Ixthos

Agreed. I can take a delay in his schedule - he's been so good to the community. If this is related to his or his family's health, mental or physical or spiritual, that definitely comes first. Hopefully it is just a "my plate is very full and I need to slow down" video.

In Brandon's recent update video he mentioned that there is an important and unexpected video he's planning to post tomorrow. That sounds ominous. I hope Brandon and his family and friends are okay. [Edit] The video is out:

Cool will do. Should I try to make it about the same length as the same you provided, or would a longer one do as well? [Edit] Okay, this is the first draft, made over the course of about an hour - any feedback is appreciated The institute had thought me mad when I insisted the survey had indeed discovered a new source of dwarhart. They insisted that the substance had been lost forever in the aftermath of the Path War, that all possible futures that contained it had been purged by our enemies in their last suicidal attack, their last, desperate bid to – as the institute supposes – render us sterile, fragmented, and alone. They claimed no more of the substance, or any of its precursors, could be left, that none remained hidden on some isolated world, or diffused in any distant, nebulous cloud. They stated that every planet, every star, and every fundamental particle had been touched by our enemy's tainted strike. Yet my team and I have finally proved them wrong. I don't believe the substance to have been their originally – I suspect this is the result of some natural process that turned one of dwarhart's possible precursors into its raw form, though which I am uncertain. The institute was correct in that all known dwarhart precursors had been destroyed in this and all other timelines that branched forwards from the war, and with the elimination of our ability to travel back to before the culmination of the war, and the turbulent disruptions to time having only settled ten thousand milenia after we had finally destroyed and transformed the last of them, it seemed they had good cause for their scepticism. But their mistake was in assuming that we had discovered all possible materials that could become dwarhart. Despite our long study of the substance neither we nor our enemies had fully mapped out all possible materials that could be transformed and thus become entangled with time. This world, which I have dubbed Kirzot, must be a source of one such unknown precursor. The survey team's readings were taken at a considerable distance from that world, and it would be beneficial to have one or more of our agents actually confirm the substance is indeed viable for our use. It would be disastrous if it attuned more readily to the remnant of our enemy's minds within our more useful machines. We must make sure, before we move openly, that this dwarhart deposit is unattuned, or else favours our essence over that of any other species. To that end I have already sent Kubu and Dolni to this planet to investigate further in advance of a full expedition, and their early reports are most intriguing. They report there is indeed some form of life present on this world, some species that possesses distressingly close similarities to our enemies. Could they be the ancestors of our enemy before they established their civilisation in the distant past? No, no, that isn't possible. More likely they are either signs of convergent development of the life native to this universe, or else some remnant that survived our transformations of their kind in much the same way some dwarhart precursor survived their own attacks. In either case this is cause for caution – we cannot let them discover our true natures until we have ascertained if the substance can be put to our purposes. If they discover our goals before that …. Still, it is of little consequence. Dolni, soft hearted as they are, reports that the native life is indeed primitive, and requests we treat them with benevolence. I believe the millennia of loneliness has made them too unreliable – they must be dealt with soon. Kubu, surprisingly, is far more practical, and has already taken the steps needed to ensure that, when the time comes, they too can be turned into tools for our use. They are a simple people – transforming them should be a simple matter, provided they do not discover the secrets of dwarhart before we arrive. I am now more convinced than ever that the enemy's efforts were not in fact an attempt to eliminate the potential of branching paths through time, but merely to untethered us from our source of immortality. Though primitive, the enemy's mindset was still too fixated on their own apotheosis – they would not have destroyed the only chance for any of their remnant to achieve what we possess by design. Fools. Their efforts have only delayed our own ascension, and the wounds they inflicted will soon be forgotten. Their cousins or descendants or ancestors, whatever that life may be, will share their fate, and full control of time will be open to use again. Soon we will have the strength to leave this wretched, limited timeline, free to slay the Guardians and dominate all the worlds in their charge, free to finally claim our place as the ultimate masters of reality. What power in this or any other world can stop us? - from the journal of Kirx Kirzo Evbli, First Minister of Progress

@bmcclure7 I recently made two topics on this a few weeks ago that you may find interesting (see here for the first one, and here for the second, more in depth take). Please let me know what you think

We know destiny can be taken - the question becomes not so much legitimacy but rather reality is tied to the connections, as we know a Hemalurgic spike can steal someone's strength, etc., and spiritweb changes cause physical changes instantly, so if something is taken it may be that it "always was" what the other person had, time actually somehow changing, or people now "knowing" that is the case. Yup, that probably isn't something Honour would like.

That gives me an idea for a kingdom inspired by Shara in the Wheel of Time, where every few years one monarch dies and someone else marries the surviving one, then a few years later the next one is replaced and so on - so a world where the marriage connection is taken using connection abilities to pass to someone else who marries the current monarch, a connection passed from spouse to spouse and so they claim each royal pair possesses the original marriage from the first royal pair. The ship of Theseus as a wedding.

Next step, a wedding where two people are suddenly married before either knows what is happening, and a wedding where one of them is veiled and the other only find out afterwards they married the wrong person (Siri and Susebron don't count).

I like it myself I generally prefer to make individual documents for specific elements, though admittedly most of those are still in the log files, but I do like this approach, especially as you can use it to add flavour as epigraphs to certain stories or chapters as needed, putting snippets of the snippets into your own for-yourself writing to further flesh it out. One method you could use for some letters is to have some being with a more objective viewpoint making these notes, so while it may still be somewhat biased you could have some abstract creature making notes, or even put your own observations down, as though writing a scholarly essay on your own work for yourself. Hmmm ... I think I will give this a try. Pick a topic, please, and I'll make an entry - character, species, planet, organisation, abilities.

Have you read the Wheel of Time? It can get pretty dark. While not dark and not strictly fantasy there is also The Dragonriders of Pern series. A Song of Ice and Fire is pretty dark, and I've always enjoyed David Edding's Elenium trilogy.

There are a few theories I've seen that propose Roshar will be destroyed at the end of either book 5 or book 10 of the Stormlight Archive. While that certainly would be a twist, and I agree there are hints that this may happen, I disagree - I think Roshar is much more likely to survive, and will continue to be important throughout the Cosmere. (Please note that I am still learning Hebrew, so take the following as being from someone who is still learning on this topic) Roshar has a strong Hebraic influence, with many names referencing Hebrew words, such as the various types of Fused (such as the Shanay-im, the Fused who can fly, referencing the Hebrew word for Heaven and the sky, Shamayim - שָׁמַיִם), Moash being similar to the original Hebrew name for Moses, and several countries having allusions to Hebrew letters, such as Alethkar (Aleph - א), Aimia (Ayin - ע), the Reshi Isles (Resh - ר), Shinovar (Shin - שׁ), etc. Under this rule, consider that the Hebrew word for head is Rosh (רֹאשׁ), and has connotations of leadership or beginnings, such as in Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the year. This implies Roshar has a significant place in the entirety of the Cosmere. Combine that with its unique placement as a seeming centre of trade and travel, with at least four worlds accessible from Shadsmar, and it implies a key role in future trade and Cognitive Realm travel. Roshar is one of the few worlds known to overflow naturally with Investiture, and more safely than others such as Sel, which would make it a vital location in future stories where mass use of Investiture becomes common, at the very least allowing for a rivalry to form with any other world that tries to export its power. A three or four way rivalry between Roshar and Sel (along with Scadrial and one or more other planets such as whatever worlds the Aethers use as a base) would present a much more interesting Cosmere future than one where Roshar's source of power - which can only be gathered in bulk in the Physical Realm - is no-longer accessible. Combined with the above point on its nature as a crossroads and it implies an important economic role in the future of the Cosmere, even if the Ghostbloods are defeated - that may itself begin the conflict between the worlds. Roshar is one of the most bizarre Cosmere world designed and presented thus far, with a beautiful and intricate ecosystem in both the Physical and Cognitive realm and involving a great deal of interplay between the two. As such its destruction, unlike that of Scadrial, Threnody, etc., would diminish the beauty of the Cosmere, especially as this world was specifically stated to have been designed by the Power before it was split, meaning any future attempts by a Shard to replicate it would be implicitly inferior. It also would mean that any future RPG made wouldn't let one play as Space Age Cosmere on Roshar, which while admittedly a somewhat fan-focused view is still one I think should be relevant. If Roshar is destroyed, it may eliminate Surgebinding entirely, as magic is based heavily on the world it comes from, and the Spren are a mixture of Honour and Cultivation, thus the destruction of Roshar could change or eliminate entire Orders - it certainly would spell the end of the Bondsmiths, as the three Shardspren are rooted in Roshar itself. Following from the previous point, Roshar is implied to be important to Era 4, and so we have the two points of both how cool it would be to see the future of Roshar in Era 4, as well as how Era 4 will somehow feature it in some important capacity. While not definite, this quote reinforces point 5 above. Note that this is listing the important planets. While it is possible for a planet to be destroyed and still be relevant, such as the inhabitants culture and magic being shaped by the world they came from even if that world is gone, it does imply Roshar itself is important in the future of the Cosmere. While each point in and of itself could be countered, I think together they make a strong argument as for why Roshar will not be destroyed. Though what are your thoughts? Would you prefer Roshar persists or be destroyed? Could it continue as a central crossroad even with the planet gone, and could the Orders survive its destruction? Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a great day!

Quite possible, though I personally think it would work more easily the other way around, that they could use metals to substitute for Stormlight, burning a metal to gain access to enough Investiture to use a surge, as metals are more common through the various worlds than Stormlight. The question is though, if Stormlight can be used to substitute for metals, how would one determine which metal it functions as, unless it can be directed?

Dullform, or at least Slaveform, can reproduce as well, as otherwise the singer species would have gone extinct. There may also be more esoteric forms that can reproduce, though they may not be as successful as mateform, hence the need for that form still. [Edit]

That's mainly from inference, as she implied she's been in mateform and disliked it because of how useless it made her, as opposed to Rlain who said he had some issues while in mateform. Basically Eshonai was in mateform and presumably mated or displayed the traditional attitudes but disliked how they overwhelmed her and prevented her form doing other things, while Rlain found himself actively attracted to other male listeners in mateform.

I'd prefer it if the conflict is that of several cultures in friction with one another, the mortals and Shards in conflict but not trying to conquer one another, or at least three sides evenly matched - I think the conflict won't be a large scale war, though there may be open conflicts between some worlds - but rather a conflict as a backdrop to some research mission to find out more about what happened at the Shattering or to reverse some problem that emerged from Shattering that is now a major issue, such as the Shard's instability due to their Intents. So multiple cultures that each sees itself as better or more noble than the others, but individuals from within those multiple cultures still trading or working as mercenaries for others, and among this a team of researchers from multiple worlds tries to find Yolen or investigates something dangerous that threatens all the worlds. I think Autonomy may be an underdog in this situation, a Shard that other groups are ganging up on because of its past interference on their worlds, as First of the Sun is being subjugated and Taldain is supposed to be important in the last series - Scadrial, Roshar, Sel, and Taldain (and possibly Yolen) were the main focuses of Era 4 when Brandon outlined it.

Dalinar is bonded to the Stormfather, Navani is married to Dalinar while the Sibling doesn't have a gender identity it subscribes to, Venli and Eshonai's spren Timbre is female while both Venli and Eshonai had male mates, and we don't know Lopen's orientation but his spren is male. Brandon mentioned he chose the combinations of human (or listener) with the gender of their spren to further the interactions they could have, to make them more different.

@Thaidakar the Ghostblood king of sarcasm? Oh reeeeeeeeeeeally? Please, tell me more () (Also, pineapples are awesome, how dare you!) 7/10

Fair enough the closest name to Isha I know is Eysha, but I imagine there are more. Anyhow, it's pretty cool your name is similar to theirs. Mine is similar to a comic relief character in Elantris ...

Ahhh that's pretty cool (... should we call you Ishy? )

Awesome which Herald is it? Jezrien / Jasmine? Nale / Natalie? Chanarach / ... (I've got nothing ... )?

@Elf probably the most accurate statement about literature I've ever read. 10/10.

@Elf well for pure guesses it looks like I didn't do too badly!

@Elf Is this an invitation for us to get to know you better? These are all guesses: What's my favorite Sanderson book? Mistborn: the Final Empire What's my favorite Sanderson character? Vin What's my favorite non- Sanderson book? Lord of the Rings - the entire trilogy What was my first experience with the Cosmere? Warbreaker What thing do I hate that everyone loves? NOT having pineapple on pizza Do I like dark fantasy or light? Por que no los dos? What's my Hogwarts house? Ravenclaw Who is my favorite Harry Potter character? Ron Do I like mornings or nights? Por que no los dos? Do I wear spectacles? Yes Do i like long books or short ones? Por que no- ... long Let's see if you can answer these. Yes. Not very well, but yes

@dbulick Okay, you're crazy (you're not really crazy) No, though there are strong indications that Trell at least attempts to associate itself with the idea of being autonomous. Trell may not be Autonomy, but there are indications - Stormlight Archive 4: Rythm of War spoilers: It could also be that Trell is an avatar of Autonomy, and one that has taken up the extra Ruin, so it could be both. Part of me wonders if Trellium could be an alloy of two or more metals, so if some of Ruins investiture could be in Trellium along with some others and that is what is interfering with Harmony's ability to identify it. Still, I agree, it most likely is another Shardmetal

... Granted. ... No banes here ... ... whatdoyoumeanEdgedancer?IthoughtitwasTruthwatcher?!?! I wish that there are letters in the Stormlight books between 6 and 10

Granted, but its always as the villain just before they're defeated. I wish someone provided an answer that didn't result in a terrible bane.