General Twitter 2019

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Name
Name General Twitter 2019
Date
Date Jan. 1, 2019
Entries
Entries 23
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#1 Copy

Argent

Hey, now that the Hemalurgic Table is out in the world, can we get a normal image of it on the website so we don't have to rely on photos from people's books? :)

Isaac Stewart

Eventually. I'm working on the actual final version that will wind up as the art print. I don't want to release a digital version until it's the final one.

#2 Copy

Isaac Stewart

Thought I'd just get this out into the world since I hadn't yet: The Feruchemical symbol for Harmony.

ArgentSun

Ah, so I am not the only one who thought they looked like fangs

Isaac Stewart

I was looking to the Feruchemical symbols for lerasium and atium for inspiration. Thus the sort of fang-like projections. :) This is starting to look very Decepticons to me...

QuestReadyMD

So cool. The symmetry is perfect. I also love that you can see elements of the symbols of lerasium and atium in it.

Isaac Stewart

That's exactly what I was going for. Glad you saw those symbols in there!

ArgentSun

Hey, you say Harmony do you mean harmonium? As far as we know, we only have symbols for metals, not Shards

Isaac Stewart

The symbol for Scadrial (at least among the Cosmere-aware) is also the symbol for Harmony but will probably also be used for Harmonium. It was a mashup of the other god metal symbols. It was natural to make a symbol to fill this void in the Feruchemical symbols as well.

Joe Sanders

Was this on purpose or is it an accident? I can see both the symbol of the Chalice and symbol of the phallus in this, is this a sign of him being an Eunuch?

Isaac Stewart

Totally on accident!

Giffyglyph

Rare to see symmetry in Feruchemy glyphs; does that reflect Harmony's "balanced" nature? Or perhaps an implicit connection to Roshar's glyphs...?

Isaac Stewart

Harmony's symbol was symmetrical and balanced in its Allomantic form, so I decided to carry that over in its Feruchemical form. No relationship to Roshar's glyphs. :)

#3 Copy

Questioner

What was your favorite idea for a story that you realized you'd never be able to write? (say, due to not enough time, not a larger enough market, too difficult, etc)

Brandon Sanderson

The story that keeps eluding me is the one I've often referred to as "the Silence Divine." It's a story about a world where bacteria and viruses have a symbiosis with the magic, and grant powers to people who catch associated diseases. For example, if you get the common cold, you might be able to fly - but only for the period of time when you're sick.

I think the magic system is cool, and I have a great idea for a plot. (Weaponized antibiotics as a method of bringing down society's ruling class, who are people who have a persistent disease that gives them powers.) But I haven't been able to make it work - part is the knowledge that I need to know more about immunology, and theories of diseases spreading, before I can really do this story justice. (For example, figuring out the balance between the ruling class's disease, their powers, and making it something that could be cured through use of antibiotics administered like a poison.)

The other issue has been time. Stories like the Stormlight Archive dominate a lot of my time, making smaller-scale novellas (like this one would likely be) difficult to squeeze in. I only have so much time for them, after all.

#4 Copy

Questioner

Assuming I could travel anywhere in the universe, could I eventually find the Cosmere. In other words is the Cosmere in our universe/dimension, or in a different universe/dimension.

Brandon Sanderson

Good question. The answer is no - there is no path through our universe to the cosmere. It is another universe, another dimension, where the laws of physics are different from our own. I don't intend to ever connect the cosmere to Earth or our universe - in fact, one of the big decision points so far in determining if a project is going to be the cosmere or not is whether or not I want to link it to Earth in any way.

#6 Copy

Pastor Chris

Don't suppose you're flying by Leeds while you're jetting around Europe? I'm guessing Stephen Leeds is named after Leeds after all!

Brandon Sanderson

Afraid not. (Though yes, he was. I was traveling in Europe when I wrote the first Legion story.)

#7 Copy

Cephandrius

Is it true that you invented Nazh?

Isaac Stewart

Brandon and I invented him together. I kept calling Nalizar from the Rithmatist "Nazrilof" until the name became sort of an in-joke. When we needed someone to collect ephemera in the Cosmere, Nazh was the perfect choice.

Cephandrius

He's one of my favorite worldhoppers. Here's hoping for a novella or something to tell us about his background in the future.

Isaac Stewart

Glad you like him! There are tentative plans for some Nazh stories. I don't know when they'll happen. But we do hope to bring you all his backstory at some point!

#8 Copy

Keegan Laycock

I’m now extremely anxious to see the symbol for Hemalurgy.

Isaac Stewart

We considered creating these but soon realized that Allomantic symbols were probably used by Hemalurgists and actually might've been Hemalurgic symbols before they were Allomantic. (See the little nails sticking through each symbol?) Feruchemy, though, needed something different.

Keegan Laycock

Given the rather dark and arcane nature of Hemalurgy, it does make me wonder if Rashek simply co-opted it’s symbology for Allomancy, given the quick spread of Allomantic powers during his rise and reign and the need for classification.

Isaac Stewart

That's very likely!

#9 Copy

Robert Moreau

Is there a single Alomantic symbol for “survive” or would it need to be spelled out?

Isaac Stewart

It would need to be spelled out. The Elendel Scadrians have an alphabetic system rather than a symbolic system.

#10 Copy

Questioner

How did Vasher give his Breath to Denth and not die? He's Returned, so if he gives away his Breath, he dies, right?

Brandon Sanderson

Vasher is capable of some things that most other Returned don't live long enough to figure out. We'll go into details in future books, assuming I get to them.

#11 Copy

Ben Gowens

In terms of Feruchemy, wouldn't storing Investiture reduces one's ability to store Investiture? Since Feruchemy is a type of Investiture, wouldn't storing that Investiture reduce one's ability to use Feruchemy? It's basically using Investiture to store said Investiture.

And if so, how exactly can a Feruchemist store Investiture? Wouldn't storing Investiture create a kind of paradox?

Brandon Sanderson

I promise to explain eventually. This one is meant to be a little confusing.

#13 Copy

Yohan Rivera

How did Lopen suck Stormlight in WoK? I assumed that as a squire he needed Kaladin to be around in order to practice his abilities.

Brandon Sanderson

We're playing a little loose and free w/timeline there. Peter asked me about this, and we determined Kaladin was close enough by the point this happened--though I can't remember if that was because Kaladin was on his way back, or if the distance was just naturally close enough.

#17 Copy

@elleojelo

Will we get the poly triangle we deserve?

Brandon Sanderson

I could see a world where Shallan and Adolin would go for it, but Kaladin is as prudish as I am, so I doubt you'd persuade him. :) For now, we'll have to leave that to the imaginations of the fanfic writers.

#20 Copy

Brycen Moore

Is there, or will there at some point be, a glyph to represent ‘the answer’ to the most important step a man can take?

Isaac Stewart

I suspect a two-word glyph pair for the answer could work, though I don't think we have glyphs for those two words yet.

#21 Copy

Kaldonis

Will we ever be seeing an ancient Scadrian symbol for harmonium/ettmetal. I know it didn't exist back then (as far as we know!) but many fans use those style of symbols to represent Hemalurgy.

Isaac Stewart

I don't think we'll see an official version of the ancient symbol for harmonium anytime soon. I believe, in-world, that the Hemalurgists use the Allomantic symbols for the metals.

#23 Copy

Jofwu

So should we *not* read into the colors [on the Warbreaker leatherbound Nalthis symbol]? Or are Tears of Edgli purple and yellow? (and some black?)

Oh wait, they come in several colors of course. Nevermind.

Isaac Stewart

Yeah, don't read into the colors of the symbol. :) That's just what looks good on the leatherbound.

Event details
Name
Name General Twitter 2019
Date
Date Jan. 1, 2019
Entries
Entries 23
Upload sources