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The Nahel bond, what determines whether you get a Cryptic or an honorspren?
The spren themselves.
So it doesn't have to do with the Orders of the Knights Radiant?
If you match, you have to attract the spren, the same way you attract emotionspren, you have to attract the right spren for the Order.
What spren types are Glys, Ivory, and Wyndle?
RAFO, because I haven't decided yet. I know generally what they are, but I don't know how I am going to call them in the books. It happens with other things in my writing, Shards for example - Odium was originally Hatred; the idea was the same, but I decided to change the actual word.
With all the spren, the ones that are developing thought and all that, are you going to have them interact, that we see-- Because you don't really have much interaction between them right now that we know of
Yes, we do not. I think it is safe to say that what Syl and Pattern say about spren in this book implies that there is between different spren that you can look forward to.
Is there a limit to how many Shardblades you can have? Be bonded to?
Theoretically, not really. There are some things that could bound that. I can imagine people having a lot. In the original draft of The Way of Kings (2002) Amaram had two. And so, it's definitely possible to have multiples, and I had not thought of someone trying to bond every Shardblade.
So that means you can be bonded to more than one spren.
Well, those Shardblades... Can you be bonded to more than one spren? That question's answer is also yes. Potentially. But there is a much harder limit on that.
Is it possible to have both an Honorblade and a spren? Yes it is.
After a spren has been bonded, what happens if the person it's bonded with dies?
If the person they are bonded with dies, it is an emotional event for the spren, but not a damaging event. As long as their oaths were not <broken>.
Kind of like if a friend dies?
Maybe a little more personal than that.
I guess Helaran was not bonded to a spren then?
And why do you say that?
I was looking at this line here and saw that his [Blade] had a gemstone at the bottom, so that was a clue.
That is a very good clue, yes.
As Lift's spren refers to the Nightwatcher as Mother, right...
He definitely calls somebody a mother. The implication in the text is that it's the Nightwatcher.
Certainly, so I'm just going to run with that right now. So the question that I'm asking is, is surgebinding in general a melding of Honor and Odium, a la feruchemy being in some sense not directly derivative of Ruin and Preservation?
It is...Honor and Cultivation is what you mean?
Yes.
There are spren of all three Shards, and those spren can work within the bounds of the magic that has already been set up on Roshar.
What Shard are Cryptics associated with?
RAFO.
Is the power of the bond between humans and spren, the Nahel bond, or from the swords—the existing Shardblades—that causes the eyes to turn light?
Yes.
Szeth a lot of the time throughout Words of Radiance is referring to the fact that he's hearing his victims screaming in his head. Is that actually just his conscience screaming at him or has he possibly already bonded to a spren in some way, that is displeased with his actions?
That is not his spren, good question... It is not the spren—it is not a spren that is for one of the orders.
Okay, but it is related to—
I didn't say that. I just said it is not a spren—it is not a Blade. It is not one of those.
Are flamespren, are they all doing their own thing, or is there some Ideal of "Fire" sitting in the Spiritual Realm that they're all based on?
Each spren is based on the Ideal of Fire.
And is that sitting in the Spiritual Realm?
Yes, we're using sort of a Platonic Ideal, and that concept is in force, so *sounds hesitant* "yes", but [spren] are manifestations of it.
So these Ideals in the Spiritual Realm: Divine Breath, does that heal by accessing some Ideal of Human Health: so a guy who had never had a tongue and doesn't know how to speak all the sudden has a tongue and can speak?
You are... *LONG pause* You are, um, on the right track.
Okay.
Because the Breath is... eh. How can I explain this? You are, yeah... So... So each Breath is a shade of deity, right?
Yeah.
And each Breath incorporates into it this sort of idea of being endowed by the deity Endowment, correct?
Yes.
And so each Breath you hold brings you one step closer to becoming like that, and so what you're saying is... is "yes", kind of true, yes.
But it's like within the Breath, not sitting off by itself-
Yes, yes yes exactly.
Did the shattering [Splintering] of Honor happen in the Cognitive Realm, and Ruin in the Physical? *Brandon laughs* The reason I'm wondering is, are spren the expression of the shattering in the Cognitive Realm while Ruin's physical being is an expression of the shattering in the Physical?
This is an interesting theory that I don't want to completely shoot down, but it is not heading in absolutely correct directions. The shattering of a shard is an event that transcends all three Realms.
Does each specific order have their own spren that they would bond?
Yes. Each order has a spren that is distinctive. All Windrunners come from honorspren.
I'm guessing it's a RAFO, but why do Honorblades work the way they do?
Honorblades were crafted before Shardblades existed...
So they were crafted.
They were crafted before Shardblades existed, and all Shardblades that exist came about as certain individuals trying to find out how to copy Honorblades.
So would it be fair to say that Honorblades are analagous to fabrials in some sense? Trap spren in a crystal yada yada Stormlight power?
There is an analogy there, that I think would pass the SAT's rigor for analogies.
So, you spend a lot of time comparing lifespren and rotspren. They're complementary colors, *inaudible*. The rotspren can appear around animals, as well, whereas lifespren only appear around plants. Is that a misnomer? Is there something that we're missing?
No, there's nothing you're missing. It just takes a large number of organisms in the same place. So, in a herd of animals, you could find lifespren. They don't come to people as often. But, the thing you have to remember about spren is: spren are attracted by something. And they have to be nearby, and they have to make their way there. So, sometimes, you will have an emotion, and no spren will appear. Because there's not one nearby enough. Or they just didn't feel like this. I worked this in because I didn't want the spren popping up too much. They're a big symbol of Roshar, they're a way, in very early chapters, for you to realize this is a different place and a different world. But if every other sentence were, "And a spren appeared," it would go crazy way too fast.
When does a person become a Surgebinder? Cause Kaladin talks about when he was a child, talked about it being a familiar feeling, and Shallan obviously was younger. Or is it when they speak the Words?
The bond starts forming before the Words are spoken, but if the words are never spoken that bond will eventually evaporate and get broken. But the bond will start forming before. Just like an emotion attracts a spren, acting in the way that the spren you would eventually bond will start drawing them toward you and that will start to create that bond.
We were talking that it's kind of a shame that Dalinar doesn't have his own "real" spren. I think it's an upgrade, is there a way I should think of this? Is it a cool thing or a bad thing?
This is a very cool thing, but it's also a very dangerous thing.
Well [the Stormfather] controls the highstorms ... follow-up question: if he dies, does that affect the spren?
Dying, as long as the oaths are not broken, does not affect the spren in a very terrible way. There are effects.
Are there lifeforms that are native to the Spiritual Realm like the spren are native to the Cognitive Realm?
Yes, but they're not what you're thinking.
Are the Unmade actually spren as Taravangian thinks they are?
As far as anyone knows. I'm not going to answer other than that.
What kind of spren do Dustbringers have?
RAFO. But you asked a very wise question.
Are spren visible on Roshar because Cultivation is present?
Cultivation has a lot to do with the spren but the spren-- would-- it's hard to separate them, but some spren did exist before Cultivation arrived.
Have we seen a Knight of all of the Orders yet?
You have not seen a Knight of all of the orders yet I don't believe.
Even one that doesn't have a spren yet?
I think you have met everybody.
And I also have a question about the nature of spren being dead. Specifically about whether or not they can be resurrected. Because ideas can never really die...
Ideas can never really die--
... Cognitive creatures--
They are Cognitive creatures. This is theoretically possible but very difficult without the people who originally betrayed their oaths.
The use of spren are a brilliant idea, what was the inspiration for these creatures?
In part, they stem from the underlying cosmology and overarching rules, the dictates of the magic systems of my shared universe. I was looking for a manifestation of that in Roshar. I also was searching for something that would give Roshar a different feel from things that I'd done before. I wanted this book and this series – and everything about it – to feel different from fantasy worlds in the past. I wanted it to be fantastical, but I wanted it to be unique. I wanted something that could consistently remind the reader, "Oh, I'm in a different place. Wow. Their emotions manifest visibly when they feel them strongly. This place is bizarre." That was one of the main inspirations. Looking in our world, one inspiration is certainly the Eastern concept in Shinto mythology of everything having a soul, every rock and river and tree having something living inside of it that is a manifestation of it. Since I was working with the idea of Platonic realms and the like, I spun that off into the spren.
So, is shardplate created as a result of a spren bond?
RAFO.
Is it true that humans can bond to multiple spren?
They can theoretically bond to multiple spren.
If someone was using an Honorblade, would they be able to bond a spren?
It is indeed possible.
Possible. It doesn't block it in any way.
It does not block it. Good question. You do not have to bond Honorblades. Honorblades work with whoever holds them.
Syl's inspiration came from a lot of different places. I'm not sure if I can point to one thing. The spren are inspired by Japanese mythology, that everything has a soul. That is the original inspiration for it. But Syl as a character, I'd been toying with forever, and I think she came about as a counterpoint to Kaladin's darkness; a figure of light that I knew that the story would need.
Do you get any of yours [inspiration from mythology]? Like I know you mentioned sciences and physics.
Yeah a lot of science and physics is where it's coming from. A lot of, I mean, having lived in Korea for two years, and speaking Korean, a lot of my linguistics come from Korean, and the idea of Spren comes from Asian mythology: the idea that everything has a soul. So that's an inspiration.
I want to look into ancient Asian culture, and it sound like something to do.
There's that. I would bet that the three kingdoms stuff has some influence on me, and Sun Tzu's Art of War has been an influence on me, and things like that.
So in the first book, there's a chapter where you have some scientists talking about spren, and they seem to be describing <superposition> and science. I was wondering, does that actually play into the books?
It does, but it's just really behind the scenes. This is just helping you understand the nature of spren and kind of their relationship to sub-atomic particles and quantum theory and things like this. There are relationships there, but it's even one or two steps further than what you see in actual Quantum Physics, Right?
Will it play in more?
It will. In this book, you get even a discussion of the theory on spren that should relate right back to that.
Oh good! I can't wait.
Watch for stuff that Jasnah says about Spren and things like this. It does relate. But this is all kind of world-building stuff. It's not part of the main story. It's fun for scientists.
You've pretty much implied yes [to bonding more than one spren].
I did not say yes.
You implied. <What about> more than one type of spren? Different types of spren?
Let's see what happens. This is not impossible.
Do we see the highspren at all in Words of Radiance? And if so do they look like a comet?
That's a good question. That's a good, good question. I will say this. The comet spren is important to an order of Knights Radiant.
If a non-Windrunner picked up Jezrien's Honorblade would they gain Windrunner powers as well?
Yes.
If a Windrunner picked up that blade, would their abilities be enhanced?
There would be some compounding but strength is not as much an issue with Surgebinding as is the strength of the spren bond and how much Stormlight you are using.
Can anyone other than a Parshendi bond a Voidspren? Like, can a human bond a Voidspren?
That is theoretically possible but humans are not good at bonding spren in the same way.
How about the other way around? Can a Parshendi bond a Knights Radiant spren?
Historically, the Parshendi were not made Knights Radiant, or the parshmen weren't.
Can they become squires maybe?
Historically they did not, but it's not impossible.
Is the Nightwatcher a spren of Cultivation in a similar way that the Stormfather is to Honor?
The Nightwatcher is not Cultivation but is related. You're on the right track.
So what are the chances, once that last Stormlight comes out, that you might open up that worldbuilding wiki up for viewing?
You don't know, I might do that. That's feasible.
It seems like it might be a cool way, other than like waiting another 3–4 years for it to be edited into 2 or 3 atlases or whatever, in this day and age a wiki seems like a good way to do that.
Yeah. The fun thing is, it's now like 15 years old, so it's got all the old stuff from the original write in it as well.
Which would also be kind of cool to see.
Which would be cool to see how I've changed things. There's stuff in there before spren were even part of the world and stuff like that.
Are the Unmade the analogs to Heralds?
There is certainly something similar going on there. Be aware that it's not a one-to-one correlation, that they're not exactly the same. For instance: Many of the- the Unmade are referenced by Taravangian in this, and he uses a phrase for them, and that is correct, that's what they are.
Does Shardplate use a spren?
That’s a RAFO.
Are the Parshendi at the village the only Parshendi there are? Besides for the Parshmen...
The Parshendi as a people were all at Narak. Barring any scouts and things like that. That doesn’t mean that there might not be any other Parshmen out there that have bonded spren, but they would not have been part of this nation – any more than if you found another human that they may not necessarily be American.
Do all greatshells have spren?
In order to survive with the science that I built, the greatshells almost all require some sort of spren to keep them from collapsing. (I suspect greatshells in the water may not require them.)
The Heralds: I had a question if they might in fact be some form of spren?
The Heralds are not some form of spren. Good question.
With the soulcasting and the spren, is there maybe some quantum physics in there that you were thinking about?
There is. Yes, very intentionally.
Is that gonna come into play?
Yes.
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?
Well it depends. For instance: how would you define Wyndle?
I struggled with that one.
Uh hm. So I would say that you are on the right track, that there is a definite inclination that direction.
Towards Honor?
Yes. There is.
Is there other surges then, that are more Cultivation-exclusive or other Knights Radiant that are...?
We'll RAFO that, but the original Knights Radiant are more focused on Honor and his spren.
Can Glys, Renarin’s spren, be a box?
The box is not his spren.
Speculated that I thought that at one time the Parshendi had used Odium spren or Unmade, and they must have finally divested themselves of the spren and that’s why they forgot how to get a lot of the spren forms. And they were trying to figure that out and things have taken a turn for the worse.
No comment.
Is the Hoed from Elantris similar to the state of [dead] Shardblades? If so is it possible to awaken a Shardblade if the bearer speaks the oaths of the Knights Radiant?
The status is... I would say not as similar as you're probably thinking, but it does have a similarity in that two bacteria causing a disease are both caused by a bacteria, so there is a similarity there.
I can imagine a sequence where a Shardblade would be reawakened, but I think it would be very difficult.
It's not the same that they're in the middle of a transition, like in Elantris.
Oh, okay. So you have to actually... it'd be harder.
It'd be harder, yeah. It's not the same, they're not in the middle of a transition. They have had something ripped from them, and it's very painful and it's left them mostly mindless.
So they have to have that something added back?
Yeah. So what you've got going on: the spren gain-- the bond lets them have sentience in the physical plane, like they can think and all these things, and when that was ripped away from them-- imagine... (this is a very bad metaphor, it's the first one coming to my head though): imagine you had wetware, you had a head-jack or something like that, and someone just ripped it out of your head.
*stunned/horrified*
Oh.
Instead of surgically operating it out. Like that's what's happened, a piece of their soul's been ripped off.
Why are Ryshadium cooler than regular horses? I suspect a spren bond.
There is Investiture involved.
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?
Okay, so that is *garbled* fallacy. You're implying there aren't.
We were wondering about spren gender and if spren can have non-binary genders.
That is certainly possible... After all, I should mention this, since the Parshendi have non-binary genders. Because they have four genders.
In the [Purelake vision that Dalinar had in WoR] there was a pouch that the Shardbearer grabbed when the spren went into the ground. I was wondering what is this pouch? Is it a fabrial? Was it important? It was just sitting there, sitting there!
You need to get at least one RAFO. I'm not saying that's an important thing--
Hey!?
...it might be, but you need to get at least one RAFO from me, so that's the one I'm gonna RAFO.
