Rorzikel

@king of nowhere's post has an answer, and it is a new soul after the original went to the Beyond. Questioner At the very end [of the Emperor’s Soul], the Ashravan construct, the simulacrum that’s been made, is convincing. Is it a real boy? Brandon Sanderson So, by cosmere terms, what has happened here is that it is a new individual who has the memories that Shai has put into his head. She has actually constructed something that is using some of the matter and stuff behind (it can access some of the matter). Is it a real boy? It is a construct that has enough Investiture to be self-aware. So it is a person, I would say yes. Is it a real boy? Is Syl a real girl? If you say yes to Syl being a real girl, then yes, it’s a real boy. It’s definitely a person, does that make sense? But is it actually him? No. Not by basically anyone’s definitions. If you go to the religious definitions, they’re gonna be like, “No, that soul passed on.” If you go to the arcanist definitions, they’re gonna be like, “This isn’t quite a Cognitive Shadow, but it’s something analogous to it.” You’ve taken some Investiture that’s become self-aware and can access the memories, ‘cause it’s got… It can actually access memories that she didn’t put in there, because it has access to the brain, that was still functional. But see, it gets a little sticky here. She basically made them a better version, but it also has autonomy. It is a person. Dragonsteel Nexus 2025 (Dec. 5, 2025)

There is one other wob from Dragonsteel 2023 where Brandon mulls it over and says that he thinks that the Lashing will run out faster if used on a Feruchemist.

I think Identity contamination affecting compounding is more about an added barrier of difficulty. It's already a hack of two systems that relies on the metalmind you burn matching your identity and your misting ability corresponding to the same metal (plus apparently requiring practice of some kind). With hemalurgy you're just adding more variables and reducing what made the hack plausible in the first place. If I spike Jeff the Gold Ferring and Julia the Gold Misting, then I can store some health that is keyed to a mixture of Jeff and myself. Then I can try to burn it with an allomantic power that has some of Julia's Identity still. That's inherently less cohesive than a twinborn like Miles with a single Identity and both necessary powers. We know with hemalurgy that sometimes you can tap the stores of the person you killed, but if you split the spike that you and another person could not share metalminds (though both of you could tap from the original). This shows that even with a partial match that powers can conflict. I imagine this is even more so for hacks that aren't built into the system. wob:

I'll make a bit of a prediction. Brandon's India-inspired work will have conlang'd character names based on Indian phonemes/word fragments, cultures and religions that have traits of real-life ones combined with Cosmere concepts, and populations that resemble real Indian ethnicities. You can probably expect more in-depth representation than Scadrial being vaguely European, but not immensely more than Yumi and the Night Painter's Asian inspired elements. I would not expect a western author writing a non-Earth based fantasy to create an exact replication of reality or a cutting takedown/criticism of another culture. He'll probably have something like brahmin, kshatriyas, viashyas, sudras, and dalits/untouchables, but I'd be very surprised if he has 500 castes.

My mistake, I thought it was just glass.

"It's, it's... By God, it's the Ars Arcanum Body Focuses with a steel chair!" The only question I'd have there is what determines what gets swapped in. With Moash he's getting diamonds in the eyes (polestone replacing its body focus), but El would be using Foil/metal for "the Nails"/carapace (essence replacing body focus), not pieces of amethyst. Maybe there's flexibility for polestone or essence standing in for a body part.

While reminiscent of Hemalurgy, I don't think this is really a new, separate magic system on Roshar. However you categorize things like fabrials and gemheart bonds, this seems to be an extension of that system. It is kind of a merger, artificially trapping spren in crystal like fabrials do but then involving a living body like a gemheart bond. I wonder if Yelig-nar should be counted as part of this? Amaram had to swallow a gem after all.

"Pistons" from materials that elongate, acting as a motor that turns stormlight into mechanical motion. Lightweight structural frameworks, like making tentpoles and fabrics into steel-strength. Rapier and fencing style weapons made from thin wire or thread.

A man cuts a way through the undergrowth, and now others walk down the beaten path quicker than he made it. They make their own offshoots and reach farther because they add from his. They see now where he could have set his course better, made the path straighter. Was he a fool? No, he just was first.

Sja-Anat’s interlude in RoW stated that most of the unmade were like her, with their forms split between the physical and cognitive realms. Maybe that’s like having a pseudo-physical aspect for shard taking purposes.

I do find it a little odd that Brandon would rather use "evanotype" in place of photograph or "half-beard" for goatee on Scadrial, but made certain decisions like keeping "therapist", "neuroses", "mentally ill" etc. It's not terrible or anything, but he's previously been willing to conlang, use synonyms, or speak more formally with other English terms that I think would have stood out less to the reader than here.

Not mad at her losing, though I do think she just gave up. For her utilitarian perspective, I think she got a little too sucked into the debate team mentality when I think she (a person who is willing to use assassins) could have stood to sully her arguments with some emotional appeals, ad hominems, toxicity, and not backing up so many of his points willingly. She seemed more concerned with volleying points back and forth, when regardless of her philosophy depends on selfishness for her family or utility, she should have been going for the kill. Rip this man a new one, don’t step into a bear trap because you won’t play dirty. Why aren’t we relentlessly pushing back on Big T’s “make a deal with me, I’m totally trustworthy” rhetoric whenever it comes up? He is literally fighting a war based in loopholes, sneaking past a contract Wit believes is so genius. He’s bound to a volatile intent. He immediately threatened to annihilate Thaylenah when Fen didn’t jump at the first opportunity. This is not a trustworthy negotiator, jump this man, Jasnah. One time isn’t enough, every instance of “my word is my bond” deserves to be called out as the blatant lie it is. His attacks on her character? Jasnah, this is the fate of the world, defend yourself like you’re OJ Simpson. If someone brings up you plotting to off your sister-in-law, respond with how Aesuden ended up swallowing an Unmade and starved her own people to throw Cthulhu parties. Clearly a bad egg. His claims of being the best at utilitarianism because of “godly” foresight? Bring up how how his predecessor got played and outwitted by Dalinar, to the point that’s how Todium got his Odium. Perfect precognition, I think not. I think the economic argument was the fatal blow, but block with your limbs not your face and throw a few hits back before you go down.

Align? Maybe Restrict?

Honor plus Cultivation's rhythm was called the Rhythm of the Tower back in RoW. Bolding mine, source is RoW 110.

My point being in response to the debate of the Burdens of Nine rattle's grammar. Still, I'm not sure I agree with you that this is meant to be a translation error between Rosharan and English rather than the in-world flaws of Death Rattle accuracy. There are simple English words (two dead humans, two souls) in place of men, and the rest of it as vaguely fitting. Shattered Plains cracks=the pit, two living people who were thought missing=two dead men, a crystal gem usually specified as a gemheart=heart. All very poetic, all loose.