Date: 2012-10-30
Type: Paraphrased
Location: Halifax, NS
Reporter: Lance Alvein
The majority of these questions and answers are paraphrased, as I wasn’t able to record them, and I wasn’t able to write everything down exactly as it was said. If the answer was a partial evasion, I did make sure to make special note of it, so those answers should be as said.
Does the rate of feruchemical storage of an attribute affect the total amount stored in a metalmind?
It was not intended to be.
Does the loss during the withdrawal of large amounts of attribute depend on the rate of original storage?
No
You’ve said that “The Pits of Hathsin were crafted by Preservation as a place to hide the chunk of Ruin’s body that he had stolen away.” How does one Shard steal a portion of another Shard and create a Physical outlet for it, like the Pits were for Ruin’s power?
It has to do with clash between the two shards power. When pressed, he then said that it was “kind of” like splintering
How are people with two different eye colours treated on Roshar?
RAFO - this will be explored in one of Shallan’s flashback sequences in Stormlight 2, and is already written.
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?
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).
Can you confirm if the scene with Taln at the end of Way of Kings is entirely in Hoid’s perspective? There was some discussion that it might not be, since Taln’s honourblade was called a shardblade.
That entire scene is in Hoid’s POV, and the reason for it being called a shardblade is because honourblades are shardblades.
Something that’s been a bit of a thing on the chatroom for a while - Since there are Spren of everything on Roshar, is it possible that there is such a thing as a “squeespren”?
They do exist, however, they would be called by a different name on Roshar.
The deleted prologue with Hoid in it - is there any chance of that being put online?
It will be online, and it will probably be bundled with the ebook version as well.
Peter has said that this could be released at any time, but he’d prefer to do it after September 1, 2013.
Can you tell us the timeline of TES in comparison to Elantris?
It happens shortly after Elantris (I believe that this meant shortly in comparison to the other novels, but not a specific # of years)
Is Sel realmatically knowledgeable by this point, or is it specific to forgery?
Sel is the most realmatically knowledgeable of any of the shardworlds, but much of the knowledge demonstrated in the book is directly related to forgery - it’s tied to the theological aspects of forgery more than anything else.
Meteorites are mentioned as “souls of dead gods”. Do they have any relation to the Splinters of Devotion and Dominion and their physical aspects (like lerasium)?
“Literally no”. When asked if there is a connection to the splinters at all, I got another RAFO.
How was the Fjordell Empire not aware of the existence of the Rose Empire during the time of Elantris?
The connection between the two will be explained in future Elantris books, but a quick answer is this: Fjordell was aware of the Rose Empire, but doesn’t consider the location to be holy, so they didn’t really care that much about it. There is also no easy natural way to travel between the two. If you remember, Shai did run into the Fjordell ambassador.
Do Ralkalest and Soulstone have any connection to the two shards?
RAFO
How were the MaiPon and Jindoeese people separated?
This is something that will be discussed in future Elantris books eventually.
Is a person’s Breath the entirety of that person’s Spiritual Aspect?
No
You said to not travel to Shadesmar on Sel. Is this a consequence of Odium Splintering Aona and Skai?
It is indirectly related to the splintering. There is a clue to why it is dangerous in Way of Kings.
Is Demoux Atium compounding to achieve his long life?
RAFO
Is Shadows of Silence a cosmere story?
It is cosmere, but takes place on an unimportant side planet that doesn’t have anything interesting going on there. Hoid is not in the story.
The story’s correct name is Silence For Shadows in the Forests of Hell. In addition to that Peter is unsure whether or not Hoid makes a brief appearance.
You mentioned in the forum QA that Liar of Partinel was scrapped - does this mean that Hoid’s backstory will no longer be told?
There are still plans to do Hoid’s backstory, all that the comment about the book being scrapped meant is that when it comes time to write it, the current draft will be tossed away and it will be written fresh - similar to how Way of Kings was done.
Brandon has said that he now wants to tell Hoid’s story from a first person perspective.
Can you give us an idea when the Prelude to Stormlight Archive is with respect to Elantris?
RAFO
How about the general number of years Warbreaker is from HoA and AoL/WoK?
RAFO - the reason that timeline questions are being RAFOed right now is because the final times are still not 100% solid, and Brandon said that he doesn’t want to give us a time and then have it change around again (like what happened to AoL being moved to the same time as WoK instead of being a bit earlier), so he won’t answer any timeline questions until after he has the final timeline correct in his own system.
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