Inkthinker

Hey all, Isaac Stewart and myself were interviewed recently for Farland's Authors Advisory podcast, on the topic of "Visually Adapting Novels". Usually they interview authors to advise authors, but this case Mike wanted to get some insight into how authors can make use of illustrators. When to hire someone for the cover of your ebook, what you can do to make your work the sort of thing that attracts artists to it, and things to avoid when dealing with artists, as well as the stories of how both Isaac and I got involved with Brandon's work. Check it out! http://authorsadvisory.blogspot.com/2013/03/visual-adaptation-of-novels.html Fair warning: I'm a filthy interrupter. It's like a tic, I gotta learn to count to three before I talk. Hopefully it won't drive anyone mad, it makes me twitch like tourettes.

There's something we've been missing for a long time, we need a fan-art thread! How do you think I was discovered? Here's someone I found recently, I like her stuff: http://botanicaxu.deviantart.com/art/The-MISTBORN-United-355179444 Plus, she did Elantris fan-art! http://botanicaxu.deviantart.com/art/ELANTRIS-A-Tale-of-Love-and-Hate-351999901 Never enough of that.

Seriously, this. It's one of the benefits of community. Tell us what times you were lost, and we'll fill it out.

It's also easy to point out that Plate and Blades aren't necessarily made of "metal". It's shiny and tough like metal, but it shatters rather than dents and it grows back. Both Plate and Blade exhibit other non-metal properties.

I'm hoping he can hold on for at least the first five-book cylce of the series. He's pretty darn awesome.

Why prevent insanity? Conflict and struggle make for a better story. :)/> Seeking out a Blessing of Stability (zinc, according to the game) would make a good plot goal, though. I think one of the fundamental points of monsterwraiths was that they are NOT intelligent, at least not in the same way that the traditional kandra are. I'm sure we could write around it, but the monsterwraith still isn't in full control of its shapeshifting (hence the congolmeration of body parts) and probably not as smart as the koloss it consumed, much less a human. Does obtaining ANY spikes grant a mistwraith intelligence? I thought you needed the Blessing of Presence first. You can compound your abilities with additional, different spikes, but don't all kandra require the Blessing of Presence to awaken them? Even if that's not the case, the spikes a monsterwraith absorbs from a koloss may not the same as those spikes designed to uplift the kandra. Same material, different application, possibly different because the SDNA has been tainted by the koloss?

To this point, I would suggest that the psychotic aggression of the koloss may very well be a physical characteristic... the result of enlarged, runaway glandular processes combined with reduced brain capacity. Hence, for a barely-sentient mistwraith to absorb that body and those spikes results in a conglomeration of mismatched corpse parts with out-of-control glands and psychotic aggressive tendencies. As for what would happen to a kandra that takes a koloss body as their own... gosh, I don't know, but I bet it wouldn't be pretty. There are existing rules for taking in hemalurgically charged iron spikes (it's the Blessing of Potency, I believe) but I don't know if getting used ones from a koloss would make a difference. If I were gaming it, I'd say that the kandra would gain the usual Iron Spike benefits... maybe with a bit of bonus... but they would need to make more frequent and more difficult checks to avoid sudden, irrational and homicidal rages, just like the koloss (if it's a player, they literally lose control of their character for a set period of time to the gamemaster, who will probably make awful things happen). If I were writing it, it'd be a slow spiraling descent into homicidal madness. In either case, I'd probably rule that eventually the kandra goes insane and kills everyone he knows or loves, if he doesn't get rid of the spikes or have them taken from him. Might make for an interesting character story, a kandra that must disguise itself as a koloss for some reason or another, and has to struggle with the koloss rage and the body, while trying to maintain their own sense of identity. -EDIT- I accidentally some words.

Hah! Depend on you guys to put more thought into this than I ever did. Y'all sussed out the basic concept well enough... a mistwraith absorbs a koloss corpse which, for whatever reason, still contains the spikes. In doing so the spikes (which are already in the right place) are absorbed as well. Whether the mistwraith reuses the organs themselves, or creates new ones with the spikes in them, isn't super-relevant, but logically if the mistwraith's first kidney is a kidney with a spike in it, then it's going to think that's how kidney's are meant to be. As noted, unused spikes will hold a charge for a significant time, so it's reason There is a certain amount of hand-waving happening here. We needed more antagonist options, and we wanted some new monsters, and this was an idea that gained tacit approval from Brandon. It helps expand upon why skaa fear the mistwraiths (mostly superstition, but occasionally because they run into something like this and word gets around), and it gives players something to fight, while encouraging gamemasters to look for other ways to work the magic system to create new threats.

Eeeeehhhh... I suggest seeking validation on the subject of whether or not they're the wood that the bridges are made from, but my notes suggest that it's so. But those notes are from the 2009 edit, and Brandon changed the book up a bunch from there. It's probably right... Unfortunately, a quick search of my e-book edition reveals that the stumpweight tree is mentioned only three times in the canon text, and none of the mentions are in conjunction with the Shattered Plains, much less the bridges. On the other hand, you can mix the sap with rockbud seeds and paste that all over a leeward surface to grow food. So... that's good to know. The illustration locks down the visual at least, and so it's still pretty much the perfect wood for building anything. The stumpweight is practically purpose-designed as a commodity; they grow relatively straight, not very tall, and with an even grain. It does everything but actually grow in planks. The only downside to the stuff is that it's hard to get planks more than 6 or 7 feet long.

That's fairly close to the diagrams I've drawn up in my notes, though I had less curvature (making it a flat, hollow box with wedge-shaped ends). Then again, I also missed the quote on curves, and I'm also not a structural engineer. Though I do know arcs are stronger, so I'd say it's a smarter design. At the risk of shooting myself in the foot, it's the stumpweight tree. Which is conveniently very straight and light, with large, easily stripped leaves. Sort of a cross between palm and pine, I think. Man, I'm gonna feel stupid if that's wrong. I'm batting low on trivia, lately.

Man, I wish we hadn't lost our TWG thread. We did something like 10 pages on this subject, working out the math. The end result, as I recall, was more or less as Senor describes. Part of the problem is that Brandon never clearly states how wide the average chasm is. We ended up deciding that the widest (navigable) gaps are probably no more than 15-20 feet across, which allows the 40-foot bridge just enough leverage. Opposite plateaus must be always slightly lower than the current one, though they don't have to be lower by much, and it's important to remember that few if any plateaus have a level, even surface... it's not uncommon for two adjacent plateaus to both have points that are higher than their neighbor, thanks to uneven ground. Think about the realistic ability of an average, athletically fit long jump... most people can probably barely make a 6-7 foot gap comfortably, and that's unencumbered. Add armor and weapons, and that's even more unlikely. Now, consider that you don't want your men arriving at the battle exhausted from marching and leaping across chasms, so you probably drop the bridge for any gap more than 3-4 feet across. The average gap is probably about ten feet wide, which is still WAY further than you want to try and jump across, but plenty short enough for a 40-foot bridge. TL;DR the chasms are probably not as wide as you may imagine. The record for long jumps is just over the 25-foot range, but bear in mind, again, this isn't about setting records... it's about repeated leaps on long marches over uneven terrain. The Parshendi can grasshopper their way across the Plains, but humans don't do that action. If you can avoid having your soldiers do any leaping at all (especially as a failed jump would mean losing a man and equipment) then that's the way you want to handle it. Honestly, I'm less confused about Sadeas's bridges than I am about Dalinar's chull-towed towers. How the heck do they get THOSE across the gaps they're bridging? Presumably in stages (tower 1 bridges, tower 2 crosses, tower 2 bridges, tower 1 crosses, etc) but I've yet to suss out the design that lets the tower cross over the gap that it bridges itself.

Hmmmm... nope, still doesn't work for me. I'd train Mistings and those without abilities in the same way, so that my Mistings who run out of juice are no less capable than the ones who never had it to begin with. And as trained fighters, they'd be no less at a disadvantage carrying metals than any Allomancer, and would probably take the same precautions (using quick-release ties on coin pouches, drinking vials before entering combat, etc). Which is better: a highly-trained fighter with specific skills to battle Allomancers, or a highly-trained fighter with specific skills to battle Allomancers and an edge with their own abilities. I'm not arguing that I'm right in terms of the canon, the text there isn't leaving a lot of room for wiggle. I'm just not sure why I'm wrong, and I guess I'll have to remember to ask either Brandon/Peter (if the latter doesn't pop up here on his own) or maybe Alex and the team at Crafty (who might have asked Brandon themselves, and have it written down somewhere).

Hrmph. Harrumph, I say! Are they a formal organization? I had "hazekillers" pegged as basically the equivalent of "special forces" in the various House guards or paramilitary Ministry personnel. People specifically trained to fight Mistings or Mistborn, and it didn't matter if you were a Misting yourself (in fact, it'd be damned useful). If I'm setting up a team of fast-response forces to fight a specific threat, why wouldn't I include people who were best equipped to fight that threat on its own terms?

Hazekillers can be Allomantic Mistings, I'm almost certain there's examples of Coinshot and Lurcher Hazekillers, and I don't know why there wouldn't be others. For instance, I recall a Lurcher armed with a large wooden shield that negated Coinshots by pulling their coins into his shield rather than whatever they were aimed at.

I'm not sure why anyone would be offended? One of the very most fun parts of my job is extrapolating from the ideas Brandon gives me for the concept work. Most of it he either counters outright, or at best leaves it on the table, maybe it'll be useful some later day but for now it is neither here nor there. Once in a rare while I win one, and that's my day.

Whup, there you go. I still say that lacy gloves on Roshar are scandalous hot. At least to sufficiently stuffy, conservative Vorin. Regular gloves are probably more like bathing suits, or at least tight jeans. Pretty sure I'm over-thinking it, though. If I recall properly, Brandon said something to the effect that the concealment of the safehand isn't so much a sexual taboo (like ladies covering their legs) but probably more like the headscarf or wimple, which is more about propriety and devotion and respect and a bunch of old traditions drenched in a couple thousand years of continuity. In that sense, revealing your safehand to someone isn't so much an erotic act as an act of intimacy and trust. In that sense it might be a prelude to romance, much like a woman uncovering her hair, but in and of itself it is not about sexuality. Anyhow, the description of Shallan's initial dress is based on the concept art I think, and in that the sleeves are similar to a kimono. The left sleeve should be long enough that if the arm and the hand are fully extended, the sleeve stops about an inch from the furthest fingertip. The sleeve buttons up at the mouth, but you can either reach between the buttons or undo it in order to reach down into the sleeve or expose the hand. I had a couple ideas about the right-hand sleeve, I don't know if we every came to a consistent conclusion about whether it was cut shorter, or cut the same length but fastened back to let the right hand be free (the left sleeve could fasten back as well, but good girls wouldn't dare think of it). If I had to choose, I'd do the latter (equal cuts, one fastened and one open). On Shallan's dress, the right sleeve can be opened up to the elbow

If he's referring to a real-world artist, he hasn't told me about it. The safe-hand is also an exploration/illustration of how different cultures find different things to be arousing or forbidden. For instance, an Alethi woman touching a man with her safe-hand would be considered pretty damnation forward behavior. Showing someone your fingertips might be a subtle form of flirtation, and so on and so forth. Safe-hands are not useless. You can grip things through the cloth (though it's probably considered a bit gauche) and most articles of clothing that cover the hand retain a slot through which the hand may emerge if needed, or be reached from outside. If women wear dresses with long and voluminous sleeves, they may sew a pocket inside the sleeve of the safe-hand in which they hold valuables. I'm trying to remember if Brandon said anything about the use of gloves, but danged if I can recall for sure. It's probably a bit like lingerie.

Axies the Collector, most certainly. At some point we're going to learn a lot about spren, and I reckon Axies will be the infodump resource. I don't reckon that Ishikk is all that likely to play an important role, but I really hope we come back to the Purelake.

It might still be a multiplier if Vin's a better or more natural user of pewter than Ham is. If Vin burns more effectively than Ham at a 2:1, then the fact that she's naturally less powerful than him is negated quickly by her ability to burn stronger. Then even if "more burning" is a multiplying scale, he'll never catch her because he's always burning less effectivey. Heck, I'm not a math whiz, but if it's a percentage multiplier then she not only beats him on the burn, she gains exponential ground the more they burn . If that's the case, her efficiency ratio doesn't even need to be as extreme as 2:1, and at smaller charges she isn't stronger than him. But as they burn more, she effectively matches and then passes him.

Dang, beat me to it. Skydiving? "Lights", maybe? A person who has never seen a starry sky would not know what a star was. Not that anyone on Scadrial would be consciously quoting Arthur Clarke. :)/> It's about as cool a way for a character to go out as any I can think of. I like the visual.

Welp, that shuts me up. G'night folks!

I am 99% certain you cannot store Allomantic strength in a metalmind, only natural strength. But I think you're right, you'd still appear weak and frail... so yeah, not so secret. If you pulled pewter from the metalmind to bulk up (Feruchemy), then burned pewter from a bead (Allomancy), you'd grow huge and then you'd grow even stronger and faster than could be accounted for with your increased size... but you can't store AND drain at the same time... if you switch from draining to storage, you'd lose the bulk and shrink down, but you'd still be effectively as strong as normal. The strength that goes into the metalmind is ONLY your "natural" strength, Allomantic strength can prop you up so that you don't suffer the effects but you're still draining yourself so the effects remain... you're just covering up the symptoms. If you start out burning pewter, then switch to storage, you'd still shrink down and you'd still lose power... but the Allomancy burn prevents those effects from affecting your performance ability. The amount being added to the pewtermind is ONLY that which you possess naturally. Now, I suppose you COULD use this to drain yourself into a Pewtermind at a dangerous rate that would otherwise kill you. Just don't run out of pewter to burn. And you can still Compound, burning your own Feruchemically charged pewter for some crazy insane level of Allomantic pewter-strength. A Pewter-Pewter Twinborn would definitely be crazy powerful physically, and as mentioned above would probably be naturally a fit and strong person. But I just don't see being able to store the same power you drain from a burn. You can trade strength for strength, but not act a conduit. They're not the same energy, they just have similar effects.

I think it's worth noting that the effects of pewter-strength are different in Allomancy and Feruchemy. Pewter-burning grants strength and speed, but doesn't physically change the Allomancer. Pewter-draining grants strength and speed by making the Feruchemist bigger and presumably making muscles and nerves more responsive. Feruchemical pewter-strength comes from a different place than Allomantic, and I'd say it'd be most balanced to rule that Allomantic pewter strength/speed can't be stored in Feruchemical pewter, only natural "real" strength/speed. Maybe because the energy is being burned, and so can't be channeled. Now, what a Twinborn could do is drain his natural strength/speed by half and then burn pewter at the same time in order to return to his baseline. The pewter-granted power isn't being stored, it's being burned. The metalmind gets filled, while nobody notices that you're weaker than normal. Good way for a powerful Pewtermind to keep their ability a secret. The RPG might have some information that would clarify this question, and that would be Brandon-approved.

Also, I thought the "ultimate knowledge" thing only lasted for that time in which he held the power, and afterwards the knowledge left him with nothing more than memories of things he used to know. So a lot of time could be spent trying to recreate something that he knows is possible, but can't recall all the details of anymore.

Hemalurgy effectively allows you to bend the rules of Allomancy and Feruchemy, at a cost (corruption and insanity, not to mention murder at some point by someone), but you can have heroic characters affected by Hemalurgy (see Spook, Zane or Vin), and they might be more interesting characters if they're being confused by Ruin/the GM and needing to make occasional spot checks to fight it. Plus, a Coinshot with a Hemalurgic Tin spike sounds exactly like a Steel Ministry experiment. That's often my fallback for any unique combination of whatever in Mistborn Classic... over the thousand-year rule of the Empire, The Lord Ruler and the Canton did loooooots of experiments on skaa (and probably nobles), and any one of those could result in a one-off, or even a a whole program that lasts for decades, even centuries, before fading out for one reason or another a hundred years before the events of the first novel. Do you really think the Koloss were the first and last creation of The Empire? Naaaahhhh... made a lot of attempts before they found that right combination of power, stability and control.