Awesomeness Summoned

They had a voidbringer spying on them without noticing as well so we probably can't assume anything when it comes to their observational skills

Aspects of WoR, especially the quotes from Shallan's book, indicate that each order of the KR played specific roles within the group, sometimes at odds with each other. I got to thinking about what those roles would be, based on their surges/temperments/ideals, if the KR were a traditional military organization today. This is what I came up with. Generals - Bondsmiths Infantry/Airforce - Windrunners Marines - Stonewards Demolitions/heavy infantry - Releasers Special Forces - Edgedancers, Lightweavers Medics - Edgedancers, Truthwatchers Intelligence officers - Truthwatchers Military Police - Skybreakers Spies - Lightweavers Logistics (food/supplies/housing) - Elsecallers, Lightweavers Transportation/Communication - Elsecallers, Willshapers Propaganda/Upper level officers - Willshapers Any additional roles I missed? Disagree?

Yes the way he answered the question indicated that the ending wasn't necessarily in an epigraph like it was in mistborn (could be but not definite), just that knowledge of how the archive would end was alluded to somewhere in the two finished books.Edit: And I agree, major cudos to @truthless on the question about Hoid's knowledge. Made us aware of a high level world hopper we've never even heard of.

A lightweaver is a "non windrunner" aren't they? Not sure why that WoB would not apply to that situation. I guess I should mention that the person asking that question tried for a second to put into words essentially "can a member of one order pickup an honorblade from another order and gain both powers". The "non windrunner" question was the final wording they used to get the point across of what they were asking. I just didn't dictate the entire exchange. It's pretty certain Kurk that a lightweaver would gain a windrunner's abilities if holding jezrian's blade.

Not sure I'd agree with designating them as peacetime. They might not always be in the front line but I would think transportation and long range communication (Elsecallers); food, supplies, and housing (Else & Light); spies and subterfuge (Lightweavers); intelligence information and healing (Truthwatchers) are all important parts of a functioning military.

From last night's signing:

I agree with the statements above that Szeth isn't joining the KR skybreakers but instead an organization Nalan runs that just goes by that name, so he wouldn't need a spren to join. What no one has mentioned is that there is one "spren" that would be happy with bonding anyone who wants to slay evil, a spren Nalan was able to "give" him in that scene.

Especially since it's not really a big spoiler to begin with, per se. Sure, nightblood was an "oh shiznit!" moment but it's not like knowing about it beforehand effects the story at all. If you hadn't read Warbreaker and weren't cosmere aware, it would just be a strange shardblade that shows up in the epilogue.

@moogle, I would venture a guess at yes you can wield more than one since you aren't actually creating a bond with the honorblade, it's just channelling its power through you. If you can use KR abilities and honorblade at the same time there shouldn't be a reason why the honorblades would cancel each other out either. It probably wouldn't be a feasible option, though, since two honorblades at once would require crazy amounts of stormlight. It'd be nice to have confirmation though.

Brandon said last night at the signing that a KR holding an Honorblade from a different order would gain those abilities in addition to their own.

Depending on how much he is RAFO'ing the Khriss questions, could ask if he/she is one of the correspondents from the two letters.

There are a few theories about that. It could be that the KR shardplate was fueled by their own stormlight rather than being drawn from an infused gemstone like modern shardplate is powered. Drawing stormlight directly from the KR might cause the artistry on the plate to glow. The other possibility is that the glow happens when the KR reaches a certain bond level with their spren. The actual reason for the difference between modern plate and the plate from the visions probably won't be revealed until the next book though.

The strange flora, fauna, spren, etc. of the world fits really well with a lot of the surreal look in some anime too. When I was first reading The Way of Kings I actually pictured something like a Hayao Miyazaki film when various aspects of the world were described.

I'm not sure it indicates a full radiant is more powerful a herald. People that pickup the honorblade aren't actually bonded to the blade so it's my assumption that they don't get the full effect of the blade. He said the strength of the spren bond is one of the most important factors for radiant strength so that would imply that someone who doesn't have the bond to the honorblade wouldn't be getting it's full strength either. I have a feeling a herald holding an honorblade is a whole different animal than someone else holding the blade. Now, a KR from one order wielding the honorblade of another order? That might outstrip a herald.

Of course, I had like 5 possible spellings in mind and Khriss wasn't even on the list. Thanks for the clarification.

I haven't been keeping up with how far along you guys have gotten on the code but this was from the signing event last night if it helps: Q: In the chapter 84 code, does the sequence 111 denote a special character such as a space between words A: I do not believe there is a 111 to separate words unless it was added by Peter when I wasn't looking. -- Is this a question from the 17th Shard? Yes -- I will say this, the key is in another epigraph.

I was at the Houston signing last night and recorded the entire book signing Q&A's. Some of these have already been posted above but here is all the WoB from the event. I left out most of the ones we already knew and some are paraphrased since they were hard to hear the exact wording but there was some good info last night. Enjoy! Q: Where was pattern before shallan drew him? A: He was around. The bonding process had started when shallan was young but then she pushed him away and he withdrew mostly to the cognitive realm until the bonding was started again and she pulled him fully into the physical when she drew him. Q: What is the realmatic composition of investiture? A: Investure is intended to be the building blocks of the cosmere so I would say for the most part it transcends the different realms. Probably more of the spiritual if anything but more accurately it transcends them. Q: Were the heralds born on Roshar? A: RAFO Q: If Hoid were to hold an unsheathed nightblood, would he feel sick? A: (Loud laughing) RAFO Q: Who was your favorite character to kill off A: Padan Fain. Said something about being happy the little weasel got what he deserved. Q: Are the ghostbloods accounted for in the Diagram? A: The ghostbloods are in the Diagram Q: Why is Vasher on Roshar? Is he trying to get back nightblood? A: kind of a RAFO. I won't go into all his reasons right now but there is one thing that was difficult to get on Nalthis that is much easier to get on Roshar. Going to Roshar solved that problem for him. (Obviously he's talking about using stormlight in place of breaths). Q: Can't make out the exact question but something about why he put nightblood in the Stormlight Archive A: Nightblood and Vasher were in the original version of the way of kings before I wrote Warbreaker. Warbreaker in a way was actually introducing those two characters I'd already created. Q: Can you write an unknown ideal? A: They are still rough so this might not be the exact wording but: 'I will stand when others fall' Q: How much more powerful is ?nightblood? than a a regular ?shardblade? A: I haven't actually quantified that in my own mind so can't give an accurate comparison at this point. I will say that when he is fully consuming investiture he can do some really freaky things. Q: If a non windrunner picked up jezrian's honorblade would they gain windrunner powers as well? A: Yes Q: If a windrunner picked up that blade, would their abilities be enhanced? A: There would be some compounding but strength is not as much an issue with surgebing as is the strength of the spren bond and how much stormlight you are using. Q: Why were all the shardblades swords when they can take on any weapon form they want? Would they all revert to swords when they die? A: When they die they'd revert to the basic form which was a sword since they were patterned after honorblades Q: Feruchamist that can store investature. Would they be able to then use that to power allomancy with say stormlight? A: RAFO Q: Lift is my favorite character even though she was only in that one chapter A: you will see much more of Lift in the future. Lift is seeded there because she will be very important later on. Q: Have we seen Cultivation's magic? A: Yes Q: Is Hoid the most knowledgeable about what's going on in the cosmere? A: No, Crys (Chris? sp?) is the most aware by a long shot. Nazh knows a lot as well. Hoid might know more than Nazh but he is pretty in the know as well so it's close. Q: Are the Parshendi of Odium? A: Not originally. Q: Are the Parshendi of Cultivation? A: Not originally. Q: Is the Nightwatcher a spren of Cultivation in a similar way that the Stormfather is to Honor? Brandon: The night watcher is not Cultivation but is related. You're on the right track. Q: Demeaux is the only world hopper we've seen that inherently ages. Is there something about world hopping that makes someone not age? A: There are ways around that. It is not intrinsic to the process. You would need to do something special. Q: Are there one or two shard pools on Scadrial? A: RAFO Q: Will there still be hemalurgy in allow of law series A: Yes Q: Can a hemalurgy chart be made? A: Yes. We will make one eventually. Q: The ending of mistborn was hidden in the first chapter epigraphs. Is there something similar to that in The Way of Kings A: There are but they are hidden in different places. The last chapter of the stormlight archive is somewhere in these two books. Q: Is it possible to steal stormlight A: It's theoretically possible Q: Is there a region based magic like Elantris on any of the other worlds? A: The Aon magic is unique to that planet because it is intrinsic to the shard that created it but you could theoretically hack the magic system so that Aondor would work on another planet. Q: In the chapter 84 code, does the sequence 111 denote a special character such as a space between words A: I do not believe there is a 111 to separate words unless it was added by Peter when I wasn't looking. -- Is this a question from the 17th Shard? Yes -- I will say this, the key is in another epigraph. He RAFO'd anything about where the shard pools are Q: Are the Parshendi of Honor? A: No Q: Can anyone other than a parshendi bond a voidespren, like can a human bond a voidespren? A: That is theoretically possible but humans are not good at bonding spren in the same way. Q: How about the other way around? Can a parshendi bond a KR spren? A: Historically, the parshendi were not made knights radiant, or the parshmen weren't. Q: Can they become squires maybe? A: Historically they did not, but it's not impossible.

Done with work so I'll see all you fellow Texas sharders at Murder by the Book! I'll be recording the event so will hopefully be able to transcribe all the Q&A on here in a day or two.

Judging by Taln's reaction speed at catching the blow darts, I would hazard a guess that holding the blade doesn't actually grant the heralds all their power. Their full strength either comes from having the bond to the blade (which isn't given to those who hold it, it stays with the herald) or from inherent abilities Honor gave them when they became heralds that are not directly reliant on the blade. People who hold the honorblades aren't bonded to it like the shardblades and only get a small measure of the herald's full power. I'm sure a herald with blade in hand would lay some whoop chull on Szeth.

How much water you happen to have in that cup? To address a few of your points. The Parshendi chose to take up storm form of their own free will. They went thousands of years in control of their own destinies so I wouldn't say the world has dealt them a bad hand. It was their choice to keep their reasons for the assissination from the Alethi, their choice to not sue for peace earlier, and their choice to seek storm form in their desperation. They were never forced into it. There is also no proof one way or the other that the everstorm will convert all parshendi in whatever form who encounter it, just that it will likely convert the parshmen, so we'll have to wait and see just how bad a hand the remaining parshendi have been dealt. I actually see the Rlain story arc as a very strong indication that the parshendi will eventually be redeemed and released from their enslavement. As for the spren and the Radiants, again, they aren't forced to put themselves at risk of death. Like anything else, nothing good comes without some sacrifice and risk. The spren can stay in shadesmar if they want and the Radiants don't have to say the oaths. To become something extraordinary, though, yes they have to take the risk. I really don't see Roshar as being anymore brutal or unfair than our world, just different choices and consequences.

Unless otherwise specified, anytime Hoid is referenced it's assumed to be the current living Hoid not his former master.

Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose

Not sure this is the most constructive comment. 'What if's' are kinda the point of a forum like this so to say someone shouldn't wonder about an alternative outcome of a book isn't much different then going around to all the different threads and telling people to stop theorizing and just RAFO. Besides, the point of his post was really just to theorize what TLR's plans were for the well since we'll never get to see what he intended to do, not so much about an imagined alternative ending to the book.

Well that's kinda cruel of you. Get her hooked on Lift only to have her discover Lift won't appear again until the next book is released