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It could be the Cosmere dwarf galaxy as seen from Scadrial. Just like how the Milky Way looks like a band of stars across Earth's night sky. This would imply that the dwarf galaxy is flat/spiral.

Looks like Kelsier to me. But maybe there had been some Cognitive shenanigans involving Spook's body obtaining Kelsier's scars and perhaps being possessed by Kelsier's cognitive shadow. Perhaps Hemalurgy can bind a cognitive shadow to a physical body.

Sure, that's a totally possible explanation. I just prefer to use interesting facts when making Cosmere theories. It's more fun that way.

I didn't have that problem, but apparently it could happen if the book was downloaded incorrectly. According to this article, you may re-download the book and see if that fixes it.

Allik implied that ettmetal can run out, meaning it must be self-burning. Either that or it really is dangerously radioactive as mossyfisk speculated. On a lighthearted note, I kept smiling like an idiot all throughout the Aunt Gin scene. Also, MeLaan's aluminum True Body is pure genius.

On page 116 in the Google Play edition:

Read the book, then tell us if being spoiled has prevented you from enjoying its awesomeness.

Here are just some thoughts I had (some of which were already mentioned by others) while reading: We see a kandra with a metallic True Body, but we already knew that was possible as I asked Brandon about it before. Regarding a recent topic of discussion in the main Mistborn forum, Kandra organ/tissue donors would simply mimic the cells of the patient. That's basically what MeLaan did to Marasi. Connection can be used to communicate with people of different languages by Connecting to a certain linguistic region. From the epilogue, the Sovereign is probably Kelsier. The scars were a giveaway. This also fits the fact that the Bands of Mourning was re-forged as a spear-tip, a symbol of Survivorism. So Rashek didn't visit the Southerns after all. The Sovereign claimed to be a god of the Northerners, which is true in a way for Kelsier. The only problem is that he also claimed to be a king of the Northerners. But Kelsier was after all a leader of a large group of people, a concept that might have been translated as "king" in a Southerner language. I am of the strong opinion that ettmetal is harmonium. It's what powers the "primer cube", the airship, and I'm pretty sure other Southern Allomantic technology, so I'm pretty sure it's not an alien god metal. If ettmetal is harmonium (and I suppose that's a big if), it would mean all my speculations about harmonium were correct except for its composition. Speaking of composition, ettmetal explodes when in contact with water, so could it be lithium? Lithium explodes in water, and it is also used in batteries so it being used in "Allomantic batteries" would be quite fitting. Ettmetal bombs probably just utilize ettmetal's explosive reaction with water. Telsin is a villain. I mistakenly thought she would be the villain in Shadows of Self. Turns out I was one book away from the truth. The Set aren't made of kandra as I speculated before, but they do have their own version of "Faceless Immortals". From the goldmind with blank Identity that Wayne used, it seems a metalmind with a blank Identity can only be used by people already capable of using its metal type (e.g. only Bloodmakers can access Blank Identity Goldminds). So a nicrosilmind with blank Identity could only be tapped by another Soulbearer, disproving VenDell's theory about the Bands of Mourning. How then do the Bands of Mourning and the Southern medallions work? Do they have a bit of ettmetal as well? It's interesting that Southern medallions give powers that only work while wearing them. They're kind of like Hemalugric spikes in that way, although the medallions are much safer. On the other hand, the medallions can interfere with each other, unlike spikes.

Oh, I also believe that most types of Dor usage involve a mixture of both Intents. As I mentioned in a previous thread, I'm speculating that there might be special Forms that somehow attune to only one of the Splintered Shards of Sel.

Sadly, Amazon is still showing it as a February release even now, and is not yet offering it for download. Too bad Google Play Books doesn't seem to have it. Oh well.

Perhaps Keshu was aware of how the Dor was the mixture of Devotion and Dominion, and tried to incorporate both Intents in his religion. It would be interesting if the schism that led to Shu-Keseg splitting into Shu-Korath and Shu-Dereth was part of a secret long-term plan to separate the two components of the Dor (e.g. by somehow funneling all of Dominion's Investiture out of the Dor using Dakhor) so that a new person could gain the Shard of Dominion. I wouldn't be surprised if the Skaze (with their puppet, Wyrn) have a plan similar to that.

Google Play Books sent my copy at around midnight January 26 Philippine Time. I've been reading it since I woke up. Gotta pause for now before I get late for work.

@ccstat: Autoimmunity is any immune response against a person's own healthy tissue, and a cytokine storm is a type of abnormal immune response. If a kandra could induce a cytokine storm, presumably it would be easier and much more efficient for them to do it as part of an autoimmune response (making their own tissue the target of the storm) rather than by having to introduce foreign matter into their bodies. I've read that anaphylaxis (another immune response) has been known to kill within minutes. Again, I think the kandra could induce this type of immune response to target their own tissue. Imagine getting severe anaphylactic shock by making your own body allergic to itself.

I am so happy "Investiture" is an English word since I use it a lot here. Makes typing Cosmere theory posts on my phone using Android's Swype-like keyboard gestures a bit easier. "Threnody" is also an English word, though I've yet to form a Shadows for Silence theory.

I did think of the direct apoptosis route, but directly telling your cells to die would probably lead to a much faster death than what Paalm experienced. Given how kandra claim to be of Preservation, I wonder if their cell-manipulating powers preclude commanding their own cells to die. It took a whole century after the Catacendre for the kandra to figure out this suicide mechanism, so I feel that it must be something that requires detailed knowledge about how a specific process in the kandra body works. Paalm's little white blood cell analogy made me think that maybe kandra still retain the leukocyte-based immune sytem of their human ancestors. By studying how autoimmune diseases work, perhaps the kandra simply realized that they could induce their "soldier" cells to run wild and free, so to speak. That might be enough to overcome any Preservationy limitation that they have. Of course, there might be other explanations. Maybe they discovered how to create fast-acting histocompatible pathogens, or something. I quoted Paalm's death scene in the OP. Does that give any clue as to which disease is being mimicked by the kandra suicide mechanism?

(Note: I am not a biologist. Don't base your school homework on the "explanations" found in this post.) I was reminded of those lines while thinking about Vertigo's topic about kandra organ donation in the main Mistborn forum. The biggest problem with organ donation is the risk that the donated organ will be rejected by the recipient's immune system. This is because donated organs may have antigens that the recipient could develop antibodies for, making the body attack the foreign tissue comprising the donated organ. Antibodies are great when they help the body fight off unwanted pathogens, but they're not so great when they tag your newly attached heart as an "invader" that needs to be destroyed. Bleeder also describes a phenomenon where the body attacks tissue that is truly part of itself. This is called autoimmunity. The reason why your tissues are mostly safe from your own white blood cells (under normal conditions) is because the white blood cells that secrete antibodies for your own antigens are disabled or destroyed even before they mature. At least, most of them are destroyed. Autoimmune diseases happen because the process of preventing autoimmunity is not perfect. So, what if a kandra forces his whole body to experience a large scale autoimmune response? I think he'd be committing suicide, because even his quick healing won't matter if his own immune system is destroying his own cells. If strong acids could kill a kandra, I reckon leukocyte-triggered cytolysis could also do the trick. The best part is that a Shard trying to control a kandra will find it really hard to stop that process as long as the kandra still has enough will to keep his white blood cells attacking until he dies. What do you guys think? Is this a viable explanation for kandra suicide that MeLaan described and that Paalm demonstrated?

I just realized that a sufficiently skilled and knowledgeable kandra could theoretically modify his own cells to not have any antigens at all, completely removing any risk of transplant rejection. I'm even wondering if perhaps kandra DNA already lack histocompatibility genes by default, making kandra organ donation even more hassle-free for both the donor and the recipient. (Edit: Okay, could someone more knowledgeable about biology please tell us if it's even possible for human cells to function without human leukocyte antigens? Thanks.) This gives me a theory idea, but I'll have to post it in the Shadows of Self spoiler board.

Cool idea! I think this will work. They'll have to discover immunosuppressant drugs first to prevent transplant rejection, though.

Flower-based potion magic! I love it! ( Oh, and nice to see you again, ecohansen.)As to the regional Investiture discussion started by ccstat, I've yet to collect my thoughts on the matter, but I'd probably post something on a separate thread about it.

The stirring idea was also my favorite. The ingredients of the potion should be important as well (otherwise he could just use water for his potions, and that doesn't seem right), just like how ink material is important in Forgery, so maybe there are special Hrovell plants for potion-making. Or maybe any fresh organic liquid will do (just like in Forgery). Also, I just realized this is my first ever theory post in the Elantris and Emperor's Soul forum since I joined here. Woohoo! *edits theory list in About Me page*

Yeah, wouldn't it be great if all the regions within the Fjordell and Rose Empires each had a manifestation of Investiture? That would be pretty neat.

@Weltall: What you said made sense, but I felt that the "it only looks like magic, but it's not" argument isn't very convincing in terms of Cosmere theory-making unless there really is a non-magical "real life" explanation. On the other hand, I didn't want to insist on the potions being Invested because, like you and Stormgate, I wasn't fully convinced of it either. I was on the fence, though tending towards the Invested side. So, I went ahead and asked Brandon, because why the heck not, right? And luckily, he answered. Forton's potions are Invested.

True, but even if the potion doesn't stop one's pulse, what kind of natural substance could turn someone's skin grey with black patches, while still being harmless and temporary? (That's not a rhetorical question. I am genuinely interested in knowing if such a substance exists. Any dermatologists in here?)

Welcome to the 17th Shard! Here is the writing group sub-forum you are looking for. If you want to join that, here are the rules. See you around!

Enjoy! I always thought Aether of Night was a Cosmere book (albeit a non-canonical one). Did you get a WoB regarding this?