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Is it possible for spren to move from one planet to another?
It is possible for them to get to other planets. They are tied to certain realms… A lot of them reside in the cognitive realm and are pulled into the physical by their bonds--
Would they bring the same magics?
That you will have to wait and see.
So we know that spren come about through interactions? Could there be other things that situation could create?
Yes.
'Cause a read about the *inaudible*
Um, same thing, yes.
I was wondering if *inaudible* spren were created by *inaudible*?
This is possible.
Roshar's moons, do they have special spren associated with them?
RAFO.
You said that moving people like that [Cognitive Shadows] or spren off-world, from Roshar is difficult.
Yes.
What about physically, say the Ones Above visit them, and they fly away?
So one of the things you'll have to be asking questions and theorizing on is what happens if you try to carry a spren around the planet. What happens to their Cognitive sense, right? So you're on Roshar, right? So on the Physical Realm what would happen-- Because on Shadesmar, you have a flattened version. So there are questions for you to be theorizing implicit in that. And one of them is, what happens, you cross a threshold circling the globe, your spren, what happens to them? Because-- Okay? This relates to the question you’re asking.
Wait wait, you have a three dimensional plane coexisting with a two dimensional plane?
Well, two dimensional is the wrong term, but basically...
Can you specify the mathematically projection used to create this? *laughter*
We'll try to give it to you eventually, but this is the sort of stuff that I do that Peter's like "Oh man..." *laughter* "Alright give me the math Peter." "Ahhh what do you mean? I'm not a mathematician." "Eh, y'know. You're close." It is very convenient to have a physicist and a mathematician in my writing group.
Will we be finding out more about the Ryshadium?
Yes, but it's one of those things we're gonna find out in little bits here and there. I mean, I think I've told people they are animals that have managed to form a spren bond, which has given them more-than-animal intelligence. It is the symbiosis there that is letting them. So if they did not have the spren bond, they wouldn't be--
What happens to the spren the Parshendi bond when they switch form? So say if they're in soldier form, and they switch over to mate, what happens to that spren?
The spren is released.
So when they took on void, they didn't kill their previous spren?
No, they don't kill when they-- No. That's a good question. Nope.
Do those spren evolve in any way into something else?
Those spren that they are bonding with are generally what we call non-sapient spren, and so, no, and also the spren are barely aware that they-- they're bonded--- those spren, the non-voidspren, right? Like when they're bonding, generally what's happening is how... It's a symbiotic relationship, right? And the spren that gets bonded to them, it's just kind of like, "Oh, this is my life now! This is just normal. This is what's happened." The same thing happens with spren involved in greatshells and things like this. This is a natural part of the natural cycle for those spren.
Can spren be affected by emotional Allomancy?
RAFO.
Since the dead spren are said to have been more or less "reabsorbed" into the cosmere, why did they leave behind physical shards at all?
We'll find out more about dead spren as the books move forward.
Do you have a term for a group of spren? Like a gaggle of geese, or something like that?
I have not come up with one. That's a great question; I have never considered it before. I would be taking suggestions.
Can spren be put back together, through Bondsmiths rejoined, as Shards can be joined and combined?
That, um… so what do you mean by spren put back together?
Could a Bondsmith combine spren in the way that Shards can be combined?
Ok, so the answer is they can be combined. Whether the Bondsmith is a method or not I won't say, but spren can be combined.
Can a Nahel bonded spren safely worldhop with their bondmate?
RAFO! Book 3 gives some clues.
Is the gender of a spren bonded to a surgebinder based on sexual preferences?
It-- A lot of people are curious about this one… Not strictly but there is an influence there. But it's not strict. In other words Renarin having a male spren does not necessarily mean--
What some think it means?
-what some thinks it means. How about this you are more likely to bond a spren of an opposite gender-- a spren who identifies as an opposite gender, because spren don't actually have gender. But you are also more likely, statistically, to like members of the opposite gender. Those things have a correlation. Whether they have a causation is not a thing I am canonizing.
Are all wind spren really just unbonded honor spren?
No, they are cousins to one another, but not exactly the same thing.
Where did you come up with the idea for spren?
So, the spren are based a little bit on Platonic philosophy, and a little bit on Shinto philosophy. And it's kind of a melding of those two concepts.
Are the changing beauty standards of Returned and the "plausibility" of Forgeries determined by the same kind of "cognitive ideals or concepts which have taken on literal personification over time" that some types of Spren represent?
Yes. These things all work according to the same fundamental framework.
The way Painter transforms nightmares into other things is reminiscent of the way spren are affected by perception - only much more extreme. Is perception (and the way the world is set up) the only important factor here, or is Painter using Investiture too somehow?
What's going on here is not Painter using Investiture really. It's the fact that the nightmares have less control over them from another source. Spren have an oversight from Honor, Cultivation, and Odium, and this is kind of leaving them less at the whims of other people's perception. The nightmares do not have that. I'm not going to say they don't have it at all, but Painter is not using Investiture, but the nightmares are specifically more susceptible to what's going on. So for instance, a good way to answer this is if he went and did this for a spren he would not have the same level of power.
Do spren feel any kind of sexual or romantic attraction?
Not as a rule. There are some orders that are more likely to do so. There are a lot of orders that you would call asexual. But it depends on the individual, and it depends on their breed or race of spren. So, it varies.
Where did you get the idea of gloryspren and fearspren showing up when people feel certain emotions?
So spren in The Way of Kings where did I come up with these ideas for things that physically manifest people's emotions. So I honestly think the earliest seed of this, years and years ago, was reading Perrin in The Wheel of Time where he can smell people's emotion and I thought that having an actual different sense to recognize emotion was so cool I think that is what planted the seed in the back of my brain. The other thing that that is mashing-up with though is kind of Shinto ideas, because I was relying a lot on some Eastern philosophy when I was building Roshar and The Way of Kings. And the Shinto believe that everything has a soul and a spirit, a kami as they call it, and things like this and wanting to expand that into not just the rock but your emotions have a soul and they manifest and things like that. And then I was working in the cosmere and all this stuff but in the end I think it is a mash-up of those two concepts. Wanting a cool way, a different way, a way that changes society that emotions play out mixed with this idea of the kami and the Shinto beliefs.
[Something about spren]
There is a component to that going on, but I will say that denying Odium is an important part of that in the books through his various different manifestations.
Are the Cryptics spren?
Yes.
Are the scholars influencing the behavior of the spren with their beliefs?
Belief and expectations influence all the magic systems.
Will we ever read from a spren's viewpoint?
It is likely you someday will.
A book where the flashbacks are spren?
Probably not. Or it’s not planned right now.
So there's only one Honorspren that got power, and does that mean that no more can get out and are there only *inaudible* Cryptic?
Syl disobeyed what she was supposed to do. However, at the same time, she blazed a trail so there might be others. The Cryptics, on the other hand, they are totally fine with what's happening but Pattern was the one who was nominated, he lobbied for it, to go and be the guinea pig. So the Cryptics are totally all over doing this, they are eager for more. But a lot of them think it is a death sentence, but they're weird, they don't mind it that much.
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.
It says that it's dangerous to travel to Shadesmar on Sel. Why?
It has to do with the Dor and the lack of an entity controlling much of the power Odium left in his wake on Sel.
Woah, that's interesting. I had no idea Odium left little bits of his power on Sel... I guess it kinda makes sense for evil monks to be powered by pure hate, though.
Odium did not leave his power behind, one should note. He left several other powers which are now, to a large extent, mindless...
If you wouldn't mind answering, does Roshar have a similar problem, with Honor being Splintered?
No, Roshar does not have the same problem. There are some differences going on. One reason being that the spren are far more extensive on Roshar, and provide something of a "release valve." The seons and the skaze on Sel are not numerous enough to fulfill a similar function. Though, of course, that's only one part of the puzzle. Raw power is dangerous.
It's one reason everyone should be thankful Kelsier was around on Scadrial.
Is there conspiracyspren? We have kind of a family joke about that one.
So, conspiracyspren... Let's just say this. I have purposefully not made spren of certain things that I think would undermine the very purpose of the spren. If that makes sense?
My question was going to be: What emotion would you never write a spren for?
Well there are ones that-- I would go with that. Things that undermine the very nature.-- But I wouldn't say never to anything. In the cosmere, particularly on Roshar, if people start to personify something, there's a chance it would become a spren, and that could be anything. The current vogue question to ask me is "will there be memespren..." And my response is always, "If people personify something, then there's a chance that a spren will develop out of it."
The cracked stone spren that we saw, we didn't get a name for them, are they the Stoneward spren?
Yes-- Oh wait, yes.
Do they have a name you can canonize right now?
No, I don't.
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.
What do painspren look like in the Cognitive Realm?
That's a RAFO.
If you write down a measurement of a firespren, it locks into that. If you write down a measurement that's not true, will that still work? Can you just write down the measurements of a firespren and quadruple its size?
Let me just say this. Human perception of spren has an intrinsic effect on how they act, react, and interface with the world.
So if I were to take a picture of a firespren, increase the brightness on my phone by 5000, and then write down that recording, the firespren would multiply brightness by 5000?
I didn't say that. I said, "Human perception of spren influences their behavior and their form."
In The Stormlight Archive, do corrupted spren act differently in fabrials?
Yes. Excellent question!
Are Glys and Tumi's names at all based on the names they were before they were Enlightened? For example, was Glys' name Glistening-through-water or something like that?
There is a relationship, yes.
Would Rock be able to see the Cryptics?
Would Rock be able to see a Cryptic? That is a good question, you will have to see.
I don't even put spren in on the first draft, that's just too much to keep in my brain. Afterward, I do a draft where I just go in and add all that stuff. It's like adding the special effects to a movie.
So, Brandon actually does put a number of spren in the first draft. But part of Karen's job as continuity editor is to find more places to add the spren and mark those in the document. Then on the next draft Brandon puts spren there if he judges them to be good places for spren.
If Roshar progressed and industrialized, would caffeinespren come to existence with the advent of soda?
Yeah, I bet they would, absolutely. I mean if you're getting alcoholspren, you're gonna get caffeinespren. They probably wouldn't be called that, you would probably call them like alertnessspren or something like that when you are alert beyond, you know… maybe not even alert. It'd be like a term for when you should be sleeping, but you can't because of stimulants. Stimulantspren? Wiredspren? Hyperspren?
Would it be possible to use an aluminum spike to permanently kill a spren?
No, that's not gonna work. Silver, on the other hand, there's some possibility.
While imprisoned Kaladin encounters a strange type of spren described as "taut wires crossing before him". When I first read this I instantly thought of the captivityspren Axies is searching for, so I was surprised when someone asked you about it and you were reported as saying they are not captivityspren. What kind of spren is it then?
I must have misunderstood. Those were captivityspren.
*to be inscribed in a book* Could I have the name of an observed but unnamed spren?
Observed, but unnamed, spren? They’ve all been named.
They’ve all been named that have been observed?
Yes, someone will call it something so I will just say-- y’know. When they see them they refer to them by things.
The areas where you have highspren living, does it have a connection to <Stormwall? the rift to the former world?>
So where the highspren... specifically?
Basically does it...for example, do honorspren have a--are strong in that area, because...?
Oh right, because they're living in like, Lasting Integrity? So... there are reasons why in Shadesmar the spren build the cities they do where they do. It doesn't always correlate one to one with the type of spren. Once in a while it does, but I would say as a rule of thumb, no. It's more about them finding a place that works for the geography of Shadesmar, and where they kind of just have political power and clout and things like that.
Good question.
There are honorspren and cultivationspren on Roshar. The other spren that are tied to orders of Knights Radiant, do they have any relationships with any other Shards?
They are all going to be a mix of the Shards on Roshar. Some weight a little further one direction or the other. They are not off-world Shards. Good question.
How would a mistwraith bond with a spren? Would he use a gemheart, oaths, or songs like the listeners?
*Brandon motions for Joel to hold up the RAFO sign*
If you bond with a spren, can you turn it into an instrument like a trumpet and play it?
This is possible. Yes.
The voidspren for stormform were red, were they originally of Honor?
Nope.
I know in Shadesmar, Syl has a physical form when they go there. Has there ever been, in the history of Shardbearers, any romance there?
...I will RAFO that for now. It is a question I have asked.
Are mandras gravityspren?
*Very hesitantly* Nooooo? Kind of-- So the actual gravityspren, you're talking about the things Kaladin saw stuck to the wall? Those are not mandras.
Oh no, I was thinking about the ones that appear around dead chasmfiends.
Oh, dead chasmfiends, okay. Yyyes. The arrowheads, yeah.
But you're saying those are not gravityspren, they're--
Well--
--they're mandras?
I am not-- Yeah. I am-- So the things Kaladin saw stuck to the wall are not gravityspren, right? But I want to make sure-- So arrowhead spren, that Shallan is philosophizing, theorizing about, are mandras.
Both Tien and Kaladin are Radiant, you talked about how that wasn't hereditary, and how that was more because of where they were with association. Was it because they were associated with the same person, or the same place?
Yes, Connection influences spren.
Right, but was the Connection to a person that they were around?
Connection to people.
So not necessarily the place where they were?
Right.
Because my way of thinking it might be with the people is because, like with the Purelake on the Cognitive Realm there would be more spren hanging out there because that was more land, right; so if you spent more time on that you would have more spren around you. So if you're closer to more water, you're closer to more spren.
That is not an irrelevant observation.
Are all spren of a single type (eg. honorspren) going to be the same gender?
No. But some do skew one direction or another.
I feel like society on Roshar would develop a bit differently because of emotion spren. You'd have to be very careful talking/ interacting with people since you can't hide things like fear, anger, awe, anticipation, joy, passion and shame. Imagine going through high school having to deal with them...
I have to imagine it alters things like, say, the concept of masculinity. Obviously the Alethi have very strong ideas about masculinity, but attracting fearspren/feeling fear doesn't seem to be a negative within that like it would be in our culture. Men attract fearspren all the time, and it's totally fine.
It also seems like it might be taboo to mention someone else's emotion spren. People are constantly noticing internally that other people are attracting them, but they NEVER EVER comment on it (until the part in OB where they're investigating it in Kholinar). There must be a really strong boundary around commenting on other people's spren.
It's one thing I did want to ask Brandon about if he does another AMA--how emotion spren affect Rosharan culture.
This is some good theorizing here. I'd agree with what /u/The_Bravinator says.
The effects are all over the place, but they are just how life is on Roshar, so I rarely point them out. For example, the classic Alethi sort of idolizing being "straightforward" with people. No assassinations. (Well, supposedly.) You're used to being able to see people's emotions, so you take it for granted that only hyper untrustworthy people do things in ways that don't expose emotions. Emotions aren't bad, they simply are, and everyone has them. Views of masculinity are certainly changed.
Is it taboo to mention emotion spren that other people are attracting, or do people just not generally think to do so?
Depends on the situation, really. Not exactly the same, but note how in Earth societies the different responses to something like passing gas, depending on context, culture, etc.
How many different non-human immortals are there on Roshar?
Wow, very specific. Most of the Aimians count. They're both small races, but there are enough of them that there are dozens of each that count as immortal, and they're non-human. The two living Shards, I would say count as non-human immortals, and most spren count as non-human immortals. So there's a ton.
I was wondering if there's any correlation between the spren in the Axies interlude in the Way of Kings with his faces, and what Shallan does in Oathbringer when she's going through the faces telling them it doesn't hurt? 'Cause it said the refugees saw her nature as a spren, and I made a connection there. Is it a coincidence?
I will call that mostly coincidence.
