Ixthos

I theorise that Sigzil, Nomad, can override his Torment when we seeks to be what he once was - a Windrunner. I don't know if Aux is his original spren or not, but it seems he is dead, and by implication by Sigzil's own actions. So, he suspects his old oaths let him summon weapons, even though at present he can't. Though it is puzzling that, if Aux is dead, why did Sigzil think his oaths still held? Are these different oaths, is Aux dead for some other reason? Either way, Nomad can't seem to summon weapons. However ... Even taking into account he hadn't been trying to attack, only destact, it is significant. and later, when with others who would suffer a terrible fate if captured: I will protect those who cannot protect themselves. Whatever happened to Nomad, the Windrunner remains within him. I suspect that his oaths, dead though they may be, still have a shred of life within them, and that is enough for him to still cause harm - so long as it is in the service of saving others. To use shreds of the power that he once possessed and summon his blade as a weapon - provided he remembers the journey.

I'm still reading - at the point where he just got chained up again after defeating the Ember woman - but I read a rather interesting line that may tie to this (if anyone has read further and this is answered more clearly, please let me know) Perhaps this is the new consequence of a Knight breaking their oath, the Knight now stuck with a restriction on what they can do - they made an oath, broke it, and now are forced to adhere to a new set of restrictions.

Harmony. Or TenSoon. Or, preferably, both. I know it sounds weird, but I'm hoping we get a story focused on and told entirely from the viewpoint of a Shard. Harmony - working through Kandra agents - on an O'Neill Cylinder would be my guess. It's crazy, probably not the case, but I think it would be an amazing story to have a space age infiltration story on a space station from the viewpoint of a Shard, or TenSoon as a shapeshifting agent, or both.

Mennis! Okay, jokes aside, here is a possible list of those characters: https://coppermind.net/wiki/Category:Viewpoint_characters Probably not Alcatraz though.

Indeed! Lots of implications, including the question of whether he chose to be frozen, knew it was coming, or was taken by surprise. Well, that and turning himself into a convenient piece of furniture, but yes I suppose it depends on how often and how long he is frozen. This could be something that only happens for half his life - for each lifetime he lives he spends another frozen in place? Agreed - ailment implies it at the very least is a bother to him. Even more so when it freezes him in a place which subsequently became noodle central. It makes me wonder how much control over when or foreknowledge he had that he was about to be frozen. Smirking, and eating ramen! By implication this may in some way be related to speed bubbles, though his mind is then somehow decoupled, at least at first, from the effect due to his internal screaming when painted by Design. Though there is irony in that too: "Okay, based on my input you got to design how I looked," Design said, reaching for the paint. "Now its my turn!"

I'm wondering if it isn't something he chooses, but rather something that he either has to do after a given period, or something that comes randomly upon him - he's minding his own business when suddenly he gets frozen in time, provided Fortune isn't compelling him to go somewhere. "Your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for ... bacon. So, you have a love of bacon." "I don't like sand, its course and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Stop that, Kenton."

That certainly could be a large part of it and would make sense - joining his team may also help in accessing his Investiture as well, furthering their connection to him. I like this! A final plan laid out in advance with a purpose beyond what they know, but still slowly coming to fruition.

This is a minor thing, and Brandon mentioned he used Korea and Japan as models for this story, but I really like how the two worlds mirror each other in several ways. Painter (Nikaro) is on a world that is evocative of modern Japan, at least in cyberpunk stories, with the hion like neon lines and signs and noodle bars, while Yumi's world of Torio more closely mirrors classical Asian cultures, with a more open, pastorial setting The darkness and gloom and sense of chill from Painter's world and its blackness, and Torio's bright sun and heat and redness - Virtuosity's splintering plunged Painter's world into shadow, while whatever its previous state Torio's current state is one of bright light Painter is a working man whose job is important but whose profession is lowly, Yumi is an honoured and revered figure held up by all who see her in ritual honour - and both are crushed by their roles Painter chose his role and regrets it, Yumi was born to hers and can't escape it Painter binds dark horrifying spirits to one form to prevent them from doing harm almost measuring them like spren, Yumi binds warm and bright spirits to one form - a bifurcated form - so they can benefit civilisation Nightmares are like yokai and mirror urban supernatural horror stories, spirits are like kami and mirror the respect one pays in Shintoism to the spirits of the world and with their own shrines Painter typically does things in the most boring and lest effort expended manner possible, while Yumi poured her soul - literally - into what she does This setting is functionally a Yin-Yang world - darkness and light, cold and hot, benevolent spirits and malevolent spirits, magic revered and magic mundane. This binary aspect is likely key also to the plot, and each character coming to peace with their role, or adjusting their role to better fit what its true function is and their own needs from it, and taking the best traits from each other. (Also, completely unrelated, can we appreciate how accurate Hoid's words about Yumi's ... "warden" are? That sums her up nicely. Who sees a child crying and scorns them for it? I also hope Design can see Painter when Yumi visits the shop. I like how she ties in to the idea almost of the trickster spirit in the form of an attractive young woman you sometimes see in Anime.)

See Hoid. Hoid likes noodles (https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?query=noodles). Hoid has been waiting a long time for noodles to be invented on other worlds. Hoid now partly owns a noodle shop. Hoid's spren Design, the other owner, runs said noodle shop. Hoid even helped pick out her uniform for running said noodle shop. And her face. And her curv- Hoid spends a lot of time in this noodle shop. All day in fact. Hoid is an important part of the shop. But no noodles for Hoid. Because he's a coat rack.

Ahhh! That makes a lot of sense - so "Skill", not virtue. Then it likely pairs with Invention, and would be another "blue" Shard. Thanks!

... Well, that certainly wasn't expected. I wonder if he is like that because he isn't Virtuous enough. ([Edit] I've been informed that Virtuosity is closer in meaning to skill than virtue. Never mind.) I guess Hoid is a little like Castle Heterodyn. He may be stuck in time - assuming that is an accurate description - but his mind and powers are still free to Lightweave. Is he drawing power from the hion lines?

Ahhh, that does make this theory somewhat unlikely - still, maybe its half right and the reflected light from their sister world becomes Invested and so that is how it can be seen. I probably should finish reading the chapters first!

Taldain is a planet, yes, but I am referring to Taldain the system, and in particular I mentioned their star - I'm arguing that Invested light is breaching the shroud from a different star system. Still, thanks for the heads up Still reading - I'm having to snatch moments, and I'm still writing random thoughts as new posts here - but I think, if I am right, there is a "cloud" of sorts surrounding Painter's side of the planet. I think they are on the same planet, but Painter is on a side with a magical cloud covering it, and only invested light can get through. Basically think of it like the planet is half covered and half uncovered. Painter is on the covered side, Yumi on the uncovered side. The covered side can't see the sun because the sun doesn't have Invested light, but the star - what I thought was a star at least, though thanks for the correction - has Invested light. Though perhaps those theories will be shown false later when I've finished reading it

([Edit] To clarify for anyone reading this - this theory was something I posted before finishing reading the extracts Brandon had published, including the reveal the star is actually a planet and the implication that it is the planet Yumi is from, rather than them both being on the same planet. So the star certainly isn't the Taldain system, though I do wonder if Taldain's light could pierce the shroud as well, or only light from the sister world, or anything related to Virtuosity.) Still haven't finished reading it yet, but this thought came to me when the star was first mentioned, and so this may be answered in the sample, but I'm wondering if the star they see is Taldain. Taldain orbits a supergiant star, which likely is very visible throughout the Cosmere - consider our own Sirius. It's light is Invested, and it may allow it to pierce through the shroud, as that shroud certainly seems to block out regular sunlight if the two stars are the same - this being two different areas of the same planet. A second point - this certainly would make the Cognitive perception of the inhabitants divided ... just like the inhabitants of Taldain likely are divided on their own divided sky with Darkside and Dayside. And we know Roshar has an expanse called the Expanse of the Broken Sky. Perhaps these two worlds are very close together, Taldain and this planet, and they are both unified in having two completely different perceptions on the nature of their sky.

Yup! I still remember being surprised that Whimsy was a Shard, but then it does make sense. I imagine Virtuosity may be partially a compliment to Ambition - adding limits on how far you can go - and to Devotion and Dominion, setting appropriate modes of response.

That might be it. I'll have a further look later to see if I can find what I'm thinking of, though I may have been thinking of this one. Thanks Perhaps. I haven't finished the sample yet, though this is certainly an interesting setting.

I just stopped reading at this line to make this post: From Secret Project 3 - did we just get a new Shard name, AND a statement about her fate? From the text: So, she splintered herself? Also, I am sure I remember something saying that - at least during Stormlight era - only four Shards were splintered (Devotion, Dominion, Ambition, and Honour). Am I misremembering? If I have it correctly, then that would mean this takes place after Stormlight.

Wait, this is a thing? Huh, cool Keep up the good work guys! Though maybe also tag the 'Sharder in question so they know if they are being talked about - I imagine I'm not the only person who just stumbled on this.

Welcome! Hope you enjoy your time here what is your favourite cosmere book or series so far?

Maybe it was the really really budget package

I did give my reasons for assuming they aren't. Part of me assumes that shapeshifters in the Cosmere default to their natural forms when they die - the impact of Ati's "puppet with spiders under its skin" seemed to have vanished after he died. As I said in the post, they could be but I'm assuming if we saw the corpse and it was human, then the Vessel was human.

Brandon recently said that of the Shards only Cultivation is a dragon at the moment. Only one dragon right now. What about in the past? It seems I'm not the only person who has this theory: Though note this was originally asked a few months before the first question. I'm wondering - could any of the dead vessels have been dragons? It seems odd that only one dragon would be there, or have taken up a Shard as we know Frost was there or involved, as he implies when talking to Hoid in the second letter, talking about the destruction they have caused. So, could Tanavast, Aona, and/or Skai have been dragons? It would certainly make Rayse more impressive in a way, a human who slew three "dragon-gods", assuming his corpse is indicative of his originally being human. It also makes Tanavast even more noble - he wasn't a human, but he still loved them and died fighting to protect them. For this I'm assuming that the corpse of a slain Vessel of a Shard is an accurate indication of its original morphology, so Rayse, Ati, and Leras may be dragons, but I'm assuming they aren't. Still, what do you think? It feels strange to me if there was only one dragon at the Shattering that took up a Shard, but do you think its possible? Have a good morning or afternoon or evening or night!

So, we know they can visit and claim worlds of a lower technological level than their own in this setting - the person who purchases a dimension is stated to "own" it, and the entire population, and is free to live and rule as they choose - including their control over the populace. So what if there are more advanced dimensions than the one the protagonist comes from, and they are the source of the technology? Or even if they aren't, what if his dimension is unknowingly owned by someone else? ... Sleep tight!

That seems to be the greater stretch - it seems much more likely that this isn't a world he bought but which he entered for some purpose (consider his skill set as an infiltrator and his immediate instincts to hide and use a weapon) than for his transfer to have taken longer when he's on seemingly on the run and encountering people who want him dead who arrived at a place he just bought head of him. Of the two him being mistaken as to his precise situation (as he has been shown to be before) is much more likely than this being the standard method of entry into a world where others have already entered to hunt someone who is described as looking different from him but that's because he changed his appearance. It still could be the second, but the second requires more assumptions, including of which being that he, dazed and confused and missing his memory, correctly guessed that he owns this world - a world he assumed only authorised people can enter. I actually was just going to post a theory speculating on whether there are more advanced dimensions than the one he is from, but either way his current memories indicate the dimensions they travel to are deliberately chosen to be lower tech - either way if they are looking for a different version of him that would mean this isn't a dimension this version bought but one that another version bought.

An ambush for someone else. The people - or one of the people - who wants the protagonist dead are looking for someone with red hair, and the protagonist is deliberately dressed as an aelv - i.e. an elf. If this was the world he had bought, why are people from his dimension hunting someone else? I also have a hard time believing that arriving in the middle of a fire ball with your memories gone is the standard package. [Edit] Furthering that point, if it is the standard package, why was the book the transferee needed destroyed by said fireball?