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I got really excited about this and started to put together a music video of it. Picked out a bunch of cosmere fan art for the visuals, then recorded me singing the song to a karaoke track of Shake It Off.... It turns out my man voice doesn't sound good for Khriss or for impersonating Swift. I could do a grumpy Nazh, but that doesn't fit for the whole song. So, if anyone wants to volunteer their vocals, consider this your invitation. As a side note, there seems to be zero fan art of Nazh. Several billion of Kal, Shallan, and Vin. Nearly that many Adolin, Jasnah, and Lift. A decent handful of Vasher, and even one or two of Khriss, Silence, and Sixth of the Dusk. But no Nazrilof that I could find. If you know of any, please point me to it.

Hmm, interesting. Thanks for the quote, Thunder. I'm not sure if this is a case of Szeth misunderstanding the magic or of me (and many other readers) missing something important. We do have multiple WoB about shardlate itself interfering with lashings and other magic because it is "hyperinvested." (1, 2, 3). Brandon has also confirmed that gems were added to plate around the same time that they were added to blades, and were not part of the originals.

Oooo. That is a great thought! I'll have to think about the Connection idea some more. It's a plausible explanation, but feels a bit unlikely to me at first glance.

Khriss sings "Nazrilof" (a reworked version of "Shake it Off"). I just posted it to it's own topic, then saw this thread. I could also see Shai singing a great version of Mulan's "Who is that girl I see." Edit: Wait, no. That song fits better with gold allomancy than with forging. So it should go to Vin or to Miles.

In a cosmere version of Taylor Swift's Shake It Off, I present Khriss singing Nazrilof (I've spoilered one stanza that deals with Secret History) Nazrilof You say you’re not that tough Complain you’ve got it rough But we don’t have enough, mmm-mmm We still don’t have enough, mmm-mmm No need to act so gruff Just one more list of stuff We still don’t have enough, mmm-mmm No we don’t have enough, mmm-mmm You just keep collecting, searching and detecting. I’m sure you can do it! I’ll be here, There’s so much left for me to write! ‘Cause mistings gonna burn (burn, burn, burn, burn) And god-kings will Return (-turn, -turn, -turn, -turn) There’s so much still to learn (learn, learn, learn, learn) Nazrilof! Nazrilof! Ferrings have metalminds (minds, minds, minds, minds) While Radiants surgebind (bind, bind, bind, bind) I feel so far behind (-hind, -hind, -hind, -hind) Nazrilof! Nazrilof! Your map of Luthadel Was annotated well! Do one of Fjordell, mmm-mmm And then these other twelve, mmm-mmm Just keep collecting, searching and detecting. I’m sure you can do it! I’ll be here, There’s so much still I have to write! Awakening takes Breath (breath, breath, breath, breath) Shades linger after death (death, death, death, death) So many facts still left (left, left, left, left) Nazrilof! Narilof! On Sel they draw Aons (-ons, -ons, -ons, -ons) The dead pass to Beyond (-ond, -ond, -ond, -ond) Can’t get anything wrong (wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong) Nazrilof! Nazrilof! Nazrilof! Nazrilof! {repeats} Hey, hey, hey Just think! While you’ve been getting maps and charts about the manifestations of investiture across worlds, You might have been a shade back on Thren-o-dy Bavadin says I can’t come home She’s like, “Not a chance!” but I’ll just work with Nazh. And that fella over there with the shocking white hair Couldn’t tell you near as much about Arcana. A spike worn in the ear (ear, ear, ear, ear) Taln’s Scar and Reya’s Tear (tear, tear, tear, tear) Describe the whole cosmere (-mere, -mere, -mere, -mere) Nazrilof! Narilof! Draw spren, seons, and skaze (skaze, skaze, skaze, skaze) Chart Ashyn, Nalthis, Braize (Braize, Braize, Braize, Braize) So much that will amaze (-maze, -maze, -maze, -maze) Nazrilof! Nazrilof! Nazrilof! Nazrilof! [repeats]

In addition to the WoB shared above, there is a relevant quote from WoK: Apparently, defects in a gem are what cause stormlight to leak. Here, the cracking is responsible. For a raw gem, you could say that any rough edges are irregularities where the light can leak out. This doesn't directly answer the question; we still don't know the root cause. Does the physical disruption of the crystal allow stormlight to escape? Is it a factor of internal reflection/refraction? Or is it instead a cognitive feature of the gem being "whole" or "broken" that matters? Still, it does explain why they have to replace broken gems in (e.g.) soulcasters rather than just using the broken pieces anyway. They won't hold a charge, and become useless until recut with appropriate faceting. The closest we come is at the beginning of WoR when Sigzil wants to do experiments to test Kaladin's abilities. They decide that there is too much variation in the amount of stormlight that gems hold (or at least too many unknowns for bridge four to account for in their calculations). Since they can't establish a reliable unit for measuring stormlight, they abandon most of the scientific rigor they want to include in their tests. Maybe the ardents or stormwardens know more, but so far we (the readers) are still in the dark.

I suspect #1 is partly the case. The magical sword is a staple in fantasy, and I'm sure that Brandon built Nightblood into the cosmere as his take on that tradition. In a meta sense, #2 is also probably correct because at the time that Warbreaker was written, Stormlight was still in WoK Prime form, in which spren didn't exist. If I understand correctly, that version of the world had manufactured, non-sentient shardblades, so Nightblood's awareness would have been truly unique. Obviously the canon has changed, and Brandon may have now modified the backstory motivation/understanding that Vasher and Shashara had.

My gut reaction on the twin question (which I can't back up with any realmatic reasoning) is that they would be more likely to have the same powers than non-identical siblings, but far from guaranteed. Another sDNA question I've been wondering about: We have a complete copy of our (regular) DNA in every cell. That means that with the right tools, you can analyze a small sample (blood, hair etc) and learn a ton about the person it came from. Would it be similarly possible to do a forensic analysis of identity-imprinted investiture (such as a partially filled metalmind, or the Breath in an awakened object) and get a clear picture of the owner's spiritweb? If yes, do such tools exist in the cosmere?

We got some great comments on the Rithmatist from Brandon at the recent convention in Boston. I've copied all of the relevant quotes into this post. Spoilers are for length, and to group questions by topic. Timestamps refer to the recording available in the event thread here) Magic of Rithmatics Story and World of the Rithmatist Writing the books and Research for the Series

Anything that lets you have a "theory theory" should be treated with caution.

Looks like I spoke too soon. I've added all the questions from DAdam's recording to the transcript, but there are a handful of places where I couldn't make out what was said. If someone could correct my paraphrased sections with verbatim wording that would be helpful. They are highlighted in yellow.

I largely agree with this take on what he said. It makes a lot of sense, and I arrived at a similar conclusion, except for the particle vs element thing. I listened to a lot of the audio to help transcribe the Boskone recordings, and Brandon frequently jumps back and forth between ideas in his responses, leaving thoughts and sentences uncompleted. So I think that the "it" in his different sentences refers to different things, and that explains the compound/element/particle confusion. Here is my interpretation of the WoB, with annotations of what I think he was implying. I know this is not the most natural way to interpret the quote from a grammatical perspective, but it does match his pattern of speaking.

I've added the completed transcripts to the second post of this thread, to make them searchable on the forums. At the moment they are formatted the same as the google docs, but I'll go back soon and take out the time stamps etc. If there are edits made to any of them, I'll update the post. Also, it looks like someone has been making good progress on the Rithmatist Q&A document. There was a lot of writing advice and Aztlanian research discussion that I think doesn't need to be transcribed, so it shouldn't be too daunting to finish it up.

Sunday signing line transcript is done. Thank you to whoever went through and time-stamped the questions. @yulerule, you said you asked two questions on Sunday, but only the first one (about the everstorm) showed up in the audio. When did you ask about the new rhythms? Did we miss it somehow?

Came across the quote myself in a reread this week, and had a similar thought (about knowledge of the heralds passing into folklore). Glad to see others are noticing it too.

Thanks for the feedback, all. I did ask Brandon about this at Boskone this weekend, and got a "sort of yes." response. Along with the quote, his body language and tone gave me the impression that my theory could be partially or tangentially correct, but that it isn't a primary function or purpose of the Diagram.

Those were good questions. I interpreted his response about frost to mean that (e.g.) condensing a shardblade into solid form is an endothermic process that pulls heat from its surroundings. Dismissed blades are frequently described as "puffing into mist" i.e. turning from solid to gas. Presumably, summoning one is the reverse process. By extension, other work done by stormlight would also be endothermic. Most materials we are familiar with act exothermically when condensing, but it's not unheard of for the opposite to be true. It depends greatly where you are on the phase diagram, and since there is a large transfer of investiture involved we can assume that the regular physics are being overshadowed/influenced by some realmatic effect.

These signing threads are always tricky, since so many cosmere things get referenced, but I think we do still need to spoiler MSH discussions. I'd hate to give something away. Direct editing is usually fine, unless the revision is something you want to call attention to or that you expect to be disputed. I would be interested in your overall opinions, and any of the following questions you have answers to: How did it compare to other semi-cooperative games you've played (if you have)? Is gameplay fast, or are players likely to sit and analyze their turns for a while? Are there any unique mechanics besides the most/least favor win conditions? How was the theming? Did it feel Mistborn to you? Will non-Sanderfans have much difficulty getting oriented in the game? I know you only played once, but did you get any sense for what the ideal number of players would be? Many games are best with fewer/more people, even though they are able to accommodate different size groups.

Thanks, @jofwu. That was very helpful! I was able to make out a bit more of each of those, once I was working from your text. I think the first one at 64 min must have been asking about Zahel, or other potential Nalthians worldhopping to Roshar, but it was fairly oblique. The second one was "What happens if humans eat the worms on Patji?"

I've gone through the Friday signing audio and timestamped all of the questions, but most of them still need to be transcribed. While Brandon's responses are always clear, some of the questions are difficult to make out, especially three towards the beginning (approx 45 min and 64 min). If they belong to any of you, or if @yulerule can remember what they might have been about, that would be very helpful. A few interesting tidbits in there, including that Jasnah is on the cover of Oathbringer.

The rough transcript is done, needs a bit of editing and polish

Good work! I filled in the gaps and made some corrections, so this just needs a quick editing pass to be done. EDIT: I've started a google doc for the Sunday post-signing Q&A here.

Wow. That is a ton of information I didn't think we'd be getting directly, at least not for several more books. I'll have to listen again more carefully to really catch the specifics. Thanks for linking that.

Generally we skip those unless the pause indicates something like hesitance to answer or consideration of a new thought. I'm sure someone else can give the transcript an edit, though, so I wouldn't worry too much about the style guide. The hard part is getting the words down.

On the ambiguous inkspren wording: My impression when he gave the response was that the inkspren view human variability as not-of-Honor, which is why they don't like it. It is open to other interpretations, though.