lDanielHolm

Yeah, I agree with Hoser. Brandon has said we saw three types of Blades in tWoK (in the Q&A here on the forums). The only candidates are Honorblades, regular Shardblades, and Szeth's Shardblade, which is much shorter than the "regular" type. If Szeth's is an Honorblade, then what is the third type of Shardblade in tWoK? BTW, it's "unique", not "peculiar": "The moment he summoned his Blade, his eyes would turn from dark green to pale—almost glowing—sapphire, a unique effect of his particular weapon." Quibbling, really, but they do mean vastly different things.

Could also be Taravangian; he is described as elderly, so he could have a "head of lines", and we know he's been observing the Silent Gatherers. Though I also think it's a truthspren.

Normal strong wind can buffet someone. A horseshoe generally isn't buffeted by the wind because it has too much mass relative to its exposed surface area. He most certainly does not make himself as light as a horseshoe. A horseshoe weighs maybe a pound, or two at most. That's maybe 1.3% of an average human adult's body weight; I am certain I've seen Brandon say they cannot store that much. He doesn't quite float--in fact, the passage makes sure to point this out. He falls, but slower than normal, and since his muscles aren't affected by the loss in mass, and he taps his pewtermind, he lands without injury. An object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. I'm arguing that the increased weight would be that outside force. I wouldn't know how to model this in reality; things don't tend to increase suddenly in weight. Maybe if someone throws a ball so precisely that, while you are flying through the air, you catch it at the apex of its flight? Surface area is constant, but drag is not dependent solely on surface area. The object's velocity is a factor as well, and velocity, of course, is equal to force divided by mass. Since the object's mass is higher and force is constant... At least that's how I see it, though my education in physics is not extensive at all.

I doubt you can store enough weight for it to work. The anchor needs to be heavier than you to Push off of it (especially if it isn't braced against anything!), but you need to be heavier than the anchor to Pull it to you. I can't remember exact percentages, but I'm certain you cannot reduce your weight below a certain point. I think it would just end up being too close to even your stored weight, so you'd just send yourself and the anchor away from each other, and vice versa when trying to Pull it back. Increasing your weight in mid-air would slow you down. The same amount of force suddenly has to move a greater weight. Your terminal velocity would be higher, though, so if the force exerted exceeded terminal velocity, you would slow down just a bit less than you would otherwise.

So you are claiming that changing size wouldn't cause an increase in weight? That is, I think, rather an unsupported claim. Tapping strength, for instance, causes your muscles to increase in mass (which is really where the extra strength comes from); I do not think we have seen anything to indicate that they do not also become heavier. In my mind, that transformation is much closer to 'changing size' than storing weight is, especially since storing weight doesn't affect your mass, but rather gravity's hold on you--at least according to Sazed, though admittedly only through his Keeper knowledge. But I doubt the square-cube law would come into effect, anyway.

I guess my puns are so lame they go right over people's heads. >_< See, this is why I don't use them more often!

A conjoiner, you mean -- "coinjoined" must be two coins half-melted together

Don't forget Szeth, who's also a Surgebinder, and who obviously was it before the assassination of Gavilar. (I'm not saying this has any effect on your theory, since Szeth seems to be special even for a Surgebinder, but it's something to keep in mind.)

Whuh? Storing weight makes you weigh less. Tapping weight makes you weigh more.

I don't see it as making any sense. Shai thinks of the Bloodsealer's creations as 'Forgeries of human life'. Given that Shai is our authority on Forging, do you really think she would call them that if it was impossible to create Forgeries of human life? All the questions that have been brought up regarding whether such a Forgery would work are things we get specifically from Shai; she knows all of the inconsistencies that has been pointed out throughout this thread. She should at least comment on the fact that the skeletons break the rules of Forging. But she doesn't, which suggests that she knows that they don't, that they simply work differently--and if she knows that much, and the animation of the dead isn't the result of Forging, why on earth would she call them Forgeries? Unless we are told differently by an authority on the subject, I will continue to consider Bloodsealing a part of Forging.

I'm not saying Shai is wrong -- I am saying she doesn't explain everything there is to know about Forging. True, Shaizan isn't an authority on Forging, but I still think the Bloodsealer's reaction (or more accurately, lack thereof) is telling. Then again, that could easily be because she just smashed his skeletons with her bare hands (and forehead). It requires the subjects blood, but I think that is because of how the stamp is carved: it just uses it to target Shai. If blood is the best medium for tracking, then it makes perfect sense to create a stamp that targets people based on the blood the stamp is used with. You're dismissing things Shai specifically says is how Forging works, one of which she links directly to the Spiritual Realm, based on your interpretation that she is romanticizing? Gaotona disagreed with your assessment that it was "simple and plausible", and even Shai says it is "on the line... that line where the greatest beauty is found". Windrunner: The wrong type of glass just meant it wouldn't take. We don't know if the Bloodsealer has to restamp the skeletons. Kurkistan: Yeah, I think mostly we are arguing semantics. I say Bloodsealing fits under Forging, and you say they both fit under a broader umbrella--an overarching magic system, I suppose. Let's just agree to disagree.

The Metallic Arts are much less related than what we have seen of Bloodsealing and Forging, so far. While they use the same medium (metal), they function in fundamentally different ways. They don't even use the medium in the same way. Forging and Bloodsealing have more or a link than they do in that respect, at least. Both use stamps, and both work essentially in the same way. It is possible that Forging and Bloodsealing could be related in a similar manner to the Metallic Arts, but I honestly think we would have heard of it if they were. Occam's razor applies, in my opinion. I'm sorry, but what are you talking about? We have seen no evidence whatsoever that the material for stamps matter any more in Bloodsealing than it does in Forging. What we have seen is a Bloodsealer using stamp carved from bone, with blood as the ink. Shai notes that fresh organic ink is necessary for Forging. As for the tracking, we don't know how it works. It may be that other mediums than blood allow for tracking, but none are as efficient. Again, I just want to apply Occam's razor. I wasn't quoting, I was reciting from memory. We don't even know whether we have the exact workings of the magic system. Of course she's fallible, but she is also our only authority on the subject. Until we are told differently, what she says is what we have to work with. Really, in one breath, you assume that everything we've seen so far in TES is the full extent of Forging, then in the next you say that Shai--who gives us everything we know of Forging, is an unreliable narrator. My point is, for the threat to work, even if she has no capability or intention of following through on it, the Bloodsealer must see it as possible. In other words, he must consider her capable of Bloodsealing, at least in some respect. Otherwise, he would completely dismiss her claim. I certainly consider that corroborative evidence, though not conclusive. Sure. Here's my best guess at how it would work. Remember Shai's Forging of the wall in her room? Gaotona complains it is too implausible a Forging, and he doesn't understand how it would take. Shai explains that the wall wants to be painted, so it accepted a more implausible Forging. Add to that the glass window -- at first, none of the stamps hold. But when she realizes that it was once a glass mosaic, she Forges it into being beautifully restored by a master craftsman, and it takes immediately, because the window still sees itself as being beautiful. A person's bones see themselves as part of a living being. They "want"--as much as the wall wants to be painted--to be "alive". The bones WERE at one point alive, which helps it hold, despite the implausibility of animated bones. Add to that the knowledge of a person's body that a Bloodsealer must know in order for his craft to work, which means intricate stamps (and thus likely more things that help hold them together). I don't see why it wouldn't work, according to the rules of Forging that Shai explained.

Hah! I've had the same problem finding it. Thanks, Windrunner. Incredible, indeed.

What is the difference between it being "a subset of Forging" and it being "simply a related magic system"? Yes, there are differences between what Shai does and what the Bloodsealer does, but there are various branches in Forging, including Soul Forging like Shai's Essence Marks, and what Gaotona calls Rememberers (that is, ordinary Forgeries). Resealing--or Flesh Forgery--is another--most telling, it's a type of Forging that Shai hasn't studied extensively (one of several, in fact). Shai refers to it, in every instance she encounters it, as a form of Forging. She thinks of the skeletons as "Forgeries", even. She refers to the process of him taking her blood as "inking" his stamp. She compares Ashravan's need to be stamped every day with the Bloodsealer's need to stamp her door. Lastly, she takes the Bloodsealer's blood and makes sure to tell him. How that act makes sense unless Bloodsealing is a subset of Forgery, I cannot even begin to fathom. Since Shai seems to consider it a subset of Forging, I shall do the same. You seem to have this odd idea that Forging cannot produce something magical, but I don't see why. If plausibility is the problem, there is still magic on Sel other than Forging. I don't do that glossing over intentionally, I simply didn't think of it. Of course you're right, though. I certainly don't think the naming of AonDor is coincidental, I just thought it was odd that you protested a link between two words when you had just made the same link in a previous post. The protest that Dominion is English makes perfect sense, though.

Plausibility affects the strength of a Forging; it does not actually prevent the Forging itself. Though it can be so implausible that it doesn't work at all, like the idea of a chain made out of soap. I believe she could do it. If she can change one type of rock to another, surely she can change her own ancestry, as long as she herself believes it is plausible. I'm not sure it would hold very long, but I think she could try it... if she understood exactly what an Elantrian is.

We do, actually. Bloodsealing is Forging. The Bloodsealer uses soulstamps carved from bone. (See the end of Day Three.) I agree that Elantris simply strengthens AonDor within Arelon (as well as changes those who can use Aons through the Shaod). AonDor came before Elantris and the Shaod--it pretty much had to. The original Elantrians must have built Elantris to strengthen AonDor, as well as strengthen those who can use AonDor physically through the Shaod. Well, you did just finish pointing out the connection between "Aon" and "Aona". Correlation, as you point out, isn't causation. Aon Omi could be named after Dominion, too, and I honestly don't see an issue with it. Shu-Dereth and Shu-Korath both come from Shu-Keseg, who preached unity--and Dominion is certainly connected with unity, as is Devotion. I imagine Shu-Keseg originally worshiped both Devotion and Dominion as their deity, though I doubt they were cosmere-aware enough to know the exact details (as both had likely been killed by Odium by that point). Dereth then took most of the teachings concerning Dominion as his focus, and Korath took Devotion's side instead. Without an actual connection, it is easy to imagine the teachings becoming corrupt enough that Korath believed "Domi" was the name of Devotion, and it ended up being the name for love in Aonic as a result. Of course, that is pure speculation, and it is more likely that it's a coincidence, but who knows?

That is not the only danger. If a single Shardbearer is caught without a force backing him up, he will be rushed and likely killed. He cannot guarantee that he won't be caught by the Parshendi before he has freed the gemheart and escaped with it, and even a Shardbearer can face overwhelming odds. It's not like he only has to run up there and say "Tagged! You lose." He has to cut it free. While it may be much faster for him than for a regular squad of soldiers (be they Alethi or Parshendi), it will take up his attention, and if the Parshendi are close by, he'll likely be surrounded before he has a chance to go anywhere. He could go only for sure wins--abandoning the gemheart if there's even a hint of the Parshendi closing in--but doing that would probably lose more gemhearts than throwing an army at it would. Both the Alethi and the Parshendi are fast enough at crossing the Plains that almost every pupating chasmfiend results in a battle. Not to mention that he would be tired from running and leaping chasms, which is not a good position to be in when you are a lone warrior against an army, even for a full Shardbearer. By the way, you seem to be confusing Dalinar and Gavilar.

I don't think you're correct. Dalinar lost the Thrill in battle with the Parshendi as he realized the carnage he was causing. Why would an adrenaline surge vanish like that? It doesn't make sense. Later in that battle, it rises again, and he 'hesitantly embraced it'. That's an odd way to refer to an involuntary physical response. When he goes to rescue Sadeas, he does not fight it, implying that he could if he wanted to. Then, in the final battle, Dalinar fights without the Thrill after Sadeas retreats, thinking it is better to be hollow inside than feel pleasure at the killing he is doing. The Thrill is more than adrenaline: it is a feeling of pleasure from fighting. While you can get addicted to adrenaline rushes, that is not really what is described. It certainly sounds like something Odium would want people to feel--Honor speaks of how Odium realized he didn't need to attack humans to divide them. Just let them kill one another. The Thrill helps accomplish that.

That depends on how exactly entering Shadesmar works. For instance, in the case of Soulcasting, I do not think you go there physically -- every time we see Jasnah Soulcast, she is present in the Physical Realm.

Countries located near the equator have no major variations in weather; temperature is generally high all year round. Shin could benefit from the same with the rest of Roshar suffering the effects of the highstorms.

The problem with increased perception, though, is that you'll be able to see all the bad things too.

The Emperor's Soul.

We have an extremely small sample size of 5 people from that period, and yet we have two pairs of siblings. That suggests it was far more common than it is in the current day, where we see absolutely none. It is logical to assume that something else is going on, then. Returned are rare--we see maybe a dozen Returned in the Court of the Gods during Warbreaker. The chance for two pairs of siblings in a group as small as five to be Returned is very low.

Trueselves--Aluminium Ferrings--probably have something to do with this as well: they can store their "spiritual sense of identity", which sounds a lot like what Shai is talking about.

I read it then I immediately read it again. As you said, Chaos, he *nailed* it.