pdxtrent

That is one of the most intriguing ideas I've heard! And folding into it the idea that the designated recipient of the letter has some connection to the 17th shard adds some real spice to the idea! In the con file though, is that Hoid (or whoever wrote the letter) thinks that it's possible the (assumed) Shardholder he is addressing might actually influence the 17th Shard, so there is that.

I generally disagree with you on pretty much everything, but there is a theory buried in there that I LOVE, and that is that it is the enslavement of the Parshmen that led to the KR abandoning everyone. I'm not sure it's correct, but it's the only moral wrong we see on such a vast scale that we've seen that might explain it, so far. I agree with the theory that the face in the cloud is something of Honor, and is connected to Dalinar's dream, and possibly what powers Stormlight itself. It could be a Splinter that was created before Honor was Splintered, Which might have been what weakened Honor enough to allow Tanavast to be slain.

I notice a lot of compounding Adonalsium with God in the forums. Just because it is a force of creation doesn't make it God. Since it was opposed, and apparently destroyed, it is clearly not God as we understand it. I don't think that just because BS is a religious person, that he is any less creative in the worldbuilding of his religions. And just because Adonalsium was opposed, it doesn't mean that it's opponent was it's opposite. I think neither Adonalsium or whatever opposed it is an idealized good or evil. The presence of the Shard Odium pretty much guarantees that Adonalsium's nature was more mixed than that.

I don't think the 'element' has anything to do with Lerasium, as the letter is addressed to (most likely) a dragon, which are not native to any world we've seen before. I'm guessing the 'element' has something Cosmere related (personally I am going for it being related to how Adonalsium was broken in the first place). If the supposition is right, and the recipient is a Shardholder, I doubt the Shardholder has any care about what the tiniest bit of the physical body of another Shardholder could do, but something to do with what broke Adonalsium? THAT is something to worry about how safe it is!

Implying of course, that Hoid is definitely bent on restoring Adonalsium. Perhaps Hoid is, or is part, of this opposition, and maybe the 'most frightening and terrible of all the Shards' is the part of Adolasium that he was opposed to? Or perhaps this is what the 'element' relates to (though I have my own, unrelated, pet theory about that). If Adonalsium wasn't all-powerful, as since it was broken, we can assume it wasn't, the opposing force didn't have to be his equal and opposite, but just effective.

I think Shalash is pretty much certain. But I'd like to point out, we don't know we didn't see Kalak or Jezrien in more modern times either. Taln, I'm pretty sure, we know where he was.

What Brandon has said is that there were no seons when Odium was on Elantris. And yes, it's in the Brandonothology Part 3, Cosmerepalooza: "Mi’chelle: But was the earthquake caused by Odium? When Odium visited there were no Seons. "

I would pay a price in Atium for this.

Sorry, I had confused Dawnshards with the Herald's blades. That was what I meant;-)

Last fall when Brandon signed in Portland, I asked him about the Highstorms. I wanted to know if there was 1 Highstorm, or multiple Highstorms.... I was RAFO'ed. I suspect that the Highstorm(I think there is only one), is likely either the remains of the body of Honor. Which explains the presence of the spren in the storm, why the stormlight powers all the magics, and why the visions Dalinar sees come with the storms. I further think that the Stormfather Kaladin sees in the storm is basically the 'ghost' of Honor, the shard, not the bearer(who is dead). It doesn't look like Jezrien, it doesn't look like the Almighty from the visions.... because it is the Honor unbound to any shardholder.

CheeseNinja, I am with you that the blade that Szeth has is the source of his Windrunner powers. And I think this is because he has an Dawnshard instead of a simpler Shardblade. We know the Heralds abandoned their weapons, and that the Dawnblades can be wielded by someone other than a Herald. And that Taln says at the beginning that they are more than regular Shardblades. Whats interesting is Tarvangian referring to it as a monstrosity. Is this because the Shin think it's monstrous, or because Tarvangian does? Edit to add: In the picture of Nalan wielding the Dawnshard: http://brandonsanderson.com/images/wok/tWoK_EPHEMERA-4_RELIEF-webres.jpg Notice that it's distinctly double edged?

So on the questions for Stormlight, it asks how many Heralds we see in WoK. I asked Brandon this in Portland last year, and he said 5. I also asked if the Highstorms were one storm, or multiple storms and he RAFO'ed that question, which leads me to think that yes they are, and that it's important enough to be considered spoilerish.

Wow, a little intimidating to be throwing this out there(this is my first post), but I keep thinking that 'Sacrifice' is closer to what Skai might be. I think the desire for them to be polarities is a result of Mistborn. Just as I think that Odium is meant closer to hate or despite rather than dishonor, as the Heralds tell us that he can be bound to an agreement(isn't that what the honorpact is?). The concept of sacrifice would cover both self-sacrifice, and the sacrifice of others. If this is addressed elsewhere, I'm sorry. I looked.