skaa

Does that mean the other three expanses are from worlds we've yet to see? Or does it just mean that the Expanse of Densities is, in Brandon's mind, the easiest to decipher? Anyway, I also think the Expanse of Densities is Sel's Shadesmar. I vaguely remember that Sel was having problems with built-up pressure from the Dor caused by the shattering of Devotion and Dominion. Since the release of this pressure depends on usage of Investiture, and since Selish Investiture is region-based, one would imagine that each region on Sel would have a different level of pressure depending on Investiture usage. This means that the Dor will have varying densities all across the regions of Sel. Hence, "densities". This difference in densities might be what's causing Sel Shadesmar to be such a dangerous place to travel to, at least until someone takes up the Devotion and Dominion Shards again and rein in the uncontrolled Investiture.

Sorry for being off-topic, but here's an interesting thought: there are just ten base metals in the Metallic Arts: Iron, Tin, Zinc, Copper, Aluminum, Chromium, Gold, Cadmium, Atium, and Lerasium. Everything else is just an alloy of those metals. If we were to count all the metals and alloys that a Mistborn can use, then we'll have to include Lerasium and Atium alloys as well, and that will be far more than just the sixteen in the current "official" list. So basically, the original belief does have an element of truth in it; it's just the details that were wrong. Back on topic: The first paragraph in the Axies chapter that describes Cusicesh as a spren is not part of a dialogue, nor is it part of Axies' inner monologue. It was the narrator that used the spren description, so unless the narrator is unreliable, then I think that should settle it: Cusicesh is a spren. There are many different categories of spren. You can categorize them by sentience, by Shard affinity (Honor, Cultivation, both, or Odium), by Essence, by Realm, etc. This leads to a lot of variety, so we shouldn't be surprised that there are one or two really odd kinds of spren.

Well, it could be Perfection: grow/cultivate something until it is in its best possible state, and then do everything to preserve that state. The problem is that humans created with such an Intent would be extremely competitive, especially against those they consider as "other". Without a universal standard of what is "perfect", discrimination, racism, and war might be common. So unless the holder of this hybrid Shard uses the Intent wisely, it wouldn't really be a utopia, I think.

Then all the Interlude characters except Szeth will be Radiants! Ha! Just kidding. I think Aimians have a different way of accessing the Surges, so they probably won't fit in the KR system.

I was doing research on my (still-unfinished) Voidbinding theory yesterday, when I decided to look into the possible ways that the Growth Surge can be corrupted. The first thing to come to mind was the concept of pruning, so I went to Wikipedia to read up on it and learned a few interesting things. For example, there's a method called coppicing wherein you cut down a young tree several times as it grows in order for the stump to produce numerous shoots. Then there's pollarding, the removal of the upper branches of a tree that eventually leads to thicker foliage. Then there's the natural process of abscission where plants drop off unnecessary parts. What I'm trying to get at is that maybe the Nightwatcher (in her grief) is using a corrupted version of the Growth Surge. By inflicting damage at a specific part of a person's Spiritweb (the curse), she allows Investiture to seep into the cracks and bloom into something beneficial (the boon). Kind of like how Allomantic Snapping and Hemalurgy works. On a different note, if in case we find that the Nightwatcher isn't Cultivation (though she probably is), then I'll propose that she's a semi-corrupted female Herald who was devoted to Tanavast. I'm guessing either Vedeledev or Palah, the two Growth Heralds, though I lean towards Vedeledev because she represents the Edgedancers (Wyndle's target Order).

Mine consists of the base shapes of Allomantic and Feruchemical symbology (a crescent and an angle), but without any protruding spikes. I was thinking of something that symbolized a Scadrian without special Investiture, and that's what I came up with, feeling that the spikes represented the Investiture of Ruin and Preservation. Now, you might be thinking, "But skaa, that angle looks suspiciously like a spike." Well, that part represents how non-Invested people can still make use of Investiture via technology, even without being Invested themselves. Theoretically speaking, finding out how Investiture affects the Shardworld and using this knowledge to access Investiture mechanically is something that brilliant non-Invested humans can do, and might even allow them to surpass some Invested humans.

The skin has cracks, though. Looks like some sort of Transformation to me (though maybe not the usual kind, since the "statue" is described as living).

You're forgetting that the Shards also influence Investiture. It's sort of a partnership between the Shards and the Shardworlds. My theory states that the forms of Investiture we're seeing is a combination of the Shardworld's Essence and the Intents of the Shard/s occupying it. By the way, here's a tidbit I just read this morning. It's from Dalinar's final vision in WoK: Think about that for a sec. Why would Tanavast assume that Odium "coming for him" threatens "all of them"? Obviously he's not saying that he's the only one who could defeat Odium, because if so then the war is lost since he's now dead. Nor is he saying that Rayse might take the Shards of Honor and Cultivation, because we have WoB that Rayse doesn't think that way. I think it must be because of where Tanavast was. Odium came for him because he and Cultivation are the Shards of Roshar. There must be something about Odium attacking the Shardworld itself that will put the other Shardworlds in danger. If Roshar really has the Essence of Lucentia, and if Lucentia really does act as a prism of sorts for all the other Essences, then destroying Roshar might lead to something really bad happening to the other Shardworlds and Shards. Remember, this is Brandon's "big epic". The war on Roshar will have as big an impact on the Cosmere as the events on Yolen that lead to the Shattering.

Sure. I was thinking that cultivation can also be seen as promoting entropy (in the sense of "lessening of disorder" rather than "energy dispersal", which is closer to Ruin's Intent), so that's what the two Shards have in common. But I guess Mortality also works.

There is WoB that Ruin and Cultivation would work well together. I guess their combined Intents could be Entropy, things growing and then dying as they naturally should. Though that does sound kind of boring... unless Entropy makes a race of giants who grow until their body can no longer support their weight, like an improved form of koloss, or like Bean from the Orson Scott Card's Ender series. I'll go with Isolation. Maybe he'll make a race of extremely individualistic libertarians who live alone in their own fortress of solitude (or Kredik Shaws) and reproduce by mitosis, or something.

That's a very cool theory. Upvote! Alright, fair enough. Would you agree that the Parshendi were created by Odium, though? Or are they also an Odium+Cultivation mixture in your opinion? In any case, the only message I was trying to convey at the beginning of this argument was that (1) Odium could Invest in humans as well, and that (2) I hope both the Parshendi and the humans will reject Odium and learn to co-exist peacefully in the end, instead of the humans having to kill all the Parshendi. Though of course we know that there'll be a lot more fighting to be done yet.

I just gave it a few posts ago. The word "void" was very strongly connected to Odium in a WoR chapter that you must've already read. Also, Voidbringers. It's okay, Moogle. If your theory is that Voidbinding is Cultivation, we can just agree to disagree. I'll even congratulate you if you turn out to be correct. I just find it weird that you seem so shocked that someone might think Voidbinding is somehow connected to Voidbringers.

So you see the word "level" and you already think "Levels of growth! Cultivation!" when the word "level" can be associated to many other things. Like levels of honor, or the levels of Surgebinding power after each Ideal is spoken, or the level of hatred someone might have, etc. etc. But when you see the word "void" being used, even when it's already associated with Odium, you dismiss it as, eh, must be a misnomer. Interesting theory about Odium corrupting Cultivation, though. I hope we'll find out in a few weeks.

You're probably talking about this: I would appreciate it if you explain how "levels" could be so near the concept of Cultivation to you that you'd rather dismiss a very telling piece evidence as possibly being a misnomer. Sure, I can imagine how one might cultivate things at different levels, but that's not a very strong connection to me. Then again, English isn't my first language, so maybe I'm just missing something.

(WoR spoiler)

I guess a "Voidbringer" could be anyone who has access to Odium's Investiture (a.k.a. Voidbinding). If Odium created the Parshendi race, then their biology would naturally be tailored to that. But that doesn't mean that other races on Roshar can't use the Voids. There could be human Voidbringers (the Unmade?). Maybe even Aimian ones, though I find that unlikely. I'm hoping the Parshendi, if they are Odium's race, will discover a way to use Honor's or Cultivation's Investiture in order to escape Odium. Anyway, I'm not worried about the future books being too predictable because of this reveal. I'm sure Brandon has a bunch of reveals just as big as (or even bigger than) Parshendi being Voidbringers.

Remarkable herald, the Stonesinew, isn't it, eh? Beautiful honorblade! But seriously, Taln's just restin'.

What if Szeth's Honorblade and his Oathstone are supposed to prevent him from doing whatever Truthless people are feared for? Anyway, I believe Szeth is under a special form of compulsion that does not make him to perform tasks against his will, but instead makes him believe that those tasks are the "honorable" things to do. In that case, he will only ever break his oaths if he ever loses his sense of honor, or if someone else overrides the Stone Shaman compulsion.

If Dalinar does die in WoR, one of his sons will have to continue the task that Tanavast gave him. If so, I bet it will be Renarin. He looks more like the rebuilding and uniting type than his brother (though I guess Adolin will help, too). So if he already Surgebinds, so much the better!

Another way to look at fabrials is to think about plants. You are basically taking a seed (a spren), planting it in soil (a gemstone), and then watering it (Stormlight) until it grows. It's still the same concept of manipulating the Surges via spren and Stormlight, but with Cultivation's Intent of natural development instead of Honor's Intent of binding oaths. Which means Odium's system is also spren+Stormlight=Surge, but with Odium's Intent of conflict. I wonder if Voidbringers bond with spren by somehow consuming them during a highstorm, perhaps trapping them first in a small gemstone and then swallowing the gemstone? After all, "eating is terrible destruction."

Well, wind fabrials are obviously using Pressure. (Possible spoiler for those who don't want to see Surge-related info revealed outside of WoK.) Anyway, we know that Rosharan scholars (even those who aren't Surgebinders) are aware of the ten Surges. They see the Surges as the fundamental forces of nature. So when a fabrial manipulates nature, it's probably manipulating a Surge. On topic: It's too bad that modern Roshar no longer has access to ReGrowth fabrials. I wonder why they were able to preserve ancient Soulcaster fabrials but not ReGrowth ones? From the Starfalls chapter, it just didn't register in Dalinar's mind that the heliodor-topaz thing could be a fabrial. Maybe he heard some modern Artifabrian claiming that healing fabrials are impossible, or something.

I was assuming that they were connected because of their Primary/Secondary relationship with Essences (Direction and Truth -> Tallow, Law and Motion -> Vapor). The same goes for all the outermost connections. I suppose it's possible that the outermost connections are significant in some other way. Any ideas? Now that I think about it, the outermost connections seem to form a thematic continuum. Boundaries are defined by laws, which govern motion. Improvement means moving closer your affinity. Improved openness means fuller truth. Giving true directions leads to trust. People who trust their boundaries are content. Um... I have absolutely no idea what all that means for Surgebinding.

I actually discussed this in my "Essences are Roshar's Focus" thread. I believe that each Body Focus can initiate Investiture depending on the abilities of the Surgebinder. The eyes are the Body Focus of Lucentia, and the act of blinking triggers a vision-based Investiture related to Surgebinding, like Szeth indicating the desired direction of Basic Lashing by looking in that direction, and Shallan storing the light that enters her eyes (probably Illumination-based).

There is such a thing as undirected or random motion. It is also possible to direct something to not move (in this sense, "direction" will mean "instruction"). I think both imbalances are associated with Voids (Randomness and Cessation?). I'm still in the process of forming my hypothetical list of the ten Voids, which I will post later Edit: By the way, I just noticed that Direction (in the sense of "instruction") is another way of thinking about laws. So there is, again, horizontal symmetry (Direction<->Law).