TurtletheFlsh
What would happen if a spren went to Scadrial would they act or look differently then they do on Roshar.
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO. :)
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What would happen if a spren went to Scadrial would they act or look differently then they do on Roshar.
RAFO. :)
Why do Cryptics have such a bad rap among other spren? The contrast between what spren think about Cryptics compared to how they come off to the reader is hilarious. They're these utterly guileless beings who never try to fight anyone or conquer anything in Shadesmar, and who literally can't lie without audibly buzzing. And yet other spren talk about them as if they're Machiavellian geniuses bent on dominating everyone else.
I love that you picked up on this. There's a couple things going on here. One is, the Cryptics are just kind of their own weird little club. I mean, all of the various different spren are, to an extent, but the Cryptics are one of those that are extra. You know, that word, extra. They're extra. I had to cut a scene that was very fun, that would explain some of this, but you get a bit of it. I reused some of the same concepts in Rhythm of War, when Shallan around a lot of them. They can get to be a bit much, and because they will start talking in numbers and in mathematical formulas, they often seem like they're planning something, when in reality they're just not quite getting what's going on in the same way. And it's kind of this, when you meet somebody that you don't quite get, sometimes you assume things about them. That said, there have been some very smart, very dangerous Cryptics in the past, and spren have long memories. So the reputation isn't entirely unearned, but it is perhaps too liberally applied as a stereotype to an entire race-- that never happens-- when a small percentage of them might have earned this reputation individually.
Can Nightblood attract spren?
Nightblood could theoretically attract spren. I don't think he really does yet, but I think this is theoretically possible.
What Is Altered Perceptions?
This anthology will collect "altered" versions of published stories—deleted scenes, alternate endings, original concept chapters, and that sort of thing.
For it, I'm letting people see—for the first time—a large chunk of the original version of The Way of Kings, which I wrote in 2002–2003. This version is very different, and involves a different course in life for Kaladin as a character—all due to a simple decision he makes one way in this book, but a completely different way in the published novel.
These chapters are quite fun, as I consider what happened in The Way of Kings Prime (as I now call it) to be an "alternate reality" version of the events in the published books. The characters are almost all exactly the same people, but their backstories are different, and that has transformed who they are and how they react to the world around them. Roshar is similar, yet wildly different, as this was before I brought in the spren as a major world element.
And then is there a connection between Aviars, copperclouds, aluminum, and the yellow spren, life sense, seeking?
Yeah, yeah all that, there are some relationships there.
So they all pretty much would affect each other?
Ummm, yes, yes.
Can a Nahel Bond be stagnant because of a spren's inability to progress? If the spren has a character deficiency they cannot break through or something?
Can a spren cause the Nahel Bond to not progress? This is possible. Not very common but it is possible.
So, Shardblades, they're dead spren, but Syl came back. Is there any way for Shardblades, the spren who are Shardblades, to come back?
Mmm... You'll have to read and find out.
Can worldhoppers see spren on Roshar?
Yes, they can.
See them like any native of Roshar. Or more like Lunamor?
Like a native of Roshar. I didn't mean to imply the other.
Were Glys and Tumi deadeyes before being touched by Sja-anat?
RAFO! Good question.
In Shallan's drawings during the course of The Way of Kings, she sees multiple Cryptics. Were there other Cryptics accompanying Pattern in those drawings?
Yes.
Were they approving of Pattern's choices.
Yes. The Cryptics are much like what is happening with Lift, where there is more of a conscious effort on their part. As opposed to what is happening with Syl or Jasnah where there is hesitance. What the Cryptics are driven to do is in part because of what a few of their members have been experimenting with.
Did spren lose their memories and personalities because of the loss of their attached radiants? But retain a basic attraction to things associated with the radiants they bonded to previously?
Not all types of spren bonded to Radiants. You will find out more about this in the future. However, if you're speaking specifically of spren that were bonded to Radiants, then yes, you're on the right track.
When spren die, they kind of become part of everything, so why did, when the Knights broke their oaths, why did they stay as Shardblades?
They had been bound into that form by those oaths. The oaths are broken, but it's like they’re cracked. Does that make sense? Like, there's still something holding those spren and that's what made them *inaudible* It would have been better if they had actually died, does that make sense? But they couldn't-- they're bound in that form.
But their consciousness is still, like, gone?
They still have a consciousness, some of them. To an extent.
That's why the screaming happens.
Yes.
Are the Essences strictly just a Roshar thing, or are they also connected to the manifestations of Investiture on other Shardworlds? For example, is the Essence of Foil in any way connected to the Metallic Arts of Scadrial?
The idea that things exist on three realms is not unique to Roshar.
That those things are self-aware is a Rosharan thing, though other places in the cosmere have similar beliefs.
Do spren not appear in Shinovar because the highstorms don't Invest there?
No. And spren don't necessarily not appear.
I noticed that in the Stormlight Archive the spren act in a quantum physics-y way--
That's intentional!
Is that gonna play a role--
It will indeed play a role. It's relevant.
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.
Where did you get the basis for the spren?
The spren are partially based out of Shinto mythology, the idea that everything has a soul and a spirit to it. And partially mixing that with my desire to have some sort of a unique representation of emotion in these books.
What, if anything, would happen if you swing a Shardblade through a seon?
So, seon would not like being- a Shardblade swung through them, how about that. A seon would not enjoy that. Spren don't enjoy it either. That isn't necessarily going to kill either of them, but they're not going to like it.
That reminds me of a question someone asked you on the forum about memespren.
Yes, there would totally be memespren, absolutely... I'm probably not gonna go there.
I wondered about Shallan's eidetic memory, and about the possibility of trapping a spren. Could a bonded spren be trapped inside a gemstone and trapped in a safe? If so, would something else - not Investiture related - fill the "crack in the soul"? Could that be linked to her memory or her need to draw before Lightweaving?
In and about, he answered that what Shallan does isn't out of the ordinary, and it is possible to trap a bonded spren inside a gemstone.
In Edgedancer, when Wyndle is talking to Lift, and he says the Ring chose him? Is that a council in Shadesmar? Or is that, like, one entity?
*hands over a RAFO card*
Abstract concepts, have representations in Shadesmar. Fear, whatever. So, now we are going into complete nerd-land. I'm a programmer. the things that I program, the programs that I make, to me they are discrete things that kind of come alive. So the question is-- The first part of the question would those have a representation in Shadesmar?
So here's the thing. A lot of people have to collectively start doing this for it to come alive. And it's not just any abstract concept, it is an abstract concept related to the Shards that are there and Investiture actually actively coming to life bearing that sort of personality and attribute. So that's-- you see things relating to human emotions, you can see things related to nature, because of Cultivation, you see a lot of things relating to how people interact with one another, from Honor. So the answer to that is that seems-- That's not really what spren are doing, but programmingspren you could see something coming from
Programmingspren, but not a spren for a specific program.
Unlikely, yeah to have a spren for a specific program. There are some really weird spren, that are different. So it's not impossible, but it's not likely either.
Can Parshendi provide what the humans can provide, in terms of a mutualistic relationship with the spren?
Yes.
Could a higher spren manifest on a world other than Roshar in their spren form, not as a Blade?
Well, they would have to get off first.
That doesn't answer my question!
A lot of these questions I have to be careful because they're presupposing things as foundational assumptions. A lot of time people-- The really sneaky ones will ask me these questions knowing if I answer the question, that there are three steps back assumptions that I am then canonizing, so I'm just going to RAFO that one, because I'm giving you the answer, "They would to have to get off first."
Could Syl, or any other type of Spren, be seen in a photograph?
Excellent question, and I like the way you phrase it. Let's give this one a little more time before I get into the specifics of whether spren are manifesting physically or not.
You got it wrong. I'm not busy because I'm writing other books, I'm working on the licensing deals! Cardboard shardplate! Official Bridge Four loincloths! "There's spren in my poop" toilet paper!
Serious question: are there poopspren, and how would they fare in indoor plumbing situations?
Well, it depends on how you're defining spren. In the books, they don't make a distinction, but there are several varieties. At the basic level, everything has an identity--a soul, you might say, but more than that. This is based on how it is viewed, and how long it has been viewed that way. Feces would have this, but wouldn't have a very strong cognitive identity because of its transitional nature.
Other types of spren, the type that characters see and interact with, are cognitive ideals or concepts which have taken on literal personification over time. These are usually related to forces or emotions, and don't relate to this particular topic.
And that's far more than I ever expected to say on this...
Are odiumspren the only spren who live on Braize?
Only odiumspren are welcome on Braize, but they're different from anything we've seen so far.
Hi. I have two questions about the Cosmere. The first one is if a Radiant can have a bond with two spren, and the other one is if Truthwatcher spren are related directly with Cultivation or the Nightwatcher?
Okay, so RAFO on if a Knight Radiant can have two spren. But the second question was, "Are spren of Cultivation?" One more time?
If the spren of the Truthwatchers are related directly with Cultivation or the Nightwatcher? Or both?
So, most of the sapient spren that form the Orders of Knights Radiant are related to a mixture of Honor and Cultivation. Some lean one direction much more than the other, and the spren of the Truthwatchers leans toward Cultivation.
Would a Coppercloud at all affect how spren act?
Yes.
Can a higher spren leave Roshar?
They do not know how to right now.
Can Hemalurgy be used to steal other...like, the Stormlight...
It could. It's very complicated, particularly with surgebinding, because the bond with the spren is a voluntary thing. So, you could steal the power, but you would also be stealing the sprenbond which the spren then has autonomy over. So, it might not turn out really well for you. It might not turn out well for anyone involved. Much easier to steal things where there isn't an autonomous being involved in your gaining of the magical powers.
Do Cryptics have the same general dislike of honorspren as Syl has towards Cryptics?
RAFO!!
Shardblades burn out the eyes of the victims, and deadeyes have their eyes scratched out in Shadesmar. Is the connection here purely thematic? Or are there actual Realmatic mechanics behind it?
There are, but they're pretty slight. I would lean more on the idea of the thematic, this more being a Roshar thing, with the eye color, the eyes being scratched out, Shardblades burning out the eyes. There are some Realmatic things behind this, but mostly it's me trying to connect a theme in this magic system.
As you might know (maybe, maybe not), Shardblades originally did cut flesh. I wrote the entire prologue with Szeth and them cutting flesh and... ooh, boy, was that bloody! These are books about war, but man, it was just so gory that I'm like, "I'm gonna back off on this. Let's have it burn out the eyes instead." And I liked it way better that way.
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 have mentioned that certain spren are an embodiment of concepts. How does that work for the concepts like honour, that can mean opposite things to different culture groups?
Human perception has a lot to do with why spren act like they do...
I'm just curious to know if you're gonna see a change in how they treat the spren in [Oathbringer]?
...Yes. There's a slight shift happening.
The spren are a really unique part of Roshar. Do you have rules for deciding what "gets" spren (wind, flames, glory, creation, life, death) and what doesn't? Have you introduced most of the spren types, or will we see a lot of new ones as the series goes on?
You will find out much more about the spren as the series goes on. There are a lot of things that get spren where the spren are not noticeable, or they only occur in very rare circumstances or in certain regions, as Axies explains. So the phrase "There's a spren for that" that I've seen popping around on the internet is actually fairly accurate. There's a spren for quite a lot of things. I don't want to delve too deeply into this until I've written more in the series and you begin to understand exactly what the spren are.
At one point, you said something about how the way that the humans on Roshar perceive spren, or how that's important in their <rough position> in the Physical Realm. So, going to the interlude where we have the two ardents, they do two tests. But it seems like there's a third test that they kinda, maybe should have done. And I want to know how that would have played out.
So, the two tests that they did were; he's measuring for real and telling her, and she's writing down what the actual measurements are, and it sticks. The second one is, write down something that's possible, and she knows this isn't right, so she writes it down and nothing happens. What would have happened in the case where she thinks she's writing down the right thing, but he's actually lying to her?
If she thinks she's writing down the right thing and he's lying to her, the first would happen. It would stick.
Is logicspren a type of radiantspren?
RAFO… but that's a RAFO because that question isn't specific enough, but I'm not going to tell you why.
How did you come up with the idea of windspren?
Windspren in specific? I was thinking about the way the wind is often anthropomorphized, right? It's treated as if it's something alive. And that, for years, just stuck in my head. For a while there were only four windspren, one for each of the quadrants: the north spren, the south spren, the east spren, the west spren, or the west wind and things. But eventually I split them into many more, because I was working with the honorspren and things like that.
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.
I asked whether spren, particularly those bonded to a Knights Radiant, could worldhop.
He said that it would be very difficult for them to.
On Roshar, certain people seem to be able to always see spren (Rock comes to mind). Are there people who can never see them? Similarly, can people from other worlds see them?
Those with Listener blood are more likely to be able to interact with spren who aren't currently trying to manifest.
If they appear on the physical realm, then they're visible to all who can see.
Can Shardblades kill spren?
Theoretically, yes.
Do rainbows come after a highstorm?
Rainbows occasionally will come after a highstorm but not always.
Are there rainbowspren?
Yes. There are rainbowspren.
Spren grant control over surges because surges are perceived as fundamental powers on Roshar. Would other Cognitive beings grant different powers based on what they perceive to be fundamental? Such as electromagnetism is on Earth?
It is plausible, although this was set up in a specific way.
By Honor or Adonalsium?
RAFO on that. Set up might be the wrong word. There were seeds that caused this to happen the way it did.
The Surgebinding thing?
Yes, specifically... Those influenced what people perceived as fundamental forces.
Can a spren willingly break their bond anytime between the First and Fifth Oath, with their Radiant?
Yes, this is possible--
Essentially committing suicide isn't it though--
I just ascribe to that question-- A spren could at any point break it. Can they break it safely? That's a different question.
Can they break it safely? *laughs*
There are methods in place where it can be stopped. So yes it can be done. But once you've started into this, once you've chosen on both sides, it's a dangerous process. But yes it can be done, and it can be done safely.
What does antiseptic look like in the Cognitive and would it frighten away any rotspren or grinders there?
Mmm… no it would look like a bead unfortunately. You could manifest it, like how you see Kelsier doing with stuff but really… no. Maybe if you got some antiseptic in [into the Cognitive Realm], the rotspren might recognize it but just the soul of it, no.
What's the relationship between spren and seons?
They are the same thing from different magics.
Okay, exact same thing from different magics?
"Exact," may be a little too strict, but yeah.
So a seon can be transferred to another person, right?
Yes.
Can a spren?
Yes.
In [Words of Radiance] Shallan notes that spren don't appear around dense groups of people, even if emotions are high. Why is that?
You'll find out more eventually. There are several reasons, but imagine how a creature attracted to a specific color would respond if you dumped every color together in a big mess.