I just want a simple, yet in-depth explanation

[DramaQueen she/he/neopronouns]

All that I need is a very simple, broken down explanation of the Cosmere, but it would be nice if it was really in-depth and effectively explained all of the everything.

[Honorless he/him]

Let's start with magic then

Magic in the Cosmere functions as conversion between matter, energy and Investiture. Our world (supposedly?!) only has matter and energy but the Cosmere also has Investiture, which facilitates conversions between the three. You can see Investiture as fuel or potential energy. Investiture also connects the three realms:

There are three planes of existence in the Cosmere: the Physical Realm, the Cognitive Realm (the realm of the mind, perception, where beings like the spren & "ghosts", or Cognitive Shadows dwell) and the Spiritual Realm (the realm of the soul, where space-time is one, everything is connected, this is where souls aka Spiritweb or sDNA exists and where the Shards dwell.

The Shards are, simply put, gods. They are pure Investiture, with an Intent. That means that they want to use Investiture oriented towards a certain theme. All Investiture is divided up amongst the Shards. But it wasn't always so. There was once a being called Adonalsium, who created the Cosmere. 

Shards typically require Vessels: people who hold the Shard's power and direct it. The original Vessels took up the power of Adonalsium after an event known as the Shattering. There are 16 Shards: Preservation & Ruin, gods of Scadrial (Mistborn)

Honor, Cultivation and Odium, gods of Roshar (the Stormlight Archives)

Devotion and Dominion, gods of Sel (Elantris and the Emperor's Soul)

Ambition, god of Threnody (Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell)

Endowment, god of Nalthis (Warbreaker)

and others of whom we know very little as of now.

Hoid knew all of these original Vessels and was present at the Shattering. 

Edited July 8, 2020 by R J
typo

[18th Shard he/him]

6 hours ago, RadiantDramaQueen said:

All that I need is a very simple, broken down explanation of the Cosmere, but it would be nice if it was really in-depth and effectively explained all of the everything.

Here is an excellent explanation from the News part of the site:

 

[DramaQueen she/he/neopronouns]

11 minutes ago, 18th Shard said:

Here is an excellent explanation from the News part of the site

Thanks!!

[Honorless he/him]

40 minutes ago, RadiantDramaQueen said:

Thanks!!

I'm afraid that's the same article as the Cosmere 101 actually

[DramaQueen she/he/neopronouns]

2 hours ago, R J said:

I'm afraid that's the same article as the Cosmere 101 actually

Yeah, but I'm still grateful that they tried to help me understand it!

[DramaQueen she/he/neopronouns]

9 hours ago, R J said:

Let's start with magic then

Magic in the Cosmere functions as conversion between matter, energy and Investiture. Our world (supposedly?!) only has matter and energy but the Cosmere also has Investiture, which facilitates conversions between the three. You can see Investiture as fuel or potential energy. Investiture also connects the three realms:

There are three planes of existence in the Cosmere: the Physical Realm, the Cognitive Realm (the realm of the mind, perception, where beings like the spren & "ghosts", or Cognitive Shadows dwell) and the Spiritual Realm (the realm of the soul, where space-time is one, everything is connected, this is where souls aka Spiritweb or sDNA exists and where the Shards dwell.

The Shards are, simply put, gods. They are pure Investiture, with an Intent. That means that they want to use Investiture oriented towards a certain theme. All Investiture is divided up amongst the Shards. But it wasn't always so. There was once a being called Adonalsium, who created the Cosmere. 

Shards typically require Vessels: people who hold the Shard's power and direct it. The original Vessels took up the power of Adonalsium after an event known as the Shattering. There are 16 Shards: Preservation & Ruin, gods of Scadrial (Mistborn)

Honor, Cultivation and Odium, gods of Roshar (the Stormlight Archives)

Devotion and Dominion, gods of Sel (Elantris and the Emperor's Soul)

Ambition, god of Threnody (Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell)

Endowment, god of Nalthis (Warbreaker)

and others of whom we know very little as of now.

Hoid knew all of these original Vessels and was present as the Shattering. 

Thank you!!! That really helped me out with understanding that part of the Cosmere, it was a great, simple explanation that I can understand.

[Chaos he/him]

On 7/4/2020 at 9:01 AM, R J said:

I'm afraid that's the same article as the Cosmere 101 actually

It's slightly different, but yes, mostly the same.