Gloom

I'd take a Blade. Unless you're a KR, you have to get outfitted in plate before each battle. Unless your Dalinar Kholin, you only wear your plate in battle. With a Blade, I'm always armed even if no one can see it. I can cut through any obstruction, so I'm not likely to get trapped, and I would be able to put up a good fight against most opponents. I could even theoretically kill me a thunderclast.

I don't think that epics instinctively know what their weaknesses are, but I think they subconsciously choose their weaknesses when they become epics. Some of them will recognize their weakness when they see it, some won't. Some may just know, others may come to realize it over time, and for some it may come as a complete surprise. It would depend on the epic and how in touch they are with their own subconscious mind.

Since were off topic, saw dust isn't highly toxic. It's a possible carcinogen true, but highly toxic is another matter altogether. Saw dust from treated wood is likely to be somewhat worse for you than saw dust from ordinary wood, and different woods can affect people differently. Long term exposure to saw dust is no worse for a person than long term exposure to smoking. It may cause cancer to develop, or lead to other respiratory problems over a prolonged period of time. Something that is highly toxic will kill you very quickly. Cyanide is highly toxic. Proper safety precautions are recommended, but even asbestos often takes about twenty years before cancer cells begin to develop. I wouldn't consider saw dust as dangerous as asbestos. Back on topic: I think weaknesses are inconsistent because they are subconsciously chosen by the epic. If this is the case, then some epics would have more weaknesses than others, or more obvious weaknesses than others. Edit: Spelling

Well, who wants to be driven insane by the ability to grow flowers? Who wants to be weak enough that they would have to serve at the whim of a High Epic if they could simply choose to be a High Epic instead? Sure, it would be nice to have the ability to pick up a warm can of beer and chill it instantly, but then you'd end up running some High Epics refrigeration department instead of being able to do your own thing. You may as well just get a real job at that point and save yourself from becoming a sociopath.

I don't know. How would you turn off something like a danger sense? How would you turn off an ability like invulnerability or near immortality? Perhaps having these powers would only have a negative effect on your personality when they were actively used. Fortuity is a perfect example of this. If Fortuity didn't actively use his precognitive abilities to gain personal advantage like he did at the playhouse, and only used his abilities passively to avoid danger he may have been able to live a fairly normal life. He chose to use his power and as a result he became a psychopath.

and yet the ten fools serve his will.

It's different from the taint in TWoT, but by definition it could be construed as a taint, a corruption of their personalities, so the word is appropriate. It doesn't drive people insane as a rule, but it does cripple them emotionally so that they are incapable of feeling guilt, compassion, or empathy while under the influence of their powers. In some respects, I think it may invert these emotional stimuli making them into arrogance, contempt, and disgust. Paranoia on the other hand may simply be triggered simply by using the power.

Now that everyone has convinced you that Tanavast/Honor is the almighty, I'll leave you with this quote to muddy up the waters.

Regardless of whatever else Calamity is, I'm certain that it's a weapon. The reason of my certainty is that it only affects humans. We haven't heard of any epic dogs flying around shooting lasers out of their eyes or leveling entire city blocks, so this thing was obviously targeted. Even if this is a test, it should still be construed as an attack because this interference completely decimated society as it was. A test is likely if the origin is extra terrestrial. Otherwise it would make more sense to target all humans and turn them all into Epics, then wait for them to die off or destroy all human advancement. Once the outcome was certain, they could turn Calamity off. Actually, that still works. The Epics are destroying human advancement, even while they are to a lesser degree advancing it. If another wave of Epics rose to challenge the ones who stabilized society in certain sectors, it could force humanity into even further regression. This could be repeated as needed until humanity was basically forced back into the stone age, then they could just shut Calamity down and move in.

I agree with Darnam. If your Epic power is involuntary and always functioning, you're going to feel the psychological influence of Calamity constantly. On the up side, you'll be so emotionally stunted and callous as a result of this that you won't care.

That's a good possibility as well. We don't know what Weeper has been up to over the past five years. I'm not sure I would put Danlan as a high probability. A noble lineage isn't exactly easy to fake in a war camp full of nobles that are all sworn vassals. Danlan is likely to be a bit younger than I suspect Weeper would be, and Adolin is a poor choice for an assassin to choose should she wish to remain close to the family (as he seems to be something of a playboy who rarely maintains a relationship for more than a short time). Renarin would have been a better target for a relationship as he seems somewhat unpopular with the ladies and probably is a bit easier for a woman to manipulate should that be the goal. The point that she may already be on the Shattered Plains is certainly worthy of consideration. Dalanar has several woman that read to him, but I'm not sure why Jasnah would wish to place an assassin with her immediate family. Her brothers wife, sure. She is an outsider who was married into the family. Her blood kin though? Unless she managed to pay Weeper enough to consider switching roles and becoming a secret spy/body guard for her uncle and immediate family that only reports to her. It's also possible that Weeper resides in Elhokars house hold on the Shattered Plains now. I find it most likely that Weeper will contact Jasnah early in the book to inform her of an inquiry into contracting her to perform an assassination of either Elhokar or Dalinar. Possibly both. I certainly hope that we see a few assassination attempts. It's a perfect way to add a little action to some of the slower areas of a book.

In that case, maybe we should be reading Brandons work in native Alethi

If David could copy or steal powers, why did he have barely enough power to stop a bullet when Lime Light was using almost everything he had to kill Steelheart? If David is an epic, why doesn't he exhibit any of the signs that epics typically exhibit when using those powers? If David is an epic, why didn't he steal Steelhearts powers when his life was in jeopardy? And finally, if David is an epic, knees is about the absolute worst epic name I've ever heard.

The room that David went into had some desks and computers in it. Megan said their were two more rooms like that, but didn't specify exactly what was in those rooms. Could have been server equipment, possibly even a generator. Even failing that, people make noise when they work. Chair legs scraping against the floor, discussions amongst coworkers, random comments, or even levity are frequent distractions that we use to keep ourselves sane when sitting at a desk staring at a screen. So odd noises coming from a top secret hidden facility within a controlled structure were probably something the guards were told not to investigate to deeply.

I see both of these hypotheses as viable. The Helaran is the Shardbearer idea could lead to some potential drama as Kaladin and Shallan are slated to be venturing onto the Shattered Plains together in WoR if I remember the cover blurb correctly. This isn't something I'd expect Shallan to be eager to get mixed up in regardless of what she may find as a result. It offers conservation of characters and keeps things tidy while potentially increasing tensions between the characters. We know how much Brandon likes his tension. The Helaran as a victim idea appeals to me though. Rarely is life so tidy as the idea above. The likelihood of Nan Helaran being the Shardbearer that Kaladin killed is to much of a coincidence for me. I won't say it's wrong, because the evidence is strangely compelling, but the odds of a coincidence like this occurring are staggeringly bad. To me it contracts the world from a vast super pangea to a small town atmosphere where everyone knows one another. If it turns out that Shallan realizes her brother is dead because Amaram is wearing her brothers Shards, I'm going to write Brandon a mean letter.

Congrats Carcinios. One up vote for your precognitive reasoning.

1) My power would be force field manipulation. I would be able to project force fields in any direction, including horizontally in line of sight. Force fields could be created in any color except red, but are normally invisible. Secondary powers would be a precognitive activation of a personal force field in the event of a threat, and energy disruption. The first would activate to protect me from attacks unconsciously and the later would disrupt any nearby energy source when activated. I would also be a gifter. 2) My weakness would be that I am unable to stop red light from passing through my force fields. Should someone target me with a laser consisting of red light they could kill me unless I disrupted it. 3) My name would be Field 4) I enjoy riding a horizontal force field around the city at around five feet off the ground. Should anyone over five feet in height who is in the way fail to bow or at least duck, the force field decapitates them. Should I encounter anyone who appears to be defiant, I surround them with force fields and push down until they are a properly subservient pile of meat leaking on the pavement. I do not discriminate. I require the subservience of all regardless of gender, age, religion, race, or any other pretext which one might think is significant enough to exempt them from paying homage to me. I may make exceptions in regards to some of my fellow Epics, but this is primarily because either they are useful to me, or more powerful than me.

As far as the field upon which the Shardbearer fell... It was a field of little consequence. A minor border dispute between two neighboring fiefs. Yes, some important events unfolded upon that field, but the battle itself is only a footnote to the Alethi. It only reached the high status of footnote because alegedly Amaram killed a Shardbearer and claimed his Shards. If not for that, it would be completely inconsequential to society as a whole. Now, I may have gotten a bit twisted in the post above so let me clarify. If Shallans father didn't inform Helaran, how did he get mixed up with the Ghostbloods in the first place. If Shallans father did inform Helaran, and Helaran was involved with their plans, why didn't he later involve Nan Balat? About a year passed between Helarans disappearance and Shallans fathers death. There is always the possibility that the Ghostbloods actually approached Helaran, and that Helaran involved his father and brought Luesh in as well I suppose.

I'd concur that you can respect a person well enough to trust them in a sensitive matter without having an emotional attachment to that person. We don't know what Luesh reported to his masters, or what his reasons for withholding information from them may have been. It's possible that Luesh was an advocate for the House Davar operation from the outset, and had more at stake in its success than we are aware of. We know assassins are at play in the world of high level politics, so it's always possible that the opposition, perhaps even Amaram found out enough information to implicate Luesh and have him removed. Enough time had passed by then to discover who was behind the Shardbearer, and how they were connected to the plot on Amarams life by the time Luesh mysteriously died. Where you're losing me, is here. Nan Helaran was, despite his vocal opposition to his father, brought in on the plan and coerced into joining the Ghostbloods so far that he was allegedly considered trustworthy enough to be loaned a set of Shards to kill Amaram in a border dispute. But after his disappearance and declared death, his brother, now Nan Balat, was kept in the dark. If it was so important for Nan Helaran to know what was going on why wasn't it important for the new heir apparent to know what was going on?

Well, before we make too many assumptions, I would like to remind everyone that we don't know that Helaran is dead. We know that he disappeared and was assumed dead, and we know that the Shardbearer that may have been Helaran is dead. It could be just as useful to Brandon to leave Helaran in limbo and assumed dead rather than having him killed as a nameless Shardbearer on a field of little consequence.

I wouldn't say that contracting assassins was a normal behavior even amongst the noble houses of Alethkar. Jasnah, on the other hand, isn't a member of an ordinary noble house in Alethkar. She is a member of the ruling house of Alethkar, and a princess of one of the ten princedoms. At that level of society, assassination may be more prevalent. Kidnappings, bribery, and blackmail may exist to some extent at that level of society, but thus far we haven't heard of any hostages, seen anyone on the take, or witnessed any bribery on a high level. Navani said the camps were becoming the real center of power for Alethkar, so I would suspect if such things were wide spread, we would be seeing signs of it. Assassination fills a very special role in a feudal society where power is not concentrated. The potential for one man standing in the way of policy, or even starting a war on his own is very real. The use of assassins to eliminate such a person may not be honorable, but it can very easily save thousands of lives and save face for the noble house who suffered the assassination if it is done carefully. How can it save a House face to have a member of their family assassinated you ask? The Alethi are an honorable people, or at least see themselves as such. If the person that inherits is unsuitable for the position, the honorable course is still to follow them. If someone removes that person before they become a serious liability to that house, then a more suitable candidate can be moved into the vacant position should one exist. Normally an assassination wouldn't occur just to save a house for self destruction of course, but the same principle still applies when a house starts to dabble in things that are considered politically dangerous and has a single member eliminated for the transgression. The message may be personal or it may be to the entire house, but it is clear to at least one person, don't mess with that, or don't provoke your neighbor in that foreign nation, or don't get involved with that shadowy organization, or even, this is the price you pay for smuggling illegal artifacts even if we can't actually catch you doing it. Hostage taking on the other hand is generally use in lieu of assassination. It is used to promote cooperation between noble houses or for ransom of a noble if they are captured in combat. We would definitely see some signs if hostage taking was a common occurrence in Alethi society. Hostages taken when young were often treated as family, or squires and the practice was designed to encourage friendship between houses. Hostages taken in battle were used to gain monetary wealth and hurt the house that attacked you without creating a blood feud. I wouldn't be surprised if this were practiced in Roshar, but I haven't seen anything to convince me that it is practiced by the Alethi. Kidnapping on the other hand is a more clandestine undertaking generally used for the purposes of coercion on the short term and usually ends with the victims death. This may occur at some level of Alethi society, but it's a very risky thing to undertake. If a smaller house kidnaps a member of a larger house and the truth is discovered, then war is the inevitable result. Bribery and blackmail are certain to exist at some level. I can see so many ways this could be used. EDIT: It occurs to me that this scene isn't just background information on Jasnah. Nor was it designed to provide Jasnah with a chance to recognize Szeth, since it appears she never did actually meet him. Introducing Weeper may be the point of the scene, I won't rule that out. Maybe she will come to the Shattered plains to report that a contract was taken out on someone in Jasnah's family. It also provides us with information that Jasnah has an assassin with a Shardblade poised to kill Elhokars wife should the need arise. Perhaps this will be relevant in and of itself. Perhaps Talns involvement will trigger something at the capital that forces Weeper to act. Any one have any other IDEAS?

Dramatic possibilities...Okay, Kaladin had no knowledge of who the Shardbearer was nor did he have any knowledge of who house Davar was. Kaladin isn't going to share his killing of the Shardbearer easily. On the other hand, should Amarams investigation link the Shardbearer to House Davar, he could inform Dalinar and cast suspicion upon Shallan. Depending on what Kaladins relationship with Shallan is at the time, it could stress that relationship. A grudge may exist, some anger, but I really don't see Brandon making a soap opera out of it. Linking House Davar to the Ghost Knights could create a schism between Jasnah, Shallan, possibly Kaladin, and Dalinar. I could see tension between Kaladin and Shallan, but I think that tension would be overshadowed by larger political realities. If House Davar is linked to the Ghost Bloods, it could theoretically lead to the extinction of that house through assassination. It also may not be the first time something like that was attempted against House Davar.

Okay, so the connections we have at the moment are; House Davar was mixed up with the Ghost Bloods, and the Shardbearer was a suspected to have been a Ghostblood. Shallan's brother disappeared within a time frame that could allow for him to have been the Shardbearer that Kaladin faced and killed. Both Shallan's brother and the Shardbearer were from Jah Keved (Vedenar). I can't say that Shallan's brother wasn't the Shardbearer, but the evidence is far from conclusive. Why bring a foreign Shardbearer into an Alethi border skirmish? I believe they are called mercenaries. Amaram appears to be a well connected nobleman. He is aware of the Ghostbloods, knows enough about their organization to drop names, and appears politically suave enough to have informants. It may have just been safer to contract a foreign Shardbearer. Vedenar is located in Jah Keved, so if you're looking for a Shardbearer that isn't Alethi, Jah Keved is your next best option. If Amaram was correct and the Shardbearer is a member of the Ghostbloods (We only have Amaram's speculation on this and when Brandon does throw us red herrings, he often does so through dialog.), and the purpose was to eliminate Amaram, why not contract someone who has their own Shards? House Davar was far from the height of Jah Keveds nobility. It is unlikely they had two Shardblades and a set of Plate. It's possible, but I think if they did, they would have had a higher standing within Jah Keved were this so. According to Dalinar, Jah Keved only holds about twenty sets of Shards. I suspect that the Ghostbloods are a large enough organization that they have more than a few men trained and seasoned in battle. I also suspect that more than a few of them are from Jah Keved. Like I said, I'm not saying the Shardbearer wasn't, or couldn't have been Shallan's brother, but I'll need a bit more evidence before I'm convinced of this. Fortunately, we will see more of Amaram in WoR, and the topic may come up. If it was Shallan's brother, kudos to Moogle and his fellow conspirators.

Actually, I'm not. The topic was about cryptics in general as a spren type. The discussion was revolving around evidence that cryptics were void spren. I was pointing out that if cryptics are void spren, then cryptics are void spren, and you can't just take Shallans cryptic, call all cryptics void spren, then ignore other crytics because they are inconvenient. Either cryptics are void spren or they aren't. Reading back over the topic, it appears you were just talking about Shallans cryptic, while I was still focused on the discussion at large. I don't have enough information at this time to discuss the differences between cryptics. I barely have enough information to discuss them at all. I don't personally believe that they are void spren, I believe they belong to Cultivation. I actually don't believe that void spren exist as a type. I think Odium just corrupts existing spren when they are needed.

Hmmm, I assumed, and mind you this is just an assumption, that our map of Shadesmar is incomplete. That the corners of the map allow a traveler to move from one cognitive pool to the next. How I envisioned this was that the map of Shadesmar that we have corresponds to Roshars cognitive pool, but from Roshars cognitive pool, you could move to any of the other cognitive pools that are adjacent to it through an expanse. It's still Shadesmar, so distance between worlds is fluid, cognitive activity is of greater consequence than distance. The Shadesmar that we see for Roshar would only correspond to Roshar, if Shadesmar overlapped every world in the same place who knows where you'd end up when you left Shadesmar. If you always exited Shadesmar in your world of origin, then how would you travel to new worlds? I believe that only by entering an expanse would you be able to move to a new cognitive pool, or layer of Shadesmar. Like I said, this is just how I envisioned it, I don't have any basis for this hypothesis, and haven't really put a great deal of thought into it.