Firstly, is there a general name for all the Bondsmith spren? Along the lines of the word "honorspren" for all the Windrunner spren.
In world, they're just called Bondsmith Spren. But godspren isn't terrible for discussions, as it does relate a little to things like the god metals.
Let's say we have a hypothetical situation with Miles Hundredlives. In this scenario, he is wearing a gold metalmind filled to the brim with stored healing power. He is then spiked with a cadmium spike and loses his gold allomancy.
Now, if I recall from various WoBs, he would be able to heal using the gold metalmind and regain his gold allomancy. I could be misremembering and he cannot heal it, but I believe he would be able to since it is part of his Identity.
However, one question I have never seen the answer to is this: what happens to the ability in the spike? Is the allomantic ability still contained in the spike, leading to a duplicate? Or is the spike's ability lost? Or maybe I have this whole thing wrong and Miles could never have regained the ability in the first place.
If the ability duplicates (which I doubt), that could lead to some crazy things. Also, this applies to any Twinborn with gold Feruchemy, I just thought Miles was a good example I guess :)
I'd like to see the exact WoB's here to make sure I'm being consistent, as I don't know that I confirmed you could regain lost powers--only that you could heal from hemalurgic soul damage. Most likely, what you'd end up with is a person who has been healed and can remove the spike from their body without damage, and without needing it to hold their soul together--but who has lost the ability in the spike.
Regardless, though, what you want here (the mass production of spikes charged and even blanked) is possible with the right levels of investiture. It's an energy, like things in our world. The difficulty is finding out how to 1) get enough investiture and 2) key it to the right people and/or magic.
Hope that's a little more clear.
That said, a lot of times people just ask me if something is possible--and a lot of things are possible, but just very difficult. And with the right boost of investiture, in the right circumstances, it WOULD be possible to regrow lost (to spikes) powers. It's just highly unlikely.
I'm not sure if the questions people are asking me are ones I've qualified, or not, in these instances. Also, this is all something I'm playing with still behind the scenes as we enter the modern age of Mistborn.
As requested, here are the WoBs I believe are related. They might be obsolete, however. And I assume things will get changed a lot before Era 4, but hey, it's fun to ask anyways :)
WoB #1:
https://wob.coppermind.net/events/331/#e9434
This one states that as long as Miles still has his Identity, he would be able to use his Feruchemical metalminds after being spiked and would be able to heal.
WoB #2:
https://wob.coppermind.net/events/102/#e983
This one says that Miles would be able to heal his soul using Feruchemical healing and regain his gold Allomancy (assuming he survives the spiking). I think this is the most essential one!
WoB #3:
https://wob.coppermind.net/events/76/#e6335
This one is only somewhat related - implies that the Feruchemical and Allomantic powers are spiritually part of him.
WoB #4:
https://wob.coppermind.net/events/7/#e6435
Also tangentially related - damage to the soul from Hemalurgy can be healed (Although this might just be a Hoid thing). I guess the question could be expanded to include non-Feruchemical healing as a way to repair the soul after being spiked.
Well, I don't think any of those are specifically inaccurate. I just didn't quite understand what people were trying to get out of me. A lot of times, I don't know quite what people are trying to get out of me. I can see now they're trying to figure out.
I see now, and I appreciate you putting this all together for me so I can see what the fans are trying to figure out. So the answer is a cautious yes. The problem here is that he'd need to compound a TON of healing first--but yes, it would work. You could theoretically turn someone like Miles into an invested spike factory.
If he didn't have enough healing stored, though, he'd end up with a healed soul but a gap (like a scar on his soul) where his spiked-out abilities were. That could theoretically be healed with application of more investiture, depending on things like how he views himself, and if you could get the right type of investiture.
What would happen if you tried to soulcast a shardblade-wounded limb back to regular flesh with a heliodor? Would it regain function?
That's a partial RAFO, I'm afraid. Soulcasting to flesh is complicated, and the level you're asking for is well outside the skills of any living soulcaster. Most likely, you'd end up with a lump of nondescript meat instead of an arm.
Hey, I've been thinking about that section in WoK with Jasnah and the "thieves" she killed, and it feels like a setup to me - it's weird that the messages Taravangian sends to the guard are on Jasnah's radar, and Jasnah even says that the situation is odd enough to "suspect that there is more going on".
Was this a Taravangian plot?
Taravangian leaks the information about the "reprimands" he sent to his city watch about these dangerous criminals, and watches to see how Jasnah reacts to it, ideally catcher her using her powers? (Just like how he used that cave-in to test her Soulcasting).
Taravangian was under the hope that Jasnah would see the world the way he does--with a very strict (even dangerous) level of utilitarianism. He thought about recruiting her to his mission, but decided against it for various reasons.
Would it be possible to break a Shardblade?
If one breaks, what happens to the spren? Could this somehow kill the spren/Nahel bond?
Can it be reforged?
What happens to the Investiture stored inside of the sword?
Could a living spren regenerate the lost part?
What could cause this breaking?
RAFO
Are Windrunner's grace and ability to 'dance' on the wind due to their use of Adhesion with Gravitation?
This is part of it. Part of it is also them learning how to skydive, essentially.
To clear up some confusion, this [The Lopen chapter icon] is a picture of Rua, not The Lopen. You cannot capture the magnificence of The Lopen with drawings.
I would want to ask him what he added [to Dawnshard during revisions]. Was he generally adding little parts everywhere and surprised that he had increased the word count or maybe writing entirely new chapters? Was this increase of words planned?
This increase wasn't planned, but I found that (based on some beta reader responses) that I needed to fill out a few character arcs and dig deeper into a few side characters, and their motivations, in order for the story to actually work. This required several new scenes and expansion to several others. It wasn't what I wanted to do, but it was what the story needed. Since I'll be releasing (as part of the kickstarter rewards) all drafts of the story, you'll be able to see for yourself what I mean, if you are interested enough to dig into the earlier drafts.
I think this is how Urithiru's walls looks like
Yes, this is correct. I think I might have an image from this exact place in my reference photos for Urithiru.
Are there any cosmere books you’d recommend reading/rereading before RoW comes out? For instance, Vivian from Warbreaker appears in Oathbringer, so, those who don’t know that character would benefit from reading Warbreaker before Oathbringer.
I don't think there is anything in this book on the level of that from Oathbringer, so I'd say no right now. In general, Stormlight readers will need to be aware there is a universe out there, but I try to put the knowledge they need to know in these books themeselves, not requiring external knowledge.
Just had a question, when a Returned consumes a Breath, is it a property of their body that does so or the Divine Breath itself? It's been contentious in the community. If it's specifically just their body and a hemalurgist were to spike a Divine Breath as indicated was possible here*, would the hemalurgist not need to consume a weekly breath?
*https://wob.coppermind.net/events/364/#e11389
That's a very interesting question. The thing that requires the Returned to continue gaining investiture is their nature as cognitive shadows--they are dead, and in this case, need a power source to continue persisting in the physical realm. The Divine Breath is part of this. Imagine the Divine Breath as the thing that Infuses their soul, making it persist initially, and then and sticks it to the body. So if you stole it, but you yourself were not in need of being kept alive, I would say that you wouldn't need to be fed a new breath each week to maintain the Divine Breath.
Are there any deserts on Roshar, and if so could the white sand organism spread? Just imagining how sand mastery might possibly migrate to Roshar lol.
The White Sand organism could spread on Scadrial, and on any planet, but it would need investiture to do so. It would be easier for it to spread on Roshar, for example, because of the storms.
Hi Brandon,
I was wondering about how color-based magic like Soulcasters would work before the terms that define the colors existed. I know the Spiritual Realm is supposed to be associated with color and sound (maybe due to the mathematical basis of wavelengths?), but it doesn't seem like the exact wavelengths of the gemstones used in Soulcasters matter as much as whether they're understood as being specific colors. Does the existence of a color category precede the existence of a distinct magical effect or would the effect exist regardless? Like, before the language of the first inhabitants of the Rosharan system had words to differentiate between green and yellow would heliodors and emeralds have produced the same effect? Or smokestone and amethyst before the existence of the blue category?
I have a feeling the answer is going to be similar to why the Bands of Mourning couldn't be used before they were known to be the Bands of Mourning but I thought I'd ask.
So, the color theory things in a lot of the cosmere are deeply integrated with the ideas of perception. I've mentioned before that some gemstones, for example, are nearly identical chemically, but are different colors--and so work differently in the magic. This is about perceptions.
Linguistics certainly has a hand in shaping our perceptions of things. And so yes, the direction you're theorizing here has merit, but I'm going to have to RAFO details for now.
What is Vax's favorite food?
RAFO. I don't believe I've confirmed if Vax is a person, place, thing, or other.
Any news on the Mistborn screenplay? The progress bar no longer appears on your website
I finished the Treatment, but decided not to write the screenplay until some behind-the-scenes things played out further. It's all good news, internally, but there are some pieces to fit together. For example, I started a production company earlier in the year. I won't finance/make the film myself, of course, but it's the sort of step I wanted to take before going further with partners.
Brandon has said that the Ashynite disease-based magic was related with the Old Magic. Did he mean it in a direct way? Like this magic from Ashyn was a branch or a variety of the Old Magic system?
I do have to RAFO this, for the most part. Suffice it to say that the disease magic is related to a symbiotic bond between spren-like Investiture and microorganisms.
Hey! If you had the correct Intent in mind, could you Command a Lifeless to follow a Knight's Radiant Ideal? Like could you command it to "Protect those who cannot protect themselves"
Yes, this would be possible, though it would depend on the Lifeless and circumstances on how good a job they do at it. The command is a little abstract, and could end up not working as well as you want it to.
Can a spren turn into a wearable hat(conceptually, Syl’s dress being part of her body), or would the 4th ideal need to be sworn first?
This is possible with the magic at Kaldin's current ideal, but not at the current skill/understanding level of most current Radiants.
So is the 4th Wax and Wayne book coming after Skyward 3 or after Skyward 4?
Skyward 3 will happen next, then Wax and Wayne 4. I realize people have been waiting for Wax and Wayne longer than they've been waiting for Skyward, and in a perfect world, I might do it next.
However, there are two big things pushing me the other direction. First, my Skyward and Mistborn are different publishers--and I just delivered a Stormlight book to the Mistborn publisher. The Skyward publisher has been very patient and understanding, but I feel I need to make good on my promises to them too.
Beyond that, I really like to alternate between projects. If I did Wax and Wayne 4 next, I'd be left with two Skyward books in a row. I'd rather split those up.
That leaves us with Skyward 3, W&W4, Skyward 4, then Stormlight 5. That should, barring some kind of big problem, be the next four books I write. I've been doing well at moving random ideas I have (like the Original) into things like collaborations lately. This has both let me do some fun things (for example, I think The Original is better as a collaboration than it would have been if either of us had tried to write it alone) and save time to focus my attention on my main book projects.
The nice thing about this is that it puts us in really good shape in 2023 with Stormlight 5 coming out. Since Alcatraz 6 is done, and Legion is finished, this means I'll have wrapped up every major arc I've been writing as we hit the halfway point of the cosmere.
That will leave me free to dive into Mistborn era 3 and the Elantris sequels as the next "chunk" of books I write. But we shall see how things play out.
I was wondering if you intend to write a novella set between Stormlight 5 and 6 to bridge the gap between the two arcs.
I don't have any current plans. Like the gap between books three and four (though, admittedly, longer) I have constructed the story so that the information is part of the narrative. To actually write it out would, I think, be anticlimactic--since you'll be getting plenty of it through context. To say more would stray into spoilers, so I'll leave it there.
Do you have plans for a sequel to "The Rithmatist" in the next chunk after Stormlight 5, or will it more likely be sometime after that?
I keep telling myself I'll get to it, but still haven't found the right time. But I've always said that once Legion and Alcatraz are finished, it would be the last of the "loose end" series from the first part of my career that I want to tie up. So it's very much on my mind.
What about Warbreaker 2? Is there any plan to write another book in that world? It seems like it’s set up for one and there’s a lot of questions raised by the characters worldhopping.
I do plan to do it, but it's been perpetually in a "We'll see" in regards to when.
How has no one asked Brandon what a Herdazian accent sounds like yet?
It wouldn't sound like anything we know. I give no instructions to audiobook readers on accents for that reason. However, I DO use our-world linguistics to build languages, and Herdazian is based on Spanish, with a heavy influence of mexican slang.
I'm surprised that ANY author today would do this, given that releasing an audio-only book [The Original] is discriminatory against Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals who can't use audiobooks.
Sorry. The issue here is that the money to do these things is being put up by Audible and Recorded. The story literally wouldn't exist if they hadn't wanted material for their audible original lines.
Maybe I could ask the publisher to make text versions available for hard of hearing people? Seems like a reasonable thing to ask. But being angry about this seems basically the same to me as being angry at an author for releasing a print only edition of a book, as it discriminates against blind people. The publisher is funding things for their platform--and it's an audiobook platform.
Do you think you'd be willing to give us some of these missing names [of main characters' mothers]?
I'll work on it in the books. Interesting list for me to see.
Does Lift need to poop?
Lift's system is more efficient than that of a normal persons in this particular area. Less poop, almost none. (I imagine it being like that one guy who didn't eat for a year, surviving off of body fat.)
Why does Lift get hungry after converting food to Stormlight? If you don't need to breathe while holding Stormlight because it sustains your body, why would you need to eat?
Her body is a little confused at times. That's part of it. Also, she just has a psychological response to eating, like many of us do.
Also, is there anyone in the Cosmere I could make for X?!
Hmm. Xisis. He'll show up eventually.
I have just seen this and I'm curious. Is there any information about Xisis that you could give us before entering RAFO territory?
Not human, from Yolen, currently hanging out on a planet quite near to where you can find a lot of the aethers.
I don’t know if this has been discussed any wear before, but I can’t get this idea out of my mind that a massive influx of stormlight due to the rediscovering of shadesmar by the common person through the oath gates will cause inflation to skyrocket in shadesmar cities. This does not even account for the war that is also likely to absorb a lot of resources in the cognitive realm, further increasing the scarcity of certain materials, which would only drive prices higher due to the low of supply and demand. I’m just curious if this would even happen based off of the unique qualities of trade in shadesmar (items can just disappear, and money can too if it’s not in the right gem), but it would seem that it would based off of my current understanding of economic theory.
Is this something you are able to talk about?
Not yet, as it's something I don't want to dig in to too much yet. Consider it a RAFO for now.
On the topic of Shardblade metal, could that be used as the metal cage for a Fabrial with an actual effect like the mundane metals we've seen so far?
Shardblade metal could be used in a cage, if you could figure out how to do it, and it would have an effect--though I won't say what.
Was Thakan’dar an inspiration for the name Thaidakar?
I'll bet it was an unconscious one, but I didn't make it an intentional homage like I did with the Misted Mountains.
The humans on Roshar have a lot of holdover terms from... before, like chicken, soil, wine, etc.
Is "mink" another of those holdover terms, where they are calling something a mink that we may call something else?
Is it, mayhaps, actually a lion?
No, minks actually are one of the mammals who managed to get a foothold on Roshar, so they know what minks are. (They are mentioned other places in the text.) Good question, though!
An image of my theory the unmade positions in Voidbinding chart
Could u tell me if atleast one of the unmade positions in the figure is right, or of the figure itself is wrong and I'm barking up the wrong tree?
I like what you're doing here [in associating the Unmade with positions on the Voidbinding chart], but I have to stamp a big RAFO on questions like this for now. (Sorry.)
I've been thinking for a while about the presentation of disability and chronic pain in Brandon's books and I reread a bunch of them recently and ended up with a lot of thoughts. I wrote a letter/email to Brandon trying to provide a little insight and I think it might be worth sharing here as well.
This is exactly the kind of feedback that is useful for writers to hear. I try to do the best I can, but I can always do better. I particularly like how you outlined some of the traps/tropes authors fall into, because those are exactly the things that are super helpful for me to read. (And similar lists have helped me a lot with my writing in other areas.)
I don't want to say much more than that, because I don't want to imply your perspective is invalid. (It most certainly is.) But I do want to mention that I pay a lot of attention this kind of issue, and there is a fine line to walk. Many things having to do with disability have a bit controversy surrounding them similar to the cochlear implant one--where the community itself can be very divided at what they want to happen, and what they want to see happen in fiction.
I consider it my job to listen, particularly to well-reasoned and passionate arguments like yours. But I do need to note that there are arguments on the other side that I do also listen to. And I personally--from all the many things I've read and the time I've spent pondering it--do not currently consider curing of physical aliments with magic to be inherently problematic. I DO consider it to be a difficult issue, and recognize your feelings, which are completely valid. If healing people of disability in the real world is difficult and full of touchy subjects, with a variety of opinions, then it certainly is valid to consider it so in fantasy!
My goal is always to try to depict the varieties of different human experience and opinions. And, indeed, one of my goals with Rysn is to specifically have a character to contrast someone like Lopen--who falls (as you have noted) on a different side of the argument.
But, to be honest, I don't even consider the healing of mental disabilities with magic to be inherently problematic. (Speed of Dark, an excellent science fiction novel, is about a cure for autism--and is done brilliantly.) I do run into a lot of people who really like that I don't let Stormlight heal most mental illness--but I'd say I've run into an equal number of people with depression who wish that I would let it do so, and have told me they'd take a cure for depression without hesitation if one gets invented. (Indeed, there are many who do a great deal to medically to try just this.)
What I would say is that I need to be careful not to present one idea as the only valid response to these sorts of things. You're absolutely right that there is a perspective I need to be careful not to invalidate, and tropes I can be harmful in perpetuating if I don't watch myself. (My sister in law has chronic fatigue, and yeah--the number of people who told her if she was just stronger-willed, she'd get past it, is huge.)
I will be very careful with the Rysn novella. (And we do these days try very hard to have specific readers who have disabilities like the ones I depict. It is my plan to do this here.) And I'll keep your post handy as I revise, as I think it will be helpful.
I would strongly urge you with Renarin in particular to not do some sort of "cure" storyline and to leave him as autistic. I feel that the story would be better off with that and would most probably do more good that way.
I have no intention of "curing" Renarin, as I agree with your points here--but I really appreciate you mentioning them. We are aligned on this idea. I used Speed of Dark as an example of how a theoretical cure could be used in a story in a non-problematic way. (In that story, a cure is invented, and the story is entirely about the ramifications of it--and the dangers. It is a highlight of why I think Science Fiction is important. Asking the question, "What if?" before something happens in real life gives us a lot of questions, ideas, and concerns to work on as a society in preparation for such events.)
That said, that is a book that specifically deals with this idea. My intention for the Stormlight Archive, and Renarin specifically, is to explore him as a character. Not to change him into someone else.
I was wondering if we'd see assistive devices using fabrials in future stormlight books? I think there might be a lot of in-world potential with fabrials in wheelchairs, prosthetics and other assistive devices as that technology progresses.
Dawnshard actually has Rysn looking at fabrials and wondering if those could be of use in the way you're indicating here. I think you'll be pleased with the result.
Honestly, given how depleted the sunlight reaching the ground is, and given how it talks about the Lord Ruler modifying the peoples of the planet in order to survive, it would make sense for everyone to be really pale, as that increases vitamin D production.
I usually see Sazed as black myself, but I very specifically didn't talk a lot about races in Mistborn for a couple of reasons. (Though Vin is often mentioned being pale.)
The most relevant of these reasons is that if Terris were all black, then the secret about the Lord Ruler would just kind of be a silly one for nobody to have noticed. So I've noted in the screenplay treatment that either everyone has to be the same skin tone, or all societies need to have varied skin tones.
In my mind, it's the latter. Scadrial is a completely fabricated world, and done recently (in the last ten thousand years) on a cosmological scale. People were made and placed there, and there hasn't really been time for evolution to play a big role in things like adapting to certain environments.
The LR did change people to survive, and what you mention is indeed a good way to do it--but not the only way. Regardless, you may head-canon Sazed as looking however you want.
I’m on my 3rd or fourth reread of the Stormlight Archive this year, and I noticed the runaway comment that certain animals are farmed in order to produce meat via using their gemhearts for Soulcasting. We know as of Oathbringer that Soulcaster’s have a tendency to become what they Soulcast when they become savants. This lead me to question, how does that work for meat Soulcasters? Do they just become more meaty than a regular human? If so what does that even look like? Just some random questions that I haven’t seen discussed anywhere else.
RAFO for now, more for the fact that I'm low on time. But I'll talk about this some day.
Is it some inside joke that Ben Olsen didn't want to be bridge 4? I'm very curious what led up to it. If you can share that's be awesome.
Yes. He's a long time member of my writing group, and a good friend. If you watch the stream I did with Dan Wells a few weeks ago, Ben crashes the party and we tell stories about how he insists that none of us put him in our books--something that we kind of follow, and kind of don't.
Dear Mr. Sanderson,
Given the motivation per the books that the Knights believed they were giving up their Surgebinding powers to prevent the destruction of Roshar à la Ashyn, in practical terms how did e.g. Windrunners break their bonds?
Since they believed they were doing the right (honorable) thing wouldn't simply deciding "I'm breaking my oaths for the good of Roshar" not damage the bond (especially if Fifth Ideal Windrunners have [attitude] similar to Nale's comment regarding his bond)? Or can one break the bond by force of will or decision as opposed to betraying oaths in a practical sense?
There is an explanation to give here, but it would have spoilers for Rhythm of War and Book Five, so I'll RAFO for now. Ask me in about three years and four months.
In Rithmatist, is the 4th of July still their American Independence Day, with the alternate history?
Related question, is there a mechanical reason for inception being the 4th, or is it just cultural?
Cultural. And yes, July fourth is still an important day though they might call it something else, with the monarchy being in exile in the colonies.
Thanks! Are you willing to say why it's important in their world, or is that something where I'll have to RAFO?
Let's RAFO for now, as that world is in limbo for right now, and I'm not sure one hundred percent where I'll go.
In the final design (as seen in the 10th anniversary WoK) the front row of bridgemen run with the front lip of the bridge, fully exposing them to arrow fire as described in the text.
Fun fact: Parshendi and humans both use a specific type of shalebark leaf to fletch arrows, similar to wooden fletching. Various types of chicken scales are, of course, very rare and much too expensive for fletching. This does lead to accuracy issues.
I'm reading my Stormlight books in anticipation of the newest and I noticed Teleb being an Oldblood - a detail that I hadn't noticed or remembered the first time around. A search on Coppermind shows that you said they were simply a previous dynasty that ruled Alethkar back in 2014.
I wonder if I'm reading too much into it - but are the Oldbloods perhaps descended directly from the Knights Radiant whereas other Lighteyes are descended from later non-Radiant Shardbearers?
You're not reading too much into it--Oldbloods claim to be able to trace their lineage to Knights Radiant, but don't talk about that aspect of it as much because of the poor reputation of Radiants until just recently.
Ooh, I think that's a really good point, Marsh probably should have flared steel or iron or something? /u/mistborn ?
Yes, you're right. Good catch, /u/Thevulgarcommander! I believe we caught this already, however, and tweaked future printings.
So does this mean that tin doesn’t enhance Allomantic senses when burned? You’ve said before that windwhispers can store Allomantic senses, so I’m surprised at the difference there
I just think the passage is confusing, and was better of being tweaked. The new version, if you find it, makes it clearer--I believe he flares both tin and steel/iron.
Just to clarify some misconceptions I've seen in Stormlight Archive discussions. That's not Dalinar on the cover of THE WAY OF KINGS.
Huh. I've been told (granted, second hand) that he intended it to be Dalinar and Eshonai--but then again, he wasn't as familiar with the series when he did that cover as he is now. He's mentioned before he wished he'd made the cloak blue.
Is it possible Whelan could make those adjustments and a reprint can go out?
I think it's unlikely. Book covers aren't generally meant to be illustrations of the events of the book, and more a "poster" to give the right feel to those looking to pick it up. That's doubly true for a first book in a series. So I don't feel it needs tweaks, though it is a little confusing here and there.
For me, it's only a bit confusing in hindsight, since the subsequent three books have obviously portrayed named characters.
Selfishly, despite my love of the Way of Kings cover, I hope the not Dalinar-ness maintains so that he might be more pronounced on a future cover. He's my favorite and I am greedy for more.
I think a Dalinar cover will be appropriate for the next book, so there's a very good chance that's the way we go.
/u/mistborn I know it's in cremposting, but [a cookbook] is an exciting idea and I'd love to hear whether it's something you'd consider.
It would take a lot of work to come up with a full cookbook. But it's something people have joked about before, so I don't know. Maybe if the films/TV shows get big enough, we could do something like this?
Hey, you've mentioned before that for the Lord Ruler to be able to be a Mistborn and a Feruchemist he had to alter his spiritweb in some way because a person can't normally hold all 32 powers. What about a Mistborn Ferring? Would it be possible for someone born with all 16 powers of Allomancy to also be born with a Ferring power? What about a Ferring Misting? Thanks
This is possible now, when it once wasn't, but would be very unlikely.
Just as getting a Mistborn nowadays is very unlikely but that hasn't stopped people from trying ;) ;)
Follow up, having past a certain number of medallions doesn't work currently in world. Is this because of this same issue? Or is it more of a technical hurdle with the medallion?
The core root is the same issue, but it's not insurmountable with technological improvements.
The Reshi King from Rysn's interlude is probably trans. This statement is based on a few points
1: Everybody but Rysn (who's whole thing is that she's extremely green and unaware of the world) uses He/Him pronouns to refer to the reshi king.
2: When Rysn first meets the king, She genders him as a man, until she notices that he has breasts. This suggests that he has taken measures to present more masculine.
3: When Rysn refuses to call the king "king" his son loses his temper and tries to send her away. Up until then, he had been firm, but that was the point where he outright tells her to leave.
There is one line in the text where The king's son says "gender is irrelevant" in response to a question Rysn has about the king's gender.
I will say that this was written before the Author stopped using Gender and Sex interchangeably according to the WoB database.
Beyond that, I doubt the language they were speaking (thaylen) would have a robust understanding of sex and gender.
/u/mistborn was this your intention with the scene if you can confirm it? Or was it more the Egyptian style Hatshepsut-like others are mentioning?
I love Hatshepsut as an interesting quirk of history, and have long thought about ways to incorporate something similar. I did have that partially in mind when I was writing this, but more in the way that the culture was trying to understand him, rather than his own view of himself.
The king sees himself as male, and wishes to be treated that way--not just in title. In fact, in the coming months, you will see this character again briefly in some scenes I've already written, if you keep an eye out.
ooh are we going back to the Reshi Isles? Will we get a beach episode?
Ha. RAFO. :)
Hello, I hope this message finds you well. I was wondering if you might be able to answer a question. Was going back through the Stormlight books in prep for Rhythm of War, and I realized I didn't actually understand what was happening with the Stormlight when someone used a Basic Lashing. What actually happens to the Stormlight in the creation and maintenance of a Basic Lashing? (Especially when someone is Lashing themselves?)
Whew. It's complicated. Basically, the magic is persuading the Lashed object that it is not actually bound to the gravity of the planet--but to the gravity of a supermassive object in the direction indicated. (But which doesn't actually exist.) Imagine it as a Lightweaving that creates an illusion, but the illusion is of something massive that only is seen by the Spiritual aspect of the Lashed object/individual.
It works pretty well inside of the cosmere's magical framework, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you approach it from the physics of our realm.
It'll be interesting to see if Sanderson keeps the name "skep" for the technique [from Way of Kings Prime], if Adolin does learn it.
It's not changing.
I'm rereading Oathbringer right now, and I'm in chapter 36 (a Dalinar flashback). While reading through it, I noticed Dalinar commenting on a particular flamespren that seemed odd to him.
Dalinar narrowed his eyes at the flamespren. That one did have a sword. A miniature Shardblade.
Knowing that it's almost never a coincidence when we encounter a strange spren, it got me wondering; we don't know what a Dustbringer spren looks like, but it feels like it would make perfect sense if Ashspren looked like flamespren. This led me down a really interesting line of thought:
Would the Blackthorn have been a Dustbringer?
Now that we know that Dustbringers are all about self-mastery and channeling their incredible power, wouldn't that be a really interesting path for one of the most dangerous (even before he could surgebind) men on Roshar? That idea is just terrifying.
Maybe his visit to the Nightwatcher disrupted his progress towards becoming a Dustbringer and led him down a different path?
RAFO. :)
There are days when my job is just... really much more fun than ought to be allowed. Isaac came up with all the ideas, but he let me go off on my own for Horneater White and the One-Armed Herdazian. I drew up the head for Chazmfiend and contributed "Sweet Scalespray" flavour, but I think RAFO Soda was all Isaac and Adam. It might be my favorite, too. That or the HW frontside, I had a good time painting that.
I posted a slightly nicer resolution on the Horneater White coaster last week when it was first revealed, but this is the first time folks are seeing the finished set. I did the "stained" versions for a giggle by using the same texture layers I had archived from Shallan's sealogged sketches. If y'all wants 'em, y'all can has 'em... but I feel we could also just print them clean and then have the fun of staining them honestly. Though I'd love it if the textured ones were like, 1/100 variant cards given away randomly at events or through the store, that'd be fun too.
I almost never get to indulge my weakness for alliterative copy. You know you want to TASTE the Four-Scream Fury of CHAZMFIEND!! Chase it with a fistful of Cremling Crisps, their satisfying salty crunch swears to satiate your sense of FLAVOUR!!!
It's like a birthday, every day. :)
There was one Brandon had a good laugh at on his stream, a Dalinar coaster with "What is the most important drink? The next one."
Is there any chance of you guys doing a coaster like that?
Amazing work BTW, really hope we hit the goal!
I love it as a joke, but I don't think we'd do a coaster because it might be a little tone deaf to twist the oaths of a former alcoholic to encourage the next drink. Normally, I'd have no problem with that, but there are some people who use Dalinar's words to keep them going in their own personal struggles with addiction.
How long after Warbreaker does Way of Kings take place? I know you usually don't finalize timeline details until they actually are stated in-book, but are you willing to say how far apart the books are, in the current plans?
I have Warbreaker happening a few generations before, right now. However, I'm very likely to move Elantris up in time, so it's a little in the air at the moment.
Thanks! I assume asking why Elantris being moved affects how far apart Warbreaker and Way of Kings are is a behind-the-scenes thing and/or RAFO?
Yeah, it does. The big linchpin is going to be when I need Sel and Scadrial to align when big crossovers start happening. We'll know in a few years; there are things I intend to write that I could imagine needing to change, after they're finished, that will influence the timeline structure.
Pretty sure [Szeth's] eyes change color when he takes in a bunch of Stormlight, but in the books it's never mentioned that Nightblood changes eye color... u/mistborn?
Nightblood did not change eye colors in Warbreaker. Everything else is a RAFO for now.
What happens if you try to summon a Shardblade, but there is a wall where it would appear? What about liquids in the way, or person, and what if Shardplate is in the way?
Generally, the Blade isn't going to appear inside of something solid--and will appear (shoving aside) in liquid. It can be hit or miss on people, but generally doesn't work--and Shardplate would stop it from materializing.
Does a Shard on Roshar have a bead representing it in Shadesmar?
I don't mean the Vessel (assuming that the Vessel is even considered "separate"). I'm talking about the actual Shard itself.
No, it does not. Good question.
.png)
.png)
