Ixthos

Upon what do you base that? Do you believe they use different mechanics? Just as not every guard employed by a nobleman on Scadrial was a Hazekiller, so to it can't be inferred that Amaram's guards were trained for that, and even if they were remember they are starting to develop half-shards and aluminium based weapons and defences - it likely is that newer techniques and equipment are being developed. Remember, the people trying to reclaim the Pillar room only lost because the Defeated One was something they had never learnt to counter - that was a team fighting multiple Fused of different varieties. Do you not agree a single Knight would have had difficulty going even half as far as they did against those odds? I contest this. Originally, when I learnt that Harmony was sending Kandra into the Cosmere, I thought that that would be dangerous with any shard able to seize control, but now I think only Ruin and Allomancy can so strongly affect them - Preservation couldn't control them due to that power being about sealing rifts, while Ruin can because that power is about widening them. It seems likely that the metallic arts are designed to affect that property, but if you are suggesting connection manipulation allows that, are you also saying a Bondsmith could brute-force control of anyone? Also, the Bands don't have to be used offworld, there are many roles Kandra can have on Scadrial.

Welcome! Hope you enjoy your time here, and don't worry, you don't have to be theorist to post here ... but it helps! (... small Batman reference, sorry :-P) Hope you enjoy yourself!

With regards to who-would-win scenarios, who else thinks that every magic system will eventually be revealed to potentially be capable of the same feats as every other? Especially with regards to future sight, memory storing and accessing, connection manipulation, investiture suppression, leaching, and enhancing, and even alternative-future-shadows (like Malatium and Renarin's light affecting Moash)? The Cosmere has a unique set of interactions Investiture can produce when interacting with matter and the physical, cognitive, spiritual realm, and the interface between these worlds. While each manifests in a unique way, it seems probable that the mechanics of one type of interactions can be reproduced in others. So who else thinks that corrupted Truthwatchers use the same mechanic as Malatium, Bondsmiths use the same principles as Hemalurgy, Awakening and Feruchemy both use the same principles for memory storage, and the Sibling and a Leacher would see one another as having a lot in common?

I've been following this intermitantly, and haven't been able to read everything that everyone has said, but if I may put forth this point to consider if it hasn't already been mentioned, but both sides are likely to develop countermeasures to investiture in general, either from direct study of the magic of others, or extrapolating from existing countermeasures, such as the leaching cube and systems in Urithiru, once they understand enough of one another's systems. It is likely the Ghostbloods, due to their leader, would provide the schematics for such countermeasures, to nullify Radiant powers, while similar organisations and understandings of anti-investiture and the systems of Urithiru could quickly be repurposed. It is likely that any conflict between the two would be less large armies fighting, or single superpowered individuals fighting large teams, but rather small infiltration teams with some sort of minor counter to the countermeasures to allow them to continue functioning with a weaker powerset, much like Kaladin's own experiences with the imperfect suppression of his powers - a team using a system to weaken repression systems. Let's also not discount the implied invisibility and anti-detection systems that are effective enough to blind a shard. Another point is to remember that, for all Brandon's series involve powerful abilities facing against other powerful abilities, that many worlds - perhaps every world - seems to also have non-powered people trained to counter those with abilities, and often performing well, such as the Hazekillers, the team that almost took the Pillar room, etc. So even if one group is shown to have powers that the others can't counter with their own abilities, there likely is a low tech solution where well trained individuals can put up a good showing, so how much more effective would a well-trained team with abilities be to stop a foe they know about and have trained for be in comparison? (Also, side note, but unless there is something that can counter the Bands of Morning on Scadrial, the 1980's era can't exist - the Kandra have a device that can turn anyone into a Fullborn. If they lose that, then there is major danger. And if they keep that, why doesn't each Kandra become a mini-Rashek under Harmony's employ? Or would they treat that as a nuke, something to slowly experiment to develop useful technologies, useful principles built in, but hope to never have to employ directly?)

Welcome! I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the word parasocial, but I think if you hang around here you might find the answer you are looking for. :-P Hope you enjoy your stay!

This message pops up very often lately when I give someone reputation - and I say when I give someone reputation because, despite what the message says, I am still able to do so. Can anyone explain what is happening?

That might be enough. An alternative could be: Those who originally had access to Growth somehow ensured that no-one else could access it as deeply as they could, so only a small group has access to the more powerful applications A group with access to Fire, and its ability to consume plants, were able to apply their power to curtail the strength of Growth, so they saw the danger or envied it and used their power to prevent further use of it In both cases it could be a question in the setting about why Growth, despite it being theoretically stronger than any other power, is somehow restricted.

To elaborate further, it is in the context of travel (i.e. FTL drive) or communication, both meaning sending either an object or information from one location to another faster than modern understandings of physics say should be possible. So if you are familiar with Star Trek it is travelling at Warp, and if you are familiar with Star Wars it is the use of hyperdrive - FTL is the catch-all term for the technology or process that allows space travel at the level needed to maintain civilisation across multiple worlds as though they were separated by much shorter distances.

Agreed :-) she is a great character

Welcome! I hope your time here sets you ablaze with insights! ... I mean, I hope the spark of discussion will ... the fire of interest can ... the flame of learning ... I hope you enjoy yourself here :-)

It's important to remember that everyone is flawed and has biases. Jasnah is one of the smartest characters in the entire Cosmere, knowledgeable and powerful, skilled in many areas and committed to saving her people. But she also is a human, and despite what we like to believe none of us are entirely reasonable, even when - or especially when - we think we are. Visual arts aren't useful for her quest, therefore they have no value at all - how many times have we heard that sentiment against things we hold as essential and important? How many things now held to be indispensable in the modern world were dismissed by intelligent people in the past as being less than useless?

In addition to that there is the following just before that: So it has been implied that they deliberately were attempting to achieve some goal on Sel, possibly related to the Iree and the Elantrians, which is why Odium was "allowed" to attack them - perhaps they hoped to form a of investiture and human which could do things the shards couldn't, and so circumvent some restriction.

I already think of Stormlight as a pseudo-conflux book, with the significance of the Cosmere's existence being important to the series if not the details of the worlds outside of Roshar, so I can well see this as a possibility :-) Roshar as a world with magic meeting magic and so shaping each other makes sense.

Interesting introduction :-P Welcome! Hope you enjoy yourself here - have you read any of the other non-canon books?

It is, though the colour of a shard might not necesserily be consistant across time, as perceptions change. Harmony could also be seen as black and white together, rather than a mixed grey. The reason I'm asking about blue though is because the pool in the paper said the pool was blue, raising interesting questions. (Also, and this will probably only make sense to anyone reading this in the future if your signature doesn't change, but I'm reminded of a poem based on your signature: Once in a stately passion I cried with desperate grief, 'Oh Lord, my heart is black with guile, of sinners, I am chief.' Then stooped my guardian angel and whispered from behind, 'Vanity my little man, you're nothing of the kind.' - James Thomson) The question though is are the former pits still the site of the Perpendicularity, or has the Perpendicularity been moved, in a sense separating the power source from the site of the original location while that location still bares signs of its original function? Presumably the Southern Scadrians also have access to a way to leave the planet.

There is some irony in that quote that, in a sense, the magic that is strongest implies the shards that power it are weaker than the others, though again the idea of infinity and the amount that can be accessed is key, as well as the amount used being so small. I always thought of Slatrification as being a low-yield form of Soulcasting, turning one particular substance into one other particular substance, using similar principles but at a much lower strength than Soulcasting (or flipping the view, that Surgebinding is the high powered form of a lot of other systems, with Slatrification being one of the "prototypes" for Soulcasting, just as using a Perpendicularity is the "prototype" for Transportation). I've got mixed feelings about the idea of Slatrification being removed. On the one hand it does make Sand Mastery seem cleaner, its about controlling the movement of sand, but on the other hand it feels like a cool and interesting twist to the system is gone. If it had never originally been a part of it, then I probably would have objected to it being added, but having it originally present and then removed, that feels a little off. Also, what happened to the microbs when sand is Slatrified? They facilitate it, but do they turn into water as well, or just the sand?

It could be where the Well or Pits were moved, or where Trell's activities have caused one to form, or perhaps Harmony manifests a third Perpendicularity in addition to the Pits and Well. What I am wondering is if Shards can only form one - one per planet, or per avatar, or in total. The colour is also likely significant, as Preservation was seen as white and Ruin as black, so where does the blue come from, assuming that is a Perpendicularity.

Welcome! I hope you enjoy your time here :-)

I like this :-) Also, something to consider, the Fused who they call El is very interested in the human heart, and what it can be turned to ....

@Aspiring Writer thanks :-P The main thing is execution, and how elements fit together. For example, part of the idea with the airships is they are old steampunk airships that have been modified to be dieselpunk, the bright and optimistic aesthetic being changed to one geared for war. Likewise the hive minded trying to gather its pieces is directly related to the plant zombies, the feral splinters of the hive mind produced when the FTL system was destroyed changing from symbiotic with the living to parasitic with the dead. As for friendship across planets undermining the idea of war - and not constant war, but rather there always is a war going on somewhere, so some nations are at peace for long stretches - the idea of the humans on Chrysmal becoming friends and allies with those on other planets, and the fragmented nature of the nations both there and on the other planets within the system, means that often times humans from Chrysmal can try to undermine other humans from Chrysmal who are fighting those on the other planets, and two enemies who are fighting one another but who still respect each other and otherwise would be friends, including POWs gaining the respect of their gaolers, can add interesting dynamics to the story. Otherwise thanks :-)

The next post is delayed a bit while I organise the notes and draw up sketches. I've gotten a lot of ideas for how the setting can develop, and I hope you all like what potentially could emerge in this story, including: lightning powered armoured trains airships with energy weapons dieselpunk power armour magical technology vs technology merged with magic a large torus in space that originally functioned as an FTL system, slowly being rebuilt a broken multiple minded hive mind slowly collecting its shattered pieces zombies with plants for brains sorcerers eldritch beings plotting both with and against one another magical ninja-knights space travel within the system in grumpy living starships people riding three-tubed-headed self-adjusting “puppies”, that also happen to be your best friend, and probably knew your grandparents a city smaller than a human cell stretched across multiple galaxies, inhabited by quantum waves said quantum waves driving around the macroscale world in spidermonkey robots various ecosystems consisting of both Earth native and modified Earth-native coexisting with alien life divergent cultures and culture-shock political intrigue and conspiracies the mystery as to the human colonies' origins and purpose what happened to the Others? war between planets and war between nations love and friendship across planets and between humans and human-subspecies Hope you all enjoy :-) I'll hopefully be posting more within two months.

Not myself, but this link might help, in the offensive moves section: https://sportsaspire.com/sword-fighting-techniques-styles-moves

Nice :-) I'd be interested to read that.

I'd be interested :-) I might do something similar later, though one thing at a time. What is the book about?