WoK Prologue

[Kered he/him]

So I know that the WoK prologue, the Heralds ditching the Oathpact, happens 4,500 years prior to chapter 1. But my question is, has it ever been explained, either in-book or by a WoB, what was going on in the other cosmere worlds? Like, was era 1 of Misborn happening at the same time as the Heralds on Roshar? 

[Pagerunner he/him]

The prologue predates anything else we've seen written in the cosmere. Original Mistborn occurred 300 years before Stormlight (meaning Alendi's journey was only 1300 years before Stormlight, still 3200 years after the WoK prologue), and Elantris was less than a thousand years before Mistborn. White Sand was even before Elantris, but I'm not sure how much farther, but I doubt it was while the Heralds were still active.

Some facts and assumptions that I think we can glean about the state of the overall cosmere at that time:

• Nearly all Shardworlds worlds had humans before the arrival of the Shards (with the exception of Scadrial, and one other world), so there were civilizations on all the planets.
• Shards were Investing in planets by the time Odium was trying to kill them (Aona/Skai in Sel, probably Ambition was Invested in a Threnodite world), so there were probably some early worldhoppers (since, for now, Perpendicularities are required for Worldhopping, so no one could have worldhopped until Shards began to visit planets).
• It's possible that Silverlight had been founded by this point, since Khriss was aware of where Ambition and Odium battled. I lean towards no on that front, but I'll admit it's a possibility.
• Depending on how long the Desolations lasted before the Heralds abandoned the Oathpact, it's possible that the people of Threnody and Sel were still dealing with ramifications from the destruction of their Shards. (This isn't the Chasm on Sel or the Evil on Threnody; those are both much more recent occurrences, so they're not direct effects of Odium's attacks. It's debatable whether they're long-term results.)
• The Terris people on Scadrial had prophecies about the Hero of Ages; I suspect they might go all the way back to before Preservation's betrayal, but we don't know exactly how many people held the power of the Well.
• Frost, a dragon from Yolen and apparently a very powerful individual, has taken an oath of non-interference. He has invited at least one other powerful person (Hoid) to join that oath, so it's possible that most of the truly cosmere-aware from this time, those from Yolen, are intentionally avoiding connections between planets. 

But, overall, since what we've seen of those worlds doesn't show much public connectivity in the present timeline, I don't think there was anything too crazy happening across the entire cosmere as a result of the Desolations. The worlds were most likely all doing their own thing, growing as civilizations, learning magic, fighting wars, and worrying about their own business..

[Tsidqiyah he/him]

If i recall the Mistborn Era 2 books take place within a few years of the WoK. this would put Era 1 about 300-400 years before Warbreaker slightly after that and Elantris somewhere before. The Coppermind has a decent chronology based on what we currently know. i see if i can find it then i'll edit.

[Kered he/him]

1 hour ago, Pagerunner said:

The prologue predates anything else we've seen written in the cosmere. Original Mistborn occurred 300 years before Stormlight (meaning Alendi's journey was only 1300 years before Stormlight, still 3200 years after the WoK prologue), and Elantris was less than a thousand years before Mistborn. White Sand was even before Elantris, but I'm not sure how much farther, but I doubt it was while the Heralds were still active.

Some facts and assumptions that I think we can glean about the state of the overall cosmere at that time:

• Nearly all Shardworlds worlds had humans before the arrival of the Shards (with the exception of Scadrial, and one other world), so there were civilizations on all the planets.
• Shards were Investing in planets by the time Odium was trying to kill them (Aona/Skai in Sel, probably Ambition was Invested in a Threnodite world), so there were probably some early worldhoppers (since, for now, Perpendicularities are required for Worldhopping, so no one could have worldhopped until Shards began to visit planets).
• It's possible that Silverlight had been founded by this point, since Khriss was aware of where Ambition and Odium battled. I lean towards no on that front, but I'll admit it's a possibility.
• Depending on how long the Desolations lasted before the Heralds abandoned the Oathpact, it's possible that the people of Threnody and Sel were still dealing with ramifications from the destruction of their Shards. (This isn't the Chasm on Sel or the Evil on Threnody; those are both much more recent occurrences, so they're not direct effects of Odium's attacks. It's debatable whether they're long-term results.)
• The Terris people on Scadrial had prophecies about the Hero of Ages; I suspect they might go all the way back to before Preservation's betrayal, but we don't know exactly how many people held the power of the Well.
• Frost, a dragon from Yolen and apparently a very powerful individual, has taken an oath of non-interference. He has invited at least one other powerful person (Hoid) to join that oath, so it's possible that most of the truly cosmere-aware from this time, those from Yolen, are intentionally avoiding connections between planets. 

But, overall, since what we've seen of those worlds doesn't show much public connectivity in the present timeline, I don't think there was anything too crazy happening across the entire cosmere as a result of the Desolations. The worlds were most likely all doing their own thing, growing as civilizations, learning magic, fighting wars, and worrying about their own business..

Thanks for the solid read and information, appreciate the time it took to type that!

[Eki]

2 hours ago, Pagerunner said:

(meaning Alendi's journey was only 1300 years before Stormlight, still 3200 years after the WoK prologue)

Closer to 3600-3700 years after the WoK prologue, since Rosharan years are slightly longer than Scadrian years (which seem to be around Cosmere standard years). Since it's so long ago, that doesn't really matter though.