Pagerunner

Renarin, I believe. Let's not rule out more mundane forces of Odium (something like the MIdnight Essence, which we have barely seen). It might not be a spren at all, but some sort of monster. It seems Physical enough so far.

I believe the latest chapters have given us the true author of Oathbringer, and one of the deepest mysteries of Dalinar's past. The latest two epigraphs: I find it very telling that the author did not kill someone that they loved, but someone who loved them. This is consistent with what we see in the flashback between Dalinar and Evi: (The first line is just to draw another connection between Dalinar and the OB author.) Evi loved Dalinar, but he did not love her back. She is the one he has killed. I don't think he murdered her, but we saw references earlier to a terrible mistake that Kadash remembered, and Dalinar did not. I will include a little bit of context, since Kadash's personal story is essential to understanding the timeline: There is something we haven't seen yet, whatever it was that happened in The Rift that caused Kadash to join the ardentia. It's not what Dalinar did in the second flashback to earn Oathbringer, since we saw Kadash as a soldier in the fourth. But Dalinar does remember why Kadash resigned; the "mistake" that he references must be something else. Something Dalinar does not remember, something that happened before Kadash retired, before the Blackthorn began to mellow. (Which occurred after Gavilar's death; Dalinar in the prologues has still been quite belligerent.) I think Dalinar can't remember it because it was purged, the same as the other memories of his wife. We don't know the specific events yet surrounding Evi's death. But I think it is clear that Dalinar is responsible for them, and that by the time he writes Oathbringer he will have remembered them completely.

Shallan's story is spooky. I couldn't help but think of Urithiru when she spoke of a massive structrure, and places that had never seen the sun, since she had just made those observations about the city itself. The white hair... why did she do that? It doesn't seem to indicate passage of time, since Shallan is still calling the girl a "girl." Is this connected to the drawings she made after the Wind's Pleasure was destroyed, where she drew some of the survivors reaching the land? I don't think the copycat killer is an Unmade. (Unless you subscribe to Taravangian's terminology, where he seems to cast a broader net. I'm referring to the nine highest Splinters of Odium.) The inhumanity of the thing made me think of the Ten Deaths, and maybe this is a Flesh analogue to the Midnight Essence's Smoke. Something of Odium, still... but we still have yet to figure out how the Midnight Essence ties into Odium, since the ancient Radiants did not call them Voidbringers. And the broader question, of what the Radiants were fighting against at the time of the Recreance (remember, the Feverstone Keep vision had them returning from the front lines). So, yes, this does seem like something from Odium. But it seems a little small-scale for one of the nine Unmade. Involuntary crazy drawings are making me think of Renarin's actions during the highstorms. I think it's important to note that she drew them before finding out the truth about her brother's death. Now, that I could see as something from an Unmade, the same way the Thrill and the Death Rattles happen to people. Musicspren for Ryshadium. I agree with Dalinar, that doesn't make much sense. Best connection I can come up with is how horses always move at a rhythm, like a canter or a gallop. But that's really stretching it. Dalinar hears a Rhythm again. This is a lot stronger of an indication than when Eshonai seems to perceive Gavilar speaking to a rhythm. And no Kaladin chapter. Sad. Brandon's building up for a big reveal about the Listener motives, like why they've assembled in Marat. That seems like a good Part 1 kicker, so I'm not expecting too much from Kaladin next week, either. Chapter 33 will be where it all breaks open.

I'm gonna get the best of both worlds. I'll be waiting for midnight, for the ebook to get delivered. So I'll start rereading the preview chapters earlier that evening. Get the sequential feel, but not actually holding up getting to the new parts!

Oh, hey, he finished Legion 3. If it's not Apocalypse Guard, then who knows? He's got a month until OB release and the holidays, so maybe he decided to write another novella, rather than lose a month's worth of momentum on AG2.

So that's what Tzai blows are! I'd seen a vague reference to them once in a WoB; it's good to know see what they actually do. The Realmatic Theory is interesting (and I think it's still a reliable source, even though the book isn't publishable, because this is the foundation that Brandon has been building his other books on). We get the gods mentioned again - that reminds me of some old discussions about the Liar of Partinel sample chapters, which had dead gods. I wonder who these gods are, if the Lords mentioned in Dragonsteel are the same as the gods in Liar (and Brandon just pushed their deaths forward chronologically to that point), or if they're two separate groups. And where, if it all, does Adonalsium fit into those? The fundamentals of magic seem very different than what we see in canon books. There's no direct Investiture, nothing being drawn from a Shard, only people applying their Cognitive aspects so far (either to move molecules, plant illusions in minds, or break Spiritual aspects). I wonder if that's something that changed fundamentally with the Shattering of Adonalsium, or if Yolen at this point would even follow the same Realmatics as the rest of the cosmere proper that we see later. (Or if the rest of the cosmere even exists at this point. Let's be very careful in what we assume.)

It really depends on the specific physics of Adhesion, which I'll admit I can't quite wrap my head around. But I can see a good analogy in suction cups on your shower wall. If the wall is wet, you can't pull it straight off, but you can slide it around easily.

Probably not. There are several individuals who have been theorized to be Ishar that we've seen on-screen (like Nale's companion in the WoR prologue), and some that have been referenced but remained off-screen so far (like Tezim, the Tukari god-king), but nothing that is explicitly and undeniably Ishar. What we know of Ishar, we know of the in-universe text of Words of Radiance (since he's mentioned at least once in the epigraphs), and from what Nale says here in Edgedancer.

I agree that the Bondsmith symbol (and the big ol' beard) makes Ishar the obvious candidate for male Herald. The strong crystalline motif for the female Herald makes me think it's Vedeledev, who is associated with Lucentia (glass, crystal). I was under the impression that Shallash had much darker skin. Did we get any description of her hair color in her interlude?

I have the power to transport a planet across the universe! Moved to Creator's Corner.

If only they had included a project timeline in their campaign description...

So, if the bird is an Aviar, what ability might it have? We've picked up on the way it responds to Shallan, but Aviar can be quite intelligent, so I don't think there's too much behind it getting agitated when she starts yelling. I'm focused more on what utility it provides to Mraize, who is going undercover with a very distinctive face. I wonder if the bird provides some sort of disguise or memory effect, that would replace a more typical disguise? That would be why he has it now, but he hasn't before: because it's a specialized tool, one that he hadn't needed up to that point.

I looked around for some IPB search help (which is the platform that these forums run on), and I couldn't find anything useful. I'd say, experiment and see what happens. I haven't messed with quotes, but I know that if you use multiple search terms, it the default results include either of those words. Which gives way too many results for me, so I usually modify the search and remove the "+" that it automatically inserts in place of a space, and put an actual space in there, and then run it again. That makes it search for results that include both of those words.

I think the "pain" is specifically the memories around her death, and the "other memories" encompass everything else about her.

EDIT: Man, there sure are a lot of ninjas around!

Kokerlii ('coppercloud' bird) is described as "colorful." Sak (future bird) is "black-plumed." I don't think that "pure green" matches either of those descriptions. So if it's an aviar, it has an ability we don't know.

For the Shin-Stone connection with the Voidspren, I couldn't think of a good mechanism for the other humans (who do see spren) to associate Shinovar with stone. In fact, that would be the last place they'd connect with stone, since there's actual dirt there. The Shin revere stone because there's so little. I guess it's possible that there are spren in Shinovar, but they just don't manifest at all in the Physical Realm. But I think it's more straightforward for the eyes to be Yolish, not Shin. (I'll admit, it sounds absurd when I put it like that.) I will go on record against the Ishar = Tezim theory. Ishar has said the Oathpact is broken. Why would he claim to be its bearer? The Heralds are in hiding, so I think this person isn't a Herald at all. But if it were, who would be the Herald of Heralds? Who is the King of Heralds? It's not Ishar - it's Jezrien. I can kinda see a case for Jezrien being Tezim. But not Ishar.

Some fun stuff in this week's chapters. Mraize has an aviar. It's gotta be an aviar. I wonder what it does, though? I'll need to check if its description matches either of the aviar powers we've seen. Mraize refers to the "listeners." No humans call them that - they call them parshmen or Parshendi. I take that as further evidence he's an offworlder, although it could mean he's just ancient. This short glimpse into the Ghostblood's motives, of playing both sides against one another, makes me think of Hoid's earlier statement that he would let this world burn to get what he wanted. What are the Ghostbloods up to? The mystery of Urithiru is something that a lot of people had caught on to, so it's nice to have something out in the open. I think that it will tie in with the murders, like we discussed a few weeks ago, either something about the city or a murderous spren. Man, I just can't get it out of my head that this Voidspren isn't a Voidspren. Syl has been hiding, so she hasn't actually interacted with her. And everything she does... well, if we hadn't been told she was a Voidspren, I wouldn't have thought she was one. She definitely knows Kaladin is a Radiant, why he can sense the storms. And the emphasis on stone in her manner of movement makes me think she's a cousin to something like a stonespren, the same way Syl is cousin to windspren. So, I'm holding out for a reveal that this spren is actually a Radiant spren, but returning back to the listeners instead of bonding Radiants. (Still holding a grudge over the Recreance.) The eyes on the Voidspren are interesting, in that they aren't typical Rosharan eyes. They're like Shin eyes... but the Shin don't have spren, so she can't be a Shin spren. I guess it's because she's a Splinter of Odium, so she (and other Voidspren) are driven by Rayse's perception of humanity. Dalinar wonders why he's healing. We've all been there, bro. Nice to get a Dustbringer. There would have to be a lot going on behind the scenes for her to have an Honorblade, and she is from Vedenar (not Kharbranth), so I think she's for real, not a trick of Taravangian's. Let's see some Division action! More Surges!

Have you guys thought about doing a project for Rosharan coins? ... oh, wait. Never mind. This Kickstarter is pretty cool. Anything else in the pipeline (even if it's just at the 'crazy idea' state) for cosmere fans?

Got my replacement bits today. So, if anyone else Stateside is waiting, you should be getting them soon.

Move, move, move, move to the Roleplaying forum.

I'm not seeing much of a connection to Fjordell for either of those Shards. Devotion is Aona's Shard, and its splinters are the Seons. In Fjordell, they have the Skaze, splinters of Dominion. It looks like Opelon is the region that is influenced most by Devotion. Sometimes words are just words. I think this is one of those cases.

Let's keep it all in one topic. I've closed this one, since the one in General Discussion has more activity.