Argent
Can you confirm: When Bleeder died, she only had one spike made of that new metal in her?
Brandon Sanderson
What does the book say?
Argent
It could go either way. Because it could be either one spike of the unknown metal and one regular, or just one of the unknown metal. And we're divided right now.
Brandon Sanderson
I have heard this. I didn't intend you to get divided, but I've heard that you are, and part of me doesn't want the… One week later... I want more time for the theories to come out!
Argent
There are theories.
Brandon Sanderson
I know. Let's give the theories a little more time and then I'll canonize it for you in a little bit. I didn't intend for there to be a division here, but obviously there is, and so I'm going to wait until I'm done with tour. Then you can write to us and we'll tell you exactly what's going on there.
Kendra
You have to congratulate whoever did the Soonie pup ad. Effective advertising: I want one!
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, lots of people have said this. It was not something we were intending to do. It would have to be more than just a little puppy, though. You'd have to be able to rip out its spikes and transform it or something. You can go get a stuffed puppy anywhere.
Kendra
But it's a stuffed TenSoon, so it's a stuffed Irish wolfhound. And you can find those in adult. You cannot find those in puppy.
Brandon Sanderson
That's true. I'll think about it.
Kendra
You don't have to do the spikes.
Brandon Sanderson
I know, but people will want the spikes. They are gonna be like "If you're gonna provide me with a Soonie pup"-- You'd have to be able to take out the spikes and turn it into a blob, so it's a mistwraith on the inside and a Soonie pup on the outside.
Kendra
It'd have to be something like a backpack dog. Maybe the spikes are clasps on the outside or something.
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah.
Questioner
Would [cadmium] function if it were affixed to a body smaller than a planet with its own source of gravity?
Brandon Sanderson
What do you mean by work [function]?
Questioner
Like a spacecraft. My thinking is that it could be used on long space voyages, because you’ve said that you're going to eventually progress into the space age...
Brandon Sanderson
So are you asking if we can use that as cryogenics?
Questioner
Yes.
Brandon Sanderson
I actually give you some tools for figuring these sorts of things out in The Bands of Mourning, so I'll refer you to that, because I'm dolling the physics of these things out, and since I know it's coming in January, just read that one. You'll get some more actual concrete laws and rules so you can start extrapolating.
Questioner
As of Shadows of Self, how many Shards are there on Scadrial?
Brandon Sanderson
*nervous laugh* There are two [...] Harmony counts as two Shards. I do mean it that way, and I am giving you clarification so you don't all freak out.
Questioner
If you burn a Hemalurgic spike, would it graft the piece of stolen soul onto your soul?
Brandon Sanderson
No, but it would have... There are some interesting effects there.
Questioner
Are all the Ideals going to be released eventually, for all five-- for all the different [Orders of] Knights?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, they should all be.
Questioner
Is metal a renewable resource on [Scadrial], or is it going to run out?
Brandon Sanderson
It does run out.
Questioner
Can you write the Fourth Ideal of the Windrunners?
Brandon Sanderson
No. No no no no no no. [...] The Fourth Ideal is guessable, I feel. Much more so than... Well, you probably could have guessed the Second-- Third Ideal as the book progressed. I think you could guess the fourth one right now, but it's going to be hard. It's not obvious, but it's there.
Questioner
In the epilogue of Words of Radiance, Jasnah is talking with Hoid and Hoid mentions a nearby village. Is it Hearthstone?
Brandon Sanderson
No it is not. Good question. Because they're out in the Unclaimed Hills somewhere. They're not even in Alethkar.
Questioner
So, the Shardplate, are those also spren or <specific> spren?
Brandon Sanderson
It's a RAFO!
Questioner
Can you use a Divine Breath to Awaken a Lifeless?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Questioner
Is there a specific reason the South is never mentioned on Scadrial?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, 'cause they don't know about it.
Questioner
What happens if you put Shardplate in a highstorm? If you are in Shardplate and you go out into a highstorm...
Brandon Sanderson
You're pretty well protected, but a boulder flying through the air can still do some major damage to a person in Shardplate.
Questioner
What will happen to the gems in the Shardplate?
Brandon Sanderson
They will be recharged.
Questioner
Can you use Feruchemy and Hemalurgy together like you can use Allomancy and Feruchemy to Compound?
Brandon Sanderson
*asks for clarification* There are some tricks you can play. I wouldn't call them Compounding, but there are tricks.
Questioner
The form of the Parshendi: Are there ten of them "of power"?
Brandon Sanderson
No. There are more. So they are not a one-to-one correlation.
Questioner
In the Ars Arcanum of Elantris, you mention Vax, the planet? What project is there?
Brandon Sanderson
Good question; I'm not gonna answer.
Questioner
So, can we talk about your science fiction stuff, like Defending Elysium? Do you have any intention to go further with that?
Brandon Sanderson
I have no current intentions. I kind of have ideas for where I would go, but I just have so many projects that right now I'm letting that one lay as is.
Questioner
So far all the spren that have bonded to humans appear to be emotion-based as opposed to nature-based. Is that true for all the Knights Radiant?
Brandon Sanderson
Well it depends. For instance: how would you define Wyndle?
Questioner
I struggled with that one.
Brandon Sanderson
Uh hm. So I would say that you are on the right track, that there is a definite inclination that direction.
Questioner
Towards Honor?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. There is.
Questioner
Is there other surges then, that are more Cultivation-exclusive or other Knights Radiant that are...?
Brandon Sanderson
We'll RAFO that, but the original Knights Radiant are more focused on Honor and his spren.
Questioner
If some of the cosmere books are set in different times in the cosmere, can Hoid time travel?
Brandon Sanderson
Not go backwards.
Ness
Any hints on the chapter 84 code thing?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, the key is somewhere in the book.
Questioner
Is the God Beyond, or the Unknown God, one of the Adonalsium Shardholders or is it another godlike entity?
Brandon Sanderson
You got [a RAFO card].
Ness
Are the pools at the top of the Horneater peaks shardpools?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Dragon13
Any chance we'll be seeing further correspondence between the writers of the letters? In further books, perhaps?
Brandon Sanderson
You will see more letters.
Dragon13
Syl identifies herself as an honorspren.
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
Dragon13
Would Wyndle identify himself as a cultivation spren?
Brandon Sanderson
He would definitely... Yes. I think you could say that he would.
Dragon13
By the same logic, would a voidspren follow the same naming convention, so to speak?
Brandon Sanderson
Here's the thing. Certain spren have decided that they are the most pure forms of Honor, or that they are the most pure form of whatever, where all of them are kind of... Syl's got a good argument for what she is. But there are other spren that would be like "well, I'm an honorspren too, I'm just this variety of honorspren." Does that make sense? Syl's like "I'm an American!" and I'm like "I'm an Nebraskan!" Yes, you're an American. I'm an American too. It's kind of similar to that. But she would be the most pure... many would view her as the purest form. Wyndle would view himself as the purest form of a Cultivationspren.
Dan
The 16 Shards, are they finalized?
Brandon Sanderson
I have finalized them with the reservation that I can change them when I do their adaptation if something works better. So while I have them all written out, I don't canonize. So I guess "is it canonized?", the answer is no. But they are written down, and I could tweak them. Once I put them in a book, they're canonized. I like to give myself a little bit of flexibility before I put them in a book.
Ness
So has Rock always been a third son?
Brandon Sanderson
Oh, clever man. No he has not.
Questioner 2
Yay!
Eric
For the second letter, Rayse is captured and cannot leave the system he inhabits, Roshar. Is the fact that Odium can't leave Roshar a direct result of the Oathpact, or something else?
Brandon Sanderson
Not a direct result of the Oathpact, but the Oathpact was part of it.
Eric
Was Odium's original purpose to neutralize the threat of Adonalsium?
Brandon Sanderson
No. Good question.
Questioner
I know Hoid jumps around and meets various people that are very influential in the various books. I'm curious as to how he knows who he needs to meet, how's he lead to them.
Brandon Sanderson
This is a RAFO, but it is a question you're supposed to be asking-- You know what a RAFO is?
Questioner
No.
Brandon Sanderson
It means Read and Find Out. If you watch at the end of this book he's not always certain why he needs to be where he needs to be. So there is some measure-- something is going on here but it is not made clear yet and I don't want to clear it up with you quite yet.
Questioner
I was curious if in the future Mistborn models you were gonna get into the history of the dichotomy between Preservation and Ruin.
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. With the history-- maybe not in future Mistborn novels, but in some novels you will find out their history and who they are.
Questioner
The Heralds: I had a question if they might in fact be some form of spren?
Brandon Sanderson
The Heralds are not some form of spren. Good question.
Questioner
I wonder if you knew what color the stone was inside of Horneater peaks and the mountains around the Shattered Plains?
Brandon Sanderson
Depends if-- most of it's going to be cremstone. So it's going to be various shades of tanish brown. Very generic stuff, particularly around here.
Horneater peaks, you-- *pauses thoughtfully* Horneater peaks you're probably going to get into some more slate, some more dark grays and things like this, weathered stone that doesn't have the crem buildup because the peaks are gonna pop up above where the crem is building up, so.
So that's where you're going to get some real, untainted rock which otherwise on Roshar you've got to burrow to get.
Questioner
So the gray one is the untainted one?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah.
Arbron
So how long has "Zahel the swordmaster" been slumming it on Roshar? I mean I don't know who that is obviously.
Brandon Sanderson
Zahel the swordmaster has been on Roshar for a long while at this point. There's something on Roshar that's very easy for him to get that's very hard in other places. And so, yeah.
Arbron
So he retains his previous abilities?
Brandon Sanderson
He was actually in the first draft in 2002. But yes there's something in Roshar that makes it better for him to be there.
Questioner
So Nightblood. Is it going to go into maybe in the next book how Vasher loses him, because I'm assuming that's what [Szeth] gets at the end of the book?
Brandon Sanderson
*Coyly*
Oh you assume that this is uh yeah...
Questioner
So far as we know that's the only sentient sword...
Brandon Sanderson
You will find answers to these questions eventually.
Questioner
With the soulcasting and the spren, is there maybe some quantum physics in there that you were thinking about?
Brandon Sanderson
There is. Yes, very intentionally.
Questioner
Is that gonna come into play?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
Questioner
How many other characters are in this *inaudible*
Brandon Sanderson
Oh I'm not going to give you an exact number.
Questioner
I'm guessing one or two, so far at least.
Brandon Sanderson
But there are multiples.
Questioner
Amaram and Dalinar, they both talk about Gavilar a lot. How many secret societies did Gavilar know about or was he a part of?
Brandon Sanderson
Ah! How many did he know about? He knew of more than he was part of, but he was not part of very many.
Questioner
The arches in The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance. The faces in the arches, are they dependent on something that happens in the chapter, or are they random or is there a pattern?
Brandon Sanderson
They do, but Isaac picks them, not me. So. There is a rubric for it, but-- so there is some significance, but Isaac is behind that.
Chaos
I'm sorry Brandon, you might RAFO me.
*written* For the metal in Bleeder, is it from a Shard we know?
Brandon Sanderson
Oh no… You drove all this way, that's what makes me. Eric comes and he's like--
Chaos
You RAFO'd me at Words of Radiance--
Brandon Sanderson
I know.
Chaos
--I asked you a question that was too much.
Brandon Sanderson
…you push, yeah… There you are you got your answer. You got me.
*writes* Yes.
Questioner
So you mentioned that Kaladin gets sad during the Weeping. Is that due to lack of stormlight or maybe seasonal affective disorder?
Brandon Sanderson
It is mostly due to seasonal affective disorder. Now, you know, there are other things going on and whatnot, but yes he has strong seasonal affective disorder.
Questioner
See *inaudible* and other signings that Hoid had both long life and lived through time when we was worldhopping, how about other members-- or not "other," just members of the Seventeenth Shard? Like are they time travelling or they have long life--
Brandon Sanderson
It is a mixture of both. Either, or, and.
Questioner
And the RAFO question: where did they get it from?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO! There are many methods and there is no one method, and you know some of them already.
Brandon Sanderson
You're going to make me. They're trying to get me to canonize Endowment's gender. *crowd goes oh* ...Yes I have... I'm going to look at the thing that you guys would just love to see--
Kendra Wilson
So now's not the time to snatch that?
Isaac Stewart
It's encrypted, we've been developing a language that only we can read. *laughter* It's all in glyphs.
Zach Stay
Is it in the women's script?
Eric Lake
Should we get Mi'chelle over here?
Isaac Stewart
It’s in a language that will never be decrypted...
Brandon Sanderson
I can't find-- Karen must have moved this. I have the name in here. I haven't canonized the name either have I?
Kendra Wilson
We don’t know. You can put that information on there too.
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah but Karen moved it.
Zach Stay
People have guessed that it's Edgli but..
FeatherWriter
I think it’s gotten RAFO'd before...
Brandon Sanderson
*writes* Endowment is female.
There you go. You guys got two big ones out of me.
Questioner
In Shadesmar, there's cities of spren, right, so-- or at least it's been said where I am. So I read that Shadesmar is kind of connected to all the worlds and that's how Hoid gets around, so why aren't there spren other places?
Brandon Sanderson
Okay, so that is *garbled* fallacy. You're implying there aren't.
Questioner
Is there a maximum number of Bondsmiths that Roshar can support?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
Questioner
Would it be too much to ask for the gender of the original holder [of Autonomy]?
Brandon Sanderson
Uh yeah, the original holder, what do you mean by that?
Questioner
Of Bav--
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, we’re going to leave that one for--
Questioner
Can Shardplate be Soulcast?
Brandon Sanderson
Shardplate could be Soulcast, but anything Invested is very difficult to Soulcast and it would essentially destroy it. Which would be one of the few ways to destroy Shardplate.
Seonid
Would you tell me the intent of Bavadin's Shard?
Brandon Sanderson
Hmm… Are we ready to release that?
Isaac Stewart
I don't know-- well we haven't-- We haven't written it into the scripts yet, but we've only done so many of the scripts so-- I don't know if that would be better place for us to reveal it or not...
Brandon Sanderson
If you're confident that you like what we're doing with it then we can release it now.
Isaac Stewart
Great. Well we had that big discussion and it sounded like that’s what we wanted to do.
Brandon Sanderson
Okay, we're going to have Isaac write it. He's in charge of White Sand now. And you can choose whether to share this with people or not because it's not on the recording.
Seonid
Oh it isn't?
Brandon Sanderson
No, I talked around it on purpose.
Isaac Stewart
*writes* Autonomy.
Questioner 1
What is something that we don't know about Bavadin?
Brandon Sanderson
Somebody asked that already too… Those are both things that you will find out eventually and I'm holding those answers close to my heart right now...
Questioner 2
So can I assume that any question about Bavadin is going to be a RAFO?
Brandon Sanderson
It depends on how specific it is. Like "I just want to know something more" is almost always going to be a RAFO on any question nowadays. Something asks very specifics has a better chance.
Questioner
I was curious, what would happen if a full Mistborn burned lerasium? What would the Allomantic powers be?
Brandon Sanderson
Oohh, excellent, excellent question. So, I have not revealed what lerasium does if you already have Investiture. So, the answer to that is a RAFO. We've actually had like three people ask that tonight, so there must have been a discussion on the Sh-- the forums about it and I didn't answer them, so I can't answer you.
Questioner
What was that plot point you were talking about where you had to change it?
Brandon Sanderson
Kaladin kept the blade and plate in the original version of The Way of Kings.