Recent entries

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #201 Copy

    Questioner

    Was Tanavast a dragon?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Tanavast was not, but that's an excellent question. There are some other dragons out there. If you keep asking, you might get some yeses; but this is a no.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #202 Copy

    Questioner

    In Yumi, Hoid hypothesizes about Cultivation giving us nightmares to help us survive trauma. Does Cultivation have influence over people on all planets? Not just Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is basically playing to his audience and speaking in terms they would understand.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #204 Copy

    Questioner

    How many different types of Aviar are there, and what do they all do?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is a RAFO because I haven't even decided yet. What I decided is that there are dozens upon dozens of different kinds of Aviar. So what that tells me is, I don't want to nail down what all of them do, because if I do, then I might need one for a story in the future. So, this is kind of how-a-sausage-is-made sort of thing. It is on a magic system like this where I'm saving to maybe talk about more in the future, I don't nail things down. When I need to write an entire series, it's something I often will, nail everything down. But when there are as many Aviar as there potentially are, I'm not gonna do that. So, you may imagine powers that may come to exist in the future, but I'm not gonna tell you what they all are.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #205 Copy

    Questioner

    You talked about how Hoid would never want to go near Nightblood. If he were to be in proximity to Nightblood, would he be, like, Force-pushed away? Like, he wouldn't be able to get close to him?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No. He would not want to touch him. The thing about Nightblood is... Hoid's one of the few who knows exactly how dangerous this thing is. And beyond that, Hoid depends so much on the memories that he has in his Breaths, and that would be one of the first things that would get sucked out by Nightblood. So if he were to touch Nightblood, he might lose centuries. And this is a big deal to Hoid. So, yes, he could theoretically pick up Nightblood. It would just be a lot more disastrous more quickly for him than it probably would be for others.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #207 Copy

    Questioner

    Now that Skyward and Reckoners are over, and it seems like Apocalypse Guard is never gonna get written, is there anything you can tell us about the connection between their multiverses?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I've kinda been playing loose and freaky. Multiverses are annoying, right? When I wrote Steelheart, I realized, "Ah, multiverses are annoying." And the more I worked on Apocalypse Guard, the more I realized I didn't want to lean into this. And I'm glad I didn't, because as certain media properties have shown us, multiverses are just real hard to juggle and keep any sense of weight or value to the actions of the characters. And so, one of the reasons I didn't want to release Apocalypse Guard is I want to rethink all of that. I do prefer things like I did in Frugal Wizard, where I'm like, "There are certain stable realities. It's not an infinite number of realities; there's an infinite number of possible realities, but some of them are solid. Some of them are real." So you can find alternate versions of yourself, just not an infinite number of them.

    So that's one of the places I was going with that. And Apocalypse Guard did lean into this and start to progress that idea. I think one way you could do a multiverse (kind of have your cake and eat it, too) is just be like, "There's not four billion versions of you. There might be seven." And things like that, that are what we call stable, and "real." Which allows you to kind of play with that idea of multiple versions of yourself without everything going out the window in terms of... You know, you guys have seen Rick and Morty. It doesn't matter if we die or if we mess up the plan. There's another one over there. We can only do this an infinite number of times. So, that was one of the things I was playing with, there.

    And then, multiverses are just, like, so overdone. Everything Everywhere All At Once did the best one, and we don't need to even try. But that movie is proof you can still have emotional connection and power in a story that is about alternate versions of yourself. And so it is possible.

    So what's the connection? I do kind of have in my head that each of these non-Cosmere properties kind of are on the continuum with this multiverse and are shades of one another, and Apocalypse Guard was gonna kind of be jumping between them. But whether or not we'll get to that, I don't know, because I certainly don't want to have Skyward be ruined by the existence of multiverses. I like how Skyward turned out; the whole series, I'm really proud of. So that's the question mark in the back of my head.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #208 Copy

    Questioner

    My question is about biology and genetics. We've seen that magical systems rely on *inaudible* genetics, like allomancy, or spiritual DNA. Can we use *inaudible* CRISPR to either weaponize or take someone's magical ability or give them a magical ability?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Kind of. The in-world version of this is Hemalurgy, as you already know. There are methods that would do this, but straight genetics alone with CRISPR wouldn't do it. You need the spiritual component for these to work, almost assuredly. You might be able to use CRISPR... no, I don't think there are any of them it would work on. Is it possible you could make someone into a kandra? That may be possible, right? But I'm not 100% sure on that.

    Questioner

    Can you use CRISPR with Ashyn viruses or bacteria?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Probably not, but that's more likely. I'd have to think on that. I'm gonna say "probably not" for now, but we'll minorly RAFO that. Good questions.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #210 Copy

    AllomancerSam (paraphrased)

    Where did Hoid get the shirt? Is it widely available on Scadrial?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    The really loud, colorful shirt? It's not a Scadrian shirt.

    MistbornTaylor

    What do you mean it's not a Scadrian shirt BRANDON

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's not a Scadrian shirt in the same way that a lot of very kitschy products in our world are not a product of the culture they propose to represent...

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #214 Copy

    Questioner

    If you were divesting yourself of all Identity, and then tapped a massive amount of Connection and Investiture, would you be able to instantly have access to, say, the Surges on Roshar without oaths?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, you wanna get the Surges without oaths? What you're saying is you divest yourself of Identity, you highly Invest yourself... You're still going to need something that's gonna tell that Investiture what to be and how to manifest in yourself. And so if it's the right Intent then maybe, right? 'Cause you can have both Identity and Intent on Investiture and you can unkey it to one or the other or both. And so that might be... But the thing is, you're still gonna have to know... This is a step toward getting what you want, but there's still gotta be something that tells it... "You're holding a massive amount of Investiture, what do I do with this? Do I teleport you across the Cosmere to another planet? What do I do with it?" And you're gonna have to have something to give structure to that Investiture. You're missing a step.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #215 Copy

    Questioner

    Suppression fabrials. They don't work above the Fourth Ideal for Radiants, but they work on all Fused. Why?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Fused have, in general, a smaller amount of Investiture—or access to a smaller amount of Investiture—than a Radiant of those oaths. That's the dividing line that you can use to figure that out.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #216 Copy

    Questioner

    I was wondering if the Skybreakers' armor spren... what spren they are?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well... Do you have any guesses?

    Questioner

    Stormspren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, not stormspren, good guess. Any other guesses?

    Gravitationspren. We're going with gravitationspren for them. So you should see some little hints of that in future books.

    And this isn't too much of a spoiler 'cause we will be releasing all of these when the RPG comes out, 'cause you gotta know how you get your armor when you play the RPG.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #217 Copy

    msyverw

    So, what's up with Canticle? You've got the sunlight, it appears to be Invested and then the planet's core is trying to suck it up. And you know, where does it go after it does that, and...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, Canticle was built for a very specific purpose by a very powerful being in the Cosmere, that I will someday get to. You're going to see some more stuff like this. Basically, megastructures that imitate planets or other sort of heavenly bodies.

    msyverw

    So it's not like some avatar of Autonomy or something like that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's not an avatar of anything, it was built for a specific purpose, yes.

    Just wait til I get to the Grand Apparatus, you're gonna love that. What was that voice that talked about a future Cosmere planet? Hmm!

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #218 Copy

    Questioner

    Nomad was able to overcome his Torment. Would someone else be able to do something similar using soulstamps?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, this is theoretically possible.

    Soulstamps are one of the easiest ways to play with spiritual DNA and spiritwebs and stuff like that, so yeah.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #220 Copy

    Questioner

    Is Mraize a Sleepless?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mraize is not a Sleepless, despite the scar. Sometimes it may be something I use to indicate someone is a Sleepless. It's an excellent question, but I can go ahead and let you know Mraize is not a Sleepless.

    I'm glad somebody asked that, because I realize now if I ever give a scar to somebody they're like "oh that means Sleepless," but not always. Sometimes scars just mean you've been in a lot of fights.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #221 (not searchable) Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    <Dyel> had the most unusual of visitors. That was not uncommon in Iri these days, now that the owners had returned. They walked the streets with bodies bearing patterns, like they were painted red, white, and black. But these visitors were not of the owners. These visitors were different.

    The three sat at a table in her shop, on the far side, near the cubbies on the wall where her grandfather—before his murder—had put shoes. They huddled around their table, and when they’d come in, they’d pretended they were from “the east.” But <Dyel> knew accents, and these men were not from the east. Besides, their clothing was very strange, particularly the tallest man, with the long white coat and the strange spectacles peeking from his pocket.

    She hovered in the doorway to the kitchen after delivering their tea, listening in, hoping her mother wouldn’t notice her loitering.

    “Are you certain this is the right time?” asked the tall man, the one in the coat. He had skin like he was from Azir, with short black hair and muscles like a soldier. She could almost believe he was from the far east, where terrible men were said to be the fiercest warriors. And he had the height to maybe fit in there. But he liked sugar in his tea. What kind of fierce warrior liked sugar in his tea?

    “Of course I’m not sure,” said the tubby one, who was constantly scowling. “The device is always unpredictable, don’t you know?” This one was Azish, perhaps, and completely bald. Older, shorter. Again, he wore odd clothing for this region. Most people she knew went around without shirts, and only <bandlo> for the women. He had on robes beneath the cloak. A cloak and colorful robes, in this weather?

    The tall man grunted, then sipped his sugared tea. The third of them sat quietly. A Shin man, maybe, of middling height, but also balding, with lighter skin and more normal clothing, for an outlander. Shirt and trousers. He didn’t talk as much, but he watched things. She knew people like that.

    Lest they think that she was observing them, <Dyel> busied herself with other tasks for a short time. Cleaning tables, standing by the door to give welcoming smiles to those who passed on the street. She liked that part. Looking at all the different kinds of people that were part of the One. She also liked smelling the ocean air. Though they were too poor to have a shop in the best part of town, the breeze still carried crisp, salty air inward to them. A gift of experience she could add to the One.

    Outside, an owner walked past, a hulking figure with carapace and eyes that glowed red. There was some discussion—were these singers, these owners part of the One? Were they part of the grand connecting experience that unified all people? Or were they something else? <Dyel> thought they must be the One. It wouldn’t be the One unless it—God—encompassed everything. Every person a piece of it, extended out into the cosmere to live a different life and bring back enriching knowledge. Her mother didn’t believe that, but <Dyel> did. Because if she did, then grandpa Ym was always with her, and she with him, because they were the same.

    “Serving girl,” one of the men called, “could I get another?”

    She started, then hurried back to the table with the three strangers, her hair aflutter. She kept it long, only trimmed it when Mother forced her to. She was Iriali, and golden hair was her heritage.

    She quickly refilled the men’s cups, though the thoughtful one—the quiet one—sat a sphere on the table. Her breath caught. A full broam? She looked to the man, who had a round friendly face. He nodded.

    She snatched it up, the azure light inside making her skin glow. But Mother would insist she ask, so reluctantly, she spoke.

    “Would you like some change?”

    “No,” he said, still smiling. “Thought wouldn’t mind if you answered a question or two.”

    She shrugged. “Sure.”

    “Have you ever seen,” the man asked, “a strange collection of lights that moves across the wall or floor, though you can find no source reflecting it?”

    <Dyel> felt an immediate spike of terror. She nearly dropped the teapot. She’d suspected they weren’t what they said, but this? This?

    “I’m sorry I have to go I forgot my mother wanted me to check on the biscuits stay as long as you want thank you for the tip we’re closed now good bye!”

    She scampered into the back room, now kitchen and living space transformed from her grandfather’s workshop. She put her back to the wall, heart thundering, and tried to breathe in and out. He was back. The murderer. What to do?

    Find Mother.

    But Mother was gone. <Dyel> searched the entire shop. Wasn’t hard, considering how small it was, and found nothing but a note: Back in fifteen. Watch the shop.

    Oh no. No no no no no no no.

    She scrambled and found a knife—for spreading butter—then she hid in the corner holding it, trying not to be too loud as she cried and trembled. Until they darkened the doorway. Three men, two shorter, one taller.

    <Dyel> yelped despite herself, holding out the knife. The three looked almost bored, as if killing her would barely bother them.

    The tall one looked to the thoughtful one. “Look what you’ve done, Demoux,” he said, gesturing to her. "I told you you should keep quiet about that!”

    “I need an intelligent spren to study,” he said. “They keep telling me no!”

    “Perhaps that’s because you keep saying you want to study them, isn’t that so?” the grumpy one said. “We certainly frightened fewer people when your translator didn’t work.”

    The tallest man walked up to <Dyel>, then knelt beside where she knelt, trying to force herself back against the wall, her skirt getting twisted and crumpled, the rough grain of the wood pressing against the skin of her back, except where she wore her <bandlo>. The man considered her.

    “I’m sorry,” he said, “to have—”

    The back door slammed open, and there was her mother, frantic, in loose trousers and <bandlo>, a glowing mane of hair that was radiant with the light of the setting sun. She seemed alarmed, wild-eyed, then she saw the three strangers. Her Shardblade materialized a second later, bright and silver. Their family’s hidden secret, kept quiet since it had manifested a few months back. But few secrets mattered when you burst into the room and found your twelve-year-old daughter frightened by three assailants.

    “Woah,” the tall one said, leaping backward.

    He was the one, the killer named Darkness!

    “Woah!” He pulled something from his belt, something he brandished like a weapon, though <Dyel> had never seen a weapon that was just a small tube of metal.

    Strange lights followed as the grumpy one smashed a sphere on the ground, somehow cracking it. Stormlight flowed up around him, and strange symbols formed in the air. Mother leapt in front of <Dyel>, sweating, holding her weapon in two hands.

    “We knew you’d come back,” Mother said. “We knew you’d come for me once you heard!”

    Mother’s voice trembled. <Dyel> crawled forward and grabbed her around the legs, terrified.

    They all stood quietly in the room until the thoughtful one, the Shin man said, “What the hell is going on?”

    “We know about you,” Mother said, inching backward toward the door. “I spent months trying to find the tall Makabaki man who killed my father! I spoke to the families of the others you killed! We know what you are, what you do, murderer!

    <Dyel> cowered. Mother kept trying to inch them toward the door. Strangely, though, the tall man—the murderer who had killed her grandfather—relaxed, lowering his… strange weapon. The bald one lowered his hands, the strange glowing lights around him evaporating.

    “I told you you looked like him.”

    “I do not," the tall one said.

    “You kind of do,” the thoughtful one said.

    “Just because he and I are both dark-skinned?” the tall one said.

    “I’m dark-skinned too,” said the bald one, “and no one says I look like him.”

    “You’re silver most of the time, Galladon,” the tall one said, depositing his weapon back in his cloak. “Look, I’m not the murderer you’re worried about. That’s Nale, the Herald. I’m just a traveler.”

    They both watched him in terrified quiet until Mother, strangely, cocked her head. She dismissed her Blade, which made <Dyel> quiver. Surely Mother didn’t believe the words of this killer?

    Uma appeared a second later, sliding up the wall, a collection of lights like those scattered by a prism. Except none existed here. She made a kind of shimmering pattern that she said was unique to her.

    “It’s alright, <Dyel>,” Uma said. Her voice was quiet, like the sound of glass when a cup vibrated in the hands of a musician. “I told your mother as well. I know the Herald Nale by sight, the one called Darkness, and this is not him. I suspect he is from very distant lands indeed.”

    Oh. <Dyel> carefully stood up behind her mother, her heart still pounding, likely the same as all of them.

    Until a moment later, the thoughtful one said, “Can I study you?”

    “Umm,” Uma said, “no?”

    “I told you to stop phrasing it like that, Demoux,” said the one called Galladon.

    “I don’t want to lie to them,” Demoux said, gesturing.

    The tall one cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should be going.”

    Mother eyed them and was still tense. <Dyel> realized why. Yes, this was not Darkness, but she’d still burst into the room, likely after hearing her daughter cry out, and had still found three strange men in a part of their shop where no customer was allowed.

    “Mother,” <Dyel> whispered, pointing, “they knew. They asked me about Uma.”

    “How?” Mother demanded.

    “We didn’t mean to frighten the girl,” the tall one said, with a placating hand forward. “We simply heard rumors. We’re scholars and like to study spren.”

    “See?” Demoux said. “Baon uses it!”

    “Baon is not an example of how to be in any way tactful,” Galladon said. “Crazyfools, all of you.”

    What a curious word, smashing two together like that. He stepped forward, and though he had been the grouchiest at the table ordering drinks, he made his tone polite now.

    “I’m sorry we frightened you. We will go now, with your leave, Radiant.”

    Mother looked down at <Dyel>, then sighed, looking back at the men. “I have a letter for you.”

    “…What?”

    “What?”

    “Mother?” <Dyel> asked.

    “You remember when that odd woman visited last month?” she said. “She left me a letter, it’s in my nightstand. Please fetch it.”

    <Dyel>, confused, did as she asked. Mother remained eye to eye with the three strangers. <Dyel> did remember that woman, the one who wore too many rings, and who had helped for several weeks at the local charity hospital. A healer skilled with herbs, and whose room had smelled of fish, from the creatures she had caught in the Purelake, then dried. She’d come for tea each morning, but had left a few weeks ago. Apparently not without leaving something.

    In the nightstand beside the table they shared, <Dyel> found a sealed envelope. And on it was drawn roughly the profiles of the three men. These three men, except with quite comical exaggerated proportions. She’d have found them amusing if she weren’t so tense.

    What an odd experience from the One. How had the woman known? But then, <Dyel>’s life had been turned upside down ever since Uma had arrived and her mother had started glowing sometimes. Unique experiences indeed. She cherished thinking of it that way, as she’d been taught. So many didn’t believe these days, but she did, for Grandfather’s sake.

    She scampered down the stairs and handed the letter to her mother, who tossed it to the men.

    “I was told,” Mother explained, “I would know who to give this to.”

    The tall one, Baon, caught it. He eyed the others, then slit it open with a pocket knife. “It’s from him,” Baon said.

    “Of course it is,” Demoux replied. “Right as we’re leaving. You think he wants to tease us back, make us keep wasting time?”

    “What,” Galladon said, “does it say?”

    Baon closed the envelope. “It has only his signature. And a crude depiction of male genitalia.”

    “From the Trickster Aspect?” Mother said. “He was here too, last year.”

    “Of course he was!” Demoux repeated, then sighed. “I’m ready to be off this rusting planet. What about you two?”

    “Yes, please,” Galladon said. “One of the eldest beings in the cosmere, and he has the mental age of a thirteen-year-old.”

    “If this man ever returns,” Baon said, “keep your distance. He isn’t terribly dangerous, but things around him always are. When he’s spotted, innocents get hurt. It’s inevitable.”

    Well, of course. He was the Trickster Aspect, spun out of the One to create chaos. But you couldn’t just insult him by not serving him tea when he asked.

    A ding came from Galladon’s pocket. “Time,” he said. The three men nodded to the two of them, then started out. Baon hesitated by the door.

    “Things might be chaotic in your city for a little bit, but it will pass. Best stay inside.” Then he too left.

    <Dyel> hugged her mother. Because they were alive, tense though it had been, but also because she was worried. Not just because of what Baon had said. Because it meant Darkness had not yet come, and they still needed to fear him.

    Outside, people started shouting.

    “I will look,” Uma said in her tinkling voice. “Stay strong. I do not know yet what this is.”

    Mother nodded and grabbed <Dyel> and led her up the steps as Uma went out the door. Their shop was part of a larger building, four stories high, and they helped keep it tidy and fix things. Which meant Mother could take them up the access stairway all the way to the roof. There they burst out, and found what was causing the chaos.

    Cusicesh the Protector had risen from the bay. The great multi-armed spren made only of a column of water. It had risen high in the air, larger than usual.

    That was all? <Dyel> relaxed. She’d seen Cusicesh many times. This was nothing to fear. But why, then, were so many people pointing and crying out? Why were so many people running?

    “It’s the wrong time of day,” her mother said, staring across the rooftops toward the bay.

    Cusicesh, breaking tradition from the way he normally acted, waved his hands out to the sides, palms toward the city. And then, before him in the bay, the air split in a glorious radiant font, a column of light.

    “The gateway,” Mother whispered, “to the Land of Shadows. Honor’s gateway. Oh, Father, Mother, ancestors become one! <Dyel>, it’s time! Run and fetch the traveler packs, it’s time!”

    <Dyel> froze. Time? The traveler packs? All good Iriali kept them, of course, in case they needed to leave, but that was mostly a formality, unless…

    It was time?

    “PEOPLE,” Cusicesh spoke.

    That spren never spoke.

    The voice was deep and vibrated the city, somehow loud enough to make her soul shake, but not so loud it hurt her ears.

    “IT IS HERE. I AM TO BE YOUR GUIDE FOR THE FIFTH JOURNEY.”

    Time. That meant time to continue the Long Trail. Time to find the Fifth Land. Finally shocked out of her reverie, she went running for the travel packs, terrified that this great day should have come during her life. The One was certainly testing her with new experiences. She wished there were a way to explain that she was filled up with them, that she’d rather experience some peaceful days, without owners returning to the land, or her mother starting to glow, or the call to the Long Trail itself occurring.

    But it wasn’t to be, as when she met back with her mother, Uma had returned. Mother was crying.

    “We will try,” Mother whispered to the spren, who brightened the floor of the rooftop. “We will see, see how far you can go. Come, <Dyel>. We mustn’t miss the call. The gateway will not remain forever, and boats are already rowing out to meet it.”

    And so she went with her mother. Found their way to a boat with only their travel packs. Joined with the light of the gateway, which she thought briefly must be like rejoining the One when she died. She emerged into a place of shadows with the leaders of their kind, who had already begun preparing caravans to cross the darkness. Other portals, she heard, had opened all across Iri, one in every major city. Nearby, she did spy the three strangers passing, Demoux complaining about the “odd behavior for a perpendicularity of this nature.”

    Mother settled her down on some blankets to wait as she went to find their position in the caravans. <Dyel> clutched her pack to her chest, stunned by how fast it had happened. Stunned to realize that her time in the city, with the shop, was over.

    And so she whispered a quiet farewell. It was time to leave Roshar.

    Forever.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #223 Copy

    Use the Falchion

    Have we met the Admiral of the Night Brigade, or the family of said Admiral, before?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Admiral of the Night Brigade is the protagonist of the unnamed Threnody novel. You have not met her yet. I didn't say "hero" on purpose, I said "protagonist"! But when I write the Night Brigade novel (it'll probably just be called The Night Brigade), she's the protagonist.

    And yeah, Continuity Chains are very involved in that story if I ever get around to writing it.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #224 Copy

    Lego Mistborn

    Aethers in Tress seem to take over their hosts aggressively, probably without the host's permission, whereas we see in The Lost Metal with TwinSoul it's more willing. Is this related—and how—to the corruption of aethers on Lumar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, it is related. You have the main aether planet, which we just named but I can't... so Kalyani named it for me. Well, Kalyani and Rahul. I'm relying on them a lot for this planet, and they actually just sent me a five-thousand-word world guide for it. [...] They could tell us how to pronounce it. "<Dahartri>" might be how it is?

    Regardless. On the main planet. So the idea here is they're very formalized, how you interact with the aethers. But on some other planets (not just Lumar), aethers have gone that are not connected to the main set of them on the main planet, and what's going on on Lumar is directly related to how that separation happened.

    So that answer is a long-winded yes.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #226 Copy

    Questioner

    You've said previously that the Oathgates don't obey Physical Realm speed of light. Do they obey the speed of light in Shadesmar? Or are they tapping into the Spiritual Realm shenanigans?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They're tapping into Spiritual Realm shenanigans. An Elsecaller is capable of creating something that can teleport you faster than the speed of light.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #227 Copy

    Questioner

    Do dragons in the cosmere have their own magic system? And if so, what can you tell us about it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You'll get some answers to this very soon because you'll be able to read Dragonsteel Prime. (And some of you have read that. We'll be doing this as a Curiosity, like we did Way of Kings Prime). Dragons act in the cosmere as kind of this... the Primary magic system that they use is something akin to soothing and rioting, but they have followers who pray to them and ask for them to help them with their emotions during difficult times, and the dragons are able to do that across any distance. That's kind of the main thing that they're doing, other than that they can transform between a dragon and a person in shape. There's a little bit more to it, but I'll give you those nuggets.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #228 Copy

    Questioner

    What would happen if a person from Scadrial were to try to burn a manifested metal from Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So you're meaning they're in Shadesmar, they manifest it, and they try to burn it, right?

    Questioner

    Say a Spren of a Radiant manifests as a bead of metal instead of a Shardblade?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You're not going to be able to burn that if it's something that's coming from a spren, because that's not going to be treated as a metal in your body. Like, those are God Metals, and that one is actually alive and awake and it's just not gonna work. There are ways, though, that you could make that work. So it's totally possible, but you're gonna need something that's not an alive spren that's manifest like that. You're gonna need some way to get access to some tanavastium or something like that that's not, like, some living being.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #229 Copy

    Questioner

    What would happen if an Awakener drew color from an emerald and then a Soulcaster tried to Soulcast with it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's an excellent question. The color of the gemstone is working as a sort of key to help the Soulcaster and to facilitate this. There are Soulcasters that could do it if it's been drained, but for most of them it's just not gonna work. They're gonna view that too much like a diamond or even quartz and it's just gonna fiddle with the process to the point that it won't work. There are some people who could do it anyway.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #230 Copy

    Questioner

    So the Threnodites are described as having a smokey shadow something to their soul; we don't really know what that is. Is it more similar to the black smoke that comes from Awakened objects in Yumi and Nightblood? Or is it more like Midnight Essence in Tress?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is more like Breath than it is like either one of those. More like Breath, but something's a little wrong with it

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #231 Copy

    The Rosharan Ecologist (paraphrased)

    We've seen on Roshar creatures like chasmfiends evolve to have symbiotic relationships with spren. Are similar things possible between animals and Aethers?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    This could happen, yes. The Luhel bond is able to do these sorts of things.

    General Reddit 2023 ()
    #232 Copy

    HunterPai

    [T]he last time I checked, the book was going to be called "Knights of wind and truth", but I see some people referring to it as "Wind and Truth." So I was wondering, what is the official name of the book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm almost 100% in camp shorter title now. Just "Wind and Truth."

    The in-world book will be Knights of Wind and Truth.

    But I won't make the decision fully until the book is done, my editorial team has read it, and we can talk it through together.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #235 Copy

    Questioner (paraphrased)

    Could you Awaken a chasmfiend as a Lifeless with just one Breath, or would it require more?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    It probably would require more.

    Questioner (paraphrased)

    And would a Lifeless chasmfiend still function normally, because they use spren in order to support their weight?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    Yeah, it wouldn't be able to make the Nahel bond work, so it would collapse.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #237 Copy

    Questioner

    What would happen if a Mistborn ingested anti-lerasium or anti-atium, assuming they don't explode?

    Brandon Sanderson

    If you are not highly Invested yourself, and you get the anti[-Investiture], it's not gonna be a fun time. You won't explode, but it will kill you, almost assuredly. Not a fun time, but not an explosively not-a-fun-time, just a regular old not-a-fun-time. Maybe a little bit like pouring molten metal down your throat.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #238 Copy

    Questioner

    Is there a specific reason as to why Hoid cannot Skip, but Nomad can?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, there is a specific reason for that. I'll get into it someday. Let's just say the Skipping started because of a certain event, that probably I won't write a book to talk about, but you will get an answer to that someday I hope. So it's a RAFO, but a RAFO with a little bit of a promise.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #239 Copy

    Questioner

    Is Hoid able to use soulstamps?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Hoid is working on how to figure out how to use soulstamps. As you have seen so far, he has not figured out how to make that work. But he only just barely managed to get access to Selish magic systems. He's working on it.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #240 Copy

    #1 Taln Fan

    Who in the Cosmere could beat Taln in a fight back when he was in his prime?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Depends what level of abilities he has access to. If you're saying access to full abilities, I don't know of anybody who could beat him in an actual one-on-one.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #242 Copy

    Lightweaver2 (paraphrased)

    Does Rysn have a Torment?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    She hasn’t had the Dawnshard long enough for it to change her spiritweb enough.

    Lightweaver2 (paraphrased)

    Will she?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    She may not call it that, but the Dawnshard will change her spiritweb in drastic ways.

    Dragonsteel 2023 ()
    #244 Copy

    Questioner (paraphrased)

    what inspired Lift?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    (inaudible, there was a cultural influence), then he said that he wanted to have a teenager to kind of represent teenagers for his goal of representing everyone possible.

    Miscellaneous 2023 ()
    #245 Copy

    Noxilicious (paraphrased)

    In the past, you've mentioned how Skyward was originally intended to be part of the cosmere. Were cytonic abilities originally going to be an Invested Art, or were they developed after the creation of the cytoverse proper?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    Slight correction, Skyward was not going to be part of the Cosmere. It was specifically Spensa who was going to be in the cosmere. The story she was going to be part of is still cosmere-relevant, and we will still see it, but we'll see the replacement for Spensa instead. The cytonic abilities were developed afterwards, as we see in Defending Elysium.

    Brandon's Bookclub - Frugal Wizard ()
    #248 Copy

    Brandon

    One of the things that I definitely wanted to do with this book as I was writing it was limit the ability of the fantasy world to impact the "real world" which, um, the story that Cecil and everyone is from may not actually be, it's certainly not our world, uh, maybe our world is one upstream from that, uh, is kinda what the implication might be or maybe they're a side step from one another, uh but I wanted to limit their ability to influence one another. One of the things that makes this book work is that you're kinda going into your own isolated world, where the real world can minimally influence it but it can't influence the real world in anyway, um, real world- I say real, they're both real, but the upstream world and things like that. Um this allowed me more flexibility with the narrative uh, in was I wanted to go. You don't have to worry, as a reader, what are the implications upon my world if this were discovered well, they're very- they're very greatly limited because nothing can transfer, uh, upstream. Uh, a useful tool for just letting the reader umm, suspend disbelief a little bit more, and focus a little bit more on the story that is happening.

    Dragonsteel 2022 ()
    #249 Copy

    Questioner

    If you were to attend a dinner party with your characters and have three to five of them who would you pick?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Who is least likely to get into trouble and cause disaster?

    Audience

    Lift! Lift!

    Brandon Sanderson

    Lift? No, not Lift. No, not Lift.

    Audience

    Dalinar! *several inaudible recommendations*

    Brandon Sanderson

    You're naming all sorts of people that danger follows like a cloak! Alright, Alright. Let's put Harmony there because if something does go wrong having a god around is handy. Let's see, 5? ... We are going to do Steris because she'll be well prepared for everything. And then we will go with Dalinar, because I want him to maybe be able to meet Harmony, which would be kind of fun to see how that goes down. Jasnah because I'd like her to meet Harmony, that would be really interesting. And then I would pick one of the accountants from The Lost Metal because they're unlikely to cause anyone to come hunting them to destroy the room.

    Dragonsteel 2022 ()
    #250 Copy

    Questioner

    If Steris, Rock, and Lift had to prepare potatoes, how would they prepare them?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is actually pretty easy because Lift would get there without her potatoes, right? Now, she probably ate some of them, she probably just lost the others, she maybe gave some of them away to people who needed them. She's not going to arrive with any potatoes. If you give Lift a sack of potatoes it's on you. You can know the potatoes went to good places. She probably tried to feed one to her chicken, it probably didn't like it very much, mine doesn't, but she tried.

    Rock is going to make something delicious because it's a challenge to him. He's not familiar with a potato, he's like what do I do with this thing? He's going to figure out how to make something very very very cool with it.

    Steris is going to buy a recipe book. She's going to make every potato dish in there, in case you don't like the one that she made.