Magic system to Shard Correspondence

[alylime]

I’ve been contemplating the different magic systems on Roshar.  We know there are 10 main surges with three ways to access each, and that there is surgebinding, voidbinding, and something else including fabrials.

3. You have told us there are more than 30 magical systems on Roshar. I am assuming there are 10 surgebindings and 10 voidbindings. Do the next 10 belong to another such classification? If yes, can you give us the name for it.

Fabrials are part of it. 

http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/2383-qa-with-brandon-sanderson/?p=42206

 

Most of what I’ve read around here indicates a belief that surgebinding is of Honor and voidbinding of Odium, leaving fabrials for Cultivation (disclaimer: I apologize in advance if I’m wrong as I’m pretty new around here).  I wonder if this is we’re oversimplifying it.

 

1) Wyndle is almost certainly heavily in Cultivation’s camp.

the Ring said we should choose you. ‘She has visited the Old Magic,’ they said. ‘Our mother has blessed her,’ they said.

And

What did you ask for, when you visited my mother?

And

Mother has given up on your kind. I can feel it. She doesn’t care any longer. Now that He’s gone...

(all quotes from Lift interlude)

That’s enough evidence for me to believe that he considers Cultivation his mother.

 

2) Each order of Knight Radiant bonds to a single type of spren.

3) All spren divide into emotion (Honor) or natural (Cultivation), and both Shards are considered gods, depending on where one is within Roshar.

I suspect, personally, that these groupings of spren—emotion spren versus nature spren—are where the ideas of mankind’s primeval ‘gods’ came from. Honor, who became Vorinism’s Almighty, was created by men who wanted a representation of ideal human emotions as they saw in emotion spren. Cultivation, the god worshipped in the West, is a female deity that is an embodiment of nature and nature spren. The various Voidspren, with their unseen lord—whose name changes depending on which culture we’re speaking of—evoke an enemy or antagonist.

 WoR ch. 3.

 

4) The symbol of the Knights Radiant (and the mapping of surges/surgebindings) is the double eye.

So thus far, we have proto-KRs using connection to ideals from both Cultivation and Honor to achieve their awesomeness.  Given the in-world connection between eyes and souls, it seems like the double eye chart shows the combination of two beings being responsible for surgebinding, specifically both Honor and Cultivation.  Since both Shards are worshiped as gods, I wonder if the term “Almighty” can apply to either, and if the “Heralds of the Almighty” could possibly be Heralds for a combined team of Honor+Cultivation.

 

But where does that leave us for the other magic systems?  Would each system use a combination of two Shards?

 

Syl says Honorspren bind things.

"Perhaps not. You see, I've remembered what kind of spren I am."
"Is this the time for it, Syl?"
I bind things, Kaladin," she said, turning and meeting his eyes. "I am honorspren. Spirit of oaths. Of promises. And of nobility."

WoK Ch. 67

 

Would that imply that Voidbinding is of Honor/Odium, since it is both "binding" and "Voidish = Odium?" (seems unlikely). 

 

With three Shards, there are six possible pairings, so I see no reason to preferentially pick three of them.  Maybe since Odium is less invested on Roshar than the others, he only has one system (Voidbinding, presumably).  Perhaps the fabrials, etc. branch is another Honor/Cultivation incarnation (e.g. binding a spren into a gemstone to cultivate the surges in a mechanical fashion?) and Voidbinding is straight up Odious?

[Oudeis]

Perhaps the fabrials, etc. branch is another Honor/Cultivation incarnation (e.g. binding a spren into a gemstone to cultivate the surges in a mechanical fashion?) and Voidbinding is straight up Odious?

 

Interesting thoughts. I like it. Here's my rough idea, though it's almost entirely speculation.

 

Surgebinding came first. It was how Honor and Cultivation worked together to grant Investiture to mankind.

 

Voidbinding came second. Odium showed up. We've seen hints that he takes other things and corrupts them. I'm not sure I think Voidbinding is a mix of Honor and Odium, so much as it's Odium took the thing Honor and Cultivation had, and corrupted it to serve his own purpose.

 

Fabrials, I think they're a method humans made up themselves to access the Surges when the Radiants, Spren, and Cultivation abandoned them, and Honor died. Sort of like how aluminum has some traits in itself that interacts with allomancy, but you don't have to be an allomancer to use it (in that specific way). In all the time Rosharan's have had, perhaps they've figured out enough to make fabrials, and replicate some of the effects of Surges?

[Aleksiel]

We know that Odium is reluctant to invest more than any other Shard, so voidbinding might not be of him as it requires heavy investiture to create a whole magic system. I think voidbinding is another Shard's investiture that was somehow corrupted by Odium. I doubt that there is magic system that comes entirely from him. Also, Brandon doesn't like to repeat himself and having magic systems for the good, the bad and the balance, is something he already used in another series. I know that there are again three magic systems on Roshar, but my guess is he'll think of something new.

[alylime]

Surgebinding came first. It was how Honor and Cultivation worked together to grant Investiture to mankind.

 

Voidbinding came second. Odium showed up. We've seen hints that he takes other things and corrupts them. I'm not sure I think Voidbinding is a mix of Honor and Odium, so much as it's Odium took the thing Honor and Cultivation had, and corrupted it to serve his own purpose.

 

Fabrials, I think they're a method humans made up themselves to access the Surges when the Radiants, Spren, and Cultivation abandoned them, and Honor died. 

 

I really like that in general and in-world.  I'm not sure it fits in well enough with what we've heard directly from Mr. Sanderson.  I can't find the exact quote right now, but he's said something like "there are 30 types of magic on Roshar by one count, or 10 by another."  If the 10 types of magic are the fundamental forces/surges (which I think he's also said), then I'm not sure that human-made counts as magic, if that makes sense.  Also, fabrials are "a part of" one set of 10.  I wonder what else falls into that part?  I suppose one could argue that other human+spren made technological things that we have yet to see, but that are distinct from fabrials?  Anyway, thanks for the thought-provoking response.