The White Drake

Are you referring to the vault 'mother's soul' (AKA Testament) was put in? I don't believe that one was aluminum. They state it allows for travel, but not as far as they would like, so it's not perfect.

You assume solely an Investiture infusion can brighten an Elantrian, as opposed to, say, a disconnect with the local geography due to the highly locational nature of their powers. That second point falls apart, as it was not one of Arelon's Aons. I have a theory that it works like a translator, to get Aons working away from their geographic locale by managing between them and the new terrain, but that seems a topic for it's own topic. For the last time... no such thing is demonstrated. You merely theorize from observing. Proof is if you can find something- in the text, in a WoB, anywhere- that says 'yes, that was what was happening'. And I am afraid there can be no proof, because... Jofwu Why did Shay-I have to draw a map of the Elendel basin, if the jar of Dor was her source of Investiture? Did the map connect her to another source of Investiture? Brandon Sanderson No, the map didn't, but her magic is still wonky. Selish magic has some wonkiness to it and it needs to be tricked. This really derailed the topic and took a while, but we have a definite, absolute answer. Sanderson gave it a mere 17 days after The Lost Metal was released.

I could quibble on some of this (notably, the 'hacking' explanation covers all three points you bring up), but you seem to miss my point. This is THEORY. I am asking for PROOF. An explanation- no matter how solid you believe it to be- is not proof. Feel free to theorize, but do not claim definitive proof without it. Got an answer for you. Love-that-dog Why won't Moonlight's stamp wear off by itself? Brandon Sanderson This is an excellent question. The answer is—it might someday. But the other question is—it's been a spell. Depending on where I time these things, it's either been hundreds of years or decades since... Moonlight has had a lot of time to practice with powers and investigate what's possible in the Cosmere with magic and talk to some of the smartest people in the Cosmere about how it works. You should draw from the way the soulstamps work, the more mundane ones, that Shai has made a ton of progress in pushing forward the art of Forgery.

Yes. Frustration has yet to back up his claims otherwise. Evidence? She didn't even dip her stamp in it. I've given you multiple possible explanations. You're bending over backwards in an attempt to stick specifically to yours in the face of multiple pieces of evidence otherwise. What.... Let me hammer out the facts. 1. Shai stamped herself 2. She absorbed the jar of Dor as she transformed 3. Her glow wavered 4. She drew a Aon of the Basin, and her glow stabilized. Those are the facts. To say this means she connected to the Dor on Sel is pure theorycrafting. We are shown 300 years ago and told 5 years ago this isn't a thing. To overcome those statements- to prove your theory even without them- you need evidence. Thus far you've just been repeating your theory and claiming it as fact. So I will ask you again. Can you provide any basis beyond mere speculation that Shai established an inter-system Investiture-drawing Connection to Sel's Cognitive Realm?

Well, as I said we know distance does matter, but good news, your idea isn't as dead as you think. Probably not as simple as a giant amplifier Aon, but... Brightlord Maelstrom Would there be a way that is reasonably feasible to use Aon Tia to teleport off-world? Brandon Sanderson Theoretically yes. Brightlord Maelstrom ...Would there be a way to create it where instead of teleporting you directly there, it opens a portal? Brandon Sanderson We'll go ahead and start RAFOing at this point.

No, you've provided theories. Theories alone lose out to what we see in a book, 300 years back or no. This is still just speculation, including the assumption that the map Aon is drawn to tune to Investiture (it's more likely the 'hacking the system' Brandon has referred to that's necessary to get AonDor to work offworld at all). A geographical Aon and a light level fluctuation is not evidence of an inter-system Cognitive realm Investiture Connection. What. I gave you a WoB asking directly if exactly what you were saying is possible, and the answer was no. I don't see how a contradiction can be any more clear. 'No, you cannot currently access the Dor anywhere else. The Dor is a big part of why magic on Sel is distinctive.'

Unless you can find some evidence otherwise... I think you mean Shai, not Marasi. And Aons are drawn based on geography, so it makes perfect sense they would have to do that. For the 'stabilized, then brightened', I'd assume that's the Soulstamp getting a grip. You're pushing a very specific idea on a thin basis here. I noted that already. I checked the date and cross-referenced it with publication dates before posting. It is an Era 2 WoB (though not post Lost Metal). This would mean you're assuming they overcame something 'integral to the workings of Cosmere magic' in a period of five years based off the fluctuation in light level of an artificial Elantrian's skin. I'm afraid WoB and book beat theory. It was a nice theory, but directly contradicted by both. They can't draw Dor directly from offworld.

My favorite is Dalinar. His story speaks to me. That said, Vyre is a possible runner-up. Least favorite... I'd call it the Mink. He seems interesting, but doesn't get enough page time, so he instead feels shallow. Hopefully that will change in the later books.

Ah, sorry. Their ability to draw Aons can be easily explained by having taken some Dor, as we see the Ire do regularly. You don't need a connection to Sel, just some Investiture. Given what we see in Secret History, with Elantrians needing to carry liquid Dor and having a power cord for their base, I do not believe the same. I also went out and did some research- there's a WoB asking this exact question! Yourigath Can you access the Dor while on other planets? Can you, I don't know, "tell the Dor" that you are on Roshar using an Aon that doesn't have the base on the map of Sel but in the world of Roshar and use Elantrian magic there? An Aon with an spiral pattern with the right lines, dots, etc... that tells the Dor "I'm here. This is Roshar. And I need your power to do X" Brandon Sanderson Great question, and one integral to the workings of cosmere Magic! No, you cannot currently access the Dor anywhere else. The Dor is a big part of why magic on Sel is distinctive. Yourigath If an Elantrian worldhops does it returns to a normal human pre-Shaod state? If this Elantrian goes back to Sel it recovers his Elantrian powers or he keeps his pre-Shaod form? Brandon Sanderson An Elantrian away from Sel would still be an Elantrian--but many of the visible signs would fade away, much like something florescent that stops glowing when moved away from a Black Light. Seems pretty definitive.

That seems a stretch, given the highly locational nature of all Sel magic, and seeing as how the Investiture is in the Cognitive, where distance does matter, as opposed to the Spiritual where it does not. If they could link in such a way, they'd have no need to drink Dor away from Sel, and Secret History also shows us they have a power cord for their base in the Cognitive near Scadrial, leading off presumably towards Sel. What makes you think such is the case?

Yes. Can you connect that to the discussion? She absorbed the Dor, that doesn't mean it was all expended in just the stamp. The fundamental laws of the Cosmere tell us power doesn't come from nowhere. You can't use more Investiture than you have. On Sel, the Aons are powered by all the Investiture in the Cognitive Realm. Do you mean to propose that, by use of a single jar of Dor, an Elantrian can spam an unlimited amount of Aons forever? Good point, but I get the feeling it won't be so easy. After all, the Ghostbloods had access to everything you describe, and still took pains to get Light and purified Dor. Even in the future, unkeyed Light is valuable. Just like with getting compounding via hemalurgy, making an Investiture generator is likely to be harder than it at first appears.

We observe in Mistborn: Secret History that Elantrians need a constant supply of it, like water, just to maintain themselves. Furthermore, it's not an infinite resource- it gets expended. Every Aon drawn will require some. The more you want to stack Aons on your soldiers, the fewer of those soldiers you'll be able to field.

Yes… and? My point is you need that supply of portable Dor, so I’m not sure what you’re getting at here.

Rockbuds seem pretty common, but chulls are a domesticated species, so I don't think wild herds will be all that populous.

Anywhere but on Sel, you need to manually carry a massive amount of Investiture. Doesn't seem practical if you want to supply an army.

They're so location-limited though. Nigh unbeatable, but you couldn't send them anywhere else. Any form of Investiture from anywhere is on the table, including forms of power, Fused, and the usual ways of obtaining Light.

Presume that you have access to the entirety of the Cosmere and it's magics, as of the time of the second Era of Mistborn, and want to build the best troop(s) for a military possible. Take all factors into account, including the difficultly of creating each unit. What combinations of the magics do you select for your ideal force? What is the basis behind your selection?

It may not be the case that they are different. Simply that once a gemstone grows noticeably dim, it's already almost done for.

If they can sustain themselves on ash, they can survive on sand or stone just fine Hard to get a swallowable handful of stone, and I doubt there’s enough sand to support an army. Trees though…

Only the pantheon islands have the hyperlethal environment. By and large the planet is called out as seafaring. I didn't think of koloss failing to catch Rosharan grass, but it is amusing. A Phantom should be able to make around 700 miles in a day (discounting terrain). With an estimated radius of 100 miles (though I can't find a citation for that figure), circumference should be a little over 600. The math checks out. Terrain will slow them but they can also just not go the longest way around the planet. Wasn't there a mention that at one point a koloss warlord invaded the Basin? When Marasi is seeing the weapons the constables have prepared in Shadows of Self. Regardless of this, the deep sea has unknown terrain, zero visibility, easy to get lost, no ability to send commanders in with them, and so forth. Lots of unknowns. I wouldn't want to send my near-invulnerable crazy expensive Invested units down there.

I see. I thought that was what was happening when she admitted she caused the Desolation

The platespren we see there aren't windspren, so that's his Skybreaker armor, which he'll presumably obtain later with Aux. Shallan reached Fifth Ideal I thought. Sanderson is saving seeing what it does for later, but later will be a decade from now.

He does state he would have used Dalianar's death to unify and galvanize the Alethi as I recall. Hard to stop a battle, particularly one so pitched. It might be so but I wouldn't bet on it. Thing is, without hosts (I doubt slaveforms will be ideal, it needs the Parsh to open themselves up to the Fused), and without an Everstorm (thus needing the unknown 'old' method), how do they get themselves bodies? It's not an insurmountable obstacle, but it gives them a hard starting period until they can pull the Everstorm over.

My understanding is the hollow spaces in the bones is what would make them be crushed.

Exactly. Mechanics are, well, mechanical. Still doesn't seem unreasonable to me that they wouldn't have figured it out. It's obvious to us because we know about them already. A technique that may seem obvious in retrospect but is to outside the box for someone to come up with easily. One Masked One a ship is still a lot of Masked Ones, when there are enough ships to carry tens of thousands of troops. We don't know what the exact capacity of each vessel was, but that's tens of Masked Ones at the least, several hundred at the most, when there are only a couple hundred in existence grand total. Singer civilians in warform and uniform were enough to imitate troops, so I'm not sure why making the troops fully illusory would help either. Also, the goal of drawing forces away didn't fail. It wasn't as effective as it could be, but an army remained in Thaylenah and the Radiants only were reassigned late in the fighting. Odium did win Narak militarily, just got outsmarted. Sigzil knows he can't hold even before the Listeners come into play.