosmere, it's just that Calamity is not the true representation of that world's Shard?

If you've read Calamity, you know that 

What if Invocation is a Shard? He did what he was supposed to do: give everyone powers, perhaps voluntarily Splintering himself to do so, and then faded away physically, because there wasn't enough left. 

It could be that that is a representation of Adonalsium.

Of course, I'm probably just too sleep deprived to think of the reasons this isn't true.