#elsewhere on roshar

[cosmerelists]

What Will Be The Windrunner Fifth Ideal?

[MAJOR SPOILERS FOR STORMLIGHT THROUGH RHYTHM OF WAR!]

So far Kaladin has sworn four ideals: (1) "Life before Death" etc., (2) "I will protect those who cannot protect themselves," (3) "I will protect even those I hate, so long as it is right," and (4) "I accept that there will be those I cannot protect."

But what will be the fifth and "final" Ideal (we all assume there will be secret extra oaths, right)? I've put together some guesses!

[Final Note: I'm sure this has already been discussed on Reddit and elsewhere, but I haven't done any research. These are just the ideas I could come up with!]

1. "I will protect what is right."

So far, the Windrunner oaths have focused on who you protect: the helpless, the hated, etc. So perhaps, for the Fifth Ideal, it goes abstract, and has the Radiant promise to protect what is right. This would parallel the Fifth Ideal of the Skybreakers, wherein they become the embodiment of Justice. The Windrunners, then, would perhaps become the embodiment of Honor.

2. "I will protect without doing harm."

Aka, the "Lirin was right all along" theory. Not gonna lie, I would HATE this, but it would perhaps be thematic. Lirin has been telling Kaladin all along that you cannot protect by killing, and Kaladin has at times felt discomfort about the fact that, say, protecting Dalinar & Adolin meant killing Singers who were just trying to protect their homeland. So perhaps the ultimate Windrunner ideal is to find a way to protect without causing harm?

3. "I will even sacrifice myself to save others."

I would hate this even more, not gonna lie. I think Kaladin desperately wants to die protecting someone, and I think instead that he should live. But at the same time, self-sacrifice is the ultimate sacrifice, and it could precede Kaladin, like, becoming Honor's vessel or something. So I had to throw it in.

4. "I will protect everyone."

This is going back to the idea that each Ideal has Kaladin focusing on a specific group of people: the helpless, those he hates, those he could not save. Perhaps the final oath is to realize that his protection extends to everyone. This would be another way to address Kaladin's discomfort about killing innocent soldiers in order to protect his friends. If instead his ideal is to protect everyone on every side of the conflict, then perhaps he would find a better way.

5. "I will protect everyone that I can."

I do like this small variation, as I think it's a nice callback to the Fourth Ideal & Kaladin's realization that he can't actually save everyone. By focusing on saving everyone he can, maybe he can continue to recognize that he can't do it all, but that he has to try as hard as possible anyway.

6. "I will protect everyone no matter the cost."

Aka, the "the Fifth Ideal is actually where it all went wrong" theory. So...we know that Surgebinders destroyed their original planet, which is why the humans are on Roshar to begin with. I am highly suspicious of the Skybreaker Fifth Ideal where they become the law. Nale has presumably sworn the Fifth Ideal, and he's still cool with hunting down & killing children. Maybe the Fifth Ideal is where the Radiants go too far, becoming the sort of people who could destroy a planet, you know? In that case, what if the Windrunner's Fifth Ideal is to go too far into protecting, so that they're willing to do anything?

7. "I will protect everyone, including myself."

This one doesn't quite feel right, I'll admit, but I also desperately want Kaladin to realize that taking care of himself also matters. This would be picking up the thread of Kaladin refusing to partake in his own therapy, because others need it more or whatever. Maybe to be truly self-actualized, he needs to realize that you "can't pour from an empty cup," as it were.

8. "I will protect more than just people's lives."

This could be another way to follow up on on the "Kaladin invents therapy" thread. Maybe Kaladin will realize that saving people on the battlefield is great, but he wants to do more--saving also their minds, their sense of self, their emotional wellbeing, etc. Making their lives better & happier rather than merely keeping them alive, you know? Maybe he'd even do that for himself...

[brongusthearcanist]

Stormlight 5 talk, spoilers below.

I feel like everyone is forgetting that the current Odium really has no stake in this current conflict. Like Taravangian just wanted to save his little piece and would sacrifice anything to make it happen. And then he became the god who is supposed to destroy everything. I think we forget that yes, Taravangian is bond by the agreement the shard previously made, but he isn't at the whims of the shard yet. Rayse was always a callused man, I don't think it took very long for the shard to take over. On the other hand it apparently took Ati a while to be truly corrupted. I think a huge part of Harmony's current inability to due anything is the fact that Sazed is loosing control. Vessels can resist the intent and act out of alignment relatively easily in the beginning. But as the shard wears away the soul over the centuries the vessel and the shard become more singular, with the vessel basically being a puppet for the power.

Taravangian has some time. I think he's gonna do whatever it takes to break the arrangement, or rather, get Dalinar to do it. I think Taravangian wants out. But the big problem is that Rayse kinda invested Odium in Roshar and even without the wager, I don't think he could leave. This is where Bah-Ado-Mishram comes in. I think the radiants will free her because of the effect the sealing of this unmade had on the spren. I think she is why we have deadeyes. After being released Taravangian will make her an Avatar, essentially making her the regent of Odium on Roshar so that he can be Odium elsewhere. I also dont think everyone is gonna die, that's not how Sanderson rolls. We get maybe 2 big deaths. I think Dalinar will be in the background of the next 5 as he attempts to reforge the splinters of Honor, to become it's new vessel, which I don't think will be completed until book 8 or 9.

[awindandtruthliveblog]

[Wind and Truth: Chapter 60]

All the moral philosophizing and cosmere building in my mind goes away when I see "Adolin". What a refreshing sight.

Hey this first paragraph might be about numbers and words, but I'm choosing to read this as him being attracted to all women ever and also Kaladin

I'm awful with names, he can do it for me

He's literally Edgedancing. The coin says "I will remember". Nahel bond? No. But maybe something else with Maya.

Oh my god I just remembered the Azish battlefield is a dome. And they'll have Stormform in there. It's literally the Azish Thunderdome

god he's so hot such a nice person

Yooo Azimir said trans rights again. As did Brandon, noting Sarqqin as a man out of dialogue too. We already have a Radiant who Stormlight healed into the body they should be, but I wonder if we'll get someone without the physical changes that aren't everyone's experience

Wait why can't he pronounce things? He's been Connected. Do names not work?

Nobody better take Zabra's story as a fake trans thing. She was lying, clearly, to fight. She doesn't want papers. It's literally Mulan.

Four tones... Maybe greatshells just have four voices and can't sing all the rhythms of Roshar. Maybe it's Stone, Sky, Night, Day.

Yo chasmfiends warding off Stormstriders is the force of nature kind of stuff that really makes humans look small. Speaking of, they're lightningspren, right?

Siah Aimians?

Ohh shit fourth moon lore. Before the new gods. Adonalsium era stuff. Something about the not-stone at Narak caused issues, and Honor destroyed the place.

Aharietiam was at the same time? But that's far before the Recreance. So I guess Feverstone was elsewhere. But why would Honor destroy Narak then? It may be the event that shattered Honor, or related, since a broken bond is important in that.

[steevejr]

my totally realistic predictions for the way of kings engame:

1. Wikim and Renarin get arranged married (they’re both creepy and weird and scare off the hoes. Also sudoku enthusiasts) so Shallan can go fuck off and be transgender elsewhere while accomplishing her task of securing her house to the kholin house

2. Adolin and Kaladin yaoi break for the next 10 years until Kaladin either kills himself (accidentally) or dies saving Dalinar (intentionally). Adolin learns to dual wield shardblades and it’s really sexy. Maybe he dabbles in gender by learning how to read.

3. Shallan fucks off and goes to be transgender elsewhere (not out of hate I just think she would really enjoy fucking off forever or at least until she got bored). Pattern is there. Also gaz.

4. Rock finally goes back to the peaks to see his wife and kids (rest of bridge 4 goes with him except moash (moash and elhokar are holding hands skipping around because they’re besties again))

5. Jasnah king emperor of roshar everyone please pay your respects to the new queen of everything forever 🙏🙏🙏🙏

see you all in 20 years when the final novel comes out and I’ll be right about everything.

[hahahahawk]

That Storming Book

(Way of Kings re-read)

Dalinar paraphrases “journey before destination” in this chapter when talking to Sadeas, and there are themes of “life before death” elsewhere in their conversation. Dalinar admits to getting the “journey before destination”-type quote from the in-world Way of Kings.

Reading that passage right now, it occurs to me to check if Nohadon was a Radiant.

Yes, I remember the huge jump he makes in one of the visions, but I honestly interpreted that as dream logic, not him being a surgebinder. Most of the notes on the wiki about Nohadon’s abilities reference extra-text resources, not books in the canon. I’m happy to believe that he was a Bondsmith, even if it makes it more annoying that Dalinar never truly got to meet him.

While I don’t think Nohadon is much like Bumi (from avatar:tla), they do have the jumping-from-great-heights in common, plus being treated as super wise and admirable by their respective media. Even if they’re not cut from the same cloth, they definitely would get along well.

—

Haven’t had much to say about the last few chapters. I have something in my drafts about feeling like Sigzil is more a piece of distinctly carved furniture than a character in this book. Despite reading on the wiki about everything he does in the Rosharan books, I’m gonna double down on that take (for now).

Sigzil has a lot to say and adds a lot of contextual information, but while he tells us about Roshar (and a little about himself), he doesn’t take actions that are specific to himself and also move the story forward.

Even at this point in WoK, Rlain is more of a ~character~ than Sigzil. Rlain is (obviously) different than the rest of Bridge Four, but he also presents an ongoing conflict for Kaladin. Sigzil mostly retreats into the background chorus of the bridge crew.

Teft has an arc through future books, Dabbid has a future arc, Rock has an arc. Lopen grows his arm back, but I’m not sure that counts.

But for the most part Skar, Sigzil, Drehy, Hobber, and Leyten are interchangeable background characters to me. I know they have their own characteristics and backstories, but I struggle to remember any of them taking any plot-relevant actions that only that individual with their specific background and personality would take.

And that’s honestly fine! Books can only (comfortably) handle so many distinct characters. Like a fictional equivalent to the Dunbar number.

This is all a long winded defense of why I didn’t recognize Nomad as Sigzil.

And I even have face blindness in the books I read.

[kbookblurbs]

Yumi & the Nightmare Painter - Brandon Sanderson

4/5 - love the way art is described, worldbuilding keeps you guessing, not a fan of the romance subplot

Minor spoilers below!

I loved that this is described as a novel for someone on Roshar of the happenings elsewhere in the Cosmere. The cast of characters is engaging and I was not only charmed by the narration, but also grateful for a little more of an explanation of Investiture.

Yumi was simply everything to me. Her dedication to her people, her discipline, the internal struggle she has with wanting to simply enjoy herself ... I find her so endearing. Her attempts to "person" correctly and understand things like cooking and showering made me giggle but really feel for her character. I also loved that her arc mimics that of the dramas she loves so much. Sometimes the ending has to be sad, and sometimes it doesn't. I love her so dearly.

On the other hand, Painter did not endear himself to me. Did I think he deserved that level of vitriol from his peers? No. But was he totally emo and a liar for a while? Yes. I can recognize that he worked to redeem himself and feel that he did and still not love his character.

I also have to admit that I didn't love the romance in this novel. Usually, I find Sanderson's romances to be delightful and well established, but here the pair read more as best friends to me. But that's a minor detail as it doesn't show up in force until the end

[somewhere-south-of-neutral]

This is a great analysis. I'm also going to add that Sanderson is really good at telling you things with has names, in a way that is especially important in epic fantasy and other otherworld genres. Specifically, he gives specific nationalities, ethnicities, and even planets specific naming conventions, which allows the reader to more easily index the character names in their head and even lets him give subtle characterization for particularly observant readers with just a name.

Vorin Lighteyed names tend to be multi-syllabic, have some symmetrical elements, and very rarely have consecutive consonants.

Vorin Darkeyed names tend to be one or two syllables, and tend to follow a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern.

Theylen names, by contrast, tend to have relatively few vowels and lots of adjacent consonants, with lots of Ts and Vs.

Horneater names are long poems with lots of vowels, but they tend to go by a short noun when among lowlanders.

Shin names basically never appear without the patronymic or matronymic.

Returned names tend towards being Nounverbers, and they usually have an added epithet.

Aonic people from Sel tend to have Aons in their names, including some that have a double "i" which isn't really seen elsewhere.

Non-Terris Northern Scadrians have names inspired by real world French and German names, including French's liberal use of silent letters.

Terris names, meanwhile, tend to be long, and have lots of Ys, Ws, and consonant-h sounds.

What all of this means is that I still remember that Tvlakv is Theylen, just because of his name, and when I see someone on Roshar named Axindweth I can guess that they are a Worldhopper and probably Terris and I'm gonna start looking for explicit mentions of metal jewelry and eye-shape.

Names as labels (and what I learned from Brandon Sanderson)

There are a lot of writing lessons I’ve learned from reading Brandon Sanderson.

This is true of Sanderson in a way that isn’t true of a lot of other authors, even those that I like (and strive to emulate), and I suspect this is part of what Sanderson is talking when he describes himself as “more craftsman than artist.” If you ask a craftsman, “How did you get that table to support up to 400 lbs when my table can only support 200 lbs,” there are probably very specific answers that they can give you that you can directly incorporate into your own table-building process.  It is significantly harder for a musician to answer a question like “how did you make this song that was so beautiful it made me cry?”

I wish I could write more like Daniel Abraham, but there’s not “one weird trick” that will help you write more like Daniel Abraham. However, if you want to write more like Sanderson, there’s many such specific “tricks” that you, like him, can use to make your writing more effective at communicating information to the reader: Brandon sometimes describes his writing as a sort of “telepathy,” in the sense that he is trying to take a story that exists in his head, and then make that story exist in your head, and a novel is the compression medium that he is using to convey those ideas. Anything that can assist the reader in assembling that story in their head is a plus.

For example, part of the learning curve of any story is learning to attach names on the page to the ideas of characters that we have in our head. A story isn’t just a bunch of ink printed on paper, and a name isn’t just a bunch of letters joined together.

Most of the time, this is trivially easy, especially if the author has done their job properly. Like many rules of writing, it’s something that’s best observed in the breach: if the central characters in your story are Tony, Steve, and Bruce, it’s easier to keep those names separate in our head than names were Jack, Jake, and Joel.

I am unlikely to put “Jason” and “Justin” together in the same story, because as a person named Justin, I know from experience that some people will hear the name “Justin” during an introduction and then later retrieve the name “Jason” from memory when they try to address me. If names are labels for distinct characters that we want to keep separate in our head, it makes sense for those labels to also be distinct enough that the reader won’t mistake one for the other.  Octavia shouldn’t be in a story with an Olivia.

If a character is just named “Octavia,” there are some people who, even in the absence of a similarly-named character, will mislabel her as “Olivia” in their head (much in the same way that people have heard me introduce myself as “Justin” and then stored the name “Jason.”)  I know this to be true, because I am currently publishing a web novel with a character named Octavia, and there have been multiple comments from people referring to her as “Olivia.” And this is fine, because when I read their comment talking about “Olivia,” I know they are actually talking about Octavia, because in my story, the label “Olivia” is unoccupied real estate (and Octavia is free to occupy it if she wishes).

This obviously isn’t true of the real world: if someone calls me Jason, I can’t decide, “Well, it’s okay for you to call me Jason, and in fact in order to remove any ambiguity that you might be addressing me when you say that name, I will go and erase every Jason from existence. Also, I’m erasing all the other people named Justin.” (That’s not only impossible, but even if it was possible, it would be unreasonable for you to expect that I do it, just to make things slightly more convenient for you.) But in the context of a story that I’m writing, I can totally do this. I can go to these “unreasonable” lengths to make things ever so slightly easier for the reader. In fact, it’s trivially easy to pick a distinct moniker for each cast member. Names are abundant, even if I have self-imposed restraints like “don’t let two characters’ names start with the same letter and vowel sound (e.g. Roger and Robert, Crystal and Christine), and “don’t have two names of similar/equal length that end in the same letter and/or phonetic sound” (e.g. Sarah and Clara, Mindy and Tracy, Travis and Jarvis, Jerry and Gary).  

Of course, there’s a corollary to this, which is that insofar as it makes sense to give characters distinctive monikers to keep them as distinct concepts, it also makes sense to give them similar monikers if you want them to be less distinct from each other. (For example, Jack and Jill are joined at the hip. Ditto for Re:Zero’s Rin and Ram.) Even so, I still think this tends to work best when the names are joined by something that’s non-phonetic: for example, Katniss and Primrose are names that evoke fauna and flora, respectively.  April and May are right next to each other on the calendar.

And what if you have two names for the same character?  It’s a point that seems obvious, but I didn’t realize it until Brandon Sanderson gave me a glaring example:

In Mistborn, when Vin goes undercover to infiltrate noble society, her alias is Valette. This is absurdly easy to keep straight, because these are the only two names in the book that start with V. (And there’s no confusion about which name she uses among her fellow street toughs and which name she uses when she’s pretending to be an aristocrat: Vin is terse, Valette is sophisticated.)

And, in a sense, your “past selves” are distinct from your present self in many ways, except for the ways that they’re not.  (Or as Orwell put it, “what have you in common with the child of five whose photograph your mother keeps on the mantelpiece? Nothing, except that you happen to be the same person.”)

Kaladin, the main viewpoint character in the first book of the Stormlight Archive, went by Kal when he was a kid.  This comes in real handy, because the story is partially told through flashback.  When you have a book that’s 400,000 words long, you’re going to have to put it down at some point and come back to it later, and it’s really helpful if, when you pick up the book after a week-long break, there’s some indicator that makes it completely and unambiguously clear that you’re in a flashback. And indeed, the book offers exactly that: in the childhood flashbacks, you will see the viewpoint character referred to in narration as “Kal” multiple times on every page.

[botanicaxu]

The first half of Oathbringer interludes characters (Puuli, Kaza, Ellista, Taravangian), also a part of Elsewhere on Roshar project (I’m back on more OB stuff!)

[whatishoid]

Rhythm of War - Brandon Sanderson

“That’s the problem with your worldview. You gave up before the battle started.” 

4th book in my favorite series The Stormlight Archive. I loved this book so much and I will do this review a little differently because I have some thoughts. First part is spoiler free and under that will be thoughts that I had while reading and after finishing the book. 

Characters: I was really happy with the characters who got more page time in this book. And especially Kaladin’s journey in this book was so good. Navani is amazing. She is one of my new favorite characters for sure. There were also many interesting characters that I just wanted to follow more. It didn’t bother me that we didn’t see that much of Dalinar in this book. I do like him as a character but in this book I was interested more in the situation that was going on elsewhere. Characters are my favorite part of The Stormlight Archive and I loved the way they were written in this book also. And my favorite character list just continues to grow. 

Pacing of the book: I think that people have mixed opinions about pacing in this book but for me it worked. And well if you enjoy this series you know what you get with the pacing. The beginning was my least favorite part. I don’t even know why. There were scenes that I really liked but at that point I wasn't yet that invested in. But at the end of part 2, I was so excited because after that the stakes were high and all the scenes and characters were so interesting to me. I also liked the ending and the epilogue scares me a little. That was something I didn’t think would be possible. 

World: I love this world and I enjoyed knowing more about it. I don’t have anything more to say about it. I just love this world so much. 

I feel like this might be my favorite book in the series but I’m not sure. I love all the books in this series so much so it’s hard to decide which one is my favorite.   5/5

Some thoughts while reading. There will be spoilers. 

These might be all over the place and I apologise for that.

It was so hard to listen to all the things that Moash was saying to Kaladin and trying to break him and later how he and Odium were trying to break him more. F*ck Moash. But I loved that Renarin was the one who took Kaladin away from there.

I really loved how Kaladin is trying to improve mental health care because that is not handled very well in Roshar. And I have to say that Brandon writes depression really well and I’m really thankful for that. Sometimes it’s hard to read what’s going on with Kaladin but it’s still really important to me. Noril said it so well,  what Kaladin means to so many people. “He’s got the emptiness, bad as I do. But he still gets up. He still fights. So I figure I can too.” And I hated Lirin in this book. He is not the worst but I just don’t like him and the things he said to Kaladin. 

I loved to see Navani and Kaladin working together in Urithiru.

And about Navani, when someone was contacting her I just instantly thought they were a spren and Navani would bond with them. So yay I was right about that. And I loved how it happened. We get to see that Gavilar was telling her that she is not worthy and Sibling telling her the same thing but she just refused that. The character growth in that moment. 

And someone as amazing as Navani thinking that she is not enough or that she is a fraud. So that moment where she bonded with Sibling and faced Moash was so good.

Wit and Jasnah are something I didn’t know that I needed. I love how they work together. And the scene with Highprince Ruthar, damn. 

I love that Adolin is bringing Maya back to life through their friendship. Adoling is such a sweet and caring person. He tries so hard to help everyone and deserves so much more. Also I was a little disappointed with his arc in this book. I just want to see him show what he is capable of and I didn’t feel like we get that yet in this book. But other than that I really liked him in this book. I just want to see more of him. The scene where Maya joined in the fight with him was so cool. And winning the trial because Maya could speak for herself with the help of their friendship. I loved that scene. 

Raboniel is a really interesting character. I like the fact that no one seems to know what she’s planning. Also the fact that she is somehow so calm in certain situations and seems even amused even though her plan is interrupted. And after reading the whole book I loved Raboniel. She is one of my favorite characters now. It's a shame that we won't get to see her in the future. Also I really liked Navani’s and Raboniel's friendship in this book. Yeah I'm calling it a friendship. 

After reading the chapter with Jasnah in the battle I realised that we have usually seen her through other character’s point of view and I want to know more about her, the way she feels and thinks. I just need more Jasnah and to get to know her better. Not only others' opinions of her.

I’m so excited to see that Renarin will have a big role in solving everything. At least I hope so. And also after the ending  I'm afraid for him because Taravangian knows. 

I want to know what Taravangian's plan is if it's something Dalinar would not do, I just want to know. It’s so funny because I was such a fool. I trusted in Taravangian and really thought he would help them against Odium. Well that did not go the way I thought. 

Venli helping Rlain makes me so excited and I'm waiting to see her learning her powers and everything with that. Also the scene where Leshwi finally knows about Venli having those powers and her reaction to that was so touching. 

I hate how Shallan is acting towards Pattern. Yeah he lied about something but still it’s Pattern. Could you just listen to what he is trying to say. I like Shallan but so often she just annoys me too much and this situation with Pattern is one of them. 

Just ask and don't run away. I’m so glad that I was right about Pattern. I just hate that Shallan so quickly thought the worst of him. And he was just trying to help Shallan. I feel so bad for him. 

Rlain deserves better. I hate how everyone treats him. And even though I somehow know that Navani is the one bonding with Sibling, I really hoped that it would be with Rlain when they were talking about it. But I’m glad that Rlain is finally bonding with spren. Also when Renarin was talking about someone suitable for that I just knew he was talking about Rlain. And I’m so excited to see them possibly getting closer in the next book. 

So if Shallan will do what Mraize is telling her to do I will be so disappointed because I want to see what Adolin can do to win that trial and not this. So glad this didn’t happen. And about Shallan in this book. I didn’t love it. I think the end with this new persona Formless was too fast. And at the same time I really liked how Veil helped Shallan to get better. So I don't know how I feel about that. It was okay but it just felt too fast. 

So the chapter with Dabbid made me cry and I hope that Dabbid will bond with the same kind of spren that Renarin has.  

Teft finally thinks that he was worth saving and after that Moash kills him. That hurts so much.  

I knew that Kaladin would say the words in this book to reach the 4th ideal and I really liked how that scene went.

Taravangian killed Odium and took his place????? I did not see that coming. Also he fooled Hoid and took some of his memories, I’m scared because who can do that. What is going to happen. Part of me is so excited for this because Taravangian is such an interesting character and part of me is scared. I have no idea what is going to happen and can’t wait to read the 5th book. 

I could talk about this book so much more but I think this is already too long. Sorry about that. But yeah I enjoyed this book so much and can’t wait to reread The Stormlight Archive. 

[moiraineswife]

To Care - A Stormlight Fic

*clears throat* SPOILERS. RHYTHM OF WAR SPOILERS. HERE. THERE. EVERYWHERE IN THIS POST. BANISH IT FROM YOUR SIGHT. 

Okay. 

Fic time:

Title: To Care

Summary:  Set towards the end of Rhythm of War.  Wit’s POV. This is a fic of three parts, really. The first part involves Wit's internal monologue on how fabulous Jasnah is. The second part involves Wit and Ivory's dialogue of how fabulous Jasnah is. The third part involves Wit impressing on Jasnah how fabulous she is. AKA: Jasnah falls asleep for five minutes, Wit gets incredibly soft, Ivory becomes slightly protective, and we all agree Jasnah is the best thing since sliced bread.

Teaser: It surprised him how truly and deeply fond he felt of her, looking down at her now. 

It had been quite a few centuries now since he’d allowed himself to enter into such a dalliance. Although this was dallying into a far stronger alliance between the two of them than that. 

That may be cause for concern, but looking at her now, it was hard to feel concern for anything. 

She was truly wondrous. All people were their own flavour of unique experience, but they were not always a good one. Jasnah Kholin had excelled in this area, as in so many others, and was nothing short of exquisite.

Link: ao3

Commission Link: Have me write other cosmere characters

Jasnah looked younger when she slept. Such was a cliche, and though he knew it was inevitable, as after so much of human history no idea could truly be original any more, he did try to avoid the more frequently used ones. 

This was just an idle thought, however, not required to do any real work in thrilling or entertaining. Just for him. In this small, quiet moment, in a war camp in Emul, it was precisely what he needed to hear. How convenient that his thoughts were always there to think the things he needed to. 

Gently, he brushed the hair away from her face, admiring the softened lines of it. She was truly a beautiful woman. The Shard that had crafted her ancestors way back when ought to feel proud of themselves. She was a true masterwork. 

It surprised him how truly and deeply fond he felt of her, looking down at her now. 

Head pillowed on an enormously thick book she had been studying, which felt appropriate. Her fingers flexed slightly, their tips brushing over the lines of text, as if she could still feel them, even in dreams. The spiky lines like heartbeat readouts elsewhere in the Cosmere. The life of its author still extended in these dry pages and thin lines. 

It had been quite a few centuries now since he’d allowed himself to enter into such a dalliance. Although this was dallying into a far stronger alliance between the two of them than that. That may be cause for concern, but looking at her now, it was hard to feel concern for anything. 

She was truly wondrous. All people were their own flavour of unique experience, but they were not always a good one. Jasnah Kholin had excelled in this area, as in so many others, and was nothing short of exquisite.

He had a deep love for humanity. It would not have been possible to continue doing as he did had he not. The weight of it all would have torn him down millenia ago had he not always had the good hearts of people like Jasnah Kholin to help buoy him up and support him. 

And she did have a good heart. Far too few people saw that in her. They saw only the carefully sculpted mask she had crafted for herself over time. They heard her words, and read her analysis and essays, but they did not see what drove them, what drove her. 

Jasnah Kholin was a good woman, and she deserved far better than him. 

It was selfish, this thing he had embarked upon with her. It was always selfish, whenever he took partners. There was always somewhere else he needed to be, something else that would have to be more important to him. 

Jasnah seemed to understand that, so far. She had asked, naturally, and he had deflected her. That had irritated her, but in a way that only made her eager for more. Secrets were to Jasnah Kholin as flesh and blood were to others. They made her, gave her substance, something to sink the teeth into. 

Lately, she had merely requesting that he inform her in advance if he was about to disappear on one of his little trips, so she might set aside time to write out her own insults for the meetings she had the next day. 

Truly delightful.

She was captivating, fiercely intelligent, with a wit near as sharp as his own, barely in need of him at all at court. Or in general, really. 

She had taken eagerly to the information he had provided on other planets, Realmatic Theory, and other staples of the Cosmere that most took some time to adjust to. 

Within a few days, she’d been theorising with him, helping him compose letters to the other Shards, and asking deep, insightful questions that had frankly amazed him. Which was difficult to do at his point. 

Spectacular. 

She’d talked of accompanying him, if he would permit it. Increasingly he was thinking that he would. He had rarely done so in the past. It complicated the already complicated process of worldhopping. But for her...For her he might just make the exception. 

Not now, of course, she’d said firmly, with Roshar in such peril. But afterwards. If this world was saved, and she managed to survive that process. Once Alethkar had a more democratic system of rule in place that meant she was no longer needed, she wanted to go with him. 

He had opened up a whole new galaxy of other worlds, cultures, magics, and peoples to her. Instead of being overwhelmed, she had just seen it as another area for her to study and explore and learn about. 

The thrill in her eyes when he talked of different worlds, the sheer joy he could see just behind the veil of composure shielding her violet eyes...A man could become addicted to that

His fingers rested gently on her head, watching her in her peace. She deserved these moments of respite. Would that the Cosmere be willing to grant her them more often. 

No nightmares for now it seemed. She tried to hide them from him when they happened, not yet trusting him to seek comfort and reassurance from. Ivory did that for her. 

He had not let on that her efforts to keep him in the dark had been anything other than successful. It would only serve to upset her further, and he had no wish to do that. She had enough pressure on her as it was. 

This woman had been burned, burned nearly away to nothing, by those she had loved and trusted in the past. It would take her time to fully trust him. If she ever could. He would be neither surprised, nor offended, if she was no longer capable of fully trusting him. Or, indeed, anyone. 

Save Ivory, of course. 

As if summoned by this thought, Ivory changed his form, growing to a visible size, standing on the back of Jasah’s chair, watching him with impenetrable eyes, arms folded. 

“I mean her no harm, my friend,” Wit said lightly. 

That was true. He did not mean her harm. He never meant anyone harm. But there were times when it was necessary. Terrible, but necessary.

The Cosmere could be a cruel, harsh place, and no-one knew that better than him. 

No-one knew better, either, that being prevented from physically hurting someone, had not limited his capacity for causing pain. Even to those he loved. Especially to them. 

Wounds to the body would, if given the proper time and motivation, heal themselves. Wounds to the heart, and the soul, though? Well, no force in the Cosmere he knew of had yet found a way to repair that damage.

Jasnah herself was proof of that. She hid her scars well, but he knew they lingered. 

“I know that this is,” Ivory said simply, in that odd clipped way of the inkspren, “But she has asked that I watch over her when she sleeps. And I do this for her. Always.” 

“You do it very well,” Wit said, with a small bow. 

He doubted any understood the depth of the bond Jasnah shared with Ivory. He didn’t think even she realised precisely what it meant to her. And wouldn’t unless it were taken away. He hoped, which he was not often in the business of doing these days, she never found out.  

“She fears not what is,” Ivory said brusquely, with an air that implied he felt he had to explain Jasnah, which was oddly endearing, "But what might.” 

Wit nodded, fingers carding gently through Jasnah’s soft black hair again, “She is wise,” he said, quietly, “And cautious.” 

“She is afraid,” Ivory returned bluntly. 

As far as whimsical conversation partners went, even Design was better than an inkspren. 

He considered that. A hasty assessment, perhaps. Her own personal design seemed to revolve around vexing him in every way imaginable. At least Ivory made an effort. And wasn’t a monster.  

“Does she fear me?” Wit asked, curious. 

Ivory studied him for a long moment, expression inscrutable. Even for a spren.

“No,” he said, finally, “Though only recently is this not,” he added, and Wit nodded. 

“She’s decided to trust me, then?” he asked quietly, thinking how much harder this answer might make it to pull the pin on the grenade Roshar may yet have to be to protect the rest of the Cosmere. 

“No,” Ivory said, “Not this. She has decided to allow you close enough so that she may determine if you are fully worthy of trust.”  

Wit nodded again, considering that, “She is a very wise woman,” he said, and Ivory nodded firmly in agreement. 

Neither added that her wisdom had come at a terrible price.

Wit cocked his head, struck by a thought, and said, “And you, Ivory? Do you trust me? You are bonded to her, your opinion on this matters almost as much to me as her own.” 

Again Ivory studied him with that inscrutable obsidian face of his. In an uncharacteristic move, he allowed his shape to grow to his full size, standing eye to eye with Wit. It was a strangely disconcerting, even threatening gesture. He so rarely even revealed himself to any but Jasnah. 

“Your intentions for her, they are,” Ivory said, staring directly into his eyes. 

Inkspren often emphasised the last word of a phrase, the certain intonation of which gave all kinds of meaning. Unfortunately humans were not good at recognising these things. Usually. 

“They are,” Wit agreed. 

“You seek your own bond with her,” Ivory said, crossing his arms, “A human bond. This is not like the Radiant bond. It is less. But still close. Close enough to burn, to hurt, to rip.”

Wit nodded, and the spren stared at him again. 

“She is, to me,” he said quietly, and his voice became strangely much more human, much more emotional than Wit had ever heard from one of his kind before. 

“Importance. She has much importance to me,” he went on, apparently realising he needed to clarify that last sentiment. 

He frowned in his odd way, all sharp lines and harsh gestures.

“It was not supposed to be so,” he said. 

His eyes drifted back down to Jasnah, expression softening. As much as it could, on an inkspren. 

“The warnings were, from my kind, and many others. Humans were dangerous. Not to be trusted. She would destroy me, it was known. I tried to keep a distance. To not care. To be as spren. No passion. No feeling. These are things of men. If she were to kill me, I would make it hurt less, by not caring.” 

“How did that work out for you, Ivory?” Wit asked, the corners of his lips quirking up in a half-smile. 

“It did not,” Ivory replied flatly, “She is special,” he said, voice quiet again as he rested his fingers gently on her head, a gesture that was almost affectionate. “Special to me. Special to Roshar. Special.” He looked up at Wit and said, with intensity, “She should be special to you, also.” 

“She is,” Wit said, with unreserved sincerity. 

Ivory nodded sharply, “This is right,” he said. “She is lonely, I know this,” he continued, words more careful now, “Perhaps I should not tell you. But this is something you know already.” 

The words were not a question. Inkspren did not do questions, on the whole. They made statements and if they were incorrect, they expected you to simply adjust your reality to make them correct, rather than point out their potential flaw. 

“She wants for someone who can understand her. A companion. A bond. A human bond,” he said. “I am important to her. This is. But I am spren. I cannot do for her as you can. This is well. This is good.” 

He met Wit’s eyes again, and there was an almost imperceptible shift in his posture, in his bearing. It became protective, almost offensive, with how he positioned himself between Jasnah and Wit. 

“I also cannot hurt her as you can,” he said softly, “And you can. She is like spren, but she is not. I understand now,” he looked up at Wit again, and there was warning in his voice this time as he repeated once more, “She is important. She is.” 

Well. Wit had been threatened, warned, chased, yelled at, punched, stabbed, and even shot at by those who sought to impress upon him what they thought of his potential to harm their loved ones which he had taken into his bed and, less frequently, his heart. 

This was the first time he’d been warned off by a splinter of the divine powers of creation. It was a rather persuasive argument, all things considered. Definitely top five, in his estimation, and in this case his estimation was the only estimation, so top five it was. 

“It happens,” Wit said quietly, stepping over to the easy chair he’d been lounging on and picking up the soft blanket strewn across it, “That I agree with you wholeheartedly, Ivory.” 

The spren had shrunk back to his diminutive form again, so when he turned, he was apparently addressing empty air. That was fine. He’d given many a performance to the empty air before, and it had always been a most satisfactory audience. Very low rates of heckling.

“She is very important,” he said, gently draping the blanket around her. 

He sighed, watching Jasnah as she shifted slightly in her sleep, face creasing for a moment, before she settled again. 

“And I was not supposed to care, either,” he murmured, more to himself than Ivory. “Emotions are not very good at doing as they’re supposed to, however, and they never have been. You’d have thought, after all this time, I’d be able to make them do as I please, but no. They have a will entirely their own. Particularly when it concerns Jasnah Kholin.” 

He shook his head, and, though he could no longer see it, imagined Ivory’s stiff nod of affirmation at that.

“I never intended it. Who could have imagined, even I? When I met her stumbling out of her perpendicularity somewhere so far from civilisation or thought the cartographers hadn’t even bothered to name it, I never thought that something like this was in our future." He glanced up at Ivory and smiled slightly, “Especially when she pointed you as a shardblade at my throat.”

Feeling. True feeling. It had been some time since he'd allowed himself to become emotionally tangled with another. And never on a system as on the brink as Roshar. But. Well. Jasnah was Jasnah. They should really make that an official Alethi idiom.

"Much like your good self I found that I did. And I do. What a damnable woman,” he added, fondly, tucking the edges of the blanket around her. 

Jasnah stirred as he did so, then flinched and sat up too suddenly, the blanket falling away. He took a step back, to avoid crowding her, and raised his hands, 

“Fear not!” he cried, in dramatic tones, “‘Tis only I! Your trusty companion Wit!” 

She sighed, rubbing her temples, which was a common response to him.

These people had no sense of theatre on this planet. He’d have to found the appropriate guild. If Roshar survived long enough, that was, it’d be his top priority. The brave new world would need theatre if it were to survive with any level of decency. 

“How long was I asleep?” she asked, looking around blearily for the clock Navani had sent her. 

Wonderful woman, truly, not least because she had produced Jasnah. And fabulous though her latest fabrials were, giving Jasnah a clock so she could more accurately stress about precisely how many minutes per day she wasted doing things like ‘eating’ and ‘breathing’ had perhaps not been the wisest thing she’d ever done. 

Wit had now purposefully lost or broken three of the damn things, but she just wouldn’t take the hint and kept sending them more. 

“Not long enough,” he returned, stepping deftly to the side and shoving the clock fabrial off the desk and onto the floor, covering the thump it made with a cough. 

Ivory frowned slightly at him, at a visible size again on Jasnah’s desk. Wit shrugged and widened his eyes innocently. Ivory said nothing. 

Always knew I liked that spren, he thought, with a smirk. 

Jasnah glowered at him. She did have an excellent glower. He’d have to try and encourage her to sit for a portrait of it at some point. Scholars in the future could learn so much by studying it. 

“Wit,” she said, as though he was stupid. 

Maybe he was. Provoking Jasnah Kholin was probably one of the top five ways to get yourself killed on Roshar. She ranked just behind chasmfiends. Her lack of mandibles really did a number on her statistics in that one. 

It truly took a very special kind of person to know his vast wealth and knowledge of the Cosmere and still be able to speak to him with that kind of tone. It was excellent. 

He grinned at her. 

She just sighed, very heavily this time, and the weight of exhaustion seemed to crumple her as she said, tiredly, “What time is it?” 

“Irrelevant,” he said simply, gathering up the blanket she had dropped, so rudely, to the floor in her haste to ensure he wasn’t a dangerous assassin come to murder her while she napped. 

“Time is very relevant, Wit,” she said, frowning.

“Relative?” he said, lightly, “Why yes, I believe it is. In theory, at least. Relevant? Far less than you might think.” 

“I think that it’s very relevant, Wit,” she said, not even pausing to appreciate his rather fantastic word play. 

This situation was more dire than he’d first feared. 

“I have meetings. If I don’t turn up on time I don’t think the other monarchs will accept ‘the time wasn’t relevant to me’ as an appropriate reason.” 

“Peace, Jasnah,” he said gently, “It’s still late, you were barely asleep an hour.”

She relaxed visibly, then straightened in her seat and reached at once for her pen and notes. 

Without looking at him again she said, “Good. Can you fetch me the scout reports of enemy troop movements? I need to consult them to properly formulate a strategy to present later today.” 

“Jasnah,” he murmured, gently, laying a hand on her shoulder, “You need to sleep.” 

“I believe I just did,” she replied flatly. 

“For less than an hour.” 

“Which was more than I should have allowed myself. I’m growing sloppy, indeed,” she said smoothly. 

Damnable woman. It should not be permissible by law anywhere in the Cosmere to argue so well with him moments after waking up. 

“Jasnah,” he said again, more firmly this time, stepping deliberately between her and the desk so she was forced to give him her full attention instead of continuing to make notes. 

She glowered at him in a way that told him quite clearly she was strongly considering soulcasting him to smoke just to get him out of her way. 

Well. Let her try. He could be just as damnable and frustrating as she could. More so, since he’d made a habit of it for quite a bit longer than she had. 

“Who am I, Jasnah?” he asked, lightly. 

“You’re Wit,” she replied, with a cold glare that told him she was not in the mood for his games. 

“Quite correct!” he replied, in a perky tone he knew would vex her delightfully, “I am your Wit. I exist to provide wit to the throne of Alethkar. And that means that when you are being decidedly witless, it is my sworn duty to step in and help you.” 

“I don’t need help, Wit,” she said, firmly. 

Somewhere, wherever she happened to be frolicking at the moment, Design hummed in pleasure at that blatant lie.

“You haven’t slept in four days,” he told her, sternly, “The bags under your eyes are becoming quite pronounced, and that’s really hurting my attraction to you, don’t you know.” 

“I have Stormlight, Wit,” she said, irritably, “I don’t need to sleep.” 

“As a point of fact, my dear,” he replied calmly, steadily resisting her attempts to move him out of her way, “That’s blatantly untrue. And I know that you know this, as I heard you tell Sigzil yourself the other day when he was taking too many shifts on guard. 

"Stormlight enhances your body. It allows you to push it beyond the normal limits and sustain that for a time. Eventually, however, no matter how much Stormlight you pour into yourself, you will snap from the pressure, and it will make a rather large mess that you won’t be able to fix by pouring more Investiture into it.” 

She sighed, looking older than her years, and yet younger all at once. Lost. Almost helpless. And so, so exhausted.

He crouched down in front of her, putting himself at eye-level, and reached out to gently cup her cheek in his hand. 

“You need to rest,” he told her quietly, stroking her cheek with his thumb, “You deserve to rest. You have done enough for now.” 

She seemed to melt a little into his touch even as she deflated, all of her arrogant posturing lost to the storms that he knew raged inside her. 

“I can’t, Wit,” she murmured, voice cracking slightly from fatigue and fear. 

He smiled sadly and arched up to kiss her forehead, “You can,” he said, gently, “You shall. I will take care of anything you ask of me tonight in your stead. Whatever you wish to do with this time, I shall do it for you, while you sleep.” 

He raised a finger, as a faint twinkle dared to flicker in her eyes, and he forestalled her protest. 

“And if you refuse to sleep, I shall in turn refuse to do anything productive whatsoever. I will simply stand in this corner and recite Scadrian hymns until you are driven past the point of patience and forced to murder me. Which will be a real pest to deal with and mean a lot of extra paperwork. So by not sleeping you will, in fact, accomplish less than you would otherwise.” 

She sighed heavily again and said, “You aren’t going to let this drop, are you?” 

“Not even for a moment,” he replied, brightly. 

She closed her eyes, then glanced down at her shoulder. A moment later, Ivory’s voice spoke, projected loudly enough for Wit to hear as well. 

“I am in agreement with your Wit,” he said simply. 

He always called him ‘your Wit’ which was oddly endearing. 

“Humans need to sleep. This is, Jasnah. You know that this is.” 

She groaned, rubbing her eyes, “I can’t argue with both of you, I-” 

“Wondrous!” Wit exclaimed, interrupting her. 

He sprang up then gently nudged her to rise and began undoing the buttons on her havah. She frowned at him, batting away his attentive fingers. 

“I’m tired, Wit,” she said, irritably, “Not incompetent. I don’t need you to undress me.” 

“Humour me, dearest one,” he said lightly, “Permit me this one duty so that I may retain illusions of my contributions to this partnership we have embarked upon together.” 

“Your contributions amount to far more than your ability to undo buttons, Wit,” she said flatly, “If that was the only thing you’d been able to offer me I would never have put up with you for so long.” 

That was strangely sweet. In a very Jasnah sort of way. Which was, of course, the best kind. 

He smiled, and continued what he was doing, saying quietly, “I’m trying to teach you a very important lifeskill that you seem, as a byproduct of your own chronic over competence at everything you’ve ever attempted, to have completely missed out on.” 

“Which is what?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. 

“How to relax for one storming minute, you impossible woman,” he said fondly, earning himself another truly magnificent glare. 

In return, he kissed the tip of her nose. That only caused her to roll her eyes at him, but she did so with a slight smile, so he considered this a victory on his end. 

She stood still, obviously grudgingly, with no expectation that this would work, but she allowed him to minister to her. 

He did so, gently easing her from her havah, taking the time to massage her cramped, knotted muscles as he did so, relieving the tension from them, peppering light, affectionate kisses over her as he did so. 

She had a great many areas of skill and knowledge, but it was clear she had no idea how to allow other people to take care of her. 

She was a swift learner in this, as in most things, however, and within five minutes, she was pliant, and comfortable beneath his touch, her eyes closed, her expression more at peace once again. 

He knew better than to suggest she bathe before sleeping. She had a strictly scheduled bath time in the mornings, and deviated from it only after battle or other, similar exertions. Or if he warned her of it in advance and gained her permission to be spontaneously romantic later that evening. 

So he merely fetched her night gown from the closet and eased her into it, followed at once by her robe, which she wore each night. He knew it had hidden gems sewn into the hems to provide Stormlight for her in an emergency. Prudent, but a sad insight into what life had forced her to do in order to survive it. 

He guided her to the bed and sat her down, then began to undo her braids, gently and expertly removing the pins and twists. As well he should be able to, given that he had put them up for her that morning. 

Her shoulders slumped again, but this time in relaxation, rather than exhaustion, and he counted that as a small win. They needed those in these trying times. 

“Thank you, Wit,” she murmured, sleepily, as he moved on to brushing out her long black hair. With fifty precise strokes, as it had been a long, tiring day for her. 

He pressed a soft, tender kiss to the back of her neck and said nothing. Now as not the time for grandstanding and loud affirmations of his own brilliance. Those would wait until the morning, when she was rested enough to appreciate them. 

Finally, he set aside his brush, peeled back the covers, and guided her to lie down. Then he settled in behind her, putting his arms around her and drawing her close. 

She looked at him over her shoulder, frowning slightly, “I thought you said you intended to do the work I wanted to get done tonight, so that I could rest while still being prepared?” 

“I did say that,” he agreed, “And I shall fulfil my promise to you. Once you’re firmly asleep. Until then, I still fear a relapse of your earlier stubborn behaviour, and must therefore snuggle you into submission.” 

She rolled her eyes, but settled back down and didn’t protest further. 

She liked cuddling with him. He’d determined that much. Though she wouldn’t allow them both to fall asleep this way. Once they started getting ready to drift off, on the rare occasion she did drift off, she would nudge him away. Apparently he moved in his sleep and this was irksome. 

Her little quirks were all rather endearing to him. They made her her, for without them she would not be Jasnah, and he would not be nearly as fond of her. 

“Make sure that you do fetch those scout reports,” she said, her voice already becoming thick with tiredness. “And draft a response for Queen Fen regarding the state of the war in Emul as it stands now. And-” she broke off, stifling a yawn, “And be sure to take some notes on the current strategy we’ve been using, I feel there is a way to improve it. And-” 

She continued to mumble until sleep finally claimed her and dragged her away from her constant work and worries. He held her for a time afterwards, enjoying her warmth, the peaceful sound of her rhythmic breathing, the softening of her features as she fully relaxed. 

Then he gently extracted himself from the embrace and set about doing what she had requested of him. 

As he did so, he noticed Ivory settle into place on the headboard above where Jasnah slept, keeping watch over her. She had not asked him to do that. She did not have to. She knew that he would, and that was evidently enough for her. 

He doubted she would have slept at all the past six years without the spren to watch over her.

Wit nodded to Ivory, and the spren nodded back, an understanding passing between them. Together, whatever else was happening, they would teach this woman how to let herself be cared for again. 

***

[peachdoxie]

Mkay so thinking about this post re: Dalinar and Evi and the Beyond

There’s definitely some weird Connection fuckery going on with Dalinar and death. After Rathalas, Dalinar hears voices constantly. Specifically, children crying for mercy and Evi weeping (ch 86). It’s what makes him seek out alcohol and eventually the Nightwatcher. 

I believe that this is significant, for two reasons. First, because I’m paranoid after reading Mistborn about characters hearing disembodied voices, because it usually means someone is communicating with them via Connection (Ruin, Preservation, and Kelsier being the main three in Era 1, and Harmony in Era 2). So any time I see the same device being used elsewhere in the cosmere, I’m immediately suspicious, and boy howdy do a lot of characters hear disembodied voices on Roshar as various spren try to communicate with them.

The second reason I think this is significant is because the exact same phenomenon happened - and is still happening - to Szeth. At some point, all the killing he did caused him to start hearing screaming voices. Nin says that it was because of Szeth’s “connection to the powers, and said that he was hearing trembles from the Spiritual Realm.” It stands to reason that this is the same thing that happened to Dalinar after the Rift. Nin also says that the voices Szeth hears are “memories of the dead he’d killed,” and that tracks as well with Dalinar’s experience. 

Now, what makes me really interested about these two phenomena (because I’m willing to bet that Branderson told us that about Szeth to make us draw parallels with Dalinar) is exactly how the mechanics of it work. Nin used little-c “connection” instead of big-c Connection, but I don’t know if he’s using the Realmatic Theory term or not. But it seems like there is some big-c Connection fuckery happening with Dalinar and Szeth and the Spiritual Realm.

But what, exactly, are they Connecting to, and how? It probably has something to do with the “broken soul” thing that allows for Nahel Bonds to form, because both Dalinar and Szeth were (finally) broken after all the people they killed. But there doesn’t seem to be any Intent behind forming a bond with the memories of dead people. Does there have to be Intent in forming a Nahel Bond or other kind of Connection-based bond? I’m unsure of that.

Also, if Nin is right (which all of this is assuming Nin is right in what he’s telling Szeth), the Szeth was connecting to the memories of dead people, not (necessarily) the people themselves. Do souls have the equivalent of a Cognitive Shadow in the Spiritual Realm? Or is there something else? Does it have anything to do with the Beyond, which is (presumably) where the souls of dead people go on Roshar?

Anyway, there’s something weird going on and I want answers.

[preservationandruin]

Arcanum Unbounded

If I had more time (ie, if the first of the Oathbringer chapters wasn’t coming out in less than a week) I’d do a full liveblogging of reading through Arcanum Unbounded, rereading the stories I have read and reading for the first time those I haven’t. As I don’t have that time, though, I’m going to stick to (in this post) the brief descriptions of each system and then (in another post) a full liveblog of Edgedancer.

So, without further ado, the various systems of the cosmere. 

Selish System

So the Selish System seems pretty average for a solar system--one sun, Mashe, with two planets in the habitable zone (Donne and Sel), an asteriod belt, two gas giants with multiple small moons (Ky and Ralen), a comet belt, and a nameless dwarf planet in the distance. 

Khriss’ notation on the system is fairly simple--she notes that the planet is half again bigger than the standard in the cosmere, and also that Dishardic planets are very rare--something that I hadn’t fully appreciated, as the planets we’ve had stories set on tend to be dishardic. 

We get more of a timeline for when the Shattering of Devotion and Dominion happened--in Selish human prehistory--and the confirmation that yes, the combined power of Devotion and Dominion, the Dor, is all trapped in the Cognitive Realm. That’s why things like the landscape have such a powerful effect on the magic. Also, this part: 

“I believe that the very landscape itself has become Invested to the point that it has a growing self-awareness.” So that’s neat, we might have a sentient planet coming up on our hands. Wonder what that would do to just...life on Sel? We also get notes that more might be happening, but the Ire, who would know best, refuse to share information. Jerks. The Seons and Skaze might also have something more to do with whatever larger is happening on Sel. 

There are a lot of interesting tidbits in this, if not particularly surprising--things such as the Dor being Devotion and Dominion’s Investiture was pretty clear, we knew they were Shattered, and we were pretty sure we knew the Dor was in the cognitive realm, although it’s nice to have the connection between that and the location-based magic spelled out more clearly. Also, I’m still excited about the fact that we might have a sentient planet.

Scadrian System

Okay, the thing that really gets me here is just how fucking far the difference between Scadrial’s two orbits is. Rashek. Rashek how did you fuck up that badly. How did you do that. The orbit was around half the size that it should have been!

Rest of the solar system is pretty normal--two gas giants (Aagal Nod and Aagal Uch--those almost sound like Southern Scadrian names, although I’m not confident in that), a comet belt, and two unnamed dwarf planets. We don’t get the name of the star, either, disappointing me. 

We get the note that Scadrial “Is one of only two places in the cosmere where humankind does not predate the arrival of Shards” and that Ruin and Preservation probably just flat-up created the entire planet, which is why it is fairly similar to the (”non-fain,” which is interesting) parts of Yolen. The only definition for “Fain” i’m finding is an archaic term meaning “pleased” or “willing,” which only further confuses this note. 

Khriss notes that if we want a record of the Shard’s personalities, we should go to a pre-Shattering biographer, which. Brandon. Brandon give me this biographer I need to know this information Brandon please. 

Taldain System

You know, while the other two have been pretty normal, Taldain’s system is, uh. Weird. The planet, with one moon that appears to have a fixed location (Nizh Da), is in between a binary star system; the smaller star has a particulate ring around it. It’s tidally locked, and the stars are a white dwarf and a supergiant. We also get an explanation of some of Taldain’s Investiture. 

Autonomy seems to have invested the sunlight, which was then absorbed by a microflora on the surface of the sand, which causes the color-change between Invested and Uninvested. Also, we get that Autonomy has prevented travel to or from Taldain and is isolationist, hinting that Khriss has been unable to return home for many years. We also get that this is a hypocritical judgement on Autonomy’s part, because she has interfered with other systems pretty often. 

The Threnodite System

I’m just going to say, I love the planetary names of the Threnodite system so much. Around the star, in the inner orbit, we have the planets Monody, Elegy (orbited by Coronach), and Threnody; in the outer orbit, the gas giant Purity. 

We get that Odium and Ambition fought in this system, with Odium mortally wounding Ambition (but splintering them elsewhere). Apparently, they can’t study how it affected Monody, Elegy, or Purity, because those planets can’t be travelled to; thus, the main case study for “planet fucked up by shardic warfare” is Threnody. It probably had some investiture before the war between shards, but that got fucked up. 

A lot of this is familiar from Shadows for Silence, but it’s interesting to see a more clinical and detatched perspective. The larger continent of Threnody is covered by a “creeping darkness” that apparently eats souls; not much is known, because it’s dangerous to visit even in the Cognitive. The other continent is where humans mostly live now. We also get what happens with Shadows--they’re Cognitive Shadows of people (which we could gather from Kelsier in Secret History) who have extra Investiture in some way, shape, or form. This extra Investiture then lingers after death and becomes self-aware. Khriss doesn’t speculate on whether or not this is actually a “soul,” but given that Kelsier, fully aware after death, managed to become one of sorts hints that it is. Or maybe Kelsier was something extremely different and weird; god knows that would be in-character. 

One more note on Threnody; it’s hard to visit because “there is no stable perpendicularity--only very unstable ones that cannot be predicted easily, and have a somewhat morbid origin.” That’s interesting, certainly. Perpendicularities seem to be what worldhoppers use to get into worlds; why one would be unstable or have a morbid origin is left up to speculation until we know more about it. 

Also, in Brandon’s postscript, we get that “Nazh” isn’t Nazh’s full name: “Someday, someone will pull out of us what Nazh’s real name is.” Interesting. Give us more about the tired overworked cartographer man, Brandon. 

Drominad System

I haven’t actually read Sixth of the Dusk yet. I know, I know, I need to. Now won’t be the moment, though, because I have so much Rosharan stuff to get through. Nevertheless, notes on the system. 

First of all, this place has so many planets. So many. It’s almost close to our own solar system. Around the sun we have four inner planets; apparently three of them have full cultures with fully developed human societies. (Interesting note: Khriss compares this to the Rosharan system, where ‘one of the planets is inhabited solely by Splinters.’ Braize?). Also, all four inner planets are water-dominated--and the first has a perpendicularity, despite there being no shards in the system (are perpendicularities shardpools? or things akin to shardpools? Time will tell, hopefully). Also, we get that the area around First of the Sun is dangerous to travel to, and that Khriss hasn’t explored it much. 

Rosharan System

Speaking of a lot of planets, these assholes. Thirteen planets, of course, because there have to be ten outer ones, one for each of the Heralds/Orders of Knight. There are interesting small glyphlike notes by each one, too--not the symbol of the order, but simpler line collections. 

Anyway, there are also the three inner planets of Ashyn, Roshar, and Braize--all of which are probably quite important. Ashyn, the “burning planet,” apparently had a cataclysm long ago and now life survives in pockets that include floating cities. Brandon, WHAT? GIVE ME THE FLOATING CITIES BRANDON. Anyway, Braize is the planet inhabited by splinters/spren--it’s “cold and inhospitable to men” and very hard to research. 

And then of course there’s Roshar. Khriss is fascinated--as I am--in the fact that symbiosis is a way of almost all forms of life on Roshar, in order to survive. We also get that Ryshadium’s intellect is the result of a spren bond. 

Interestingly, according to Khriss, the highstorms predate the arrival of Honor and Cultivation, as do many of the spren. However, the Shards did change a lot. Many of the spren apparently also came from the “friction” between Odium, Cultivation, and Honor, and wow does that sound like an innuendo of some sort. 

Also, fire acts weird because Roshar has a lot of oxygen, which is probably why they use stormlight instead. Less risk of burning your face off. 

Anyway, that’s the planetary systems. Full Edgedancer liveblogs will be coming soon--I gotta get it done before Oathbringer comes out, after all! 

[onlycosmere]

I know the kandra is female and is acting as an agent of Sazed. I believe she is part of Sazed’s investigation of the red energy that is attacking Scadrial. 

Brandon confirmed she is onscreen during Oathbringer.

The kandra might be impossible to discover except by process of elimination (like the Terriswoman in Warbreaker), but if I had to make a guess

I am most suspicious of Mrall. Mrall is Taravangian’s confidant, advisor, friend, and tester. That is a great position to be in for someone investigating potentially dangerous cosmerically significant happenings on Roshar. Mrall is bald and has no eyebrows, much like when TenSoon was impersonating Kelsier with old bones and no hair. (That said he does apparently have some hair elsewhere...maybe the kandra hadn’t specifically digested a Thaylen and couldn’t recreate the eyebrows, so decided baldness was a convenient excuse?)

Also, he claims to have the ability to shut off his emotions at will. Brandon said we should be intrigued by this comment. This could be the rare Blessing of Stability that grants emotional fortitude.  He also manages to redirect Taravangian when he asks Mrall to kill the singing children and, later, Taravangian’s maid. Kandra cannot directly kill humans. Of course, all of these characteristics and his formal servantile manner are far from conclusive, but ‘MeRall’ is my best guess until we see more. 

So, one of my little pet projects during my This Is Now A Cosmere Blog, Sorry Not Sorry pre-release rereads is seeing if I can figure out the Kandra that’s on Roshar. I’m partly through WoR right now, and I have the original Mistborn more or less memorized, same with Alloy of Law. (Gotta work on the Wax series, though, I haven’t read them as often)

But I’ve realized that in all of the interviews I’ve watched and seen and read and all the books and theories and all of my embarrassingly scattered notes, it’d be easier to figure out WHO the Kandra is if we know WHY she’s there. 

@onlycosmere do you know of any whispers in the fandom or if anyone’s figured out why the kandra is on Roshar? 

[timeywobblyshit]

Horses did not originate on Roshar, they came from elsewhere in the Cosmere. The Ryshadium are the only ones who have adapted due to bonding with the spren. Also, there are horses in Shin but we haven't been there.

I think the horses came from Ashyn, before it's destruction. But that's a tinfoil one.

Horses?

Question to other Stormlight readers:

So we know that in Roshar nearly all animals are somehow…. crablike. But they have horses, even named horses. So my question here, do they ride on crablike horses or actual horses? That would make horses the only animals with fur, would they really be from Roshar or imported from some other place of the cosmere?

[geekariffic]

To be fair, Roshar (particularly the alethi) is heavily based on East Asian and Polynesian culture, neither of which had forks until Europeans introduced them.

The history of the fork suggests that

"Forks for dining only started to appear in the noble courts of the Middle East and the Byzantine Empire in about the 7th century and became common among wealthy families of the regions by the 10th century. Elsewhere, including Europe, where the favored implements were the knife and the hand, the fork was conspicuously absent."

So forks are a relatively new concept, considering. Previously, two-tined forks may have been in use in Greek/Roman cultures as early as the 4th century, but these were used for cooking, not eating.

Using a fork was occasionally seen as a wasteful decadence - people had natural forks, i.e. their fingers, already.

There's more at this link if you're interested:

https://leitesculinaria.com/1157/writings-origins-fork.html

no forks on Roshar. here, we stab meat with knives or wrap it in flatbread

[wise-old-beard]

With regards to the "all of Roshar " part, Thaylenah is quite egalitarian: both women and men can become master traders and the monarch is elected from the master traders so even the men have to be able to write. The Reshi Isles are the same: a king can be both female as male though the need for education is quite a bit less in the Isles than elsewhere. So indeed in the kingdoms Honour used to rule, women are technically most important but in the east under Cultivation it's more egalitarian. I believe that Aziri viziers can be both genders as well. And even though Thaylenah belongs to the vorin countries, they do this more for trading uses then for religious reasons so their use of the safehand is limited.

Hey Stormlight Archivers

Someone please explain the whole safe hand thing to me. Why would women give up one of their two most useful appendages for modesty? How are you supposed to get any science or art done with a mitten?? Is there any religious association with the left hand?

Also, why is all of Roshar not a matriarchy if women control so much of society?

Seriously, both these questions really pull me out of the narrative.