Questioner
So, in Sixth of the Dusk? Who are the people from the sky? Is that an R.A.F.O.?
Brandon Sanderson
It is. Someone you've seen before.
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So, in Sixth of the Dusk? Who are the people from the sky? Is that an R.A.F.O.?
It is. Someone you've seen before.
You know the orb that Kelsier uses to Connect to Preservation? What magic system is that from?
RAFO.
Is it one we've seen?
Yes.
Not extensively though?
I'll just say, technically yes. That's all I'll say.
*in response to a discussion about RAFOs* There was the one about what painspren look like.
Yeah, what do painspren look like on the Cognitive Realm.
That's a RAFO.
That's a RAFO because it is actually relevant to future stories.
It'll be important.
Not that it's a big deal, but I got to hold some stuff back.
How was it that the Lord Ruler was able to speak into the minds of the Terris and ask them if they want to become kandra while he was wielding Preservation?
Lord Ruler... able to speak with the minds of the kandra...
At least TenSoon said in the text that he spoke directly into their minds.
Send that to me, I want to go to Peter for that one. I think we have an answer for that one, but I want to make sure I'm getting it right.
So, if someone went to Shadesmar on Scadrial would the whole ground-water inversion, is that a Cosmere wide thing?
That you will have to read and find out about. I will say that there are places in Shadesmar that are different and there are places that are the same as what you see on Roshar.
How did Hoid get the name Cephandrius?
Cephandrius? Cephandrius is one of his very earliest aliases. Not his real name, but very soon after he stopped using his real name.
Okay. Is there any relation to his real name? With that?
I will give you a RAFO card.
After finishing Oathbringer I started a reread of Warbreaker and noticed something.
Page 427 of Warbreaker:
Susebron: "Didn't you eat before you came to my chambers?"
Siri: "I did, but growing that much hair is draining. It always leaves me hungry."
Sounds similar to our favorite Edgedancer, but I thought she was supposed to be one of a kind on the whole getting Investiture through food? I'm assuming the Royal Locks have something to do with Investiture.
FWIW, i asked this question in my Warbreaker book and got RAFO
So in war beaker Siri is able to convert food directly into hair growth through the Royal Locks, we know that the Royal Locks are somehow related to investiture, so my question is, can Siri/Viv convert food into investiture to use in Awakening (or Surgebinding or any other uses of magic in the cosmere) similar to Lift and her awesomeness.
As far as I know, you were the first to catch on to this. (Or at least ask about it) so that should be a very proud RAFO. There is something here, but it's not as deep as you might assume.
There's an ardent in Way of Kings who's like described as short and he's at a party and he uses the word "soil". Do we know who he is, is he Nazh?
That is specifically a worldhopper. I don't think I've revealed who he is. But I'm still gonna RAFO just in case that is somebody.
Are Odium and Harmony aware of each other, and will they ever directly come at each other?
They are aware of each other, and they are both frightened of the other one for different reasons. Or at least “wary of” perhaps is a better term.
That’s interesting. Is that in the narrative perhaps at some point in the future? (another person?) [...] between Harmony and Odium?
[RAFO cards]
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.
This is a RAFO, but it is a question you're supposed to be asking-- You know what a RAFO is?
No.
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.
How did Nightblood get from Warbreaker to Oathbringer.
He was carried.
How?
RAFO! He was carried by someone.
What book will you have to read to find out?
You will find out eventually. Nightblood, the sequel to Warbreaker will include some, Stormlight books will also include some.
Is there- have you come up with a Realmatic explanation for why light isn't affected by time bubbles besides handwavium "please don't burn people with microwaves"?
Peter's got one for us. 'Cause we were going to do redshift: like the actual original writing for it had redshifts; Peter's like "Dude, you will microwave everybody" I'm like "Oh man". So the handwavium of that: there is a real- there is an actual explanation, but it...
*they move to outside the store*
What's the middle of this question?
Middle of the question was you were thinking about explaining the Realmatics behind light for time bubbles.
Oh right, right right right right. I can't because it spoils future books; like that's spoiler for Mistborn... 10?
*laughter*
So... if you count the four Alloys, so really gotta stay away from stuff like that.
That's fair/fine.
I was curious if Nightblood was the only one of its kind, or if Vasher and Shashara have made any others.
That's a RAFO. Good question. Very good question. There was a point in time when Nightblood was the only one of its kind, and it may have continued until now.
If it's possible for a Shard that's been shattered to be recombined, has it happened yet?
You have seen things be added back together. I'm not going to say whether you've seen a splintered shard fully be recombined, alright. Ah, you haven't seen it happen, I'm not going to say whether it's happened in the Cosmere or not.
I was reading the first book-- The Way of Kings, there is a scene-- no a Letter. Is that scene-- the person who is sending the Letter says that the Shards in Elantris are broken-- sorry they're, like, [Splintered], and they can’t be used again. How is that so, because if there was Adonalsium which Shattered and people took the Shards.
There are those who believe you could put the pieces back together and their are those who believe you can't, and shouldn't.
You shouldn't put them back--
There are some who believe that.
So will they be able to put it back together?
Well there are some who believe it is possible. *laughter*
Congratulations, you win a RAFO card! RAFO is something Robert Jordan would say, that means Read And Find Out and I print out little cards so at least you get something. That means "I'm sorry I can't answer your question but I'm really not that sorry otherwise I would answer it"
You have written before on Reddit that you had to add some scenes for Perrin in the epilogue, even though the majority of the epilogue was Jordan's. Did you have to figure out endings for any other characters, or did he write them?
I did have to come up with endings for other major characters. Other than Perrin, they were strongly suggested by the notes or by the books. And technically, he had in the notes, Perrin's absolute end. One of the few things that it said was, "Perrin ends up as king." So, his absolute end. But I did have to do lesser than Perrin, but still some major.
Perrin finding Faile. Was that Jordan's? Or was that you?
That was me. He did write the scene-- I think this is the epilogue, where Mat comes back to Tuon, and things like that. Like, that whole scene was finished. The whole scene where Rand comes out of the cavern, all that stuff was finished. Some of the stuff with... Cadsuane, we had to extrapolate. Not extrapolate, he had some of the things in the notes. Some of the other ones, we had to. Others you would consider main characters, we decided on. Harriet decided on a couple of things.
Galad and Gawyn?
I'm gonna have to RAFO that, because I think Harriet has not wanted me to go down that path. I would say that major chunks of the Egwene and Gawyn plot were finished and written, particularly a lot of the stuff in Towers of Midnight. But there's a few things she's asked me to stay away from. One is who decided what happened to Egwene. Harriet has asked me to ease off on that one.
The gems on Roshar, are they the same as the gems you and me know, or are they a byproduct of Investiture?
For the most part they are the same as the gems we know, which will ask the question, "Since most of them are chemically identical, other than color, what differentiates them?" and in the cosmere, color is very important, so I'll just leave you at that, but most of them are going to be gems like we have. If you took a ruby from our world to Roshar, it could be Invested by the highstorm.
And spren?
We will RAFO that for now.
Did the old Knights Radiant know the Shin were in possession of the Honorblades?
So... the Knights Radiant are aware of where... most of them are aware of where the Honorblades are.
In the old times?
Oh, I thought you meant the Heralds. Did the old Knights Radiant know where the Honorblades were? I will RAFO that one, sorry. I was thinking, yes, the Heralds knew where their Blades ended up, but I will RAFO the Knights Radiant.
So Shardblades. When they cut off the victims, the eyes burn up. And deadeyes have their eyes scratched out in Shadesmar. Is there any relation between them?
There is indeed a connection there.
Is it RAFO?
It's a RAFO, but there is a connection. You got something out of me there.
If someone used Hemalurgy to take someones Feruchemical abilities would they be able to use that persons personal metalminds? Most relevantly perhaps to take that person's knowledge from their copperminds?
Yes.
If someone stored their identity in an aluminium metalmind, then had their powers and metalminds stolen via Hemalurgy, then the person who took the powers used the aluminium metalmind to draw out the first persons identity would it permanently overwrite their personality with the original persons ? ( would kind of be a long winded way of stealing someone else's body and becoming immortal )
All Identity questions are a RAFO until I deal with it more in the books. (Sorry.)
If the spike granting Feruchemy were to be reforged/split into two distinct spikes which are then implanted into two different people, could those two people "share" a metalmind (as in actually be able to tap something the other stored and vice versa?).
It's complicated, but no.
There would be too much of the other person mixed in. Both could use the metalminds of the person the Feruchemy was stolen from, but when they made their own, their own Identity would "muddy" the creation.
Is Adolin and Shallan going to get together, or will Kaladin and Shallan?
That is quite the question. I will eventually answer that, but you are getting Read-and-Find-Outed. It is intentionally a bit of a mimicry of something else that happened in the past.
Honor has Stormlight and Odium has Voidlight, is there a Cultivationlight? If so, can an Invested person use it as a third magic on Roshar or is a boon/curse the only magic of Cultivation/Nightwatcher?
There is more! I'll just say that, the rest is Read And Find Out. You are theorizing in an accurate direction.
[Can Lift] get Stormlight from spheres like normal or if it's just from food for her.
She can only get it from food.
Which [is it] related to her boon or her curse?
RAFO.
It sounds like Adolin's sword Maya might be able to be resurrected?
*presumably nods yes*
Is it possible that other swords could be resurrected as well?
Hmmmm, the coveted RAFO card.
Do the Allomantic and Feruchemic symbols for the metals have any extra meaning to them? More specifically, were they given those symbols on Scadrial for a reason?
As for the symbols, they go WAY back to before the Lord Ruler's ascension. So perhaps, perhaps not. (On other words, RAFO.) :)
In Secret History the Shard shows a relatively well-written foresight. Did Adonalsium have more of a pronounced version of that?
Adonalsium was-- I would say, yes.
Did it have plans for after it's own--
That's a RAFO...
Does Ambition factor into Sel, either in the events we've seen on-planet or in terms of where Uli Da was ultimately spintered?
I'll RAFO this for now. Suffice it to say that this specific splintering has had far-reaching effects.
If someone is a full Mistborn and is able to use Feruchemical gold... can they safely burn harmonium?
Oh, okay. This is theoretically possible.
Would it have an effect?
Yes. It would do something.
And I'm going to hopefully ask what that is.
*gives a RAFO card* You've earned their card.
When Hoid is playing for Kaladin, has he Awakened some part of himself to help him play?
No, he's not Awakened anything to help him play.
Did he use Allomancy?
RAFO.
When Shallan is telling the story about the girl and the wall, she said that her hair was white. Does that matter in any way?
Yes.
Are the Shinovars-- Shin people hair white?
They are not all white, but I'll RAFO the further question.
So, in Bands of Mourning there was an advertisement in the broadsheet from "K and N" asking about talking metal. Does that have anything to do with a certain knife that Nazh lent Kelsier?
I'm gonna RAFO that, mostly cause I'm gonna make you ask Isaac and Ben, cause they came to me with pitches for things to put in those and they wrote a lot of the broadsheet stuff themselves.
Okay. But, does Nazh want that knife back?
The knife? Yes, he would like that knife back.
Does "Ba-Ado-Mishram" mean "child of the light of Cultivation and Honor"?
RAFO, but you're doing a pretty good job picking apart the linguistics of that.
In Way of Kings, one of the interludes we see the Purelake--
Yes.
--and I've thought a lot about the fish.
Yes.
He mentions that one of them has healing effects and potentially that's--
The lore of the area states that fish have healing-- some of them--
I was wondering of your thoughts. Is that Investiture in the fish or just local superstition?
Well that is the question of the scene, so that's also a RAFO. I will say that there is still superstition, Roshar in particular. And it doesn't necessarily mean that everything they say is magic is. But there is a good chance.
What would happen if a Radiant spren went to the Physical Realm through a perpendicularity instead of the natural transition they usually do?
RAFO. It would normally just not work, but RAFO? ... You have some stuff in Rhythm of War that's like *various sounds of disgust*, but yeah.
Hoid. Did he have a family, and if he did, does he miss them?
That's a RAFO, because Dragonsteel, the book I'm eventually gonna write, is his backstory.
Miles Hundredlives, is he possessed by a svrakiss from Elantris?
*long pause* That's a RAFO, you are onto something... I wouldn't say possessed, but influenced by something is definitely a possibility. You are not 100% on.
So, I was hoping to get a confirmation on Mraize's age?
I'd probably-- Well, what did I say before?
Not sure, I was just asking the question.
Okay good, I didn't think that I had confirmed this. I'm going to RAFO it.
Like, is he older than a normal person?
I will RAFO it, yeah. Let's say though, that, though he has been off-world, he himself is a Rosharan.
A Roshar native?
Yeah.
The Sleepless. If they got enough hordelings, how big could they get?
There is a limit. It is larger than you've seen on-screen before.
Chasmfiend size?
RAFO.
What can you tell us about the origin of the Shattered Plains?
Not very much. Read Words of Radiance.
Ah, so Azir has a larger population density, at least. Cosmere-wise, is Elendel the largest, or could say, T'Telir match it?
Azir has a large population density. Cosmere-wise, though, Eldendel is by far the largest. Though I don't have strict population numbers on places like Silverlight. (Which, for years, I assumed I'd have to rename--but I think the program Silverlight is dead, so I can go back to calling the city that.)
And of course, what exactly is Silverlight? I don't think I've ever heard of it before. A Threnodian city?
Silverlight is mentioned in the Cosmere collection, I believe, in one of the essays. It's a city somewhere in the cosmere, with some relevance you will discover eventually.
Is Silverlight the city that exists in the Cognitive Realm, in an area corresponding to deep space in the Physical? And if that's the RAFO I expect it is, will we see an answer in Arcanum Unbounded?
RAFO.
I believe it's referenced in Unbounded, but I can't remember if I cut it or not. (I have been touchy about mentioning the place since Microsoft took the name in 06 or whenever it was.)
This one will remain a mystery for a while.
In The Stormlight Archive, are there any on-screen appearances of dragons in any form?
RAFO. Sorry.
Dragons can be shapeshifters, correct?
They can, yes.
Do they only have a humanoid form they can appear as, or can they appear as many humans?
Depends.
So first, about Trell… He was first mentioned in the books in the first Mistborn book. Did you know what role he'll be playing in the future books?
When I wrote it? When I actually wrote Mistborn, no, by the time I’d done revisions and finished the series, then I knew. Mistborn was very exploratory, the first book, once I finished it then I build the outline to fit it, that’s very common for me that I write a first book without an outline and then I build the outline around it.
Will Nalt, brother of Trell <inaudible>
The brother? So there’s something very weird happening with Trell, very very weird, that I’m not going to explain quite yet, so that’s a RAFO.
I want to know if Kelsier and Hoid will ever get along?
They, uh-- that's a RAFO, but I wouldn't hold my breath. There are mashing of egos that just don't mesh well going on there.
How long will Kelsier's story go?
Kelsier's story has some more stages to it. I'm gonna RAFO that... But the stuff that's happening right now is set up for a later story with him.
When Sazed gives Vin a little bit of pewter that doesn't really have a charge in it, and she isn't able to use that power. What would happen if he gave her a full metalmind and she tried to burn it for Allomantic power.
I think I cover that in the book somewhere, don't I?
I looked around for it and couldn't find it.
I know for sure I've answered it to fan questions before. So go ask. If I haven't, you can come back and ask me, but I'm pretty sure we have answers on that.
Who was the last person Cultivation spoke to before Dalinar? Is he/she important?
If you mean the last person she gave a boon/curse to instead of letting the Nightwatcher, RAFO. (But otherwise, she talks to lots of people.)
In Oathbringer it is revealed that the humans who originally came to Roshar were the first ones to be named Voidbringers and that they carried magical powers. The Stormfather also implies that modern Surgebinding didn't exist before the Heralds. Were the original powers that the humans possessed Voidbinding?
So, we're getting into lots of interesting definitional problems here. And also the ways that different entities perceive the definitions of different terms. I will answer this question specifically as we do the flashbacks from Ash and Taln's viewpoints. So you've got a long ways to wait. But understand that definitions are not always-- the way that people define things cannot always be trusted. That said, humans were not using powers from Honor originally.
Was it necessary that Adonalsium split into sixteen Shards, or was it happenstance?
I will RAFO that one.
Would the number or intents have been different, if there were more or less people?
That's all wrapped up in that RAFO. Let's say it's conceivable that the split could have happened in different ways.
Why is Vasher on Roshar? Is he trying to get back Nightblood?
Kind of a RAFO. I won't go into all his reasons right now but there is one thing that was difficult to get on Nalthis that is much easier to get on Roshar. Going to Roshar solved that problem for him.
Nightblood. If the person using him, the Investiture they put into him to use him. Does that make Nightblood more powerful, does he gain that Investiture? Or is it all expended back into the--
That is actually a RAFO. People in-world are trying to figure that out, so it is a good question.
I was wondering what happens when you compound copper?
I will reveal this eventually. You're getting a RAFO. Do know that not all compounding does cool stuff. Not all of it does cool stuff, but a lot of it does cool stuff.