Questioner
You've made it clear that on Sel, all magic requires both location and shape to be dependent. But we also know Elantrians are consistently being renewed by the [Dor]. Is that because Elantrians' bodies have been changed a certain way or is that due to the large Aon Rao in Elantris?
Brandon Sanderson
It is a little bit of -- it is more about the way they have been changed than about the Aon.
Questioner
Is that Spiritweb-based or is that body change kinda similar to the Dakhor monks?
Brandon Sanderson
It is a mix of both.
Questioner
In the past, you've said that kandra have size limitations. They can't just lop off a chunk and make a squirrel or anything like that. If a kandra was in full human form, somehow consumed and absorbed an aviar, kept it fully attached to their shoulder, it wouldn't be able to fly off but it was still attached to them, they're one contiguous body, could they get the abilities of that aviar?
Brandon Sanderson
No, good question. They would have to-- They're just replicating the body, they're not replicating the soul.
Questioner
Silence Divine, are you allowed to talk about when it's going to happen in the timeline?
Brandon Sanderson
...It is late Stormlight Archive era. I image it being around book 8 or something like that.
Questioner
So it was after the Dawnchant was written.
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. But since it hasn't been written yet, the timeline is not canon for that yet.
Force Paradox
Do any of the Shards regret becoming one?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. I would say yes.
Questioner
If you had a huge block of metal, a single block of metal that's big enough to build a city on, would that just show up as a single bead?
Brandon Sanderson
It depends on how people think of it. The perception of the people in the Physical Realm has a big effect on how things appear. And also the effect of how people see it on that side shapes it over time as well. And often times-- We'll leave it at that. It gets a little complicated.
Questioner
Metal in the Mistborn world, is it renewable somehow? Because when you burn it, it just goes away and then it's converted somehow into energy. Can they run out?
Brandon Sanderson
The way that atium gets back into the system is a bit of a hint... Atium grows out of crystals, and that is being distilled. Let's just say... Investiture is changing into matter as atium is being made.
Questioner
Would a Returned look different in Shadesmar than a normal person?
Brandon Sanderson
They would.
Hoiditthroughthegrapevine
Can modern-day Felt get his hands on atium?
Brandon Sanderson
He would know how to try going about it, he would not be able to get ahold of it right now. It would be outside-- It's not something he can just pop off. He would have some ideas on how to try to go about it. I doubt he could pull it off.
Questioner
Back to the callsigns. Did you come up with Jorgen's name first, or did you come up with his callsign first?
Brandon Sanderson
The callsign was first. And then the name followed out of some of the linguistics I was using... Yeah, the callsign was first.
Questioner
Do you find it harder to write from a male or female's point of view?
Brandon Sanderson
It is harder to write-- The more different someone is from me, the more difficult they are to write. Gender is only one part of that, however, and so some characters who are very like me, but maybe-- maybe a woman, would be easier to write than someone who is very different from me but is a guy. But that's all kind of part of it.
Early in my career, before I got published, I was actually really bad at this; but the main thing I learned from that era of my writing was that I was writing people to a role in the story. It wasn't that I was bad at writing women, it was that I was writing all women as the love interest. Which resulted in bad storytelling and flat characters. And if you start to be able to learn: treat each character they are the protagonist of their own story, treat each character like they see themselves, not as a bit part, but as the story themselves; and start to explore who they are rather than putting them in a role in the story, your characters will get better all around.
Kenzal
Would it make an Allomancer sick if they tried to burn pure silver?
Brandon Sanderson
As it stands right now, nothing would happen, because they would know if it did. Good question. Silver has some weird properties, but on Scadrial they are largely undiscovered.
Questioner
Is there anything more significant to Tien's obsession with rocks? Or is that just an example of him being a unique kid?
Brandon Sanderson
There is a little bit to the way he's seeing color in mundane things. It's less the rock, and more the things about the world he finds interesting. So I'm going to say it's the second. It's an aspect of who he is; the rock itself is not the important thing.
Questioner
Felt. Was he involved with Scadrial's atium pit mercantile system?
Brandon Sanderson
Let's say, he was aware.
Questioner
How old is he? Was he born around first Era, or so?
Brandon Sanderson
Felt is a little older than that. Not a lot.
Kurkistan
When you a get a Hemalurgic spike, if you just immediately... tap gold, do you lose the spike, or is the spike already in there and can't get out?
Brandon Sanderson
Okay: so hemalurgic spike, tap gold? RAFO.
Kurkistan
What's it like inside a time bubble on a windy day?
Brandon Sanderson
So, I've had to play around a little bit with the air. Air moves in and out, you would still feel it windy, but as I have it you will not feel it from the direction the wind is coming, it will be deflected a little bit. So you might be a little bit in a wind tunnel or something, probably a swirl.
Kurkistan
How does Feruchemical gold interact with organ transplants?
Brandon Sanderson
In an interesting way.
Kurkistan
In a good interesting or bad interesting?
Brandon Sanderson
It depends on the situation.
Kurkistan
If you were burning electrum right now would all of your shadows just be sitting there signing books or would some of them be doing crazy things?
Brandon Sanderson
Some of them would be doing crazy things.
Kurkistan
How much wealth, approximately, does it take to buy enough Breaths for the Fifth Heightening? Like buying a house, buying a ma-
Brandon Sanderson
Ooh, okay. This is going to wait for official--
Argent
Oh for that project.
Brandon Sanderson
Well I put some people on it, let's just say, so wait until we have the official project telling your conversion rates and then you'll be able to answer that theoretically once we get that all down.
Kurkistan
Just in terms of wealth on Nalthis? Like money?
Brandon Sanderson
It would take a large amount of wealth.
Podman36
Did the Iriali have inhuman ancestry at some point in the past?
Brandon Sanderson
Depends on your definition of human. Most would say yes.
Podman36
Do humans with Siah Aimian ancestry have odd shadows at all?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, but not what you think.
Questioner
So the scene at the end of Oathbringer, when Odium is confronting Taravangian and he uses futuresight to expand upon the Diagram, we have this blacked out section with Renarin's name linked to it.
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
Questioner
Is that because Renarin's abilities interfere with Odium's futuresight similar to how electrum interferes with atium?
Brandon Sanderson
Any time that someone else is seeing the future in the cosmere, it's going to have ripples against your ability. Like they are-- you can't-- It's the same sort of thing that if-- someone who has access to atium is going to mess up anyone else's futuresight in any way, because once you use that it's going to cause you to act differently, which then-- And remember futuresight is not very good in the cosmere anyway. But yeah, it's just gonna mess things up.
Questioner
Can Connection be inherited?
Brandon Sanderson
Technically, yes. But maybe not how you're thinking, but yes.
Questioner
Is there anything you can tell us about where the listeners are? From Narak, after they--
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. They are still kind of in the area. They have made their way out through the chasms, out onto some floodplains on the other side.
Questioner
The way Sazed describes the people group [of Trell] in the first time he explains it and later on in Hero of Ages seems fairly different. Is that because of different perspective on religion, or how the religion is?
Brandon Sanderson
Let's just say that is intentional.
Questioner
The Luthadel guard in The Final Empire, the garrison leader, his name is Bevidon, which sounds suspiciously like Bavadin.
Brandon Sanderson
It does.
Questioner
Is there any connection there?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Hoiditthroughthegrapevine
*written* Is Felt and agent of Harmony? If not, is he a member of a secret society that we have seen?
Brandon Sanderson
*written* Felt is different in his allegiance depending on the part of his life.
*spoken* Felt's allegiance has changed at various times during-- yeah, we'll just say that. His allegiance has changed over the years. There are times he's been a rogue agent.
Questioner
The lighteyes-- Do their eyes actually glow or is it just blue or green?
Brandon Sanderson
No. It's a very pale blue or green though. You can tell pretty easily looking at them who's lighteyed and who's dark. They don't glow. So--
Questioner
It's otherworldly?
Brandon Sanderson
Some of them would look-- You would say otherworldly, but not impossibly. You can find people on Earth who have eyes the shade that they are. Not all of them, right? Because some of them are yellows and things like that that we don't have. But if you looked at them and they were here, you might wonder if they were wearing contacts but it wouldn't be unusual to find out they weren't.
Questioner
Is Shallan's truth, "I am hap-- It's okay that I can be happy?"
Brandon Sanderson
I'm going to dig into that, but this is a big part of it. Let me RAFO that because I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to express it as it goes along, but that sentiment is a huge part of what's going on with Shallan.
Questioner
I was expecting her to manifest Shardplate in the middle of her wedding because she had spoken such a core truth of her identity.
Brandon Sanderson
Let's just say that I'm being very careful about how I show off the first manifestations of Shardplate for narrative reasons.
Hoiditthroughthegrapevine
So were the Dawncities, the ones based on cymatic patterns, created using a supercharged combinations of the Surges of Cohesion and Illumination? Using Cohesion to make the ground liquid and using Illumination to create the frequency.
Brandon Sanderson
You are theorizing in the right direction.
The Young Pyromancer
Is the reason Renarin's name is greyed out due to a conflict of Fortune with Odium, similar to [an electrum] user fighting an atium?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
Questioner
Because of Glys' corrupted nature as a spren of Sja-anat, does that mean that Renarin's swearing different Ideals than the mainstream Truthwatcher ideals?
Brandon Sanderson
Um... I'll RAFO that for now. But there will definitely be some differences.
Questioner
Is Urithiru originally from Roshar, or did it come from somewhere else?
Brandon Sanderson
Ah, great question! It was built on Roshar...
Questioner
How would a man-made island show up in Shadesmar? Would it just show up?
Brandon Sanderson
It would show up usually as a regular island, depending on how long it's been there, and how people think of it, and stuff like that.
Hoiditthroughthegrapevine
If a Dysian Aimian had the Elsecaller honorblade, could just a single hordeling transition to the Cognitive Realm? 'Cause I think I've heard that a person couldn't just transition a single part of their body.
Brandon Sanderson
They could transition a single hordeling, but as it works right now, they would probably lose contact with the host and would become broken-off and no longer part of the hive. It's not truly a hive. But it would be like of your finger got cut off and sent to-- something like that. It would start acting independently.
Hoiditthroughthegrapevine
So would you have to have the preponderance of the Dysian Aimian transition to the Cognitive Realm? And the ones that stayed in the Physical Realm would be cut off?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah. It would be bad for half-and-half to go. Let's say that, one thing that they would love to be able to do is to have a little more versatility there. Let's just say that.
Questioner
What was Paalm doing during Era 1?
Brandon Sanderson
I will answer that someday, so I'm going to RAFO it for now.
Questioner
Is the crem--is it natural--are the highstorms magically created and that's why--
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah the crem is there to keep the continent from washing away. So I had to add a magical element that, if it were not in the cosmere with magic, this would not work.
Questioner
Is that why the Weepings don't have crem, is that's a natural storm?
Brandon Sanderson
That is because I didn't want there to be too much crem at that point. These are all story structure things, instead. World-wise, I would say a little more natural, sort of blow off steam, there.
Questioner
Is the reason that the Fused have access to unlimited Voidlight because Odium is alive, and did the Radiants have that sort of access [to Stormlight] when Honor was alive?
Brandon Sanderson
Not exactly... They do not have access to unlimited Voidlight, how about that.
Questioner
What is your favorite curse word from your books?
Brandon Sanderson
Probably, "storming", it's the easiest.
Questioner
Are Kaladin and Shallan going to end up together?
Brandon Sanderson
Read And Find Out.
Questioner
In The Stormlight Archive, you've got the actual book The Way of Kings, are you planning to write it?
Brandon Sanderson
No, I am not. I feel like it would be an exercise that would take a lot of effort for very little value to the community or to myself. I like it also being open-ended so I can be like, "Oh, this should be in there," and then be like "Hey, here is a new quote from The Way of Kings".
Questioner
If you had to pick actors to play Kaladin, Lopen, Skar, Dalinar, and Rock, who would you pick?
Brandon Sanderson
I'm not sure if I could pick them all. I really like Dave Bautista for Dalinar, he is somebody that I think would do a really good job. I can give you that one; I'm not sure about the others.
Questioner
[Their question is] Why do you hurt Kaladin so? They're really sad by that. And why can't he be happy? And who the heck is Wit?
Brandon Sanderson
I hurt Kaladin because I tell the stories and the characters put themselves in the situations. Why can't he be happy? Kaladin has a hard time with happiness. He is working on it.
Questioner
Does Stormlight go into the Cognitive Realm during a highstorm?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Questioner
Who is Wit?
Brandon Sanderson
Wit is a character named Hoid, who existed before the gods of the various Cosmere planets were created, and was involved in that situation.
Questioner
What's the strangest thing you've made yourself an expert about for the sake of your books?
Brandon Sanderson
Eunuchs? I would not call myself an expert, but it is one of the odder things I have researched.
Questioner
Who is the oldest person in the Cosmere?
Brandon Sanderson
I've been asked this before, and I think I RAFO'ed it. Frost is up there. But I don't think Frost is actually the oldest.
Questioner
So to be determined?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Questioner
Who is Trell?
Brandon Sanderson
Trell? Depends on who you ask.
Questioner
He is the god that Wax... *inaudible*
Brandon Sanderson
Or a random person on Taldain, or someone referenced in Era 2, there are lots of different things that Trell could be.
Questioner
Any chance we are going to see some more of Silence in the Forests?
Brandon Sanderson
You will probably see Threnody again, but the book will not be about Silence.
Questioner
*groans* Maybe about Silence?
Brandon Sanderson
Probably not.
Questioner
Are you going to add space whales to the cosmere?
Brandon Sanderson
There will be things like that, but they won't actually be whales.
