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DSCrankshaw

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Everything posted by DSCrankshaw

  1. The books say repeatedly that Stormlight doesn't make you much stronger-but it does some. Game mechanics wise, you can get +1 to Strength and Speed from Stormlight, while Plate gives you +2 to Strength and Speed. But +2 wouldn't really be enough to deal with the increased weight of the armor, so either the armor is lighter when worn, or the +2 is on top of the Strength necessary to make up for the weight of the armor. As for Lore: I didn't realize that Roshar's 500 day calendar was ten months of ten weeks, though I did know that a week was 5 days. That may be in the Coppermind somewhere, though. Bondsmith Squires retain their Surgebinding for months away from their Knights, but they don't acquire Bondsmithing powers, only regular Tension and Adhesion.
  2. It's possible you're thinking about the theory I posted here. I proposed that the themes of the first five books formed a ketek based on the First Ideal of the Knights Radiant: The Way of Kings - Life before death. Kaladin chooses to live, and convinces Bridge 4 to do the same. Words of Radiance - Strength before weakness. Kaladin learns to protect the weak, Shallan projects strength to shield her weakness. Oathbringer - Journey before destination. Destination begets journey. - Dalinar takes the next step. Rhythm of War - Weakness begets strength. Navani, Shallan, and Kaladin become stronger because of their weakness. Wind and Truth - Death begets life. Dalinar sacrifices his life, Kaladin dies to become a herald, the deadeyes return to hold back Odium.
  3. Gallant did carry Adolin in Shardplate back in Words of Radiance, when he was pretending to be Dalinar, so the books don't quite match that mechanic. I would say that Adolin was later a chosen rider for Gallant, but he wasn't at that point.
  4. I think the tailoring is for the sake of the game. And I don't really read too much into the Raysium Dagger, as it's pretty obvious it was originally supposed to be Nightblood, except that the timing didn't work out.
  5. The Raysium Dagger was fairly obviously supposed to be Nightblood, which was only switched out when Brandon and Dan couldn't get the timing to work out. (I kind of wish they'd modified the adventure to make this Nightblood.)
  6. We got the ideals for the Bondsmiths, even if they're not playable. Though it was basically just Dalinar's ideals, with the warning that they're each unique though the themes are similar.
  7. I think the fifth Ideal would be personal for each Radiant order, but would follow the basic theme. I'm not sure it can be nailed down better than that. I know the RPG doesn't try.
  8. So, as I have the book open, and it was asked earlier, here's what's revealed about Radiant Ideals in the Stormlight Handbook. I'll skip Lightweavers and Windrunners, as we've seen those in detail:
  9. I won't quote them here, as I'm away from my computer, but I will say the following:
  10. You also can't play Bondsmiths in the RPG, so their abilities are not mechanically defined. We do learn that Bondsmiths get squires, but the squires don't get the ability to make bonds*, only to use the adhesion and tension normally, and their squires retain their abilities for months away from their Bondsmiths, rather than a few hours. At least part of the purpose of these two items seems to be to make it possible to make PCs squires of the Bondsmiths, without handing out the whole bond making ability or requiring Navani or Dalinar to travel with them. * I'd been wondering whether Adolin might have Bondsmith squire abilities, which is what allowed him to alter his bond with Maya and summon the deadeyes to help. That doesn't match this description, but again, this seems to be partly for game mechanics' sake, and may not entirely align with the books.
  11. I think they were following Dalinar's command, which was to "Go. Watch. Learn." I'm not as convinced as others that one of them became Kaladin's Honorspear, as the Splinters split off before the reforging of the Oathpact began. I think more likely they were following Dalinar's Intent, which was to learn the ways Honor wasn't just keeping Oaths, and thus probably went to those whom Dalinar thought could teach it (Shallan, Jasnah, Rlain and Renarin, Adolin, and Kaladin are explicitly mentioned as people who had just demonstrated this to Dalinar). Most of those people were at Urithiru, but Kaladin and Syl were in Shinovar (thus I think one Splinter is probably what empowered Syl at the end), and Adolin was in Azimir, which is why I think that another Splinter is empowering the Unoathed.
  12. I'm sure a lot of the lore will end up in this forum or the Coppermind. But FYI, while the lore is considered canon, the mechanics are not-- they're designed to approximate the book mechanics in a game context. And I've spotted some lore statements which don't fully match what's in the books.
  13. I've been saying that Shallan is not getting back off-screen. She probably won't get back until the back five, but if she appears in Ghostbloods, I could see there being some justification for her returning earlier.
  14. Wasn't it stated in Emberdark that Khriss suspected there was a Perpendicularity there but couldn't prove it? That doesn't match this, leading me to wonder if it was written after this (although it still doesn't match, as Patji has largely been tamed by now).
  15. I'm pretty sure part of the purpose of confronting their truths is because Lightweavers are supposed to change. If Gaz admits to himself how badly he treated the bridgemen (which in Wind and Truth is the truth he's not ready for yet), it's not so he can keep treating people that badly. It's so he can grow and do better, and not treat people that badly again.
  16. Either a piece of Honor, or something from the Stormfather. It's not clear which yet.
  17. I'm curious about the situation on Roshar. Their visitor certainly seems to be a Radiant, almost certainly a Skybreaker given the glyph, color scheme, powers, and attitude. Though whether they're human or singer isn't obvious. This does seem to indicate that the dominant power on Roshar is similar to what we saw at the end of Book 5, leading me to wonder what the good guys manage to gain in the back 5. I'm also wondering whether the back 5 will show us how the war between Scadrial and Roshar began. Meaning that the story of the next arc is not the story of the protagonists against Retribution, but rather the story of the protagonists against Scadrial.
  18. Mraize's Aviar is an interesting case. He'd never been to one of the other worlds himself. So who had? How had they gotten there? Going through the Perpendicularity to Patji is ridiculously dangerous for people who don't know its dangers. No one could survive very long, though maybe they wouldn't need to, with all the Aviars right there. But it seems more likely that a trapper came through to the other side. They all knew about the pool. Did one of them figure out how to navigate the unsea before Dusk and end up joining the Ghostbloods, providing them with Aviars? Once you know about the pool, you can make more Aviars, from multiple species of birds.
  19. I know they've (my recollection includes Brandon himself) said that it's canon, including the Stonewalkers adventure being an accurate account of what happened to Taln's Honorblade, although the details of who was involved and exactly what they did being dependent on the players. That said, the gameplay mechanics shouldn't be taken as canon, but things like the Worldbook are supposed to be a good resource for non game players who wish to know about the Roshar.
  20. So what we see in Emberdark doesn't speak well of the current governments on either of those planets. How bad have things gotten, and what does that have to say about the end results of Ghostbloods and the back half of Stormlight?
  21. Huio is living in Silverlight, which is under a 10:1 time dilation. So while he must have left Roshar within a few decades (under its time dilation), he could have lived at Silverlight for hundreds of years Cosmere time, which is decades under its time dilation, and still be 60 or so (which could still be youngish, given we know of at least one local resident who offers life extension for services).
  22. While the Shard of Honor is being claimed by Taravangian, we see pieces of it split off. “Go, Dalinar said. Watch. Learn. “The power accepted Taravangian at Dalinar’s urging. Though interestingly, a few small pieces of it split off and fled. Dalinar had not expected that.” (Chapter 143, p. 1284) So it looks like some Splinters broke off from Honor as it merged. Where did they go? I’ve seen two main theories: One, that it went to Kaladin and the Heralds to reforge the Oathpact, create Kaladin’s Honorspear, and empower Stormqueen Syl. The problem with that is that Dalinar knew what Kaladin was doing, so would have expected them to use a piece of Honor to reforge the Oathpact. The other theory is that it’s gone to form other Stormfather-level spren. I’m not sure how I feel about pieces of Honor leaving and immediately becoming sentient, as Honor itself isn’t fully sentient yet. I’d like to propose that the power of Honor was following Dalinar’s instructions to go, watch, and learn, and specifically to those he was hoping could teach it. As Dalinar instructed it when it left him: “There are still lessons to learn, stories to tell, but you cannot learn them from me. For you are not Honor. Not yet. Honor is far more than an oath kept. Learn, see, and remember me. Ask yourself why.” So who could Honor learn these things from? Dalinar, as he connected to Honor and afterward, spent a lot of time thinking about those people he was connected to who had shown true honor: “Dalinar strode toward Odium, the power or Honor surrounding him. He saw it, true honor, in the efforts of two young people to set right an ancient wrong. In the way a young spearman rose to his feet in the darkness. In a man who stood with friends to save a city that was not his own. In the Lightweaver who refused the lies and accepted truth. Even in the way a queen who had been wrong resolved to do better . . . That was honor. The power couldn’t see it, and that still troubled Dalinar, but he could.” (Chapter 141, p. 1264) Then later: “Today, Dalinar had seen true honor.” (Chapter 142, p. 1277) He names five people by name: Adolin, Renarin, Jasnah, Shallan, and Kaladin. That is part of what Dalinar is hoping Honor will learn—that honor is not just swearing and then following oaths. So when Dalinar told honor to “Go. Watch. Learn,” it makes sense that Honor would seek out those whom Dalinar thought could teach it. So who is that? My guess is the following Kaladin and Syl received some of it, as most people suspect. Either as part of the renewed Oathpact and Kaladin’s Honorspear, or possibly empowering Syl, if that came from Honor rather than the Stormfather. I also suspect Adolin's Unoathed received a piece. Unoathed Shardplate can still heal, and we know that normally requires Stormlight. Maya thinks it might be a side-effect of what the Heralds did, but that’s speculative. I think it’s more likely that it’s powered by one of the Splinters of Honor. Everyone else whom Dalinar thought of was at Urithiru, either in the physical or cognitive realm. So I would guess at least one splinter went there. Possibly to provide the Stormlight part of Towerlight. Are these pieces of Honor sentient? If it hopes to learn, don’t they need to be? It’s hard to tell. If it’s the piece that’s empowering Syl, then it became part of her, not its own sentient piece. Similarly, a piece empowering the Shardplate may be part of the plate spren directly, or even part of Maya—though it seems like she should be aware of it if that were the case. If the power became part of the Sibling, we might not know as we aren’t in communication with the Sibling right now. Any other thoughts?
  23. Eh, I would be disappointed if knowing the main character in each book was all we needed to predict them. Brandon doesn't like being that predictable. Good point on the symmetry, though.
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