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In The Rithmatist you previously confirmed that Lines of Vigor behave a lot like light waves.
Mmhmm.
So if two lines of vigor collide do we have wave interference patterns? Does it matter if--
Yeah, I am planning some wave interference patterns and things like that, definitely.
Does it matter if they come from the same Rithmatist?
Eh... It should not, no.
Chalklings, we know, can catch rides off of Nebrask. If Melody had chalklings on a slate and carried them around, could she give them verbal commands later, after she had made them?
You will have to find out how her magic works as we progress. Everyone would say "No, that's not possible" but she had done things that are supposedly-- that seem impossible. So what you are proposing is probably likely, probably possible, but it depends on her magic.
Could you draw a flying carpet with a glyph of rending so it could carry you, with a line of Forbiddance at the back--
I think that’s a little beyond what it could do.
How does a Rithmatist draw a Mark's Cross structure if they can't cross their own Lines of Forbiddance?
You can get it right up close, and I kind of made it my mind that if you get right up close it kind of snaps together. That was my work around for it, that you can get up and make it. It's also like a magnetism thing where you can kind of push into it a little bit. The harder you push, the more force it pushes back on them.
So those were my workarounds in my head. That one actually didn't strike me until I was halfway through the book and I was like "Hey wait a minute, how do you actually make this line work?" So I kind of put those two things on it. That's the in-world in but I didn't talk about it a ton in the books.
If you put a Line of Forbidding on a wall going up could it be stairs?
It could theoretically work but it would be like a magnet and push you off. It’d be pretty hard to use.
What are the basic requirements for a chalking to function in the Rithmatist world?
I'm going to RAFO that because I'm working on the second book right now and I don't want to-- Yeah.
We've kind of circled around the issue, but Professor Layton has talked about conics in general. Are we going to see hyperbolic lines and parabolas *audio obscured*
So, there is discussion of that in my notes, we'll see if I can get to it. It's more-- The cultural stuff for book two is more important to me right now, I'm not sure how far I will advance Rithmatics in the next book or not, but we will do some kind of origin stuff and fundamentals in the next one.
So you have Lines of Forbiddance, you draw them on the ground and you get forcefields. How about when you draw them on a chalkboard? Does it project out into the room?
It would project out into the room, yes.
It seems like-- So the cosmere stuff keeps the physics in there, with the Coinshots, and things like that, it doesn't ignore mass an inertia.
No.
I love that! And I love that about Jim Butcher's books too. 'Cause they keep the physics. It seems like, with the young adult stuff, it's more based on intent...
Yeah, the young adult stuff, I do not keep physics. In Steelheart, or in Alcatraz... or in Rithmatist. I don't even worry about it.
They didn't know what the line did until they knew what it was supposed to do.
Yeah, intent is important in-- Remember the magic system for Rithmatist started as cosmere. And then I made the decision with it that I was not going to have it be in the cosmere. But the magic system started as a cosmere magic system...
*audio lost*
...you can do a lot when you can break laws of conservation of matter and energy, when you can cheat them by using the Spiritual Realm. But things that we really cheated on is redshifting and things like this on the time dilation in Mistborn. I don't know if you noticed that, but there should be redshift, there should be weird radiation things, there should be-- And so we had to work around a lot of those things. And we've got our workarounds in the back of our heads. But the other weird one is when Wax is flying, and he reduces his mass, I have to remember that he speeds up, when his mass goes down because of centripetal force.
You actually mentioned at a signing I went to last year that the Rithmatist magic was going to be, like a cosmere thing, but you pulled it out. What about it wasn't working?
It wasn't the magic, it was the setting. I decided I didn't want Earth in the cosmere, even a alternate version of it. The magic still kind of works very cosmere-y.
So, 9-point circles are important... You can get all the different point placements as special cases of the nine point circles.
Uh-huh.
You can also get 5 point; is that valid Rithmatically?
Yeah, that would work.
And 8-point?
8-point they haven't done very much experimentation with.
But you could!
But you could, yeah.
If you drew a stick figure of a chalkling, would it be able to spike other chalklings and get their powers?
*laughter* No, because no one in this world knows what that is, because they're separate universes, but it is very clever. If you were doing it, I'd probably let you get away with it.
If you use different circle centers rather than the orthocenter, you can do 9-point conic constructions and make 9-point ellipses?
Yes.
Is that valid?
I would say yes, that could be valid.
Wasn't there a rule about ellipses being a little--
Yes, they are a little less strong.
--they're weak because the long sides are weaker than the short sides.
Yeah, but this would work. There's not much reason to use it because the other is naturally-- has a stronger integrity than this, but you could theoretically do that. The defenses that make use of an ellipse make use of the strengths of an ellipse already. But yeah that would be possible.
With an ellipse you are asking for your opponent to flank you and come at you from the sides. And then if he pushes your circle out you're in trouble.
Was the guy supposed to see one of the Shadowblazes or was he--
What was supposed to happen happened.
Ok but, if you weren't to become a Rithmatist would you...
Yes, you would still see one... but different events would happen. You're supposed to stay quiet about that.
Lines of Protection. Is the field generated once the line is completed? Or is it a progressive thing?
Almost everything that's going with this takes effect as the person's thinking of it taking effect. There is a mental connection. So, as you are drawing, until you are finished, there is nothing there; unless, sometimes, you want it to be. There is a direct link. The Rithmatist does have a magic that is consistent with cosmere rules. I decided not to set it in the cosmere primarily because I did not want Earth to be in the cosmere.
So how strongly consistent is it with <realmatic theory>?
I didn't keep myself completely to the rules. It could fit, but... don't take anything The Rithmatist does and apply it to the other books.
You create some of the most elaborate magic systems in fantasy today; these systems function as intrinsic parts of your worlds and characters. Typically, how do you address the different types of magic systems in your different books? Do you define these systems before you start writing the books, or do they evolve and develop as you go along?
The answer to that is yes! It's different for every book. With my Cosmere books—which are the shared universe of my epic fantasies—I need to be a little more rigorous. There are fundamental underlying principles that guide the magic systems, and so there's a larger developmental phase before I start writing the book. Then I stick more strictly to the rules I've given myself.
All the way back in 2007, I was writing one of my epic fantasies, and it just wasn't working. I needed a break to something creative, different, and distinctive. So I jumped ship, abandoning that epic fantasy, and wrote The Rithmatist instead, which had a lot less planning than one of my epic fantasies.
With something like The Rithmatist—which is outside the cosmere—I'm allowed a little more freedom, which is one of the reasons I like writing books like this, where I allow myself to develop it as I write. The magic was the first thing that got me excited about The Rithmatist, so I based the book around it.
The first thing I wrote was the scene—now late in chapter one—where Joel watches Fitch get defeated by Nalizar in the classroom. It started out on a chalkboard, but I eventually moved it to the floor because that made more sense. As I was writing these chapters, I developed the Rithmatic lines and let the story feed the magic and the magic feed the story in a way that some writers call "discovery written."
Could you make fences, like Rithmatic fences, by having fence posts and drawing Lines of Forbiddance down them and creating a forcefield--
Theoretically, yes.
So you have circles, or Lines of Warding. If you draw a semi-circle, like if a Rithmatist was backed up against a wall, can just a semi-circle act as a Line of Warding?
It can, but the sides are going to be so weak. I mean they can just go around it, but yes, the semi-circle would work.
So if you drew a semi-circle, and drew the other half up the wall--
That would be fine.
Would it be equally strong as if it was all flat on the ground?
It would probably-- It would be really hard to get that corner so it would be. In theoretical, magical Christmasland, yes. 'Cause chalklings are two-dimensional, so they don't even see that it's changed really. I mean it does but--
I'm going to be cheeky and ask another question.
Is there a defense you think you'd favor as a Rithmatist? Either in a duel, the Melee, or at Nebrask? Do you think you'd be more offensive, or defensive? Would you favor chalklings or Lines of Vigor for attacks?
What style chalklings do you think you'd have? Melody made fantasy creatures, Fitch tended towards people, Nalizar made monsters. Do you think you'd tend towards a type?
OOooo, nobody ever asks me Rithmatist questions.
I think I'm reasonably good at eyeballing dimensions, but I got a bend towards symmetry, so I'd probably not be fast with a 9-point. The Eskridge and Matson defenses are 8-pointers though, with the Eskridge being more suited to a melee and the Matson for a duel. I'd probably favor the Matson in a pinch 'cause it's fast to draw.
I think I'd create a lot of fat octopus chalklings for defense, 'cause there's a strategic mobility advantage in those long tentacles, even if the body is anchored to a point. Not sure what I'd use for attack... probably something I can draw a lot of, very quickly, so I can try to Zerg Rush my opponent while using my octochalklings and Vigor lines to hold back their attacks. Millipedes, maybe, with lots of fast legs and pincers.
I've just realized my side of the field is all bugs and tentacles. I think I might be a thematic bad guy. Or worse, the bad guy's henchman.
Now I wanna see you and Isaac Stewart in a Rithmatic duel... or maybe fighting with Aons.
Really? No one asks you Rithmatist questions? I just finished a re-read. I love that book. Did you have to learn a lot of math to draw it all? Or did you know the math already? Or did you just draw it with the explanation and forget all the math?
I'm pretty sure I've deduced that the Line of Silencing is based on the involute of a circle, the way a Line of Warding is based on a circle marked by the significant points of a triangle...
I think the Rithmatist will be a lot more popular when we've got another book in the basket. Brandon has a very good idea for the second novel, but it involves getting into imaginary revisions of actual history and cultures with living descendants, and he's looking to be careful as he does that.
I'm actually not responsible for any of the mathy bits of the novel, Brandon designed every defense and wrote all the rules and descriptions himself. My job was to take his diagrams and drawings from MS Paint to finished renders.
Because I rendered the illustrations in Photoshop, it helped to ensure that the geometry was perfect. Flawless circles, razor-straight lines, symmetry and point-placement clocked and locked. I could have done the same thing with compass and ruler, but it was significantly easier to build geometric shapes in-system and then texture and revise.
I got to be nice and creative with chalklings, but that's my place on the team. When it comes to the rules and the math, that's 100% Brandon.
If you were to draw a Line of Forbiddance on a portable chalkboard, could you actually knock somebody overside the head?
It wouldn't knock them over the head, because it kinda has the magnetic repulsion sort of thing, but we will get into moving things as we go further in the series.
In The Rithmatist, in that world, do they ever use Rithmatics for practical purposes? I can easily see using Lines of Forbiddance for children to just draw a line on the wall, and like--
They should do it more than they do. But there are people using it, chalklings included.
In Rithmatist, they talk about it's random to be chosen as a Rithmatist, but Melody says that everyone in her family has been chosen. Is it random? Or...
It is not random.
I asked him why he didn’t mention how Jews felt about Rithmatics.
He said that they had conflicting feelings about it and different ones had different ideas - they also had their own lore about it.
Where did the idea to use chalk come from?
Y'know, I have trouble pinpointing that one. I remember the idea of chalk circles, and things like that, and just seeing those in the lore of our world's sort of magical mythology and thinking about chalk circles. I remember thinking about how I want to do a book some day about people who play a game with magic, and things like that. At the end it is just one of things that I'm like "Hey, magical Starcraft with chalk. Go!" and I just started working on it, and it happened.
In The Rithmatist, in the Inception chamber, there's that chalk creature. Does that have anything to do with how they gain Rithmatic powers?
It has everything to do with how they gain Rithmatic powers.
How did you get the idea for The Rithmatist?
The Rithmatist started with the drawings. I did the little doodles first, of all the defenses and things. And I just started drawing and drawing and drawing. And I drew all those out, and I thought, "Okay, I'm gonna write a book around this idea." I wanted to do something where people played a sport with magic, rather than only using it for, like, war and things.
How high up do they [Lines of Forbiddance] go?
Thickness determines height.
What gave you the idea to use chalk in Rithmatist?
I cant even remember. I was just wanting to play magical Starcraft on the ground and chalk made the most sense.
With the chalk *inaudible*
They do not believe right now, but the study of actual chalk composition is a relatively new science that they have not paid enough attention to.
All the defense's names are based off of families he knew in Nebraska, and the evil Tower [of Nebrask] is placed where his childhood house would be.
Would charcoal do anything?
Yes, charcoal would work but probably not as well as chalk.
So, the chalk circles in Rithmatist. Are they, like, related to the chalk circle quote that you get with the BYU honor code?
No, that's not an inspiration I'm aware that. It could have been in the back of my head, but it was not a specific inspiration.
So when you have multiple points, that are like a point where there are multiple things, could you bind multiple things to that point?
Um yes, and you can always bind multiple things to a point--
Oh you can always bind--
So you can bind a chalkling and a circle to the same point?
Yeah, but it's going to make it weaker, so you don't usually want to do it. 'Cause you are better off to just stick circle on and get multiple points on of that...
But if it had multiple ones, would that make it less bad to join two?
No.
So it doesn't--
It doesn't. Good question!
You confirmed at the Atlanta signing that 9-point constructions could be applied to ellipses to generate valid Rithmatic defenses. Could the same be done using open conics such as hyperbolas and parabolas? (Or do open conics become lines of Forbiddance instead of lines of Warding?) Also, the disparity in strength between the sides and points of an ellipse is attributed to their difference in curvature. Does this mean that a large circle is inherently weaker than a small circle since its local curvature is less?
Yes to all questions, though with a circle, there is an innate structural strength that does weaken with larger sizes, but it isn't as fast as the curvature would indicate.
In [Rithmatics], how can you tell that a circle is two-starred, four-starred, or nine-starred?
It’s by where you start crossing the lines. Where you cross the circle will determine what points it is. For example, if you draw a line here, there are only a certain number of places where you can draw another line that'll fit. It’s just by where you start your first line intersecting it, the first line intersecting it determines where you can draw other lines and keep its stability.
Lines of Vigor, do they behave like light waves?
Yes.
So a higher frequency means it’s better at penetrating, lower frequency transfers energy and moves stuff?
Yes.
Nice, I didn't know that one.
So, when they bounce off Lines of Forbiddance, do they follow laws of reflection?
Yes.
They should always reflect at the same angle. Think of, like, a pool table.
If a Line of Vigor is moving from concrete onto asphalt, is it changing?
It's going to act like light transferring to a new medium.
So it refracts?
It's going to-- Yeah, it's going to refract.
So it changes speed as it moves?
Yep. So you get a different wavelength, or whatever, once transfers onto a new medium.
At the end of The Rithmatist that weird chalk creature he meets in the chapel, can you tell us something about that?
That weird chalk creature is deeply involved with the magic system and you will find out a lot more in the next book.
If you drew a Line of Forbiddance on, like, a slate and then you can hold the slate--
Moving stuff around starts playing with things. So I'm going to say, I will deal with that in the next book but it doesn't work how you want it to work.
Okay, I'll accept that answer.
For logistical reasons, when I was building the magic, I was "Ehhh, we've got to not have this be possible."
I asked if we had met any other Rithmatists who gained any their abilities from some other method than the Inception ceremony besides Nalazar.
That was a flat out no. "Unless you include what Harding was doing."
