alder24

3 hours ago, JohnnyKaizen said:

Spren should be able to hide from humans if they want. And Ulim probably knew Nale before and after his Heraldization. Clearly Ulim has been able to hide from Heralds before, or he wouldn't have a reason to believe he can hide now?

This has probably been covered somewhere, but I came across it recently and realize I don't know, so if anyone knows or there's a WoB out there I haven't read...what's up with that?

No WoB on that. I have no idea. Heralds, even by their nature of Cognitive Shadows, can't see into CR and notice spren there, so that's not how he saw Ulim. I guess this is probably connected in some way to the way he is able to know where Radiants appear and who they are. Or maybe his Highspren is telling him that Ulim is there - in OB Syl has to hide from Voidspren who was leading freed Parshmen, because she could see her.

OB ch 17:

Quote

“It’s not that,” she said, speaking in a furious whisper. “I think parshmen might be able to see me. Some, at least. And that other spren is still here too. A higher spren, like me.”
“Where?” Kaladin asked, twisting.
“She’s invisible to you,” Syl said, becoming a group of leaves and blowing around him. “I think I’ve fooled her into thinking I’m just a windspren.”
She zipped away, leaving a dozen unanswered questions on Kaladin’s lips. Storms … is that spren how they know where to go?
The column started again, and Kaladin walked for a good hour in silence before Syl next decided to come back to him. She landed on his shoulder, becoming the image of a young woman in her whimsical skirt. “She’s gone ahead for a little bit,” she said. “And the parshmen aren’t looking.”

8 minutes ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

I never thought about that quote before but now I am really curious.... Vivenna didn't know nightblood was there but he knew she was... she was close enough he could call to her specifically and I imagine he didn't call out into anyone else in that crowds mind either. 

Yes, she heard something weird happened in the docks and she found a crowd gathered there, then Nightblood called her, specifically her. Nightblood can talk to people he chooses to - in RoW it was said that Nightblood was talking to many men walking past Szeth, until Dalinar ordered Szeth to silence the sword. At one point Nightblood even talked to Dalinar. Nightblood has a Life Sense of his own (he has a big BioChromatic Aura around him too) and can sense people and even recognise them - he often kew Denth was close, but not in ch 51 where Denth captured Vasher as a Drab. 

4 hours ago, cosmeredoug_30 said:

I was always under the impression that the shattered plains were Stormseat. I thought that the part of the city we see as Narak was maybe just the centre/very tall point of Stormseat and the whole of the Shattered Plains were actually the rest of the city.

That was discussed in WoR, it was eventually confirmed that only the very center - Narak - was the place where Stormseat was, the rest was farmlands, some buildings or smaller cities. WoR ch 81:

Quote

She was certain by now that Stormseat hadn’t made up the entire Shattered Plains—the city hadn’t been nearly so huge. Structures like the warcamps had been outbuildings, or satellite cities

5 hours ago, cosmeredoug_30 said:

I thought that each plateau was just a build up of crem around the original buildings of Stormseat,

You've seen buildings of Stormseat, Adolin walked in one during the battle and cutting a hill made him end up only on the first floor. They aren't 100 ft tall like many plateaus are. WoR ch 83:

Quote

They were on the second floor of the building, but he estimated the buildup of crem outside would place that at about ground level. Indeed, from outside he heard a faint sound. Humming, resonating through the wall.

5 hours ago, cosmeredoug_30 said:

Is this still possible or was there a WoB that confirmed the plains were actually 'shattered' by some event?

Yes:

7 hours ago, Treamayne said:

Do you have the WoB for this half, because that's the one I said I could not find in my earlier post? Agreed that A-Bronze is "sensing" kinetic investiture rhythms, but I cannot confirm if Life Sense is any Innate Investiture, or Innate Investiture of or bonded to Sapience. 

Any life, any innate investiture in living organisms. It even detects trees or grass. Warbreaker ch 21:

Quote

Although it was dark, Vasher’s life sense was strong. He could just faintly feel the grass growing below and knew how far away it was.

Epilogue:

Quote

She said nothing of that; she just walked on, her life sense letting her feel the jungle around them.

Awakening doesn't make things alive, they are still dead chunks of flesh, metal or fiber - it just brings them a bit closer to life and sentience. Vivenna has never felt Nightblood via Life Sense so this also applies to Sapient Awakened entities. ch 54:

Quote

Vivenna? The voice was faint, but she could just barely make it out. And recognize it.
“Nightblood?” she whispered.
Vivenna. Come get me
[...]
Suddenly concerned, she shoved her way through the crowd, ignoring yells that she should stay back. She climbed up the stairs, passing door after door. In her haste, she almost missed the one with black smoke creeping out under it.

Yeah, Life Sense detects Innate Investiture, A-bronze does kinetic investiture and the 7th Heightening, named Invested Breath Recognition, detects invested objects - static investiture. It seems like Awakening invest via static investiture rather than innate or kinetic, as Awakened objects are both undetectable to Life Sense and A-bronze:

12 minutes ago, Aredor said:

Also, does anyone know if the Emberdark is mentioned in any previous books? 

I don't remember anything, but that's probably what MeLaan saw in TLM epilogue 6:

Quote

MeLaan sat in a boat kept afloat by some kind of glowing substance on the hull. The blackness beneath was like a liquid, more viscous than water. It was supposed to be perfectly transparent—if a person slipped into it and sank, you were said to be able to watch them fall, and fall, and fall.

9 minutes ago, anna said:

It's hard to say since humans are starting to pick up the rhythms on Roshar. So while it's probably a Singer, if this is far enough in the future it might be a human.

That's true. I guess Singer's voice would be more melodic than just having a timbre to it. 

12 minutes ago, Shadman306 said:

Reading through The Sunlit Man and noticed that right before Hoid checks in on Sigzil, that Sigzil is expecting Kaladin to be reaching out to him during a storm “like on Roshar”. 

Isn’t this something only Dalinar can do as far as we know through RoW? Could this also align with the “son of Tanavast” theories?

Is a Stormfather? No, Stormfather is himself and no other person can be him. Nomad saw a person standing in a storm, wearing a uniform, holding a sphere and that's why he thought it may be Kal. He wasn't expecting to see or meet anyone before that. TSM ch 9:

Quote

That was a person standing there, wasn’t it? Holding something that glowed in his fingers, a sphere. Wearing a uniform, facing away from Nomad, looking out through the darkness.
Storms. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t.
Ignoring Auxiliary’s second prompting for an explanation, Nomad walked forward. Haunted by what he might find. Worried that he was going mad. Yet desperate to know. Could it
“Kal?” he asked into the storm.
The figure turned, revealing a hawkish face and an eminently punchable grin.
“Aw, Damnation,” Nomad said with a sigh. “Wit? What the hell are you doing here?”

And please, could you edit the title of your topic and exchange Sigzil for Nomad? The title can be seen from the main page of the forum and some might see Sig's name and that may spoil the book for them. Just click the three dot menu on the top right corner of your post and choose the option "edit" - you can change the name there. 

OMG. That was a loooooot. Yolen? Dragon PoV? Frost??? YES PLEASE! Then SotD2 as a secondary story? Yes, please! I was wrong and I'm glad. I wonder if there is something more to albino dragons, that's a weirdly specific detail for others to be superstitious in the future of Cosmere. 

SotD2 is almost unchanged. Not many things were new here, mentioning a perpendicularity was a new thing.

But then Starling exiled with silver on her arm? On a spaceship in Shadesmar? With Nazh as a fully aware Shade? I guess he knew the proper rites. An Aetherbound with a dead Aether? A new humanoid species with feathers - just to remind us that Brandon isn't finished with creating new wacky aliens. Sleepless that are invasive and destructive - this explains why Masaka was tired of wars if they were the ones raging wars all over Cosmere. Hoid and Xisis? Is Crow the capitan? And Silverlight was mentioned, we might be able to finally see it! Almighty above, there was sooo much stuff in that reading, it's crazy! I want it now. I love to read from a dragon PoV!

6 hours ago, The flying spider said:

Just wanted to bring back a theory from when there was a reading a few years ago and still works now dusk describes the radiant as 7 feet tall and thinks that it's an alien  which implies it could be a singer the other option is that it is simply an alethi.

Rosharans are tall, their feet are longer than Earth's feet, thus they are 7ft tall by Earth/Cosmere standard. But I also did wonder if it was Singer, because Dusk mentioned there was a "timbre" in his voice - a detail that wasn't there on the original reading of SotD2. 

1 minute ago, Highprince10 said:

What you could do is have a special force like hazekillers in mistborn and only put men in aluminum so that they can take on a shardbearer. This would make it so not everyone in your army has aluminum but you are ready for a shardblades. 

True, but Shardbearers fight in battles, not on roofs at night. You must take into account that a battlefield can span kilometers across, with fighting ranging everywhere. A unit like that will take a considerable amount of time to reach a position struck by a Shardbearer and in that time he can kill hundreds of people, creating an opening for his regular troops to enter and break your formation. And when a Shardbearer would be confronted with an aluminum unit, he isn't alone, he has his personal guard all around him, protecting him from getting flanked and he can simply retreat behind them so they can take care of your aluminum fighters easier then he would be able to. Sure it's a better alternative, but they stand no chance against a Shardbearer, with or without a Shardplate, because of how Shardbearers are used - on a battlefield, surrounded by guards, resting behind frontlines almost as long as they fight.

6 hours ago, Raceroa2307 said:

This is my personal theory on how the Shattered Plains shattered and I would like some feedback on whether on not this could be plausible.

So it starts with how Taln died. Jezrien tells Kalak that Taln died holding the northern waterway in the final desolation. I believe that this mysterious northern passageway could be the Shattered Plains. (I came to this conclusion because the Shattered Plains Oathgate is still working when none of the other ones are) If Taln did die holding the shattered plains, would it be much of a stretch to say he shattered it. Taln was a member of the Order of Stonewards, and likely has sworn all five oaths at the time. Even if he hasn't sworn all five he still has his Honorblade. He likely would have used his powers as a Stoneward to change the denstiy of stone to that of sand that got blown away by a highstorm. This would also be in brand with Taln because that guy is super op.

This is my theory, please try and poke holes in it. I have gone on for a while wanting to know for a fact whether this is true or not.

The timeline doesn't fit. By the time Listener's Last Legion abandoned Odium, the Shattered Plains were well Shattered for a long time - their songs said it. And The Last Legion most likely did it before Aharietiam - they said they abandoned their gods, which are Fused and Voidspren. Those were absent on Roshar after Aharietiam, so this had to happen long before. And Taln wasn't a member of Stonewards, only Nale joined Radiants. 

I believe they were Shattered by using the anti-tone of Stormseat. Every Dawncity has a Rhythm associated with it, a pattern that Cymatics create, so they also have an anti-rhythm. Combining them together would have a destructive interference, resulting in a catastrophical Shattering grinding stone into sand, just like Stormlight and Anti-Stormlight annihilate releasing huge amounts of energy. The source of that anti-tone was at the center of Plains, where the Stormseat was located - many described the Shattered Plains as something heavy dropped at its center breaking it all around like a plate.

5 hours ago, Dofurion said:

What I want to propose here is something less powerful, a human connected to the shard but without access to the amounts of investiture that the other version has, something like an "avatar for the vessel".
If version A is a small Shard, version B is a Tanavast with amnesia in another body.

Sooooo, a Cognitive Shadow? That's kind of what it is. That's the Stormfather for you. 

The Vessel is just the mind of a Shard, there is no Avatar for the Vessel. An Avatar is "a Shard roleplaying" and that equally involves the Vessel as the mind who pulls all the strings. You can't really separate them for things like this. 

13 hours ago, RowdyGryphon said:

So I can see how almost all forms of magic in the cosmere could be fueled by other forms of Investiture, such as purified Dor. Do we know if this is possible with Feruchemy? Would you need something else such as a spike of some sort? 

Yes. Pure Dor will always work, something like Stormlight would need some more work (it's keyed):

13 hours ago, Knight of Eternal Books said:

"It is worth noting that the aluminum only nullifies the supernatural sharpness of the Blade, so a thin sheet of aluminum foil would be sheared through easily by a Blade." the Coppermind - Shardblades

Which never happened in books (you said we've seen it, that's why I asked when) and that's from the WoB I've posted, where Brandon and Peter talk how they aren't sure if aluminum would be cut by a Shardblade and Peter only thinks it should work like you quoted - this is not fully confirmed yet. I agree with Peter, that seems logical.

3 hours ago, Knight of Eternal Books said:

there is one thing we haven't taken into account - the shear size and massive weight of the shardblades (dead Blades not Radiant)

They are big, but they are surprisingly light. The biggest sword in history, Zweihander (2.1 m) weighs around 4 kg, while most longswords weigh around 1-2 kg. That's not much. Shardblades weigh less than a longsword, there is not much mass behind Shardblade strikes - and that's both for deadblades and living blades). WoR ch 44:

Quote

“Those are people used to a regular sword,” Zahel said. “If you’ve trained all of your life with a longsword, then pick up something that looks like it has two or three times as much steel to it, you expect it to weigh more. Not less.”

3 hours ago, Knight of Eternal Books said:

The blunt force would be enough to severly damage the Half-Shard.

The Half-Shard is made entirely out of metal, it's really hard to physically damage that. It's basically a breastplate held in your hands. Even wooden shields handle strikes very well, without breaking - that's the point of a shield. Medieval plate armors were 1-3 mm thick and that was enough to stop most weapons. 

3 hours ago, Knight of Eternal Books said:

if you combine that with a shardplate than

Sure, against a Shardplate only a Shardplate can stand a chance. 

3 hours ago, Knight of Eternal Books said:

But there is another matter. the wood on the inside. if very heavy object is swung at aluminum coated piece of wood, eventualy the wood on the inside (no matter if it is ingrained within the wood) will shatter and splinter leaving you with an almost hollow shield makeing it easy to dent and destroy.

No. You underestimate the strength of a well-made wooden shield. It's meant to protect you, it won't splinter even if you were to keep striking it hard again and again. Sure they were damaged, but wood doesn't give up easily (especially when it wasn't just wood that makes a shield, it was wood, metal and leather meant to save your life).

34 minutes ago, Dofurion said:

Explain that the Bondsmiths of the Stormfather and the Nightwacher were always a couple,

No, they weren't always a couple, they were sometimes a couple and Sibling's Bondsmiths usually stayed apart from them. RoW ch 114:

Quote

“The Stormfather doesn’t know what to make of this,” Dalinar said. “I think he finds it strange. Apparently, his Bondsmith and the Nightwatcher’s Bondsmith sometimes had relationships, but the Sibling’s Bondsmith was always apart.”
“The Sibling is … curious that way,” Navani said. “I’ll introduce you, once they are ready. It might take them time.”

Moreover not every time there was a full set of 3 Bondsmiths - famously during the False Desolation there was only one. In between Desolations there was less Radiant as a whole as spren didn't feel the need to bond.

48 minutes ago, Dofurion said:

Note: I understand that the concept of avatar in the cosmere is a little far from the characteristics that I am proposing, in this case it would be something more similar to how the Vorin of the Heralds think, "Aspects of the almighty", it would be a mortal avatar that they would use Honor and Cultivation to be the Bondsmiths of their respective Godsprens.

So you propose that they aren't actual Avatars, but rather like Heralds, who have more or less made up titles fit to religion, rather than being actual aspects of Honor? Because that's what an Avatar is - an aspect of a Shard - Heralds weren't Avatars. Bondsmiths aren't Avatars as well, they are just bonded to big spren. 

1 hour ago, Knight of Eternal Books said:

But could the Aluminum stop a shardblade? We've seen some instances (not many) of Shardblades cutting right through it as if it was paper. 

When did we see a Shardblade cutting aluminum?? I can't remember at all. Aluminum resists Shardblades - Leshwi’s weapon is made out of aluminum. A thin aluminum foil might be cut by the physical blade of Shardblade but not magical cutting. 

2 hours ago, Dragon13 said:

My belief is that the method pointed to in RoW was in chapter 115, when Shallan opened the metal cube containing the Seon Ala.  A cube of (I believe) aluminum would temporarily interrupt the investiture of the CS, allowing it to be brought off-world.  Once that has been accomplished, it could probably be released without severe consequence.

If an aluminum box was all that's needed to take invested stuff off world, Ghostbloods would be already trading Stormlight on Scadrial. That's not it. Per WoB in the first post, opening the box with a CS inside would snap their soul back to Roshar, leaving a lifeless corpse in the box. Seons and Dor are probably influenced by their special circumstances - their Shards are Splintered and moved to CR.

1 hour ago, Colors said:

The heat radiated by limbs moving that fast could also effect the surface tension I'd assume, although maybe it would be happening too fast for the heat to have much of an effect? The warmer water is the less surface tension it has as I understand it. 

Not a factor. Water is great at dissipating heat and you're in contact with it for just a fraction of a second while running - too fast to heat it up with your body temperature. 

1 hour ago, Colors said:

The stillness of the water would also have an effect on how easily you could walk on top it as well, correct? I assume the surface tension on a completely still body of water would be stronger, or at least more stable and less prone to being broken than water that is rough with waves or turbulent rapids. 

Looking at the example with razors, the angle between the water level and the force of surface tension matters. More stable water would be better. 

1 hour ago, Colors said:

Which begs another question.....if you were to walk on top of a body of water that is smooth, but moving (ex. a large, non-turbulent river) what would walking on that be like? Would it be like walking on a giant treadmill belt? 

Seems like it. 

28 minutes ago, robardin said:

I did not remember that "cavalry was first used as a fighting formation by the Shin during one of their invasions of Roshar". However, those invasions happened in the "Era of Solitude", after Aharietiam (when nine out of ten Heralds walked off the job) but before the Recreance. (That is, including before the Recreance, it's a superset Era, I guess?)

No, the Era of Solitude lasts till today, or at least till the True Desolation started. For me it makes more sense if they invaded after Recreance, before Radiants would have stopped them. They were pretty famous, mentioned by Dalinar/Gavilar in the same sentence next to Sunmaker, so it seems they achieved significant progress - and they used Honorblades and Surges too. That would have given them a huge advantage after Recreance, before they would have only risked losing their Honorblades to Radiants. Coppermind:

Quote

Era of Solitude

Shin Invasions

During the Era of Solitude, the Shin tried multiple times to conquer all of Roshar, but they did not succeed any time. They used Honorblades, Surges, and cavalry, a fighting technique unfamiliar to the rest of the continent. Shubreth-son-Mashalan was likely a leader during one of the invasions.[19]

37 minutes ago, robardin said:

"Classical" Radiants had Oathgates, too (I wonder when they were established?)

At least before the 6th Epoch, when Radiants already existed. During Nohadon's times Oathgates were already functioning, but it's likely Knights Radiant weren't established - he mentioned how one Surgebinder caused so much devastation before Desolation that something needed to be done to prevent this from happening. 

39 minutes ago, robardin said:

However, given Brandon's comments about the inspiration for Roshar, a full set of Shards matching what he considers a "proper knight" being kitted out with, and the so-called "Knights Radiant" of Roshar, ... shouldn't that last term imply that a "Knight Radiant" ought to have all of what a "knight" should have?

A knight was a nobleman, many even fought on foot, rather than on horse. Kaladin got land after he revealed he’s a Radiant so he has all what a knight needs to have. Horses were just an expensive advantage that mostly nobles could have afforded, but the role of cavalry diminished greatly after the advancement of gunpowder. Well, Surges are worse than gunpowder, Hoid said that the end of formation fighting is coming to Roshar because of Surges - soon cavalry won't matter that much on Roshar.

44 minutes ago, robardin said:

It's not like the term "Knight Radiant" is a "backronym" of sorts from the later Vorin era, i.e., having full set of Shards including the Mount = "knight", in the past Shards were wielded by Radiants, thus they were "Knights Radiant".

There are no real knights on Roshar, nobody is running around screaming they are knights. Lighteyes are fighting with swords and on foot, just like some are fighting with bows, others lucky ones on horsebacks, but that doesn't make them knights. Even Shardbearers aren't called knights. Knights simply don't exist on Roshar and Knights Radiants are something different. They are knights because of their morality and values they represent, not their mount.

48 minutes ago, robardin said:

As for a Rhyshadium choosing its bondmate/rider, it occurs to me that maybe having a Nahel bond to a sentient spren might actually block forming a similar bond with a Rhyshadium, like trying to fit two plugs into the same outlet. Though the reverse case hasn't prevented Dalinar from bonding the Stormfather, so maybe that's not how it (doesn't) work.

I don't think so, those are two different kinds of bonds.

46 minutes ago, Highprince10 said:

I agree only some radients orders will have mounts if any do at all. I feel like since living plate can be dismissed at will you can ride a normal horse and ryshadium are amazing for dead plate but I feel like the most likely order to get them would be stoneward but we have not heard of radient mounts from any history. 

I find Stonewards to be one of least likely candidates to use horses. Firstly they were considered frontline soldiers like Windrunners, secondly their powers are about touching stones, which can't be done from horseback.

8 minutes ago, Rorzikel said:

Spren are cognitive entities and his process appears to shift the entirety into the physical (currently lethally). Heralds are stapled to a body like many CSs, though the Heralds make or reform their own bodies somehow to attach to instead of possession.

The assumption behind my theory is that moving their entire fossilized cognitive aspect might change things. It allowed a true death for the radiant spren Dalinar found, entities that normally don’t even go to the beyond or not leave something like a deadeye. I just think it has potential as the hint for the method.

Ishar is likely messing with their Connection to CR and PR, but that should not change their Connection to Roshar - that's something different. Spren have bodies in CR, those killed by Ishar had the same bodies in PR, so those bodies were moved between realms. Their Connection to Roshar is because they are saturated with investiture of Honor and Cultivation and that binds them to the system. No matter if they are in PR or CR, they are still bound by this. You need to manipulate this specific Connection to Roshar, which Ishar likely wasn't touching at all as that wouldn't help him manifest bodies of spren.

17 minutes ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

Interesting question, if you spiked a Skimmer with something (let's say a Gold Spike cause it'd be heavy), and they stored their weight, would the spike also decrease in weight? Because it counts as part of their body when it comes to Steelpushing right? So would it count to Iron Feruchemy?

I was going to write that spikes aren't part of their body, so they should not decrease in weight but then I looked at this WoB which I had in mind:

So spikes can't be pushed because of their proximity to the soul, but that also makes them a part of PR. So maybe? It makes sense their mass would be affected by F-Iron if they really are considered as a part of the Hemalurgist body. 

Edit:

1 minute ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

Extra bit, what about implanted Metalminds, would those also count? It might be a way for a Skimmer to avoid being weighed down by their own Ironminds.

Per this WoB they also have this proximity to the soul so they should count as well.

9 minutes ago, robardin said:

 

I think I read a WoB or interview with Brandon somewhere, where he described his fleshing out the world of Roshar and the Knights Radiant as a kind of backlash to the trend in epic fantasy in the early-mid 2000s to being "gritty and low-magic" (adding that he tried his hand at it and soon gave it up, stating, "you do not want to read Brandon Sanderson's gritty, low-magic fantasy", or something like that).

So he went completely the other way. "Low magic? How about two, maybe THREE magic systems, with TEN surges, and resonances! And magic knights, in glowing magic armor! Summoning giant glowing magic swords, and riding magic horses! And some of them can FLY!"

Because of course, a "Knight" needs all three of those things, right? And they're even referred to as "the Third Shard" by Adolin when he's missing his Surefoot (killed by a stormform singer at The Battle of Narak) in Oathbringer, completing the set of "Blade, Plate, and Mount".

And yet, we've only seen two Rhyshadium (Rhyshadiums? Rhyshadia?) "on-screen" in Stormlight, Dalinar's Gallant and Adolin's deceased Surefoot.

The Coppermind Wiki logs two highprinces who are mentioned in passing as having unnamed Rhyshadium in WoR and OB, neither of who are "on-screen" with them either.

More curiously to me, we haven't seen any of the by now numerous Knights Radiant of Dalinar's generation bond one. Not even Jasnah or Kaladin!

Is that because the region of Roshar (the western plains?) that their herds are found are currently under Odium's control?

I'm sure Kaladin has been really busy, too busy to go find a horse, plus he was never all that comfortable with the idea of riding one in WoR. And as for Jasnah, if Dalinar and Adolin found the time to go out and bond one, why not her? (I guess because it's a form of the Vorin art of War, and thus restricted to men?)

(For that matter, did Gavilar not have a Rhyshadium?)

It's because you don't find and get Ryshadium, you are chosen by them. Most won't be that lucky. WoR ch 81:

Quote

They pick their rider, son. We fixate on Shards, but any man -- courageous or coward -- can bond a Blade. Not so here, on this ground. Only the worthy win here . . .

Historically speaking horses weren't really used for fighting on Roshar. They are especially expensive, require special care and aren't well adapted to the Rosharan environment. The first nation to use cavalry as a fighting formation was Shinovar during their numerous invasions of Roshar, which most likely happened after Recreance, thus after the Radiant era. Therefore most Radiant would not use horses like the classical medieval knights. Even now cavalry is still very rare because of how rare and expensive horses are. In WoR ch 67 Dalinar remarks that loosing on a plateau run could easily cost more than what won gemstone would be worth.

I'm uncertain how useful Ryshadium would be for most Orders. Two of them can fly, so horses for them would be pointless and other Radiants would be Lashed by them to arrive quickly to their destination - as seen in the Starfalls vision. On a battlefield their horses would be extremely vulnerable and could expose their rider to enemy strikes when killed.. Moreover Surges are a devastating weapon to wield - Jasnah soulcasted air all around her into oil and set it on fire, which would kill her horse. Unless they somehow get a Shardplate for their horses (which should exist after Recreance if that was practiced, the lack of such horse Shardplates implies it wasn't), Radiants should not bring horses to a Surge-fight. Adolin learned this lesson the hard way. 

So while Ryshadium are called a Third Shard, I wouldn't necessarily assume that they were called that during the Radiant era. For me it seems like a modern development, rather than something carried from ancient times. I think spren fill the role of "a knight's horse" - it's not just about riding on a horse, it's about companionship, that's what spren are to their knights. 

And Kaladin hates horses. He would rather ride on a Chull than on a horse. Imagine, a graceful knight in a glowing full plate riding on an oversized crab.

3 hours ago, operationstack said:

I think he is suggesting Shallan is a sevant. He has said certain magic users are so good at it and have such a strong connection that they manifest extra powers other surge binders might not have access to. I also think that maybe what Kaladin can do with his armor (using it to protect others around him) is unique to him. 

Savanthood is a bit different. You become a Savant because you were using your powers for so long that it warped your soul to match the power, which often have some very drastic consequences to your body - Kaza from OB interlude 4 or Ithi from OB ch 81 are Soulcaster Savants. Soulcaster Savants' bodies change to match the substance they're Soulcasting things into - Kaza is turning into smoke while Ithi is turning into grain. But to have those effects you have you use your powers for a long time.

Both Kaladin and Shallan barely started using their powers, they aren't Savants yet. It takes years to become a Savant. But Radiant suffer less from Savanthood - they don't turn into smoke for example. Moreover Brandon is a bit careful with making people Savants left and right - the idea of Savanthood is that the power warps your soul and it has some harmful consequences, it's not just a power boost, it's something important to their story. I highly doubt he would have made both Shallan and Kaladin into Savants (which also isn't very obvious).

I think Windrunners in general can lend their Shardplate to protect others, which just fit with their order. But I find it likely that all orders can do that, it depends on the level of control they have over their plates.

You were talking about extra powers - that's not Savanthood, that's resonance. This can be the reason why Kaladin is able to lend his plate to others. But we know the resonance of Windrunners, it's having more squires then other Orders.

Mistborn Era 2 spoiler WoB:

3 hours ago, Rorzikel said:

I just assumed it was Ishar’s experiments with making spren physical.

That should not change their Connection to Roshar. Heralds are physical and they still can't travel off-world.

15 minutes ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

Is something going on with aluminum that allows it to see potential investiture as well as kinetic investiture... just not all of it... 

We don't know and Brandon doesn't know it himself what aluminum really does to metals in your body - does it burn them away or just break their Connection to SR. Metal has no power of itself, it glows in CR or to Shardic eyes because it's a conduct to SR which power seeks. That's probably why aluminum (and chromium too) can interfere with that, metal is just too close to SR.

1 hour ago, Shadow of Electrum said:

Why does using transformation require the user to partially enter shadesmar, where other surges seem to have a more direct effect on the physical realm?

Transformation affects the soul itself, which is in the Spiritual Realm. Dalinar can use Bondsmithing to affect the Spiritual Realm as well. Surges are fundamental forces of Cosmere, which is made out of three interconnected realms. Because of that some Surges will be focused more on one Realm than other, because that's its nature. 

1 hour ago, Shadow of Electrum said:

Additionally, why was Jasnah able to transform those two robbers simultaneously from a distance if requires arguing with their mental component?

A mental component of a person is actually just them, what they think. There was no talking there (because that would mean they would be hearing a voice in their head), Jasnah forced change upon them, overcoming the resistance of their souls by using more Stormlight. But Soulcasting at a distance is something that Elsecallers can do, even Lightweavers can learn how to do that, but it's harder for them.

1 hour ago, Shadow of Electrum said:

I'm also confused why the smoke stone Jasnah pulled Stormlight from cracked after it was used

If you draw Stormlight from a gemstone very fast it cracks. That often happens in Soulcasting. That's why it cracked. 

1 hour ago, Shadow of Electrum said:

why traveling to shadesmar is considered an elsecaller attribute if lightweavers are also capable of it.

Transportation is not just about traveling to Shadesmar, it's about traveling as a whole. The Oathgates, that are fabrials using the Surge of Transportation, can move you between two different points in the Physical Realm - like from Urithiru to the Shattered Plains - all without entering Shadesmar. Elsecallers can bring other people into CR, what they are doing is creating a mini-perpendicularity and slip themselves into Shadesmar. Lightweavers can move just themselves, no other people and can't go back. Elsecallers might potentially be able to move between the Physical Realm just like the Oathgates can - the way people from Ashyn came to Roshar was by using a huge non-Rosharan, pre-Radiant Elsecalling to move them all from one planet to the other. It's not that far-fetched to say that Jasnah can do something similar (but not on that scale).