SirWolfe

I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STICK. I AM A STIC- ... I do apologize for the outburst, I lost control of my temper for a moment. Allow me to continue, this time without shouting. I am a stick. I am a stick. I am a stick.

I wonder, would architecture and construction firms be the Taighusdhachine equivalent of the clergy? And imagine what a Taighusdach war would be like. There would have to be days (The fastest recorded time to build a modern house is a little under three hours, but the builders had power tools and tons of planning beforehand) of preparation, in which both sides construct houses close enough to the frontlines to actually fight.

Consider me greatly honored.

Granted, it vanishes in a puff of smoke. Your bane is that once a day, a small object in your line of sight will vanish forever. I wish for an unsealed bronze metalmind.

Under the watchful sky A man hides, trembling beneath his bed. It is cold and uncomfortable, but he dares not move or make a sound. Everybody hides once the sun goes down and the stars come out. For those that don’t can be seen, and the stars, which are not really stars, are hungry. ----- Well then, I think I just gave myself nightmares.

Spits out a half dead, bleeding Elend. *Inserts a Cryptic spren*

Here's an FBI GPS tracker that may or may not still be active. I have a bucket of sand.

Granted. Though, it's pretty much useless, considering the issue of inflation. And that's not even the bane. Your bane is that you develop severe dust allergies. I wish for the ability to become more energetic (in terms of awake-ness and motivation) by standing in sunlight.

Granted, you have high speed internet access everywhere you go. Your bane is that every google search you do will have a minor misspelling. I wish for the ability to not overheat.

That seems to me like a mighty smart person thing, so I'll give you this glass flask I may or may not have found in an unattended laboratory. I have a bottle of nitric acid (ask no questions...)

Gets one diamond chip (the sphere). *Inserts a Wyndle*

After concluding my studies of the Urule people, I wandered the planet for a some time, making note of various cultures, some with magic and some without. This planet truly is quite interesting, with great varieties of magic and cultures. I do find it strange, however, that some groups do not seem to care too much about the powers they were given. Take, for instance, the town of Skitrae. Skitrae is a medium sized city on the coast of one of the smaller continents in the North. Despite their relatively low population, the city boasts of great wealth and influence due to it being the only port in the small coastal nation of Igta that was not destroyed during the Second Urule Onslaught. This was in part due to unconventional Skitraean practices regarding politeness, which had greatly befuddled the invading army of Great Jaenrielackenconriel Jire. Their language has no form of greeting, respect is implied rather than acted upon, and the gift culture is non-existent, all of which prevented the Jaenrielackenconriel from channeling their destructive powers in the ways that they had traditionally done so. Another factor into the continued existence of the Skitraean peoples is their unusually powerful and common ability to manipulate matter to an unprecedented degree. Almost every citizen born in the city is able to manipulate and control great quantities of matter with great ease and dexterity. The surrounding geography itself was fashioned by the inhabitants of the city around the time of the collapse of the Evire Empire by directing the nearby Ua Mountain (the location of which is presently a large swathe of flat grasslands and fields) to move a couple hundred leagues to the South, where it now stands in the middle of the Selir Desert. This is believed to have been after the submission numerous petitions to the city council from the citizens to remove said mountains on account of "it blocking the view." Apart from these rare and infrequent displays of power, the general populace of Skitrae typically do very little with their magic. The only common use of their abilities is in the game that is called Skitrie (It is unknown if the city was named after the game, or the game named after the city. Both have incredibly long and intertwined histories.) This game involves two or more players, and takes place on a large, flat surface (in recent times, the go-to playing ground is the flatland where the Ua Mountain once stood. In fact, some scholars suggest that the Ua Mountain had been moved for the sole purpose of creating a playing field, and the petitions were simply meant to disguise the true purpose.) The contestants then form a number of large, solid pillars (around the height of a man) using the underlying bedrock, arranged standing up in a manner that would form a triangular shape when looking from above. The number of pillars can vary, but the most common amount is ten. Each player then uses their ability to compact the surrounding soil into a sphere about an armspan in diameter. They then take turns using their power to roll these massive balls across the field. Points are calculated through the number of pillars that collapse due to the ball (fallen pillars are repaired and replaced between each player's turn). The winner is the one who has the most points at the end of an agreed upon number of rounds, and traditionally is allowed to choose a place to eat a meal at the losers' expense. Many citizens of the city enjoy this pastime, and during my stay, I heard from the town crier that there would be a vote in the coming days on whether or not to move the nearby Uo and Ui Mountains in order to provide more space for playing the game. Judging by the generally positive reaction from the people around me, I expect that the Selir Desert may gain two more mountains in the coming years. Building houses.

Oops, I meant to say Lightweaver. Damnation!

In a more modern era, you could have cars with dedicated sets of soulstamps, because a lot of the time, problems with cars are due to minor factors that result in failure. If the battery dies, you use the soulstamp that says that it has just a little more charge, and you use that time to find a replacement. If the engine overheats, you use the dedicated soulstamp it to have not overheated to the point of failure, during which time you let the engine cool off. If the tire goes flat, you pull out the soulstamp that says that the tire was strong enough to not be punctured. When you buy a car, it would come with a box of soulstamps and an instruction manual that identifies which soulstamp should be used for which problem, and there would be a warranty for the stamps as well (*This stamp comes with a 5 year warranty for damages caused by normal use*)

Ideas: -The government has these banks where people can turn in random junk and dust/ash/soot. In return, they are given some form of credit that allows them to purchase food or goods. Meanwhile, the bankers take this material, compact them into bricks, and then have dedicated magic users transform the bricks into gold or iridium or some other dense and relatively stable material (assuming that transmutation is mass-conserving). This allows material to be stored for later use (like turning a 100 gram cube of iridium into 100 grams of food later) as well as being easily storable due to denser materials taking up less space than equally massive but less dense materials. Trade would be conducted at specialized government warehouses using either the credit, or by direct barter (I'll give you this 1kg bucket of ash and soot for that 1kg bag of flour). However, things like soil and stone and clean water are considered illegal by the government to trade (leading to some interesting black markets where dirt is valuable). This would also incentivize the general public to try and save material, as literally anything can be converted into value. -Inter-island trade would probably have to do with labour and resources. Wealthy islands with low population but lots of material have trade deals with the poorer islands with higher populations, in which the wealthy island provides mass and resources, in return for which the poor island workers build and manufacture products for the wealthy island.

The main character of The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo. If he isn't known, you can answer for Don Quixote. A lot of his character arc has to do with accepting who he is and coming to terms with the truth (which he does end up doing in the later series).

I'd say Windrunner, due to his belief that everyone deserves a second chance, and his sparing of Gollum. (Oops, looks like this was already answered.) Truthwatcher. Without a doubt. Despereaux

Now Grief, while the word itself doesn't sound too Shard-y, sounds like a very good interpretation of a Shard. There's no greater grief than one of a God forced to watch as their beloved creations suffer and die. I personally like the words Affliction or Adversity, though I see some issues with both.

404. If there's an old bearded dude with a staff and robes and he looks like he smiles a lot, follow him. Chances are, he'll send you on an adventure of fantastic proportions.* *Only applies to fantasy settings. Do not attempt in the real world. (I only realized just now that I could have done something about Error 404, but I guess it's too late... )

Just washed blankets that have been drying in the sun.

The Urule people undoubtedly have one of the most bizarre integrations magic into society that I've ever studied. The native name of the system is "isriel", derived from the multifaceted root word "riel", which can convey the idea of acting with kindness/respect, but can also mean violence and war. "The direct translation of the word used for practitioners of the system (jaenrielackenconriel) is "one-who-destroys-others-with-overwhelming-politeness-and-feasts-on-tears-borne-of-violently-pleasant-hospitality". The Jaenrielackenconriel are almost exclusively warriors and duelists. The name is quite revealing, as the magic manifests through actions of civility and respect, with greater levels of humility and hospitality directly correlating with greater displays of magical power and destructive impact, and those with a greater reputation of courtesy and chivalry can do greater things with simpler acts. And I do mean destructive. The most powerful practitioners are able to set entire cities alight simply by knocking on the city gates with a gift in hand. From my observations, it does not appear that the specific manner in which propriety is expressed has any impact on the result, as a warrior might call down lightning by saying hello to one opponent, while tearing apart a different opponent by saying the same greeting. I believe that the result is wholly dependent on what the practitioner wants to happen, and different acts of politeness simply allow them to amplify the effects. Battles are fought one-on-one and last many days, with each warrior pairing up with a warrior from the opposing side. After a brief introduction, the two warriors will begin arguing politely in regards to lodgings, with each party offering to allow the other to remain in their tent for the duration of the battle. It is during this interaction that both parties build up their magic reserves, and the longer the two continue to offer lodgings, the greater amount of magic they will be able to expend in the coming days. The loser of the discussion gives in, and the two walk to the victor's tent, where they will live with one another for a period of time. During that time, the two will attempt to kill through subtle acts of magic through kindness. Subtle is key here, as tradition mandates that there be no outwardly aggressive acts during this time. This limits them to applying hexes to the food while cooking breakfast so that the recipient might choke on it, offering to help the other cut vegetables and cursing the knife to increase the likelihood that the other slips and falls on it (which is how the current Great Jaenrielackenconriel Ursi defeated the former Great Jaenrielackenconriel Jire). However, some of the more unsavory Jaenrielackenconriel do not keep this tradition, preferring instead to simply smite their opponent after letting them enter the tent first. These people are often executed by their own army, as this breach of conduct lowers the reputation of the army, and as such, lowers the strength of their magic. Agriculture.

Gets the Ottoman Empire (get it? Ottoman?) *Inserts a white branch that comes from Yolen.*

@Ghanderflaffle I think I could sub in as Jak, if need be.

"Stop that, you're going to be fine. Felix will heal you, we'll rest in my room, I'll take you to the island... I'll take you to the city... we'll be happy... we'll grow goats... together..." (Bonus points to anyone who knows where this quote is from.) "Furthermore, I consider that goat must be destroyed" -Cato the Goat

The End The time that we spend, with one another, we treasure, for one day, this journey will end, and we will reach, our destination. Like the fading light, at the end of the day, so must we, go on our way. And as the day turns to night, it will be sad, but it will also be beautiful.