Munin

Speaking of symbols, one of the chapter heading images is a crescent moon with a few spears through it. Does it look like the Allomantic metal symbols to anyone else?

Thoughtspren?

I actually disagree here. Blizzard has indirectly told every player how to DPS. Well, not told them how, but set up an efficient rotation. As a DK, you can make up your own rotation, but your runes will be all over the place unless you use them in a specific order, and only dump your runic power at specific times. As a prot warrior, if you don't follow the priority system, your threat output will suffer. As a hunter, if you use the wrong shot at the wrong time, you'll do less damage. If an Arms warrior refreshes Rend at the wrong time, he loses an Overpower proc. I don't deny that it's possible to freestyle it a bit and still get good results. But the fact is that there's always a mathematically superior option (although that can vary for some specs based on gear). They're not trying to make every rotation viable. They're trying to make every spec viable.

My guess is that the symbol creatures are Stormlightspren.

I agree that Sazed doesn't hold another shard by the strict definition of the word. But based on the fact that it's the seventeenth, it's obviously supposed to be different. It could even be a small joke on Sazed's part. Now, personally, I don't that Sazed is involved. But that's for reasons other than the name.

...It's always been like that, though. There's always been a "best" rotation for every spec.

Personally, I'm still disappointed by Heroic Leap. It's so redundant as to be comical.

Not necessarily. The Almighty could have created the planet on his own. Or maybe the Vorin faith is wrong on that point.

Except that you would still include Ruin and Preservation in the count, even if they're gone. Sazed now holds the seventeenth known shard. It's not a count of how many there are, it's a count of how many there ever were. That's why the epigraph says "three of sixteen", even though at least five shardholders are now dead.

Except that Talenel has dark eyes.

Game design mandates everyone's rotations, though. Also, Leinton, there are going to be three kinds of glyphs. Major glyphs will just boost damage, prime glyphs will be more unique effects (like some of the major glyphs on live), and minor glyphs will remain minor effects.

Basically anything by Robin Hobb, but especially the Liveship Traders trilogy.

Keep in mind that glyphs are getting changed in Cataclysm, too, so those may not do the same thing once it comes out.

Zinc. Being able to think faster on command would be pretty useful. Although storing it up would probably be a pain.

Or maybe the Dawnshards are fabrials of some sort.

I don't think we know what it means in this context yet. The fact that it can bind "voidish" creatures is also interesting. I'm also curious if different Dawnshards do different things.

I actually posted this on TWG, but it got buried and ignored, so I figured I'd run it up the flagpole over here and see what people thought. I was just reading the Truthless thread, and LoneStar mentioned that Syl says she "binds things". And that reminded me of something. From Jasnah's notes in the epigraphs (emphasis mine): Are the Dawnshards related to Spren in some way? Also, does "bind" relate to Surgebinding in this context? We know that Syl enables Kaladin's abilities. Could it be that the Dawnshards let people perform even more powerful feats? Perhaps provide them with an endless supply of Stormlight?

I agree it's highly likely, but at least in my opinion, wikis are for confirmed facts. Forums are more the place for unproven theories, no matter how likely.

In the epigraphs, it's mentioned that Hoid is probably the author of the epigraphs. However, it seems to me like theories don't really belong in a wiki. What are the rules on this?

We do?

Do we know that Shalash is female?

I s'pose we'll have to improvise!

Yes, sir.

I did not! You stole them! *adds paranoia to the list of symptoms*

Ah, okay, I thought you were referring to a question he was asked at the San Diego book signing.