kmosiman

That's an interesting concept. The damage caused by the panic could be much worse than the actual disease. It could also lead to further division on Roshar as people try to quarantine the disease and assign blame for who caused it. On top of everything else that has occurred recently; it's probably time to start the witch hunts.

I had wondered about parshmen breeding before this, but it seems to be answered here. I assume the parshmen were comanded to breed (or they bred on their own but infrequently) from time to time, which is why they didn't die out. A parshman that had born children would be valued above the others. If they had more children, then they would probably be more widespread. This slow rate of reproduction would explain why they were a resource and not a burden.

I think there is some support for the unbonded form of the Listeners. When Eshonai met with her mother, she speaks of it being Eshonai's (Venli's) sister's day of first transformation (her mother has some form of dementia). I assume that this is the transition from childhood to adulthood. If this is that case the listeners are still in their child state. Have this group been through a Highstorm? If I remember correctly, the Everstorm blew the opposite direction of a normal Highstorm; so it would have crossed the ocean and looped back to Shinovar. Alethkar would have been hit with the Highstorm first and the Everstorm second; so these Listeners would have been healed by the Everstorm, but not exposed to a Highstorm to pick up a new spren. It should be very interesting to see what happens to them when they meet a Highstorm.

How long has the Weeping lasted? If I remember correctly the Everstorm/Highstorm was close to the middle of the weeping; which is when a Highstorm would have been if it wasn't a light year. I assume from Shallan's realization that that they are now overdue, so it has been more than 2 weeks (4 weeks total for the Weeping). This might be because of the extra Highstorm the Stormfather created, but I'm wondering how the extra storm has altered the normal weather patterns.

I believe I also read something about a potential insurance policy. The Lord Ruler may have kept a bead or 2 in case his powers ever began to fade.

I would bet that they change some and possibly a bit more than expected due to the influence of Austerity. If the appearance of a Returned is based on their mental perception of themselves, they would probably change even more due to the cultural suppression of vanity. I'm thinking of the phrase "The camera adds 10 pounds". The camera doesn't actually add anything, it just takes a picture of how you actually look. Mentally I gloss over being slightly overweight and my mental image is also a bit more handsome, taller, and hasn't lost as much hair. However, I look at myself in a mirror everyday, so I ground my mental perceptions in reality. I think that an Idrian Returned could end up changing more than normal; especially if they don't know what they actually look like.

I would guess that he was wrong and not lying. We don't know how the dessolation was unleashed exactly. The new Radiants didn't seem to cause it (there may be some possibility of a butterfly effect situation). Ishar's orders may have actually made sense as long as the Desolation could have been prevented. Now that it is here, killing all of the best fighters isn't the best idea.

A small cross section of a part that I was sanding on a belt sander. I lost my grip and sanded off my fingerprint. I should have used the surface grinder that was on the other side of the plant, but didn't want to walk that far. I never finished sanding the saw marks off and it makes a nice addition to my key ring.

I hope that she doesn't as well; but I can see the risk and why it would be tempting. We don't know what Dalinar asked for yet, but my current theory is that he asked to forget what he did to the people who killed his wife (which was gory enough that the soldier quit and became an Ardent). His curse was forgetting why he did it (his wife). The problem I see with Shallan is that she also wants to forget. The difference is that she is actively working to improve her own illusion (delusion) that she is someone how hasn't gone through the same history. If she manages to block off those memories (again) and replace them with new ones; she could become a person that would never have become a Lightweaver.

Not to split the discussion Shallan's mental state, but I think I see why Pattern is getting scared and it has to do with Forging and I want to stay within the forum rules The new more detailed version of Veil takes a lot more stormlight to produce but very little to maintain. Pattern seems pretty happy with it because it's interesting. Shallan's other transformations are less interesting because they are more like makeup or giving herself a pep talk. This reminds me of Shai's normal essence marks. Each of these change her history so that she spent more time as a slightly different person, a warrior, a scholar, and a beggar, which allows her to adapt as needed. This is a much deeper transformation than Shallan's illusions, but with each of these Shai still knows her true past and can break the stamp before the 24 hour mark. This issue I'm seeing with Veil is that Shallan seems to be going towards Shai's final essence mark. With this mark Shai would forget that she is a Forger and live out a normal life. The mark would also convince her to renew the stamp every day so she'd never let the spell fade. I think Shallan could take this path with Veil. Once she has fully fleshed out Veil's entire history she could fully become her. While Shallan's Lightweaving will eventually run out of juice, she also has the ability to Soulcast. With this power she should be able to make the change permanent. At this point Shallan would no longer exist, only Veil would remain. Either that or she could come up with a convincing enough lie to explain to her new self why the spheres around her kept growing dark. As long as she kept away from people who could make her remember, she'd never have to.

I like the hidden aquifer idea. If the nearby mountains have glaciers or snow caps there could be flowing water without it appearing to melt. Urithiru could tap into an underground stream. This would keep the water in the wells level and as long as there was an outlet elsewhere, they wouldn't overflow.

So if his memories are coming back, is that because of his growing powers as a Bondsmith or something else? Shallan couldn't grow without accessing memories she had blocked out and there's some speculation that the Bondsmiths did something to remove the minds of the Parshmen. Do his powers cancel out what the Nightwatcher did?

Would Glys know? Wyndle knew what Lift could or couldn't do. The Spren seem to have a way of knowing what can be done when it can be done. Sylphrena realized she had a name and a nickname when she gained enough awareness to have one. The same seems to be true with the discovery of powers.

I wonder how that ties in with the Cognitive aspect of the blade. It's metal because swords are supposed to be made from metal; but not an actual metal because it isn't really metal.

I don't know if he has advanced enough yet, but couldn't Renarin do the job? He trained and stayed with Bridge 4. I can't see him leaving one of his comrades hanging now that he knows how to heal. I assume the fabrial that Nale used on Szeth was based on similar principals and Szeth was mostly dead before he was restored.

If the stone was used to transfer energy then it could easily have some residue left over. Jasnah may or may not need a Garnet to Soulcast (I suspect she does, otherwise we wouldn't have the Stone/Essence chart). She probably powered the transformation with other charged stones, but the Garnet allows her to transform Blood. When she vaporized the rock to open the passage it cracked the Smokestone in her Soulcaster. Similarly it was mentioned in one of the Listener chapters that they captured an Emerald and could continue to eat. The stone requirement seems to be a limitation on Soulcasting which keeps it from being to powerful.

I agree with that prediction. Nale's reason for killing Radiants was to prevent the Desolation based on Ishar's prediction. Now that Ishar is wrong he will need new orders. I can see some parallels between him and Szeth. Szeth doesn't do much because he isn't sure about Nale's sanity or his own, but he has abandoned his Thruthless status because it was proven wrong. Nale has been shown that his orders were wrong as well.

I agree with that concept. There's a scene where Vin tries to burn some metal that was Invested by someone else. She can sense the extra power, but she can't use it. I think Vasher would have the same sort of issue. He can get the power, he can eat the power, but he can't use the power to Awaken.

I would guess that the grumpy immortal swordmaster is probably right where we last saw him, in his hammock on the roof. I don't think Vasher would cut his vacation short just because the world started to end. It's still the Weeping, and he's still on vacation.

So did Adolin earn his blade? How? I just assumed he got it from his mom or dad. I thought it was a given but apparently not -- he dreamed for years for it. I believe it was mention in a flashback/memory that Adolin only inherited his plate from his mother. He won his blade in a duel. His plate was wagered against the other man's blade. I can't remember the chapter, but he thinks about it before one of the duels. Dueling may be his calling, but I like how he immediately thinks about training. Dalinar had already thought to train the dark-eyed body guards with Shardblades, so they had already stretched the cultural norms. Adolin briefly justifies teaching a woman, but quickly moves past the cultural issues. She has a blade, she needs to know how to use it (it's also great way to spend some quality time with his girlfriend while doing the thing he loves the most).

He could have skill at fighting but not be a warrior. We don't know much about the Horneaters. Life seems to be tough on the peaks. Bows are for hunting not just for war. Spears can be used in the same manner. Rock said that he would not fight not that he could not. Not to say that he did not learn to fight when he was not supposed to. Kaladin did the same thing.

I think it's mentioned at some point that Aspects have been lost before. I think that this happens if he becomes too familiar with a certain skill set. So J.C. could disappear if Stephen overuses him or loses control.