art by Jake Johnson

Theoryland Resources

WoT Interview Search

Search the most comprehensive database of interviews and book signings from Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson and the rest of Team Jordan.

Wheel of Time News

An Hour With Harriet

2012-04-30: I had the great pleasure of speaking with Harriet McDougal Rigney about her life. She's an amazing talent and person and it will take you less than an hour to agree.

The Bell Tolls

2012-04-24: Some thoughts I had during JordanCon4 and the upcoming conclusion of "The Wheel of Time."

Theoryland Community

Members: 7653

Logged In (0):

Newest Members:johnroserking, petermorris, johnadanbvv, AndrewHB, jofwu, Salemcat1, Dhakatimesnews, amazingz, Sasooner, Hasib123,

Theoryland Tweets

WoT Interview Search

Home | Interview Database

Your search for the tag 'investiture' yielded 153 results

  • 1

    Interview: Feb 28th, 2011

    Phaz ()

    In your gut instinct, who would win in a fight, Marsh (no atium, limited feruchemy) or Szeth? (Or maybe we could go Zane & Szeth since I see a lot of similarities in their characters. They also happen to be my favorites from their respective series)

    One of the interesting things I really liked about the book was Jasnah's lack of faith. It seems like during a lot of the scenes where that is an issue, you give her the upper hand. She makes some argument or point and the other characters leave it unchallenged. For instance the line where she says something like "Religion looks for super natural explanations to natural phenomena, science looks for natural explanations to super natural phenomena." That side of her seemed incredibly well written and genuine. Was it hard to do? Where did you get her arguments/points from? I swear a lot of what she says could of been ripped from comments of /r/atheism.

    Lastly, I've been rereading the Mistborn series again after reading The Way of Kings twice in a row so I could decide which I liked more. So far...it's still a tie. I'm really liking getting back into the Mistborn world though. That has me super excited for Alloy of Law. Once it get's a bit more polished would it be possible to get an early copy? :)

    Brandon Sanderson

    First question: It's always hard to answer these questions, since there are so many factors. Do the combatants start at a distance? If so, Marsh/Zane have a huge advantage; they have the ability to fling coins.

    Does Szeth have metal on him? Szeth's Shardblade would be mostly immune to Pushing and Pulling, as it's an Invested object. But he'd still have trouble getting to them if he had a clasp on his shoes, for example. He doesn't carry a lot of metal, but he might have some.

    Overall, I'd say that a full-blown Mistborn would be tougher than Szeth in most cases.

    Also, send me a PM with your Email, Phaz. I can't find your email in my address book. I remember that it's not something I expect it to be, so I'm having trouble looking it up.

    Tags

  • 2

    Interview: May 30th, 2011

    Brandon Sanderson

    He talked about the link between his magic systems. One of the core principles is 'investing'. In a lot of his systems people are through some mechanism invested with magic powers. In Elantris through the Shaod, In Mistborn it's genetic, in The Way of Kings it depends on what someone has done.

    Tags

  • 3

    Interview: Jan 18th, 2010

    Mark

    It was said throughout the book that you cannot just give some of your breath, but must give all of it. Perhaps I'm simply forgetting part of the book where this changes, but wouldn't Vasher have to give his Returned breath along with his others?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    The "You must give up all of your Breath, not some" line was mostly perpetuated by Denth, who is saying it to Vivenna to stop her from giving away her Breath to all the people she passes. It is a lie. Now, it's a lie that's commonly accepted by a lot of people. But it's still a lie — as we find out midway through the book, you can stick some of your Breath in an object and bring it to life, and then recover that Breath. So it's very easy to give some of your Breath to someone if you know the logical steps to take. Invest most of it into an object, give what you have to someone else, then pull back what you Invested. So it's flat-out proven in the novel that what Denth is telling her is wrong. Now, he could dance around that lie by pretending to be the ignorant mercenary — he's just perpetuating a falsehood that many people believe. But it is a lie. In fact, a lot of the things people believe about BioChromatic Breath isn't true.

    One of the things I was trying with this book was to take a few steps back from Mistborn, where so much was understood. I feel that the approach I took in Mistborn is right for that book, and yet people have so much superstition regarding all sorts of science. I worry sometimes that there isn't enough superstition in my books, regarding magic as science. What people believed and what people knew and what people understood was so varied and confused throughout most of history, that I worry that I lack realism in that. Vasher brings up at several points in the book that they don't know a whole lot and that people perpetuate a lot of myths and stories and lies.

    Vasher has learned to suppress his Returned Breath. When it's suppressed, it's as if it doesn't exist to him. He's Invested it into a place within himself, much like you can Invest your Breaths into a shirt, and when he gives away the rest of his Breaths, he doesn't give that one away. He could split off others of his Breaths if he wanted to — he's learned to do that, so that he could give a few Breaths and not all. It's just a matter of practicing as long as he has. But even people who aren't as practiced as him do it all the time when they Invest an object with not all of their Breath but just enough to bring it to life.

    Tags

  • 4

    Interview: Nov 8th, 2011

    Question

    What the heck is Investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I’m not going to say that because it would be a spoiler for those who haven’t read the Ars Arcanum yet.

    Tags

  • 5

    Interview: May, 2010

    Chaos

    This one is a personal favor... See, for metals that have Feruchemy, this verb is "charge". A metal is Feruchemically charged. But, you've been using the term "charge" for Hemalurgic metals, too, which I think is confusing. Before HoA I called Hemalurgic metals "Imbued" metals. I humbly petition to have that be the official term, because it's just confusing otherwise.

    Bradon Sanderson

    The Seventeenth Shard members use the term of Invest for all of those type of things. However, what they use in world is different on each world. For example WoK is infuse.

    Tags

  • 6

    Interview: Jun 1st, 2011

    Ashley Cowles

    I do remember some things, but the majority of the questions were about WoT.

    Brandon Sanderson

    He said that all of his own books take place in the same universe, but not on the same world per se. The overall magic system was based on the principle of investing, i.e. people and things are invested by magic. So for example in Mistborn, the metals themselves aren't magical, but they become a vessel for the magic.

    Also he said that the ways of magic are different. In Mistborn it's genetic (or through ingesting atium, but he didn't talk about that). In Warbreaker it has to do with gathering other people's Breath, etc.

    Tags

  • 7

    Interview: 2012

    SwiftxJustice (Mon Jan 16)

    Quick question to help me settle a debate. Could allomancy affect a shard plate/blade?

    Brandon Sanderson (Mon Jan 16)

    No. Investiture interferes with most magics.

    Tags

  • 8

    Interview: Jan, 2012

    Cheese_Ninja (Reddit.com)

    I actually really liked Steris, and was hoping to see more characterization of her. I think of her a bit as a tsundere character, where we have not had many chances to see the dere, just the tsun.

    Her businesslike demeanor to everything developed because she had high expectations placed upon her by her family's station. She was an interesting counterpoint to Wax who decided to turn his back on his family to live in the Roughs. Her particular response to marriage and relationships was influenced by her own father's infidelity to her mother. She didn't include a clause for mistresses in the marriage contract because she wants her husband to cheat on her; she just came to expect affairs because of her mother and father's relationship. Still, she and Marasi seem to care for each other, so I don't think she held that against her half-sister.

    One question, two parts: If a double Nicrosil Twinborn started Compounding and storing Investiture in a Nicrosilmind, could they do something cool by tapping a whole huge bunch at once? And since Scadrialians have both Ruin and Preservation in them, could they store both those qualities in a one Nicrosilmind, or would it require two different ones?

    Brandon Sanderson (Reddit.com)

    Ha. All things regarding Investiture (particularly in regards to Feruchemy) are instant RAFOs at this point, I'm afraid. I've got to save SOME things for future books.

    Tags

  • 9

    Interview: Nov 24th, 2011

    Fire Arcadia

    What is the definition of Investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO. Investiture is off the table as far as questions go.

    Tags

  • 10

    Interview: 2012

    Kilomtrs (June 2012)

    So in the trilogy, we see that when someone has a Hemalurgic spike implanted in them, they can hear Ruin talking to them, both as a vision and in their head. However, we learn in the Hero of Ages that Ruin cannot hear a person's thoughts no matter how much under Ruin's influence they are.

    In Alloy of Law, we see that Wax (and other Pathians) uses an earring to "pray" to Harmony, and we see that Harmony can hear his thoughts and respond.

    So I guess this leads to three questions:

    1. How does Harmony hear the thoughts of Wax, when it's explicitly pointed put that Ruin cannot?

    2. Are the earrings that the Pathians use Hemalurgicly charged, as otherwise they would be of no use to Ruin, and therefore Harmony?

    3. Or did Harmony completely change how that aspect of Hemalugy works?

    Brandon Sanderson ()

    How this all works dates back to the original design of the Magic system.

    I wanted Ruin and Preservation to be complimentary opposites, like many things in the Mistborn world. Allomancy, for example, has Pushes and Pulls were are less "negate one another" opposites, but instead two sides to the same proverbial coin.

    Ruin is invasive. The power is more "Yell" than "Listen." The philosopher would probably have some interesting things to say about the masculine symbolism of Hemalurgy and its spikes.

    Ruin can insert thoughts. That power, however, can't HEAR the reactions. It's about invasion.

    Preservation, however, is the opposite. Preservation listens, Preservation protects. (Perhaps to a fault—if there were no Ruin, there would be no change to the world, and life could not exist.) Because of this, Preservation can hear what is inside people's minds. It cannot, however, INSERT thoughts. (This is important to the plot of Hero of Ages.)

    Harmony is both, the two complimentary opposites combined. And so, he inserts thoughts with Ruin and still uses Hemalurgy. He can also listen.

    Yes, Wax's earring is Invested. (Or, in other terms, it's a Hemalurgic spike.)

    Tags

  • 11

    Interview: Sep 22nd, 2012

    Zas

    So you talk about the residue a Shard leaves on a sliver. So what does that residue have? Like what does it do? If anything?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, one thing it can do is that people capable of noticing Investiture, would know there is a trace of investiture from that event.

    Tags

  • 12

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Chaos

    In the Ars Arcanum of the Way of Kings, next to the Essences are listed ten Body Focuses. Are these Body Focuses the focus (in Cosmere terms) of Surgebinding?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO.

    Tags

  • 13

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Chaos

    Is there a Cosmere-specific term you use to describe, say, a Shard's power inside someone? For example, people on Scadrial had little bits of Preservation in them that made them sentient (and, with enough Preservation, Allomancy). This obviously doesn't make these people Slivers or Splinters, so I was just wondering if you had a word for it.

    Brandon Sanderson

    In my own terms, I refer to all of this as types of investiture. The degree, and effects, can be very different - but those people are invested. I term this Innate Investiture, and it is similar to what happens with people on Nalthis. That is also innate.

    Tags

  • 14

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Chaos

    A lerasium Mistborn's kids would surely be Allomancers. If such a lerasium Mistborn traveled to, say, Nalthis, fell in love and had kids with a native Nalthisean, would those kids be Allomancers? Or something else?

    Brandon Sanderson

    In most cases, they would still be Allomancers. Mixed, potentially, with something else depending on the native innate investiture. That mixture could do some strange things, though.

    Tags

  • 15

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Emeralis00

    Does the intent/personality of the Shard affect the personalities of the humans they create?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It has some very small effect.

    Tags

  • 16

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    Herowannabe ()

    Can an infused Hemalurgy spike be affected by Allomancy—steel pushes and iron pulls? Or does the charge interfere with the Allomancy much like a persons body would?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Anything infused (regardless of the world or magic that infused it) is resistant to magic. So you'd have a lot of trouble pushing or pulling on a spike, unless you had access to a boost of some sort to overcome the resistance.

    theofficetroll

    So, Nightblade would be resistant to steelpushing? Good to know ;-)

    Herowannabe

    My friend and I asked him something like this at a book signing, but for some reason it never seemed to make it onto 17th Shard. We asked if a shardblade or Nightblood could be used as a hemalurgic spike (i.e.: two different investitures of magic). Brandon said that yes, in theory you could do that, but objects have a limit to how much investiture they can hold, and that it could be argued that things like Nightblood and Shardblades are already "full."

    Tags

  • 17

    Interview: Sep 4th, 2012

    NALESEAN ()

    Hi --

    Long time lurker, first time poster.

    While at Dragon*Con, during Magic:tG with Brandon, I was able to get an answer to one of the question on the big list of questions.

    Here is the question:

    Why are invested objects like metalminds and Hemalurgic spikes able to be Pushed and Pulled on, but Shardblades and Shardplate, which are also invested, are not susceptible to Pushing and Pulling?

    His answer was complex, I took notes, but didn't get recorded audio. I am going to try to explain as best as my notes and memory support.

    BRANDON SANDERSON (paraphrased)

    There were a few concepts that he outlined in answering this question.

    1.) The ability to push/pull an invested object is predicated to the amount/power of the investiture

    2.) Further, invested objects also gain resistance to pulling/pushing based on proximity to soul possibly via the soul. An example given is that A hemalurgic spike touches the blood of the person, and from there is now part of both the Spiritual Realm and the Physical Realm. This provides what Brandon termed a kind of "soul interference," based on its proximity to the soul.

    Tags

  • 18

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Windrunner

    Can all Investitures be classified as end-positive, neutral, or negative?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, though in the overwhelming majority of cases, it's end-positive or at least neutral. Hemalurgy really is an oddity in the cosmere

    Tags

  • 19

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Satsuoni

    Is it possible to give cats intelligence with Hemalurgy? Or transfer cat's identity to a human?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Hemalurgy can do some very, very odd things. And the endowment of intelligence is a common result of tinkering with shard-based magic.

    Tags

  • 20

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Satsuoni

    How much power does a Breath and a freshly charged Hemalurgic spike have relative to each other?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is a RAFO. I don't want to be pinned down on this one quite yet

    Tags

  • 21

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Link389

    Before Adonalsium was shattered, was there magic in the Cosmere and what form did it take?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, and when I write Dragonsteel, you shall see the answer to this.

    Tags

  • 22

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    rags

    If I used a hemalurgic spike charged with allomantic powers on a person on say Nalthis, will the focus of allomancy change because the power is being used on another planet?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO

    Tags

  • 23

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Stroniax

    Are Surgebinding and Awakening related?

    Brandon Sanderson

    All of the magic systems are related, and these two do share some defining fundamentals.

    Tags

  • 24

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    mycoltbug

    Would a breath imbued object stop a shard blade?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO

    Tags

  • 25

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    mycoltbug

    Is there a magic system that best allows people to world hop between worlds?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, but it isn't needed. Some do help more with understanding how to traverse the Cognitive Realm.

    Tags

  • 26

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Kuri Shardweaver

    Are there any plans for a world where the magic system operates through devices that transform and empower individuals with spectacular abilities? Like...say...a belt with an ornate buckle...a bracer..things like that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes

    Tags

  • 27

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Odium's_Shard

    Can magic systems from one world work in any given other?

    Brandon Sanderson

    For some, it will take quite a bit of work, but it's possible to get them each to work. Sel's magics are regional, and so they are going to be tough. Scadrial's magics are the easiest.

    Tags

  • 28

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Odium's_Shard

    Lastly, less pressingly, do Spirit Points (hemalurgic spots) apply to ever magic system, and through the Cosmere at large? Ie. could Hemalurgy be used to take any other magic systems aspects, and do other magic systems also have these 'Points', such as Body Focuses, that work in similar ways?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Hemalurgy crosses magic systems. You could steal things from people on other worlds, if you knew the right places for the spikes.

    Tags

  • 29

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Zenith

    Szeth mentions that Lashings don't work with shardplate (on?). Is there any way to get around this (As in, lashing with shardplate on, or lashing people with shardplate on), and, if so, does it have anything to do with the Knights Radiant and/or their ideals?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This has to do with the nature of the magics in the cosmere. They interfere with one another. Something that contains a lot of power--we call it investiture--resists the efforts of magic to influence it. A strong spirit can interfere as well.

    Tags

  • 30

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Douglas

    What benefit does an aluminum savant get? Yes, I know this would normally never happen because aluminum burns itself up. Suppose a mad scientist with a willing Mistborn test subject shoved a feeding tube down the Mistborn's throat to pump in a continuous stream of aluminum, replenishing it steadily so there's always a new unburned supply. Add another tube to pump out excess water if necessary. What would he discover? Alternatively, what would Sazed with his Shard-granted knowledge know?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ha, that IS a little silly of a method. However, on the extreme end of aluminum, I have in the notes the possibility of cleansing the spirit of unwanted effects of other investitures. You'd get really good at this, and maybe even be able to cleanse the body of other impurities.

    Tags

  • 31

    Interview: Nov 6th, 2012

    Question

    Okay Hoid, you mentioned he's in all your books, is he in also in all your shorter stories?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He is not in all of my shorter stories. In fact, he is not in any book that references Earth. So if there's a reference to Earth- most of my science fiction has referential stuff to Earth, Alcatraz is like this. He's not in anything like that. He's not in the Wheel of Time. It would not have been appropriate for me to seed something like that into a Wheel of Time book. So he's not in Steelheart or the other children works that I've done. But he is in all my epic fantasies.

    QUESTION

    Now my main question actually, which magic systems, if any, does he have access to?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    That's an excellent question. He is familiar with very many of them, and lots that you haven't seen yet.

    Tags

  • 32

    Interview: Nov 6th, 2012

    Question

    Can Odium pick up pieces of a Shard without changing the nature of his Shard?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Any investiture, over time, will slowly change one’s personality, no matter how small that investiture.

    Tags

  • 33

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    Windrunner17 ()

    Why does Scadrial, which has two Shards, only have three manifestations of investiture, (Allomancy, Feruchemy, and Hemalurgy) but Sel, also with two Shards, has five manifestations of investiture (AonDor, Dakhor, ChayShan, Forgery, and Bloodsealing)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Sel's magics are much more regionalized than Scadrial's. Each area has its own manifestation, but they're all actually the same magic. So really there is one magic on Sel—much as Windrunning and Lightweaving on Roshar are kind of different magics, but also kind of the same.

    Tags

  • 34

    Interview: Jun 20th, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    Some as of yet unwritten book that I can't remember the title of, but know that it included the word Divine. Maybe Ook can help me out here. Anyway, it has a magic system in which the magic is caused by bacteria. Basically, the bacteria and parasites want their hosts to survive as long as possible, so they give them magic. The example Brandon used was that if someone caught the common cold, they could fly until they got over that cold.

    Tags

  • 35

    Interview: Sep 24th, 2013

    Chris King (Miyabi)

    And the last one we have here is: Is it possible to use a soulstamp to give shardplate life or at least achieve a robotic status?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Wow, it is really, really hard to invest things that have already been invested. Let's just say that, it is really hard to do that. Part of the reason why it is difficult for instance to Push or Pull on something that is inside of somebody because the investiture is interfering and you would have that similar problem doing anything to shardplate with any of the magics.

    Tags

  • 36

    Interview: Oct 5th, 2013

    Question

    What is Stormlight?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't want to answer this, but I'll just say "Investiture."

    Tags

  • 37

    Interview: Mar 20th, 2014

    IronCaf

    In what ways is the process of becoming an allomantic savant like body building or other exercise?

    Brandon Sanderson

    [Paraphrasing] That is not an inapt metaphor for it. It's like a wedge gets in the soul and cracks it, and investiture can fill it up.

    IronCaf

    And using allomancy breaks it further?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    IronCaf

    Do other magic systems in the Cosmere function in a similar way?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    IronCaf

    Which ones? Will we see them soon?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm going to have to RAFO that.

    Tags

  • 38

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    Have you thought any more about metal allergies with your Allomancy?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It definitely wouldn't be pleasant.

    Question

    Ok, I have this steel allergy, I got it last year, and I work in a steel plant.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It would not be pleasant, but I would have the instinct that fewer people on Scadrial would have that allergy, because of the Investiture during their creation. But, it could totally happen.

    Tags

  • 39

    Interview: Mar 11th, 2014

    Question

    What is the Realmatic composition of Investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Investure is intended to be the building blocks of the cosmere so I would say for the most part it transcends the different realms. Probably more of the Spiritual if anything but more accurately it transcends them.

    Tags

  • 40

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    Leinton

    Does Nightblood possibly rip souls out of people?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Nightblood consumes Investiture, including the spark of life.

    Tags

  • 41

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    Leinton

    Would Returned still Return if Endowment died?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Magic in the cosmere needs a guiding force. If it doesn't have one, the magic itself will gain sentience. Or someone would pick it up. So yes, Returned would still come, but there would be something different based on who was guiding the power.

    Tags

  • 42

    Interview: Mar 6th, 2014

    Question

    Do all the humans have innate Investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I believe that they all do. I don't think that you've seen anyone without innate Investiture yet. [Drabs] do not have innate Investiture. And on Scadrial they have the pieces of Ruin and Preservation in them. And they do have it on Roshar.

    Question

    Which Shard is that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You'll have to RAFO

    Tags

  • 43

    Interview: Aug 13th, 2014

    Question

    Can the various forms of Investiture on other worlds in the Cosmere be classified as "end positive" or "end negative" like they are on Scadrial?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Some can. Not all.

    Tags

  • 44

    Interview: Aug 13th, 2014

    Question

    If you used Stormlight to Awaken, would you drain color or create frost?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You'll have to see if this happens in the future! (Note that mixing the investitures is usually not easy to do.)

    Tags

  • 45

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    QUESTION

    What you can tell me about Investiture?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    That is the word for someone or something which has gained a portion of the magic of Adonalsium, so the original whatever-it-is. Like a Shardblade is an Invested object, and people if they draw in the Stormlight, they're drawing in the magic-they're Invested.

    Tags

  • 46

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    Leinton

    Does Nightblood rip souls out of bodies, by chance?

    Brandon Sanderosn

    Nightblood consumes Investiture, including the spark of life.

    Tags

  • 47

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    Leinton

    If Endowment were killed, would the Returned still come?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Somebody needs to hold the magic. If no one holds the magic, the magic will start to gain sentience. Interesting and bizarre things happen then, so I would say yes, but with the caveat that with whoever picks up the power or what happens with the power could end up changing that.

    Tags

  • 48

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    Leinton

    Can Breath be used to power Surgebinding?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They are very similar Investitures, and most of the magics can be powered with the other magics if you are capable of making that happen.

    Leinton

    What would happen to the Breath?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Breath would be consumed in the same way that Stormlight is. A renewing resource, much like Atium is.

    Tags

  • 49

    Interview: Mar 22nd, 2014

    Question

    Is there a way to tell between different Investitures?

    Brandon Sanderson

    [Brandon misunderstood the question a little in the beginning - he thought the question was "can every Shard's magic detect other Investitures?"] Most of the magics have built into them that ability, but I wouldn't say that everyone does. I am trying to remember if all of them have... I lot of them have a power that would allow you to do that, but I don't know if every one of them does.

    Question

    [Clarification]

    Brandon Sanderson

    If you were really good at burning bronze, you could distinguish between different types of Investiture from different planets even. And that sort of skill does exist in other magic systems.

    Argent

    Is it like a wavelength kind of thing?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yea, that's exactly what it is.

    Tags

  • 50

    Interview: Nov 29th, 2014

    leiftinspace

    I've picked up in bits in pieces that it's possible, for some people at least, to use the Shardpools to worldhop...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    leiftinspace

    Can non-invested people do that, or do you have to have some form of investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    [Hesitantly] Every individual is invested to some extent...

    leiftinspace

    Do you have to have any special investiture above and beyond the normal spark of life?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm gonna go ahead and RAFO that.

    Tags

  • 51

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2014

    mail-mi

    Does a more Investiture-poor world make it so its magics are easier to use off-world? Because, you said that Scadrial is really Investiture-poor, and it can be used easily off-world, but Roshar is very Investiture-rich, and how can you get Stormlight off of Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah. Um, I would say that there is a correlation.

    mail-mi

    There is a correlation?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mmhmm.

    Tags

  • 52

    Interview: Sep 4th, 2014

    Question

    And all the different powers kind of run off the same type of power? Like Breath is the same as Stormlight?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeees, they have their own different sort of layers to them. It depends on the Shard that is there and things like that but yes there are little differences but it is more like the differences between alternating current and direct current, they're both electricity. So if you know how to use them.

    Question

    'Cause Szeth's not going to be getting any new Breaths on Roshar so I was thinking about that.

    Tags

  • 53

    Interview: Sep 4th, 2014

    Question

    What differentiates a minor Shardworld like First of the Sun?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The amount of Investiture, and whether there is actually a Shard in presence.

    Question

    I'm assuming there is not one there?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There is not one there.

    Question

    So it's like a Splintered one from something else?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No what you'll find is that the worlds were all created with a level of-- a little bit of sort of ambient magic. What you'll find in worlds like that is things like, Shadows for Silence and things like this, the magic, it's not necessarily "people with magic" it's you can interact with nature...

    Question

    So there is inherent investiture...

    Brandon Sanderson

    There is inherent investiture in every world created but you are going to see-- You aren't going to find Mistborn on a world like that but what you might find is a way there are magic aspects to the setting. Spren could exist on a world like that but they would be like the minor spren, you wouldn't find Syl, but you would find something like lifespren.

    Tags

  • 54

    Interview: Sep 4th, 2014

    Question

    How does Nightblood work on Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well Nightblood feeds on Investiture, which is the general life-force/magic-force in the cosmere and so he can feed on basically any source of magical energy.

    Question

    And do other magics work on other worlds?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I've been describing it lately more like you see DC current and AC current, where they're similar things but slightly different. It is possible to make magics work on other planets, some it's easier than others.

    Tags

  • 55

    Interview: Jan 8th, 2015

    fletchershair

    How do you convert between types of Investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson (Paraphrased)

    It depends on the types. For example, it's really hard to convert to/from Aons.

    Tags

  • 56

    Interview: Nov 1st, 2012

    Ninch (17th Shard)

    Could a person Soulcast more atium and lerasium if they had a bead?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No. Investiture messes things like that up.

    Footnote

    This book was signed in April 2014

    Tags

  • 57

    Interview: Mar 8th, 2014

    Trickonometry ()

    What would happen to the function of a magic item if it were to be taken from one world to another?

    Brandon Sanderson ()

    An invested object theoretically would work, but they may not work exactly the way they are supposed to.

    Tags

  • 58

    Interview: Mar 8th, 2014

    JamHeretic ()

    Why are Ryshadium cooler than regular horses? I suspect a spren bond.

    Brandon Sanderson ()

    There is Investiture involved.

    Tags

  • 59

    Interview: Mar 14th, 2014

    the_archduke

    Was Szeth's resurrection done with Rosharan Investiture or that from Nalthis?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO.

    Tags

  • 60

    Interview: Mar 18th, 2014

    gpmushu

    Do highstorms get weaker as they move west because of normal meteorological reasons the same way a hurricane gets weaker over land or is it because they slowly drain investiture as they infuse spheres over the whole continent?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Both. He said that anything like that will be affected by both normal science as well as the magic, but then he added that the highstorms are a natural occurring phenomenon that were on the planet before stuff started going down. I didn't get this confirmed, but I think he meant the stormlight part of the storm was added later, I'm assuming by a Shard.

    Tags

  • 61

    Interview: Mar 19th, 2014

    Question ()

    How much stormlight equals one breath? Do you have an actual ratio?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have a ratio. It's not on me.

    Question

    Okay, that's a Peter question again.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, well, I may not answer it even then.

    Tags

  • 62

    Interview: Mar 20th, 2014

    Outis

    How much Stormlight is equal to one Breath?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is one of the times I have to go to Peter and say, They're asking, we have to canonize this.

    Tags

  • 63

    Interview: Mar 20th, 2014

    Outis

    How much Stormlight is equal to one Breath?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is one of the times I have to go to Peter and say, They're asking, we have to canonize this.

    Tags

  • 64

    Interview: Mar 20th, 2014

    Outis

    Will Allomancy affect Shardblades?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It cannot affect Shardblades. Well, cannot is a strong term. Things with innate Investiture are much more difficult to affect by any of the magics at all. Which is why it's very hard for Szeth to bind people or lash people wearing Shardplate to the ceiling. In the same way Allomancy wouldn't be able to push on it without some help. Duralumin with a strong Push would probably do it.

    Outis

    I was just wondering if it was actually metal.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is metalish--it's metal enough for Allomancy to work on it.

    Tags

  • 65

    Interview: Mar 20th, 2014

    Outis

    What other magic systems in the Cosmere have that same kind of, "If you use it a lot it gets better?"

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is a little bit more like wedging open cracks in the soul by letting the Investiture come in, and it can open the cracks more.

    Outis

    Are there other magic systems like that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Outis

    Will we see those any time soon?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Maybe...RAFO.

    Tags

  • 66

    Interview: Mar 20th, 2014

    Outis

    Given that Investiture is Investiture, would there be potential Investiture of like, kandra to Parshendi using Hemalurgic spikes?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Hemalurgic spikes can be used on any planet.

    Outis

    Would it be potential for Parshendi to develop a form using the spikes?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Wow, that would be a really weird hack of the magic system that would be theoretically possible. But that's a really weird one. I had never even considered that one. Parshendi adopting other Investiture could happen, the spikes is not one I've considered.

    Tags

  • 67

    Interview: Mar 20th, 2014

    Chris_from_Warrenton

    Would it be possible to Soulforge NIghtblood and change the command that was given to him when he was Invested?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is possible. That would actually not be a very difficult Soulforge. The problem is, he's Invested. So reInvesting him, which is what Soulforgery is, is really hard. So you'd have to figure out how you could use Forgery on something that is already Invested. But forgery can get through some of those hoops a lot easier than some other magic systems can.

    Chris_from_Warrenton

    Do you have to be a willing subject to be Soulforged?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You do not. Working with the soul is really hard though. You have to be a supreme expert in what you're doing, because soul is Investiture

    Tags

  • 68

    Interview: Mar 20th, 2014

    Chris_from_Warrenton

    [Paraphrased]In order to use magic from one world on another world, do they need a bit of [the first world's] Shard with you?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It helps a lot. But there are other ways to do it. What's going on in the Cosmere is people have 3 sets of DNA. They have Physical DNA, Spiritual DNA, and Cognitive DNA. Their Spiritual DNA is what encodes the magic system into them, their Investiture. So if you can find a way to rewrite your Spiritual DNA, you can do all kinds of funky things. That's what Hemalurgy does. It rips off a piece of someone else's soul, staples it to yours. So if you went with a Hemalurgic spike to the right place, ripped off a piece of someone's soul and stapled it to yourself, you could create short circuits that will let you do all kinds of goofy stuff.

    Tags

  • 69

    Interview: Jan 6th, 2015

    Question

    When you started writing cosmere novels, how much of it had you outlined? How far ahead had you thought?

    Brandon Sanderson

    When I started writing cosmere novels? When I started started, I was a teenager. Totally hadn't thought very far ahead. When I was an adult and I was writing them, I wrote one when I was like 20, and I had an inkling, and I played around with things. The first one that I wrote with a real, conscious eye toward the cosmere was Elantris. So the ones that have been published, yes. But when I first started, I had a little bit of an inkling.

    Question

    Have you ever backed yourself into a corner with it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not yet! I have backed myself into corners by saying things to fans that I've already changed in my notes and hadn't realized I had, and stuff like that. I do that all the time. But usually when I do that, I just tell them. "Ah, I'm sorry, I just changed this, guys." I'm still convinced that Stayer and Stepper—that [Robert Jordan] didn't know those were two different horses. I'm utterly convinced that he made the mistake, and then just covered it. Because that's the sort of things we writers do.

    One of the ones I've been working on a lot lately is, how much can you affect things that are Invested with other magic systems? Should it be not at all, should it be a little bit, should it be... But then I have to go back to Mistborn, and I've got canon here, where people are pushing and pulling on things that are Invested, but I tried when I was even writing Mistborn to make sure that the someone was drawing on the Mist, or had extra power for some reason before they were pushing on... and so I left myself that room, but at the same time I've established that you can do it, so anyway.

    Tags

  • 70

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    I know that there's three sorts of forms that magic presents itself in, the liquid and the solid and air. What would Breath be?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Breath is definitely like Mist, it is in the form of the air.

    Question

    And is Stormlight the same?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Stormlight is the same. Good questions!

    Question

    Would Vasher be able to use Stormlight in the same way that he can get Breath?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That would not be immediately easy, but Stormlight could feed Nightblood.

    Question

    Which is why Szeth can wield Nightblood?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Eh, you'll have to see if … but yes. That could theoretically happen. You can use most of the magics on most of the planets to fuel the other magics, if you know how to do it, it is not easy.

    Tags

  • 71

    Interview: Mar 29th, 2014

    Question

    [Paraphrased]How difficult would it be to Push on various things.

    Brandon Sanderson

    [Paraphrased]It depends on the amount of Investiture in the person/object. Nightblood would be the hardest thing to Push on, harder than Shardblades.

    Tags

  • 72

    Interview: Aug 6th, 2014

    BlackYeti

    Did he [Vasher] actually come from Nalthis and not Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I’m not going to actually answer that one. Well I can answer that: yes he does come from Nalthis. It’s pretty obvious that the way that the Breath’s working, the reason he moved is because it’s easier to get Stormlight than Breaths, and Stormlight can fuel being a Returned like him. And so yes, he was born on Nalthis. Becoming Returned without being born on Nalthis would be really hard.

    Tags

  • 73

    Interview: Mar 12th, 2015

    trevorade (Reddit)

    It has been explained that all things exists between three realms: Physical, Spiritual, and Cognitive.

    I have surmised that different things "exist more" in a certain realm than another though all things have some presence in the three. Humans appear to "exist more" in the Physical realm. Spren appear to "exist more" in the Cognitive realm (Shadesmar in SA). Investiture appears to have various forms in the Physical Realm (e.g., alomantic metals, mist, stormlight).

    Question 1: Does investiture have a consistent form (regardless of magic system and its Physical form) in one of the other realms?

    Question 2: Vasher has shown us that he can substitue his need for Breath with another investiture (presumably Stormlight). To what extent is investiture interchangeable between magic systems?

    Question 3: Is investiture finite? Hemalurgy and a Return's need to consume breath seems to show us that it can be destroyed. If it is finite, is the Cosmere's magic source doomed to the law of entropy?

    Brandon Sanderson (Reddit)

    1. It's consistent in the Spiritual Realm. Location isn't particularly important there.
    2. Very interchangeable, but not always simple to apply.
    3. Investiture can not be created or destroyed. It follows it's own version of the laws of Thermodynamics.

    Joe_____ (Reddit)

    So what happens to the investiture that is lost when a person is spiked and the spike isn't set in the new person immediately? Does it return to the big pool of investiture in the sky like the power from wheel of time where if its not actively being used it returns to the source?

    Brandon Sanderson (Reddit)

    What happens to someone's body when it's not being used by a particular person? The system is built to work like that.

    Tags

  • 74

    Interview: Dec 12th, 2015

    Question

    Is there a finite amount of Investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Tags

  • 75

    Interview: Dec 12th, 2015

    Question

    So, is Nightblood reducing the amount of Investiture in the cosmere?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. At a very slow rate, but yes.

    Tags

  • 76

    Interview: Jan 21st, 2015

    Weiry

    Whether the plague on the Purelake has anything to do with the fact that the magic fish form symbiotic bonds with spren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No. Worldhoppers brought a disease to Roshar that they didn't have before. It's the common cold. Rosharans' investiture makes it so they’re usually a healthy bunch so something like the cold is kind of frightening. "Its a plague of the sniffles”.

    Tags

  • 77

    Interview: Jan 7th, 2015

    Question

    Is Investiture universal? By that I mean, if an Allomancer got Stormlight somehow could they use that to fuel Allomancy?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is always possible, so yes. But in some case it requires some quote-unquote hacking, like an AC vs a DC current or we’ve got a 120 Volt and they’ve got 240. [...] I guess hacking is the wrong term, adapters.

    Tags

  • 78

    Interview: Jan 20th, 2015

    Leinton

    If a person stores a lot of Investiture, could they resist a Shardblade?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is theoretically possible.

    Tags

  • 79

    Interview: Jan 24th, 2015

    Question

    How difficult is it to transfer Investiture from one magic system to another, is it even possible?

    Brandon Sanderson

    How difficult is it to transfer Investiture from one magic system to another. It is possible. It is more difficult with different magic systems. Breaths are easy. Stormlight is fairly easy. Others from there on get pretty hard.

    Tags

  • 80

    Interview: Jan 31st, 2015

    Sirce Luckwielder

    "So each anti-investiture is like its world's investiture, but can't be effected by it. So aluminum can't be affected and destroyes Allomancy, ralkalest can't be Soulstamped, Shardblades are blunted by that one thing. Is the black filled sphere that Galivar gives to Szeth the anti-investiture to Stormlight?" When I asked this, he became much more tight-lipped and said that was an interesting theory and that I would learn more in book three.

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO.

    Tags

  • 81

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2015

    Question

    How did Kaladin heal his shardblade wound without the power of Regrowth?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That’s partially a RAFO. Remember that healing in the cosmere usually has to do with how you view yourself. And as long as there is some outpouring of Investiture you are usually capable of healing. More the weird thing is not that Kaladin healed it’s that Szeth couldn’t.

    Tags

  • 82

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2015

    Argent

    Awakening and Surgebinding, Stormlight and Breath seem really similar in some aspects--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Argent

    --except Breaths seem to stick to things better--

    Brandon Sanderson

    They do.

    Argent

    --than Stormlight. So when you are holding the Breath it doesn’t expire when you put it in something it doesn’t go away. Can you tell me something about why that’s happening?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Part of this is kind of inherent to the Shard and the power it’s coming from. I mean the power of Endowment is just going to stick, that’s part of the nature of its magic. Does that make sense? But it also kind of has to do with how the ecosystems are working. For instance the Stormlight is essential to the ecosystem of Roshar, it needs to be expended, it needs to get out and-- It’s like evaporation, does that make sense?

    Argent

    Recycling? Not the recycling but the cycle of--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, yeah like the cycle of water. And so just part of the way the nature of it works, it /has/ to get out, it /has/ to leak out, it has to run out. I mean it leaks even from spheres, right?

    Argent

    And when you lash things it’s temporary--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yep. And even though Szeth says that he thought Voidbringers could hold it they can’t. Like it is just not the way that it works.

    Argent

    Can they just hold it better?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They can hold it better. It’s not permanent. Now there are things that can do it permanently but--

    Argent

    Like the black sphere for example?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well we are not going to...The black sphere is something different. You guys have guessed what the black sphere is, right?

    Argent

    Well we have some ideas. I support that it holds an Unmade. Am I wrong?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I’m not going to answer that.

    Argent

    But you said--

    Brandon Sanderson

    I’m just curious what the theories are. Book 3 the black sphere is-- Everyone who reads the books will know what the black sphere is by the end of Book 3.

    Argent

    I can live with that.

    Tags

  • 83

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2015

    Argent

    Does Lift turn food into investiture directly or is it similar to the metals on--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Similar to the metals.

    Argent

    So like a gate?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Argent

    Okay, that’s good to know.

    Brandon Sanderson

    She can metabolize-- She can draw-- It’s not actually the food, it’s-- It’s not like the metals, not exactly. It’s not-- What she can do is she can metabolize into investiture instead of sugar. Does that make sense?

    Argent

    Yeah.

    Brandon Sanderson

    We metabolize food into sugar. She can metabolize it into investiture. Does that make sense?

    Argent

    That makes a lot of sense. So if she eats--

    Brandon Sanderson

    She’s got to have a blood sugar spike.

    Argent

    So if she eats like a cake it will give her more investiture--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Faster. It will give her faster.

    Argent

    Whereas if she eats a vegetable...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Vegetable... More calories is going to equal more. But the better comparison would be a sausage and bread. Because bread is a fast blood sugar spike and the sausage is not. And that’s how I’m working in my head. It’s kind of a magical version of a blood sugar spike and I have it happen to her faster than it could happen. Like normally you eat a piece of bread and your blood sugar spikes in a half hour, it’s going to go faster for Lift.

    Argent

    Her’s is like five minutes.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Her’s is like five minutes, but a sausage would be slower.

    Tags

  • 84

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2015

    Argent

    Can a Returned like Lightsong go to Roshar and form a bond with a spren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Investiture interferes with other investiture.

    Question

    And they have a lot of it.

    Brandon Sanderson

    And they have a lot of it. That is not-- It’s not completely-- For instance you can Push on Invested metal, but it’s hard. There’s a resistance, the more invested the harder-- So a bond for instance-- forming a bond-- It’s, yeah-- It can be done-- I mean Sazed took two of the powers up, right? But I kind of imagine what he did as a nuclear reaction. Where breaking an atom is hard, unless you are in the middle of a sun. And he was in the middle of the sun. At that point-- Argent: There was a lot of stuff going on around him that facilitated. Brandon: Yes, definitely. But when you’ve got that much power you’ll-- In other words if there is a lot of power going around, these things become easier.

    Question

    So, possible but difficult is--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Tags

  • 85

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2015

    Kurkistan

    So, could you give us some examples of how the ideals that spren represent work in other magic systems, like we have Forging where you get plausibility, or Returned how they're beautiful or any other systems?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Okay, one more time on that.

    Kurkistan

    Okay, so you know the ideals the spren are manifestations--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Kurkistan

    How-- Do those have impacts on other magic systems?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, yes, in the same way the Returned- that's the exact same system at work there.

    Kurkistan

    Is it the same reason why the Lord Ruler has to die of old age, and why you can't heal yourself into being an octopus or something?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um... Yes, that is all connected in the exact same way.

    Kurkistan

    Okay, so it's all like these high falutin' spiritual ideals?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Kurkistan

    And are there like, median Cognitive ideals that gradually kind of influence these, or--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, they transcend between the three. I mean the original concept for the three realms is Platonic philosophy.

    Kurkistan

    So it goes up *makes absurd reverse-waterfall hand gesture*

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, it goes up and it comes back down. A lot of the Cognitive is-- So like, the Cognitive has a bigger effect on how you can heal and things like that. Does that make sense?

    Kurkistan

    Yeah.

    Brandon Sanderson

    But the power to heal is a actually a spiritual thing.

    Kurkistan

    So it's like the spiritual says "I want to be like this" and the Cognitive is like "okay I'll try really hard to be like that, but I have a limit."

    Brandon Sanderson

    Right. Right. Filtered through how you see yourself, yeah.

    Tags

  • 86

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2015

    Kurkistan

    Speaking of time bubbles, can iron and steel and emotional Allomancy go beyond the boundaries of time bubbles; like if I'm inside a time bubble can I just like super steel push outside?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, time bubbles interfere with almost all forms of investiture.

    Tags

  • 87

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2015

    Kurkistan

    So for soulcasting—I talked a lot about those ideals that a lot of things are based on—is that also like there's an ideal of stone that when you soulcast stone if you don't do anything special, it just defaults as that-

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, there will be a default of all of them.

    Kurkistan

    And that's the same exact thing as spren and why the Lord Ruler dies of old age and all that stuff?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is-- Yes, that's the same sort of concept. Yes.

    Tags

  • 88

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2015

    Argent

    We’ve noticed that each world, or most worlds, seem to have something that Investiture likes to stick to. So on Nalthis it’s life, on Roshar it’s gems, metal on Scadrial… Do you have a term for those things?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do not have one yet. But I probably should.

    Footnote

    question about a concept in-universe that Brandon has not made up a word for yet

    Tags

  • 89

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2015

    Kurkistan

    So you've said that healing is like the spiritual wants to heal and then it filters through the Cognitive, but how's that work with healing wounds to the soul like Hemalurgy or Shardblades? What do you refer to to heal the soul at that point?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You need to make a patch on the soul with investiture.

    Kurkistan

    So how's the investiture know where to go, what to look like?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well your soul is an ideal. So if you can get it up there, there are ways to do- to recreate that with um- see I'm getting into stuff for later books.

    Argent

    No, that’s okay.

    Kurkistan

    So when Hemalurgy rips something off the soul, is that the ideal soul or some sub-soul?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is off of your soul, and it can be healed; but what it's going to be doing is creating a patch of new soul. So it will not be your original soul. Does that make sense?

    Kurkistan

    Okay, that- well, not completely, but I think that's your intention.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Store Employee

    If you do that, is that like Frankenstein's monster, or is it like a graft that's absorb-

    Brandon Sanderson

    Less horrifying- Less horrifying than Frankenstein's monster, but it is a graft that is like- it is not your original soul.

    Store Employee

    Yeah, but in modern medicine stuff like that is absorbed-

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah; in this you will always have a scar on your soul that something else has patched over.

    Kurkistan

    So Kaladin shouldn't just keep getting his arm chopped?

    Brandon Sanderson

    [ignoring/not-hearing Kurkistan just now] But that is what happens with most forms of investiture in the first place.

    Tags

  • 90

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2015

    Argent

    Would a parshman who received multiple breaths, or any other type of investiture, be able to gain sentience or become more like listener-- Kind of like mistwraith/kandra?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That would require some Identity changes and transformations.

    Argent

    So it’s not just a dump of--

    Brandon Sanderson

    It’s not just a dump. It’s a biological thing for them, they’ve adapted. So they’ve evolved to the point where this sort of thing-- It would be like trying to power DC with AC current or the wrong voltage or something like that… I mean once you figure it out it could be an easy hack but finding out that hack it’s like-- You know it’s like going back to people in the 1800’s and being like “Why don’t you guys have electricity?” *laughter*

    Tags

  • 91

    Interview: Oct 12th, 2015

    Question

    On Sel, it seems like a lot of the magic is tied in to the location on the planet. Could you take something like Soulforging and do it on another planet, or is it just tied into Sel?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is tied into Sel, and there's this distinct reason for that, and it has to do with one of the big differences between the magic there and other places that people haven't picked out of me yet.

    Question

    So is that tied into how you can get Investiture there?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah. It's all tied in. I’ve only made it vaguely- It's not obvious, but I think you could pick it out if you worked at it.

    Tags

  • 92

    Interview: Oct 12th, 2015

    Question

    Is the Thrill related to Investiture, or heritage, or both or neither?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is definitely related to Investiture.

    Tags

  • 93

    Interview: Oct 12th, 2015

    Question

    The metals that were formed from Shards, like atium and lerasium. Are they somewhat naturally occurring, like in [?] of power, or are they specifically [?]?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They are somewhat naturally occurring.

    Question

    [Really? Even on other Shardworlds?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh. They could exist somewhere else. There are some special circumstances on Scadrial, but yes. The idea is that the pools are one state of this mythological matter.

    Question

    So if you have the physical state and the liquid state, is there a less liquid state? [what does this question even mean?] Because some of that's being used.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um... Oh. Yeah. Yeah. But, I mean, it's such a drop in the bucket compared to the actual Shards. So that it is a statistically insignificant amount, but it is an amount.

    Question

    So Harmony's pool, wherever it is is statistically larger than...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Tags

  • 94

    Interview: Oct 12th, 2015

    Argent

    On Nalthis, can aluminum prevent somebody from Returning? So if you kill somebody with aluminum and leave the weapon in them?

    Brandon Sanderson

    [Long pause]I don't think that's going to be enough. I think that…

    Question

    Different way then?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah there are totally ways. I don’t think that that’s going to be enough. There's a difference between being inert and blocking Investiture, and actually sucking out Investiture. If you stuck Nightblood inside of a corpse; there are certain things… if you had a larkin or whatever sitting there that ingests the Investiture as it was coming in, that would prevent [Returning]. I think with aluminum you would just have somebody that comes alive with a wound, so maybe... But I think it would just heal around [the aluminum] and you'd just have a spike in you, kind of like Hemalurgy—but not like Hemalurgy. It's inert, but you know what I mean.

    Question

    Which suggests you can't actually Awaken aluminum.

    Brandon Sanderson

    No. It's not going to hold a charge.

    Kurkistan

    I assume you can't Forge it, either.

    Brandon Sanderson

    No. In fact the unForgable metal-

    Argent

    Ralkalest?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There's an unForgeable metal mentioned.

    Kurkistan

    Could we call it aluminum if we wanted to?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Let's just say that aluminum through most cultures was considered a mythological metal, and when people could actually find some, they considered it more valuable than gold, in our culture. So just sayin’...

    Tags

  • 95

    Interview: Oct 9th, 2015

    Question

    Is there meant to be a direct connection between the efficiency for transferring Breaths and the stamp magic in Emperor’s Soul? Because both work better with things close to what they’re supposed to be like.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Only in that all magics work on the same fundamental rules. I wasn’t specifically linking those two in my head when I wrote them. It’s a fundamental rule in the Cosmere that your perception, what you’re thinking, how much something matches what you doing, and how much you’re able to visualize what you want to have happen, it’s all related in the cognitive aspects of the magics. And the spiritual I suppose.

    Tags

  • 96

    Interview: Oct 9th, 2015

    Question

    Nightblood feeds on Investiture, so could an Allomancer burning, say, steel, draw Nightblood and fuel it off of that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, Nightblood would feed off that Kinetic Investiture, you could make that work. You would need to keep that portal open, and he would eat the power instead of whatever you were planning to do with it, and when you ran out of metal he’d kill you.

    Question

    Would it also work with whatever you have in a Coppermind?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, theoretically that could work too. That’s a very good question, and you’re the first to ask that.

    Tags

  • 97

    Interview: Oct 9th, 2015

    Question

    I was wondering, is Nightblood a Shardblade?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Nightblood is an attempt by someone who didn’t know how Shardblades were made to create a Shardblade using a different magic system.

    Question

    If Nightblood feeds on Breath, but Szeth doesn’t have it, will it feed on Stormlight?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Nightblood can feed off Stormlight, but Szeth can't draw in Stormlight right now. So Szeth better not draw that sword, for a while at least.

    Tags

  • 98

    Interview: Oct 8th, 2015

    karsen

    What is the difference between innate investiture and kinetic investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    (paraphrased)- Kinetic investiture is energy/power that is being actively (currently) used. Innate investiture is when a person is a conduit to/from the Spiritual realm.

    Tags

  • 99

    Interview: Oct 6th, 2015

    the fulgid

    It seems to be more and more apparent that different abilities are granted depending on the design of one's spiritweb. Is the design of a spiritweb, and the abilities it grants, limited to a specific shardworld, or are the designs universal across the cosmere? For example: can a worldhopper from Roshar travel to Scadrial and access previously locked portions of their spiritweb through methods such as hemalurgy?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Most abilities are free to be used across the cosmere, but some are VERY region-locked, like with Elantris. They have difficulty using their abilities outside their own country. There is a reason for this. But most are able to be used elsewhere.

    Tags

  • 100

    Interview: Apr 16th, 2015

    mail-mi

    I asked him to put a clue about Shadesmar on my shirt. He put:

    Brandon Sanderson

    "Shadesmar has much investiture in some places." He explained: some places in Shadesmar have a lot more investiture than others.

    Tags

  • 101

    Interview: Nov 28th, 2015

    Dearius

    We know that investiture physically affects and changes people's bodies, so aside from the chance of being born as a misting, feruchemist, ect. Can investiture physically or biologically affect the magic user's descendants, and if so then in what way?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You are on to something there, but I can't give details without spoilers. He then elaborated that it plays a major part on Sel. In response I asked if the Alethi were descendants of the original Knights Radiant and if their descendants had light eyes due to their ancestor's use of stormlight/Natal Bond. He said I was on to something but to RAFO.

    Tags

  • 102

    Interview: Nov 28th, 2015

    PrncRny

    Is an Snapped Allomancer more likely to pass on the Allomantic ability than an UnSnapped one?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not necessarily. (I asked if it was pure genetics, then, and he initially said yes, then appended that with 'not just genetics. there's a spiritual aspect to it as well.')

    Tags

  • 103

    Interview: Feb 17th, 2016

    Question

    Well you answered my question about Allomancers being able to burn metals in other realms--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Question

    --is that because the Shards are sort of… My impression from the book was that the Shards were--in the Mistborn books--specifically in that area but is it because the universe is formed across all of them that that is why the metals--

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, most of the magics are not region-dependent, because the Spiritual Realm-- in the Spiritual Realm space doesn’t exist. All things are the same distance from one another.

    Tags

  • 104

    Interview: Feb 17th, 2016

    rani

    Any kind of Investiture to make a Shardblade?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not any but there are multiple methods. Some work better than others.

    rani

    Can you Forge a Shardblade?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um… *sighs* To Forge a Shardblade, meaning make a regular sword through Forgery into a shardblade, would require so much Investiture it’s like asking if we can make lead into gold using a particle accelerator. Yes but it's horribly, horribly, horribly inefficient.

    Tags

  • 105

    Interview: Feb 17th, 2016

    Question

    What’s the upper limit of Lashing, is it Stormlight?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, it’s-- Well define for me what you mean by upper limit?

    Question

    *audio obscured*

    Brandon Sanderson

    That would take a lot of Stormlight.

    Question

    [So it’s something about the Stormlight?]

    Brandon Sanderson

    Definitely.

    Tags

  • 106

    Interview: Feb 17th, 2016

    Question

    Can you create a shardblade with Breath?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. That’s what Nightblood is.

    Tags

  • 107

    Interview: Feb 17th, 2016

    Question

    Can Vasher draw Breath from a highstorm?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will answer that eventually... You know what, yes he can. Not Breath though, he can draw Investiture the way he needs it.

    Tags

  • 108

    Interview: Feb 17th, 2016

    Question

    Is Nightblood a minor Shard?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Nightblood is one of the most heavily Invested things in the cosmere that is not a Shard.

    Tags

  • 109

    Interview: Jan 26th, 2016

    scottwo

    Breath and Stormlight? (paraphrased)

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon said that the aura of the BioChromatic Breath and Stormlight is very similar. They're two different magic systems, but essentially the same phenomenon.

    Tags

  • 110

    Interview: Feb 25th, 2016

    Question

    You've said that Shardblades can be made in other magic systems. So if it's not like a Shardblade from Roshar, what makes it a Shardblade?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The “shard” refers to the heavy investiture of a Shard of Adonalsium. Most of what you’ll see will be the Roshar ones, but it is technically possible to make them out of the other magic systems. It's going to be a heavily invested magical weapon is kind of how I would define it.

    Question

    So are the Bands one?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ummm... I would not call them one, but they are close, they're not Invested enough.

    Tags

  • 111

    Interview: Feb 25th, 2016

    Question

    On the scale of not-very to extremely... how confused should I still be about Investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Pretty confused, it’s not-- I mean, I haven’t even dug into really what it is.

    Tags

  • 112

    Interview: Feb 25th, 2016

    Question

    You mentioned that the flakes of metal are catalysts to access the powers of Preservation. What do the birds from Patji use as catalysts?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You don't always have to have the exact same thing for catalysts, for that it’s kind of more of an innate connection, in the same way that the metals have an innate connection. They ARE the catalyst if that makes sense.

    Tags

  • 113

    Interview: Feb 25th, 2016

    Question

    So in the Stormlight Archive, they have the two Surges, and they have a third power effect, right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They have kind of effects on each other, like a reverberation. Yes. I wouldn’t call it expressly a third power, I’d call it interactions.

    Question

    So, it seems like...you don’t have to confirm anything, but it seems like Kaladin is able to transfer his powers to his men following him…

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Windrunners are known for having lots of squires.

    Question

    And the Skybreakers seem like they’re really good at hunting people down.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I’m not going to answer any of those! But good questions!

    Tags

  • 114

    Interview: Feb 25th, 2016

    taveren

    If someone goes to every planet and get Invested from every shard, if he was Invested enough would he become a new Shard?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That’s an excellent question that I’m not going to answer.

    taveren

    I guess you will not answer if anyone is trying to do that

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yup, I am not going to answer. Sorry. That's too deeply related to things that are happening in the cosmere and I don’t want to dig into for a little while yet.

    Tags

  • 115

    Interview: Feb 25th, 2016

    Question

    What is the raw power of the most powerful [relationship?]?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would say that there isn't one.

    Footnote

    another incomplete question

    Tags

  • 116

    Interview: Feb 25th, 2016

    Question

    If you were a Leecher, could you destroy a Shardblade?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Umm...I'm going to RAFO that for now, let's just say that it would be incredibly difficult if it were possible, and I'm not going to even say if it is. The Investiture in a Shardblade is much greater than your average Allomancer, but...This type of thing is not unheard of in the cosmere. The larkin, the Leechers, and Nightblood all have a similar sort of thing going on. Destroying a Shardblade would be REALLY hard. And Investiture resists other forms of Investiture, so.

    Tags

  • 117

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2016

    Argent

    Returned, they don’t quite fit the other splinters—their Breath, rather—because it’s the divine breath that’s the splinter right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ehhhhhhh…. Ehhhhhhh....

    Argent

    Okay, that was vague.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not a 100% correlation there

    Argent

    So in that case it’s not entirely fair to say that the Returned are vessels for...

    Brandon Sanderson

    No… Well, more vessels than the people that are in T’Telir… So, Endowment is in control of what’s happening, right?

    Argent

    The giving of _____

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. So what you’ve got to remember—and this is something that people keep mistaking is- something like a spren is still part of the god, and it’s not that different from the fact that the rock has a part of the body in it, and that everything is kind of made—in [the] Mistborn world in particular—everything is made out of their essence. And so… the breath _are_ similar, but it’s less that- they’re not autonomous in most cases and it’s more like- it’s like a hybrid of what’s happening in Mistborn where everybody’s got a bit of Preservation in them. Everyone’s got a bit of Endowment in them.

    Argent

    Innate investiture.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Innate investiture that they are born with.

    Argent

    I was looking to _Divine_ Breath, _____ specifically.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh _Divine_ breath! Divine Breath is it’s own special thing, and it’s more like what happened with the Honorblades, in that the god is pouring a bit of its investiture, infusing the magic ____.

    Tags

  • 118

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2016

    Question

    At the end of Bands of Mourning, Wax begins seeing what seems like souls, as he’s holding the bands. He sees lines. He ponders that man/metals are the same thing. Is he seeing investiture there?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, to an extent. Yes. He’s seeing the cosmere-equivalent of atoms/investiture/energy waves all being the same thing.

    Question

    Okay, so kind of a building block of things?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes; it’s almost like he’s seeing the ____, the atoms.

    Tags

  • 119

    Interview: Apr 8th, 2016

    Blightsong

    Is it possible for a Knight Radiant to become a kind of Drab if they use too much investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, you can't really burn yourself out that way, no. I mean, it's possible for drabbery to be mimicked on other planets, but not through that method.

    Tags

  • 120

    Interview: Apr 8th, 2016

    Blightsong

    Would it be harder to soulcast a Knight Radiant?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Blightsong

    Would it be harder for her to soulcast a mistborn?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, investiture disrupts investiture. It's harder for her to even soulcast a regular person than, say, a rock.

    Blightsong

    Is a Mistborn invested?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Mistborn, how their burning the metal, you're right. They are not specifically invested when they are not burning. When the investiture becomes active, the yes. Before, no, you're right on that.

    Tags

  • 121

    Interview: Apr 8th, 2016

    Blightsong

    So Kelsier, he stayed around longer, not because he was invested, but because he had the ability to become invested?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Over time using the magic will invest you, on Scadrial. Most of the power is not coming from, on Roshar the power isn't coming from the person either (He cut himself off, so I assume this is how it works on Scadrial even though he didn't finish his thought) so I'm going to have to back up on that one and say, yes, the mistborn are as invested as a Knight Radiant, because in both cases the majority of the power is coming from somewhere else, but there is the spirit web. Investing the wrong term, but you have all these connections in the spiritual realm, so yanking you away from them, or rewriting them (like soulcasting or forgery) is harder.

    Blightsong

    Would they be harder (kek) with more Stormlight or Metals burning?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, yes. That would increase the difficulty ratio. For instance, wearing shard plate is gonna be a great barrier, right, and things like that so yea. The problem is like, invested is the wrong term for that, their spirit web is connected in different ways. (I deem this "Spirit Web Magical Connectivity Diversity, or SWMCD".

    Tags

  • 122

    Interview: Apr 8th, 2016

    Question

    So we know how people can enter Shadesmar, or the cognitive realm, how do other places, like, we haven't seen anything for the Mistborn series. Do we know how they can enter?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Read Secret History.

    Question

    I did read that, but it didn't really say anything besides that one special case.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Right, Hoid talks about Perpendicularities on Scadrial, if you go look at that there are certain places he talks about that. ,eyes just say that large concentrations of investiture can cause a puncture through the spiritual realm straight to the physical realm. If you know how to use it, you may transition. That's not the only way but is the primary way.

    Question

    And of of Course you can soulcast (Elsecall?) to get there.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Question

    Now that's a very interesting analogy you just made, you said "punctured" almost as if it were a spike.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, yes, that was intentional. Anyone who wants to ask questions after the Magic draft, you guys can come back in maybe 45 minutes. I'll just be hanging out and playing magic. If you’re just here to hang out and ask question, I'll be free to do that in about 45 minutes to an hour.

    Tags

  • 123

    Interview: Apr 8th, 2016

    Blightsong

    Is it normal for people to become connected to an area after being there for a bit, like with Kel and wherever he was when he found the Ire, or is something special going on?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is normal for a cognitive shadow to get stuck to places, because they exist through investiture it is normal for them to get tied to an area. Kelsier was still in Scadrial when he found the Ire. This happened with Odium and the two shards on Roshar, Preservation to Ruin, and the Heralds (To Roshar? Braize?). (I think this is basically what happens with shards when they invest on a planet, so this same thing happens at smaller levels than shards.)

    Footnote

    (After about an hour and a half he started answering more questions, so I sat nearby and wrote the gist of the questions and answers he was getting. Thsi next part is going to be paraphrased, but fairly accurate. It wasn't as rapid fire as it had been, as I and other people didn't want to keep interruption him while he was playing magic.)

    Tags

  • 124

    Interview: Apr 8th, 2016

    Question

    In Elantris it talks about how to wood and stone in the city is rotten and crumbling. Why does this happen?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is because when objects become Invested for long periods of time their spirit web changes to accommodate the investiture. When the investiture was pulled up of the stuff in Elantris its spirit web was severely damaged so it showed that in the physical realm. This happened with the Lord Ruler when the Bands of Mourning were ripped out of him.

    Tags

  • 125

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2016

    Question

    Is there a correlation between Awakening steel (Questioner later clarifies that by this he means making Nightblood), and summoning a sprenblade (Brandon tries to get him to clarify, live or dead sprenblade, but I don’t think they ended up on exactly the same page).

    Brandon Sanderson

    Someone should REALLY verbatim this one… the difference here is in one, you’re pouring Investiture into a physical object, in the other, something closer to pure Investiture is entering our realm and taking on a physical shape. Similar but different things. There is a correlation, but (trails off)

    Tags

  • 126

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2016

    Question

    Are the Bands of Mourning as Invested as Nightblood?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not even close.

    Tags

  • 127

    Interview: Oct 14th, 2015

    AndrewStirlingMacDonald

    So Wax, in the prologue of Alloy of Law thinks of himself as Wax, and then as Waxillium for the rest of the book, and then that's reversed in the second one. Is that a thing of Cosmeric import, or is it just a -

    Brandon Sanderson

    It kind of indicated how he feels about himself.

    AndrewStirlingMacDonald

    Could it have any impact on his ability to use investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not really. The investiture on Scadrial is not going to care how you're feeling about yourself. On other worlds, that's important, but not on Scadrial.

    Tags

  • 128

    Interview: Oct 14th, 2015

    AndrewStirlingMacDonald

    Is being a little bit crazy a prerequisite to becoming a Knight Radiant?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um, well, so, for many of the Cosmere magics to work, you have to, um, it has to get into the soul somehow. Right? Sometimes you ram it in by spiking someone else's soul and ripping off a piece and sticking it into yours. Ah, sometimes, it just seeps in the cracks. Um, sometimes the bond allows it to kind of bypass some of this, but it's usually traumatic experience. So crazy is not required, but there's got to be a place for the magic to go, to get in.

    Tags

  • 129

    Interview: Oct 14th, 2015

    AndrewStirlingMacDonald

    Are there any other Davars that are invested?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is TOTALLY a RAFO.

    AndrewStirlingMacDonald

    I mean, I knew it, when I asked..

    Brandon Sanderson

    "Are there any?" is an odd question. Depends on what time you're talking about. But let's just say there are few people in all of Roshar who've gotten as far as Shallan.

    Tags

  • 130

    Interview: Oct 14th, 2015

    AndrewStirlingMacDonald

    Is it possible for a kandra to use invested material to form a true body?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, that's a possibility.

    AndrewStirlingMacDonald

    Could they use shardplate?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They absolutely could.

    Tags

  • 131

    Interview: Apr 23rd, 2016

    Ted Herman

    So for the Old Magic, in this classification system of end-positive, end-neutral, and end-negative, where would that fall under?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, almost every magic in the Cosmere is end-positive, almost every magic is relying upon an external source of Investiture to power it. So that is mostly more relevant to Scadrial than anywhere else, because that concept is how I’m dealing with things like the laws of thermodynamics, and even what they call end-neutral is relying a little bit on the power of Investiture to facilitate. So even an end-neutral magic system as they define it on Scadrial is not actually end-neutral. What you put in you get out, but the power is facilitating that transfer. So that phrasing is kind of a....uh...Take that as a science on Scadrial that does not extrapolate well, and may not even be 100% accurate. [...] I look at it as, is there an Investiture externally powering the magic, and if you look at Allomancy, yes it is. You are drawing that power out. Feruchemy, you are putting Investiture in from your own body, it’s your energy transferring to Investiture, which is then stored, which you are then drawing out, and things like that. But that changing forms is facilitated by the magic. Whereas when you’re stealing stuff with - You could look for instance at the magic on Nalthis, you could look at that one as being, as kind of working as end-negative, meaning “I am taking it away from someone else”, or end-positive depending on if you’re the one receiving it or not. So again, it’s a phrasing that could be useful as a tool but doesn’t scale well to the other magics.

    Tags

  • 132

    Interview: Apr 23rd, 2016

    Question

    In the last panel we talked a lot about people from different planets using magic systems on other planets, one of the things I’ve been thinking about, we’ve been thinking about, talking about Breath, and people being born with Breath, is that something specific to Nalthis or do people on other planets have Breaths as well?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Good question and that is a Nalthian thing. Now, everyone in the Cosmere to an extent has Investiture, the Nalthian Breath is part of what everyone has and then a little extra, plus the ability to share it around. So a person who gives up their Breath on Nalthis is actually going below what a normal person has. But a normal person on Nalthis has more than somebody - so if you were for instance to pick a world like Sixth of the Dusk, where there’s not a Shard in residence, and you compared them to a Nalthian, Nalthian has an Investiture advantage over them. When they’ve given up their Breath, they have an Investiture disadvantage.

    Question

    So we’re not Drabs?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So we’re not Drabs. That’s exactly it. We’re not Drabs.

    Tags

  • 133

    Interview: Apr 23rd, 2016

    Question

    The Aons on Sel, they’re all based on - I assume the Inshape of the landscape around Elantris. Covestiture in Elantris itself, all the sigils are based on the general uld that magic work in other places based on geography on the other places with their Investiture, or is that exclusive to Sel?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is an aspect of the Selan magic system… did I say Selian or Selan? Can’t remember which one we settled on, Peter knows…

    Question

    Selish.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, Selish, that’s what we settled on, isn’t it, yeah, Selish magic system. This is why we have copy editors [laughter] That’s a feature of the Sel’s magic system that… as far as I know, no-one has pulled out in any decent reason for. But there’s a distinct reason that could be figured out, but it’s… one of these things that will make sense when I explain it, but I’m not sure if it’s quote-unquote “intuitively obvious” to the average reader. I don’t really think that it necessarily is that, but it will make perfect sense once it’s explained.

    Tags

  • 134

    Interview: Apr 23rd, 2016

    Question

    If you were to combine a Soulstamp of a crystal, with a kandra true body of a crystal, would they have additional powers to compete[?compound] with regards to Mistborn. [???].

    Brandon Sanderson

    Alright, so if you took a crystal that they’re making Soulstamps out of and you gave it to a kandra, and they used it for bones, generally the kandra are not drawing any sort of extra Investiture or power from the bones, they’re making, they’re using. That’s - though TenSoon would argue that I’m wrong. [general laughter]

    Tags

  • 135

    Interview: Apr 23rd, 2016

    Question

    Someone who has Breath Investiture, can they give the Breath to someone who doesn’t, so like somebody from Scadrial, or…

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Question

    Would the Scadrian be able to use it.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. You have seen people from off-planet who have Breath before.

    Moderator

    Or… perfect pitch?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. [laughter] And are making use of it in variety of ways.

    Tags

  • 136

    Interview: Apr 23rd, 2016

    Question

    If Lift ate something that had like, gold leaf on it, could she change that gold leaf into Investiture or something?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So the gold leaf would probably pass through her system.

    Question

    So she wouldn’t be…?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mhm, yes, that things that she eats that she can metabolize, she can turn into Stormlight.

    Question

    So what would happen if she ate Nightblood? [laughter]

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, eating Nightblood would not be a smart idea for anyone. [more laughter] Nightblood would eat you. In Soviet Russia, sword eats you? I don’t know…

    Footnote

    Brandon says here that she can convert items that she can metabolize into stormlight, but during the Out of Excuses 2016 he implies that Lift can convert anything she ingests into stormlight including non food

    Out of excuses 2016 q3

    Tags

  • 137

    Interview: Oct 13th, 2015

    Question

    If a feruchemist charges a metalmind full of identity, and then someone awakens that metalmind, would its personality be that of the identity stored in it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    *laughs aloud for a few seconds* Wow. I haven't even revealed what storing identity does yet! Okay. When you awaken it, how are you doing it? A simple awakening? Or Nightblood awakening? Like, are you giving sentience as well?

    Question

    Sure.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, see, the stored identity would definitely mess with it, but it wouldn't ultimately be the same identity. It would definitely have an affect.

    Blaze1616

    *to questioner* I wonder if the Command would have a greater affect, or if it's simply because the metalmind is charged with investiture-

    Brandon Sanderson

    I haven't revealed what charging investiture does either.

    Footnote

    I think Brandon misunderstood me. I meant that because the metalmind was charged, the investiture would obfuscate the awakening, which we already know. I think he thought I meant the metalmind was charged with investiture, as in it's a nicrosilmind, which it can't be if it's charged with identity (or at least that shouldn't be possible). And for the record, this was asked by one of the lurkers mentioned, and I told him to join and participate, so if you were planning on posting this yourself, sorry to steal your thunder!

    Tags

  • 138

    Interview: Sep 1st, 2016

    Question

    You mentioned in the last couple of (I don't understand the word but from the context He talk about Ars Arcanum where Khriss talk about what we call "perks") that you get interesting results when you mix type of investitures.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes

    Question

    Can you mix a form of magic with a source of investiture ? Vasher uses stormlight replacing Breath or that requires (word I don't understand) like Hemalurgy or something like that ?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Most of them required (again the word I don't understand). Some of them are little bit easier than others. It's depends on really what you need. For istance, white sand can be charged in the presence of any Investiture right? But it's not really using the magic, is just charging it with other Investiture but you know it would be very easy for istance to use Breath to fuel...Windrunning right? Because the oath and the bond and things like that make it pretty easy. However fueling Allomancy with something else is going to be a lot harder. So it really depends on the magic. It's the sort of thing that there will be lots of science in the books dedicated to making happen in the future and you will find some of the process these work easiser than other ones.

    Tags

  • 139

    Interview: Sep 1st, 2016

    Question

    Could feruchemical Nicrosil be used to store other invested abilities, such as a Returned breath or the abilities of the Knights Radiant?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, that's possible

    Tags

  • 140

    Interview: Sep 23rd, 2016

    Out of Excuses 2016 (Paraphrased)

    Gary Singer

    Could Lift convert food from other Cosmere worlds into Stormlight?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Lift’s spiritweb has something changed about it to allow converting mass to Investiture directly.

    Footnote

    Based on Brandon’s answer, I'm not even sure she has to metabolize the food. It could be that she can burn anything she can swallow.

    Tags

  • 141

    Interview: Sep 6th, 2016

    Djarskublar

    So I could be wrong, but a Hemalurgic spike, when you use it and become a savant it does damage to your Spiritweb, right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes Hemalurgy always hurts you. (I think he was saying that the Hemalurgy itself hurts you more than being a savant, but I'm not sure how to interpret this)

    Djarskublar

    So say you go to Roshar and you give somebody a Hemalurgic spike for some Allomantic power, don't care what, and you use it to become a savant. Does that qualify them as 'broken' enough to become a Radiant? As long as they are also following the Ideals to attract a spren.

    Brandon Sanderson

    So becoming a Radiant is a spectrum of terminologies. It... probably, but you would have to find a Radiant who would, or a spren who would be willing to touch that, okay? It's going to drive them back.

    Djarskublar

    So would it also affect your probability of becoming an Elantrian?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah it would affect your ability to become anything else, yes.

    Djarskublar

    Okay, so would it be a positive effect, negative effect...? Because I was like, it gives you cracks in your Spiritweb.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It does give you cracks in your Spiritweb.

    Djarskublar

    So it's easier for Investiture to get in. Does it make it easier for other Investitures to get in?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It would make it... yes. It's going to drive spren away. So what it's really going to make easier for, there, is spren and Investiture that doesn't care.

    Djarskublar

    Okay, so Investiture doesn't care but spren do.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Investiture might care depending on if it's part of a Shard-- if it has intent and things like this.

    Djarskublar

    So it might let Stormlight in easier than a Breath, type thing.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm saying it might let Odium in easier than Syl. Because Syl would care, and Odium would not care.

    Djarskublar

    Okay cool.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Alright, so it could be a really bad thing, is what I'm trying to say to you.

    Djarskublar

    Yeah that's cool. I just want to know more about gold too. Gold Allomancy too. Because Miles was doing some funky stuff.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Miles was doing some funky stuff.

    Tags

  • 142

    Interview: Oct 22nd, 2016

    Question

    Question about the stormlight itself : a highstorm, full of stormlight, fills the spheres. Then, the KR use the stormlight or the stormlight evaporates with time. Question : where does the stormlight in highstorms come from ? Is there like a "rain cycle", but for the stormlight ?

    Brandon Sanderson

    the stormlight in the highstorm is transferred from the Spiritual realm through the Stormfather into the highstorm.

    Tags

  • 143

    Interview: Nov 29th, 2016

    Question

    Could only Lift see Szeth's afterimages?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Anyone sufficiently Invested can see them. Connection to the Cognitive Realm helps, too.

    Tags

  • 144

    Interview: Nov 30th, 2016

    Borderlands SF-AU Tour (Paraphrased)

    Necarion

    Would a soulstamp carved from a gemstone and infused with Stormlight be more likely to Take?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No it would not.

    Tags

  • 145

    Interview: Dec 3rd, 2016

    Ted Herman

    Can Lift convert cremling shells to investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    She can only convert what she is able to metabolize for nutrients to investiture.

    Tags

  • 146

    Interview: Dec 3rd, 2016

    yulerule

    In the cosmere, you have matter, mind, and soul. Obviously, the physical world is most well understood (same as ours) and the spiritual is most mysterious. When anybody dies (going off from info in secret history) their soul, which was tied to their body, the connection is broken and the soul/cognitive shadow appears in the cognitive realm then goes on to the spiritual. If healing is applied at any moment while the soul/cognitive shadow is in the cognitive realm, the connection can be reestablished and that is why regrowth can heal recently dead. Type of wound shardblade vs not may determine how fast the shadow is sucked into the Spiritual Realm. Also amount of investiture a soul contains. Souls = investiture or at least all of them contain some?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So that's a RAFO. We'll dig into that a little later.

    yulerule

    Am I close?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, you're on the right track.

    Tags

  • 147

    Interview: Dec 3rd, 2016

    yulerule

    How much compounding would a nicrosil twinborn would need to do to get a metalmind that is as Invested as Nightblood?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Wow so much.

    Question

    A thousand breaths doesn't seem to be that much - the God King has tens of thousands - would a piece of stone or wood or cloth or plain metal that has a thousand breaths be as Invested as Nightblood, or is there something more?

    Brandon Sanderson

    needs more

    Tags

  • 148

    Interview: Dec 3rd, 2016

    yulerule

    So somewhere it says that the number of Breaths doesn't determine the power of the object. But are the number of Breaths directly tied to how much Investiture is in an object? You're repeatedly said that Nightblood is ridiculously heavily invested, more so than Shardblades, Honorblades, or the Bands of Mourning. But it only has a thousand Breaths, which doesn't seem all that much from the point of view of the GodKing - Tenth Heightening, over 50,000.

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO.

    Tags

  • 149

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2016

    Question

    Can you tell us something about the magic on the Dark Side (presumably referring to Taldain)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not nearly as explosive and obvious as the magic on Dayside. Most of the Investiture you’ll find is on Dayside, but there is some stuff going on over there. (This went with a book personalization which has been posted somewhere else)

    Tags

  • 150

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2016

    Argent

    Can a Shard choose to just instantly invest in a place?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They can just start making some stuff, yeah.

    Tags

  • 151

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2016

    Question

    [Question about Chasmfiends, but I think we know stuff about already.] Thunderclasts have chasmfiend… they’re part of the in-world inspiration for thunderclasts [...]

    Brandon Sanderson

    [Chasmfiends are] an introduction of gemhearts and things like this, and the ability of certain creatures to hold investiture permanently, as Szeth says, rather than it seeping away like it does to humans.

    Tags

  • 152

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2016

    Question

    What if you Soulstamped a city?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Soulstamped...the city. So if you’re a really good Forger...It is possible to do things like that, but it requires a lot of work and time. Just one thing to keep in mind with Soulstamps is that, anything that does this...rewriting your Spirit Web, like, requires Investiture. A lot of Investiture. For instance, what Shai can do is really cool, but what an Elantrian can do is gonna look a lot more dramatic, right? Shooting a column of fire, you would say ‘which takes more power, making the wall have flowers on it or shooting a column of fire?’ Making the wall have flowers takes a lot more Investiture. It’s a lot easier to pull off some dramatic effects with others, but the actual changing of the soul...So just keep in mind the extent, right? This is why you don’t see Shai Forging so the whole building disappears. Which is not outside of reason for a couple of Elantrians with the right program to put into place. But they could blow it up, essentially, that’s what they would do. Do keep in mind, people like to ask, you’ve probably seen people ask, ‘could I rewrite myself to be a Knight Radiant?’ Well… there are certain things that you just can’t fake without enough energy that it becomes impractical. Usually what I use as an example to that is: Yes, we can turn hydrogen into gold, if we wanted to. Right? It might take more energy than the earth creates in an entire year, but we can do that. I get a lot of questions like this ‘is it possible, is it possible?’ You should probably be like, ‘is it possible, with reasonable amounts of energy provided by one Invested person.

    Tags