Tempus

As long as you're investigating... Kholinar has threefold symmetry. Vedenar has sixfold symmetry. Thaylen city has eightfold symmetry. Akinah City has tenfold symmetry. Chances are very good that there are six missing cities, and that they comprise the symmetries up to ten. Well, I guess one-fold symmetry isn't a thing, haha. Still, there were ten silver kingdoms, and I'm suspecting there will be ten Dawncities as well. And maybe some connection, hmm? Sesemalex Dar (spelling needs help) was supposed to have a unique pattern to it.

I've made a number of web scraping programs in the past that perform similar functions, and the actual code itself would be straightforward. That said, a bot wouldn't be terribly helpful - many theories aren't properly tagged, or are labeled more human-readably (aka with inconsistent names). In addition, I would still have to go over each one to categorize them. That said, doing it by hand is not such a difficult task. It took me two hours to setup the page, make the format, and copy in 56 entries. So let's say about 1h30 of that was copying entries. There are 3975 unique topics in forums that contain theories that qualify for the list. A brief survey of the WoR forum shows me that out of the 25 unpinned topics, nine could be considered theories, and four could be considered well-formed theories. If we round that off a bit, about 1/3rd of the forum there is theory related. By well formed, I mean 'longer than three sentences and with at least one piece of evidence'. So, we're looking at an approximate amount of 1200 theory-related posts, of which about half that (600 or so) are gonna be well formed. If we split that and decide to add about 800 theories to the list, it will take about 24 manpower hours. This is not so long, really. Keeping it updated will be slightly more of a chore, but the further away we get from Words of Radiance the slower the forums will be, and with a more complete list it will be easier to retroactively update by date changed.

Hmm, yes. I did notice that threads earlier than 2013 were available, but looking at it again, they were resurrected threads, and it posts any with replies within the last year. I will have to rectify that - luckily the people I began with are mostly relatively new to the forum. Bring it on.

Click on a user name, and in the upper right corner of their user page, click the 'Find Content' button. On the left side, click the 'Only topics' filter. You now have a list of every topic that individual has started. I then opened each topic in a different tab, and using my skillful keyboard shortcuts copied the url, post date, and title to the wiki page. If I'd never read the theory before, I skimmed it and decided on the categories. I should also note that I often renamed titles to be more descriptive, because some titles, especially in the WoR forum, have names that avoid spoilers but aren't as descriptive as they should be as a result. Thank you father. Alright. We'll probably do those on a separate page each then, to keep things clear and uncluttered. We can link to the pages from the bottom, ala wiki category boxes normally seen on the Coppermind.

I was going to start with Kurkistan, but his three pages of theories intimidated me. So I picked a few intelligent people on here who I've been impressed with and had slightly less theories to get the list started with. And you most certainly qualify as an intelligent person! Currently, I have one column for location based (the specific shardworld or 'cosmere' for cross-world things), and one column for 'category', giving the general category of the theory (Realmatic for magic, Plot for events, Character for a specific person, World for worldbuilding, and Joke for the Catquisitors =D). What I'm specifically considering adding is one column for topic. Like, for example, if you wanted to find all theories on FTL, it would still be a little inconvenient right now. If you wanted to find all theories on hemalurgy, the same. If you wanted to find all theories on Hoid, equally a little rough. The topic column would have no specific content, but just a single one-word topic for the central grouping which the theory could apply to, in the hopes of making it easier to search through. As for proven and disproven things, I personally agree with you. Do you think they should they be moved into a separate list (which is neat for posterity), or deleted entirely (because otherwise it's too much like keeping score and a waste of space)?

Hello fellow 17th Shardianers and Theorists! It can be very difficult to find theories scattered around this site, as the forum search is selective at best and at times downright dodgy. I've been thinking about various ways to gather and formalize theories in the past, but the biggest issue may simply be finding them. Thus, I've set out to make an unofficial index of theories. You can find it on the Coppermind, here. What does it do? The Unofficial Theory Index gathers a list of theories into a sortable table on the wiki. You'll be able to look at theories by name, author, date written, location in the cosmere by planet, and category. Want to find every theory about Roshar? You can do that. Every theory written after Words of Radiance was published? You'll be able to do that. Every theory on magic on Scadrial? Yep, you can do that. I've gone ahead and started today by adding 56 theories from eight theorists including myself. There are of course a few hundred theories, and I've barely scratched the surface, but it's a good start! What can I do to help? The Theory Index is on a wiki page, so feel free to add your own theories, or the theories of others as you feel comfortable. I'd appreciate it if you'd note what theories you'd covered, like "All the theories of person X", or "All theories on the Mistborn board prior to June 2012" or whatnot. That way we have a good grasp on what still needs to be covered. I'd also like to ask some questions here about how the theories should be handled. For theories proven false, should they be removed from the list (making it shorter), marked on the list with a special marking (making them obvious), or left as is? Should exceptional theories or particularly interesting theories be marked to draw attention to them? Should there be a third tag column, in order to organize theories by common topics as well, such as FTL, Hemalurgy, Compounding, Surges, etc...? Should the date columns be colour coded by publication date of cosmere books, to allow for a more clear visualization of what information was available when they were written? Keep in mind 17th Shard was founded 2010. I will be adding to this list semi-regularly, but please feel free to contribute, and give me your thoughts on some of the above questions!

I also got the feeling the diseases were required to be viral or bacterial from the readings, but the above would open up a whole bag of worms. Pregnancies would be.... atypical. Fetal alcohol syndrome all over the place to give their kids a number of deformities and damages. Exposing themselves to trauma, carcinogens, drugs, radiation, and other things would occur to give their kids 'a leg up' in life by giving them unique abilities. Chronic illnesses would be valued. Obesity would be a useful trait, to assist in causing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Cancer would be a gift, in it's myriad forms. Respiratory diseases from inhaling fumes would be valued. Tobacco would be considered a simple, long term way of gaining a number of powers. Mental institutions would be important parts of society - convincing crazy people to use their powers productively, and guiding the mentally disabled to use theirs intelligently would be a valued task. Basically, a whole pile of marginalized groups in today's modern societies would reverse and turn from being considered to be social drains and generally bad, to valued and useful things.

1110-1111 confirmed, courtesy of Swimmingly.

We're at eleven people, with 23 hours to go. We are still accepting sign ups, so if anyone else wants to join they are free to do so!

Here you go: Platonic forms is a theory that postulates that there is a separate realm wherein the 'ideal' and perfect version of all things are kept, and a mimic realm. In the mimic realm, which is the world we can see through our senses, everything is constantly in flux and changing, but we can correctly perceive and identify things through our knowledge of the ideal forms. This should ring some bells! =D

Soulstamps change the history of a thing or person. The history of a person includes their ancestors, their conception, etc. So it is at least theoretically possibly, though no telling how plausible it would be within the system or what effects it would have. I tend to lean towards 'fewer effects, and more plausible' because I believe Forging works by rewriting the both the spiritual aspects governing the connection of things and the cognitive aspects of an object (like soulcasting). Changing your own history to say something like "My mother had a regressive Aonic gene in there" would be a moderately plausible thing to change if you had an accurate family tree and some knowledge of travellers, and would be a relatively convincing cognitive change. At that point, it's kind of like soulcasting - "Dear cognitive bead thing, here is the most plausible thing and reason for you to change into something, please change" - "OK". Take that as you will.

I have honestly been assuming all this time that this was what happened - that Wax and Wayne's secret society was aiming to cross-breed a mistborn by stealing females to breed with, and that Alloy of Law and sequels are more like prequels to the second Mistborn trilogy, laying down a bit of the Mistborn backstory. The hemalurgy theory was just an aside, a faster way to get things done than I suspect they were doing.

Forging, forging everywhere. Forge your breakfast to make your coffee stay hot. Forge your clothes to make them ironed. Forge your clothes to make them cleaned. Why even bother with more than one set of clothes? Forge them every morning to be a different colour or pattern. Forge the traffic lights to stay green. Forge the roads to have no potholes. Forge your car to have a lower odometer. Forge your cat to shed less fur. Write essence stamps to Forge your fingernails, so you don't have to paint them. Forge your pornography to keep getting different poses. Forge your lights to turn them on and off. Stamp your stamp card, to uh... get a stamp on it. Forge a letter so that you don't have to write it. Forge your dishes so that they've already been washed. Forge your video games to give you high scores. Forge your bank statement to have more money. Forge the stock ticker to improve your investments. Forge your girlfriend to not have a headache. I take it all back, these are super useful powers.

Even more fun with inheritance? Forging. Essence Stamp yourself, get jiggy, and invest your kids with some improved DNA. As for the usefulness of birthing a Mistborn instead of just using the inquisitors, it's all about legacy. The Lord Ruler bred the Terrispeople, and achieved a nearly unbroken amount of full feruchemists, with no ferrings at large. Using the spike techniques judiciously, and number of twinborns for genetic diversity, you could produce a group of people with specific genetics that would consistently breed Twinborns, Mistborns, Feruchemists, Mistborn/Ferrings, Feruchemist/Mistings, and Twinawesomes. A small nation or society who achieved and maintained that would have significant power on Scadrial.

Double confirming, 979-980 Highprince/Truthless boundary 1178-1180 Returned/Twinborn boundary (which I'm willing to accept as 1179 if you are).

Plot for Mistborn Trilogy Two results.

I was thinking about Alloy of Law, and I came to a theory about how one might go about making a Mistborn. I'm almost certain others have thought of this before me, but as usual a ten minute search turned up not much, so please link me to any relevant theories prior. Here goes. Mistborn: Recipes makes one Mistborn Ingredients: Two Mistings of every type Two Hemalurgic spikes for each Allomantic metal (can substitute Atium in a pinch!) Two candidates, one male and one female Instructions: Take each Misting, and spike them in the appropriate location with the corresponding allomantic spike, stealing their ability and killing them in the process. Tying them up and rendering them unconscious can make this step easier. Apply each finished spike immediately to one of the recipient candidates. Each candidate should get one allomantic spike of each type. One all sixteen spikes have been applied to the two candidates, allow candidates to recover. Once their condition is improved and they do not scream when touched, place both candidates in an enclosed room with a bed. For higher chances of a successful Mistborn, add flowers, a nice dinner, some white, and lounge music. Wait nine months, and remove baby from candidate. If everything has gone to plan, you should have a natural and unspiked little Mistborn. Snap and Serve.

In the cosmere, there are three realms - Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual. Everything has three aspects, one for each realm. Humans have three DNAs, one for each aspect. We call them DNA, cDNA, and sDNA. Physical DNA is what you might imagine - just like the real world. We know almost nothing for certain about cognitive DNA other than that it exists, and that it likely is based on some sort of modification of Platonic Forms to one extent or another. Spiritual DNA, or sDNA, is the most interesting. It encodes the investitures you are able to access, and thus the magics you can use. As far as we know for sure, only Lerasium and Hemalurgy can change a spiritual aspect permanently. Forging seems to be able to change a spiritual aspect temporarily. Lerasium has been described as a spiritual DNA rewrite ability. Hemalurgy apparently tears off bits of the spiritual aspect and staples them onto the recipient. Regular magic systems do not seem to change the sDNA. Instead, use of those magics is already encoded into your sDNA, and that is why you can use them. This is why so many cosmere systems require bloodlines. On Sel, sDNA is required to access the area specific magics. On Scadrial, Allomancy and Feruchemy are inherited traits, provided no Lerasium or Hemalurgy is involved. On Nalthis, everyone has the spiritual DNA for Breath, and comes with one at birth. Roshar's magic of Nahel Bonds is dependent on bonding a spren into a tear in your spiritual aspect, and is not inherited. Tears are caused by extreme emotional stress.

Absolutely. Welcome aboard.

HEAVY SPOILERS FOR WORDS OF RADIANCE BELOW The author has some knowledge of the Last Desolation, and considering the state of historical knowledge on Roshar, must either be extremely well informed, have some outside source of knowledge (like Dalinar's visions), or be very old. The author is not a Herald, and is not a Knights Radiant. Implies the author may have some knowledge of Honor/the Almighty being killed. Strongly implies a deep knowledge of the nature of the Desolations. Implies that they understand the conflict, and that they believed the conflict won. Implies that they knew who the 'enemy' of the Desolations was. Implies they suspected that the Desolations were abandoned on purpose, to allow for a more careful future assault. None of this is common knowledge, even for the most knowledgeable in world scholars we've seen such as Jasnah, or for people with direct visions of the past such as Dalinar. An unusually stratified amount of knowledge. Implies that the speaker is in fact a part of an organization: "we watch". The organization is both resourceful enough to have four potential radiants identified and observed secretly, and to have done so prior to even the individuals themselves understanding their nature. Implies that the writer has a good understanding of the whole nature of the conflict; "The world can change". The writer clearly has a deep understanding of the lost and unknown magics of surgebinding and shardwielding (note the differentiation there). They also have knowledge enough to guess at outcomes. They also qualify that 'they' need to be redeemed, which may refer to the organization, or to the planet, but probably the former given the context. By extrapolation then, the latter us would refer to the same, suggesting that the organization will likely be destroyed should a Knight Radiant arise. Which is ominous - it suggests the organization is one of 'necessary evil'. Again, in-depth knowledge of the Knights Radiant is implied through the casual reference to them. It is implied that the author knows of the Knights Radiant, has assessed the situation, and has determined they are required to ameliorate the situation. That's an extremely high level of knowledge for Roshar. Again, an extremely high level of knowledge concerning the realmatics of surgebinding, and also an implication that the writer is aware of and has experience with surgebinders, broken souls, and things that have gone wrong. That's another point for the author being very old - surgebinders were last seen prior to the Recreance, and to be able to speak with the voice of experience concerning them is a little disconcerting. More demonstration of unusually high knowledge of Rosharan activies. Notably, The Explorer is Eshonai, which means that the writer has intimate knowledge of the Parshendi, and of the character of a notable Parshendi. Considering how insular their society is, how human spies could not be integrated, and how the Parshendi were unknown even to their neighbours until a few years prior, that is extremely important. Knowledge of the Everstorm is pretty important - it is very limited. Taravanigan knows the word Everstorm through the Death Rattles. Hoid knows of the Everstorm from unknown sources, and notes that it is different than any Desolation prior. Jasnah learned of the Everstorm from the spren sometime during the events of Words of Radiance. Conclusions: Cultivation - Unlikely, not part of an organization Heralds - Not a Herald, not a Knight Radiant. Hoid - Ruled out by Word of Brandon 17th Shard - Partially ruled out by Word of Brandon (Ars Arcanum author is 17th Shard member), also ruled out by intimate talk of mechanics of surgebinding that doesn't use the normal terms used by 17th Shard to describe investiture. Taravanigan - Unlikely. While having an extremely high level of knowledge and abilities, would be very difficult for him to acquire intimate knowledge of Eshonai and the Parshendi. Also knows the Assassin personally, and thus is unlikely to refer to him so indirectly. Darkness/Skybreakers - Very unlikely. Darkness does not want the Radiants to return. The skybreakers are presumed to be associated with Darkness by extension. Not enough knowledge of them is available to make a judgement regardless. Sons of Honour - Possible but unlikely. They are slightly lacking in knowledge, but are aiming to bring back the Heralds, had diplomatic relations with the Parshendi through Gavilar. The agents we've seen don't seem to have the grasp of the wider situation that the author implies he has, or the experience with Radiants. Ghostbloods - Possible but unlikely. They have an unknown scope of knowledge, abilities, and age, but at least have a few members with exceptional abilities and information as demonstrated by the worldhopping artifacts. However, they were not aware of Shallan's or Dalinar's impending Radiancy as the writer of this blurb was. Spren - Possible. The spren seem to have a highly advanced knowledge, can go wherever they want, and have many factions that have been sending agents to the physical aspect of Roshar. Envisagers - Unlikely. Teft is a minor member of the Envisagers, but seems to know at least a little of Radiants. He claims they have all been killed, but they may still be active. It is unlikely they have the knowledge of surgebinding to write the blurbs given their activities, and very unlikely they'd have inside knowledge of Parshendi individuals. Teft could be a plant to spy on Kaladin, however. The Parshendi - Very Unlikely. While they have an extensive ability to spy, and knowledge of surgebinders, they lack the overall knowledge of the situation, as demonstrated by their folly of agreeing to summon the Everstorm. Also, they were not aware of the term, Everstorm. The Vorins - Possible. There are hidden aspects of the Vorin religion that have not been revealed, and the Sons of Honour are a faction at least associated with Vorinism. All Brandon books have very important plot points involving religion, something that Stormlight has setup but hasn't developed on as of yet. The Worldsingers - Unlikely. Informed by Hoid, they may have the knowledge necessary to be aware of the required scope of the conflict, the background, etc. But our one connection to them in the form of Sizgil doesn't paint them as very knowledgeable about the human aspect of the various characters, or very good at spying. Sizgil may also be a plant to spy on Kaladin. One of the Other Secret Societies - Possible. We know there are nine, but depending on how you count, we've identified five to seven. That leaves a minimum of two and possibly more societies which we may have seen on screen, that may be at large and able to write the back cover blurbs. 'Taln' - Possible. Taln may or may not be a Herald, but he has demonstrated superior knowledge of the situation, of the Radiants, and in general extra abilities. He is currently crazy, but as he will be a POV character in the later books, he can't stay crazy for long, or perhaps he is simply faking. He or someone associated with him could be the author. There is enough unexplained about Taln's appearance, and the situation surrounding him that it is likely there are resourceful players at play in his story.

Oh, unintentionally. No idea! Apologies for the miss. Allomancy will work with metal from any planet, apparently. Hemalurgy might work the same way. Some people have theorized as well that in order to steal the appropriate investitures you'd need spikes that match their focus or similar, largely because you need matching metals for stealing allomantic/feruchemic powers.

Well, 900 is not the boundary. So... 859 - 860 Shardbearer/Full Shard boundary 829 - 830 Seer/Shardbearer Boundary Are both confirmed. Aether has hit 900 and is not a Worldbringer, and Moogle has hit 975 and still hasn't hit Truthless. Also, the main chart says the boundary between Worldbringer and Highprince is confirmed, but says 945 - 950, so I suppose we should reconfirm that one too.

There are not so many magic systems, and he has the advantage of having all the rules. While he surely hasn't thought of every scenario, he probably has a list of the major interactions.

Relevant WoB:

Players who are still alive can join this game - there are no particular restrictions. The signup period is intentionally short so that we prioritize people who check the forums frequently, given that the game requires a minimum of one daily check in. As far as RP goes, I want the quick game to approach more the feel of playing the game in person. There won't be any particular need for long exposition, or self-narrating. If you want to add to your character, you can add whatever details you like of course. I'm hoping it should give off the feel of a lot of different people, all stuck together in a bit of an emergency situation, more worried about survival and taking action than sharing their life stories. You as players can decide how much role playing you feel is appropriate to the situation. Basically, the main thread is 'dense and rich', and the quick fix is aiming to be 'clean and light', and a bit more towards emergent storytelling than explicit. That said, you can expect that there will be a short daily narration from the game master, to keep the game rooted in the premise. There are nine signs ups right now. We're hoping to get a few more people, start time is in about 50 hours from this post.