ChickenBonanza

Speaking of Surgebinding, some WaT thoughts. I’ve made a status post of a similar nature before, discussing terminology.

Recently, I have come to reason that the term ‘Surgebinding’ is perhaps not considered in the most optimal of ways. Arising as part of my understanding that the Focus of the Rosharan system is the Surges. Something very apparently true, to me. (Possibly even the Old Magic. It is noted to be different, however, and the author considers it to be significant enough to consider it a separate magic from Surgebinding, along with Voidbinding. Yet, Fabrials are also considered by the author to be their own magic. It all depends on how you count them, and I think I count them very differently from the author. There is a Word which notes Old Magic affects aligning to the transformation of Physical or Cognitive natures being ‘along the right lines.’)

That thinking shouldn’t bloat too much of this status, so I think I shall cease on that, at least for the moment.

To begin in short, the term ‘Surgebinding’ should be considered analogous to the term ‘Metallic Art’.

There are multiple styles and sources of Surgebinding.

Honor and Cultivation’s variant, seen through a Nahel Bond with a Truespren (do Honorblades, lacking Cultivation, differ in their application of Surges from Radiants? Or does Radiant Surgebinding, tied to Honor’s Ideal system, align with Honor’s Surge variants, and thus the Honorblades? Yet the progressive nature of the Ideals are very much aligned with Cultivation, are they not? This is a digression).

Purely Honor, through the Honorblades, and those given to the states of Alaswha.

Purely Odium, through the Fused, and those given to the states of Alaswha.

Also maybe the Old Magic could be described as purely Cultivation? I’d say that it relates to Surgebinding  by being a variant on the Surge of Transformation or Progression or maybe Illumination. Something simpler in scope, like the Stoneshaping (a variant of Cohesion) Honor taught to the ancient Singers. This however, is purely speculation. Ignore this paragraph. (How did Honor teach them Stoneshaping? Did they simply learn to communicate with the Stones? Or perhaps adopt a specific form now lost to time? The Singer forms could perhaps be a way to access Surges. Lots of the Regal forms have pretty expressive powers.

Gosh, this status was meant to be purely technical in nature. Stop digressing.

Anyway, these things are all called ‘Surgebinding’ on Roshar, yet more specific names do not perhaps exist. Yes, there are the names of the Radiant Orders and the Radiants themselves, same with the Brands of the Fused, but such descriptors are very much organizational.

If an individual with a Nahel bond specifically refrained from joining the Knights Radiant, how can one refer to them? One could say Surgebinder, but Surgebinder is a wide category that applies to a wide variety. It could refer to any of the Fused Brands or any order of Knight Radiant.

How to explain this? To me, it’s like saying Metallic Artist, Allomancer, and Feruchemist.

Referring to a specific powerset, such as ‘Windrunner’ or a ‘Heavenly One,’ would be like saying ‘Tineye’ or ‘Windwhisperer’. Yet those specific terms are flawed. They refer to specific organizations. Very much unlike calling someone a ‘Pewterarm,’ which carries no connotation other than the power itself.

In a previous status, I talked on how the usage of the term Lightweaver could be more specific. If a Surgebinder bonded to a Cryptic refused to join the Order of Lightweavers, would it be proper to refer to them as something like ‘Lightweaver Surgebinder?’ Which they do have access to Lightweaving through the Surge of Illumination, they are not a Radiant Lightweaver.

I need terms. But I am getting more bogged down than I expected to be.

All I really wanted to say was that, when saying ‘Surgebinding,’ one should not think specifically of Radiants but of the magics of Roshar as a whole. Like how ‘Metallic Arts’ makes one think of more than just ‘Allomancy.’

However, attempting to get more specific runs the risk of improperly communicating allegiance. One cannot say ‘Radiant Surgebinder’ to refer to one who has bonded a Truespren of Cultivation and Honor, because they may not be a Radiant. ‘Surgebinder by way of Nahel with Truespren’ is a mouthful.

’Nahel Surgebinder’? That would include Enlightened spren weirdness.

We need good terms to denote Shard composition. Allomancy is the Metallic Art pertaining to Preservation, Hemalurgy for Ruin, Feruchemy for a mix of both. Yet we do not have those terms.

’Surgebinding of Honor and Cultivation’ 

’Surgebinding of Odium’

’Surgebinding of Honor, Cultivation, and Odium’

Need terms for all those. Shardic origin is important.

It’s a little hard to differentiate mentally the variances between each Surge as used by Fused and Radiants, because some are quite similar, unlike the greater differences seen in the Metallic Arts.