Quick post (about cool science things)

The electron is so perfectly spherical that if it were blown up into the size of the solar system it would only be off by the measure of the thickness of a hair.

How many digits of pi do you need to accurately measure the size of the universe (only being off by the size of a hydrogen atom)? Answer: not 42, sorry, that would be cool, it's actually 39 digits.

Atoms are mostly just empty space. In fact, a hydrogen atom is actually 99.9999999999996% empty space.

Incredibles 2, Dragonsteel 3.1

Heather and I went and saw Incredibles 2 Saturday. It was a good movie. From the previews I thought it would be mostly about Mr. Parr trying to raise his kids, and was pleasantly surprised when the movie also had tons of action secenques interspersed with that, with Elastigirl out fighting crime and facing the Screen Slaver.

Wednesday is my last day of class! Woot woot! That meant that last week I had a big project, so I didn't write as much of the Dragonsteel summary as I wanted to. But here's what I added so far:

Chapter 22

The king announces the engagement of Martis to his daughter. Jerick packs his bags and goes to the stables to get a horse to leave for the Eternal War. A betrothal lasts two years and he hopes to earn glory and be back by then. Ryalla, Topaz, and Frost all try to stop him, saying the Eternal War is not eh place to gain glory. He leaves anyway, and Topaz curses the fact that the bet, which would have been completed in less than a week, is now ruined. He also bemoans that the only other human that is like him has run off. Frost corrects Topaz, mentioning that while Topaz has the power of life, Jerick has the power of destruction. Frost agrees to go after Jerick and watch out for him.

Interlude Two

Hsor prays in his room and is visited in person by Oreon, the White One. Hsor explains to the God how Prince Yoharn was captured in the confusion with the assassin. Oreon tells Hsor to stay in the confidence of the king, then leaves, leaving Hsor drained from his experience. 

End of Part Two

Chapter 23

Four days after leaving the palace, Jerick’s chariot is stolen, and he’s left to scrounge for himself. He sympathizes with the poor working class and remembers what that was like a long time ago for him. He enters a tavern one night to warm himself by the fire before finding an alley to sleep in later, as he has no money. A traveling storyteller gets up and begins to tell a story to lighten everyone’s mood, but he’s terrible at telling stories and just makes the occupants angry with him. Jerick saves the day by taking over for the storyteller, telling it in a ryhtmic way as he learned in his studies.

After the story is done the innkeeper gives him some free food and Jerick considers storytelling as a way to make it down to the Eternal War, but knows it probably wouldn’t work. An illiterate man comes up to him and asks him to write a letter for him, which Jerick does for the payment of a silver crin. Frost then reveals himself and that he’s been following Jerick, waiting for him to give up and go back. Jerick admits that he was about to, but the fact that he can be paid for being literate, in a society where those people are rare, changes everything. Jerick gets himself and Frost a room to stay in.

Chapter 24

In Jarg, Topaz and Bat’Chor go into an inn for food. The roasted pig in there makes Topaz physically sick, and Bat’Chor asks him if he misses being able to eat meat, to which Topaz responds that it’s been so long he can’t remember. Bat’Chor then takes offense at something someone says, and gets into a brawl, which is typical of Ke’Chan people. Topaz, unable to fight, wanders outside and ponders how Jerick can do microkinesis too but is able to eat meat and fight. Bat’Chor exits a little later, victorious. They find another inn to stay at.

Topaz writes out a Ke’Chan prophecy for Bat’Chor, and then explains other stories from different cultures that all share the similar thread of a peasant becoming a great leader and unifying the people to defeat an evil threat. Topaz admits that he had been hoping to use Jerick as someone that people would think matches the prophecies to unify the people against what is coming. He then explains how while these stories all have different origins and he doesn’t really believe them, the stories about an evil force all stem from the same source. He makes a chart showing how through history the different versions of the stories all lead back to the same origin. That is what they are fighting: the fifth god.

Topaz doesn’t believe these stories, and admits that he had been hoping to use Jerick as someone that people would think fulfills the stories and prophecies in order to unify mankind to prepare for what’s coming. The stories of the evil force he does believe, and Topaz draws a chart demonstrating how all of these stories have stemmed from one single ancient story.

Chapter 25

Three months after leaving the palace, Jerick and Frost arrive on the Shattered Plains. Frost explains that the Dragonsteel seeping up through the ground fortified the earth surrounding the wells, while erosion eroded in between, leaving plateaus with chasms between them.

They go to General Demetris’s camp. Demetris is unsavory and an envious person. He cares only about Jerick’s castemark and thus Jerick gets assigned to the bridgecrews while Frost is ordered to be Demetris’s scribe. Jerick, bewildered, gets assigned to be on Bridge Four, with a Ke’Chan man named Gaz as their leader. A horn alarm sounds and they rush to their bridges to go on a plateau run.

The bridge crews carry portable bridges to lay across the chasms so that the army can pass from plateau to plateau. For about an hour Jerick is forced to run with the bridge, lay it down, wait for everyone to cross, then pick it back up and run some more.

They reach the last plateau before the one where the Dragonsteel well is, where Sho Del are already set up. The Sho Del can jump across chasms and thus do not need bridges. The Sho Del fire arrows into the bridge crews, but Bridge Four manages to get their bridge across. Jerick sees terrible giant beasts, but he is informed that those are just Sho Del illusions. The Sho Del and Demetris’s soldiers fight, and the humans end up getting the Dragonsteel from the well at the center of the plateau. Jerick realizes he now has to carry the bridge back, this time with only two-thirds the number of men as before. 

Chapter 26

Immediately following Prince Yoharn’s kidnapping the palace was in an uproar, but after about four months things quieted down. Ryalla is struck by how quickly Jerick has been forgotten in the chaos. The school teachers prepare to head back to Trexandos, and Vendavious reveals to Ryalla that he knew it was her doing Courteth’s homework the entire time.

Ryalla is still Courteth’s slave, but Courteth has less power over her and can’t make her punish herself. With school over, Ryalla wonders how she can still learn, and turns to Torell. She makes a deal with him that she’ll help him to lose his peasant accent if he’ll continue to teach her secretly.

Chapter 27

On a boat, Bat’Chor and Topaz talk. Bat’Chor’s father recently died, and there’s a two-year mourning period before Bat’Chor will take over his house. Bat’Chor asks Topaz why Topaz chose him, and Topaz replies that Bat’Chor is a great learner and open-minded. Topaz says it’s hard for him to have faith anymore, and he needed someone with strong faith. 

When they reach shore, Topaz says they need to split up to find the fifth god’s name. Bat’Chor knows everything that Topaz does now, and they have two continents to cover. Bat’Chor will search Tzendor and look into a Dragonsteel necklace he’s heard about, and Topaz will try to infiltrate the Horwatcher’s fortress.

Chapter 28

Jerick has nightmares about the Sho Del and their illusions. He is awakened for a bridge run, and because of how many bridgemen die, Jerick is one of the most experienced members of the bridge crew after only a few months. He talks to a Keeg, a fellow bridgemen, and they start their run.

On the Dragonsteel plateau, a dragon is spotted flying above them in the sky. A bridgemen named Tenne comments that it’s Drephrast, king of the dragons and lord of the Sho Del, but hasn’t been seen in a decade. The dragon leaves and Tenne mentions that Jerick is wasted as a bridgeman; he’s too poised, confident, and clever. 

General Ki Tzern, a fellow general and someone Demetris considers his arch-rival, comes up to Demetris and offers compliments on how well he did on the Dragonsteel run. He also offers Demetris plans for a new bridge mechanism he designed that could save bridgemen lives. Demetris, believing everyone thinks the same way he does, believes Ki Tzern is being sarcastic and trying to put Demetris down. Demetris declines, to Ki Tzern’s confusion. 

Chapter 29

Ryalla’s lessons with Torell are going well, and her next assignment is to read the essay about Axi. Ryalla goes to Kalord Strafen’s manor. She sees Kalord, but she wills herself not to be seen and he looks right past her without noticing her. She goes into Martis’s room to give him a letter from Courteth, and Raylla notices he’s holding a scroll with a purple seal on it.

Ryalla goes to the stables to see her brother, Hert, who is a slave there. She finds him having a secret meeting with some ominous characters in one of the empty stalls, and he warns her that it’s dangerous there and that she should go. She gives him some fruit and then leaves.

Chapter 30

Jerick and Bridge Four are on chasm duty: they walk the bottom of the chasms and scavenge any usable weapons to bring back up. Jerick finds a Sho Del body and wonders why they’re so rare down there when about the same number of them and humans fall into the chasms. Gaz calls them back up to be ready for a plateau run.

On the run, the Sho Del are already at the well. Jerick and Bridge Four perform a move they’ve been practicing: they put the bridge on its side as they approach to block the incoming arrows. It works, and not a single bridgeman dies, but Jerick realizes that his idea ruined the timing of the entire assault, and the army is defeated. For a month afterwards Jerick is treated with complete distain and contempt by everyone in the camp, but it eventually blows over.

On another run, Jerick and a fellow bridgeman named Ham talk.

Dragonsteel summary part 2, game ideas

So I couldn't get the files back from the Dragonsteel summary I did, so I had to rewrite everything, a week's worth of work, but I finally did it.

Other stuff that's happening is Heather totally rocked her classes for Spring semester! The last day of finals was Thursday and she did so good. Her Summer classes start on Monday.

The Church has invited people to send in submissions for music to make officially in the new Hymn book or Children's songbook. Heather can probably do something great. If it was making a board game for the church I could probably do something great.

Speaking of board games, so I've had an idea for a rehab of the Lab Mice game. I'm changing the theme to be they're aliens now instead of mice, which will totally open up the audience and people who want to play. The race of the aliens are supposed to be like, big lizard horses, things, is the idea. Klidrins is the name of the species and thus the game. Same concept, except I'm expanding the powers so each trait has three powers depending on the there trait they hook up with, not two, which creates three new powers. I'm also hoping to make it more simultaneous so there's less down time. I'm not a big fan of a lot of downtime. It's a work in progress.

I also had another idea for a game where there's a lot of simultaneous play which is steampunk themed. Where Dominion has you building your deck, Mystic Vale your cards, Century: Golem Edition your hand, and Dice Forge your dice, this one has you building your action pool for action selection. Also, there's resources. And a semi-worker placement kind of thing.

Also still thinking about A Thousand Faces.

Got the pixalmator program on the computer again which is super nice for making cards and such.

Any who, here's the rest of that summary I have so far:

Chapter 10 

In Tzendor, Topaz uses makeup to disguise Bat’Chor and himself. As they go out in disguise, they remark on how even the peasants are better off than before, due to the new emperor Aronack. As they approach the Temple of Hsaw, they mix with other pilgrims who are visiting it for religious purposes. Topaz’s knowledge of when these pilgrims arrived causes Bat’Chor to once again wonder is Topaz needs to sleep.

They enter the building and Bat’Chor is amazed by its architecture. Topaz and Bat’Chor get their own small private room to stay in located near the building’s outer wall, and discuss architecture. Three hours later, the pilgrimage director calls them and their pilgrimage group out of their rooms to see the object they’ve traveled so long to see.

They walk down a hallway with other pilgrims into a large room. In the center of the room surrounded by a glass case is an ancient sword, a relic. Bat’Chor is a fierce warrior and thus is interested. Topaz notices that part of the hilt is made of Dragonsteel in an odd pattern and shows Bat’Chor. Bat’Chor asks if they are there to steal the sword, but Topaz replies in the negative, saying that they are there to instead steal a scroll, located on a nondescript bookcase at the back of the room.

Chapter 11

Martis and Yoharn practice dueling outside, as Courteth and a group of girls look on. Jerick is also nearby, and Ryalla comes up to talk. Jerick notices that while Ryalla seems subservient, she is actually rebellious underneath the surface, which no one but Jerick notices. They start to bond.

In a break in the dueling, Martis’s father Kalord comes to talk with him, telling him that Jerick is doing better at Martis in his studies and that he needs to step up his game. Martis acts submissive but yearns for the day when he can overpower his father.

Ryalla thinks how sad it is that Jerick is caught in Courteth’s wiles. Martis notices Jerick looking with longing at the duel and, in order to look good in front of Courteth and humiliate Jerick, invites him over to spar. Jerick readily agrees, but is, of course, woefully beaten. The king and Doram pass by, the king commenting that he forbade Jerick to practice, but Doram adding that he didn’t forbid him to fight. Jerick vows to learn how to fight.

Chapter 12

In the middle of the night, Topaz explains to Bat’Chor the security measures surrounding the sword, and the alarm that will go off if any traps are activated. They sneak off and enter what appears to be a service closet but actually leads to up behind the sword room, filled with complicated machines for the traps. A window peers into the sword room, and Topaz and Bat’Chor look in to see a group of thieves attempting to steal the sword. 

Topaz purposefully sets off a trap, setting off a loud alarm that blares through the building. The thieves barely manage to escape, and Topaz grabs the scroll. Bat’Chor and Topaz enter the hallway, now crammed with people trying to figure out what’s going on. A tall man with a deep birthmark on his face enters at the front of the chapel, and Topaz suddenly collapses, the hand with his topaz ring pulsing like a heart. 

Bat’Chor manages to lug Topaz back to their room, but the tall man is following them. Topaz uses his magic to makes cracks in the wall, but can’t bring it down. Topaz curses the Lords for giving him no power to destroy. Bat’Chor is ready for a fight, but Topaz stands up again and causes the cracks in the wall to suddenly grow with moss and fungi, which manages to break the wall apart. The two escape. 

Later on a boat, Topaz explains that what he did was cause microscopic spores to grow. When Bat’Chor asks him how he did it, Topaz replies that he doesn’t know. Topaz gives Bat’Chor the scroll, telling him to bring it to the Trexandian scholars to translate. The two will separate but meet back up in Lakdon in about a year once the translation is done.

Chapter 13

Jerick is now fifteen. He and Doram practice fighting, and Jerick is improving. Jerick asks Doram about the Eternal War, and learns that even peasants can fight in it, but Doram encourages him not to. Courteth comes in and reminds Jerick about a feast happening that night.

Later as Jerick walks down the hallway, thoughts enter his head that are not his own. It seems as if two people are talking with each other, mentioning obtaining a bargaining item. Jerick recovers and convinces himself that he’s just overtaxed from studying too much.

Courteth prepares for the feast and punishes Ryalla by forcing her to do her homework for her. As Courteth leaves, Ryalla congratulates herself for tricking Courteth: Courteth was about to be kicked out of school for not doing any homework, and so she forced Ryalla to do it. Ryalla convinced Courteth that she hates reading, thus making sure that Courteth “punishes” her by forcing her to read. After reading a book about folk tales, Ryalla goes down to Topaz’s rooms to water his plants like she does every week. When she approaches, however, the plants burst into life and grow rapidly, which is a sign that Topaz is now somewhere in the palace. 

Chapter 14

Jerick enters that feast, and him and Martis sit near each other to keep an eye on each other. Jerick begins thinking about his father, and the next thing he knows someone is asking him if he’s alright, as he had zoned out. Martis and Jerick exchange barbs, and the king gets up to speak. Right before he can, a large tearing noise is heard above and Topaz drops from the ceiling with a colorful scarf, stealing the limelight. 

Prince Yoharn is very unconfident in himself, and doesn’t think he’ll be a good king. He feels like he’s just faking everything, and contemplates that he’d give Jerick the crown if he could get away with it.

After the feast, Frost is in his room when Topaz sneaks up on him. Topaz comments again on how he thinks Frost is more than what he says he is, which Frost denies. They discuss Jerick’s education and Topaz learns that Jerick has become skeptical of magic. Topaz vows to correct this, and leaves.

Chapter 15

In school, the teacher Vendavious discusses the recent essays the students just turned in. He then begins a discussion on a newly developed theory about Axios. The Axios is the base element, incredibly small, and everything in the physical world is made up of them. He gives the students an essay to read on the subject and dismisses them.

Jerick sits in the library reading the essay and is surprised when Topaz shows up to talk with him. Topaz notices that his years of studying have made Jerick argumentative and cynical, and he points this out. Jerick apologizes, but when Topaz mentions magic Jerick scoffs at the idea. Topaz begins to speak about presumed reality.

Topaz shares a story of when he visited a faraway land where people had a superstition that they had to throw rocks at a certain type of tree before going near. Topaz uncovered the origins of why they did this and knew that it was safe to go near the trees, and to prove his point he forced a man to go near a tree without throwing rocks at it first. However, the man’s presumed reality was stronger than actual reality, and the man died of fright right then and there. After his story, Topaz gives Jerick a small red fruit and leaves.

Chapter 16

Jerick looks up the fruit and learns that it is a Ballas fruit, which only grows in Souterhn Yolen and spoils within hours: it was impossible for Topaz to give him one still fresh and red. Jerick ponders this in the back of an amphitheater where Scathe the Horwatcher is preforming a magic show. Frost comes up and speaks with him, and Jerick discusses with him Topaz and the fruit and how Scathe does all his tricks.

Scathe’s last trick is waving a Tamu Kek bone from a Sho Del over candles several times and making them burst into flame. As Jerick ponders presumed reality, the Ballas fruit, and through some prodding from Frost, Jerick begins to notice waves coming off of the bone. Suddenly, Jerick’s vision switches from normal to being able to see individual Axi. Frost is blown away that he can do this, and explains that Jerick and Topaz do this, but no one else can that he knows of. Scathe himself doesn’t even know what he’s doing when he uses the Tamu Kek bone.

Jerick sits at his table long into the night thinking, and Ryalla comes in. They talk, and Jerick asks Ryalla soul-searching questions about himself, such as if he’s arrogant. Their conversation is interrupted by footsteps approaching, and while Jerick wants to hide Ryalla responds that the people can’t see them if they don’t want them to. Scathe comes in, but even though he is feet from Jerick and Ryalla, doesn’t see them. He and another man talk about a token of bargaining, and then leave to continue their conversation elsewhere. Ryalla acts as if it was no big deal, but Jerick realizes that Ryalla can do magic too and doesn’t even know it.

Chapter 17

Martis heads home after dueling practice to find his father, Kalord, beating the cook for getting his food wrong. Martis mentions that he thinks Jerick will beat him in the testing in a few months, which causes Kalord to come at him in a rage. However, Martis fights back, which is unexpected, and due to Martis’s training and Kalord’s lack of practice, Martis beats his father and stabs his cheek with a knife. Martis takes over for Kalord as ruler of their house.

In Jerick’s rooms, Topaz comes in and Jerick apologizes. Jerick asks him how they can do magic, but Topaz doesn’t know. Topaz calls it microkinesis, but says everything he’s read about it claims that magic is evil or of the Fain. Topaz warns of an unknown danger that’s coming, but hints of it can be found in ancient legends and myths. 

Their talk is interrupted by a disturbance at the window, and they look out to see a man in white armor riding on a horse up to the castle. Topaz and Jerick use microkinetic vision to determine the composition of the armor, which is steel. They then rush down the hallway to meet the visitor, and Topaz explains how Dragonsteel gives off pulses in the spiritual realm. Jerick mentions how the Tamu Kek does this, and Topaz says that’s because Sho Del have some Dragonsteel in their bones. They reach the gates where the king is greeting the visitor, Hsor. Hsor announces to everyone that he has just come from the Eternal War hunting after a Sho Del assassin. He promises riches and glory to anyone who can catch the assassin, which causes quite a stir.

Chapter 18

Jerick is invited to the throne room to see the king and Hsor, as Jerick might be able to identify what a Sho Del looks like. Jerick is confused and claims he’s never seen a Sho Del before. As Jerick walks down the hallway after being dismissed, he hears a commotion at the gates. He goes over to see a mad beggar trying to enter the palace. However, the beggar turns out to be Torell, who is unaware of how he sounds and looks. 

After five years away from the palace, Torell’s speech has become like the peasants’ speech, and he thinks his dirty robes are still pristine because the common people’s clothing was all he had to compare them to. As servants clean him up, Topaz comes in to see him and talk.

In his command pavilion, Martis receives reports from some scouts. Martis plans on capturing the Sho Del, but not by hunting it. Rather, he has spies in the other hunting parties so that he can intercept it when it is captured. He makes plans to marry Courteth and become king.

Chapter 19

The weather has turned cold and icy, and Ryalla walks around the frozen palace grounds. Courteth finds her and punishes her by telling her to read her homework books in four days. Ryalla complains, but Courteth catches on that Ryalla has been playing her for a fool. Courteth orders Ryalla to strip down to just her shift and walk out into the freezing pond up to her neck. Ryalla’s years of slavery and obeying orders cause her to do so despite herself. As Ryalla stands in the pond in agony, Courteth lectures her from the side. Ryalla feels her body begin to shut down, and she begins to sink under the water.

Suddenly, Topaz is there, grabbing Ryalla and dragging her to shore. He presses his topaz ring against her and she feels sudden warmth and healing. Completely healed, she watches as Topaz, his demeanor dark and menacing, slowly advance upon Courteth. Plants around him burst into rapid life, and Topaz threatens Courteth, who runs away in fright. The plants go back to normal and Topaz tells Ryalla that she’ll never have to worry about Courteth punishing her again.

Courteth races back to her rooms and calms herself down. She convinces herself that the plants growing was just a trick. Martis enters and proposes a union with her, claiming that the Sho Del assassin will soon be his. Courteth knows that the best way to get back at Topaz is to go through his friend Jerick, and so she denies Martis, planting in his head the need to humiliate Jerick.

Chapter 20

Ryalla sits by the pond that was her near-demise, and realizes that her punishments only worked because she willfully obeyed and allowed them to. Jerick comes up and they talk, both admitting that Topaz can do magic.

Frost and Topaz talk in Frost’s room. Frost muses how Topaz does so much with so little information and is almost tempted to tell Topaz all he knows, which would break a vow he’s made. Whatever Frost is, it is much greater than Topaz assumes. Bat’Chor arrives and gives Topaz the translation of the scroll. One section is a legend from thousands of years ago about an alter to five gods, the names of the gods being written in Dragonsteel on the alter. The alter was later destroyed. The names of the gods are written on the scroll, but it was a part the translators couldn’t translate, and were left in their original tongue.

Frost admits that he can translate them, and does so, justifying his actions that any scholar could translate them, even though he knows that what he was doing was close to being “a betrayal of his promise.” However, the scroll only has four names down, not the name of the fifth. Frost says he knows what it is, but says he is forbidden to share it, to Topaz’s anger. 

Topaz tells Bat’Chor they’ll find the name of the fifth god on their own, pointing out that the bits of Dragonsteel that the names were made of would still be around even after thousands of years. In fact, the pattern of one of the names was identical to the piece of Dragonsteel on the sword hilt: that piece had come from the alter. They plan on going and looking at famous pieces of Dragonsteel to see if one spells the name of the fifth god, and Frost agrees to give them the alphabet so that they can translate it when they find it.

Martis’s servants find a group of hunters that caught the Sho Del assassin, and kill them, bringing the Sho Del to Martis. Instead of taking it to the king immediately, Martis says he has a better plan.

Chapter 21

Jerick visits Torell and asks about his parents. When he tells him, Jerick’s mind goes fuzzy until Topaz snaps him out of it. Topaz says they’ll have to do something about that, and then that the king has an announcement to make and they should go. As they walk down the hall, the voices in Jerick’s mind come again, one saying to proceed with the plan and that a distraction was made for them. Topaz didn’t hear the voices and says that that power isn’t microkinesis, but cognitive magic, which comes from the Sho Del. They hurry to the king.

Meanwhile, Martis talks to the bound Sho Del, giving it a blunted sword and telling it to kill the king. He then rushes to the king, who is making his announcement. The Sho Del rushes at the king but it intercepted by Topaz and Jerick. Topaz tries to swing a sword at it twice, but both times his body refuses to cooperate and his swings miss at the last moment. The Sho Del kicks Topaz out of the way. Jerick fights with it, and is about to defeat it when Martis yells out to him to kill it to avenge his parents, who were killed by a Sho Del. Jerick freezes, allowing the Sho Del to move past him and to the king. Martis then defeats it according to his plan, leaving Jerick humiliated. 

Chapter 22

The king announces the engagement of Martis to his daughter. 

This is the last chapter of Part two, and then there's another interlude.

Father's Day, Sanderson Q&A

Today is Father's Day! Happy Father's Day dad! And me, too, I guess.

I spent countless hours looking on the Dragonsteel summary on a different computer that  can take on the bus, a Mac. I wrote a lot and then Saturday morning I forgot to plug it in and it ran out of juice and died. When I restarted it all my work was gone. Poof. Deleted. I had saved it, but that computer doesn't have Word so I used Notebook instead, and saved it to notebook, and I thought that was fine but I guess it wasn't because it all got deleted. So now I have to re-do all that work, or call up Heather's brother Chris who knows a thing or two about computers and see if he can't help me hack into the computer and get it back. So no new Dragonsteel summary for you guys today.

Instead, here's some Questions and Answers with Brandon Sanderson which I consider to be really interesting. Enjoy.

Question #1:

Would aluminum give an atium shadow? Like if someone threw an aluminum spear?

BRANDON SANDERSON:

The aluminum would not give an atium shadow. Good question.

QUESTION #2:

Would a Hemalurgic spike take surges?

BRANDON SANDERSON:

Hemalurgy can interact with every one of the magics. I designed it specifically in writing Mistborn for future use. Because some of the magics are so limited by their planet I wanted one that transcended all of them and Hemalurgy is very important to the entire Cosmere. Its invention is a thing of great power and great danger to the entire Cosmere.

Questioner:

But, I mean, somebody couldn't just walk along with a metal spike on, say, Nalthis. Stab someone and have the power, right?

Brandon Sanderson:

If they knew where to stab them, yes they could.

Questioner:

Anywhere in the Cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson:

Yes.

Question #3:

Is anything magical going on with the screams Szeth hears?

Brandon Sanderson:

Uhhh, Szeth's screams. Uhhm, I'm trying to decide how to answer this. It is not, see here's the thing. What we would call magical may not be considered magical in the Cosmere, but it depends on your definition of magic. Would Szeth if he were on our planet and have done those things would he hear those screams, probably not, but would someone else in the Cosmere who had gone through what he had gone through hear those screams, yes.

Questioner:

So it has to do with the spiritual realm?

Brandon Sanderson:

Yea, mhmm, yea.

Question #4:

In Elantris it talks about how the 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 Spiritweb changes to accommodate the investiture. When the investiture was pulled up off the stuff in Elantris its Spiritweb 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.

Question #5: 

Do all Shards have some sort of Shard-induced weakness, like how Ruin and Preservation can't see metal? 

Brandon Sanderson: 

Yes.

Question #6: 

Why on earth does Marsh have a Feruchemical atium spike? You've said that Ironeyes is in fact Marsh. Did Ruin spike someone for him? Or did Sazed grant him the power?

Brandon Sanderson:

Dead inquisitors Vin killed. Some were granted the spike for reasons I haven't spoken of yet.

Question #7: 

Don't know what the question was, but the answer is a cool look into Brandon's mind about how he writes his Cosmere books.

Brandon Sanderson: 

So it is this weird balancing act that, as a writer, you have to perform, particularly with the longer books in the longer series, where you want to make sure they're engaging to the hardcore fan, but not overwhelming to the person who maybe hasn't reread the books since the last one came out. And I don't know that I have that balance figured out, but it is something I think about a lot...

Question #8:

When will we visit the Spiritual Realm like we have done the Cognitive Realm?

Brandon Sanderson:

Yes, you already have, briefly when Elend transcended and burned atium with duralumin.

Questioner:

Okay, so when Kelsier is in the-- Which Realm is he in?

Brandon Sanderson:

He’s in the Cognitive Realm.

Questioner:

Is he seeing people from other worlds or is he--

Brandon Sanderson:

No, he meets some people who are traveling but Cognitive Realm is location dependent.  He is on the Cognitive Realm on Scadrial and the people he runs into there-- until he kind of travels off into space, which is where he finds the fortress.

Questioner:

So even though he’s tied to Scadrial could he go to the Cognitive Realm of other worlds?

Brandon Sanderson:

He would have trouble getting to another planet, being a Cognitive shadow like he was.

Questioner:

So is there some particular thing that somebody would need to have to be able to move between the realms?

Brandon Sanderson:

A body is helpful. Depends on what their ties are and things like that.  Not always, but yeah.

Question #9:

So, the Spiritual Realm is not the Beyond?

Brandon Sanderson:

No, Spiritual Realm is not the Beyond.

End of the hiatus, Dragonsteel summary part 1

Yeah, so I have depression, and things are hard to get done and do when you have depression, I guess? Anyway, I haven't posted in like over a month but whatever. I used to post every week and had a goal to post every week, but sometimes it was every two weeks. Anyway, it's not like I'm held to a strict schedule or am accountable to anyone or anything. I mean, even Eric, who used to post daily, never said he would. Except to himself, I guess? And now he's doing it weekly now, if that? Alex never set up nay sort of expectations, and Ryan's is like, once a year? Anyway, I too never told anyone how often I'd post, but it was about once a week. I digress.

My grandmother Perazzo passed away, and Heather, Joy, Henry and I headed down for her funeral on Monday May 14. I was a pallbearer.

Then my brother Ryan got married on the 17, and so we got to drive again all the way to Southern California and then all the way back.

And then my sister Hannah is going to get married, but on the day before Heather graduates so we can't go to her wedding.

I'm in my last class for my Master's, and all that is left after that is taking a test and doing student teaching. Yay! So far I have gotten an A in every single class so far.

I checked out Brandon Sanderson's Honor's Thesis from the BYU library, which is a novel he write called Dragonsteel. I'm done reading it but I noticed that its plot summary isn't included anywhere on the forums of wiki, and so I thought that I'd finally contribute to society and add it, figuring that it takes about two months to get a copy of it from the library and there's only a couple of copies. I figured I'd do under others what I'd want somebody to do for me, and if I was a big Sanderson fan I'd want to know what happens in Dragonsteel, but when I looked there wasn't anything. When I do put it up it will be on this page.

It's 53 chapters with three interludes, and here's what I have written so far (it's taking a lot longer than I thought it would):

Chapter 1

Eleven year old Jerick is content living his life in the small village of Farastham, but his lumberjack father Rin has bigger plans for him. Rin is well liked and respected by everyone in their village. A school starts in the village, and Rin, knowing Jerick to be incredibly inquisitive and intuitive, signs him up to go once a week.

The teacher of the school, Torell, comes from the capital of Yolen, Lakdon.  Jerick, through eavesdropping, learns that he has no desires to be there teaching peasants, but sees it as punishment from the king. During classes one of the rules is to not ask questions, but this is something Jerick can’t help, and whenever he does so Torell slaps him with his thin reed. When asked when they will learn reading, Torell scoffs and says that if they would bring in their own scrolls he would teach them after class, knowing full well no peasant had any scrolls.

On his way home from school one day with his father, Jerick and Rin hear screams of horror. Running over, they see a crowd surrounding a bone-white six-legged beast of some kind with pure black eyes. Rin informs Jerick that it is Fain, a creature of evil that are all monsters. The Sho Del are a race of creatures that live south that are also Fain, and down near their border where the Dragonsteel wells are located is a war known as The Eternal War.

After school a different day Rin asks Torell when Jerick can start reading. Torell says that a book costs a crin to buy. Rin then pulls out a silver crin, worth ten years of his savings, to buy the book for Jerick so that he can learn to read.

Chapter 2

In a history lesson, the boys relearn how Oreon the White created the world and all good things, and how his brother Xeth the black, out of jealousy, created the Sho Del and other Fain creatures. Their lesson is interrupted by the priest, Wat. After class Torell starts teaching Jerick how to read.

At home, Jerick receives his caste mark as a present. Everyone 12 and older receives a castemark, which is a symbol of which caste a person is in. Jerick’s says lumberjack on one side but Rin left it blank on the other.

A visitor comes to town, a man dressed in outrageously colored clothes. He has white hair and a hawk-like face. Toreel moans, “Not him!” when he sees him. The visitor announces that in three months the king would be visiting the town for a business deal with cattle dealers. Later the visitor, Cephandrious Maxtori, tells Torell that the King made a bet with house Lord Kalord Stafen that a peasant can be educated to be like a nobleman at that the king would also be checking in on the school’s progress. Cephandrious tells Jerick to just call him Topaz, and shows him a large Topaz ring he has on.

Later that night Topaz convinces Jerick to sneak into Torell’s house to steal some food. After stealing some, Topaz gives it all to Jerick, asking him to give it to those that need it most. He also encourages Jerick to learn as much as he can, and then runs off.

In a later lesson, Torell continues to teach Jerick how to read from the book he bought, which is about the three realms of existence, the spiritual, the cognitive, and the physical. Torell explains that the cognitive realm is associated with the Sho Del.

Chapter 3

Jerick is becoming very proficient at reading. The cattlemen arrive. One of them is of the  Ke’Chan ethnicity, who are a race of people with darker skin. Another one gives Jerick chills, although he doesn’t know why. The day for the King’s arrival arrives. The King, King Rodis, is given a tour by the Foreman and Rin. He is the first fat person Jerick has seen in his entire life. Afterwards they go to the school, where Kalord Stafen asks the boys of the school questions, but none of them get the right answers. Jerick knew the answers to all the questions but his own, which was exceptionally hard. Jerick makes a fool of Kalord, and Kalord hits him, but is then restrained by the King.

Later at the cattle yard, Jerick and his parents are there. Jerick sees the cattleman that gave him chills, and fells a coldness form him. Jerick throws a rock at him, which causes the man to drop his disguise momentarily, revealing it to actually be a Sho Del assassin, with bone-white skin and eyes of pure black. The Sho Del shouts, and Jerick can see the sound waves somehow. The shout leads the cattle to stampede, but Rin is able to drag the King to safety. The Sho Del shoots an arrow, killing Jerick’s mother, and then grapples with Rin with a knife as Rin stops him from reaching the King. Jerick sees the knife coming towards his father and yells “Get out of the way!”

The next scene is of Jerick sitting by himself on the dirt, his parents dead under white cloths next to him. The King comes up and snaps Jerick out of his self-imposed stupor, and asks him if he wants to help the King win his bet by going to the capitol and learning there. Jerick says he’d have to go ask his parents first and if the King has seen them. Disturbed, the King says he’s already talked with them and they’re fine with it, and that he’s never met a better man than his father.

Chapter 4

During their trip back to the capitol on a ship, Jerick is amazed by how small his village really was as he sees big villages and sees the world through a new paradigm. On deck, Topaz insults Kalord about his wife leaving him, and Kalord comes inches from backhanding his face. Topaz is a Jesk, and it is illegal to strike him. Kalord’s wife left him because he was abusive.

Jerick eavesdrops on the King and Topaz in their cabin. The king mentions that Jerick claimed he could see the force of the water against the ship, to which Topaz is stunned silent for a moment. When they begin to mention what happened to his parents, Jerick pulls away, convincing himself that it was rude to eavesdrop in the first place.

They arrive at Lakdon and see the crowd waiting for them. Jerick spots the princess, Courteth, and is smitten by her, for which Topaz shakes his head in disapproval.

Chapter 5

Ryalla is the slave servant girl of Courteth. Courteth treats her poorly, and is seen to be cunning and manipulative. Ryalla is forced by Courteth to knell longer than anyone else near the docks, by punishment of Courteth who claimed Ryalla made them late. Topaz and Ryalla ride back to the castle in the same carriage as Jerick, and Ryalla is shocked as to how naive Jerick is to what she takes for common knowledge. Topaz asks Ryalla if Courteth is still giving her grief. Topaz is not fooled by Courteth at all, and is Ryalla’s friend. Along the way they pass the Temple dedicated to Slonis, goddess of mystery and childbirth.

At the stables, Topaz meets up with his friend, Bat’Chor, a Ke’Chan man. Ryalla leads Jerick into the castle, and learns that Jerick has never heard of slaves before. When Ryalla mentions that both of her parents were dead, Jerick freezes in the hallway midstep, his eyes dead and glassy. A moment later he’s back to normal and acts as though nothing had happened, to Ryalla’s unease.

Chapter 6

Jerick is dressed up and presented before the Queen and Prince Yoharn. He is given three rooms and a variety of clothes options, which he considers wasteful. He seems unsure of how to treat and address servants.

Later that day is a feast, and Topaz chats with Jerick before it begins, giving him advice and telling him to be wary of Martis, who is Kalord’s son. Martis does indeed sit by Jerick, and makes fun of his peasant lineage and the way he talks. The King asks Topaz for their entertainment, and Topaz stands up to tell a story.

Chapter 7

As Topaz tells the story, he juggles several balls in a very skilled and seemingly impossible way. Topaz tells the story of the creation of the world, how Oreon the White created man to be immortal and able to do magic. Xeth the Black was jealous and had Slonis help him to create the Sho Del. Xeth then tried to corrupt thousands of men, but only found one, who betrayed mankind to Xeth. Xeth destroyed them and Oreon mourned for ten thousand years before creating man again, only this time mortal and unable to do magic. The only one that remained from the old race was the betrayer, who lives among them still and whose name has been lost.

After the story ends, Jerick and everyone else discuss how Topaz got the story wrong. Martis plays a prank on Jerick, and he realizes that nobles and peasants are the same. Jerick challenges Martis, making the King’s bet a personal one.

Later that night Topaz comes to Jerick’s window, explaining how he needs a place to lie low as Kalord is after him again. When Jerick confronts him about getting the creation legend wrong, Topaz simply explains that he told the version that used to be, and that Topaz is worried about something evil coming and wants the people to prepare for it. At night, Jerick looks over at Topaz several times, but Topaz’s eyes are always open and staring at the ceiling.

Chapter 8

In the morning, Jerick is awoken by Frost, his new tutor, and Topaz’s friend. Frost and Jerick discuss how legends, languages, and everything changes, and the only eternal things are truth and Dragonsteel. Jerick wonders if Dragonsteel is actually real, and Frost tells him to ask the King to look at his castemark, which is presumably made of Dragonsteel. They begin their tutoring session.

Walking to his first class lesson, Jerick runs into the King speaking with Dorm, captain of the royal guard. Jerick asks to see the King’s castemark, and he shows him. It seems to be made of very fragile thin wire, but when it is tried to be bent turns out to be indestructible. For a moment to Jerick’s eyes it suddenly appears to burst with light and power.

The lessons are to be held in the library. The king introduces Jerick to his fellow classmates, Martin and Yoharn, and to their teachers, Scholars Vendavious and Teniclese, and a Horwatcher named Scatherem. Horwatchers are mistrusted in that society, and Jerick is alarmed and interested to hear this. He will be teaching about Realmatic theory and give demonstations on the nature of magic. The king tells Kalord that their bet begins here and will end in four years when the boys will take the tests.

Chapter 9

Ryalla hides from Courteth on the balcony, daydreaming about not being a slave. Courtheth passes her spot several times without seeing her. Topaz, sitting outside on a thin ledge, sees her and they converse. Topaz leaves and Courteth punishes Ryalla for hiding, even though Ryalla claims she was in plain sight the whole time. Ryalla gets Courteth ready to go, and they leave for the libabry.

At the library Courteth manipulates her father into letting her take school lessons with the boys, even though she doesn’t want to learn but just be admired by Martis and Jerick, who are enraptured by her. The lesson begins, and even though questions are not aloud, Jerick asks them anyway, eventually coming to the conclusion that the teachers see questions as an aid to thinking, not a replacement for it, and thus punish those who ask questions to get them to see how valuable they are. Ryalla bemoans her and Jerick’s status in life and hopes that one day it will change.

Interlude One

Topaz flips into Frost’s room from the window, and they have a conversation in which Topaz accuses Frost of being more than just human, to which Frost denies. Topaz bums food of Frost, explaining that Kalord tried to have Topaz poisoned the other night. Topaz says there’s more to Jerick, but Frist reminds him that humans can’t do magic. Topaz causes a candle to burst into flame just by looking at it, to which Frost just snorts and says he hardly calls Topaz human anymore. Topaz thinks that whatever he, Topaz, is, Jerick is one too. He goes on to say that Ryalla also might be one, as she could bend light around her so much that even Topaz almost didn’t notice her. Frost grew troubled at that. Topaz says that something is coming, and has to leave with Bat’Chor to find out what it is and prepare for it.

End of Book One

Chapter 10

In Tzendor, Topaz uses makeup to disguise Bat’Chor and himself. As they go out in disguise, they remark on how even the peasants are better off than before, due to the new emperor Aronack. As they approach the Temple of Hsaw, they mix with other pilgrims who are visiting it for religious purposes. Topaz’s knowledge of when these pilgrims arrived causes Bat’Chor to once again wonder is Topaz needs to sleep.

They enter the building and Bat’Chor is amazed by its architecture. Topaz and Bat’Chor get their own small private room to stay in, and discuss architecture. Three hours later, the pilgrimage director calls them and their pilgrimage group out of their rooms to see the object they’ve traveled so long to see.

What I did on International TableTop Day

Not play Pandemic Season 2.

Not play Signs of Carcosa.

Not play any games.

Not watch Infinity War.

I did some homework and some laundry, though...

We Have Met the Enemy, and He is Us

Well, it's been almost a whole month since I posted last. Here's what's happened:

Spring break came up, which means as a substitute teacher, a week without work. I quickly got another job, and started Wednesday, at a steel manufacturing plant where they make large industrial size posts. I think I've gotten at least one minor injury every day so far there. But that's what I get.

My 28th birthday. Heather took me to the Good Move Cafe and we played games all day with a friend Chris whom we met at a Settlers of Catan tournament there and his roommate Matt. Dude, I swear, like every person I know is named Chris or Matt. Antone else feel like sometimes every important person inn their live happens to have the exact same name?

Joy's baby blessing. We blessed her on the 8th here in Provo. Both sides of the family came up, and my mom blogged more about that here.

Henry turned three. He's really smart for his age.

General Conference happened. I took notes. Now there's no thing called "Home Teaching."

The Church's self-reliance classes were going on. After they were done I sat down and read Dave Ramsey's book "The Total Money Makeover," and Heather and I are tired of living in debt and trying to make ends meet, so we've decided to get out of debt once and for all. We already have $1,000 in savings and so now are going to make a plan to get debt free. That's a book my parents gave us a long time ago (at the same time they also gave us some money, I think) but I've finally read it now. Looking back I'm like, what on earth have I been doing with all that wonderful income? Getting fired really helps you out with change. Now that I'm struggling to make it by, I am more grateful for the income we did have and wish I had, like, used it more properly and made a budget. Anyway, I recommend that book to anyone who will ever have to deal with money.

I'm in my second to last class at Grand Canyon University, and then have student teaching in the Mesa area.