Date: 2016-11-30
Type: Paraphrased
Location: San Francisco, CA
I asked if Szeth is a Skybreaker
RAFO.
Why was Hoid drinking perfume that time he met Wax?
RAFO.
Asked for a dedication from a resident of Yolen.
Got “May two worlds become one to you” He stressed that it’s worlds not realms!!!
Is it possible to reliably deduce what a Shardworld’s Cognitive realm will look like if we knew a lot about its Physical realm? For example, mists in Scadrial, spheres in Roshar etc.
Yes, but it works in odd ways. So it may not work in the logical way that you think.
Why spheres on Roshar? Something related to the highstorms makes more sense, right?
Yes there is a reason for them being spheres. RAFO.
How do we pronounce Bavadin? Have we see his/her influence on other worlds till now – like Austre in Nalthis or other religions which Sazed studied on Scadrial for example.
ba-va-din (ba as in batman, va as in want, din as in dinner). Yes you have seen her influence in other worlds other than Taldain. He wouldn’t confirm if it is Nalthis or Scadrial or any other planet.
Is there more significance to the 10 other planets around the Rosharian start system and them being gaseous? We know that Roshar’s moons have unnatural orbits; so there seems to be some astronomical manipulation in the system.
Yes there is significance of 16 in cosmere and 10 in Rosharian system.
The outer 10 gas giants in the Rosharan system suggest a tie to the number 10 that predates the arrival of the current Shards. Is the prominent numerology we see around the Cosmere an inherent property of the planets, rather than the Shards who invest them?
Big RAFO
Would Ashyn/Braize share the 10-centric numerology of Roshar?
Yes 10-centric is for the entire Rosharian planetary system…wait Braize is 9-centric
Do Ym, Stump belong to Edgedancer? Will we see Stump again in the future?
Ym is not an Edgedancer. You will see Stump in the future novels though you may not see Tashikki much again.
Peter Ahlstrom added this commentary in a facebook chat: “Both types of spren were initially considering Ym. I thought that was obvious. Add at the end: That’s my interpretation of Wyndle’s comments.” This is in reference to Wyndle saying to Lift that he was considering bonding a cobbler who is nice to children.
Is Vax present (lurking) in any of the star systems explained in Arcanum Unbounded? Personally I think there will be more star systems that would be discovered in the future and Vax might be part of them. Comment?
RAFO for Vax. Yes, there might be more stars. The picture on the cover is the sight observed from one particular place (Silverlight? RAFO). Let’s just say that there are more planetary systems present in the existing star chart itself that you don’t know yet. (He RAFO-ed when I asked if Yolen is present in the dragon constellation)
Have we seen any of the system or the world that has end-negative magic system other than Hemalurgy?
Yes there is one more end-negative magic system and you have seen minor hints of it.
What about Hemalurgy in other worlds other than Mistborn?
Yes. (I again asked with the exception of Kandra, have seen Hemalurgy such as people who may have been spiked. He repeated “You have seen Hemalurgy in other worlds.” (In other words he is tight-lipped about Kandra part - neither yes or no)
What would have happened if Kelsier hasn’t taken Preservation or later Sazed hasn’t taken Ruin and Preservation powers? Would the earth have been destroyed due to so much raw power much before the actual destruction due to Ruin’s actions?
Yes. Bad things would have happened (Me - “Like Sel?” Him - “Not going to answer that. Just bad things would have happened”)
Scadrial, not Earth
I asked if someone who had a lot of Breath would have it weaken collectively, in the same way that the single Breaths of children are more vibrant than others and move one slightly closer to a Heightening, then weaken as they grow older (and contribute slightly less towards a Heightening).
He said that it wouldn’t be noticeable once you accumulate enough Breath and, for example, Hoid wouldn’t find himself suddenly losing perfect pitch as a function of time.
I asked if Nazh’s knife didn’t glow to Kelsier’s eyes because the metal wasn’t from Scadrial generally or whether it was a metal with some particular property.
I didn’t even get to finish the second half of that before he got that smile and I knew what was coming next. Sure enough, I collected a shiny RAFO card.
On the less serious side, I asked what Hoid’s favorite flavor of instant noodles is.
At first I think he misheard me asking what his own favorite is (‘spicy Korean ramen’ apparently, though I don’t remember the exact specifics) so I clarified. He said that Hoid is looking forward to instant noodles but they aren’t Yolenese and he knows about them via the same method that he knows where he needs to be in the Cosmere.
That gave me the opportunity to ask one last question, about feruchemical chromium and whether storing fortune would cause you to risk experiencing really improbable things, like the entropy curse in The Dresden Files.
He said he wasn’t going to answer questions about fortune, that the MAG shouldn’t be taken as gospel on this point (I don’t remember how it works there and didn’t mention it, he brought it up on his own) and that he’s planning something different than we might be thinking, for how that mechanic will function.
I really appreciate the fact that Steris is a character who is there.
Steris is my favorite character of the new generation of mistborn. She is a delight to write about.
Is Lift going to be in the next book?
Yes.
What happened to Vivenna?
This will be answered very soon.
Do Vessels have any flexibility in expressing the intent of a Shard, particularly if the Intent is open to many interpretations?
Yes they do. So, the Vessel’s mind and how they perceive is going to have a large influence on how things are expressed and I think all of them have some wiggle room. But there are some deterministic things that are also going to push them. You know, holding Ruin, Harmony may not go down the same path that happened to Ati.
So Saddeas would express Honor differently than Tanavast?
Yes he would.
Would a soulstamp carved from a gemstone and infused with Stormlight be more likely to Take?
No it would not.
Would a Mistborn have to worry about accidentally burning her copper IUD?
Yes she would, absolutely (Laughs)
[Necarion’s note: this confirms that metal does not have to be in the stomach to be burned]
So my quick question: Can you use Identity (I love the speed bubbles!) to anchor speed bubbles to yourself?
Uh, this is possible. That’s less a matter of Identity. What’s gonna happen there, like, the more someone uses the powers, the more familiar and intermingled with their soul the powers become, and they are able to accomplish things that others can’t. This would be like a mistborn learning to hover a coin, right, which they can do, but most think you can’t. That’s the sort of level we’re going with.
So a savant could?
A savant could totally do that. The problem is, things moving in and out of a speed bubble, there’s a transference of energy. This is how we keep speed bubbles from irradiating people when light moves through them, right, red shift. And so there’s a transfer of energy directly from the spiritual realm, which means that moving with a speed bubble, you’re gonna run into that, and it’s gonna be, it’s gonna cause all kinds of problems, but it would be possible.
[Necarion’s note: This might be a very interesting method of harnessing energy, much more efficient than my earlier Terris Wheel idea]
Now, do things actually move unpredictable at the edge [of a speed bubble] or do they refract out? Is it just that geometry is hard?
No, I have a level of unpredictability, I mean we’re Chaos Theory. The idea being, you could predict if you had a perfect closed system and things like this, but it’s unfeasible for most technology and minds to be able to predict.
One other speed bubble question. Is the speed of light the same inside and outside a speed bubble?
Um, yes. The speed of light is the same. Good question, you’re trying to figure out the FTL.
Also, it would eliminate the redshift if the speed of light…
If the speed of light were similar . That’s one thing we considered, but it felt too non-intuitive, plus it’s just not how I imagined things working. So, no it is not, but that’s a good question. It is something we considered.
I just want to setup a lab in a speed bubble and do fun things.
[Necarion’s note: there would be no redshift if the speed of light were directly proportional to the ‘speed of time’. Alas this theory doesn’t seem to be valid]
Could a double-nicrosil Twinborn compound Breath or Stormlight?
Uh, you’re getting a RAFO card on _that_. You’re getting SUCH a RAFO card on that!
Is Taldain orbiting at a Lagrangian point?
[Laughs]
It would make the orbits work
[Long pause] I’m not sure the implications, I have to think through implications before answering questions
The situation I’m thinking of, it would orbit the big star but at the same period as the smaller star.
Yeah, well, I’ll just say ‘yes’, but I want to make sure I’m not saying ‘yes’, without…well, yes that’s how it has to work
Right
Because [Taldain] I want to be not like Roshar where we have unstable orbits and things. Uh, but I… I’m saying yes, but I hope that doesn’t get me into trouble scientifically.
[Necarion’s note 1: While the L1 Lagrange point is an equilibrium point in the three-body problem, it is technically an unstable one. However, this seems a system that could be corrected with a small input of Shardic intervention, far less than would be required by any other astronomical arrangement I can think of] [Necarion’s note 2: Note the comment about ‘unstable orbits’ in the Rosharan system. This might account for the rapid variation in seasons on the planet]
The compounding trick that the Lord Ruler performed. When you’re storing investiture, are you storing your ‘mistborn-ness’ or all the powers individually?
All of the powers individually.
[Surprised, because this dashed a favorite theory of mine] Oh okay!
Yeah, the compounding trick. Really what’s happening is you’re fueling feruchemy with the power of allomancy, but you’re filtering it through you, and then you’re storing it.
So it’s not that you’re a more powerful mistborn when you’ve tapped [investiture]
No, good question.
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