Found 32 entries in 0.073 seconds.
JoyBlu
Okay, A larkin and an aviar. Could you tell us how they're related - are they a bit similar? Other than that they both fly.
Brandon Sanderson
I would not call them terribly similar. A larkin is a specific type of creature that feeds off of Investiture. And there are some other things like that in the Cosmere. But aviar don't do that. Aviar have a symbiosis with an Invested entity. Aviar are more like, they're kind of weird because they fulfill both the role of a spren, but also the person that's bonding the spren. They're an intermediary.
JoyBlu
Okay. And larkins don't have feathers, right?
Brandon Sanderson
Larkins do not have feathers. They look like little... They look like wasps.
JoyBlu
Like wasps? That little?
Brandon Sanderson
No, not that size, but that's the look of them. They're in the picture in the front of Way of Kings, the magic map. If we have Way of Kings here... We can grab it for you. If you go to my website for the art for Way of Kings, look up "Way of Kings art archive" on my website. It's not the cover, it's on the magic, the double eye symbol of the Knights Radiant in the inside cover flap. There's a pair of larkin there.
zas678
What would a larkin do on Scadrial around a metal?
Brandon Sanderson
A larkin on Sca-- It would have to-- *pause* I'm going to RAFO that. I mean I know what it would do, but let's let you see what larkins can do more.
learhpa
If someone (with the appropriate knowledge of where to place the spikes to be successful) were to spike Rysn and try to steal the power of the Dawnshard, what would happen?
Brandon Sanderson
A very bad time, for the person attempting it. Dawnshards self-protect.
Bennet Alterman
If Dawnshards self-protect, what's the need for larkins and Sleepless?
Brandon Sanderson
They do self-protect. The larkins and Sleepless are there! You're assuming the larkins and Sleepless aren't there because of Dawnshard influence. Which is a false assumption.
FirstRyder
Could Aluminum be used to protect a Surgebinder from a larkin?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
havoc_mayhem
Would a larkin be able to steal Stormlight from a surgebinder wearing Shardplate? Any comments on whether Shardplate or aluminium would be more effective protection?
Brandon Sanderson
Getting through both would be relatively equal--with the problem being that Shardplate is powered by investiture, which the larkin could feed on. So aluminum is better in that specific case.
coltonx9
Are there types of Investiture that the larkin can't consume?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, I would say that there are, but it's going to depend on the state they're in. Pure Investiture, a larkin is always going to probably be able to grab, but lots of people can get pure Investiture. Kinetic Investiture they're are gonna have a good chance at being able to grab, but they can't get everything.
Questioner
Does a larkin with a... *inaudible* draw Stormlight from a Voidbringer... *inaudible*?
Brandon Sanderson
Ah! Would a larkin feed off a-- You will have to read and find out.
Mason Wheeler
So, Vasher has been on Roshar to live off the Stormlight. Does he know about larkins?
Brandon Sanderson
He has heard of larkins.
Mason Wheeler
How afraid of them is he?
Brandon Sanderson
He is happy that are all supposedly extinct. They would kill him.
Windrunner17
It seemed like from the story there is a strong connection between the larkin and the ancient lanceryn. Would you be willing to answer whether these are the same species by two names or if there is some evolutionary step between them?
Brandon Sanderson
I was a tad vague on purpose, but you're looking at it the right way. It's KIND OF the same species.
WrenElsewhere
Like a pokemon evolution? Most Larkin are charmanders, Chiri-Chiri is a charmeleon, lanceryn are charizard?
Brandon Sanderson
Have to RAFO it from here out. I'll get into it eventually, don't worry.
Questioner
Can a larkin become a lanceryn?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
coltonx9
Do larkins have gemhearts?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO. You can assume that Rosharan creatures have some sort of gemheart, generally. That is not 100% but you can assume it's a thing they'll have. But I will RAFO specifics.
Jay Mike McCue
In regards to Chiri-Chiri, when she's fully grown, will her size be comparable to Ruth the white dragon, as large as Lessa's Ramoth, or a size in between?
Brandon Sanderson
So, they can get to full--I would say as large or larger than the larger Anne McCaffrey dragons. Whether Chiri-Chiri will grow to that size, it depends. There is variety in adult sizes of the larkin.
xnkvbo
Are there any different effects on a larkin depending on what kind of Investiture it eats?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, but they are not enormous.
Stormlightning
Do larkins have a regular digestive system?
Brandon Sanderson
I'll RAFO that.
Questioner
If you were a Leecher, could you destroy a Shardblade?
Brandon Sanderson
I'm going to RAFO that for now, let's just say that it would be incredibly difficult if it were possible, and I'm not going to even say if it is. But that kind of power...
Questioner
Let's just say they were burning duralumin as well.
Brandon Sanderson
Let's just say that the Investiture in a Shardblade is much greater than your average Allomancer, but... This type of thing is not unheard of in the Cosmere. The larkin, the Leechers, and Nightblood all have a similar sort of thing going on. Destroying a Shardblade would be really hard. And Investiture resists other forms of Investiture, so.
Questioner
[...] For the picture of all the Radiants and their surges, in the background there’s two dragons. Are those just--
Brandon Sanderson
Those are not dragons. Those are little beasties from the world. You’ve seen them before.
Argent
Larkin?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah. But you can call them "dragon bugs" if you want, that’s what Isaac called them when I described them.
Questioner
So are they just from the world, or do they have any over-reaching signif--
Brandon Sanderson
Well they have a certain ability that you may have seen in-world, which is pretty distinctive and different, and so they have a lot of mythological import. They are not widely known by most cultures right now.
Hoser
Can you tell me something about the larkin and their abilities?
Brandon Sanderson
You will see something about them in the second book. Their abilities are tied to stormlight.
Questioner
He's asking if a larkin is capable of pushing Stormlight into someone as well as drawing it out.
Brandon Sanderson
Ahhh, that's an excellent question. They actually feed on Investiture. Like some other people and things that you've seen. *laughter*
Questioner
So is that a yes or no?
Brandon Sanderson
That is more of a no than a yes. *laughter*
Questioner
So that's highly unlikely that that's how Szeth was resurrected.
Brandon Sanderson
That is correct... You did see how Szeth came back foreshadowed earlier in the books. So if you watch for it, the means by which that happens is in there.
Questioner
How early? *laughter*
Ben McSweeney
It's a Larkin [on the back of the Stormlight-themed playing cards]. It's based on a design we worked up for the icon in the book and on the cover of the novella, but I worked out the anatomy the same as I do for all the other critters. Bear in mind, any artwork you're seeing at this time remains subject to change.
It's sorta like a wasp, but the wing profile and the flight dynamics (such as they be) are more like that of a hummingbird.
William Anderson
Why are do the Windrunners, Elsecallers, Stonewards, and Dustbringers have an extra connection on the Surgebinding diagram? Why do the Edgedancer, Skybreaker, Lightweaver, Willshaper's have a broken connection on the diagram? What are the dragon type things in the back of the diagram?
Brandon Sanderson
The dragon type things are a certain animal you've seen several places in the story so far.
These connections will be explained eventually, but remember it's not the orders being connected, but instead their elemental representations. This diagram is very metaphysical, and some of the elements of it are cultural.
Lairo1
Is Chiri-Chiri's kind descended from Yolen dragons?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO! :)
Questioner
Who can consume more Investiture, Nightblood or Chiri-Chiri?
Brandon Sanderson
Nightblood. Chiri-Chiri would get full a lot faster.
Lance Alvein
(paraphrased)
The creatures on the inside cover of Way of Kings - we've had various discussion about what they actually are, and some people are calling them Crabwasps and other Dragonwasps. Can you tell me anything else about them, and can you pick one of the two for us to use?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
The decision for that image was made near the last minute to have Isaac make the image. It is an important symbol, and will be mentioned in detail in later books. While neither name is correct, they both could work until the official name is revealed (Brandon wouldn't pick one over the other).
So, those things on the inside cover of [The Way of Kings]. Crabwasps, or crabdragons?
(These guys, for clarification.)
They range between the size of a hand to perhaps the size of a small melon. You'll find out more about them eventually. Like most things from Aimia, they're pretty odd, and are also now very rare since the Scouring.
Questioner
If Hoid encountered a larkin, would anything happen?
Brandon Sanderson
Hoid is aware of larkin.
Questioner
So he's avoiding them?
Brandon Sanderson
I'm just gonna say he's aware of them.
botanicaxu
Will we see a sketch of larkin some day?
Ben McSweeney
I think you're the third person to ask about larkins, so I'm putting it on a to-do list. :)
donethemath
What can you tell me about Rysn and her Larkin?
Brandon Sanderson
That larkin is kind of a stinker.
Aurora
If you had to choose a creature from Roshar to be your pet, what would it be?
Brandon Sanderson
It would be a larkin, obviously. This was the little beasty that was given to Rysn in the second book. They are very cool in that they feed on Investiture, and that turns out to be a really handy power to have. If you're not going to have magic of your own in the cosmere, then having the ability to eat other people's magic is really handy. Plus, they are the closest thing that I've had appear on-screen in a non-humanoid form to a dragon so far in the books. They're little lizard wasp dragons. Yeah, wasp-dragon, I would say, is what a larkin is. And that would be a really cool thing to have.
Stormlightning
How hard would it be for a Sleepless to imitate the larkin powers in one of their hordelings?
Brandon Sanderson
Oh, they would take generations and generations of purposeful attempts at mutating that out.
Stormlightning
Could they theoretically do it?
Brandon Sanderson
They could theoretically do it.
Questioner
Are there any other Investiture-sucking creatures?
Brandon Sanderson
There are creatures that feed on Investiture other than the larkin, yes.
Questioner
Are they on the other worlds?
Brandon Sanderson
There are some on other planets, not every planet has one.
AhoyMatey
(paraphrased)
Are larkin and lanceryn one and the same?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
There’s a little bit more than just [being] one and the same, but in some ways they are.
edgwardoe
How much have you thought about the evolution of the biology on Roshar? It seems like the creatures we saw in Dawnshard attacking the crew (Sleepless aside, they're a whole other can of cremlings) are basically amphibious chasmfiends? Or some descendent of larkin? Or even an offshoot of hordelings?
Brandon Sanderson
I imagine there's a lot of aquatic Rosharan megafauna, as many prey species on the planet have literal sources of energy inside of them that (with the right biological adaptations) can be turned into calories. Mix the low gravity, high oxygen, environment--and the possibility for bonding spren for other adaptations--and there's some real fun to be had.
Rosharan Sleepless, as a species who can self-evolve over internal generations, have managed to interbreed with some species of cremlings to come up with specialized hordelings to do some remarkable things.
Argent
On Nalthis, can aluminum prevent somebody from Returning? So if you kill somebody with aluminum and leave the weapon in them?
Brandon Sanderson
I don't think that's going to be enough. I think that…
Argent
Different way then?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah there are totally ways. I don’t think that that’s going to be enough. There's a difference between being inert and blocking Investiture, and actually sucking out Investiture. If you stuck Nightblood inside of a corpse; there are certain things… if you had a larkin or whatever sitting there that ingests the Investiture as it was coming in, that would prevent [Returning]. I think with aluminum you would just have somebody that comes alive with a wound, so maybe... But I think it would just heal around [the aluminum] and you'd just have a spike in you, kind of like Hemalurgy—but not like Hemalurgy. It's inert, but you know what I mean.
Argent
Which suggests you can't actually Awaken aluminum.
Brandon Sanderson
No. It's not going to hold a charge.
Kurkistan
I assume you can't Forge it, either.
Brandon Sanderson
No. In fact the unForgable metal-
Argent
Ralkalest?
Brandon Sanderson
There's an unForgeable metal mentioned.
Kurkistan
Could we call it aluminum if we wanted to?
Brandon Sanderson
Let's just say that aluminum through most cultures was considered a mythological metal, and when people could actually find some, they considered it more valuable than gold, in our culture. So just sayin'...
