Koloss17

@Brik_head, how’s things going? Obviously there’s no pressure for ya to get things going, but you seemed to be passionate about your character, and I haven’t heard from you in a while.

Venser returned to his workshop, humming to himself. As he opened the door, he heard a rustling from his main bench. Staring beck at him was a strangely large rat-like creature, wearing a surprisingly stylish silk robe. The…person, he assumed, appeared to be riding a large hunk of colorful yellow…leather? It was clearly alive, but unlike anything Venser had seen before. Though, on reflection, that was not particularly shocking. He had been in Alleycity for fifteen years, but he learned something new every day about the vast cultures of the multiverse. A large rat-person riding a sentient blob of leather is just another thing to adapt to. ”Who are you, and how did you get here?” Venser said cautiously. “And what are you doing in my workshop?”

I mean, to be fair, I have absolutely no combat experience. But if I were given a Shardblade, you bet your crem that I’m going to learn how to use it.

I really want to get into his stuff, but his second channel is just too problematic for me, as he is very clearly anti-queer But yeah! Sword YouTube ftw!

So this is purely fluff, just to stretch your creative mind. I’ve been wondering lately—what would my Shardblade look like? Obviously live shardblades can change form, but they generally have a base form. And when it boils down to it, I think that base form design has three main factors: your Radiant order, your personality, and your preferred fighting style. And because there are so many different aspects of a sword, I have decided to make a template! You are free to use it or not. Whatever floats your boat! Template: Koloss17’s Shardblade:

Couldn’t have put it into words better myself!

Basically yeah. Though they are biologically probably most similar to a superorganism akin to ants or bees, but they are behaviorally most akin to humans. Honestly? I don’t know. I read Masaka’s desire to be human to have very similar feelings that someone with gender euphoria from being perceived as their desired gender to feel. Does the fact that she’s a human girl add on to that? Maybe. I think it’s fair to say that she’s trans-coded, but perhaps not trans. But the parallels certainly feel intentional. and yeah, I get it. She ain’t human, and it is not an easy one-to-one comparison. It certainly isn’t proper trans rep, and it is completely fair to want better. However, the table scraps are still quite tasty, and I do love me a very cute sleepless.

They…clearly are *people* though. Brandon Sanderson is a person, and as a person, has no experience living as a multi-entity hive mind of efficiently adapting creatures. He does, however, have experience being a human, and feeling emotions, societal norms, and complex neurological thought. And frankly, I would say that bleeds into him writing the Sleepless. Yes, they are meant to be non-human, and they do not experience life the same way humans do, and would not necessarily have the cognitive aspects that humans do. However, they sure are written that way. Sleepless clearly have emotions, and can be puzzled, enamored, hyper-fixate, have friends, dissociate, and be traumatized. Therefore, I would say it is certainly possible for one to be trans. Is Masaka trans? I’m not sure. I’d certainly like to think she is! She gives off signs that seem to point that way, and at the very least is euphoric at being treated as a human. If she was trans, would she be human trans rep? Nope. I definitely am on the human trans rep is better than alien trans rep boat, but I frankly take what I can get.

Slugs and snails are glorious creatures. Speaking of, have you seen sea slugs? They are absolutely glorious, and are so cool!!

Honestly, I agree. I would love to ask him about the potential rep, or if it’s inspired by someone he knows, but sadly, I never end up getting a question in on the Q&As

currently, your character has underlying trauma. Maybe if you make it more pronounced, it could go sonewhere? Perhaps he has PTSD or flinches when being touched, or possibly having trauma induced amnesia. Also physical, not just mental trauma could be used here. Maybe he’s missing a hand from a freak accident, which can play into insecurities as well as just hindering some of his capabilities, even if he has a prosthetic. Maybe he has some serious nerve damage to a part of his body. These could all be strong flaws while doubling as helping round out a character (which I frankly don’t think you need, but it would certainly make any character more interesting!) Though if none of those float your boat, I think your thought of being a wanted criminal or something similar could be a decent enough flaw. It doesn’t exactly limit their power level, but it restricts their options.

Hmmmmmmmmm. Overall, this seems like an interesting character! However, I have two main thoughts: 1. Chromium compounding seems like a dangerously powerful ability. How powerful? I’m not exactly sure. But I worry that it would qualify, if we’re using David’s terminology in the Reckonerverse, as a high epic. However, that can be worked around. At the moment, however, I’m not sure that the flaws of being a beat outweighs near immortality and high likelihood to succeed in whatever he’s looking to do, so long as it doesn’t involve interacting with people’s minds. 2. This is quite close to @Ookla of whimsy’s character, who is operating on luck-based things, but has the downside of them being much more volatile and usable by others that lean into them. However, I think that these are distinct enough characters that have their own niches, so it should be fine. Basically, I’m open to the idea of a chromium compounder, but I feel that this character needs a bit more flaws to outweigh such a great power. Frankly, if you dig around a bit, there’s a chance that you’ll find a chromium compounder in older Alleyverse characters, and you can compare notes! Although, that is completely optional, and purely if you want to. I’m excited to see what you come up with! This looks really promising. A good point that was brought up: if your character was raised in the alleycity, he is likely notorious for his extreme luck. Because of that, I would expect they would be banned from most casinos, and likely have some sort of notoriety or connections within some section of Alleycity. You are free to make that up, or even communicate with Ookla of Whisy, who you are very likely to have already met.

Hmmmmmm. Interesting proposition. However, I’m not 100% sure that Lightweavers can just shove things into shadesmar, as they only have the surge of transformation, and not transportation.

THE WEEV! I love them so much. Any favorite weevils in particular? I’m a sucker for acorn weevils, and I have the honor of witnessing colonies of giraffe weevils firsthand. Weevils are friends.

You appear to be 100% correct and I have not considered that. Where have you acquired such forbidden knowledge?

So given that the holidays are here, and there’s a lot of abilities in the Cosmere, I wonder: what would the Santa Clause of the Cosmere look like? I think there’s a few main magical properties of the all-powerful shard of St. Nick: Is able to deliver thousands of presents in one night can fit into any chimney and house without making a sound manages to eat an insurmountable amount of food in one night flies around the place in a sled led by reindeers Has a sack that holds a practically infinite amount of presents always knows who is naughty or nice is never caught by anyone and is relatively unknown to society never seems to die, or at least has a very long lifespan. So how would we craft CosmereClause? Some of these are easy, and others are much more difficult. This one is a verrry easy one. There are so many ways to extend your lifespan in the Cosmere. I would say the easiest would be Fifth Heightening, as it also gives a magical aura around you and frees you of any potential sickness. This seems to be a classic case of F-Bendalloy doing its thing. You can eat all you want, so long as you have the metal bracers under your coat. To me, I think this indicates an Edgedancer. It will make it easy to get in and out, and enable a speedy delivery of presents. It also means they are slippery, so law enforcement stands no chance at catching him. Perhaps Santa is also a Windrunner or a Skybreaker? It would explain the flight, but not really the reindeer or sled. And I’m also not 100% sure if being able to utilize the surge of Gravitation would be enough to deliver as many presents as Santa can get away with. There’s a lot of options here, but none of them feel great to me. Maybe they utilize the cognitive realm as a little pocket dimension? Maybe there’s soulcasting of presents? Perhaps soulstamping could even be involved? I think soulcasting would be the easiest to pull off, but it would kinda require the surge of Transformatoon, and not an ordinary soulcaster. As for the general pseudo-Omnicience, I do not really know. I mean, Santa could be a Shard, which would explain a lot, but that seems like a bit of a cop out. What are you folks’ thoughts? What are the secrets of Santa? We must get to the bottom of this.

Veneer, The Corridor, The Silver Dagger. Venser welcomed in a new set of customers. He wore a crimson vest with white sleeves and gold accents. His eyebrows, carefully tucked behind his ears, helped compliment the suit. He gave the arrivals a kind wave as they approached the counter. ”What can I get for you today? Looking for a refill? Some gear? A drink?” Venser had a refined Thaylen accent, and one that would be quite subtle for one back in Roshar. ”We’re looking for mistcoats, if you sell them,” one said. The Silver Dagger was a comfortable place. A famous bar turned metalborn shop, where all could be obtained, if you had the Chrysts. Metal and accessories lined the shelves, with vials of all sorts. It was nothing like the life he had all those years ago, selling cheap goods on Alethi roads. ”Of course! We have four main styles, but I can also customize them if you wish. Come, come!” It was a good life, and one he never would have anticipated. Selling to Scadrians, from noble to downright villainous. A strange life, but a profitable one. As his babsk used to say: ‘It doesn’t matter who you are selling to. If they have spheres to give, they are your customers’. A good life indeed. “Which ones would you like?” @Ookla of whimsy

And to add onto that, I would assume Corbeau would want to investigate the history and details of Perses, such as the extent of his powers, if he’s working for someone, where he came from, who he works with, so on. Perhaps @TheRavenHasLanded could help with that?

Well admittedly, chilling in a library doesn’t do all that much roleplaying-wise.

It seems we’ve hit a road bump in the plot, as Perses is not there to lead it. Does anyone have ideas as to what the next big thing will be? Perhaps Corboau could do something? Alternatively, a question for all of you: What would your character do in the Alleyverse if they were able to? What would they pursue? Perhaps now is the time to do that! @Ookla of whimsy@Ravenclawjedi42@Lunamor@TheRavenHasLanded@Edema Rue@Ancient Elantrian@AonEne

Weave* chouta* quip* Adolin’ around and (pure)lake* some lore* puns! Fixed Wit For Ya

I’m quickly finding that Perses will need someone to interact with, at least for the time being. He’s a non-stop fella, but I have no idea how long I can keep Perses being the character that solely pushes the plot forward, like I did in Episode 1. And given Asylum is currently indisposed, I think Perses needs someone else to interact with. Anyone have any ideas?

Perses, The Corridor, The back room of The Silver Dagger “I’ve heard that you can make any weapon imaginable, for the right price.” The bespectacled man scoffed at Perses. “You could say that.” Venser was renowned in the Mistwarrens for providing anything a metalborn would need, from vials to bracers, even selling the rare medallion, if he managed to get his hands on one. For the Scadrian District underground, however, he was the best black market weapon smith in the area. ”What is it you’re looking to acquire?” The Thaylan man had a peculiar accent, which was oddly soothing to Perses. He smelled much too refined for this area. “I need an aluminum pistol. Something that can be easily concealed, but can neutralize even thugs with a precise enough shot.” ”Aluminum bullets, too?” Perses thought for a moment. “I want a mix. Some made of aluminum, some made of the densest metal you can use.” The man’s brow furrowed. “Wouldn’t that hurt the bullet velocity?” ”Not if you’re a coinshot.” Venser’s confusion dissipated, his look of confusion being replaced with a grin. “Well why didn’t you tell me that? I have just the weapon.” He walked away, his leather boots making a rhythmic thumping on the hardwood floor. Returning, he unfurled a piece of paper on a nearby workbench. “What do you think of this?” Rusts. Perses’ brow furrowed, his steelsight not being of any use. “It looks…sufficient.” He hoped that Venser’s skills were what that said they were. ”Excellent! This should only take a few days to put together. You’re lucky, you know. I just so happen to have the parts needed for this bad boy. Since you’re here, might I interest you in something more?” ”Yes, actually.” Perses said. “You happen to have any aluminum vials available?” The merchant, still grinning, replied. “Of course! Of course! Stocking up, are we?” He gave Perses a wink. Perses was running low on metal flakes, and his normal dealer might have gotten skittish over the recent news. Plus, he wanted to see what the black market broker’s reputation was made of. ”Actually, one more thing,” Perses said to Venser, making the man turn. “I’d like a refill on vials.” ”Of course,” Venser said, chuckling. “Steel, you said?” “One part steel, one part bronze, and one part iron.” ”What an odd-“ Venser cut off, spotting a hint of Perses’ spikes past his glasses. The stout man’s heart rate spiked. “Right away, sir.” Venser walked to another bench, took some metal flakes and began stirring. “How many will you need? And what medium do you prefer your flakes in?” He hid it well, but the man was scared. It was an understandable reaction. There was a barely noticeable waver in his voice that hadn’t been there before. “15 vials worth, heavy dose. And I prefer plain water.” Perses suspected he could splurge a bit this time around. As he began preparing vials, Venser piped up. “I’ve heard there’s been quite the commotion in the Mistwarrens. Two big hits, on both the Ironworks and Coppercloud Inn.” He left the rest unsaid. After a few minutes of potent silence, Everything was ready. “So…3 aluminum vials, 15 heavy dose vials, and a special order,” Venser said. “That’ll be—“ Perses gently but pointedly placed an Atium bead on the table. “I assume this will be enough?” Venser failed to hide his surprise, with yet another spike in his heartbeat. “Y-yes. That will do.” —————————————————— With new vials in his possession and a new gun in the works, Perses headed home. 7 beads left, he thought.

And to add on to what Ookla of Whimsy said, this has happened in the past. Think of them kinda like episodes or chapters in a narrative. It’ll be the same storyline, just with a convenient recap for newcomers to hop in.