Pagerunner

Many names are based on the Heralds names - Kaladin from Kalak, Shallan from Shallash. I think it's a good catch that Pai came from Pailiah, but I don't think it goes any farther than that. Without her Honorblade, Pailiah would be unable to use either Illumination (to change her appearance) or Progression (to heal herself), and all of our Honorblades are accounted for.

There is a list of ten Highstorm dates in the WoR Ch88 epigraph. One is 3 days after the previous one, one is 7 days, but most are 5 or 6.

Kaladin dreamed during a Highstorm, and watched one of Szeth's assassinations. Renarin also may have seen visions during Highstorms, since that was when he made the marks. I think he may have been an incipient Radiant, but not necessarily a Bondsmith. I believe Kaktach means the 8th month, the 9th week, and the 3rd day. (Kak, Tanat, Chach.) I'm having a hard time finding exact dates, but I believe the battle for the Tower (the end of WoK) was the 9th month, the 6th week, and the 4th day. (From what I could find here; I can't vouch for its accuracy.) That means that there were 36 days (or maybe 35, I'm just counting on my fingers) between this man's death and the battle of the Tower. I don't believe that's enough time for everything that happened to Kaladin, much less to allow Dalinar to experience several highstorms before Kaladin's arrival into camp.

Source.

What attracts a spren is action. The only two orders we've thus far seen have more than one member are the Skybreakers and the Truthwatchers. We don't know enough about our Skybreakers yet, but Ym, Stump, and Renarin have all attracted a Truthwatcher spren, and they are all different ages. (And Wyndle almost bonded Ym instead of Lift, so there is another example of age not being important.) Tien may very well have been an incipient Lightweaver (or maybe a Willshaper), but his age will not be a factor in that.

I can't believe I've never searched for anything on Aether over in the TWG. I finally did... and I found some very interesting stuff. While he was revising the first Mistborn book back in 2004, Brandon was developing a series called the Aethers of Lor (originally Lore), set in the world of Aether. It was going to be a megaseries, with smaller series set on the same planet (the planet of Lor) using different aspects of the magic system, inspired by the overall structure of Dragonriders of Pern. The first book was going to be called Climb the Sky: Aether of Wind Trilogy, Book One. (Although a lot of TWG members didn't seem too keen on that name.) He never got further than planning; he canned that to focus on finishing the Mistborn trilogy, and we all know what happened after that. (If you don't, he decided to work on Dragonsteel, and put that aside when asked to finish the Wheel of Time.) EDIT: It also had the Royal Locks in it. (As did Dark One, apparently. They sure got around.) Aethers of Lor must be the untitled Aether project that Brandon lists in his unpublished works; nobody was thrilled with the name, so he probably considered Lor a placeholder. I also think it's the missing fifth project from the ancient Tor Proposal. (The three write-ups Brandon included in his blog were Elantris, Mistborn, and Stormlight. Dragonsteel was almost certainly one of the other two, and the timeline fits for Aethers of Lor to be the fifth.) So, a couple very important takeaways from this: The Aether world was actively developed even after Mistborn had been written, and Ruin and Preservation had been cannibalized. Brandon doesn't mention if this is cosmere or not, because the concept of the cosmere hadn't been very well developed among his readers at the time (5 points to whoever links Peter saying he doesn't think Way of Kings is on a shardworld), but I think because the concept was driven by an expansive magic system, that it almost certainly was set in the cosmere. Which means, he must have had a Shard or two to go with it. The Aether of Wind doesn't appear onscreen in the manuscript. It looks like it gave flight, which isn't all that inherently interesting. But I wonder if it also had a counterpart, and if the worldbuilding kept the Fell Twins as history? But regardless, the magic of the Aethers definitely extends beyond what we've seen in the Aether of Night to further elements. The world of Aether of Night is referred to as Vaeria in the text. Did Brandon just consider renaming it to Lor? Or was Vaeria merely a region on Lor? (Similar to how he once referred to Opelon as the "world that Elantris takes place in." Since the latest way Brandon referred to the world was as Lor, then I find it hard to believe that Vax is the world of the Aethers. There are superficial similarities between Vaeria and Vax (inasmuch as they begin with the same two letters), but Vax is very different than Lor.

I'm moving down near Houston in a few weeks. With my luck, that almost guarantees a Dallas visit. (Or maybe even San Antonio!)

You should be able to find Peter's quote about Dawnshards somewhere on this page: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjAuu6siqXVAhVk44MKHckhAacQFgg2MAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoppermind.huiji.wiki%2Fwiki%2F%E9%97%AE%E7%AD%94%E4%B8%8E%E8%AE%BF%E8%B0%88%2FWoP_2015&usg=AFQjCNE_ESwY38ji5s6g6OoULtS-pY6htw

Welcome to all those who just got access. Now that we'll be getting a huge influx of new eyes, I'd like to know what other people think of this book. I, personally, really liked it; the characters were some of my favorites (I'm keeping my eye out for a one-armed worldhopper), the situation was suspenseful and engaging through most of the book, and the magic system is probably the closest we'll get to an elemental-style system from Brandon. I think, with a few fixes, this could easily be one of his strongest books. So, first, what Brandon identified as being 'problematic' with this book: Source. Source. And now, what I didn't enjoy about the book. I actually think the juxtaposition Brandon references was fine from Raeth's point of view; I find it very believable that during stressful times, he would continue to seek out romance. The big disconnect for me was after the battle when they 'defeated' the enemy at the gates of the city. I found that everything afterwards really undermined what had gone on before. Raeth had earned this victory; he had changed up tactics, made 'new' alliances, gained the respect of generals. But it was all a trick to engage the Amberite and Bestarin bonds in battle. I found the plan just too complex; if Night bonds can have their shadow creatures appear anywhere, why not just have them all appear in all the cities at the same time? (Like what they did at the end, at the Verdant source.) The Aedin kept records, to keep track of lines, so it wouldn't be hard to learn every Aedin and High Aedin that they need to kill. So, the whole 'trick' landed flat for me. Not just because I enjoyed the process of winning that war so much, but because the truth that replaced it really didn't make sense to me. Also, I found that the 'second book' that didn't fit was when they set out to find the Verdant source. That felt like a sequel that was rushed and squashed in to the end of this book, since the paradigms were just so different. (No more secrets between main characters, quest vs politics/tactics, those sorts of things.) The good news is, I think most of this needs to be jettisoned, since it turned into Ruin and Preservation. This means the book needs a new ending (or at least a seriously revamped one), and I think it should get a new twist along the way. I don't know what Brandon had planned for the future of the Aether trilogy, but I suspect it involved the Fell Twins warring, possibly with new Aethers, with Decay behind them all trying to get them to destroy their world. Now, Aether can stand more on its own, focusing on the journey of Raeth and D'naa. So, here's what I would do to fix my perceived issues: The romance/war parts that didn't mesh well could be improved by limiting the characters who actually participated in the first battle, when the living shadows first appeared. If most of the brides didn't actually see the shadows, then it would make more sense for them not to care about it. So, maybe D'naa goes out to find her grandparents, and a couple of the other brides go with her. But they all die; this could explain the lack of a Bestarin bride (she was there, but she went and got killed), and you could dispose of the Shorriken bride as well, who I don't think had any part at all following the book. (That would be a very interesting brief bit of characterization.) But if the Verdant, Ferrous, Mahallen, and Kavir brides were Sent from inside the tent, without seeing shadows, they wouldn't grasp exactly what was happening, and still be focused on their marriage machinations. Make the assault by the living shadows a legitimate plan, and not just a trick to get Aedin to the battlefield; they are actually trying to march on the city to kill half the Aedin living there. The normal use of the Aether is teleportation, but they are also able to control the pure essence from the Shardpool. Make Night bonds need to be present at the Shardpool to create a living shadow, so that way they can't break the game like they do in the scene at the Verdant source. The broad motivation of killing all Amberite and Bestarin, and the two Fell Twins trapped in Shardpools, would still be the driving force. After they defeat the living shadows, do not have them reform. The book, unfortunately, cannot end here (unless it's cut to novella length, but that's neither here nor there), so we need a way to escalate the conflict without undermining the defeat of the living shadows. Maybe have the Verdant leaders stage a coup and take over the city. Maybe have the Vo-Dari create Illuminous warriors, analogous to the living Shadows, and launch an attack out of the city. Regardless, still send Raeth on the run, where he can learn the big-picture stuff about the Fell Twins without needing to run his empire. The final climax of the book should involve the Harrmen. I was sure that's where the book was going to go, with the Harrmen being invited over the wall to crush the shadow warriors. (They are the only people in the world with experience fighting Aethers!) Maybe the Harrmen will help them capture the city (and give Raeth the opportunity to destroy Agaris) in exchange for becoming members of the empire. Or maybe just for a bunch of land. For a book that is all about characters breaking established norms, I was a little disappointed that the Harrmen were still just barbarian boogeymen at the end of the book. (Maybe that was a plot point for the sequels.) Leave the Fell Twins dead. This is a book about freedom - Raeth escaping his station and choosing the bride he wants, Aethers becoming available to non-Aedins, and finally escaping the war of Agaris from so long ago. I think it would be a perfectly satisfying ending for Makkal to set Raeth free as he sacrifices himself to kill Agaris, and for the world to finally move away from the ancient conflicts that have driven them so. This could use a little more buildup, for the world being 'locked into' a path since ancient times, but that could be done with the Harrmen and the Seaborn (another major culture that is only tangentially referenced). Just a little more stuff like the Shentis, to show that the world is very much still in the thrall of the actions of the Fell Twins so long ago. So, that's what I would do, if I were rewriting Aether. What do you think? What did you like about the book, what didn't sit well with you, and what would you do differently if Brandon asked you how to improve it?

Does this mean you'll finally get around to reading it, Chaos?

I wouldn't say the Unmade are Odium's analogues to Heralds, beyond superficial similarities in that they're leaders or generals of a sort, and wind up being worshipped as gods at times. Heralds are humans who have specifically participated in the Oathpact between them and Honor; they are powerful Surgebinders, they had a direct source to Honor's power (they didn't need to draw Stormlight from gemstones), and they apparently had even more abilities beyond that. The Unmade are Splinters of Odium, and they collectively are like Stormfather is to Honor, or Nightwatcher is to Cultivation. Not all of them are sapient, so some of them may be more like forces (like what causes the Thrill) than individuals per se. I'm not sure if they are ever referenced as fighting on the battlefield directly; they might be more behind-the-scenes, so even though they wouldn't directly fight a Herald, they would be able to manipulate events to result in a Herald's defeat. Maybe through routing the Herald's forces, maybe through sending spren. It has been speculated that there are 9 of them, because it has been confirmed there are not 10 Unmade and because Braize has 9-centric numerology (like how Roshar has 10-centric), but I believe we have only seen six names so far.

From Boksone:

Vax is not in there. Some people believe it is a new name for the planet, which was Vaeria in the draft.

As the author of that thread, I have seen that theory tossed around as fact several times. I will be editing the OP to make it clearer which are my ideas. But harmonium is not definitively unbalanced towards Ruin - that was a natural progression of my idea that harmonium's electrons were either of Ruin or Preservation.

I think that's where Legion 3 will be published.

I've been posting these here and there over on Discord, as deemed appropriate. Figure I should toss them in over here, too. Spoilered for size.

It's been around 3-5 months, depending on how busy he is with other stuff. (If he doesn't manage to get it done before the OB tour, he'll lose a lot of time!)

Brandon spoke on the subject here. There are intentional contradictions in the text based on Wax's unconsciously shifting perceptions.

No progress to report, unfortunately. I had said that this would be a very unproductive couple of months for WoB archive stuff. But quite productive in other areas of my life: Sidewalk 2, Pagerunner 3 (OT). These sorts of "no update" updates are still important, though. This project isn't off my radar, and neither is the new WoB database project. I just don't have any time to devote to them. I did buy some new hardware to make this work go easier, but I haven't found time to use it yet (it's a dock that can connect my Surface to a monitor, so I can dual screen this bad boy). And it's going to get packed up in a week for my move, so I won't see it for another 7-21 days (yay, timetable estimates!). Unfortunately, expect another similar post for my August update. Such is life.

Some of us like posting mega-sourced stuff, but it by no means is a requirement to begin a conversation. Even by including passages, you've gone farther than many others! I really like your interpretation of 'Void.' It's a concept I've been struggling with for a long time, since the lack-of-existence aspect of Void is really covered by another Shard over in Mistborn, so I wasn't sure how to connect it to Odium. I had never considered the legal usage of the term, for broken promises, and even though I don't think Odium is primarily about breaking promises, I do like the idea that the Voidbringers/Voidbinders are specifically in opposition to Honor and his focus on Oaths. (I think Odium's ultimate goal, to be the only remaining Shard, is the primary thrust of his Intent.) I don't think his opposition to Honor is the true meaning of "the Broken One," however, since the name means Odium is the object of breaking, not the breaker himself. He's not called the "One Who Breaks," or something like that. I'll also disagree on your interpretation of Stonewards and Releasers. Taln was referred to as the Ancient of Stones (I believe in the Diagram), which seems to indicate that this is a positive metaphorical meaning for Stonewards. Furthermore, their Surges of Tension and Cohesion may provide a more literal meaning to their name, letting them make things more or less like stone, although we'll have to wait and see these Surges in action to know exactly how they work. Releasers, I think you're focusing on the wrong kind of bond being broken. From what little we know of Division, it involves breaking chemical bonds, which is an altogether separate phenomenon from the Realmatics of spren interactions. So, yes, I agree that their name may come from how they "release" molecules and energy, or how they will cause enemies to vaporize (turn to dust), but I doubt it's connected to the effect they would have on Voidspren.

Some do not appear, but are merely mentioned. So mentions in curses can count.

There are two other cosmere novellas he has discussed: Silence Divine (although the name will almost certainly changed), the one set on Ashyn with the disease magic. He had originally planned a full book, but has considered trimming it down to a novella. 1940s Mistborn, which I believe was going to be about a World War on Scadrial. It was supposed to be his follow-up to Alloy of Law, before he expanded the Wax & Wayne Era. He hasn't talked about it much since then, so its major points might be covered (or at least set up sufficiently) in The Lost Metal. But this almost certainly won't be what he writes before The Lost Metal; I just wanted to mention it for completeness' sake. Adamant is another weird animal. It was not written originally to be Cosmere, but Brandon might try to fit it in. But he wants to do something unique with the project, writing four novellas, having other authors write a couple, and then doing a regular release schedule over several months. I hope this is not what he writes, either, since he probably wouldn't be releasing it anytime soon. Lastly, even though he's calling it a novella, he might be able to write the last Alcatraz book; those typically only have a month or so of writing time, and from what I understand the point the series has left off at isn't really a good place to languish. I hope Brandon does not leave the cosmere with no stories in 2018. That would be quite a shame to spend a 4 year gap with The Lost Metal being the only new cosmere story.

Jasnah was going to have Navani repair the Davar's broken Soulcasters, right? So they are definitely similar, even if they are not exactly the same.

Ooh, Deja Vu. You wouldn't happen to be from that thread, would you? She has no knowledge of any specific abilities, just the expectation that there should be another set of 10 to go alongside Surgebinding and Voidbinding. What 'research' could she be referring to? I think she's obliquely referencing the number of Shards in the system: three Shards, 10 sets of magics per Shard, there should be more magics. But what she doesn't realize (at least as far as I interpret it) is that fabrials aren't just spren captured in gemstones or a mechanical form of Surgebinding; these are a completely different magic system, and at the end of the day we will learn that there are 10 fundamental kinds of fabrials. But the Ars Arcanum author is looking for abilities, and not considering that the 'mechanical' magic of fabrials is what she's looking for. I'll go into a little more spoilery detail over here, since I actually know how to format spoilers. Spoilers for (most) released Cosmere:

Excuse me?