Quiver

Ver sat in the corner of the Green Potato, a smug look on his face as he sucked his pipe. It wasn't like anything any of the natives of this world would recognise; long-stemmed, with a deep bowl at the end of it. He breathed out, blowing smoke rings that drifted up, floating around his head for a moment like clouds around a mountain- or, well, a hill at least- before moving up the ceiling. It was starting to get packed fairly dense up there. He chortled, thinking of the impression he must have made. It was the middle of the day, but he'd picked the darkest corner of the room, furthest from the windows. The shadows clung to him like... um... Well, the shadows clung. That was what was important. That they were very clingy. Yes. Very clingy shadows. Not that he needed to be illuminated by the glow of his pipe to strike a figure, of course. He managed that all on his own. His eyes were deep-set, shining with a wisdom that was beyond their years, flashing imperious when angered, and twinkling when he laughed- -(Yes! That was perfect!)- with the sort of strong and noble bearing that people expected from one such as he. He'd be the first to admit he didn't have, say, a strong chin, or an aqueline nose- -(Unlike some barbarians)- but he was... magnanimous? Was that the word for it? Probably. He was magnanimous, a man of the people. Why, he'd even gone the extra mile in applying those infernal eyedrops to darken his eyes, so he could move more easily amongst the people. Well, okay, he used it on one eye. But who could blame him? Liquid wasn't supposed to go into your eyes! It hurt! So the other, undyed eye was concealed behind an eye-patch. It was the perfect disguise.

NOTE There is a topic similar to this, but the last post in if was made about this time in 2012. Starting a new topic seemed fine, but if moderators or admins disagree, feel free to fold this into that old topic. (For reference, it's on the third page, and started by KChan). Anyway, what was it that got you into reading fantasy? When I was a kid, I read the Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter, but they weren't what 'turned' me. The thing that made me go out and start reading fantasy seriously was The Fellowship of the Ring. That film blew my mind in more ways than I can count. I bought The Two Towers and Return of the King because I had to know what happened next. I spent the next year talking about that film! and trying to come up with a cool fantasy story of my own. Is that bad? Maybe. I haven't read Elric of Melnibone, or the Wheel of Time, or Gormenghast, or any of those classics of the genre, but I'd still consider myself a fantasy fan. Since then, I've read an okay-number of fantasy books, but I'm always going to remember the three that I read first, because they were the first fantasy novels I bought myself. They had nothing to do with movies, or tv shows, and that was when I started thinking of myself as a genre fan. Those books were Rise of the Serpent Queen, Eragon, and Voyage of the Jerle Shannara. It's funny. Now, I dislike those books and authors, for various reasons... But they were my first books. And LotR was my first fantasy. I can honestly say I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for those.

Who named the planets in the cosmere? I haven't read the Sel books, so I'll discount those, but I don't believe the word Scadrial is used in any of the Mistborn novels. Is that the name of the planet according to the inhabitants, or to the writer of the Ars Arcanum? Same question for Nalthis. On the other hand, Roshar is commonly referred to as such, and the ardents (at least) know of Braize, unless I'm getting my WoB mixed up. So... is that an indication of anything?

I need to join a Nalthian game. It's, like, not even a choice. So, I'm going to play Ver. "You want the greatest storyteller in all of Nalthi- wait, do you even know it's called that?- anyway, storyteller number one, that's me! I'm just your typical, run of the mill skaa...er...I mean dark-eyes? Drab. Right. I'm a drab. And I...scabbed my knee. I tripped, cause I couldn't see well. Cause of my dark eyes. What are you looking at me like that for? I'm a totally ordinary person! What, you think I'm, like, a semi-immortal guy who hops from world to world, trying to put right what went wrong, I mean, really guys, come on, that would just be ridiculous, right? Right?" (Quinn and Quillion were both angsty. Do you blame me for wanted a comic relief?) EDIT Though, if the inept world hopper is too out there, I did have a second background/profession in mind- that of a coachman, running fares across the city and who has, through the strangest of chances, managed to score a gig as the personal transport for one of the arriving dignitaries.

Spoiler free? I enjoyed it. It reminded me of the first Cap film, in the best way. Captain America is my favourite of the Phase One films because it's played so straight as a War film. Winter Soldier has the same feeling, except now it's an espionage/spy drama. The action is well paced; if you've seen the trailers, you've seen the eponymous soldier at one point, and he is pretty cool. If I had a complaint that I can make (without spoiling) it's that I wish we had gotten even more of the Soldier than what we got. I'd say this is better than The Dark World... but I dunno if I rank it above Iron Man 3. As controversial as that movie was, I still really liked the Mandarin in it. That being said, I kind of suspect I'll rewatch Winter Soldier more than either of them, which puts it at the top of the Phase Two films. (Oh, and stay for the credits. As well as the traditional after-credits scene, there's another scene at the very end, which I missed.) Spoilers territory:

So, I just got back from seeing The Winter Soldier, and was wondering what people's thoughts on it were.

Congratulations. You manage to fancast John DeLancie as my Sazed voice.

Pffft. Harry Dresden. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure he's be quite interesting. I've only read Storm Front, and that title alone ties him to the Stormfather. But if I want a wizard to get to Roshar, then I'm not asking for any imitations. I'm just asking for John bloody Constantine.

I think that's being meant metaphorically, just to stress how much he's risking by acting to help on Roshar. It just sounds like a more poetic way to describe that, if he gets caught and he (presumably Odium) finds him then it will not only be death, but it will be a particularly nasty death.

We're only looking out for your best interests. Knives and Eyes should never mix.

Maybe not the place to ask this, but I've been curious for a while- who is/was Zucchini, and what did he do to earn the infamy of an entire rep level named after him. definitely not asking so I can be immortalised as a reputation name so my legend can live on forever, nope

Ooooh.... I was following speculation that Nalan used some sort of an otherwise unknown fabrial to bring him back, but Lifeless!Szeth? That's an interesting idea. We only had a glimpse of things from Szeth's POV when he came back, so it would add an interesting complication to the rest of the novel; we haven't had a lifeless viewpoint yet, so I'd be in favour of it. The more I think about it, the more I like this suggestion.

I Sel what you did there.

There are so many variety and sub-varieties of coats that the word- coat- is basically kind of pointless. A raincoat is different from a trenchcoat, is different from a greatcoat, and that's before we get into jackets (which might be called coats colloquially), or other uses of the word (like something being coated in crem, or heat, or any other different intepretation of it.) Basically, a uniform coat =/= a "normal" coat. But I do find the idea of him being one of Nalan's entourage interesting.

I AM WARDEN OF THE EVERSTORM! FLEE BEFORE ME, CHILDREN OF HONOR, FOR YOU ARE SMALL, AND SQUASHING YOU IS SUCH SPORT! HAHAHA! I don't suppose there's anyway to lock in our reputation levels, is there?

Dawgs, let's lay down for funky beats to welcome Vexmeister to Sander-B's crib! ...I promise I will never say anything like that ever again. But welcome nonetheless! Mind if I ask what books of his you've read? I'm a liiiiiiittle wary to start rambling about them, for fear of spoiling them. Brandon is the first auithor whose books I came to (largely) unspoiled, and I'd hate to deprive someone of that.

A medal? Yay! I vin!

Mindless speculation! I suspect that, by the time the first arc ends, Dalinar will have found what Gavilar was referring to and be affronted by them- leading to him (or another KR) finding different words which they consider more important.

Well, this settles it. The Plains were Shattered when someone stepped on them in the dark.

I am seriously tempted to start a topic devoted to a re-read riffing on the Sword of Truth. I don't think anyone has stepped up to defend it yet.

Gave what Wes suggested (and practiced it on you guys, to check). Refreshing does make the vote appear, but I could have sworn there were times when it didn't.

Really? I find it a bit of a Breeze.

Checking your master list- I'm a Stormwarden at 325, so that's probably the starting point for them (rather than 328)

It Is with great reluctance and hesitance I offer myself for this heavy burden. Feel free to begin the up voting.

I think from now on, when someone makes an awful pun, we should Dockson rep.