Rysn, why can't she bond a spren? Is it just to help her travel quicker, since it's difficult to travel with a spren? Or is there another reason?
There is another reason why she is forbidden from bonding a spren.
Forbidden or impossible?
Forbidden. It's not impossible. It is forbidden of her.
Has there ever been a Radiant besides a Bondsmith that has used Lifelight before Lift?
RAFO.
Is what happened on Roshar similar to what happened in Arelon, of being thematically broken due to something...?
*Hesitant noise* Yes, you are correct.
Has Wit's bonding a Cryptic bound him to Roshar tighter?
Yes, asterisk.
The reason for the asterisk on Wit is, you've seen him offworld since then. So just be aware there is an issue there, but yes, it's very similar.
The Hemalurgy table, you wrote down "atium steals any power, lerasium is all abilities, nicrosil is Investiture"; what's the difference between those three?
Hemalurgic atium, lerasium, and nicrosil. What's powers, abilities, and Investiture?
People are Invested in ways that do not give them active powers. So for instance, everyone on Nalthis is Invested. Everyone in the cosmere is, really. You want to steal their Investiture, but they don't have a power. You're still ripping off a piece of their soul. So there is a distinction between the actual Investiture that's in a human being and a specific power that they have.
So that distinction is pretty easy. You can also, with Hemalurgy, steal specific things. You can steal just general Investiture. You can steal, if you want--this is where the kandra Blessings come from. You can instead steal specific things that are not like stealing Allomancy. Stealing, for instance, someone's mental acuity.
So abilities is like the half that's all the strength, speed, all that kind of stuff? Those are abilities, versus the Metallic Arts are all powers?
Yes.
Then Investiture, is that offworld magics?
No, no, it's the raw power.
Nicrosil is their soul?
Yes. A piece of their soul, essentially.
So how would you go about stealing an offworld power?
It's going to depend. A Breath, you would steal with nicrosil. It's general Investiture, is what you would probably going call that. You could forcibly remove someone's Breath from them. The ability to be a Sand Master you would steal with the power ability.
If Hoid were to acquire all the powers from each shard would it not create a demi version of Adonalsium?
RAFO.
If I were a Knight Radiant before the Recreance, what would my wedding vows be?
I suspect this would be flavored toward your Order, and would vary depending on your ethnicity and religious beliefs. However, something along the lines of uniting the two to be one would be thematically appropriate.
Hello, I was hoping to find out whether some stuff I found vague in RoW was supposed to be vague or not.
In part one, Navani says that some of the fabrials they found in Urithiru worked in ways they understood, but had "spren trapped in Shadesmar" (which by the end we know refers to spren that have manifested as a fabrial), with Soulcasters being the only ones that confuse her.
Is the intent here supposed to be for us to make the connection that the older fabrials they found use the different types of metals used in modern fabrials? Or is it supposed to be vague how exactly they compare for now?
The confusion here is that Navani didn't realize that Soulcasters were a version of something like a Shardblade. She thought that by seeing spren in Shadesmar, it meant that the soulcasters had somehow trapped a spren--but they didn't seem to be trapped in a gemstone anywhere in the physical realm. This is what bugged her.
It's less about the metal, and more about "where is the trapped spren? I know it's there--I can see it in Shadesmar."
Does this mean that all the old manifested spren fabrials, like the attractors and conjoiners they found in Urithiru and were able to improve, had weird metals like Soulcasters and it was just their identifiable functions that kept them from being confusing?
Yes, that is correct. (This was regarding old manifested fabrials having weird metals as part of them.)
Will we know all the words [Radiant Ideals] when this is done?
If I don't get all of the words for the different orders into the mainline books, I will release them separately.
Can Radiant Soulcasters Soulcast objects into ones of different temperatures? For example turning a piece of the ground into molten metal or turning water into ice?
Kind of, but not the way you want. Most things are going to have to be room temperature--so water, but not ice. That said, there are some funky things you can do with pressure and the like if you get more advanced in the skill.
In WoR and OB we hear about the Veden/Kharbranthian Half Shard shields that can resist Shardblade strikes, and which involve trapping Radiant spren according to Taravangian. In RoW they aren't mentioned, despite the book spending a long time talking about fabrial science.
Both Oathbringer and Rhythm of War raised some unanswered questions though. First, when the fabrial fails and the Shardblade starts cutting again, has something terrible happened to the spren contained inside the gemstone, similar to when Kaladin stabs a voidspren with Syl in the Kholinar palace? Second, are the honorspren OK with these fabrials, ethically, like they are with other modern fabrials?
I do want to get more into half shards when it's the right place, so I'll RAFO most of that for now. I'm not sure EXACTLY what the other questions are asking, as the wording wasn't 100% clear to me, but if you are asking if things like Soulcasters are okay with spren: yes. If it's half-shards, it's a RAFO.
Considering that bonding a second spren to belong to another Order is possible but never happened, and taking into account that spren get drawn to an individual through their bond, is it possible for an individual to bond another spren of the same Order? If not, then what's stopping them from the bond that doesn't stop bonding to a different Order?
This could happen too, I suppose, but it wouldn't increase their strength in the Order.
Does "Ba-Ado-Mishram" mean "child of the light of Cultivation and Honor"?
RAFO, but you're doing a pretty good job picking apart the linguistics of that.
I ask this in a vague manner intentionally, but can we expect to see the Shardplate spren of other Orders being able to do different things on command depending on the kind of spren? Kind of like how Kaladin commanded the windspren to form plate on others and hold back the storm?
RAFO!
What is the metal used by El when substituting his carapace? Is it just regular steel to make armour or is it something like aluminium, to make him less vulnerable to Shardblades, for example?
RAFO!
So Skyward 3 is focused "mostly on Spensa", meaning there's going to be another POV character?
That's not what it means.
Oh ok I just remembered in one of his livestreams Sanderson mentioned the possibility of multiple POVs.
Yeah, the audio novellas thing is instead of that possibility.
Does Kaladin have a mixed heritage. Like maybe Yolish and Rosharan?
One thing I wanted to be very careful about in writing the Stormlight books is to stray away from people needing some kind of past or heritage to be special—it's okay for this to be for some characters, but it becomes a crutch. So your answer is no, he doesn't have much secret to his heritage. (Though his mother grew up wealthy for a darkeyes, and that's a little odd.)
Bronze is an alloy of Copper. Maybe the cloud Smokers gives is in actuality the complementary rhythm to nullify the rhythm from the metals they are in close proximity with
I have to RAFO, I'm afraid, but I like this direction of theorizing.
Will this [Skyward 3/4 planned release dates] likely affect the next Mistborn books?
This shouldn't change the Mistborn book schedule, good question. What this will stop me from doing is another side project second half of next year--that slot will be Skyward 4 instead.
Is this just a generic ' side project' or did you have anything specific in mind, which is now for a later date?
Generic side project. I generally allow myself to just pick whatever feels right at the moment, and so try not to plan those. Everything else is so planned, it's nice to be free to pick whatever I want.
That said, one probably won't happen this year.
I've had this question burning deep inside me since I finished RoW, is there a truest Surge of Odium? My headcanon for now is Transportation.
Hey! So, I'll deal with this eventually in the books, so it's a RAFO for now! But do keep in mind that the Surges on Roshar, as they're understood now, are mostly Honor/Cultivation.
Is Raboniel lying about the composition of the housing for the ruby in this dagger, or is she telling the truth? Is it really a silver-nickel alloy, or is is it something else (possibly nicrosil)?
I'll RAFO this. Interesting conclusions and theories in that post above. Very interesting indeed.
Just to illustrate the full scale of the Atrium, I extended this up a bit. :)
It makes the repetition more severe, but that's to be expected since all I did was copy-paste the tiers up to the seventh level. This still gives us a decent idea of the full height of the open space, though. And of course that space continues out along the avenue from the fifth tier down, with skylights in the ceilings and hanging towers at the end of each level, creating a sort of inverted staircase effect that I really ought to try and paint sometime (I find the scale a bit dizzying myself, though).
Isaac and I briefly wondered whether there ought to be microclimate problems with an open area this big, rain falling from condensation collecting at the top, but we figure the Tower's automated environmental systems deal with that for the most part.
Is it a coincidence that Dalinar was touched by all three Rosharian Shards? Does it have any significance for the plot or is this something I should not ponder about? I think there is something big in store for Dalinar.
It is significant that Dalinar was touched by all three shards.
Is it possible that Honor's Shard is named Honor, because this is how the man who hold The Shard inerpreted it but not it's real name? In that case could The Shard change the name to something else that would better fit with personality of the new holder? As an example, could Honor become Unity if Dalinar were the holder?
The name Honor is bigger than Tanavast, though it's not impossible for shards to be interpreted differently by those who hold them, and perhaps other names be applied.
Yeah a shared vision with Navani would be pretty helpful. I assume the mechanism messing with the Radiants in the Tower would also mess with bringing someone into the vision. But then again, the pure Honor Surge Adhesion still works for Kaladin and aren't the vision tied directly with Honor?
It would have messed with such a vision, yes.
When Taravangian picks up Odium's Shard, how smart is he? Is he more intelligent or compassionate? And now that he has the Shard, is he still subject to his intelligence/compassion fluxuating every day, or is he locked into whatever he was at when he picked up the Shard? Does the intelligence/compassion trade off still affect the plot, is that the loophole or system cheat that will allow Cultivation, Dalinar, etc. to overcome Odium in the end?
This is indeed a huge RAFO--but you should expect me to be trying to answer these questions in the next book.
There's no Rlain [on the Bridge Four poster] because I didn't want to spoil the fact that he gets access to Stormlight in this book. He's not the only exception--I hoped to get Drehy, who is modeled off of a real-life friend, into the group. There wasn't space, unfortunately.
Which spren is your favorite to write for, and why is it Design?
They all have their charms, but undermining Wit like that is its own special flavor of fun.
I recall Brandon saying he was going to make a children’s book for the girl who looked up anyone know what happened to that? I’d love to get one for dragon and the dog
I am considering it. I have this image in my mind of a final page, after "the end" is written, that depicts a large dragon trying to sleep in a dog's bed with a large chalkboard behind that says, "Steps to becoming a dog" on it.
Is Lift trans? Some of the specific scenes and wording when Lift stole the food from Rock's son seemed to indicate that?
This was not intentional. I have intended Lift to be assigned female at birth. I wouldn't play so coy with something that would be so relevant to trans readers.
I think /u/Loose_Combination meant the other way around. She's experiencing body dysphoria very much in the way a transmaculine character would.
Oh, I apologize. I didn't read closely enough.
So yes, there is something here. More her body disphoria is related to aging, and secondary sex characteristics are involved.
One I think might border even further on RAFO - in RoW, Dalinar accepts Kaladin's Fourth Ideal. I'm wondering, is it possible for Dalinar to... power-level a Radiant up to the Fifth Ideal by just accepting all their Oaths without regards to, you know, underlying fitness? Danger and safety issues aside. The Stormfather's comments on Ishar's powers being beyond the scope of what Honor allowed makes me assume he can.
RAFO, as you expected. But without Honor around, some of the things he could do are kind of up for grabs.
Are Bondsmith spren created as a matter of intent by Shards or are they 'natural' insofar as any spren made of enough Investiture would create a Bondsmith bond? That is, for example, the Everstorm is clearly a giant mass of Odium's Investiture, if someone were to bond its spren (which is presumably very young and insensate currently), would it form a Bondsmith bond as a matter of (super)natural laws or would Odium have to tweak something on a metaphysical level to allow a Bondsmith bond to form?
It wouldn't naturally become a Bondsmith spren, as it's not JUST the amount of Investiture that makes one. (For example, there's that odd spren in Iri that has a ton of Investiture, but didn't become a Radiant spren.) To become a Radiant spren requires some different things.
If there was Any shard to be offered to Hoid, it would have been this one [Whimsy].
Hoid is far too calculating and deliberate for Whimsy. It might seem his style on the surface, but a deep dive into who he is would show that it's very much not who he is.
Will we ever see the world or magic system for Whimsy?
Some day, hopefully.
We know now Kaladin's plate is made of windspren. Is Jasnah's made of logicspren?
Yes.
The other one is me trying to understand Bondsmiths a bit for their article. Dalinar uses his powers to heal the buildings in Thaylen City, and what he does does not seem to be a straightforward application of a Surge. Is he making use of Tension or Adhesion? Or some mix of them both? I realize that sometimes things may not fall easily into one category or another, so I'd accept any sort of clarification on this.
What Dalinar did is a mixture of abilities, and a spiritual connection, that is only possible to a Bondsmith.
We have been introduced to two ways to refer to a magic system up until RoW. Khriss has referred to manifestations of Investiture (in the context of the Metallic Arts) and elsewhere has used the term Invested Arts, which seemed to be the in-world term for a magic system. However, RoW has now introduced the term "arcana". Is this a synonym for Invested Art or a term for a specific sort of "power set" like Stoneshaping or Lightweaving that might be present in different forms in multiple Invested Arts throughout the cosmere?
For the first question, arcana isn't really either of those things. Invested Arts would still be the official title. Where is arcana is more of a simple, more colloquial catch all. It's like maybe the difference between saying Olympic Categories and just sports.
Soul Tones. The "pure tones of Roshar", and the various Rhythms of the various Lights, made me think of these. Does every person and object have a Soul Tone still, similar to the Lights and Shards?
And a followup: if so, is this a manifestation of Identity on the Physical Realm?
This would still be a way of describing it, though I don't know if it will be used that way on screen at all.
Skepping. Dalinar refers to this by name, as a technique the Windrunners are practicing. Is this something advanced deadblade wielders can still do, or only something Radiants and Honorblade wielders can do?
Yes, it can be practiced--but it's not nearly as hard as it would have been in the WoKP version, so it isn't a major plot point any longer.
Is Invention involved in Roshar?
RAFO. (You probably knew that was coming.)
Can you explain why he also calls himself Hoid?
I wanted something that felt unique, but also would be simple. I wanted him to be able to use the name in multiple different books, and have it fit the linquistics. Usually, simple names are best for this. (Kim, for example, is a name you find in a variety of different countries with very different linguistics.)
So it was both distinctive enough to stand out on the page, and not be boring like Jon or the like, but also wasn't long or too odd to fit in on different fantasy worlds.
The really question is, given the death of Rayse, is Honor really dead? Or is his essence out there, still available to be claimed?
I will answer this for certain by the end of Book Five. For now, RAFO.
Here's my theory, and I want to get it down here so when it turns out to be right I can say "See I called it!"
​Dalinar becomes the new Honor, Lift becomes the new Cultivation. Why? Cultivation touched three people, Dalinar, Taravangian and Lift. She planned for Taravangian to become the new Odium, so I figure the other two are the new Honor and her eventual successor Cultivation. At least this is Cultivation's plan, even if that's not exactly how it ends up happening.
RAFO indeed.
I'm going to make the assumption that Rlain will have the same basic powers as Renarin.
This is a RAFO for now, though you can assume basic similarities between their powers--but Rlain's deeper connection to the rhythms might tweak his powers somewhat.
Is that tone and rhythm stuff universal to the Shards and Investiture elsewhere?
The tones can be expanded to other Shards and Invested Arts around the cosmere.
Are the Allomantic pulses a Seeker hears (like drum beats) related to the tones of Preservation, then?
Yes, they are.
There's been a lot of discussion in the fandom on the exact name of Cultivation, due to the sentence construction where it is alluded.
Is her name Koravari, or Koravellium Avast? Or is it neither, and both are shifted versions of her original name?
RAFO for now.
In Words of Radiance, Hoid says that there's only one person as old as him around, and seems to be referring to Cultivation's vessel. In Rhythm of War, he mentions there's a dragon on Roshar.
Are these two individuals the same, or are they separate?
Yes. These two are the same.
If Elend had been carrying a polestone with him when he had his duralumin enhanced atium vision that transferred him to the SR, would it have become invested similarly to if it had been exposed to a perpendicularity?
Hm. That's a good question. I think it wouldn't have--though white sand would have been charged.
In Rhythm of War, Navani mentions that perhaps Soulcasters, specifically Soulcaster metal, are another form of a Radiant spren. She uses the line ''Somehow the ancient spren had been coaxed into manifesting as Soulcasters instead of Blades?". Could this somehow be related to Testament and the brokenness of the Soulcaster Lin Davar and then Shallan had?
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by related. But just in case, Testament was not the Soulcaster. But the fact that spren become Soulcasters is related to this in some ways.
Was...was that a Patrick rothfuss reference in Wit’s story? The man in an inn whose name was stolen from him who tells stories?
It’s not. It is a reference to something in WoT fandom.
Hmm, which inn is this is WoT? I can't seem to relate to one.
It’s not from the Wheel of Time itself. It’s a meta fandom reference.
As in a Dusty Wheel reference or what?
It's something more like that.
Secondly a theory of mine is around the healing factor of Stormlight. I believe that the healing was added later by Honor because it would heal away the Ashyn diseases that bring powerful Surgebinding - it's Tanavast's way of preventing the Ashyn magic system following Odium and Humanity over to Roshar. Can you confirm healing is a newer addition to Stormlight, or comment on this at all?
For the second, I'll RAFO for now. Interesting theory!
