Aether

The feat of catching and holding back the claw likely had something to do with his latent Bondsmith abilities, but I doubt that it would be that particular use of the Adhesion surge, as Invested objects (e. g. Shardplate) are resistant to other forms of Investiture. It would be nigh impossible to lash a Shardplate to anything.

Wait, what now?

The glowing hands of Rock will now be able to stir that stew to perfection!

Or the Windrunner could just Full Lash them all into a big ball of Squires, then Basic Lash that ball into the desired direction. An efficient, if somewhat brutal and intimate, means of transportation.

Yet again I sit corrected. Thank you for providing the WoB, Moogle! EDIT: This does make me think that it will be considerably easier for Scadrial to procure the scantier Allomantic metals once they establish contact with Soulcasters on Roshar.

You might be wrong with your main point, but I find it doubtful that you can Soulcast Allomantic metals, as they are the focus behind the Scadrian magic. Gemstones seem to be the focus for Rosharan magic (or at least one of them), and it is stated in the Way of Kings that you cannot Soulcast gemstones, presumably because of their role as a focus.

Permitting myself to make a new post with the updated information, even though it is somewhat similar to the previous one. All hail Cheese Ninja for having worked out the correct time-line. ***WARNING!!!! THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS for the Words of Radiance. Due to the nature of the discussion and the subject, I find it unnecessary to include spoiler tags for every bit of trivia from the book, SO PROCEDE BEYOND THIS SENTENCE AT YOUR OWN RISK.*** I'll try to update my List with the new information gleamed from the Words of Radiance. I could, however, use some help in determining the chronology and ferret out any new information about the ages of the characters that might have showed up during the book. Fortunately, the exact date of the ending of tWoR is rather easy to come by (as opposed to the date of the ending of tWoK which was unreasonably convoluted). The bulk of the Words of Radiance happens during the sixty-two days prophesied by Dalinar in chapter four: "Taker of Secrets" (page 80 of the Tor hard-cover), counting down to the arrival of the Everstorm. Navani gives the date at the end of the count-down later in the book: As worked out by Cheese Ninja, this would be referencing Ishishach [1173-10-10-3], as the end of the year would be Ishishah [1173-10-10-5]. . This would put the day of Dalinar's scratchings on Tanatakes [1173-9-8-1]. Now, I have no idea how Shallan's chapters (chapter one and three) fit into the timetable, but I believe I remember reading that Kaladin's chapter (2) starts the very next day after being promoted to a Captain by Dalinar, which happened in the evening of the same day as the Battle at the Tower. "A short time later" after Dalinar unwittingly prophesied the Everstorm, Kaladin mentions having been "one week at the job" (the following page). This puts the beginning of tWoR at exactly Tanataban [1173-9-7-2], assuming he means an exact week, and not an approximate one, and that he's counting that day as part of the said week. This puts the end of the Way of Kings, the day before, at Tanatabes [1173-9-7-1]. The Words of Radiance ends some time after the defeat of the Parshendi, on the day that Dalinar becomes a Bondsmith (not counting the Epilogue): This puts the end-date of tWoR at Jesesach [1174-1-1-3]. Now, since only a bit over a month has passed, one would assume that there is little need to update my calculations of the character ages, but in my original post I postulated that they were all born on Jeseses of whatever year they were born [XXXX-1-1-1], since the exact dates of their births were unknown anyway. Given that we've now moved from year 1173 to 1174, they will all be considered a year older. It would also be nice to be able to include a rigorous time-line in my original list, so I need help confirming my observations and conjectures. I also need help to find anything new that might have showed up, and I'd like to include more characters, such as Sebarial, Gaz and anyone else whose age might have been mentioned. And if anyone's birthday is actually reference and if I'm able to work out the exact date from that, I'll redo the calculations for that character. TL; DR: Please help to confirm my calculations and to find any new information about character ages given in tWoR.

I might be arriving a bit late to this party, but how did we get the exact date of the Battle of the Tower? Working backwards from the end of the countdown, Ishishach [1173-10-10-3], the date of Dalinar's first count-down would be, as you yourselves have calculated, Tanatakes [1173-9-8-1]. In chapter 4, "a short time" after the countdown scratchings appeared, Kaladin mentions having been "one week at the job". Kaladin was promoted to Captain and assigned to protect the Kholins on the evening in the wake of the Battle at the tower, which would mean that his job as bodyguard most likely started the very next day. So, counting backwards from Tanatakes, we get Tanatashash [1173-9-6-5] or Tanatabes [1173-9-7-1] for the Battle of the Tower, depending on whether or not he's counting the current day or not. Of course, he might use the word "week" as an approximation, which throws off this line of reasoning. Am I correct here, or is there some other piece of information that I am ignorant of?

Yeah, I was notified about this through a PM myself. I'm working on updating my post with the correct dates, but I'd like to include the source material indicating the correct dates. Do you know in which Thread this was worked out?

Completely wrong on the date I counted from. I've made a new post further down with the correct information. Original (and wrong) post contained within the spoiler tags.

Darn it. I forgot about that. Thanks, I'll revise my claim about Lopen being the first. I don't think it gives any additional information, though.

Now that we have confirmation that Dalinar is in fact a Bondsmith, and that we have a WoB stating that he had been bonded in some capacity to Stormfather for a while by the end of tWoR, it seems likely that he's here displaying an early sign of Surgebinding or Stormlight usage - just as Kaladin did likely as early as his time as an officer in Amaram's army. Before this information, however, I used to think that it might just thousands of tiny fissures all over the Shardplate created by the force of the Claw clashing with.the armour. Since Kaladin was still very early in his Radiance at this point, and that neither he nor Syl had not even seen Dalinar at this point, I find it highly unlikely that some form of Squiredom is the reason behind Dalinar's feat of strength.

Well, have an up-vote as a small token of the euphoria and perils associated with being a hard-core Sanderson fan. Oh, and puns, yeah... I, um, am afraid all my attempts at good Cosmere puns have been in Wayne. I guess you'll just have to pardon me and let that Slide.

Before I launch the intended discussion, let me preface this by confirming that yes, that is a real word. I think "squiredom" would be a more apt term to pertain to "the act of becomming/being a squire", but it is by far not as fun a word. Got that? Good. Moving on. . This was originally intended to be to be apost about me fanboying over Gaz. For me, he was one of the more pleasant surprises in the Way of Kings. He looked like he was being built up to be the run-of-the-mill token obnoxious bully, but his PoV chapter gave him a lot of depth, and he suddenly became one of the most interesting side-characters in the entire book. Now, with the introduction of Knight Radiant Squires and the effects experienced by Lopen, I think it likely that Gaz will become one of Shallan's squires, and that that will permit him to regrow his eye. Which I think is great! Good for you, Gaz! . But this got me thinking: who can be squires, and what are the abilities we expect them to get? . Who: The Words of Radiance does not delve deeply into what the squires are and what they can do, but it does seem like there was a number of "Squires" associated with every radiant - soldiers who are granted the ability to retain and use Stormlight by their, for the lack of a better word, "bond" with their Radiant. Whether this bond is obtained through a close connection to their Radiant or bestowed upon them intentionally or unintentionally (or both) remains to be seen, but given that the only one who has shown any signs of squiredom up to this point are Lopen and a few unnamed members of Bridge Four (chapter 87: "the Riddens"), a member of Kaladin's inner circle, the former seems likely. . Also, note that there each Knight Radiant seems to be able to have quite a lot of Squires. The following passage references "a considerable number of squires" for only sixteen Windrunners. While "considerable" is still very unspecific, in my book, it is firmly above "many", "a lot of" and variables thereupon, so I shan't be entirely averse to the idea that all of the original members of Bridge Four are potential squires. Or maybe even the extended Officer class of the new Bridge Four. . . What: Squires are only shown or referenced a handful of times in the entire book. The first time we see them is in Dalinar's vision in chapter 4: "Taker of Secrets" (They aren't referred to as squires, but given information surfacing later in the book, it seems pretty clear that these are squires, and not proto-Radiants, nor does it seem squires are a specific trait of the Dustbringers/Releasers, as was suggested in the pre-release discussion on the chapter). : Now, there isn't a whole lot of information that can be extracted from this passage, but some conjectures can be drawn; Squiredom gives in-combat abilities, otherwise there would be little point of using it at this point in the battle against the Thunderclast. . They are using hammers against a creature cast of rock, which suggests that their Stormlight retention gives them at the very least enhanced strength, and likely enhanced reflexes and/or agility as well. Otherwise, they would be fatally ineffective in the battle against the Thunderclast, and would be able to function only as distractions. . The fainter glow suggests that whatever abilities they get, they aren't as powerful as their master Radiant. The next time we see a squire is when Lopen, apparently after weeks of trying to inhale Stormlight, finally displays the signs of becoming one of the the first Squires in modern times: Again, it's not much, but we can still get some information out of it: Most importantly, Squires can draw Stormlight on their own, and are not dependent on being bestowed Light from a nearby Radiant as was previously thought. This is proves that Squiredom is its own thing (though subservient to a Radiant), and suggests that they become Squires through their close connection with a Knight Radiant. It also debunks the hypothesis that Squires are a quirk of the Division surge. . Most interestingly, Squires get Stormlight healing, which is just as powerful - or at the very least close to - as the healing of a Knight Radiant, though perhaps not as quick. A major reveal for tWoR was that Stormlight could heal libs Seared by Shardblades. Apparently, it can regrow limbs too. Do note that the chapter specifically says "where he'd lost his arm so long ago". Being able to heal something that has damaged and healed a long time in the past jointly suggests that Stormlight healing is quite possibly the most powerful healing ability in the entire Cosmere besides Gold compounding, and because of how Cosmere healing works, that Lopen still has quite a powerful image of himself as a "whole" man, which is sweet. Lopen seems to think that he'll get the use of the Windrunner surges as well, but I fear he is ripe for disappointment on that particular point. . WoB has also elaborated upon the subject: Pretty straightforward, but for the sake of consistency and clarity, from this we can deduce that: The number of Squires per Radiant varied between the Orders. Some had significantly more than others, some none at all. The Windrunners' Squires seem to be particularly numerous and powerful. Which might again imply a variance of power between Squires from other Orders as well. The latter piece of information implies that Gaz might not be able to regrow his eye after-all. . . TL; DR: Squiredom is it's own thing and they can operate separately of their Radiant. They likely have enhanced strength, agility and reflexes, and have a crazily over-powered healing ability. Squires gain their abilities through a close connection to a Knight Radiant. The number of Squires a Radiant is able to bond and the strength of these depends on the Radiant Order. The Windrunners in particular seems to be able to "bond" significantly more and stronger Squires than other Orders. Gaz may or may not be able to regrow his eye. Damned formatting forces me to have a significant amount of invisible writing. EDIT: Revised statement about Lopen being the only one, as Teft in the same chapter mentions a couple of Bridgemen glowing (page 1047, Tor hard-cover). Teft only mentions it in passing, so no new information on the subject. . EDIT 2: Weaved in further information provided by Kurk.

The answer is yes. I don't feel like looking for any specific quotes about it, but the entire Kaladin Vs. Parshendi fight in tWoK is pretty much all the confirmation you need. Stormlight retention invigorates, focuses and enhances the user. It "perfects".

It has been suggested that it might have something to do with the Ten Deaths, the way Thunderclasts, for example, leave a hole in the ground when they are created. A void, if I may. Presumably, some of the other Deaths might do the same for their individual essences. Personally, I think this is too weak of an explanation. I believe it is more likely that it has to do with the wanton destruction they sow, leaving a figurative void wherever they go. Also, according to Dalinar's last vision in the Way of Kings, Odium's goal for Roshar seems to be to obliterate it completely, leaving nothing but a void. Whatever the answer is, it is a cool name, though. Which might be the "true" reasoning behind the name.

You're talking out of experience, I presume?

I find it very likely that the Ars Arcanum author is indeed Khriss. As Tempus pointed out, she is in fact a cultural anthropologist and somewhat of a genius at figuring out the mechanics behind Investiture. The tone of the Ars Arcanum also matches well with her personality from White Sand.

Take a look here for an older Thread discussing this. While the topic was originally discussing Elokhar's signs of surgebinding, I there was some extended discussion on Dalinar as well, with references to the signs in tWoK.

He's already somewhat Cosmere aware, as it has been one of my major selling points for the books. Mistborn isn't a bad place to start for most readers, I think, but I personally find Brandon to have come a long way since then, so I'd rather have him start with the good stuff to making him addicted right off the bat! Also, I think the Stormlight Archive would line up better with his personal taste in books. Oh, and hi! Welcome, friend.

More of a know-it-all than a rotspren, really. Rest assured, Kurk, we love you even so!

Woah! Up-vote for meta!

As Eshonai pointed out, if that is what it is, it is likely a pun upon the word and not the word itself. I suggest it's a combination of the words giblet and dish, which makes it an even more gruesome pun, I suppose. On a completely unrelated note, I wonder what a Dysian Amian taste like.

Wait, what now? How do we know that we likely have the wrong Taln?

This is cool! I've updated my List of Cosmere planets with this new info.