They were talking about, on the cosmere podcast, if cosmere dragons can breathe fire?
RAFO. They can fly. So they--
Okay. That's good to know. I was just thinking, Frost like, doesn't sound very fiery to me. It sounds icy to me.
Mmhmm. *significant look* RAFO on that. You won't even find that in Dragonsteel, the old one, if you read it. It doesn't say.
I heard you talk about the Vorin languages have a vowel shift. I'm a linguist so...
I'm kind of bad at vowel shifts, but it does have a vowel shift. You'll see Kalak being called Kelek, and some of these things like this. And I try to stay consistent with it, but I've also not been as rigorous with it as I maybe should be. Peter always points out little errors I've made. So it's a vowel shift that has some inconsistencies, how about that. But of course, real-world vowels shifts have it.
You need to publish something only about the conlang.
Only about the linguistics? Yeah, having an assistant who has a degree in linguistics is really handy. Peter's been of very big use, particularly on Stormlight, because I didn't have him before those books. I just kind of had to muddle through it. And now I've got him. I'll call him up and say, "Pronounce this; pronounce this." There are lots of names in Stormlight that I can't pronounce that he can... The Arabic /q/ ...he can do, and I can't. Which we use a lot in some of the names over in Azir, and stuff like that.
Are there special effects if someone's born in the Cognitive Realm, or conceived or lives?
I will say yes, there are. They may not be large or overt, but there is a difference. Excellent question!
Is Urithiru originally from Roshar, or did it come from somewhere else?
Ah, great question! It was built on Roshar...
The people on Scadrial have innate Investiture from Preservation. If someone from another planet, say Roshar, were to get Allomancy, from Hemalurgy or Feruchemy, would that person have to have Stormlight as well as the metal in order to do their--
No, good question. They would just need the metal if you were Hemalurgically getting the ability. Remember, Hemalurgy is basically ripping off a piece of someone else's soul and stapling it to yours. Short circuiting the soul, so to speak... All the pieces of the soul you would need, it is giving you. It has dangerous ramifications, but you wouldn't need Stormlight also.
Yesteel from Warbreaker. At the time of Oathbringer, is he still at large?
RAFO, I'm afraid... I will let you know the fates of all Five Scholars, probably, in Nightblood, the book, when I write it. The ones you don't know already. It's a RAFO-- Well, if I write Nightblood... Of the cosmere books, it's probably the... most in jeopardy, other than maybe the Threnody novel.
My other question was, has Hoid ever or would Hoid ever dress in drag?
Yeah, and he has... Multiple times!
Silence Divine, are you allowed to talk about when it's going to happen in the timeline?
...It is late Stormlight Archive era. I image it being around book 8 or something like that.
So it was after the Dawnchant was written.
Yes. But since it hasn't been written yet, the timeline is not canon for that yet.
Do any of the Shards regret becoming one?
Yes. I would say yes.
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?
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.
How would a man-made island show up in Shadesmar? Would it just show up?
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.
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?
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.
How strong is Endowment's futuresight in comparison to other Shards?
RAFO.
Does Khriss know the intents of the sixteen Shards at the time of the essays?
At the time of the essays, Khriss would-- Yes, Khriss would know all sixteen intents.
Can a Shard just--like, say someone is using their magic system--can they stop the power from them being able to use it?
No, that's a bit like stopping the laws of physics. So, while they can circumvent laws of physics and things like that, but if you wanted to stop someone from using magic, smiting them would be the efficient way of making that happen, if you are capable of it in the system.
We've seen, let's say, Ruin and Preservation talking to people--they have limitations on that. Do other Shards share these limitations?
There are limitations-- All Shards have some interesting limitations that we will get into as we go.
Can a Shard just smite someone? Like, "Boom, you're dead," and they die?
So, Shards can do this, depending on where they are. For instance, Odium can't, but Endowment could.
Did the Five Scholars ever speak directly with Endowment in a way that they would remember?
*thinking noises* I'll RAFO that.
Odium seems to have a bad track record when it comes to killing Shards. He was wounded versus Ambition, and he's trapped on Roshar. Yet, he's credited in killing Devotion and Dominion. My question is: was Autonomy significantly involved and would Odium have been able to do it on his own and still be okay to--
RAFO. It is dangerous to attack a Shard with one Shard. Let's say that. And a wise Shard would try to avoid that confrontation unless there are specific reasons they think they would have an advantage.
Was Felt cosmere-aware during Era 1?
Yes.
Was he directly involved in the interplanetary trade through the Pits?
He was involved. Whether directly is the right term or not I will not say.
And is he part of the Seventeenth Shard?
He has been a member of various different groups and had various different motivations over the years. I would not put him, right now, as a member of the Seventeenth Shard.
As in, like, Stormlight Archive--
As of Stormlight Archive Era: Not a member of the Seventeenth Shard. Obviously--well, I won't go any further on that.
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?
Let's just say that is intentional.
The Luthadel guard in The Final Empire, the garrison leader, his name is Bevidon, which sounds suspiciously like Bavadin.
It does.
Is there any connection there?
RAFO.
What do you think of Moash?
...I am very curious what the fan reactions have been. I anticipated it. Moash exists to represent a different direction that a character with some of the same motivations as Kaladin could go.
Can Connection be inherited?
Technically, yes. But maybe not how you're thinking, but yes.
Did you actually go through a horseback riding orientation for that scene in Words of Radiance, because that is literally how it works.
I have done it before in my life, and I was drawing on that. I did have to go get some horse experts, because I got some things wrong. That's kind of a little bit how my first experience riding horses went. I have a cousin who... rode show horses when she was younger.
Would a Returned look different in Shadesmar than a normal person?
They would.
Have we ever seen the spren that are in a relationship with Ryshadium on the page at any point?
I think you have, but I can't 100% say. I'm sorry. I think you have, but that one comes with a big asterisk...
Why didn't we get to see Dalinar meet Gallant in Oathbringer in the flashbacks? I was so disappointed...
I planned that for a different flashback... I intentionally didn't put that one in, because it didn't fit the rest of the narrative that I was telling. But I will do that eventually.
Is it after he arrives at the Shattered Plains?
I will RAFO that for now, because I'd have to go look exactly at the timeline where I'm slipping it in.
But it's around that time?
Yeah, it's more recent than most of the things that you're reading about... Let's say, the person that Dalinar has been through most of his life would not end up with him... I will get into it. I realize that that was a hole that is not in the story, and it's an intentional one. But I eventually worked in the flashbacks with Kaladin in the last book, I found a little extra place for them. I'll try to find some of those for Dalinar.
Can modern-day Felt get his hands on atium?
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.
*written* Is Felt and agent of Harmony? If not, is he a member of a secret society that we have seen?
*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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
The lighteyes-- Do their eyes actually glow or is it just blue or green?
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--
It's otherworldly?
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.
What was Paalm doing during Era 1?
I will answer that someday, so I'm going to RAFO it for now.
Is chasmfiend meat edible? If so, is it easily-- are people harvesting it once a chasmfiend is dead?
It is edible, and yes, perhaps it has not been exploited as much as it should have been, if that makes sense. But yes, it could be eaten.
Is Lhan from the [Way of Kings Prime] reading the same one from Book 2?
Yes, that is the same Brother Lhan. I knew he wasn't going to get to have a big part in the books once I moved Taln so far off. So I gave him a nice cameo with his own interlude so that at least he would be in the books. Because in that version, he basically wandered around, following Taln, complaining for the entire book.
Is there anything you can tell us about where the listeners are? From Narak, after they--
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.
Did Spook ever leave Scadrial?
RAFO.
Khriss and Jasnah... are they ever gonna meet, because I feel like they'd be the ultimate power couple.
They would get along smashingly, is what I feel. I won't say if they're ever going to meet or not, but I do feel that they would get along.
Can people not from Roshar bond with spren and get the Shardplate and whatnot?
RAFO. Well, okay. You don't need me to RAFO on that. You have seen someone not from Roshar bond a spren. You have seen that much happen.
We know for sure that Hoid is a Lightweaver.
Do we know that?
Hoid has bonded a spren.
Is the Sibling a Singer?
The Sibling is not, good question.
What about... Doomslug? What's up with Doomslug?
Doomslug will be answered pretty soon... Doomslug is relevant.
Does aluminum negate magic systems in all the--
Not exactly, but it has very weird-- it has interesting effects, how about that, in all places.
Adolin has this connection with Maya. Does that have anything to do with why spren are not pursuing him as a Radiant?
RAFO.
Is Bavadin a dragon? Was she originally a dragon?
RAFO.
What is the inspiration for the Parshendi?
There are a lot of different inspirations. One is wanting to build out of the setting a species that interacted with the setting and had a symbiotic relationship with the setting. The other was the idea of a people whose caste system, you could change castes and physically change into other castes of the system. So something like the hives you see, where you can switch from worker to various different tasks. I liked the cultural aspects of what that did.
What's your Smedry talent?
...I usually say "being long-winded." But the truth is, when I wrote the books, I kind of did all the stuff that I do as the first powers. So I'm habitually late, bad at dancing, good at breaking things... But if you actually go "What's the core one," probably being long-winded. I can say things that could be said in one word, in seventeen instead.
So Lift gets her awesomeness from food. Is that a Lift thing or is that an Edgedancer thing?
That is a Lift thing. She is a very specific thing, and what she is will come out more, as the series progresses. It's not just a little one-off, there is actually something more behind it, but it is not an Edgedancer thing.
I was starting to think that maybe there was something that Cultivation's people had their own kind of Heralds, that had their own alternative energy so--
It's going to probably take until Lift's book to start to dig into it too much, but it isn't that far off, 3 books.
*laughs* Only 3 books?
Yeah, she is 6th.
How do you feel about Moash as a character? In terms of how the fandom receives him?
I am not surprised by how the fandom receives him. I wish it weren't a Wheel of Time meme that became our meme, but that's how memes go, right? ...I will say, brace yourself.
I have a quick question about the uniforms in Skyward. Is there a specific color for Skyward flight?
Not for Skyward flight. They are all using the same jumpsuits, and things like this. By the second book, they probably will have... once they kind get ahead of it a little bit, they can start doing things like painting the ships. But in this book, really, you're basically wearing a jumpsuit--
It's blue, it's unceremonial.
Mmhmm.
Do you have a single name that you use to refer to all the singers, and the listeners, and the Parshmen: that entire species?
Yeah, I usually use listener, but that's a cultural thing. So, I don't right now.
I keep struggling with what to call them as a species, and eeehhh are they all singers? I mean they aren't really all singers.
We'll settle on something eventually.
Okay, but we don't have anything right now.
Yeah.
