Isomere

Keep in mind, Brandon may have written a Cosmere that was never initially created. Many believe there was no true initial creation event and that eternity stretches equally in all temporal directions. Bottom line is we don't know the answer to Origen questions for the Cosmere or for our own universe.

51. Is an Alethi woman's Safe Hand physically different than her Free Hand? Yes it is an isomer, with reversed chirality

@The OP: Fantastic theory, seems possible and well thought out. God-element could be a reasonable translation, but I want to know when it was created. I have assumed that Adonalsium has always been around. Now eternity is a long time... a mind bogglingly long time. Well, not even really a time at all, more a state outside of time. Your suggestion that dragons created it seems equally valid and lets us shield our fragile minds from Always. That said, perhaps they built on a foundation that already existed. See, I think Adonalsium represents a Spiritual Ideal of Perfection. The Ideal can't be destroyed, but perhaps it could be bound to a physical substance that allows people to manipulate it. This element would have tremendous power, and if shattered could fragment the underlying Ideal as well. The Intents then represent Aspects of Perfection separated from their counterbalances, and Shards are literally physical fragments of the element they bound to Perfection.

The prologue strongly implies physical torture, but the way Heralds reincarnate and appear out of nowhere dripping with moisture has convinced me they are not in possession of physical bodies between Desolations. I think they spawn bodies from mist, similar to shardblades. Based on this assumption, the torture is happening in the spiritual or cognitive realm. Mistborn

I fear Lirin has done something rash to get back at Roshone for inscripting his sons. Kal's parents could be in prison if things got really out of hand.

This theory is an attempt to explain why the heralds are acting oddly in the words of radiance excerpts we have. The Fallen Heralds is the most comprehensive post on the topic, but doesn't focus on why the Heralds became corrupted. Some suggest it is due to torture in between Desolations, but I want to explore another option involving Intent. Investiture has Intent which influences the mind that holds it. We know the Intent of a Shard will eventually overpower the mind and will of the holder, leading them to problematic behavior patterns like we explore in the Mistborn series. I believe the Heralds have enough investiture to acquire some of the attributes of Shards, including the dangers of Intent that can potentially overpower their free will. I also believe the Divine Attributes associated with each Herald reflect the Intent borne by the investiture they possess. Over millennia, their judgment and perceptions have been undermined by the Intent, and now they are acting contrary to the original goal they were created to fulfill.

My Ars Arcanum is different from the one in Coppermind. I've been assuming my electronic copy is wrong, but does anyone know the story behind how/when this error was changed? Palah is Just/confident in mine, and Nan is learned/giving.

@paperclip: the old magic could have existed before surgebinding. I believe the two Shards had to work together to create Nahel Spren, it may have been done millenia after their arrival on Roshar. Possibly in response to Odium's arrival.

Was the church trying to serve Honor when it attempted the Heirocracy? We only have the records of modern Vorinism which we believe to be corrupt so it is hard to know. I personally think the visions they had were real and encouraged them to unite the world in preparation for the everstorm. They failed. If you look at this from the victors perspective it could easily be seen as power mongering, especially if they were influenced by Odium. By all accounts, Sunmaker was a warlord that conquered much of the world, it's reasonable to speculate he wasn't exactly Honorable. Some comments on older questions: 26: I fear modern Vorinism is largely influenced by Odium. The aversion to predicting the future seems a way to subjugate the people and prevent them from learning about the Almighty. For example, it would discredit anyone like Dalinar that sees visions from Honor. 34: I have seen no good evidence that shardblades permanently change eye color. Taln at the end of WOK has dark eyes, so wielding an Honorblade is confirmed to not make you a Lighteyes. I suspect the legends are due to shardblades originally being used only by Radiants holding vast reserves of stormlight. The eyes of all the Radiants glow with the color of their respective polestone, and they don't leak light through the skin like Szeth and Kaladin. This makes me suspect they can store the light until they want to use it, but their eyes change color as a result. 35: Honorblades are the swords used by the Heralds. They are more powerful than shardblades. Dawnshards may not be swords at all, but we are still waiting to find out. 37: You develop a Nahel bond by living in such a way that you attract a spren of the Almighty. They are drawn to people that consistently nurture the associated character traits listed in the Ars Arcanum. If you want to be a Windrunner, protect and lead those around you. If you want to be an Edgedancer, love and heal all you meet, etc. There is likely more to it since this doesn't account for the long absence and recent resurgence of surgebinding. Did Gavilar/Szeth free the spren? Are the fallen Heralds suppressing Nahel bonds? Did Szeth trigger something when he became Truthless? So many questions, so few answers. 48: I think Hoid outlined and planned who he wanted to become, then stole the name of his former master and became the man he had designed. The meta-reference is a fun double meaning.

This quote is pretty good evidence the visions are not affecting the past:

I found this marvelous collection of quotes that Shardlet posted from a recent signing. One in particular seem relevant to this thread: Honorspren are confirmed splinters. The more common spren, like painspren, may hold investiture but don't seem to be sentient and so are not Splinters. Unbound investiture is confirmed to exist, and my idea of it naturally merging with local cognitive forms remains speculative. I also think existing spren attracted (or were attracted by) the investiture and were changed by it. I'm not certain if any new spren were formed. @Kurk: I still feel investiture is almost purely spiritual, but you bring up good points. If my theory is correct, splinters would gain a strong cognitive presence by inheriting the attributes of the Spren/Aon they merge with. That doesn't explain why investiture changes the mind of the user though.

Larkin are from the Reshi Sea. The beasts on the KR Table are from Aimia, and may be virtually extinct now that the Greatshells there were killed off for their gemhearts. Both probably have the same relationship to the Greatshells, maybe an early stage in their metamorphosis? I believe they are the physical form of the Almighty similar to Lerasium See Brandon's post here.

I'm assuming the color of stormlight is what determines the magical properties and associations. Since the colors are consistent between the two charts it is likely order 9 relates to earth in both charts, but there is no conclusive proof of this.

I can see what you are talking about. I thought it was a bird, with tail feathers on the bottom and stylized wings folded up to the sides. Unfortunately, this is order 9 and I'm dubious about air or water creatures representing the essence of stone.

Who is the Almighty? We don't know. Most people think the Almighty is the Shard Honor. However, Brandon has told us the people on Roshar use the word incorrectly, so consider what Tanavast says at the end of WOK: "I am… I was… God. The one you call the Almighty, the creator of mankind.” Notice his careful wording. He doesn't say I AM the Almighty, rather that the people of Roshar call him that. Since they use the word wrong it leaves some questions unanswered. I believe Almighty referred to the union of Honor and Cultivation, but that is speculation. We know Honor and Cultivation were romantically involved and that spren possess varying mixtures of investiture from both Shards. If you are interested, the Tanavallah shows my thoughts on the symbols of this union, but other parts of that theory were debunked. The Oathpact is mysterious and many theories exist about the participants and content. Bottom line is we don't know who was involved or what it entails. I personally agree with your interpretation that the Heralds swore an oath to keep Odium contained and limit his destruction of the Cosmere. Many believe it is a bargain between multiple Shards. Knowing Brandon it is option E that no one has considered yet. There are many theories about Parshendi. Since they seem to have telepathy of some kind a simultaneous revolt of the Parshmen seems plausible. Many worry that the Parshendi are vulnerable to mind control when Odium is around. Similarly, some suspect the Voidbrings are able to possess the bodies of Parshendi and force them to fight. For my part I can't stop a nagging suspicion that we are on the wrong side of the war. The Alethi people seem bound to Odium and the Parshendi align with Honor.

I won't be surprised if cultivation has lost some of her power. All we have are hints and shadows, but she was pretty tight with Honor. Since something bad happened to him it's possible the same or similar occurred to her. I've long suspected both shards were somewhat affected when Honor was splintered, but as of yet I don't see any strong evidence to refute or support the idea. Even though the holder of cultivation is alive, we have no WOB on the status of her shard, and have no idea what the splintering process involves or how it affects the holder. As for the OP: we just don't know enough about shards to confirm they can't manifest physically. Its a reasonable theory, but even if true cultivation could be using other means to portray herself as a female to those who visit. do they actually touch her? is she mental projection, sensory illusion or fully corporeal? Do they need to enter her Shardpool to communicate? We dont know if the Nightmother is truly weak or just apathetic etc, and the splinters of cultivation may have been intentional. I like the theory that she is weakened and think it is plausible, but the evidence seems scant.

Yes, it makes both thematic and logical sense for this scene to be of her father's death. I initially thought she was drawing something she had never personally witnessed and it was a new manifestation of her abilities. Something similar to the death rattles, but in picture form. That still seems possible, but not as likely as her fathers death.

Moving back the the thread discussion about the scene Shallan drew, I first read it and thought the scene was the assassination we witness when the Half Shards were used against Szeth. Seems that it could be her fathers death and I like that theory, but there a other options too.

I can definitely get behind that interpretation of how investiture works. Perhaps you are right and there is no outside source of power, and it is all created de novo within the investiture. Still, you're saying that if your own innate investiture generates new power it should be ignored when calculating net energy gain. I would prefer to include it, and thus lump any self-sustaining power source into end-positive magics.

My basic problem with this whole discussion boils down to your claim that breath does not need to draw on an external source to create new energy. I simply disagree. A generator does not create new energy, it converts from one form to another. In this case, the soul is acting as a generator to convert the Power of Creation into a form usable by awakening. Saying the power just appears with no explanation seems... unsatisfying, especially when innate investiture is just sitting there waiting to access a seemingly limitless pool of magical energy. Occam would have words with you about creating a novel source of energy when a well known and firmly established method is readily available.

@Argent: Brandon said here the metals are vaporized, not that they are destroyed. Vapor implies they sublimate into a gas phase, and I distinctly remember reading WOB that suggested metals reform, but without the exact words I could be misinterpreting. About the quote Weiry linked: I see this more as input vs output. If the number of allomancers is sufficient, you can burn the metals faster than they reform and deplete the planets reserves. @Kurk: Feruchemy doesn't produce any power, but can make use of energy created through other means. When the aluminum ferring's Soul generates energy that is end-positive and unrelated. He can also eat food, absorb ambient heat/light, use Allomancy etc to get energy. Feruchemy only comes into play when he stores the energy previously gained in a metalmind. When he takes it back out there is no more or less energy that he had before, it is just being used at a different time.

@kurk: "Breath provides its own juice" is exactly my definition of end-positive. I think the reason people's souls produce energy is because they contain innate investiture. This small chunk of Adonalsium generates the power of creation within each human. If you gather up enough of this investiture you can use the power for other things like Awakening. Since the breath is not consumed it is not fuel, but rather acts as a generator or perhaps an access point for the power of creation. Back to the JTSE, I like the theory, and we probably should keep an eye out for unwarranted moisture. For example, the fact that Taln was soaking wet makes me think his body was newly formed when shows up at the gates near the end of WOK. The physics of realmatic interactions are going to be difficult to prove or disprove, but the theories are fun and seem to work.

I see a good parallel between the fall of Vorinism and the Apostasy. The true religion is lost and a period of spiritual darkness occurs. Then the truth is restored and the power of the Almighty returns to the world. The nature of magical power also has interesting correlations. In the Cosmere a person needs investiture to have access to the Power of Creation, but then must align his identity to the Shard through snapping or similar processes before he can use it. In Mormonism a person needs to be given the priesthood to have access to Gods power. To use it, he must be worthy which requires him to align his intent and behavior with Gods will. In both cases, you must have the right access and be the right person before using the power. In terms of Jasnah, a heretic is not the same thing as an atheist. She seems very logic based in her approach to religion, and logically you cannot assume that no god can possibly exist without omniscience. Since there is no conclusive evidence for or against the existence of God, agnostisim is the only logical choice. She does have lots of evidence that Vorinism is corrupt and their doctrine is full of holes, so her rejection of the devotaries is logically sound, but I dont think she has completely ruled out the possibility of Gods. That said, when she learns about the Almighty I'm hoping she views it as a Space Alien with an astonishing quantity of Investiture.

@Gloom: upvote for the new terms. Technomancy and technolurgy are awsome, but I'd like to tweak ferumechanics. Back to creating these machines, we don't seem to have many permanent investiture options on Scadrial. It is in Harmony, living souls, and Hemalurgic spikes. Lots of folks resist using Hemalurgy to endow the machines, but I just don't know of anywhere else to get access. It's possible some other source will pop up, Sazed could create some splinters for the people of the southern continent or some such. Until then I think we are stuck with spikes. The discussion about ethics is definitely showing conflicting viewpoints about the importance of Souls. However, an appeal to morality doesn't help us find an alternate source of investiture and is not sufficient to discount Technolurgy. Brandon is quite willing to create moral ambiguities. Creating a system of Hemalurgy based machines could hardly be worse than a respectable protagonist that feeds on the souls of children.

Both actually. People on Sel and Scadrial use the words "pulse length and frequency" to describe magical power. Since stormlight is light it should also have a wavelength and frequency. I'm suggesting Stormlight, the Dor and Allomantic power are all basically the same thing: the Power of Creation.