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Very true. I do wonder if maybe it was something to do with his Cognitive Aspect, like Kaladin's scars, and him being broken-hearted from the loss of his wife. Hard to say, but I don't want to use it as an argument anymore. Do we know if Chromium can leech an Aon? I tried finding a WOB or reference, but came up empty. But agreed as well - even if it's only temporary, the opportunity it creates is pretty good.

Would you mind me asking a clarification question? In this scenario, are we imagining that the cosmere armies are fighting Earth like an invading force from the Cognitive Realm, or is it more hypothetical in the sense of it's a blank field with an Earth army on one side and a cosmere army on the other? The only reason I ask is that, if it were more an actual war and Earth had no Cognitve Realm access, we wouldn't be able to get our jets, vehicles and infantry off world as we don't have any practical spaceships for something like that. Thanks heaps!

Hmm, that's a fair point. Still, at the very least, they are supernaturally enhanced and more durable than regular humans. I don't think it's unreasonable to think they'd be similar to pewter mistings. Even barring that, Aon Edo- the shielding Aon that draws power equal to the force going into it, is one of the quickest Aons to draw. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Galladon's father choose to die as his wife had passed away? I remember reading that the condition he had was treatable, but he decided to let it take him. I don't think it was a heart attack in the sense of a sudden thing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that because he was too far away from Elantris because the climax against Dilaf was in Teod? As @Wits instant noodles said the Elantrian had access to all powers, I'm assuming this Connection issue isn't applying here, or that the fight takes place close to Elantris.

My apologies, but I believe Elantrians do have regenerative powers. Their bodies are constantly renewed by the Dor. As per the above WOB, they can regrow a new head if they've been decapitated. In some ways, it's actually better than the Radiants and the Feruchemists, as it doesn't rely on a stored resource - it's inherent.

Ooh, interesting match up! Giving the scenario that you've set up here (Mistborn w/ 16 metals, so not including Atium) I have to go with an Elantrian. While their abilities take more time to utilize, once they get those Aons going there isn't much they can't do. The real kicker would be whether the Mistborn could kill the Elantrian before they could draft the necessary Aons. While potentially possible, Elantrian's are incredibly tough and very hard to kill. As per the following WOB, they can even survive decapitation; their bodies being renewed by the Dor. Perhaps Chromium Leeching could have some impact on either the Elantrian or the Aons. Would be an interesting question to ask Brandon; if a Leecher touching an Aon would be able to delete it. I don't fell that it would, as the Aon is constantly drawing from that source of near-limitless Investiture until the Aonic effect occurs. So, the Mistborn would struggle to kill the Elantrian, and can't really interrupt their magic. The Elantrian can do a lot of things - stun them with Aon Ashe, hit them with explosive force from Aon Daa, and block their advance with Aon Edo. This all bides more and more time for a more complex weaving of Aons to permanently disable the Mistborn. Would welcome any critique against this though!

That's a valid point as well. However, didn't the experiment produce both Lerasium and Atium dust?

You're correct here - I reckon it's a pretty safe assumption that Honor's Drop is holding BaAdo. Larkin grow in size both due to age and the amount of Investiture that they've consumed. As mentioned prior, Voidlight is just a raw form of Investiture, which Larkin's can naturally consume. The reason they need to bond the mandra's/ luckspren is because otherwise they'd collapse under their own weight (this is Brandon's solution to circumventing the square-cube law). There's a relevant WOB for these lines. Have listed below: The King's Drop is the only one that we have physically seen, and it certainly could be that it and Honor's Drop are the same gemstone (which would been BaAdo's been moved to another gemstone). We aren't sure yet. My head-canon currently aligns with what you've said about the King's and Honor's Drop being two parts of the Stone of 10 Dawns; an ancient ruby stone split into ten parts. I like this theory, and it how it ties in with other cosmerelogical phenomina. In fact, there's another WOB that ties into this, though it's particularly referencing the disconnect between the singers and the parshmen.

Them's some pretty nutty numbers though mate. There's roughly eight billion people on Earth, true, but most of them aren't in the military or know how to utilize military technology. Compare that with magic users like Allomancers, who would have an intrinsic understanding of their abilities. If a global draft was even initiated on all sides, each cosmere planet with magic users of that level will be bringing a lot more to bear.

I'll have to re-read the scene again, but that's a valid theory - that the extra Ruin Intent (to break apart the bonds of creation) combined with the strong Autonomy Intent (to be separate and unbound) would have helped the situation. I also think that Wax's and Steris's Intent was part of it. They wanted to create Lerasium and Atium - the Set wanted to make bombs.

One other thing to consider is the trade and advancement of technology that comes from warfare. The most advanced cosmere worlds - Sel, Roshar, Taldain and Scadrial - would likely be capable of replicating our technology to some extent. I reckon Sel Elantrians and Rosharan Soulcasters could be rather good at this, since they'd be able to deduce an object's Cognitive Aspect and break down from there. In comparison, humanity can't learn how to use Investiture or the Invested arts (unless we count fabrials and medallions, I suppose). If the war went on over a number of years, I could see this gap proving more of a challenge as the cosmere worlds get up to speed. That being said, @alder24 has made a very good point about flight. Fighter jets with explosive payloads (especially if we bring nukes into the equation) are just insane when going against the common folk and the cities of the cosmere. I can see Elantris surviving due to an Aonic shield, maybe, but places like Kholinar or Elendel? Doubtful. If we were to look at a widescale conflict, it's far more likely that Earth's initially strafing and bombing runs would deplete the moral of the civilians and disrupt the supply chains necessary for the cosmere armies. (This isn't taking morals and ethics into account, in fairness. Or the actual logistics, since we'd have to be moving these things off world through physical space -which is a problem). In a pitched battle, certain cosmere armies might have an edge. Soulcasters changing tanks into immobile blocks, Iron compounders being able to pull jets from the sky, or Crashers being able to push missiles away. It's situational, sure, but there's something there. Problem is, Earth doesn't really fight pitched battles anymore. Planes can fly so high they'd be practically unreachable, and again a single bombing run could cripple an enemy line. Not to mention our satellites being able to provide updates quicker than spanreeds or Seons. The only nation that could realistically compete would be a scaled up Elantris. Their biggest limiting factor is their small number, but here that's not as big an issue, and they literally program reality. And, as @Frustration put it, they could draft a massive Aon and kill the planet. Earth's real biggest concern would be if all of the cosmere planets teamed up against us, and shared their technology with each other. The sheer weight of numbers and magic combined would likely be able to overcome our militaries.

Correct, but they're not 'true Bondsmiths' either. Is Szeth a Windrunner when he holds Jezrien's blade, or is he merely using their Surges? I don't believe we've exactly seen how their squires function either. Can they manipulate Connection to the extent we've seen Dalinar and Ishar do, or is there usage of the Surges more similar to how the Stonewards and Windrunners use them? If there's been an example I've missed, feel free to correct me though.

For sure, and given the amount of power that the Aethers seem to have (to the point that they think themselves older than all other Investiture) it's probably within their wheelhouse and power scale.

One theory that I had is that the moons are (in the vaguest sense) acting as a form of living space elevator. The spores that the primal Aethers drop are a form of Invested anchor - a living line keeping each moon equidistant from its neighboring Aethers. Kind of like a Helium balloon floating on a string. That way, even if gravity would usually cause the moon to draw nearer or further from the planet's surface, the moons current position is the perfect distance for the Aether within. It's the Investiture that's binding it in place.

This is actually somewhat reasonable. If the moons are basically hollow, and have a lot less mass than their size would suggest, it helps quell the gravity/ Roche limit problem a little.

Vasher and Vivenna are using Breaths, which is a less sticky kind of Investiture to carry around. Breaths are connected to your soul/ spiritweb, which is connected to the Spiritual Realm, which exists everywhere. Most other forms of Investiture are similar. However, in the case of Stormlight, Voidlight and (possibly) Lifelight, there's a problem of Connection binding that type of Investiture and the spren to the Rosharan system. It's likely got something to do with Honor and the nature of the Oath he used to bind Odium. We still don't know how Hoid was able to leave Roshar in Era 2 with his spren bond intact - it's probably going to have something to do with what goes down in book 5. However, as per this Word of Brandon, he's the only one we've seen do it so far. Plus, he's a bit of an anomaly anyway - not your average Radiant. Slight Spoilers for The Lost Metal below: Hope that helps!

This seems plausible to me. Soulcasting absolutely involves Connection, as the user needs to send their mind into Shadesmar to Connect with the Cognitive aspect of the object they are transforming, and then convince it to change. Now, would it make it easier or harder for Soulcasting? Not sure - that Connection's strength may make the object more resistant to change. Like, you've known that hair as your own for as long as it's existed - your Connection to it as hair is quite strong. Whereas, for someone else's hair, you're seeing it as an object that you want to be food - your starting point to forge the Connection is more what you want it to be. That being said, it would also be easier to forge that initial Connection due to it already existing in some way... I'd welcome more Cosmerenaughts to theorize on this, as I'm not fully sure which way is more realistic.

Does iron in my cereal and steak count? If so, then yes. Which colour is superior to all others?

Depends. Has the elephant wronged the chickens in any way? If so, that added determination swings the odds in their favour. If we're talking raw numbers, the average elephant weighs roughly 6000kg. The average chicken weighs about 3.5kg. By those numbers, it would take 1847 chickens to equal the mass of one elephant. I'll round that up to a whole number for convenience and clarity. So, I believe it would take at least 2000 chickens to kill and elephant.

That's a fantastic WOB @Frustration, thank you for finding it.

For a Returned that process involves dying, but not for all immortals. Hoid compares himself to the Sorceress, who's an Elantrian. Do the Elantrian's die during the process of becoming one, as they go through the Shaod? Maybe they do, maybe they don't; as he said, it's a matter of scholarly debate. If your soul is Infused with so much Investiture that you're essentially no longer 'you', have you died? Or, is it still you because of your spiritweb and your Connections to those around you? As a more practical example, did Kelsier's soul go to the Beyond, but his Cognitive version stay behind and continue to act as the original Kelsier would have, or is it still Kelsier's soul and he hasn't gone to the Beyond? I don't know if Brandon will ever confirm this, kind of like how he's said he'll never confirm the God Beyond's existence. It's a matter of debate for the characters and their worldviews. In looking at that reference specifically, I believe the process Hoid is referring to is his taking up of the Dawnshard, which warped his spiritweb due to the influx of Investiture. It's very similar to Elantrian's going through the Shaod, being filled with the raw power of the Dor. I feel that's the fossilization process that he's taking about. He may have 'died' in that sense, but I don't see it as proof that Hoid physically died. I'm not denying that he may have, mind you, but I don't feel this is a smoking gun moment.

If you had to pick one, which of the Five Powers/ Weaves are you taking? Or are you a fellow wolfkin perhaps? Apart from books, do you have any large or noteworthy collections? Which Cosmere character do you relate to the most/ have the most in common with? What is the most satisfying thing you've ever done? In your opinion, how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

How many other almonds do you reckon you could take in a fight? A tad obligatory, but which Sanderson work is your favourite at the moment? Do you have a favourite time of year or season? Are you opposed to being water?

This is a very interesting point! I know that in TFE all compasses point to Luthadel because the Lord Ruler moved the magnetic north pole underneath the capital city (which I think came about as part of moving the Well, so they might be linked). It's also possible that Dusk's compass is some kind of Invested tool specifically drawn to the strong amounts of Investiture held within Patji, so the wayfinders can locate (or avoid) those specific islands when they need to. Not sure though; would have to read the story again. Great observation though!

I'm sorry, but could you pass on the reference to when Hoid died? I don't believe I've seen that anywhere before. As @Frustration has said, he is a Sliver, but I don't believe he died to become one.