Shardlet

I would like to announce that I just completed the repairs necessary to rescue my 60 gig, fully backwards compatible, PS3 from the Yellow Light of DEATH!

I don't know. I kinda agree with Binnut. The Dahn and Nahn ranks do not only regard authority but also social ranks. Not only that, Kaladin's rank, regardless of how many soldiers he commanded, could never be "equivalent" to any Dahn ranking because he is darkeyed. For example, 1st and 2nd nahn can, with permission, marry low ranking (bottom dahn or two?) lighteyes. In such cases the bottom dahn lighteye still outranks the top nahn darkeye. Kaladin's new position gives him authority over a large number of darkeyed soldiers. I don't think we can draw anything from that other than the number of troops he cammands is consistent with the number of troops a lighteye of the 4th dahn or greater would command. IIRC, the distinction ends there. Truly, he will have a peculiar notability and social standing. But he is darkeyed and therefore would not be held by the lighteyes (except perhaps Dalinar and those of a like mind) to be the equivalent of any lighteye.

If I recall, Sazed is described as being tall even for a Terrisman. It is discussed that this is the result of his castration from birth.

Ok, I have most of a cast. But first some clarifications on my thinking. First I chose a British/Irish/Scottish cast. I wanted some general cohesiveness to accents and if you want to take your audience to another world, those accents are excellent for that. Second, the race of the cast is somewhat homogenous. Here is why, There is no distinct appearance difference between Skaa and the nobility except factors that could largely be attributed to diet, etc. As for the Terrismen, remember TLR is Terris and there is no appearance distinction given for Terrismen in the books except that they are tall (Sazed is bald because he shaves his head, i.e., cultural not ethnic). As a final note I do not have a casting for Vin or Elend. I just haven't found anyone that fits the bill yet (Maisie Williams just looks wrong to me). So that being said here it is: Kelsier: David Tennant Vin: ???? Sazed: Anthony Head Dockson: David Wenham Breeze: Rupert Everett Ham: Clive Owen Clubs: Brendan Gleeson Spook: Thomas Brodie-Sangster (for lack of a better yet choice) Yaden: Paul Bettany Marsh: Benedict Cumberbatch Renoux: Terence Stamp (Bill Nighy as an alternative) TLR: Henry Cavill (Richard Armitage as an alternative) Elend: ???? Kar: Hugo Weaving

I think, at least for my purposes, that it would be more convenient and effective to have it in the format I am planning. But thank you for the suggestion Meg.

The data is nice, but I wanted to have something a little more convenient for my own use at least. But these pages make me think I can streamline my plans somewhat. I had thought about compilation of the epigraphs, but that is clearly redundant. I will also drop the in-order chapter listing as well as the archface info. These also seem to be somewhat redundant. Thanks WW. I think I will continue with the chapters and subject listing grouped by main POV character as well as the listing of flashback and Storm-vision chapters. Any more suggestions?

Hi everyone. I have found that as I hit on something that I want to search out in WoK, it takes me forever to find out where in the book is the best place to look for things and I end up doing a crazy amount of page thumbing. I also noticed that the Table of Contents in the book is rather unsatisfactory for this purpose (overly general). I am prematurely wearing out my book. So I decided that I was going to prepare a more comprehensive and informative index document. Here is what I have planned and made sufficient notes on so far: It will have all the chapters accompanied by their starting page, chapter name, arch faces, and a brief statement or statements identifying key subject matter of the chapter. I am currently planning on grouping the chapters according to the prime POV character (i.e., Kaladin chapters, Shallan Chapters, etc.) as well as separate groupings for Kaladin's flashback chapters and Dalinar's Storm Vision chapters. I am also considering doing an additional overall grouping of all the chapters in order. So far, my raw notes have made searching out at least one topic vastly more efficient. So, on to the purpose of this post. Since I have spent a substantial amount of time on this so far, and plan to invest a substantial amount of additional time preparing the document, I plan to post it on the site for everyone to use if they would like and I would like to make it as useful as reasonably possible. What I would like to know is if there is any additional features you would like to see in such a document and also what format would you like to have the document (Excel, Word, PDF, Google Doc). I may not be able to accomodate everyone's suggestions (otherwise this could get pretty unwieldy real quick). But, I bet there are some simple good ideas out there that you guys may hit on that I am overlooking.

I haven't figured out yet how to do the tricky link where I have a word or a phrase you click on, but here is the link to a Google Doc transcript from Phoenixcon: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_sTZkZ0Irdf3haauT5PnX94yYQSyQGlCqUAcOBafTMs/edit?usp=sharing

I recognize that the darkeyes (the peasant class) only have spears. There is express discussion of this in the book. Whether or not it would be prudent to arm at least some darkeyes with swords is not at issue since, at the very least, the social conventions in Alethkar absolutely prohibit it. Also, I did not suggest mixed units of darkeyes (spears) and lighteyes (swords). I am simply suggesting that there would likely be units composed of lighteyed soldiers who are armed with swords. As to the expense of swords vs. spears, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of trees in Eastern Roshar. Yes, there is mention of some, even in modest proximity of the warcamps. But wood does not seem to be a plentiful resource to begin with and then add to that is must be a suitable kind of wood for the purpose of making a spear (toughness, stiffness, hardness, weight, shape). Judging by the conservation efforts on at least Sadeas's part (bridgmen scavenging) it seems that everything is precious and most things need to be soulcast. I suspect that much of there equipment (even including spears) is soulcast If your opponent has principally spears, then it makes it all the more valuable for your army to have swords as well for a firepower advantage. True if the other guy only has spears then you can get by with spears. But, you can't soulcast a trained soldier. It seems, from a strict resource stance, you'd want to provide an optimum blend of weapons in order to economize your equipment expense while minimizing loss of soldiers. Obviously, this goes both ways, you would not want to have an army primarily composed of swordsman either. It seems that the more homogenous your weaponry is, the easier it would be for your enemy to counter. Particularly in a prolonged back-and-forth campaign. Clearly, given the fact that there is a vastly larger population of darkeyes than lighteyes and the fact that lighteyes consider the life of a lighteye to be more valuable than the life of a darkeye, there would be vastly more darkeyed spearmen than all lighteyed soldiers (including officers). But, the value of having units of lighteyed swordsmen would be great. And if such units exist, they would need to have low level lighteyes officers since no lighteyed soldier, but the most disciplined (like Dalinar's soldiers), would ever accept an order from a darkeye officer.

One thing I has been neglected in this discussion is grunt-level lighteyed soldiers. It is noted in the book that a darkeye is not permitted to pick up a sword. Are we to assume then that only the officers in the Alethi armies have swords? In a culture so based on competitiveness and victory, it seems absurd that only a few soldiers (the officers) would have swords. It makes much more sense to have a diversification of weaponry (i.e., archers, swordsmen, and spearmen) since each weapon has inherent advantages and disadvantages. An archer is outstanding for ranged attacks, but is quickly overcome in close-in fighting. A spearman has a longer reach but is less effective once an opponent gets inside that reach. A swordsman still has an effective reach, though smaller than a spearman) but is best suited for extremely close fighting (i.e., tougher to effectively get inside their reach). It seems to me that there would be enough lower dahn lighteyes to provide for units of sword-bearing grunt-level soldiers. These units would certainly not be commanded by darkeyed lower officers (squadleader, sergeant, etc.). Within such units these positions would obviously be occupied by lighteyes. Therefore, I think we must conclude that such positions are not held exclusively by darkeyes. I would assume that Dalinar's command guidlines given to Kaladin (i.e., you do not give orders to lighteyes) would be something of a norm for darkeyed officers (i.e., darkeyed captains cannot give orders to lighteyed grunts, etc.). Now that I think of it, I would not be surprised if there were lower officer ranks for lighteyes that we have not hit on yet (since we have not yet had explicit contact with such a unit?). But, I think it would be simpler just to have a system with a more rigid chain of command structure for lower officers. In other words, a captain can only issue orderds to soldiers directly placed under his command, etc.

Nice grab! This was just confirmed in the WoR reading of a Taravangian interlude at PhoenixCon. Excellent conclusion.

I agree with this. I think when the Heralds speak, they do so in such a way that it was as if everyone hearing had a Shard-powered Babelfish . I like the tie-in with the cognitive in the OP, but I don't anticipate it being, at least always, the result of a concious decision to speak Alethi an Alethi, or Thaylen to a Thaylen, etc. It would be cool, if in mixed company, they could do this on a concious level, then they could have a private conversation. Or even to expand that, if in the company of two Alethi, directing his comments to only one. The one would hear and understand while the other hears a foreign language (the Dawnchant language). That would be sweet!

The easter egg idea is very possible. It may just be that. Perhaps I should not have used the term "theory" in that reply earlier. I don't think the evidence is sufficient to bring it to the level of a theory. But, I still hold it to be a rather plausible idea. Things missing to support it as a theory would include: Some positive affirmation of Hoid having been to the purelake; An indication of whether the Purelake is a specifically selected location to look for Hoid rather than a dart on a map; So, I continue to think it an interesting idea, but I suspect that further evidence is needed (and is not currently available) to either elevate it or annihilate it. Perhaps a good question to ask Brandon would be: At the end of the Ishikk interlude, Ishikk says "Well, you've got the 'fool' part right." Is Ishikk calling the searchers foolish or is he making an allusion to Hoid?

To my knowledge, there is no confirmation of this. Though this is a theory I espouse (though, I have not yet included espoused theories in my signature). Thank you for bringing this up, it would be a significant support for this current theory. I don't see anything to strongly confirm that Ishikk knows that Hoid is the King's Wit, but I also don't see anything to make it unlikely other than it is a big world with lots of people in it. Perhaps the theory is a little bit circular in my evidences, but I don't think it is critically or fatally circular.

Sigzil, as shown on WoK, is a Worldsinger and Hoid is his master (i.e., trainer) within that organization. So, Hoid has spent a substantial amount of time on Roshar working with an organization notably similar to the Terris Keepers (and presumably the Worldbringers) on Scadrial. This means he likely spent a great deal of time travelling throughout Roshar. I do not find it unlikely that he spent some time in the Purelake (I would say at, but the people seem to live 'in' the lake) due to the interseting geography and the distinct and intriguing culture of the people. I think it well within the realm of plausibility that Hoid and Ishikk know each other. Perhaps even well enough that Ishikk is directly helping Hoid by, at least, running interference for him.

So we know that three members of the Seventeenth Shard have been searching for Hoid in the vicinity of the Purelake (See WoK, I-1, hardcover pg. 167-171). This area seems a rather backwater place (I made a pune) to look for Hoid who (at least as far as we have seen so far) tends to turn up in close proximity to significant events, people, and places. This suggests that the SS (acronym really puts them in a neegative light) has a reasonable suspicion that either Hoid has spent some time there or the place will be of significant importance. However, I do realize that they have Ishikk doing the searching and they are checking in with his efforts. Thus, they could have many locations on Roshar where a similar search is being conducted by other locals and they periodically check in with each of the searchers. However, I have a suspicion that Ishikk knows more about Hoid than he is letting on. While his internal thoughts in the interlude don't suggest this, he does make one statement that does (to me). On page 171, Grump (Galladon) says "Where are you Roamer? What a fools quest this is. Alavanta kamaloo kayana." and splashes away to follow after the other two SS searchers. This is the part I think is important: Ishikk then says "Well, you've got the 'fool' part right." Now, while I realize the easy answer is to assume that he thought the search a foolish endeavor, I think, given the emphasis on the word 'fool' and also given Hoid's penchant for assuming the guise of a troubador (Warbreaker), court jester (WoK), or Imperial Fool (ES), I think Ishikk is making a joke to himself because he at least knows Hoid, and knows Hoid has been currently playing the part of Wit. I also think, like several of you have voiced, that the purelake will be shown to be a region of critical importance because of it's unique qualities (i.e., sheer size coupled with shallow depths, magic fish, and recession of waters when a highstorm comes).

Upvote for the Oscar quote! One of the best comedies ever made that nobody knows about!

Dang! Now I am down to one out of three . Ah, well. What can you do.

Well, I guess if BS says that Alendi heard the well thumping because he was an allomancer, then I guess I can accept that . But, I was right about him being spiked! So, one outta two aint bad, right? . Nice grab on those quotes WW, thanks. I think that Vin's sister being a seeker worked out fortuitously for Ruin, but it has already been shown that Ruin sucked at foresight and long-term planning since it was contrary to his intent. I think Ruin was more concerned, knowing she was a mistborn, about getting her spiked so he could communicate with and influence her. Everything else was butter.

If Hebrew based, the word meaning lord would be pronounced Adonai. This word was typically used when reading scriptural texts in place of the name Yahweh in order to avoid excessive and careless repetition of the Name of God. Personally, I think it doesn't come from Adonai. I think it comes from Adonis in Elysium. I think chicks digged Adonalsium so that is why he took that name .

Do we know Alendi was a seeker? Yes he heard the thumping from the well, but, IIRC, the thumping comes from Ruin to the hearer's mind (at least that's how it went for Vin). Absent WoB or really good logic that suggests otherwise, I suspect that Alendi was at least minorly spiked. Do you have any info suggesting that allomancy was around at Rashek's ascension? I agree with you that all three systems were developed at the time of Ruin and preservation's collaboration. It makes the most sense. But where did LR get the Lerasium? I apologize, I hate to do an entire post that is off-topic. Please forgive me everyone.

For the sake of clarity, we don't know (to my knowledge) when Hemallurgy (the spikey aspect of it) was developed. Since the Lord Ruler only figured out a few ways to use Feruchemy, I think it is safe to say that it did not develop/emerge at his "ascension". I suspect it was developed during the original collaboration between Ati and Leras. As to why Odium came to Sel first, I think it was because Devotion was there. Here's why, if you were planning on trashing a group of people who are each magnificently powerful (on par with your self), I see you as having a couple of options. You can either go after the guy you think will pose the least challenge and therefore get some practice and hopefully prevent a stronger downstream alliance (saving the best for last) or you go after guy who you perceive to be the most challenging first in order to utilize surprise and hopefully neutralize the power you think would be most able to stop you. I think it possible that Odium could have observed the ballanced struggle between Ati and Leras and realized that (since an alliance does not seem to be within Odium's character) surprise was his best chance at taking down his (likely) most opposite Shard (i.e., the Shard most capable of countering his efforts). Devotion had to be the first to go because after it became known that Odium is killing and splintering Shards, Devotion would be most able to counter his efforts. On a side note (pretty much completely unrelated), why did allomancy emerge at the time of the LR's ascension? Did he just find out about Lerasium, where it was, and what it could do when he took the power at the well, or did something else happen?

I think this conversation could be assisted by some clear understanding of terminology. 1) A metal (pure) does not form a molecule per se. In other words, a molecule of iron would be an atom of iron. So the molecular structure of a metal is actually the atomic structure of the metal. For those of you with some knowledge of things like cubic structure or hexagonal structure in metals, I offer the following. Iron can exist in two crystalline forms; body centered cubic (BCC) and face centered cubic (FCC). These forms are the crystal structure of iron. The crystal structure should not be confused with a molecular structure. I also note that metals, if cooled in a specific manner may also be amorphous (i.e., no crystal structure; solid soup, if you will). While a metal exhibits different properties in each of it's possible crystalline states, it is still fundamentally and immutably the same metal. 2) An alloy is a blend of two or more elements where one of which is a metal. Typically, one or more elements are dissolved in a metal. No chemical reaction takes place (i.e., no covalent or ionic bonds are formed). Some metals do this in a very happy and friendly manner (such as is the case with copper and nickel since they are mutally solvent in one another at any concentration) others are not as friendly with each other and only blend in certain concentrations and under certain conditions (such as is the case with iron and carbon). Steel is iron with 0.002-2% carbon and cast iron is iron with 2-4% carbon. However, at different compositional amounts (and temperatures) carbon is no longer soluble in the iron and forms a ceramic compound (Fe3C) called cementite. The cementite is present in the cast iron or steel in a similar manner to how a chocalate chip is present in a cookie (i.e, having an independent structure from the cake part of the cookie; two distinct solid phases). In other words, if you were asked what the molecular structure of cast iron is, the correct answer would be "It depends on what part of the cast iron you mean". So, the molecular structure of an alloy is a blend of the molecular/atomic structure of its constituent parts. In other words, brass does not have a molecule made up of copper and zinc atoms. It is a blend just like sugar is a blend of sugar molecules dissolved in water molecules rather than forming a new combined molecule (yes, I am leaving out hydrogen and polar bonding for the sake of simplicity). Now, although an alloy is a blend of atoms, it is not simply a blend of the properties of the constituent metals. For example, alloys of titanium and aluminum have some marvelous properties that could not be predicted by merely referencing the properties of each of aluminum and titanium. I apologize, this seemed like it would be a lot simpler to explain before I started writing. I hope this has provided some clarity rather than confusion. Note: This info comes by way of degrees in Materials Science and Engineering and Metallurgical Engineering.

Happiness and Joy! Quote The WoB refers not to the microstructure of the metal, but rather to the molecular structure! Any and all angst has fled. There is proper consistency in my view of the Cosmere again! EDIT: Note, there is a vast difference between the fixed molecular structure of a metal (basically a bunch of atoms stuck together) and the microstructure of a metal (generally several orders of magnitude larger scale than the molecular structure).

He (Harmony) can choose sides, champions, and make efforts on behalf of and to assist such folk. For instance, in AoL, Harmony's variant of the Mist appears to at least help Wax. On page 286 of the hardcover, it says "[Wax] felt better in the mists. The wounds didn't seem so bad. the pain didn't seem so sharp." This chapter strongly suggests that the mists are active in aiding Wax. Whether the effect is selective or not is unclear. Further, Harmony says, again on page 286, "I have done something to help. I sent you." It goes on further and at least suggests that Harmony somehow reunited Wax and the chest with his cloak and Sterrions. Harmony even says "You're welcome" immediately after Wax notices the chest and realizes what it is. It appears that Harmony can act directly in subtle ways without upsetting "the balance". It is also clear that Harmony can act by using/influencing people such as Wax. It is unclear what characteristics align Wax with Harmony except that Wax is earnest in his devotion to the path, seeks to protect and uphold the right. It seems clear that some measure of ruthlessness is required to be a lawkeeper in the Roughs and enjoy some kind of longevity. Wax, by all accounts, is a really good guy, but what particular qualities attracted Harmony to him are unclear. Since, as shown below, the Kandra are "Sazed's Angels" and Melaan gave Wax his earring, I think it is a safe assumption that Harmony sought out Wax. Alloy of Law Signing Report said The earring allows for Harmony to communicate directly with Wax and many have theorized that the earring is a hemallurgic spike granting at least some degree of pewter allomancy enabling Wax to unconciously draw upon the mists for physical power (I am inclined to tentatively agree). While Wax is the one pulling the trigger, it seems clear that Harmony is acting subtly, yet directly. Given this understanding of Harmony's character (at least at the time of AoL; i.e., ~ three centuries as a Shard), how might Harmony choose to act in Cosmeric events?