MasterK-Bob

I got windrunner, by a pretty significant margin. I don't recall what was behind it. I adore Lift, but she's almost a little off the wall. Maybe my favorite character I relate to most is Marasi? I think she makes the most sense to me, though I also really like Adolin, Ham, Tensoon, Siri, Lopen . . . this is hard.

My favorite completed series is Mistborn era 1. I think the Stormlight books might be better. Individually, perhaps they are already, but I'll withhold judgment until at least Book 5 is done.

In Brandon's books, I guess I think feruchemy is most interesting, if I can't just call the metallic arts one elaborate system of which almost all magic users only have access to a small part (though I guess everyone in the whole Cosmere has access to hemalurgy).

Hey DramaQueen, My all time favorite musical is Les Mis. A personal favorite that I absolutely love is Children of Eden.

Hey Darkfinder, My favorite book ever is probably the Lord of the Rings, or maybe the Book of Genesis since I've sort of committed my life to studying it and I love stories of origins. My favorite book by Brandon Sanderson is super hard for me to figure out. I love them all. Maybe most recently I enjoyed my second reading of Skyward, but that might have been because I sort of had a crush on Spensa?

Hi guys, I've been posting here one-offs, mostly in the Q&A thread for a while, but I thought I'd introduce myself. I started reading Brandon's work with WoK in September of 2017, shortly before Oathbringer came out, at the behest of friends who wanted me to read it so they could talk to me about it. I read the entire Cosmere between then and maybe March of 2018, and almost all of Brandon's other work shortly thereafter. I started a reread of the Cosmere at the beginning of July, hoping to get through the whole thing before Rhythm of War comes out. I'm a 33 year old (mostly) cis straight male doctoral student in Religion whose funding is a little messed up because of the pandemic and is scrambling to support himself next year, hopefully with a teaching job, which maybe I stay at even when I finish my PhD since getting a job in academia is basically impossible now. My dissertation topic is the use of the divine name (YHWH) in the early chapters of the book of Genesis, and what the biblical authors are trying to do in when and how they do and don't refer to God in those early chapters. I'm an extrovert (ENFJ) and sort of an everything nerd (sports, politics, economics, religion, philosophy, theology, psychology, anthropology, archaeology, history (especially ancient and medieval), mythology, hard sciences [especially natural history/evolutionary biology, astro-ish physics, particle physics], broadway musicals, and obviously speculative literature). I don't really get modern art, and I'm definitely not super into the painting sections of art museums, but I love the ancient and medieval sections of those museums. I am from, and currently reside, in the Philly area, but I've lived years of my life in the DC area, and Northern Indiana, spent one interesting year living in Jerusalem. If you want to ask me something, given my background, or just need a friend and think the place to find that friend is on the 17th shard forums, I'm happy to oblige. I wish you all the best. - K-Bob

Undoubtedly Duralumin and pewter also don't seem to have an upper limit, so they are like feruchemy--I guess it only matters how much pewter you have. Hmm

I think it might be a lot more than that, actually. With multiple lashings, I think terminal velocity itself might be increased, although just how fast you could approach it, I'd sure, wouldn't be within the two dozen or so feet Kaladin probably would have had, if that.

I'm curious what we think about how strong different magic users are and whether we think certain magics effect strength, and how much. I'll give a list with descriptions in the order I'd rank them. I'm wondering if you think I'm missing any critical groups for consideration Drab: Everything is just a hair worse for drabs. I suspect this effects strength, even if it's just a tiny effect Normal human Human at a high heightening: Everything is just a little better at a high heightening. I suspect this effects strength as well, even though it's not noted and the effect compared to the other more profound effects of heightening are probably comparatively negligible. Listener in warform: Warform is for fighting and being strong is definitely an asset. I suspect listeners in war form aren't that much stronger than a strong human, but at least a little bit Elantrian: Everything is significantly enhanced for Elantrians, and I suspect this includes strength, though I don't think regular Elantrians are necessarily outside the high end of the normal human range. Returned: Their bodies, including their strength, are at least potentially seriously enhanced and idealized. You would expect them to be stronger than almost any normal human. Radiant with stormlight: Kaladin doesn't think stormlight enhances his strength, but I think he's wrong. I suspect the effect isn't enormous, and he couldn't like, lift a truck, but I think radiants holding stormlight are still stronger than normal humans can ever become. Allomancer burning pewter: Their main thing is their supernatural strength. I think even a weak pewter arm using his powers is about twice as strong as a very strong man. Koloss: Definitely super-human in their strength Dakhor monk: I think it's an exaggeration, but Dilaf suggests Dakhor monks are worth hundreds of soldiers, and they are clearly monstrously strong. Active ChayShan user: Shuden clearly overmatches Dakhor monks when using this magic. Person wearing shardplate: People can only wield shardhammers wearing plate, and show pretty incredible feats otherwise. Allomancer Flaring pewter: This is the main cosmere strength-focused magic maxed out. I think WOBs under-estimate the power of this magic as demonstrated via character feats in the text. Feruchemist tapping strength: This magic doesn't have a clear upper-limit. It's potentially the strongest, but it has serious limitations, like being almost too bulky to move, needing to have stored a ton of strength to use it for any significant period of time, etc. I think generally they are around where a pewter arm is in terms of strength if they don't max out. Allomancer burning Pewter with Duralumin: Like strength feruchemy, this doesn't really seem to have an upper limit, but for a one-off feat, this is probably easier to achieve unless the feruchemist is a pewter compounder. A Pewter compounder tapping strength while burning or flaring pewter: a theoretical pewter compounder would be absurdly strong, and have very little limit to their absurd strength. *Edited to include shard plate, Duralumin Pewter, and Pewter compounding.

Are we in agreement feruchemical gold could do it though? I think there might be a wob about it, at least that a gold compounder could do it.

So we know in addition to a radiant's stormlight, feruchemical gold (though perhaps only a compounder could get enough healing), and perhaps the surge of progression, but possibly not a non-progression honor blade, could restore a shard severed limb, but could pewter do this? Pewter seems to be pretty powerful for healing, but not nearly as powerful as feruchemical gold, but with duralumin, could it heal a shard-blade severed limb?

If a fallen Elantrian burned a bead of Lerasium, what would happen? Could pewter start to heal them even though they can't heal naturally because of their broken connection to the Dor, but pewter would be healing power from another shard. What would happen?

Thanks for your answer Weltall. I agree that the implication is that she regained control of her powers when the world felt more in her control again, but that also corresponds with her getting back her breath. Without a more direct WOB, I'm not confident. I'm sure you can't give away the Royal locks like you can breath, but I'm not sure they work without a breath either.

My question is basically whether Brandon has made clear whether a royal loses the ability to change their hair color when they have no breath. I know Vivenna couldn't change her hair color during much of the time she was a drab, but she was having lots of other issues at the time. Does a royal need at least one breath to use whatever power they inherited, or do they retain that power to even as a drab, at least to some extent? I searched arcanum and didn't find anything clear.

My question is simple: Brandon has said that Vasher has hacked Stormlight to make it work like breath to sustain him in Roshar. I presume he has a reasonable amount of breath so that he wouldn't die immediately without stormlight, but does he lose breaths every midpeace and weeping since they last long enough that every sphere and gemstone is done unless it's huge? Or does he have huge gems hidden for exactly this reason?

But what does it mean for him to get it? What prevents him from doing that already? What about creatures he controls getting it into their hands would make it so Ruin could, basically, eat it?

Hi guys, I was just thinking about this upon rereading parts of Hero of Ages for a paper I'm writing, but how would Ruin have gotten the atium? Like, was it only his ignorance of where it was that kept it from just taking it into himself once he was freed, and once he found out where it was, was it just Vin's power as Preservation preventing him from doing anything active reflexively that did it? If so, what was the point of the Kolos even attacking for it. The world would have ended anyway, it would just have taken a few months for people to starve, if Vin hadn't killed ruin and Sazed had taken up both powers. Would the Kolos or Kandra under ruin's control taking control of Atium actually have done anything more as long as Vin was preservation? Were the pits protected from Ruin somehow that as long at the atium was in them, Ruin couldn't just like, absorb it into himself? What's going on here?

Given what Ruin says, is there a suggestion that Kelsier is also short on his spiritual aspect? Like, cognitive shadows no longer have their ties to the physical realm, but are their ties to the spiritual realm fully intact? I guess since hemalurgy works on them (given Kelsier), they still have a spirit web. But not all cognitive shadows even seem to really be the memory of their living self--the shades on Threnody don't seem to have much human memory.

Hi guys, I've been posting off and on for probably about a year in the Q&A section and I have maybe dabbled in other sections, but I don't think I've actually introduced myself. I'm MasterK-Bob. I read all of the Cosmere Novels, Novellas, and short fiction in succession, though not in any particular order from about September of 2017 to February of 2018, and of course, I loved them. I started with Stormlight, WoK, WoR, Edgedancer, Oathbringer, then Warbreaker, then did Mistborn Era 1, then the parts of AU applicable to era 1, or unafiliated (6th and Silence), then Elantris, then the Sel stuff in AU, then Era 2 and the last of the AU stuff. I'm going to do a Cosmere reread starting some time early next year (a lot to read before then), but I think I'm gonna go roughly publication order this time, but keeping the different serieses (how do you pluralize that word?) together. I've got a lot to read before then though (especially a reread of Lightbringer before the Burning White comes out, and a reread of Gods of Blood and Powder, before Blood of Empire comes out). I've also read Reckoners, but nothing else (yet) of Sanderson's non-Cosmere work. Personally, I'm a doctoral student and adjunct professor in World Religion with a special focus on the Hebrew Bible and the more ancient myths that inspired parts of it, especially from ancient Mesopotamia. I'm pleased to meet and interact with you all!

In Secret History, and alluded to in Era 2, we find that Kelsier held preservation between the death of Leras and the ascension of Vin. He was able to do so because of IRE magical equipment, but he was not able to fully hold it like a living person could have, and so he was much more limited than Vin, just barely able to delay Ruin no matter what he did, while Vin was able, at the cost of her own life, to kill Ati and leave both Preservation and Ruin unheld. Was Kelsier so limited because he no longer a regular living being, but a cognitive shadow, or because he was not grounded in the Physical realm before taking up the shard? Like, if Kelsier had taken up preservation AFTER getting grounded in the physical realm again, could he have fully held it? The Heralds are also incarnate cognitive shadows who were once living humans, but until Oathbringer, every time they died, they reincarnated. When incarnate, could the heralds have taken up a shard fully, or would they have been limited like Kelsier was?

Question is in the title: If Sazed Was Killed but his shard(s) were not splintered, would they appear as two, Preservation and Ruin, or one, Harmony?

My question really all comes down to what would happen if a being like Kelsier, circa era 2, was stabbed by Vyre's knife? Would the same thing happen that happened to Jezrien? I think the heralds are preserved by Honor's investiture and they seem to have the perk of automatic incarnation after death, and Kelsier, preserved by Preservation had to get himself a body somehow to return to the Physical Realm, but like, would that knife kill him for good, or would it have no effect since he, you know, doesn't reincarnate anyway, but is just preserved as a cognitive shadow? I couldn't find any WOB directly relating to this.

Aluminum must be a bit different from chromium since burning the tiniest bit of aluminum consumes all metal reserves and amount doesn't matter, and apparently it does for chromium (and duralumin? I guess I misunderstand how duralumin works then. I thought it consumed all of any metal being burned, including itself but with one like, enormous burst of power, I guess I never thought the amount of duralumin mattered.) Also, burning aluminum doesn't seem to affect hemalurgy, since Vin's earring didn't get burned away when the inquisitors made her burn aluminum in Kredik Shaw.

I have a few questions related to aluminum: 1. If a mistborn had a coin in their mouth and they burned aluminum, would the coin get consumed automatically? I think Brandon suggested that mistborn COULD burn a coin anywhere inside their body, but most only knew how to do so once ingested, so where does this fit? 2. Mistborn can burn every metal, including those that are not allomantically efficacious, but those that don't have an allomantic effect make them sick, some probably more than others. If a mistborn burned aluminum after, like, consuming platinum or lead, would that burn away the platinum and make them sick as if they had just experimentally tried to burn it, or would it leave them alone? Or would it burn it away, totally consuming it with no effect?

Absolutely, but I think the spiritual aspect is what determines, once someone has the connection to preservation to be a misting because it is inherited via regular old DNA, which might itself correspond to some cognitive or spiritual reality, but that's not really the point, something about your spirit-web determines which allomantic ability you get, unless you're mistborn. That's what I think Brandon meant--being a misting a genetic, or at least being snappable is, and something about your spirit determines what you are once you snap, again, except for mistborn. I don't know whether the determination is determined at the time of snapping or what, but I kind of thing it's innate given the perfect ratios of the different mistings.