Arteth Chris

I was wondering about Ryalla, but I think two is right. Another clue that might fit with that is Wat's castemark especially given who he turns out to be. We're not told what kind of stone, but if the two dawnshards started out as a gem and a tree, then might there be some significance to the priests wearing a combination of the two around their necks? Life and death, creation and destruction. A bit like the yin and yang symbol. That would point to two again though, rather than three.

In chapter 16 of book 1 Quentin says, “Bubble gum for the primate. Long live the Jacuzzi. Moon on the rocks, please.” Now given what we find out later that , what might it mean? My nine year old was convinced it would be taken up in the last book, but it wasn’t.

But do we know that Vax's subastral (or indeed Vax itself) looks like Scadrial's subastral? Perhaps it doesn't, perhaps Ati's confusion is that he expected to be somewhere else when he died. He expected to be in Vax (wherever that is). So his statement 'Vax?' is more along the lines of a puzzled 'This isn't Vax?' rather than thinking that where he is looks like Vax.

What I'm saying is that it opens the possibility of there being a sort of afterlife of sorts for some, apart from 'the beyond'. We know there are several groups that exist after death (the fused, heralds, shades, the returned) There's something about the Oathpact that makes heralds not go to 'the beyond' when they die. What if there were other versions of this elsewhere, that can bypass the beyond? Also Ati was not a 'normal' person, he was a vessel, perhaps he expects he should be somewhere other than briefly in the cognitive realm and then in the beyond. We already know there are different rules for former vessels with this as Kelsier tells Vin that she doesn't 'need' to go to the beyond like others do.

I'd totally missed that the Tranquiline Halls were already accounted for as Ashyn. Though I am still wondering whether Vax could be some sort domain of the dead, be it a planet or a place in the cognitive realm. Perhaps Ati hoped to appear there after died. So his statement 'Vax?' would mean something along the lines of 'Is this Heaven?' Only to be punched by Kelsier! If the heralds can be sent to Braize after physical death on Roshar, perhaps there are other places you can go on other worlds? Perhaps Vax is one of those places, named or so far un-named?

I finished Mistborn: A Secret History last night and read Ati's enigmatic last word, 'Vax'. I checked out the theories and it seems most revolve around what Ati is seeing. I wondered though whether his comment is based, not on where he is and what he sees, but based on where he expected to be. It got me thinking- where was he expecting to end up when he died? Good Vorins on Roshar expect to go to the Tranquiline Halls. What if they are a real place like Damnation is a real place (Braize)? What if Vax is the real Cosmere name of the Tranquiline Halls (whatever they are- a place, a planet)?

I'm about half way through Words of Radiance. I'm afraid I didn't read Warbreaker first, I didn't know. Liverpool is great city, my wife is from near there. Doesn't seem to be too many Sharders in the uk on that map. The nearest one to me is an hour and a half's drive away!

Thanks for the welcome! I think my favourite character so far is Elland Venture from the Mistborn series. I love the way he grows and develops as the books go on. I imagine he's not most people's first choice, but he really grew on me. How about you?

I am loving reading Brandon Sanderson. Have gobbled up the first four Mistborn novels and am now part way through the Stormlight Archive. Any other fans from the North of England?