Atlas333

44 minutes ago, Cephandrious Maxtori said:

Dude, just say Listener, Parshendi is basically a slur

Sorry, that wasn't my intention. But that's good to know going forward. 

On 5/16/2026 at 4:19 PM, GG0z said:

From the SR series, who do you think would be most likely to become the Nightwatcher Bondsmith?

I think that the nightwatcher bondsmith will be a parshendi given how they seem to be more aligned towards cultivation. Of the non-Odium parshendi Rlain seems the most likely. He's also called the "Bridger of minds" by Tumi in RoW, which sounds a lot like what a bondsmith does. Rlain was also a candidate to bond the Sibling before Navani did. 

On 4/26/2026 at 9:14 PM, Arandomclone5555 said:

Alright that makes sense. Out of curiosity, do you think Autonomy has some greater goal for Sel other than just establishing an Avatar? It feels like something is definitely going on with Wyrn and the Skaze, and I don't know why Autonomy would care so much about destroying Arelon and Teod if she was just trying to form an Avatar and I would love to know your personal theories.

I think that Autonomy's primary motivation is to stay independent. This motivation extends past herself to every shard. That's why she went after Harmony, even if we know that Harmony is generally a force for good.

Sel is one of the few planets with two shards. Additionally, those shards don't have a vessel and could theoretically be picked up if someone could find out how to piece them back together. I think Autonomy's goal is to prevent this from happening. 

Her overall goal might just be interference. Maybe the Elantrians were getting close to figuring it out, so she caused the Reod to stop them. 

On 4/18/2026 at 1:32 PM, We_need_more_sel said:

Random thought is yumi and the nightmare painter maybe set on a plant created by Whimsy? The ridiculousness of stacking stones for Investiture and spirits liking TV romances or whatever it was seems like a Whimsy planet.

Yumi's planet was created by 

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Virtuosity

I feel like this was confirmed in text, but can't remember the specifics. 

On 12/12/2025 at 6:41 PM, WestwardWind said:

1, it’s Ashyn. I know this isn’t very strong, but certain things seem to interlock in ways I can’t ignore. The fire in the sky, the war, and the king betrayed. This sounds similar to the story we hear in Stormlight about Ashyn. The plague is also suspect, because what we have of Above the Silence Prime, it sounds similar.

I do think Ashyn is an interesting possibility just because we know Brandon has been wanting to write about Ashyn for a while. There are a few roadblocks, though

This plot sounds drastically different from what we know about Silence Divine.

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coltonx9

How are the floating cities in Ashyn held aloft?

Brandon Sanderson

By local magic... So basically, I can tell you how it works, because I'm not saving any secrets here.

One of the diseases gives this power. The reason it's called The Silence Divine is right now, the way I've devised it, is this power also causes hearing loss. So you have this virus that does this weird thing, but also gives you the power. And so there's a conclave of them, a chorus of them that keep the cities aloft. And that's why the book, if or when I write it, I guess it can't be a virus in this case. Whatever disease they have, someone develops penicillin and can potentially cause the city to come crashing down. That was the premise for me, but that means it needs to be a bacteria, not a virus but it needs to be a bacteria that stays with you long, so I have to work out exactly how I would make these diseases work.

Idaho Falls signing (Dec. 29, 2018)

Although Brandon does mention struggling to make the science work, so maybe this was a pivot to avoid that issue.

I think Mythos is the most likely or maybe Vax?? There's actually a (tenuous) link between Vax and diseases which I found surprising

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LeftImBorn (paraphrased)

Is Vax a good place to get vaccines?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

*laughs* The place where Vax would be is not at a place where vaccines have been developed.

Dragonsteel Mini-Con 2021 (Nov. 22, 2021)

On 3/17/2026 at 12:15 PM, Jult said:

A-Steel is so fast that I can only kind of make out the talent names: Coin Sharpshooter, Steelpush Adept, Bubble Shield, and something that looks like "Leveraging Brace" - very unconfident in that one.

They actually gave us a sneak peek at the very rough rules for A-Steel during the initial kickstarter (if I remember right). This information could easily be outdated, but judging by the similar names, I imagine the talents still work similarly. 

In addition to what has been said about beauty and perception. I think there's an added layer that refers to the heralds.

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“What think you? Can beauty be taken from a man? If he could not touch, taste, smell, hear, see . . . what if all he knew was pain? Has that man had beauty taken from him?”

“I...” What did this have to do with anything? “Does the pain change day by day?”

“Let us say it does,” the messenger said.

“Then beauty, to that person, would be the times when the pain lessens.

Something about how all heralds (or more specifically Taln) only knows pain, but Shallan's answer implies that he's still able to find beauty in some way. It might be some crazy foreshadowing for when the back half focuses more on the heralds.

23 hours ago, Jult said:

I think it's important to highlight that this 4th Talent tree (which contains Talents related to seeing the Future and Past) does not replace any of the other Trees. It only grants additional Talent options.

Until the books say otherwise, it's the closest thing to a canon answer on Enlightened Spren that we have. So, my current opinion is that Renarin could do normal Lightweaving; it just hasn't clicked for him yet. Him not being able to do it doesn't automatically mean that no Enlightened Truthwatcher could.

I think that when making rules for a game, mechanics sometimes take priority over lore (such as Skyrbeaker characters having immediate access to division instead of having to wait until the 3rd ideal). In this case, they likely didn't want to prevent player options.

Also, I think that the books trump the RPG in terms of canon, and it's explicitly stated in Rhythm of War that Renarin can't lightweave normally. By this time, Renarin has had a year or so to learn about his powers. I feel like he could have made it "click" for him, considering he's surrounded by potential teachers. 

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Renarin claimed the spren was trustworthy, but something was odd about his powers. They had managed to recruit several standard Truthwatchers— and they could create illusions like Shallan. Renarin couldn’t do that. He could only summon lights, and they did strange, unnatural things sometimes...

However, things get murky when that ability with lights that "do strange things" is apparently a normal thing either a truthwatcher or lightweaver can do with illumination, according to the RPG rules. It's called "Painful Truth" and is identical to what Renarin does to Moash (You create a haunting image of who an enemy could have been if they’d taken a better path).

But then again, Shallan does something similar to Mraize, so maybe it's not contradictory.

On 3/23/2026 at 7:26 PM, Frustration said:

That's my belief. That or it's some synergetic ability similar to Reverse lashings

This is potentially answered in the RPG rules. Some orders have a unique ability that uses both of their surges (like reverse lashings), and Truthwatchers get "spiritual healing." This ability "mixes Illumination and Regrowth to skillfully repair the mind and soul."

All together, the RPG rules don't shed too much helpful light and even potentially contradictory. I imagine this is because the rules reflect what we currently know, and Brandon doesn't want to canonize things before he has to.

But my interpretation of all this is that Renarin has normal progression (the image Adolin saw was a synergy between his two surges) and then has enlightened illumination, which allows him to create illusions of "painful truths." Future Visions could be another application of enlightened illumination, but it could also be a third new thing. It could be argued that Glys is the product of three shards, so he may be able to grant 3 surges (in my opinion). 

I reread this WoB and wonder if it meant Navigation (the ability to navigate the cognitive realm) was originally going to be an aviar ability. 

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AndrewStirlingMacDonald

So there are many--According to Sixth of the Dusk, there are many commonly known aviar talents, can you give us a couple? Like examples we haven’t seen yet?

Brandon Sanderson

Those are from the notes, I’d have to dig them out. Let’s just say they’ll be very useful for navigation in the future.

Calamity Philadelphia signing (Feb. 20, 2016)

Here, the implication is that aviars would be able to navigate. I could see this being the original plan, but then Brandon realized this wouldn't solve Dusk's problem (people would still want to control his planet to get their useful aviar).

Upon realizing this, Brandon might have made navigation a human ability so that the other civilizations would have to negotiate and respect Dusk's people.

Maybe I'm reading too much into the term "navigation" but I thought it was interesting and was trying to make it work with the knowledge we have now.

What about having a soulcaster (the item) grant you access to transformation (you would need one attuned to the essence of cloth... which is pulp probably?). 

Then for tension, it's likely easier to just get some breaths so you can use awakening. 

As for why there are only 9 Fused, I think it's more because Rayse didn't want to, not that he couldn't. 

On 2/25/2026 at 4:54 PM, PanLin said:

Ah, could be anything:

• Honor alone created the Rosharan Surges initially when the Heralds defined the Oathpact, making Adhesion uniquely his and therefore inaccessible to others
• Honor simply coloured Adhesion with so much rigidity that Odium, a Shard of emotion and manipulation and shadows, couldn't replicate it
• Odium as a concept is naturally closer to Cultivation than it is to Honor, making it easier to access Progression
• Rayse intentionally avoided using Adhesion out of spite or (but that doesn't explain Taravangian's avoidance, unless he just wasn't focused on it)
• Voidbinding may be extremely passionate/raw filters of the Surges, and Odium's attempts to harness Adhesion, the Surge of Pressure and Void, just resulted in the Fused immediately collapsing into a Spiritual black hole

I think the Fused are a result of him adapting an existing system (surgebinding) to fit his needs. An adhesion-fused would likely just be able to stick to walls like Spider-Man. This ability isn't incredibly useful when you've already got the deepest ones and heavenly ones. Avoiding it because of spite is very on-brand especially when you don't really need it. As for why Taravangian didn't create any adhesion fused- he had 10 days until the contest after picking up his shards; I imagine creating a new brand of fused with unclear tactical value was very low on his agenda.

But, to make things interesting, we have this WOB about adhesion fused. 

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Lacrossedeamon

Now that Odium is Retribution, does he have access to the surge of Adhesion? Will we see a tenth brand of Fused? Tenth Unmade?

Brandon Sanderson

He does, and yes you could see that.

Lacrossedeamon

Can Yelig-nar finally grant its host Adhesion?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, he could.

YouTube Spoiler Stream 7 (Dec. 19, 2025)

The implication seems to be that Odium didn't have access to Adhesion until becoming Retribution; however, this could still align with the spite motive discussed earlier. Odium now views Honor as an ally; therefore, his surge is no longer an "enemy surge."

The cosmere has a huge cast of characters that normally stick to their own little bubbles, but don't we all want to see how they'd interact?

I do at least, so I started this little series where characters who would likely never meet finally do. It's a series of standalone character interactions that I hope people enjoy. 

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Ever wonder what it’d be like for Elend and Dalinar to debate kingship? To have Spook teach Wayne high imperial?

There are a lot of cosmere characters who will likely never meet, until now that is

AKA, an endless series of “what if these two characters met?” using fire emblem support style conversations.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/78480026/chapters/205748851

I would love to hear others' thoughts and especially suggestions for what other characters I should do. 

On 2/4/2026 at 7:47 PM, Trusk'our said:

27. 310: Aetherbound can make Aether Spores, not just grow it directly. That definitely adds to their use. Speaking of which, why would Aether be used for fuel? Is it just super efficient?

It's likely just easy to produce. Zephyr spore + water = fuel. No complicated process as long as you have access to spores. 

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Ladder Contact 6814

What are the other six types of spores we didn't get to see in the book? Were there any that you really wanted to include, but couldn't?

Brandon Sanderson

No. When I've written books, I tend to gravitate toward a couple of the aethers that are really the most dynamic for action scenes and things like that. Some of the other aethers are there for the necessity of the future of the Cosmere. For instance: zephyr, while very useful in this for firing cannons and stuff, is really there so that we can have propellant in space by just-add-water and make yourself some extra propellant. And atmosphere; kind of a low-tech (there's better-tech ways), but a low-tech way to: "hey, we've got zephyr aether, it makes breathable air. And so, if we've got water and a barrel of this stuff, then we'll be able to breathe." So there are some of the aethers that are there for that sort of reason, so that we can have pneumatic weaponry and some easy access to emergency propellant in space, and stuff like that.

But verdant is the one that I just keep coming back to, that one and roseite, as making for the most dynamic storytelling. We'll see what I do with some of the others. I'm not gonna answer what the ones I haven't mentioned are, because I am saving them for future books to be used and to be interesting and engaging with them.

Tress Spoiler Stream (March 31, 2023)

The applications of Navigating in the cognitive realm seem fairly straightforward. Being able to sense things in the cognitive realm will obviously be useful, but I wonder, is that its only use?

Navigators are able to sense "the current," aka investiture coming off of the Grand Knell. Does this ability only work on the Grand Knell, though? Or would they have similar abilities to seekers and be able to sense others using invested arts?

On 2/17/2023 at 3:36 PM, cometaryorbit said:

Maybe they're not really pewter. 

What if Marasi just identified it wrong?

She says 

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Such a small thing, and so clean, a shining sliver of... pewter was it?

Later, she describes it as a "silvery metal."

To me, she seems unsure. I would trust Marasi to identify most metals (this is Scadrial after all), but maybe it's not one she's seen in person, or at least not that often. Maybe there are more blessings than just the ones we know.

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InsurrectionistFungus

Are there more kinds of kandra blessings than just the four we've seen?

Brandon Sanderson

Potentially, yes.

17th Shard Forum Q&A (Sept. 26, 2012)

The trend we've seen with kandra blessings is that they have to be pure metals. If that pattern holds and it's not one of the four we know, it could be either cadmium, chromium, aluminum, or gold. I think it's safe to say it isn't gold, and I feel like Marasi would be able to identify cadmium (her metal) and aluminum (incredibly valuable). Process of elimination suggests that it was chromium, which "might steal destiny." I think that's basically the same thing as stealing fortune, but in Mistborn Era 1 terms.

Fortune/luck is a topic not well understood at this point, but it seems a fitting attribute for a kandra that found a long-lost relic. 

I was going through WoBs and found this interesting tidbit.

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Lacrossedeamon

Now that Odium is Retribution, does he have access to the surge of Adhesion? Will we see a tenth brand of Fused? Tenth Unmade?

Brandon Sanderson

He does, and yes you could see that.

Lacrossedeamon

Can Yelig-nar finally grant its host Adhesion?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, he could.

YouTube Spoiler Stream 7 (Dec. 19, 2025)

It opens up a lot of interesting possibilities (mostly regarding fused; Unmade are still a big mystery).

I feel that a fused with the surge of adhesion would likely be able to stick to surfaces (not unlike Spider-Man). As for names, I think the "grasping ones" sounds appropriate.

Any other ideas for these fused or implications of Retribution having access to adhesion?

On 5/26/2024 at 1:27 PM, Elite01 said:

Another interesting tidbit is that kolos elders cover themselves in bandages when they outgrow their skin. I don’t think it’s realistic to have a crew of kolos elders manage a ship but it is interesting. 
 

Just wanted to revisit this topic after Dragonsteel 2025. While we didn't get any updates on the book (as far as I'm aware), we did get this image from the Cosmere RPG panel. They briefly mentioned that when developing the culture of the Koloss in Era 2, they went with these wrappings that have their language on them. I think it's fairly likely the mummies will be koloss in origin. 
Image taken from this video.

1. Red is the color of corrupted investiture. Meaning Odium is corrupting a magic system that isn't his own with his intent.

2. Could you explain what you mean by this?

3. Not sure. Maybe it's based on what light they're using? Our heroes usually use stormlight, so no red eyes. But if someone with an enlightened spren used voidlight, maybe it would be a different story.

These are the ways Brandon catologues the magic of Roshar

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Questioner

How many magic systems are in The Stormlight Archive, and how many of them haven't been seen?

Brandon Sanderson

I would say the only major one you haven’t seen is Voidbinding, it depends on how you count them. I count fabrials as one, Surgebinding as one, and Voidbinding as one. And then the Old Magic is kind of its own weird thing.

Calamity Seattle signing (Feb. 17, 2016)

If they're not voidbinding that leaves surgebinding, fabrials, and old magic. Of those three, I think it's clear that fabrials are the most fitting. They have a spren inside them that grants them different effects. Regals are just unique in that the spren they're using have been touched by Odium but it's the same system as normal forms of power (which of themselves are just organic fabrials)

What started as a fun experiment for one of my favorite characters quickly became a small series. I realized it'd be better to create one post I could update rather than make a new one each time I got a new idea.

I've tried to write most of Paalm's major moments that happen off-screen. Spoilers below for Shadows of Self (obviously)

- now with a new one set before Alloy of Law - The Fastest Wedding in the Roughs

Investiture left too long will eventually gain sapience, and the mists have long watched the world of Scadrial. Tonight, they speak to one lucky, retired lawman.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/69830491

My hopes/theory for Mistborn era 3 captured in a short chapter

It's honestly crazy to me how well Unity works as the name of the Dominion and Devotion shard, but why would this be relevant to Dalinar on Roshar? The only thing I can think of is how a shard's investiture is technically everywhere in the cosmere, not just their planet (like how Nightblood contains some of Ruin)

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Walin

Does Nightblood contain any of Ruin's Investiture? Like, not atium, but...

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, technically; and I'm not wiggling around that, because technically, location in the Cosmere and who belongs to what gets really weird, right? Because Ruin's Investiture is everywhere--but I'm not talking that way. I'm talking the way you actually mean it. 

Legion Release Party (Sept. 19, 2018)

I personally very much hope that Dalinar was somehow referring to the Dor here (tapping into their shared intent), but it just seems like such a longshot for such an iconic moment in a different series. Maybe Brandon is foreshadowing stuff in the back half like you said.

Thought it'd be fun to see another character burning gold. 

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https://archiveofourown.org/works/69375621

Scholar or King? Two sides of Elend he could never reconcile, but when he burns gold for the first time, it gets worse.

 

Missing scene set between the Well of Ascension and the Hero of Ages.

I'm loving the Cosmere RPG, but was a bit disappointed it didn't have anything for playing a soulcaster. I was hoping for a whole path similar to the shardbearer, but no dice unfortunately. But that just led me to building my own, and I figured I'd post it here.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tYsVgnQUXNQTE1lj4zL-37mdis69QSw90KsO_CqG2kk/edit?tab=t.0

This is still very much a work in progress, and I would love feedback!

Was reviewing Isles of Emberdark, and something stood out to me. Multiple times Zeetzi seems to connect to the ship systems via electricity.
 

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ZeetZi studied the instruments on his dash. One hand was on half of his lodestar, which he’d plugged into the slot on the dash for it. The other, however, hovered over the built-in Scadrian control panel, and little lines of electricity—like tiny lightning bolts—connected his fingers to the panel, letting him use those native controls, which were written in the brutal, pointed, northern Scadrian script.

At first I thought the electricity was just descriptive flair, but Zeetzi does this multiple times throughout the book, and as far as I could tell, no one else does this. 

This leads to my question, is this Invention's invested art? A way for invention's people to naturally interface with machines would be very on brand.

But how exactly might this work? I wonder how this ability might be useful pre-space age. Could it be used to interface with fabrials (as an example?)

Shallan falls to the bottom of the sea floor of Roshar's subastral in WaT.

While sub astrals are weird, it's possible there's a bottom of the unsea as well. We just have no clue how far down it is.