Ixthos

I'm sorry you're in that situation :-( have you been able to talk to management about him, or have other coworkers who are likewise affected by him? Hope you do okay and this ends well for you and the company!

I'll try to be brief as I feel like a ramble is coming on, so, focusing just on key points: Soulcasters - and probably Oathgates - are unique in terms of observed fabrials All fabrials appear as spren in shadesmar - indeed, everything has a "spren", but some spren are just beads of glass Fabrials typically are made by combining a spren with a gemstone, and then shaping that gemstone and attaching it to a metal cage to control and focus it what does this look like in Shadesmar, the spren becoming trapped in the glass bead? Does the bead, over time, become like the spren, or the two fuse together such that after a long period the spren thinks of itself as a fabrial? Spren reproduce by finding investiture and turning it into more of themselves, presumably - I think this was said in the text? - the investiture has to be of a compatible type, so Honourspren require investiture that is mainly Honour with a little Cultivation, but couldn't do this with a pool of Odium's investiture (though this is supposition) Key point: EVERYTHING is made of Investiture Theory: Soulcasters are made when a sentient spren TURNS THE COGNITIVE COMPONENT OF AN OBJECT INTO ANOTHER SPREN it's probably more involved than this, but this is the general idea - not trapping a spren INSIDE an object or an object's cognitive component, but rather turning the cognitive component INTO a spren - maybe the object has to be primed first, OR ... see next bulletpoint I have said several times that I think Oathgates are made by a collaborative effort of a Willshaper and an Elsecaller working together, using the three surges they bring - each with one unique but one, Transportation, shared - to change an area of reality. Perhaps for each surgebinding fabrial a collaboration of orders is required, though as Oathgates have two spren, each a loose match for the spren of the two orders with access to Transportation, perhaps (if the theory is correct) they are unique, OR ... see next bulletpoint maybe soulcasters ALSO have a second spren, and that spren is missing, OR .... ... Okay, I said I would try not to ramble, so let's stop here for now :-P Basic theory - regular fabrials involve trapping a spren, raising questions of what this looks like in the cognitive realm and if a spren is inside a fabrial for a long time if it will eventually become part of it completely and be unable to leave even if the gemstone is cracked. Soulcasters, this theory proposes, are when the object is transformed into a spren, with possible preparation or circumstances required in advance. What do you think? :-)

I remember that part. That could work, though it would be interesting to see how to integrate that into the plot. It would have to be on one of their bases perhaps, training new recruits, and then after someone experimented with new powers maybe. Either way, I think if Brandon did that it would be cool, and, as in the film, disturbing.

That would be cool :-D I don't know the full effects, but you are correct in that Skyward - and Defending Elysium - has a form of psionics as fundamental to the setting. It certainly is possible, even plausible, that a similar effect to the Id creature could manifest, especially considering the other creatures I've read are present in the setting - I probably should go and buy those books at some point :-P There are lots of places cytonics can go in terms of effects - monsters from the id certainly would make sense!

I haven't read the book, but I did watch the film a while ago, and really enjoyed it. There also is a review of it that - aside from a single line - I also enjoyed on SFDebris, though it does still have some adult lines: https://sfdebris.com/videos/films/forbiddenplanet.php In themes and aesthetic it really was the precursor to Star Trek TOS. Incidentally, that first clip gave me chills to watch. It really gives the sense of a terrifying, unstoppable, inevitable monster, something that, without their radar, they never would have seen coming, and even with all their power couldn't stop. And that scream .... The second clip is a nice contrast, the more introspective philosophical approach, the examination of human - or alien - nature and its flaws, the forgotten darkness of the soul as the mind turns towards the light of knowledge and pretends it was never so base ... yes, the film has the best of both worlds, action and effects unlike any other had for its period mixed with the musings on the nature of the mind. Its a great film :-)

Alternatively it is possible Jasnah was lying about needing the garnet in order to keep the appearance that she still uses a mechanical soulcaster, or she had gemstones with her when soulcasting in Oathbringer and just didn't draw attention to them. Still, I like the idea that progressing oaths loosens restrictions :-) I like this theory.

True, it is burned away in a flash, but a flash from whose perspective? If I remember correctly Wayne was able to squeeze a few extra seconds into a bubble once by flaring the metal. All the metal burnt away in a flash from the burner's perspective means all the time compression that metal would normally have provided is given in a single moment.

Those metals used at the same time would likely allow you to experience several minutes or hours in a few seconds, and with mechanical allomancy a machine could do it without you having to experience it. Depending on how the flow of energy across a bubble works, it might be possible to: grow plants quickly to feed a population decrease the time it takes for a basic vacuum tube computer (or any computer) to complete its computation - so "speeding up" its clock get a good nights sleep in the span of a few minutes when pressed for time allow a craftsman to complete a complex work when their is a limited window of time to get it done And, of course, as @Darkfinder notes, just because an interaction can exist doesn't mean it has to be useful, but rather an inevitable possible combination.

No no no! You have it wrong! Its about food! WoK - a wok, used for stir frying! WoR - worst, a type of sausage! O - the shape a mouth makes when eating! RoW - its actually mispelled, its supposed to be Raw! :-P

Oh man, I am so far behind with this! Sorry everyone about not taking part, I got half way though the first week and then life jumped on me. And I was taking such detailed notes! I'm going to see if I can catch up over the course of the next week. I've only got ... how many chapters? ... Oh. ... Well, lets see what we can do!

Yup :-) I've heard it used elsewhere since, but I think that was the first place I heard it.

To quote Benjamin Franklin, "Three may keep a secret, so long as two of them are dead." Any spread of this knowledge to another person risks that knowledge going further, either accidentally or on purpose. It is a horrifying ability. Don't tell anyone and try to forget it exists.

But of course :-P

As bizarre as this sounds, I think of flatland. Its possible Pattern is a four-or-more dimensional shape, and his movement is actually his fractal higher dimensional manifold moving through 3-space, much like how a 4-sphere moving through our universe would appear to grow or shrink, or a 4-cube, depending on which way it entered, would look like a shape growing and changing. Basically Pattern makes me see maths :-P

AAAAALLLL Right ladies and gentlemen (and Sleepless and Singers and Spren of all ages)! Books at the ready! Hope everyone has a great time reading! :-)

That ... hmmm ... that could work. Though not every body would survive, as some weapons completely destroy the body. But as both final resting places for intact bodies, and places where the dead died, whether or not the body was later moved ... that actually can tie into some other elements I'm not getting into right now, but that could work :-) thanks!

That could work. That can even be the normal rules - after all, rare in a multiverse can still cover thousands of visits - with possible exceptions in some stories if someone can find a way to bind others to themselves while travelling. I'll need to think on that. It can add to the unnatural feeling, the paranoia and fear of awakening the monsters that protect the dead.

Hi everyone. I'm codifying a lot of elements in my setting at the moment, and there is one particular issue which I think would be fun to get some advice on. Most of the other elements I'm keeping my own council on, and I don't want to get into too much detail here because it will take a long time :-P the topic I would like advice on related to the setting's underworld. In the setting - which has multiverses as not the highest level of structure, but actually one of the middle tier layers - that is multiverses form larger structures that themselves connect across to one another, covering multiple timelines, universes, and realities - there is a single special structure outside of every reality [Edit: to clarify, it is the same structure] that exists to house the dead. Though not the only structure outside reality tied to reality, it has entrances that have a presence connected to every universe, in the part of that universe where, if someone knows that they are doing, they can create a necromatic web to allow the formation of undead, allowing one to prevent the deaths from taking them to the crypt like structure. I don't want to go into detail about the appearance of this place or the other beings that live around and outside it, including its defenders, but I do need to explain a little bit about its nature so as to ask for advice. The structure is truly massive inside, housing everything that has died, and is a labyrinth, dark and cold in the hallways, sleeping dead on slabs in each room, the dead feeling nothing and knowing nothing, but capable of being awakened. They are protected both outside the structure and within, with the protection within being powerful shadows that will hunt down and "kill" any intruder who disturbs the dead from their rest, placing the intruder on a slab within to so they can then sleep. The only defence against this is to follow special rules - normally you aren't allowed inside, but if you are you are warned by the deaths, who themselves can only enter to deposit someone on a slab, though whether they enter peaceful sleep calmly and in peace or from horror fading to peace depends on which death does so, the kindest death giving the most helpful advice while the cruellest of the three giving no advice at all, the deaths always waiting outside the entrances, though they are not its guards. Keep to the torch light and only awaken at most one sleeping dead to converse if you must, but even this isn't certain not to result in drawing the defenders. Also, NEVER try to bring someone back from inside. Only ONE person is allowed to do this, and if you want to bring someone back and aren't that person, do it from outside the structure. Trying to escape with someone who is dead will draw attention. (I'm still debating if the spirits of the dead are still active, or if the spirits sleep within the soul of the dead - spirits and souls are not the same thing as everyone has both, the soul being the part that thinks and feels and wills while the spirit is the body in the spirit world and is one's nature, their conscience and intuition and capacity to worship. If the dead wake and their spirits aren't present that might explain why one can ask them what they know, but it they try to leave with the dead ....) Now, on to the request for advice. I want the labyrinth to have structure to it, and it can be non Euclidean, though each hall should seem like a normal hall, albeit dark, vaulted, and cold, the only warmth - a true warmth that is pleasent rather than just warm in comparison - is from the torches. The non Euclidean nature is where halls can seem to run back across where another hall seems to have been, like walking down a hall, entering another, entering a third from that one, and seeing it having a corridor running right through where the first should be. MAYBE overhanging walkways as well and maybe seeing in open areas halls running along the sides, but that is mostly not related. So, what should the nature of the crypt be? Each room should have multiple dead, each room being a type of hall, but there are two major conciderations How should the relations be of the rooms in space? How should the relations be of the rooms in time? There are several planets, several dimensions (layers), several universes, several multiverses, and several nodes, all spanning across multiple types of reality as well. And some beings that died are microscopic, while others are larger than universes. So, how should they be grouped? Now, this place isn't supposed to be visited, it has halls but those are mainly for the defenders - I'm actually debating about why there even are halls. Perhaps they normally don't exist, but come into being because sometimes the [spoilers removed :-P sorry] can bring someone in to show them things, sometimes taking them directly to a slab, sometimes just to show them the size of the place and to indicate that the dead are being cared for, and besides, this is more of a waiting area, this isn't where the dead are to remain forever. Oh, yes, this isn't where the dead remain forever, but rather a place of rest, but rest does require they eventually get back up. Either way, for the first question, the issue is that of both physical space - should some rooms be truly massive for the dead who were massive, and others small for the dead who were small? (Basically if you were friends with a self aware microbe - your own cells are actually tied to you as a person, so they would't go here until your soul died, though that then raises questions about what happens if someone dies but some of their cells survive, or their cells in anothers body if they donated organs - if your friend was a microbe good luck fitting into their room to try to talk to them again. Though again this is very rare, the living doesn't normally come here, and it is actually one of the most difficult places to reach while alive). And if you were friends with something larger than a universe .... [Edit: this also raised questions for hive minds and other composite life, but that is for another time :-P] Also, if you are walking the halls, should the dead be grouped by planet, and planets by dimension, and dimension by universe, .... and if so by where you lived, or were born, or died? The second question - time travel. That is a big part, and this structure is partially in time, but not entirely. Should visitors only be able to visit the part in their timeline, where they were from? If they travel to the past, should they not be able to visit the dead in the future, or in other timelines - though how other timelines are covered basically involves them being "shadows" of real people, not actually alive, tied in part to dreams and imagination of what could have been, though I might change this. Also with regards to time, should the dead be grouped by "when" they die? If two people died at the same time on opposite sides of a planet, should they be placed together? Or if two people died in the same place a hundred thousand years apart, should they be in the same place? Of course, there is a possibility, and this is the way I'm considering going, but I would like advice. What if ALL of these apply. What if the slabs represent abstractions of "where" the dead are. You see, the structure, while outside of reality in part, is located in The Place Where Things Go When They Cease To Exist. A dangerous place to visit. What if the halls, and the path taken, vary depending on what you are looking for - that the same slab can exist in multiple locations, but still be the same slab. The dead don't see or hear, they don't know who is sleeping next to them, so what if no-one is sleeping next to them? You enter a room, walking the halls for people who died on that planet during that event, and see several slabs, including theirs. But you also could have gotten there by walking across the lines of their family, and then their parents and grandparents are in the same room and none of the others from before. But they don't see them, they only see you, and if you try to leave and take them with, then only does the room resolve from shadows for them, though for you it was a dark chamber that they are now walking in. What do you suggest?

Ahhh gotcha, thanks :-) I'll look for it later.

Ahhh, gotcha :-) I don't mean just Cohesion, but Cohesion with Transportation. After all, if Windrunners conceptually cause people to gravitate towards them, Lightweavers can spiritually transform others, and Stonewards conceptually embody the idea of being like a stone, solid and unyielding as their surges can solidify what otherwise would bend, it isn't too much of a stretch - as indeed this thread is all about - for more abstract concepts of cohesion to be involved. I think that reverse lashings are a combination of Gravitation and Adhesion, that Skybreakers have an opposite to a reverse lashing that can cause objects to burst apart with a touch using Gravitation and Division. I think that Truthwatchers can combine Illumination and Progression to see how things will progress for certain things, or even to shape the path something will grow along. I think ranged soulcasting as performed by Jasnah is done using Transportation and Transformation. I think all orders can combine their surges in unique ways, so it seems natural for transportation and cohesion to pair as the ability to form portal nodes. Of course, I could be wrong about each order having a unique combined surge, but this is just a theory :-P That is a possibility as well. This is actually one of the coolest elements of Surgebinding - growing as a Knight means becoming better and more efficient with the use of the abilities, the abilities themselves growing. Urithiru as a location that naturally is viable for transportation is a good idea. What might also be interesting is if, for example, it is possible to change the transportation geography, in a sense, such that an area that normally is fairly easy to transport to becomes almost impossible to do so - as a defence - while making it easier to travel to another area if you know where or how. Back on the topic of spiritual Cohesion, that might also tie into interactions with others, making them more trusting to you, allowing you to mould your connection to them.

I'm not really following what you are disagreeing with me on? Oathgates can potentially cover multiple types of travel - for one thing when teleporting from one to another one doesn't necessarily have to travel though Shadesmar, but they can still access Shadesmar. Transportation doesn't just have to be to the cognitive, etc. as it covers all forms of transport, so the surge can for example allow access to Shadesmar from the physical and vice versa, instantaneous physical teleportation without using Shadesmar, and a possibly geographically based sense of location, as well as allow other surges to work at a distance. Also, yes, it would be nice to see more theories on non-allomantic ship systems :-) though we don't know all the mechanics of the Cosmere yet, so we might have to wait until more information is revealed.

Oh yes, it probably is very dangerous :-P I think that is how the Oathgates were made, so it probably isn't something that can be done on a whim - so effort and planning are needed to do it and to do it safely - but I'm pretty sure that is how they were constructed. There are two orders who can use Transportation, and likely both use them differently. And as wormholes are usually represented by space being warped, and as each Order likely has a method of combining both its surges together, it wouldn't be a massive leap for Willshapers, whose powers are in a sense "warping" for one and "travelling" for the other, to be capable of this. I could be wrong, but I think there are signs for this :-) (Also, remember that as Brandon said, normally travel to and from Shadesmar requires a massive amount of investiture, but that Elsecallers' powers are specifically designed to work around this. So having exceptions to the rules is already something built into the surges, the surges making use of narrow bands of what is possible, exploiting minor deviations in the rules.)

That's a fair point both about how they might do it with the Spiritual realm and how Kalak didn't teleport, though for him not teleporting it is possibly that Willshaper teleportation using Transportation is more restricted than Elsecaller teleportation, or there was some effect in place where they fought that prevented it, but at the moment their isn't enough information to draw a conclusion. It does seem natural to me that Willshapers and Elsecallers together are involved in making Oathgates though, due to them being built (matching Willshapers), enabling teleportation and transistioning into the cogntive realm from the physical and vice versa (both orders), and being administered two by two spren, one white and the other black (possibly matching the ideas of metal and ink respectively). Willshapers weaken space, Elsecallers transform the weakened space, and both together then use Transportation to turn it into a portal node. So perahps Willshapers can only teleport if they have had a chance to setup something first.

I don't think they can break something, I think they are more about reshaping. I do think it can be used to metaphorically weaken reality and then allow them to use Transportation to make a portal node. Basically I think Willshapers and Elsecallers together made the Oathgates, typing to their ideas of being builders, as while a builder can destroy something it is only in service towards making something - they build up, and if building requires breaking then they will break, but only to build. I think the more spiritual uses of Surges is a Truthwatcher and Bondsmith thing, and that the other orders are more restricted. I do like your idea of excising voidspren, but the Fused displace the original Singer's soul, so they probably would die if they were removed.

My own theory on this is basically that a Returned and a Spren are cogntive beings, with their minds and bodies the same in the cognitive realm. When they enter the physical world, part of their "mass" has to leave the Cogntive world - though this is mainly for the Spren, some of the Divine Breath the Returned has has to become physical to enter their body. This loss of mass is therefore a partial loss of mind, cognitive "organs" transformed into magic in the physical realm, and thus they are less than what they were in the cognitive realm. Once they start growing again the cognitive mass begins to reform, and possibly the connections in the spiritual realm their minds had to their memories can then reform those "organs" in their cognitive bodies. If Kelsier has to transform most of his cognitive mass into the charge in a spike he might lose memories as well, but he also has the advantage of potentially using the existing charge in a spike to "link" his shadow to a body while retaining its presence in the physical world. Also, if there is a method of duplicating the contents of a copper mind - which is almost certainly possible as the coin Wax had with the memories was probably one of several copies - then he could also "cheat" if he could somehow transfere his memories while a cognitive shadow to someone else in the physical world, get them to duplicate or store it for him in an unsealed metalmind, and then tap it when he is transferred to a body.