Ixthos

I haven't - artificial is very important, mainly tied to the nanoscale city and at least one moon. More on that in the next one. I'm planning on making a second post to cover the next stage, as I don't know if changing the poll will prevent people from voting again. I will link to the new topic when I've made it though.

It looks like the percentages have settled, so I'm going to go with these: This indicates ~52% fantasy, 41% science fiction, ~7% contemporary, so most of the setting will have a fantasy flair, but with technology strongly interwoven into it, and the planet mostly like Earth as a major element, mainly visiting the parts that know about the nature of the solar system's other groups. The plot will mostly be on the unaware planet - so most of the story will be set on the mostly unaware planet, with about equal amounts of attention as is given to that planet shared with all the other, the nanoscale heart likewise visited but less focused on directly than the rest. Indeed, the quest elements and low fantasy parts will be focused mainly on the unaware planet, and the politics plot will be mostly covered in the human cities near the nanotech civilisation, the mystery woven into all the plots, tying them together even as the politics plot will be about the need for the quest, and the interplay between a local from the unaware planet and one of the sellswords will cover the romance and relationship part. I'll be adding the preliminary worldbuilding topic later, with a few additional options for voting on - next step: aliens, magic, and a few of the cultures.

If your focus is on ink types, then perhaps using variations on the source can affect it, so plant based inks, animal inks, mineral based, and what is added. So plant based inks could be the sticky type if the plant it is made from is known to cling to surfaces, while the indestructible ink could be made from a type of very tough stone that has been reduced to a powder.

This is with regards to the cosmere as a whole, so Mafia would be they are doing shady dealings in shadesmar and Silverlight as well as on Roshar, while legitimate business would mean that, as far as their interactions with other worldhoppers go, they are actually following acceptable protocol. So, basically, which do they match most closely: are they above board away from Roshar, and are exploiting Roshar like they are local tribes sitting on resources "civilisation" needs (legitimate business), or are they breaking kneecaps and running people down for protection money in Silverlight and selling illegal goods (mafia).

The Ghostbloods have a lot of interests in different forms of Investiture. They have recruited from the 17th Shard, and are interested in exporting Stormlight from Roshar, as well as recruiting an Unmade. So, what are they to the entire Cosmere? We know on Roshar they are a secret society, but does that hold on other worlds, to other Worldhoppers, on Scadrial? Are they a secret society in the greater whole of the Cosmere - do they openly recruit from other Cosmere aware groups, or do they operate in secret? Are they the Mafia, squeezing out competition, circumventing authority to build up their business, protecting family? Are they a cult, focused on achieving the will of a shard or leader, reviving a shard, "MAKING" one? Are they a legitimate business - in the Cosmere, a group with legal authority by whatever government or loose organisation administers worldhoppers? Are they researchers? Philanthropists? Trying to discover more about the Cosmere to share the power or knowledge with others (as a PRIMARY goal)? Something else? What do you think they are?

We've all been there :-)

There is an idea that Formless is what remains of the original Shallan - assuming Shallan as we know her is herself a mask, an identity to hide from her past - and that this original identity, possibly combined with all the other possible versions of Shallan that could form, was recruited by the Ghostbloods, or approached them somehow, possibly making use of Shallan's ability to blank out and ignore things - after all, if she can find time to talk to Mraize in the "garden", and no-one knows it's her or wonders where she went (and if she Lightwove a decoy), if Formless can do likewise, and the Ghostbloods have operatives everywhere, then Shallan might not ever realise she sometimes - maybe even in the middle of a conversation - is replaced by Formless. Does Shallan have to be awake? Could it have happened at some point when she was doing her impersonation at the start? It's also possible that Formless is an aggregate of possibilities only, and that some of those are willing to work with Mraize if he promised them a chance to become real (not quite the same but reminding me of Alia and the Baron in Children of Dune, a strong mind rising up to suppress the others, but the others are still there, able to break free when control is relaxed, Radiant and Veil as benevolent versions of Vladimir Harkonnen) and so this mass within Shallan gained some direction. And if Formless - as Shallan notes - grew stronger when Mraize promised to reveal Shallan's past to her ... And, of course, its possible Formless had nothing to do with any of this :-P

From Arcanum Unbound it was revealed that Ambition was there, but when Odium arrived they fought, and Ambition fled, dying somewhere else, presumably in deep space (and where I think Silverlight is now located), but leaving bits of itself behind - parts torn off in the fight with Odium - which warped the people of Threnody.

It looks like Somebody from Sel heard your plea :-P It won't be a major plot, but I have an idea, involving one of the contemporary part of the setting's inhabitants, and a warrior from the more fantasy-side part - mostly will be hints, rather than anything concrete, but well see how that goes. Yup :-) it might seem like an eclectic combo, but I have a pretty solid idea for how to work all those elements together. I want to wait until early next week to see if any more votes will come in to change the percentages, but I already know how to work all these elements together. To give a brief hint: the nanoscale setting will combine with most of the high fantasy and soft science fiction to be an alien civilisation with a single city shared across multiple worlds, the heart of civilisation in many beings minds, a city the size of a coin spread across worlds, culturally what all civilisations should be even if they can't directly visit that single multiple planet-spanning city in their own bodies due to it being designed for nanoscale beings. I don't want to get into too much more detail right now, but the main idea with the emphasis on a quest plot and a slightly less important politics plot, and a contemporary setting being a minor element, would be the contemporary world starting to exploit discoveries while keeping them secret from most other parts of the contemporary world, and the debat as to how to handle this by those worlds which are already enmeshed in the multiple-planetary setting. (Also, no FTL for humans, all are confined to that solar system - and most in the darker, colder parts, but the nanoscale civilisation can make use of teleporters for their own city, but only their own city.)

Links to other topics in this series. Making a setting 01 - getting started - [POLL CLOSED] Making a setting 02 - Choice of Worlds - The Triarku system summary and plot Making a setting 03 - Choice of Worlds - Aliens and humans in the Triarku system - [POLL CLOSED] Making a setting 04 - Choice of Worlds - Magic in the Triarku system – [POLL CLOSED] Making a setting 05 - Choice of Worlds - Planets in the Triarku system - [POLL CLOSED] [POLL CLOSED] RESULTS: Hi everyone :-) As I've mentioned before I am working on a multiverse (sort of - multiverse isn't the right term) and I have several stories I'm working on. Some of these are focused on single parts of the setting that are isolated from one another, others about the communities that are mapping and interacting with parts of the setting AND one another, and some are a mixture. A big thing I would really like to do is eventually have those distant settings interacting with the communities later on, so making all the stories part of the third type. (I like magic systems, but my main interest is alien aliens and cultures, and their relations to the cosmic organisms that are fundamental to the system.) This is about making a setting that is mainly isolated from the others, self contained except for possible parts of its background and future. This may or may not end up as one of the settings visited in later stories, and even if it does so it probably will be heavily changed as all of the settings I have been working on since 2003 have been changed a lot subsequently. However, this could be fun, and a chance to show how I go about building settings for my main setting, and go about making aliens - more on that later. As part of my settings certain things will be applied - such as the rules for a dream world - but I will only mention them where relevant. I will also try to make it different from my other settings. Variety is a most fascinating spice. So, how would I like this to work? This topic is mainly about getting the initial seed for the setting to work on, and providing links to the other topics I hope to make. I have included a poll here, please vote on what you would like to see, or ask any clarifying questions you would like, and when ready I will make a new topic summarising the details for these parts, add its link to this post, and continue from there, building off of the suggestions provided. Of course, if no-one votes or makes any suggestions I will just pick at random later and continue as normal :-P The main seed right now: the type of setting and the planet. God willing this will be well. God bless

Sounds cool :-) are you going with a technology versus magic angle with the island culture eventually interacting with the magical cultures, or are they mainly going to remain separate, each its own setting, sharing a planet but not trading knowledge and resources?

That works :-) you have to go with what makes the most sense for you, though just remember dry ice is made from carbon dioxide, so it would probably require additional effort to make, possibly with those who have fire based abilities freezing CO2 gas to make the dry ice, adding in an economic element to the story. Dividing up the number and distribution of abilities also seems like a move with interesting story possibilities, as well as ways groups of people can work together to produce effects.

I was seriously wondering if it was Pattern, but after hearing the theory it was Formless I think that makes more sense.

Okay, so powers related to each element? Some ideas: Air: Telekinesis - using store of wind from absorbing wind, so standing in a windy place and absorbing the wind blowing on you Holding breath - using store of air from hyperventilating in an area with clear air Knocking out those around you - using store of smoke from absorbing smoke Hearing and smelling - a byproduct of absorbing, so done anytime absorbing for other abilities, even when not trying Fire: Heat lasers - using store of heat Freezing items - absorbing heat Surviving in cold environments - using store of heat Surviving in hot environments - absorbing heat to fill store Increased speed - using store of electricity, (could be in air rather than fire) (see water) Earth: Forming material depending on what was absorbed - so making stone objects requires stone to be absorbed, making things quickly results in cruder items but doing it more slowly means it takes longer to make something large Water: Increased strength / toughness - using store of ice / absorbing ice Increased senses - using store of water / absorbing water Increased reflexes / speed - using store of steam / absorbing steam Can also combine abilities, such as needing to be stronger so draining heat from some water to make it ice, then using the ice to become tougher and stronger, then needing to get away so using the heat to boil the remaining water to gain steam to use to run

Ahhh, so are you more interested then in possible powers based on this such as exactly what telekinesis, physical boosting, can do, as well as uses for those powers, and limitations of those powers?

How closely do you want to tie it to the elements, or how distant do you want it to be from the elements? For example, do you want the air based power of telekinesis to only work where their is air, so you can't affect things underwater, or in space, or remove items within another item from its container if the first isn't exposed, and if it is exposed then only as though pulling on the exposed portion? How precise and how small or large can the things affected be? Do you want the fire based lasers to appear and behave like fire, only focused into a beam? Do you want to earth based materials to be metals, crystal, sand, and stone, or any solid? Does the water based body modification apply only to creatures with liquid blood or fluids, and can it be used to affect their bones, as even though bones are the most solid part of someone they are also where a lot of blood is made? How much does the body changes affect genetics? Also, powers shouldn't be treated in a vacuum and isolated from the setting. Shape and be shaped, powers interact with the world. Are these powers in the hands of humans, aliens, or elemental beings, so that this is the power that various "elementals" have, that they learned how to control and use in these ways as human society developed, as humans gained scientific knowledge the elementals learnt how to use these their abilities to affect things that humanity discovered, and using the rules humanity learned.

I hope they get to make them. I hear that Conan Doyle's estate is suing them for the most ridiculous of reasons - they made Sherlock "too human" or somesuch. I hope it gets thrown out of court - these movies have potential.

I really liked it, aside from their characterisation of Mycroft. I know he was needed to be the legal guardian so Sherlock couldn't be, and to represent the oppressive and classist nature of the society, but it seems to make him very different from his original Conan Doyle version, who was even smarter than Sherlock to the point he was basically a human computer, actually WAS the government to a certain extent, and hated doing work. I actually really liked the forth wall breaking, especially the - as odd as this might sound - when she was being drowned, then faked it, and when the man let his guard down she openned her eyes and grinned at the camera - I loved that! I enjoyed the film a lot, though I think it certainly had some problems, but I would gladly watch it again, and I hope they make more.

Something occurred to me the moment, in chapter 13, Shallan pointed out she got a letter from Sja-anat. Namely, Sja-anat can somehow send letters - dictated letters - and also Sja-anat LOVES spren. So much so she decided to become their mother and corrupt them. Sja-anat loved spren, and can write. Somehow. Could she be the one who resents humans making use of them and demands Navani stops making fabrials, to stop trapping her "children" and forcing them to serve instead of being free to do what she corrupted them to do? Could Sja-anat be Navani's opponent?

@Danex I like the idea of this topic, though I otherwise am not going to be posting here as I am reading the preview chapters :-P with regards to a member reading the unwritten topic, however, note that your name comes after theirs. They are actually writing a new post while you are, and so you are both seeing the same page - a new topic in the Stormlight Archive section, its just you are both making separate ones :-P hope that helps!

Fair enough :-) though I don't necessarily mean someone has access to all powers, or some have access to one and another has access to all the others, but rather a degree of nuance within a power. Using slightly different colours to match RGB (red as normal - pairs with cyan, yellow for orange - pairs with blue, green for yellow - pairs with magenta / purple, cyan for green - pairs with red, blue as normal - pairs with yellow, purple as normal - pairs with yellow) for example as an idea: A red bondmaker (or lovelocker, heartbinder, knotmaker, master of crimson unity, etc.) can use red to make bonds of an abstract nature - and they can choose to define the nature of that bond, but some parts would be entirely determined by the colour used. A reddish-purple allowing them to make a bond that is much more difficult for a linkbreaker to cut, but still cuttable as they aren't a "soulshield"/purple user. A more orangey shade of red would let them continue to sense the bond they made, or those they have bonded, but only those bonds as they aren't a truthseer/yellow user. A dark shade of red (compared to pure red) would make the bond weaker over distance but translate into helping share physical properties more effectively A light shade of red (compared to pure red) would make the bond weaker over distance but translate into helping share mental properties more effectively A yellow (orange) truthseer (or yelloweyes, heartseeker, etc.) can see both bonds between people and emotions in general. A more orangey shade of yellow would allow them to "touch" the bonds and feel details about the person who made it A more green shade of yellow would allow them to grab hold of the bond and so to feel the emotions of those who it is a part of A darker shade of yellow gives a decreased sense of emotions and bonds than a pure shade, but allows them to also see past bonds and emotions, so can see the recent past A lighter shade of yellow gives a decreased sense of emotions and bonds than a pure shade, but allows them to track a previously sensed bond or person if they are nearby A green (yellow) emotionshaper (or heartmaster, dominator, siren, matchmaker, etc.) can control others emotions, increasing or decreasing their emotions a more yellow shade of green allows them to affect people through a bond, so if they know someone they are trying to affect is bonded to someone they can channel it through the bond to affect the other person a more cyan shade of green allows them to weaken the bond someone has without being able to break it, as they aren't a linkbreaker, but they can disrupt the bond for the duration they are affecting one of the bond members a dark shade of green means they have greater ease decreasing emotions and a harder time increasing them a light shade of green means they have an easier time increasing emotions, but a harder time decreasing them. A cyan (green) linkbreaker (or heartbreaker, soulknife, bondbreaker, etc.) can cut or greatly weaken bonds, and can even remove people from existence a greenish shade of cyan allows them to not only cut a bond, but to change it slightly, much like how an emotionshaper can shape emotions a bluish shade of cyan allows them to break a bond without those whose bond are destroyed from realising it, making them think the bond is in place even as it slowly is destroyed - an illusion of the bond remaining for a while a dark shade of cyan means the bond is more difficult to break, but once broken is much harder for someone to try to repair a lighter shade of cyan means the bonds can be cut more quickly and with less effort, but are easier to repair if the bonded individuals can get away a blue lieweaver (or deceptor, fearmoulder, honeytongue, etc.) can make illusions a cyan shade of blue allows them to temporarily make people unable to feel or use their bonds, masking them from their minds, but not actually destroy the bond a purple shade of blue allows them to make their illusions harder to see through, even by a truthseer a darker shade of blue makes the illusions less substantial, but allows them to affect a larger area a lighter shade of blue makes the illusions more substantial, but only able to affect a smaller area a purple "soulshield" (or protector, guardian of the heart, etc.) can make bonds harder to break a bluish shade of purple allows them to not only protect bonds and emotions, but also hide them from those who would seek to harm them a reddish shade of purple allows them to transmit their protection along the bond to someone who is more distance, so if they are with someone who is bonded to someone who is a distance away they can - using the person with them - protect the more distant individual, albeit not as well as it they were in the same area as them a darker shade of purple means they can transmit their protection into those around them and allows it to last much much longer, but both while protecting them and after it is given the protection isn't as strong as it would be with a purer shade of purple a lighter shade of purple means the protection disappears sooner after they stop trying to maintain it, but it is more effective when being used Someone can only be one of these, no-one is both a lieweaver and a linkbreaker, but a lieweaver and a linkbreaker may have some powers that are similar to one another in some ways, while being different in others, and likewise vary depending on fuel. (You might also be able to have it that different cultures refer to those with abilities by different names, so some call an emotionshaper a heartmaster, others call them a dominator, etc.) Ultimately this is your story to do with as you wish. I hope this suggestions help though!

I just checked the prologue chapter again, and while I like this theory I don't think the second person is the steward using atium, as it appears to be Kalak. From the prologue:

I like this, though just a heads up, The Green Lantern Corps comics use the term Emotional Spectrum for the different colours of emotion that powers each corps, so it might be a good idea to go with a different name. The powers look interesting, though an idea that might be fun to use is to see how darker and lighter shades affect a power - so does dark red change the nature of ease of making the bond, such as adding additional properties to it, as well as the idea of colours half-way between two others, such as cyan being a combination of both making illusions and cutting bonds. Otherwise I like this :-)

Yes! This is exactly what I think. Do you remember the scene in Oathbringer part 1, with Kaladin and the storm? I am convinced adhesion is the ability to control pressure to push and pull on objects, as well as seal air in an area.

What I am hoping is that Lirin will see that, despite believing one shouldn't harm one in order to heal another, he has been deeply wounding Kaladin. I suspect that at some point Kaladin, again close to breaking down, is going to get into an argument with his dad again about how Kaladin is a murderer, and that is going to be what pushes Kaladin as far as he has ever gone, with Lirin finally realising that, despite never killing a man, he almost killed his own son - his condescension and certainty blinded him to his son's pain. Lirin has a very sympathetic viewpoint, and I can understand his rejection of violence, but does he realise that his attitudes towards men of violence could cause real harm to his own son? I don't want Lirin to decide that killing can sometimes be okay, though him being put in a situation where he realises not fighting - maybe not killing, but definitely refusing to attack - someone will allow many other innocents to suffer or die. But I think finding out that, despite his own beliefs, he actually HAS BEEN KILLING KALADIN, stabbing his own son in the heart with a spear of rejection and disgust, when all Kaladin wants to do is help people, might be more powerful. Lirin, the man who rejects violence, has been wounding his own son, and never realised it. It's okay to reject what Kaladin is doing, but Kaladin is already conflicted about that. What will Lirin, the healer, do, when he finds this out?