Leuthie

Look at the map. The shape of the land resembles a hurricane. I don't think the path of a Highstorm is linear. Also, Purelake is considered the eye of the Highstorms.

Three names. Tanavast the physical, Honor the spiritual, "One Long Since Departed" the cognitive.

I believe the face is the highstorm spren. Wouldn't such a regularly occurring phenomenon have its own spren?

My guess is that Hoid had the ability to keep Kelsier's woman (Mara?) from dying and refused. Or Hoid was pushing Vin toward her sacrifice and Kelsier knew of a different way. Either way, Hoid's knowledge and actions were known by Kelsier and went against what Kelsier thought would happen.

Spren weren't.mentioned. Doesn't mean they weren't there. Pretty sure spren are ignored by Rosharians most of the time. They are a part of.the landscape. Pretty sure spren were around and visible before Honor died. Pretty sure Brandon has said as much. *edit* Pretty sure I said pretty sure way too often

I guess "Go kill Dalinar" is heavy foreshadowing.

I dont know how you'd do it, but it would be a huge undertaking and you'd end up with a change that few if any would notice since you'd have to.change their cognitive view to change the language.

You could change a language from Shadesmar. It would be difficult.and pointless as no one would notice.

My new guess: Shardblades originally couldn't harm living things at all. They were designed to kill enemies during Desolation and lesser versions between. Something gave them the ability to sever souls from living things so now Syl hates them.

Going on the premise that Cryptics == Problem Solving Spren: Problem solving seems to line up with both Shards, but more with Cultivation. Since the Spren has really only asked for one boon so far (truth), its still possible that truth isn't the only path it has to Shadesmar. How did she end up there the first time? Don't have the book with me to look it up.

That leads to another question: What does "of Honor" or " of Cultivation" mean? We know that Spren are "access points" to Shard based magics. Being "of Honor" may mean the particular Spren had access to Honor's power, not necessarily that the Spren was created by Honor for that purpose. In other words, Spren spring out from Human cognitive processes and are claimed by or tied to a Shard based on how well the Spren lines up with the Shard's intent; making an Intent conduit into the Shard's power, if you will.

Short version: -- Highstorms are natural to Roshar. Life evolved to protect itself from and make use of these storms. --Stormlight is a natural part of Highstorms; a Spiritual leak. Whether one causes the other is not part of this. Life on Roshar developed to make use of Stormlight, growing gems in which to store it. --Sentient life is not native to Roshar. It was created or brought to Roshar by Shards. --The introduction of sentient life to Roshar and its cognitive interaction with the world combined by the Leak resulted in Spren. --The interaction of Spren and native life resulted in Parshendi, a sentient being that relies on symbiotic relationships with Spren to determine Cognitive ability and Physical form. --This ability of Spren to form bonds with life may have been spurred on by Shards. Long form to come. Inspired by C.S. Friedman's Darkfire Trilogy, for anyone who has read it.

Minimal Investiture? Regularly making enough rock and shadow come to life to kill 9 of 10 humans (or whatever) while you're not there only requires minimal Investiture?

Honor and truth don't necessarily follow each other. Its honorable to.turn yourself in for killing your father, not necessarily for telling a random spirit that you did.

Quick thought: Cryptics? Cultivation's spren representing problem solving?

If Odium is taking a long view approach to destroying Shards, why would he create something like Desolations that take so much effort? Those two quotes confirm to me that Desolations have nothing to do with Odium. He IS Hate. He can simply turn his enemies against each other and let them use their energy while he keeps his own.

Very possible that all Soul casters are fake.

You're assuming that the Desolations were an unwanted process from the PoV of Shards. What if Cultivation didn't want humans mucking up her world while Honor all but required them? What sort of compromise would they come up with? Killing off a large percentage of the population (possibly leaving the strongest?) every few years while providing an opportunity for heroes to give of themselves in the fighting (quite honorable) seems like a compromise between Honor and Cultivation on an already harsh world. Odium may have been responsible for the Heralds giving up or any number of other things, but the Desolations don't feel like something that Hate would use to kill another Shard. Just seems too...convoluted.

It would be a good question to ask him: What were your motivations for hinting at Hoid's origins in his talk with Kaladin and what were Hoid's?

Everything exists in all three realms. Why wouldn't Shards?

I still think the Desolations, the Oathpact, etc were between Honor and Cultivation.

I'm speculating too. Speculating that the constellation is a group of stars and gas that the people of.Roshar have name after one of their gods.

True. However, if Orion himself walked into my house right now, I'd still see the constellation Orion as a collection of stars with no.connection to Orion except for someone deciding to name it after him. Pretty sue Taln's Scar is in the book only to show one of the many ways the Heralds are remembered and permeate the culture. Nothing more.

Isn't this like reading a story set on Earth and speculating on the importance of the constellation of Orion to the story?

I don't think Odium is willing to.Invest himself in a world enough to create something like Shardblades. Why, when you can use the Investments of others against them? Odium hates and makes others hate. Why use so much of yourself making new objects when the very Intent of your Shard is to make others hate? Change Honor's weapons so that they can be used against his own Intent...