Senor Feesh

Hi Odium's Shard, and welcome back! We do actually have (I'm fairly sure) WoB that Foci on Sel (Elantris/Emperor's Soul) and Nalthis (Warbreaker) are Forms and Commands respectively. Neither of these have a physical structure as such (an argument could be made for Forms on Sel being drawn into physical objects, but this is not a requirement, as we see with ChayShan, and Elantrians drawing in the air). I realise not being familiar with these systems you couldn't have known this beforehand. Also, regarding Allomancy, the metal categorically isn't the source of energy, the molecular structure combined with Scadrian innate Investiture (in the form of Allomantic or Feruchemical sDNA) works as an access key to facilitate transfer of energy (which in Allomancy comes direct from Preservation, in Feruchemy comes from the Feruchemist). Hemalurgy is a little different, but it would seem that the metal combined with the correct location on the body determines which part of a 'donor's' Spiritweb can be stolen. You'll have to forgive the lack of supporting evidence, it's hard to type effectively and navigate multiple tabs one-handed with a baby in your lap I'll try and add them later unless someone beats me to it.

Only issue there is that Kaladin doesn't need gems, other than as a vessel to carry stormlight in. Perhaps they are a focus for one of the systems but not all?

Indeed, I don't hold them to be a focus in the same sense. Others have used the term 'fuel' to describe this component of the process. It does rather set Allomancy apart though, in that the focus is consumed/destroyed as part of the process, thereby making the metal both fuel and focus.

So we talk a lot about foci here on 17th Shard. We spend a lot of time trying to determine the focus on Shardworlds where we don't have a definitive answer (currently I believe only Roshar). But what is a focus? The Coppermind page simply states I feel that before we can really determine Roshar's focus, we first need to understand exactly what a focus is. What it it's purpose? What does it do? Based on Phantom's post here which quotes the AoL Ars Arcanum, and Skaa's topic here which theorises that the Essences are the foci on Roshar, I would say that although I'm not yet 100% on if Skaa's choice of focus for Roshar is correct, I like his reasoning. Specifically, based on what we know of other foci, I would define a focus as something that enables a magic system, without necessarily being magical itself. The examples we have so far: Forms/symbols on Sel Molecular structures (specifically metals) on Scadrial Word-based commands on Nalthis I'm not going to rule out the possibility that we may see a focus in the future which is also Invested, but so far all the foci are pretty mundane. Atium admittedly is an exception, but unlike other metals, Atium actually powers the Investiture directly. I can't take much credit for this, as Skaa gave me the core of the idea, but I do think it deserves its own topic so we can discuss it. If you agree/disagree with the reasoning, please post why below!

Well thought out theory, don't know how much I agree yet. One hole I'll try and poke though; I don't believe Surgebinders need to touch an object to transfer Stormlight. IIRC Szeth just breathes it in from the lamps in the prologue (which allows for it to be governed by Inhalation instead, so not much of a hole to be fair).

I guess because it's either inside him or metaphysically attached in some way.

Hoser, I think you might have nailed it. Callings could indeed be related to Cultivation - a talent that you nurture and develop seems right on with that Intent.

Probably best to subscribe to the post, and make sure you're set up for email notifications. Alternatively, stick around and join the discussions! If you're interested in the Cosmere at large, or a specific series such as mistborn, or even if you want to join the rp boards

Agreed, given the vast number of cosmere-aware fans, it'd certainly be marketable. Not to mention the people like me, who see a huge amount of prior material less as a barrier to entry and more as something to jump into. If I discovered the series when it was completed/close to completion, and was told 'yeah, there's like 30-something books here which are all interconnected and these ones tie it all together', you can be damnation sure I'm getting the lot! I'm loving being in on the ground floor (relatively speaking) as far as the Cosmere, but at the same time waiting for new material is hugely frustrating! Now I know how my friend felt having to wait a year after Changes (Dresden files - god, if I'd had to wait a year for Ghost Story I think I'd have gone mad XD)

There's been some discussion on this already. Spook was able to hear Kelsier because he had real faith in Kelsier's divinity. source As for Vin hearing his voice before she takes up the mists... source Now watch as Phantom ninjas me whilst I post this XD Off-topic here, but reading these annotations again I stumbled across this, which I had forgotten about: I don't know if this means anything to anyone, but it's in interesting tidbit, and might possibly influence some pet theories people are nursing.

Doesn't have to be an outside influence, it could be Sazed's own intuition.

This seems likely, although I'm not certain we have any example beyond Raoden to back it up. The prior post still works though, in that the Shaod is likely permanent, as would be the Dakhor bone transformations, unlike the nahel bond which could conceivably be revoked.

There are a lot of senses beyond the traditional five. It's yet another one of those almost universally accepted 'facts' which happens to be incorrect. As is happens Pevcharry, balance is mentioned in that article I just listed. Would be interesting to ask Brandon his Realmatic take on these other senses. Edit: Given that Tin is understood to be one of the Internal Physical metals, it's interesting that it only works on external senses, and not (for example) balance, or the body's ability to judge it's own position and current state of muscle tension etc. (proprioception, which includes kinesthesia as mentioned by Phantom above). Tin has (so far) only been seen to work on senses of the outside world. Interestingly, temperature sense, which is a distinctly different sense than that of touch, IS affected by tin (as shown by Spook when trapped in a burning house). It's distinctly NOT touch, as a) it doesn't require you to touch things to feel heat, and more scientifically, b ) uses different nerve cells.

Ok, those are certainly reasonable interpretations and I don't aim to refute them (lacking any evidence to do so anyway). However these are only implied. Facts explicit from the quote given: Breath and life-force are the same thing, or very, very similar. A non-Nalthian who suddenly became an Awakener couldn't use the life-force they already have to Awaken. could still receive Breath. Taking this further, some reasonable assumptions would be: A non-Nalthian Awakener with a supply of Breath beyond their own inherent life-force could use them to Awaken. A non-Nalthian, non-Awakener could receive Breath (the ability to Awaken may still be a separate thing however).

Actually, the quote doesn't say that. Bear with me here. The quote says a non-Nalthian who suddenly became an Awakener couldn't use the life-force they already have to Awaken. It doesn't say that they couldn't use extra Breaths to Awaken (or if being imbued with extra Breath would be enough to make them an Awakener). Possibly being needlessly pedantic, but considering how much we don't know about awakening still, I'd prefer not to muddy things with incorrect data. Edit: for the record, I think you need something more than Breath to be an Awakener (something of Endowment in your sDNA) but the quote isn't explicit on this.

I considered the possibility, but given that she could instinctively burn the mists, it seems unlikely that she couldn't do the same with her earring.

It's also worth noting that Inquisitors are no longer considered entirely human (though I'm struggling to find the source for that now). The spiritweb is considerably altered by the hemalurgic spikes; this may (or may not) have an effect on their ability to perceive them as metal reserves. It's also possible (though it doesn't really feel right to me) that Vin never noticed her earring was burnable simply because she never thought to look for it. Given Vin's excellent instinct/intuition as seen throughout the books however, this seems unlikely.

Sorry, I don't buy that. When you talk about an inquisitor's spikes, in any context I would assume (and I think most people would) that it's implied to be inside them unless specified otherwise. Whilst what you're saying is technically possible, Occam's razor tells me that Brandon was talking about burning an embedded spike. Edit: the question even asks directly "Could they burn the steel in their head spikes." (emphasis mine). Now again, this can be interpreted to mean a removed spike, but then why specify head spike? Why not just 'could they burn the steel in their spikes?' Everything implies burning an embedded spike was the focus of conversation here.

Well, I choose to blame the fact that I was typing one-handed whilst also trying to entertain a grumpy baby

But how much time would he need? Maybe more than he's able/willing to commit.

Brandon has stated they were romantically involved. Although this needn't explicitly mean they were jumping each other's metaphysical bones, it's not an unreasonable assumption either. Curse you Phantom, beating me to the punch by 2 mins.

I'm sorry, I'm stuck on the same point as Phantom. Why do eye-spikes NEED to be seen as a separate reserve to not be consumed? If the inquisitor has steel and brass in his stomach, and is only ACTIVELY burning the steel, then when he hits duralumin then only the stee- oh wait, I think I see it now. Basically you want to know why the Duralumin doesn't consume his ENTIRE steel reserve, which would also consume the eye spikes because it's POSSIBLE to burn them, right? Consider also then, that it's already possible to burn the metals in your stomach WITHOUT burning the metals in your spikes, otherwise inquisitors would have a hard time burning steel at all. Might be worth exploring this before trying to work out the Duralumin mechanics.

As far as mental speed towards figuring something out which you wouldn't normally be able to do: Some problems do benefit from more time spent on them. Whilst I allow that there are some things which are possibly excluded, I would posit that most mental problems can eventually be solved by working at the problem for long enough. Plenty of times I've given up on a problem because it would take me to long to work through, and I don't care enough to spend the time. Increasing your mental speed would reduce the time needed, making it more likely that you'll work the problem to solution.

Satsuoni, that's a great idea, although necessarily time-consuming I would also like to see the theory further tested and developed. I would ask also the specific question of God-metals, and how the theory supports, or falls short, when considering the statement that they are physical wrapped in spiritual (exact quote to follow below) source

As far as I recall, Nightblood never speaks to anyone until they've held him at least once. As to the question of sentience, and whether other awakened swords would have it, isn't that part of the classification of a type IV BioChromatic entity?