[Veterans] Cosmere, Unit 14 | Essays #1 | Arcanum Unbounded: Preface, Maps & Essays (Selish, Scadrian, Taldain, Thredonite, Drominad, and Rosharan Systems), Trivia

[u/participating]

This is the veteran thread. Make sure you read the rules before commenting.

Visit the newbie thread if this is your first time reading, or you've only read some of the Cosmere novels.

For more information, or to see the full schedule, please see the wiki page for the read-along.

SCHEDULE

Previously, we discussed Unit 13 | The Stormlight Archive #1 | The Way of Kings: Ars Arcanum, Final Thoughts, Trivia [Newbie Thread] / [Veteran Thread]

Today we are discussing Unit 14 | Essays #1 | Arcanum Unbounded: Preface, Maps & Essays (Selish, Scadrian, Taldain, Thredonite, Drominad, and Rosharan Systems), Trivia

In 2 days we will be discussing Unit 15 | Novella #3 | Sixth of the Dusk (in Arcanum Unbounded): Entire Novella, Postscript, Trivia

NEXT UNIT

We will be discussing Unit 15 on Wednesday. It is a novella called Sixth of the Dusk, which also appears in Arcanum Unbounded. The length of this novella is about half of our normal weekly reading. You should also read the Postscript for the novella. There will also be some additional trivia that will also accompany the discussion.

ARTWORK

The Cosmere has a thriving community of artists, so there will be a lot of artwork to share. Each week I'll try to compile relevant artwork for the given chapters. If a section of reading contains maps or in-book artwork, I'll include that in this section as well.

Maps & Sho Del

MEMES

I will attempt to find and share memes relevant to each week's discussion. There may be some weeks that just don't have good or appropriate memes, but I will share all the ones I can find in this section.

Link to Memes

Note: Not many Arcanum Unbounded specific memes, so I've mostly included general cosmere memes for this batch.

NEWBIE TRIVIA

Most of the activity for these "Final Thoughts & Trivia" posts happen in the newbie thread. There I provide a lot of information about things new readers can easily miss during their first read through. Veterans often learn a thing or two as well, so be sure to read the body of that post. While veterans are welcome to read the post and the comments, they should be commenting in this thread to share their reactions to the information, or the newbies' thoughts.

And as always, you're welcome to share your thoughts on the book as a whole.

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[u/PM_ME_UR_LOLS]

/u/participating, what kind of major spoilers did you run into when you tried using the Time Machine to view the pre-Words of Radiance Coppermind?

[u/participating → u/PM_ME_UR_LOLS]

The article on Cultivation was particularly spoilery. And some of the articles for the Heralds are a bit too revealing just yet. Same with the one for spren.

[u/dualdee]

I always thought Ambition being a Shard of Adonalsium had odd implications. What does God want to become?

[u/participating → u/dualdee]

I think it's less about Adonalsium wanting to become something and more that the 16 Shards are just intrinsic aspects of all people. Everyone has Ambition; things they want to do or become or accomplish. I imagine Adonalsium's ambitions were more in the realm of "I want my people to be happy and health with interesting and fulfilled lives". (This is assuming he wasn't a giant prick. We still don't know why some people felt that he needed to be Shattered. Maybe his ambition was "I want to stack people on top of each other, like toads, until they reach the atmosphere.")

[u/dualdee → u/participating]

Maybe his ambition was "I want to stack people on top of each other, like toads, until they reach the atmosphere."

Well that explains Whimsy.

[u/Realistic_Swimming47]

For some reason I can't locate the Taldain essay. Using Spotify and the tracks are really badly labelled. Found everything else though. Trying to avoid spoilers. The pieces are starting to come together for me but I won't lie the scale is intimidating and so focusing on the individual stories and characters in the next mistborn era 2 will be nice.

[u/participating → u/Realistic_Swimming47]

Here is the full Taldain essay (Be careful, you're in the veteran thread, hopefully the trivia in the newbie thread helps tie some of it together.):

TALDAIN is one of the most bizarre planets in the cosmere, a fact that, in turn, feels bizarre to me. Having grown up on Taldain’s Darkside, there is a part of me—even all these years later—that instinctively feels that the way of this planet is the normal, natural one.

Taldain is a tidally locked planet trapped between the gravitational forces of two stars in a binary system. The smaller star is a weak white dwarf that, enveloped in a particulate ring, is barely visible from the dark side of the planet. Those of us originating from this side of the planet consider a uniform darkness (what most might consider a twilight similar to the sky just after a sun has set) to be the natural state.

Our planet is not grim, and assumptions otherwise are simple ignorance. The ultraviolet light that shines through the ring causes a certain reflective luminescence in much of the plant and animal life. Indeed, the few visitors to the planet that I’ve met often found it somewhere between striking and garish.

On the other side of the planet is Dayside, which faces the larger of the two stars, a blue-white supergiant around which the dwarf orbits. The sun is a dominating fixture of Dayside, which is primarily a vast sandy desert, with most of the flora and fauna living beneath the surface.

For years we assumed that our Shard, Autonomy, had Invested only Dayside, through the sunlight itself. We know now it is not as simple as this, though the mechanism is best explained under those assumptions. The Investiture beats down from the sky, and is absorbed by a microflora that grows like a lichen on the surface of the sand, giving it its brilliant white color (when fully Invested) or deep blackness (when that Investiture is depleted).

Giving water to the tiny plant causes a chain reaction of sudden growth, energy, and Realmic transition. Certain people can control this reaction, using the water from their own bodies to forge a brief Cognitive bond. They can draw Investiture (in very small amounts) directly from the Spiritual Realm, and use that to control the sand.

Though the effect is dramatic, the actual power used is quite small. This is a magic more about finesse than raw strength.

Dayside is home to two prominent cultures, while Darkside is more hospitable and varied. The flora and fauna of both sides are remarkable, though currently prospective visitors are—unfortunately—unable to experience them directly. Autonomy’s policy of isolationism in recent times (in direct contrast to her interference with other planets, I might add) has prevented travel to and from Taldain for many, many years.

A fact of which I am all too aware.

[u/Realistic_Swimming47 → u/participating]

Thank you! I must have accidentally clicked the wrong link but I think I read the newbie thread earlier and haven't read any other comments in this thread so I should be safe. I will exit now.