Shardlet

Another fly in the ointment is that I don't recall seeing much in the way of gemstones being used as jewelry. This is the chief reason why gemstones are of such value IRL.

I had wondered how soon the changes would occur since we currently have six incarnations of The Broken One.

In any case of the matter, there is a forthcoming desolation. Something Roshar hasn't dealt with for the last 4500 years. I feel fairly certain that they are going to have to face the gender roles, social structures, and political structures that have developed over the last 4.5 millenia. Entrenched ideas and ways of life are going to have to be seriously reevaluated. We already see the beginnings of that with Kaladin's current rank and influence. We will see it come up with women fighting. We may see it come up with male literacy. We will likely see it come up with international relations as hostile nations (like Alethkar and Jah Keved) must eventually join together to fight a common foe. Brandon has strongly sowed the seeds for political, gender, and social upheaval on Roshar. Much more so than in any of his other works. The closest would be Skaa and Nobility on Scadrial and that doesn't hold a candle to what he has set up on Roshar. In the Vorin gender roles specifically, I can't imagine Brandon leaving this as background. While the gender roles are not necessarily unequal (in that while the men rule and fight, the women administrate, think, and create), they are so strongly defined and divided (they even eat different foods) that they must be directly addressed. He has made them too strong of a feature to leave them as worldbuilding. We will see these issues addressed. Some will play out on an individual level and others will be met on a larger stage. Some will be played out as right or wrong. While others will likely be played out as necessary or expedient changes to fit circumstances.

It would have to be based on carat almost exclusively. The actual value of a gem IRL is strongly affected by cut and clarity. As to the overall size, it should be remembered that spheres are roughly the size of a thumbnail, so even in a broam, the gemstone will not be particularly large.

A lot of what could happen comes down to whether the magic is passed genetically or not. With Scadrial, it is. With Nalthis, it seems less likely. Although what makes it so that one is an awakener while another is not? With Sel, it does not seem to have a genetic component. It has been theorized that regional identity plays the important role, but I think it is more complicated than that. With Roshar, we have WoB that it is action-based (the choices one makes) rather than genetic. That is why in the question I asked Brandon I used a Scadrien and a Nalthan and specified that the child was born on Nalthis. I used one power that is genetic and one that is a virtual guarantee by virtue of birth. Also, Darnam, fyi, i.e. is an abbreviation for 'id est' rather than 'ipsum est'.

With her focus on food, I suspect that she asked to never be hungry again.

In the case of Shallan and Pattern though, what could be more creative than bringing a living concept into the physical realm? I suspect that this is why there are so many creationspren that turned up. Also, it should be noted that they are called creationspren rather than creativespren or artspren. Edit: maybe I should read the whole post I'm responding to before responding.

That is very interesting. Apparently they are a bit behind in the use of electricity in metal extraction. Aluminum is still very rare and expensive in Elendel, but, IRL, the Hall-Heroult process was discovered in 1886. This process drastically reduced the price of aluminum. Like, making the price of platinum go down to the price of aluminum in current dollars.

If that is the case, then the third ideal is likely, "All your base are belong to us!"

At first glance I was quite dubious as to this idea. However, how else would she know if not from personal experience? Although, Words of Radiance (the in-book one), being a good source of info on the Lightweavers, may have had sufficient information to make such a determination by comparison of accounts in the book with her own current experience. Edit: I thought we decided that the second ideal was "I murdered my father."

Just a general observation. Brandon's profile has passed 2048 (currently at 2067) and he is still Adonalsium. Thus, it appears that there is currently no higher ranking than Adonalsium.

Also includes Brandon's Thesis novel, Dragonsteel.

It does not appear to me that he died. Recall that when a Herald dies, his/her Honorblade vanishes. This contrasts directly with other generally known shardblades which appear or remain upon death. The guards will likely assume at first that Taln is dead because his blade remained. It will soon be discovered though that this is not the case here.

I agree with Argent, I doubt Jasnah will die in the immediate scene. If she does die in WoR, it will be much later in the book. It is too soon for Jasnah to die productively, imo. And I think that chikin and fists are right that it will be a while before they get to the shattered plains. There will definitely be some journey before destination .

I'm not sure how much foundation you've got for that statement. So far, we have one, maybe two, presumed Heralds that are. Seems a little premature to say "most".

Actually, Kaladin retrieved the sphere from the water. Rock took it from Kaladin.

Oh sweet confirmation. Totally called it that Nahel spren were a base type spren with a bit extra on the side. I don't know who the Stormfather is, but I don't think it is Jezrien. I don't think he could project his face across the entire sky. It is immensely interesting though that the Stormfather is indeed a real distinct personage.

For me, The Quote of chapter 6: Shadesmar is more dangerous than it once was. What has changed? The force pulling Shallan and Jasnah under the sea of beads is a relatively recent development in Shadesmar? I agree with Bloodfalcon, it appears that Shen is a Parshendi spy. Also, the Heralds trained the KR before the desolations. Sounds like a significant leadership role to me.

Speaking of which, everybody should look up "True facts about Morgan Freeman" on youtube. It is astoundingly funny.

I think that what you are speaking of, KetchupCow is not soulcasting.

Congratulations, Chaos! What are you planning on doing next? Also, congratulations to little_wilson and Feather and Weiry! Edit: Added Weiry now that I have seen that Chaos added Weiry.

Welcome, Adamantame. Thanks for joining us. I look forward to hearing your ideas and theories.

Ah, sure enough. Those were the days of my sharding infancy and I had not strayed into the space travel and FTL stuff yet.

I suspect it will be the same regardless. Perhaps if they are physically there, then actual air will be there for them to breath because they cognitively expect it to be there. And when they are not there physically it is merely perception of need and air.

I know that quote well. I used it just recently. Though it is beneficial to have it here to give additional context. I meant that not only does each specific gem have a specific function in soulcasting, but that some gemstones can be soulcast while others cannot. That is the part which I don't recall ever seeing discussed before. Previously it was assumed that either gemstones couldn't be soulcast or that the resulting gemstone came at a higher price than the value of the gemstone produced. But we see that quartz can indeed be soulcast for no purpose other than decoration. This would mean that either the cost of that decoration was exorbitant or that some gemstones can be soulcast but stormlight gemstones cannot. This would suggest that there is something more to the stormlight gemstones than merely their molecular structure.