Lunu’anaki

It's also quite possible that a significant change happens on Roshar that alters or changes the magic system prior to this AND Nomad has traveled more of the cosmere than potentially even Wit (at Wit's own account). So it's possible or even likely that he has access to more magic systems and that some things he can do have nothing to do with Aux.

Isn't it also speculated on by a character in the books as being because of singer blood as well?

Anarchist armies have existed numerous times throughout history, George Orwell served in one in Spain and has written about how the army was managed, if you'd like an in depth look. To make a long story short: the same way that anarchist governance can work, through a communal effort, built off of voluntary mutual aid, so too can a military organization be governed. Most of the things you mentioned do not actually require a hierarchical structure to be managed... and for those that do (military command, for instance) they are considered to be justifiable hierarchies and are typically always organized in a way so that any "leader" can always be ousted from their position at any time. I do agree with you here. Having no centralized form of organization when going up against a larger group has its drawbacks, and those drawbacks tend to lead to the centrally organized power slowly taking territory and absorbing the population under their statehood. This is why if a functional anarchist society were to exist in the Cosmere (or anywhere else for that matter) it would need to be outside of the sphere of influence of larger powers; or have overwhelming support from the majority of people in it's region/sphere of influence. When you think about it... that's kind of true for any form of society though... going up against a larger power will almost always end with the larger power absorbing you in some capacity.

Agreed, he's also supplied people with weapons directly, he's given people information knowing it would be used to kill people, he helped Jasnah with that whole "duel" thing... etc. etc. I don't think his magic is going to stop any accidents considering how it seems to only effect harm caused directly by him.

The impression I get is that one mind doesn't have much of a noticeable impact on the CR, it's more about a "collective consciousness" if you will. So... one person traveling through space probably has a lot less of an impact on the CR than one person teaching an entire planet what space is, even if they've never visited.

Yes. I believe Brandon has clarified that the space between worlds in the CR will change as more and more people begin to think about space. It seems that all is required is for a large number of living, thinking beings to be thinking about a place for it to take form and/or change in the CR. So, to clarify: right now only a few people think of the vastness of space as it actually is, therefore it isn't as vast in the CR, but as soon as a larger number of people understand just how vast space is, that cognitive impression will change in the CR. Theoretically that should lead to the space between Scadrial and Nalthis, or Braize and Roshar, becoming larger in the CR over time.

I do think if book 5 ended or climaxed with that being the case, then yes it would be a huge narrative hurdle... If it happens in chapter one and is simply the inciting incident... It could work narratively... idk. I think trickery and deceit could still be used to cause Dalinar to do something with Intent...

I think that theres a lot of factors at play with something like this. Vin's earring increased her already powerful abilities, and we know someone like Elend or Hoid have even stronger Allomancy... so that's a factor at play here, the smokers power level matters. I also assume that the amount of breath/investiture you are attempting to detect with lifesense would impact this, alongside the amount of breath you possess. There are so many variables and so few ways of comparing them presently that it's very hard to say anything for certain, but it is interesting to think about!!

Thanks! Thats a good idea. It's helpful to have a built in necessity for focus.

All 3 please!! I think single player RPGs would be better in specific worlds, a Fallen empire RPG would be great or a Stormlight RPG... The MMO would definitely fit era 4 best probably... Tabletop as you've stated would be cool to have for any era -- id be interested to see how alterations to the metallic arts would be dealt with though.

This is a really interesting point you bring up... if the 'shards' were part of a whole, and a shard was used to shatter Adonalsium... that must mean that something else was shattered prior to "The Shattering" and what could that thing have been? This is going to be in the back of my mind on my next Cosmere readthrough.

Oooh, this is a very cool idea, especially if we operate on the assumption that rosharan humans are descendents of Yolen humans (through Ashyn) all the Glyphs would need to have held their meanings for a lonnnnng time though.

HOLD UP... What if Adonalsium IS the name of the metal.... atIUM lerasIUM raiseIUM AdonalsIUM....

It's funny you mention this. I've actually been considering it a lot lately. I'm doing a complete re-write of my book and will be making some changes, this being one of the big ones. I think that I'm going to change the name of "lyfe" to avoid confusion between the words life and lyfe, as well as remove the idea of a specific container being necessary. I haven't decided if I'm going to make the energy source tangible or not; but if it is tangible I'm envisioning people holding it in containers as if it were some sort of liquid or gas. As for everything else you've said, this comment has been extremely helpful and given me some things to consider! I think some of your ideas (like the transparency change for visibility) will really help the system be more easily understood while simultaneously making it easier to write about! I'll be sure to drop in and let you know how it's going as the magic system evolves

Yes definitely. I should have clarified that. I think Preservation was able to see a bit more and therefore plan out Ruin's demise the way he did.

It would be somewhat different in this proposed scenario because bronze would be the only metal that actually "pulsed" all the metal pulses detected by seekers would be reflected bronze pulses that were changed by other investiture.

If that were the case, I would think that seekers would hear other seekers "pulses"... do we have any examples of this? Did Vin ever listen for Bronze pulses and notice anything strange about them?

I do think this combination would serve well as a "Progression" Shard, Though Cultivation and Preservation alone might be enough to make progress.... hmmmm

If preservation and Ruin were able to mix, I don't see why Preservation and Cultivation could not.

This might be a hot take, but I actually kind of feel like all the rhythms operate like emotional allomancy in a way... Since Odium is a Shard of emotion, it's just a very familiar and easily accessable form of investiture application for him and those connected to him.

Ahhh, so it's in the knowing. Got it. That makes sense.

Then how do we explain Hoid's "Being in the right place at the right time, and not knowing why" ability?

That would be a good ending. I always thought that Hoid's "Fortune thing" was a direct connection to Adonalsium. That he's essentialy being guided, willingly or unwillingly, by Adonalsium's influence from the past. Like... if Adonalsium was a concious being, they probably had very good foresight and set things in motion to put Hoid on a path to fulfil some plan of theirs.

A Kolloss that became a Knight Radiant could probably avoid that whole heart failure issue with stormlight too... maybe...

Like a Unity Dawnshard? Maybe they killed the Unity dawnshard to shatter the big A... I like that idea.