NameIess

"I will need other Honorblades then, as a model for the surges. A Skybreaker blade and a Stoneward blade should do the trick." With his free hand, Malevolence pulled a tablet from his lab coat. "I'm afraid this Blade does not grant Bondsmithing, merely the lesser applications of the surges. As for the dragon blood, I was more successful in that area than I thought." The villain tapped the tablet, causing two large crates, glowing with an indeterminate energy, to appear. "These crates contain a breeding pair of dragons, from which you can harvest blood. I've included instructions on feeding and care, although you should know they are sentient and not particularly inclined towards lives of captivity. I'm certain you can find workarounds for this." Malevolence smiled. "Now, I believe I have shown the capability to fulfill all of your requests. Now strikes me as a good time to discuss my payment."

Unintelligible noticed the woman, but was too worried about Sequence to greet her. "No time for that." Unintelligible muttered, hurrying through the portal onto the lawn, grass rustling around his feet as he took long strides towards the large doors of the mansion. -- With a sharp crack of lightning, Malevolence appeared in front of the Trisolaran ships. He held a Shardblade sheathed in aluminum, and the Bondsmith Honorblade was held by a tractor beam emitted from a drone beside him. "I have succeeded." He announced. "This Awakened blade is capable of granting the surges of Tension and Adhesion." @Ookla the Tachyon

True. I think saying something like ‘all shades seem to share bloodlust, and green to red eyes’ would be a little more clear, especially since the three rules doesn’t refer to the shade’s getting angry, just to what things make them angry.

Ah, that does clarify things. Sorry, I assumed when you said all shades followed the three simple rules of Threnody that you meant they all followed the three rules of ‘no running’ ‘no fire’ and ‘no drawing blood’ from Threnody. You’re right that all shades seem to go green to red, and blood does seem to be a common factor for causing them to go red.

I don’t know that that’s enough to go on. We didn’t see any of the rules broken around the chorus to enrage them. And I wouldn’t say they’re sapient enough to make a generalization to all shades, including fully sentient ones like Nazh, especially since he didn’t seem to be particularly affected by the rules.

Where in Sunlit man do we see the Shades are still governed by the three rules?

It would be tough, but Subversion didn't cheap out on the medallion. And it works across short distances too. (forgot to answer this earlier, it's daytime. Although there is a bit of an unnatural gloom around the mansion and its grounds) The flames that touched the bars grew more violent, darker, then were consumed. The bars thickened, absorbing the flame's power. A portal partially opened in front of Ryver, then stopped. He could feel a force opposing the portal, but it did feel like he could push past it, with effort.

"Some sort of chaotic dark energy, most likely." Unintelligible reached to the ground and grabbed a rock. "I second Aelinor's suggestion. It probably isn't good to touch it." He threw the rock over the gate. There was a flash of darkness, and the rock rebounded off of something invisible, hit the ground, and dissolved into nothing. Unintelligible grimaced. "Yeah, I don't think flying over it will work. We can try Conflict, if Ryver can't make a portal past the gate."

Cadewyn's vision flashed black, and a force shoved him back from the gate. When his vision cleared, it revealed a gate with a broken lock, as well as several broken bars around where Resolution had struck. However, where the physical bars had broken, bars of solid darkness took their place. "That's... interesting." Unintelligible stepped through softly rustling grass, walking up beside Cadewyn and frowning at the bars of darkness. "I suppose it means we're in the right place. Do you think you could get through that darkness? Or... Wait. Ryver, can you make a portal to get us past the gate? There might be defenses against it, but I have a feeling they'll be easier to bypass than the gate."

Sure, go ahead. And I don’t think anyone does.

Malevolence flinched as soon as he touched the Honorblade, feeling the compulsion take hold. He breathed in, then out, slowly held up one arm, tapped his wrist, and a sandwich appeared in his hand. Malevolence stared at the sandwich, muscles in his arm twitching. “I feel a great desire to eat this sandwich, yet somehow, I cannot bring myself to do so.” With effort, he lowered the sandwich-holding hand. “I will begin my studies immediately.” He tapped a few more buttons, and the Honorblade disappeared in a crackle of lightning. @Ookla the Kansan wanted to know who wielded Vengeance.

The brave adventurer, also known as Nameless, my original Narrator, made this. He’s been dead for a long while, but I allow him to write a few things from time to time, like my Dreamsmith guide. Malevolence is aware of other Threads, but he doesn’t have any special powers to speak outside of TLT.

Hello, hello, hello! I, the brave adventurer, have heard of the deep interest in Plotblades, and have returned to give you this comprehensive*, accurate**, and helpful*** guide! What are the Plotblades? I'm glad you asked! The Plotblades are fragments of an ancient entity slain in ages long lost**** by the combined efforts of almost every Narrator in TLT. But Plot was, as you may have guessed, an entity of immense power. And Narrators, as powerful as they may have been, were unable to completely destroy him. Instead, they merely splintered him apart, destroying his consciousness^ and forming the Plotblades. The most powerful^* Plotblade is Vengeance. This Plotblade, currently wielded by Platypus, holds its power not because Vengeance was naturally an important part of Plot, but because of Plot's intense desire for Vengeance against the Narrators who killed him. But don't worry about that, it will surely never be relevant! Instead, let's talk about what Plotblades can do! Plotblades are made up of Plot's essence, and as such, hold near-total power over the aspect of Plot they are aligned with. Theoretically, a Plotblade exists for each and every different plot trope. Examples include: Happily Ever After, a Plotblade wielded by the Priest, used by him to help others attain the happiness that was so cruelly stolen from him. (Oh wait. Forget I said that. Spoilers.) This Plot'blade' takes the form of a huge book, which, I have it on good authority, contains every Happy Ending ever written in TLT. Another Plotblade is Conflict, held currently by the ex-Narrator Sequence. This Plotblade allows its wielder to fight evenly with any opponent, no matter how powerful they may be. These Plotblades are only two examples, and there are many more. You get the point though. Plotblades are based on plot tropes and give powers related to those tropes. Now, let's get into the really juicy stuff. How might you, a prospective Author itching for a cool thematic power up for one of your characters, or a character itching for said thematic power up, get your hands on one of these Blades? Well, it's (relatively) easy! There are a couple ways, but the basic idea is that you have to align to the Plotblade's intent somewhat. The more core the Plotblade, the more important and necessary that becomes (with a few exceptions). How do you do this? For one, you could try to take a Plotblade from a character who already has one. This won't be easy, but so long as their Author allows it, it is possible. You'll probably have to get them to agree to a contest of some sort to prove your superior worthiness. Another, more common method of claiming a Plotblade is by going on a quest related to the Plotblade's intent. For example, if you wanted to claim the Plotblade of Forging, you could apprentice under the Dreamsmith. These quests aren't always strictly related to the Plotblade's intent, but hey, it's kind of cool to stick with a theme, right? This last method is only for Authors, I'm afraid. If you really want a character to have a Plotblade, but don't have time to make them go on a quest, then I've got good news! You can just give them one! My Author's done it, Platypus did it, and plenty more Authors have taken this path. Just make sure there's some explanation for how such a Blade came into their possession, and that it's well-suited for them. An example from my Author is the Priest. He was made specifically with the idea of Happily Ever After in mind, hence his wedding-centered profession (and dark backstory, but that's a story for another day). Well, that about sums it up! Hopefully this guide was helpful, so get on out there and claim the Plotblade of your dreams! Until next time, I'll be wandering the endless world of the afterlife. Yours truly, The brave adventurer *Absolutely not. **Mostly, although the lore has evolved over the many pages since the concept of Plot's blade first germinated. ***Subjectively. ****Page 2254, to be exact. Back when ancients like yours truly still wandered the lands of the living. ^Mostly. ^*Well, in most circumstances. Plotblades aren't necessarily always about 'power'. Even 'weak' Plotblades hold near-total mastery over their respective domains. But this one is actually more powerful than the rest, and if wielded by a competent user, is able to exert limited influence over the rest of the Plotblades.

Malevolence nodded, holding out one hand. "Undoubtedly. And worry not, I shall return the Blade unaltered once I am done."

Platypus holds Vengeance. @Ookla the Inactive

There was a guy called Plot, he was killed, and his essence became the Plotblades, swords embodying plot aspects. Spacial distortion isn't a particularly plot-related thing, so there might not be a Plotblade of Spacial Distortion. But Asharak could find a Plotblade with powers that affect space, such as something like 'Arrival in the Nick of Time' (Nick of Time or Nick for short, maybe?) There's other travel-related tropes if that wasn't what you were thinking, I'm just too dumb to think of one off the top of my head. (Although, the Plotblade of Journey could have a lot of effects over space now that I think about it) In any case, You, the Author can decide what trials your character should face to claim the Plotblade. It could be a quest to claim the Plotblade, (like a journey to claim Journey) it could involve defeating the Blade's current owner, (who you can make up, if no one's got the Blade right now) or it even could involve your character just getting the Blade from nowhere, although that's not always the best for character development. (I may have done this a few times, although in my defense, I maintain that the Priest is a cool character and I always sort of had a backstory for Endings). I should make a Plotblade guide, since people seem to ask about them a lot. "I could try music. In the forest, I could always find my way with a song." Lyric looked around. "I'm not sure it would work here, but... well, it might be worth a try." Balitan's soul was free of any contamination that Rebus could sense, but it seemed dull, not as full of life as an average person's. Balitan blinked, looking up at the screen. "The... equipment is all still intact. Luxite... we'd gathered only a small amount, I've been... detection technology not quite advanced enough for optimal efficiency." As Balitan spoke, color returned to both his soul and his body. He straightened in his chair, and when he spoke next, he sounded more like himself. "What little we had, he took. I wouldn't say it's enough to be dangerous, however. The Mordite and Nullite, I'd be more worried about. I had... quite a lot of Nullite here, and a lesser but still significant amount of Mordite." He cleared his throat, entering a command into the computer, pulling up a screen showing data on the lost stores. "However, I'm more worried about the theft of data. Malevolence is intelligent enough to put to use what we've learned, and begin isolating all the metals for himself. More importantly, he wiped all our logs. Any data I don't have memorized is gone, unless your nanobots can recover it. This will set my research... quite a ways back." Balitan sighed. "I had hoped to be able to share this research soon. These isolation techniques could change the Thread!" Malevolence blinked. So. Dimensional manipulation. Intriguing. He blinked at Sandy, then squinted at the Honorblade. "May I bring it back to my lab? My idea, if it works, will require some time and experimentation." "Very well. It may take some time for me to reestablish contact, but I will see what I can do." Malevolence nodded. "Of course, there is the matter of my payment for doing so." Cricket heard a crackle not unlike that of television static, then Moni's voice answered. "Yes? What is it?"

“Epic powers rely on the consent of beings that are difficult to understand, let alone manipulate.” Malevolence said thoughtfully. “As for Honorblades… given recent developments, I believe I could create synthetic blades capable of granting surges, with access to one of the Honorblades as a template.” He pulled a jar from his pocket and placed it on the ground. “This should be enough to create a portal to Trisolaris, although running the portal will require more. Dragon’s blood is acquired from dragons. Dragons from certain worlds, at least. I have a rather large supply, and can connect you to my suppliers.” It is in response to him, but he wouldn’t have been able to know what Malevolence was thinking. “Yes, but I would not want to walk into the Sage first.” Lyric frowned. “I may have an idea.” — The computers seemed to be rebuilding firewalls and analyzing system damage. Balitan’s head jerked, and he turned to look at Rebus. The scientist still shared an eerie resemblance with Malevolence, but his face looked drawn and weary, eyes unfocused. “I discovered a new method to isolate Chaotic darkness from the Void. Efficiency… tripled, at least.” Balitan’s voice was distant, and his eyes remained unfocused as he spoke. “Then… Malevolence. I saw him, he… broke in somehow. Said… something. I don’t remember anything after that. Woke up… databases compromised. He got everything. Research. Information on Nameless. Stores of the isolated metals.” Balitan pressed a hand to his face. “Still… fuzzy.” It’s Mordite! All that stuff does is kill, or create unhealing wounds.

Back in his lab, Malevolence frowned, hearing Cricket’s final remark through his spy drones. Perhaps. But always out of that insidious fear, the fear that if I were to punch with all my strength I would miss and fall flat on my face. Or worse, that it would be like punching a brick wall, and my hand would shatter upon impact. “Cytonics?” Malevolence shook his head, flipping through the pages of his book. “Unreliable in my experience. Too easy to suppress or disrupt. Besides, do you want your travel to be entirely reliant on independent people, or slugs, which could be easily compromised?” Reaching into the locker again, Malevolence pulled out a sealed jar and a brush. Opening the jar carefully, he dipped the brush inside and began painting arcane symbols onto the floor with a dark red substance that sent faint trails of smoke into the air. “I could procure the slugs, if you wished, or even hire cytonics for you. But they would not be my first choice.” He set the brush down carefully, then stood and flipped a page on the book, careful not to smudge any of the symbols. “Unoathed access to the surges is difficult. I could get you a few Progression fabrials, possibly even some Gravitation fabrials, but the others are difficult. It will take time to acquire the relevant spikes, and you will have to learn the hemalurgic bindpoints for your species’ anatomy. That is, unless you expect me to steal Honorblades for you.” He frowned , looking up from his book. “Actually… I may have an idea in that regard. Recent developments… I will see what I can do.” Turning back to his book, Malevolence spoke a phrase that sounded like total gibberish. The circle he’d drawn on the floor flared to life at his words, fires shooting up around him. They dimmed, leaving behind a glowing circle on the floor, and no Malevolence to be seen. Malevolence appeared inside of one of the Trisolaran ships, in an area in which there was enough room for him to stand up straight without immediately being crushed. Behind him was a misty gateway opening into nowhere. “Since I developed technological teleportation, I stopped using magical methods. But this method will be better for your needs, I think. All it requires is some relatively simple geometrical patterns and dragon’s blood.” He straightened his lab coat, a confident grin on his face. “Djinn are magical creatures, one of a variety of kinds of demons that can be summoned, with care. Rithmatics is a magic based on geometry and art, and as for drawing upon the powers of darkness, well…” Malevolence chuckled. “That is a bit more complicated.” haven’t read Lightbringer. I’m talking about djinn from the Bartimaeus series.

Malevolence turned away as well.“Have I ever pulled my punches?” He asked softly as his body was consumed by the crackling lightning of his teleportation technology. “You wish access to magic? That is easy for me to accomplish.” Malevolence appeared in his lab, where he opened a locker and began searching through textbooks. “What sort of magic do you wish to know about? I have access to all the standard Cosmere magics, and could acquire any relevant materials needed to explore them. Perhaps you wish to know how to summon djinn? Tap into the powers of darkness? Or perhaps you wish to learn the magic of rithmatics? I am well-versed in all of these, and more.” “Yes, I see.” Lyric followed along behind Jack. “Thus far, the Sage has only been able to fool us when our eyes are open. But… do you really think we can find our way out blindly? We may wander deeper into the mall.” — The lab was dimly lit, the only light coming from lines of text scrawling across computer screens. Balitan sat slumped in front of one of these screens, back towards Rebus. The only sound in the room came from the the clacking of Balitan’s fingers on the keyboard in front of him, although his head was down, looking at neither the screen nor the keyboard.

Malevolence's eyebrows raised further. "You bypassed my security protocols so easily? Truly, your technology is incredible! To answer your question, yes. I want to know more about your incredible technology. I am a scientist of no small intelligence, and I believe I could be most helpful to you." The darkness vanished, revealing Malevolence standing where he had been before, Darkseeker still levelled at Cricket's heart. "Yes, I know. I merely showed you this technology so you'd understand the strategy behind this." Malevolence cleared his throat. "Let Sunrise be." Light instantly filled Cricket's vision, pure white light that hurt as much as staring into the sun. "You see, because of Darkseeker I thrive in darkness as much as you do. In order to exploit your weaknesses while leveraging my own strengths, I created the Nightfall device. That allowed me to create this second, much simpler device. I call it 'Sunrise', because it works by teleporting light directly from the surface of a star into your eyes." He chuckled. "With Sunrise's minimum settings, activating Nightfall is unnecessary. Once Sunrise focuses portions of my chosen star's light equivalent to square mile or more of its surface, however, even the relatively small percentage of light that is scattered and reflected becomes troublesome without Nightfall's activation." The blinding light faded, and Malevolence lowered Darkseeker. "I have found in myself a desire to prove that I am capable of accomplishing evil without the aid of others. I do not fear your threats; either fight me and end what little rivalry exists between us once and for all, or leave." Lyric looked at Jack hopefully. "Yes? What is your plan?" -- A message pinged Rebus. Breakthrough discovery in isolation of core essences. Security breach at lab. We need to speak. -Balitan

Malevolence's eyebrows lifted slightly as his drones relayed their analysis of the SIM. "Interesting." He murmured softly. "I shall have to acquire a piece of that material for myself." His drone began sending a greeting signal to the Trisolaran ships. Malevolence snorted. "You are correct. Rebus is the Antagonist." He paused, then grinned. "For now." he swung Darkseeker in an arc around his head, ending with the head of the axe pointed at Cricket's chest. "Bring nightfall." He intoned clearly. Light vanished, leaving Cricket in total, abrupt darkness. Sound vanished likewise, leaving Cricket able to hear his own heartbeat, but not the sound of his breathing. "Do you like it?" Malevolence's voice was projected directly into Cricket's mind. "I started work on this shortly before visiting the Dreamsmith. Inspired by Nullite and its applications, the technology utterly eliminates all electromagnetic radiation, soundwaves, and even many magical wavelengths. Of course, I can see perfectly, thanks to my bond to Darkseeker." A mental image of Malevolence sneering filled Cricket's consciousness. "All that to say, I will not be bullied by your threats, Cricket. I do not fear you or Rebus. Both of you are cowards, too afraid to take the bold steps needed to reach your goals. If you would oppose me, then do so now. Otherwise, continue your vendetta with Rebus." Unintelligible through the portal, which opened up in front of the gate that guarded the entryway into the manor. He crossed to the gate quickly, examining it. "It's locked!" He glanced at Cadewyn. "Think that Plotblade can cut through it?" "So... the Sage reveals his hand." Lyric shivered. "I suppose this was a trap all along. I am sorry to have led you here."

I think that if the US is smart, which I presume they are, they would bomb most important targets on Roshar in their initial strike. Urithiru for certain, likely the war camps as well, and Thaylenah, as well as any large military groups they would be able to find out on the field (through common knowledge, since it generally seems to be known where forces are being deployed). This would eliminate quite a few of the Radiants, probably including Jasnah, (who is, by the way, the only Elsecaller the Radiants have)Dalinar, Shallan, possibly even Kaladin and the majority of the Windrunners, Stonewards, and Edgedancers if they can find the armies and carpet bomb them. The biggest hurdle with the initial airstrike is lack of gps, which could make finding the locations and pulling off a near-synchronous strike difficult. And yes, even if the strike goes perfectly, some resistance will survive. Radiants will likely turn to guerilla tactics, and Lightweavers could be very effective once they got a handle on the situation. One big problem for Lightweavers, be they Fused or human, that I haven’t seen anyone talk about is the language barrier. Sure, they could crack it with the help of Cryptics. But could they learn to speak natural English quickly?

I think in this case, there's just too much working against Scadrial for this to even really be a discussion. Only invested fighters are even going to be a consideration here. Kolloss might be tough, but they won't stand up to guns, mortars, missiles, tanks, etc. Mistborn with Atium could be dangerous (Yes, they could dodge bullets. If Atium lets you see 1 second into the future, you'll have 1 second of warning to dodge no matter how fast the projectile is.) but Atium is very limited unless TLR decides to allow access to the main stockpile, which I find unlikely. Lerasium is also limited with only two pieces left assuming Hoid hasn't taken one yet. So the real question is: Can about 40 inquisitors and a couple dozen to low hundreds at most of assorted mistings and Mistborn defeat the entirety of the US military? No, they cannot. Now, TLR is another question. With his incredibly powerful allomancy and feruchemy, he could move at incredible speeds, crush tanks, rip planes out of the air, perhaps even block missiles if he's prepared. However, if the US government had basic knowledge of the state of Scadrial prior to the invasion, they could potentially kill him easily with a surprise missile strike. Other than that, a strike by aluminum-coated missiles of very high yield could kill him, a constant barrage of more ordinary missiles and drones could wear him down and eventually kill him, or the military could simply capture the Pits of Hathsin (something they're likely to prioritize given it's the source of Atium), discover the Atium stored there, and just keep TLR from getting any, leaving him to eventually die of old age. Whether that last plan is feasible or not depends on whether or not TLR can get back through the portal to earth and whether or not the Atium can be hidden on Earth. Regardless of how difficult TLR would be to defeat, it is clear to me that no other force on Scadrial would stand up to the US army, for the simple reason that none of them could survive an air bombardment. No other Mistborn or Inquisitor is powerful enough to block missiles or affect aircraft in such a way as to stop carpet bombing. Even with duraluminum, such feats would be impossible. So this discussion should really be centered around how much the Lord Ruler can do.

"It's not that. It's just that I can no longer see the exit." Lyric pressed a hand against what appeared to be thin air. "Hum. I see a maze of narrow corridors, probably similar to what you see." A voice spoke to Rebus, audible only to him. I am sorry to upset your careful plans, Rebus. Malevolence should have revealed his intent earlier. He has... not been himself, recently. Canonically, I suppose it is likely due to his becoming aware, in some small way, of my thoughts about him. But truly, it was my fault. In my absence I forgot who he was, who he is. He had lost his confidence, his penchant for the dramatic, these things which first made me enjoy writing him. He was sliding towards becoming a common schemer, not the true villain he deserves to be. Delayed as it is, this was a necessary step towards correcting that drift. Malevolence looked at the ships with interest. "Aliens? How interesting." Tiny crackles of lightning announced the arrival of several drones, which flew towards the Trisolaran ships and began attempting to scan them. I'm assuming you meant to say he appeared in front of Malevolence? "Ah, Cricket." Malevolence bowed mockingly. "You believe we have a common enemy?" He examined the back of his hand casually. "You are correct. However, I see no benefit to teaming up with you in order to defeat Rebus. If you cannot even bring yourself to meet Rebus in a fair duel, how could you hope to defeat him?" Malevolence smirked. "No, I do not believe I need your help. If anything, you should be teaming up with Rebus to defeat me."

Malevolence smiled. "I will do much more than turn the Thread into a smoldering ruin. As the Witherlord, I will rend reality asunder, destroy all worlds and universes. Perhaps I will not be able to escape the Thread, but at the very least, I will kill or corrupt every living thing within it. That includes the Trisolarans, of course. However," His smile transformed into a slight grimace. "My plans will take time. A long time, depending on the resistance I face before and after my ascension. So the Trisolarans will have the time you desire." "Bring it on." Whispered Malevolence. "In opposing me, you will only play into my plans."