Comatose

Cool titles, I wish I was that good with them. Titles and names are always the part I have the most trouble with. As for the names in the Death of Dragons series, I think the names thing works, depending on what you are going for, but I like the idea of dropping the first part, and just having the "x" as Trizee put it. One problem with that is that you might have two books entitled "The Last Dragon" or "Last Dragon." That might be okay, or not, since they are in different sub-series, but that's up to you. I really liked "The Storm of Five," for some reason. It sounds cool. Personally, I'm kind of turned off by any title with generic bits like: "element(s)," "heart," "steel," "sword," etc, but sometimes they can be used to good effect. Trizee, I really like Sword over Spell (even though it has 'sword' in it), but not The Winter Wars. For some reason one alliteration works for me and the other doesn't. I also liked "A Hope for Stone" and "Death Incarnate."

This one is a toughie. Kelsier or Vin are the obvious choices for me. Next would probably be Sarene, Hrathen, Raoden (yes, I liked Elantris), Siri, Shallan, or Jasnah (in no particular order). Oooo, favorite minor character is definitely Lady Kliss or Yeoman. And I forgot about TenSoon and Ruin... and the Lord Ruler, and Alendi.... who I also enjoy. This is more difficult than I initially expected.

Upon review, I agree that Domination doesn't really fit with the first grouping, however, I'm not sure if it fits with the second grouping either (though I see now that it fits better there than with the first grouping). Here's where we run into problems, since Domination could very well be part of the third of fourth group, but with nothing to compare or contrast it to, we have no way of knowing. That hasn't stopped us before though .

Random thought about a cool shard: a collector type shard whose intent is to acquire as much of humanity, the world, etc, as possible (similar to greed, I guess, but more neutral), possible named Accumulation or something. I think whoever held this shard could also create a fairly interesting magic system. -end of completely random side-track that is not really useful at all-

I have a friend who is doing her masters at Dalhousie who plans to go to HalCon. I told her she has to read some Brandon before she does, but I'm not sure if she has yet. Regardless, I could possibly send her some questions to ask.

I was just having a conversation with Chaos about this exact topic . My feeling is that Brandon is way to meticulous in the way he crafts his magic systems to just pick 16 random intents. There HAS to be a pattern, in my opinion, RAFO or not. Of course I could be wrong, but where's the fun in worrying about that? Here's my hypothesized groupings of the shards we know: Devotion, Dominion, Honor, Odium: The credit for this grouping goes completely to Chaos. I my mind, all the shards interact with the world around them, carrying out the action of their intent. HOW they do this is the way I see them being grouped. These first four all undertake abstracted actions, based on an emotional state or attitude. In order to show devotion, dominate, honor, or hate something, the shards must do OTHER things to embody these stances. Their emotional basis and indirect action is why I think they should be grouped together (Thanks again to chaos for mentioning this grouping to me). Cultivation, Preservation, Ruin: These shards are concerned with the current STATE of things (the world, humanity, etc.) Preservation wants to preserve creation, holding that state constant and protecting it. Cultivation, it would follow, cultivate, hoping to improve the state of her object. Ruin wants to ruin his object, taking it apart piece by piece until there is nothing left. These shards have the most straight-forward and physical of the actions, which is reflected in the names of their intents. Their direct intents and state-based focus is what groups these shards in my mind. (note: there is one spot open in this group for a future shard). Endowment: I don't have anything to compare endowment to yet, but I don't feel it fits with either of the previous groups. Endowment endows or gives. While this giving might improve the state of humanity, the alteration of said state is not the primary focus of this shards intent. If Endowment was named Generosity, I'd say it could be grouped in with the other emotionally based shards. However, Endowment is mind-set neutral, it must endow, but the spirit in which is does so is unspecified. This is why I think Endowment must be the first shard in a third group whose members we have not seen yet. Thoughts?

What I notice about the shard intents is that they are mostly noun forms of very active verbs (the exceptions being Odium and Devotion). Ruin ruins, Preservation preserves, Endowment endows, Dominion dominates, Honor honors, etc. While Odium and Devotion are a little less straight forward (Odium hates and/or causes hate, Devotion, presumably, shows devotion by being devoted to something), they are very action based. Their intent forces them to DO something. Since we are kind of taking shots in the dark here, I think it is useful to keep patterns like this in mind when looking at other shards. So far, all of the shard intents are coupled with actions (most of which are pretty obvious). I would like to assume that the other intents continue this pattern, which is why I'm not sure if things like fear, avarice/greed, and guile work. True, you can attach passive verbs to these (as was done with devotion: Fear is afraid of something, Greed wants more things, etc.) but they don't carry the same 'ooomph' in my opinion of the stronger verbs shown by the shards we know already. Another important point, I think, when considering shards is how they interact with humanity. All the shards we've seen so far act out their intent in relation to humanity (the exception is Odium, who seems to primarily target other shards). Ruin wants to destroy human life, Preservation wants to preserve it. Endowment endows humans with breath and power. Devotion (if the seons as splinters of Aona's shard are any indication) was unconditionally devoted to humanity, while Dominion seems to want to dominate all of Sel. Would "Fear" be afraid of humans? How would Greed's intent engage with people? I dunno, I could be totally off base, but that's my gut inclination when I read some of these possibilities. What do you guys think?

I'll bet he has that picture of the flower from Mare on the wall, as well as the picture Sarene was painting in the throne room. Gotta have some nice interior decorations after all. Also, I see your caged mistwraith, and up you one MONSTERWRAITH, because I think they are super cool! And Hoid would totally have one.

I'm not saying good characters have to be flawed or tainted in some ways. I'm just saying that my personal preference is for more villainous characters because I find them more interesting. Were I to meet Kaladin in person, I'm sure I would find him to be quite inspiring, but for some reason or another, despite being a successful character in many respects, I didn't find him all that interesting to read. You'll also notice I didn't include Raoden (who the annotation in question was about) in my list. I actually enjoyed Raoden's chapters a lot, even though he was fairly saintly. Don't ask me why, I can't tell you why people react differently to different characters, but I certainly do. I also find it problematic comparing characters to Jesus, since he's kind of one of kind, in my view anyways. The gospels are full of really interesting and compelling stories, but I'm not sure if they can be judged by the same standard as fiction, but maybe that's just me. Anyways, other characters I thought of another character I didn't particularly enjoy reading: Marasi. I was actually one of the few rooting for Steris the entire time. Like Kaladin, I think Marasi was a well crafted character, but she didn't catch my interest like Steris (admittedly ironically ) did.

I love Zane and KanPaar, but then I've always been a villains person. Now it's my turn to ask you guys not to hate one me, but my least favourite character is probably Kaladin. While he has many issues and weaknesses, he wasn't morally flawed or conflicted enough to be interesting to me. That doesn't make him a bad character, but that's my taste. Dalinar worked for me because his pursuit of a moral ideal was intentional, and a reaction to things in his past (his brother death, possibly his deal with the night mother), and he was still very conflicted about it. To me, anyways, it just felt like that powerful morality came a little to naturally to Kaladin for me to latch onto him. I'm sure someone can come up with a page reference that proves me wrong in some way, which I will accept, but I don't think I'll ever like Kaladin much, no matter how good of a character he is. We just didn't click. I think it might also be because the whole "oppressed soldier/barracks" narrative isn't one of my faves. Maybe he'll get better in future books. Anyways, I'm hoping to enjoy Stormlight 2 much more than Stormlight 1 because of its focus on Shallan rather than Kaladin. Very interesting posts in this thread. It's interesting to see people's opinions.

This is an interesting tidbit I found in the Q&A. From this response, it seems like the conciousness of a kandra does not come from its blessings, but rather from the cognitive aspect that was previously blocked. This means that, rather than providing a consciousness (likely stolen from the human the spike came from), the spikes are really only creating some sort of connecting between the cognitive and physical aspects of the mistwraith. To me, this makes sense, because if conciousness were tied to the spikes themselves, then TenSoon's use of OreSeur's spikes should have also given him an aspect of OreSeur's consciousness. However, if the spikes are merely a catalyst for creating consciousness, rather than the provider of it, TenSoon's steady identity makes more sense. This also means that, it doesn't matter WHICH blessings the kandra would have gotten, as long as they received a blessing, the connection between their cognitive and physical aspects should have been restored. I don't think the spikes remove the blockage entirely, otherwise the kandra wouldn't need their blessings necessarily to remain kandra. Since they turned back into mistwraiths, I think the blessings more act as a bridge or bypass around said blockage. What do you guys think?

Hey Iredomi! Sorry it took me so long to see this. I tend to get caught up on MBI, and forget to make my way over to the mother site. What Observer has told you is correct. MBI is essentially a collaborative work of fiction, set in the world of the Final Empire that Brandon has created. Like Observer said, each player/author is responsible for the actions of their own characters, as they react and respond to the various other characters and NPC's who exist in the world. Unlike other RPG's, MBI doesn't have a mod playing all the Non-Player-Characters and telling you what happens next. Instead, that is all determined by YOU, the writer. The only thing that is off limits really are other players characters, which are their own to control. This free range low restriction environment is the reason why we have a fairly extensive application process, to makes sure players understand the rules and regulations of the site before they are allowed into the story. So, if you are interested in joining (), the standard process is: 1. Reading the rules and style guide and other documentation (which, according to your initial post you may have done already). 2. Fill in a character application. 3. Create a character account and post said character application (either in the workshop for player feedback, or in the player characters section to apply for acceptance). 4. Wait for Admin feedback, and then once your are accepted, start writing! Some of our threads are pre-planned out, others are not. The pre-planning often happens over instant messenger or skype, so if you are interested in collaboration of that kind, feel free to PM the players of the characters you are interested in collaborating with your information. If you plan on making more than one character, you should make a different account for each character, with an out of character account used to message other players, and to make out-of-character posts. Once your character is accepted, you can also feel free to just start a thread of your own, or enter any existing thread that is marked "open" to all, or to a character of your type (ie: noble, skaa, rebel, ministry, etc). If you see a thread you think your character could contribute to, that is not open, feel free to pm the player who started it. It never hurts to check. Just keep in mind that any topics that are locked are closed, meaning the scene in question is finished, so you will not be able to post there. Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any more questions! I'll try to check here more often! And Zenith, your game is fine where it is. Based on its set up, I don't think a sub forum will be needed, and your single thread should suffice. Feel free to ask players to designate what is out of or in character if things get confusing, or to divide your game into OOC and in character threads. It looks cool, so I wish you luck in finding players.

One thought that I had, about the original Mistborn series (since most of the Scadrial discussion seems to be about Alloy), is that it's (loosely) based on Victorian society, where sexuality in general is pretty strictly oppressed. In the Mistborn RP, I've written a gay character, so I tried to do a lot of thinking about what the world he lives in is like, and based on the evidence, I decided that, it might be similar to the attitude before the late Victorian age when homosexuality became a criminal offence, where it wasn't accepted at all, but people got away with leading LGBTQ lives because no one was talking about it. Then of course, with Oscar Wilde's rise to fame, among other things, people began talking about homosexuality. As they did this, they found themselves creating a vocabulary to define it in order to talk about it, creating or re-appropriating many of the terms (both scientific and offensive) that some people still use today when talking about homosexuality. Given what I've seen about the final empire, I feel like homosexuality would be a very private affair that, if exposed, could be very shameful for the parties in question, but I don't think any persecution would be reactionary, as it doesn't seem to be a topic on people's minds. I totally agree though that there are male skaa in brothels in Luthadel, as there have been male prostitutes all the way back to Ancient Greece and beyond. Speaking of Ancient Greece, it's a good example for how male and female sexuality can be treated differently within a culture. Older male-younger male relationships were pretty much built into the culture serving a sort of mentor-mentee function, while aside from Sappho, we hear very little of female-female relationships. At the same time, men who didn't move on from their homosexual relationships to get married (to women) were seen as weak or effeminate, while Sappho doesn't seem to have any such restriction placed on her. However, her status of a poet might have shielded her somewhat, so it's difficult to say. I do know that female-female homosexuality isn't spoken of nearly as much as male-male relationships are in the ancient world, so that, in the very least, shows that they were viewed somewhat differently. Anyways, that's just my two cents, thought I'd put it in. Hope you don't mind me resurrecting a dead topic.

Hey Brandon, it's really great to see you here, and I hope you enjoy your stay . I'm Matt, the Canadian (one of a few). As my signature suggests, most of my admin work is done over at the Mistborn RP. Anyways, I'll cut to the chase, here are my questions: 1. Would it be possible to get a general timeline of the following events, in relation to the time of the Lord Ruler’s Ascension and to each other: the birth of the Second Generation, the time period when kandra were hunted down and killed by Mistborn, the creation of the contract system and of the creation of the latter generations? 2. How much do the Terris people in the breeding programs and the obligators who work with them know about Feruchemy? 3. Could a Seeker who was properly trained and experienced detect AonDor or Breath? 4. What is it exactly that a seeker is detecting? And to finish, just for my personal interest, 5. Have you or Peter ever read the Mistborn RP (Mistborn: The Inquisition that is) and if so, do you have anything in the way of thoughts, opinions or advice? As someone who's writing as benefited enormously from working the site, I'd also like to personally thank you for giving us such an amazing world to play in. Thank-you.

I think my favorite is the comparison between the Alethi and the Greeks. As VERY independent city states, throughout history the Greeks have struggled to work together, from the time of the Trojan war, through the Persian and pelopponesian war, and up until the time of Philip the II. This situation, I think has some nice similarities to the way the Alethi nobility behave under the uneasy rule of the king.

Hey Reader, I noticed your new thread, and just thought that I'd clarify something. Emeralis's character is named Arron, with two n's. I've noticed you referring to him as Aaron a couple of times (who is, coincidentally, a character on MBI, which caused me great amusement and confusion). Since they are two different RP's, it's not a problem at all to have characters with similar or the same names on Eternal Confluc and MBI, but since the character's actual name is Arron, I thought I'd let you know in case you didn't realize you were misspelling it. I hope you don't mind, and know I didn't mean to offend. In other news, I was wondering how it would work to begin separate threads with characters involved in the Troubles thread. I kind of miss Sayuri, and wouldn't mind doing some RPing with her on the side, so I thought I'd check the possibility of doing so.

Hey reader, I think Silus meant the data topic for confirmed forms only. In the past, I believe most have been posted here first and then copy and pasted by a moderator (Cuairr, you can feel free to contradict me if I'm wrong).

I love it SOOO MUCH! Was the "I have a crush on every boy" a T33n G1rl Squ4d reference? Because then lyssie wins.

The crafty campaigns are still in the process of being set up. They should become visible as soon as they are up and running.

I am so confused...

Really? I thought you weren't into math...

River: I resist the urge to roll my eyes and tell the Barkeep off. In Riverheart, such a man would never dare to intrude into a conversation among his betters. This time, however, I decide to hold my tongue. My experience with Gaston has chastened me. I've begun to realize I'm in a strange place, with different rules than I am used to playing to. For all I know, this Barkeep could be a prominent nobleman or a ranking official. The people who put this thing together are far more powerful than I had initially imagined. I have no idea how much they are capable of, and that ignorance is one I resolve to rectify as soon as possible, before it is too late. "The wine will be good, kind sir. And thank-you for your thoughts. You may be on to something." There, hopefully that will do for empty courtesy. At least now I know the Barkeep will be listening into our conversation. I should have expected as much anyways, but it's always nice to know for certain. I eye Eerongal, trying to discern what is going on inside his head. "What do you think of that, my Paladin friend? Are we really so different? You've admitted you would go to extremes to get what you want, in this case, the safety of your friends, and you seem convinced I would not hesitate to do the same. Why have you cast me as the villain in your story? Furthermore, what do you really know about those companions you are protecting? What makes them trustworthy and me deceitful? Your leather-bound friend hardly seems the type I would expect one of your moral standards to associate with. What's his story? Or do you even know?"

It's a family that we've included in Mistborn: The Inquisition, and it's freaking amazing that it is being included in this game!