Zmann966

Yeah, phrasing is half the fun in this cosmere-questioning. You want to be specific enough to get your answer and get him to answer at all, but at the same time vague enough that he can't wiggle out of an answer or skirt the edges of an answer, all while avoiding a RAFO. I like this theory enough that I'm going to spend some decent time trying to phrase my questions. My above ones are probably a bit too vague, yours might be as well... Hmmm... I usually start with a statement of known fact, it both establishes MY train of thought in my question (pointing him towards my intended answer) and gives him a few moments to focus. Then the question, and I trail with my own suppositions and gauge his reaction (which sometimes gives me more info than the answer/RAFO itself, like you said,) Case and point: my questions about the Expanses during the Calamity Chicago signing. So... Trying to think... It was revealed in SH that people heavily-invested or those exposed strongly to a Shard's power linger longer on the Cognitive Realm after their death, is this what has happened to the Shades? If so, is it accidental or not-powered by a "sentient" Shard? If so, is it from a Shard we know the name of? Then come in with the suppositions about It feels like a broken Shard, who's power is lashing out wildly, infecting/corrupting people's Cognitive aspects and not allowing them to move to the Beyond. Bring in the Threnody=Sorrow point and the link to Aona/Skai's death+the Ire's apparent proximity to Shades and get a timer to see how long he "hmmms" and "ummms" before RAFOing it, lol

Atium is a God-Metal though, it's unlike the others in the base system. Even though Lerasium is confirmed to grant mistings when alloyed, that doesn't quite jive with Atium, if you get what I'm saying. Preservation grafted pieces of himself into Scadrial-humanity (as did Ruin) to bring them to sentience. Preservation did a bit more in his scheme, and Lerasium is pieces of him granting those humans the ability to tap into his power. It's not necessarily "preserving" but... Going along the lines with Leras' actions, it fits. I feel like Atium's alloys need to fit, if not the same structure then at least the same theme. It makes sense that Ruin's metal grants future-sight (if any shard is good at foresight, it'd be Cultivation and Ruin) Atium's alloys should be, if not catering to decay of some kind, focused at least on a similar intent. The problem here stems with Malatium. It comes from left-field and decimates my entire theorizing. It doesn't conform to the above thoughts and, therefore, renders them all mostly null. And just because Lerasium combos exactly with other metals like it does, doesn't mean Atium does. Look at the combos of Tin and Copper for instance: Pewter/Bronze. or Aluminum and Copper: Duralumin. so... who knows?! lol /shrug

Actually... Crap! I've been working on a first draft of a fantasy novel for a few years now that has dragons that, when they die, their bodies turn into a metal... Please Brandon don't have a similar idea... I WANT TO BE A WRITER TOO SOMEDAY! OMG, this is how it happens! ARGENT! Remember I told you about my dream where Brandon was an Epic and sucked the creativity out of people?! ITS TRUE!!! NoooooOOOooOOoOoooo

Dragonsteel.

Not all the Aons were large-scale maps of Arelon right? Aon Aon obviously is, and many of them are re-arrangements of that, but I thought I remember reading that some were of other parts of the land. Things like smaller regions, mountain ranges and river paths and stuff... Things that might not necessarily need the chasm mark.

Well the B-2 Stealth being named "Spirit" is perfect... "Nighthawk" for the F-117 means we could probably get away petitioning "Nightblood" lol, might be a bit gruesome for what we like to portray as a "freedom-plane" lol

Lol, don't care. I'm throwing all my spheres in on this one. I noticed the link when Dirigible brought up the Svrakiss during the Denver signing, and the theory spiraled out form there: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/53042-calamity-tour-denver/?p=407907 Random counter-example? Or prophetic providence?

You guys are killing it with the transcription and clarification of the stuff I couldn't quite hear. Awesome job! Sidenote: Next time someone tries to move/displace our recording devices, remind me to forcibly oppose them. Better yet, remind me to ask Brandon if I can put a lavalier on him and hold a reporter's interview mic up to everyone asking a question. I mean I can get audio THIS CLEAR on a crowded convention floor... And we're here struggling to hear people ask questions in a bookstore?! /more grumbling

Upvote for KSP. I thought I knew orbital mechanics, until I played that game. Now I do know orbital mechanics.

Admittedly, we're not as cool as Brandon... but we are more fun. For the most part it seems very few people asked Cosmere-shattering questions.

This was the theory I decided I'm backing full-heartedly last night after making the connection between Svrakiss and Shades. So this has my vote.

Sounds more like the Intent of Autonomy to me... But the "Yes we've seen the Ones Above" before makes me feel like White Sand is out-of-the-question. Scadrial is the most currently plausible world.

Thanks! Yeah, I'm actually very surprised that it didn't get RAFO'd

Transcribed the first half, (only cosmere-related questions) best I could. There's some quiet ones that I couldn't quite get all of, hopefully those people come forward with memories of them. check the above google doc Will do the last-half later tonight.

I have that portion (before we moved to the chair) but didn't think there was A- enough questions to warrant posting, and B- I know he usually asks to wait until after the tour to post readings...

Ohh thank you! Yeah, I share the entire folder for 17th Shard stuff, so when I go in and individually share the files they sometimes copy oddly too. Didn't notice that!

Too quick on the draw, Argent! I was just editing that post to include this: Since every magic on Sel is powered by the Dor, I would imagine the Svrakiss of Derethi myth is also rooted in being powered by the Dor (Devotion and Dominion's power) After all, everything links back to Shard's Power. It's been stated in Secret History that those who have held/been affected by/strongly invested by Shard's power can linger on the Cognitive after their physical death. What if this "wild power" is simply the untamed magics preventing many people from crossing into the Beyond, forcing them to linger as Shades. The way they attack people on the Physical appears similar to how Shardblades sever spiritual/cognitive bodies—even if it is a bit more "violent" and gruesome... and slow—I imagine what the Shades' attacks look like on the Cognitive could look like "ripping apart." Now I'm gonna link a few more parallels for my theory, feel free to find more against: If the Dor is whipping around wildly like a storm around Sel's Cognitive Realm/Expanse, it could be lashing out at people and investing them improperly, causing them to stick around as Shades when they die. If Threnody is close to Sel (big if) the proximity hearkens to both how Shadesmar does "distances" and to Dominion's own intent. If the Forescouts couldn't flee very far, Dominion's power is still seeking nearby and "territory" based souls to invest. There's also heavy belief on Threnody that "The forest is the Shades'" and "The night belongs to the Shades" and "We try to carve safe land and long lives out of their territory" ​Strike no fire. Shed no blood. Move not quickly. Do not create light. Do not spill blood. Don't move with intent. Do not create glowing Aons. Do not Bloodseal. Do not practice ChayShan. To the broken and listing shadows of minds in the Shades, these seemingly simple rules could (with a stretch and a squint) look like the Old Arts of Sel. But the parallel of the "souls of the damned" that "have their passage barred from Heaven" between the Svrakiss and the Shades is what sells it to me. They're obviously talking about the same thing... Now how else would you link the two?

That doesn't sound nearly as peaceful or soothing as the melting of the Hoed is portrayed in Elantris,

Well that clears open a whole new route of my theories. (Is that why you asked, Dirigible?) Svrakiss are Shades. And Threnody is—if not the remnants of Sel—Sel's moon. According to Shu-Dereth, Sounds familiar eh? Between where we last see Elantris/Sel and Threnody, hundreds of years have passed. Enough that (paraphrased) "three generations gone, We fled the Homeland/Fallen World from the Evil to these forests of Hell." Getting to Sel is "Dangerous" in Shadesmar due to the proximity of roaming Shades, (and why the Ire both know of them and are on constant alert for them.) It was foreshadowed too, in the fact that the "blasphemy" of the Jeskeri Mysteries is an abominable corruption of the Dor-centric Jesker. And similarly, worships the moon with the shedding of blood. In fact, during a lunar eclipse Hrathen proclaims he can "almost feel" the draw of the "magic" of the moon. It's a shot in the dark, but so was Sazed being the Hero of Ages once upon a time. Next chance I get, that's my question to Brandon. Though I have to phrase it vaguely yet specifically enough to get an answer: "What would happen if Silence Montane purposefully drew an Aon?" or "We know Aon-Dor is limited with range. Would it work on Threnody?"

Fantastic news my friends! (/sarcasm) My recorder got bumped a few minutes in to the signing portion of last night's event, causing everything after that unusable. (It sounds like the external-mic cable got disconnected judging by the static and garbling, and I hadn't set the recorder to use its on-board mics. ) I am quite disappointed because the audio was SO crisp, despite where we had to put the recorders. (Seriously? A chair beside the table in full-edge of traffic of people walking through to get pictures?! /grumble) When I picked it up when we were leaving, it seemed to fix it, so I do have the last few questions we asked while standing around at the end. I've cleaned it up (it's about 4mins long) and here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3-FW93u6i_-UnpCNUZCaWZJWGM/view?usp=sharing I also took the liberty of running your audio of the signing questions, Volratho, through some cleaning up and post-effects to make it more audible, and I think it came out okay. Well enough that you should be able to transcribe Brandon near 100% and most of the question-askers as well (a few are a little quiet, but you can only hope for so much.) So hopefully this works well enough to get us the whole signing! (Disregard the obnoxious levels in the beginning, they quiet down as the crowd dies down and the noise-reduction filter kicks in): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3-FW93u6i_-Y2VsNWNnRmJ6eWs/view?usp=sharing *Is still doubly-irate over the fuss of recording audio/having to move them to a chair and my recording getting messed up because of it*

We have some excellent lists of questions here! See you all in a few hours, I'll be the scraggly-bearded tall dude in a grey hoodie who desperately needs a haircut!

I feel—like most of you do, it seems—that the series should have been modified. I know trilogies are the holy number, and Sanderson already had to split WoT further, but I really feel that this book should have been titled "Limelight" and the ending is the exatly what it was, less the space-station scene. Add the Larcener reveal to the epilogue, and split the book. Then we get a 4th book dealing with "Calamity" and have a MUCH more expanded (and less rushed) confrontation with the "true" identity of Larcener where David continues to struggle with his encroaching powers (and darkness through Calamities nightmare-seep), Obliteration is still on the loose, Prof and Megan are both in control of their powers (and do the "taking ownership" from Calamity reveal at 50%), David and Megan still tunnel into Invocation-alt 'verse to try and get info from Firefight (but are met with properly dramatic obstacles), and the Calamity confrontation takes up a good 50+ pages where David, Prof, Megan, and other "self-owned" Epics do battle on a much larger scale than "Ohh, I'm not from here and it's confusing and crappy." "Well screw you, it's your fault!" showdown. Give me more in-depth look at Calamity's childhood and WHY he despises Earth. Give me a bigger struggle with David and his powers (so the ultimate "I'M STEELHEART NOW!" reveal is bigger, much bigger!) Kill another character off (I know I know, but it's just SUCH good dramatic events! Maybe David at the end? "My name's David Charleston, I kill Epics." BLAM! Sacrifice to save the greater good. [he'd have to struggle with powers/darkness though, if Prof and Megan have gotten over it]) I mean, I don't bash Brandon, dude's a genius. But this did feel TOTALLY rushed...

I actually searched this out too, and conceded that Landis was right, this quote here kinda sells it: Loc 2281 Kindle Edition Again, not explicitly stated, but it's very much hinted to. I feel like somebody would have asked exactly "Can surgebinders pull stormlight directly from the storm?" and we'd have a WoB on this... Regardless, that will be the very bottom question on my list, and I'll only ask if something like riding back with him to the airport occurs, lol

Ohh, I didn't notice until now, yeah this is the exact Anderson's that The WOT Companion tour came through, It's... small-ish. Get there early if you want seats, otherwise you'll end up standing. (I seriously don't think Anderson's knows what they're in for having Brandon come through. WoT maxed them out and we only had, maybe 30 people)

Who is this Landis guy? Can I just keep him in a pocket and take him home for me whenever I need answers?